Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Lawyers Argue Venue Change in Freddie Gray Case; The Women in the Catholic Church; NFL Season Kicks Off Tonight. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 10, 2015 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:45] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Any minute now lawyers on both sides of the Freddie Gray case are set to appear before a judge to argue whether to move the trial against those officers indicted in Gray's death. In the meantime, this is what it looks like outside the courthouse in Baltimore. Police out in force. You can hear the protesters. They're already starting to gather and gearing up. They are demanding the trial stay in Baltimore. The defense will argue this cannot be done. That riots and unrest along with yesterday's $6.4 million settlement for the Gray family have unfairly biased a potential jury pool.

So let's talk about that. I'm joined by Jean Casarez. She's live at Baltimore City Hall, and CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Philip Holloway.

Jean, I want to start with you. What's happening now?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you see the protesters right there. We figure there are about a dozen of them. And the whole issue is, they know that this is a pivotal decision because this community wants this trial here in Baltimore. This is their case. This is what happened to them. But the defense is saying, and they have said it through motions, they don't believe that the six police officer defendants can get a fair and impartial trial in Baltimore.

Why? Because it's everything that we watched on television, they experienced it live here in May. The burning, the looting, the violent crimes, the property damage, all of that was in the name of Freddie Gray, for justice for Freddie Gray. In addition to that, schools were closed and everybody in the city had to comply with the curfew. So the defense is saying under the Maryland constitution that, number one, it is true that they cannot get a fair, impartial trial, or that there are reasonable grounds that they cannot get a fair and impartial trial. And if the judge determines that, he has to change venue for these trials.

The defense is also relying upon the Supreme Court of the United States, saying that if there is a presumption of prejudice -- and they will show that by everything that happened here, they believe -- that the trial must be moved. But the prosecution is saying, wait a minute, this is wrong. You are making an assumption that the people of this community cannot be fair and impartial and that's not right. We need to talk to potential jurors. We need to see what their state of mind is. And it's antiquated and it's old fashioned for you just to change venue without trying to get a jury here in Baltimore.

So that is, we believe, the side of the prosecution, 15 minutes each side. And really Exhibit A for the defense today is going to be that civil settlement yesterday that was agreed upon by the city of Baltimore, $6.4 million to the family of Freddie Gray. The mayor said the money was no issue. They had it through other recoveries and other settlements, that it will go starting within 10 days. And, remember, no civil suit was filed by the family of Freddie Gray. And the defense is going to say, $6.4 million really confirms to this community that these police officers committed a crime and they are, in essence, innocent until proven guilty. But this settlement agreement, so early in the game --

COSTELLO: Right. Right.

CASAREZ: Proves that we have to move this case.

COSTELLO: And, of course, that factors into defense attorneys' mind in seating an impartial jury. When Miguel Marquez was in Baltimore yesterday, he talked with people on the streets to see if seating an impartial jury when these trails begin is possible. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not as much that they should get. They should get much more.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because of what he went through.

MARQUEZ: Do you think it's a measure of justice for the family?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I do. I do. Yes. But that will not bring that boy back. Life is worth more than money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. So there's a lot of that kind of sentiment out there, Philip. So is it possible to have a fair trial, to seat an impartial jury for the six police officers that are going to go on trial?

PHILIP HOLLOWAY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, good morning, Carol.

You know, the criminal trial jury is said to be the cradle of American Liberty. It is literally the entity that stand between the citizen who enjoys the presumption of innocence, and the government, who is trying to send that person to prison. So the last thing a trial judge needs, Carol, is for there to be this question. Is the jury sitting in the jury box wondering about this settlement? What does it mean? Does it mean that the mayor has already decided that they're guilty? And, by the way, if I'm a taxpayer in Baltimore, why am I having to pay it?

[09:35:06] So I think that the judge really is -- probably has no choice but to move it. I think it's probably a mistake for the prosecution to even challenge this because in the event of a conviction, they do not want or need this to be an issue on appeal that could possibly lead to having to do this twice or even multiple times in the event that the trials are severed.

COSTELLO: But, Philip, this judge has made some unusual moves already. He decided to hold six separate trials --

HOLLOWAY: Correct.

COSTELLO: And some legal analysts say that's kind of weird.

HOLLOWAY: Well, it's within the judge's discretion. And I think that it's designed -- that ruling was designed, Carol, to make sure that each officer gets a fair trial because some evidence that might be admissible as to one defendant may not be admissible as to another and so you want to make sure that each individual defendant has all of their rights protected. And so that even adds to the argument that the venue needs to be changed because picking one fair jury out of the population of Baltimore is one thing, but picking six is quite another.

COSTELLO: You got that right. Philip Holloway, Jean Casarez, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

Checking some other top stories at 36 minutes past the hour, a New York City police officer is on modified assignment this morning after slamming a former tennis star to the ground. James Blake, who is obviously African-American, says he was forced to the ground outside of his hotel, handcuffed by officers who had mistaken him for a suspect in an identity theft case. Blake says the incident was scary and crazy and he believes race was involved. Blake was on his way to the U.S. Open at the time.

All right, opening bell on Wall Street rang just moments ago. The Dow, right now, is slightly up, just 15 points. You can see it there. All of this after another volatile day of trading on Wednesday and following disappointing numbers coming out of Japan and China. Traders hoping that conditions stabilize, creating an environment where the Fed could comfortably raise rates for the first time in nine years.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, talk about a rock star. As the U.S. is gearing up for an historic visit by Pope Francis, you will not believe how fast tickets sold to see him in Philadelphia. It's amazing. Plus, women in the Catholic Church, is there still a disconnect? We'll talk about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:41:50] COSTELLO: Thirty seconds. Thirty second. That's all it took for 10,000 tickets to see Pope Francis to get scooped up. Later this month, the pope arrives in the United States for an historic visit. He'll hold a mass in Philadelphia on Sunday the 27th near the Liberty Bell. The tickets, which were free, were made available online last night and they were first come first served. If you weren't one of the lucky ones and are still trying to get a ticket, buyer beware. There are reports of bogus tickets popping up online. And they're going for hundreds of dollars.

So, yes, go Pope Francis, right? The pope will visit three great American cities when he comes to the United States. He's expected to talk about immigration, the poor, climate change and hopefully the role of women in the Catholic Church. When Pope Francis said women in the church were more important than bishops and priests, it blew my mind. Since then, as a catholic woman, I've been waiting to see if the pope follows up his words with action. I sat down with the president of Catholic Charities, Sister Donna Markham, to talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SISTER DONNA MARKHAM, PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC CHARITIES: I certainly -- I know I wasn't selected to be president of Catholic Charities because I was a woman. I think I was asked to do it because people trusted my ability.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Pope Francis can be confusing. One moment he's talking girl power and the next he's not. I'm not the only one confused.

COSTELLO (on camera): When the pope said women in the church are more important than bishops and priests, just like Mary is more important than the apostles, I think a lot of women were astounded by that remark. Do you think he meant it?

MARKHAM: I couldn't quite get my head around exactly what he was saying between the line there. Is it -- is it significant? I think it's a very significant statement because he's -- he's identifying the need to raise women's role and profile in the life of the church and society.

COSTELLO: But then the pope goes on to say other things that are confusing. For example, in 2013, he told a group of nuns, the consecrated woman as a mother must be a mother and not an old maid or spinster. In 2004, he told the European parliament, Europe is now a grandmother, no longer fertile or vibrant. And in December of last year, the pope told a group of women theologians they were strawberries on the cake.

MARKHAM: Well, or -- or is it -- is it an expression of someone who's coming from another culture who's not using the kind of language that a North America woman would even know what to make of. Because I must admit, I was baffled by that as well.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Perhaps Pope Francis was just talking like a 78-year-old man or maybe the pope is trying to appease both liberal Catholic women and conservatives in an effort to keep the church intact. But when it comes to young women, words matter and deeds matter more.

[09:45:00] According to a study just 16 percent of American women between 18 and 29 identify as Catholic. Notre Dame's Kathleen Cummings put it more starkly. "For the first time in history," she says, "young Catholic women are more disengaged than their male counterparts. That is a huge, important shift. If you don't have women, you lose the children."

MARKHAM: There is a disconnect, because as women have assumed roles of equality throughout our North American culture, the Catholic Church has more and more of a problem with those same young women who can be and do anything they want in civil society and then questioning, well, if I can do that everywhere else, what happens in the church?

COSTELLO: That's not to say there aren't bright spots. Sister Donna the Star, she's the first female president of Catholic Charities in its 105 history. Keep in mind, Catholic Charities supports morem than 70,000 employees and serves 10 million across the United States.

MARKHAM: It was amazing to me to be invited to serve in this capacity because I wasn't expecting it. But the good news story in that is that we now have in the United States the three largest Catholic Service Organizations, Catholic Health Association, Catholic Relief Services, and Catholic Charities are all led by women.

COSTELLO: Catholic Charities and Sister Donna will figure prominently into the Pope's visit to the United States. It's not only a chance to bring attention to the poorest among us, but also a chance for Pope Francis to point to the powerful women who do important work.

(on camera): What is the one thing the Pope can communicate to young women?

MARKHAM: I think that his ability to speak to women and the importance of women and their capability, their contribution, to the life of the church, over and over again, the more he can draw attention to that and the value that's placed on women, the better off we will be. But it's going to take a long time, because I think we have a big terrain to traverse there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: If you want to continue the conversation, check out my op- ed on CNN.com/opinion. And by the way, I will be covering the Pope's visit at the end of the month for all of you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, countdown to kickoff. A live look from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, home of the New England Patriots where, in just a few hours, the defending champions host the Pittsburgh Steelers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[09:47:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They say if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. Well, I don't buy that. I think if you love what you do, you're going to work all day, every day, harder than everyone else until they shut the lights off for you, because it's not going to be --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, are you pumped up? That was the unofficial -- well, I guess they unofficially call it the hype video for the Philadelphia Eagles. Philly fans are certainly pumped as the NFL season gets set to begin in just a few hours. The defending champions, the New England Patriots, will host the Pittsburgh Steelers. That will all happen at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Of course, tonight's kickoff comes on the heels of the Deflategate decision.

CNN's Rachel Nichols is live inside Foxborough -- she's live in Foxborough inside the stadium, home of the Patriots. What should we expect?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, if you like parties, Carol, this is the place to be tonight. Look, the NFL has hyped up the beginning of the season so much in recent years that it's almost started to feel like a national holiday. It's usually in the home of the Super Bowl champion, as it is tonight, and they reveal the Super Bowl banner. It's always kind of crazy. But, of course, this year especially with the New England Patriots, look, there are plenty of people around the country who still feel like they're cheaters or against the Patriots, but here in New England they have felt persecuted for the past seven or eight months especially as the Deflategate controversy has gone on. They see the court decision that happened last week as a huge vindication and this will be an enormous victory party.

And, remember, Tom Brady wasn't going to be allowed in the building here. They were going to have to reveal that banner without him. Now all ever a sudden they're going to have Tom Brady on the field to cheer and Roger Goodell, who was supposed to be here, well, he's decided to skip the festivities, the first time in his near decade as commissioner. Carol.

COSTELLO: So will this controversy just slowly fade out, do you think, through the season and nobody will pay attention any longer?

NICHOLS: Well, look, the decision is being appealed. They do expect it to take anywhere from six months to two years, so we don't expect it to come to the fore again during this season. Tom Brady will, of course, be allowed to play. And as each group goes forward, you get the NFL, as much as there are people who feel they have egg on their faces, they're embarrassed by this whole Deflategate controversy, I got to tell you, the cash register, Carol, is still ringing. They're expected to make $12 billion this year. Their sponsorship revenues after this, quote, "terrible year", they are up 15 percent according to "The Wall Street Journal". So they're still making money. They're fine.

As for the Patriots, well, they've got a lot of people taking shots at them over the past year. Just last week, there was some new reporting about the Spygate controversy, them videotaping opponents' signals. But they seem just fine too. Coach Bill Bellicheck says he doesn't even pay attention to that stuff, the buzz in social media, or as he put it, Carol, he's like you guys know I don't have Facebook or the Instaface.

[09:55:04] COSTELLO: Instaface! Oh, I love that.

NICHOLS: Doesn't have the Twitter or the Instaface. That's what Bill says.

COSTELLO: That's funny. At least he said something. Rachel Nichols, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)