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Muhammad Ali is remembered through public events in Louisville; Clinton and Warren meet at Hillary's home; Brock Turner in protective custody amidst fears of other inmates; Stanford Law professor leads charge against Turner's judge for insufficient sentencing; Gordie Howe, "Mister Hockey," dies at age 88. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired June 10, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everyone. John Berman in for Carol Costello today. Thanks for being here. Just moments ago in Louisville, Kentucky, we saw the funeral procession begin to get underway for Muhammad Ali. You can see some of the pall bearers there. That was Mike Tyson who walked by. There is Will Smith. There is Lennox Lewis, a former boxing champ in his own right.

They are all there along with so many others to take part in this special day. A day meant to be a celebration for Muhammad Ali. This was a process that Muhammad Ali himself helped plan while he was still alive. He wanted people to gather together to celebrate his life and honor all that he stood for, all that he fought for over the years.

Again, this is just the beginning of a day's worth of festivities in that city. Our own Pamela Brown, who knew Muhammad Ali, who could call Muhammad Ali friend, is there for us today watching these events. Good morning, Pamela, what are you seeing?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John. Well tens of thousands of people are turning out to pay their respects to Muhammad Ali. It's been often said that he belonged to the world. And Muhammad Ali really wanted the world to be a part of his funeral. In fact, he has been planning his farewell to the world for years now.

And you really see this playing out. People flying in from all over the world to be a part of this today including the President of Turkey, Erdo?an, King Abdullah of Jordan, among others. As you said the procession is just now getting underway. We'll go by some special places that meant a lot to Muhammad Ali including his childhood home here. The Ali Center, where we are right now.

A lot of people are turning out, those who knew him, those who didn't know him. One of them that did know him is here with us today. A very special guest who met Muhammad Ali more than four decades ago and developed a lasting friendship. That is my own father, John Y. Brown, Jr. Dad, as I said you first met Muhammad Ali when you invited him to a basketball game so many years ago. What was it that stood out to you about him then, and throughout your friendship? JOHN Y. BROWN, FRIEND OF MUHAMMAD ALI: Well I liked the fact that

he'd soy defend (ph). And he's an entrepreneur, as you know I was. And I just admired what he did to sag up (ph) the U.S. government, and put his career on the line, and really forward the important things in our lives here as his cause.

[10:35:15]

He was a boxer first but he built a platform where he was world famous. And if you didn't know it, he told you. And then he got us to believe it, he is famous, and he is the greatest. And I had just the big fortune of be a part of Sawuness (ph). Back to Lonnie (ph) and Larry Townsend (ph), had a bond, raise $80 million to preserve his legacy. We feel very strong that it was a legacy worth saving. That the world is going to share for decades yet unknown.

BROWN: He had a long fight with Parkinson's and he fought until the very end. He had a full and rich life. What did you see in that regard and how he handled his disease? Because so often he would say, "I am beautiful, be proud of who you are." And he was even proud when he was fighting Parkinson's.

BROWN: I'm glad you mentioned that because no one else has really addressed. But I was with him so many occasions, travels, and the pain and the discomfort. And Lonnie his guardian and comforter, and her sister -- it was incredible just watching him keep marching on, marching, never complaining. And knowing that sometimes it -- often, the last 15 years he couldn't talk -- and often our meetings and raising money and starting the center, he'd go to sleep and he'd wake up and keep going.

I remember one night at dinner we were tired after a number of meetings. I leaned over I said, "Champ, aren't you -- do you get tired of all this travel?" And he thought for a minute and leaned over and whispered, he said, "I can rest later." He's resting in peace with all the world applauding him and loving him.

BROWN: And what are some other stories like that or anecdotes that shed light on who he was. That people might get a glimpse into the Champ?

BROWN: One of the best I remember is after he lost the Foreman fight, a good friend of mine, John Jay Hooker, had a run for governor of Tennessee. And was a big fan of his, a friend of Ali. And after the loss he went up to Ali's hotel room at Caesar's Palace and Ali was in slumped over the bed with his face in his hands. And John Jay's 6 foot 6, kneeled down and looked up at Ali with a tear coming out of his eyes. And the Champ took his thumb and rubbed the tear and he said, "John Jay, don't cry. Remember, I'm still Muhammad Ali."

So that self-confidence he had, he's transferred to people everywhere, you know? You're getting up (ph) black is beautiful, look at me I'm beautiful, and he ...

BROWN: You're right that's a message he wants to send out to everyone today. "Don't cry, I'm still Muhammad Ali." He wants his legacy to live on.

BROWN: He was always a humble man. Loved, he beloved children. I remember one time pie folk vanes there (ph) when he came to Lexington. And we had a racial problem there that we had never had. And he stayed in our home and went to church with us. I went to the Eastland (ph) church the night before. But he settled the whole town down. He sat on the bench with our coach Rick Bertino (ph) in the University of Kentucky (ph).

And just his presence -- he couldn't talk -- that he's there, it means at peace (ph) we're all going to be all right.

BROWN: He was a peacemaker and he always had that twinkle in his eye, that's what I remember. Dad thanks so much for coming on and sharing your stories, your perspective.

BROWN: Thank you.

BROWN: John, back to you.

BERMAN: Pamela Brown, former governor John Brown, thanks so much for being with us, appreciate it. Coming up for us at 1:30 p.m., Don Lemmon will host a CNN special event. Special coverage of the Muhammad Ali memorial service. Speaking there, President Bill Clinton, Bryant Gumbel, Billy Crystal, they will all eulogize Muhammad Ali. This will be something to see.

Elizabeth Warren now arriving, you're looking at live pictures of Elizabeth Warren arriving at Hillary Clinton's home. This is a meeting in Washington, D.C. We just learned about it this morning. Hillary Clinton inside that house, now the Massachusetts Senator arriving. What will they discuss? Perhaps not as important as the mere speculation about what this might mean about the Democratic ticket. We'll be right back.

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[10:43:30]

BERMAN: All right you're looking at live pictures right now -- or actually pictures from just moments ago -- from Washington D.C. That is Massachusetts Center, Elizabeth Warren arriving at the home of Hillary Clinton. This is a meeting we've been hearing about for the last few hours. A closed-door meeting between the presumed Democratic nominee and the Senator that many people think is on a list of possible running mate selections.

What are they talking about? Perhaps we will learn after this meeting which just got underway a few minutes ago. But one thing is certain, is a picture of the Clinton team very much wants to send out, send out particularly to progressive voters, maybe even voters who supported Bernie Sanders. The types of voters who had been asking for Elizabeth Warren perhaps to run for President some time ago. Other news, a spokesman for the Santa Clara County Jail says former Stanford University student, Brock Turner, is in protective custody to keep him away from other inmates who might try to harm him. The six month sentence handed down June 2nd for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman after a campus party, that sparked national outrage as too lenient, given the crime. With jail overcrowding it might reduce Turner's time behind bars even further. It could end up being just about half of that already -- what some people call all too brief -- sentence.

Our Dan Simon has been going over hundreds of pages of documents released today in the case, Dan what are you learning?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well hey John that's right. We now have the entire court case file. We're talking about nearly 500 pages. We are still going through these documents but inside them you can actually see some photos of the defendant using what appears to be marijuana. He's smoking out of a bong, he's smoking a pipe.

John the real take away here is that it contradicts Brock Turner's own assertions that he had no real experience when it came to drugs and alcohol before attending Stanford. You know the defense tried to project him as sort of this clean-cut Stanford athlete. For critics, this is more fodder that this was a terrible sentence. That he should have gotten more time. And that's exactly why there is this effort underway to recall the judge.

The person leading that effort is actually a Stanford Law professor. And here's what she said earlier this morning. Take a look:

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MICHELE LANDIS DAUBER, LAW PROFESSOR, STANFORD LAW SCHOOL: Well you know she's obviously very disappointed in the sentence and very angry that the judge did not listen to her, and wasn't moved by her statement. In spite of the fact that millions of other people were. I think she's gratified by the support she's receiving from the community. But it doesn't make it better that she was ignored, her rights were ignored, and her pain was ignored by Judge Aaron Persky. Which is why we're going to recall him here in California.

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SIMON: Well now it turns out that at least 10 prospective jurors are also having a problem with this judge. They asked to be released from an unrelated case. One juror apparently stood up and said, you know I cannot believe you did this. And the judge basically said OK and excused them from service. That's according to the San Jose Mercury News. John, we'll send it back to you.

BERMAN: All right Dan Simon, thanks so much. Obviously the outrage over the six month sentence for sexually assaulting a passed out woman, has reached the highest levels of the Federal government. Vice President Joe Biden penned an open letter to voice his furious anger, as he called it. I want to bring in Ashleigh Banfield, host of CNN's "LEGAL VIEW," who's done so much on this. It was really interesting to hear what the Vice President had to say about this. And very frankly, fascinating that he chose to weigh in.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: In this manner. I don't know how you felt when you read this letter but I couldn't help picture the young woman actually holding it in her hands and realizing that the Vice President was speaking directly to her over and over. Referring to her and the movement that she has started. I will say this over and over again -- the pros that she elicited, that she articulated in court, and the viral nature that that statement has had, has done more for this movement, John, than anything else I've seen.

Every case that's been litigated and made headlines. Every professor who's led a march. Every documentarian who's written something, produced something to try to get change. This woman is the woman who's been able to do it. And Joe Biden even said it, he said, "you've changed the culture. You've shaken thousands. People will be saved because of you."

She can only feel that if she didn't get the justice that she deserved in that courtroom, she can certainly feel that she's getting it elsewhere.

BERMAN: And he was speaking right to her, which was fascinating. What about the case itself? The release, we're seeing these photos now, Brock Turner with drug paraphernalia, a bong. What effect will that have?

BANFIELD: So nothing. Listen, judges have discretion for a reason. Not every case is the same. I found it fascinating one of the Supreme Court Justices here in New York said that justices and judges actually don't take character letters into account that seriously. They accept them, they read them, they don't put a lot of weight on them.

One of the letters that was on Judge Persky's desk was from the Defendant himself, before sentencing. Saying, "I was inexperienced in the alcoholic culture. I was young and from a small town, and from a long way away." And then what's really hard to sort of understand is that the prosecutor stood up and refuted that and told this judge, "you've been lied to.

These photos show that when he was in 12th grade he was doing bong hits. And he had an alcoholic familiarity. He was making deals for drugs and alcohol. So this is a lie, that he wrote this to you." And usually that affects judges deeply.

BERMAN: Well you just said though that judges have a lot of discretion. That is how the system is set up here. So then what is the likelihood that this recall effort will have any real success?

BANFIELD: So recall is one thing, changing the sentence -- obviously we know double jeopardy laws apply in California, you just can't do that. Recall, it doesn't matter that there are a million signatures on change.org. It doesn't matter that there are 800,000 plus on another petition to have him recalled. What matters is that his constituents put letters together, put numbers together. 600 of them can force a write-in in the ballot. So that a write-in candidate can challenge him in November.

Close to 80,000 have to actually -- of his constituents ...

BERMAN: That's a lot.

BANFIELD: Have to actually sign a petition, put their signatures to paper, to actually force a recall. But you know what? We've seen it in California before with the governor, Gray Davis. So it ain't like it hasn't happened.

BERMAN: It has. And on (ph) the statewide scale, I see it ends up being a little bit of a smaller issue with a judge. But Ashleigh thanks so much, and thanks so much for everything you've done in this case.

BANFIELD: My pleasure.

BERMAN: We'll be right back.

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BERMAN: All right the world has lost a true legend this morning. Gordie Howe, Mister Hockey, passed away this morning just before 8:00 a.m. Eastern time. He was 88 years old. He played hockey for 60 of those years at a very, very high level. Andy Scholes joins us live now to look back at this just incredible legacy. Andy?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hey John. Yes, as you said, Howe was known as "Mister Hockey," with a career spanning six decades. You can imagine six decades playing hockey. Now Howe led the Detroit Red Wings, so four Stanley Cup titles. He was a 23 time NHL All Star, 23. Six time league MVP.

Now Howe's career started in 1945 and he loved hockey so much that he suited up for a game at the age of 69. He first put his name into the record books in 1963 when he became the NHL's all time leading goal scorer. And by the time he retired, Howe would also own the league record in a fifth (ph) point in games played.

Now Wayne Gretzky, who idolized Howe would go on to break many of those records. Howe was known as one of hockey's toughest players. He built a reputation with his fists as much as he did with his stick. Even today players refer to "a Gordie Howe hat trick." And that consists of a goal, an assist, and a fight all within the same game.

Now Howe had suffered a stroke back in 2014. He was 88 years old, and many people have gone to social media to share memories of Howe. Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada tweeted recently, "My condolences to the family of Gordie Howe, the Detroit Red Wings and all his fans around the world. He will always be Mister Hockey."

So definitely a sad day in the sports world, John, especially for all those fans of Howe in the city of Detroit.

BERMAN: All right Andy Scholes, thanks so much. Gordie Howe played so long he had a chance to suit up beside his son. What a career, what a legacy. Thanks Andy, appreciate it. All right, thanks so much for joining me today. I'm John Berman. "AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts after a quick break.

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