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Verdict for Officer Goodson in Freddie Gray Death; Libertarian Candidates Make Their Case; DHS Employee May Have Plotted Attack; Trump & the Teleprompter. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 23, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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


[09:30:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Democratic lawmakers say they're staying put until there's a gun reform vote.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is decision day for the officer facing the most serious charges in the death of Freddie Gray. Officer Caesar Goodson was driving the police van that Gray was riding in when he suffered that fatal spinal injury. Prosecutors say it was Goodson's driving that tossed Gray around causing that injury. He now faces seven charges, including second degree depraved heart murder. Goodson's attorney says there's no evidence that -- that the drive had anything to do with Gray's death. Six officers were indicted in all in Gray's death. So far two have been tried with one of those trials ending in mistrial and the other ending in a not guilty verdict.

CNN's Jean Casarez is watching today's verdict. She joins me now.

Good morning.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

You know, this is such an important trial because this is the driver of the van. This is the trial we've been waiting for. And it's also the most serious charge, truly, because he has been charged with second degree depraved heart murder, 30 years is the maximum sentence in Maryland for that.

[09:35:11] You know, when prosecutors began with their opening statement, they said they were going to show evidence of a rough ride because this is the driver of the van. It's that rough ride, they said, that caused the death of Freddie Gray. Well, as the trial went on, the evidence wasn't there. The closest thing to it -- and you're looking at it right now -- you see that van and it makes what prosecutors call a wide turn right there. So prosecutors in their closing really relied on that video to say, that is what caused the death of Freddie Gray right there. And it was a neck injury. So he didn't die right then and there, but it was a neck injury.

But the judge -- remember, the judge is the judge and jury. This is a bench trial. They opted to not have people from the community be that jury. The judge had a lot of questions and he said, you know, could he have been trying to not hit the van, the other van that was parked as he made the turn, and could he have made the stop before the video began to roll? So I think that's an issue, too.

Prosecutors said in their closing that Oscar Goodson actually pin balled Gary in the back to teach him a lesson. No evidence of that. But that was their -- one of their main closing arguments. So --

COSTELLO: So the verdict is supposed to come down at --

CASAREZ: At 10:00.

COSTELLO: In just about a half hour, right?

CASAREZ: Yes. Yes. Very serious. I mean --

COSTELLO: So, the prosecutor in this case, Marilyn Mosby, if there's not a conviction in this case, what does it say about her? Because there are three more trials to go.

CASAREZ: That's right. And she's had two trials, one being a hung jury --

COSTELLO: A hung jury.

CASAREZ: And that was with an actual jury. Then there was not guiltys with Officer Nero. That was a bench trial. The charges stand. So the trials should proceed. But in the public venue, in the light, you know, most favorable to these defendants, it's not good because this is the most serious charge of all.

COSTELLO: All right, Jean Casarez, thanks for joining us this morning.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM, sitting in and not giving in. I'll talk to one lawmaker who has been on the House floor for hours, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:41:14] COSTELLO: Libertarian candidates Gary Johnson and Bill Weld are vying for your vote, and that support will be crucial if they hope to get the 15 percent of support required in national polls to make the debate stage this fall. The duo rolled out their case to voters at last night's CNN town hall, moderated by Chris Cuomo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY JOHNSON, LIBERTARIAN PARTY'S PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Most Americans are libertarian, it's just that they don't know it.

CHRIS CUOMO, ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY" (voice-over): Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson, flanked by his running mate, William Weld, looking to connect with voters who are looking for an alternative to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Johnson is equally reluctant to choose.

CUOMO (on camera): If you had to say that one of these is more qualified than the other to be president --

JOHNSON: Bring -- bring backwater water boarding or worse or -- it's not going to --

CUOMO: You're not going to give an answer?

JOHNSON: I'm not -- I'm not going to -- no, I'm not going to give in to voting for one or the other.

WILLIAM WELD, LIBERTARIAN PARTY'S VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Oh, I would.

CUOMO: Thank you.

JOHNSON: Would you?

CUOMO (voice-over): Weld favoring Clinton.

WELD: I think Mrs. Clinton, no matter what you might think of various economic policies, is very well qualified to be president of the United States. I would not say the same of Mr. Trump, with all respect.

CUOMO: Johnson shared his running mate's negative assessment of Trump.

JOHNSON: The issues that I have with Trump, starting with immigration, starting with free trade, going on and on and on, killing the families of Muslim terrorists, really, it's -- what's coming out of his mouth that I really have issues with.

CUOMO: Johnson, a vocal supporter of legalized marijuana, was forced to face questions about his position on drugs. Maureen Morella says her family is struggling to care for her son, left disabled by first time drug abuse and overdose.

JOHNSON: This is heartbreaking, but what you're pointing out is that prohibition really is -- is what -- is what your son succumbed to.

CUOMO: Johnson pivoted to a series of harm prevention programs, including needle exchanges and safe injection zones. His response to the emotional question, challenged.

MAUREEN MORELLA, ASKED ABOUT DRUG ADDICTION: When they go to your pretty little places with the pretty little needles, we're still going to have street people out selling heroin.

JOHNSON: Exactly.

MORELLA: Because they're going to get their one dose, and it's not enough, so you're keeping people addicted.

CUOMO: And in the wake of the Orlando massacre, a survivor, bringing the gun control debate center stage.

JEANETTE MCCOY, ORLANDO SHOOTING SURVIVOR: You said America would be safer if it was easier to buy guns and if more people carried them, especially out in public. But last week, when I went out dancing with my friends, unfortunately, I ended up in the middle of the worst mass shooting in our nation's history. CUOMO: Johnson explaining that he doesn't advocate rolling back

existing gun laws. Instead, that he would look for law enforcement solutions.

JOHNSON: The FBI came in contact with this guy three times. What transpired? Why wasn't this guy deprived of his guns?

CUOMO: The optimistic duo hoping to gain momentum as a viable alternative to Republicans and Democrats.

JOHNSON: The two party system is a two party dinosaur and that they're about to come in contact with the comet here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: The Libertarian Party has also pledged to get ballot access in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia. If it's successful, the Johnson/Weld ticket will be the only one alongside the Democratic and Republican ticket in front of every voter on Election Day.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM, still going. Democrats continue to protest on the House floor. Next, I'll talk to one lawmaker who has a personal stake in this fight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:49:07] COSTELLO: The Department of Homeland Security may have prevented a violent attack to be carried out by one of their own. A 35-year-old DHS employee is under investigation after he tried to carry a loaded revolver, a knife, and pepper spray, among other items, onto DHS property. Officials say he may have been targeting high level employees who work near him and that he may not have been working alone.

Evan Perez has more for you this morning.

Good morning.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

The DHS intelligence analyst Jonathan Wienke is on administrative leave while authorities investigate this incident from a couple of weeks ago. Now, he came to work around 7:30 in the morning on June 9th and was randomly selected for secondary screening at the DHS compound. Now, security guards found a three-inch folding knife, pepper spray, and handcuffs in a backpack, but what they didn't find immediately was that he had a .22 caliber revolver. Now, they found that about 90 minutes later when they went to his desk and searched him. Now, first they asked him if he had a weapon. He said no. They found the gun, though, loaded with hollow point bullets in a cargo pants pocket that he was wearing.

[09:50:11] Now, this is an alarming case because he managed to get a loaded gun to his cubicle just feet away from where some top DHS officials were having a meeting. Now, we don't know who those officials are. We've asked DHS whether Secretary Johnson or anybody else in the upper echelons of DHS was in any danger. Now, in a search warrant document, investigators said that they were looking into charges of, quote, "attempt and conspiracy to assassinate, kidnap, or assault a member of the executive branch," which sounds pretty serious. We're told, though, he is at home while this case is being investigated and if anyone thinks that he's a danger to the public or to government officials, then he'd probably be in jail right now, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Evan Perez reporting live from Washington. Thank you.

Checking some other top stories for you at 50 minutes past.

South Korea's military says the North has significantly improved its missile technology, but stopped short of calling yesterday's missile test a success. In the meantime, new pictures have surfaced of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the launch site. The North fired two missiles yesterday. One of them traveled nearly 250 miles.

In the U.K., a record number of people are expected to take part in the Brexit vote and decide whether the United Kingdom should leave the European Union. The economy is at the heart of the vote. Those who want to leave say the E.U. is a job killer, but those who want to stay believe quitting the E.U. would destroy the British economy. Final results are expected early tomorrow morning.

Dangerous storms ripped across the Midwest on Wednesday. As many as 15 tornadoes were reported in Illinois, some with winds as high as 100 miles per hour. One gas station was nearly torn apart with powerful gusts pushing over a fuel tanker.

Doctors are recommending that you don't get a popular flu vaccine this year. The CDC says flu Mist nasal spray is not as effective as a traditional injection of the flu vaccine. That news likely to disappoint parents. The spray is quite popular among pediatricians for younger children. The recommendation still needs a final sign off by the head of the CDC, though.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Trump turns off the -- or turns to the teleprompter, rather, for one of his most important speeches of his campaign. But it's not just what Trump said, it's how he said it. We'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:56:38] COSTELLO: Donald Trump used to a teleprompter to deliver Wednesday's speech, railing against Hillary Clinton. CNN's Jeanne Moos tells all about Trump's teleprompter technique.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The teleprompter may once have prompted disdain from Donald Trump.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We should have the law that when you're running for president, you're not allowed to use a teleprompter.

MOOS: The Donald would have broken that law a handful of times by now. One critic calls it --

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The tele-trumpter.

MOOS: And though still a little wooden, he's getting better. When he stumbled while talking about Hillary lying, he caught himself with an ad-lib.

TRUMP: A total and -- look, this was -- this was one of the buttes.

MOOS: There were lots of little ad-libs.

TRUMP: God help us.

We just can't take it anymore.

MOOS: And one particularly soulful one.

TRUMP: Americans, Americans, the people that we love, Americans, America first.

MOOS (on camera): Using a teleprompter seemed to have an unusual side effect on the Donald.

TRUMP: She gets rich inside the United States.

The barbarians.

MOOS (voice-over): Donald "needs a Breathe-Right Strip" tweeted one critic.

TRUMP: That she's against it.

MOOS: Another poster wrote, "I got so distracted, I started googling nasal disorders."

We understand The Donald is not suffering from a cold or allergies. Call it a sniff, call it a snuffle, sometimes he both ad-libbed and inhaled.

TRUMP: Tell me, folks, does that work? I wonder why. We will lose our country.

MOOS: Previously, Trump's performance tethered to a teleprompter had been criticized as stiff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was almost as if he was like a circus lion who had been tranquilized because he had bit to many people.

MOOS: But for a guy used to winging it, reading just takes practice. Miss one little "the" on prompter, and it sounds like you've got meat (ph) on your mind.

TRUMP: This is why steaks in November are so great. MOOS: Steaks are pretty great any time.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

COSTELLO: All right, I want to take you live out to Washington, D.C., in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, where crowds have already gathered. You see protesters there. It's because the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hand down four big decisions today involving immigration, abortion, and affirmative action among other things. Of course we'll keep you posted as soon as those decisions come down. But as you can see, it's already a raucous scene in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Also, any minute now we expect to hear the verdict for the officer facing the most serious charges in the death of Freddie Gray. Officer Caesar Goodson arriving in court minutes ago. Goodson was driving the police van that Gray was riding in when he suffered that fatal spinal injury. Prosecutors say it was Goodson's driving that tossed Gray around causing that injury. Goodson now faces seven charges, including second degree depraved heart murder. Goodson's attorney says -- says there's no evidence that the drive had anything to do with Gray's death. Six officers in all were indicted in Gray's death. So far, two have been tried with one of those trials ending in mistrial and the other ending in a not guilty verdict.

[10:00:03] Jean Casarez is watching all of this. We'll keep you posted. As soon as the judge issues his decision -- he is expected to do that any minute now in Baltimore -- Jean Casarez will keep you posted.