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New Day

Yemen and Iran Nuclear Talks; Investigation into Freddie Gray's Death; Jeff Green's Story; Sofia Vergara and Nick Loeb Battle Over Embryos. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 22, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:35] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we have two big breaking situations in the news right now. One abroad and one at home. We have what's going on with Iran and a lot of different places and certainly centered on these negotiations over nukes, and then we have what's happening in Baltimore as a reflection in this conflict in the culture of policing. So let's discuss both with a man who will have a hand in both. Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland. He's the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Senator, it's good to have you.

Let's start first abroad. The situation of Iran seems very confusing now and about a lot more than just nukes. Do you believe the U.S. has been suckered into the negotiating table giving Iran free reign to mess around in Yemen and Syria and anywhere it wants?

SEN. BEN CARDIN (D), MARYLAND: Well, Chris, first of all, good morning.

And our relationship with Iran and out concerns about Iran are on multiple facets. First, in regards to nuclear proliferation, preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state is critically important not just to the region but to the U.S. security. So we are focused in these negotiations with our negotiating partners to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear weapon state.

That's not the end of our concern. We do have concern about Iran sponsoring terrorism. We have concern about Iran's human rights violations. We have concern about Iran's meddling into the affairs of other countries. We have other tools to deal with that, but we don't want to be distracted from preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear weapon power.

CUOMO: So you still are in line with the thinking of, let's keep the negotiations about nukes and we'll deal with everything else? There are two problems with that. One, you're getting resistance from your brothers and sisters in Congress. They want these other, what they see malevolent acts of Iran, to be taken into consideration. And the second problem is, that there's dissatisfaction built into the negotiations because you're not going to stop them from getting a weapon. It's not if they get one, it's just when, isn't it?

CARDIN: No, no, we - we are - we are going to prevent them from becoming a nuclear weapon power. That is absolutely -

CUOMO: How?

CARDIN: We're going to do that hopefully through negotiations, with our negotiating partners. But as the president said, all options are on the table.

Let me - let me just sort of clarify that.

CUOMO: Please.

CARDIN: We - we are not - we are not at all losing focus on what Iran is doing in sponsoring terrorism. We imposed sanctions against Iran in regards to its activities on terrorism. We're going to continue to push very hard on all the - all fronts. What we don't want to do is lose the international coalition that we have that is forcing Iran to negotiate with us on their nuclear program. If the United States - if the United States -

CUOMO: They just don't seem like they're getting forced to do anything, senator. That's the point of criticism.

CARDIN: Well -

CUOMO: It seems like they're getting what they want at the table and threatening to walk away if they don't, and they're running roughshod around the rest of the world with somewhat of a degree of impunity because nobody wants to jeopardize the talks.

CARDIN: Well, no, that's not - I would disagree with you. First of all, we don't what the agreement's going to be, so I'm not going to pre-judge the agreement.

CUOMO: OK, fair point, fair point.

CARDIN: We'll know that - we'll know whether they're going to get that by June. So we'll judge that. An effective agreement must prevent Iran from having a breakout capacity for a nuclear weapon that we could not discover if they're cheating in time to prevent them from becoming a nuclear weapon state. That's - that's clearly our objectives and we'll judge that.

And as you know, there's legislation moving through Congress that provides the appropriate role for congressional review. We're the ones who imposed the sanctions. Only we can permanently remove those sanctions. So we're very much focused to make sure we have an affective agreement that prevents Iran from becoming a nuclear weapon state. But we don't want to have to go alone in trying to get that done.

CUOMO: Right.

CARDIN: We have negotiating partners. We're working with them. Sanctions only work if the international community supports us.

CUOMO: Understood. Now let's come back home, senator, what's going on in Baltimore, obviously within your state. You called for a federal investigation of it through the attorney general. You're introducing legislation to end racial profiling. But dealing with the immediate circumstance, we know that a federal investigation is not going to give quick judgment, quick transparency in this situation. Why aren't you pushing the governor to have an independent review body installed immediately to take care of this situation, because you're seeing the same delays that create outrage among your citizens?

[08:34:56] CARDIN: No, I want an independent review. I want to make sure that we not only have the review by the federal Department of Justice, and that's what we called for, and Senator Mikulski and our congressional colleagues from Baltimore all called for that investigation. That will be an independent investigation. But we also want the internal investigations that are being done in our state of Maryland to be - to be independent as well. So, I - I agree with you.

CUOMO: But they're not.

CARDIN: Well, no, I wouldn't - I wouldn't prejudge that yet. There's -

CUOMO: But - but -

CARDIN: There will be - there - there are investigations taking place, including through the state's attorney in Baltimore, that are - are independent. Our state's attorney in Baltimore is not connected with our police.

CUOMO: All right. Well, that hasn't been made that public. So we don't really know what's going on. We just know that the police are doing it. And the reason I say that is the bill of rights that was passed through the state legislature there and its prevision for 10 days to get counsel, which was really just a ten-day buffer for cops before they have to be questioned, is what seems to be driving why there are no answers. And it just seems like if you are out there and open about having an independent view that's taken out of the cop's hands, not to say that the cops are bad or that there's any malice involved with the investigation, but to remove any of that speculation. That's the lesson of Ferguson, remove the speculation through transparency. It's not happening here, at least not in a way that's being publicly disposed.

CARDIN: Well, I withhold judgement as to whether it is or not. But I agree that there needs to be totally independent investigations done at all levels of government. But let's get to some of the core problems. That's why I have introduced the end of racial profiling. We have to get a better confidence between the community and law enforcement. Law enforcement only works effectively if the community has confidence that they're working on their behalf. That has been put to test in Baltimore and other cities around the country.

One of the ways we can correct that is to make it clear that we won't tolerate racial profiling in any form in law enforcement. And that's why senate - Congressman Conyers and I are - have reintroduced legislation that will call for the end of all forms of profiling by police. There's been too many circumstances like Ferguson and what happened in New York, now in Baltimore. We need to end this and we need to make it clear to communities that we need to work together.

CUOMO: Senator Cardin, thank you very much.

CARDIN: My pleasure. Thank you.

CUOMO: You have a lot on your plate. We look forward to seeing progress on all of them. Good to have you on NEW DAY.

CARDIN: Thanks.

CUOMO: Mic.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Here's a question for you, what happens to frozen embryos after a couple splits? Who has a right to use them or destroy them? That's the question at the center of a legal battle between actress Sophia Vergara and her ex. We'll have that debate coming up.

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[08:41:33] PEREIRA: OK, here we go with the five things you need to know for your new day.

At number one, hundreds taking to the streets to protest the death of Freddie Gray, who died a week after being taken into police custody. More demonstrations are set for today. The Justice Department now launching a civil rights probe.

Saudi Arabia launching more air strikes in Yemen after Houthi rebels launched their own new attack. Less than 24 hours ago, Saudi Arabia announced an end to its air campaign in order to pivot to a political solution to the Yemen crisis.

New this morning, the Vatican has announced that Pope Francis will visit Cuba this September before his trip to the United States. That visit is expected to highlight the role that the Vatican played in helping restore diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

Hundreds of migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean Sea and they are back on land this morning. That rescue comes on the heels of a weekend tragedy believed to have killed 800 migrants after their boat collapsed.

Jurors today in the Boston bombing marathon are expected to hear more victim testimony. On Tuesday, the panel saw several graphic pieces of evidence as well as a picture - or a photo, rather, of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev giving the middle finger to the security camera in his jail cell.

For more on the five things to know, be sure to visit newdaycnn.com for the latest.

Chris.

CUOMO: All right, we have this week's "Human Factor." The NBA playoffs in full swing, of course. And one of the teams vying for the championship has a player who overcome life threatening surgery just to get back on the court. So here's CNN's chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta to introduce us to the brave man who really overcame the odds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seeing Memphis Grizzly star Jeff Green in action, it's clear he's a player with heart. But in 2011, his game was interrupted.

JEFF GREEN, NBA PLAYER: I was in complete - complete shock.

GUPTA: A routine team physical revealed an aortic aneurism near the left valve of his heart. Jeff, who was 25 at the time, needed surgery.

GREEN: It was nerve-racking. I couldn't run. I couldn't touch a basketball. I couldn't get stressed out. It was tough.

GUPTA: And rebounding from open heart surgery, that wasn't easy either. Jeff didn't touch a basketball for nearly six months. He lost muscle and the mechanics of his game.

GREEN: It was a slow progression. My body was different. The timing was off. I was fatigued. I wasn't concerned about getting hit. The biggest thing for me was just being in shape and being able to function out there on the floor.

GUPTA: The experience did give Jeff a greater appreciation for basketball.

GREEN: Now I attack every game as, you know, this could be my last.

GUPTA: It also gave him a greater appreciation for life. He often visits young heart patients to provide encouragement and to compare scares.

GREEN: To see me come back from the heart surgery, see me out there playing, and they look up to that. I look forward to that and, you know, they love it. So, you know, I'll continue to do it.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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[08:48:31] CAMEROTA: Actress Sofia Vergara and her ex-fiance Nick Loeb are locked in a heated court battle over frozen embryos. They are not alone. The issue of what to do with embryos after a couple splits up happens more than you know. What are the rules and who gets to decide?

Joining us today to discuss this is Art Caplan. He's the director of the medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center and Risa Levine, who endured a battle over frozen embryos with her ex-husband. Risa is also board member of the RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, as am I. It's great to have both of you here.

ARTHUR L. CAPLAN, DIRECTOR, DIVISON OF MEDICAL ETHICS NYU LANGONE MEDICAL CENTER: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Risa, I want to start with you. This must seem painfully familiar to you as you watch what is going on with Sofia Vergara. Can you tell us briefly about the similar battle you had with your ex- husband over frozen embryos.

RISA LEVINE, FROZEN EMBRYOS WERE CONTENDED IN DIVORCE: We had four frozen embryos when we completed our last cycle, which I wanted to use. We started a frozen embryo transfer cycle and he came home one day in the middle of the cycle and said that he did not want to proceed with the cycle because he was having trouble at work and the company was possibly going to do layoffs and he didn't want to go through with it right now but he promised that we would go through it and then weeks later he wanted a divorce. The main issue that we battled over in the divorce was the embryos. He didn't want me to be able to use them, he didn't want to expose himself to child support in the future, and in New York you can't wave child support, it's against public policy. The right of child support belongs to the child.

[08:50:01] CAMEROTA: Even though you were willing to absolve him of financial responsibility?

LEVINA: I was willing to do whatever it took, that he would never have to see the child, he would have no responsibility, no expenses, nothing.

CAMEROTA: But he said no.

LEVINA: He said no. But legally you can't wave child support on behalf of a child.

CAMEROTA: This is very complicated ethical territory. Who does own those frozen embryos?

CAPLAN: The courts in the U.S. have said again and again that both parties have to control the disposition of embryos, whether they are going to freeze them like Vergara -

CUOMO: Because you can't force the parenting.

CAPLAN: You can't force the parenting. So the principle that they've tried to uphold is no parenting without your permission. However, there is an exception, if it's the last chance for somebody to reproduce and it's their only possibility, then a few courts have said alright, if one party is willing, we will allow that to happen. But it has to be these are the last embryos I can make because of biology, there is no more possibility for me.

CAMEROTA: Well, that's interesting. Basically what Nick Loeb, Sofia Vergara's ex, is saying is that he doesn't want to destroy the embryos because of a religious objection he has. Let me read to you his statement. He says, "I have always strongly believed that life begins at fertilization and that every embryo is a life on a journey towards birth. I created these two female embryos with the purpose of taking them to term and not destruction, because I have always dreamed of being a father."

How can someone force him to do something against his religion if he believes life has begun?

CAPLAN: The courts don't agree quite with that outlook. Ethically, I think it's right. They are potential people, they're possible people, but they're not equivalent to us in terms of their legal and moral standing. So embryos are destroyed. It happens every day in clinics. If you don't pay your fees to freeze them, embryos are tossed out at clinics. It happens hundreds of times. We have done surveys on this and we know that it happens. A potential person, a possible person doesn't have the same legal standing. That gives more discretion about what's going to happen.

CUOMO: So there's two things. We have the fact specific basis of Vergara and Loeb because Vergara says she didn't say she wanted to destroy them --

CAMEROTA: She wants to keep them frozen.

CUOMO: She wants to keep them, frozen. Now you can argue, well, what is the practical effect of doing that? Either she wants to use them or she doesn't. But that's their specific case. But what is motivating in that case is what you just talked about. What is your take on the idea of an embryo not being a person?

LEVINE: I feel the same way. We were discussing it beforehand. I believe that an embryo is a potential for life and as such, it should be treated with dignity and respect. You don't create them cavalierly. It is the process to create them, is debilitating. It's generally speaking because you are infertile, you've gone through all kinds of tests and invasive procedures.

CUOMO: But you will not go so far as saying that they are people?

LEVINE: They're not people but they are the potential for people and I know that I was personally very attached to my embryos. I was very attached to what they represented and what my future would be had I been able to use them.

CUOMO: That could change in the courts, Alisyn. That can change.

CAPLAN: It could.

CAMEROTA: But Risa, what ended up happening with your embryos?

LEVINE: The judge basically said to the lawyers get a deal, because the judge did not want to be responsible for forcing anybody to do anything, for forcing parenthood on anybody. And frankly, in retrospect, at the time I was so beaten up and emotionally gone from being able to make adult-capable decisions and my own lawyer was trying to tell me that I didn't want to be a parent with this other person, and why would I want to have a life where I would be tied to him, and I ultimately agreed to allow them to be donated to research, but I think in retrospect the judge was a coward, an absolute coward.

CAMEROTA: It is such emotionally fraught territory. And Risa, you are an attorney. What advice would you give to couples who are entering into a situation like this? There are thousands of them.

LEVINE: Well, it's really very interesting. I am an attorney and one would think I would know better than to sign documents that were not negotiated, but when you go through infertility, it's incredibly, like I said, debilitating, you're hopped up on hormones, you've changed your diet, you've changed your -

CAPLAN: You're very, very vulnerable.

LEVINE: You are very vulnerable and they put a consent form in front of you and you assume it has been vetted, and it covers death and you are not thinking about divorce.

CUOMO: Yeah, you assume you are on the same page.

(CROSSTALK)

CAPLAN: Which, by the way, is inexcusable because when you're making lives, you want to say let's cover all the contingencies. Dementia, divorce, what happens if somebody become demented. You want to cover every one of these things.

CAMEROTA: The lesson here -

LEVINE: And you're paying for a lawyer when you've just pay $20,000 to a clinic and to medical --

CAMEROTA: Of course. And you hope that you are never in the situation that you were in, that Sofia Vergara is, but I guess the point is that the directive has to be much more clearly spelled out than it has been so far.

Risa Levine, Art Caplan, thank you so much for helping us.

CAPLAN: Thank you.

LEVINE: Thank you so much.

CAMEROTA: Great to have you here.

[08:55:00] You can tweet us. We would love to hear what you have to say about all of this and please weigh in at #newdaycnn.

CUOMO: When we come back, one bad breakup, one monster rock and 2,100 reasons to sell it. Oh, what a tease. That's The Good Stuff!

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(MUSIC) CUOMO: So on NEW DAY, we tell you about the bad stuff but we also tell you The Good Stuff. And we have a story today about engagement gone sour. That's not The Good Stuff, but what the former fiance did with the ring certainly is. The breakup left the $2100 rock up for grabs, right? But rather than sell it, the woman, who wants to remain anonymous, but her generosity is going to be everywhere, she put it up on Facebook for the most deserving couple she could find. Enter these two.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH MICHAELS, WON ENGAGEMENT RING FROM ANONYMOUS DONOR: I have been told a few different things, you know. I was not going to make it, I had two months left, and I am still here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: That's because Josh Michaels has been fighting aggressive cancer since 2013, just after he got engaged to Laura. All those medical bills, as you could imagine, no room for a ring.

[08:59:59] So the anonymous donor gave the ring to them. The wedding is expected soon and the anonymous donor says their story renewed her faith in love.