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New Day Saturday
Machete-Wielding Man Shot; ISIS Claims Mosque Attacks; War Against ISIS; Iran Nuclear Deal; John Kerry Speech; Airport Loophole; Suge Knight Collapses; NCAA Tournament. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired March 21, 2015 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:00:00] VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Your NEW DAY starts right now.
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Police shoot a man who stormed through security at the New Orleans airport. He was carrying bug spray and a machete. We'll tell you what happened.
BLACKWELL: Attacks on two mosques in Yemen. More than 130 people dead, another 350 hurt. How the bombers snuck those explosive into those houses of worship.
PAUL: You know the calendar says spring. Have you even looked at that? What's it look like outside your window? This perhaps? Several inches of snow, ice and freezing fog. We're so sorry. We're just so sorry. We hope that it gets better for you.
BLACKWELL: Yes, because we're hoping spring speeds it up. Everybody's waiting for it.
PAUL: Goodness. You'd think so.
BLACKWELL: Good morning. Good to be with you. I'm Victor Blackwell.
PAUL: And I'm Christi Paul. Always so grateful for your company.
BLACKWELL: Let's start with this, this morning. All new. Chaos at the New Orleans airport. Travelers sent scrambling. A police shoot a man threatening TSA agents with a machete. Now, this incident started with 62-year-old Richard White stormed through a security checkpoint, confronting a TSA agent and spraying him with wasp spray.
PAUL: We're told this was a really dramatic scene. One agent fought White and his machete back with a - a piece of luggage. A police officer opened fire then and shot him in the leg, the chest, and the face. CNN's Shasta Darlington is following this story for us.
So, Shasta, what do we know about this incident as a whole this morning? Where do things stand?
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you can imagine it really disrupted life at that airport. There were moments of absolute panic for security but also for the passengers who literally had to duck for cover. They just had to run for cover. Watch this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See your I.D.
DARLINGTON (voice-over): A chaotic scene at New Orleans Armstrong International Airport as an injured TSA officer is wheeled away on a stretcher. After police say a machete-wielding man, who also used wasp spray, attacked security staff at a concourse checkpoint.
NEWELL NORMAND, JEFFERSON PARISH SHERIFF: He walked down the TSA pre- line, encountered the TSA officer who was checking the boarding passes with the scanning machine to be scanned. He was challenged at that point in time by the TSA officer. The response was, he pulled a can of wasp spray and strayed the officer in the face.
DARLINGTON: Police say the suspect, identified at 62-year-old Richard White, then encountered two more TSA agents and started swing a machete. The incident apparently continued through the security area until the suspect was shoot three times by a Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputy. White is taken to an area hospital where he underwent surgery. Police say a shot from sheriff's deputy also hit a TSA officer who was being chased by the suspect. Her injury was not life-threatening. The incident sent passengers and airport workers scrambling to safety and closed the airport for a short time. Police do not have a motive in the attack.
NORMAND: We don't know whether or not this individual was a member of the traveling public. We suspect not. He has been a taxi driver. He's recently received a chauffeurs license, has little or no criminal history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DARLINGTON: Now, the investigation is ongoing, but according to the sheriff and security experts, it looks like what we're seeing here is an isolated incident by an unstable individual. But these were terrifying moments for the people who were there. On the one hand, you had this man wildly swinging a machete. As you mentioned, one of the TSA agents had to defend himself with a piece of luggage. But then, of course, to bring him down, they started firing bullets. So just absolutely terrifying for anybody who is at the airport at that time. Now, the airport officials say they expect Concourse B to be up and running normally today and the rest of the airport has been secured.
PAUL: All right. Shasta Darlington, we appreciate the update. Thank you so much.
BLACKWELL: All right, the latest details now on the terror attack in Yemen. ISIS is claiming to be behind the deadly blast that ripped through two mosques killing 137 people. The message says that these attacks are just the tip of an iceberg and more will follow. We have to add that CNN cannot independently verify the legitimacy of these claims. Let's go now to CNN's senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh for more.
Nick. NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Christi, today the terrible task of burying those dozen of dead begins across Yemen, particularly in the capital of Sanaa. And Saudi Arabia, their powerful neighbor to the north, has offered medical aid for those hundreds of injured still being treated and surely the overstretched hospitals of the capital.
[07:05:03] The key question many are asking now is, of course, what next but most importantly, who did this? The key potential prime suspect for an attack like this, a multiple suicide bombing where one blast hits the main crowd and the second blast hits those who rush to rescue, that happened at both mosque's during the busiest time of Friday, yesterday (ph). The key question, the key suspect would normally be al Qaeda, but al Qaeda have said it was not them and they would not target crowds or gathering like that.
Those who have come forward to claim responsibility are ISIS. And that's sparked some confusion because they're not known to have a particularly powerful presence in Yemen, dozens of militants potentially. They have made statements. Those militants have asked for - and made an oath to allegiance to the ISIS leader that was accepted. But they haven't seemed to be that capable in the past months or so. If they are behind this and some signs suggest that maybe actually be the case now, that would mark a terrifying new chapter in Yemen's history.
ISIS first having a foothold there in a country where there is already unbelievable chaos, no real government to speak of, and the beginning of a civil conflict there anyway and, of course, the potential that ISIS may be trying to push Yemen towards sectarian violence. The victims in those mosques blasts, predominately Shia from the Houthi group there. They are mostly Shia. And those carrying out the attacks, even if it's al Qaeda or ISIS Sunnis, that could replicate the Sunni Shia violence we're seeing across the Middle East. Yemen's avoided it pretty much so much. That may not be the case anymore.
Victor, Christi.
PAUL: All right, Nick Paton Walsh, we appreciate it. Thank you.
Want to talk about the terror in Tunisia now. It appears ISIS is also claiming responsibility for that attack. Now, CNN can't independently confirm the authenticity of the message, however, officials say two of the suspects did receive weapons training at camps in Libya and were activated from sleeper cells inside Tunisia.
BLACKWELL: Let's bring in Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, CNN global affairs analyst and retired Delta Force operator and commander. He joins us live from Baghdad.
Colonel, I want to actually start with the narrative that we were talking about a couple of weeks ago in Iraq. We were talking about the possible weaknesses in ISIS with the success of the Iraq forces in Tikrit. What's the significance of having these back to back with ISIS claiming responsibility in Tunisia and in Yemen?
LT. COL. JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good morning, Victor.
You know what I -- we're starting to see here especially is ISIS or deach (ph), how they call it here in the coalition, they're getting wacked pretty - pretty hard and pretty bad. The Iraq security forces are doing a very good job of, you know, destroying the ISIS threat here. What I believe we're going to start seeing is, deach or ISIS starting to realize is that they're not going be able to go toe to toe with the military and they're going to have to convert back to classic terrorism tactics of suicide bombings and attacks of soft targets throughout the region.
Victor.
BLACKWELL: So let's talk about Yemen. The concern that ISIS has taken responsibility for this attack on such a large scale, why is that just a major concern considering AQAP also in Yemen, why such a large concern for the U.S.?
REESE: Well, this kind of goes back years now, back to really what we call the father of ISIS, who was Zarkawi, who, if you remember, literally ran al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Iraq. And the problem there was, is back in '04 and '05, before he was killed, bin Laden sent a messenger by the name of Faras (ph), who special operations forces actually captured with a CD, and bin Laden told him to stop killing all the Muslims. And Zarkawi pretty much told him, buzz off. And now what we're seeing is the ISIS with Baghdadi, who was one of Zarkawi's lieutenants, is continuing to follow this. And with them spreading their terror throughout the Middle East region, it's really, you know, showing them as the poor player, as the - as they, you know, terror organization throughout the world and pushing al Qaeda down, and it's really rising them up to the top and just showing their ability to spread throughout the Middle East and put terror throughout the world right now.
BLACKWELL: So, with this competition for global jihad superiority between al Qaeda and ISIS, al Qaeda quickly came out with a statement denying responsibility for this, saying it's inconsistent with their guidelines. Do you expect that there will be some large scale al Qaeda attack in the region to try to one up ISIS?
REESE: Yes, that's my concern now. The problem is that the leadership of these organizations are egomaniacs and they literally vie for the publication. They vie for the propaganda out there. And, fortunately I believe the good people of the world, whether they're Muslims, Christians, Europe or ourselves in the U.S., we get caught in the middle of these egomaniacs who are trying to one up each other for the propaganda throughout the media and throughout the world, unfortunately.
[07:10:10] BLACKWELL: All right, Lieutenant Colonel Reese joining us live from Baghdad, thank you so much.
REESE: Yes, sir.
PAUL: Well, talks have recessed, but is a nuclear deal with Iran within reach? We're waiting to hear from Secretary of State John Kerry. You're looking at a live picture here from Switzerland. We're going to bring you his remarks as soon as he steps up to that podium you see there.
BLACKWELL: Plus, old man winter on his way out the door, leaves a few sprinkles of snowflakes for people up in the Northeast.
PAUL: A few?
BLACKWELL: Yes, we're talking inches here. We'll have more on the new snowstorm affecting millions across the northeast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: All right, 13 minutes after the hour now.
We are waiting to hear from Secretary of State John Kerry. A live look here at pictures of the podium at Lausanne, Switzerland.
PAUL: Kerry is expected to speak there really at any moment, and we'll bring that to you when it happens.
Just moments ago, though, Iran's president stated that a deal with international powers on Iran's nuclear program is within reach and achievable. The latest round of talks just wrapping up. They're going to resume again on Wednesday. But let's go to CNN's Erin McPike. She's at the White House.
Erin, what are you hearing from there?
ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christi, John Kerry, this weekend, is briefing his counterparts, his British, German and French counterparts on his latest intensive talks with Iran. And while there is renewed momentum for a deal, there's still no guarantee they can get one done in the next 10 days.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're recessing (INAUDIBLE).
MCPIKE (voice-over): John Kerry say the U.S. and Iran plan to reconvene in Switzerland next week to try to put the finishing touches on the outline of a potential nuclear deal.
KERRY: We made a lot of progress, yes, here.
MCPIKE: With the deadline just 10 days away, Iran's foreign minister accessed that process.
[07:15:03] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the deal is possible any time. It depends on the political (INAUDIBLE) it's a political victory to each one (ph).
MCPIKE: He warned on Twitter, "it's time for the U.S. and its allies to give a little to get a deal done." Major differences remain. In a last ditch effort, President Obama made his own appeal to the Iranian people, warning no deal would make their conditions under western sanctions even worse.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iran's leaders have a choice between two paths. If they cannot agree to a reasonable deal, they will keep Iran on the path it's on today. A path that has isolated Iran and the Iranian people from so much of the world, caused so much hardship for Iranian families and deprived so many young Iranians the jobs and opportunities they deserve.
MCPIKE: The allies and Iran are still working on such issues as how long a deal would last, a system for verifying Iran is complying with the measures put in place and not secretly developing a nuclear weapon and when those tough sanctions against them would end.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president believes, and I think with some justification, that we need to see the Iranians demonstrate some sustained commitment to implementing the agreement before we talk about removing all the sanctions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCPIKE: There is still stern opposition in Congress, mostly from Republicans, but also from some Democrats. However, that said, the Senate did delay a vote on requiring congressional approval on anything that President Obama decides to do until mid-April, so they are giving the White House some breathing room on this deal, Christi.
PAUL: All right. Hey, Erin McPike, thank you so much. We appreciate it.
BLACKWELL: First day of spring? Naa, not so much.
PAUL: I don't know, you look at this picture and tell us.
BLACKWELL: Doesn't look like it from this shot. Just ahead, we'll see who got nearly five inches of snow.
Plus, a medical miracle. A toddler in Pennsylvania lives after going 101 minutes -
PAUL: Minutes.
BLACKWELL: Really?
PAUL: Yes. Yes.
BLACKWELL: I wanted to make sure I read that right.
PAUL: Yes.
BLACKWELL: One hundred and one minutes without a heartbeat. Her story is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:20:42] BLACKWELL: Twenty minutes after the hour now. Let's take a look at other stories developing this morning. Officials say it could be weeks before the investigation into the
violent arrest of a black University of Virginia student is complete. Public safety secretary Brian Moran asked students for their patience at a recent town hall event.
PAUL: National outcry erupted, remember, after this video surfaced showing uniformed alcohol control agents arresting 20-year-old Martese Johnson. Now Johnson suffered a bloody face and needed 10 stitches. He has since been readmitted to the hospital over concerns of head swelling. We're going to have much more on this story coming up in the next hour, so do stay close.
BLACKWELL: Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of the late Whitney Houston and singer Bobby Brown, has been moved from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta to a rehab facility in the area, although sources close to the family say her condition has not changed. Bobbi Kristina Brown has been in a medically induced coma since being found unresponsive in her bathtub in January.
PAUL: Oh, people, this story is just - it is unbelievable.
BLACKWELL: It is.
PAUL: I mean I'm not throwing that word around here. Doctors in Pennsylvania calling it a miracle after a toddler was able to come back to life after not having a pulse for more than 101 minutes. Not seconds, minutes. Twenty-two-month-old Gardell Martin, in his backyard playing with his brothers, somehow fell into an icy stream near his home and was swept away. Well, a neighbor found the boy half an hour later, lifeless, face down, 34-degree water, rushed to the hospital. Doctors say he had no signs of life. He was in a hypothermic state. The boy's body was slowly warmed and his pulse and heart rate returned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew there was help on the way. And, yes, I just gathered the rest of the children around me and we prayed. I just cannot thank him enough. We feel very unworthy and very grateful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Doctors say they'll continue to monster the toddler, but at this point there's ever indication he's going to make a full recovery. Apparently the hypothermia actually helped kind of keep his organs going there.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
PAUL: Hey, listen, we want to take you to John Kerry, who is in Lausanne, Switzerland, right now, talk about nuclear capabilities of Iran and the progress on those talks.
JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: And we appreciate their hospitality, of course, for hosting all of you and making this the headquarters, the international headquarters for the press during the course of these negotiations.
I also want to thank particularly the Swiss government. I'd like to thank DJ Burkholter (ph) for his personal, generous welcome to me each time that we've come here, and I'm very grateful for the enormous effort of the municipalities, Geneva, Montra (ph), Lausanne. They've become a very special part of this negotiating process. And we thank the citizens who have put up with any disruptions of our presence and we're grateful for their hospitality. They've been enormously generous. And, of course, Switzerland itself is known for its deep dedication to the resolution of complicated, global issues. And they're always contributing.
Also I want to thank my colleagues, Energy Secretary Moniz, who's spent more time here than he thought he was going to. And I particularly thank Undersecretary Wendy Sherman and an extraordinary team of international diplomats and expert teams, all the members of the teams of the P5 plus one, all of the political directors who have been here in daily meetings, briefings, consultations. All of this has been going on tirelessly for many months on these negotiations.
And I want to acknowledge the Iranian foreign minister, Zarif, and Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, and the rest of the Iranian team for approaching these talks with seriousness, a purpose and the willingness to commit very long hours to work through what are very complicated issues.
[07:24:58] I am returning home today to Washington, stopping in London to coordinate with our European counterparts from the P5 plus one, specifically the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Germany and France and the high representative of the European Union.
I spoke by telephone yesterday with the Foreign Minister Lavrov of Russia and with Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China and I want to emphasis from the beginning, and I've said this in every public statement I've ever made, this is and remains a P5 plus one negotiation with Iran. And I emphasize, we are united in our goal, our approach, our resolve and our determination to ensure that Iran's program entirely peaceful. The European Union has continued to play a pivotal role in facilitating the talks and I thank E.U. High Representative Mogherini and her deputy, Helgo Schmidt (ph), who was here with us in Lausanne participating in our meetings.
Over the last few days, I've had lengthy negotiations with the Iranian team about the steps that Iran must take to demonstrate that its nuclear program now and ongoing into the future is exclusively for peaceful purposes. Over the past months, the P5 plus one have made substantial progress towards that fundamental goal, though important gaps remain. In London, we will share ideas this evening about how to resolve the remaining sticking points, as I did yesterday on the telephone with Foreign Minister Lavrov and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. We will coordinate our strategies, as we have, and as we approach the end of the March deadline to reach an understanding on the major issues. And those of us meeting tonight will then return to our respective capitals for consultations before coming back to Lausanne next week to determine whether or not an agreement is possible. I want to emphasize, in my conversations with Foreign Minister Zarif,
and indeed over the last 16 months since the joint plan of action took effect, we have made genuine process. We have all kept the commitments that we made in the joint plan and we have all lived up to our obligation. We have worked long and hard to achieve a comprehensive agreement that resolves international concerns about Iran's nuclear program. The stakes are high and the issues are complicated, highly technical, and all interrelated.
Once again, let me also be clear, we don't want just any deal. If we had, we could have announced something a long time ago. And clearly since the joint plan of action was agreed, we are not rushing. This has been a two and a half year or more process, but we recognize that fundamental decisions have to be made now, and they don't get any easier as time goes by. It is time to make hard decisions. We want the right deal that would make the world, including the United States and our closest allies and partners, safer and more secure. And that is our test.
President Obama has been clear that the best way to achieve that security, that safety, is through a comprehensive and durable agreement that all parties are committed to upholding and whose implementation is not based on trust, but it is based on intensive verification on the ability to know and understand what is happening. So in the days ahead, we will stay at this. We will continue to exercise the judgment and the patience to defend our interests, to uphold our core principals and maintain our sense of urgency. We have not yet reached the finish line, but make no mistake, we have the opportunity to try to get this right. It's a matter of political will and tough decision making. It's a matter of choices and we must all choose wisely in the days ahead.
[07:30:00] Thank you and we'll see you next week.
PAUL: All right. So something interesting there as he talks about that certainly there have been lengthy conversations, the stakes are high, it's complicated, they're committed to making this work. But one of the things he said stood out to me. He said important gaps remain. And that counters what the Iran president, Hassan Rouhani, said earlier today to the media, saying, "a nuclear deal with the U.S. is within reach and achievable. But while Iran is ready to sign, the ultimate choice is up to the U.S. and its allies when all issues are resolved." So Iran seems to be giving this impression that they're ready to sign.
BLACKWELL: A lot more optimistic. Yes.
PAUL: They're ready to go. But then we hear from the secretary of state just moments ago who was saying, important gaps remain here.
BLACKWELL: Yes, Secretary Kerry headed back to the U.S. He said he's going to make a stop in London, speak with the representatives of Germany, the U.K., France, also having conversations with the foreign ministers from Russia and China. The permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations, including the EU representative we spoke about there. And then he's going to be back in Lausanne next week to see if they can finalize this deal with Iran. We'll continue to bring you the latest as we get reaction to what we're hearing from Secretary Kerry. Again, repeating that phrase of substantial process has been made, but important gaps remain.
Let's check on other stop stories this morning. Time now, 7:31 on the East Coast.
Police shot a man armed with a machete and bug spray after he attacked TSA agents at the New Orleans Airport.
PAUL: The Jefferson Parish sheriff says 62-year-old Richard White stormed through a security checkpoint, doused security agents in wasp spray, then threatened them with a machete.
BLACKWELL: Now, this was, obviously, a dramatic scene. You see it here. One agent fought White back with a piece of luggage, blocking that machete, while a police officer shot the suspect three times. Now, White underwent surgery at a local hospital. Right now we do not know his conditions.
PAUL: Another airport incident to talk about with you here. A report by a government watchdog unveiled what it called a quote, "significant aviation security breach" after a former member of a domestic terror group was allowed through a TSA pre-check point. The felon was spotted by an eagle-eyed agent. A supervisor cleared the security check despite the man's history. A homeland security inspector said the incident highlights the need for the agency to modify its pre-check procedures.
BLACKWELL: And while we're talking about airport security, there seems to be a glaring hole in the nation's security at the airports. Employees at airports who work on planes and handle luggage are never screen. And last year in Atlanta, a Delta employee smuggled dozens of guns on board planes all because he was not screened. Now, there are fears a lone wolf terrorist could exploit that loophole. Senior investigative reporter Drew Griffin shows us why the Homeland Security department is scrambling now to close that gap.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER (voice-over): Fifty- four thousand employees at Los Angeles International Airport report to work without mandatory bag checks, no body screening and literally hundreds of doors like this one where a badge and a code gets you right on to the tarmac. Think that's scary? Put yourself in the shoes of L.A.'s airport police chief Patrick Gannon.
GRIFFIN (on camera): I've got to ask you about the lone wolf scenario because right now what you have in place with hundreds of access doors and the screening you go through, there is really -- it doesn't appear to me, to be protection against the lone wolf scenario.
CHIEF PATRICK GANNON, LOS ANGELES AIRPORT POLICE: When you say lone wolf, are you talking about somebody -- a lone wolf that has access to the -- talking about has (ph) credentialed employees?
GRIFFIN: That guy right there, that just walked in with a -- with a backpack, with a mug. We don't know what's in his backpack. We don't know what's in his mug. And we don't know what is in his heart or in his head.
GANNON: That's correct.
GRIFFIN: Does that concern you?
GANNON: It concerns me all the -- all the time. With 54,000 badged employees that work in a large airport like this, there is no way that you are going to have the ability to screen every single person that comes to work in the airport.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): L.A. tries to minimize the risk by maximizing random checks like this one. Airport workers never know exactly when or where spot checks could occur. Employees also face background checks, yearly updates and a system built around everyone watching out for anyone who might seem suspicious. But Chief Gannon admits nothing is foolproof.
GRIFFIN (on camera): As we've been at airports across the country, we have not really seen anything that could prevent what Atlanta went through, which was guns being smuggled onto airplanes.
GANNON: No, I agree. I agree. And that in any -- in any airport throughout the United States and here also, there is never a 100 percent guarantee that somebody couldn't, who wanted to do something illegal or wrong, couldn't make that happen.
[07:35:10] GRIFFIN (voice-over): What happened in Atlanta is causing a reaction at airports across the country. And you can see why. These are guns. Guns smuggled on to as many as 20 flights by one Delta Airline baggage handler. That baggage handler took the guns to work in a backpack, which was never screened. The motive for the crime, pure profit, selling the guns in northeast cities. But Atlanta Hartsfield- Jackson's general manager, Miguel Southwell, testified to a congressional committee the real danger the gun running exposed is the threat of potential terrorism.
MIGUEL SOUTHWELL, GENERAL MANAGER, ATLANTA HARTSFIELD-JACKSON: In the last six months, for example, we have started to see that people are being recruited to engage in terrorist acts, people being recruited from the United States. So now we have a greater insider threat.
GRIFFIN: Atlanta is moving towards full airport employee screening, but it hasn't happened yet. A CNN investigation found that only two major U.S. airports, Miami and Orlando, conduct full employee screening, requiring employees to pass through metal detectors, just like passengers. Airports say moving toward full employee screening would simply be too costly and too time consuming for airport workers to wait in line like you and I. But some members of Congress just aren't buying that, demanding the Department of Homeland Security review employee screening policies to make sure airports aren't leaving a door open to a possible disaster. Drew Griffin, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: So Drew has outlined the problem there. What is the solution? Well, the Department of Homeland Security says it really does not have an answer yet. They are aware of the issue, but they say that solving it by requiring every employee to be screened like passengers, well, that would come with a huge price tag.
PAUL: A rap mogul collapses in court. Still to come, what caused this scene during a hearing for Suge Knight? Was it his $25 million bail set by the judge? Joey Jackson joins us to talk about this and more. Stay close.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:41:25] BLACKWELL: Rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight is in a Los Angeles jail hospital ward after he collapsed at a bail hearing yesterday.
PAUL: Yes, Knight bent over in his chair, this was in the courtroom, moments after the judge set his bail at $25 million. You can see here how deputies rushed over to him.
BLACKWELL: Now, Knight has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder after allegedly running over two men in January. CNN's Stephanie Elam has more on the case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Suge Knights' current troubles are all captured on this surveillance video taken in January and obtained by TMZ. Knight, driving the red pickup, had gotten into his truck after an argument with two associates, Cle "Bone" Sloan and Terry Carter. The argument continues as Knight begins to drive. And watch what happens. The truck reverses, striking Sloan before changing directions and running over the man again. The truck then hits Terry Carter and leaves the scene.
DARCELL CARROWAY, VICTIM'S FRIEND: I seen Suge Knight turn around and go to his car, backed his car up and then he put it in drive and then he hitter Terry Carter.
ELAM: Knights' attorneys say he was acting in self-defense.
JAMES E. BLATT, KNIGHT'S FORMER ATTORNEY: There are witnesses that indicate that Mr. Knight was being attacked by a number of men, that they were beating him through the car window, that he was making an effort to leave.
ELAM: When Knight arrived for questioning and was ultimately booked on suspension of murder, he seemed cool and collected, even stopping to put out his cigar before entering the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. But since he's been in custody, Knight's facade seems to have lost some of his swagger. He's collapsed in court not once but on two separate occasions. The first time, February 3rd, after he pleaded not guilty. The 49-year-old was taken to the hospital complaining of chest pains. While in court another time, Knight said he's blind in one eye and has only 15 percent vision in the other. His lawyer says blindness in his left eye, a result of glaucoma, put the victims in his blind spot. The second time he collapsed, after a judge set his bail.
JUDGE RONALD COEN, L.A. SUPERIOR COURT: The defendant has a great potential to flee and apparently has to in the past. In this court's opinion, $25 million is reasonable and it is so set.
ELAM: $25 million to get free on bond. Several minutes after hearing that, Knight dropped to the floor.
MATTHEW FLETCHER, KNIGHT'S ATTORNEY: Mr. Knight literally fell like someone pulled the switch, hit his head on the way down and he was unconscious.
ELAM: Yet charges of violence are nothing new for Knight, who went to jail in the late 1990s and again in 2003 for violating probation and assault charges.
ELAM (on camera): As for the defense for Suge Knight, I spoke to one of his lawyers who says, first of all, they do believe that it was an accident, but they also say the blindness in his left eye is really key here because if you remember that video, you can see that the two men are on the left-hand side of the vehicle. They're saying that Knight was just trying to flee the scene and couldn't see where the two men were standing. And if he didn't know they were there, he couldn't actually target them to kill them.
Stephanie Elam, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: All right, you've seen the video. I know you've got some questions about this. But let me tell you something, HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson has something to say about it too and he's joining us in just a moment. Stay close.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:48:12] PAUL: So we've been talking about this $25 million bail that was set by the judge in Suge Knight's case and here he is collapsing in court when he hears that happening. Let's talk to HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson.
So, Joey, here's the thing, and I'm wondering if we can please play the tape again as well of the incident in question. Suge Knight -- not this -- of the car and the surveillance video that was outside when he was -- when he ran over this person. $25 million, Joey. Do you think that is fair? Is that high for a case like this? What do you think?
JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, good morning, Christi.
Generally speaking, when a person is charged with a murder, you get what's called remanded. And remanded means, Christi, that there is no bail. So even the fact that there's $25 million, you can look at this and you can say, oh, it's excessive, it's violative (ph) of the Eighth Amendment, excessive fines. But at the same time, as a standard matter, there are some states certainly that would set bail and that bail you would expect to be very high when there's a murder involved, an attempted murder allegation, a leaving the scene when a person is injured and dead. And so remember the charges are serious.
And also remember this. Whenever a judge sets bail, Christi, there's a number of criteria that they use. Like what? The nature of the offense, the seriousness of the offensive, the prior criminal history of the defendant. If any in this case we know that, you know, there's a significant criminal history. And as a result of that, the judge also looks at a possible flight risk -- excuse me. And, of course, here, the district attorney was speaking to the issue of potential intimidation of other witnesses. And so in light of that, the judge felt it was appropriate to say, listen, I'll give you bail, I'll give you bail, but it will be at $25 million. If you can't make it, you remain in custody.
[07:50:10] PAUL: OK, so Knight's attorney thinks it's unreasonable, obviously, and accused the prosecutor of watching too much "Empire" on TV. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT FLETCHER, "SUGE" KNIGHT'S ATTORNEY: Under statute he's entitled to a reasonable bail that's excessive. There is no showing that Mr. Knight is some billionaire or millionaire. It's like she watches "Empire" and comes in and says he's an unrepentant and shameless criminal. Prosecute him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: What do you think of him bringing up the hit TV show?
JACKSON: Listen, we lawyers try to get very creative in front of judges, you know, Christi. Sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn't. But at the end of the day, all cases come down to a victim. And in the event that Mr. Knight, he, of course, alleges self-defense. And if that is borne out, then, of course, he'll be free to go. There will be a trial. He'll get his due process, which is notice of the allegation and the right to be heard.
PAUL: Right.
JACKSON: And after a trial, in the event that a jury buys that it was self-defense, he'll walk out the door.
PAUL: OK.
JACKSON: But to the extent that there's a victim who's dead, you have to look out for that.
PAUL: Well, and you just mentioned it, self-defense. This is something that stood out to -- both Victor and I looked at each other like, what?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
PAUL: When we were listening to this package because Suge Knight claims that he's blind in his left eye and he has 15 percent vision in the other and that that contributed to this. He thought he was just taking -- he didn't realize he was running over somebody. Joey, if the you've got -- if you're blind in one eye and 15 percent vision in another, how are you even legally driving?
JACKSON: Ah-ha, that's a very good point and one that the jury, I'm sure at the time of trial, will be asking. And ultimately, even if that is the case, and, you know, again, he'll have his defense in court and potentially he could say that he was under attack, he was invited there, that is at the location of that alleged crime -- under false pretenses. They were attempting to rob him. He was attempting to leave. As a result of attempting to leave, he hit them. So that could potentially be his defense.
However, the prosecution, Christi, in looking at that video will say, he backed up, had every opportunity to flee, to leave, and to be out of harm's way. But he did not. He then proceeded forward, hitting one, killing them, Mr. Carter that is, and injuring the other. And so it's something the defense is going to have to look at.
Last point, and that is the defense can also say, hey, look, my client, that is Suge Knight, believed that these guys were armed and dangerous. If he would have just continued to take off and leave, he could have been a sitting duck, an open target that would be free to be shot upon, so he had to come back in the way that he did to protect and defend his life. So we'll see how that plays out in court. But on the issue of bail, someone is dead, he should remain in custody so says the judge until it's all sorted out by a jury of his peers.
PAUL: All right. Joey, always appreciate your insight, sir. Thank you so much.
JACKSON: A pleasure, Christi. Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Well, you know what time of year it is. If the calendar says March, it's madness going on. Highlights of the upsets, the bracket busters that really prevented an NCAA tournament history.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:56:30] PAUL: Another big March Madness upset did not just break hearts and bust brackets, it prevented NCAA tournament history.
BLACKWELL: Yes, CNN's Coy Wire joins us now with more.
One game away from setting a new record.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Yes, one game away. Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams 30 years ago, there has never been a day where all 16 higher rank teams won. Yesterday it was close. There were 15 games played where the higher ranked team won and then the one upset on the last game of the night, it was a good one. It was number 11 Dayton. They only have six players on scholarship. Not one is taller than 6'6". But they play like a bunch of pit bulls on Red Bull against the six seed Providence.
BLACKWELL: (INAUDIBLE).
WIRE: The Flyers, they are playing with hustle and muscle. Even got under the skin of Providence's coach, Ed Cooley. Check this out. He said, I'm going to flip this chair. I don't care. Well, the official did care. He slapped him with a technical foul. After that, it got away from them. Dayton pulled away from Providence, 66-53, advanced to the round of 32. We have people going crazy here in the studios, some Dayton fans.
Now, other than that upset, it was a pretty tame day yesterday. We -- on Thursday, though, it was different. We had the close calls. So we actually witnessed a new NCAA tournament record. Five one-point games in one day. There was a bracket busters too (ph) the upset, but the one that everyone's talking about, Georgia State.
Check this out. Head Coach Ron Hunter led the squad from a chair. He had a torn Achilles. But he got height, especially when this happened. Bam.
PAUL: Oh.
WIRE: Yes, Christi, that's his son, RJ, hit the game-winning three on Thursday to upset Baylor. Knocked him --
PAUL: Look at him.
WIRE: Yes, knocked him right out of his chair. But coach doesn't care. He says, you know what, I have to get a new cast, the doctor is going to have to fix me up again, but it was all worth it. I wouldn't change one second of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON HUNTER, GEORGIA STATE HEAD COACH: This has been -- this has been an interesting, interesting week. We're winning, I'm getting banged up. I'm getting cut on. I'm getting everything. The players are absolutely just killing me with all this right now. I'm rolling around in a -- not even a wheelchair, in a scooter that's half broken. It's just been an interesting week, but I -- I won't trade this for the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Cinderella story in the making. Now, Kentucky's march to perfection continues this afternoon. The Wildcats are now 35-0 on the season. They're the tournament's top overall seed. And if they run the table, they'll be the first team to finish with a perfect season since Indiana in 1976. Can anyone beat them? Well, the next team in their path is the number eight seed Cincinnati Bearcats.
How about other games though? What else do we have going on? The action tips off at 12:10 Eastern on CBS with underdogs UCLA and UAB. Kentucky and Cincy at 2:40 Eastern. Xavier and Georgia State, I'll be watching that one for sure, that's at 6:10. Now you can watch the games all day and into the night on our Turner Sports sister stations, TBS and TNT.
And, guys, I checked this out. Victor, you're currently in sixth place in the CNN standings with 24 points.
BLACKWELL: I'll take it.
WIRE: Christi, eight place with 23. You're one point behind. You're both crushing me, though.
BLACKWELL: Where are you?
PAUL: Oh, really?
WIRE: We'll just talk about later (ph).
BLACKWELL: Wait, you didn't get a chance to get that number? You didn't get a chance to get that number?
WIRE: We couldn't -- we just couldn't find it on there.
BLACKWELL: All right.
PAUL: Coy, thank you. It's always so good to have you here.
BLACKWELL: Thank you.
WIRE: You're welcome, guys.
BLACKWELL: Hey, we've got a lot going on this morning. A busy morning of news.
PAUL: Yes, the next hour of your NEW DAY starts right now.
[08:00:03] BLACKWELL: Chaos at the airport. Armed with a machete and wasp spray, a man goes on the attack in New Orleans. Passengers forced to flee and cops are forced to shoot.
