Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Suspected Terror Attack In London; Continuing Coverage Of Devastation In Moore, Oklahoma; Mountaineers Turn Into Storm Volunteers

Aired May 22, 2013 - 15:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I know you said there have been surprising twists and turns. I don't know if this is a development we had anticipated, nor had perhaps that judge.

Ashleigh Banfield for us in Phoenix. Ashleigh, thank you.

I want to take you back to our special coverage here in Moore, Oklahoma, also, in just a moment.

But, first, we are getting a lot of new information about the suspected terror attack in London, including gruesome video of this suspect, knives in hand, bloodied, talking straight into the camera.

More on that breaking story, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. I want to take you back to our special coverage of the tornado and the aftermath in Moore, Oklahoma, in just a moment.

But first, to London where the British government is holding this emergency meeting, responding to this absolutely bizarre and deadly suspected terror attack.

Look at this video here because this is the bizarre part of the story. This is YouTube video, apparently showing the incident, which started when this British soldier was brutally murdered in the streets.

But now we know two other men, possibly his attackers, have been shot by police.

Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is joining me live in London.

This is the bizarre part, the incredibly gruesome part, Nic, because we have this on-camera statement from the suspect. Let me just play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I apologize that women had to witness this today, but in our land, our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government. They don't care about you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Here he is, left hand, wielding some knives, machetes, bloodied, and this is a portion of what was filmed after the slaying of the soldier.

I understand we actually have the full statement. Tell me what more this man said, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was clearly premeditated that they were going to murder this -- knock this man down, murder him with meat cleavers and then turn to the people who were standing by, the eyewitnesses, ask them to record this message on their cell phones, knowing they were going to be taken away.

This is cold blooded, clearly premeditated, and this is what he said whether he got those people who saw this horrific act happen to record it on the camera.

He said, "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you until you leave, until you leave our lands. This British -- until you leave our lands. The only reason we killed this man is because you are killing people in our lands. This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

They also went on to say, "We apologize that women had to see this today, but in our land, women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government. They don't care about you."

That was preplanned, premeditated. They knew that by chance there would be eyewitnesses there. They knew they would be able to record this on their cell phones.

It takes this type of attack to a new -- whole new level. The attack in itself, Brooke, so bloody, it really has people here shocked right now.

BALDWIN: And, Nic, in listening to him, there he is, addressing the camera, his words, his accent. Is there anything about his accent that strikes you?

ROBERSTON: It sounds like a British accent, but it is difficult -- it would be difficult really to say more than that at this time.

After the meeting here that was known as the "Cobra Meeting," this top-level security meeting, which happens behind me at Number Ten Downing Street, the prime minister's house here, in what is the equivalent, the British equivalent of the White House's situation room, when we asked the question, were these men from Britain or not, the official we spoke to didn't want to answer that question. He guided us away from it. But what we do know is that after this meeting they said that they're going to increase the security outside the Woolwich barracks where this incident took place in southeast London.

Not only that, the army is going to increase security at all military bases inside London.

It gives the impression that the army and security services are concerned that there could be the potential for another type of attack, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Can't imagine the fear in London tonight. Nic Robertson, thank you so much on this what is now being called a suspected terrorist incident from the prime minister, his own words.

Back here in Moore, Oklahoma, this city's hospital destroyed, and CNN's doctor or chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta talked to the E.R. doctor in charge here. He'll join me live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back here. You're watching special coverage. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

And I should point out, where I've been standing for the last two hours here is right in front of what was the Moore Medical Center. This is the main hospital here in Moore.

And as you can see, it was clearly in the tornado's path. Let me show you what the hospital looks like. I can tell you, though, that all patients inside are OK.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta talked with the E.R. doctor in charge when this tornado slammed them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You were the E.R. doc on call in a hospital that was in the middle of one of the biggest tornados in U.S. history and everybody did well inside your hospital.

How do you feel about that today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think it's hit me really. And I don't -- I still just can't feel like I can take any credit for that. I just -- like you said, I was just doing my job and knew what I had to do.

But I can't even imagine. I can't even -- you know, it is very emotional because I'm, like, wow, everybody was, you know, did get out.

But, yeah, I -- words can't even describe, you know, how I feel and, like I said, I do keep getting a lot of thank-yous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Dr. Gupta joins me now.

It is amazing. Here she is, just doing my job, incredibly humble.

GUPTA: Yeah, she is. She's 34-years-old. I think I expected sort of a hardened trauma surgeon, you know, when I heard about the person who essentially not only made sure everybody stayed alive during this, but as I understand, no one even had a scratch on them.

They got about a 10-minute notice before they called what is called a Code Black, which means everyone gets into the center of the hospital, what you would expect. She's sort of coordinating that, but also doing things like throwing mattresses and blankets over their heads because shrapnel injuries are such a concern here. You want to protect the head as much as possible.

And, at the same time, she has to think about evacuating these patients now. There's still potential twisters in the area at the time.

She also sets up a triage area outside in the parking lot, because this hospital is obviously no longer functioning, to take care of other injured patients.

And this is happening within a few minutes. If there is one of the feel-good stories, all of those patients and staff members did well. They all survived.

BALDWIN: It's incredible to hear how people leapt into action, and I guess when I think of the patients who she then removed, where are they all now?

GUPTA: There's a few different hospitals in the area, part of Norman Regional, it's called, but there is also a level-one trauma center -- that's the highest level trauma center -- about 10 minutes away in Oklahoma City.

So I think there were 20 patients that were admitted to that hospital that came from differing areas, including from this hospital who were already in-patients here.

So they had places to go, but, again, you're at the same time evacuating patients, potentially putting your own health care workers at risk.

BALDWIN: And you're thinking about yourself maybe for a half second.

GUPTA: A half second, right. She called her husband three hours later, she told me. He was obviously worried, seeing the images of the hospital where she was working, and he was doing fine as well. So it ended well for them.

BALDWIN: I like a feel-good story, despite what we're seeing around here.

Sanjay, thank you so much for sharing her story with you.

And, if you would like to help -- I know so many of you would like to help the good people of Moore, Oklahoma -- just visit our Impact Your World page. That is CNN.com/impact.

Coming up next, a college team from West Virginia came to Oklahoma to play a little ball in a tournament, but they ended up becoming storm volunteers instead.

They will join me live and, what they have done to help, it's tremendous, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, got some ballplayers with me here in Moore, Oklahoma. We have Brady Wilson and Jacob Rice, two outfielders with the West Virginia Mountaineers baseball team. Their coach, Randy Mazey, here with me as well.

The Mountaineers had come to Oklahoma for the Big 12 conference, the tournament here in town, when the tornado had hit Monday, and they quickly leapt into action.

You're from Tulsa. Let me just begin with you. You're from Tulsa. You know tornadoes, but have you ever seen anything like this?

JACOB RICE, WEST VIRGINIA BASEBALL PLAYER: No, this is pretty crazy. We drove past it yesterday. Just seeing everything was pretty unreal, but actually being here, it's a different story.

BALDWIN: So here you are, you're just here, thinking you're going to play baseball, and then suddenly this thing hits and it levels so much of where we're standing right now.

Whose idea was it to help?

RANDY MAZEY, WEST VIRGINIA BASEBALL COACH: Well, actually, we were all sitting around, watching everything unfold live on television like everybody was, but we were so close. I think, at one point, it was four or five miles from us.

So we were watching on television and look out the window and television and window, just to make sure it wasn't coming our direction.

And as soon as it ended, Brady actually texted me and said, Coach, is there anything we can do?

So we tried to round the whole team up and get the bus into Moore to just, you know, help, any way we could, and they wouldn't let us in.

And just watching it on TV, you see the funnel cloud, but you can't see the bottom hundred feet of the destruction until you see the aftermath.

BALDWIN: Right.

MAZEY: So when we saw the aftermath, that's when Brady texted me and said, can we do anything?

So we -- when we couldn't get into town, we did everything we could. We took the team up to Wal-Mart, and gave everybody a shopping cart and told them to fill it up.

BALDWIN: So you grabbed a shopping cart. You're in Wal-Mart. What, this, the Wal-Mart right around the corner from here?

BRADY WILSON, WEST VIRGINIA BASEBALL PLAYER: In Oklahoma City.

BALDWIN: So you go to Wal-Mart. So it's just -- I'm trying to picture this. It's the whole team with shopping carts. What are you throwing in the carts?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clothes, mainly clothes. We weren't really sure when we were able to pass everything out. We weren't really sure about the food and stuff. So mainly just clothes and supplies that can help people out like flashlights or stuff like that.

BALDWIN: How many carts did you fill?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we shared two for each person, so ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had about 40 guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About 40 guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had about 20 carts.

BALDWIN: Twenty carts? That costs a little bit. This is out of who's pockets?

MAZEY: You know, we have a fundraising organization that we raise money for West Virginia baseball, and the people who have actually donated throughout the year they don't really know this, but they indirectly have helped the people of Moore by donating money to our baseball program.

So at the time they were donating, they didn't know what they were donating for, but obviously everybody is really happy that it went to this cause.

BALDWIN: Have you had a chance yet to take everything that was in those 20 carts and help deliver it to some of these people in need?

MAZEY: Yeah, we did. We went to one of the shelters up in Norman where they're housing about a hundred of the families.

BALDWIN: Yeah. At O.U.

MAZEY: And we took it all up there and these guys got out and passed it out and took everything up there, which was a good feeling for these guys.

BALDWIN: What were people saying to you all?

RICE: Just pretty much, thank you. It's pretty cool seeing everyone come together like this and we just did our little part.

BALDWIN: Doing your own little part.

WILSON: Definitely. I've getting people that -- (inaudible) down here in Oklahoma (inaudible) O.U. fans saying, we're now your biggest fans. You know, we're big O.U. fans, but we're now a big fan of the Mountaineers.

So it's really nice when people really appreciate what we're doing.

BALDWIN: That is awesome.

MAZEY: The other thing, because of all the publicity that we've been getting, we've had so many people that have contacted us to find out how they can help since they know we're down here helping.

We had the managing partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Ken Kendrick, who's a West Virginia grad ...

BALDWIN: How about that?

MAZEY: When he saw what we're doing, he is going to donate a couple hundred thousand dollars for the relief efforts through West Virginia baseball and we've had, even when we were in Wal-Mart, we had people just handing us $20 at a time, say, here, here, buy something.

BALDWIN: It's incredible.

MAZEY: The good thing was these guys, we saw an actual victim of the tornado in Wal-Mart while we were shopping, somebody who had lost their home that day. So she actually, after we checked out, got to go through our carts and it was satisfying.

BALDWIN: Find some clothes and some flashlights.

Guys, thank you so much. Go, Mountaineers. Fantastic story, I appreciate it. Safe travels back to Morgantown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

MAZEY: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thanks, you guys.

And coming up, much more on our breaking news, this time out of West Point where an Army sergeant has now been charged with secretly videotaping female cadets in their showers. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: Some major and shocking developments here out of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point as we have now learned that this U.S. Army sergeant, first class, stationed there has been charged with allegedly secretly videotaping female cadets in the shower.

CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is joining me now with the details. Barbara, what? What are you learning?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Oh, Brooke, it doesn't really get more distasteful and ugly than this, does it?

The Army, after being questioned by reporters, and "The New York Times" was the first to report this, has now acknowledged today that in -- earlier in May, earlier this month, an Army sergeant, first class, at West Point who was -- had the job of training and mentoring female cadets is charged with multiple counts of allegedly secretly filming them in the shower, in latrine area.

The Army is trying to contact as many as 12 women who were female cadets there between 2009 and May, 2012, last year, while they've been identifying these photos, contact these women and let them know about this.

The charges came just a few days ago. The Army acknowledged it only when questioned by "The New York Times" by all accounts. And, you know, this embarrassment, to say the least, to the Army comes at a time when a number of high-profile sexual assault cases are causing a lot of embarrassment to the Pentagon, a lot of consternation to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who wants to crack down on all of this. Now, this case.

But here's the interesting wrinkle, Brooke. The Army has been investigating this matter for over a year, just charged the sergeant a few days ago. Can't quite explain why it took them so long.

Brooke?

BALDWIN: One year?

Barbara Starr, it's disgusting if, in fact, it is true. Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon, Barbara, thank you.

And coming up, we'll have much more, the sights and the sounds through the rubble here in the aftermath in Moore, Oklahoma.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for joining me.

Jake Tapper is up next, but first, remembering the victims.