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Questions After Arrested Man Dies; Defiant Boston Holds Second Race Since Attacks; Another Boat Capsizes, Hundreds More Feared Dead. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired April 20, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00] CUOMO: I'd never hear a story like this again. Can you believe this?

CAMEROTA: Well, this is the upside of social media. It works. And it makes her have this great party. It's wonderful.

CUOMO: Well, I mean --

CAMEROTA: Feels great.

CUOMO: We all have young kids. The idea that nobody shows up to the party for this kid.

BERMAN: Heartbreaking.

CUOMO: I just -- I mean you got to search yourselves. No, that school in Minnesota, you got to search yourselves about what decisions you made there. But thank God the right thing was done by both of these kids. So good for you, Mackenzie. Happy birthday.

CAMEROTA: Let us know what you think about this. You can find us on Twitter. It is time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right.

CUOMO: I have a McGriddle for you, Carol.

COSTELLO: What?

CUOMO: I have a McGriddle for you.

COSTELLO: Really?

CAMEROTA: A McGriddle.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Yes. They're on the all-day breakfast menu at McDonald's now.

COSTELLO: Oh, fantastic. I'll be up after the show.

CUOMO: No, I'll bring it to you. I'll be there in about 18 seconds.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Thanks, Chris. Have a great day.

CAMEROTA: You too.

COSTELLO: NEWSROOM starts now.

Happening now in the NEWSROOM, terror bus. At least six people arrested from coast to coast for allegedly plotting an ISIS-style attack.

Then a deadly arrest. A man dies days after a violent run-in with police in Baltimore. His neck apparently broken in the takedown. But why were police chasing him in the first place?

Plus is it Tebow time all over again? Love him or hate him he's signing with the Eagles today. Can he earn a spot on the roster though?

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Protesters are demanding answers, and alleging a police cover-up in Baltimore after a man in police custody dies. His neck allegedly broken during the arrest. The family of Freddie Gray and their supporters are gathering in front of city hall right now.

Now Gray couldn't walk after he was arrested in Baltimore last week. Cell phone video capturing the moment police dragged him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM H. MURPHY JR., REPRESENTING FAMILY OF FREDDIE GRAY: What we do know for sure is that he was in good health when the police first contacted him. And he died of a -- an 80 percent severed spinal cord and three broken vertebrae in his neck. And that's not good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Freddie Gray would then spend the last seven days of his life in a coma.

Suzanne Malveaux is following the latest developments for us. She joins us now live.

Good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. There are two particular periods of time that the protesters, the family and the attorney want to know about. One of them is the time that he was arrested to when you see that cell phone video of him with his legs limp and his arms behind his back. The second period of time is from that cell phone video to the time that an ambulance was called some 30 minutes later.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His leg look broke. Look at his leg.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): That is Freddie Gray.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at his (EXPLETIVE DELETED) leg. That boy's leg look broke.

MALVEAUX: Being detained a week ago by Baltimore Police. The question now, how did the 27-year-old go from this to this? Lapsing into a coma less than an hour later and dying yesterday?

MAYO STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE (D), BALTIMORE: The questions that many of you have are the same questions that we're asking.

MALVEAUX: The attorney for Gray's family alleges the police are covering up what really happened. Baltimore Police say they spot Gray and begin to approach him at 8:39 in the morning on April 12th for reasons not yet disclosed. They say Gray immediately runs away. Just a minute later, police take gray into custody. And then 14 minutes later, at 8:54 in the morning, this is the first video we see of the event.

Officers load Gray into the police van. Police say video evidence indicates Gray is conscious and speaking at the time. A half hour later, police request paramedics bring Gray to a hospital. Gray's family attorney says he lapsed into a coma and underwent extensive surgery. His spinal cord was severely injured and a week later he died at 7:00 in the morning.

So two looming questions -- why did police pursue Gray and what happened to him while he was in their custody that resulted in his death?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The officers believed that Mr. Gray was either immediately involved or had been recently involved in criminal activity and they decided to make contact with Mr. Gray. Now that is still a bit vague.

MALVEAUX: This most recent mystery into a deadly police encounter sparking more outrage.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: No justice, no peace.

MALVEAUX: In a nation already embroiled in debate over police tactics and use of force. Though in this most recent encounter, Baltimore's mayor promises answers.

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I want citizens to know exactly how it happened and, if necessary, we will -- I will ensure that we will hold the right people accountable.

(END VIDEOTAPE) [09:05:10] MALVEAUX: The deputy police commissioner says they believe that Gray was involved in some sort of drug dealing activity. But Gray's lawyer says that there is no evidence that he actually committed a crime. In the meantime as you noted Gray's family, as well as the protesters, those in support of him and his family, the attorney, as well, all gathering at city hall at this very moment to make their anger known to this police department.

The attorneys saying that Baltimore has a long and sad history of a bad relationship with the police department. But they are more confident that this mayor and the chief investigator of the city will get to the bottom of this -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Suzanne Malveaux reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

Baltimore's mayor has promised to get to the bottom of what happened. She joins me now to take about that.

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Miss Mayor, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me this morning.

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: Carol, thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: Can you clear something up for us? Why was this man being placed under arrest?

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: So that's part of the investigation, the ongoing investigation, that is happening right now. And my commitment is that we get to the bottom of it. I believe that we have to have transparency but at the same time we have to make sure that we are doing this investigation in a way that ensures that the people who need to be held accountable can be and will be held accountable.

COSTELLO: But, Mayor, isn't that a simple question? Why were police questioning this man and why did they place him under arrest? Those questions should have easy answers, shouldn't they?

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I'm not saying they don't have easy answers. But there is a waiting period until we can actually talk to the officers who did the pursuit, and we have to follow those procedures. Now I'm not comfortable with all of the rules and the regulations around when we can question the officers. The community has those same issues, and I went to Annapolis and fought to try to level the playing field when it comes to the way that we treat officers that are accused of wrongdoing.

I went down there and stood against very powerful public safety lobbyists in efforts to try to strengthen the -- our ability to hold officers accused of wrongdoing accountable. And I will continue that fight.

COSTELLO: Well, explain that for us. So right now investigators can't question these officers because of what? Union rules?

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: No, the law enforcement bill of rights. Listen, the officers, all of the officers that were witnessed have been -- we have spoken -- they have been interviewed. Those individuals whose -- who are subject to or at risk of, you know, being held accountable criminally, they have their rights. And we have not been able to interview them yet.

We will get to the bottom of it. And I've been very clear that the police department will work with our state's attorney's office to make sure that this investigation is done right. I've also made it clear that like in other cases where we've had issues like this in the past, we've -- we are preparing for an independent review of the investigation. So there are outside eyes taking a look at the investigation and making sure that we get it right.

We will get to the bottom of it. And while --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Mayor, just to make it clear for my audience because they might not understand what rules are in place in the city of Baltimore or in the state of Maryland. So when you say that there's an officer bill of rights in the state of Maryland, does that mean that -- that these officers have been questioned by whom? By people from your office? By internal affairs? By whom?

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: The officers have a time period before which they -- they can be questioned by anyone. And that time period will run and then we'll continue this investigation. At the end of the day, we will get to the bottom of it. We'll follow the rules. We'll follow the procedures and make sure that this investigation is done in a way that is correct so we can hold the individuals who need to be held accountable, accountable.

That is my pledge. And we're going to do this in cooperation with the state's attorney's office and we'll do it in a way that invites outside scrutiny. We'll have an independent investigation, as well. I want the public to have faith and trust in the information that we present, and we are going to protect that process.

COSTELLO: Can you tell us how many officers may be involved in this case?

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: I believe at least 10 officers have been interviewed. But as far as involved, I don't have an exact number.

COSTELLO: And as far as getting medical care for Mr. Gray, how long do you think that took?

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: You know, that -- according to the timeline as we know, it took around 30 minutes. But again, I don't have all of those details. And that's the information that we are determined to get to the bottom of.

[09:10:08] You know, there are a lot of questions in this case. And a lot of details that need to be determined. And they'll be determined through a very, very thorough investigation. COSTELLO: All right. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, thank you so

much for taking the time to talk with me this morning. I appreciate it.

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Boston still strong this morning. Today's marathon is about the triumph of a city and not the ruthless attacks that ripped through the crowds two years ago. Hundreds of thousands of fans are lining the streets again right now and some 30,000 athletes will take part. Just minutes ago the race began for the mobility impaired, that includes more than two dozen people seriously injured in the bombings.

Minutes from now the Elite Women will line up for their start time followed by the Elite Men just about an hour from now.

Alexandra Field is along the race route. She joins us now with more.

Good morning.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. The marathon every year is a feat of strength, a test of endurance but it's also, of course, an emotional day here in the city. You mentioned that more than two dozen survivors will be participating in this race. There are going to be so many people out here to cheer them on and cheer them along. But this will also be a reflective day.

A lot of people will be thinking, of course, about the three victims killed in the attacks in 2013. A lot of people running in their honor, as well. Earlier this morning, we heard from the former teacher of Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy killed in the -- in the blast. He talks about why he decided to run in his former student's memory today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKOLAS FRANKS, TEACHER OF MARTIN AND JANE RICHARD: I ran last year. I had never run a marathon before but it was a reason that I had to run for. I'm running for the Martin Richard Foundation. Martin Richard was the boy that was killed a couple years ago in the bombings and was seen holding the sign that said no more hurting people, peace. Happened to be a student of mine.

He was such a sweet guy, the whole family, they're really amazing people. And it's interesting that he's become sort of a beacon of peace because he was a beacon of peace in our classroom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FIELD: Race day has for so long been a beloved tradition here in the city of Boston. There is tremendous resolve to keep it that way, Carol. There are, of course, extra security measures that have been put in place in order to keep the crowd safe.

All of this, we should point out, happening while the trial of the Boston bomber continues. That will resume tomorrow with the penalty phase of the trial starting and that's when jurors will soon be asked to determine whether or not to sentence Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to life in prison or death, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Alexandra Field reporting live from Boston this morning. Thanks so much.

Let's turn to politics now. Hillary Clinton sweeps into New Hampshire today for her first visit since announcing her 2016 bid. And she does it with overwhelming support from the people who could put her in the White House. That's according to new CNN polls which show 69 percent of Democrats say Hillary Clinton is their choice for 2016. Her closest competitor, that would be Vice President Joe Biden. He gets 11 percent support. Everyone else, in the single digits.

As you might expect Hillary's frontrunner status is putting her squarely in the sights of her Republican rivals. Here's what a few had to say during their own New Hampshire tour this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton's going to raise $2.5 billion which, that's a lot of Chipotle, my friends.

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL R-LOUISIANA: We can win. We must win. We will win. It is absolutely critical that we beat Hillary Clinton.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm starting to worry that when Hillary Clinton travels there's going to need to be two planes. One for her and her entourage, and one for her baggage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: That was a pretty good line, you have to admit.

Our senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny joins me now from Keen, New Hampshire.

Good morning, Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hey, there's only eight months to go and we already have polls out. How meaningful are these polls right now?

ZELENY: Well, Carol, these polls are a snapshot in time. It's a glimpse of where the race is beginning. But if you're Hillary Clinton, if you're her advisers you do take a look at one number and that's the enthusiasm number. Democrats now are much more enthusiastic about her running than they were a year ago. 58 percent of Democrats say that they are enthusiastic. Only 41 percent were a year ago.

So now that she's finally in the campaign, she's outlining the early parts of her platform, more Democrats are enthusiastic. But look she knows better than anyone else that these early polls don't mean a lot. I remember eight years ago she was leading Barack Obama by so much. So that's why she's here in New Hampshire today. That's why she's going to start campaigning aggressively.

COSTELLO: All right. So the vitriol, the real vitriol I'm talking about is yet to come. There's a new book coming out called "Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How Foreign Governments and Business Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich," it's a long title I know. It's due out on May 5th. "The New York Times" snagged an advance copy and this is an excerpt from the "Times" article.

[09:15:06] I know you haven't had a chance to get a hold of the book. But this is one of the excerpts from the book: "From 2001 to 2012, the Clintons' income was at least $136.5 million," the author writes. "During Hillary's years of public service the Clintons have conducted or facilitated hundreds of large transactions with foreign governments and individuals," he writes. "Some of these transactions have put millions in their own pockets."

Now we know that Hillary Clinton is trying to run in support of the middle class, and she thinks something needs to be done about the wage gap. But when you look at the Clintons' income, won't that be hard in the long run to convince voters that she can really relate?

ZELENY: Carol, it is one of the biggest challenges of her campaign, that she has to show that she can understand the troubles of working Americans and middle class Americans. But can't cross that line in saying I'm too much like you.

We saw a year ago when she was releasing her book, she said she was dead broke after leaving the White House. That comment stuck with her and is still with her. So that is the biggest challenge for the Clintons here to show their empathy for her to show that she understands the problems, and has ideas to close the income inequality and the wage gap.

But to not make it look like that she actually feels their pain. She's aware of their pain but she can't actually feel their pain.

COSTELLO: All right. Jeff Zeleny reporting live from New Hampshire this morning -- thank you.

On the Republican side, a surge of support for Marco Rubio who is now in a third place tie with Rand Paul in those new CNN polls. Rubio moving up from sixth place just last month, Jeb Bush maintaining his lead in the crowded field, with Scott Walker continuing to hold second place. Rand Paul coming in third. Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz rounding out the top five for voters. Huckabee grabbing 9 percent, Cruz with 7 percent.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: a spike in the number of migrants fleeing terror in North Africa. Hundreds killed in a capsized boat this weekend, and today more killed in another migrant ship sinking. CNN's Karl Penhaul joins us from Italy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:21:02] COSTELLO: Federal officials arresting six men in an alleged ISIS inspired terror plot in Minneapolis and San Diego. The undercover FBI sting is part of a stepped-up effort to crack down on ISIS recruitment operations. Minnesota U.S. attorney Andrew Lugar (ph) is speaking next hour on the case. We'll bring that to you live when it happens.

The threat of ISIS driving tens of thousands to flee North Africa for Europe in a perilous journey across the Mediterranean. The number of migrant ships is soaring. And so is the number of deaths at sea. A rescue operation now under way for three separate boats traveling from Libya.

This as crews recover bodies from a ship that capsized near Malta this weekend. Many hundreds are feared dead. The small boat packed with up to 950 people was heading from Libya to Italy. A survivor says many people were trapped on lower levels behind locked doors, as the ship went down.

And just hours ago reports of another ship going down the coast of Greece, killing at least three migrants. Malta's prime minister talked with CNN this morning, saying the human traffickers responsible are putting migrants on the road to death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALTA PM: This is tantamount to a genocide really, at the end of the day, which is being been perpetrated by groups of criminal gangs which have, in their hand under the control part of a country that is fast becoming a failed state.

(END AUDIO CLIP

COSTELLO: European Union officials addressing the tragedy at a meeting today. They plan to call a summit on the crisis. CNN's Karl Penhaul joins me with more.

Tell us about the latest rescue efforts. Is there any hope at all that some people might be alive?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, you know, you really get the sense here in Sicily that this migrant crisis is escalating by the moment. In just the last two hours, we've had word that the Greek navy has picked up survivors from a vessel there. There were 83 people on board, that sank off the ground island, three people, a man, a woman and a child were killed in that sinking, but at least 57 survivors have been picked up there.

And then, just in the last few moments, the international office for migration is telling us that they've just picked up district signals from three other vessels drift off the coast of Libya, one of those vessels is believed to have an up to 300 migrants on board, and now, Navy vessels are going there to try and pick off survivors on board there. And all of these, of course, as the navy is still trying here in Sicily to deal with the aftermath of that shipwreck over the weekend. We're expecting in the next few hours, around 27 survivors to arrive here at port in Catania and those will be the survivors of that ship that went down in the late hours of Saturday into Sunday morning, but what we still don't know and what it could take a time to untangle is exactly how many people are onboard. Initial reports spoke of 700 migrants onboard that vessel and then a Bangladeshi survivor who's interviewed by the Italian navy. Last nights, it's thought that up 950 onboard there, but certainly, no sign of anymore than 27 survivors that already been picked up there, 24 bodies from that wreck have now been dropped on the island of Malta.

But a lot more to come and as I say, Carol, getting the sense that this crisis is just escalating by the minute.

COSTELLO: All right. Karl Penhaul reporting live this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: It's being called a mass disaster inside the criminal justice system. Hundreds of potentially innocent people sent to prison and maybe even sentence to death because of flawed FBI forensics testimony.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:28:33] COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

The FBI may have helped put hundreds of potentially innocent people behind bars or even worse, have put potentially innocent people to death.

In a story first reported by "The Washington Post" and confirmed by CNN, we've learned that throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, the FBI hair comparison unit routinely gave flaw forensic testimony that favored prosecutors.

Now, this just didn't happen once or twice. The Innocence Project and the National Organization of Criminal Defense Attorneys say these so- called elite examiners gave bad testimony in 95 percent of 268 trials reviewed to that, and that's just a tip of the iceberg. More than 1,000 cases still need to be reviewed. So, expect to see a wave of appeals across the country.

But for some, it's too late, of 32 defendants sentenced to death in these trials, 14 had already been executed or died in prison.

Spencer Hsu joins me now. He's the investigative reporter from "The Washington Post" who broke the story.

Good morning, Spencer.

SPENCER HSU, THE WASHINGTON POST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: It's mindboggling. How could this happen? HSU: You know, warnings about how the FBI testified about hair matches begun in the 1970s, other countries like Britain and Germany never went as far as the FBI, which can mean this technique and view itself as the leading expert. How it happened is that judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers lacked the sophistication to challenge the sort of pseudo statistics that the FBI used.