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Breastfeeding Mom Still in Custody Without Infant After ICE Raid; Warren Courts Native American Voters after Ancestry Blunder; Nuclear Monitoring Stations in Russia Go Quiet after Blast; NYPD Officer's Sister Says He Told Me He Was Going to Kill Himself. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 19, 2019 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00] RAY YBARRA MALDONALDO, ATTORNEY FOR BREASTFEEDING MOTHER DETAINED BY ICE: -- retained in Jena, Louisiana which is about a 4- hour drive from where they were living at in Mississippi. And the first time I met her, you know, about a week ago now. You walked in to see her and she was just in tears, almost looked zombie like.

And can you imagine having a 4-month-old baby and being ripped away from that baby unsure who is taking care of her, unsure if she's getting the attention that she needs. She was devastated. We spoke and we had conversation in between tears. Her tears, my tears. It's really emotional talking to someone that that's three young children, where all she was doing is working to support them and support herself.

The next thing you know she's torn away from her home and in a detention center where she is being treated as less than human.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Now this -- let me get this side in. This is what ICE says. ICE says that they asked her if she was breastfeeding and that she said no. They say that they have procedures in place for nursing mothers in custody. And they have their own determinations there. But can you explain her end of the conversation?

MALDONALDO: Yes. ICE. is once again lying. They sent me an e-mail saying she was asked twice whether or not she was breastfeeding. When we asked her, she said nobody asked her, not even one time if she had been breastfeeding. She tells us that they run in and talk to her quickly and run out and don't really have a chance to have a full-on conversation.

And I told the ICE officer, I said, I'll go down there with you. Let's go sit in the room together and let's ask her together. Because we've talked to the husband and we've talked to her. We've seen the little baby trying to breastfeed on whoever holds her. So we know this is what is going on. This is reality.

ICE knows about it now too instead of taking issue and addressing it, doing something about it, releasing her, they just continue to say, well, she didn't say it when we first talked to her so we're not going to let her go. That's absolutely ridiculous. BALDWIN: Well, I can also hear all of the mothers who are watching our conversation thinking, well, how could you not see a woman who, you know, had a baby a couple months ago who is breastfeeding and obviously the need to release her even if, you know, ankle monitor?

MALDONALDO: Yes. We've done multiple cases in immigration in my ten- year career and never I have found somebody more compelling for what is called owner cognizance release. She has three U.S. citizen children. She's still breastfeeding a 4-month-old baby. No criminal history whatsoever.

She's eligible for relief from removal, called cancellation of deportation. Why not just release her? And we've offered, we'll pay a bond. Tell us the amount you want. We'll pay it today so we can get back home. And so far, they've stopped communicating back with me. And haven't heard from them in about five days now.

BALDWIN: Well, you let us know what happens. I know she is captured the hearts and minds of so many people. And she's as you pointed out, separated from this little 4-month-old. Ray, let us know what happens, All right? Ray Maldonaldo, I appreciate it.

MALDONALDO: Most definitely will. Thank you for your time.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

Coming up next, Senator Elizabeth Warren starts a speech to Native- Americans with an apology. We'll play it for you.

And new CNN reporting today, nuclear monitoring stations in Russia went mysteriously quiet after that missile explosion that's caused concerns about radiation levels. We have that for you too.

[15:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It is indeed rare when a Presidential candidate voluntarily confronts a past political blunder but Senator Elizabeth Warren is revisiting the issue of her Native-American ancestry today. You remember earlier in her campaign she released results of that DNA test that showed some distance lineage.

But the strategy seemingly backfired and drew all kinds of criticism from a number of tribal groups. Well, today Senator Warren again apologized for mischaracterizing her identity while speaking to indigenous groups there in Sioux City, Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to say this. Like anyone who's been honest with themselves. I know that I have made mistakes. I am sorry for harm I have caused. I have listened and I have learned a lot and I am grateful for the many conversations that we have had together.

It is a great honor to be able to partner with Indian country. And that's what I've tried to do as a Senator. And that's what I promise I will do as President of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: CNN political correspondent, MJ Lee is there. And MJ, you were there in the room when she made the apology on the stage. How was it received?

MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it was quite well received, Brooke, overall. Elizabeth Warren had a pretty warm reception here. And I just want to talk about the political significance of what she did this morning. Just keep in mind when she released that DNA test last fall, it angered and upset a lot of people.

And for the Senator herself this is an issue that has been extremely tough for her. Probably easy to say that this has been the biggest controversy of her presidential campaign. And at times she had seemed sort of uncomfortable or unsure about how exactly to talk about this issue.

And also keep in mind, that after the release of that DNA test, she actually waited a while to offer her first apologies. So today when she took the stage, it seems pretty clear that she had decided beforehand that the first thing that she was going to do was offer this apology.

[15:40:00] What was also interesting about this conference today, Brooke, is that some of the tribal leaders who were on stage with Senator Warren and some of the tribal leaders we spoke to off stage, they were all pretty much in agreement that they don't actually want to talk about Senator Warren's family ancestry issue anymore. But they really do want to stick to policy.

And I think that is actually one of the reasons why Senator Warren ended up getting a pretty warm reception here today as she talked a lot about the policy proposals, they she herself put out just last week addressing the specific needs of a community that always feels very underrepresented -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: So what are those policies that she outlined today?

LEE: This was actually one of the most detailed and certainly political significant policy plans that Warren put out just last week. A part of that is a draft legislation that she put out with Congresswoman Deb Haaland to boost funding for important Native American programs and then there is something that Warren calls the Oliphant fix.

This deals with the Supreme Court ruling that has to do with whether tribal authorities have jurisdiction to go after those who commit crimes on tribal lands, people who are not Native-American. So these are some of the policy ideas that she has put forward.

And the campaign says this is this is how they plan to talk about this issue and they want to stay focused in talking about policy just as she does with basically everything else that she has talked about on the trail.

BALDWIN: MJ, thank you very much in Sioux City, Iowa, for us. Appreciate that.

Just into CNN, 4 nuclear monitoring stations in Russia have gone mysteriously quiet in the days since that big blast. And now the Russian President is speaking out over fears of radiation.

[15:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: To an update now on that mystery in Russia that had many U.S. officials worried about radiation levels. Today, 4 Russia based nuclear monitoring stations have gone quiet. Just 11 days after a deadly explosion at a missile testing facility at least five scientists were killed. CNN's Barbara Starr has this reporting. And so Barbara, what are officials saying about the four monitoring stations?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we know at this hour, Brooke, this is a group of stations that run under an international organization based in Vienna. And that organization is telling CNN that four of the five nuclear monitoring stations inside Russia went silent in the days after that August 8th mystery explosion in northern Russia of the so-called sky fall missile.

This is what the U.S. believes is a Russian attempt to build a nuclear-powered cruise missile codenamed sky fall. Something exploded in northern Russia and in the days after that four of these five stations that would detect radiation in the atmosphere have gone completely silent.

The Russians say there's no problem. The organization is telling us they are talking to Russian authorities trying to get an answer from them about what happened and to get these stations back online. But earlier today in France, Vladimir Putin said there is no nuclear radiation. There is no problem. Nobody needs to worry. But as you pointed out, five Russian workers died in this explosion. Whatever it was -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Barbara, thank you very much.

Coming up next here on CNN, Democratic Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib break their silence after being banned from Israel at the President's urging. Stand by for their news conference coming up.

[15:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: They are the ones New Yorkers go to for help. But the New York Police Department is seeing some of their own suffering and dying and it's struggling to save them. This year nine officers have taken their own lives. Seven of them since June.

They range from veterans to young officers. And the most recent death is officer Robert or Bobby Echeverria who served 25 years on the force. The 56-year-old last served on a rapid response unit and on Wednesday he shot himself according to a police source.

His sister, Eileen, said all of the NYPD suicides are quote, unquote, 1,000 percent avoidable. She also says the department took her brother's guns away two times. And both of those times the force gave them back. And I talked Eileen earlier and I started just by asking her to tell me about her brother Bobby and why he wanted to become a police officer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EILEEN ECHEVERRIA, SISTER OF NYPD OFFICER WHO KILLED HIMSELF: My brother liked to help people when he was OK. When he wasn't OK, he couldn't help himself. But he really loved the thought of the job. The idea of the job. Unfortunately that job is not what it's made out to be.

BALDWIN: You allude to when times -- when he wasn't OK. So you knew as his sister, you knew that he was suicidal. You were concerned specifically about the guns in his home.

ECHEVERRIA: I've driven -- I'm sorry to interrupt.

BALDWIN: No, please.

ECHEVERRIA: I've driven to the NYPD. I've emailed them several e- mails -- which I believe you have copies of. I spoke to the psychiatrist on the phone, begged her, please, my brother is going to hurt himself or someone else. I'm telling you. I know my brother.

Within days I get -- well IAB, the Internal Affairs Bureau, was 1000 percent behind me. They did not want him to get his guns back. They even went up against brass so that he wouldn't get his guns back because they knew he couldn't.

BALDWIN: Can I stop you. How did you know he was suicidal?

ECHEVERRIA: He told me. He called me up and said I'm going to kill myself. That's not the first time he did it. But this time there was something different. He said I am unraveling. I'm in financial ruin.

[15:55:00] BALDWIN: Let me just jump in. Because we've obviously called NYPD over your brother and all NYPD -- I can't corroborate any of these conversations. Obviously, I can't even begin to feel like -- I cannot even begin to appreciate how you feel.

ECHEVERRIA: I can.

BALDWIN: They tell us they're investigating. My question to you because obviously you knew -- you knew --

ECHEVERRIA: What are they investigating? How they went wrong? What are they investigating? How the Mayor de Blasio puts up a phone number that these officers know if they call that number they're going to be demoted, fired, lose their guns.

BALDWIN: That's what I wanted to ask you about. That is what I wanted to ask about.

ECHEVERRIA: They are scared to death of going on the rubber gun squad so they get no overtime.

BALDWIN: What is the rubber gun squad?

ECHEVERRIA: That means you're sitting at a desk, you're not allowed to have your weapons, but they will sit you at a desk and figure out a way to fire you or figure out a way to get rid of you.

BALDWIN: So was he worried --

ECHEVERRIA: Yes.

BALDWIN: -- did he ever call for help himself?

ECHEVERRIA: No. Because he -- I told this in a news report, at one point my brother was afraid to go to the psychiatrist through his health insurance plan because the NYPD was going to find out. My mother then gave me $500 to give to him in a check. And I said, Bobby, here is $500, go get private help.

And he said they'll find out and they'll put me on the rubber gun squad, I'll never get overtime and I'll never be able to support my family. I begged him, please, Bobby, please, they're not going to find out. He goes, oh, yes, they will.

BALDWIN: If I may, I want to play some sound, this is from the Police Commissioner himself. He spoke with CNN. This was about a week or two ago. So this is prior to Bobby's death about what the NYPD is doing to respond to this going beyond chaplains and employee relations hotline. This is what James O'Neill said.

COMMISSIONER JAMES O'NEILL, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: We got to go bigger than that and we're in the process of doing that now. All of our executives are being trained. We're bringing in experts on the mental health and stress and suicide. We're creating a peer to peer program where we'll have everybody in every precinct, every transit district, every PSA and every unit on the job where somebody is trained in peer support.

Somehow, we have to evolve. We have to not be afraid to talk about it and to come forward and to get help is a sign of strength. It's not a sign of weakness.

BALDWIN: So you -- you heard what the Commissioner said.

ECHEVERRIA: Really? Really?

BALDWIN: What would you say back?

ECHEVERRIA: I would say that the Commissioner that he knows damn well how many officers get punished for coming forward. How many officers they try to retire or fire them. He knows damn well. And now this is -- they had nine this year and I get called from widows from 2016, 2018. Do the stats. Look it up. BALDWIN: Eileen, what would have helped?

ECHEVERRIA: What would have helped was if they weren't afraid of losing their job. None of them will -- they're going to give you some nonsense, some lie that, oh, yes, it is working and people are calling in and people are -- blah blah blah. They're not.

They have to set up in-house where the officers don't have to self- surrender. If another officer sees somebody in trouble, he can go and say I feel like officer Jones is struggling right now. Can you bring him -- you know, maybe you could talk to him. Instead of the officers being punished for saying somebody's struggling.

BALDWIN: What do you miss most about your brother?

ECHEVERRIA: I'll never speak to my brother again. The one person that always called me, we had -- he was my only brother. We had a really tight relationship and whenever he was having trouble in his personal life and his family life, he would come to me. That is why he came to me and gave me his son and said, please, I know you could help him.

I'm going to miss that over the past eight years I've watched my brother deteriorate to a point that I begged NYPD to help him and get him back and they didn't. So I'm going to remember my brother from ten years ago and not the one I saw last. That is what I'm going to remember about my brother. He deserves that.

There will be a change. I will spend every ounce of strength I have. I'm not going back to work. I will be at One Police Plaza at 1:00 on Friday whether they want to see me or not. I will sleep on their doorstep but they will answer me.

BALDWIN: I appreciate you coming in.

ECHEVERRIA: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you for speaking up.

ECHEVERRIA: Thank you so much and I hope that anybody that can reach out to me in any way, shape or form, please do.

BALDWIN: They will.

ECHEVERRIA: And if I have to spend my life finding therapists to help, I will.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

ECHEVERRIA: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And of course we did reach out to NYPD this afternoon after our interview about her claims that officers are punished for coming forward with mental health issues. We are waiting for a response back.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me and let's go to now "THE LEAD." " THE LEAD" starts right now.

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