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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Baltimore Mostly Quiet Overnight; Searching for Survivors in Nepal; Nigerian Army Rescues Boko Haram Captives. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired April 29, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:30:03] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: quiet in the streets of Baltimore, following a night of mostly peaceful protests, police using smoke canisters and pepper pellets to disperse anyone breaking curfew last night. But this morning, many questions remain over the death of Freddie Gray, a man mysteriously injured during his arrest. And big questions about whether Baltimore can keep this peace.

Welcome back to EARLY START this morning. I'm Christine Romans.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Berman, live in Baltimore this morning. About 30 minutes past the hour.

And breaking overnight, a curfew, a curfew in place for about 30 minutes more. A curfew enforced by the Baltimore City Police, by Maryland State Police and by the National Guard who are in fact standing guard right here behind me at Baltimore City hall.

It is an eerie sight for many people to see, when you see heavily armed National Guard troops standing in front of our city halls. But it's happening, and to a certain extent it worked.

The curfew began here at 10:00 p.m. last night. And it did begin with a tense standoff between police and protesters. The confrontation ended quickly, and ended only after police fired these smoke bombs. You can see the people and crowd going back towards police. The police also used these pepper pellets that they have from special guns.

The demonstrators, though, they did clear out fairly quickly. And this quiet settled through the city -- a quiet that we walked through to get here this morning and it will last for about another 30 minutes.

I'm joined here in front of city hall with Athena Jones, who's been covering the events here in Baltimore over the last several weeks.

We saw few arrests last night. We did see the confrontation which was briefly tense but still nothing like we saw the other night.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. We didn't see the chaos in West Baltimore that we saw Monday afternoon, into Monday evening. We didn't see cars being burned, buildings being burned, police being injured.

And so, the police commissioner believes that this is curfew was a success. Let's play what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BATTS, BALTIMORE POLICE COMMISSIONER: After curfew went up, we've had had about ten total arrests. We're getting reports from the organizations that we do not have a lot of activity or movement throughout the city as a whole. So the curfew is working as the mayor had called.

One of the interesting things today that I just kind of happen to (INAUDIBLE) as we were answering questions is that as I exited the building to go to a meeting today, we had pretty close to about 12 to 15 young adults waiting in line to become police officers at the Baltimore police department. In light of the activities, I asked them are you still willing and able and wanting, they were very much excited and enthusiastic about becoming members of the Baltimore police department, which says a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So interesting to hear from the commissioner there talking about young people wanting to join the police department. But bottom line here, there weren't a lot of arrests. The police, of course, have a wide range of discretion when it comes to enforcing the curfew. There were 10 to 11 arrests, most of them were for breaking the curfew. But, of course, they didn't try to arrest that whole crowd -- John.

BERMAN: No, they didn't. There were about -- you know, 10 people.

And you bring up. A good point, this was tense but it was not chaos. This was the police and law enforcement in control of the situation which is very different than the situation the other night.

So, today, a big day here in Baltimore, kids are going back to school.

JONES: That's right. Baltimore City schools are reopening today. The CEO of the school system sent out a notice to the whole community, talking about plans to reopen. There will be security protocols in place but they're going to have principals and people there to help students learn from the past, the recent events of the recent days. There are also be counselors on hand to deal with their emotional need.

But he also said he's angered by the inexcusable actions of a few of the student, he's angered that might color the rest of them. Those students, without determining who is responsible for that violence, those students will be held accountable according to the law and according to the city's schools code of conduct. They say violence is not the answer. This is not how to honor Freddie Gray's memory.

BERMAN: It's such an interesting point. You bring up Freddie Gray, which is the first time that we mentioned that name in this broadcast, so far. Of course, he was the man who died in police custody now more than a week ago.

And I've heard from students last night and you've been talking to so many, you know, students saying that the violence that's going on here is keeping us from addressing what we want to talk about, which is what happened to Freddie Gray and this issue with the relationship with police.

So, that will come back as part of this discussion if the calm here, the relative calm remains.

Athena, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

So, among the officers patrolling the streets in Baltimore overnight, there were thousands of Maryland National Guard, also state troopers, they were called up as part of the state of emergency that is in effect.

The delay in declaring that state of emergency after the rioting broke out Monday night put the governor here and the mayor on the defensive.

[04:35:07] The governor is a Republican, Larry Hogan, who seems at least a little willing to shift some of the blame to the Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake who say Democrat. The mayor, though, says she faces a top balancing act.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

GOV. LARRY HOGAN (R), MARYLAND: We were working all week and we had already prepared the National Guard, we had already called out all the assets, we had already activated the emergency command center. And when the mayor requested, we brought them in.

We did quite a bit, but we waited until the mayor asked for us to come in. We didn't think it was appropriate to come in and take over the city without the request.

MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE (D), BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: So, I want to say, just to be very clear, a lot of this started with high school kids. And we tried to have a response that was appropriate and not excessive. And that's what our parents are asking us for.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

BERMAN: You look at the mayor there, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. She's wearing an Under Armour hat. Under Armour is a giant business. You know Under Armour. It's like Nike, you know, all kinds of apparel for sports. It's based here in Baltimore.

I think she wants to send is a message that business is still operating here. Perhaps that's why she's wearing the hat.

The president called on those rioted in Baltimore. He's calling them criminals and thugs. Now, the White House really out front and center to talk about what's going none Baltimore. This was a little different than when the riots first broke out. Then whereas the brand-new Attorney General Loretta Lynch who was front and center. The president is now facing this directly, and having an emotional question and answer question with reporters during the meeting with the Japanese prime minister.

Michelle Kosinski has details now from the White House.

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MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John and Christine.

And keep in mind, when these rioting broke out and started escalating on Monday, what we heard from the White House was a very low-key response. Not similar to what we've seen in prior police incidents after Ferguson. But 24 hours later, I mean, the president knew he was going to get a question from somebody on the subject at this press conference, and he was ready. Just let loose on how he feels about things for 14 minutes, using pretty blunt language and saying there is no excuse for violence.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Senseless violence and destruction. That is not a protest. That is not a statement. It's people -- a handful of people taking advantage of a situation for their own purposes, and they need to be treated as criminals -- criminals and thugs who tore up the place.

This has been a slow-rolling crisis. This has been going on for a long time. This is not new. And we shouldn't pretend that it's new.

If our society really wanted to solve the problem, we could, it's just it would require everybody saying this is important, this is significant. And that we don't just pay attention to these communities when a CVS burns. We're paying attention all the time because we consider those kids our kids and we think they're important, and they shouldn't be living in poverty and violence. That's how I feel.

KOSINSKI: And the president in some ways didn't really hold back. I mean, saying that in large part, what he was seeing there in Baltimore was not a protest. And not everybody was happy that he used the word "thug" either.

But when you look at the entirety of what he said, you can see clearly, he's really trying to be so diplomatic about this, cover all the basis, first wanting to clearly in strong terms call out those who are committing acts of violence, applaud the people within the community trying to stop that violence. He even said that often, they get far, far less attention than the violent people do.

He also wanted to support police officers who are doing their job properly, but also called out those who aren't. And he put this extremely diplomatically, saying that there had been too many instances of police interacting with people, primarily African- Americans, often poor, in ways that raise troubling questions. He said it seems like these things are happening now every week or every couple of weeks -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Let's hope they don't keep happening. Michelle Kosinski at the White House for us.

So, after the Baltimore Orioles, the favorite team in the city, after they forced to postpone their games Monday and Tuesday night because of the violence, a really remarkable announcement from Major League Baseball, an unprecedented step, the Orioles/White Sox games this morning, a double header at Camden Yards, will be closed to the public. We're talking no fans at all, an empty stadium, no one in the seats.

The team also moved their weekend series against Tampa Bay from Baltimore to Tampa. St. Petersburg where their games, (INAUDIBLE). The games will be played in Florida as I said, but they're going to count Baltimore as the home team which means that Baltimore gets the gate revenue.

[04:40:02] Still, it's a sad thing. No one I think particularly excited about that move here today. But they say they want the police to be able to concentrate on other areas, rather than a baseball game.

On the subject of sports, former Ravens star Ray Lewis, a football legend in this city, is expressing anger with the rioting. Lewis made a passionate plea on Facebook to stop the violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY LEWIS, FORMER BALTIMORE RAVENS STAR: You don't have -- you don't have no right to do what you're doing to this city. Too many hard working people built this city. We put the city together -- we put the city on our back. Too many people put in real sweat, real tears to make our city a better place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Lewis has decided not to go to Chicago for the weekend. He was going to work on the NFL draft broadcast for ESPN, and instead, he said he was going to say in the city and try to help -- which is what a lot of people want to do. They want to help however they can.

ROMANS: An emotional Ray Lewis.

Let me ask you, John, I know last night you went to a big meeting with clergy. Local clergy isn't Baltimore. What are they saying? How are they helping to keep the peace?

BERMAN: There are about 300 to 500 members of the clergy there, all Christian faiths, you know, Muslims, Jews, and they were told to be giants in this community. Be giants. I thought that was such an interesting phrase -- to be leaders, to be on the streets, to interact with people who have so many questions, and to give them answers other than violence.

Look, at this meeting last night, they also talked a lot about Freddie Gray because they feel like the message or the discussion about what happened to Freddie Gray has been subsumed in all of the violence over the last few days. And they want to talk about it, but they acknowledge they can't talk about it if people are throwing thing and burning things here on the streets of Baltimore.

So, they want to go about a different way of doing things. And they also had some very practical messages about social media. They want to take over the social media space, because that's where they think a lot of the rioters are getting their messages, and they had everyone there sign up for text message pushes for this thing "power up." I signed up because I was there. I was getting text messages overnight. During that moment, you saw the intense confrontation between police and those people who wanted to riot last night.

The message you were getting back from text was essentially: be strong and go home. That going home does not mean giving up. They wanted people to be safe, Christine.

ROMANS: Yes, be safe.

And you're right, John, we have so many questions about Freddie Gray. Those are the questions we should be asking. John, thank you. We're going to be right to you.

Those questions there might be a few of them about Freddie Gray if Baltimore police wore body cameras. They do not. And it's a cry we've heard for years now. So, why the delay? Why doesn't Baltimore wear body cameras?

They've actually been work toward it. The city council approved a bill last November that would have required police to have audio and recording devices. The mayor vetoed that bill, but then submitted her own proposal in February.

The big issue, funding -- the expense of buying the cameras and storing the video. There are also legal issues. Maryland is one of those states that has a two-part consent rule. That means that both the person recording and the person being recorded have to agree to it before it can happen. So, there are legal and financial reasons behind it.

But again, Baltimore had been moving -- has been moving in that direction. And there's still so many questions, so many questions, about what happened to Freddie Gray while he was in police custody. What happened to him in that police van when he was being transported, and when there those questions really be answered.

All right. Also overnight, violence erupted in Ferguson, Missouri. At least two people, two people were shot during demonstrations stemming from the Baltimore chaos. Now, it is believed that both of those Ferguson victims were shot by someone in the crowd, not by police, who are the target of rock throwing by those crowds. Trash cans and a portable toilet were also set on fire in Ferguson, Missouri. That community, of course, remains in turmoil following last summer's shooting death of Michael Brown.

We're following the latest in protests. Peaceful protests overnight. We're following the very latest all morning long.

But first, the death toll rapidly rising in the Nepal earthquake. Search crews make new daring rescue. We're live after the break.

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[04:48:08] ROMANS: Hope for finding more earthquake survivors in Nepal fading fast this morning. Search and rescue teams struggling to reach devastated villages. The official death toll now tops 5,000. Eight million people affected by this disaster, 1 million children are in desperate need of help.

CNN's Oren Liebermann live from Kathmandu for us this morning.

This was Saturday night when this quake happened in Kathmandu there. Here today on Tuesday afternoon, that window, that 72-hour window closing. And now rescues after this point basically are miracles.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN REPORTER: And we are hearing some miracle stories. In fact, a young man was just rescued after of eight hours in the rubble. So, there are some miracle stories. Unfortunately, of course, the fear here is that there are many more not miracle stories.

Search and rescue teams reaching Nepal and pushing out to the more rural areas, very difficult to get to those areas and it's slowing down not only because of terrain and infrastructure, but also because of weather. It has rained here the last few days, it's forecast to rain again in just a couple of hours and that slows everything down, makes everything more difficult. So, search and rescue teams are having a hard time getting to those rural communities that very much need the help, very much need medical supplies to start rebuilding, to start moving forward. They're very much stuck right now in a very bad situation.

We're here in the middle of Kathmandu in one of the tent cities where people are set to live for right now. They have nowhere to go, if their house didn't collapse in the earthquake, they believe it's unlivable with cracks in the walls. And they fear it's going to fall down so they have moved into these tents.

The green ones are military tents and they're packed. And the others are tarps that are donated that people have, trying to find some sort of shelter from the rain, some sort of shelter from this situation.

[04:50:02] Aid is coming in from around the world but it's being bottlenecked at Kathmandu's international airport which is unfortunately a small airport. That makes it difficult to get the flights in, to get the materials in, the supplies in, the search and rescue teams and medical personnel and get them to where they are needed.

That being said, we're seeing the slightest return to normalcy here. Twenty-four, 48 hours ago, the streets were empty, the markets were closed, the shops were closed. We're seeing that livening up again. There are people on the streets -- cars, motor bikes, the shops are opening up. So, they are starting to return to some sense of normalcy, trying to rebuild, of course, tourists and visitors have been since the earthquake been trying to get out. All in all here, still a very special situation here in Kathmandu and especially outside in some of the more remote areas of Nepal -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Oren Lieberman, thank you for that this morning, from Kathmandu.

Fifty minutes past the hour.

Hundreds of Boko Haram captives have been rescued but many are wondering where did these kidnapped women and children come from? We're live with the very latest after the break.

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ROMANS: Welcome back. I'm Christine Romans.

Now to Nigeria, where army officials claim they have rescued hundreds of kidnapped women and girls recovered from a remote forest where the terror group Boko Haram has set up operations. Now, these are not the hundreds of school girls kidnapped over a year ago.

[04:55:02] You might recall the "bring back our girls" campaign. This is a different group of women and children. And now, there are new reports of mass killings by these extremists in the northern part of the country as well.

To break down all of this, CNN's Diana Magnay. She is in Johannesburg tracking this for us -- Diana.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Nigerian military, Christine, have been raiding this forest, the Sambisa forest, trying to root out Boko Haram. It's effectively their last stronghold in northeast of Nigeria. And they say they stumbled upon these 200 girls and 93 women who have been held hostage in the forest by Boko Haram. And as they continue their raid, they're actually trying to find more.

Now, as you say, they're not the Chibok girls, but Boko Haram as a policy kidnapped children, boys to force them to become soldiers, girls to perhaps force them into marriage.

This is what they do, and there are hundreds, possibly thousands, who have been kidnapped. So, of course, with the release of these, huge relief for their parents, their families as the Nigerian military questions them to find out who they are, where they were abducted from.

And you mentioned that massacre, the town of Damasak, also in the northeast, which was recently freed from Boko Haram. There were mass graves discovered on the weekend, holding hundreds of decomposing bodies as Boko Haram swept through, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Diana Magnay in Johannesburg for us -- thank you, Diana. In Baltimore, police say the curfew is working after a tense standoff,

the peace is holding. We're live there, next.

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