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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Baltimore Police Recently Learned of 2nd Van Stop; Police & Protesters Clash in Philadelphia; Nepal Death Toll Rising; Tampa Bay Bucks Pick Jameis Winston #1. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired May 01, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: It connects to the local power grid and charges overnight when electricity costs less. Customers can turn it on during the day to power their homes.

Now, the device starts at $3,000. though utility companies may offer rebates. Tesla CEO Elon Musk says other home batteries currently on the market suck.

EARLY START continues right now.

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ROMANS: Happening now: thousands demanding answers in the death of Freddie Gray, mysteriously injured during his arrest. This morning, a new theory -- a new theory on when and how Gray suffered that injury and new facts revealed about his van ride to the police station.

We are live with the developments this morning and questions in the investigation.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans in New York.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Berman, live in Baltimore this morning. It is Friday, May 1st. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

We are standing here in front of Baltimore City Hall, which has been the site of so many peaceful demonstrations over the last several evenings and afternoons. The security presence here behind me is a little bit reduced than what it's been over the last several days, not quite as many National Guard troops standing guard here.

Overnight, protesters did face briefly with police, as the crew went into effect at 10:00. You can see some images right here, CNN cameras did see police arresting at least one in the crowd. But it happened very quickly, and the streets cleared quickly, and the traffic began moving again. We'll have much more on the scene here in Baltimore in just a moment.

But, first, some important new information -- new claims in the death of Freddie Gray and how he may have suffered that fatal spinal injury while he was police custody. Baltimore police handed their investigative files over to the state attorney's office on Thursday, one day ahead of schedule -- a move that caught people off guard. Multiple law enforcement sources say those files contain new claims about Freddie Gray's death.

Now, among those claims, that Gray was fatally injured in the van and not earlier during his arrest. Law enforcement sources tell CNN affiliate WJLA that the medical examiner believes that Gray died from a broken neck sustained when his head slammed into the back of the van. The claim is that there is an injury to Gray's head that reportedly matches a bolt in the back of the van.

Now, even if this is true and this still needs to be confirmed and investigated here, if that is true, it does not explain how and why Gray's head did hit the back of the van. That is still unknown. It is also worth noting that the driver of the police van has yet to give a statement to investigators.

An official in the medical examiner's office says that their report could be delivered to prosecutors as soon as today, although it could slip into next week.

Now, there's another new detail we learned directly from police in a public statement. They say that the van that was carrying Freddie Gray after he was picked up made an additional stop. One more stop they knew and certainly one more stop than they told us about. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEP. KEVIN DAVIS, DEPUTY BALTIMORE POLICE COMISSIONER: The second stop has been revealed to us during the course of the investigation and was previously unknown to us. We discovered this new stop based on our thorough and comprehensive and ongoing review of all CCTV cameras and privately owned cameras. And in fact, this new stop has been -- was discovered from a privately owned camera.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Hear that? The new stop discovered from a privately owned camera. Not the police involved in this. Not from the driver of the van. Not from radio traffic back and forth, but a private security camera that they discovered.

Also, what happened during the newly discovered stop is still under investigation. Something at this point we just don't know.

Now, as we have been reporting, it was a third straight night of relative calm here during the curfew on the streets of Baltimore. That is apart from the tense moments as the curfew went into effect. One protester who tried to confront the advancing line of police officers was swallowed up and arrested.

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BERMAN: Let's get more on the situation here in Baltimore and what has been going right, frankly here in Baltimore. Rene Marsh joins me.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. And, you know, that was the really exception to what we saw yesterday, which was overwhelmingly peaceful protests. But, you know, what we can count on every day at these protests as this is Maryland Representative Elijah Cummings.

[05:05:02] He really has become this calming voice. He's in the mix with the protesters. He's speaking with them one-on-one.

And, yesterday, you can see there in the video, he was arm in arm with the protesters, leading them as the curfew approached. They were singing "This Little Light of Mine." His objective was to lead the protesters up until that moment at 10:00 and make sure everyone disbursed and went home.

The other message he had for the protesters is trust the process. Take a listen just last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D), MARYLAND: We must allow the process to go forward and all I can assure them and senator and others is that we will stick with this case until the end. But the fact is, is now we have a state's attorney who we are impressed with and very proud of. We believe in her. We trust her.

I want her to get the facts right. She will apply the law and come to her own conclusions. That's her job. That's her job. I believe in her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: The her that he is speaking about is this 35-year-old state prosecutor. If you didn't know her name before, many people will get very familiar with this name. Marilyn Mosby, only about five months on the job. And now, she has what is a colossal case on the job. The nation is watching.

She receives all of the information from the Baltimore Police Department as far as what they learned in their investigation. And now, as she said in a statement yesterday, she will not only rely on that information, but look for additional evidence as they move forward to figure out is it possible, do they have enough to try or to charge I should say these officers criminally in the case.

BERMAN: Yes, a lot of pressure on her. But as you said, she made clear it will not be the police report she relies on, FBI reports and other investigations as well.

And also, when you look at Elijah Cummings on the streets last night with other city leaders, it's reminder that the calm that they have achieved here is because they have worked to achieve it. And that goes for the city leaders. That goes to the protesters themselves and that goes for law enforcement as well. And it will take this immense effort that we have seen to keep things

here going smoothly over the next several days. More marches and protests planned for today. Big demonstrations planned over the weekend, including another march on Sunday. The curfew will remain in effect.

MARSH: Absolutely. What we have seen Representative Cummings do is take the one-on-one time to connect with each person out there. It's been very effective.

Now, as far as the protests go, we expect here in Baltimore to see four in Baltimore. We will see major cities across the U.S., they'll be holding protests as well. We know this weekend, several are slated, including on Sunday, where they will have multiple religious leaders leading a protest, because the message is we want to get this message out. We do want answers, we do want justice, but there's a way to go about it, and that's peacefully.

BERMAN: And that's the way it has been here the last few days. Rene Marsh, great to have you here with us.

So, in addition to these marches expected here today and then again over the weekend, protests are planned in Seattle, Portland and Oakland today. Last night, there was a demonstration in Philadelphia. Police and protesters clashed when the group there tried to block the entrance to I-95. You can see the video there of the uniformed officers pushing the demonstrators, many of them, the demonstrators, were holding their hands in the air chanting "hands up".

Our Poppy Harlow was right in the middle of it all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

We are in Philadelphia where there has been a huge march. It began with a protest around 4:30 this afternoon, congregated right at city hall in downtown Philadelphia. And then it turned into a march on the streets of Philadelphia that so far has lasted about three hours. Largely the protest has been peaceful, I want to emphasize that.

The chief of police inspector here telling me that these are people that need to have their voices heard. They deserve to protest and exercise their first amendment right as long as they do so lawfully. And he expects it to be a loud, a large, and a lawful protest. It has been that in large part been that.

I will say, there was a confrontation with police right at the entrance at Interstate 95 where police lined up on their horses and bicycles. Protesters were not allowed to go on the highway. There was a clash between police and protesters there for about 20 minutes. And then it opened up and the protesters were allowed to continue walking on the streets.

What I hear from people here -- from people of really all ages, white citizens, black citizens of Philadelphia, saying they want answers in the case of Freddie Gray. But for them, it is larger than that. For them, it is also about economic disparity and about a lack of opportunity for African-American youth, especially in this country.

So, clearly, one young African-American attorney telling me she wants to see change within the system, more opportunity, more room for economic growth for many people that she feels are not getting a fair shot.

[05:10:10] So, they are protesting to have their voices heard here on the streets of Philadelphia. You see a lot of signs where they are aligning with Baltimore in the name of the protest by the group that organized it, guys, is Philadelphia is Baltimore.

I'll send it back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: That's Poppy Harlow in Philadelphia.

In Cincinnati, hundreds rallied in solidarity with what is going on in Baltimore. They marched downtown together, chanting slogans. You can see them they had their arms linked. Police and rally organizers communicated ahead of time. Officers escorted the demonstrators along the planned route, maintaining until the marchers then dispersed.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is defending New York officers accused of overzealous policing at Wednesday's protest in Manhattan. The mayor dismissed claims the demonstrators were mistreated as they protested against police violence. He urged reporters not to exaggerate what happened at the Union Square rally which ended in 143 arrests.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: We do know certain individuals attacked police officers -- unacceptable. We know certain individuals attacked property -- unacceptable. We are constantly working to get the balance right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, people wondering what will President Obama do? Washington, D.C. is a short drive from Baltimore. The president has no plans to make an appearance here in Baltimore, at least for now. The White House says he is monitoring the situation closely, but he wants the police to be able to focus on the protesters and on the streets and not him.

The White House is also defending the president's use of the word "thugs" to describe those who rioted on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president was trying to draw a clear distinction between individuals who engaged in criminal acts like burning down a CVS or throwing a cinder block at a police officer, from the vast majority of people in the city of Baltimore who found a constructive and appropriate way to publicly raise their concerns about the treatment of Freddie Gray by the Baltimore Police Department.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The president spokesman said the visit to Baltimore could be added to the president's schedule in the days and weeks ahead.

And, Christine, you know, I can't emphasize enough. There's a great deal of anticipation and trepidation about the next few days. It is Friday night. Kids won't be in school this weekend. The curfew at 10:00 on a Friday night and Saturday night is a lot different than a school night. It might be hard to keep people off the streets.

So, you know, it's going to take a lot of work over the next few days to keep the situation here as calm as it has been.

ROMANS: And, clearly, the leaders in Baltimore have been doing that work. I mean, there has been a lot of community mending that has been taking place. One thing I heard over and over again, John, is that a lot of people don't want to go back to the pay Baltimore was before. They want to talk the way Baltimore will be going forward, how they're going to use this week and these events to change and improve their city.

BERMAN: I think that's exactly right. Look, we say we're returning to normal here. We were throwing that phrase around casually. But normal for a lot of people in Baltimore hasn't been good or acceptable. They want more than normal, or to improve that normal. It's a great point.

ROMANS: All right. John, that's for that.

I want to tell you, though, the CVS employees are still getting paid after the Baltimore stores burned down. Two locations sustained such heavy damages during the riots. They do remain closed. But CVS is paying those 45 workers for their regularly scheduled hours. No word on how long CVS will keep paying them. They could transfer the workers to nearby stores and some have started working at other locations. But those closed stores were few options for people had for medication and fresh groceries.

All right. Time running out to find survivors in Nepal's devastating earthquake. Rescue teams are searching through the rubble as the death toll rises. We are live there, next.

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[05:17:22] ROMANS: The death toll keeps climbing in Nepal. The official count from the earthquake tops 6,100 and rising. Search teams struggling to reach remote villages a week in the disaster. Hope is now fading for anymore rescues, although we now are hearing that a 24-year-old woman was saved from the collapsing building. The pictures, the story is simply amazing.

CNN's Sumnina Udas live from Kathmandu for us.

This woman is certainly very, very lucky. It took a dedicated team of rescuers from different countries to save her. What happened?

SUMNINA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Christine.

We were actually there as she was pulled out of the rubble. This was a six-story hotel building. She was a cook. She was actually trapped on the second floor near the staircase. So, the rescue workers presumed she was probably just trying to run away.

So, they pulled her out. The way it happened, there were three different teams involved. There was the Norwegians and French and Israelis.

Israelis had been digging in the building for two days. They knew there were people missing there. They found four bodies. They were looking for survivors.

The French arrived with sound detection equipment and heard something. Then the Norwegians arrived with sniffer dogs started reacting positively, and then the digging just began frantically. It took eight hours, but they were able to pull her out successfully.

I mean, it was amazing to see just the celebration and cheers there. This is what it is about for the rescue workers, Christine, even just to -- you know, all of this work and effort to bring out one body, one survivor, one life. They said this is worth it for them.

ROMANS: And they are working so hard and using all the technology they can, and the sniffer dogs and different countries cooperating together.

You know, there's a picture earlier, there's the picture of that woman. There's a picture earlier this week of this 5-month-old baby pulled from the rubble and you just think, these are the images that we cling to because we want there some good news.

But the important thing for everyone, they still need resources. There's that child. They still need resources. They still need help. They still need more coordination at Kathmandu airport to get shipments in and out of the country. There's just still so much work to be done still.

UDAS: That's right. And we are just talking about the scenes in Kathmandu where a lot of the relieve workers arrived. But outside of Kathmandu, we were on the chopper yesterday with the army, just surveying the area. And there is so much of rural Nepal where no relief has reached -- you know, the army hasn't gotten there.

[05:20:01] They are still trying to figure out the magnitude of this. They are trying to figure out where to go to next. And, you know, while we were at the army base, we saw choppers coming in and out every five minutes, bringing in injured and taking in and sending out aid. But it's still so much of Nepal that they have not been able to get

to. When you go up there, you see why it is difficult. The terrain is so inaccessible. Houses are so spread out and high up. There's landslides and so much of that area. It has been very, very difficult to get aid out there and the frustration is definitely increasing because a lot of people understand and are hearing that aid is arriving, but it's not getting to them.

ROMANS: All right. Sumnina, we know you're going to continue to follow it for us and bring us the stories of survival but also the challenges ahead here for Kathmandu and Nepal. Thank you for that.

Twenty minutes past the hour.

The second city transformed into draft town USA. Chicago hosting the NFL draft for the first time in 51 years. Andy Scholes has the bleacher report. He's going to do it all in a Chicago accent, next.

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ROMANS: All right. Round one of the NFL draft is in the books. And as the season premiere, it was mostly uneventful. All eyes were on the top 2 quarterbacks.

Andy Scholes in Las Vegas for the big fight this weekend. He has more on what's going on in Chicago in this morning's bleacher report.

Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Good morning, Christine.

You know, the NFL draft is great because we're all still optimistic about our team's the chances for the upcoming NFL season.

[05:25:02] As expected, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they kicked things off by selecting former Florida State quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston with the number one overall pick. You know, despite all of his off-the-field issues, the sexual allegations and the whole crab leg incident, the Bucs decided Winston is just too good to pass up after winning a national title and losing just one game in his college career.

Winston did not attend the draft in Chicago and watched it from home in Alabama. As you can imagine, he was thrilled to be the number one pick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMEIS WINSTON, 2015 NFL #1 DRAFT PICK: I'm just blessed. I'm blessed with this whole opportunity, the chance to make something of myself and to be able to provide for my family. It is just the beginning. You know, that's the great part of this. It is only the beginning. I thank God for everything that has happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SCHOLES: The question of the draft is what would happen with the number two pick. The titans did not surprise anyone with a big trade. Roger Goodell surprised everyone when he announced the pick. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: The Tennessee Titans select Marcus Mariota. Quarterback, Oregon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Marioto otherwise known as Marcus Mariota. He's going to be a Tennessee Titan. No surprises in the first round. Only three trades were made. Roger Goodell was booed every time he did come out to announce a pick.

In the NBA playoffs last night, the Chicago Bulls, they put an absolute beatdown on the Milwaukee Bucks. It's one of the biggest blowouts. Bulls won by 54 points -- 54!

The Bucks did not score more than 19 points in any one quarter. The Bulls are now going to move to face the Cavs in a very highly anticipated second round match up.

The Clippers were able to keep the season alive beating the Spurs 102- 96. They will play a winner take all game seven on Saturday in what is one of the best sports days ever.

The main event tomorrow, of course, will be Floyd Mayweather taking on Manny Pacquiao. It's being billed the fight of the century. Later on today, we're going to have the weigh-in. Now, usually these are open to the public, but due to high demand, they sold $10 tickets. They are now going for $75 on Stubhub.

Christine, I cannot say enough about tomorrow. I mean, we have Stanley Cup playoffs and NBA playoffs and Spurs and Clippers game seven. We're going to have the Yankees/Red Sox. The Kentucky Derby and, of course, the big fight with Mayweather and Pacquiao.

You could sit on your couch all day and have an amazing sporting event to watch.

ROMANS: What will I choose? What will I choose? I'll DVR it all and do it all later.

All right. Thanks so much. What a big day coming up.

All right. Twenty-seven minutes past hour.

A new information in the death of Freddie Gray. What police are saying about Gray's van ride to the police station. That's next.

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