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New Day

Curfew Restores Order in Baltimore; Report on Freddie Gray's Death Expected Friday; Violent Protests Flare Up in Ferguson; Obama Condemns Baltimore Riots. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired April 29, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Leave the officers alone.

[05:58:06] CHRIS CUOMO, CO-HOST: They're putting out flash bangs right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's somewhat of a standoff.

CUOMO: They're switching over there now, which is where they're getting the bottles from.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to clear the area.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Senseless violence and destruction. That is not a protest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Protecting innocent lives and property is our No. 1 priority.

STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, MAYOR OF BALTIMORE: I think this can be our defining moment.

TOYA GRAHAM, MOTHER OF RIOTER: (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

That's my only son. At the end of the day, I don't want him to be a Freddie Gray.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't teach them peace, then they don't know peace.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday April 29, 6 a.m. in the East. Alisyn and Michaela are in New York. And we are here in Baltimore. And it is also a very new and different day here.

An overnight curfew ending about an hour ago. The streets basically deserted. Armored vehicles are lining many of the main intersections. There is certainly a heavy presence of police and National Guard. But also a renewed community resolve. And all that is contributing to keep things under control, at least for now.

That said, police did clash with protesters for a second night before the curfew hit and right after it took effect. We did see some clouds of flash bangs to distract and remove people. There were ten arrests that the police say were needed to restore order.

Today, Baltimore schools will be open. The Orioles are going to play a baseball game at Camden Yards, but there is going to be one odd thing there. There will be no one in the seats.

And CNN has learned a preliminary report on the death of Freddie Gray could be in prosecutors' hands by Friday. But that may not mean what many people want it to be. We'll get into that this morning.

We have every angle of this story covered. Here's what it was like on the streets of Baltimore last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Ryan, let's just watch this. Let's just watch this. Let's watch this.

COMMISSIONER ANTHONY BATTS, BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT: The citizens are safe. The city is stable.

CUOMO (VOICE-OVER): Big crowds return to the streets Tuesday night, but this time joining them were more than 1,000 police and some 2,000 National Guardsmen.

STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, MAYOR OF BALTIMORE: Nobody needs to get arrested tonight. We want you all to go home.

CUOMO: As the clock nears the 10 p.m. curfew, the mayor's voice over the loud speaker, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, pleading with people to go home.

RAWLINGS-BLAKE: And we promised that we would be off the streets at 10 p.m. So please just go home.

CUOMO: Locals determined to encourage others to heed the call, but they are staying put.

(on camera): There are no real bullets hitting -- hitting anybody here now.

(voice-over) Ten p.m. comes and goes, but it is not until a few bottles fly that the police start a slow advance.

(on camera): You can see the flash bangs. They are not gas. This is not tear gas.

(voice-over): Restraint rules the day for both sides, though bottles and pepper bullets fly. Smoke canisters to push people off streets sometimes come back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have several people.

CUOMO: Tense moments tick by. But only those challenging the line disappear into a wall of shields. A handful of arrests. Progress compared to the hundreds cuffed for looting and assault on officers just 24 hours before.

On this day, less water is thrown. A little boy instead offering water to police. Many agree it was the community who brought peace.

As today's Baltimore Orioles game is closed to the public for the first time in Major League history, fear of violence remains. But many here say there could be a better way...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody can be met with love.

CUOMO: ... creating a love line between police and protesters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a bigger systemic problem that we've got to deal with.

CUOMO: Rival gangs -- the Bloods, Crips and the Black Guerrilla Gang [SIC] -- calling a truce for the first time in Baltimore history, according to gang members. The real problem, they say, decades of poverty and police brutality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It started with Freddie Gray. Now we're going to take it to the next level.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the end of the day you need to do what you need to do to take care of your kids.

CUOMO: Baltimore mothers also coming together to calm their kids, standing up in defense of the mom caught on camera trying to stop her son from becoming part of a riot.

GRAHAM: That's my only son. And at the end of the day, I don't want him to be a Freddie Gray.

CUOMO: And an amazing gathering of thousands at Empowerment Temple Church.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People think that it's us, but it's not.

CUOMO: Hundreds of mixed clergy promising to make nonviolence the way of showing they will not be silent in the face of oppression, hoping their voices and presence are enough to get the change and justice they demand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need help. We asked them. We're begging you for help.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: The message from the community is now clear, to be sure.

We're also hearing from prosecutors. Now, they're expected to receive the Baltimore Police Department's preliminary report on the death of Freddie Gray by Friday. Now, at that point the state's attorney will have to decide whether criminal charges are warranted.

Now CNN's Athena Jones has been following that part of the story and the entire story from Baltimore. She's now at the police headquarters.

Athena, that sounds like a very clean and straight line, but it really isn't, right? The process, in all likelihood, doesn't work that quickly, does it?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning, Chris. That report, the Baltimore Police handing over the results so far of their investigation over to the state's attorney, is just one step in what's likely to be a long process.

The Baltimore Police investigation will continue. The state's attorney investigation will continue. And so we don't expect them to see a decision to file charges or not file charges any time soon.

You have things like the autopsy, examining the brain and spinal cord, that's going to take several weeks. And so it's important to remind people that on May 1 it's not as though all questions will be answered. All questions will not be answered.

It's also not clear how much of that report is going to become available to the public. It's a report for the state's attorney's office, not for the public. And so we'll see how much gets out.

But I can tell you that Baltimore Police have begun to shift some of their focus to finding and punishing the people who are responsible for the violence on Monday night. We had all of those arrests that night, but there were also a lot of looters.

We talked with a pharmacist whose two pharmacies had been looted, and he confirmed yesterday that police hadn't come. But police said they were getting there. And so Captain Eric Kowalczyk of the Baltimore Police Department talked about how they're going to be using video to try to track down the people responsible for the violence. Let's play what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN ERIC KOWALCZYK, SPOKESMAN, BALTIMORE POLICE: We're going to do investigative work. We have detectives right now that are going to look through videotape for the people that were engaged in lawless activity last night, and we're going to find those people and arrest them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So they're going to use video to find people responsible for things like setting police cars on fire and, of course, looting some of the stores and the other violence. And so that's where they're going to take the next steps. Keeping the city calm of course, but also tracking down the perpetrators of the violence we saw on Monday night.

Back to you.

[06:05:06] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Athena, thanks so much for that. Well, tensions from Baltimore are spreading to other cities, even

all the way to Ferguson, Missouri. At least two people shot overnight during demonstrations there stemming from the Baltimore chaos.

Let's bring in CNN's Sara Sidner with the latest. Sara, what's happening?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, of course, you remember that Ferguson was really the city that started these series of protests across America concerning police and concerning police activity, namely the shooting of unarmed black men.

What we were seeing last night was quite a bit of activity along especially West Florissant. This is video you're seeing back from August when police clashed. And you remember August 9 was the day when Michael Brown was shot and killed by Police Officer Darren Wilson, who was later exonerated in his death.

But you're also now seeing and hearing screams from people. And this is from overnight. This is from overnight when shots were fired. You can hear them going off in that video. You can hear the screaming and the chaos from those who were in the area.

And that video is coming from Alderman Antonio French, who has -- was on the street in Ferguson while protesters gathered. I'm letting you listen a little bit to what's going on, that screaming, that hollering.

We do now know that at least two people were shot and wounded during this. You can see the cars screeching out of control, rolling down West Florissant. The area of Ferguson that saw the most violence in November and back in August.

So what you're seeing here is just, you know, out of control sort of activity. Police said they were having a difficulty investing -- investigating those shots because rocks were being thrown at them, Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Sara Sidner with that. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Meanwhile, President Obama is reacting to the racial unrest across the nation, condemning the violence in Baltimore and calling for transparency in the Department of Justice's investigation into Freddie Gray's death.

Senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta is looking at that for us.

Good morning to you, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

After staying silent on the subject for weeks, President Obama is urging the nation to do some soul searching on this issue of police brutality. Making his first remarks about the violence in Baltimore, the president described the rioters as thugs and criminals. But he also said that the tactics used by police in many minority communities across the country raise serious questions. Still, he said that is no excuse for looting and rioting. Here's what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And while the president was staying away from the subject of police brutality over the last couple of weeks, a senior administration official told me the White House was quietly working on this issue even before new Attorney General Loretta Lynch was sworn in. She was being briefed on the situation in Baltimore.

This official also said that the president had been thinking about this issue for some time, and that is why he had that six-point statement to make in the Rose Garden yesterday.

But the White House, Chris, is deeply frustrated that its economic agenda has been stalled up on Capitol Hill. Officials here believe very strongly that that would go a long way to reviving many of these inner-city neighborhoods where tensions are boiling over, Chris.

CUOMO: Well, and there's no question they have to take that longer view. And they should be doing that. But specifically on the ground here, Jim, we've got to focus on what's going on right now and what's going to happen next.

To help us we have J. Wyndal Gordon. He's a trial attorney and a lifelong resident here. And we also have Dan Rodricks. He is a very solid (ph) columnist with "The Baltimore Sun." And both of these men have been around a lot of high-profile cases, and you understand the city very well.

So Rodricks, I see you as a little bit of the Baltimore barometer. You know, when we had the riots, your writing reflected it. You were hurt; you were worried about what was happening in this city, as were all the people who love Baltimore, I'm sure, even those of us from the outside.

This morning there's a different read from you. There was a sense that you saw things that you were worried you would never see again the day before. What changed?

DAN RODRICKS, COLUMNIST, "THE BALTIMORE SUN": Well, getting out on the street yesterday and walking around the neighborhoods that were affected by the rioting on Monday, and it was a beautiful spring day in Baltimore. And people are out on the streets, talking about what had happened. CUOMO: Cleaning up.

RODRICKS: Well, a lot of that. A lot of that. We heard a lot of stories around the city yesterday about people cleaning up, coming out of nowhere. Strangers and neighbors getting together to help people clean up after all this had happened, because after all, it did happen in their own neighborhoods.

[06:10:00] And, you know, people reaching out, trying to get lunch to school kids who had the day off from school. A lot of kids in Baltimore City, a very high percentage of our public school students are on the -- you know, free school lunch program. So they didn't have lunch. So we saw churches reaching out, people reaching to the churches with food to do that yesterday.

And I just got back into the neighborhood in West Baltimore, Pennsylvania Avenue, to see what was going on down there, you know, a few blocks away from the hub of the protesting and the demonstrations. And, you know, got a pretty good feeling about the neighborhoods and the people holding -- holding strong and not giving into the vandals and looters.

CUOMO: You had two big dynamic changes yesterday. One, you had the community come together. What happened at that Empowerment Temple Church with the Reverend Bryant, he had thousands inside there who were pledging their mutual assurance to each other that they would go out in the streets and reclaim their own communities, that they were teaching people nonviolence.

And then you have the clergy saying, just like the riots haven't been since the '60s, our resolve is not as it has been since the '60s, as well. So you had that.

Then you had something else. You had thousands of National Guardsmen and thousands of cops on the streets last night. They had their shields. They held the line. They used the flash bangs. Could have been much, much worse.

But do you think that was the right way to bring quiet to the streets? A curfew and a police line?

J. WYNDAL GORDON, ATTORNEY: Well, it's very difficult to second guess the decision makers in this particular case.

However, I think the tension in this city remains palpable. I think that -- sorry, the tension in this city remains palpable. I think that the crushing use of force in this particular instance was a bit much to bear.

CUOMO: You thought last night was too much?

GORDON: Yes, definitely. With the flash bang and the National Guard in the city for last night, I thought that was a bit much.

CUOMO: Why isn't it the reasonable extension of not being ready the night before and, frankly, being there, the curfew not being heeded at 10 p.m. What are you supposed to do?

GORDON: The curfew was in place. And by and large, most of the city acknowledged the curfew. I remember leaving work yesterday, and everybody was saying, "I've got to get out of town before the curfew hits."

I mean, you do have a few dissident folks out there who are going to do certain things. However, I think with the amount of people that were out there last night, I think the city had the resources to deal with that without the National Guard.

Now, I understand the need for the call of the National Guard, especially yesterday. But I hope today that they will start to dissipate and return to their regular stations.

RODRICKS: Generally speaking what would you say about, you know, the clock at 10 p.m. and what happened out there?

CUOMO: Nothing happened at 10, because the people didn't move. There was an odd confusion about who was supposed to leave. And many of the locals there who are angry were telling the media to leave and saying, you know, "You need to leave." And we were trying to warn the curfew is not about us. It's about, you know, who they are worried about creating violence in the streets, right or wrong.

So -- but last night, I think it went about as well as you could expect in those situations. I know there's talk online about who was arrested and how -- I didn't see anything that I thought was abusive, unless things happened that we couldn't see.

GORDON: Only like seven arrests last night.

CUOMO: Right. But it's also going to be about how they're doing. And people don't want to lose sight of the fact that they believe things are done the wrong way. So now we get to what happens next? That means today, but it also means Friday in a big way. I think people are expecting answers on Friday, J. Wyndal, and I don't know that you're going to get them. What is your expectation?

GORDON: Well, I was expecting answers like everybody else. And I'm hopeful that we will get them. We have a new state's attorney who everybody is putting their trust in. In fact, she was voted into office, because she had committed to the people that she would prosecute cases like this.

So this -- Friday will be a defining moment for that office and for this state's attorney. And if she handles it properly, she will pass with flying colors. If she doesn't, then she will be the source of criticism for days to come.

CUOMO: Could she fairly argue that she's being hamstrung by the process? Because the words "police preliminary investigative report" being given to the prosecutor doesn't sound like -- yes, doesn't sound like charges will be coming right then. It sounds like one step.

RODRICKS: There is an expectation it's maybe a little too high for people. There's a date certain when this police report is supposed to be done.

CUOMO: The commissioner put it out there that Friday would be the day.

RODRICKS: Right. I think there's an expectation of public release, and I'm not sure you'll see public release on Friday.

GORDON: I'm confident in our state's attorney. She had told the public that she's conducting her own independent investigation. So she's -- she should not be 100 percent relying upon the investigation of these other law enforcement agencies. She has resources. She has a budget. She has investigators, and she has attorneys. So she can -- she can do her own thing.

And we are -- we are optimistic, and I'm going to leave the caution out. We are optimistic that she has conducted an investigation and that she will address the public in some way. If she needs more time, then maybe she needs to address the public and say that. And, perhaps if she's not going to get it done by Friday, she needs to come out early and tell us that she needs more time. Because I think that would be most appreciated by most of the public.

[06:15:08] RODRICKS: Makes a little sense to me. The police department conducts an investigation of the police, what happened with the arrest of Freddie Gray. And state's attorney conducts her investigation, and she looks at the results of both and then makes a decision what comes next. Kind of makes sense to me.

She's not completely independent from the police department. The state's attorneys and the police in Baltimore work very closely together to prosecute cases. She's not an independent prosecutor. But it makes sense to me to have those sort of two lines of investigation, bring them together, then make a decision...

CUOMO: I'm just trying to manage expectations. Because the more stress you have in the kitchen the usually longer it takes to eat.

GORDON: In the past what we've seen in the state's attorney's office, especially when Marilyn Mosby took office, the state's attorney would not conduct a thorough investigation.

CUOMO: Right.

GORDON: With the cases, in fact, involving Anthony Anderson, Tyrone West, even Officer Torbette (ph), who was gunned down by his own -- by his own police officer.

CUOMO: This time you're hoping for better, and we'll see what happens Friday. I just hope everybody is in the same place about what they expect to come out of it. Dan and J. Wyndal, thank you very much. Appreciate the perspective -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK. Chris, we'll be right back to Baltimore and you in a moment. But we want to get to some of our other top stories.

The death toll in the Nepal earthquake now surpassing 5,000 victims, and the country's prime minister expects that number to double. But here's an incredible update for you. We have some dramatic rescue moments. Look at your screen. Crews found this man after 80 hours, trapped under the rubble. This 27-year-old man says he thought he was going to die in there.

PEREIRA: Extraordinary tale of survival. My goodness.

Meanwhile, a potential high-seas showdown between the U.S. and Iran. The Pentagon dispatching a Navy destroyer after Iranian forces fired upon, then boarded a cargo ship in the strait of Hormuz. No Americans are believed to be among the crew members, but the U.S. destroyer ship will monitor the situation. Now, according to Iran's news agency, the Maersk containership was intercepted after trespassing in Iran's territorial waters.

CAMEROTA: The Supreme Court appears to be divided on same-sex marriage, the court hearing historic oral arguments Tuesday, challenging laws in four states that ban same-sex marriage. The justices will issue a ruling in June that could make same-sex marriage legal across the entire country. That key vote could come from Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has expressed doubt about whether the court should even intervene.

PEREIRA: A tense but largely calm night in Baltimore. Some 2,000 National Guard troops helping police enforce a curfew. A major show of force, but was it too much?

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[06:21:45] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rest assured that we will use the appropriate precautions and the appropriate steps to keep you and our citizens safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Well, that was the head of Maryland's National Guard, vowing to keep the peace last night in Baltimore.

Some protesters violated the 10 p.m. curfew, forcing authorities to deploy pepper bullets and smoke canisters to disburse the crowds. So is the show of force working?

Let's bring in retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Russel Honore, who led a military task force after Hurricane Katrina; and Tom Fuentes, CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director. Gentlemen, thank you so much for being here.

General, I want to start with you, because last night was different in Baltimore. We did not see police officers injured. We did not see cars lit on fire. There were fewer arrests. So what did police do right?

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE, LED MILITARY TASK FORCE AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA: Well, the absolute command and control was a significant difference. And the number of boots on the ground in terms of police, as well as the great Maryland National Guard, who showed up in good numbers. They showed up big. They showed up quick. And they give the appearance of a disciplined and well-trained force whose mission is to protect the people. That's their job inside the state of Maryland, is to protect the people and to do those tasks as assigned by the governor.

So last night we got to remember, we still in the first quarter of this game. Now, many more big events will come. But last night was a good start toward the future.

PEREIRA: Tom, the real challenge here is you have protesters who want to make a show of force. And there are different intents among them. We have some people resorting to vandalism. We have some people -- we've seen the community come out in force, willing to try and keep the violence from escalating.

I'm curious what your take is on the ground about this measured restraint that we saw last night that effectively seemed to make for a calmer night.

HONORE: Well, the big issue there is, Michaela, we've got to remember when people protest that people protest to try and get a political action.

In this particular case, the people are talking justice. The government, the mayor and the governor, are talking law and order. People can go from a peaceful protest to civil disobedience. And a lot of times we attribute civil disobedience and we use words like "thugs and criminals."

But what they're trying to do is get the attention of government that the city and the state still have to address why they don't have cameras on their officers, why they're still doing internal investigation, as opposed to passing it up. They have to build trust with people.

The good news is they've got community leaders involved that are doing a superb job helping that mayor and helping that governor communicate with the community.

CAMEROTA: Yes, hey, Tom, you just heard the general say that we're just in the first quarter of this. And a lot of people do predict something will happen on Friday. I know that you think that something -- when this case is handed over to the state attorney, that more tension could flare. Why do you have that impression?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, the reason, Alisyn, is because you have no expectation that any decision's going to be made on Friday regarding that interim report.

[06:25:03] The fact that it's interim means it's an incomplete report. The investigation will be continuing. We don't have the autopsy results yet. And that means that there will be probably no action taken against any police officer that may have been involved or thought to be involved in Freddie Gray's death. So the expectation that something's going to happen Friday or some announcement east going to be made, is not true. And it shouldn't be expected.

PEREIRA: General Honore, I want to ask you about that, as well, because we know in terms of your expertise and preparedness training, you're probably looking at this in a really strategic way, as well. What is your take about what needs to be done in advance of potential information coming out on Friday?

HONORE: Well, I think they're going to have to spend a lot of time, the mayor and the governor, in articulating a strategy. Right now they've been playing tactics. They've been playing checkers. The protesters move, they move. They're going to have to start working toward a political narrative that addressed the concerns of the people. And that need to be clear. It has to have priorities and has to have time on it.

It cannot be one of these rolling, "Well, we're going to do something," and then it will happen on the calendar. They need to start taking some actions, looking at a watch, and make sure they -- by Friday they are prepared the community for what is expected to come out of that report. And then to tamp down the expectations that Friday's a defining moment. That's just another report.

So they've got a lot of more hurdles to get through to convince the people that they will focus on the justice that the people are asking for.

CAMEROTA: So, Tom, I mean, given that Friday -- all eyes are on Friday, and it could be some form of a tinderbox, what -- what is the police response going to look like up till then?

FUENTES: I think it's probably going to look much like it looked last night. And, you know, and I think the big difference between Monday night and last night is Monday night you had the police on the street that basically became spectators as people started looting and setting buildings on fire and throwing rocks and bottles; and throwing rocks and bottles at firefighters, cutting fire hoses. But they didn't have any backup. They didn't have anything behind them, so they took no action.

Last night, you know, all day yesterday, you saw more police rolling in. And you saw the military come. The National Guard came in with full military armored cars. They're out there on the street right now and were all night last night in full military gear.

So when you add a couple thousand cops and soldiers with combat experience behind those cops, then certainly, the Baltimore Police could take a much more measured approach to the curfew enforcement, which is what they did last night. But you knew and the people on the street knew if things break bad, they're going to be facing soldiers.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Yes. Tom Fuentes, General Honore, thanks so much for your expertise. We'll check back in.

Let's get back pit to the streets of Baltimore -- thanks so much, gentlemen -- where Chris is standing by. Hey, Chris. CUOMO: The nice part of last night, Alisyn and Mick, is that it

wasn't an either/or. It wasn't that it was the police or the National Guard or it was the community. it was both. The community stepped up. they had organized. they wanted it to be peaceful, and so did the authorities last night. And you wound up having a much better conclusion. We're hopeful that that carries forward.

Now, a big part of what carries forward will come down to Friday. This police report, preliminary police investigation into Freddie Gray's death. Each of those words matters. And what's going to happen when it gets handed up? We're going to talk with a former police commissioner about the expectations for Friday and the realities.

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