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Curfew Restores Order in Baltimore; Nepal Earthquake Death Toll Surpasses 5,000. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired April 29, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:32:41] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

The streets of Baltimore benefited from a relative quiet. There's no question about it. About 100 protesters did clash briefly with police after the 10:00 p.m. curfew took hold.

There were smoke canisters dispersed, there were pepper bullets, there were bottles, there were rocks that were thrown. But it was a very different night. Arrests were few and no open and ugly violence and destruction.

Schools are reopened in Baltimore today. Remember, they were shut down on Tuesday. The Orioles will play baseball, but it will be in this odd empty Camden Yards. The first time major league baseball has done that because they decided fans won't be allowed in for their own safety. Good move, bad move, you decide.

But then the big deal, Friday, a preliminary police report on Freddie Gray's death is expected to be in prosecutors hands on that day. What will it mean? What will it not mean?

Let's talk about what's working and what's expected with someone who knows the outcomes and their potential. Leonard Hamm, Baltimore's former police commissioner.

Commissioner, thank you for being with us.

LEONARD HAMM, FORMER BALTIMORE POLICE COMMISSIONER: Good morning, Chris. Thank you for having me.

CUOMO: Let's talk about what worked last night. There's always a balance -- too much force, not enough force, that's why there were riots. No riots because of the force.

What worked last night if you saw it as success?

HAMM: Well, what worked last night is you had enough people in terms of law enforcement on the street and they were deployed the right place. And they took the proper action against lawbreakers. They also did the right things when you had peaceful protesters, too.

So, they did the right balance. If you're breaking the law, they were going to deal with you. If you were peacefully protesting, they were going to allow that to happen too.

CUOMO: Now, there's a little chatter online about, sure, there weren't a lot of arrests but how were those arrests made? What I saw last night with the couple of arrests, only two we saw, was if you were flouting a curfew and you came in front of the line, they would open up for a second, guys would come out, grab you, put you on the ground. Drag you away.

HAMM: Arrest teams.

CUOMO: And is that the way it's supposed to be done?

HAMM: That's arrest teams. That's how it's done.

CUOMO: All right.

HAMM: So, all that was orchestrated beforehand, strategized beforehand and seemed to work well yesterday, last night.

CUOMO: How important was it when you saw in your own community, though, in terms of them encouraging people to respond the right way, what happened at the Empowerment Temple Church with Reverend Bryant where you had thousands committing to go to the streets and talk to young people and the angry people about how to behave? How important is that?

[06:35:01] HAMM: That's leadership. That's the real Baltimore. That's the citizens taking ownership of their town, trying to see that people aren't hurt, properties no longer destroyed. So I was very pleased. And I was very proud of the citizens of Baltimore that became leaders last night.

CUOMO: The governor wasn't there. The mayor we heard her voice may have been prerecorded. I know she can't be everywhere at once.

But how important do you think it is to have the commissioner, the governor, the mayor, out in these areas to people know their leaders are aware --

HAMM: It's very important to show their face.

CUOMO: Why aren't they there? I mean, it's one thing to stand next to me at a press conference or something, but it's another thing to be on those communities when the people on the streets.

HAMM: I can't answer that question. You have to ask those people why they weren't there, why they weren't there. I saw Congressman Cummings out there to a lot --

CUOMO: Sure, he was there alone last night in the middle of that crowd.

HAMM: Right, right, exactly. So, it's just a commitment that you make, that you want to see things go well. You want to see this lawlessness to end.

CUOMO: And do you want people to know it's not just words, that they know that you care about them.

HAMM: Exactly.

CUOMO: So, we get to Friday. Please help me. You understand the process very well. You participate in a lot of high profile cases with cops and civilians and both. There seems to be an expectation that Friday you get answers. Do you expect that you get answers?

HAMM: Oh, no. What's going to happen is that the investigation that the police department has completed by Friday --

CUOMO: Preliminary.

HAMM: The preliminary one. They'll turn it over to the state's attorney. State's attorney will take a look at it, investigate it, peruse it, crawl all over it, and with their investigation that they have done, then they'll make a decision. But I don't expect anything to happen Friday that the citizens expect to happen Friday.

CUOMO: Now, shouldn't someone be telling people that? That Friday is not the day. Don't just say we have to hold until Friday and Friday we get our clarity.

HAMM: I think that we should stop misleading people. And we ought to give them good, clear information so that we don't have these misunderstandings. Because we have to be very, very careful because we could very easily have a repeat of Monday if we don't handle this right.

CUOMO: Another point of communication that seems to make a difference. Thugs, thugs do the riots, thugs do this, thug do that.

A lot of those thugs are young people who live within a society that they believe doesn't care about them. And I know the violence is the problem and never a solution. But shouldn't that be spoken to as well? The ease with which we call these kids and these adults "thugs", shouldn't you speak as easily about the conditions they've lived with for generations in those societies, in that area?

HAMM: What we have to do as a city, what we have to do as a society, Chris, is what I call solve the E's and H's.

CUOMO: E's and H's.

HAMM: That's right -- housing, health, education and economics. If you don't do these things, you're going to have what you have here.

CUOMO: You know, people say when they heart it, they go, oh, please, he's a softy, just obey the law, just like I do, just like everybody else does. What are they not getting?

HAMM: They're not getting that's how you solve problems. See, that is the root of most problems that happens. If you look into history of this country where you have riots in cities, it was always that. It was always disenfranchised people who had no hope, who didn't have housing, didn't have jobs, didn't have education, didn't have health, and then the spark was always a police-citizen confrontation.

And all of these years and years of frustration balled over. It's history repeating itself.

CUOMO: You're not a politician, but let me ask you something. O'Malley's come back here and made his name as mayor, he says how he changed Baltimore. He's back here now because he's hurt by this.

Is this new in Baltimore? Is Baltimore and west Baltimore and these impoverished areas, did these things get so much better, is this so out of character, is this so wrong for them to feel this outrage?

HAMM: It's not wrong for them to still feel this kind of outrage -- no. No, absolutely not.

CUOMO: Does this police culture have to change? Do you have real problems?

HAMM: It has to change and it will change. Because now and since the people have spoken. And that's the change. And we have ways we can change it. We have the wherewithal in this city to change how police are recruited, how they're trained, how they're supervised and how they're disciplined.

CUOMO: It was interesting to hear the clergy to come together last night, hundreds of them, and saying, the Giant has awoken in Baltimore, just like it did in the '60s. We will not be silent in the face of oppression, but it's how we show our demands through change through nonviolence, through persistence, not through being part of the problem.

And last night, they lived it. So, we'll see what happens.

Mr. Hamm, (INAUDIBLE) very well. Thank you, Commissioner.

HAMM: Thank you.

CUOMO: OK. So, you heard from someone who is commissioner about why we're seeing what we're seeing now and what we may see going forward. We're going to have a lot more about what's going on in Baltimore right now and the potential political fallout from what may or may not come on Friday.

But, Mick, let me get back to you.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and a reminder that history is essentially repeating itself in Baltimore.

[06:40:02] All right. Thanks so much, Chris.

Ahead, we have some remarkable stories of rescue and survival in Nepal four days after that devastating earthquake. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is there and brings those stories to us.

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PEREIRA: Schools are open in Baltimore today. A heavy police presence and a 10:00 p.m. curfew helping to restore order in the city overnight. About 100 protesters clashing with police after the curfew went into effect last night.

The police used pepper bullets to disperse the crowd. Ten people were arrested. Large solidarity protests are expected once again in New York City and in Washington.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The death toll in the Nepal earthquake soaring beyond 5,000 victims. This as dramatic video emerges of a 27-year-old who survived being trapped under the rubble for 80 hours.

CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is live on the ground in Nepal where he's helping overwhelmed doctors treat earthquake victims.

What's the latest, Sanjay?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, we get a better idea as to why some people survive and some people don't.

[06:45:00] Obviously, a lot of it has to do with where they go after they are rescued. Are there medical facilities available?

Some of the most heartbreaking stories are people who survived, who have been saved but simply aren't getting to some of these hospitals or even makeshift clinics or O.R.'s quickly enough. That's an ongoing situation.

But the person that you just mentioned, Alisyn, 80 hours, you know, must have had a supply of oxygen obviously. Some access to water or fluids of some sort. It's a remarkable story.

You may have heard as well, Alisyn, another remarkable story, a 4-month-old baby, 4 months old, just remarkable, more than 22 hours, we're hearing, underneath the rubble. Obviously unable to care for himself and yet survived.

So, this period is so critical right now. They say typically after about 72 hours the likelihood of someone surviving diminishes but doesn't go away completely. Over the next couple of days you can sense this sort of added urgency, if you will. People are really going out there. The missions, the rescue missions getting to more and more remote areas to try and rescue these people.

It is an ongoing situation here. And there are many more people who still, I think, hopefully we can tell you over the next couple days who will be rescued, who will be found and rescued and will survive. That's the goal right now. And something we're going to keep an eye on -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: Sanjay, given the death toll over 5,000, it is so wonderful to hear miraculous almost to hear these tales of survival.

Thank you so much for bringing those to us.

We head to Africa here. Nigerian army troops rescuing nearly 300 kidnapped girls and women in a raid on Boko Haram hideouts in a remote forest. Officials say soldiers destroyed terror camps where Boko Haram has trained small children. The hundreds of schoolgirls kidnapped over a year ago, meanwhile, they were not among those rescued. Boko Haram has taken some 2,000 girls and women in Nigeria since last year.

CAMEROTA: Such an important reminder.

Well, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders vowed to jump into the presidential race. The 73-year-old independent will reportedly make an official announcement tomorrow that he is seeking the Democratic nomination for 2016. Sanders known as a liberal firebrand will become the second major Democrat in the race behind front runner Hillary Clinton.

All right. Stay with CNN for continuing coverage of all the tension in Baltimore. The death of course of Freddie Gray prompting a lot of political finger-pointing. Are Democrats and Republicans politicizing the violence to benefit their own sides? We'll tell you who might be winning that fight.

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[06:51:31] BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If our society really wanted to solve a problem, we could, it jus that 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 don't just pay attention when a young man gets shot, or has his spine snapped.

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PEREIRA: A somber President Obama addressing the country about the riots in Baltimore. The violence has polarized the country and also prompted many Democrats and Republicans to point the finger at one another.

Here to weigh in, CNN senior political commentator and political anchor at New York 1 News, Errol Louis. Also with us, CNN senior political reporter, Nia-Malika Henderson.

Good morning to the both of you.

You know, Errol, I was thinking about this listening to the president who is addressing what's been going on. He's been criticized heavily for sort of not addressing the issues that plague the African-American communities in the states. He has addressed it. But I sort of wonder what your thoughts are and the fact damned if you do, damned if you don't. He's going to get blasted on one side for showing bias towards the African-American community, and then the voice in the African-American community saying, come on, president, we need you to do more to change our fate.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, that's right, I heard multidimensional levels of frustration from the president. First of all, he has to always tread carefully. When issues of race come up, because it's a mine field. And he has stumbled into that mine field before with, sometimes with not so good political effects.

I also felt a sense of frustration from him because he said in the speech yesterday, it's really extraordinary in his comments, he says he has no illusions that this Congress will going to provide the funding he's been asking for six or seven years to provide some of the supports in these communities to help people get out of the traps of poverty and discrimination that lead to the kind of frustration that explode into rioting.

He says he has no illusions about that so he's going to do the best that he can. And then, finally, real frustration with what he called thugs. This is somebody who if you go back to his days as a community organizer, community organizers go in the streets for a reason, to make a point in a disciplined orderly nonviolent way. And one senses frustration from him that things got out of hand in Baltimore on these issues he cares so much about.

CAMEROTA: Nia, what do you think of the president's language and timing of his statement on this?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: I think it was very much expected that he would come out and say this has become almost a ritual, he's got almost a script in terms of how he talks about this. He talks about the family, he talks about the cops and says his thoughts are with the injured cops, he talks about the Department of Justice investigating on the ground.

So, he's got that part down pat. It was a very neat speech in reaction, six points altogether that he ticked off when he went along there.

I do think there was some pushback and some upset really and disappointment with his use of the word thugs. Remember, if you were looking at a lot of images coming out of Baltimore, a lot of those people were kids, including that 16-year-old boy whose mother came out and really had to pull him out of the situation there. So this idea that these 12 and 13-year-olds are thugs I think really rubbed people the wrong way. And you saw for instance that Stephanie Rawlings-Blake also has backed away from that language.

So, he's walking this tight line I think where on the one hand he wants to say, listen, these are criminals, these are thugs. But he's also saying people are part of American fabric. These are our kids, and that we need to pay attention to a lot of the problems that are plaguing them.

[06:55:02] That community in West Baltimore a very poor, very high murder rate, a one in five adults there are unemployed. So, a lot of systemic problems there that need to be addressed.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the politics of this. And who might make political hay of it. "The National Journal" has an interesting article suggesting that all this unrest across the country we've seen could bode well for Republicans because they are traditionally seen as more law and order. And in fact, Bill Kristol, famous conservative writer and pundit sent out this tweet about this. He said, "Winning GOP message against anarchy and chaos at home and abroad, Cheney- Giuliani 2016, probably too much to hope for, but if not them who?"

Errol, can the Republicans seize on this somehow?

LOUIS: I think he's probably right -- too much to hope for. The reality is you look at these situations and you poke them with a stick. And what you find is years of underfunding for education programs, for community colleges, for recreation programs, for all of the different sort of supports that most Americans I think understand are needed to help lift people up out of poverty.

CAMEROTA: So, that works for the Democrats, not Republicans.

LOUIS: Exactly. Exactly. I don't think you can come in and say, well, you know, this long running drama that we've seen play out for, you know, decades or arguably centuries that we're going to sort of take the last five minutes and call that the whole narrative and say that this is all about keeping order in the streets. Not about anything else.

I think most people, especially if they see some of these videos about how people are getting treated by police in certain situations, most people understand that's not the whole story.

PEREIRA: We have about a minute left so I want both your takes but I want to start with you, Nia.

We know this is the first week for our new Attorney General Loretta Lynch, I was thinking, it would think wouldn't it be nice to have gotten a fruit basket instead of this unrest week in Baltimore. As it is this is what her job is and it's going to be a very intense start to her time there. There's a difference between what she should do and what she can do. Talk about that in terms of what she can, you know, actually get done to effect change.

HENDERSON: That's right. I mean, I think there will be the Department of Justice investigation. And she has a record of course of prosecuting police officers.

I think the question for her is you had in Eric Holder person who was really Obama's race man. In the case of Ferguson Obama dispatched Eric Holder to Ferguson where he met with folks there, he wrote an op-ed in the local paper.

I think people are looking to see if Loretta Lynch, who doesn't necessarily have race as part of her portfolio and Eric Holder didn't necessarily either when he came in, he sort of grew into that role partly because Obama wasn't necessarily comfortable with it. So, it will be interesting to see if on the optics side if she takes on that role as the race woman in this administration.

PEREIRA: Nia, we'll be watching and Errol's written a great op- ed about it on CNN.com. You can read it there.

Thanks so much for joining us, Errol and Nia.

HENDERSON: Thank you.

PEREIRA: Certainly following a whole lot of news today. So why don't we get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: There's certainly a heavy presence of police and National Guard.

GOV. LARRY HOGAN (R), MARYLAND: Protecting innocent lives and property is our number one priority.

CUOMO: Flash bangs, they are not gas.

REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D), MARYLAND: I just feel pain. I live in this neighborhood. I've lived in this neighborhood for 33 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, it's somewhat of a standoff.

OBAMA: This is not new. And we shouldn't pretend that it's new.

MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE (D), BALTIMORE: I think this can be our defining moment and not the darkest days that we saw yesterday.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: You are watching NEW DAY. Alisyn and Michaela are in New York. I am on the streets of Baltimore where the city is waking up battered but not nearly as broken as 24 hours ago.

An overnight curfew ended two hours ago. It was from 10:00 to 5:00, largely helped restore order as did the community's recommitment to itself. There's no question that the streets were so much calmer than the previous night. That doesn't mean everything's OK, but there is progress. School is back in session. Thousands of police though are packing the streets here as are thousands of national guardsmen.

And today, there will be thousands of missing at Camden Yards where the Orioles are playing but for the first time in Major League Baseball history, the stadium will be empty they say for the safety of everyone involved.

The frustration in Baltimore however is not gone. It's spreading to a familiar place, Ferguson, Missouri. There were protests there overnight. Two people got shot. Demonstrators were throwing rocks at police.

Baltimore police are preparing to give prosecutors their report on Freddie Gray's death. That will be a huge moment on Friday mainly because of the expectations that have been put into what will happen on Friday. We'll talk about the reality of those expectations.

We have the story covered from all angles. Here's a night for you -- here's a look for you of what we saw last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COMMISSIONER ANTHONY BATTS, BALTIMORE: Tonight, I think the biggest thing is that 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.