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Dramatic Rescue in Nepal; Crisis in Baltimore; Lawmakers Propose Nationwide Chokehold Ban. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 29, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:28] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The police came, the National Guard came, a curfew came and the community came together and, you know what, there was quiet. There's no question that the 10:00 p.m. curfew did help restore the peace, at least for now, but it is just one step. There were clashes. Nothing was perfect, that's for sure. About 100 protesters, maybe more, stayed after the curfew took hold. The police had to make their line, walk forward, use smoke canisters and some pepper spray. They received some bullets - some bottles, no bullets, in return. And the crowd eventually dispersed. The schools have been closed. They are now open. They were shut down, of course, as a precaution.

Now, there is another one in effect. There will be two big moments coming forward, one is a sports one. They're going to have a baseball game. The Orioles are playing but Camden Yards will be empty. That's going to be weird.

And then you have what's on your screen right now, a big moment Friday. That's when the police hand up their preliminary investigative findings, that's the key word, preliminary, to the prosecutor. That does not mean, Mic, that you're going to see a perp walk or arrest or charges or a finding that there will be no charges or arrests, it's just one step. But there has been a big expectation set into Friday. I think it's a false one.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: And that's an important thing to remember and we'll make sure to keep telling that point. Thanks so much, Chris. We'll head back to Baltimore in moments.

But first we want to turn to Nepal. The situation there in a word, dire. The death toll surpassing 5,000 victims. Officials expect it only to rise. This as incredible video emerges of a man being rescued after spending nearly four days under rubble in Nepal. CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is in Nepal. He joins us now with more. And it's a tremendous story of survival, this young man.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There are these amazing stories of these rescues. You know, we're in this critical period now where there may be people out there who have been trapped for some time under rubble. They must have adequate oxygen, enough to drink and they can be saved. And so there's this added sense of urgency to actually go out there and help them. It's where a lot of the hope is coming from and it's something that we saw firsthand. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): In trauma, there's something known as the golden hour. Get a patient treatment in that hour and their likelihood of survival goes way up. In disasters zones, like here in Nepal, it's all about the first 72 hours. Being trapped in the rubble longer than that with little water or oxygen is more than most bodies can handle. It's exactly what drives these rescuer workers. Over the last three days, this hospital alone has taken care of 617 patients, and saved 584 of them. But those golden 72 hours are now coming to an end. And to make matters even worse, rain.

GUPTA (on camera): This is the worst case scenario. This is what they were hoping wouldn't happen. But in the middle of a field, they've literally been able to create this field hospital. This is an army field hospital and they're doing whatever they can to try - try and take care of people who have been injured in this earthquake.

And it's kind of remarkable to see what they've been able to do. We're going to give you a quick little peek here. Come on.

GUPTA (voice-over): A couple of pieces of tape on the ceiling, still it threatens to bubble over with water, concrete floors, only intermittent power, they are trying everything here to save their own.

[08:34:50] Twenty-two-year-old Juhan Kazi (ph) prays it will all be enough. He's a singer, and he was practicing when the world exploded all around him. His right leg was pinned for 60 hours. His mother could barely speak to us. She was all but certain he had died. After a three-hour operation, the doctors are confident that his rescue within those critical 72 hours will pay off. Just when it seemed the rescue would be stalled by weather, a burst of clear sky and the sudden sound of a helicopter.

GUPTA (on camera): We are officially more than three days out, more than 72 hours since this earthquake, yet there are still rescue missions underway. You can see the army taking these stretchers, going to the helicopter right now. They have no idea what sort of patients are on this helicopter, how serious their injuries are. This is - this is what they have to do to basically get the care to those patients in those most remote areas.

GUPTA (voice-over): So many patients, so much pain, trapped for days on end, but also proving the power of the human spirit and the will to live.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: I think when you see these patients coming in now, there has been this renewed sense, Alisyn, of urgency. This is a critical period, as I mentioned. There are people out there who can still be saved and I think it's part of the reason we're seeing these helicopter pilots go into these remote areas. And I will tell you, Alisyn, we're planning on going with them tomorrow. And when you go to these more remote areas, these patients are often sicker because they've been trapped longer without adequate resources. But, again, there's this - there's this energy and this sense of urgency that we're going to see firsthand.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Sanjay, the video you've been showing us is just incredible. It's wonderful to have you on the ground there. Thanks so much.

Well, coming up, back to Baltimore. Is Baltimore's mayor getting the job done? There's been harsh criticism and also some praise. So we will talk with a former mayor of the city about how she has handled the protests.

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[08:40:52] CUOMO: Baltimore has been trying to fix many of the problems that plague its less privileged community today for years. In fact, here is then Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke back in 1994. Take a listen.

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KURT SCHMOKE (D), FORMER BALTIMORE MAYOR, 1987-1999: We're conveying the message that we want a safer community, that we want them to - to lift their vision and think about hope and not despair.

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CUOMO: Sounds like today, doesn't it? And that's because many of those problems that then Mayor Schmoke was trying to fix more than, what, 20 years ago, are still an issue today. Some of them just as much. Some of them better. Some of them worse. Kurt Schmoke joins us now. He was the first African-American mayor of Baltimore. He's now the president of the University of Baltimore.

And, Mayor Schmoke, it's very good for you to be with us here on NEW DAY. I'm sorry it's under these conditions that we're talking now. But give us the benefit of context. We have someone who may run for president, O'Malley, who was governor and mayor here, running largely on the back of his record here, who says, I made Baltimore much better and yet it seems so much the same to when you were in office. What is the reality?

SCHMOKE: Well, the reality is that ours is the tale of two cities. I mean you can come to - like our inner harbor area and see some of the best in urban America and then walk about 10 blocks away and see some of the worst. We have very large concentration of poverty in this city, and yet we have just some - also some wonderful things like, you know, the Johns Hopkins Hospital and University, our great museums and, you know, I could give you the whole chamber of commerce speech about the great things that are going on, but we do have this concentration of poverty that make - that is challenging for all the mayors.

CUOMO: But that is not a story unlike what you hear in most big cities, that there's a tale of two cities, the have and have nots, and it becomes what is done about it. Literally you have someone who's getting ready to run for president on the back of this record.

SCHMOKE: Yes.

CUOMO: It doesn't seem to speak so well of the achievements if - if this area is begging for relief on the same issues that they've always had.

SCHMOKE: Yes.

CUOMO: You know, not just that they don't listen to the police, which is one version of reality. It's that you don't give us education, you don't give us jobs, what do you think is going to happen?

SCHMOKE: Yes, well, but you have to understand that what you saw in the last couple of days has actually been a minority within a minority because most of the African-American leaders - and when I - I'm not just talking about elected officials. I'm talking about clergy. I'm talking about community association of leaders. I'm talking about some of the fraternities and sororities and things like that. Those people have been talking about peaceful protests, trying to make changes in the criminal justice system.

We've seen in the last couple of days really flash mobs. And when you say no education, a lot of the people that attacked our - that shopping center that started all that came right out of high school. They were - they - they came from the school that's across the street from Mondawmin shopping center.

CUOMO: Sure.

SCHMOKE: So educational opportunities are being offered, but clearly much more has to be done. But I wouldn't characterize the whole community nor all African-American young people by what you saw with those flash mobs the last couple of days.

CUOMO: Nor would I, and yet we both know perception often winds up dominating the reality. So let's take a quick look at what's working here and what isn't. And I think one feeds into the other.

The critical question would be, do you think that the person who's mayor now, elected with 87 percent of the vote, seen as a change agent, and the governor now, who has the rare distinction of being a non-Democrat in charge of the area of Baltimore as a governor being the Republican, do you believe that they're doing what they're supposed to be doing in this situation, that they're helping, that they're on scene in the way they need to be?

[08:44:53] SCHMOKE: Well, I think things have gotten better over the last 24 hours. There was some confusion at the beginning about responsibility for, you know, particular areas of safety, but that's been coordinated much better now, and I think that they're really operating from the same playbook, and much of this could not have been anticipated because most of the protests since the Freddie Gray, the young man died in police custody, most of the protests have been very well organized and peaceful, and folks have dispersed, and so that was the expectation, I think, that the mayor and the governor had.

This flash mob did catch them a little bit off guard but they have been recovering and doing well, and last night was a good example of peace prevailing in the company.

CUOMO: I would suggest it was an even better example of the community stepping up for itself, whether it's the clergy getting together and forming their resolve to be nonviolent yet they stand up to what they see as oppression.

And also for parents to step up and fill the vacuum, especially if kids are going to be involved, and it raises who has become an instant celebrity, Toya Graham, the mother who spotted her own high school son getting ready to get involved, and she took her own action and what she did and why she did it has become a spectacle here. Let's take a listen to what she said on TV this morning with CBS about why she did what she did and what she represents.

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TOYA GRAHAM, MOTHER WHO SLAPPED HER PROTESTING SON: I find myself shielding my son on a lot of different incidents where these young kids are out here shooting each other and a lot of his friends have been killed, you know, and so my thing is, I just want to keep him in the house.

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CUOMO: You know, Mayor, on one level, Toya Graham is a standout, that's why she is on TV and getting attention for smacking her son upside the head like that, but hopefully keeping him out of trouble. And at the same time, there are a lot of Toya Grahams, single moms raising a bunch of kids by themselves, trying to do it by themselves with not enough help from supporting communities, and obviously the hope is that it gets better. Do you see that hope?

SCHMOKE: I agree with you that more needs to be done, that elected officials definitely have to lift the vision for these young men, community leaders also have to be involved, but I do think that there is -- that there are brighter days coming, and particularly when you look at most of our young people who stayed in school, who continued to work hard, they recognize that education is the path to improvement, and we have got to do a better job overall providing them with opportunities, but I think that will come.

CUOMO: Mayor Schmoke, thank you very much for your perspective and we appreciate you on NEW DAY.

SCHMOKE: Thank you.

CUOMO: Mic, going back to you, the lesson you taught me with the kids that you work with in L.A., it's the same one they're learning here in Baltimore and all over the country. People want it to be easy and simple, blame one situation for everything but there are so many layers to what makes a life in a place like West Batlimore and L.A. and so many other big cities. This siren, too many of these kids know the sound of it better than they ever hear any beautiful music.

PEREIRA: It's a sad reality. We all can be leaders, right, Chris? Alright. Ahead, a group of lawmakers introducing a bill demanding an end to questionable police tactics. We're going to speak with a congressman pushing for change and why it is so important.

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[08:52:04] PEREIRA: Protesters are demanding answers about police violence and actions not just in Baltimore, but nationwide. On Tuesday, a group of lawmakers introduced a bill calling for the ban on police chokeholds after the death of Eric Garner, a New York man who died while being restrained by police.

I want to bring in one of those lawmakers, Democratic Congressman from New York, Hakeem Jeffries. Congressman, good to have you with us.

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D), NEW YORK: Good morning.

PEREIRA: Good morning to you. Before we talk about Baltimore, we have to talk about what is going on right now. We will get there in a second but I do want to talk about your Excessive Use of Force Prevention Act. I want you to make the case for us of why you think this needs to be a nationwide band, considering the fact that here in New York, for example, it's already banned by police?

JEFFRIES: Well, that's precisely the problem that there are departments all across the United States of America and Los Angeles and Chicago and Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. And of course, in New York, that prohibit limit or discourage the use of chokeholds, yet we understand that chokeholds continue to be used, sometimes with deadly affect, as in the Garner case, all across the country. So it's not sufficient simply to ban a policy through departmental practice, we have got to elevate it, embed it in law if we really and truly want to end it. It's an unreasonable practice, it's an irresponsible practice, we want to make it an unlawful practice.

PEREIRA: I'm curious what your thoughts are. We know that Mayor de Blasio of New York earlier this year when a local city council person put forward a bill to also ban chokeholds, he and Commission Bill Bratton of the NYPD both have come out against it. In fact, de Blasio is saying he thinks it's a mistake, because there could be a scenario where a police officer finds himself in a one-on-one situation wrestling with the suspect, where his live, that officer's life is in danger? What is your reaction to that?

JEFFRIES: For the life of me I can't understand that position because the New York Police Department has essentially prohibited, in the strongest possible way, the use of chokeholds for more than 20 years, yet we still see chokeholds being used. Not just in the Eric Garner case, there was a study that was done with the City Department of Investigation that revealed that there are hundreds of complaints of chokeholds being deployed by police officers pending before the civilian complaint review board over the last few years, and this is just not a New York City problem.

When you have a high-profile tragedy like the Eric Garner case, it exposes an underlying issue and it demands a legislative response that will hopefully lead to public policy change. That's exactly what needs to occur in Baltimore as well as all across the country as a result of what has been put forward before the American people.

PEREIRA: Police tactics are coming into question, as you mentioned, and Baltimore and several communities and cities across our nation, but right now obviously all eyes are on Baltimore. We want you to listen to what the president had to say when he was asked about this. He addressed it. Let's listen to this now.

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[08:55:02] PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: 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 don't just pay attention when a young man gets shot, or has his spine snapped.

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PEREIRA: So Congressman, how do we get America to pay attention and not just say that's just a black issue, that's just a Baltimore issue, that's just a Ferguson issue?

JEFFRIES: This is really an American issue. First of all, you have young people in America who are undereducated and overpoliced, and that's resulting in unnecessary entanglement in the criminal justice system that leads to a loss of hope, a loss of opportunity, and really dooming these individuals, these young people to life sentences of disadvantage and despair. All of America should care about that.

One of the things that we can do is end mass incarceration and thankfully here in Congress and all across the country, you have people on the Left and on the Right, Democrats and Republicans, who engage in serious conversation about fixing our broken criminal justice system and that would be a wonderful step to make sure that this is not just a passing moment, but a permanent movement towards change.

PEREIRA: Let's hope that you and your fellow Congressmen can link arms and work in that way together.

Hakeem Jeffries, thank you for joining us today on NEW DAY.

JEFFRIES: Thank you.

PEREIRA: Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Okay, Michaela. Chris has done such a great job for us on the streets of Baltimore. Chris, I know that you will be reporting more throughout the day because CNN's coverage of the Baltimore state of emergency will continue in "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello, starts right after the break.

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