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New Day

Solutions For Inequality In Black America; Dramatic Rescue As Nepal Victim Stops Breathing; Baltimore Community Demands Answers In Freddie Gray Death. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired May 01, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

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MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Context is key to understand some root causes of the turmoil in Baltimore and beyond a quarter of the residents in Baltimore live below the poverty line. In Freddie Gray's neighborhood, nearly one in five people are unemployed. How can those issues be addressed and how do they play into the larger situation were seeing?

Let's bring in Cultural Critic and writer, Michaela Angela Davis. Beside her is CNN Political Commentator and "New York Times" op-ed Columnist, Charles Blow. Got a couple of Michaela's and a Charles to see what we can come up with right here.

So you know there's been so much going on this week, it's almost a little dizzying. And I know both of you have been watching with a keen eye as parents and community leaders and community supporters, but in order to move forward, we have to acknowledge where we are right now, which is such an important thing. I want to look at one of the tweets that you--you've been tweeting like a crazy woman. "When dealing with black youth, seems like police are trained to go 0 or 100. Negligent or kill the balance is-kill is the balance-in the balance is law enforcement." Your feeling a lot of angst there?

MICHAELA ANGELA DAVIS, CULTURAL CRITIC: Yes. I mean, it feels like negligent. Indifference is one path or shoot and kill is the other. And there's nothing in between.

PEREIRA: Wide brush we're painting with because we know that's not the only thing.

DAVIS: Oh, no. No. I'm say that-but that's-we're not just activist and commentators, we're human beings and part of humanity. And so, when you are having to absorb these incidences and images and ideas, incessantly, your humanity really kicks in, and this is what it appears to be that indifference and brutality is --those are the two things that you have to choose from.

PEREIRA: There's going to be a (INAUDIBLE) for people to say, well, police just don't see black youth and they, you know, they step on them. They don't acknowledge their struggle. The fact is, there are a lot of police groups and police athletic groups and people that take off the badge and gun and go into the communities and work side by side in the neighborhoods. How do we get more of that? How do we forge that understanding and understand that first and foremost, we're all humans?

CHARLES BLOW, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think one thing is really important to understand is that people see the police as what they are, which is an instrument of the structure of power. And when they feel isolated from those structures of power, even in places like Baltimore where you have people who run the city who look like the people who live in Freddie Gray's neighborhood, they still feel isolated from those structures of power, particularly economic power. So, their daily lives is the monotony of poverty and the grinding a mix of that property.

PEREIRA: And that goes to what you were talking about in the op-ed. You talk about the black America, the black community has been betrayed by both Democratic and Republicans. You give it to both sides equally. You say it's been betrayed by America itself? Is that what your underlying message is in that?

BLOW: Well, I think that we--that is the historical truth of it, right? Which is that people have played the-- you know, people go into these communities when they want something, and offer--they promise a lot and deliver a little. And a lot of times, what is delivered is detrimental to the communities.

The rush to be toughest on the crime, this competition between Republicans and Democrats in the '90s was horrible for the African- American community. It locked up tremendous numbers of people, particularly, young black and brown men. And so that ripples through the community. One thing, people often talk about, you know, well, if you just have the fathers there, if people just married more. Well, now we are talking about all the missing African-American men. Millions of them. And we have a situation where they've study this in particular, up close in Ferguson. And of marriage-age people, half of the black men are missing.

[08:34:40] DAVIS: And I think you think you said key. Historical truth. That's really what's at the core of this, and young people understand that this is about systemic racism. This is about systemic white supremacy and not to scare anyone. This is just how things were set up. So, we're seeing the American project happen, and part of that is to dismantle this idea that never was built to support them. The police department, it's not like there's bad cops and good cops, there's an entire bad system, in which all these cops have to try to manage--

PEREIRA: You can't just throw out the system. So where do we go?

DAVIS: But, we have to not just-you know, Hillary Clinton spoke at Columbia and I felt very encouraged by it. But, she said we have to gain balance back in into the justice system. We have to create balance for the first time. It's not just about coming to terms, it's about changing the terms. And young people feel, inherently, injustice. It is innate, so they respond with the tools that they have, which aren't many. When you set this up, the neighborhood in which we are looking at, the amount of men that are incarcerated are more than anywhere else in the state. So they're-exactly.

PEREIRA: It's shocking. It's shocking. This is just, sort of, the tip of the iceberg for conversations that we're hoping to have going forward. Obviously, they need to be had more. Charles, Michaela, I know you'll be busy this weekend talking about this, tweeting about it, thinking about it. Hopefully we will have you back soon, okay? Thanks both of you. Give us your take. You can tweet using the #NewDayCNN.

Ahead, though, we're going to take you back to Nepal. A young earthquake victim nearly did until doctor Gopus--Gupta steps in and saves her life. It's an incredible story you can't miss.

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[08:40:25] PEREIRA: Alright, here we go with the five things you need to know for your NEW DAY. At No. 1, Freddie Gray's autopsy could be ready for prosecutors today. Baltimore police now admitting the van transporting Gray made a previously unknown second stop that was not reported.

More solidarity with Baltimore. Protesters-in former protesters, two people arrested in violent protests in Philadelphia. May Day protests are planned nationwide today.

The death toll in the Nepal earthquake now soaring to over 6, 200 victim. The number of people injured, closed to 14,000. Rough weather and landslides make it very difficult for crews to deliver much needed aid to the devastated area.

U.S. commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz now getting escorts from Navy war ships. Defense officials fear that the Iranians my try to seize them after they did so with the ship flagged from the Marshall Islands.

Oprah Winfrey, a long-time supporter of Dr. Oz, pulling the plug on his radio show. Dr. Oz, as you know, has been under scrutiny since a group of doctors and professors accused him of promoting quack treatments and asked that he be fired from Columbia's Medical School.

For more on the five things to know, go to newdaycnn.com for the very latest.

Just an incredible story here. A young earthquake victim from Nepal put into an airplane. Her heath quickly deteriorating. Minutes into the flight, she suddenly stops breathing with no medical supplies within reach. CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, though, was there. He jumped in to save her life.

(BEGIN VIDETAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sometimes it takes a village to reach a village. And right now, they are trying to save a village. Just east of Katmandu, Sindhupolchok is the hardest hit district in Nepal. More devastation and more deaths than anywhere else. They need everything. Anything.

(on camera): So, we're seeing how some of this relief works. First of all, Indian helicopter. We're getting a lot of assistance from other countries. Noodle, instant noodles, one of the biggest relief item provides an instant source of calories. And finally, these are the tarps. This is so badly needed because of the weather conditions where we're going.

(voice-over): One of the challenges we are told, this team has no idea what they will find when they arrive. We quickly see what that means. The propellers never even stop as we drop off aid supplies. And suddenly, an 18-year-old mother is thrust in the aircraft door, up top a flimsy makeshift stretcher made by straw.

We only know her name, Sabina. We see her husband and one-and-a-half- month-old baby. As I examine her, I quickly realize, she has no movement an no sensation in her legs. Sabina is paraplegic. Then, things get worse. Minutes into our flight now, Sabina stops breathing. We can no longer detect a pulse, either in her wrist or in her neck. I checked her pupils and tried desperately to rouse her as we blast over the countryside.

There are no IV fluids on this helicopter, no defibrillator, not even a first aid kit, and this young woman is going into cardiac arrest. It is aggressive, but I just delivered a cardiac thump, a quick, strong hit to the chest in a last ditch effort to shock Sabina's heart back into action. Whether it worked or not, I can't say for sure, but she came back. And for a moment everything calms down.

I slowly try to rehydrate her the old-fashioned way. We touch down once more to a makeshift hospital high in the mountains. And we realize as dramatic as that was, it is a scene that is playing out every day, maybe every hour in the skies about Nepal. You can get an idea just how challenging these missions are. Look at the very small space in which this helicopter had to land on top of the hill. Hardly any room to spare. They're taking out these badly needed supplies as quickly as they can because there is a woman on that helicopter who nearly went into cardiac arrest. They got to get her back as quickly as possible.

[08:44:51] Here come the patients, one by one. I'm handed a precious little baby to fly back whose mother is too weak to hold her. Sabina's IV bag now tied to the ceiling using a disposable face mask. Anything to just make it work. Just a single moment to celebrate the lives on this chopper. We touch down again, and this time, there are stretchers, medicines, and fluids, and prayers. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Nepal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Just a incredible tale. You can go to cnn.com\impact if you want to find a way to help the victims. They're going to need our help. Meanwhile, we turn back to Baltimore where they're preparing for

another round of protesting on the weekend. We are going to speak to somebody on the ground who is trying to keep the situation from deteriorating.

But first, Anthony Bourdain. He's checking out Miami this Sunday on "Parts Unknown". It airs at 9:00 p.m. eastern. Let's give you a little sneak peak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, "PARTS UNKNOWN" : So here we are again. Miami, I keep doing the same things again and again every time I come here. I go to the Club Deuce. It's always a good time to come here. I stay at the usual hotel. If there's sun, I, you know, I try to layout. Maybe splash around in the water. I'm not that creative, actually.

But, you know, let's face it, what's interesting about Miami? Is Miami America? (SPANISH SPEAKING) Is it a state? Is it the south? Actually, all the things I love about Miami kind of come down on the no side. I love Miami for the same reason I love the places that I love most around the world. You know, it's the mix here. It's this big, messy dysfunctional hell brought the people from all over the world that make it so awesome, and a place that I want to keep coming back to. Also, the food's good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[08:51:11] CHRIS CUOMO, ANCHOR: Big headline from the investigations. Authorities reveal a previously undisclosed stop by the police van where Freddie Gray is believed to have sustained his fatal injuries. This revelation is fueling anger in the community over exactly what happened inside that van and why the cops didn't know about this stop until later.

Let's bring in Jay Morrison. He is the leader of the Youth Mind Can, YMC, Community Coalition. He traveled to Baltimore to help keep protest calm this week and yet active. Jay, thank you for being here.

JAY MORRISON, LEADER, YMC COMMUNITY COALITION: It's nothing Chris.

CUOMO: So, you are understanding and harnessing the feelings of the community about what's happening around them. The preliminary report given from police a day early to the prosecutor. She know has it. Whether or not she'll charge, we don't know. What are your concerns and your questions?

MORRISON: Well, I am harnessing the concerns of our youth, our community and of common sense citizens through out the world that have seen the footage-seen the evidence that there was some kind of injury sustained prior to him even entering the van and how prosecutors or police or mayor or President and everyone else, is ignoring a blatant injury that happened.

CUOMO: What's being ignored?

MORRISON: The fact there was video evidence that's very common sense and clear video evidence that a police officer has Freddie Grey's body, and his limbs, his legs particularly, bent up in a awkward position, there was a loud belch or scream, and the police officers released his leg. And eye witnesses said why did you twist his leg like that. You broke his leg. They tried to lift him, his leg was lifeless. All that to me, to a common sense person or a doctor-I only have a college education, but I have a lot of common sense. To me, that says injury. So, for the Deputy Commissioner, Jerry Rodriguez, to say there was no bodily harm done, no physical force used or any arrest, that B.S.

CUOMO: Well, and what's the push back? The push back is-and you got go do it this way because-

MORRISON: That's fine.

CUOMO: --there's two sides to it. Right? We got to understand the process. He was obviously hurt, we can know that right, because he yelled and something happened-

MORRISON: But, no one's admitting that though. No even said much Chris.

CUOMO: No, he says injury. He says injury. It's not just a word game. That's legally significant. Yes, you hurt him. If you put my chest right now, you may hurt me. Did you injury me, probably not. So, they're looking for injury because they're looking for proof of crime.

MORRISON: But, how could anyone prove injury at that point without a doctor on site? Right? You can't prove injury without it-it got to actually be examined.

CUOMO: It's hard and that's part of the process of the investigation.

MORRISON: But doesn't hurt typically lead to injury?

CUOMO: It can.

MORRISON: Right?

CUOMO: It can.

MORRISON: So hurt and somebody saying, I need to see a doctor. I need medical help. That pretty much says that person may be injured to a common sense person.

CUOMO: It's true, although, what do the cops say? They say well, that was asthma related , and we should of gotten him help sooner. Probably, but that doesn't mean we killed him.

MORRISON: Now, his leg falling lifeless to the ground shows injury, right to a common sense person.

CUOMO: It could, but there had to be investigated and they were investigated. They got four different people investigating, so when you say, they don't see what I see, they're looking pretty hard.

MORRISON: Right, well.

CUOMO: You got to see what they come up with before you say they didn't see nothing.

MORRISON: I don't think you need three, four weeks to be able to see what we see. And we've seen plenty of cases in the past, Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Alfred Wright, (INAUDIBLE) where they look pretty hard and it's been the same result every single time. And it all ties into the bigger picture which is a oppressive government system, which has been extremely oppressive for 450 years towards African-American people. And that's facts.

CUOMO: But know you've got Black Attorney General, black Mayor, black Police Commissioner, black Prosecutor-

MORRISON: But, and who they all work for, Chris?

CUOMO: All Democrats.

MORRISON: Who do they all work for?

CUOMO: You. Your the citizens.

MORRISON: No, they don't. They work for the American government. That's who they work for. It's the system. I'm not saying white- black.

CUOMO: It doesn't matter to you.

[08:54:54] MORRISON: Right. That's why I said it's youth and our citizens, not communities, not black community. We have many White and Hispanic, every other supporters all over the world that see this. That's why (INAUDIBLE). We're a diverse group. It's not about black community, but it's about world community that believes in human rights, not civil rights, it's human rights. The human rights of black America has been violated for centuries. Literally centuries and no ones paid attention. So when you see these riots in Philly, in Detroit and all over-D.C., over this? It's not all Freddie Gray. Those riots in St. Louis weren't over Mike Brown. The Eric Garner riots weren't over Eric Garner. It's over oppression.

CUOMO: They're seen as symptomatic of bigger problems. I get you. But, not seeing it, I don't know that I feel that that's accurate. It's what so you do about it. That's going to be the concern. I think people see that's why we're here. That's why you have the protest. That's why you have the media. That's why you have the investigations. But, I think the question will be, do you believe anything will be done about it?

MORRISON: We don't have confidence in the government, so I don't know. I don't know what to believe because the evidence of our American government has shown that they could easily turn a blind eye, and the evidence of our people is after that after the news cycle ends, and mom slaps another kid or something else happens, we get distracted and the real issues go away. So, I don't know.

CUOMO: Alright then. Then, here's the challenge for us going forward. Because we are where we can be right now. You have to keep the dialogue going on your side with what the impressions are from the community and what doesn't make sense. And it's our responsibility in the media to cover what we have to. And That's the pledge.

MORRISON: Thank you.

CUOMO: We'll keep the conversation going.

MORRISON: But, we have to understand, that something is not done about this, people are getting fed up.

CUOMO: Absolutely. Understood.

MORRISON: It's a boiling pot.

CUOMO: But, let's see what happens with the investigation. Jay, thank you very much.

MORRISON: Thank you. Appreciate it. YMC.

[08:56:35] CUOMO: Absolutely. Alright, so we're going to keep covering this obviously. There's a lot of news coming out of Baltimore. And you will get it when "NEWSROOM" with Ashley Banfield, who's in for Carol, comes right after the break.

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