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Officer Gives His Side in Freddie Gray Trial; Supporters Back Trump's Stance on Gun Control; Protesters Demand Chicago Mayor Step Down. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired December 10, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:52] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Good to have you back with us here on NEW DAY.

The trial of one of the six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray is expected to resume this morning. Officer William Porter says he is sorry that Freddie Gray died, but argues he wasn't trained on seat belt procedures for the police van that transported him.

CNN correspondent Jean Casarez is live in Baltimore with the very latest on his testimony -- Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

You know, the defense promised the secure in the opening statements that the defendant would take the stand. And he did -- the second witness in the defense case.

And William Porter testified he did not call for a medic on that day for Freddie Gray, because as he asked him, do you need a medic? Do you need to go to the hospital? He wouldn't give him a reason why, and he needed that reason. And he kept asking him and he never got that response.

He also said he didn't see any external injuries that would denote some reason to have to go to the hospital. As far as seat belting him in, he said he didn't do that because the van is very narrow inside. We heard that it's 17 inches from bench to cross bench. And he said that if he got in there in a seat belt, that his gun would be exposed to any person he was transporting, he believed that was too big of a risk.

He did say in the police academy that he was taught that you were supposed to seat belt somebody in. But when they went out for field training, that never once was there any demonstration or did they ever seat belt a prisoner inside the transport van. And so, he in essence didn't know how to do it. He said that he didn't see it done.

He also testified that he was very sorry what happened to Freddie Gray. That he never wanted that to happen, that he knew Freddie Gray from patrolling the neighborhood. Now, in cross examination, they tried to discredit him with lit bits and pieces saying he wasn't telling the truth.

As far as demeanor, William Porter was down to earth. He was just talking natural. Cross-examination didn't really change at all.

But the question is, how did he get the horrific injuries, Freddie Gray? Because the C4 vertebra in the cervical neck area was up and locked over C5. The ligaments were ripped and torn. The nerves could not do blood flow. The arteries couldn't take oxygen to the brain so he couldn't breathe.

And, Chris, that is the perplexing thing, because there's no evidence that the van went at high speed or stopped quickly or turned quickly. And the injuries were as the medical examiner said you had fallen out of a major airplane crash.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, at trial, you only know what you show and it's up to the prosecution to make the case of what caused those injuries and tie it to the officers.

Jean, thank you very much. Appreciate the reporting. Stay on that for us.

So, let's take a quick break.

When we come back, Donald Trump, he said we need to talk about what's going on. His solution: ban the Muslims.

It is resonating with a growing number of people. We have a panel of Trump's biggest backers. Hear why they believe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:37:46] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: After the San Bernardino terror attacks, the gun control debate heating up again. Donald Trump declaring the victims of the massacre could have saved themselves if they had been armed.

I sat down this week with a group of Trump supporters at the historic Palace Theater in Stanford, Connecticut. We talked about the very heated issue of gun control.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: After every mass shooting, there's a debate, as you all know, that bubbles up about gun control. What has Donald Trump said, Paulie, that makes you think that he will be best to handle this issue?

PAUL DIBARTOLO, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, first of all, he's an avid supporter of the Second Amendment. What happened last week in San Bernardino, California, the massacre that took place out there, right away, they used -- Democrats, Obama and Hillary Clinton used that as a political talking point to say that, if we had, you know, tighter gun control, that may have never happened.

My opinion on the subject is, had we had, a couple of legally -- people that could legally carry a handgun in that room, maybe we wouldn't have seen that issue at all.

MICHAEL TEED, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Mr. Trump did say, you know, unfortunate thing that happened in France, he said if American people were in there and we had our rights with guns it would be a completely different outcome.

CAMEROTA: And so, is that the solution, John, what is the solution to mass shootings and gun violence here?

JOHN HIKEL, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, educating people that guns aren't bad. Guns aren't dangerous. They are in the hands of someone who is not qualified to have them. If someone came into this theater, let's say, and wanted to do harm to any of us, they would probably have a high success rate. But I can tell you if they came into the Palace Theater in Manchester, New Hampshire, they may have a much less chance of surviving.

CAMEROTA: Because more people have guns in New Hampshire.

HIKEL: Everybody has guns in New Hampshire. And it's one of the safest states in the country.

WILLIAM BAER, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I think the quintessential example of the way this is a farce, this whole discussion of gun control, relative to terrorism and mass shooting, look at Ft. Hood. That was a military base, and it was effectively a gun-free zone.

[06:40:03] I mean, these people must be laughing at us, to think that they go to a military base, these poor soldiers are sitting targets for these guys who committed so-called workplace violence. That's what happened, and that these people couldn't defend themselves.

I mean, defending yourself say natural right of self-defense, yet, they want us to relinquish the duty that we have as a matter of natural law, give it to them and they have to duty to protect us.

PAULA JOHNSON, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Plus the fact, let's take away all the guns from all the citizens, what happens? Only the criminals now have guns.

CAMEROTA: One of the things that's come to light is that there's this loophole, apparently, whereby people on the FBI's no-fly list, their terror watch list, can buy guns. Are you comfortable with that?

SUSAN DELEMUS, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, I haven't really studied that one per se. But I remember hearing that there are a number of people on the no-fly list that shouldn't be on the no-fly list, that are there mistakenly. For me, I think everyone has the right defend themselves, and everyone should be able to have a gun if they so desire.

JOSH YOUSSEF, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Now, the government has this omnipotent capability of creating a black list called the no-fly zone because of a suspicion. What happened to my -- not my, but anyone's right to confront their accuser, meet their accuser face-to- face? So, now, you're going to strip someone's Second Amendment right of liberty because some two-bit politician decided that he's a suspect of terror?

CAMEROTA: I mean, we are talking about keeping America safe and we're talking about terror. Even incident Muslims, from say Trinidad or India, who or wherever, who may be fleeing some sort of persecution, they can't come in because we're too concerned about national security. But let people on the terror watch list have a gun because we're too concerned about our liberties of each other.

YOUSSEF: Not to conflict the immigration issue with the right to self-defense. Number one, you do not have a right to immigrate to the United States. It's not a right. So the people on the outside of the borders, they don't have a right to come in. That does not in any way -- it's a mutual exclusive for my right to defend myself, using any means necessary to protect life and limb of either myself or somebody else, that I see being threatened or death.

HIKEL: And they can use this no-fly list against anybody. They can have any suspicion. To tie those together for your right to protect yourself, your life, your liberty, your family, and your property, and everything that is proper to you, and also add it to the no-fly list I think is absolutely wrong.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: But some people -- yes, you're right, that there are people -- that there are people who are not supposed to be on the no- ply list. But some people on the no-fly list are being watched. They are suspects of some kind?

HIKEL: They're being watched and suspects but innocent until proven guilty. And I'll tell, the ability to be able to disarm somebody who hasn't ever been found to be guilty of any crime or felony or any -- or have any particular mental illness or whatever, they're trying to sort this out with, I think is wrong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: OK. Lots to talk about here. So, let's bring in Jackie Kucinich and Errol Louis.

Great to have you back with us.

So, Errol, that was an interesting conversation, because they're more concerned about somebody incident being mistakenly put on the no- fly list who doesn't deserve to be there and then having their gun -- not being able to purchase a gun, than about real terror suspects being able to get their hands on a gun?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's right. Imagine what that same group would say of somebody on a no fly list, if people who might be connected to terrorism or otherwise in need of supervision, coming up with a gun and then shooting up some kind of a place.

I think the sort of disgust that comes through, I think, from those folks, about the capability of the government at every level is what I found most disturbing. You know, there are dedicated professionals. You meet some people who are in policing, in law enforcement, in the defense establishment, they spend a long, long time trying to get the right kind of balance between the procedures that need to keep us safe and the constitutional freedom that they're worn to protect.

They go through it in a very kind of nuanced sort of a way. These are people who are not making a lot of money. They're combing through data. They're trying to sort of get best practice. They're learning from experiences overseas and so forth. And these folks, they're saying give me a gun, I'll shoot it out with the terrorists, and everybody in government is wasting their time.

CAMEROTA: Jackie, the first thing we started that conversation with was, one of the Trump supporters who said Donald Trump is an avid supporter of the Second Amendment. Now, he wasn't known necessarily as that prior to running for president. But since then, Donald Trump said I love the second amendment. I think that is what they're basing their thoughts about Donald Trump's position on?

[06:45:02] JACKIE KUCINICH, SENIOR POLITICS EDITOR, THE DAILY BEAST: You know, it's hard to find anyone in the Republican field that probably doesn't love the Second Amendment. But, you know, across the board in that group, what you hearsay deep mistrust of government and government officials.

And I think that's what Donald Trump is tapping into. And he's saying, personally reliant and have your gun in a movie theater, have your gun when you go see a concert, because then you can defend yourself. That is obviously what the supporters want to hear.

CAMEROTA: Jackie, Errol, thank you so much for the snap analysis. Great to you have guys here.

Let's get over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right. So, another big story this morning, what's going on in Chicago.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he didn't cover anything but he is sorry. Is sorry enough? We have a look at what's coming in Chicago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel facing an uphill battle as citizens respond to his apology over a series of deadly shootings. Protesters demanding his resignation. The question is, will he survive the backlash?

Joining us is Zach Stafford.

[06:50:01] He's a contributing writer for "The Guardian" newspaper. He is based in Chicago. He co-authored a special report on other cases of alleged police brutality in Chicago. We'll talk about those in a minute.

But, Zach, I know you have lived in Chicago for a past while and you have been covering what's going on in your city there for a while. In fact, I know you were on the streets last night, amid the protesters, talking to them, covering the story.

What was of note being among the protesters last night to you?

ZACH STAFFORD, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, THE GUARDIAN: I mean, last night, the protesters, something of note is that it was very business as usual for a lot of them. They've been out on the streets for a long time, just because the world is now paying attention to their cries for help in the city of Chicago, it doesn't mean they haven't been trying to make this for a while.

So, last night, what I think was so interesting was, yesterday's protesting in the middle of the day, was actually an accident -- it was a joke. It was a college student who kind of created a Facebook page in New York, and it took off in Chicago and saw it.

A lot of the Chicagoans that were there weren't protesters that are well-seasoned. But there are people who are lawyers, doctors, they all worked downtown and wanted to come out and support what they see on TV.

PEREIRA: They were moved and wanted to be part of it. Part of it we know is loudening drum beat for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to step down. What happens do you think if he'll stay -- if he stays and goes against ma protesters are calling for? We know there's a recall effort, a fellow Democrat introducing that bill.

STAFFORD: Yes, so that was an very interesting development, in the midst of all of these protests, State Representative La Shawn Ford introduced a bill that would allow us to recall mayor Emanuel, unprecedented before, that along with the protests a sign of how strongly Chicagoans feel about getting the mayor out of office.

As a reminder, Mayor Emanuel was re-elected this year. And I think what we're seeing and why the Laquan video is so powerful is that people are responding so aggressively because they feel as if the mayor kind of stole the election by hiding that video. So, now, they're very angry, they're saying we trusted you, because this election was very close. Now they're saying we trusted you and now you made us distrust you, and we don't know if we can trust you ever again.

PEREIRA: Well, we know the DOJ is going to launch an investigation into what's going on with that, with regard to what you said, the re-election process. I want to play a little sound from Mayor Emanuel yesterday becoming quite emotional during a special city council meeting that he called yesterday. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RAHM EMANUAL (D), CHICAGO: One young man asked me a simple question that gets to the core of what we're talking about, he said, do you think the police would ever treat you the way they treat me? And the answer is, no. And that is wrong. No citizen is a second class citizen in the city of Chicago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: So, I'm curious, what is the reaction there on the streets of Chicago? How are Chicagoans receiving his emoted speech yesterday?

STAFFORD: I mean, I don't mean to smirk at that. I do respect Mayor Emanuel in a lot of ways but I think a lot of protesters are smirking at him currently. They do not see his care for a black lives in Chicago as anywhere in their history with him, this past year and the past few years, the mayor has not only allowed for police violence to go unchecked in the city of Chicago, but he's closed schools. He's closed mental health facilities.

He's done things that have directly impacted black communities here and have made them feel that they're worse than ever before. So, I think when the mayor said, while they appreciate their emotion, they are not seeing in his day-to-day actions, especially when his city continues to block the release of many videos that show police misconduct.

PEREIRA: Well, Zach, you've done terrific reporting as well on the homeland scare, interrogation facility that were sort of kept under wraps for a lot of time, disproportionately holding African- Americans there without legal representation. I'm going to point people to that because we don't have time to talk about it and we could join another time. Thanks for joining us today on NEW DAY.

STAFFORD: For sure.

PEREIRA: Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Michaela.

Many serious questions this morning over the visa vetting process of San Bernardino terror suspects. Were there intelligence failures? We'll look into that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:58:32] CUOMO: It is time for CNN money now. Chief business correspondent Christine Romans in the money center.

What do you have, my friend?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

U.S. futures are slightly higher. We'll see if they can turn things around because stocks are now lower for the year. The Dow down by about 2 percent. The S&P 500 down almost 1 percent.

What's weighing markets down -- low oil prices. That's good for you at the pump. The average price per gallon of regular gas, $2.01. But those low oil prices are rattling investors around the world. There's an oversupply in the market and there seems to be no end in sight.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg posted yesterday that Facebook will fight to protect the rights of its Muslim users. He doesn't mention Donald Trump in name but Zuckerberg says he was inspired to speak up after the, quote, "hate" seen this week. Trump, of course, said he would ban Muslims temporarily from entering the United States, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Christine, thank you very much.

A lot of news this morning. What do you say? Let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What remains unclear is if their love was real --

CUOMO: Marriage between the two terrorists may have been a sham designed to help pull off an attack.

DAVID COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: They were actually radicalized before they started courting or dating each other.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Farook and his neighbor or friend apparently plotted to launch an attack back in 2012.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A string of high profile deadly police shootings caught on tape.

EMANUEL: We followed the course. And it's clear the course has not worked for the relationship between the community and the police department.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to break this pledge?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's highly unlikely unless they break the pledge to me, because it's a two-way street.