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NEW DAY

Protests Overnight in Baltimore Over Freddie Gray; Obama; We Send "Direct Messages" to Iran; Cruise Ship Weathers Once in a Decade Storm; Alabama College Student Joins ISIS. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired April 22, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWD: We want peace! We want peace!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Justice Department has now launched a civil rights investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard the young man screaming "Get off my neck! Get off my neck!"

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to figure out what happened.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: The U.S. is now conducting manned reconnaissance missions in the waters off Yemen.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not sending them obscure messages; we send them very direct messages about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The missing young woman from Alabama is believed to have traveled to Syria to join ISIS.

[08:00:01] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had withdrawn from the Muslim community over a year before she left to join ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's definitely the biggest waves I've seen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over 2,000 passengers stranded on a Carnival cruise ship.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, April 22, 8:00 in the East. Demonstrators are gearing up for more protests as frustration grows in Baltimore. Hundreds taking the streets last night in the first large scale protests. We know why -- the death of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old who died after a week after being taken into custody. A week later and now he is dead.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Baltimore police finally naming the six officers involved in Gray's arrest. Now the Justice Department opening its own civil rights investigation.

CNN's coverage begins this morning with Suzanne Malveaux; she is live in Baltimore. What is the latest, Suzanne?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, I was there last night when Freddie Gray's mother collapsed in grief and when his brother started wailing and simply chanting, demanding justice. Well, those family members, protesters, members of the community, they're going to be gathering here at city hall on Thursday demanding to find out what happened to Freddie Gray.

It has been ten days since he was taken into police custody, three days since he was dead, and now we have very little information from what we had back then.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWD: No justice, no peace!

MALVEAUX (voice-over): The voices of demonstrators united, making their point clear. Baltimore is fed up.

CROWD: Do you have no shame?

MALVEAUX: The Baltimore Police Department lined with barricades and officers, protesters standing firm with their demand for justice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you take a man, put him in handcuffs, and then feel as though you want to hurt him then?

CAPTAIN ERIC KOWALCZYK, BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT: We hear the frustration of the community. We hear the angst and the hurt in the Gray family. And we have an obligation to make sure that we are as open and as transparent with this investigation as we can be.

MALVEAUX: Freddie Gray's mother shielding her face, overcome with grief Tuesday, still unable to lay her son to rest. Police have yet to turn over his body. The family plans to conduct a second, private autopsy. "The Baltimore Sun" quoting the family as saying, "Before he died, Gray underwent surgery for three fractured vertebrae in his neck and a crushed larynx."

MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, BALTIMORE: I don't know at what point Mr. Gray suffered the traumatic and fatal injuries. I don't know but I'm determined to get to the bottom of it.

MALVEAUX: The Department of Justice says it's now launching their own probe to determine if any civil rights were violated.

And this week, Baltimore Police Department releasing the names of all six officers who were directly involved in the April 12th arrest -- five men and one woman, their ages ranging from 25 to 45. Four of them relatively new to the force. The other two have at least 15 years of experience with the department. All six suspended with pay. Authorities stressing that the actions taken against them in no way implies any wrongdoing in the arrest. (END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (on camera): The law enforcement officers' bill of rights may prohibits a supervisor from even interviewing those who have been involved in some sort of altercation or arrest, and so therefore, for ten days, that window has now expired, so supervisors can go ahead and start talking directly to the officers directly who were involved in the arrest of Freddie Gray. Now I've spoken as well with the attorney of the family, and they say yesterday they were told they would be given the body of Freddie Gray, turned over to them. That did not happen. They're hoping, hoping today, that that is going to be something that they're going to actually have their loved one returned to the family later today. Chris?

CUOMO : All these delays are a big part of the frustration. We're going to get into them more deeply about why they exist in the first place. Suzanne, thank you for laying it out for us this morning.

In other news, President Obama delivering what he says is a strong message to Iran about aiding the Houthis. U.S. warships patrolling the Gulf of Aden. That is that message. They say they are ready to cut off the flow of arms to the rebels.

Let's bring in CNN's Michelle Kosinski with the lateset at the White House. Is it posturing? Is it policy? What are they saying?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been kind of hard to get to the bottom of what exactly they're saying. The White House has made it pretty clear that the U.S. is prepared to physically stop Iran, or back up others in stopping Iran from getting any more weapons to the Houthis in Yemen. But the White House is extremely reluctant to spell it out in those terms, saying they don't want to speculate. And they've been reciting almost like a mantra, I mean, 15 times in yesterday's briefing, that the mission of U.S. ships in that region is to protect the free flow of navigation and commerce.

[08:05:00] But they also said that the international community is resolute, as they put it, in enforcing a new U.N. Security Council resolution barring the transfer of weapons to the Houthis, and that the U.S. stands shoulder to shoulder in that goal.

Here is President Obama on the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: What we've said to them is, is that if there are weapons delivered to factions within Yemen that could threaten navigation, that's a problem. And we're not sending them obscure messages; we sent them very direct messages about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: The White House also won't tell you exactly how those messages are transmitted to the Iranians, only that they have means of doing so and they're making it very clear that Iran needs to be a part of the solution. Alisyn. CAMEROTA: Michelle, thanks so much for that.

Well, Saudi Arabia said no more air strikes in Yemen because Operation Decisive Storm, as it's called, succeeded -- until it did not. Less than 24 hours after announcing the end, air strikes resumed. The situation at sea becoming equally precarious as U.S. warships near Yemen watch for arms shipments from Iran.

Let's get to CNN's international correspondent, Frederik Pleitgen. He is live for us in Tehran. How do we make sense of all the latest, Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is very difficult. It certainly shows how Iran is really trying to compartmentalize its relations, its evolving relations, with the United States. On the one hand, you have the nuclear negotiations, Aliysn, that are starting again and where there are many Iranians who have very high hopes for those. And on the other hand, you have the conflict in Yemen and of course that standoff at sea. That is a major issue between these two countries.

There's some very fiery rhetoric coming here out of Tehran, and certainly there are some top level Iranian generals who are saying they believe that it is still a problem, issues like this, before the relations between these two countries. I was actually able to speak to the commander of Iran's ground forces, who is someone who almost never speaks to western media. And he told me there still is very little trust between the United States and Iran. Let's have a listen in to it -- oh, actually, I have the statement right here.

He said, "At the moment, we consider the United States to be a threat to us because the policies and actions are threatening to us. We would like the U.S. to change its rhetoric and tone of voice so that our nation could have more trust in U.S. military leadership. We trust the American people, but the tone of the U.S. government and military officials is such that we still consider the U.S. a threat."

Of course the Iranians for their part also using some pretty fiery language in the relations. So this is certainly something where you can really see a dual way of operating here from the Iranians. On the one hand trying to foster relations with the nuclear agreement; on the other hand, being very tough on the Yemen issue as well. Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Fred, thank you for the latest on that.

Want to turn to France right now. Breaking news this morning from France. French officials say they have foiled an imminent attack at a church. A 24-year-old Algerian suspect was detained on Sunday in Paris after accidentally shooting himself. Police found a blood trail leading to his vehicle where they discovered loaded guns. They found more later in his home. Now, that suspect had already been flagged as a security risk last year.

4,000 passengers and crew are relieved to be back on land after their Carnival cruise ship was forced to weather a massive storm off the coast of Australia. Conditions are being described as once in a decade storm left most people on storm absolutely petrified.

CNN's senior international correspondent Ivan Watson has more on what they lived through. Ivan.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michael. The passengers on this cruise ship, they thought they were going to be coming into the Port of Sydney in Australia for their last stop to get off after their vacation aboard the cruise. Instead that disembarkation was delayed and they had to ride out the storm aboard the cruise ship out at sea in a situation that one passenger described as a nightmare.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON (voice-over): Horror off the coast of Australia. This is the view of over 2,000 passengers stranded on a Carnival cruise ship near Sydney. The east coast of the country slammed by a once in a decade deadly storm.

The waves up to 30 feet high with wind surpassing 60 miles an hour, forcing the ship packed with 800 children to stay outside the harbor overnight on Tuesday. Sydney officials say it was too risky.

CAPTAIN PHILIP HOLLIDAY, SYDNEY HARBORMASTER: This is the first time I've closed the port. This is the first time I've ever refused entry to a cruise ship.

WATSON: Passengers back on land Wednesday morning describe a nightmare.

ATHANASIA GEORGOUDAKIS, PASENGER: I've been on a cruise before and I never had this experience in my whole entire life. I was petrified.

WATSON: The Carnival company no stranger to stranded cruise liners.

[08:10:03] In 2010, Carnival Splendor was left off the coast of San Diego for three days due to an engine fire. And in 2013, Carnival Triumph suffered a similar fate in the Gulf of Mexico, leaving passengers helpless for nearly a week.

But this time, the massive storm whipping Australia's coastline, banging fishing boats against the shore and sweeping entire homes off their foundation, is the reason Carnival cruise line's vice president says this delay was unavoidable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON (on camera): Now, the passengers, they're back safe on dry land, but this part of southeastern Australia is reeling from the storm, which turned deadly. Police say that at least four people have been killed in the last two days. Police divers in the last couple of hours recovering the body of an 86-year-old woman whose car was swept away by one of these floods. A top official in New South Wales in Australia, he has said that this storm was much more severe than anticipated. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: That video is scary. Ivan, thank you for that.

Let's get back to our top story now. Protesters taking to the streets in Baltimore, demanding answers in the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody.

Joining us now is William Murphy; he's the attorney representing the Gray family. Mr. Murphy, thanks for being on NEW DAY. We understand that more than 1,000 protesters took to the streets in Baltimore last night, and that Freddie Gray's mom and family came out to be part of this, but that his mother became overwhelmed. Can you tell us what the family's experience was?

WILLIAM MURPHY, JR., ATTORNEY FOR FREDDIE GRAY'S FAMILY: The family just couldn't take it. The demonstration was welcomed, but the emotion overcame them and the mother collapsed. She is OK, I'm happy to say, and it was just overwhelming to her.

CAMEROTA: We can certainly understand that. When we last spoke to you, Mr. Murphy, on Monday, you said that the family had not been given any explanation from the police department of what happened. Has that changed?

MURPHY: No, that hasn't changed. We're still in the dark about it, and in a way it's understandable because the police sometimes don't want to reveal critical parts of their investigation because it might affect what people say who are also targets or witnesses. I understand that. On the other hand, this family has a right to know what happened. And at the right time, I'm sure that the city will provide that information. And in the meantime, we will conduct our own, the federal government will conduct its own, Marilyn Mosby, the state's attorney, will conduct her own, and we will be watchful as to all of those developments and keep the family informed.

CAMEROTA: We understand actually, that as of this of morning there are four separate investigations going into what happened there in Baltimore. But last night the spokesperson for the Baltimore Police Department came on CNN and what he said about the level of force used has gotten a lot of attention. So let me play that for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOWALCZYK: We're going to follow the facts where they go. The deputy commission said that no force was used. All of the evidence that we have at this time indicates that there was no force used. There was no bruising, there was no indication of any sort of broken bones. However that investigation is still ongoing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Mr. Murphy, he says all of the evidence that they have shows that no force was used.

MURPHY: You see, that's why we don't have any confidence in the police investigation. First of all, they have no business saying anything like that until the investigation is completed. One critical fact, one critical witness, could change the entire picture. And they admittedly have not interviewed the six police involved.

And so this is really an outrageous position for them to be taking at this point. It's utterly premature to make that statement. It's misleading and it's irresponsible. And so we would ask the police to make no more incomplete and misleading statements in this case about the investigation. That destroys public confidence.

We know something happened to this young man and we know that the six police officers who have yet to cooperate with this investigation will help us get to the bottom of it. And we're asking one or more of them to come forward and tell us what happened. Go to the state's attorney, make sure that your conscience is clear, make sure that you do what you have asked citizens to do. As Congressman Cummings said, when you ask citizens to come forward and solve a crime, you're in not in a different position now. Please come forward.

CAMEROTA: Mr. Murphy, we were also surprised to hear that the mayor of Baltimore has said that she hasn't been able to get answers as to what happened.

[08:15:03] She was on CNN last night and she explained why she can't get answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, BALTIMORE, MD: Because of the law enforcement's bill of rights we have yet to fully engage those officers. Excessive use of force complaints are going down, but we have a lot of progress to do and it significantly hampers our ability to bridge the -- or to repair the relationship with the community and the police when something this tragic happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So, basically, Mr. Murphy, she is blaming the law enforcement officers' bill of rights for why her office hasn't been able to get answers and why they aren't able to move forward in repairing the relationship with citizens. Is that plausible to you?

WILLIAM MURPHY, JR., ATTORNEY FOR FREDDIE GRAY'S FAMILY: Yes. Unlike all other states in the Union, except perhaps a handful, these officers have more rights than ordinary citizens have, not to cooperate with the police investigation. There's a 10-day period where they really don't have to say anything, and they have exercised that right as it were. And that's -- this case illustrates why that is a bad policy that goes too far.

Of course police should be treated fairly. Of course police should have the rights of ordinary citizens, but they should not have more rights and that's what the police bill of rights essentially gives them. And this is obstructive to any reasonable investigation.

CAMEROTA: So, Mr. Murphy, so now that those ten days have elapsed, now will we get answers?

MURPHY: Well, let's wait and see. My crystal ball says no, not yet. And that's unfortunate.

I wish I had a different prediction, and I would be pleasantly surprised to be wrong.

CAMEROTA: Mr. William Murphy, we will talk to you again. Thank you so much for being on NEW DAY.

MURPHY: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Chris?

CUOMO: Surprise in the news, an Alabama woman believed to have fled to Syria to join ISIS, and later calling for terror attacks on Twitter. We're going to speak with one of her high school classmates and figure out how she wound up in this situation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:51] PEREIRA: An Alabama town is in shock this morning after learning a 20-year-old woman from their community fled to Syria in November to join ISIS. University of Alabama student Hoda Muthana posted this picture to Twitter from inside Syria. This picture right here, pledging to burn her American passport after joining the terrorist group. See an Australian, Canadian passport along with them.

What could have motivated this young woman to abandon her family and join ISIS?

Jordan LaPorta went to high school with Hoda. He joins us now this morning.

Hi, Jordan. How are you?

JORDAN LAPORTA, HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATE OF HODA MUTHANA: I'm doing well, Michaela. How are you?

PEREIRA: I'm well. We are mystified the story of your classmate. So, I understand you went to high school with Hoda. You're friends with her on Facebook, you graduated two years ago and each have gone your separate ways going to university.

How would you describe Hoda, the girl you knew in high school?

LAPORTA: See, it was surprising to me to hear about this story, because when I thought about my graduating class, Hoda was not somebody that I would have thought that would have gone on to do such a thing. She was a very quiet girl, a very bright girl, and somebody that kept to herself in a small group of friends.

She was very shy and much more reserved, and not something that I would expect to be in something so extreme like this.

PEREIRA: Was she particularly devout? Do you remember her talking openly about her religious beliefs at the time? LAPORTA: Well, I did know, I never specifically talk to her about her

commitment to Islam, but I know that she did wear a hijab to school and all the time. And Hoover didn't have a Muslim population, but compared to the other Birmingham suburbs, it was one of the most diverse schools.

So, we did a decent amount of Islamic students there, and there were some that wear the hijab, and some that didn't. And she was one of the ones that decided to wear. So, I kind of assumed that there was some degree of religious commitment.

PEREIRA: I can't imagine all of you are struggling to parallel what you have known about the young woman and the images and stories we are hearing now, we were surprised to hear of the secret Twitter feed she had, and apparently she had a different handle she used and she was posting a very violent and aggressive message, and I think we might have some of those.

"Americans, wake up, go on drive-bys and spill all of their blood or rent a big truck and drive all over them. Kill them."

Were you surprised to learn of first of all, the existence of the secret Twitter feed and the sentiment within them?

LAPORTA: I was -- I was absolutely surprised. When the "BuzzFeed" article broke, I texted some of the people in my graduating class that was much more close to her than I was, and none of them knew about this secret Twitter feed. It came as a surprise really to everybody. And except for that one anonymous friend in the article that kind of knew about this, I don't know that anybody that was aware of what was really going on.

PEREIRA: You talked about this "BuzzFeed" article had an extensive interview with Hoda's parents or father, and they were able to speak with her from inside Syria.

I imagine some of the conversation also circles around your concern for your friend and your acquaintance. Obviously, you are concerned about what can happen to her over there.

LAPORTA: Yes, it's very concerning, and that's why a lot of people, especially individuals much closer to her than I are afraid to come out and say things, not just for their own safety, but a lot of people are very much concerned about the safety of her family, and understandably so. I mean, we live in a world where dangerous things happen all the time, and, yes, it's a tragedy. Everything that is being said is being said with a great deal of concern.

PEREIRA: Which I understand. Her father expressed concern about backlash, the family may or may not experience, and we hope that does not happen.

It's interesting. Her father also mentioned the "BuzzFeed" article, and he believes she had been brainwashed, that she had been radicalized from what she was seeing on the internet. [08:25:07] You -- first of all, you know this young woman and know

what she was associating with. But you are the person of this generation. I mean, this is the thing many adults are trying to struggle with is, what somebody like Hoda would find online, she has a great life and a great family, big family, but she would be enticed by with this message from ISIS. What have you struggled to understand in that?

LAPORTA: The way I think about it, and as being a millennial, somebody who is only a college sophomore, whether we like to admit it or not, people that are transitioning from high school, senior of high school to freshman year of college were very impressionable individuals. We like to pretend that we're very independent and we're becoming that. But we're not necessarily quite there yet.

And sometimes we are isolated and we keep to ourselves, and we don't necessarily have an identity or maybe we are socially outcast by certain people, we will run to anything, even extreme groups that will make us feel comfortable at home and have a sense of community.

And I think that's really how groups like is and some of the other terrorists organization overseas are recruiting people from my generation, is they are preying on these vulnerable people that will do anything to have people to go to.

PEREIRA: Really interesting perspective to get from you, Jordan, you are well-spoken, thank you so much for sharing that. And please pass along our hopes and sentiments and our hopes and prayers to her family. They must be struggling so very hard with this right. Our thanks to you.

LAPORTA: Absolutely, Michaela. I appreciate the opportunity.

PEREIRA: Chris?

CUOMO: The situation in Yemen also in the news this morning, as confusing as it is, horrible. Saudi Arabia says Operation Decisive Storm is over and it succeeded, then why are they still using air strikes? We will discuss the crisis in Yemen coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)