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AT THIS HOUR

New Attorney General First Test in Baltimore; Interview with Larry Hogan; MLB Games Closed to Public Due to Riots; Filmmaker Documents Heartbreak, History for Students in Baltimore; Nepal Rescues Continue. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired April 29, 2015 - 11:30   ET

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


[11:30:00] JIM BIRCH, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Not only the law enforcement agency but also the community that's impacted and long-term impacts of seeing the National Guard deployed in a community. These are all things that have to be thought about as we address these issues.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think the attorney general, does she need to go to Baltimore? Folks like Congressman Chris Van Hollen calling on her to head to Baltimore saying she needs to see if firsthand. Do you agree?

BIRCH: Not necessarily. I think this is really going to be about timing and making sure the timing is right. The community there obviously is in a period of grieving with the Freddie Gray incident. More this week as the investigation wraps up and sometimes visits by officials from Washington or political levels can be distracting or can be ill timed. She'll make the right decision when that's appropriate to do so. She set some high level members of her administration and the department to Baltimore. They were there even in the last few days. I'm sure they will remain engaged there and continue to report back to her regularly.

BOLDUAN: They're going to be staying close watch on that as we can already tell as the president has spoken out a couple times about issues at hand in Baltimore.

Jim Birth, thank you so much. Great to see you. Really appreciate it.

BIRCH: Thanks, Kate. Appreciate being here.

Let's head back to Baltimore. John is there -- John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Kate, thanks so much.

I want to go over to Athena Jones right now standing with the governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, Republican governor. Been here for two days -- Athena?

ATHENA JONES: Hi, John. We're here with Larry Hogan. He just met with NAACP officials at their new satellite office here. It just opened today.

Talk to us about why it was important to meet with them here?

LARRY HOGAN, (R), GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND: I came by to thank them. Last night was a lot better than Monday night. It was a combination, it was a team effort working with community leaders. I want to thank especially the NAACP. There were community leaders, faith leaders across the city that helped us keep calm in the city and they pled with people not to conduct violence like Monday night. They asked them to obey the curfew and asked people to go home and demonstrate in a peaceful way. That helped keep things under control. I came by to thank them for work they did in the community and to urge them to continue to help us throughout the week to make sure we keep things under control.

JONES: We saw a huge police presence out there on the streets last night. That continues. How long do you expect it to continue? Do you feel like last night was a turning point?

HOGAN: It was a turning point. We still have some concerns going forward with flash points for Friday and Saturday. We just discussed that with knap NAACP. They share concern for that. Things are way better than they were and we turned the corner and it was a different story for Monday night. We had the National Guard. We had state police. Police officers from all around the state and country helping us. It was a great night but it's not over yet. There's a lot of frustration and hostility and anger in the community and people that want to make trouble and folks that want to not go in a peaceful way like majority of people do. We'll stay until the city is safe and until we feel that it's safe for us to leave.

JONES: You mentioned Maryland Unites. Is that about moving forward or is that about addressing concerns about the underlying concerns facing the city?

HOGAN: We want to address the underlying concerns and there will be time for that. We discussed coming back and having more ongoing dialogue. We had a meeting yesterday to talk about that. Marylandunites.org is a website we helped to set up with immediate problems of damage of people that lost property and people that need assistance. We had 2,000 volunteers here yesterday from around the state that wanted to help people rebuild their communities and get back to normal. Marylandunites.org, a place where people can help.

JONES: I spoke with you briefly yesterday before you took that helicopter tour of the damage and I asked you if there were any lessons learned from what happened on Monday night from the handling of it. You said it was too soon. I know it's one day later. You must have learned some lessons about what you would do differently in the future.

HOGAN: I don't think there's anything I would do differently at all. I think when this is over with we can go back and Monday morning quarterback what happened on Monday night. When we got called on Monday, we executed the executive order 30 seconds after a phone call from the mayor. We had started early. We were five hours ahead of schedule. It normally takes eight hours to mobilize the National Guard. We did it in three. Once we got engaged Monday night, everything stopped. Yesterday there were no problems and no violence. I think -- I want to commend the city police last night. The mayor, together with our state police, the National Guard, everybody worked in a cohesive fashion with community leaders. It was a team effort. It was Maryland Unites yesterday.

[11:35:27] JONES: Speaking about underlying issues, people are asking for and want to see criminal justice reform. I understand you supported some reforms and signed some bills. Talk about your efforts to reform the system.

HOGAN: We're going to -- there are eight bills that we signed that were pushed by the community that came through the legislature. We didn't sign them yet because we were supposed to sign them yesterday at a bill signing that had to be canceled because of the state of emergency. We will. We haven't rescheduled that yet. We'll get back to a normal schedule soon. We'll try to take as many steps as we can to heal the community and we had a great meeting yesterday. Right now, we'll deal with the crisis and help you put your streets back in order and make neighborhoods safe. After that we'll continue dialogue and work with city leaders and elected officials. It's a big problem. It has to be addressed. There's no easy answers. We're going to work together. We're all about bringing parties together and collaborating and getting answers and moving forward. We'll do our part.

JONES: Thank you, Governor.

HOGAN: Thank you.

ATHENA: Thank you, Governor.

There you have it. Larry Hogan involved here meeting with members of the NAACP at their satellite office. That just opened today. This is something they wanted to see come out of this tragic situation with Freddie Gray.

Back to you, John.

BERMAN: All right. Athena Jones' interview with Larry Hogan, Republican governor of the state of Maryland. The governor said the time for Monday morning quarterbacking will come. Right now they got to get through this week and next week but the time will come to review what happened here so other cities can learn to make sure the events of Monday night don't happen again. We'll have much more news from Baltimore right after this.

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[11:40:33] BERMAN: Here in Baltimore, Major League Baseball is doing something unprecedented and not entirely without controversy. In just a few hours, the Baltimore Orioles will play their game against the Chicago White Sox in a completely empty ballpark.

BOLDUAN: The decision comes after games on Monday and Tuesday were postponed over safety concerns. Sources are telling CNN that the league office isn't aware as far as they know of any prior game like this, a closed-door non-public game in Major League Baseball history. For perspective, let's go straight over to Rachel Nichols who outside

of the home of the Orioles, Camden Yards.

Rachel, extraordinary, yes, it appears we can agree on that. Are you getting anymore answers of what the game this afternoon is going to look like without fans? So many elements of it. The seventh inning stretch, music and beyond.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: At this point, butterfly a day game we would see fans milling about and vendors and none of that is going on. A trickle of fans going up to the ticket window trying to exchange their tickets which is part of the program for today. There is a little window into fans being able to see this game live. I want to show you the balconies that are on the Hilton Hotel across from the park. If you look at those, those have a window into the ballpark and there will be a few dozen fans who purposely got those rooms to watch the game today long ago not knowing the game would be closed to the public and they will get to be the lone witnesses to the game besides of course the media and people involved with the game itself. Otherwise expect an empty stadium. They say they are going to do the national anthem. Haven't decided yet about the seventh inning stretch. John Denver strong, that's tradition here and all of the other little parts of a baseball game that we're so used to seeing. The fabric of that will feel odd today. It will be broadcast on television on the radio so if you want to see this game, you'll have to go the electronic route -- Kate?

BERMAN: Rachel Nichols, thanks so much.

Last I heard, the public addressing announcer is still going to do his job even though there's no one in the park to hear him. It will be bizarre.

Rachel, thanks so much.

BOLDUAN: Bizarre.

BERMAN: To say the least.

Ahead for us, heartbreak and history unfolding here in Baltimore as the city works its way through the difficult time. What legacy will it leave and what lessons are students that live here learning? We'll speak to someone documenting all of this next.

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[11:46:27] BERMAN: The curfew here in Baltimore will last the rest of this week. Think of what a remarkable challenging time it is in this city for everybody but especially school kids, high school kids having to live through it all.

Chip Dysard is a filmmaker who teaches media class at high school right now. You're looking at some of his pictures. He teaches 11th and 12th graders. He's been working with them all through this history that's being made this week. What do all of these kids think about what they're seeing right now? Chip Dysard joins me now.

Let me start off by saying kids are back in school today. Students are back in school today. Yesterday they were not. Schools were closed. You were out on the streets with them. What are the students saying to you now about what's happening?

CHIP DYSARD, FILM MAKER: John, they're frustrated. They are angry. They want answers. All of the students -- my students are just looking for a way to express themselves. Things around the city have been closed. After school programs have been cut. We're now dealing with a financial crisis with even our school system budget. So kids want things to do for an outlet. We were out there with students yesterday filming and getting pictures and gathering all of the information. So when we put this whole project together by the fall of this year, they'll be good partners in this project.

BOLDUAN: Kids were part of the beginning of this unrest on Monday. I don't think that any of the kids you're working with necessarily were. What are they saying about it? Do they sympathize with the kids who were involved in the violence? Do they scorn it?

DYSARD: My kids are really -- they don't have any sympathy. They really want to just go and get the city better and make it better. I think they're in this for the long haul. A lot of kids have grown up in poverty here in the city. And they just want a better life. And my school where I teach, I'm just showing them how to document this and how to make social change through films.

BOLDUAN: You look through the world through a lens and you sometimes see things differently. How are you seeing it in Baltimore this week and how are the kids?

DYSARD: For me being here over 40 years, I have never seen anything like this. This is a perfect storm. It's a teachable moment for the kids. They understand -- especially my seniors leaving in two weeks, they understand that the world they're going to and the world they're going to face is unlike how it was when they grew up. They are coming and they're getting great, great education and great front line view of what it means to be an American and to have change and to see all of this unfold here in our city.

BOLDUAN: They have to make it better. Kids will have to fix this thing.

Chip Dysard, thank you for being with us. Appreciate it.

DYSARD: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: Kate?

BOLDUAN: Thank you, John.

We'll get back to Baltimore in just a moment.

Ahead for us AT THIS HOUR, the other major story we're following. Nepal earthquake, its taken thousands of lives. A quarter of the population there impacted. Rising from the rubble are also some amazing stories of survival. That, and the struggle now to get aid to the hardest hit areas after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:50:] BOLDUAN: AT THIS HOUR rescue workers are desperately trying still to reach people in earthquake ravaged Nepal. The death toll stands at more than 5,000 people killed. And more than 10,000 people injured. In the middle of the growing tragedy there are remarkable stories of hope and survival including a 4-month-old baby, look at that face, rescued after being buried in the rubble for 22 hours. You can imagine the desperation and then the joy of the family when this baby was finally pulled to safety. And then there's this, a man found alive after being trapped under debris 80 hours. He told rescuers after he was surrounded by dead bodies and thought he would soon be one of them.

Let's get the latest now from Bill Berger, the man leading the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team from Nepal joining us by the phone.

Thank you so much for joining me and jumping on the phone.

We hear those amazing stories of survival and brings it all more into focus of all the people still yet to be helped. The biggest challenge we are hearing is trying to reach all of the countless, remote villages that are really the hardest hit near the epicenter of the earthquake. What are your folks telling you in terms of trying to get out there and what they're seeing?

BILL BERGER, USAID DISASTER ASSISTANCE RESPONSE TEAM LEADER (voice- over): Well, the response has been with every day that goes by. National assistance is flowing in, international response and medical teams are coming in. The big challenge is getting out to the fields and villages. I have to say this is a huge challenge in Nepal where even in the desperate times -- best of times, the mountainous valleys hard to reach often get cut off for weeks at a time during the monsoon season and can only be reached by area. A limited number of air assets to be able to get out and roads are cut off. As I said, with each passing day we're able to reach more and more areas.

[11:55:00] BOLDUAN: Bill, I also want you to offer perspective for our viewers, you lived in Nepal for some 17 years. For you personally, as you're seeing this, put this in perspective. How bad is it?

BERGER: This is the worst tragedy in terms of a natural disaster that Nepal has ever seen since the 1934 earthquake. It's a terrible tragedy. The human toll and remember that this is a cultural treasure of the world and so much of the cultural heritage aside from the tragic loss of life has been destroyed and lost.

BOLDUAN: There are reports that the main airport has been turning away aid flights because they just couldn't handle the capacity. Also there have been protests outside parliament, folks angry aid is too slow and chaotic to get out. Can the Nepalese government, Nepal's government, handle this coordinated effort?

BERGER: Part of the community, they will be able to handle it, but none of this -- it takes time for a response like this and to get the assistance need. It can never get there fast enough. But the international community is stepping up to the plate and the coordination systems with the government and the international framework are in now, getting more coherent every day and we're having a more effective response with every day that goes by.

BOLDUAN: That is in no small part due to you as well, Bill Berger, leading the U.S.'s response there on the ground in Nepal.

Bill, thank you very much.

To reiterate the point, eight million are affected by this earthquake, a quarter of the population of Nepal. Just amazing.

Thank you all so much for joining us AT THIS HOUR.

BERMAN: So long from Baltimore.

"Legal view" with Ashleigh Banfield starts right after this quick break.

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