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Texas Police on Alert for Biker Gang Violence; Investigators Focus on Engineer's Actions Before Crash; Iraqis Mobilize to Try to Retake Ramadi. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 19, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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


NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... even more motorcycles from this parking lot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[07:00:05] SGT. W. PATRICK SWANTON, WACO POLICE: I'm still at 170 individuals that we have arrested and charged.

VALENCIA (voice-over): In custody this morning, 170 suspected biker gang members, their bond totaling $170 million after a dispute in a restaurant bathroom on Monday led to nine people dead and 18 injured, over 100 weapons found at the scene.

SWANTON: Shell casings, weapons, knives, clubs. We're talking chains with padlocks on the end of them.

VALENCIA: Cell-phone video captures the aftermath. Bodies lying outside Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas. The fierce gun battle with rival motorcycle gang members turned within moments into a gun battle with officers.

A memo going out to local police, warning officers that members of the Bandidos and the Cossacks have reportedly been instructed to arm themselves and travel to north Texas.

SWANTON: We would encourage biker groups to stand down. There's been enough bloodshed. There's been enough death here.

VALENCIA: Aerials show members of one of the biker groups, the Cossacks, being arrested. Many of the others, part of the notorious Bandido Motorcycle Club.

CHRIS OMBODT, FORMER CAPTAIN, HENNEPIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: In Texas the Bandidos are at the top of the pile. And everybody wants to be at that top level. That's all this is. It's king of the hill.

JIMMY GRAVES, STATE CHAIRMAN FOR THE COC: We're not like that. The '60s are long gone.

VALENCIA: With a faded swastika tattooed on his arm, a Bandido member high up in rank says the police and the media have it all wrong.

GRAVES: We didn't do nothing here. We're fighting for our rights. They're saying lies on TV and telling everybody that the Bandidos are after police officers. That's never been.

VALENCIA: The U.S. Justice Department identifies the Bandidos as one of the top two largest outlaw motorcycle gangs in America, with at least 2,000 members in the U.S. and 13 other countries. And the Texas Department of Public Safety still lists the Bandidos as a tier two gang, the second most dangerous classification.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: According to a law enforcement source, preliminary information indicates that four of the bikers were shot and killed by police. The local law enforcement officials that we've spoken to say they have yet to determine who's responsible for the nine deaths -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Nick. Thanks so much for all that background.

We want to bring in now Steve Cook. He's a Kansas City police detective. He spent years infiltrating outlaw motorcycle gangs like the Bandidos.

Steve, thanks so much for being here.

So the initial reports were that this was some sort of dispute over a parking space. Then, as you heard Nick's report, something happened in a restaurant bathroom. You say that this is nonsense. What was this fight about?

STEVE COOK, KANSAS CITY POLICE DETECTIVE: Well, this has been an ongoing problem between the Cossacks and the Bandidos. Basically, what it boils down to is, like any other biker dispute, it runs to turf. These individuals are fighting over control of turf.

The Bandidos have historically controlled Texas. And the Cossacks have stepped up recently. They've put on a Texas bottom rocker on their vest. And basically kind of challenging the Bandidos' authority in the state.

CAMEROTA: When you say they put on this bottom rocker on their vest, that means that they -- it says Texas and that means that they're trying to claim that turf?

COOK: Exactly. And you know, that's what, again, most of these conflicts are over. When these gangs put these rockers on, you know, claiming dominion in a particular area, they're also claiming all the criminal activity that goes along with that. So it's obviously an affront to the other group that they're dealing with.

CAMEROTA: As we said, you've spent a lot of time in and around the Bandidos. How dangerous are they? What's their culture all about?

COOK: Well, you know, when I listened to a little bit of the tape of the high-ranking member from Texas that was talking about this not being the '60s. You know, this is nonsense. These guys organize crime. They're involved in a laundry list of racketeering activities. They use drugs. They manufacture drugs. They sell drugs. They steal motorcycles. They extort people. They rape, rob and murder. These are not good individuals.

And, you know, the assertions that they make that they're just some fraternal group out for a, you know, get together, is ludicrous.

CAMEROTA: Is this a uniquely Texas problem? Or are these gangs in every state?

COOK: Yes, virtually every state. We have outlaw motorcycle gang activity and, of course, worldwide. I mean, motorcycle gangs are the only export of organized crime for the United States to abroad.

So, yes, it's a big problem everywhere. And, you know, some areas more so than others. But there have been multiple documented incidents just in this past year.

CAMEROTA: How seriously, Detective, do you take the threats that there are other gang members who are now headed to the Waco area to sort of continue this fight?

[07:05:02] COOK: Well, you know, definitely, there's going to be other gang members show up to the area. A lot of reason for that is to backfill the membership, if you will. You know, guys are obviously taken off the street, getting locked up. So they have to bring some people in to kind of, you know, fill the ranks. So I think you're going to see that happening.

Plus you're going to have funerals going on and things like that. So, you know, you are going to have an influx of people.

CAMEROTA: Because, Detective, what's so striking is, when you look at the video of that melee there, the police, though they were out in force, look like they're outnumbered. I mean, there were hundreds of these gang members. So how can police be prepared for what might happen in Waco?

COOK: Well, you know, it's like with any other situation you've got to take them one at a time, unfortunately, because it's very difficult to forecast. I mean, nobody could have forecasted this situation, especially to the degree of violence that occurred.

So, you know, the intelligence sources are out there working. I know Texas DPS will have analysts working on this, as well as, you know, biker investigators from across the country will be tracking information, communicating with, you know, current members who are sources and former members, for that matter, that have information. And just try to kind of put a plan together.

CAMEROTA: I mean, you say nobody could have forecast this, but didn't police have some sense that there was something brewing and that things were percolating there? Could this event have been prevented?

COOK: Well, I don't think it could be prevented. And when I say you can't forecast, these groups can fight at the drop of a hat, anywhere that they choose. And, you know, you can't stop them under the current laws from congregating. It's -- being a member of one of these organizations in and of itself isn't a crime. So you can't really stop them from doing that.

And, you know, unfortunately the Twin Peaks area was the location where this happened.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

COOK: But it could have been anywhere.

CAMEROTA: So, Detective, what's the answer here?

COOK: Well, I think the real answer here is to get some help from the government. And I'm not talking about from the law enforcement side. I'm talking, you know, actual -- you know, the federal government from a politics standpoint getting somebody involved where they can kind of look at these organizations and say, "Hey, you know, based upon the conduct, based upon what we know about them, are these really individuals that have any legitimate purpose?"

They're obviously gangs. They're obviously involved in violent criminal activity. Maybe it's time to look at, you know, doing some bans on these organizations like they're trying over in Australia and parts of Europe. And again, based upon the violence that they're engaged in.

CAMEROTA: You are one of the foremost experts on all of this. And Steve Cook, we appreciate you coming on NEW DAY to share it with us.

COOK: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Alisyn, the investigation into Train 188 in Philadelphia continues. The damage to the front of that train in Philadelphia was not caused by gunfire. That's what federal investigators are saying. And they're not sure what caused the damage to the front. They're not ruling out that it may have been hit by something. And they're still focused on the engineer.

To bring us up-to-date on everything, CNN's Erin McLaughlin is live in Philadelphia. What do we know?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

Well, investigators say that the person driving the train is the only one who could have accelerated it, and so the focus of this investigation very much on 32-year-old engineer Brandon Bostian.

A source with knowledge of the investigation say the possibilities range from human error to something more intentional.

Let me take you through the NTSB's latest findings. Yesterday the FBI looked at a circular marking on the windshield and concluded that it was not from a bullet. Bostian did not tell dispatch the train was hit by an object prior to that derailment. And so far, there is no indication of mechanical failure, although authorities say they are not ruling that out.

Now, today we learned that a conductor onboard Amtrak 188 has filed lawsuit. Yesterday suits filed by four passengers. The real issue here is the cap. There's a $200 million federal cap on any claim for all victims from a single rail incident. Experts, legal experts say that's simply not enough to cover damages in this case, Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Those people that were injured are going to face a long, long road to recovery. All right, Erin, thank you so much for that.

To Iraq now, some 3,000 Shiite militiamen are grouping for battle. They are mobilizing east of Ramadi in a desperate bid to take the key city back from ISIS. CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is tracking the latest for us. He's live in Beirut.

Good morning to you.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, there are two vital groups of people to be worrying about this morning.

[07:10:02] The first, as you mention, are those Shia militia gathering, 4,000 perhaps at the east of Ramadi. Ahead of them, too, Iraqi tribes and Iraqi police, all willing at some point to get into the fight to try and retake Ramadi, but each day that they wait, each hour that they wait, ISIS can dig further in to that city where there used to be a million people living in its urban sprawl.

A tough task, too, for the U.S. to work out how and when and why to necessarily intervene where that Shia militia doesn't always trust to help retake the city.

The other group of people, well, those who lived in Ramadi. We know 25,000 have fled in the days of the assault, but there are thousands more still trapped inside. They face life under ISIS, always brutal, always backward or potentially execution. Certainly government loyalists or ex-police there, too.

This is a vital fight not just in the ISIS campaign headed by the U.S. and the coalition, but also in terms of the security of Baghdad. Ramadi a key city on a highway that runs from ISIS heart lands down to the capital. The government still have pockets of control along it, but Ramadi was a big prize. And it will be a very big fight to get it back -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you for that reporting.

While rescue crews searching for survivors following a deadly mudslide in northwest Colombia, officials say at least 62 people were killed. Dozens injured. Crews working tirelessly to bring aid to hundreds of survivors. Heavy rains sweeping away dozens of homes there and more rain is expected in the next few days.

CUOMO: Fourteen employees at Oakland International Airport busted for allegedly smuggling drugs through the U.S. airports in a three-year scam. According to a complaint the handlers would bring bags filled with weed to the airport and skirt security. They would then pass the bags to couriers on outbound Southwest flights, and they would sell the drugs in various cities.

PEREIRA: Got to show you this. An SUV erupts into a fireball following a head-on collision in North Carolina. The situation looking really grim until off-duty Army Captain Steve Vogelson drives by.

He jumps into action, grabs a fire extinguisher, smashes the window of the Acura, freeing the couple trapped inside. Those victims, fortunately, are expected to be OK. They're in their 60s.

As for Vogelson, he doesn't like to be called a hero. He says he believes we all have a calling, and he was simply called to be there that day.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, it's so admirable -- people. I would be terrified if I saw a car in flames, but people rush towards it to help.

PEREIRA: And it looks like it's sort of not on a busy intersection in the middle of a city. It's kind of in a remote area. Thankfully, he was there.

CUOMO: And he is a hero.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely.

CUOMO: I think it's important to recognize that because while, you know, that's what motivates him is he's not trying to be extraordinary. He's just trying to do what he wants.

PEREIRA: Heroes generally don't want the spotlight.

CUOMO: That's right. But it's important to encourage people not to run into fires, necessarily.

PEREIRA: Help where you can.

CAMEROTA: Step up.

CUOMO: Help where you can.

CAMEROTA: Alright. Back to what Nick Paton Walsh was just reporting, the fall of Ramadi to ISIS fighters being called terribly significant. Can the U.S. help Iraq reclaim that city? Should they? The military perspective next.

CUOMO: Have you been on Twitter? There's this new guy, he's like attacking everybody. No, no, no. The president just got his own Twitter account. So it's actually him. No more "dash B.O." in some of those things. So who did he talk to first and what was the nature of it? On "Inside Politics."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:17:01] PEREIRA: Shiite militia are gathering near Ramadi, preparing for a counteroffensive to take back the Iraqi city from ISIS. But the fall of Ramadi raising questions about the effectiveness of the U.S.-led coalition and whether Iraq's military is ready to defeat the terrorists. Want to discuss it all with Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, CNN global affairs analyst and retired U.S. Delta Force commander.

Good morning, good to have you here.

LT. COL. JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good morning.

PEREIRA: You've been on the ground there. You know the situation oh so well. You're vital to our conversation about this. The Pentagon really downplaying this -- this loss of Ramadi. Just calling it a setback, saying it's the regular ebb and flow of war.

What is the real implication of losing Ramadi? What's the significance?

REESE: Well, the Pentagon's right. This is the ebb and flow. This is not -- this is just like, hey, we didn't get the first down. Now we've got to go back on the defense.

Ramadi, I'm telling you right now, it will be taken back eventually by Iraqi forces. But the significance is, is one, the closeness to Baghdad. And what's happened is, is here is Raqqah. This is the capital for ISIS. But this whole area down the Euphrates, it's giving them more land all the way into Baghdad.

PEREIRA: That's a concern. Critics on the outside are going to say, well, look, this isn't working. What's the Plan B? If you're trying to rout ISIS out, they're just pushing -- you're pushing them elsewhere.

REESE: Correct.

PEREIRA: What about a containment plan? Surround?

REESE: Isolation.

PEREIRA: Yes, what about that?

That is a course of action. But I don't think it's going to be a course of action for the Iraqis. They're not going to allow this to -- that might stop here at the Syrian border, that isolation. But this whole area from -- you have Fallujah, Ramadi, al-Assad, all those areas out there that ISIS controls right now eventually have to get brought back to the Iraqi control.

PEREIRA: If we look into Ramadi, the proximity to Baghdad as you mentioned.

REESE: Absolutely.

PEREIRA: And here's the other thing that you are bringing to us that you are really concerned about is the fact that you've got 100,000 people that are refugees, essentially, trying to free. That's going to give ISIS some sort of cover, is it not?

REESE: It does. I mean, I've got employees right now that have families that were living out in al-Anbar that are now refugees piling into Iraq. I've got one of my employees has 16 people living in his two-bedroom house. That's a concern.

PEREIRA: That's a huge concern.

REESE: And throughout the whole area, the Jordanians, 25 percent of their population right now are refugees. So this whole war between Syria and ISIS has caused a huge humanitarian problem.

PEREIRA: This also shows that the Iraqi forces, this poses a unique challenge for them. This is not something the coalition can really deal with or manage. This has to be done from the ground level, does it not?

REESE: It does. And again, we talked about this yesterday.

How would you like to wake up tomorrow morning, President Obama have a quarter million people on the White House lawn?

PEREIRA: On the White House lawn, exactly.

Looking into Anbar province -- let me try that again. We know that this is a painful loss for American lives back in 2003, over 1,000 American lives lost here. Is that the reticence about sending in ground troops to this area? Is there concern that we might see this again?

REESE: No. I think it's unfortunately just political rhetoric right now. It's -- it's unfortunate, but it happened and it happens in war. And no one wants to see it. But I think it's just something that the politicians will try to continue to keep abreast of.

[07:20:15] PEREIRA: I want your take on this, because you have been there. And you know the -- all of the players involved in this so well. There's a lot of talk and concern about sectarianism. What is a true assessment of what's going on there?

REESE: At the ground level me and you, Sunni, Shia, they're fighting together. We have a common enemy. And I've been with these folks. And they're Iraqis.

Again, I said it yesterday, when I came back from Iraq just recently, and go back. There's only two types of people, politicians and everybody else. The politicians make it. I think sometimes we here in the west push too much on the sectarianism. I think we have to be careful. Is it out there? It is, but I think the people will prevail.

PEREIRA: We -- looking at this big map here, I want you to point out to us show us this area of concern that you're watching right now. I want you to draw on the map what you see. Because to all of us, this is going to look like, OK, there's a lot of -- we look at the under ISIS control is the red area. The lighter yellow is the ISIS support zone. And then these attack zones are sparkled around in orange. Explain to us the significance in what you see here.

REESE: So right now everyone's focused here on Ramadi. Right here, this big sandstorm yesterday that really gave ISIS an advantage over the Iraqi forces, because they've lost all their air support.

PEREIRA: That gives them the hometown advantage.

REESE: Absolutely.

PEREIRA: Although the Iraqis would be able to deal with that, as well.

REESE: It does. But the Iraqis, their significant support and their...

PEREIRA: From the air.

REESE: Is from the air. So when you take that away, it kind of evens the playing field. Now I think we're going to watch here as here's Raqqah. That's the capital of ISIS, or DAISH, as they call it in the Middle East.

But what I'm going to watch here is the Euphrates River Valley right here. This will become what the military calls a target area of interest. Everything in this area right here is owned by ISIS. So anything moving in there, we should be bombing and destroying.

PEREIRA: Real talk. We know that the Pentagon, the administration has said for a long time that there's not going to be success in battling ISIS unless the Iraqi military can take the lead, can be on the ground in the fight, et cetera. How confident are you feeling?

REESE: I agree with that assessment. And if we want this area of the world to get better, the people here have to do it.

PEREIRA: Are they doing it?

REESE: Well, they're working hard. But I don't understand why the Iranians put advisers in, because when you train a force, if we go into a military base; and I train a force and I push him out the door, it's really nice. This is what our Green Berets, our Special Forces do, if we can let them go out there and help coach, teach and mentor them from the train base out to the battlefield, you'd see a significant change, I believe, on the battlefield.

PEREIRA: Always a pleasure to have you here. We appreciate your expertise and insight. All right. Chris, over to you. CUOMO: All right, Mick, you remember those Hillary Clinton e-

mails that she supposedly turned over to the State Department, 55,000? The public's going to have to wait until next year to see them. That will be right before the Iowa caucus. What kind of impact could this have? "Inside Politics" gives you both sides.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:27:00] CUOMO: Alright. This is the disturbing reality. Right now hundreds of armed men are descending on Texas and looking to go to war. Police are now on high alert after receiving word the Bandidos and the Cossacks biker gangs are out for blood following Sunday's shootout that left nine dead in Waco, Texas. The police are back at the scene. CNN has now learned as many as four of those bikers may have been killed by police gunfire.

CAMEROTA: Federal investigators say damage to the front of that Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia was not caused by a gun. But the FBI and the NTSB still cannot explain what did cause the damage. Investigators say their focus continues to be on the actions of the engineer. Two other trains in the area being reported to have been hit by some kind of projectile minutes before that derailment.

CAMEROTA: The convicted murderer at the center of that popular podcast "Serial" catching a big break in his fight for a new trial. The Maryland Court of Appeals -- Special Appeals has agreed to send Adnan Syed's case back to lower court so that his legal team can file a request to reopen the case.

His attorneys want to include testimony from a witness who was never interviewed but offers an alibi. Syed is serving a life sentence for the murder of his former high-school girlfriend.

CUOMO: Raw moments caught on camera as Bruce Jenner opens up to his family about transitioning to a woman. The second part of E's "About Bruce" special, Jenner had a heart-to-heart with his ex-wife, Kris. His revelation led to a tearful discussion about the end of their marriage. Here's a little...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRIS JENNER, REALITY TV STAR: I have to warn this person I was married to for all these years that you think you're going to grow old with somebody, and they drastically change over the course of a few years. It's like I have to mourn Bruce Jenner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Arguably a very real moment in reality TV.

CAMEROTA: That's really powerful. You know, I know some people who are transgender and they're -- one of them went from being a girl to a young man, and her mother says, "I lost my daughter. I have to mourn the loss of my daughter."

PEREIRA: Sure. CAMEROTA: "I like this new person, but my daughter's gone." I

mean, that's really an interesting sort of insightful feeling.

PEREIRA: It's an important thing to recognize, right? You can't just say, "Well, this is the way I am now," because the past does matter, but you want to be able to love them in the future, as well.

CUOMO: Diane Sawyer did the big interview with Bruce, right. And obviously worked with her for many years, and she's a very trusted mentor. She took it on so seriously, because Bruce is the attraction, the draw, right? Because we all knew him. I grew up with him, and I thought he was the best athlete in the world. And now he's the face of this.

And it is something that's real and it's out there. And people are so anxious to judge him that it is interesting contrast now. You have this guy that you had to respect, Bruce Jenner, and now you have something that so many people are, on a whim, not respecting. And they're in conflict now.

CAMEROTA: And that he's taping it all and letting America in, peeling back the curtain. And for the most personal moments, intimate moments of your life, he's letting everybody see it.

PEREIRA: We often judge what we don't truly understand. Right?

CUOMO: For fear.

PEREIRA: Yes. Sure.

CUOMO: Yes. But I think it's brave of him. People say he's just doing this for the exposure. I don't buy that. And I don't think -- when you talk to people in that community, you'll say you do not do this...

PEREIRA: Not at all.

CUOMO: You don't do this just for attention.

PEREIRA: Not at all.

CUOMO: It's interesting...