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Two Children With ADHD Handcuffed; Circus Tent Collapses In New Hampshire, Killing Two And Injuring Dozens; Nine-Year-Old Bat Boy Kaiser Carlisle Dies After Accidental Hit To The Head By A Practice Swing. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 4, 2015 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: It happened to this boy and twice to a 9-year-old girl, both children with ADHD. The Covington public school said today in a statement that the school resource officers are, quote "not called upon by school district staff to punish or discipline a student who engages in a school-related offense."

So with that, let me go to Lisa Thurau, executive director, strategist for Youth, a nonprofit organization that trains patrol and full resources officers.

So Lisa, wonderful to have you on. I wanted to have your voice. So, you know, the first question is as we just heard from the school, if it is forbidden for the school resource officers to discipline these students, can you just explain to me what situations would arise in which these officers would be called in to help with a child.

LISA THURAU, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/STRATEGIST, YOUTH: Well, thank you for inviting me on.

And I think you've hit the key question here. It's not clear to me why any child needs to be handcuffed, certainly for the kind of behavior we heard this young man had exhibited prior to the use of restraints. But I think the greater question that your question provokes is, where's the oversight? If the Kentucky school department of education, state department of education, says, don't use restraints, don't be using punishment through restraints or arrest, why are the sheriff's deputies using it? And we know from other school departments which do use SROs that there's training and information that we can give SROs so that they don't use unnecessary, unreasonable and excessive use of force, especially for children with special needs who need special treatment.

BALDWIN: I mean, listen, I think anyone I've talked to today, especially moms in my life, all are horrified when they see this video. And so, I think there's the reaction piece of it. But then there's also the piece, you know, in which, listen, there are kids who need more than just a time-out. And so, I guess the question then would be, how should those kids be handled?

THURAU: Well, we have to go back to the root question here. Are police the right ones to handle children in those circumstances? BALDWIN: Right.

THURAU: When you have certified special education teachers who are in schools for that exact purpose. When a school system cedes its control to law enforcement and law enforcement is not recruited for its capacity to deal with youth, it's not trained for its capacity and to be sure it knows how to deal with children of all stripes, then you're going to have this kind of outcome. Because law enforcement is trained only on how to deal with adults, and it's going to use the treatment it uses for adults on children. And this is not developmentally appropriate or competent. But in a state like Kentucky, not a single hour in the Kentucky academy is allocated to training officers how to deal with children or youth and certainly not how to train them to deal with children in the public schools.

So we should anticipate that this kind of collision of points of view is going to happen in states where there's no eligibility requirement that would ensure that officers know how to deal with young people. They're not trained. And then there's no oversight about their use of force or restraint.

BALDWIN: Which I think you've hit on the key issue of training and lack of training. But I'm also left wondering, final question to you, you know, you think back to when you were 8. You remember, this is the kind of thing you would remember as an 8-year-old, having handcuffs slapped on your arms for misbehaving. And I'm wondering just how this child should be -- I don't know -- handled. Talk about the psychological ramifications of that.

THURAU: Well, we know that this kind of conduct traumatizes the child, weakens their connection to school and we know equally well there are other approaches to be used. The question here is, why didn't the Covington public school district and the Covington sheriff's department ensure that age-appropriate best practices were used with this child when all the evidences out there that there are effective alternatives for that age group? If we want the child to drop out of school, if we want to punish and push out instead of correct and keep these children, we're going to have to change our practices. And Kentucky I think at the state level needs to look at that.

BALDWIN: Lisa Thurau, executive director of strategies for Youth, thank you so much.

THURAU: Thanks for having us on.

BALDWIN: You got it.

Coming up, a circus tent collapses in the middle of a storm. Two people die. Dozens of others are injured. Up next, firsthand accounts from someone who was under the tent when it came down.

Plus, just stunning video here showing the rescue of a newborn baby. Look at this. From a drain. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [15:39:18] BALDWIN: I do have an update for you on our breaking story here out of Mississippi. We've gotten reports that shots were fired at soldiers near Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. An officer Tell CNN that shots were from civilian vehicles. The troops were off base at this training area at the time. Investigators still looking into who fired those shots. But what's really important here, the officer tells us this is not an active shooter situation. Again, shots fired at soldiers near Camp Shelby around Hattiesburg, Mississippi. No one has been hurt. Not an active shooter situation.

Now to a story out of New Hampshire. My goodness, this circus tent just collapsed killing two people and dozens more were injured. This happened just last night at Lancaster. And what you're looking at is now all that was left of this tent after a thunderstorm moved through this area. The national weather service had issued a severe thunderstorm warning about 23 minutes before the tent just collapsed. But at the time about 100 people were inside when the big top just came down on them. The cause of the collapse is being investigated, but among those injured, 9-year-old Jason Rabita.

I have Doreen Dingman with me. She took Jason to the circus last night. She dates his dad. And she is in Lancaster, New Hampshire with me right now.

So Doreen, thank you so much for joining me. Do I see a sling around your neck? How are you doing and how is Jason?

[15:40:41] DOREEN DINGMAN, TEEN COLLAPSED WITNESS: Yes, Jason is doing good. I had surgery done on my shoulder that's why it's in a sling.

BALDWIN: Because of the tent collapse?

DINGMAN: No, no. No.

BALDWIN: OK. Sorry.

DINGMAN: No. Before that.

BALDWIN: But Jason got really banged on his head. Did I read he got 13 staples?

DINGMAN: Yes. He has 13 staples in his head.

BALDWIN: My goodness. Can you just take me back to last night? What was it like when the tent started giving way?

DINGMAN: Well, it was pretty scary because everyone everybody was screaming and hollering. And my niece looked at me because I went to the circus with my niece Kim and her two boys, Noah and Isaac Colt. And we were sitting there and my niece looked at me once the wind started coming in, and she said, auntie, we need to get these kids out. So I had grabbed Isaac and Jason and we started heading out. Jason had fallen, and when he started to get up again the beam had hit him on the head. I saw it happen. I saw the beam hit him. But then I ran outside because I thought he was ahead of me. And I went into -- they had this -- what is it. Where they were selling cotton candy and stuff.

BALDWIN: Like a concession stand.

DINGMAN: Yes. I sat near there because with the hail that was coming down, I couldn't breathe because it was so cold. And the hail hitting me in the face and everything like that. But then my niece was still stuck underneath the tent with her son. And when I saw her come out, I told her, I yelled to show her where I was. So she gave me her other son Noah, and she says to me, well, where's Jason? And I says, Kimmy, I don't know where Jason is. I says, I saw him get hit, but then I don't know where he went to. So, you know, she went into the tent, back into the into the tent, and was looking for him.

I mean, she didn't give up looking for Jason while I had her two kids in safety. And then when it slowed down raining, I told Kimmy, I said, I'm headed to the car because Jason's dad has always told them that if you get separated, run to the vehicle that you came in with. So that's what he was doing.

BALDWIN: That's smart. That's smart. So he finally came back. And now, what, 13 staples later he's OK.

DINGMAN: Yes, he is.

BALDWIN: He's OK, you're OK. Doreen Dingman, thank you so much. My goodness, our best to Jason. I'm so glad you all are all right.

DINGMAN: Yes, I am too.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

Next here, a baseball team and a family just shocked and in mourning after this adorable bat boy dies. Next, hear what the players and the boy's father said about him in an emotional tribute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:48:15] BALDWIN: There are still plenty of tears and a mountain of heartache after a 9-year-old bat boy Kaiser Carlisle died after being accidentally hit in the head by a practice swing.

And as CNN's Gary Tuchman reports, Kaiser's baseball family is honoring his memory.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There is no shortage of 9-year-olds who love baseball and dream of being a bat boy. Kaiser Carlile was one of them. And he got to live that dream out with the liberal Kansas Bee Jays, one of the teams in the amateur national baseball congress, a summer league for mostly college players. Adam Anderson is the team's head coach.

ADAM ANDERSON, HEAD COACH: He was as much a part of the team as anyone else out here. TUCHMAN: The Bee Jays had made it to the World Series, but on

Saturday, a freak, horrifying accident. A Bee Jays player took a practice swing in the on-deck circle, not seeing that little Kaiser had come out to retrieve a bat. Kaiser had a helmet, but it wasn't enough to protect him when he got hit in the head. The home plate umpire who is a paramedic started treat being him. As other medical personnel arrived, players on the field prayed for the batboy who was critically hurt and rushed to the hospital. The next day the team had another game in the tournament and won. But right after it ended, they found out their batboy, Kaiser Carlile, had died. Kadon Simmons is a pitcher on the team.

KADON SIMMONS, PITCHER: It's amazing how much someone can touch your life in such a short time and how -- just how big of an influence someone can make on you.

TUCHMAN: Players and coaches talk with reporters about their love for this young man. But they were also addressing Kaiser's family. Third baseman Brady Cox talked about one game where Kaiser was a bit under the weather and lying down on the bench.

[15:35:00] BRANDY COX, THIRD BASEMAN: I asked him what was wrong. He said I'm not feeling with. I feel your pain, man, I'm 0 for 2. I understand. He was like, man, it's all right. He got more bat and I appreciate it. He gave me a hug and I hit a home run.

SIMMONS: Never had a little brother I could be a guy with. I want to thank you guys for that.

TUCHMAN: He wasn't planning on talking. But Kaiser's father made the decision to do so after hearing what players and coaches had to say about his son. He did not want them to feel guilty.

CHAD CARLILE, KAISER'S FATHER: Me, myself, personally, I just feel bad for the team. Understand I have my loss with my son, but it's just as hurtful for them. Kaiser was one to bring a smile to everyone's face. I'm not saying I actually was the one that taught him, but I tried to raise him the best I could to be that type of person. I never knew how much he actually touched people until now.

TUCHMAN: Chad Carlile wished the Bee Jays players good luck as they finished the World Series and then hugged his daughter, Kaiser's little sister. And the members of the team who cared for Kaiser so much, wanted his family to know just how much.

COX: How much he touched me in the short amount of time I've known him, how much he meant to me, I can't imagine what the family's going through. And you'll always be in my hearts for that. And Kaiser will always hold a special place in my heart. I'll never step on the field and not think of him. I want to say thank you for blessing us with him.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:56:02] BALDWIN: Five years ago tomorrow the world watched as the massive emergency operation unfolded in Chile, a collapse at a mine left 33 men trapped deep underground. The only option, drill from the surface more than 2,000 feet down. Tonight CNN looks back at those tense moments in the wakes it took to get the miners out.

CNN's Rosa Flores picked up a story with the rescue drills so close to the trapped miners yet so far away.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Frustration is mounting. Plan B's drill is stuck, just feet away from the 33 trapped miners.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What in God's name are we going to go now?

FLORES: It doesn't move up or down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've come this far, and go through all this, and this thing is stuck here.

FLORES: Then a loud pop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone just kind of stopped at one point in time.

FLORES: They can't figure it out. Then the drill starts moving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Science know how and will were applied. But at the end of the day, the big guy had everything to do with this rescue.

FLORES: A short time later --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turned around, gave the thumbs up.

FLORES: Even Jeff Hart is celebrating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When I saw the drill breakthrough, that was by the hand of God the miracle was done.

FLORES: If it's not miraculous, it's most definitely mind blowing.

Thirty-three men who survived 66 days of purgatory now have a long tunnel connecting them to the families who once feared them dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The minister of the mine came up and he gave me a hug. And he introduced me to a lot of these family members and I just lost it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Rosa Flores, I'm so glad they sent you to Chile. We were all just like - it was like life stopped, especially when they were finally rescued. And so, so many stories between the two women who were waiting by for that one miner. All these stories. FLORES: And there are more.

BALDWIN: Are there are more. We are talking offline about this. But faith played a huge role for a lot of these men?

BALDWIN: It was. Faith, just today, such a huge role because that's the only thing they felt they had when they were so deep many.

BALDWIN: Sixty-nine days.

FLORES: Sixty-nine days, it's a really, really long time. But what gives me the chills is when you hear the engineers, the scientists who say, we can't explain how this tool did this, because it's not designed to do this. That's when they say, you know, the 34th miner was probably God. So, it's very, very intense.

One of the amazing things, Brooke, is that these men allowed us into the homes. They showed us their photographs, shared their stories, a lot of the things that, you know, we didn't hear about when this was unfolding. One of the things I'm fascinated by is, you know, one billion people were glued to their television screen. Did you know for a bit, people were watching a replay, because something so bad went -- happened underground? And so, we reveal this in a Special Report.

And we talked to the miner who actually fixed the problem, you know, half a mile deep underground. And then, you know, he said, but imagine the agony for my family, I was still down there. While the world watched this PG version of what was happening. BALDWIN: So many people don't know that, and all the stories, I can't

wait to hear them five years later. Rosa Flores, thank you so much.

Watch her documentary, it's a Special Report tonight, "a miner miracle, five years after the rescue," it airs tonight at 9:00 eastern and pacific right here on CNN.

And I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me. See you back here tomorrow. In the meantime, "THE LEAD" starts now.