Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Afghan President In Washington today; Benjamin Netanyahu Apologizing To His Arab Constituents; Judge In New Orleans Denies Bail For Millionaire Murder Suspect Robert Durst; Police Officer Helps Woman Finish Her Run. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 23, 2015 - 15:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:33:58] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Newly elected Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is in Washington today, his first official visit to the United States. He is expected to ask the White House to consider keeping the U.S. in his country for longer than planned. All of this as Afghanistan joins a group of nations facing a threat from ISIS. The terror groups' recruiters trudging the Afghan mountains in search of vulnerable mines.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh got a chilling exclusive look inside (INAUDIBLE).

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Where there has long been faith and war in Afghanistan serene hills, a new and modern plague has now come. You're seeing rare picture filmed by our cameraman of what we are told is an ISIS recruitment session in Afghanistan.

Brothers, I'm here to tell you, the recruiter says, about the mujahideen in Syria.

After a decade of war, the Taliban is strong but fractured and the U.S. is leaving. The U.N. warns ISIS is getting a foothold in Afghanistan and this may be how. This Afghan says he's come back from fighting in northern Syria and is one of five recruiters. His pitch is simple. Come fight true jihad for ISIS says Abu Bark al-Baghdadi for a $500 wage. Some (INAUDIBLE) are driven.

[15:35:18] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WALSH: My aim is to fight infidels, one says, in Syria or if they ask me to in Afghanistan, I will. Others aren't sure and just poor.

I definitely need the money but will stay here and hope peace come, one acts. There is a bit of theater here. ISIS application forms for them to complete on camera. But also a clear message to angry young afghan s disillusioned with Taliban wars. There is now an even now a more ruthless choice you can make ISIS.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kabul. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Nick, thank you.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now apologizing to his Arab constituents today for those comments he made ahead of last week's election which he was reelected Prime Minister. Netanyahu said there would never be a Palestinian state while he was serving as PM.

Global affairs correspondent Elise Labott joins me with more from Jerusalem.

And I guess before we get to really the key question being will the apology be accepted, tell me about the setting for the apology and why this was so important.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, what he was apologizing for were some comments that he made days before the elections that were seen as derogatory to Israel's 1.6 million citizens of Arab decent. What he said, what he was trying to energize that right wing (ph) basis we have been talking about, and he said you need to come out for me because the Arabs are coming out in droves. And obviously, that community is very hurt by those comments. And they were vibrated around the world. You heard President Obama criticizing them.

Today, Prime Minister Netanyahu met with a group of minority citizens. I will note there was only one Arab in attendance. But he said was that I know what I said a few days ago damaged Israeli Arabs. I had no intention of it. I'm sorry for that. I see myself as a prime minister of each and every one of you, all citizens of Israel without any distinction of religious race and gender.

Now, the Arab community this evening kind of really is not taking the prime minister's -- what he said was he expressed regret. They said, listen, these comments were made in hurtful and insightful. They called him racist. And Brooke, Obama administration saying listen, we want to see actions, not words. One apology, one walk back statement is not going to make us forget about these comments, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Elise Labott, thank you very much in Jerusalem.

Coming up next, millionaire real estate heir and star of "the Jinx" Robert Durst in court today. His lawyers argued he needs to be in the hospital. You see his head there? We are going to talk about this. This is new today, the reasons, next.

Plus the Supreme Court hearing a case today about whether the confederate flag should be allowed on license plates. The argument on both sides next.

You are watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:42:29] BALDWIN: Just a short time ago, this judge in New Orleans denied bail for millionaire murder suspect Robert Durst. The 71-year- old real estate heir and the star of this docu-series "the Jinx" is due in court in April on drug and weapons charges. All this of course as he's facing a murder charge in California.

Durst's attorney says he needs to be in a hospital instead of jail. Not because he's under suicide watch but because of several medical conditions. One of which was definitely obvious here. You can see it right about here. He was on court today, the shunt bulging from the side of the shaded head implanted during the surgery to treat hydrocephalus.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is with me. Did I say that right, by the way?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You did. It is just so much to short out here, is the problem, right?

BALDWIN: Where do we begin, my friend?

MARQUEZ: Well, that's a tall order, isn't it? Well, look. We get a much better picture of how it is that police tracked him down from Houston when he fled. So the fifth episode, not the episode, but episode where he made all the hot mic goes on, the fifth episode where they introduce the second letter with the exact same address. That is introduced in the fifth episode on the eighth of March.

On the ninth, they say, his cell phone goes silent for several days, something that is not typical for Mr. Durst. Then they track him to - then it comes back live Beaumont, Texas a few days later. They know he's on the run from Houston. He leaves. LAPD at this point knows he's left his home in Houston with five bags and he's going somewhere. They are not quite sure. They think he might be going to Louisiana, but they are not sure. They asked Louisiana department of public safety to be on the lookout for the license plates. The know three of his license plates, three of this cars, to see if their cameras pick them up. They don't.

At the JW Marriott on Canal street in New Orleans, Mr. Durst who loves to use voice mail and loves to check his voice mail, checks his voice mail a couple of times. FBI then knows he's there, at least at that JW Marriot. They go down there. They see him walking around the elevator there. They ask him if he's Robert Durst. He sort of says, well, blah, blah, blah, I have my passport upstairs. Let's go see it. They go up there. And that's where they find the $42,000 in cash, the .38 Smith and Wesson that he is now having charged for, and five ounces of marijuana. That is a lot of marijuana for any one individual to smoke.

Later they find all his UPS tickets in this room as well. They find $117,000 in cash. He also had maps with flying also to Florida, the U.S. and Cuba. That's why they think he may have been going Cuba. This is a guy who is clearly plotting and planning something. Very, very clear why the judge would not allow bail today.

[15:45:17] BALDWIN: Yes. No bail, obviously denied. I'm impressed all the twists and turns you got this, Miguel Marquez.

You got this. Thank you so much, my friend. I appreciate it.

And now speaking of license plates, they can be political, they can be social, and they usually denote ties to a particular interest group, you know, the specialty license plates they are talking about. This is why I'm telling that this today because the state of Texas is being sued now over this specialty design. You see it here. And the case has made it now all the way to the United States Supreme Court because the group, Sons of Confederate Veterans, wants the license plate with their battle flag on their vehicles. But Texas says this is offensive. The group's members are arguing hey, it's free speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN JONES, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: When someone puts a special plate like these sponsored plates for nonprofit organizations, they are putting them on, they are making the decision to put it on themselves and it is obviously isn't the point of view of the state of Texas that of the individual putting out license plate on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's go to our Supreme Court correspondent Ariane de Vogue in Washington.

So we heard a little bit of the notion of where this may go. Obviously, you know, the arguments over the free speech issue. How might the justices see this?

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is an interesting case because it's a first amendment issue that a lot of people can relate to. You go down the highways in Texas and you see these plates. Some of them say Texas forever or ducks unlimited or fight terrorism. Many states have these kinds of programs. And Texas says, look, you can either buy the standard issue plates or individuals and nonprofits for a fee can submit license plates design.

But here's the key. They're subject to the approval of Texas. And in Texas in this case, it drew the line against the Sons of Confederate Veterans. It said we are not going to have the confederate flag on our license plate. That's offensive. And that's what is in front of the court right now.

BALDWIN: What was said in court today?

DE VOGUE: So in court, basically they had to ask two big questions. And the first one is it government speech. What is on those license plates? Is the government speaking? And if the government is speaking, then it really is - it can say what it was. And Texas says this is our speech. We do not want this on the license plates.

But on the other side, they said this is private speech. And the government can't pick and choose in general terms on what would be considered private speech with the point. We are out there. We want to honor these dead soldiers and we don't see it as racism.

And in court, justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was interesting because for instance, she looked at some of the license plate like one of them says, mighty fine burger. And she said, is that government speech?

But on the other side, she is worried about license plates down the road that might have racial slur or swastikas. So that is going to be an issue there. And outside of court, you could hear both people. One guy from the NAACP said this flag is horrible. And then Ben Jones, as you heard, he says this flag honors the veterans of the war. So it is a great first amendment case.

BALDWIN: It is great. You know, all these justices have to be very mindful about setting any kind of precedent. We'll be watching to see how they decide.

Ariane de Vogue, thank you very much in Washington D.C. for me.

DE VOGUE: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, I just really want to share this emotional interview with this woman here determined to run a 10k after losing more than 200 pounds. And that police officer there, holding her hand who helped her make it to the end, she got the emotional remembering that moment. Stay with me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a gift from God. I mean, if he wasn't there, my journey would have ended right there at mile five. So I'm emotional. I mean --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:53:02] BALDWIN: All right. Let me end with this. We all need a little inspiration on our Monday afternoon, right? This is a story about this woman by the name of Aja Ford. She's a mother in Kentucky who, by the way, has already lost more than 200 pounds. So congratulations to her just on that.

This past Sunday, she decided she wanted to run her first 10k, run this race as part of her commitment to really stay healthy. She's running, she's running, she hits mile five. She's got one more mile to go and she says at that point in time, she hit a wall. Her breathing, it was difficult. She wanted to quit.

Well, you see this police officer holding her hand? This guy by the name of Lieutenant Aubrey Gregory happened to be walking the race nearby. He saw her. He walked over and took her hand. Her young son, on the right, the officer on the left. Here's what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Aja and Lieutenant Gregory, welcome. Nice to see both of you.

AJA FORD, MOTHER: Thank you for having us.

LT. AUBREY GREGORY, POLICE OFFICER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: All right, Aja, let me begin with you. You know, you got this 10k, you hit mile five, how was it going?

FORD: It wasn't going too well. In mile five is when I wanted to stop and I had actually told my son that this was the end of the race. I felt my body shutting down. So I knew I couldn't go any further. And then I looked to the ground and I was like God, if you can just let me go a couple more steps. And I was tearful because I knew I only had a mile in front of me and once I said that, to my left was Officer Gregory. And he took my hand and he talked to my son and introduced himself, and you know, told me to look down the street and he told me to see the finish line. He said it's only one mile in front of us and he wasn't going to allow us to go with it on our own. So he walked us to the finish line.

[15:54:56] BALDWIN: Incredible. And I know how a mile, talking about it after the fact seems like nothing but when you're in it it's like forever.

And Officer, when you saw Aja, what propelled you to walk toward her and help her out?

GREGORY: How could you not?

BALDWIN: Good answer.

GREGORY: Being the police, being who you are, it's all about service. It's all about helping people. And I saw the opportunity, I saw someone who needed help and I was there. So I got out of the car and I walked up to her and as soon as I walked up to her, she grabbed my hand and it was like electricity. I just knew that that's where I was supposed to be and that's what I was supposed to be doing.

You know, we help people every day but there was something special about that. And I asked her, I said are we going to stop? And she said no. And I said great, then we're going to finish together and we do.

BALDWIN: I love the picture. I love this picture of the three of you from behind, Lieutenant Gregory, Aja and then your son.

I want to talk about your son in just a moment. But can you all just take me within your conversations in that final mile? I mean, who was saying what, did you still want to quit, Aja? Lieutenant, what were you saying to her?

GREGORY: Well, you know, we started off. I introduced myself and I asked her if she was OK. And I thanked her for giving me a chance to be with her. You know, being a police officer you run into a lot of people. And I have been lucky enough to meet a lot of people, but I haven't met too many people with the heart the size of Miss Ford, and her son. You know, I thanked him for being such a strong person to be there with his mother to support her and hold her hand on the other side. We talked about some of the medical problems that she had gone through

and the loss of a limb of her husband and I shared with her about the loss of my mother. My mom, she has been gone almost 14 years now and she struggled with diabetes her whole life. And we talked about that. We talked about T.J.'s school and his extracurricular activities.

BALDWIN: This is all in that final mile. We're getting deep, you two. I mean, this is like true real life struggles. It's incredible. And if I may just interject, I just would love to play a little sound from your son. I know he was asked about, you know, his attitude toward police officers and you, Lieutenant, specifically. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With all the staff that's going on now with police, and it's nice to have -- to know that there's good people out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Lieutenant Gregory, I mean, a lot obviously has been talked about nationwide, certainly here at CNN, about relationships or lack thereof between community members and police. When you hear this from this young man, how did it sit with you?

GREGORY: It fills you up from the inside out. You know, we as police officers often get labeled as strictly just law enforcement, that's all we are, and that's all we do. And that is just a small part of what being a police officer is. And so the chance to make an impact on that young man and to be a part of what this amazing lady and her accomplishments, it means the world. It means the world to me.

BALDWIN: Aja, I think I see a tear down your right cheek. This is obviously still quite emotional for you. Can you just talk to me about how you're feeling right now?

FORD: It's a blessing because I didn't realize what was going on at the time until I got to the finish line and I realized that Officer Gregory talked to me and my son to keep my mind focused on us finishing and not what was going on at that moment. So for me, this has been a blessing all the way around because I teach my kids not to give up. I teach them when they set their mind on something that they can't give up. And I'm the hard-hitting one of the family.

I'm the one who once I get it set in my mind, I'm not going to give up. So my son with him watching me, I'm thinking at the time I'm giving up on him, but I'm also giving up on myself. And so, through prayer, this man right here, you talk about angels. I don't see the badge. I don't see the boots. This is a gift from God. I mean, if he wasn't there, my journey would have ended right there at mile five.

BALDWIN: Aja Ford and Lieutenant Aubrey Gregory, thank you both so much.

GREGORY: Thank you. FORD: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: How wonderful are they? Just, you know, on your Monday afternoon, whether it's running a race or climbing a mountain or dealing with something difficult with work or in your personal life, I just love what that officer did. And this is simple thing of grabbing someone's hand, I think really speaks, speaks volumes in how she was saying. She saw beyond the badge and saw this man who is going to help. So (INAUDIBLE) her young son in this officer, I salute you, Aja Ford. Thanks you so much for sharing your story and keep on running.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for being with me. John Berman is in for our Jake Tapper. "THE LEAD" starts now.