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EARLY START

More Freddie Gray Protests; Yemen in Crisis: Is Iran Sending Weapons to Rebels?; Senate Set to Vote on Loretta Lynch Nomination; Judge Approves NFL Concussion Settlement. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired April 23, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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


[05:00:22] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New protests growing frustration over the death of a man mysteriously injured his arrest. The officers involved in this controversy. We just learned they provided statements to investigators. What did they say? We have new details ahead.

There are new concerning that Iranian ships headed toward Yemen are carrying weapons for Houthis. If they are, what will ships patrolling the waters do about it? We are live with the very latest.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman. It is Thursday, April 23rd. It is 5:00 in the East. Christine Romans is off today.

And new this morning, we are learning that five of the six Baltimore officers involved in arresting Freddie Gray have provided statements to investigators. Now, Gray somehow suffered a fatal spinal injury in police custody earlier this month. This new video, and it is hard to make out, but it does show the last time Gray was seen in public, motionless, lying in the door of that police van.

Court documents say the events leading to Gray's death started when he took off running when he saw officers. Police union lawyer says the officers did not need probable cause to arrest Gray. They say his decision to flee was enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL DAVEY, FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE ATTORNEY: They pursued Mr. Gray. They detained him for an investigative stop. Had he not had a knife or an illegal weapon on him, he would have been released after the proper paper work was done. However, in this case, he was in possession of a spring loaded knife, which is in violation of Maryland law, at which time he was arrested. Everyone keeps going back and forth that there was no probably cause. In this type of an incident, you do not need probably cause to arrest. You just need a reasonable suspicion to make the stop and that's what they had in this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The officers' lawyer says they did not cause Gray's fatal injury. They say they don't know how it happened. New protests against excessive force are set today in Baltimore. The

otherwise peaceful protests became something a bit more than that on Wednesday as frustrated demonstrators pushed and shoved and threw bottles toward police.

National correspondent Miguel Marquez has been in those protests. He joins us now with the latest -- Miguel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, this is Western District Police Station. It's become now ground zero for protesters as they look for answers in the death of Freddie Gray. Today, his body was prepared to be released to the family. The lawyer for Freddie Gray says that they will conduct their own autopsy on the body before the funeral. The pastor that will eventually hold that funeral or conduct it says that it will be days after that that his funeral will be held for Mr. Gray.

Protesters here at the Western District and across the city tonight -- they are promising to come back later in greater numbers today, in thousands they are saying down at city hall. And on Saturday, they are talking about in the tens of thousands. We will see if that turns out.

Another thing that is happening here, as protesters gather at the police station, they are also breaking off in smaller groups, moving throughout the city, blocking traffic in certain places. But now, they're going to move a lot of the protests from this area to city hall and hope to continue to press for answers -- John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Miguel Marquez on the streets of Baltimore.

Happening now, Defense Secretary Ash Carter says he is worried that the Iranian convoy headed toward Yemen may be bringing advanced weaponry to Houthi rebels. Carter was not willing to say the U.S. would forcibly board those Iranian ships to stop those shipments, but he did not rule it out either, telling reporters, quote, "we have options".

This as the Saudi-led coalition continues to pound Houthi positions with new airstrikes this morning, just a day after declaring that the air campaign in Yemen was finished. The secretary-general of the United Nations is voicing concern that fighting has resumed and is expressing hope that it will end as soon as possible.

CNN's Becky Anderson is following these complicated events for us this morning.

Becky, there is a lot going on.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there is, John. I think everybody keeping their options open at this point. The Saudis insist this action is consistent with the end of the month long Operation Decisive Storm phase one as it were and Operation Renewal of Hope, phase two, which they say is part political, part military. These air strikes, Riyadh says, are to protect and continue to protect civilians from militia while behind the scenes, all willing stakeholders work on the political side, the implementation of U.N. Resolution 2216.

[05:05:04] But as we see, it's not just in the air, nor is it on the ground, that things are complicated. It is in the waters off what is the Arab world's poorest country. Things are very messy.

Witness what could be the impending showdown. We don't know with the U.S. warships entering the Gulf of Aden led by U.S. aircraft carrier Theodor Roosevelt and an approaching flotilla of Iranian cargo and military ships.

Now, U.S. officials have been telling us on CNN that the mission is to monitor these Iranian cargo vessels that could deliver arms to Houthi rebels. Certainly, the Saudis and coalition partners say the Iranians have been on the floor, on the ground and in military advisory capacity. They say Hezbollah assets on the ground in the north of Yemen. You get much talk from the Yemenis government that there have been weapons delivered by the Iranians. This is how the Saudi ambassador explained this latest phase last night in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADEL AL-JUBEIR, SAUDI ARABIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: The Houthi should be under no illusion that we will continue to use force in order to stop them from taking Yemen over by aggressive action. So, that will not change. We hope that we will participate in the political process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: So, whether the U.S. navy in the waters of the Gulf of Aden will move to block those Iranian ships from entering Yemeni waters a matter which certainly Washington isn't prepared to talk about at present. Let's watch this space on that.

This, of course, as Iran and other world powers meet for a second day of nuclear talks in Vienna, clearly seeking to finalize a deal by June 30th. GCC leaders meeting May 5th to talk Yemen and Iran, and that, John, of course, is before the same Gulf leaders go to the states to meet President Obama at Camp David.

There are so many moving parts to the story at present. Clearly, we have to remember those on the ground are impacted. An incredible humanitarian crisis in Yemen. It's the people who matter most -- John.

BERMAN: Some 100,000 people have been displaced already.

Becky Anderson for us, thanks so much.

North Korea may already have already 20 nuclear warheads and could double that number by next year. This assessment comes from nuclear experts in China and was shared with the United States this February, according to report in "The Wall Street Journal". Officials in Beijing are growing more concerned, it has said, about acceleration in North Korea's nuclear programs. South Korean defense officials warn the North is actively working on a militarizing a nuclear device that could fit on the tip of a missile.

Republicans now say their final report of the 2012 Benghazi attack and the role that Hillary Clinton may have played at the State Department, that report might not be ready until just before the 2016 elections. The head of the committee handling the investigation says he would like to wrap things up by the end of this year, but claims the White House stalling things could push things back.

Now, on the subject of Benghazi, presidential hopeful Rand Paul skipped his own Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing yesterday to appear on a radio show where he blasted Hillary Clinton for her handling the Benghazi attacks. The hearing he missed involved funding for the State Department to improve security for American interests overseas.

The Pentagon is scrambling to move dozens of detainees out of Guantanamo Bay. This could be seen as an attempt to stay a step ahead of lawmakers who are threatening to block future transfers and derail the president's plan to shutdown the military prison. Defense officials are hoping to resettle 57 of the remaining 122 inmates by the end of the year, in countries that still have not agreed to take. No word on how the administration plans to deal with the inmates who will remain who have been deemed too dangerous to release.

It took more than five months, but Congress is set to make some history today. Loretta Lynch is expected to make approval to be the next attorney general and become the first African-American woman to hold that position. This comes after lawmakers passed the unrelated sex trafficking bill that had stalled her confirmation.

It is sentencing day for David Petraeus. The former CIA director pleaded guilty last month, admitted he shared classified documents with his biographer and lover, Paul Broadwell, and then lied about it to the FBI. The maximum sentence is a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. But federal prosecutors are expected to recommended two years provision and a $40,000 fine.

On the subject of money, it's time for an early start on your money.

[05:10:00] Alison Kosik here with that.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you.

It looks like U.S. stock futures are pointing down right now. But it's very early. Wall Street has a lot to get through today. Yesterday, stocks climbed and the NASDAQ hit a new 2015 closing high. The NASDAQ is closing in on its all-time high that was set 15 years ago during the dot-com bubble.

The Dow gained 88 points yesterday as investors cheered earnings reports from Dow components McDonald's and Coca-Cola. We are keeping an eye on shares of Facebook today. They are actually

lower before the bell. And they reported their earnings today. And from that report, we learned that Facebook is actually seeing huge growth in mobile and video ads.

But the bad news for the company is that growth is costing the company a lot. You look at first quarter revenue. It was slightly lower than expected, spending increased a lot. I think the new mantra at Facebook is you can't -- you've got to spend money to make money. But they are spending a lot of money.

BERMAN: No, I mean, they call it investment in themselves and in the future. I was really surprised by the level of investment that they're doing right now. They are getting big and they have big ambitions.

KOSIK: They do.

BERMAN: Alison Kosik, thanks so much.

So, prosecutors show jurors a picture of Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev flipping off a camera. So, why now is the defense showing them the video of this? What is the strategy? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Happening today: prosecutors are expected to rest their case in the sentencing phase of the Boston marathon bombing trial.

[05:15:00] A crude gesture made by convicted bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev while in lockup following his arrest, that has now become a flashpoint in court. He flipped off a camera. Now, lawyers are both sides are using the images in their arguments. So why?

CNN national correspondent Alexandra Field has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, prosecutors say that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is a remorseless killer. They showed the jury a picture of him giving the middle finger to a camera. But the defense, they went a step forward, actually playing that video for the jury. The video was made by a surveillance camera in the holding cell at the federal courthouse. It was recorded three months after Dzhokhar Tsarnaev being arrested.

Defense officials hoping to take the sting out of the image of Dzhokhar giving that middle finger. Prosecutors said he has shown no remorse for his actions. He's being convicted on all 30 counts already. But defense attorneys wanted to provide some context to what was seen in that still image shown by the prosecution.

In the video, Dzhokhar is seen walking around the cell. He sits down for an extensive period of time. He's also seen looking into the camera and fixing his hair, before throwing up some kind of a V shaped sign and then giving the middle finger. Tsarnaev's life is on the line. Jurors will determine whether or not

he gets sentenced to death. But first, prosecutors are calling witnesses to tell to the pain and suffering they experienced as a result of the attacks inflicted by Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan.

Jurors heard from Lingzi Lu's aunt, about Lingzi's mother traveled from China to the United States after the attack. She hoped at the bridal store, picking out a pink bridal gown to bury her daughter in.

They heard from Sean Collier's stepfather who talked about identifying his stepson's body with a bullet between his eyes.

And they heard from Adrianne Haslett Davis, a dancer who lost part of her leg in the bombing. She talked about what would be a final good- bye to her husband, about calling her parents and telling them these might be her last words with them. Davis testified at some point with tears in her eyes when she got off the stand walking on a prosthetic, giving him a glare. He never looked back out to her, John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: So sad. Alexandra Field, thanks so much.

The family of Michael Brown is taking legal action against the city of Ferguson, Missouri. His parents will hold a news conference this morning to announce a wrongful death suit against Ferguson. Last summer, the unarmed black teenager was fatally shot by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson who has since left the force. A grand jury declined to file charges against Wilson, and, of course, the federal investigation also cleared him. The shooting and grand jury decision, of course, sparked protests in Ferguson and around the country over the use of force by police.

It appears the Florida postal carrier who landed his gyrocopter in the lawn of the U.S. Capitol is lucky to be alive. Security officials say they had guns trained on Doug Hughes the whole time, they say. And according to Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz, he could have been blown out of the air.

Following a classified briefing on Wednesday, Chaffetz was more upset about the breach of D.C. air space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: The deep concern here is that people can penetrate the air space and go undetected. One of the things that was very frustrating to members of Congress is that there was no notification. We never got an alert that something was happening at the Capitol. That's inexcusable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Gyrocopter pilot Doug Hughes is now facing federal charges. He told Anderson Cooper last night that he pulled this stunt to make a statement about the influence of money in politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG HUGHES, FLEW GYROCOPTER ONTO CAPITOL GROUNDS: I won't know if this is worth it until I get through with it. We're through with it when we see whether or not in the next election, a serious dialogue about corruption and a serious commitment to solving the problem of corruption. Now, you don't want me grandstanding on that and I'm going to respect that. But that's what it's about. And that's what makes it worth it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Hughes is under house arrest and could get up to four years in prison if convicted.

The NFL has worked out a settlement to compensate players for concussions that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, as much a billion dollars. Coy Wire brings us the details on the bleacher report, next.

Despite stories of security gaps and gun smuggling by airport employees, the TSA says it will not be conducting full employee screenings. New TSA reports say such screenings will not help improve security because the agency can't determine a worker's motivations or ability to cause harm.

The TSA says most airports can't even afford to screen employees. The head of airport security is asking the TSA at minimum to do criminal background checks every two years and increase random screenings for all airport workers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:11] BERMAN: The NFL planned to compensate former players for concussion injuries has one final court approval.

Former player Coy Wire has more now in the bleacher report.

Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Good morning to you, John.

Yes, the concussion settlement between the NFL and its retired players approved by the federal judge who said it's a fair and reasonable and adequate deal. It's going to provide payments up to $5 million for players with severe neurological disorders like ALS and Alzheimer's. The deal also removes the cap to the limit that the NFL could have to pay to retired players years down the road.

It is speculated that the deal could cost as much as $1 billion over the next 65 years. But don't feel bad for the owners. The league makes over $9 billion in one year. More than 5,000 former players sued the NFL accusing the league of hiding the dangers of concussions.

Also on NFL news, the league announced a ten-game suspension of recently signed Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy for violating the personnel conduct policy. Hardy was found guilty in July of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, but later on appeal, the case was dismissed after she refused to cooperate with prosecutors after reaching a financial settlement with Hardy. Hardy has signed a one year deal in March and probably appeal the league's ruling. But if he does serve the full suspension, he will play on Thanksgiving Day against his former team, the Carolina Panthers.

All right. On to some fun stuff in NBA playoffs last night, when the Spurs went into overtime in L.A. with the Clippers. It was the crafty veteran Spurs showing they still have some gas left in the tank. Tim Duncan's turnaround day on point like he turned back the clock to back in the day, led the way with 28 points. Spurs tied the series at one game apiece.

The Atlanta Hawks and Grizzlies also got it done and won last night.

[05:55:00] All right. Boxing fans, don't worry, it's all good. According to Manny Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum, a deal has been reached and the Mayweather-Pacquiao punch fest is on. Until last night, the fighters' camps weren't in agreement in the details in the contract like ticket distribution, as an example. Arum told CNN that tickets to the fight will go on sale today. The total gate of the fight said to be upwards of $72 million, with the cheapest ticket costing 1,500 bucks.

John, it's going to be a good one. I have to ask, who do you have on this one?

BERMAN: I like Manny Pacquiao. I have done a couple of stories. He humored me with the imitation of "Braveheart.", which was always very funny. He does the Mel Gibson role in that.

On the San Antonio Spurs -- on the Spurs and Clippers, I got to tell you, you can't let the Spurs back in the series. They can win the whole thing if they get a chance. And I think the Clippers may have let one slip away there.

WIRE: Oh man, they're the old trusty. Look out for those guys. I'm rooting for them.

BERMAN: All right. Coy, thanks so much.

WIRE: All right, John.

BERMAN: New information in the death of a man mysteriously injured during his arrest. That happens as new protests hit the streets of Baltimore and there are still new questions this morning. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Protests turning tense over the death of Freddie Gray. His spine mysteriously severed during his arrest. The officers involved in that arrest we now learned have spoken to investigators. So, what did they say? We'll have details ahead.

New concern this morning over what is inside Iranian cargo ships moving toward Yemen. Is Iran arming Houthi rebels? If they are, what are U.S. ships patrolling those waters going to do about it?