lead"cnn. check out our page, extras, subscribe to the magazine we have on flip board. that's it for "the lead" today. turning you oenker to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." he's right next door. have a great monday. happening now -- isis recruiting. its happening here in america and federal prosecutors say six more americans have been charged with trying to reach syria to join the terror group. that brings the total in recent months to nearly 30. why isn't the u.s. doing more to stop it? security sweep. after a series of high profilements, the tsa steps up security screens for airport and airline workers. how safe is your flight? killed in custody? another suspect dies after an arrest. police say the arrest was made without incident and without the use of force. so how and why was the suspect's neck broken? and ambassador threatened.

praising the recent slashing attack on the u.s. envoy to south korea, north korea warns that "if he doesn't watch himself he might have to deal with something far worse." i'm wolf blitzer. you're are in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we begin with six u.s. citizens arrested and charged with supporting terrorism. federal prosecutors say the young men from minnesota tried every means possible to travel to syria and join isis. thatic mas more than two dozen such arrests this year so far. whatic mass what makes the latest ominous, the recruiting is taking place among circles of friends and family. breaks this hour baltimore police released new video of an incident that sparked outrage. a suspect who later slipped into

a coma and died his spine nearly severed. and i'll speak live with senator john mccain. chairman of the senate armed services committee and all standing by with full coverage our gusts and correspondents. we begin with american terror arrest. pamela brown has the latest. pamela? >> reporter: wolf officials i've spoke with say this is is a significant case today. minnesota authorities say the menu they were on the fbi's radar. over the bast yearpart year despite that would not give up their goal of fighting with isis in syria. the officials say the six young is a mieuli men, americans, part of a large group of friends and relatives and today appeared in federal court in minnesota and san diego on reports of terrorist charges. according to the complaint we've looked at over the past year the men repeatedly tried to get to syria and recently concocted a plan to go from minnesota to san diego, cross the border into

mexico and then on to syria. all with the help of another young somali man by the name of abdy knorr. the fbi says successfully made it to syria and tried to recruit his friends to come. the fbi saying he got there in 2014. also the fbi says it has been keeping an eye on these men over the last several months and that it even enlisted the help of one of the friends in the group who turned against them and then began secretly recording them. the fbi says that undercover informant was key in making these arrests. what the u.s. attorney in minnesota had to say about that. >> one friend in this group decided to leave, and to cooperate with the fbi. that cooperating witness agreed to record meetings of the co-conspirators and some of the information gathered through these it conversations is set forth in the complaint. >> reporter: and according to the complaint he alluded to there, one of the men told the undercover informant the

american identity is dead, even if i get caught i'm through with america. burn my i.d. authorities made it clear today that the men's overarching goal was to make it to syria, not launch an attack on the homeland and put it in per spektrive, since january authorities made at least 26 isis-related arrests and told my officials there are more to come. >> i'm sure there are. thanks for that report. let's bring in our justice reporter evan perez. as pamela noted, 26 isis arrests in america. just the latest. more on the way. what are you hearing? >> wolf this case represents the best look that the fbi has gotten so far. into the way isis is recruiting americans, and other westerners. until this case we've had a lot of people who have been self-directored. people getting recruited on the internet. people sitting at home looking at propaganda videos. in this case talking about pier to pier recruitment by friends and people who are family

members, taking them trying to bring them overseas to syria to join isis. that's a big, big break for the fbi. >> and you're learning about new u.s. potential airport security risks. what are you hearing? >> well wolf jeh johnson, the secretary of homeland security put out new regulations today to guide the tsa to help them get a handle on how to secure behind the scenes of the airports, and this is really in response to an incident in december where in new york the d.a. announced there were a couple of former and current delta air lines employees who were smuggling guns from atlanta hartsfield airport to new york. now under these new regulations the tsa will try to do fingerprint criminal history records on everybody who has access behind the scenes at airports wolf and they're going to make sure that the tsa screens all airline employees no matter who they are before they go through every checkpoint

wolf. >> evan perez. thanks and pamela brown, thanks to you as well. stepping up air strikes, the united states is stepping up its own involvement. the aircraft career "uss theodor roosevelt" moving closer to the shores of yemen prepared to intercept any iranian armed shipments to the shiite rebels. let's get the latest. our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto has that. >> reporter: wolf interesting movements now. today you have nine u.s. navy war ships in and around the coat of yemen here in the southern red sea, along this strait here as you get into the arabian sea and the most recent additions, "uss theodore roosevelt" an guided cruiser normandy in the arabian gulf taking part in the air campaign against isis in syria and iraq up here. so they were taken out of that theater, around here to be in position off the coast of

yechlen. so why are they there now? in yemen? a number of missions. one, keep the straits open. this is a very important trade route. you got the suez canal here. they cheap safe. this is a choke point here that they could be worried about that closing off. two, give the president military options inside yemen, if he were to decide to strike there. taken u.s. forces off the ground there as aqap the houthi rebels have taken over territory, you have aircraft military options, cruise missiles air strikes et cetera. another mission here is to monitor the possibility of iranian war ships or vessels coming from iran. iranian trade vessels or other flagships, carrying weapons from iran to the houthi rebels here. keep in mind the u.s. and iran having nuclear negotiations are on opposite sides of the war here. iran supplying weapons to the houthi rebels. the u.s. supporting the saudi-led air campaign against

those rebels and now the u.s. in position to monitor those ships, keep in mind the u.s. does not have permission or authority to board iranian flagships but could monitor them, the possibility of are intercepting them as more arms go that way. very sensitive subject in light of those nuclear negotiations, but all of these ships now nine in position to give the president more options. >> more options indeed. thanks very much jim sciutto, for that report. more now senator mccain joining us chairman of the senator arms services committee. thanks gore joining us. >> thank you. >> you just heard jim sciutto report the u.s. navy you're familiar with the u.s. navy increasing its presence. the aircraft carrier battle grip theodore roosevelt moving closer to yemen potentially to intercept warships that the iranians are sending warships to that area to bolster the houthi shiite rebels. what's your response? sounds ominous? >> it is a bit ominous, whenever

you have ships at sea that have opposite objectives. then the iranians have been steady suppliers of houthis, usually by sea. i've seen a dial that was huge carried a lot of weapons, that the iranians carrieds weapons and provided training. no doubt that the houthis ares vassals of the iranians. that is a very serious, serious situation. another situation here i think, wolf that we have to worry about is i'm not sure that air strikes alone from saudi arabia will be enough to break the advance of houthis and, of course because of this upheaval and chaos, al qaeda has stepped in to it and they're gaining traction as well. so this is a, an incredibly serious situation. as you mentioned earlier, the position of yemen, and look across the straits at somalia, there's a possibility or a scenario that one of the world's busiest waterways could be

impeded or even closed. that's a worst-case scenario. i don't think it's going to happen but i think it's something we need to be concerned about. >> in the statement, the pentagon said they're moving the "uss theodore roosevelt" aircraft carrier, guided missile cruiser, "uss normandy" ships you're familiar with vital shipping lanes, in the region to remain open and safe. the question would you support u.s. air power from that aircraft carrier to be used to help the saudis deal with these air strikes in yemen? >> i would, as i'd have to have forward air controllers on the ground. and it would have to be a, an assessment there was no other option, because it is a very serious escalatory step as you know and as much as i love air power, air power alone is not the decisive factor in these, in a conflict. so you'd have to say, if you're going to use u.s. air power,

what else is going to happen in order to make sure you're able to stop the houthis and now al qaeda and the arabian peninsula. >> aqap which arguably may be the biggest terror threat to the u.s. has intensified, grown in the last few weeks in the midst of this chaos. official of this so-called state in yemen right now. >> yes, and will continue to have this kind of environment be the most conducive to their expansion, and their success. but, again, it was very obvious to many of us that this did not have to have happened. we did not take care of the of the regime that was in place, the president that was there, and it is a simpson of our official throughout the middle east. >> let's talk about some of those failures. one of the great failures obviously being in libya right now. i want to ask you about this new isis video showing another mass

killing, beheadings people shot in the head. ethiopian christians in libya. the second isis video purporting to so a mass killing of christians by isis. remember the egyptian christians beheaded in libya, only a few weeks ago. what's going on over there? because we know when the u.s. got rid of gadhafi together with the europeans and italians and others you supported that operation. there was great hope that libya was going to emerge in a different democratic state, part of the arab spring. it's turned out to be a total disaster. >> it certainly has. and i can tell you that at the end of world war ii when we defeated the germans, taken all our marbles gone home and done nothing, there's a possibility europe would certainly not be what it is today. when after gadhafi was removed and by the way removed without a single loss of a single american airplane or person. we bepged them begged them to

help with securing the weapons, to civil society, assistance to the wounded. they had 30,000 wounded and nobody to take care of them. we begged them to do the right thing and that was help these people restore democracy. it didn't have to happen wolf. it was, we just basically left left them alone. another manifestation of leaving from behind and this could have been avoided. we could have restored a functioning government in libya. >> when we see what's going on in libya now thousands fleeing, over the weekend these people drown because their ship capsized several hundred if not 1,000 people. the question what responsibility does the united states have now to deal with his humanitarian crisis in libya given the fact the u.s. was so involved in getting rid of the previous have a sheepregime of gadhafi? >> everything we can to assist on the humanitarian side. boats coming out, hundreds being

killed. frankly, i think containment now of what's happening in libya, because it's spreading not only to the east but also to the south, and we need to assist other countries in the region to try and stabilize the situation there. i would not send in american troops into libya. i'd have to have a plan. i'd have to have a strategy of which there's none anywhere in the middle east by the way. especially syria. but i would encourage other countries especially egypt to try to get involved in trying to restore some kind of sanity and stability there, because if the isis takes over then you're going to have another enemy, another hotbed of radicalism that is intent on attacking the united states of america. >> was it a mistake to get rid of gadhafi? >> swros of courseof course not. the people rose up -- people seem to forget the libyan people

rose up against this guy. he was at the gates of benghazi with armored tanks and artillery and was going to kill thousands. we took him out with air power without a single american boot on the ground. it's what happened afterwards there was a period of time where these are moderate people. they wanted the kind of democracy we have. we just walked away. it's called leading from behind. >> senator, we're going to take a quick break and have a lot more to talk about including what's going on in iraq and this dispute. i know you're very disappointed in the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general dempsey. talk about what he said last week your response. much more when we come back. >> thank you. here at friskies, cats are in charge of approving every new recipe. because it's cats who know best what cats like to eat.

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our top story, six americans now charged with trying to reach sear dia to join isis. that comes as the terror group is on the move once again. gaining ground in various parts of iraq. back with the chairman of the senate arms services committee republican senator john mccain of arizona. the pentagon release add statement, the combined joint task force issued a statement saying iraqi security forces senator, regained what they call full control of the baiji oil refinery. that isis militants have been disbursed from that area. that's not the kate certainly in ramadi. the largest city in the anbar province about 70 miles from baghdad. listen and i know you've heard this before, a reminder of your what the chairman of the joint

chiefs general martin dempsey said the other day about the fight for ramadi. >> the issue is not brick and mortar it's about defeating isil. as i said i would much rather that ramadi not but it won't be the end of a campaign should it fall. we can get it back. >> i know you're angry and upset with his comments. your reaction. do you have confidence in general dempsey, should he stay on as the chairman of the joint chiefs? >> he's got several more months. i wish you played the part maybe key it up it's not symbolically important and not part of the caliphate. that's where i, i take strong exception to what he had to say. he said it's not symbolic and not part of the caliphate. well wolf between may of 2006 and march 2007 we lost 186 service members, killed 1,150

wounded one of them being michael monsieur who is a medal of honor winner and the -- and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is saying it's not symbolically important? what do you tell the families? of those people who were killed and wounded? that it's okay. basically it's not important that that the capital of the sunni anbar province has been taken over by isis and by the way it is the soviet union thaiunni that have to be part of this fight if we ever expect to defeat them. >> the baiji oil refinery is more important strategically than ramadi. the point he was trying to make. when i heard that my ears perked up as well. >> does it mean that we have to spend -- we have only the assets to defend the oil refinery and not worry about the capital of anbar province? if it falls to isis what effect

do you think that has on the sunni population that we allow their capital to fall and that a refinery is more important? in some ways you might make that argument but what do you think it does to the desire of the sunni who we have to have to fight against isis when they are portrayed by the top military leader in the united states as of secondary importance and what does this mean when the chairman says not part of the caliphate? does that mean he recognized a caliphate? i certainly don't. >> let me move to an issue closer at home senator. i have the confirmation of president obama's nominee to become the next attorney general top replace lynch. the senate will vote soon, maybe the next few days on loretta lynch's confirmation. do you have any idea when you guys will finally have a vote on her nomination?

>> i think it's going to be fairly soon because the holdup was this human trafficking bill which the democrats were not allowing us to have a final vote on. so i think it's going to probably be soon and i will oppose it and i will oppose it because she supports the unconstitutional executive orders that the president of the united states is issued on immigration. and the president's the united states himself, 22 times, said those executive orders would be unconstitutional. i can't support someone who is who is supporting an unconstitutional act on the part of the united states president. >> but you have to admit, though you wouldn't expect the president to nominate someone as his chief law enforcement officer, the attorney general of the united states who disagrees with him on a sensitive leap ishgal issue like that? >> and i expect someone who comes in confirmation before the united states senate to give their actual views on issues. not what their boss' issues are

and the person they're going to work for but their own views i demand that in the senate arms services committee and the senate demands it and the american people demand it. unfortunately this nominee decided to say she will enforce constitutional executive orders. i can't vote for someone like that. >> fair enough. you have a right to confirm or not confirm. but the fact it's almost six months that you guys have not been able to vote on the senate floor, is this some form of payback by republicans because democrats pushed through a's bunch of nominees for judicial cabinet appoints when they were in power? >> i think in this particular case no. just as in my view the secretary of defense ash carter expedited as quickly as possible. i told them when they did the nuclear option and i didn't have my rights of advise and consent, i wasn't going to be hurry to confirm nominees through the

department of defense. i'm not embarrassed to say that because they jammed through people i didn't have a chance to debate or mount any obstacle to their confirmation. it was railroaded through in violation of all previous custom of the senate which i had defended with republicans in the majority a couple of times. >> you're chairman of the armed senate committee. are you suggesting you are deliberately holding up some of those confirmations? >> i am suggestsing that i told them if they were going to jam these people through without my right of advice and consent it would be a while before they are going to be confirmed or move through the senate arms services committee. that's not a threat. that's not blackmail. that's just what i told them i would do if they violated my rights and my obligations to represent the people of arizona and the united states senate which they did. >> that's clearly what you did.

one final political question before i let you go. when she was a senator, hillary clinton, you often worked closely with her. do you believe she's qualified to the president of the united states? >> oh i think she's certainly qualified, if you look at her background, but i strongly disagree with many of the positions that she has taken. with her view of america's role in the world. with her many failures as -- let me say this i can't think of one success that she achieved as four years as secretary of state. so it's not a matter of of -- you know one of the things we've lost around here is you can be friends with someone and still strongly disagree with them. 7 i have found i can still do that in the senate and i will find that to be true with secretary clinton. i have a good reship withlationship but strongly disagree with some of her actions including the whole

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our top story, six u.s. citizens all young men from minnesota, charged with plotting to travel to syria to join isis. intent on using all possible means to reach be their goal. let's discuss. joining us, counterterrorism official and intelligence and security analyst, a former cia

operative and "the washington post" columnist is covering the intelligence community in the yeast. the u.s. attorney from minnesota says that they have a terror recruiting problem. his words. a terror recruiting problem in the state of minnesota. what is it what's it about? and what is it about minnesota that causes this problem? >> well wolf there's a large somali community there. it's not very well simulated at all. a lot of isolated kids unemployed small groups of them talking amongst each other. one goes off to somalia, fights jihad. they look heroic. they've been unable to identify with the united states with the american dream and the rest but identify with islam and see all of these, the stuff on the internet about these horrible wars in the middle east and they think that's the truest cause and gives them meaning. it's really that small somali community that isn't doing well

up there. >> and the u.s. attorney said pier to pier collaboration and another friend who managed to get to syria who is sending back messages? >> yes. seen 2 in canada in the u.s. just this week pier to pier from an australian recruiter and a lot of arrests in australia. it raises a tough question that people have not resolved in this country. that is -- you can't get access to this this kind of recruiter in a place like syria. do you authorize, an american citizen trying to recruit kids either too kill themselves by suicide operations in syria or conduct operations here? do you authorize drone strikes against an american citizen like to this recruiter in a place like syria to prevent future recruitment? to be blunt, yes. you cannot afford this to happen. a lot of people dispute that people in the community, intelligence community, law enforcement community, there there will be a lot more of these arrests and eventually

someone will slip through the cracks. you agree? >> i totally agree, wolf. that's going to happen, these kids are going to fight jihad abroad become radicalized more than they are, learn skills to make bombs. you do have to practice these thing and bring those skills back and i have said it over and over again, an attack in this country, by one of these people is almost inevitable. >> talk about the new isis video that's been released showing another mass execution of christians. this time ethiopian christians some beheaded, some shot in the head a few weeks ago. a bunch of egyptian christians working inside libya who were beheaded. why is isis doing this? why do they think this is good propaganda for them? >> i think in trying to reach out to muslims to say that the caliphate as they call it is the place they should be as an article in the "new york times" said over the weekend, the pump is don't live next to the

christians. come to the caliphate and live next to muslims. be among people who share your values and your beliefs. so these horrific attacks on christians as much as they may alienate many muslims to their target audience presumably they're effective, you know i think to add one thing about the somali case. one thing that came through in the way the fbi busted this was that one of the kids in this pier to pier network was so upset by what he was seeing among his piers that he became an informant, and that's been a real tool that the fbi has used in all kinds of law enforcement cases but it is turning that tool to these terrorism cases, and they seem to have done it effectively and the level of paranoia this must generate among the jihadists as they worry who has been turned, who is posing as a would-be

jihadist? that's an interesting factor. >> phil your thoughts on the latest isis video? slickly, highly produced what 30 minutes, or so in which they go through and show the beheading and the killing of these christians? >> the significance of this video is what it tells us about the evolution of isis. we thought we had an isis in iraq and syria and other groups in places like libya or nigeria not afitted with isis say weg agree with their ideologist. the coordination and production of this release of this coalescing and coordinating a step ahead of what we saw even a few months ago. >> your thought, david. you've studied this a long time. a question i asked john mccain. what responsibility does the united states have because of the chaos that's developed in libya given the fact of the launch of cruise missiles, led the fight against gadhafi. what responsibility does the united states have to deal with the humanitarian crisis a ill if aed state now? hundreds if not thousands of

people trying to get out of there? >> well you know i think we have to keep faith with people who trusted in our decision to overthrow gadhafi, to topple the pillars of the state that was there. i mean we didn't start this. the libyan rebels did, just as in other countries, but i think we do have to keep faith with people who look to american power and assume that we were making a commitment. how we exercise that commitment is complicated. you know the regional partners are much better boots on the ground than americans as we certain have learned that. but i think trying to end the proxy war aspect of the fighting in libya syria, other places where outside the powers are pumping in money and weapons is one part of keeping faith

trying to reduce that way in in cheese little states are rimped edripped apart by other powers fighting their war there. >> more to discuss. stand by. also coming up police just released a new surveillance video after a suspect dies in their custody. what new clues may it hold into the mysterious death of this young man and weeks after this bludy assault, north korea threatening an attack far worse for the united states ambassador to south korea.

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breaking news here in "the situation room." look at this. live pictures coming in from miami-dade county in florida. nearly 900 acres are burning from a massive wildfire. officials say the blaze is 50% contained. we'll continue to watch this story for you. awful pictures coming in right now. other breaking news we're following. in baltimore, police there are speaking out on the death of a 25-year-old suspect in their custody. that sparked outrage and protests. they've released surveillance video of the incident and announced an investigation into what happened but still no evidence police used force.krn cnn's miguel is with us. >> reporter: bizarre twist. both ways.

police releasing new video. many many cameras in this neighborhood where mr. gray was arrested and people who saw the arrest say he was treated horrible. looking at the video there. you can see him being dragged into the van. police sas at a press conference he was not in bad shape. many we spoke to there on the ground say he was asking for an inhaler, had asthma at the time was loaded into a police van. the police chief, police commissioner here in baltimore and the mayor speaking out very forcefully that every bit of information they have at this point says that their police officers did no wrong. >> none of the officers described any use of force. none of the officers described using any force against mr. gray. i'll tell you what i do know and right now there's still a lot of questions i don't know. i know that when mr. gray was placed inside that van, he was able to talk. he was upset. and when mr. gray was taken out

of that van, he could not talk and he could not bleeth . . breathe. >> reporter: police saying he eventually it was determined he eventually had a spinal injury very bass spinal injury that eventually put him into a coma and he died seven days after being picked up by police. a lot of questions police are now trying to answer and in great reaction mode here already before the final investigation is done already making changes to the way prisoners are transported in these vans and that when a prisoner asks for medical attention, that they get it immediately, and also saying that all police officers including those doing transport have to be completely up on training with regard to safety and. r. wolf? >> a lot more on the story in the next hour. thank you very much. coming up also a new threat to the united states ambassador just weeks after he was attacked. north korea telling him to shut up or suffer a fate far worse.

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[♪] and in the restless depths of human hearts... [♪] the voice of the wild within. [♪] intelligence committee. we're following the breaking news a u.s. military official telling american warships with thousands of sailors and marines onboard prepare to intercept as many as nine iran kwan ships iranian ships to the shiite

houthi rebel forces in yemen. as you know, congressman, the "uss theodore roosevelt" the aircraft carrier, "the uss normandy" there may be six 6,000 or 8,000 sailors and marines, dozens of warplanes, fighter aircraft moving to that area of yemen. would you recommend using some of that firepower to go after these shiite/houthi rebels in yemen? >> we are certainly providing intelligence and logistical support to the saudis and i think we should. i'm not sure we want to have american air men and women risking their lives over yemen in this proxy fight going on between the saudis and iranians. it's a bold enough step, i think, at all to be providing this potential naval blockade. and that could lead to a confrontation with iran. i would hope that these iranian ships if they're carrying weapons will turn around.

they're no match for the american warships but, nonetheless, there's a real danger of escalation. >> we're told most of the weapons the houthi received from iran arrived via ship. iran is not that far away. they move their battleships to the coast of yemen, unload, and presumably move back. the u.s. trying to stop that. >> the iranians are denying they're providing arms to the houthis. they have provided them in the past. i don't know whether they're prepared to go this distance now and risk this kind of con confrontation with the u.s. and gulf allies in such a provocative step. i hope that's not the case. you have to hope there's no hot head on those iranian ships that will start an altercation. they would lose that altercation but it would, nonetheless, be a major escalation if that took place. >> i don't think you want to mess with the u.s. aircraft carrier group with a lot of marines and sail onboard with a lot of firepower as well. as bad as the houthi/shiite rebels backed by iran are in yemen, aqap al qaeda in the

arabian peninsula, may be even worse. >> absolutely. ththe houthis don't have an ambition to attack the united states. they at this point, may have an ambition to incur into saudi arabia and attack the saudis but aqap has tried repeated lyly to blow up our aircraft. they're one of the most external focused of the al qaeda chapters meaning they want to go after the west after the united states, and they made repeated attempts on one of the premiere bomb makers in the world. taking over the fifth largest city in yemen, accessing resources from that bank and access weapons, this is of grave concern to us. >> you want the speaker of the house, john boehner, to let a vote come up to authorize the use of military force by the united states and iraq syria and elsewhere in the region. what's the holdup? >> well tom cole and i have authored a bipartisan letter we're circulating to generate

support for a debate and vote on this. the holdup i think, has been congressional apathy before the elections. many said we can't have a vote of this congress. we should wait for the new congress after the elections, they said wait for the president to give us something. there's no excuse anymore eight months into this. and to me it's deeply ironic that you have such a crush but we're eight months into the war and don't have a vote yet. >> thank you very much for coming in. just ahead, new video of an arrest in baltimore. how did the suspect wind up in a coma and then die in we're getting new information right now. and another confrontation with the police all caught on video but with a very different ending. why did this police officer decide to hold had his fire?

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baltimore police released new video of a controversial arrest. the suspect 25-year-old freddie gray died sunday after suffering an injury to his spinal cord. our senior washington correspondent joe johns is in baltimore for us us. what are you learning, joe? >> reporter: well wolf we know a little bit more. we know six officers have been suspended on administrative leave. we know he sustained a spinal injury. we know he asked for medical help including asking for an inhaler because he said he was asthmatic. what we don't know is how he sustained that injury.

police released street video at the scene where freddie gray was first taken into custody but it only added in a the mystery of how he ended up dead. the camera pan ss but shows nothing that looks like excessive force by police, at least up to the point that he was placed inside a police transport van. >> when mr. gray was placed inside that van, he was able to talk. he was upset. and when mr. gray was taken out of the van, he could not talk and he could not breathe. >> reporter: leaving baltimore's mayor to conclude that gray's injuries occurred not on the street but during his transport. >> it's clear that what happened happened inside the van. >> reporter: police say freddie gray was stopped on suspicion of criminal activity possibly drug related, but that doesn't explain all that happened here. cell phone video and audio on the street at the time of gray's arrest paint a disturbing picture. he's on the ground. he's screaming in apparent pape. he's being taken into custody.

a woman is describing an apparent problem with his legs. >> his leg is broke, you're dragging him like that. >> reporter: he's taken to a hospital where he went into a coma and then he dies a week later. question number one is how long it took to get this man medical attention. the city's mayor pledged a full investigation. >> according to the time line as we know it took around 30 minutes. >> reporter: he question number two, what precisely caused gray's death? his family's attorney described severe trauma and he's raising the issue of excessive force. >> he was in good health when the police first contacted him, and he died of an 80% severed spinal cord and three broken vertebrae in his neck. >> reporter: court documents filed in the case say gray was arrested without incident after an officer noticed a knife clipped to his pants. he was charged with having a switch blade. the family's attorney says the

knife was of legally permissible size. gray has a long criminal record including more than 20 arrests. >> no justice, no peace! >> reporter: the case has sparked a public outcry here including demonstrations. over the last week baltimore's police commissioner has been measured in his comments about the case citing the active investigation. he did speak at an unrelated event today at johns hopkins university where he talked about the community's lack of trust in the police. police are reviewing their procedures especially for getting medical care for prisoners taken into their cust custody. the police commissioner says he wants to wrap up the investigation by may 1. wolf? >> joe johns, thanks very much. let's get to more. joining us the naacp president, jeffrey toobin, president of the national organization of black law enforcement, and the criminal defense attorney, had hln legal analyst joey jackson. i want your reaction to what we

just saw. it is pretty awful the video, the screaming, the guy being dragged in, took 30 minutes to apparently call an ambulance. >> wolf it's absolutely heartbreaking. the fact of the matter we have a young man who encounters the police. it's not clear why he was arrested and he ends up with three broken vertebrae, a spinal cord that's nearly severed, and in a coma. now there's much we don't know but what weigh don't know here makes us all the more anxious about what we do know which is all across the country we seem to be in the midst of this unrelenting series of tragedies at the hands of police. we don't know all the facts here but it's enough to be very troubling, very troubling. >> cedric what's your reaction when you heard joe johns' report, when you see that video? i don't know if you had a chance to listen to the mayor and the police chief earlier in the day at the live news conference. >> well, i tell you, i certainly do agree with mr. brooks.

on a number of items that he brings up. at this point there are a lot of questions that need to be answer ed. people around the country are anxious, too. i believe once all the evidence is in witness statements medical records, an examination and are forensics evidence, statements from officers, i think if we give that city an opportunity under the leadership of their mayor who i've had the opportunity to be acquainted with during the last three months on the task force and i believe between her and commissioner batts they'll get to the bottom of what actually occurred. >> is there any real explanation, cedric, why it took 30 minutes to get an ambulance. he was dragged into the vehicle, his legs -- he couldn't even move his legs. >> absolutely not.

not attempting to monday morning quarterback here but probably the best thing for them to do is to seek medical attention for him right then at that moment. as opposed to seeing him in the back of the vehicle. >> the fact they really didn't release a lot of new information, the news conference the mayor was there, the police chief, the police officer investigating, we didn't really learn a lot. we saw some grainy video. does that surprise you. >> not really. their ignorance seems sincere to me. the key issue is how this took place, what went on in the van. they don't seem to know the answer. one important fact. a police investigation which will report a week from friday. then there will be an independent investigation.

given the fact you have an investigation now of the police investigating the police, it's a very good idea to have an outsider look at this whole investigation to see if the police do a thorough and fair job. >> jerry rodriguez, you might have seen that press conference. he says he doesn't know if gray sustained that spinal injury before being restrained in the police van or when he was in the van. >> there's a general reaction and then a specific reaction. in general we talk about bridging the gap of community trust between the police and the community. and when you have instances like this, certainly it doesn't further or otherwise assist in any bond between the two. specifically we talk about it doesn't make sense. it doesn't make sense when you have a person who is otherwise healthy and ambulatory able to move walk run, clearly. that's apparently what he was doing.

as a result of an encounter we now have him in an instance where he's, you know, his spine is severed and now he's dead. how did it happen? when did it happen? why did it have to happen? in their inquiry and in the investigation they're going to have to. that is the police reconcile the police reports with regard to what they said wolf with regard to how this happened when it happened why it happened and the actual facts of how it actually did happen. and so i'm anxious like everyone else to see how this person ended up dead and what, if any, justification there could be. >> the department of justice, the federal government have already long before gray's death, the suspect's death in this particular case working with the baltimore police on training tactics. who do you trust? the local, the police or does

the federal government need to come in right now and do a separate independent investigation? >> we have a situation where you have $5 million in settlements over recent years. a string of civil suits. independence is critical. now whether or not the department of justice is the right entity it at this juncture for this particular case that remains to be seen. given the problems that we've seen in baltimore and the fact that the mayor seems it to recognize that you need a transparent investigation, a rapid investigation, and we need independence. we've seen this play out over and over across the country and the fact of the matter is when you're trying to establish credibility with the community, you need a third party validator. >> i will have all of you stand by. we have more to talk about.

we're going to talk about this dramatic soo. watch this. >> get your hands up right now! stop. stop right there. i don't want to shoot you, man. i don't want to shoot you. bring us your baffling. bring us your audacious. we want your sticky notes, sketchbooks, and scribbles. let's pin 'em to the wall. kick 'em around. kick 'em around, see what happens. because we're in the how-do-i-get-this-startup- off-the-ground business. the taking-your-business- global-business. we're in the problem-solving business. 400,000 people - ready to help you solve problems while they're still called opportunities. from figuring it out to getting it done we're here to help.

some amazing video so i want to get your reaction.

it shows a police officer showing remarkable restraint in ohio. watch this video. >> do what you want. >> shoot me. >> get back. get your hand out of the your pocket. i'm not going to do it. >> shoot me. shoot me. >> get down on the ground! >> let me go to cedric first. what's your reaction to that? that police officer didn't shoot him. eventually the guy gave up. he had his hand in his pocket. you don't know if he has a weapon in there. it showed remarkable restraint. if he shot and killed him, would he have been justified? >> let's look at the video there. under those circumstances there

he commanded him to take his hand out of his pocket not knowing what he had in his pocket. he's a subject that's been looked at or they were looking for for a double homicide so he was certainly a threat to that officer. it turned out no one got hurt. however, i'm quite sure and i've been in this business a long time wolf that under many other circumstances, it may not have ended that way. and that officer very well could have been justified in his actions considering the circumstances in which he gave the orders and made the commands. >> cornell, what's your reaction? >> my reaction is that that video demonstrates the most powerful weapon an officer has is between his ears and not on his gun belt, namely judgment. the officer was in a very dangerous situation. he made a judgment call. it happened to be the right call. it appears that this young man wanted to engage in suicide by

cop. he made a judgment call. it defensemen onmonstrates that's the most important weapon any officer has. >> i assume you agree, jeffrey, that if that police officer, and he was wearing that body camera which, by the way, his family provided him, not local law enforcement. if he shot and killed the suspect, it would have been seen as justified, right? >> it certainly seems that way. a phrase widely used in the past few months as we've been dealing with these stories particularly in ferguson and south carolina is i was in fear for my life. that's what the police officers say, i was in fear for may life. well this officer clearly was justified in being in fear for his life but he had the good judgment and the restraint to try to defuse the confrontation and he did. >> joey what's your reaction? >> sure, wolf. you have to be impressed by this. we always talk about a use of force continuum. the first thing is interpersonal

communication. can you speak to someone? and clearly this officer did everything he could in order to do that and you might see something, not here but escalate to a taser or to pepper spray or to a baton and i just think here when you have a gun and that gun can take a life certainly discretion and judgment are so important. so i do agree had he discharged the firearm there was an emnen si of the threat upon that officer and certainly based upon the double homicide that cedric alexander spoke to. it certainly seems he would have been justified. what a good day in the officer preserving a life and using lethal force as an absolute last resort this person lives and he will be prosecuted under the full extent of the law for his alleged transgressions. >> the police officer deserves some sort of medal for the courage that he showed in had this particular case. guys, thanks very, very much. this discussion will continue tomorrow. just ahead hillary clinton on the campaign trail speaking out for the first time about a

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future first couple. bill and hillary clinton. heading a walking trail near their home. hillary clinton is back out on the campaign trail. she's in new hampshire. for the first time she's

speaking out about a new book about her and her husband. our senior political correspondent brianna keilar sin new hampshire. clintant foundation. >> hillary clinton taking her low key campaign to the first in the nation primary state of new hampshire. as she met with several residents, to talk about small businesses she distanced herself from the obama economy. >> i want to be sure we get small businesses starting and growing in america again. we have stalled out. >> and for the first time clinton commented on the new

book clinton cash that details donations made to her family's foundation by countries with business before the state department while clinton was secretary. >> we're back into the political season. therefore, we will be subjected to all kinds of distraction and attacks. and i'm ready for that. i know that that comes, unfortunately, with the territory. >> for republicans, the book bike book by a conservative author reinforced their argument that clinton is not trustworthy. >> are they skirting election law, are they taking money and getting influence bought. >> clinton's front runner status makes her a target. despite the recent controversy the use of her personal e-mail. a new cnn orc poll shows democrat's enthusiasm for clinton is on the rise nationally. up 17 points from june of last

year when she reentered the public spotlight with her book launch. clinton's visit here is a return to the scene of her sweetest 2008 victory. it came after this plea. i see what's happening. weet have to reverse it. >> an emotional display that pushed into the lead after a loss in the iowa caucus said. she was asking a question more than seven years later, a reporter caught up with them who saw a different clinton. >> she's not as stressed out looking. i don't think she has anything to prove anymore. she knows she did a great job. >> it has been a slow ramp up in hillary clinton's campaign. now in its second week. today, wolf it was the first time that we saw her engage in the political back and forth that you do see in a campaign. it was a brief q&a that she had with reporters but it was more

engaged in what she talked about than last week when she was in iowa. >> brianna keilar reporting for us thanks very much. let's dig deeper now. joining us the new yorker washington correspondent, ryan lizzo. and the newest edition to cnn's team sarah murray. welcome to cnn. good to have you. let me start with you, ryan. this new book that's coming out, i haven't seen it yet. i don't think you've seen it yet either. how much of a problem is there for hillary clinton? >> money and politics is going to be a defining issue in this campaign for both sides. and this is a pretty well-respected reporter who has agreements with "the new york times" and other respected outlets to pursue some of these story lines. she was part of the foundation or her family was part of a foundation that was doing business while she was secretary of state. it's legitimate to ask if a foreign government was giving the foundation money to influence policy in the obama administration. she will have to answer

questions much more so than she did. >> we'll assess how serious the allegations are. what kind of damage f any it did. peter the new cnn orc poll, she beats any republican candidates at this stage nationwide by double digits. >> i mean she clobbers the rest of the democratic field. that's not -- >> that goes without saying. she beats all the republicans as well in a hypothetical match. >> it's a little too early to read in too much to that. but, look she's coming off an announcement that was covered by an absolute media frenzy. she's probably you know, buttressed a little bit by that. the republicans have to go through this process, a lot of them have to introduce themselves not just to americans, but to republicans. hillary clinton is benefitting a little bit from the fact that people know who she is. republicans aren't there yet. even you know jeb bush. for example. that's a familiar name to most people bush. but most republicans don't know

a lot about jeb bush. scott walker front runner a third of republicans don't know who he is. that's sort of why she's leading them i think at this point. >> speaking of jeb bush in our new poll he's still at the top -- pretty close among all the various republican candidates. you see him there at 17%. was at 16%. take a look at marco rubio. he went from 7% to 11%. he jumped nicely as a result of his announcement. >> this gives you an idea of how open the field is. marco rubio has this are great announcement. he's able to almost double his numbers. it was a great week for him. if you're looking for an alternative to dynasty politics you are looking at marco rubio. he's as far as you could get from the bushes or clintons. the fact he came out and gave this speech how his parents came from cuba. i think that was a great moment. you're seeing that in the polls. >> people are taking him very seriously. >> jeb bush people? >> they say marco rubio as a

credible alternative to him if the republican paertrty. >> rand paul didn't get a bounce. he did not bounce like rubio did. >> he had an impressive launch marco rubio. >> probably the best. if your name is bush and you're only at 17% and you're in the 30s against hillary clinton. it is early for these polls to mean a lot. he has almost 100% name idea. they know the name bush. if you're not breaking through 40% in the general election matchup when another person has name recognition. >> what are you hearing about john kasich the governor of ohio? he has a lot oft experience. no republican has ever been elected president of the united states without carrying ohio. what do you hear about him? >> john kasich will remind you any chance he gets he is from ohio. you need it to win.

i was in south carolina with him last week. it is long shot for john kasich. when you look at him in the polls, nobody knows who he is. he's pulling around 2% with republicans. it's long shot. that said he is a governor. he does have a lot of experience. he is from an important state of ohio. he has launched this new fund raidsing operation, a 527. that will allow him to test the waters a little bit more. all of a sudden he can take unlimited donations. he can go to south carolina new hampshire and iowa if they decide they want to go there and have voters feel it out. i'm going to say one more time it's long shot. >> it's a long shot. but he's a very smart guy. i know what worries the hillary clinton people very quickly. jeb bush john kasich ticket. john kasich the vice presidential running made. florida and ohio. >> they need those two states. in a primary kasich has one problem. obamacare. he fought on the state side. >> guys thanks very much.

we'll stay on top of this story. welcome to cnn, good to have you here on our network. you can follow me on twitter. please tweet me @wolfeblitzer. thanks very much for watching. see you tomorrow. erin burr net out front starts right now. breaking news american warships on the move at this hour. a major show of force against iran. a live report coming up. and an out front investigation, we have disturbing new footage tonight of a horfic gas attack on innocence civilians. this is happening now. we're going to show that to you. more breaking news. new video released in the case of a baltimore man arrested and then dead. his spine said to have been severed. out front tonight, the city's mayor. let's go out front. ♪