ake or is that a complicated case with a number of different scenes that all need to be investigated by a number of witnesses? >> it's going to be quite complicated to prove but what she's done is focused on the cops' responsibility to treat him properly and failure to do so and that begins with -- >> unfortunately i've lost our live signal. my apologieses. i have to say good-bye to my guests. we have so much fluid moment right now in our coverage here in baltimore. i will thank lisa bloom and cedric alexander and mark o'mara and turn you over as well now. wolf blitzer starts right now. hello, i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington and welcome our viewers from the united states and around the world. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> and let's begin with the breaking news.

six baltimore police officers facing criminal charges in the death of freddie gray. in an extraordinary news conference just a little while ago, the prosecutor said the medical examiner had determined that gray's death was a homicide resulted from a fatal injury he suffered inside the police van. baltimore state attorney marilyn mosby said officers failed to get medical help for gray and says they had no probable cause to arrest him in the first place. the six officers face charges ranging from second degree depraved heart murder to manslaughter and second degree assault. mosby urged -- >> i hope we move forward with this case everyone will respect due process and refrain from doing anything that will jeopardize our ability to seek justice. to the people of baltimore and the demonstrators across america, i heard your call for no justice, no peace. your peace is sincerely needed

as i work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man. to those that are angry, hurt or have their own experiences of injustice at the hands of police officers i urge you to channel the energy peacefully as we prosecute this case. i have heard you calls for no justice, no peace, however your peace is sincerely needed as i work to deliver justice on behalf of freddie gray. to the rank and file officers of the baltimore city police department please know that these accusations of these six officers are not an indictment on the entire force. i come from five generations of law enforcement. my father was an officer, my mother was an officer, several of my aunts and uncles, my recently departed and beloved grandfather was one of the founding members of the first black police organization ins massachusetts. i can tell you that the actions

of these officers will not and should not in any way damage the important working relationships between police and prosecutors as we continue to fight together to reduce crime in baltimore. thank you for your courage, commitment and sacrifices for the betterment of our communities. >> a powerful statement from the state's attorney. only moments ago president obama had this to say about charges being filed against the six police officers. >> it is absolutely vital that the truth comes out on what happened to mr. freddie gray and it is my practice not to comment on the legal processes involved that would not be appropriate, but i can tell you that justice needs to be served all the evidence needs to be presented, those individuals who are

charged obviously are also entitled to due process and rule of law, and so, you know i want to make sure that our legal system runs the way it should. >> and we're standing by to hear from the mayor of baltimore stephanie rawlings-blake she has a news conference scheduled momentarily. john berman is on the scene for us in baltimore. what's been the reaction that you're seeing at least so far, john? >> wolf the announcement was made marilyn mosby made this announcement not 100 yards from where i'm standing right now and as soon as she said that she was pressing charges, there were cheers here where i am in front of city hall. ever since then people have been honking their car horns. a small demonstration going on in support of the decision people blowing whistles and interesting reaction here almost a palpable sense of release. there are still marches planned for later today.

still marches planned for this weekend, but you think they will take on a somewhat different tone. one thing we're all going to be watching closely is the next couple hours when school lets out here. the young people of the city have been central in the events here over the last four days. a lot of the unrest that started on monday happened when kids were let out of the school. how will they react if they haven't learned in school how will they react when they learned that charges are being filed against the officer. i'm joined by someone who works with kids, high school kids kids in cities. jay morrison the millennial leader of ymc which is young minds can. you have been here in baltimore since monday since this week became something extraordinary here. how do you think the kids you've been working with how do you think they will react when they learn that these officers are being charged with things as serious as murder? >> well i think there's going to be cheers. there's going to be some relief.

what we are doing to org is no that energy we know it's coming my big brother here in baltimore is the unofficial mayor stoke ki has organized a rally in clover dale park to show support and thanks to the prosecutor and attorney general for stepping up to the plate and putting these -- putting the indictment out on these six police -- >> these people who have been protesting over the last several days in some ways against the system today you want them to come out and protest or demonstrate in support of the system? >> well the support is not of the system. the system is still broken. the micro issue is that yes, there was an indictment made, we have one test step towards justice for freddie gray and his family and the city of baltimore but the macro issue is the freddie grays, eric garners, mike browns trayvon martins, oscar grants of the world, macro impression by this government system towards african-american in america. that has to be addressed. we're excited one small step

towards justice but let the new cycle ps not die, understand that black people are screaming out to our white brothers and sisters and hispanic and everyone in between, help free us, end the oppression of african-american in america. >> the process at least here in baltimore in this case you believe at this point, is working? these officers have not been convicted. the president said they deserve due process. that's what our system calls for. what do you want to see in this case going forward? >> i want to address that real quick. they deserve due process and they do. as do the youth of baltimore who are called thugs for rioting on monday never convictioned of everything but everyone from ray lewis to the president called them thugs, but i haven't heard anyone lash out to the police officers and call them thugs -- >> i'm sorry the system in this case has lashed out against them the system has charged them with crimes that could convict one of them with 30 years in jail.

that's how the system lashes out, is it not? >> yes. but that system has also faileds us many, many times. and we're really quick to put our youth out there as bad examples and bad words. but we're very slow to point fingers at bad policing and bad police. >> this time as you say you're going to be out there in support of this decision. we appreciate the work with the young people. wish you luck in the days ahead. >> young minds can. >> wolf? >> john we're going to get back to you. you're going to get more reaction to what's going on and standing by for that news conference. the mayor stephanie rawlings-blake getting ready to make a statement reacting to what the state's attorney announced indictment of the six baltimore police officers in connection with the death of freddie gray. let's get more reaction joining us is mark more rielle the president of the national urban league joining us. were you surprised, mark how forceful she was. a lot of us thought maybe she would convene a grand jury.

she's gone ahead and indicted the six police officers and they face serious charges. >> can you hear me mark? >> wolf i got you. good afternoon. >> yeah. i was just asking i don't know if you could hear me. were you surprised how forceful the state's attorney was that she went ahead and formally filed these charges against these six police officers? a lot of people thought, including me maybe she would convene a grand jury first. >> i got the sense yesterday when i was in baltimore that there was, i think, an effort to be quick and decisive but thorough and this prosecutor is a newly elected prosecutor who ran on and i think has the mandate from the people to both root out crime in baltimore, but also to hold police accountable, so it's clear that while all of the police investigations are being undertaken she was doing

her own parallel investigation and i think i'll be curious wolf in the criminal justice process. >> i think i want to make sure that there's a process is clear, unambiguous unambiguous. there have been cases in the past where charges have been brought but somewhere along the

way no conviction. they're focused on doing her job as a state's attorney. and no one expected this which means that there clearly were no leaks from her office from her operation or from her investigation. i think yesterday's piece of information floated out that i suspect came from police sources who may have been troughsying to issue what i call a preemptive defense, but this shows this continuing issue of not only the incidents occurring but it seems to be a systemic effort by some police to either cover it up or if you will paint a picture of what happened that's inconsistent with the truth. that concerned me in north charleston, it certainly concerns me here in baltimore, but the prosecutor saw through that and i think she's been swift and decisive and i think this is an important step.

>> and you see crowds gathering in baltimore. they're reacting and we're going to check in with those crowds, marc, to see what they're saying and the news conference of stephanie rawlings-blake i think joined by the maryland congressman elijah cummings as well really out on the streets of baltimore this is his district where the death of freddie gray occurred what do you want to see happen in the short term mark? >> i think it's important, i was pleased to hear the prosecutor call for if you will peace and i clearly yesterday being in baltimore at new shiloh baptist curve with the mayor, with a broads cross section of religious and political leaders there in baltimore, a sense that the overwhelming number of people in baltimore do not wish to see violence but do feel the need to continues peaceful

demonstrations and peaceful protests to keep the attention on justice for freddie gray but also i think, attention on the long-standing need there in baltimore for the entire baltimore police department to be reformed and i think and i've said this to you and certainly to the public this very important need to address the joblessness issue, the poverty issue, which has become exacerbated in america since the grey great recession. >> i want you to stand by if you can. we're standing by to hear from the mayor of baltimore. we will have that news conference if you can stick around. we'll get your reaction to what she has to say as six police officers face charges in the freddie gray case. we will get the police perspective as well and take you back to the streets of baltimore where crowds you can see them are gathering right now, lots of breaking news happening today. we're covering it all. stay with us.

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people are gathering on the streets of baltimore following the announcement just a little while ago by the state's attorney that six baltimore police officers have been charged in freddie gray's death. we're getting reaction from the mayor of baltimore, stephanie rawlings-blake getting ready to hold a news conference momentarily we're told live coverage coming up from city hall. let's go to the streets of baltimore, brian todd is getting reaction there. what's happening, brian? >> wolf a spontaneous loud very joyous celebration has been going on here really at the epicenter of where the protests have been taking place over the past few days.

pennsylvania and north avenue in west baltimore. here's the theme. you have people across the street over here chanting on bull horns doing some spontaneous street performances almost. this gentleman over here in the white t-shirt has been interesting, kind of helping direct traffic and dancing at the same time. you got people performing dual functions out here a volunteer. and just, you know look it's a happy atmosphere. a lot of horn honking as you can hear but people are by and large being responsible, adhering to the police wishes to stay at least on the corners and street corners. on occasion they'll come in and block traffic. that really is mostly to celebrate with someone in a vehicle honking and then move away from it. right now just a joyous occasion here on the streets and hopefully it won't escalate beyond that. what i can tell you also we can make a distinction and say that the police are out in numbers as you can see over there, out in numbers, but they are not out in force. they've really kind of hung back

and let these people have their space. over here here's what -- the extent of what they're doing, moving in and directing traffic to keep this a functioning intersection. as crazy and loud as it is out here it is still a functioning intersection. let our photo journalist show you the picture. here you have it wolf. we'll see how long this goes. the curfew, of course, will be at 10:00 tonight. i anticipate a lot of these people will be out here until that time. >> yeah. they say the curfew will remain in effect through the weekend, 10:00 p.m. eastern until 5:00 a.m. eastern as well. we're going to get back to you. brian is not far from the cvs pharmacy looted monday night. six police officers once again, they're facing charges in the death of freddie gray. among the charges second-degree murder and manslaughter. here's part of what we heard a while ago from the state's

attorney marilyn mosby. >> lieutenant rice officer miller and officer nero failed to establish probable cause for mr. gray's arrest as no crime had been committed by mr. gray. accordingly, lieutenant rice officer miller and officer nero illegally arrested mr. gray. >> mosby also blamed the police officers for ignoring gray's repeated plows for medical help. joining us now from atlanta is cedric alexander, the president of the national organization of black law enforcement executives also a key member of president obama's task force on 21st century policing an tom fuentes our cnn law enforcement analyst, former fbi assistant director. mark more rielle as still with us as well in new york. we will get reaction to the mayor when she makes her statement. cedric to you, were you surprised what you heard from the state's attorney today?

>> i askdid not expect anything so quickly but obviously they had what they needed to make a decision and, you know, the process is what the process is wolf and i'm sure she and her staff had to sit down and look at that evidence over and over and come up with the charges they feel they can proceed in a court of law on. yes, i was surprised it was as quick as it was but the system and process is what the process is. that's due process under american law. >> she was impressive in her statement. tom fuentes she went out of her way to say she has her own independent investigators looking at this wasn't relying on what the baltimore police department was telling her. >> sounds like a coordinated investigation. you have baltimore police in the beginning saying that they were dedicating 50 detectives to the investigation and then the baltimore counties police

probably another 50 or more detectives and then investigators already assigned to most states' attorneys officers retired police officers or detailed over from another agency so really you have a small task force, not small, pretty large task force of officers working on this case from the beginning and working diligently to make this happen quickly. >> mark more rele what do you think the mayor needs to say now reacting to what the state's attorney has done the indictment of the six police officers? >> i think she should support the actions of the state's attorney and continue to reassert the feed for the community to unify and come together and move forward. i think it's certainly important that she signal her dual responsibility to keep the peace and protect the continuation of

peaceful protests but i think there's going to be a point very soon where there needs to be a pivot towards fixing the overall problems of the baltimore police department. because freddie gray's unfortunate death and these charges are symptomatic of a broader problem with the baltimore police department and her charge and the commissioner's charge and the city council's charge and the community's charge is to work to fix and reform the baltimore police department. so i don't know if she should address that today, but i think in the near future i think that is what is important, because that i believe -- >> hold on a second marc the mayor is about to speak. >> i have said from the beginning that no one is above the law in our city. i was sick nd and heartbroken by the statement of charges that we heard today. because to one in our city is above the law.

justice must apply to all of us equally. with today's official indictment i have ordered police commissioner bats to utilize the full extent of his legal authority and immediately suspend all officers facing felony charges. in fact warrants have been executed and five officers are in custody. we know that the vast majority of the men and the women in the baltimore city police department serve our city with pride, with courage, with honor, and with distinction. but to those of you who wish to engage in brutality, misconduct racism and corruption, let me be clear, there is no place in the baltimore city police department for you. today's indictments are the next step in the legal process that is running its course. and as mayor, i will continue to

be relentless in changing the culture of the police department to ensure that everyone in our city is treated equally under the law. there will be justice for mr. gray there will be justice for his family and there will be justice for the people of baltimore. thank you. >> mayor -- >> mayor -- >> short statement from mayor stephanie rawlings-blake. not answering reporters' questions but she is expressing her solidarity with the state's attorney marilyn mosby. reaction to what we heard, first marc moriael. >> it was positive to hear her send a message to the remainder of the baltimore police department and state she will not tolerate brutality, corruption racism or any of the ill practices that created the climate under which mr. gray lost his life. i think that was a very

important thing for her to say today. because it means that the steps that are necessary, that are going to be necessary in the future wolf to repair the baltimore police department and unify the community, i think she sent a signal she's prepared to take those steps today. her sense of disappointment and outrage that these public servants these officers who have been sworn to protect and serve, are now facing criminal charges, i think it was important for her to say that but it was a forceful statement, it was a short statement and i think it's best that she did not take questions so that there could be focus on exactly what she said. >> cedric alexander, five of the six police officers indicted are in police custody. i don't know about the sixth police officer. i assume he or she will be relatively soon. she said she was sick nd and heartbroken when she heard the charges leveled by marilyn mosby

the state's attorney. your reaction. >> i found the mayor's statement very strong very bold and, of course, very sincere. and not only did i hear her statement, wolf i felt her statement as well too. it was short, it was right to the point, and what she clearly made reference to to me as i interpret it she's about fairness for every citizen in that community, not some citizens all citizens. and that was a remarkable very short pointed and very strong and well felt statement made by that mayor. it just speaks to her leadership. >> let me see if we can get reaction from the streets of baltimore. john berman is on the streets right now. the mayor, you heard john saying five of the six police officers who have been charged in connection with the death of freddie gray in police custody. what's the mood over there, the reaction on the streets?

>> >> it's interesting. this mayor has been criticized from both sides politically, trying to manage the city as the person in charge as a manager, but she is also an elected official and early in the week she was criticized for not being quick enough in her response. later in the week she was criticized for calling the people who participated in the riots thugs. today what you saw is a mayor i think trying to get her legs under her, to move forward in the coming days. to make a decisive statement that city will not stand for the kind of action that these police officers had been charged with but trying to move forward and said expectations for what will happen next and sickened and heartbroken she said they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. it was very interesting to see, because she's been having a difficult time calibrateing her public appearances and i think this appearance was designed to close the book a little bit on those difficultyies. i'm joined by brandon scott, city councilman correct? i don't know if you had a chance to hears the mayor.

>> i heard most of it. >> what's your reaction? >> that mayor as always saying what she should be saying and moving forward. the wheels of justice are out of the city's hands and as far as the executive branch and now we have a wonderful new state's attorney and she's going to do the job she was elected to do. that's my immediate thoughts. and i often say for me i know the mayor feels the same way, no matter i say all the time and continue anyone who unjustly takes someone's life in the city of baltimore should meet the fullest extent of the law. >> they are facing the judicial process the president has called for due process and said the officers deserve due process. five in custody, i imagine the sixth will be in custody soon. what do you expect to see in the coming days? the police officers's union has culled for a special prosecutor to take over the case? >> i think they deserve -- look they're like everyone else and deserve due process and folks have to understand they are police officers but american citizens and they have to have a

process as well. moving forward we expect lawyers are going to be lawyers. we know the legal process, the wheels of justice and how there will be emotions and things going forward. we should respect in the city. what folks have to do, understand this is not justice or injustice. the folks angry or unhappy come to the middle and realize this is the infancy stages of the process. the process will play itself out. it is not the place for finality. >> leaders have to be leaders but means people like you. what's -- what are you going to do now to talk to the people in this community, people who say, that the system has been rigd against them to tell them that they need to trust now in this process as it moves forward? >> what i do is what i've always been doing. this week amped up my school visits to talk to the young kids to talk about this process and continue to be vigilant and active and telling them the system is the system and trust

the system and yes, there are things in our system that has to be changed but that change is not going to come overnight, that change is going to take policy change that change is going to take citizen that are beyond the powers of city hall. that's something? our city we have to understand and actually what needs to be talked about in this country these issues are a nationwide and we have to start talking about it at a national level and not city or state level. this is something impacting the entire united states of america rural and cities across our country. >> back out there with your constituents. a busy afternoon and i think a peaceful afternoon. we've seen peace on the streets. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> stand by. don lemon had an interview with the other passenger in the police van, the other individual who was arrested we're going to hear what that person had to say to don lemon. we'll take a quick break and much more right after this.

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light. liberty mutual insurance. don you just had two, not one, but two important interviews. first, the passenger who was in that police van together with freddie gray tell us what that passenger told you. >> he told us a lot, i spoke to him yesterday, but here's the

thing, the information from the police department is a bit nebulous and sketchy so the information is showing that this young man, his name donta allen is still in custody, he's not. he told me yesterday on the morning of the arrest he was picked up but picked up after freddie gray walking out of a convenience store out of a basement of a manage and the officers came over and according to him harassing him. they did pick him up and when they -- he had marijuana on him and they took him and put him in the back of the van. he's telling me wolf i isn't know anybody was in there. i heard bumping around. not until he got out of the van and he says according to him, he heard them saying man, we really you know got the best of him and knocked him around a little bit and weren't sure if he had any vitals. goes into the police station and saying the officers saying he's

breathing and he has a pulse now. >> so you're in the back of the van. now, the story is according to a newspaper report "the washington post," that there was screaming in the van, that you said that he was intentionally screaming and hurting himself. >> untrue. >> okay. >> very, very very untrue. i never talked to no investigators, nobody. i got my own personal lawyer who i haven't talked to all day because of the madness going on. the only person that i talked to was homicide and the same story i'm telling you all i told them. >> there's a relative of one of the officers involved saying that he was irate and screaming and moving around in the back of the van. >> while i was back there. >> you were back there at least during part of the ride. >> absolutely untrue. >> not true. >> not true. >> you never heard him? >> never heard him. i heard -- the only thing i

heard little banging i thought someone was over there banging their head or something. >> he's saying he was on one side of the van, freddie gray on the other side of the van and says he knows freddie gray from around the neighborhood just knew him as freddie, but in the course of him being taken in he heard him mention his name and saying again, they were concerned about whether he had vital signs or pulse and/or whether he was breathing. because of what was happening with freddie gray that he -- they let him go and that's how that was a mix up in the system. that was the reason we couldn't confirm it last night because it kept showing he's still in jail he said he was never charnds, never paperwork. they talked to him for a while and let him go. the process took maybe a couple hours. an interesting conversation with him and assessment of what happened from him. >> very interesting indeed. i know you had a separate conversation with marilyn mosby

the state's attorney. stand by for a minute. i want to debrief you on that but get quick reaction from tom fuentes our law enforcement analyst of the fbi, you heard what this donta allen just told the sound, the exchange just had with don lemon, your reaction? >> this shows why we're sus spish of leaks when they come out in the newspaper or whoever. this happened that happened a witness says that we just don't know these things and we've learned so much more today than we knew before and especially much of it contradicts statements. >> you heard marilyn mosby flatly say that the injuries that caused freddie gray's death occurred while he was inside the van not necessarily before he got into the van. that's significant. >> it's very significant but what's significant to me, you have a lieutenant on the scene making the false arrest in the first place or overseeings the

false imprisonment charges brought against that lieutenant and the other officers there, because the knife was not illegal, so yes, they had a right to run after freddie, stop him, check him out but that's it. when they find the knife is perfectly legal and no contra babds it's time to say good-bye. >> she says the whole thing began with a false arrest. we'll go back to don lemon in a moment. he sat down and had an interview with marilyn mosby the state's attorney. what she has to say to don. we'll take a break and more of the breaking news after this.

want to quickly go back to don lemon at city hall in baltimore. you had a major interview a little while ago with marilyn mosby the state's attorney who filed these charges against the six baltimore police officers. what did she tell you? >> first of all, her office told me i have to say this they explained the process before i get into our interview and what they said they said it's not an indictment yet, wolf, they have to go before the grand jury to be indicted they have not been indictd yet but have 30 days tone diet after the pre -- to indict after the preliminary hearing. i'm checking i know the mayor said five of the six were in custody, i'm double checking that for us and let me explain the process here. it says what they do is the sheriff, the sheriff office will

serve the papers and then they turn themselves in or they're arrested and go before the court commissioner and then the court commissioner sets the bail and approves the bail booked and then they have the opportunity to post bail. it's a quick process but an indictment doesn't happen until after they go before the grand jury. so i spoke to her about the police association wanting to have a special prosecutor appointed. she said that doesn't make any sense to her and they should have every confidence in her office and the circumstances surrounding the death of freddie gray i said to have all of those officers to find them at least think that they're guilty in some way of the death of freddie gray she must be very confident. she said you do not file charges like that if you are not confident in your investigation. she would not go into specifics a about the investigation but did talk as much about it as she could. here she is. >> i think it gives me a

well-rounded perspective. i come from five generations of police officers so law enforcement is instilled. i understand the time the commitment the sacrifice that these police officers make time away from their families on a day-to-day basis, risking their lives for the betterment of our communities. but at the same time recognizing that these officers are making those sacrifices and i'm not saying in particularly with this case those officers usurp their authority you have to hold them accountability because it does a disservice to the hard working police officers. it's about applying justice fairly and equally to those with or without a badge. >> as you know she comes from a law enforcement family several of her uncles her gland father were in law enforcement. she had a cousin who was killed mistaken identity in 1994. thought that her cousin was a drug dealer. turns out her cousin was not a drug dealer.

and that was a reason that she became a prosecutor. so she's very focused on this case. i asked if she felt any sort of special pressure to get things done quickly because of the focus around the country and really around the world and because she felt if she's felt any special pressure because she's so young. the youngest prosecutor in any larger city. she said no i don't feel any pressure at all on this. the only pressure that i feel is to that everyone be treated fairly in the process to get to the truth and get justice either way to get justice for freddie gray or for the officers. she didn't want to indictment them but says she believes her information is pretty solid otherwise she would not have filed charges against the officers. >> yeah. obviously she's convinced that her information -- don lemon, excellent work today. the interviews will air in full later tonight, 10:00 p.m. on don's program reporting from baltimore. let's get a reaction to what we heard from the president of the

national urban league. she's young this prosecutor but she's tough. >> she's my champion. i was in my mid 30s when i began my service as mayor, but she's obviously i think did well in her first, if you will appearance on the stage because we haven't senior heard much of her. most of the focus has been on the mayor, the police police commissioner, governor and protests and now she comes today with a strong not only statement, but strong action in bringing charges against all of the officers. and, of course, if i surprised by anything it may have been all the officers now face charges. she went to the very essence and the very essence was there was no probable cause to detain mr. gray and put him into that police van. she did an excellent job and measured job and we look forward

to if you will watching this as it proceeds. >> now she has a major challenge in getting those charges to stick before a jury and see what happens in the weeks and months to come. thank you very much. up next how will baltimore and the country respond to the breaking news. back to baltimore when we come back. (music) boys? stop less. go more. the passat tdi clean diesel with up to 814 hwy miles per tank. just one reason volkswagen is the #1 selling diesel car brand in america.

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more now on the breaking news this hour. six police officers in baltimore now facing charges in the death of freddie gray. the state's attorney says her decision was based on the autopsy results showing how gray died. >> the manner of death deemed a homicide by the maryland state medical examiner is believed to be the result of a fatal injury that occurred while mr. gray was unrestrained by a seat belt in the custody of the baltimore police department wagon. >> the chief of pathology at

memorial hospital the medical examiner in burlington county new jersey is joining us from philadelphia. thank you very much for joining us. as you heard, the state's attorney says freddie gray was injured in the hand because he was handcuffed shackled, and not wearing a seat belt as required. explain how the injury that eventually caused his death may have happened. >> well normally if a spinal cord injury causes immediate death, it's going to be up in the cervical area. that'll cause immediate death at that area or above. this injury must be below, either low cervical upper thoracic area. there may have been complications from it. cord swelling. he may have gotten pneumonia while in the hospital. if he hadn't had the injury he wouldn't have died. so the medical examiner -- ultimately this was a major injury and caused his death a week after he was arrested. >> so this medical examiner's report is crucial in this case right? >> absolutely.

and the medical examiner looked at hospital records. i'm certain we have cts and x-rays of his injuries when he was admit and followed the hospital course. unfortunately, the injury later led to his death. >> the state's attorney says officers repeatedly ignored gray's request for medical attention. how much of a contributing factor was that in his death? >> well it may be significant because if he had that injury they also mentioned something -- some injury to his voicebox or larynx. if he wasn't getting enough oxygen that could have contributed to brain injury. of course brain injury brain swelling you can only have brain hie pox ya for several minutes before you can get permanent injury. we'll have to get the hospital records and really analyze exactly what happened. >> most of that information in that medical examiner's report was based on the autopsy, right? >> the autopsy and review of the hospital records, absolutely

yes. >> all right. doctor thank you very much. we want to get some more reaction now to what is going on. joining us from los angeles is editor in chief for globalgrind.com. i know you're passionate about these issues. your reaction to the charges now going up against these six police officers. >> well i think the state attorney did the right thing. i think she did it quickly and bravely and today came out with charges against six of the officers. i think it calms a lot of things down. as the baltimore police was leaking horrible information and misinformation and simply lies out to the media finally we get some basis of the truth. i thought her press conference today laid it out methodically and very intently. we look forward to the next 30 days of this process to actually get an indictment before a grand jury. >> let's talk bigger picture. the focus on baltimore as a community, moving forward, what

do you believe needs to be done? >> i think there has been -- one thing i want to give attorneys credit for an uplift the words of the state attorney today, she said as young people now is our time. she even referenced that she was listening to the chants of "no justice, no peace." there are folks around this country from los angeles, the founders of lack lives matter, and folks in ferguson who have been marching for hundreds and hundreds of days new york justice league in new york and 300 men and folks all around this country, mostly black and brown young people who have been peacefully protesting and fighting for justice and finally for white people like you and me it's hard to understand that these things are happening on a regular basis in black and brown communities. we saw walter scott get killed in a videotape in south carolina just a month ago. this country was outraged, white, black, latino and everything in between. with this many of us had doubts. why did they stop him?

did he do anything wrong? finally we're getting some sense of the truth. this man did nothing wrong. he was illegally stopped. if it happened to him, it happened to hundreds probably thousands across this country. >> it's a really sad situation because as elijah cummins, the congressman who represents this district in baltimore, he said if it can happen in baltimore, it can happen any place. i assume you agree. >> there's nothing unique sadly, about ferguson or baltimore or new york. we have a system of policing that's gone horribly wrong. i'm not saying it's one bad apple or one bad seed or one bad cop but a system of policing that's gone after -- raged a war against black and brown america that we've coded as the war on drugs. it failed miserably. we're stopping people for walking while black or selling while black or selling loose-seed cigarettes and choking them to death. we're stopping people for these quality of life broken window policies that are breaking spines and killing people.

>> you think these protests are going to be quiet through the weekend? >> well look i'm a proud american. i believe strongly that our first amendment right is our most powerful one. that gives people the right to peacefully protest and grieve against our government. i certainly hope and believe that young people across this country, they have led this movement this is a full movement and i hope they continue to lead and march and continue to exercise that first amendment right. i expect nothing but peaceful protests around this country. but i'll say this wolf. the police have much more of control of how these protests happen because they are the ones -- i was in new york two nights ago. you saw the reaction in baltimore. if they come with peace, these things will be peaceful. if they come ready to fight, if they come with riot gear ready to hit these kids these things might get out of control. the police have a tremendous amount of power of how these things turn out. they have to be peaceful as well. >> what recommendation do you have, not just for african-americans, but for all

americans right now? what do we all need to start thinking about and doing? >> well i think, wolf for all americans in this country, we have to come to the realization that black lives matter. we recognize of course all lives matter. that's been said for 250 years in this country. specifically black lives matter. young people of color, especially black young men and black young women -- just two weeks ago, charges were dropped in another case. we don't believe these stories are truthful. as we have new technologies and videotapes and camera phones and we see things with our own eyes we're finally believing that they're actually telling us the truth. so all of us have to come together and uplift the solutions to these problems. we have to transform and make a 21st century police force in every city every mayor in this country should be looking at their police force and how can they make a better police force a more productive police force, a police force that protects and serves the community, not just protects the community and gets rid of these archaic laws that are locking people up for no

apparent reason and leading to officers abusing their power and ultimately killing people. >> all right. michael skolnik, editor and chief of globalgrind.com. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> that's it for me. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." brooke baldwin is in baltimore. she picks up cnn's special coverage right now. want to welcome our viewers in the united states and all around the world. you're watching cnn's special live coverage here from baltimore. i'm brooke baldwin. this is a different city today than what we have felt really for the better part of the last week. much of the frustration replaced with a lot of satisfaction here. the calls for justice may actually be quieted for today after the unexpectedly swift action here by the state's attorney. she's the city's chief prosecutor. she's marilyn mosby. four months on the job. st