[Unidentified Male:] Just the other day when the mayor was talking about asking you about the investigation, she was also touting a 46 percent drop in complaints about excessive force; 54 percent about just officers being discourteous. Is that any indication that things are already getting better? Is that a foundation for you or is that just kind of out the window this morning.
[Loretta Lynch, U.s. Attorney General:] No, I think all the data that's been gathered today will factor into our investigation. It's really premature to say what that data means. I think we've all seen situations where you can have numbers that look great but if you're the person who is involved in an unfortunate incident for you, you know, it feels like it's 100 percent. So, you know, we'll be looking at all of those issues and incidents but we're looking at the larger issues of whether or not the police as they work to stop, arrest and detain people how they are in fact implementing their policies. We'll look at excessive force, the use and the guidance that they have and the training that they have already. So that will factor into our investigation. It's premature right now to say how it will impact on it. Alright. Thank you all.
[Unidentified Male:] Thank you.
[Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] All right. The Attorney General Loretta Lynch talking about launching an investigation into the Baltimore City Police Department. In case you are just joining us, I just want to sum it up for you very quickly. Some of the questions that will be addressed by this Department of Justice investigation: Did Baltimore police conduct unlawful searches, seizures and arrests? Did Baltimore police violate the constitution and the community's civil rights? And also the Justice Department will continue to improve the Baltimore Police Department while this investigation is going on. With me now to talk about what the attorney general just said, CNN justice reporter Evan Perez, our national correspondent Suzanne Malveaux who is in Baltimore and CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes. I want to go right out to Baltimore Suzanne and get the reaction from there.
[Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn National Correspondent:] You know Carol, it's interesting because the first when I was covering this story, it was a local story and then it turned into a national and international story and it was before the riots broke out and before the community actually took to the streets and helped the police and the law enforcement and those community activists gained their streets back in peace in this community. A lot of people came up to me after seeing that video of Freddie Gray and very quietly told their own stories. Stories about one man who had been strip searched on the streets, his pants pulled down. He was half naked. And everybody had a chance to see this on the street. Another young woman who had her cell phone taken from her by a police and smashed on the ground, another person who told me that they saw somebody beaten up and then just dropped from a police van these were the kinds of stories that people would tell you off the record, quietly, just coming out of their homes because they wanted to give a sense of what it was like to live in that community and what their own experience was in that neighborhood. I think what you're going to hear from people in the community is that they finally are heard, that this is not something that through violence in the streets or through the community activists coming out and trying to quell the violence but some real movement with teeth if you will. The federal government, the Justice Department and potentially some real actions to follow if in fact they find this is a pattern and practice. That's what I'm getting from people here because these are folks who did not just a couple weeks ago, Carol, feel empowered at all. They felt demoralized. They felt diminished. They didn't even want to go on camera. We have seen a dramatic turn in this community in Baltimore as the spotlight is on those folks on the ground. I think that's going to be very critical to see what the Justice Department does. Obviously we're not going to get the answers soon but it is a step forward.
[Costello:] Ok. I was going to ask you that question, Evan. How long might this investigation take?
[Evan Perez, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] Well, Carol, I think it's going to take a while. I mean right now the Justice Department had 16 consent decree agreements with police departments around the country from the New Orleans Police Department to Albuquerque. Right now they have nine ongoing investigations including the one in Ferguson that we've talked about in the past. What I thought was interesting about the attorney general's statement was she described a frayed relationship between the community and the police frankly and she said it's an understatement because it's to the point of being severed. So she is using some very tough language to describe what a big job this police department has in Baltimore to try to regain trust there.
[Costello:] Tom, something else that intrigued me about what Loretta Lynch said. She said that this investigation and others will be helpful to police departments across the country. Is that right?
[Tom Fuentes, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] Absolutely, Carol. And first of all, I would like to say I have the highest respect for Loretta Lynch. I worked with her when she was a young assistant United States attorney in the eastern district of New York when I was working in the organized crime program. She prosecuted many organized crime cases where she worked closely with FBI agents, other federal agents, local police officers. She went to China in one of our cases to work with the Chinese police officers that worked jointly with us. She goes back a long way having an outstanding relationship with law enforcement officers. And I think one thing I would like to commend her on that something her predecessor didn't do when he went to Ferguson. When she went to Baltimore she went and met with the police also. She recognizes that this will take the community, the political leaders and the police to work together even in the pattern and practice. And just to explain to the viewers, the FBI investigation of civil rights cases is done by FBI agents with the purpose of possibly a federal criminal prosecution by assistant attorneys from the civil rights division of Department of Justice. The patterns and practice is not done by police officers or FBI agents but basically it's a review of all of the statistics, who has been arrested, what were the circumstances, the complaints, all of those things. In this case, she intends for it to be a very collaborative effort with all of the members of that community and the law enforcement agencies together. I think that she's sincere. She's outstanding. And again, I've known her for many years.
[Costello:] I love what she said about the greatness of the city of Baltimore. That was awesome. Tom Fuentes, Suzanne Malveaux, Evan Perez Thanks to all of you. I appreciate it. I'll be right back.