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Deadly Police Shooting Caught on Video; Attack Kills U.S. Service Member in Afghanistan; FBI to Investigate South Carolina Shooting. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired April 08, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:59] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We're following breaking news this morning.

An American service member is dead, shot and killed by an Afghan National Army soldier outside of the Governor's Compound in Jalalabad. Our Nick Paton Walsh just returned from the area. He'll have a live report for you in any moment now.

But we start in South Carolina where a traffic stop over a broken traffic taillight resulted in the death of 50-year-old Walter Scott, an apparently unarmed black man, and now an officer with the North Charleston Police Department, 33-year-old Michael Slager, faces murder charges. Slager says he feared for his life after Scott grabbed for a weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SLAGER, OFFICER CHARGED WITH MURDER IN SHOOTING: Shots fired. Subject is down. He's got my taser.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But a video of the incident filmed by an anonymous source appears to tell a different story. I'm going to show you that video, but I want to warn you, what you're about to see is disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands behind your back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Mr. Scott died at the scene. The officer -- the officer, as I told you, has now been charged with murder. If convicted, Officer Slager could be sentenced to life in prison or receive the death penalty.

[09:05:01] Here's what we know about the officer so far. He's 33 years old. He's a five-year veteran of the North Charleston Police Department. During his time on the force, two complaints have been filed against him. He was cleared of the first complaint after a 2013 investigation. The second from January of this year was sustained, although the disciplinary action taken against him is unknown at this time.

Officer Slager is also a former Coast Guard. He was a former member of the Coast Guard, I should say. Something he told a judge shortly after his arrest as well as he is a father.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SLAGER: I have three stepchildren and one on the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Some of the state's top lawmakers, including Governor Nikki Haley and Senator Tim Scott denouncing the shooting, and an emotional police chief calling the day tragic and opening up about the personal impact of this incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF EDDIE DRIGGERS, NORTH CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA POLICE: We know I think that all of these police officers on this force, men and women, are my -- they're like my children, so you tell me how a father would react to seeing his child do something. I'll let you answer that yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And as a grieving family struggles for answers, the brother of the victim, Walter Scott, says the release of the video at least offers some insight into what actually went down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY SCOTT, WALTER SCOTT'S BROTHER: From the beginning when it happened the first day all we've wanted was the truth and I think through the process we've received the truth. And we can't get my brother back and my family is in deep mourning for that, but through the process of justice has been served.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sometimes pictures don't tell the whole story, but most say in this case they certainly do.

Richard Weinblatt is a former police chief and police academy director. He's also a dean at the Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis.

Good morning, sir.

RICHARD WEINBLATT, FORMER POLICE CHIEF: Good morning, Carol. Good to see you again, although we should meet under better circumstances. COSTELLO: I know. It's always -- it's always under such tragic

circumstances.

WEINBLATT: Yes, ma'am.

COSTELLO: But I'm glad you're here because I know people have a lot of questions. I'd like to show you a series of screen grabs taken from that video. What you're about to see, this is two seconds into the moving video. We know the officer tased the victim and then the victim turned and he ran. The officer immediately pulls his gun.

In your opinion what should the officer have done?

WEINBLATT: Well, I'm obviously not looking at the screen grabs here in the studio live in Indianapolis, but I've watched the video multiple times. I've conferred with friends of mine in the law enforcement field. We are all unanimous in saying, and granted it's a two-dimensional video, but based on what we've seen, based on the officer's report which is not what was in the video, and clearly appears to be a cover-up, the officer was out of line.

I applaud the South Carolina officials for their stand both at the city level and at SLAD, the State Law Enforcement Division of South Carolina for being pro active in doing this and being transparent and holding the officer accountable.

This makes a tough job even tougher and almost every law enforcement officer -- actually every law enforcement officer I have spoken with in the last few days is heartbroken over this. For the Scott family obviously, but also for the community and for law enforcement. I mean, this is bad. You cannot justify this.

There's a 1985 case, "Tennessee versus Garner" with the U.S. Supreme Court that outlined when officers can use deadly force on a fleeing person. And it's very simple. It's when that person poses a threat to the officer or others. And there is no threat to you apparent on here. So this was wrong. This was absolutely wrong. And most law enforcement officer do not operate this way.

COSTELLO: Well, I do want to get a little bit into protocol.

WEINBLATT: Sure.

COSTELLO: So apparently, according to the officer, the taser goes off. And you can sort of see what looks like a wire from the taser into the victims' body, right

WEINBLATT: Right. Right.

COSTELLO: And then the taser becomes an act. If you can't fire the taser again. Is that correct?

WEINBLATT: Well, with that cartridge. I've been certified by a taser instructor. I've been shot by a taser in training. It's an effective tool but it doesn't work all the time and all circumstances. And for whatever reason, it may not achieve the desired result that the officer was working for, assuming that he or she would even justify to begin with which we don't know.

COSTELLO: Yes.

WEINBLATT: But you certainly cannot justify --

COSTELLO: Well, let me interrupt you for just a second.

WEINBLATT: Sure.

COSTELLO: So the victim at this point, he turns away and runs away from the officer. The officer immediately goes for his gun. Would the officer be in fear for his life at that point, if the victim has his back turned on the officer and is running away?

WEINBLATT: Could you come up with some scenario that had happened in the past? The suspect had a gun in his belt, was reaching for it, was running, looking over his shoulder, running towards the school yard, the school children, then I'm coming up with a really clear hypothetical. Sure, you could articulate that you're in fear for yourself or the school children.

[09:10:14] From that perspective in the video, I don't see that. Plus the way he wrote his report, and it appears that he picks up the taser from where the initial struggle happen, and drops the taser by the body, that does not bode well for a scenario that I just described. So --

COSTELLO: OK. Well, let me interrupt you.

WEINBLATT: You wait for backup.

COSTELLO: Let me interrupt you just for a second because I just think this is important.

WEINBLATT: Sure.

COSTELLO: I'm going to show graphic two, if we could put that up again. This picture shows the victim running away. The officer fires seven shots, he pauses, and then he fires another shot and the man falls down. Is that scenario something you learn about in police school?

WEINBLATT: No, absolutely not. And all professional police officers in this country will disavow any connection to that. That is not the way we train police officers. That is not the way that we want them to perform. And, again, and I applaud everybody for saying that clearly. You know, you have -- you have credibility when you admit your mistakes and as they said in North Charleston, when you're wrong, you're wrong.

And this officer from all appearances is wrong and they'll let the investigation go on and let the judicial process go on. But certainly on his face right now, I don't see a justification.

COSTELLO: OK. So the very last graphic I'm going to show you is you were talking about seeing this officer drop some sort of object next to the victim's body. At some point another officer comes to the scene. If we could put that very last graphic up, that would be graphic number 4. So the other officer, and I found this interesting, does not react when Officer Slager drops that object next to the victim's body. And nobody seems to be attending to the victim either.

WEINBLATT: Yes. I don't know enough about what that officer was thinking. I am sure that that officer was interviewed extensively. Whether that officer should have reacted differently, what that officer wrote in his report, I think is really going to be key to see whether that officer was trying to participate in a cover-up as well, that apparently at least on its face, appears this Officer Slager was doing.

So, yes, that is interesting. And yes, we do have a duty to render aid to people. You know, you have to stop the threat, again, assuming there was a threat, which I don't see here. But -- and then officers, professional, ethical officers, do render aid. Again, I'm not sure what was going on with that second officer. It will be really interesting to get that information in that report and interview that officer. And I'm sure they already have.

COSTELLO: I'm sure they have, too.

Richard Weinblatt, thank you so much for your insight. I appreciate it as always.

WEINBLATT: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Now to our breaking news out of Afghanistan. An American service member is dead after being shot with a machine gun by an Afghan soldier.

Here's what we know right now. The incident happened earlier today in Jalalabad. That's about 150 miles from the capital city of Kabul. It's still unclear how many people were wounded, but according to reports U.S. troops were attacked as an American delegation finished meeting with provincial leaders inside the governor's compound. Officials say the gunman has been killed.

Let's bring in CNN international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh. He has a little more information to share.

Good morning.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, it really is a sign of how much the Afghan war has changed for those two Americans who still are trying to train and assist Afghan Security Forces there.

We saw ourselves actually in a trip very near where this incident happened, how that constantly guarded by what's known as Guardian Angels, a security detail who basically is standing looking over the Afghan troops who they often cooperate with. A very surreal organization.

Now to today's instance, we understand that helicopters, that's how most American personnel travel around Afghanistan, have delivered this delegation of diplomats and senior officials to talk to other senior Afghan officials inside the governor's compound. It was as they were leaving that one Afghan soldier on top of an Afghan army truck opened fire of what's known as a PK heavy machine gun. That's a very high caliber machine gun here.

Now we don't know how many U.S. soldiers were injured in this resolute report. That's the name for the new NATO-American mission in Afghanistan. They say one American soldier was killed. It's unclear, as I say, who the nationality of the injuries were. Most troops in that area are American. They're also some Polish involved as well at this stage but we understand that those soldiers protecting that delegation returned fire. That's how the Afghan soldier, the attacker was killed.

And apparently according to one local police official, two others were wounded as well. It's not clear if they were involved in the attack or caught up in the cross fire. But this -- the first publicly known American casualty since December of last year and, of course, now that the strange, terrifying threat thankfully at the end of America's longest war. They now have to be most cautious when it comes to these Afghan soldiers, they're supposed to be working with to hand over security, too -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Nick Paton Walsh reporting live for us -- thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: a South Carolina officer facing a murder charge in the shooting death of an apparently unarmed father of four. Would he have been arrested though if this cell phone video did not exist? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: I want to take you back to our top story this morning -- the shooting death of an apparently unarmed black man by a white police officer in South Carolina.

Officer Michael Slager is behind bars this morning, facing murder charges after cell phone video appears to show him shooting and killing Walter Scott as Scott is running away.

You see the police officer in prison stripes right now. He is in custody.

Joining me now to talk about this, CNN justice reporter Evan Perez, and CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Paul Callan.

Evan, I want to start with you.

The FBI is involved, and also the Department of Justice. Why?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Carol, you know, this is amazing. In three days, you know, usually, we talk about how the federal government usually waits for the local authorities to do what they're doing before they decide what to do. [09:20:05] In this case, in three days, they decided that the FBI was

going to start an investigation. The Justice Department's civil rights division is also investigating.

They're assisting the local authorities. And I think we can say that, clearly, the video which we've shown on our air has made a huge difference. And I think that's why see things moving so quickly, not only in the local authorities charging this officer with murder, but also the federal government is deciding that it wants to investigate and wants to see if there's any civil rights violation that can be brought against this officer.

COSTELLO: Well, it's interesting you bring that up because Paul Callan has been doing his homework. He has some interesting numbers out of the state of South Carolina.

What have you found?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, South Carolina's law enforcement agency has actually been compiling statistics on police- related shootings. And over the last five years, there have been over 200 incidents where police officers have fired at civilians in connections with those shootings however, not a single officer has been convicted in the last five years. And, by the way, interviews seem to indicate, nobody can remember a South Carolina officer being convicted of killing someone and using undue force.

COSTELLO: I see Evan shaking your head. Is that unusual?

PEREZ: No. You know, sadly, it's not unusual. It's very rare for officers to be charged with anything related to these types of shootings, partly because, you know, it's the officer's word against a dead man or against witnesses who often misremember things or can't remember what they saw.

So, the officers often get the benefit of the doubt, Carol. I think what this speaks to is a need for more and better reporting of these statistics.

The FBI is very frustrated because a lot of states, a lot of cities don't report this. So, South Carolina, the fact that they collect these statistics is going above what other states and cities do.

COSTELLO: OK. Well, let's talk about the video evidence, Paul.

If this video evidence did not exist, this guy was shot in the back, what, six or seven times. So, wouldn't say to the police department that something went wrong here anyway?

CALLAN: Well, I would like to think that it would, that we didn't need video to prove that shooting somebody in the back who's running away after being stopped for a broken taillight is excessive force, but we don't know what the officer's claimed story would be. He might say I thought he had a gun. He was turning in my direction when I started firing.

We see evidence maybe that he was trying to plant the taser next to the body of the person he shot to set up this self-defense.

So, how it would have played out without the video would have been a different case. You wouldn't have an officer under arrest charged with murder as we do now.

COSTELLO: Is it possible the officer thought Mr. Scott still had ahold of the taser? Is that possible?

CALLAN: No, it's not, because in the video, you can see the taser on the ground while he's firing at the man. And the taser, by the way, which has already been discharged, would hardly present a threat to the officer.

And what really bothers me about this tape also is he shoots him in the back. The man falls to the ground. He must have been in horrible pain before his death and what's the officer doing? He's trying to cuff him behind the back.

COSTELLO: He actually says, he says, hands behind your back.

CALLAN: Right. It's not only an execution but it's torture prior to the execution for no reason. It's really one of the most horrific tapes you can possibly imagine.

COSTELLO: So, right now, this officer is charged with murder, but some legal analysts say that that charge will probably end up being manslaughter because you have to prove intent if you charge someone with murder.

CALLAN: I don't think it should be reduced to manslaughter. If I were the prosecutor on the case, I've been a homicide prosecutor, when you fire that many shots, that's demonstrating an intent to kill. So, I think it's a legitimate murder count and I think it should be left up to a jury to decide whether they can convict of a lesser account, manslaughter, or they can acquit, which by the way they usually do in cases involving police officers.

But I think this case might be a different animal because of the video.

COSTELLO: And, Evan, I think one of the most disturbing aspects of this video, and there are many, is that after the seventh shot, the officer paused and then shot him again.

PEREZ: Right. That's -- that's all going to be part of the investigation because it shows that he had a moment at least. You know, you can often defend yourself by saying, well, you know, it was the heat of the moment but if you stop, and you pause, then you start shooting again, that does, I think, goes to what Paul just talked about, which is the intent that the prosecutors are going to have to prove against this officer.

We should add. I mean, look, there's stuff that happened before this video is recorded so, you know, who knows?

[09:25:01] Maybe there is some really amazing defense that the officer's going to be able to come up with. We don't see it but there is that possibility.

COSTELLO: All right. Paul Callan, Evan Perez, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: more than seven hours of deliberation and still no verdict. Up next, why the jurors on the Boston bomber trial could be struggling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Any minute now -- any minute now, the jury in the Boston bombing trial is set to begin day two of deliberations. On Tuesday, jurors spent more than seven hours trying to determine whether Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is guilty.

No verdict was reached, but jurors did send two undisclosed questions back to the court. Tsarnaev, as you know, faces 30 charges, 17 of those charges carry a possible death penalty sentence.

Let's bring in CNN's Alexandra Field. She's in Boston outside of the courthouse.

Do you know what those questions were from the jury now?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, we're just hearing about one of them from our producer inside the courtroom. Apparently, the jury sent a note to the judge late yesterday around 4:25 or 4:30, asking about the term conspiracy. There are three counts that pertain to conspiracy. And they have asked the judge to clarify whether conspiracy pertains to a single event or a series or sequence of events.

The short answer given by the judge is that it can be either and it's up to the jury to determine that. And, Carol, I think a lot of people expected that the jury would come back pretty quickly on this one. It isn't to say that one day of deliberations is long by any stretch. But you did have the defense starting out in this case saying it was him.