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Violent Storms Rip Across Midwest; Hillary Clinton to Announce 2016 Presidential Run; New Dash Cam Video Shows Final Moments Before Shooting; Local NAACP Rallies Around Victim's Family. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired April 10, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:17] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, clearing skies and new hope in Illinois this morning. The state battered by twisters, homes and lives destroyed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I looked out the window and I saw it. And it was -- it was huge. It was huge and it was coming right for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And here comes Hillary. The official 2016 announcement expected Sunday on social media. What we know about Clinton's first campaign stop.

Plus, dash cam video showing a South Carolina man taking off moments before he shot and killed by an officer. A funeral set for Mr. Scott. Why his family is reportedly asking one civil rights leader to please stay away.

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

We want to take you now to Ft. Hood, Texas, where the Purple Heart will be awarded to those killed or wounded in that mass shooting that took place more than five years ago now. The Army will also award the Defense of Medal Freedom, the civilian equivalent of the Purple Heart, to nonmilitary victims.

John McHugh, the secretary of the Army, says the recognition is, quote, "an appropriate recognition of their service and sacrifice."

Of course you remember that former Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan opened fire at Fort Hood in 2009 killing 13 and injuring more 30. Hasan was convicted and sentenced to death in 2013.

People across Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa getting their first look at towns and lives devastated in the wake of those deadly tornadoes. Listen to how a chopper pilot describes the destruction below him. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dressers, chairs, and right there in the center of your screen even a piano. All of it exposed. The -- the contents of countless homes now on full display here in Fairdale, Illinois. The town about eight square blocks by -- and every home in every direction has been touched in some form or fashion by this storm from blown off roofs to homes that were simply blown away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Those homes were blown away by this massive tornado that could be seen for miles with storm chasers following its every move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to hit those cars. (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get closer, get closer. (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out. (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My god. This is violent. You guys, it's right there. Right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop. We're good. My gosh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My gosh. My gosh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It hit cars. It hit cars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, there goes -- there goes cars. I saw headlights go flying. (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED). He's over. He's over. Call 911.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Call 911.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The town of Rochelle, Illinois, hit especially hard. This collapsed restaurant was once a local favorite but now its walls are caved in.

Ryan Young is live in Rochelle, Illinois, to tell us more. He's standing outside of that restaurant.

Good morning. RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. What a massive storm.

Everyone is talking about that video. But now we also have some details, some stories of survival especially here at this restaurant as you can see what's left. I really want to point to just about where those people are standing over there. That's where this storm shelter is. And I just talked to the owner of this restaurant who was on the inside.

Everyone was apparently taking pictures of the storm as it was approaching. And then they realized something was terribly wrong. The storm was on a direct path with the restaurant. They all ran to that shelter and as the last person got into the shelter and closed the door, the roof collapsed on top of the shelter. They were trapped on the inside.

And, Carol, they tell me they started smelling gas and a lot of them thought they would never make it out. They started dialing 911. They started calling friends and family who started rushing to the area.

They've owned this restaurant for 11 years. Firefighters arrived and started cutting parts of the roof. In fact there's actually part of the roof that we can see that they've sliced in half so they could get to those people who were trapped on the inside. There's also blood throughout the restaurant where someone cut their hand trying to avoid the storm. They all survived. They got out.

Someone else was trapped in bathroom for a half hour but they talked about the pounding sound of that tornado hitting this restaurant over and over again, and now you can really realize the sheer terror they must have been experiencing for those two hours as they were trapped below smelling gas not knowing when they were going to get out.

COSTELLO: I cannot even imagine.

Ryan Young live in Rochelle, Illinois. Thank you so much.

Betty Kramer -- Betty Kramer was sheltered inside that very restaurant while that tornado ripped through the town. She's on the phone with me now.

Good morning, Betty.

BETTY KRAMER, STORM SURVIVOR: Hello.

COSTELLO: I heard Ryan describe it. But you lived this. You lived it.

KRAMER: Yes.

COSTELLO: Tell me what it was like.

KRAMER: My gosh. It was very frightening. But I was trying so hard to calm down a lot of other people, you know, so that kind of helped me. When the tornado actually hit, it was the most terrible sound. It just -- it just sounded like, I don't know what. A bunch of stuff was just being thrown on top of the roof of that shelter. And then I started wondering if it was going to cave in and if it caved in, you know, would we just be trapped forever and maybe not even survive it.

And as quick as it started and all that noise it was making then it stopped. But we couldn't get out because we found out later that part of the building had fallen on the doors and there was no way we could get out and the owner who was in there, she was able to somehow get out to 911 because none of our telephones were getting out anywhere. And responders said they were going to get there as soon as possible and they were there pretty quick.

And they -- but they had to get -- there was a lot of rubble out there. They had -- we found this a lot later. They had to get out and then they had to take a chainsaw and chainsaw through whatever the structure was that fell on top of the doors and then they had to chainsaw through the doors and they kept checking in on us. Are you OK? Is anybody hurt? They got a light down there to us somehow. I don't know how they did that.

And we were probably in there for 1.5 to two hours and we just kept talking to each other and hugging each other and telling each other it was going to be OK.

COSTELLO: Betty, I'm --

KRAMER: And --

COSTELLO: Betty, I'm so glad, I'm so glad that you're alive to share this story with us. So thank you very much.

KRAMER: That's the best part.

COSTELLO: I know. Thank you very much for comforting the others in that basement that were probably scared out of their minds.

Betty, thank you so much for joining me this morning.

I want to take our viewers now to Rochelle, Illinois, where there's a live presser going on. This is -- this is one of -- this is the sheriff's deputy or the sheriff. Either one. But let's listen.

SHERIFF BRIAN VAN VICKIE, OGLE COUNTY: No active power lines and no natural gas leaks. So at this time there will be no outside access from anybody other than credentialed residents that are affected by this area.

So last night we had an outstanding response from every entity across northern Illinois, police, fire, you name it, they were here. And they were here all night. So I'm not sure if -- I'll take a few questions. But I'll answer what I can.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you have anyone missing?

VAN VICKIE: No. At this time we have no reported individuals missing. We have no fatalities and we just had a small handful of minor injuries.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir, (INAUDIBLE) where is the biggest devastated area?

VAN VICKIE: Sure. The devastation is basically through flag township and then it heads northeast through the intersection of 251 and Illinois Route 64.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So north of what we're standing on right now?

VAN VICKIE: Correct. It starts just a little bit west of where we're currently at and then continues in a north-northeast direction through the county.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)

VAN VICKIE: Right. Now the damage is pretty significant. I mean the houses that are affected are severely affected. They are gone for the most part or uninhabitable. There's no -- doesn't appear to be houses with minor damage. It's pretty much just devastation to where the tornado went through. This time it appears to be at least quarter mile wide if not a little bit wider than that.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A lot of people want to help out in the cleanup process.

VAN VICKIE: Sure.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Any timetable when they can be able to help out?

VAN VICKIE: At this point we're not going to take any volunteers until at least tomorrow. So at this point we're not going to allow anyone in other than residents and we'll have a volunteer staging area that we'll announce shortly for tomorrow or on Sunday.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Any update on the cleanup or rescue efforts going on right now?

VAN VICKIE: We have no current rescue efforts ongoing. We do have a third search of all of the residence affected.

[10:10:01] COSTELLO: All right. We're going to step away from this news conference. This is the county sheriff. This is Rochelle, Illinois. And the best news to come out of this no deaths reported and that is truly amazing; when you witness the devastation that took place across parts of Illinois.

Let's talk politics now. Hillary is making her move. A source close to the campaign confirms Clinton is expected to formally announce her candidacy for the White House on Sunday. That announcement coming with a video release on social media. A more subdued choice compared to the announcements from the Republican candidates so far.

Our senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar joins me now.

Yes, what happened to the big, you know, maybe at a university or some other major venue? BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly right.

You saw Ted Cruz, he had a big speech. Rand Paul had a big speech. Hillary Clinton back in 2007 -- yes, 2007. I have to --

(LAUGHTER)

When she -- it was as well a video like this. It was a video that she put out on social media. So what's what we're expecting, according to a source who's familiar with the campaign. That you have her video coming out and then she's going to start traveling immediately to really try and bolster that announcement and talk about her message, which we have a preview of because this is so key. Right?

Why is she running for president? A lot of people say running is about the future. So what is her message going to be that she's selling? In an epilogue to now the hard -- the paperback of her book "Hard Choices" just out today that the "Huffington Post" has a hold on, she talks about becoming a grandmother and how the fact that looking at her granddaughter, Charlotte, and knowing that she'll have tremendous opportunities, she wants all of the children in America to be able to fulfill their God given potential.

And she talks about becoming a grandmother since she has left government that she has only been sort of bolstered in the sense that she has a responsibility as a steward of this world to leave it a better place.

COSTELLO: So not in foreign policy background or experience in the State Department all about grandmother and her grandchild --

KEILAR: No. She's --

COSTELLO: That's interesting.

KEILAR: Because that's the thing, right? When you have a message for a campaign, the most successful ones tend to be about the future. What's your vision. And so this is her laying it out. She does talk a little bit about being secretary of state and how she's in Berma for her last visit as secretary of state. President Obama is there and he sort of calls from the stage, where's Hillary? There she is.

And she says that she thought about how they had come so far from their first meeting after he had knocked her out of the primary race and that as she said good-bye to him a little while later in Washington, that she had a tear in her eye. So sort of that olive branch maybe to some Democrats who have been more in his camp than hers.

COSTELLO: Gotcha.

KEILAR: Yes.

COSTELLO: Brianna Keilar, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, new dash cam video revealing more about the final moments of Walter Scott's life. But is it answering questions or just creating more?

We'll talk about that next.

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[10:16:40] COSTELLO: Former North Charleston cop Michael Slager sits in isolation in a South Carolina jail this morning after being charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed African-American man. Guards doing increased checks of what the sheriff says is Slager's, quote, "mental health," though the sheriff notes Slager is not on suicide watch.

This latest news comes -- this latest news about Slager comes as the dash cam video from his car is released and fresh questions are raised about his encounter with Walter Scott.

Joining me now from North Charleston, South Carolina, is CNN's Martin Savidge.

Good morning.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. You're right. This dash cam video begins to answer one very basic question, which is how did that terrible day start for these two men. But at the same time, it raises a new mystery because there is a passenger in Walter Scott's car. Who is this person, we don't know. But what's true is they would be a key witness.

Here's what we found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Dash cam video capturing the moment Police Officer Michael Slager pulls over Walter Scott last Saturday morning. Slager's patrol car follows Scott as he pulls into the parking lot of an auto parts store. Moments later, Slager approaches the car and asks Scott for his driver's license. You hear the conversation because Slager is wearing a microphone.

MICHAEL SLAGER, FORMER NORTH CHARLESTON POLICE: The reason for the stop is your third brake light is out.

SAVIDGE: Less than a minute later the talk turns to paperwork over Scott's recent purchase of the car.

SLAGER: Just a minute ago, you said that you bought it, now you're changing everything on Monday.

WALTER SCOTT, VICTIM: I'm sorry about that.

SAVIDGE: Slager returns to his patrol car. Moments later, Scott starts to get out of his car. The officer shouts a command.

SLAGER: You got stay in the car.

SAVIDGE: Less than 30 seconds later, Scott gets out of his car and runs. The rest of what happens is out of view of the camera and is only picked up in pieces by Slager's microphone. He sounds like he's running and he could be heard yelling.

SLAGER: Taser, taser, taser.

SAVIDGE: Shortly after that, Scott is shot dead. But the video shows something else that could be key to that terrible day. Look closely and you see that some is in the car with Walter Scott when he was stopped. The person is also noted in one of the supplemental narratives give by a police officer who arrived after the shooting.

Officer J. Banias says, "I also spoke to the passenger of the vehicle that was stopped. The passenger was also detained and placed in the backseat in my vehicle." But the passenger here, seen here being searched is never identified. And there's no mention of what happened to him. Even Scott's own family says they have no idea who the mystery rider might be only that he definitely wasn't family.

JUSTIN BAMBERG, SCOTT FAMILY CO-COUNSEL: Unfortunately he's not here to tell us who is riding with him. So hopefully we will find that out soon and if you know let me know.

SAVIDGE: So far no one has come forward to say they were with Scott or explain why a simple traffic stop over a taillight so quickly accelerated into a shooting that has shocked a nation.

Martin Savidge, CNN, North Charleston, South Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Of course that was Martin Savidge reporting from North Charleston.

Tomorrow morning about a half an hour away in Summerville, South Carolina, a funeral will be held for Walter Scott, the man shot by Officer Slager. The service is set for 11:00 a.m. Eastern. It will be open to the public. Media can also attend but no cameras or recording devices will be allowed inside that church.

[10:20:17] I want to bring in Ed Bryant, he is the president of the North Charleston chapter of the NAACP.

Welcome, sir.

ED BRYANT, PRESIDENT, NORTH CHARLESTON CHAPTER OF NAACP: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. Mr. Scott's funeral is open to the public. The media is invited. But no cameras. I would still say that's pretty generous of this family.

Do you hear me? Ed, do you hear me?

BRYANT: Yes, I do.

COSTELLO: I would say that allowing the public to come into Mr. Scott's funeral is generous of the family. Do you agree?

BRYANT: I agree with that, yes, of course.

COSTELLO: The family has been very gracious. They even had kind words for Officer Slager's family.

BRYANT: Yes. The family has been very gracious. They've been very cooperative. They've been very kind toward the general public and has sympathy toward the family and they've been very cordial and very unique and truly committed that way.

COSTELLO: Has the family reached out for help from the local chapter of the NAACP?

BRYANT: Yes. I have spoken to Anthony Scott on several occasions. And every time that I speak to him, his demeanor, his behavior is always the same. And they are very warm hearted and caring.

COSTELLO: "The Daily News" is reporting this morning that the Scott family does have a request. It's requested that Al Sharpton stay away. Why do you think that is?

BRYANT: I don't have any idea why that is. That would be something to deal with the media blitz but I'm not sure at all.

COSTELLO: Yes. I think the article goes on to say, if Sharpton participated, the family would be concerned that it would create a circus and they don't want a circus-like atmosphere like what happened in Ferguson. Do you think that's wise of them?

BRYANT: I'm not interested what the reasoning and the rationale is not to have that there. I don't think it has anything to do with Ferguson. None whatsoever. Issues in Ferguson are totally different than what happened here.

COSTELLO: No, I understand that. But there is a lot of media attention right at the moment, right, and they just don't want to bring any more media attention to a tragic situation, so am I reading that right? And they're thinking that by bringing Al Sharpton into this it will create this circus-like atmosphere.

BRYANT: Yes, it does. It probably would do that. And I think they feel that way and I'm thinking that's why they said no.

COSTELLO: You took a look at this dash cam video. Does it tell you anything new?

BRYANT: Well, the thing that I saw on the dash cam tells me one thing new and that is the fact that both brake lights on the car -- on the exterior, on the right hand and left hand side they work. The light that was out in the car is the center, I call it the courtesy brake light. The one that's in the center of the car, what they call a third brake light. I determined that that was out. You know. It was different than what I immediately thought in the beginning.

COSTELLO: So are you saying that Mr. Scott shouldn't have been stopped at all?

BRYANT: I'm just saying that it was a third brake light. It's the one that's I call the courtesy thing. But both lights on the car on both sides, the right hand and left hand, they work. I saw that on the dash cam. Yes.

COSTELLO: Why do you think Mr. Scott ran away?

BRYANT: I have no idea why he ran away. For whatever reason he ran away, that's not illogical. People do certain things for different reasons. OK. I understand certainly that there maybe there was something pending. Maybe something wasn't pending. But he ran away. And I still don't think there's any reason for what happened in the end.

COSTELLO: All right. Ed Bryant, thank you so much for being with me this morning. I appreciate it.

BRYANT: You're welcome. Thank you.

COSTELLO: We'll be right back.

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[10:27:46] COSTELLO: One shooting now two families are grieving. The mother of Officer Michael Slager who's accused of murder after the shooting death of Walter Scott says she's praying not only for her own family but for the Scott family as well.

Listen to what she told ABC News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN SLAGER, MOTHER OF NORTH CHARLESTON OFFICER MICHAEL SLAGER: I can't imagine him doing something that is not just like him. That's not his character. But I just have to -- I just have to let it be and hope God takes care of everybody involved. Not only my family but the Scott family because I know they're grieving just like I'm grieving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In the meantime, new dash cam video reveals the final moments before Scott was gunned down. It shows Officer Slager pulling Scott over for a routine traffic stop. Slager approaches the vehicle. At one point Scott tries to get out of the car, the officer tells him to get back inside. Scott initially obeys, then a second attempt and that's when Scott makes a run for it.

I would say the majority of police officers think what happened next. The shooting of Mr. Scott was wrong including Milwaukee's police chief, Ed Flynn. He wrote an op-ed for "TIME" magazine. Here's a bit of it, quote, "I don't know a law enforcement professional who trains their officers to shoot unarmed, fleeing suspects. This is an ambiguous. There's no gray area when it comes to that. Officers know you don't do that." Chief Flynn goes on to say, when such actions become public, they hurt

all officers. Quote, "Our officers are depressed by the current environment today. They're judged by the worst example anywhere in the country. It affects their work. Officers are fearful that every action is going to be judged with the worst possible presumptions."

I want to talk about that with former NYPD detective, Harry Houck.

Welcome.

HARRY HOUCK, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: Hi. How are you, Carol?

COSTELLO: First of all, how do you feel about Chief Flynn's comments?

HOUCK: I think they're fantastic. I mean, this is something that the police departments and other officers have got to come out and say. This officer's -- the shooting was completely unwarranted. All right. It was definitely a murder in my eyes and just about every other police officer that I've seen there and it does depresses you. You know, I mean, we've had enough bad publicity when I believe police officers have been right in some instances in the past. Here the police officers directly, completely wrong here. He's been charged with murder.