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New Video of Officers Beating Man in California; Army Recruit, Girlfriend Arrested for Military Base Plot; Summit of the Americas in Panama; Reporting from the Scott Funeral; Rachel Nichols Previews Her Special from Augusta. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired April 11, 2015 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Incredible, indeed. Look forward to that.

Thanks so much, Nick Valencia, in Fairdale.

We have so much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, and it all starts right now.

Happening right now, in the NEWSROOM, Walter Scott is laid to rest today in South Carolina as new details emerge about what happened in the moments before his shooting death. And we're getting a look at new dash cam video, which shows critical angles of the scene and new information about the man who was in the car with the victim before Walter Scott died.

Plus, a second arrest in a plot to bomb a Kansas military base. How authorities stopped a former U.S. Army recruit from carrying out an attack in the name of ISIS.

And a historic hand shake, setting the stage for an even more historic today. What they hope to accomplish, the presidents of both Cuba and the U.S. And what this means here at home.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Hello again, everyone. And thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

New video of a police beating and it involves as many as 10 officers. It's part of an incident where police chased a man on horseback.

Stephanie Elam has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here's your pursuit.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a police chase that looks like something out of the Wild Wild West.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've got this guy on a stolen horse.

ELAM: 30-year-old Francis Pusok attempting to outrun law enforcement on the back of a stolen horse in a rural part of San Bernardino County. A KNBC helicopter was recording as the bizarre chase ends when the horse bucks the suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The suspect being tased.

ELAM: And sheriff's deputies attempt to tase him. Then as deputies get closer, Pusok appears to surrender, lying face-down on the ground before putting his hands behind his back. That doesn't stop the officers from mobbing around Pusok, kicking him in the groin and in the head before kneeing him and landing punch after punch on his body. It's a beating that lasts about two minutes, with 10 officers involved, all of whom are now on paid administrative leave.

JIM TERRELL, FAMILY ATTORNEY: Somebody should go to prison over this. What I saw on the television was thugs beating up my client. That's what I saw. And these questions about what was he doing? What did they do? This is far worse than Rodney King.

ELAM: San Bernardino Sheriff John McMahon has ordered an immediate internal investigation. The specialized investigation detail is also conducting a criminal investigation, as well.

JOHN MCMAHON, SHERIFF, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: I am disturbed and troubled by what I see in the video. It does not appear to be in line with our policies and procedures, at least a portion of it. I ask that you allow us to conduct that investigation. And I assure you, if there is criminal wrongdoing on the part of any of our deputy sheriffs or any policy violations, we will take action.

ELAM: The sheriff's department says deputies were attempting to serve Pusok with a search warrant related to an identity theft investigation when he first fled in a car, then abandoned it and ran into the desert where he stole a horse and took off. In total, a chase that went on for some three hours.

JOLENE BINDER, PUSOK'S GIRLFRIEND: I'm not going to stand here and say that he's perfect, because who is?

ELAM: Pusok's girlfriend of 13 years believes the officers went too far.

BINDER: They beat the crap out of him. And now they're trying to do everything tht they can to avoid them being in any trouble.

ELAM: In trouble in an era where police tactics are under intense public scrutiny.

(on camera): And the FBI has now launched an investigation to determine whether or not Pusok's civil rights were violated.

Stephanie Elam, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk more about this, and talk about the case in South Carolina that's now become a high-profile case. Cheryl Dorsey is a retired LAPD sergeant. She served on the force for

20 years.

Good to see you.

And HLN legal analyst, Joey Jackson, joining us from New York City. Plus, criminal profiler, Pat Brown, joining me from Washington, D.C.

Good to see you all, as well.

All right, Cheryl, you first.

Let's talk about this out of San Bernardino, involving San Bernardino police. You were a police officer in Los Angeles for 20 years. And when you look at this video of how this suspect was apprehended and how he was treated, what goes through your mind in terms of whether there is a systemic problem, as we now look at video of not just officers in San Bernardino, but now we're also talking about the police officer out of North Charleston. And many people are aghast at how they see officers treating suspects.

SGT. CHERYL DORSEY, FORMER OFFICER, LAPD: Clearly, it's systemic. It's cultural. And it's the way police officers, some police officers, have been conducting themselves all along. We're just starting to see it more and more. And so I like to refer to this as a pack mentality. When you have a group of officers at the end of a foot pursuit, a vehicle pursuit, they become involved in tunnel vision, and a beating is generally what happens. And we understand that officers do this routinely.

[12:05:15] WHITFIELD: Routinely.

So, Joey, we've got Cheryl saying, as a former LAPD officer, this happens all of the time. It's a systemic problem. That people are seeing it with new eyes by way of videotape. In this case, a news helicopter. In the case of South Carolina, a bystander's cell phone. What does this say to you about how you get at the problem? How do you end something that is systemic? And does this mean that it means the active participation of civilians, people to use their cameras and cell phones in which to capture these images.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Fredricka, there certainly is a problem. I don't want to paint police officers with too broad a brush. We know that police officers are there to serve and protect. My dad was one, may he rest in peace. As a former prosecutor, I certainly worked with a lot of honorable officers who are about fighting crime and doing it decently, forthrightly, and as a public service.

However, that being said, clearly there is another problem that we need to deal with. When you see videos like we see here, it's troubling. When you see -- and I get and understand you're in pursuit of someone, the adrenaline is flowing, you have to catch him. But unless I'm seeing a different video than the rest of us are, he's certainly -- the suspect, who is white, by the way, is clearly surrendered. He's on the ground. He's -- he does not look like he's posing a threat at all. And here you're showing the other video. We can certainly speak about that one. The officer acted in a completely criminal fashion. I mean, I don't know how you justify that. We could talk about that later.

But the bottom line, Fredricka, is you need to bridge the gap. And in order to bridge the gap, there has to be trust and there needs to be mutual respect. And when you see instances like this, when officers are acting out, it goes against that trust, against that mutual respect. So the best we can hope for in this situation, there needs to be an administrative review where officers need to be discharged, fired, suspended, disciplined, depending upon the conduct they engaged in. And certainly on the other track, a criminal investigation so they can be held criminally accountable, both in terms of the state law and in terms of the federal civil rights law for acting in a way that is intentional and a way that deprives this person of their civil rights.

WHITFIELD: OK.

And so, Pat, I want to show that video of the North Charleston or former North Charleston police officer after the shooting of Walter Scott one more time, as we watch it in slo-mo. And when you hear Joey use the word "troubling," you hear Cheryl say it's a systemic problem, and now you look at this incident, which really helped bring about the charge of now murder to this officer just days after the killing of Walter Scott. And you look at his demeanor.

As a profiler, what do you see? Do you see that the words "systemic" and "troubling" are in concert with this kind of behavior, how cavalier it seems as he handcuffs the man who has been shot five times, and how he now drops what appears to be something that helps plant evidence. We still are unclear what that is exactly. But how do you look at this behavior? How do you explain it?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: OK. I think, first of all, I want to go back and look at the situation from the beginning. We're talking about -- it isn't routine. There may be a problem within the system, but it's not routine. If you go out with a cop, do any ride-alongs, you'll note all day long their routine is generally to be polite and respectful. And they use a lot of restraint with a lot of bad-acting people.

Now what sometimes happens when you have a pursuit is that that -- immediately when that pursuit begins, the life of an officer or officers and the citizens are being put at danger from the beginning. So there's already that adrenaline rush, what the heck are you doing, I'm now at risk, now I'm afraid, because I don't know what's going on here. So when we have a look at Slager -- Officer Slager when he stopped the vehicle, start at the beginning there, we saw him acting in a very appropriate manner. Very respectful, not condescending. And you know, he was getting a story and probably questioning. Yeah, you don't have any paperwork, OK, wait a minute. But he's being polite. Went back to his car, doing his routine. We have someone who then fleas the scene, which he has to question right there as, what is this guy about, there is something troubling here. He has to go pursue him, because that's his job. He does so, and at the time he then gets contact with him, there is some kind of struggle. So again, we have some kind of possible resisting arrest.

WHITFIELD: That's a problem. We don't really know that part.

BROWN: No, we don't.

WHITFIELD: We know one witness who said there was a tussle.

BROWN: Right.

WHITFIELD: But what we're trying to evaluate is what you can see.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: OK. Wait a minute, wait a minute.

WHITFIELD: So let me say what we have and then you can assess.

BROWN: OK. Hold on a second. We do -- we had something happen there. And then we have Scott running again from the police officer. All right. At this point is where the issue comes in. Up until that point, I don't see that Slager has acted in an inappropriate manner. I do see that Scott has acted in an inappropriate manner.

But here's the big issue. When you pull the trigger on a gun, there is one and only one reason you do that. That is because you believe you're in imminent danger of being killed. In other words, you would rather go into a courtroom than into a box. And take -- that's the chance you'll take, because you believe you don't pull the trigger, you will die.

(CROSSTALK)

[12:40:33] OK. We're not really addressing what everyone is looking at here, which is help us understand the natural reaction that now an officer might have or this officer might have. Your suspect is on the ground, has five bullets in the back. And now you are -- your natural inclination -- most people might think your natural inclination may be, oh, my gosh, I just shot somebody, I just hurt somebody, I'm going to administer some kind of aid. You don't see that. Instead, what you see is this rather cavalier approach. And so I'm asking if you --

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: I think we're putting "cavalier" into the heads. This is a guy who has worked many situations. This is the routine you do, regardless of what has sort of happened. My point is --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: You handcuff someone who has been shot in the back?

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: First of all, we don't know what he dropped.

(CROSSTALK) BROWN: OK. Let me finish it. I want to finish my statement. The whole point comes down to, in the court of law, which is what Slager has to prove, is did he have the right to pull the trigger. Was he at that moment absolutely positive, and would every police officer agree and regular citizens, that he had to pull the trigger in order to save his own life? The answer is no.

WHITFIELD: Stop right there for a moment.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Joey, if you could respond and then, Cheryl, I would like to hear your take.

JACKSON: Yes, I will. The fact is, I don't have any issue with putting the word "cavalier" there, because that's exactly what I see. It appeared to me that Officer Slager was much more concerned with his well-being in going and getting whatever it was that he dropped by the body that was there of Walter Scott, that he wasn't administering aid or assisting in any way. That's a travesty.

The reality is that, yes, protocol may call for cuffing a person who we don't know is injured or dead. You want to make sure you're OK. But thereafter, certainly you could assist in some way. And not to assist at all, but to engage in the act of planting evidence is very troubling.

BROWN: We don't know that that was what happened.

JACKSON: Furthermore --

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Wait until there is -- we do not know that yet. And that's for the court to decide.

JACKSON: Pat, if you would allow me, as I allowed you to further make my point.

That's an issue. That's a very big issue. But backing up before that, I'm troubled because, legally, this is very problematic. Here's why, Fredricka. Number one, when you shoot and kill someone, are you in imminent danger of being dead yourself. When the threat is running away from you, it certainly doesn't appear that you're in danger.

Number two, when you use force, the force must be in proportion to the threat posed against you. If someone is five, 10, 15, 20 feet away, what danger are they posing? Step three, do they have a weapon.

BROWN: They might have a weapon possibly.

JACKSON: If you look at all in total the reasonableness of this conduct, I don't think by any measure when someone is running away from you it's reasonable.

Last point here, and again it involves the law. Tennessee versus Garner, 30 years ago, the Supreme Court said, even if a suspect is fleeing, even if they're a felon, the only time you're justified in using deadly force is if you yourself or someone else as a police officer either is in danger of serious bodily injury or danger of death.

BROWN: That's just what I said.

JACKSON: I don't think justification from a profiler or any other --

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: I just said that, exact words, what you just repeated me. What I said was that is the whole issue of the whole case here. And that goes to court, and Slager has to prove that there was some reason, he thought the guy was going to turn, thought he had another weapon on him. He has to prove that. If he can't prove that, he goes down. That's my point. Let's focus on what the actual issue is. Did he have the right to pull the trigger?

DORSEY: Fredricka, may I say something?

WHITFIELD: Cheryl, yes, please.

DORSEY: So, listen, officers receive an inordinate amount of training, and the tactics that led up to this shooting were outrageous. Had he not pursued a suspect without adequate backup, we would not be in this situation. And he understood -- Officer Slager, when he fired that trigger, he knew absolutely there was no probable cause, there was no immediate defense of life, and that is why he created an audio record of, "He took my taser to try to justify a shooting that was unjustifiable". And he exacerbated that by now going and placing the taser within close proximity to the body to further corroborate this lie that he is formulating and telling.

WHITFIELD: That sounds pretty simple.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Take that to court and let that be proven in court. That's all I'm saying. Did he have the right to pull the trigger? It's very simple.

JACKSON: I think the prosecution certainly will have a very good basis of proving what we see, unless we don't believe our lying eyes.

WHITFIELD: All right.

[12:45:10] DORSEY: And, of course, he didn't have the right to pull the trigger. Officers are taught to escalate and deescalate force. And you can only use that force that's reasonable to overcome the resistance. There was no resistance. Mr. Scott was running. The officer was incapable of catching him and shot him because he could not stop him.

WHITFIELD: And I wonder, as an officer, Cheryl, if you were in a situation like that and you see that there is another passenger in the car, if your instinct would be to run after the person who just ran away, or would you call for backup, or would you want to investigate who is the other person in the car to find out if you are in any sort of danger, or if you need in any way to further investigate before you were to run after someone. Would that be your instinct as an officer? Or would you leave your car --

DORSEY. Absolutely. The tactics --

WHITFIELD: -- and that other vehicle and that other passenger there to pursue the other suspect?

DORSEY: The tactics that the officer used were awful. You never run after a suspect, because it could have been a setup. He doesn't know if that suspect took off running because the passenger was now going to shoot him in the back. What he should have done was he should have radioed to responding units, backup, that the suspect was running and give a direction and allow his responding units to try to further detain him, and then his focus should have been on that person in the vehicle and not leave his police car open with weapons and other things that possibly could have been driven away with by this other person. And so the tactics were terrible.

And he's going to have to speak to that use of force. He's going to have to articulate why he tasered Mr. Scott, why he fired each and every round that was fired. I don't see any justification for any of that.

JACKSON: Fredricka, I'm also wondering if Cheryl Dorsey could address the issue of verbal commands. What about as he's running away, stop, halt, don't move, freeze, don't go any further.

Is it troubling to you as a person of long standing in law enforcement that no verbal commands were used?

WHITFIELD: We heard taser, taser, taser.

JACKSON: Taser, taser, taser. I'm speaking about giving an indication, as he's running away, if the taser doesn't work, to tell him to stop.

Is that something you might have done if you're in a police force in a situation like this?

WHITFIELD: Cheryl?

DORSEY: He's not really required to say "stop." Mr. Scott understands who he is. He's a police officer. He's in uniform. And they had just had an encounter. But again, when you look at the tactics -- and we understand this is not the first time that Officer Slager used excessive force. That's what he does. You don't escalate to a deadly force incident unless you've been abusive and overzealous previously.

That's what he does.

WHITFIELD: What do you mean that's what he does? DORSEY: Well, in 2013, he pulled a man out of his home at a 459 investigation, beat him, tasered him, and took him to the police station because he wasn't convinced when the man came to the door in his underwear and T-shirt that he was a resident. And when his mother said, "My son lives here," he still was not convinced.

WHITFIELD: I think --

(CROSSTALK)

DORSEY: -- took this gentleman to the police station -- he took this gentleman to the police station, to do what I don't know. But this was not the first time that he used excessive force. We know that so --

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: We're talking six years on the force, you have a complaint. And what you're doing is you're convicting this guy everything. Now I'm not saying he shouldn't be convicted. I'm just simply saying stick to the facts of what we do know.

WHITFIELD: Except that history will be something that is folded into it, especially if we're talking about a case --

BROWN: Yeah, but, hopefully, in the courtroom. Hopefully, in the courtroom. He's already been arrested. He's been charged. He's going to a courtroom. Let it happen out there instead of taking little teeny pieces of the puzzle and making assertions that we don't even know are true. Let them --

(CROSSTALK)

DORSEY: I think based on my 20 years of experience on the Los Angeles Police Department, as a supervisor --

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: You just told me it was routine.

DORSEY: Excessive force --

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: You told me it was all routine.

WHITFIELD: All right.

(CROSSTALK)

DORSEY: -- it's absolutely routine for officers to become aggressive at the end of a foot pursuit. It happens all of the time.

BROWN: Not routine. It happens. It's not routine.

(CROSSTALK) WHITFIELD: And we will leave it there. We know this conversation is going to continue. It certainly is one that's gotten under the skin of so many.

All right. Pat Brown, Cheryl Dorsey, Joey Jackson, thanks to all of you. Appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thank you, Fredricka. Have a great day.

BROWN: Thanks, Fredricka.

DORSEY: Thank you.

[12:49:04] WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, a home-grown terror. A former U.S. Army recruit charged with plotting to bomb a U.S. military base. And now his friend has been charged as well. How Facebook posts and vigilant readers tipped off the FBI.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. New in the last hour, CNN learned a second suspect has been arrested in connection with a Kansas man's plot to bomb a U.S. Army base. The Justice Department says Alexander Blair, 28, knew about 20-year-old John Booker's plan to detonate a car bomb at Ft. Riley, but didn't report it. Meanwhile, Booker, also known as Muhammad Abdallah Hasan, is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempting to damage property by means of an explosive, and attempting to provide material support to is.

The FBI says it was Booker's Facebook posts that first got their attention last year.

CNN's Evan Perez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: A 20-year-old American man was arrested as he prepared to carry out what he thought was a suicide bombing at Ft. Riley Army Base in Kansas. John T. Booker enlisted last year in the Army. But the Army cancelled his enlistment before he showed up for basic training. That's after the FBI says it found Facebook postings claiming he wanted to carry out jihad attacks.

Booker also goes by the name Muhammad Abdallah Hasan. The FBI says he wanted to carry out Friday's attack for ISIS. Two undercover FBI informants helped orchestrate a sting operation, helping him buy components what he thought were explosives.

Booker was interviewed last year by the FBI about the Facebook posts. One read, "I will soon be leaving you forever. So goodbye. I'm going to wage jihad in hopes that I die."

The FBI says he told agents he wanted to carry out an insider terrorist attack like the one on Ft. Hood in 2009 that killed 13 people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Evan Perez.

And according to reports, a Muslim cleric says 20-year-old John Booker was mentally ill and was acting strangely days before his arrest. This is the 21st terror related arrest on U.S. soil this year.

Joining me now, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, CNN military analyst.

OK, 21 arrests. That's pretty significant. That's up to John Booker. Now I wonder whether this Alexander Blair will be the 22nd considered American arrested for any potential ISIS activity. Is that a big number to you?

[12:55:04] LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I don't think it is, Fredricka. You know, when you're talking about 20 people in a population of 300 million in the United States, there are going to be strange actors out there. And this individual seemed to fit in that category. What concerns me more about him is his background and some of the things he participated in before he actually thought of this plot.

WHITFIELD: So this Alexandra Blair, the second person arrested, you know, charged with failing to report Booker's plans to authorities. So the complaint alleges that Blair and Booker shared extremist views and that Blair loaned Booker money to rent space to build and store a bomb. So what kind of message, in your view, might these charges be sending? The message being that you may be, you know, allegedly complicit and anyone aware of your plan may be facing charges as well.

HERTLING: Well, yeah. Mr. -- I would suggest though, Fred, Mr. Blair was a lot more than just being complicit. Early indicators in this case, and when they were booked, suggest that Mr. Blair was actually providing money, helping with the plan. So he's an accomplice. And even though Booker was the guy that was going to do these things, Blair was certainly supporting his activity.

The third person involved was Mr. Booker's imam in the local Topeka area who attempted to talk him down from this plot. He saw him as a troubled and disturbed young man and was trying to lead him toward the right path to Islam, and he just said he got in contact with Mr. Booker a little bit too late to help him out.

WHITFIELD: And then after his comments about jihad on Facebook, the FBI questioned Booker and he was apparently pretty candid about his desire to kill American soldiers, telling investigators he enlisted in the Army with the intent to commit an insider attack like Major Nidal Hasan had done at Ft. Hood. Why, in your view, would that not be enough to be arrested sooner?

HERTLING: Well, it's -- the intent or mental state is not something that's going to cause an arrest. He actually has to take action. But it certainly took -- it was a great piece of information to feed to the Army. You know, Fred, we recruit in the military, in the Army, about 130,000

soldiers per year. He was a recruit. He was on a delayed entry program. He actually signed the papers earlier, or late last year, and was scheduled to report sometime in April. When the FBI found this out, there was great cooperation, not only with the FBI and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Kansas state troopers and all the government officials there, but they initially notified the military, too. The military initially knew nothing about this. So they cancelled, obviously, the enlistment contract. And it was a good thing. But then they continued to watch him to see what kind of effort he would place on to this plan that he had talked about.

You can't arrest people for just saying something like this unless they establish some kind of intent to actually do it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, good to see you. Thank you so much.

HERTLING: Good to see you, too, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Still ahead, historic times between the United States and Cuba. Both countries' leaders are in Panama today for the Summit of the Americas.

And our Jim Acosta is there, as well -- Jim?

[12:53:26] JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, President Obama shakes hands with Raul Castro and talks about a new relationship with the people of Cuba. We'll break down this history-making moment in just a few moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Panama is hosting today's Summit of the Americas. And then this is the first time in the Summit's 20 year history that Cuba has been allowed to attend.

It's also the setting for the new diplomatic dynamic between the U.S. and Cuba as relations continues to saw (ph). President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro shook hands in Panama City last night. You see right there.

And today the leaders are meeting face to face at the summit and that would be the first meeting of its kind between the two countries since 1959, when Vice President Richard Nixon met with then Prime Minister Fidel Castro. Jim Acosta is in Panama City. So Jim what more can you tell us about this meeting, is it happening now, has it happened, what are they've been talking about, what's the tone all of that good stuff?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, a lot of good stuff to talk about. It's interesting to watch. This is really history in the making Fredricka, this countries have been cold war adversaries for more than half of century.

And what you're seeing now is that eyes being shift away. The president just wrapped up remarks a few moments ago here at the Summit of the Americas. He talked about how he's trying to usher in a new relationship with the people of Cuba talking about really ending a practice of what he describe as U.S. meddling in Latin America.

And this was as Raul Castro was in the room sitting just a few feet away from him. And so, you know, we should point out that Raul Castro the Cuban leader is speaking right now. But before Raul Castro started speaking the president gave a fairly lengthy address to this fellow Latin American and western hemispheric leaders.

And he said during that moment that--what he wants to see is really a new era in relations between the U.S. an d Cuba here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA: The United States will not be imprisoned by the past. We're looking to the future and the policies that improve the lives of the Cuban people. And advance the interests of cooperation in the hemisphere.

Now this shift in U.S. policy represents a turning point for our entire region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And the president went on to say it was sort of a moment when he was lecturing some of these more lefties Latin American leaders where he said, you know, what you can't blame the United States for all of your problems. And that he as president of the United States is going to continue to speak out on human rights on issues involving a political prisoners that that is not going to change despite this new overtures and this normalizing of relations with Cuba.

And then Fredricka very interestingly after that, after the president of the United States spoke, Raul Castro took the microphone and he started speaking for several minutes. As matter of fact he still speaking right now, he's been going on for about 30 minutes.

He said he's trying to makeup for the last time given the fact that this is the first summit that he's been invited too. And he ran through the litany of grievances at the Cuban people and that the Cuban government has against the United States, supporter past dictators, of the fact that the U.S. still controls a naval base in Guantanamo. So this was sort of a cold war of post cold war moment that we're seeing taking place here this afternoon.

Now as for that meeting that's going to be coming up we do expect that to happen after this remarks. And we should have more on that later on this afternoon Fredricka.

[12:35:02] WHITFIELD: All right and maybe quite simply put, you know, Jim its part of the family DNA, his Fidel has known to be very loquacious as well.

ACOSTA: That's right, I think so.

WHITFIELD: All right Jim Acosta.

ACOSTA: I think it's exactly right.

WHITFIELD: All right thank you so much, keep us posted there from Panama City, Panama.

And we'll be right back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right we're going to take you right now to Summerville South Carolina. Where inside this building the W.O.R.D. Ministries Christian Center is the funeral that is wrapping up for 50 year old Walter Scott who was gun down by police office in North Charleston one week ago today.

And we understand of the representatives of the Walter Scott family. We'll soon be taking to the microphones that you can see right there in the fore ground right in front of those vehicles right there.

And of course we'll take those comments live coming from at least one of the family attorneys, we understand we'll be taking to the microphone Chris Stewart and perhaps even South Carolina representative Justin Bamberg. And when that happens we'll go there live.

At the mean time our Polo Sandoval has been outside of that building all morning long. Services got underway about an hour and a half ago. Polo what more can you tell us about the services which were open to the public in a very private setting.

[12:40:01] POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right Fred, if I wrap up quickly that so we can actually go to the comments themselves. For the mean time let me set the stage right now we were told that those at least in memorial service is -- about to wrap up. And really this is close as we can take you, respecting the family's wishes to really keep our distance.

But reports from inside now seem to indicate it was really a very emotional, very powerful moment. There were people, they're actually willing to wait outside in the rain for a moment to share in some of those or at least for a chance to sharing those emotional moments. And from what we're told is obviously Scott's daughter sharing a very powerful poem that she dedicated for her father. And then we're told that perhaps one of the most emotional moments came with Scott's brother took the podium and said that God had selected his brother as a candidate for change in America and then he went on to say, "That change will come."

The public then responding with a standing ovation, so again, a very powerful moment, just seven days after Walter Scott was shot and killed by Officer Michael Slager.

At this point, I can tell you again we're preparing right now to see the folks that filled the facility that you see behind me, walk back out. We're also expecting to see Mr. Scott's flag draped casket also carried back into the hears. And that of course the arrangements continue. You recall that Scott was -- had received an honorary discharge from the Coast Guard.

And finally I will tell you as well Fred that this outraged community did put a lot of their protest or demonstrations on pause they said today. It's about supporting the Scott family.

I can tell you after today's day of solemn remembrance, there's going to be so many questions to be asked including why did Scott run a week ago, and of course why did Officer Slager respond with deadly force. Fred?

WHITFIELD: And Polo, even on interviews right here on CNN, brothers and friends of Walter Scott said they thought in large part one of the reasons why he run is because he had backed child support, there was an arrest warrant out for him, he had already served time in that. In their view it was likely just fear of the notion of going back to jail particularly about, you know, back child support. Of course, a lot of those questions still unanswered but that was the perspective right here on CNN of one of the brothers and another friend.

But what more if anything is being sent from other friends and family members, perhaps even about the other passenger who is in the vehicle with Mr. Scott at that moment. We saw that in that dash cam vehicle that there was another, a person, has any family member or even friend heard from that person, what that person's account was or even what happened once police even questioned to that person.

SANDOVAL: Fred, I could tell you that very few people have actually heard from that person, mainly police investigators. And speaking to that person is really going to be key because keep in mind, this was essentially the last individual to speak to Scott before he made the decision to run away from the vehicle.

And of course we now know how that ended. But really, the main key here will be to try to hear from that individual, he would potentially be able to paint a picture about what's happening inside that Mercedes before Officer Slager gave chase and of course fired those eight shots, five of which hit Mr. Scott.

But at this point after repeated attempts by CNN to try to track that individual down, we have not been able to find it. But really, we're told he's only been -- at least he's only spoken to police investigators. He did it as recently as yesterday. And also he was able to speak to them just in the moments following that shooting that happened a week ago today. Fred.

WHITFIELD: And so Polo, was anyone saying that they find even that rather unusual that by now perhaps police department might present that public report, that report that would indicate that person's name, what that person's account was. Has that even been provided?

SANDOVAL: We're told that at this point that person wants to at least is choosing to remain anonymous. We -- several of our teams have actually gone to his place of employment or at least what we originally were told where he work, which is from distribution. After speaking to that company, they said no, he was not an employee here.

His family members, Mr. Scott's family members also weren't able to provide a whole lot of information. And as for the police reports at this point have not gone into great detail as to or at least regarding who that person is. So again, that is one of the big questions that will linger following today's memorial.

WHITFIELD: And then of course the dash cam videos are being, you know, reviewed, and there have been many angles from your reporting based on what has ben revealed. Do any of the dash cam videos whether it be from the former officer Michael Slager's, his vehicle or whether any other arriving officers. Do their dash cams give a new view or does it at least fill in some blank from the perspective of those who are investigating?

[12:45:14] SANDOVAL: Right, I'd tell you, what we have at this point is a timeline. But we have a beginning which are those dash cam videos that you just mentioned, Officer Slagers dash cam video and also several of his fellow officers that show not only the initial traffic stop but the point of view of some of the responding officers.

And then we also have that very graphic and disturbing cellphone video that was captured by that bystander. But at the same time there is still that gap. We were able to determine that there was close to 250 yards between the spot where that initial traffic stop happened Saturday morning and where the actual shooting happens.

So, the main question here what happened during those few seconds potentially even up to a minute between that the actual traffic stop itself and the shooting, why did he run, was there an exchange during that tousle.

And most importantly, again why did Officer Slager feel the need to respond with deadly force?

WHITFIELD: And then it has an account and I see some people walking at least near the microphones that are set up behind you. And of course just a reminder as soon the attorneys representing the family do take to the microphone we'll go that live Chris Stewart one of the attorneys we understand will be taking to the microphone and possibly even South Carolina representative of Justin Bamberg also. So, Polo lets continue to talk if we could. Has an account from the arriving officer has been made clear about their points of view or what they wrote down or recorded in their reports has that been made public?

SANDOVAL: You know, that is actually a very good question at this point. The last public version that we receive was last Wednesday when the North Charleston city mayor along with his police chief turn to the podium and they basically brought the public have to speed (ph) on what they knew up to that point that the same time during that press conference they made it clear that they want to wait until after today's memorial service before they release more information.

So, at this point several diversions from some of Slager's fellow officers, the ones who actually responded to the scene, we have not heard that quite yet. So it'll be interesting to see after today exactly what comes out of that and of course what the Scott legal team or at least what avenues they continue to pursue of course any moment now we expect to hear it from them, so we could potentially hear what's next for the Scott family.

WHITFIELD: And of course Walter Scott being laid to rest today, there you are outside of the building where services were taking place before he has been going to be buried.

And from the family members can you give us some indication as to how they made their request of allowing the service to be public, open to the public meaning anyone in the area could attend but at the same time they did say they wanted it still to be somewhat private. How were they able to split the difference so to speak?

SANDOVAL: You know, Fred a judge of yesterday we did go to the funeral home in downtown at Charleston. I myself actually stepped in after identifying myself. And see, I was welcome to step inside. They're simply asking that no cameras be involve to this point that they obviously want to share the story of their love one, they want people to get to know who he is, despite of some of the reports that we keep hearing potentially what may have happened that day.

So, back to today you'll see there's a bright yellow tape that surrounds that the facility itself here, W.O.R.D. Ministries, the family requesting that the cameras simply stay on that side. But they are welcoming if there was room any member of the public, any member of the press to take part in this because again it is a big day for them at the same time a very emotional one as well.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. Indeed. All right Polo Sandoval keep us posted thank you so much from Summerville South Carolina of course we're going to continue to monitor the situation there.

And we'll be right back in the news room after this.

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[12:52:44] WHITFIELD: All right let's talk golfing shall we. The Masters today is the third round at the golf most prestigious event. And now Augusta national event, Jordan Spieth home court but you can tell that he is feeling very comfortable there. Get used to the name his only 21 years old, his from Texas. And right now he has a five shot lead after just two rounds.

CNNs Sports anchor Rachel Nichols is in Augusta. But Rachel we all know and that's what makes Augusta so incredible. Anything can happen but let's talk about him because he's in the spotlight right now. So, introduce us to him.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, absolutely. Look it's impressive to be five strokes up after only two days but that still means you've got two days to play. And so far he looks so comfortable, he could be playing just a college golf tournament.

But oh by the way it's the Masters. And he's got some experience with this. He played very well in this tournament last year as a 20 year old. He didn't leave from wire to wire but he crept in to contention to the point where he was actually two strokes up on the final Sunday with just 11 holes to play.

Unfortunately at that point it did seem like the pressure got to him. He sort of started to have some issues. Bubba Watson was able to charge forward and take the tournament. But he spoke after his round yesterday about learning from that experience and how he thinks things could be different this time. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORDAN SPIETH, LEADS MASTERS BY 5 SHOTS: What I learned was patience. What I learned was that the weekend of a major, those rounds can often seem like two rounds and kind of the mental, you know, stuff that's running through your head, the stress levels, and sometimes, you know, they are higher.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLS: Now the biggest collapse we ever saw at the Masters was in 1996. Greg Norman, was up six strokes and basically just couldn't handle it really gave away the title. That year has been brought up Fred by a couple other golfers when they've been asked about just (inaudible). And they say well remember 96, remember 96 we all remember 96 and Greg Norman.

But gosh this kid doesn't seem like that, he seems incredibly composed. I think someone else is going to have to make a charge to win this.

[12:54:58] WHITFIELD: Wow there's a maturity about him. I love that he says, you know, what I learned patience that is something that, you know, sometimes it takes a life journey, a life's journey before you finally come in terms with that.

So let's talk about Tiger Woods. His had his own kind of journey and he's a lot of history there at the Masters. And he looks pretty good though right now doesn't he? NICHOLS: Yeah, you know, Tiger so many struggles over the recent years. We've got the back surgery that he was dealing with last year, injury problems, this year it just seem to be what recreational golfers had. They have the yeps for awhile, couldn't handle this short game. So he took a nine week break.

He said he needed to get back into tournament form. Nobody knew what kind of Tiger Woods we were going to get when he showed up here at Augusta.

But we got the funny Tiger Woods, we got the fun, loving Tiger Woods and we got golfer Tiger Woods. He is still 12 strokes out of the lead. But he is playing well and you could see him making run here. Maybe getting into the top five that will be good for over turn Fred.

WHITFIELD: That's neat. And I saw some great pictures of his kid dressed like they were this catty (ph), so very cute stuff.

All right Rachel Nichols thank you so much. We look forward to more, more, more of Rachel at the Masters. Rachel will host all access at Augusta as CNN Bleacher Report Special 2:30 Eastern Time today.

And of course we're also are waiting, the representatives of the family of Walter Scott to emerge from this building in Summerville South Carolina after lying him to rest. Some representatives will take to the microphones.

We'll take that live as it happens right after this.

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