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Protests Grow over Lion Kill; A Possible Ebola Vaccine?; Cincinnati Officer Accused of Murder Out on Bond; Chilling New 911 Calls from Lafayette Theater Shooting; Clinton Campaign Hits Hard at NYT. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 31, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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


[09:30:00] DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, it's pretty extraordinary, this global outcry about the killing of this iconic lion, Carol. And now that scorn has shifted into another level with the possible legal proceedings against Dr. Walt Palmer.

Now, the Zimbabwean officials said they'd already started those extradition proceedings, calling this an orchestrated poaching event and saying that, you know, this could even harm U.S./Zimbabwe relations which, frankly, aren't at a great point at this stage if the U.S. does not extradite Dr. Palmer.

Now, extradition proceedings can take a long time. They are very tricky. But that petition to the White House is piling more pressure on the Obama administration to reply in this case, well, the case that has already sparked the world's attention.

Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the thing is, is nobody know where this dentist is, although he has vowed to cooperate, apparently he's gone into hiding.

MCKENZIE: It's very hard to cooperate when effectively officials can't reach you. Now certainly there have been officials in the U.S. saying they want to talk to Dr. Palmer. At this stage, all he's done is put out that statement saying that he knew -- that he -- that he did kill this lion, but he didn't know it was illegal and he depended on the expertise of his local guides. Those guides could now face 10 years in prison.

Now, the other thing we're watching very closely, of course, Carol, is the fate of the cubs. This lion had at least a dozen cubs, if not more, and generally what happens when the primary male is killed, the other males will come in and kill those cubs. Now we do know at this stage that they are safe, but certainly it would have a huge and emotional impact if these cubs were still killed and then if these cubs were killed and, of course, it would just add to the weight of outrage against Dr. Palmer.

Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, my God, they're so adorable. You're right about that, it would add to the outrage.

David McKenzie, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

We turn now to what could be a major development in the fight against the deadly Ebola virus. A World Health official is now calling a newly-developed vaccine highly effective. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me now to tell us about this vaccine.

Hi, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hi, Carol.

Carol, this is indeed an exciting development in this field. So what they did, this is the World Health Organization and others, is they took 4,000 people in west Africa who had contact with someone who had Ebola or contact with a contact with someone who had Ebola. In other words, quite likely to get Ebola. And when they gave this vaccine pretty quickly and then they waited 10 days for it to kick in, it was 100 percent effective against Ebola. None of the people in that category got Ebola. And you would certainly have expects at least some of them to get it.

So, again, a very exciting development. This study is ongoing. And all of this work was done very quickly. In 11 months they did all of this research that usually would take about a decade or more.

Carol.

COSTELLO: That's amazing. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks for the good news this morning. We appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, new body cam video out of Cincinnati. What this white officer said moments after killing an unarmed black man.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:37:21] COSTELLO: New video in the case of a white officer who gunned down an unarmed black man. Footage from a third body cam is bringing us a new angle of the moments right after University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing shot and killed Sam DuBose.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER TENSING: That guy was going to run me over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK?

TENSING: I'm good. Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

DISPATCHER: (INAUDIBLE).

TENSING: Start medic (ph). We've got gunshot wound to the head.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What, did he pull on you? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rice and Valencia (ph).

DISPATCHER: All right, we've got medical rolling. Who was injured?

TENSING: I'm on air. I almost got ran over by a car that took off on me. I discharged one round. Shot the male in the head.

He didn't reach for anything. Stand back! Stay back!

I just got tangled in the car. I thought he was going to run me over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Tensing pleaded not guilty and is now free on bond. His next court date is a few weeks away. Jean Casarez live in Cincinnati this morning. She spoke with his attorney.

Good morning, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Stewart Matthews, who is the attorney for Mr. Tensing, says that he's getting phone calls from all over the country, from police officers, from university professors, from experts in body cams and they are studying this video apparently as it is run on television. And he did tell me in regard to some of the claims we're hearing that his client made, one question I had was, we hear he put his hand inside the car. Why did he do that? He says that his client saw Sam DuBose actually put the key in the ignition and turn it on and put the car in drive. At this point his client decided, I'm going to try to get the keys out of the ignition and so he put his hand in the car attempting to do that, and that's when the hand began to get tangled.

I also asked him about the dragging, because we don't see that on the video. You don't see dragging as apparently this police officer is claiming. He says that there is a very small portion of five seconds when his client is on the ground, not where the car and the shot took place, but extended outward down the street a little bit. He calls it an oil stain is down there. And if you see the original body cam video, you do see a stain in the road down there. And he claims that he didn't get down there just by walking, that he was dragged down there.

Now listen to the attorney in his own words describe that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART MATTHEWS, ATTORNEY FOR RAY TENSING: Officer Lindinshmit's (ph) video clearly shows Officer Tensing laying in the street some distance from where Mr. DuBose's car was initially stopped. He didn't crawl up there. He didn't walk up there and fall down. Somehow he got up there. He says he was dragged and I think that that's accurate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:40:15] CASAREZ: Now, of course, the prosecuting attorney in his press conference said that is just an excuse as far as Tensing saying that he was dragged. That he is not telling the truth. That if he fell down, he fell down on his own accord.

And, Carol, we do want to tell everybody that it was yesterday at 6:30 that when Officer Tensing actually made bond, $100,000 cash posted. So he was out. He was on suicide watch while he was inside the jail. And we knew beforehand he was going to be in protective custody, meaning alone in that jail, before he was released.

COSTELLO: All right, Jean Casarez reporting live from Cincinnati. Thanks so much.

Tensing's lawyer isn't the only one talking. The family of Samuel DuBose is also speaking out in light of this new video. The victim's sister, Terina Allen, says she doesn't see what the officer claims and is now offering this -- this challenge to Tensing's attorney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERINA ALLEN, SISTER OF SAMUEL DUBOSE: There's not a camera angle that's not going to show Sam not putting his hands up and saying, what are you doing? Go ahead, I would ask his attorney to go get those angles and show me the angles that show where my brother did not basically beg for his life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: With me now is Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell.

Thanks so much, chief, for being with me this morning. I appreciate it.

JEFFREY BLACKWELL, CINCINNATI POLICE CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

The prosecutor says Tensing should never have been a police officer. Do you agree?

BLACKWELL: You know, I haven't had a chance to delve into his background file or peruse any of those documents, so it's not appropriate for me to comment on his suitability at being a police officer.

What I will say, though, is that it's clear -- and I think the prosecutor made the right call -- that he had an egregious error in judgment or his conduct was by far way out of line as to what you would expect from a professional police officer.

COSTELLO: As you were watching these videotapes, you know, from various body cameras, were you horrified? What went through your mind?

BLACKWELL: Yes, I was. I was -- when I viewed the tape, I was just extremely disappointed at what I witnessed on that body camera tape. I think the nation is. Certainly our city is. I think the prosecutor did the right thing. Our agency responded in a timely fashion. We were thorough, yet we got it done in a very quick fashion because the vitality of our city depends on our transparency and our ability to tell the truth. And we did that, I think.

COSTELLO: Chief, did you -- chief, did you see any evidence that this police officer was being dragged by that car?

BLACKWELL: None whatsoever in my mind. And I know there's talk of a second view with a different body camera that may show something other than the first one did. I'm just not buying that. I'm not seeing that. And my 30 years of experience just won't let me process that.

COSTELLO: Tensing belonged to the University of Cincinnati police force. I just wondered about their training. Is their training different from those who serve on your force?

BLACKWELL: Absolutely. We have one of the best trained agencies in the world. And I don't know what their training is per sat exactly, but I do know it's not to the level of my agency here. Another thing is important to talk about, it's not just the training, but it's the temperament that you police with. It's your style. It's your platform. It's what you hope to accomplish when you police a community.

And we do things a little different here. We believe in community engagement equally as much as we do with law enforcement. We believe in partnerships and collaboration. I'm not sure that any other agency does that around here the way we do. So our concerns are more with that than his lack of training.

COSTELLO: Do you think that university police ought to carry guns?

BLACKWELL: Well, you know, our city is very urban. University of Cincinnati sits in a very urban part of the community. So I haven't really developed an opinion one way or another on whether or not campus police officers should be armed. We're going to talk about that. The president of the university and I and our city leaders here are going to be discussing how we move forward and how we police the University of Cincinnati community in the coming days.

COSTELLO: Because in my mind this university police officer was pulling a guy over for not displaying a front license plate, which seems to have nothing to do with university safety. So I was a little confused about that.

BLACKWELL: I am confused about that as well, Carol. When officers fish like that --

[09:45:01] And let's get one thing clear first: No front tag is a legal violation. It's a criminal violation. But he was several blocks off of campus in one of our communities that border the university. Clearly he was fishing for a traffic violation or something bigger, which led unfortunately to the tragic death of Sam DuBose. Had he been on campus making sure the students were safe, maybe this doesn't happen.

COSTELLO: And, Chief, just a final question. Do you think Mr. DuBose was pulled over because he was African American? BLACKWELL: You know, I don't have any basis to make that judgment. I

don't have any indication there was some racial profiling involved. So I won't go there. But I think the record speaks for itself, that it was a stop for no front tag that quickly digressed into a use of deadly force situation that, by all accounts, was completely and wholly inappropriate.

COSTELLO: Chief Jeffrey Blackwell, always a pleasure. Thank you so much for being with me this morning. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, we've got newly released video of the Lafayette theater gunman moments before his rampage. Plus the riveting 911 calls.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:26] COSTELLO: The panic and fear from last week's deadly shooting inside that movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana, are revealed in newly released evidence. For the first time, chilling surveillance video shows the gunman calmly entering the theater. And moments later 911 calls capture the horrifying aftermath.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has more for you this morning. Good morning, Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. All these calls and radio traffic and the surveillance video released by authorities there in Lafayette, and as you mentioned, it captures the horrifying moments when this shooting erupted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Chilling new surveillance video shows Louisiana shooter John Russell Houser buying his movie ticket, calmly walking past a concession stand, and right down the hall, straight into Theater 14. Less than 15 minutes into the movie, Houser pulls out a .40 caliber handgun and fires off at least 13 rounds.

These are the frantic 911 calls that began pouring in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a shooting Grand 16.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, he shot right at people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's two people shot, two people shot.

LAVANDERA: Police race to the scene.

POLICE OFFICER: We need everybody over here. Send anybody you got.

LAVANDERA: Police say the shooter initially tried to escape by blending into the fleeing crowd.

POLICE OFFICER: Everybody hang on. They say he's inside. He is reloading. He has a weapon. We have an active shooter here.

LAVANDERA: The presence of law enforcement caused him to turn the gun on himself, according to officials, but not before killing these two women and injuring nine more.

POLICE OFFICER: Suspect is down! Suspect is down! We have several more victims inside with gunshot wounds.

LAVANDERA: Thursday night in Lafayette --

CROWD (singing): Amazing grace.

LAVANDERA: -- hundreds attend a celebration in remembrance of the two victims one week after their tragic deaths.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just want to say thank you for everyone involved in finding my daughter on that horrible day.

LAVANDERA: The community-wide event titled Unite, Honor, Heal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): And God's grace will lead me home

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (on camera): And, Carol, of course, these new evidence, these recordings, don't really do much to answer the main question that so many people have: Why would that man who has been described as a drifter come from Alabama, pick this theater in that city? That is a question that still remains unanswered, Carol.

COSTELLO: Ed Lavandera reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, it is Hillary Clinton versus "The New York Times". Her campaign is taking on the paper for what it calls egregious errors. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:57:12] COSTELLO: Hillary Clinton's campaign is taking on "The New York Times". They accuse the paper of egregious errors in a story published a week ago about the Clinton e-mail probe. And now in a highly unusual move, the Clinton team is formally protesting the story.

CNN's senior media correspondent Brian Stelter joins us now with more.

So some people might be surprised that Hillary Clinton is picking on what some consider the most liberal newspaper in America.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, "The Times" has been on the Hillary beat longer than anybody else. They have reporters assigned to her campaign years, in fact, years before it was a campaign. And "The Times" is now taking a lot of heat from the Clinton campaign.

This article came out a week ago. It referred to a criminal inquiry that was being requested into her private e-mail server. Now, the word "criminal" was then removed. The story was revised, the story was corrected, but it was revised awfully late. It took a long time for "The Times" to add a correction. And now the Clinton campaign is actually writing to the newspaper's executive editor complaining in a 2,000-word letter.

COSTELLO: Wow.

STELTER: They say they wanted this letter published in "The Times". Well, that wasn't going to happen, let's be realistic. But they at least want it published on the website. The Clinton campaign says "The Times" rejected the letter, wouldn't print it, so they're making it public now instead.

COSTELLO: What do they say in 2,000 words?

STELTER: They say this was egregious, egregious behavior by "The Times". They abandoned journalistic principles and that they didn't give the campaign enough time to comment. They said there were a few big mistakes here: They trusted the wrong sources, the reporters didn't call the campaign with enough heads up, enough notice ahead of time, and they say once they realized there were mistakes, the paper didn't correct them fast enough.

Basically I think what the Clinton campaign is doing here is putting all journalists on notice. We're watching; we're taking this stuff seriously. If you're going to come at us with negative stories, we're going to come back at you. If you're going to write about this private e-mail server, you better get your facts straight.

It's a very unusual move though. I mean, I haven't seen any campaign go this aggressively at a news outlet like "The New York Times".

COSTELLO: Well, you usually hear it on the other side. I mean, "The New York Times" is clearly wrong, right? So, the Clinton camp --

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: Yes, "The Times" did screw up here. They've acknowledged that.

COSTELLO: But going after the media is a well-worn political kind of thing to do, right?

STELTER: Right. It's probably the oldest trick in the book, but it does sometimes work. It does sometimes create more pressure. Sometimes we call it playing the refs, working the refs. You know, if the journalists are the referees in this case.

But I think what we're seeing here is a very aggressive stance by the Clinton campaign, trying to send a message they are paying close attention, that they feel there's this assumption by some journalists that the Clinton campaign is sleazy, that it's corrupt in some way. You know, we hear Donald Trump using the word criminal all the time now referring to the Clinton campaign and referring to Clinton specifically.

This campaign is saying it is not going to stand for it. It's going to be aggressive. And if you make a mistake, they are going to write a 2,000-word letter to you and then print it. This is the world we live in now. If you write a letter to "The Times" and they don't publish it, you're going to publish it yourself on your own website.

COSTELLO: Brian Stelter, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

[10:00:02] The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)