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Second Night of Violent Protests in Charlotte; Video Released of Tulsa Shooting; Presidential Candidates React to Shootings. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired September 22, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: A very warm welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
You are watching our breaking news coverage of the violent protests that followed the shooting of a black man in Charlotte, North Carolina.
For a second night in a row, demonstrators clashed violently with police. And it went on for hours. At this point, the crowds have cleared out, but the protest area is being treated as an active crime scene. One person was shot and critically wounded during the demonstrations and is now on life support. Police say the victim was shot by another civilian, not by police. Four officers are injured.
So, let's bring in CNN's Nick Valencia who is on the street of Charlotte right now. Nick, what is the scene this hour, just one minute after three in the morning. How many protestors remain on the streets there?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, it was certainly an ugly night here in downtown Charlotte. What's begun as a peaceful protest at about 7 or 8 p.m. local time turned violent quickly. And it was just in the matter of the last hour or so that the final protesters dispersed and some semblance of peace has returned to this downtown area.
But this is the aftermath. I'm going to walk here and we could show you exactly -- this is one of the properties that was heavily damaged, windows smashed out. The general manager of his hotel is having to clean up after the mess here.
Hey, Matt, you want to talk to CNN here real quick and tell us what happened last night? What did you guys go through?
MATT ALLEN, HYATT HOUSE GENERAL MANAGER: Well, it was just, we had a lot of protesters that were out -- that came out. You know, it was a little frightening. You know, but our biggest goal right now is the safety of our guests, our employees and really everyone in the city. So, I hate to see something like this happen in our city, but still love Charlotte.
VALENCIA: Why Hyatt? I mean, was it just -- it's just that the where it is in approximately to the demonstrations?
ALLEN: It was every business up and down the block here. So, they hit Time Warner Cable arena, the team store, the epicenter. I know there's a lot of damage up at the NASCAR hall of fame, a lot of the restaurants.
VALENCIA: From what you saw, we were talking to demonstrator's scene they said things didn't start to turn violent until the tear gas started. Did you see anything? Anything like that, or what did you see from your perspective?
ALLEN: Earlier in the night, yes, it was very peaceful, you know, like everyone they actually seem like they're in good spirits. There seemed to be some good camaraderie and I don't know what happened. They marched up the street a little bit and then things got ugly fast. Yes.
VALENCIA: We know you have a lot of work to do, Matt. Thank you so much for taking the time. You got to watch yourself here. Take it easy. We have to watch ourselves, a lot of glass here on the streets, Rosemary, tear gas canisters. There were rubber devices fired as well as the demonstrators.
The protests happened all up and down about a half mile or so up this street here. It's the site of one of the main stadiums for sports teams here in the Charlotte area. When we got out on the street at about 2 a.m. Things began to calm down.
But there is still very heavy police presence. You see members of the North Carolina highway patrol with long guns, riot gear. We witnessed one arrest. The individual who I spoke to said that he wasn't doing anything. That he was just taken in to custody. I'm sure the police have a different story about that.
Four officers injured overnight and news crews, as well, were attacked as well, indiscriminately. Our own CNN Ed Lavandera was knocked over by a demonstrator who told him to tell the truth before he knocked him down. There was also a local affiliate here who was assaulted. Those two members of that affiliate are in the hospital from our understanding.
There was a bit of indication early on yesterday that there would not be a demonstration that local community leaders would focus instead on a community town hall. That was not the case. Last night was just as violent, perhaps even more violent than the first night.
Of course, this is all surrounding the shooting death of Keith Scott, a 43-year-old black man who was shot by police at 4 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. People here, individuals frustrated over what they say is a lack of transparency by the police department. No one has seen the dash cam footage or body cam footage from that shooting and that resulted in a growing anger toward police department.
What added to the frustration was a live stream video by his daughter in the moments after that shooting death where she alleged that her father did not have a gun. Was carrying a book. Investigators say that they did not find that book on the individual. Rather they found a handgun. They say he was armed when they opened fire.
[03:05:00] The family telling a different story. That encouraged demonstrators to come out and confront police officers, and last night we saw some more violence here on the streets of Charlotte. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Our Nick Valencia joining us there rom the streets of Charlotte in North Carolina. We're going to catch up with you again just in the second part of this show. So, stand by.
Well, Christian Somers was an eyewitness at the scene for several hours. He's a student at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte and is back on campus. He joins me now. Christian, thanks so much for staying up late to chat with us.
CHRISTIAN SOMERS, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA STUDENT: Anytime.
CHURCH: What all did you witness while you were on the streets during the protests?
SOMERS: It was an interesting night. You know, I got in to, what is it, Caldwell and East Trade Street by the Time Warner arena around 8.45 a.m. When I got there, I mean, that was pretty comfortable (Ph) like two hours after demonstrators start showing up the initial protest march initial part. And everybody was pretty peaceful.
And then as I kept walking up the Trade East Street towards College street, toward the epicenter, there were like waves of people just running and yelling. Like after like loud noises and stuff like that. So, people throwing at -- the police throwing tear gas.
CHURCH: So you are saying -- you are saying everything was peaceful until the tear gas was...
(CROSSTALK)
SOMERS: Yes. But the people were running and saying that someone had been shot. But someone was dead in the street. And so, at this point, you know, living in Charlotte the past two days, everybody was really downtrodden and because of the events because, you know, our community of color like, the people of color in our community are just beaten like really -- it's another hash tag, seriously. We can't stop this. But you know, it's actually come to our city very close to some. But.
CHURCH: So, were you there at the worst of this when the protests got violent?
SOMERS: I was there -- I don't understand what everybody is referring to as like the violence. Like, I actually had been not in person but on CNN reports, like you guys as reporters getting like, tackled and actually it's not cool. But from where I was, I have not...
(CROSSTALK)
CHURCH: But the looting -- right. But the breaking of glass for many of these businesses people having to clean up. SOMERS: Yes. (Inaudible) and the streets and landscaping and stuff
like that. That's what happened and I had witnessed that. I was walking past Ritz Carlton towards like, what is it, it's pretty much center of where the protests going on and where I saw a line of police and in riot gear and a line of protesters.
I was standing on like an elevated service like next to the epicenter just taking video and they started to throw tear gas, so everybody wanted to get out. And I'm like running back. People stopped. And it was historic and (Inaudible).
So, the looting started there. I think, unless there is other looting going on somewhere else, there was like this I saw somebody above the epicenter. And then, you know, there were some talking like there were period where I was just doing a lot of talking in between that. And right before they went to the team shop at the Hornets, and it was an interesting situation for sure.
CHURCH: So, Christian, why did you decide to be a part of this protest? And what do you think they have achieved here?
SOMERS: As far as, you know, more peaceful and the protestors like that that was going on earlier, I think that, you know, our community is trying to -- it could be a lot of things.
People of color are really trying to attain awareness and attention of something that's going on for so long. The people just, you know, giving them to do and listening to their needs and wants stuff like there. But instead people are, they have this issue of speaking for people of color and specific experiences of people of color because they don't understand.
So, I'm sorry. I just lost my train of thought. But I don't know. Like my intimate goal was to go there and show my support for the black community and the Black Lives Matter movement because black lives matter.
CHURCH: All right.
SOMERS: It's not -- it's not that complicated. Everybody says all lives matter, but black lives are part of that. All lives -- all live can't matter if black lives don't. So.
CHURCH: All right. Christian Somers, thank you so much for talking with us.
SOMERS: Yes, absolutely.
CHURCH: An eyewitness there at the scene of the protests. Many thanks.
[03:09:59] Well, video of the shooting that sparked these protests has not been released as we heard from Nick Valencia there. And this is really why we are seeing these people out on the street.
The officer who shot Keith Lamont Scott did not have a body camera but three other officers did. And investigators are reviewing that footage.
Earlier, CNN's Don Lemon spoke with Charlotte's mayor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER ROBERTS, CHARLOTTE MAYOR: We are working hard to bring peace and calm to our city. We know this is not who Charlotte is. This is not who we are. We are thinking of the words of the family of the Scott family when the wife and family have said to please have peaceful protests for people not to be violent. That violence will not help to bring our community back together.
We are urging people to stay home, stay off the streets. We are urging people to listen to their community leaders, their faith leaders, to the NAACP who issued a statement that said this not support violent protests. Violence is not the answer.
DON LEMON, CNN TONIGHT SHOW HOST: You said earlier you want community leaders to be able to view the video of the shooting so everyone would have the same information. Has what happened?
ROBERTS: We intend to do that tomorrow.
LEMON: Have you seen the video yourself?
ROBERTS: I will be seeing it tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: All right. When she says tomorrow of course she means Thursday, just a few hours. Three o'clock in the morning or just after three in the morning on the East Coast. So, we'll just hear more on this in a few hours from now.
Don Lemon also spoke with North Carolina's governor about the body cam videos. Pat McCrory warned they don't always tell the whole story.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)
PAT MCCRORY, NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR: One thing that I've learned in this business for now 25 years as the city councilman, chairman of the public safety committee, as a mayor for 14 years and now governor for three, one viewpoint of a video doesn't often always tell the whole story.
The angles can make a difference. And not hearing often in the video os that the complexity, the video is one piece of evidence. And we have to be careful. And then I go back to the constitutional rights of our police officers, which you have to also protect.
LEMON: Yes.
MCCRORY: It's a very delicate line that we as a, we as society are dealing with all the new media that is available. In one respect, it can be used to a very great, positive thing for our public and another way the video can also be abused. LEMON: Do you have seen this video, have you, governor?
MCCRORY: No, sir.
(END VOICE CLIP)
CHURCH: North Carolina governor Pat McCrory there speaking to our Don Lemon earlier. And as we've mentioned, people are angry over the decision not to release the video of the shooting of Keith Scott.
But in Tulsa, Oklahoma, authorities almost immediately made public video of an officer shooting and killing an African-American man. In that video Terrence Crutcher can be seen with his hands above his head before he was shot.
Joining me now is criminal defense attorney and constitutional attorney, Page Pate. Thank you so much for coming in and talking with us.
Now as we've been saying these new protests on the streets of North Carolina people are angry. Protesters are out there on the streets showing that enough is enough, as far as it comes with these police shootings of black men.
And we saw there with Keith Lamont Scott, the situation is that we are getting two narratives here. The police were insisting he was armed and witnesses and his family and those others who were present there are insisting he wasn't armed. That instead he actually had a book. How do you reconcile those two very different stories?
PAGE PATE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I think the only way you can reconcile those stories is to look at the evidence. And I so understand that there's at least one video of what happened but the police will not release that too, as yet.
To me, that suggests that the video does not necessarily support the police's version of what actually happened. While the police do not have to release video evidence when a case is under investigation, in many jurisdictions they will go ahead and do that, especially when if they think releasing that video will reduce the tensions, answer some of the questions and perhaps prove that the officer was acting reasonably at the time he used excessive force.
CHURCH: Now that's interesting. Because a day before, of course and we were covering this in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We saw the police shooting. Another black man, Terrence Crutcher. Now, that was, there was a lot of videos.
PAGE: Right.
CHURCH: There was from the helicopter, there was video from the -- on the ground level. And people were able to make an assessment of what had happened.
PAGE: Right. [03:14:59] CHURCH: Now again, different versions of events. Police insisting that he was reaching through the window to get a gun. And so, the officer shot him.
We can see, and as his attorneys have pointed out, we can see on the video that the window was closed.
PAGE: Right.
CHURCH: So, in that sort of instance where you do have that footage you can -- people can make their own conclusions. But again, how do you resolve that situation?
PAGE: You know, it is so different now than it used to be. Before we had video evidence of what happened. Just several years ago, before you would see all of this on a patrol or body camera or helicopter camera as we had in this case, you would just have the officer's word, for the most part, over what happened.
And that officer would say, well, the person had a firearm or I thought he may have had a firearm. I was in fear for my safety and that would have been the end of the story. Most people would have simply accepted the officer's version of what happened and would not have made any further inquiries.
Now we have video evidence. Now people can see for themselves what actually happened on the scene and they're second guessing the officer. Now it can be good and it can be bad. Because as an officer, you have to make a split-second determination whether to use deadly force or not to use it.
And after the fact, you are going to be judged on whether your decision was reasonable based on what was happening. But now at least other people can see that. We can investigate those incidents and we can hold officers responsible when they jump the gun and when they acted inappropriately.
And perhaps through these videos and looking at this evidence we can improve police-citizen encounters to the extent that they're not as deadly as they have been in the past. But it's not going to take some time.
Because right now I think the pendulum is swinging to the opposite end. We're very attentive; we're very responsive to these incidents. And hopefully at the end of the day we're going to reach another ground where officers are behaving appropriately and citizens who encounter them are behaving appropriately as well.
CHURCH: Now analysts have pointed out this discrepancy. What we were seeing in the wake of the New York and New Jersey bombings. And with Ahmad Khan Rahami, there was an effort to make sure he was taken alive.
PAGE: Right.
CHURCH: Because he had information. PAGE: Right.
CHURCH: They need to question him and find out whether he had any links to larger terror cells.
PAGE: Right.
CHURCH: People are saying, why not do the same thing when it comes to a lot of these black men who are getting shot and killed by police. Why is the same effort not applied?
PAGE: Well, I think in some situations you have investigators who are better trained. You have federal agents who are focusing on terrorism investigations. And they're working towards the same goal. And they have better training. They know what they are supposed to do and they share a common objective and to getting the person in custody, investigating what happened and finding out as much as they can.
On the flip side of that we have patrol officers who may not be that experienced, may not be properly trained just acting instinctively. And that's not a good thing in law enforcement. Because when you're encountering someone in an investigation, you have to rely on training and not necessarily, you know, split instant sort of reactions based on fear or insecurity.
So, I think we're missing out on the training for forces across the country that we have at the federal level. I know that Hillary Clinton has just proposed today the idea of national standards for police officers in use of force cases. That would be a welcome change. Because we don't have that now. We got a ton of different policies around the country and what may be OK in one jurisdiction is not in OK in another.
CHURCH: Page Pate, thank you so much for talking with us. I appreciate it.
PAGE: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: And we'll take a very short break here. But still to come the controversy over police shootings is now a top talking point for the presidential candidates. What they have to say, still to come.
[03:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN World Sport headlines.
There would be no upset for Manchester United and Jose Mourinho as the side negotiated their way to part New Hampton.
In the English Football League Cup, despite the 47 places between the sides the league won side held their own into the second half before the Premiere League's power houses reestablish control.
Goals from Michael Carrick and Herrera and another from teenage sensation Marcus Rashford sends United into the fourth round where they will face their neighbors Manchester City.
In Spain, Real Madrid had a frustration night missing out in the chance of creating history by failing to beat Villareal at home, the 1-1 draw is not Real's win streak in the league as 16 matches so they would stay top of the table.
It was also frustrating night for Barcelona Lionel Messi went top injured and its side were held to a 1-all draw by Atletico Madrid. Barca took a first half lead through Ivan Rakitic. But the visitors equalize on the hour mark a minute after Messi went off Atletico coach through Angel Correa.
And Rome has dropped its Olympic bid possibly once again. The Italian capital has apparently abandoned its bid for the 2024 Summer Games something it did in 2020 citing financial problems at that time. Money was also the reason given on Wednesday when Rome's mayor rejected the bid saying the Olympic would bury the city in debt.
And that's a look at all your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.
CHURCH: Welcome back to our breaking news.
Violent protesters have died down for now at least in North Carolina. Protesters smashed store front window and vandalized businesses throughout the downtown area. Some even broke into the Hyatt Hotel and assaulted the desk clerk and valet.
Others threw rocks and bottles at police, injuring at least four officers. And one man is in critical condition after he was shot by another civilian.
Now there was a lot of chaos as you can imagine the thickening of the protest plus the violence against our correspondents covering them. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROWD CHANTING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I have some mic?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why can't you, as a captain, hold this officer accountable for what he does?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. You don't.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It started as a peaceful protest outside of the police department. Things were somewhat tense but there were conversations had. At this point you can see people now are kicking the tear gas at the police officers who are sending it right back.
They just started shooting tear gas. The crowd of people broke up and we are running from the scene. So, there were agitators that were getting pulled in by police. And a couple of people started to sitting down. But police grabbed one and that's when everything just went out of control.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They were trying to get various people agitators out of the crowd. And there's other people came in to try to grab those people.
Yes, we're fine, Anderson. We're fine. So, just someone taking out their frustrations on me.
TOUSSANT ROMAIN, PUBLIC DEFENDER: They're throwing tear gas at you and at me because that's what happened earlier. Why did you get tear gassed? Why did I?
[03:25:01] We weren't being violent, but if we responded in a way that was frustrated and upset telling America this is enough. It doesn't mean I'm violent, man. It means I have had enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Scenes from earlier in the night. And Charlotte's mayor says they have considered setting a curfew for the city.
Earlier, CNN law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander spoke to us about whether that would work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Sometimes curfews work. They did not work very well in Ferguson. I know that for a fact being on the ground in Ferguson when the governor put curfews in to place there in Missouri they didn't work at all.
Because you will find those who are out to destroy property and to not exercise the First Amendment right in the way in which it was written. They don't care anything about curfews whatsoever. And it just becomes more of a challenge for the police. But that will be a decision that they will have to make.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The mayor is also trying to assure people that the investigation of Tuesday's shooting will be transparent. Now another matter up for debate is what exactly the protesters are taking issue with. The circumstances surrounding the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott
remain unclear.
Earlier, we heard from the president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, an African-American civil rights group. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BARBER, NAACP NORTH CAROLINA PRESIDENT: One scenario is an unarmed African-American man, who had a book was shot and somebody planted a gun on the spot. That's a possibility. The second possibility is that an unarmed -- an armed African-American who had a right to carry a gun was shot. And the third is an armed man was active in a way toward the police that caused him to be shot. We do not know.
The tapes and transparency has to come forward.
LEMON: Yes.
BARBER: And that's why I'm holding comments until we see the tapes, we get the facts. And we are saying to the protesters it's right to protest for the transparency but those who are provocateurs of violence you are not serving the calls of the family or the calls of justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And we'll head back to Charlotte, North Carolina after this very quick break. We'll get a live report and we'll check on the protests there after a night of violent clashes. Back in a moment.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.
CHURCH: A warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and of course, all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church at CNN center. I want to update you on this breaking news we've been covering this hour.
Protests seem to be calming down for now at least in Charlotte, North Carolina. Earlier, the second night of demonstrations turned violent. People have been protesting the police shooting of an African-American man on Tuesday. The clashes led officials to declare a state of emergency.
We are about to show you a video that is very graphic. We feel the images show just how violent the situation has been.
Now we don't know exactly how that man was injured or his current condition. But we understand that at this stage there was a man taken to hospital in serious condition and on life support.
Now, the deadly police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott sparked these protests. The police chief says Scott was armed but his family said he was reading a book in his car when officers approached and shot him.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)
LYRIC SCOTT, KEITH LAMONT SCOTT'S DAUGHTER: The police just shot my daddy for being black, they tased him first and then shot.
They just shot my daddy. Daddy! They just shot my daddy! My daddy is dead. My daddy is dead!
(END VOICE CLIP) CHURCH: It is harrowing. On Wednesday, Scott's wife released this
statement, quoting directing here, "Keith was a loving husband, father, brother and friend who will be deeply missed every day. As a family, we respect the rights of those who wish to protest but we ask that people protest peacefully. Please, do not hurt people or members of law enforcement, damage property or take things that do not belong to you in the name of protesting."
Well, CNN's Nick Valencia joins us again live from Charlotte. Nick, it looks very quiet behind you there after an incredibly violent night. Talk to us about what has happened there and what the scene there is at 3.33 in the morning.
VALENCIA: The situation was incredibly ugly just a couple of hours ago. We're here in front of one of the businesses, one of the string of businesses that was vandalized by demonstrators. What began as a peaceful protest at about 7 or 8 o'clock local time, it turned violent very quickly.
And this is been what's been left behind. You can see some of these businesses are just now beginning to cleanup process within the last hour, sweeping up the glass that's been smashed in. There was graffiti, Black Lives Matter protesters painting BLM on some of these businesses.
We, as we walked up this block here, this thorough fare, about a half mile up, it's just more of the same, Rosemary. We saw evidence of looting, evidence of vandalized businesses. We also saw this left behind tear gas canisters or smoke flash-bangs that the police were launching at the demonstrators to try to disperse them as things got more and more violent.
News crews were attacked. Police officers were injured and you can still see some of them here remain as they are continuing to guard this block here, North Carolina highway patrol.
As we swing to the other side here, guys, you could see we can't tell if these are demonstrators or protesters but they are certainly folks that are continuing to stay around in the area, the last remnants of what we've seen of people here who are not dressed in full riot gear who are not dressed in law enforcement gear.
But by and large, Rosemary, the streets here are quiet again in downtown Charlotte. Rosemary?
[03:35:02] CHURCH: And Nick, as with all protests in this modern age, social media has shown us some of the worse of what happened in Charlotte Wednesday night. Let's take a look at one Twitter feed that shows young men trashing and looting a souvenir store, of all things. To what extent are local business owners suffering right now as we look at these pictures?
VALENCIA: We saw that souvenir shop, it's just up the road here. And local businesses are just sort of scratching their heads running and trying to understand how and why they were targeted. They don't have anything to do with the shooting death of Keith Scott. And why it escalated to that point.
You know, I've covered a series of demonstrations throughout the country after a black man have been killed by police and when you ask people why they loot their hometown they say because you didn't pay attention until we did. That's the answer that we heard in Ferguson and Baltimore. And certainly, I'm sure that that's one of the answers that we could find here on the streets of Charlotte.
Organizers early yesterday had said that there was not going to be a protest here last night. They said they'd rather focus on a community hall to start the healing. That clearly did not happen.
And you talk about social media, Rosemary, playing a part in this. It was a live stream video on Facebook from the daughter of Keith Scott that contributed to a lot of the confrontations with police. That video has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
In it it's a very raw emotion as she finds out that her father had been shot and killed. As more and more people view that video they began to emerge in the streets on Tuesday night into Wednesday and confront police officers. Yesterday, unfortunately, we saw more of the same here in Charlotte. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Yes. Now of course Keith Scott's family is asking people to stop this. This is not the way to protest. They want to see more peaceful protests. And this is the problem. This sort of thing moves away from the message. It's lost somewhere, isn't it? And protesters want to see the body cam video, though, of the shooting of Keith Scott.
Why have the city leaders avoided releasing that. The mayor and governor even admitting they haven't seen it yet themselves but they will in the coming hours. Why the reluctance to make it public?
VALENCIA: Well, here's what we know. There is body cam footage, there is dash cam footage of the incident. According to the police chief it really doesn't make much sense of what happened at the scene, unfortunately, also adding to the frustration among demonstrators of Keith Scott's family as well, is this law that was signed in to effect by the governor the summer, HB972.
That law makes public access to body cameras and police footage virtually nonexistent. You have to get a judge's order in order for that to be released to the public. That is a fact that's not lost on the community here. They want more transparency; they want to see that video. They think that video would shed some answers and she some light on exactly what happened on Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m. when Keith Scott was shot and killed.
The police chief says, though, when he stresses to the public that it doesn't really show much. I think the public wants to see that video and until they do we might anticipate more of the same here in Charlotte. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Yes. Certainly it seems to be the case, doesn't it? Nick Valencia joining us there live from the streets of Charlotte. It is 3.38 in the morning and much calmer after a second night of protests there. Many thanks to you, Nick.
Well, Kristine Slade joins us on the phone from Charlotte. She was part of the protest on both days. Thank you so much for talking with us. And Charlotte, I just want to bring up a picture we have of you, if we could.
Have we got that picture, guys? There we can see you right in the front there kneeling before police. Talk to us about what was happening at the time that picture was taken.
Kristine Slade, are you on the phone? All right. I don't think we have Kristine on the phone. We will try to establish contact with her in just a moment but we will continue to follow the breaking news out of Charlotte, North Carolina this hour.
Just ahead how the U.S. presidential candidates are reacting. You are watching CNN Newsroom.
[03:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMAIN: We don't more people to go to die, no more people being arrested. We need to take a stand and do it the right way. People are hurting, man. People are upset. People are frustrated. People need leaders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: At least four police officers are recovering from injuries after a night of violent protests in Charlotte, North Carolina. One person is in critical condition after he was shot by another civilian.
Police fired tear gas and stun grenades to try to disperse the crowds. Demonstrators set fires in the streets and smashed store front windows throughout the downtown area. The protest started Tuesday night after police fatally shot an African-American man.
Kristine Slade joins us on the phone from Charlotte. We have reestablished contact with her. She was part of the protest on both days, as I mentioned before.
Kristine, as you joined us, we want to bring up that photo we showed our viewers earlier. You're kneeling before the police. Talk to us about what was happening there.
KRISTINE SLADE, PROTESTOR: Yes. Hi, thank you for having me on the show. So, basically on Tuesday evening I was told about the protest. And from there, I decided that it was the right thing to do to go and see what was happening in and around my community.
And so, by going there, I realized that there were other members of my community who are as outraged as well wanted to be a part of the movement. And so, while as I was there I realized that this is the one time that my voice could potentially be heard. And so, I felt like I did what was right and what I needed to do to
make sure that my voice was heard. So, I knelt down in front of the policeman as you can see in the photo and from there I went on to not necessarily give them a speech but to talk to them as people.
CHURCH: And talk to us about how that turned out.
SLADE: Some of the things I said, included things such as, thanking those policemen and women who understand the fight that we are currently fighting. I want to thank them for those who respect us, you know, members in the black community as we respect them and those who would rather be fighting with us instead of against us and just things of that nature.
CHURCH: So, Kristine, how do you feel when you see this violence later on as the night progressed? A lot of younger men came out and things got violent. And there was a lot of looting and destruction on the streets. How do you feel about that? And how it impacts the message you are trying to get across there as a peaceful protester?
[03:45:00] SLADE: To me, honestly, it hurts my heart to see to know that these are my fellow citizens who I live in the city of Charlotte with. And to know that these are buildings that not only I but other students of the University of North Carolina that Charlotte use.
It hurts us to see that these buildings are vandalized and damaged because of the anger and outrage of other citizens when there are clearly other ways to get our point across.
CHURCH: So, what do you think will occur on a third night? And presumably if a curfew isn't put in place would you plan to be going out to protest on a third night?
SLADE: If there is a curfew put in place, I will actually not go out. However, if there is a third night, I hope that there is no one near as much as violence as what was portrayed tonight.
However, I cannot predict the actions that people will do into the public. So, whatever happens tomorrow, I just pray that everybody is safe and uses their knowledge and common sense when going out and partaking in these activities. But, I, if there is another event tomorrow as long as it is a peaceful, and not as violent event I might possibly be in attendance.
CHURCH: All right. Kristine Slade, thank you so much for talking with us and getting your peaceful message across to our viewers and across the world. Many thanks to you.
SLADE: Thank you so much, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Well, police shootings such as the one in Charlotte are becoming a big focus in the U.S. presidential race.
Brianna Keilar has more on the candidate's reactions.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: On the campaign trail the police killings of black man in Oklahoma and North Carolina are dominating the conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is still much we don't know about what happened in both incidents. But we do know that we have two more names to add to a list of African-Americans killed by police officers in these encounters. It's unbearable and it needs to become intolerable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Donald Trump specifically addressing the killing of Terrence Crutcher in Tulsa, questioning if the female officer who shot him may have in his words 'choked.'
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People that choke, people that do that make me -- they can't be doing what they're doing, OK.
(APPLAUSE)
They can't be doing what they are doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Trump made those comments before a largely black audience in a church in Cleveland where he invited controversial boxing promoter Don King to introduce him. King using language unheard of in modern politics from the podium of a presidential nominee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON KING, BOXING PROMOTER: If you are intelligent, intellectual, you are an intellectual Negro. If you are dancing and sliding and gliding Niger, I mean, Negro.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Trump did not acknowledge King's word choice. In a Fox News town hall tape after the event Trump stressed his law and order message when asked how he would handle violence in black communities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I would do stop-and-frisk. I think you have to. We did it in New York. It worked incredibly well. And you have to be proactive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: His trip to Ohio part of his latest pitch to black voters with whom he has historically low support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape that they've been in before, ever, ever, ever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: A false claim that vastly defies all of the facts of American history. Trump's comments spawned outrage including from Congressman John Lewis, a Civil Rights movement icon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN LEWIS, HOUSE DEMOCRAT: I don't know where this man is coming from. Is he saying that the conditions worse than slavery?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Clinton is leading Trump overwhelmingly among black voters but she is still struggling with younger African-Americans, many of whom supported Bernie Sanders in the primary and are considering a vote for a third party candidate.
Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: And we will go back to North Carolina after this very break. Protests there turned violent after a police officer shot an African- American man. We'll have the details when we come back.
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good day to you. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri on this first day of autumn across the northern hemisphere.
And really doesn't feel like autumn when you look outside. You see the temperatures the way they are forecast to be across parts of northeastern United States. More on that momentarily.
But I want to talk about what happening with Tropical Depression Karl, Tropical Storm Lisa. Karl will have some juice left in the tank there as far as warming up and eventually pushing up to a hurricane winds there.
But the forecast now pushes it away from Bermuda could skirt portions of Bermuda but not a direct impact of this point. And it looks like Lisa will eventually move on over the central Atlantic in weaken as it does. So, good news in that sense.
But here comes some cool air. Temperatures initially have been into the mid and upper 20's across parts of the northeastern United States. That is a good 5 to 7 degrees above normal. We're going to bring down to reality big time going in towards the weekend across even parts of southern Canada.
So, nice and pleasant change in the forecast there. To the south, still seeing the thunderstorms where you expect this time of the year, Belize City, Guatemala City around 24 degrees. Managua comes in the lower 30s with afternoon scattered storms. Nice day out of Lima. You could see a few showers pop up generally in the afternoon around
La Paz. And Brasilia comes in with mostly sunny skies. Temperatures there expected to be around 30 degrees. And guess what, spring is in the area around Rio Gallegos, Puerto Mon is coming in with sunny skies. Santiago, a gorgeous day around 28.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Breaking news out of Charlotte, North Carolina. The city is under a state of emergency after a second night of violent protests. Demonstrators are furious that a police officer shot and killed an African-American man on Tuesday.
The family of Keith Lamont Scott says he was unarmed. Police say he had a gun.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has been reporting from the middle of these violent protests. Earlier he was doing a live report when a protester knocked him down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: They were trying to get various agitators out of the crowd and there is other people came to try to... (muted)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK.
LAVANDERA: Yes, yes, yes. We're fine. Someone just taking out their frustrations on me. Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell the story right.
LAVANDERA: Yes. We're going to -- we're going to figure out what to do here. Give us a second, Anderson. We'll figure it out and we'll come back to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Ed reported later that protester found him and did apologized. Although the damage done by then. Now before the violence there was a peaceful protest in a park.
Our Gustavo Valdes spoke with one demonstrator about why he was there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Why are you here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here to support the black movement.
VALDES: What is happening then? You think that there is a movement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's justice. I'm being unfair. We're concerned about when something happens there's no justice. People are getting away with murders. And we just want to know why they are getting away with it. VALDES: Now in this case, this police are showing a picture --
there's a picture circulating that shows that Mr. Scott had a weapon. Does that change your opinion?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, if he had a weapon or not, if he didn't point it or nothing. All the training that these police officers have, why didn't have to go to right to shooting, why couldn't he be tased, why couldn't he put your gun down.
[03:55:04] Why the guy go automatically to shoot instead of talking to the person and putting the gun down if he had one, whatever. So, they say if he had a gun, first reaction is pull the trigger, instead of trying to work with the situation.
He may have had something on his mind or something. And instead of trying to talk with him and trying to get the problem resolved went right to the trigger. That's not the answer to go right to the trigger. It's to try talk to come and trying to talk the person if he did have a weapon to put it down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Now in in the coming hours, we are expecting Charlotte's mayor and other officials to watch the video of the shooting that led to this protests. Three of the police officers there were wearing body cams.
State officials are sending more highway patrol troopers to the city to help keep the peace and protect property. The governor is also deploying the National Guard.
And I want to thank you all for joining us for this hour of breaking news. I'm Rosemary Church at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter @rosemarycnn.
And for our viewers here in the United States stay tuned for Early Start with Christine Romans and John Berman. If you are watching elsewhere in the world we will have more news with Hannah Vaughan Jones in London.
Enjoy your day.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
