Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Man Shoots Five in Washington Mall; Republican Party's Need for Minority Voter Outreach Examined; Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Debate Assessed; Organizers Speak at Demonstration in Charlotte, North Carolina, Regarding Shooting of Black Man by Police. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired September 24, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:01:14] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again and thank you so much for joining me live from Hofstra University where the first presidential debate will take place in two days. I am Fredricka Whitfield.

So both candidates are riding off two potentially powerful endorsements. "The New York Times" editorial board just announced that it will endorse Hillary Clinton in tomorrow's paper. Clinton is off the campaign trail today preparing for Monday night at her home in Chappaqua. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is receiving support from former rival Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Trump is having a rally tonight in Roanoke, Virginia. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty joining me now here at Hofstra. And also CNN political reporter Sara Murray is in New York for us.

Sunlen, first, you're right outside where the debate will be taking place inside that sports arena, and Sara is joining as well from New York. Expecting any debate previews tonight in Roanoke as it pertains to Donald Trump, Sara?

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think you should certainly look for debate previews tonight because one of the things we know about Donald Trump is he sees this entire campaign as debate prep. He has not done the traditional mock debates, the traditional secluding himself for days on end and reading briefing books. Instead likes to test out his attack lines on the trail. And his campaign has really been hammering Clinton on e-mails all day today. Michael Flynn did a conference call earlier. He has been intimately involved in debate prep. He said it would be irresponsible not to talk about Clinton's e-mails, not to talk about the potential that she put national security at risk. So I think this is really setting the stage for something the Trump campaign wants to ensure is a big issue going into the debates.

WHITFIELD: And Sunlen, Trump has said that he doesn't want to over- prepare but what do we know about his preparations?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems, Fred, according to campaign sources that Trump is preparing in a rather untraditional way. He spent most of the week on the campaign trail. And it appears his prep is less so than Hillary Clinton's. He is not doing any full- fledged mock debates with a Hillary Clinton stand-in as we typically see from candidates as they prepare for the debates.

But he is studying briefing books. He's huddling with his campaign advisers, including this weekend with RNC Chair Reince Priebus. But it is interesting to see Trump as he prepares for the debate and prepares to campaign today. He is also engaging in a little pre- debate trash talking of sorts. He sent out this tweet this morning, saying "If dopey Mark Cuban of failed benefactor fame wants to sit in the front row, perhaps I will put Gennifer Flowers right alongside him." Mark Cuban, of course, the Dallas Mavericks owner, high profile Hillary Clinton supporter, who has been very critical of Donald Trump. So Trump here reacting to his presence because he is going to be seated in a very prominent position in the front of the room at Monday night's debate, so Trump reacting to that and basically firing off a warning shot that perhaps he might bring in Bill Clinton's past indiscretions into the discussion.

And this is interesting because we saw Trump just a few days ago in an interview say, he was asked whether he intends to bring up that sort of personal baggage of Bill Clinton. And Trump said no, I don't think I will, but we will see how unfair or not Hillary Clinton is. So certainly this sort of pre-debate jockeying is in full effect right now.

WHITFIELD: Indeed. Sunlen Serfaty, Sara Murray, thank you, ladies, appreciate it. Of course you can see the first debate here Monday night 9:00 eastern. Our coverage ticking off before that at 4:00 eastern time. You don't want to miss any of it.

[14:05:07] Meantime, we're also following breaking news out of Charlotte, North Carolina. You're looking right now live pictures from Marshall Park where a large crowd gathered for a rally. This of course in response to the shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott at the hands of Charlotte police on Tuesday. CNN's Nick Valencia liven Charlotte. So Nick, the resounding sentiment in the city is that people want police to release their videos.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. That's the message we're hearing. It was a very loud and clear demand. Last night, the fourth night of demonstrations since the shooting of Keith Scott on Tuesday afternoon, the trend continued yesterday for peaceful demonstrations, a much different tone, more families out. Police were worried with it being the weekend that there could be potential for more riots, but that simply wasn't the case. We saw a different scene than earlier this week, but the message was still the same -- release the tape.

Just off camera here there's a gathering of community leaders, faith-based leaders. They plan on holding a 2:30 p.m. press conference to demand more of the same. They want the tape. I was speaking to one of those community leaders who says he believes the mayor when she says the tape is inconclusive but even still wants to make that decision for himself. He believes that the public has a right to determine what they see themselves from that tape released yesterday.

There are varying interpretations. Some people still say that they don't see a gun. They see only black gloves. The police have been insistent from the very beginning that Keith Scott was armed and that he was fatally shot because he refused to comply with demands to drop his weapon.

It was earlier this week I spoke to an official who viewed one of those police tapes. There's a dash cam video as well as a body cam video, and he tells me there was an obvious motion of threat toward the police officers committed by Keith Scott, and it was a bad decision that cost him his life.

But if you listen to the family, which a lot of people are, not paying attention to facts being put out by police, then you believe Scott was unarmed, that he was waiting for his son to be dropped off by a school bus and did not have a gun but rather a book. His mother in South Carolina gave an interview to a local affiliate saying that he was reading the Koran and her son didn't own a gun.

But part of what has contributed to the public's confusion surrounding the story, and there seems to be a split largely unfortunately along racial lines as to who believes what. Do you believe the police, do you believe that Keith Scott was do you believe the family when they say he wasn't. A lot of varying perspectives here and interpretations of that video released yesterday, video shot off the cellphone of Keith Scott's wife. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Nick Valencia from Charlotte, thank you so much. Keep us posted.

Coming up, a Republican pollster warns the GOP is using a worn out business model. The surprising voting bloc he believes Trump and his fellow Republicans need to target to win this year and in the future. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:11:06] WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at Hofstra University just two days away from the big debate, presidential debate, first one this election season.

So earlier today in the nations' capital during the dedication ceremony for the new Smithsonian African-American Museum of History and Culture, President Barack Obama said the African-American story is complicated, messy, and full of contradictions, but a glorious story nevertheless and central to the American experience. The president also said the museum provides context for the current debate on race relations in this country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Perhaps it can help a white visitor understand the pain and anger of demonstrators in places like Ferguson and Charlotte. But it can also help black visitors appreciate the fact that not only is this younger generation carrying on traditions of the past, but within the white communities across the nation we see the sincerity of law enforcement officers and officials who in fits and starts are struggling to understand and are trying to do the right thing. It reminds us that routine discrimination and Jim Crow aren't ancient history. It's just a blink in the eye of history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: President Barack Obama was elected to two terms thanks to a big boost from African-American and minority voters. It is a growing voting bloc Hillary Clinton hopes to carry her to victory in the November election. And it's a group that Donald Trump has recently started courting as well.

Joining me right to discuss this is Whit Ayres. He is a Republican pollsters who has worked with Senators Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham. Thank you so much for joining me, Whit. So earlier this week on a CNN podcast you made a projection that the white vote is simply not enough to carry a GOP win. This is based on what kind of research, what kind of information that you've been gathering from people?

WHIT AYRES, GOP POLLSTER: Fredricka, for the last 20 years, ever since Bill Clinton was reelected in 1996, the proportion of the electorate that's white has gone down by two or three or four percentage points every single election. If that trend continues into 2016, and there's no reason to think it won't, we're looking at an electorate that's somewhere around 70 percent white and 30 percent nonwhite. That has enormous implications for how you put together a majority coalition.

The last Republican president who managed to get elected, George W. Bush in 2004, did the best we've seen so far among whites and nonwhites. He got 58 percent of whites, 26 percent of nonwhites. That would be a losing hand in 2016.

WHITFIELD: So you mention the word "coalition." That would mean including people. And if you're talking about Republicans and urging that Republicans need to reach out to Hispanics, African-Americans, people of color as a whole, it means including them in this coalition and making sure they are part of the big tent. Are you worried that Trump's immigration rhetoric, the hardline stances has created a further divide as opposed to sending that message of a coalition that's inclusive?

AYRES: He's certainly made it more difficult to get a larger share of the nonwhite vote. Mitt Romney got 17 percent of the nonwhite vote and 59 percent of the white vote. That's a landslide among whites, but he still lost the election in 2012 because he couldn't get enough nonwhite support.

[14:15:14] If you don't do any better than Mitt Romney did with a 17 percent of the nonwhite vote, you need somewhere around 65 percent of the white vote to get a majority of the popular vote this year. And if you get less than mitt Romney, you need 67, 68 percent. Those are levels that have never, ever been achieved by a Republican presidential candidate. The closest was Ronald Reagan in 1984 when he got 65 percent of the white vote in a 49 state landslide sweep. But most people don't do 49 state landslide sweeps. WHITFIELD: But you do give credit to George W. Bush. You say that he

is an example of a Republican who successfully reached out to Hispanic and Latino voters, and you saw it made a difference in his campaign?

AYRES: It made all the difference in the world. He won. I think Republicans can do very well in the minority communities. I think they can do very well in Hispanic communities. George W. Bush won 44 percent of the Hispanic vote nationwide in 2004. He won majority of the Hispanic vote in the Sunbelt. He tried, he reached out aggressively, he advertised on Spanish media, he spoke a version of Spanish, kind of like he spoke a version of English. I mean, he really tried, and Republican candidates can do very well, but they have to try.

WHITFIELD: And timing is everything, too, right? You're talking about making that concerted effort at the very beginning as opposed to toward the tail end of a campaign, best exemplified by Donald Trump, who has made this concerted effort with just two months to go. At the starting point, when it is two months to general election and then reaching out to African Americans by visiting predominantly black churches, et cetera.

AYRES: Most voters don't have amnesia and they tend to remember searing things that get said in the past. So better late than never I suppose, but Donald Trump is digging out of a hole that he created for himself with some of his rhetoric over the last fifteen months.

WHITFIELD: Whit Ayres, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it.

AYRES: Fredricka, good being with you.

WHITFIELD: Thank you. And of course you can see the first presidential debate here on CNN Monday night, 9:00 p.m. eastern time with our coverage beginning before that at 4:00 eastern time. And we will be back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:21:21] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. We're continuing to following breaking news out of Washington state where a massive manhunt is still underway for a man police say opened fire at a mall, killing five people. We have brand new surveillance photos of that man. Police have not identified exactly who he is, but they say he entered the shopping mall without a gun, then 10 minutes later showed up with a rifle inside of a Macy's store where he unloaded at a makeup counter, started shooting, five people in all killed. The gunman still on the loose. CNN's Jessica Schneider is following the story for us and joins us live with more on this, Jessica?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, this manhunt continues, and making it more difficult is that police have not been able to positively identify the gunman. They're now piecing together all that surveillance video from inside the mall so they can distribute it to ask the community for help.

Based on all of this video, police now say that the gunman is a teen or teen to his 20s. Police say the video shows the suspect entering the mall without a gun and then 10 minutes later walking into Macy's with a rifle. It's unclear where he picked up that gun. He did shoot and kill four women and one man. More than 200 officers converged on that scene, searching for the suspect with canines and getting people out of the mall safely. Police now say it appears the gunman left the mall before police even arrived and headed towards Interstate 5 on foot. This morning Burlington's mayor did not hold back when he talked about his contempt for this gunman and that deadly attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR STEVE SEXTON, BURLINGTON, WASHINGTON: I know that now our support is with them to help them extend the long arm of the law to bring the son of a bitch to justice who did this to our community. And our community comes together in times of tragedy, and we're going to do it again. And I just want to let everybody out there know any information you may have on who might have done this, please contact the authorities. And again, thoughts and prayers to the families as their lives are changed forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: One thing complicating the investigation is police say they do not have surveillance footage from outside the mall, only inside. So it is unclear exactly how that gunman got away. But the FBI today stressing at this point there's nothing to indicate that this was an act of terrorism. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Jessica Schneider, thank you so much.

Just a little more than 48 hours until the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton here on the campus of Hofstra University. How much will it impact the race overall? We'll talk to representatives from both parties next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:27:22] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at Hofstra University, although right now you're looking at live pictures out of Charlotte, North Carolina. At any moment now we understand that the local chapter of the NAACP will be holding a press conference this day after the wife of Keith Lamont Scott who was shot dead by police, the wife released her cellphone video yesterday. And of course many of the demonstrators that converge on downtown Charlotte are still awaiting police to release its video. We were told earlier by the Charlotte Police Department that there may be a release of their video at some point today, still awaiting that.

Meanwhile, the NAACP, we understand the local chapter of the NAACP will be holding a press conference at any moment. And when it happens, we will try to take you there live.

Meantime, we are here at Hofstra University. This is the place of the first presidential debate. We are just now two days away from that debate unfolding just barely a mile from where I am here on campus in the sports complex which is being turned into the debate stage. Hillary Clinton has mostly been off the campaign trail this week as she gets ready for the debate. But she did take time to show her rather funny side, doing a deadpan version of herself on the comedy web series "Between Two Ferns."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZACH GALIFIANAKIS, COMEDIAN: First you supported Obama's Trans- Pacific Partnership deal, and then you were against it. I think that people deserve to know, are you down with TPP?

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am not down with TPP.

GALIFIANAKIS: No, you're supposed to say, "Yes, you know me," like the hip-hop group.

CLINTON: Don't tell me what to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Let's talk more about Hillary Clinton, what she wants to reveal during this debate and what Donald Trump wants to reveal during this debate. Matt Schlapp is the former political director for President George W. Bush and a Donald Trump supporter, good to see you. And Basil Smikle is the executive director of the New York State Democratic Party and a Hillary Clinton supporter. Good to see you as well.

BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So Clinton is reportedly preparing for two Donald Trumps, one is the more laid back Donald Trump who stays on message, the other is the Donald Trump who looked like this at times during the primary debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Am I talking or are you talking?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm talking right now.

TRUMP: First of all, this guy is a choke artist, and this guy is a liar. You interrupted me. Have you apologized yet?

I know you're embarrassed, but keep fighting, but keep swinging. I'm having a lot of fun up here tonight, I have to tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:30:03] WHITFIELD: OK, challenging, argumentative. Which is the Donald Trump that may show up at this debate stage? Basil, you're with me right now. What do you think?

SMILKE: It's going to be interesting because Donald Trump can't pick and choose his moments like he did when there are 20 other people on stage. He has to answer every question. He has to come back strong in one way, shape, or form.

What I think what we will see is a Donald Trump who is going to attempt to be a little scripted but go off script and ad lib quite a bit, because he is not going to be the policy wonk because that's just not his thing. I imagine that he is going to get ginned up by the crowd that's there.

And I think for Hillary Clinton, she has got to get him to make some unforced errors. But I think you'll see a Donald Trump that is going to be a little scripted, but I think doing a lot of ad lib and essentially be the authentic self, do what he did to get to this point. If he abandons that then I think he loses some support. He has to stay to who he has been.

WHITFIELD: So Matt, Donald Trump got to this point by being himself, the policy wonk that Basil was talking about, that really has been Hillary Clinton. But both have to strike a balance, don't they?

MATT SCHLAPP, TRUMP SURROGATE: Absolutely. I think one of the reasons why so many people are probably going to tune in to this debate is they don't know what's going to happen. And Donald Trump is a huge wildcard. And he understands television well. That's really how he has made his name. And so he understands what he has to do to come across.

And I think the key in this race as I have watched this race and talked to people around the country, for a lot of people, and I don't talk to a lot of liberals, I will be honest about that, but for people in the middle and people on the right, they want to know they can trust and see Donald Trump as the president. So I think the goal for Donald Trump in Monday's debate is for people to go beyond just maybe thinking sometimes he says things that are funny or controversial into do I see a president there. If he can answer that question to 51 percent of the American people, he is going to win.

WHITFIELD: All right, you know, among the advisers at least for Donald Trump has been Roger Ailes. Apparently he has instructed Donald Trump to be gracious. They don't want a repeat of what we saw unfold during primary debates when it was Donald Trump and very awkward moment with Carly Fiorina. I think most people recall that. How does he avoid that dynamic as once again we've got man versus woman here. We have experienced politician versus business man up there.

SMILKE: He has to avoid the Rick Lazio moment from Hillary's 2000 her Senate race. I was there, I remember.

WHITFIELD: He came into her space.

SMILKE: Stepped away from his podium, came into her space. And that seemed very threatening, and there was a bit of a gasp in the audience. But that said, for Donald Trump the task is to seem presidential. It is just that simple.

And this is the issue I have had throughout the race. In a way we lowered the bar for Donald Trump. Can't do that. There's sort of have a different standard for him than Hillary Clinton. I think we should expect both to uphold a similar standard, and I think he is going to have to rise to that. That's really the biggest challenge. Does he come across presidential in this debate?

WHITFIELD: That means a different standard that has been imposed that you speak of for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, Matt, does that mean they are also measured? They're going to be assessed differently as well, and is that fair?

SCHLAPP: Yes --

WHITFIELD: Actually, I apologize. I am asking the question, Matt, and now I have got to interrupt you. We have to go to Charlotte, North Carolina. The local chapter of the NAACP is speaking right now let's listen.

REV. CORINE MACK, PRESIDENT, CHARLOTTE BRANCH OF NAACP: I am an organizer for center for community change. We are here today as the community, clergy, and loved ones of someone who has been lost or life stolen by the hands of police to speak to you today about the work we've been doing here in the last week and the days prior to last week.

The Charlotte Clergy Coalition in collaboration with the NAACP and other organizations has consistently talked about our walk, our walk in love. And we'll continue to do that. But we want everyone to know that we have been as disturbed, deeply disturbed at the incident and stolen life of Keith Lamont Scott, and loss of life of Justin Carr.

Since that tragic event, the city has brought the National Guard into our city. And our citizens have felt as if this was a militarized state. We thought that it was not necessary and continued to have conversations around the fact we thought it was a bad decision.

[14:35:16] The clergy behind me every day and every night was on the street marching, talking, loving, and ensuring that each and every person would go home safely. When I say "person," I mean the citizens as well as the police.

In the course of the last few days in those discussions some of the things we brought up beyond the death of the two men I spoke about was systemic racism and systemic oppression here in Charlotte in other areas beyond police accountability and police brutality. We are talking about the educational system. We are talking about the school to prison pipeline problem. We're talking about the prison industrial complex issues here. We are talking about the 50 in 50 states regarding upward mobility for black people.

Just think about that. Charlotte, the city that has one of the third largest banking systems, we're number 50 in the country to give black folk an opportunity for upward mobility. That in itself says a lot. We are better than that. We've got to do better than that.

Now, we know there's a taskforce looking at the poverty, but guess what. If you talked to the folks impoverished, they can tell you all about poverty. We don't have time to wait. We don't need more forums and conversations that are not going to end with some concrete changes.

The most important thing I want to talk about today is how important it is that every citizen makes a decision to stand up, that every decision, because you look at this group of people, black, white, Asian, Latino, Native American, young, old, no matter what, including LBGTQ standing together for this city, because all of us love this city.

Because of that, we ourselves, the clergy went down Tuesday night as soon as we heard about that tragedy and began to organize to make sure we were all safe that night. And we want to make it very clear -- we in no way condone any violence. Hear me. We in no way condone any violence.

But the majority of people on the street have been citizens lifting up their voices in righteous indignation, seeking justice for everyone in the city, the majority of them. There may have been a few who were not or maybe a few who were, but used the wrong tactics. But we are still working to ensure that this city is safe.

Now, we want to talk about what happened the last two days. Several meetings, some as early as middle of the morning with city council and the mayor, pleading to release tapes, pleading for transparency, pleading to get it right. And since that time in those conversations, we've decided that we won't stop and we can't stop.

Yesterday early afternoon we were given the second tape that was put all over media. And we immediately gave that tape to the FBI and to the DOJ as well as the mayor of the city, Miss Jennifer Roberts. We understand that someone leaked that tape. Unequivocally we did not. We did what we were supposed to do. We gave it to the DOJ and to the FBI and we notified the mayor of the city, Jennifer Roberts.

More importantly, since the tape came out, we continued to say it is even more important for CMPD them to release all tapes and be transparent.

Now, we are hearing now the tapes will be released, and that's a good thing, that's the beginning, but it doesn't stop there, because there has to be systemic changes. There has to be policy changes. There has to be heart changes in order for this city to truly be safe.

[14:40:06] And when I say this city, I mean all citizens. As a black woman I have been hurt, deeply hurt at every African-American who has lost their life at the hands of police, at every African-American who has lost their life. And we can't tolerate this, we simply can't. We can't tolerate this.

Because of our actions as a coalition in submitting the tape, as of today, there is an official investigation from the DOJ.

(APPLAUSE)

MACK: That investigation is a preliminary investigation right now. They'll be coming back, having conversation with individuals to get more information regarding individual testimonies of their own injustices or attacks of injustice, mothers who have lost their children at the hands of police give their testimony of their pain and their particular issues and incidents. And we will continue this fight. We will continue to stand. We will continue in love. And we're asking once again that each and every one of you bring your gifts to this fight because we can't win without us winning together. God bless you.

(APPLAUSE)

RABBI JUDITH SCHINDLER, CHARLOTTE CLERGY COALITION FOR JUSTICE: My name is Rabbi Judy Schindler and I am a part of the executive committee of the Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice. I'm a professor at Queens University of Charlotte and the director of Stan Greenspan Center for Peace and Social Justice.

More than 700 black people have been killed at the hands of police this year. We are here to address that pain. We are here to heal that pain. We are here to create change.

As I walk the streets of Charlotte, I see two types of people who are in a place of power and privilege. I see those who say "us" and those who say "them." I see those who take responsibility and own the problem of black oppression, discrimination, and mistrust and say we need to work together to overcome it. And then I see those who blame the other. They blame the African-American community. They say it is their fault. It is their actions upon being pulled over that have led to their deaths. They say it is their lack of taking responsibility for their own community that has led to violence. They say it is their own failures that have led to this disenfranchisement.

If any of our loved ones were to be suspected of a crime, we expect that they can be taken into custody without being killed, white, black, affluent, and economically challenged, foreigner and stranger alike. We expect the police to protect us and to ensure that peace is achieved through what we call in Hebrew through justice righteousness.

We cannot move forward until we, all of us, choose to take responsibility and see our community as united, black and white, police and civilian. To Chief Putney and to our city manager, we want to partner with you in moving forward. The steps to moving forward require honesty and transparency. We must address our painful past and present. Each of us must commit to knocking down the walls of division, not my people versus your people, but our people.

This is our city. You hold the video of Keith Lamont Scott's final moments, a video that is ours. Please release it, please share it. If it is inconclusive, then let us acknowledge that together. Transparency is the best policy. May your questions around that video be our questions. May our concerns for justice be your concerns. May we work on solutions together. May we help Charlotte heal and move forward from brokenness to wholeness to shalom to that peace for which we all so desperately yearn.

(APPLAUSE)

[14:45:01] REV. MILTON ALEXANDER WILLIAMS JR., SENIOR PASTOR, WALL MEMORIAL AME CHURCH: My name is Reverend Milton Alexander Williams Junior. I'm pastor the Walls Memorial AME Zion Church here in Charlotte. I am a member of the NAACP and have been working with the Clergy Coalition for Justice.

It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people. Those are poignant words by Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. We are in this moment because of grave injustice that is becoming all too familiar. Another black man has been killed -- Keith Lamont Scott. And it did not have to be.

We continue to pray with and for the Scott family here in Charlotte and the numerous families that have suffered the pain of senselessly losing loved ones at the hands of those sworn to protect and to serve. We have a serious problem in our city that became abundantly clear as the events of this tragic killing started to be recorded.

From the very beginning the description of events by CMPD and by witnesses in the community have been in dispute. From the description of this father and husband as a gunman with no clear evidence of a gun to the CMPD account that he posed an imminent threat, to officers, though his wife repeatedly announced that he had no weapon, and further that he had just taken medication for a traumatic brain injury, to what even seems to be at best a gross mishandling of a crime scene, or at worst a cover-up and conspiracy.

There is anger and unrest in our city which is so we stand with. And so we stand with, join, and encourage peaceful protests and have been on the scenes throughout. It has been powerful to see all nationalities, all backgrounds, all faiths, all ages come together in our fight for justice.

Yet beyond the protesting we are calling for change. There can be healing, but the powers that be must hear our voices. To begin this rebuilding of trust, we have called on and are thankful to hear that the mayor, CMPD, FBI, and others are planning on releasing those tapes and all footage in this case.

(APPLAUSE)

WILLIAMS: We also call for repeal, immediate repeal of HB972 which restricts transparency.

(APPLAUSE)

WILLIAMS: Further, and we're glad to hear it, federal investigation by the Department of Justice of this matter, because frankly we have lost confidence and trust in the handling of the situation.

Also, we call for immediate end to the state of emergency, the curfew, and the removal of the National Guard.

(APPLAUSE)

WILLIAMS: I'm sure they're wondering why they are here with all of the positive interactions they have received and the warm regards. We are thankful for the service of our city and our first responders and that the National Guard is here. But we respectfully ask that from this matter.

(APPLAUSE)

[14:50:02] WILLIAMS: In the words of scripture, he has shown you, oh mortal, what is good. And what does the lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. This is our prayer. So we will remain hopeful and yet steadfast that our city might be healed. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

WHITFIELD: All right, compassionate community leaders of church, of synagogue, of the NAACP, all of this with the backdrop of many people still converging on downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, holding rallies there, all pleading for the release of the Charlotte police videotape showing the circumstances leading up to the death of Keith Lamont Scott.

I have got Ed Lavandera with us as well as Nick Valencia, who is outside the police station. So Ed, let me go to you first because you are at the larger gathering of people. What's taking place there as they continue to call for city police to release videotape?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a rally that started just a few blocks away from the police department here in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, and now the group has started to make its way on another march through the downtown streets, not terribly far away from where the rallies turned into a riot several nights ago. But this one obviously very peaceful, very organized. There's a number of organizers that have come together to put this rally together here today.

I would say close to 300 to 400 people here who have been chanting and marching through the streets of downtown Charlotte. Couple of interesting things you heard that press conference where the leaders talked about asking the governor to remove the National Guard here from Charlotte, those calls being echoed here as well. It's not clear that that's going to have any immediate influence on the governor's decision to remove the National Guard, but the last two nights have been peaceful in terms of evening rallies and marches throughout the city. We haven't seen any of the destruction that we saw Wednesday night now.

But here there have been a number of signs calling for the police chief here in Charlotte to resign. That's kind of the tone and theme that you hear, we have been hearing this afternoon in this rally. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Ed, thank you so much. And to Nick Valencia. Nick, you heard from the community leaders there who said they are happy to hear the city may be releasing the videotape. It hasn't been done yet, but we heard earlier police said they would. Those community leaders also applauding the fact that there's a DOJ investigation. They're happy to hear that. What are you hearing from the police department in terms of timeline, when indeed would they be releasing that videotape if it is today? NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we wish we could tell

you. But it has been terribly difficult to get a call back from the police department. That is part of the problem here with the demonstrators, the anger and frustration that the police in their eyes hasn't been fully transparent. They don't like how this investigation has been handled.

You heard there from Ed Lavandera who is with the crowd a few blocks behind the camera here that they're calling for the police chief's resignation because of how this investigation has been handled.

The message has been the same all around, even though the crowd, the faces may be different, the message has been deliberate and it has been clear. They want police to release tapes that they have, the video of the fatal police shooting of Keith Scott. The mayor says that video, she has seen that video. She calls it inconclusive, ambiguous at best. But members of the community who I have spoken to here say they want to make that determination on their own.

We spoke with an official day, or the day before yesterday, I should say, who saw one of those p1ice videos. He told CNN that he saw an obvious threat, Keith Scott made an obvious threat towards police officers, that he refused to comply with their demands to drop the gun, which is why he was shot dead. It was a bad decision, he said, that cost Keith Scott his life.

That's not the narrative the family believes, and that's also a large contingent of this community doesn't believe the police. I can't underscore enough the lack of trust that we witnessed with our own eyes and heard with our ears in conversations that we've had here. Police just aren't being trusted by the community. The police chief has been very clear since the beginning, saying that Scott was armed, but there is people here that don't believe him. They believe the family when the family says that Scott was unarmed, that he was reading a book, waiting for his son to be dropped off by the school bus.

You heard at this press conference here a coalition of faith-based leaders and the NAACP as well, that they want the National Guard to be removed from here. They don't believe the National Guard has a purpose here because the last two nights are peaceful protests.

[14:55:12] Of course it is the mayor and city leaders have credited National Guard for keeping the peace here. One of the things the mayor told me yesterday is that the National Guardsmen here are around the same age as the demonstrators, and that's a fact that's not lost on her. When we were part of those demonstrations, walking with protesters, witnessing the demonstrations I should say, we heard and saw a mingling with demonstrators and the National Guard. We saw lot of hugs rather than riots we saw earlier this week.

City leaders hope that that trend continues, but of course there is some sort of anxiety here, tension in this community, they believe Saturday night could bring something else. There have been reports here in this community from the local affiliates here in Charlotte that the CMPD will in fact release the tapes today. In our conversations that we have had with the city, we have yet to get that firm, 100 percent confirmation. They have alluded to such but haven't given a timeline just yet on if or when those tapes will be released. The community here is clear, Fred, they want to see that video. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, Nick.

And if I do still have Avery Friedman and Richard Herman, our regular legal guy every weekend, I would love for you all to weigh in on the DOJ investigation. Avery, if you're with me now, perhaps you heard the president of the NAACP, the local chapter, Corine Mack, who said they received an additional videotape and they have handed it over to the FBI as well as to DOJ. Talk to me about the complications of these two investigations now. You have Charlotte police with their investigation pouring over their own videotape, and now we're hearing from the NAACP that DOJ has an investigation and will be pouring over eyewitness tape.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, LAW ENFORCEMENT: Well, there are actually three blockbusters legally that came out of the NAACP press conference, Fredricka. Number one, the fact that there is now another video. Number two, that Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, the special litigation section of the Civil Rights Division, is now going to enter the picture with the new video, the family video, and hopefully sooner or later the police video.

And then finally a reference to HB972. Pastor Williams didn't explain that, but what that is, is a brand new law, to give you an idea what's going on in North Carolina. It will take effect a week from today, and what it will do is it will exclude body cams and dash cams from public records. In other words, the police department is trying to make sure the department's video cam is not available to the public. And there's a call for that repeal.

WHITFIELD: Yes. OK, so Richard, does release of videotape potentially undermine investigations? Is that a legitimate excuse as to why the city would not be releasing video?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Fred, wouldn't these people want the integrity of an investigation? Don't they want law enforcement to take their time, do a thorough, thorough and good investigation, and then release the findings? I mean, I'm losing my mind listening to these people talk right now.

It's really outrageous. If you look at the preliminary investigation, there are several eyewitnesses that say he has a gun. They picked up a gun. They say he made a movement. It was a black officer who shot him. The man should never -- he had a criminal history. He was a convicted felon, did eight years in prison. And I don't know what his wife is yelling, "Keith, don't you do it." Why is she saying, "don't you do it?" Fred, it's every single --

WHITFIELD: And as pertains to the growing protests, however, as it pertains to the growing protests, might an answer to the growing protest to help keep it calm be to release video. It doesn't mean the investigation is over, but at least it compels people to see that there is this level of transparency. You disagree with that, Richard? HERMAN: Transparency, that's great. Let them finish the

investigation. They have to finish the investigation. You're not entitled to get the results of preliminary investigations. Why do they think that? You don't get that. You get the final result of the investigation. A grand jury gets that.

WHITFIELD: Avery, do you have a final point on that, a response to that. The issue of transparency, is that important at this juncture?

FRIEDMAN: We are several days down the road. There's no legal justification for holding on to video or a copy of it. That's got to be released. Legally it has to be released right now.