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Charlotte Police to Release Dash Cam, Body Cam Videos; How One- Liners Can Make Or Break A Debate; Gestures, Body Language Can Also Trip Up Candidates; CNN Receives Charlotte Shooting Video; Evidence Pictures From Charlotte Shooting Released. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired September 24, 2016 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

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POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, I'm Poppy Harlow coming to you live this evening from the campus of Hofstra University here in New York, the site of the Monday night's first presidential debate. But we do begin this hour with breaking news out of Charlotte, North Carolina. Police officials are about to release video taken during the fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott by a Charlotte police officer on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Just a short time ago, Charlotte's chief of police told a group of reporters they will indeed release dash camera video and body camera video captured by police cameras during the shooting death of Scott on Tuesday where police insisted Scott had a gun in his hands and pose a threat to officers. I should note, Scott's family said he did not have a gun. The police chief warning though the videos do not show that detail that is at the core of the dispute here. They say the videos do not answer all of the questions.

CHIEF KERR PUTNEY, CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG POLICE: The footage itself will not create in anyone's mind absolute certainty as to what this case represents and what the outcomes should be. The footage only supports all of the other information, physical evidence, the statements from witnesses and officers, and all of the other information, scientific and physical, that create the entire picture. So the video footage is insufficient. I've been very clear there.

HARLOW: While the police chief was speaking, another rally on the streets of Charlotte. People have been taking their frustration public since Scott was shot and killed on Tuesday. Residents and supporters of Charlotte's African-American community and the reaction of the police department, all coming out in force and making their voices heard and discussing the fact that they want more details as it relates to the death of Keith Scott.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Let's go now to Charlotte's police headquarters, that's where we will find our Ed Lavandera. He's been covering this story all week. Ed, do we have any clarity on when we'll get these videos? Because the police chief said about an hour ago that they would come, he expected very soon, within the half hour, still nothing yet.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDING: Still nothing yet. So imagine the technical aspect of this -- up loading and having all that, ready to disseminate to the hundreds of news media organizations that are interested in seeing all of this. I imagine is what's -- taking so much time. But all indications we've been given by the governor of North Carolina, the police chief just a short while ago that that video is indeed coming. So we will obviously share that with our viewers as soon as it comes.

But we should also point out that it's apparently not all of the vide the police chief said it will be the video that is pertinent to the altercation, that confrontation with Keith Lamont Scott and in the words of the police chief, he described it as the pertinent video from the beginning to the end of where the shots were fired. He says that a lot of the other video pertains to officers arriving on the scene and that sort of thing. Obviously, great deal of questions. Probably, surrounding that as well but it sounds like what we will be seeing is that -- the confrontation between those officers that were serving that warrant in that apartment complex parking lot and Keith Lamont Scott.

HARLOW: Ed, the other question that strikes me and frankly, everyone after we heard Chief Kerr Putney speak last hour is why they selected these two videos to release, the dash camera video and body camera video that he said show a "visual of what happened," but not all of the other camera angles that they have? He said those won't be released until the investigation is over. Why -- do we know why that determination was made, you know, not to put all of it out there.

LAVANDERA: I suspect after listening to the police chief talk is that -- these particular videos that will be shown will be the videos that show the officers nearest to Keith Lamont Scott, without -- seeing exactly what will be released, and how much of that confrontation we're going to see, leading up to it and then after the shooting, it's kind of hard to say, but a lot of times, and I can speak from other videos that we've obtained from -- other police departments around the country that a lot of times, what is shared might be an officer getting the call from several miles away and what the video shows is the officers driving to the scene.

So, you know, again, a little bit of speculation here just kind of based on other stories, other incidents that I've covered. A lot of times, those videos end up not really being terribly pertinent to what's going on. So that's my guess at this point. We'll have to see exactly what they release, but obviously, from the police chief's standpoint, he believes that what they have here at this point is that initial - is that confrontation and that it is pertinent to the many questions that many people are anxious to see about what exactly happened between those officers and Mr. Scott.

[18:05:16] HARLOW: Ed Lavandera at the police department there for us in Charlotte. Ed, of course, will let us know as soon as we get the video from the police chief. Thank you, Ed. Let's talk more about this with my panel, the police shooting again of 43-year-old Keith Scott on Tuesday. Joining me now, Tom Fuentes, senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director, Laura Coates is also back with us, a legal analyst, a former federal prosecutor and former assistant U.S. attorney with the civil rights division of the Justice Department and Cheryl Dorsey is back with us, she's a retired sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Cheryl Dorsey, to you, why the decision in your mind, you know, to not release all of the videos from your experience in law enforcement? Would there be any reason not to put it out there and sort of have what is really a partial dissemination of fact?

CHERYL DORSEY, FORMER LAPD SERGEANT: Well, I believe that there's something on that video that may be unsettling, not only to the community, but possibly to the family if they were to see it in its entirety. And so, you know, the more we hear about this, the more questions there are to be answered. And at this point, I think that that police department is almost in a lose-lose situation. Because whatever they produce at this point is going to be suspect. People are going to believe that maybe it's been doctored. And so when --

HARLOW: Cheryl, let me just stop you there. Why do you --why do you have cause to believe that there is something on that video? That it sounds like you're saying the police wouldn't want the public to see because frankly, at some point, you know, the public is going to see all of these videos because he said they'll release them all at the end of the investigations and you know that journalists will be filing Freedom of Information Act request to put it all out there. So what causes you to believe that there is something that they don't want the public to see?

DORSEY: Well, because there's unrest and certainly, we don't want to see destruction or damage done. And I think that what's going to happen. And he's kind of preparing us for this because he says the video is not definitive. The video is not going to answer the questions that everybody is begging to be answered. And so we're going to -- be left at the end of the day with the same questions, whenever it's released, that we had at the onset of this thing and this police department will do what every police department does. They will throw buckets of money at the family, there will be no substantive change in the way their officers do business and then this will go on until we have the next Keith Scott or Philando Castile or Sandra Bland. That's why everybody is so frustrated.

HARLOW: Political commentator Marc Lamont Hill is also joining us and Marc, I think it's really important to have this discussion in the broader context of race relations across the United States, and race relations in North Carolina because these protesters are protesting the death of this man, yes, they're also protesting as we heard from the head of the NAACP today the broader issue and what she called - the head of the Charlotte NAACP called "the systemic problem within North Carolina for African-Americans."

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's exactly right. Obviously, we want to get to the bottom of this case and find out whether or not something unjust has happened and the delays and the lack of transparency is itself a problem. And it creates the sense that there could be something here. It creates a sense of distrust between the community and the law enforcement agencies.

But it also speaks to a broader problem as you pointed out, Poppy, that people are saying which is that there is a question about whether or not black bodies themselves are inherently violent in the minds of some law enforcement officers. This is the problem so that when a black person walking down the street with or without a gun, they are seen as deserving of lethal force. That's an issue in Charlotte, that's an issue around the country that we keep saying -- we play over and over and over again.

And the questions we have about violence against black bodies, male and female, something that plays out in other sectors of our lives as long as we see black people as not fully human, then it makes it difficult for them not to have full access. Not just in terms of being treated safely and properly with dignity by law enforcement but also in the job realm in terms of housing, in terms of education. We have to get to the deeper issues of racism and the white supremacy here.

HARLOW: So one of the things that is different, obviously, the cases are completely different but when you look back, to Ferguson, for example, and you look at what has transpired since then, the police chief here is black, Marc Lamont Hill, and that is something that has not been broadly discussed. Is that, you know, does that matter in all of this as people are looking at this -- through the lens of race?

HILL: It shouldn't matter. There's a question here about how black bodies are treated by law enforcement. If black people happen to be agents of those institutions, if they even happen to be leaders of those institutions, look at Sheriff Clarke in Milwaukee, you can have the same mentality as the most vicious white supremacist. In fact, you are a white supremacist at the level of how you perform if you believe that black bodies are inferior and worthy of lethal force. So I'm not interested in the officer being black, I'm not interested police chief being black, I'm not even interested in the president being black, if justice doesn't look equal for everybody. We didn't march and fight and struggle

[18:10:16] to get beaten by black officers. We did it so that everyone would have an equal shot of being treated with dignity and treated like a human being.

HARLOW: Laura, from a legal perspective, -- is there any legal ground that the city of Charlotte has to stand on to not put all of the videos out there? Obviously, come October 1st when the law is enacted that allows them not to release this video to the public, that's one thing but this is - this is prior to that. What legal ground are they standing on to keep a lot of this video to themselves?

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR AND FORMER AUSA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: Well, they're standing on the ground of precedence, how they actually have operated up until now. They have treated police videos and dash cam and body cam videos as part of a personnel file. They've treated it like a medical record. They've treated like a complaint against an officer or otherwise, private employment related HR file. And the reason why this is problematic is because, of course, these are part of a public investigation of a - into a death. They would be released as a record in terms of evidence in a court of law, and so to hold it as a personnel record why they have been able to last this long.

But remember, this October 1st law is a way of standardizing how these are actually going to be distributed. And within it's the purview question of a judge but again, these videos, which is so surprising, are not bring released in totality for the reasons that the chief has said, kind of unbeknownst to everyone but he did. I make one confession for the chief, I've been critical of him but I will give him one particular confession here and that is, he mentioned at his press conference at the reason he didn't want to show the non -- what he called pertinent information was because the people who are executing the search warrant were part of a squad that was going to be charged and they were under cover in some capacity or may have security issue of being fully exposed. That was -- his recall of why this may be a reason. So perhaps, that is one of his bases for his decisions, and I mean, if that's it, a judge would probably not be willing to release that part of the footage.

HARLOW: I think that's a really important point to make that we haven't broadly discussed since the press conference. I'm glad you made it, Laura. Thank you. Tom, if you had the ear of the Charlotte police chief, Chief Kerr Putney, what's the number one thing you would tell him to do?

TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST AND FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Well, I would say try to find out technically what's the problem here. They've already agreed to put that video out. Why isn't it out? We've been talking about this all day. Are they having technical problems? Do they need some assistance in figuring it out how to get that out on the Internet so that people can access it? So that would be one of the first things. And I think the second thing to Laura's point that might be true that these other videos show officers that are under cover and you don't want their identities known but he didn't refer to that as a reason. He said, well -- they're really not part of all this. So if that's true and if they're not sensitive from protecting the officer's identity standpoint, they should have been released first, not last. So I think the problem now is that no matter what he says, it's going to be questioned.

HARLOW: Tom Fuentes, thank you very much. Cheryl Dorsey, Marc Lamont Hill, Laura Coates, stand by, we have a lot more ahead. Again, we're awaiting that video to be released from the Charlotte Police Department at any moment. Also at this hour, -- the North Carolina Speaker of the House will join me live. Stay with us. You're in the CNN "Newsroom."

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[18:15:16]

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HARLOW: All right. Welcome back to our continuing breaking news coverage out of Charlotte, North Carolina, the head of Charlotte's Police Department now said he will indeed release, "facts, footage, and an explanation of where we stand today relative to the investigation." That of course, is the investigation into the shooting death of 43-year-old Keith Scott. Chief Kerr Putney, at the Charlotte Police Department, will make the body camera video and the dash camera video of that police shooting public but not all of the video will be released, only these two specific videos. North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore joins me on the phone. Speaker Moore, thank you for being with me, I know that you have not viewed this video, so we will all be seeing it for the first time at any moment as soon as it is released. Any idea what the hang-up is, why it hasn't been released yet? It's been more than an hour now and they said they'd release it quite a while ago today.

TIM MOORE, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NORTH CAROLINA: Good evening, Poppy. Certainly do not know what the delay would be at this point, but I do believe that the public has a right to know and to see the video. And some of your commentators earlier were talking about the new law that was passed by the general assembly this past session that actually created a mechanism for this information that's no longer treated as part of the personnel file and the decisions are taken away from politicians, police chiefs, et cetera, and there's actually a better process to ensure this information is released however that law is not going to effect until October 1st.

HARLOW: Do you believe that it is the correct decision or do you disagree with the decision by the police chief not to release all of those videos? They will release two vantage points. The ones he said, are frankly, the most visually compelling, visually show what transpired. Why not put them all out there?

MOORE: Well, I don't have all of the information that the police chief does and I certainly don't want to try to second guess him. I know they've had a difficult time dealing with some of the violence that's erupted recently but I would say as a general rule, I believe the best thing is to get everything out there. And that the more transparency there is the better.

HARLOW: So -- I mean, you are saying you'd like to see them all released, if it were up to you, you'd release all the videos at once.

MOORE: Absolutely. If it were up to me, I would release all of it as soon as possible

[18:20:16] and it sounds like the family has had an opportunity to see the videos and of course, one would be concerned about the privacy rights, -- but with the family members asking that it be released and I believe the information set far is that there's nothing that would inhibit the investigation. If those things were present, hopefully those -- the videos could be released sooner rather than later.

HARLOW: I want to talk about the bigger context and what your state is experiencing as a whole. The head of the NAACP in Charlotte came out today earlier at a press conference and spoke about the fact that these protests, these voices are being raised now because of what she called systemic injustice against many African-Americans within the state. If you look at the broader context of what happened as those Voter ID laws were struck down -- by the fourth circuit court there in North Carolina and in the opinions, the judge called them a targeting of African-Americans with almost surgical precision. Talk to me about the challenge in terms of race relations in your state right now.

MOORE: I certainly think it is unfortunate with -- those on the left who want to try to politicize the tragedy like we have had in Charlotte. You know, we have a citizen who's dead. We have another citizen who was killed during the protest and actually, I would call that more of a riot, frankly. We had all sorts of property damage occurring, physical injury and someone dying as a result of it. It escalated so much that our governor had to call in the National Guard and the highway patrol to help the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department to bring to order. And I'll say that I certainly support the right to protest. I think that's you know, freedom of speech is one of our hallmarks but you know when you have folks going out and committing damage and someone getting killed, -- obviously that's not protest and what we've shown -- as far as with folks in North Carolina is that free force of the arrest actually had to do with people who are not even from North Carolina.

HARLOW: OK, but the question I'm asking, speaker, is a question about race relations in your state as a whole. You just said that you feel that people on the left are politicizing the death of Keith Scott. What I'm saying is that the head of the NAACP in Charlotte said we, as African-Americans in this community have been dealing with systemic injustice and she pointed to a number of things including those Voter ID laws that were struck down by the fourth circuit in a ruling with incredibly strong language, saying that the provisions targeted African-Americans in your state with surgical precision. Are you saying that there is not work to be done on race relations?

MOORE: Well, I think there's certainly to be work done anytime that you have with situations like this, race relations but you know, those on the left trying to draw a correlation between this and between common sense voter safe law makes no sense. You know, our voter ID law is very similar to that of Indiana and other states that have been upheld by the courts. But we have a -- what I would say has been an activist judiciary that has disagreed, the federal district court actually upheld our law when it came to the redistricting lawsuit, the Obama Justice Department, pre-cleared our redistricting but yet the fourth circuit which has certainly taken a very hard left path within the past couple of years.

It has gone in a different direction but I come back to the other issues, certainly, can race relations be improved, absolutely, across the entire country. It's unfortunate we've seen the distinction drawn between race and law enforcement at the end of the day, every person should abide by the law regardless of race. And you know, we need to try to work together. And all these demonizing and name calling doesn't help -- you try to create and whip up problems that don't need to be there. And I'll just point out that within the state, most folks, we've had great conversation on these issues, but it's been unfortunate that what we've seen in Charlotte with some of the violence and certainly my prayers for the people of Charlotte and that we get past this and start a dialogue with some of the bad things that have happened.

HARLOW: The protest that we saw in Charlotte on Wednesday night, yes, did get violent and there was vandalism on Thursday night and Friday night, as we're just showing there, they were largely peaceful. Let me ask you this before I let you go, speaker, what is your message to African-Americans living in your state who are demanding change, who feel like they have been living this injustice? What is your message to them?

MOORE: Certainly. My message -- to African-Americans and anyone else is that I want everyone in this state to have the same opportunity as every citizen. We need to make sure that we right any wrongs that occur. We need to make sure when it comes to policies adopted that everyone feels included and that's something we have strived hard to do. And frankly, I hope folks will stop looking at each

[18:25:16] other as black or white, or Republican or Democrat, or pro- law enforcement or anti-law enforcement, you know, we're all Americans. And we don't need to destroy ourselves from within. We -- need to try to get along.

HARLOW: Speaker Tim Moore, I appreciate you joining me tonight. Of course, everyone wishes for peace and peaceful demonstration in your city as we saw last night. Thank you for your time. Coming up next, we return to -

MOORE: Thank you. Have a good day.

HARLOW: Thank you. Coming up next, we return to politics and arguably the biggest showdown of the election thus far. 48 hours away folks, Monday night's debate here at Hofstra University. We're also keeping an eye on battleground Virginia and the rally where Donald Trump is expected to speak there at any moment. We'll take you there live. Stay with us.

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[18:30:12] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: A clip from Ronald Reagan, tailor made for a modern day debate. So well timed that even his opponent couldn't help but laugh a little. It is one of many debate moments we remember long after the debate ends and landing a one-liner like that could be key for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton come Monday night. Just consider this number. Up to 100 million people are expected to watch this first debate, 9:00 p.m. on CNN. Brian Stelter is with me.

Those one-line zingers are key, right? Because amid all the substance, all of that, it's what people walk away remembering, especially in the day and age of social media.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Definitely. Zingers, and then on top of that, moments. Moments that are crafted by these candidates to reinforce the messages of their campaigns. That's what this debate's about. And it will all be said in the first 15 minutes. President Obama was said to lose the first debate of 2012 in the first 15 minutes. There were already writers declaring Romney the winner early on.

HARLOW: Because he looked disinterested.

STELTER: Right, so we're going to watch in that first, kind of first act of the debate, what Trump and Clinton say, what the first comment they make is, because that will set the tone for the night.

HARLOW: And sometimes, it can be just actions, not words, like when Al Gore walked up to George W. Bush and then Bush nodded and said all right, and carried on. Let's go back to 1988, Vice President Dan Quayle and this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN QUAYLE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Moments like that, right.

STELTER: And this year is even bigger. Why? Because that debate was watched by about 60 million Americans. Well, on Monday, TV executives, political pro's expect at least 80 million people to be watching, possibly 100 million people. To put that in context, the Super Bowl has about 115 million viewers every year. Nothing else in America comes close. So if you have 100 million American adults watching this and then many more around the world, there's only 225 million eligible voters in the country, and the million that don't watch, they'll see the highlights the next day.

HARLOW: Or they'll watch, if you will, on social media, right. They'll be following it along --

STELTER: And they'll only see the zingers. And that's key for us. We have to be careful in our coverage about the expectations that are set for both candidates.

HARLOW: That's true. Let's play that clip, guys, from the Gore vs. Bush debate, because no words were exchanged here, but this action really said a lot. We don't have it, but I think America will remember when Al Gore sort of walked away from his podium, walked up to Bush --

STELTER: People said it was like wandering around, trying to get in Bush's face --

HARLOW: And what's interesting is, Portman, Senator Portman, who was preparing Bush for it said this might happen and prepared him for it, which is interesting. So he was ready when Al Gore did it.

But what is different this time is the gender dynamic. So Rick Lazio made the mistake of his campaign in 2000 running against Hillary Clinton for senate in New York when he approached her and put this piece of legislation in front of her and said, sign it, sign it. Sort of make this, make good on your word. And a lot of people say that that made him look like an overly-aggressive man against a woman. Gender dynamics. How do they play in with Donald Trump versus Hillary Clinton?

STELTER: Lazio has said he regrets that moment, actually, and believes it was a critical factor. And this is one of the reasons why Clinton is practicing so much these debates. Trump's campaign has been a little less clear how much practice is actually happening, whether he's doing mock debates or not, but I think it's fair to say both these candidates know how important the debates are. They might be trying to lower expectations for themselves and raise them for their opponent. We know Clinton, for example, has been in a hotel for several days, near her home in Chappaqua, New York. So she's in a special location where she can rehearse.

STELTER: Does Donald Trump have to approach her differently than he would have to approach a male competitor on the stage?

STELTER: I think he does. You know, whether we want to believe that we're all past these issues between men and women in the U.S., whether we're willing to believe there's full equality, the reality is, there's complex dynamics at play between men and women, especially in politics and in corporate life and sort of the main arenas of America. And I think Donald Trump has to acknowledge that, has to recognize that, and I'm sure he does. He's a very smart man, a very smart television performer. He knows how to play for the cameras, and that's one of the challenges for Clinton.

On the flip side, though, half the audience is going to be female and will be paying attention to his body cues, his body language, to his treatment of the first female nominee. Even if it's not in his mind, it's going to be in the viewers' minds at home.

HARLOW: No question. We will all be watching, Brian Stelter. Thank you so much. Much more from Brian on this, his show "RELIABLE SOURCES" tomorrow morning. Stay with me. Much more, live from Hofstra University in just a moment. This is CNN special live coverage. We'll be right back.

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[18:39:41] HARLOW: We're back with our breaking news out of Charlotte, North Carolina. I want to go straight to our reporter, Nick Valencia, on the ground. Nick, the police have now released the video that they have of Keith Scott being shot and killed. I understand you just viewed the video, is that right?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): I did. The video -- there's two videos, Poppy. Body cam footage and dash cam footage released by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department. The first video is about a minute long. The second video is about two minutes long. We're currently going over it right now to try to see if there's any profanity. We want to be responsible how we show this video on CNN. But attached to this link is also a series of three photos which appears to show a Colt Mustang 380 semiautomatic handgun according to our CNN security team on the ground who also took a look at the photos. These guns are usually -- usually hold about 6 rounds, and according again to our security team here who saw those photos, very concealable, a very concealable handgun.

The video is not distinctive from our vantage point just yet and cannot clearly see a gun in Mr. Scott's hands, but you do see, this is the first time we've seen police video emerge from this fatal encounter Tuesday afternoon, police shooting and killing Keith Scott, they say because he refused to comply with demands to drop a weapon. Of course, the family has said that Mr. Scott was unarmed during the shooting, but these photos released by the Mecklenburg, Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department appear to indicate the handgun that was recovered as well from the scene, a Colt Mustang 380 semiautomatic handgun found on Mr. Scott's person. Poppy --

HARLOW: OK. Two questions for you, Nick. One, are police confirming that is the type of handgun or is that just according to CNN's law enforcement experts?

VALENCIA (via telephone): That's just according to CNN's law enforcement experts, somebody who is well trained with firearms, somebody who has wide, vast experience and knowledge of firearms. He's standing right next to me right now, Poppy, shaking his head that this is the type of weapon that he sees and he has looked at the photos very explicitly.

HARLOW: Here's my other question, Nick. Where in the video -- where does the video show the gun? Meaning, do you see the gun in Mr. Scott's hand? Do you see it on the ground? Do you see it in the car? Where is the gun?

VALENCIA (via telephone): You don't really see the gun, to be honest, Poppy. You don't see the gun at all. It's very difficult. The video is a little bit shaky to start out with. That first clip that we just saw right now -- and again, I'm just viewing this within the last minute as I'm on the phone with you. My producer (inaudible) is pulling it up back for me so I can see it again. It's not clear, Mr. Scott is off to the camera in this dash cam video I'm seeing, he's about camera left away from the pick-up truck. You see an officer in a vest wearing a red shirt at the passenger side window of the car, we believe to be Mr. Scott's pickup truck. You see Mr. Scott outside of the car with his back walking backwards and then he's shot by police officers and he falls to the ground. The police officers then descend onto, well, they descend on Mr. Scott as he's on the ground, pat him down, and that's what the dash cam video shows from our vantage point and our perspective.

HARLOW: OK, so what -- when then did you see a gun that you're describing as a Colt Mustang handgun? Where was that gun seen?

VALENCIA (via telephone): Well, we've seen it in photos. We've seen it just off to the left leg of Mr. Scott. But in this video, as the police chief has indicated, it's not distinctive. You can't distinctly see that Mr. Scott has a weapon in his hand. It appears that he has something, but just to clear about it, this is a very small handgun. You can't explicitly see that he has a weapon in his hand. This body cam footage, it's pretty shaky as well. You can see Mr. Scott is wearing a black t-shirt. He's on the ground here in this video that I'm looking at right now. He's having his hands put behind his back. One of his hands, his left hand, appears to show blood on the fingers as he's being restrained by officers lying on the ground. But the gun clearly, you can't, I can't see it, Poppy.

HARLOW: You said, Nick, that what you viewed in one of the videos was Mr. Scott walking backwards towards his vehicle. Is that correct?

VALENCIA (via telephone): That's right. He appeared to be walking backwards as he was shot. He did make a motion right before he was shot by police but he was slowly walking backwards as that gunfire started.

HARLOW: What kind of motion? A motion with his arms? A motion with his hands? What kind of motion?

VALENCIA (via telephone): We're looking at it again. I'm sorry our viewers are having to bear it with us through this all, but we want to be careful about how we describe it. We want to be accurate about it. I'm viewing this tape again. It's 3:51 and 27 seconds, the officer is at the passenger side of this pickup truck.

[18:44:58] Mr. Scott at this point appears to be out of his car. The audio is low on this. You can't hear. Now he's out of his car walking away from the officers, again, walking backwards as he's gunned down by cops.

HARLOW: Nick, does it appear that Mr. Scott is retreating from police when he is shot?

VALENCIA (via telephone): -- we have the audio up on this now, Poppy, and you could hear clearly the orders from police officers, multiple orders from police officers for him to drop his weapon. He's a little bit off camera, then he comes into frame. The cops are still giving orders to drop the gun. And as I'm watching this, he gets out of his car, he's walking backwards, walking backwards, and then shots are fired, multiple shots. I don't know if that jerking motion was a result of him being shot or if it was something that he did right before he was shot. It happens very quickly, just before 3:52 p.m. on Tuesday.

HARLOW: And Nick, I think that this is what's really important because it goes back to what the police chief Kerr Putney said and that is, he said, what we are releasing are the objective facts but no single piece of evidence that proves all of the complexities in this case.

VALENCIA (via telephone): And that's a terrific point, Poppy. I want to highlight and underscore what we heard from an official with the Fraternal Order of Police who has seen these same videos that we're watching. It was his interpretation that Mr. Scott made an obvious threat towards police, which I've been reporting, they say, cost him his life. From me watching this videotape, and I want to be very clear when I say this, it doesn't appear that an obvious threat was made towards police officers. This, of course, is a better question to be asked to law enforcement, to police who have had training in these types of situations, but from us watching this video, Mr. Scott is walking backwards as he is shot by police.

HARLOW: OK, Nick, thank you for the reporting. Please stay with me because I do want to bring in our panel, and as I do, I want to welcome our viewers both here in the United States and around the world. I'm Poppy Harlow joining you tonight on this breaking news out of Charlotte, North Carolina, in the shooting death of Keith Scott. Tom Fuentes is with me, a law enforcement analyst for us and a former FBI assistant director. Laura Coates is also with us, a legal analyst, a former federal prosecutor, and a former assistant U.S. attorney with the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice. And Cheryl Dorsey is also with us, a retired sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department. Political commentator, Marc Lamont Hill is also with us.

We just heard, Tom Fuentes, what Nick described, and he said from the two vantage points that the public is being given with the video that we are working to clear and to put on our air so everyone can see it. He says that what he does not see is a clear threat made or approach of the officers by Mr. Scott. However, the problem here is, we don't have all the vantage points. We only have two videos, and there are more videos and more vantage points that the police department has that they are not releasing at this point in time. How difficult does that make getting to the bottom of this, and for the public to fully understand, given that the police said he did make a threat that caused police to believe that their life was in danger and therefore caused him to shoot and kill Mr. Scott?

FUENTES: Well, we may never have a clear vantage point that shows where that gun is at the time the police opened fire on him, so, if that gun is in his hand and if they're screaming at him as you hear on the other, the wife's video, 8, 9, 10 times you can hear the police screaming, drop the gun, drop the gun -- if they see that gun in his hand -- we can't see, not only can't see the gun in his hand, but the angle of the gun is completely important because let's say that he starts out and he's holding the gun in his hand and it's pointed towards the ground. Even though he may be back pedaling, he could raise that gun to be parallel to the ground and therefore pointing at officers in a split second and even if he's going backwards, the bullet is going to come out of that gun going forward towards the police. So that's a critical point to know exactly where that gun is, exactly what the point of aim is, and try to figure, why isn't he dropping it if in fact they're yelling at him to drop the gun.

[18:49:55] HARLOW: Cheryl Dorsey, to you. We were told by the police department, they said on Twitter that the video that they're releasing will be accompanied by more details about what led officers to approach Mr. Scott in the first place. We don't have that yet. Can there ever be full knowledge, at least for the public, without seeing more of these vantage points?

DORSEY: I don't think we're going to get full satisfaction when everything is said and done because remember, we've already been told over and over again that there's no definitive evidence that's going to be gleaned from this video. So we're going to have to rely on the statements of the officers. And so therein lies the problem, because I'm waiting to hear, the investigation will eventually determine, based on how the officers articulate what caused them to use deadly force. Because if he is doing something, if he's brandishing, if he's waving the gun, pointing the gun, then the force would be appropriate. If he's just in possession of a gun, then it's not appropriate, because this is an open carry state. So let's not get caught up in the details of, he had a gun, he had a gun, because unless they're able to articulate why this force was reasonable, then the use of force is going to be problematic.

HARLOW: OK. Laura Coates, to you. One thing -- and I don't believe we have the photos yet to show our viewers, but we're just getting images from the Charlotte Police Department. They've released three photos, and we'll get them up as soon as we can. They are photos of a gun, photos of a marijuana cigarette, and a photo of an ankle holster that the police department says that Scott had on him at the time of his fatal shooting Tuesday. At the same time, Laura, you heard Nick Valencia say, and he's viewed these videos, that he cannot see a gun in the videos, meaning it's just not clear. Legally, when they're trying to determine whether use of lethal force was justified or not, how difficult does it make that case if a gun is not visible in the video but they have photos of this gun?

COATES: Well, neither the photos or the video in and of itself is going to be the slam dunk that a prosecutor would need. But what is, is if there is eyewitness testimony. And we keep hearing about the eye witnesses' testimony, and we keep hearing about the eye witnesses, and we're all presuming that it's the officers alone who are involved in having given testimony or a statement to the other officers. But there may be civilians out there, I just don't know.

I did have a chance to just quickly look, I did see one of the body cam videos, one Nick was talking about, and I have to agree, and objectively speaking, I could not see from that particular vantage point, the use of a weapon. I did hear the wife in the background that tracks what she was saying in her video that she had released, and I did hear the officers trying to administer aid to Mr. Scott.

But that's all about pieces of the puzzle for the prosecutor to say, look, I need to actually have testimony here. Yes, seeing is believing, but there are obvious gaps here and it's inconclusive. So people have to understand, one of the things you always ask a jury in any trial is whether or not they will hold an officer's statement to be far more credible than a civilian. So if all we're relying on is an officer's statement, while we may be critical or suspicious based on what we know from the media reports around the nation, certainly jurors are overwhelmingly trusting of officers in the courtroom. So I'd like to know as a prosecutor, what other civilian testimony may there be that would show a vantage point that the officers can give or were not able to give.

HARLOW: Marc Lamont Hill, to you. The fact that -- before I get to you, let me take you through these photos. These are three images that we've just received from the Charlotte Police Department. They say that the pictures show one, what you're looking at here, a marijuana cigarette that they say was received from Mr. Scott in the vehicle. Let's go to the next one, guys.

The next photo shows a handgun that they say was found at the scene. And the third one is an ankle holster. Let's pull that up, that would hold the gun. Marc Lamont Hill, to you. These are images just released at the same time you heard from our Nick Valencia that the video does not clearly show a gun. Every night, protestors have been out in Charlotte asking for transparency and answers. And this video, the police chief said, look, we're going to release this video, but he said no single piece of evidence proves the complexities in this case. Where do we go? Where does the public go from here with seemingly just as many questions as before?

[18:54:59] MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I'm glad you pointed that out, that there are just as many questions now as there were before. Because initially, the claims out of the police department were that once we saw this video, we would have no doubt that the shooting was legal and warranted. That was the claim. That if only the public knew. And the public said, hey, let us know, show us the video. And now when forced to send the video out into the world, they say, yes, well you can't really believe the video because the video's not as clear as you think.

Obviously, we have the benefit of hindsight. A law enforcement officer has a split second to make that decision. So we have to think about the full context, I don't disagree. But it's somewhat curious that they release these at the same time they release the video. It suggests, to me, that the law enforcement agency, that the police department specifically is somewhat vulnerable here, and that they know that the video doesn't necessarily justify the shooting.

So you get distractions like a marijuana cigarette. Very rarely -- I can't think of any time in the world when smoking a blunt makes someone want to attack an officer or shoot someone. If anything, it does the opposite. It's an open carry state, so having a gun or a holster doesn't necessarily mean they're doing something illegal. In fact, the holster oftentimes is a sign post that they weren't.

We need more evidence. We need to see the video. I need to see the video. But more importantly, we need the full context. But I don't want the public to be distracted into thinking that because someone had weed and a gun in an open carry state that that means that they were ready to die, or death eligible or deserving to die.

HARLOW: Guys, stand by, because we've just gotten this press release coming to us from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, and I'm going to read it to you in full. This is long, but the totality of it is very important, as we continue to report this breaking news.

This release from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department reads -- there have been numerous unconfirmed reports published in the media concerning this case. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department has prepared following case update to provide factual information about the officer-involved shooting.

Two plain clothed officers were sitting inside of their unmarked police vehicle preparing to serve an arrest warrant in the parking lot of the Village at College Downs when a white SUV pulled in and parked beside them. The officers observed the driver, later identified as Mr. Keith Lamont Scott rolling what they believed to be a marijuana blunt. Officers did not consider Mr. Scott's drug activity to be a priority at the time and they resumed the warrant operation.

A short time later, Officer Vincent observed Mr. Scott holding a gun up. Because of that, the officers had probable cause to arrest him for the drug violation and to further investigate Mr. Scott being in possession of the gun. Due to the combination of illegal drugs and the gun Mr. Scott had in his possession, officers decided to take enforcement action for public safety concerns.

Officers departed the immediate area to outfit themselves with marked duty vests and equipment that would clearly identify them as police. Upon returning, the officers again witnessed Mr. Scott in possession of a gun. The officers immediately identified themselves as police officers and gave clear, loud, and repeated verbal commands to drop the gun. Mr. Scott refused to follow the officers' repeated verbal commands.

A uniformed officer in a marked patrol vehicle arrived to assist the officers. The uniformed officer utilized his baton to attempt to breech the front passenger window in an effort to arrest Mr. Scott. Mr. Scott then exited the vehicle with the gun and backed away from the vehicle while continuing to ignore officers' repeated loud verbal commands to drop the gun.

Officer Vincent perceived Mr. Scott's actions and movements as an imminent physical threat to himself and to the other officers. Officer Vincent fired his issued service weapon, striking Mr. Scott. Officers immediately rendered first aid and requested medic to respond to the scene.

Homicide unit detectives interviewed multiple independent civilian witnesses at the scene and at police headquarters. Those witnesses confirmed that officers gave numerous loud verbal commands for Mr. Scott to drop the weapon and also confirmed that at no time did Mr. Scott comply with their commands.

A lab analysis conducted of the gun crime scene investigators recovered at the scene revealed the presence of Mr. Scotts DNA and his fingerprints on the gun. It was also determined that the gun Mr. Scott possessed was loaded at the time of the encounter with the officers. The investigation also revealed that Mr. Scott was wearing an ankle holster at the time of the event.

They've also released the video, Nick Valencia I believe is back with us. Nick, are you still with me?

VALENCIA: I'm here, Poppy.

HARLOW: All right, Nick, we still have not released the video. We're clearing it for air. You've seen it. Walk us through what stands out to you from that video as I've just read the lengthy, lengthy statement from the Charlotte Police Department.

VALENCIA: That release by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department also included a narrative of what they say happened.