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Charlotte Police Release Shooting Video; Gunman Kills Five People in Washington Shopping Mall; Aired 8-9p ET
Aired September 24, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:00] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: That man, Mr. Keith Scott, 43 years old, shot and killed by police on Tuesday. One video is from police dash cam mounted on the car, the other video is body camera video. Both recorded at --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He ain't doing anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He doesn't have a gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun. Drop the gun.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keith, don't do it. Keith.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun. Drop the gun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keith, please, don't you do it. Hey, Keith.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up, back up. Back up. 2-60, 22. Good. We got shots fired. One suspect down, Legacy Court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10-4.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officers 10-4. We got one suspect down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10-4. Legacy Court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10-4. We're right in the front.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10-4. Legacy Court, please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: That is about two minutes of that dash camera video. That's the full video that we've received from the police department. Now I want to show you the second video released. This is from a body
camera perspective. This is from the camera worn on the body of one of the other officers. It is not from the officer who fired the deadly shot, Officer Vinson. He was not wearing a body camera, but here is what we have.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Handcuff, handcuff, handcuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Handcuff, handcuff. Handcuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Legacy Court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gripping his hands, gripping his hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up, back up. Back up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He better be alive. He better be alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, hey. Somebody get my bag and start getting some equipment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's your bag?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You take it back of my truck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You good?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm good. Get some gloves, we need to hold the wound.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Obviously very disturbing video to watch. You hear Mr. Scott moaning at the end as he is dying from that fatal shot.
Before I get to our Ed Lavandera on this, I want to take you through the timeline, because what is also really important tonight is not only has this video been released but what's also been released is a lengthy statement from the Charlotte Police Department. Here are the key points. First, they say Scott's SUV pulled up next to officers. There were plainclothes officers. Officers say that Scott rolled a marijuana blunt and then observed Scott holding up a gun in the car. Then Scott -- then officers departed to outfit with marked police vests and equipment. Officers returned and identified themselves to Scott, they say, and gave clear, loud, verbal commands saying drop the gun, drop the gun. Then officers say that Scott refused to follow repeated commands to drop the gun. And then uniformed officers -- a uniformed officer arrived and pulled up to the scene to assist.
[20:05:06] They go on to say that the uniformed officer used a baton to try to breach the passenger window of Scott's car and then in this statement from the police they say Scott exited his vehicle with a gun and backed away ignoring officer's commands to drop the gun. They say that is when Officer Vinson perceived Scott's actions as a threat, and that is when Officer Vinson fired, striking Scott.
That's the timeline just released tonight of the facts of the case. They go on to say that the officers rendered first aid and requested a medic, multiple civilians witnessed and confirmed that offices gave numerous commands to Scott to drop his gun.
Lab results of the gun reveal Scott's DNA and fingerprints on the gun, say the police. They also say that that gun that they recovered was indeed loaded.
Our Ed Lavandera is live for us in Charlotte tonight. This is the first time that we're getting a lot of this from the police department. Not only are the videos out there, but this timeline, this pretty specific timeline of the course of events is out from the police department. This follows night after night of protests in Charlotte, demanding transparency from the police department. What's the reaction from people there tonight?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, throughout the day there had been a march here in the city, demanding the release of the full videos, the body camera and dash cam footage. That full release has not happened, but it was as the police chief described what he believed to be the pertinent video images from the body cam and dash cam.
They have been marching through the streets today, demanding the release of that video. And protesters expected back out on the streets of Charlotte tonight as well. For the last couple of nights it has been peaceful protesting, even though it has gone beyond the curfew hour that was -- was put in place a few days ago by the mayor of Charlotte, Poppy. But more protests probably expected, but this is also partly what many of these protesters have been demanding, was for the release of these videos.
And many people beginning to digest that and begin to process and analyze and come to terms with what they see there on these videos.
HARLOW: And, Ed Lavandera, also can you speak to the reason as to why we do not have any audio in the first -- the first 23 seconds of the body camera video perspective there is no audio. Do we know why and if that will come or if it just doesn't exist?
LAVANDERA: It does not sound from the early indication that we are getting, we will continue following up on this as well, is that we have spoken with a spokesperson for the city manager here in Charlotte, and we are told by that spokesperson that the way these body cameras work is once the officer engages, presses the button to begin recording that there's about a 20-second or so pre-roll of video before the audio kicks in. So that, according to the spokesperson, is why you don't hear audio at the beginning of that videotape. When we first saw these videos we suspected that many people would have questions about that, but that is the explanation that we have gotten so far. We have reached out to the public information officers with the
Charlotte police to get their take and explanation on that, to make sure it matches what we have been told. We have not heard back from them yet.
HARLOW: Ed Lavandera tonight for us in Charlotte. Thank you, Ed, very much.
Not long after we received those videos of Keith Scott's death, after they became public, some members of Scott's family came out along with their attorneys and gave a statement. They took some reporter questions.
Our Nick Valencia is in Charlotte tonight with that. What is the reaction from the family tonight after not only they've seen the video but now the world has seen the video?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're going on four nights now since the shooting death of Keith Scott, and since the very beginning the family has demanded the release of the police videos of that fatal shooting. Today they got their demand answered. They say they are grateful for those videos, they're glad that those videos came out. They wanted the public to make up their own mind as to what they see in the video, although the police have said that they were inconclusive, that they don't show in detail the gun, the family still maintains and believes that Keith Scott was unarmed at the time of the shooting.
And earlier we heard from Keith Scott's brother-in-law who said that Keith Scott did nothing to deserve to die.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY DOTCH, KEITH LAMONT SCOTT'S BROTHER-IN-LAW: The family, that the videos were released. Our goal has from the beginning been to get the absolute unfiltered truth, and the only way to get that is for the police to release the videos that we -- were released today. Unfortunately, we are left with far more questions than we have answers.
[20:10:03] It does not make sense to us how it was possible that this incident resulted in the loss of life. It just does not make sense and it is not clear in the videos that were released.
Additionally, many of you, the media, of which I am a part, have requested information about Mr. Scott, what kind of person he is. Was he a good father? Was he a good husband? Those issues surrounding his character. Of course he was a wonderful person, of course we loved him dearly, but that shouldn't be the issue. We shouldn't have to humanize him in order for him to be treated fairly.
What we know and what you should know about him is that he was an American citizen who deserved better. That is our position.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VALENCIA: It was just about an hour ago that the Charlotte- Mecklenburg Police Department released the video of the fatal shooting. They also released a narrative as well as three photos of what they say is the handgun that they recovered from the body of Keith Scott. He was asked, the family attorney was asked at this press conference how Scott's DNA got on the gun, how his fingerprints got on the gun if the family believes that he was unarmed. They say that they are digesting this information. That this is the first time that they've seen the photos themselves and they are going to continue to investigate -- Poppy.
HARLOW: Nick Valencia, live for us tonight in Charlotte. Thank you, Nick.
Much more of our breaking news on this story ahead and the police videos just released. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
HARLOW: We're back tonight with our breaking news on Charlotte. The videos are now out and they have been released to the public. These are two videos, dash camera video and body camera video, of the fatal shooting of Keith Scott on Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina. One video, the one I'm about to show you, is from a police car dash cam mounted on the front of the police car.
[20:15:06] Both videos record the moment that police opened fire on Keith Lamont Scott, killing him last Tuesday. First let's watch the dash camera video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He ain't doing anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He doesn't have a gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun. Drop the gun.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keith, don't do it. Keith.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun. Drop the gun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keith, please, don't you do it. Hey, Keith.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up, back up. Back up. 2-60, 22. We got shots fired. One suspect down, Legacy Court. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10-4.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officers 10-4. We got one suspect down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10-4. Legacy Court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10-4. We're right in the front.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10-4. Legacy Court, please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: All right. So that's the dash camera video. Now I want to show the second video the Charlotte police just released tonight. This is the video from a body camera worn by one of the responding officers who was involved in this encounter with Keith Scott. It is not the video from the officer, Officer Vinson, who shot and killed Keith shot because that officer was not wearing a body camera. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Handcuff, handcuff, handcuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Handcuff, handcuff. Handcuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Legacy Court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gripping his hands, gripping his hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up, back up. Back up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He better be alive. He better be alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, hey. Somebody get my bag and start getting some equipment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's your bag?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You take it back of my truck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You good?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm good. Get some gloves, we need to hold the wound.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Let's talk about all of this with our panel. But let me begin tonight with Philip Atiba Goff. He is a professor of Policing Equity at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Philip, you saw the video. And I just also want to discuss the context that this is in, context of strained race relations across the country, strained race relations in North Carolina. And I do want to make the point that the conversation, a broader conversation about tension between police officers and some of the African-American communities, that the police is a factor here, at the same time the police officer who fired the deadly shots, Officer Vinson, is an African-American as is Keith Scott who was killed, as is the Charlotte police chief who we heard from just this afternoon. Your thoughts?
PHILIP ATIBA GOFF, PROFESSOR AND CO-FOUNDER, CENTER FOR POLICING EQUITY: Yes, Poppy. I mean, we're all just seeing this for first time and processing it just now. And I think I have to start with just how disturbing it is to hear somebody's last breaths like that and to be able to hear his wife in the background pleading for his life, assuming that there's no reason he was going to be shot because he clearly couldn't be a threat to anyone.
[20:20:05] At the same time I think that my heart is saddened right now because I know in watching this that something -- some of these things are going to be a little bit more polarizing. We have now the sort of tick-tock from the police department side, where there was engagement, they retreated, they geared up, they tried to give clear instructions, and yet on the video you also see someone exiting the vehicle, taken from the dash cam. He's clearly moving backwards, arms appear to be at his sides. Many people will say that he's not actually posing a threat as a result.
This is really a time -- what I see here is a time for leadership, for people to figure out, all right, this is what we do know, what we don't know, and this is where our common ground is. I'm tired of having these conversations as if law enforcement and black people have to be on different sides. For the people who are concerned about racial oppression in this context, the race of the people who are doing the actions doesn't matter that much.
White supremacy can exist outside of the context of the skin color that you happen to be in. It is systemic. And at the same time police are not on the opposite side of this. I work closely with rank-and-file officers and police chiefs who care about these issues and who are trying to lead. This is a tragic incident. And again, what I see here is opportunities for a lot of people taking sides and false polarization and hopefully opportunities for leadership.
HARLOW: Laura Coates, to you. You not only are an attorney, you previously worked with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. The outline of the Statement of Fact from the police department in Charlotte says that -- they say that Mr. Scott had a gun on him, that the gun has his DNA and fingerprints and that that gun was loaded.
Even if he was not pointing it at police officers, which is just so unclear from all of these videos, we just don't know, if he did have a gun that was loaded on his person, would a grand jury indict the officer who killed him?
LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, I heard Paul earlier say that there was no grand jury or prosecutor who would take that, and I have to say, Poppy, I'm not entirely convinced you couldn't indict this case, and here is why. Yes, it is absolutely true that an officer is in charge of being able to figure out whether or not lethal force should be used, and we judge an officer according to what other reasonable officers in that situation would do. But from the appearance of the video, it doesn't appear that the officers who Mr. Scott was facing at the time he was backing up away from his vehicle were the officers who shot, which tells me that there were other officers on the scene who were, in fact, similarly situated with the officer who in fact did shoot Mr. Scott, and they did not choose to actually shoot him.
And so when you have an incident, when you have not only the hypothetical other reasonable officer, but you actually have them on scene and they did not act in the same manner, and they appear to be the people who Mr. Scott was looking at, that will factor into a grand jury. And, remember, a grand jury is not the trial jury where we have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. There's a trial for that. There's evidence to present. But a grand jury only decides probable cause, meaning did these -- did this officer probably cause the death of Mr. Scott in an unlawful manner? You might be able to get that case indicted having seen this video.
HARLOW: All right. There's a lot more to dissect and to discuss here, an important conversation ahead.
Laura, thank you very much. Thank you all. Stay with me. We're going to take a quick break and come back, but before we go I want you to take a look at this, live pictures of a vigil for Keith Scott downtown in Charlotte. Much more after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:27:31] HARLOW: All right. My panel is back with me. Let me bring in Cheryl Dorsey, a retired sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department, as well as the rest of our panel.
Cheryl, to you, let me get your take on all of the things that are not seen in the videos released. Yes, we know more now just being able to see two of these vantage points, the dash camera and the body camera, but we also know that the Charlotte Police Department has other videos that they are not releasing and will not release until this investigation is complete.
Can there be any clarity, the transparency that protesters are calling for without all of the videos? And what would be the thinking of a police department to hold on to some of it? Why distribute it piecemeal?
CHERYL DORSEY, FORMER LAPD SERGEANT: Well, I have to take the chief at his word in that he's released the things that are most pertinent. And so based on what we see, this is much like what he said, going to rely on the statements of those officers that were there at the scene. And when we understand and recognize that great deference is given to the version that the officers are going to purport, we're going to be left to believe that what they say about why they were fearful or that officer who fired that shot, what it was in his mind that caused him to do that is going to be very difficult to debate because what he felt is what he felt. And if that's in his head, it is difficult to argue that point with him.
HARLOW: Cedric Alexander, to you. What is the most glaring thing missing from these videos that you cannot see? I mean, obviously you can't see what is in -- if anything, is in Mr. Scott's hand.
CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, that's going to be the most glaring piece, is that none of the video show a gun in his hand. But, of course, there's clear evidence to suggest that he was in possession of a firearm based on the science.
HARLOW: Right.
ALEXANDER: Which included his DNA and fingerprints.
HARLOW: But let me ask you this, because --
ALEXANDER: Yes.
HARLOW: Understood, and that's what the Charlotte police said, that the gun at the scene was loaded, had his fingerprints and his DNA. But they released these three photographs, and I think we can pull them up for our viewers to see these three photographs from the police department. And one of them is an ankle holster. If the gun remained in the ankle holster and the gun was not drawn or in Mr. Scott's hands, Cedric, how does that change things when it comes to the police response to him and the use of deadly force?
ALEXANDER: Well, you know, Poppy, that's -- you know, that we don't know because we don't know how detailed -- when officers say they saw him pick up the gun inside the vehicle when he was he smoking a joint.
[20:30:09] HARLOW: Right.
ALEXANDER: What was he doing with the gun? Was he pointing it at him or was he just showing off? Did he know who they were or not? Of course, they came back. They were clearly identified as police officers. This is a lot that we can't answer and that's what we're really getting from these videos. And I think the chief said that very early on when he does release the video it's going to raise more questions than it's going to give answers, and I think the answers are only going to come through a completion of a full investigation. So at this point we're going to raise a great deal of questions, the public is going to raise a great deal of questions.
And here again, many people are wearing these lenses of great distrust in their police department right now and understandably so. However, this is going to be a hurdle that we're going to have to get past as we continue to discuss these videos until we get a whole and clear view of actually what took place and what that investigation revealed.
HARLOW: Paul Callan, to you. Do you believe that in bringing a case against this officer from what we know now, what is your assessment about whether or not a grand jury would or could indict?
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I don't think there's any possibility they would indict. You have an African-American officer fired the shot. You have evidence that possibly somebody who was suffering from some sort of a mental problem, the wife said he had a TBI, meaning a traumatic brain injury, was holding a gun in his hand and refusing to drop the gun. I just don't know of any grand jury that would indict on that fact pattern, and frankly --
HARLOW: So Paul --
CALLAN: What would be the point of an indictment if a jury would not convict? But I think there's a second question we haven't even touched on tonight. Assuming that the police are correct and he was carrying a loaded weapon, what is a man with a traumatic brain injury who is taking medication doing carrying a loaded firearm in North Carolina? What does this have to do with the ease with which apparently people who are suffering from mental disabilities are allowed to carry loaded weapons?
I think that's a more important question than, you know, going back in time. You know, we're second guessing these police officers and nobody is talking about the level of tension there is on the street when a police officer is facing a potentially mentally deranged person who's got a loaded firearm and refuses to drop it. I'd like to know why he was carrying that loaded firearm if he was.
HARLOW: It is a very important point. And you hear in the video very clearly that Keith Scott's wife took on her cell phone, you hear her say, he has a TBI, he has a TBI, meaning a traumatic brain injury. She also says to officers, he doesn't have a gun. Obviously they say that he does, so there are two different viewpoints from the family and from the officers on that. But, Paul Callan, it is a very important point and something that bears a lot more discussion and analysis.
Thank you guys very much. All of you, stand by. We have much more of our breaking news out of Charlotte tonight ahead. Coming up I will speak with an attorney who defended one of the police officers who was charged and then subsequently acquitted in the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore last year. His perspective on this situation in Charlotte is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:37:08] HARLOW: Welcome back as we follow the latest developments out of Charlotte, and the two videos released by the Charlotte Police Department of the deadly shooting of Keith Scott. I want to bring in Attorney Michael Belsky from Short Hill, New Jersey. He is the attorney who represented Lieutenant Brian Rice, one of those officers charged and then acquitted in the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore.
Thank you for being with me tonight.
MICHAEL BELSKY, LAWYER FOR OFFICER ACQUITTED IN FREDDIE GRAY CASE: Thank you for having me. Good evening, Poppy.
HARLOW: Good evening. You heard some of my previous guests like Paul Callan, another attorney, saying, look, if indeed Mr. Scott did have a loaded gun on his person at the time that he was shot and killed by officers and given the other things that the police department said about how he refused to, according to them, drop the gun, that it would be very hard for a grand jury to indict Officer Vinson. Do you agree?
BELSKY: I think if you take the timeline given by the police department, put out by the police department, if you believe that and that turns out to be the truth, it would be very difficult to secure an indictment, if in fact the victim had a gun, the gun was pointed at the police officer, and ultimately the question is, was the officer in imminent fear of bodily harm. I believe it would be very difficult to secure an indictment.
Does it mean there weren't administrative issues? I don't know. But certainly if those facts turn out to be true, it would be very difficult to secure an indictment in this case I believe.
HARLOW: When -- considering the video that's been released, I'm wondering what your take is on the fact that the police department waited a number of days before releasing this video. At first the police chief said we're not going to release it until the investigation's fully complete. Then he decided to but he's only released these two videos, one dash camera video about two minutes long, one body camera video about one minute long, and not other vantage points that the department had.
He says these are the videos that show the most. I wonder what your thought is on this sort of partial release of video but not just putting all of the video they have out there?
BELSKY: So first I think the family is exactly right to want the video out in the public. I think the family has done a very respectful job in addressing the public.
HARLOW: Yes.
BELSKY: I listened to their attorney tonight. He was incredibly respectful, wasn't rushing to any judgment. Was saying, let's take a step back and take a measured approach. And I really do believe that he was being quite respectful to the system. On the other hand, you have this idea that the integrity of the investigation is of paramount importance. And when you put the video out there, when you put sort of the scene out there, you're interviewing witnesses, it could be that those witnesses come back and they see something on the video and temper their statements or tailor their statements to what they see on the video, which is a problem. So it's a double-edged sword.
HARLOW: You represented -- you represented one of the officers charged and then subsequently acquitted in the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore last year.
[20:40:09] You know, we have not heard much from the police officers. We only know the name of one officer, Officer Vinson, who fired the deadly shot. We don't know the names of those other officers who responded.
What is your take as an attorney? Do you advise your client not to say anything until all of it is done, until there is a decision on whether to indict or not, or would it be -- would it be helpful for transparency, for obviously the tension in the community, to hear from the officers, for them to come out and to speak and to give their, you know, assessment of what happened that day?
BELSKY: Sure. So at this time I think behind the scenes the police officer and his people, his representatives, his attorneys are doing their own investigation. They're looking at the facts, they're looking at the videos just like you and I are looking at the videos and are determining what exists, what facts are true. If they believe it is best for the officer to give a statement, I'm sure he will give a statement. He will do what is in his best interests as his attorney will advise him to do so. And I'm sure the public wants to hear from him, and I'm sure at some point his version will come forth.
We're getting a lot from the police department as it is in terms of their timeline, and I'm sure that both versions or all versions of facts come out we will at some point really understand what did happen in this case. I trust that.
HARLOW: Do you -- do you believe -- one of my past guests brought up the race of the officer, Officer Vinson, who shot and killed Keith Scott is African-American, the police chief of Charlotte is African- American as is Keith Scott who was shot and killed. Do you believe the race of the officer involved will have anything to do with a grand jury's decision whether to indict or not? Obviously it should just be about the facts, but this is an African-American officer and the case that you dealt with, obviously -- and a number of these other cases that have grabbed national attention you've had white police officers. It is different this time. Does that matter at all in what we may see come forward?
BELSKY: It is different, and I can tell you that in the past prior to this last case I represented four or five other police officers who were African-American and faced similar or the same charges. So it shouldn't have. It should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. The facts of this case should dictate whether charges are brought or whether they are not. It shouldn't -- I can tell you in my history, I've had white officers charged and African-American officers charged with similar offense.
I've had white officers not charged and African-American officers not charged in investigations like this. It shouldn't matter, and I trust that the system plays out the way that it should, it won't matter.
HARLOW: Thank you very much. I appreciate your perspective on all of this. Attorney Michael Belsky, again representing one of those officers in the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. Thank you very much for that.
BELSKY: Thank you.
HARLOW: Coming up next, you will hear from the attorney representing the Scott family. They just spoke this evening. What they said, how they're reacting, and their reaction to the video that has been released. We are also following a major story out of Washington state. A
massive manhunt underway tonight for a man police say opened fire in a mall there last night, killed five people. They are still looking for him.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:47:11] HARLOW: All right. We're back with our breaking news, the release of the police videos that show the fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott last Tuesday in Charlotte. One of the videos is from the dash camera. The other video is from body camera footage from an officer's body who responded to the scene. They both record the moment that police opened fire on Keith Scott after repeated commands from police for him to drop a gun.
A short time ago some Scott family members and the family attorney gave a statement. Here is part of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN BAMBERG, SCOTT FAMILY ATTORNEY: I think it's important here to remember that this is an ongoing process and there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered, and we are going to continue to look into the facts of this case moving forward. But one of the biggest questions is when you look at this dash cam footage, when you look at the time frame between Mr. Scott stepping out of his vehicle to the moment he unfortunately passes away on the pavement, is do those actions, do those precious seconds justify this shooting?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: CNN's Nick Valencia live in Charlotte for us tonight.
Look, they saw the video. They held this press conference. We heard from Rakeyia Scott's brother. She, of course, is the wife of Keith Scott, but they did not -- the family members did not take any questions afterwards and the attorneys talked about how heartbroken the family is. What else did we hear that stood out to you from those relatives of Rakeyia. Scott?
VALENCIA: I think the fact that the family was pleased that these videos were released, it is something that they've insisted on four days now. We're going on four days since the shooting death of Keith Scott. It is something the demonstrators have demanded in their chance to release the tape, release the tape, and it's a message that we've resoundingly heard here since we've been here this week in Charlotte.
They asked a couple of rhetorical questions as well, Poppy. The attorney saying he wants the public viewing this tape, knowing that they have two angles, the dash cam video and body cam footage, asking, watching that video, do you think Keith Scott deserved to die? Do you think that that shooting was justified? It's something that he expanded on at a press conference earlier tonight. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOTCH: We shouldn't have to humanize him in order for him to be treated fairly. What we know and what you should know about him is that he was an American citizen who deserved better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA: I asked the family attorney if the family still believes that Keith Scott was unarmed. That's a message that they have been putting out in the public since the shooting.
[20:50:04] The family attorney says, yes, they still maintain that Keith Scott was unarmed. A follow-up question was asked, then how did DNA evidence, how did the DNA of Keith Scott get on that handgun? How did his fingerprints get on the handgun? They say this is the first time that they have seen the photos of the gun and the holster and they're continuing to investigate -- Poppy.
HARLOW: Nick, are we hearing anything further from Officer Vinson, the officer who fired the deadly shots?
VALENCIA: He has been very quiet. We haven't heard anything really out of him, anything of substance. He has had a family friend, a friend I believe you interviewed him this earlier this week who has spoken on his behalf, to his character, talked about him being a member of a church and part of a bible study. But we really haven't heard anything from the officer himself.
The first time that we're really seeing the officer in motion and video was from these videos that were released earlier today and even then doesn't really draw a clear picture of who this officer is but we know he's the officer that fired those fatal shots -- Poppy.
HARLOW: And Nick, Nick, you were in the press conference today when Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte Police Department said, look, we are releasing two videos but we're not releasing all of the videos. What justification did he give for the department not releasing all the videos until the investigation is fully wrapped up?
VALENCIA: Well, he really didn't, to be honest. And that's part of the frustration here and contributing to the anger. They want full transparency. The public here feels they deserve that. They don't feel that the -- that the police have been transparent enough or upfront enough. They feel as though that from the mayor's press conferences, to the chief's press conference, we've kind of stumbled through this with them and there's been an intense amount of criticism.
Earlier today we heard in the crowd chants for the police chief to resign and we saw the evolution of the expectation of the release of the police video from the mayor and the chief over the last couple of days. The only reasoning that the chief gave saying that this would not impact the integrity of the investigation but it really breeds even still a lack of trust for the police department among the demonstrators, activists and others in this community, the fact that we've only seen the one body cam and the one dash cam video. They want to see all the evidence. They're probably not going to get to see all that evidence but that's what they're demanding -- Poppy.
HARLOW: At some point, though, Nick, you think they will be because you know journalists will be filing Freedom of Information Act requests and we'll see if those are granted and that video is released.
Nick Valencia live for us tonight in Charlotte. Thank you very much.
I want to take you to Washington state because this weekend there is an urgent manhunt underway as police are looking for a man that took a rifle into a shopping mall and killed five individuals. This happened last night. Just north of Seattle. Police say they have no idea who their suspect is. They just have an image of him. They also don't know if this man knew his victims.
Our Stephanie Elam is in Burlington, Washington, tonight -- Stephanie.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Authorities are still looking for the man that came into a Macy's on a Friday night and shot four women dead and then shot a fifth person, a man who was then airlifted to Seattle where he later died. What we do know is that this individual who they believe is in his late teens, early 20s, entered the mall without a firearm. Entered the mall, went into Macy's and at that point they pick him up again with a rifle. That is when the shooting occurred in the makeup department in Macy's.
The weapon was recovered at the scene. What happened after that, though, is still a mystery. They believe that the individual ran out here, crossed through here, right over to the freeway that's right there. It's the Interstate Five which runs the length of the West Coast. After that point, they do not know where he went so they are asking people to take a look at these pictures and if they have any information to get in touch with authorities.
It's really not clear where this firearm was stashed away inside the mall. We also do not know at this point whether or not this was a personal vendetta. They're also saying that they don't have any reason to believe that this was a terrorism attack but at this point they have so little information they can't rule it out.
Stephanie Elam, CNN, Burlington, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: Stephanie, thank you so much for that. Of course as we get the identities of the victims and more on this manhunt, we will of course bring it to you live here.
Coming up next, President Obama today reflecting on race and reflecting on what has happened in Charlotte. You'll hear from the president when we're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:58:21] HARLOW: This shooting, the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, in Charlotte was on the mind of President Obama this morning. He spoke about it at the opening of Washington's new Smithsonian Museum for African-American History and Culture. The president suggesting that it's critically important especially at this time and could provide context for the current climate that we have been discussing tonight. Let's listen to the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Perhaps they 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)
HARLOW: President speaking this morning at the opening of the new Smithsonian Museum honoring black culture and history.
Coming up next, back-to-back episode of "ANTHONY BOURDAIN." I'm Poppy Harlow. So glad you were with us tonight. I'll be back here tomorrow night, live, from Hofstra, one day ahead of the first presidential debate that you can watch live on CNN Monday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
