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More US Protests over Police Shootings; Ted Cruz Endorses Trump; Syria War Update. Aired 2-2:30a ET

Aired September 24, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:11] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: A fourth straight night of demonstrations and city of Charlotte as caused raw (ph) for the release of police dash cam video the state of shooting of a black man. A suspect on the loose, authorities in Washington hunt for a gunman who killed three people at a shopping mall.

Plus, Donald Trump gets an unexpected endorsement after a former Republican rival makes good on a promise.

It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. We're live in Atlanta. Thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.

Protesters have mostly gone home in Charlotte, North Carolina hours after the city's curfew went in to effect. They're demanding the release videos from Tuesday's police shooting death of a black man, Keith Scott. There was also a large demonstration is Atlanta, Friday about three hours away and just a few minutes from CNN here.

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have canceled their plans to visit Charlotte next week. The city's mayor says she appreciates their concern but resources are stretched too thin to accommodate them.

The protests are likely to continue. Sources tell us police found Scott's fingerprint and DNA on a loaded gun at the scene. His widow recorded Scott shooting and shared it, Friday.

Randi Kaye takes us there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The video is 2 minutes and 12 seconds then it's hard to watch. The tape begins with a standoff between Charlotte police officers and Keith Lamont Scott. His wife Rakeyia Scott is recording the video on his cellphone.

RAKEYIA SCOTT, KEITH SCOTT'S WIFE: Don't shoot him, don't shoot him. He has no weapon. He has no weapon. Don't shoot him.

KAYE: A second later though, you hear police shout about a gun. Listen carefully.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gun, gun. Drop the gun. Drop the -- gun. KAYE: This shaky video shows police surrounding Scott's white vehicle. But what you don't see from this vantage point is Scott himself.

Twenty seconds in to it, another firm warning from Scott's wife that her husband does not have a gun but that he does have a traumatic brain injury.

SCOTT: He doesn't have a gun. He has a TBI.

KAYE: A few seconds later, she tells officers her husband just took his medicine, that he's not going to do anything to them, but the situation escalates.

Rakeyia Scott walks closer, telling her husband to get out of the vehicle.

SCOTT: Please don't let them break the windows, come out of the car.

KAYE: Police can be heard on the video yelling to Scott to drop a gun at least nine times.

SCOTT: Don't shoot him. Don't shoot him. He didn't do anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun. Drop the gun.

SCOTT: He doesn't have a gun. He has a TBI. He's not what ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun. Drop the gun.

KAYE: Then, about 50 seconds after he was told to put his hands up, police fired, but not before one final warning.

SCOTT: Keith, Keith, don't you do it.

KAYE: Four shots can be heard on the video. Though the actual shooting is off camera. It's still unclear what Mrs. Scott was trying to tell her husband when she shouted "Don't do it." Watch those final moments again.

SCOTT: Keith, Keith, Keith, don't you do it.

KAYE: Still up for debate, if Keith Scott had a weapon as police have claimed and what prompted officers to shoot. His wife clearly shocked by what she witnessed.

SCOTT: Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him? He better not be dead.

KAYE: She moves closer until the camera can see her husband on the ground. Unsure if he's alive or dead, Rakeyia Scott is stunned.

SCOTT: He better live. I swear, he better live. Yup, he better live. He better -- live.

KAYE: On the video, it's hard to tell if the gun police said they saw is anywhere on the ground. But look at this photo acquired by Charlotte police. The chief says it shows what appears to be a handgun on the pavement at Scott's feet. The photo was clearly taken after the video since crime scene tape, not seen in the video is up. When asked about the gun being in the photo but not clearly in the video, a spokeswoman for the city of Charlotte told CNN, "It is part of the investigation and a question for the state investigation board."

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: CNN Law Enforcement Analyst Cedric Alexander joins me now here at the set. Cedric, thanks again for being with us.

[02:05:02] Well, now we have a video. And this released by the wife of Mr. Scott. After seeing this, is there something that stands out in your mind? It's just from her vantage point. It's not that clear but we do hear police officers and her.

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I think the public is very glad to see some video. Even though it's not the video that's coming from the officers' cameras, but they are seeing some video that gives some indication of what occurred out there on that particular afternoon.

In addition to that, what is important here about that video, we still cannot see whether he is holding a gun or not. Of course we hear the officers saying, "Drop the gun. Drop the gun." We hear that on a number of occasions. Of course she states he doesn't have a gun. But we are hearing the officers being very direct, very firm as if they're clear about what they see and drop the gun, drop the gun, drop the gun. But we still don't see the gun. And that's the question that the public want to be able to make some determination about.

But we also have to remember what's really important here, is that we got to get all the video. We still got to do the forensics work. You still have to question both the officers, or the independent witnesses that were there. So you can put this whole piece together before you can draw any real conclusion.

ALLEN: Yeah, absolutely. We also hear her saying to her husband "Don't do it, don't do it." We don't know what's that is about but she also lets the police officers know that he has TBI, a traumatic brain injury. Would that, would that cause officers react any differently if they heard somebody who knows this person give them that information.

ALEXANDER: Well, you have to remember, those officers are in a very stressful situation. They ...

ALLEN: They're trained to be in stressful situations.

ALEXANDER: They are trained to be in stressful situations. They maybe hearing TBI, they may not be hearing it. They may just be locked in very close upon him and if he has a weapon, that's where their focus is. So maybe they didn't hear. Who knows? That will be a part of the investigation.

But they had no idea what his mental health condition may have been. And they don't know whether she's saying TBI, what does that mean to them? And, is it a distraction or is it true?

So in a high, stressful situation such as that, we don't want to second guess the officers and assume that they know everything because they're taking in a lot of information right there in that situation where they have guns pointed.

And it's unfortunate, it is sad that it had to come to this. But here again, a full investigation that's going to give us way more than what we know now, because I just truly believe it's important that for the fairness of that family and for the fairness of the officers involved and for that community, is that we know in totality as much as we can, putting that puzzle together as to what occurred.

ALLEN: So, what are they waiting for at this point?

ALEXANDER: Who knows? But you hear the public that is saying to the police and the city leadership there, we want to see this other piece of video. We want to see what the police saw at that time. And that video may disclose that and it may not. We don't know.

And we may hear other verbiage on that video, as well too in terms of them maybe having some knowledge or what, or understanding what she's saying when she is yelling TBI.

So, we don't know. It's just so much that is undetermined still at this point.

ALLEN: Right. It makes even all the more puzzling. So as soon as they get the investigation and we hear comments from these police officers who were there, it will help this move forward. Thanks so much Cedric Alexander.

ALEXANDER: Thank you for having me.

ALLEN: Authorities in the state of Washington are looking for an armed man who killed three people and wounded two others at a shopping mall. It happened in Burlington, that's about an hour north of Seattle.

Here's a picture of the man police are looking for. This is the best we have. They say he opened fire in a department store, killing three women. Witnesses described a chaotic scene at the mall as employees evacuated. Burlington authorities are asking people to stay inside. He's still on the run.

And we turn now to the situation in Aleppo, Syria was once again, is a nightmare. New air strikes there killed more than 120 people on Friday. The air raids are so intense that activists described them as unprecedented. And the Syrian government is launching new military operations against rebels. Residents desperately need food and aid. Whatever was left of the ceasefire has completely collapsed.

We're going to show a disturbing picture from Aleppo, we think it shows a cruel reality of the civil war and then it's a story that must be told. After a horrendous air strike, this is what rescuers found in a destroyed apartment. [02:10:01] The dead bodies of a father holding on to his son, trying to save him without success, that family of five also lost another child. The only survivors are the mother and a daughter. They're left mourning, wondering when this will end.

Terrible, terrible picture there. The U.S. and Russia blaming each other for the collapse of the ceasefire. The U.S. says the ball is in Russia's court to show it really wants a peaceful solution. The Russia foreign minister said there's no military solution to the conflict, but he said the U.S. needs to do more to control the rebels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: In the truce seven days, three days would be senseless. Because I give you examples of what was going on after the 12th of September when the document was enforced, 350 attacks by the opposition close to Nusra against government troops and against living quarters. People get killed from the Syrian army, from the city population, and absolute inability of the American coalition to deliver on the pulling back from Castello road which the government started doing actually and they just refused.

So we want to see any sign which will prove that the coalition has influence on those who are on the ground facing the government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: The latest break in negotiations has having a disastrous impact on the ground as we just showed you in that picture. Our Fred Pleitgen reports from Damascus now. And we also want to warn you in this story, some of the video is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The tragic result as diplomacy seems to have failed once again. Tiny toddlers at rebel-held Aleppo wounded in air strikes as the Syrian government has announced a new offensive on the rebel-held parts of the city.

A nightmare that had joint U.S.-Russian peace plan was supposed to resolve. Instead, more violence. The air raids worse than before the ceasefire went in to effect, the opposition says. After an attack on an aid convoy which no one has faced up to, and a new fighting the U.N.'s head acknowledging the international community is failing.

BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: The Syrian tragedy shames us all. The collective failure of the international community should haunt every member of this council.

PLEITGEN: America pointing its finger at Russia and the Assad regime, blaming them for the break down of the cessation of hostilities and demanding they ground all military aircraft.

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The only way to achieve that, is if the ones who have the air power in this part of the conflict simply stop using it. Absent a major gesture like this, and we don't believe there is a point in making more promises or issuing more plans.

PLEITGEN: For their part, Russia and the Assad government blame the opposition for breaching the truce, noting alleged violations by the rebels and claiming fighters were using the ceasefire to regroup.

The Syrian government says the offensive is comprehensive and is using both air and ground forces with all of the devastating consequences for the people inside Eastern Aleppo.

The U.N. says, it's still working to try and revive what maybe left of the peace process. But the prospects seem bleak. A meeting between Washington and Moscow this week was described by the U.N. as, "Long, painful and disappointing."

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Damascus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: North Korea's nuclear advances have angered much -- most of the world but they blame the United States on their nuclear program. That's coming up here.

Plus, Donald Trump called him "Lyin' Ted". Ted Cruz called Trump a pathological liar. Now, they are on the same side.

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[02:16:19] ALLEN: North Korea is unleashing its trademark fiery rhetoric to blame the U.S. for its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The foreign minister told the U.N. on Friday, his country had no choice but to go nuclear due to American aggression. And he warned the U.S. of "Tremendous consequences beyond imagination."

Meantime, South Korea says, it has elite troops ready to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if it thinks it's threatened by the North's nuclear weapons.

On the American campaign trail, it is a stunning reversal. Ted Cruz said he will vote for Donald Trump in November. The Republican candidate says he's greatly honored by the endorsement from the Texas senator who had been one of Trump's fiercest critics. Politics is strange. Here's Jim Acosta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: With the clock ticking down the route, one of his debates with Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump just lured a crucial new ally into his corner, Ted Cruz. The same Texas senator who declined to endorse the GOP nominee at the Republican convention this summer.

TED CRUZ, FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENIAL CANDIDATE: Vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the constitution. I appreciate the enthusiasm of the New York delegation. ACOSTA: Now, Cruz says, he's backing Trump to keep the Supreme Court from tilting to the left, adding on a Facebook post a year ago, I pledged to endorse the Republican nominee and I'm honoring that commitment. And if you don't want to see a Hillary Clinton presidency, I encourage you to vote for him.

After the violence in Charlotte, Trump is already previewing his lines of attack against Clinton for their first debate, accusing her of siding against the police.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Those peddling the narrative of cops as a racist force in our society, and this is a narrative supported with a nod by my opponent. You see what she's saying and it's not good. Shared directly in the responsibility for the unrest that is afflicting our country.

ACOSTA: The Clinton campaign says that's nonsense. Tim Kaine argues it's all about coming together.

TIM KAINE, (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you make the relationship between the police and the community more adversarial, you're not going to close down the gap, you're going to widen the gap.

ACOSTA: Clinton's advisors are looking to drive their own wedge.

TRUMP: I'd look her right in the fat ugly face of hers.

ACOSTA: Between Trump and women voters in this new ad aimed at energizing a key Clinton voting bloc.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you treat women with respect?

TRUMP: I can't say that either.

ACOSTA: After a busy week of rallies, Trump stayed at the office. Top adviser Rudy Giuliani called it a strategy session. Sources familiar with both candidates, debate preparation saying Trump is watching videos of Clinton's past debates while Clinton is studying briefing books and Trump's debate performances for ways to get under his skin. While the Trump campaign is setting low expectations for their candidate, the GOP nominee has been trash talking Clinton all week.

TRUMP: Where is Hillary today? Well, they say she's been practicing for the debate. Some people think she's sleeping.

ACOSTA: Both signs of colorful characters adding to height. College basketball legend Bobby Knight is talking up Trump's chances.

BOBBY KNIGHT, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I think people will really get a look at him that maybe they haven't seen before.

ACOSTA: While the Clinton campaign confirmed they have a brash billionaire on their side in Mark Cuban who tweeted he just got a front row seat to watch Clinton overwhelm Trump at the "Humbling at Hofstra" on Monday.

[02:20:07] MARK CUBAN, CLINTON SUPPORTER: I think Donald Trump is a immediate and present danger to the security of this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Well, ahead of Monday's debates, sources tell CNN, both candidates will meet separately with Israel's prime minister on Sunday. The planned meetings with Benjamin Netanyahu in New York were arranged in the last 24 hours.

Next here, the end of a Hollywood love story. What fans are saying about the breakup of Brangelina. And who they're supporting.

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ALLEN: Derek Van Dam has joined us. And it's really hard to say this because I say it again and again, yet another tropical storm threatening Taiwan.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I know, it seems like we're becoming more of broken record. We had Malakas, we had Meranti, now, we have Megi. All three Ms, right Natalie? Well, this is the latest satellite and the latest information we can pass on to you.

It is located across the Western Pacific. You can see Taiwan and China in the top portion of your T.V. screen. This is by the way that new Japanese a more visible satellite. Look at how crisp and clear that visible satellite imagery actually is. They're really impressive that's why I like to start this weather broadcast off with that kind of imagery.

But this is infrared and it gives you the colder cloud top and shows where the higher thunderstorm clouds are, and the more conviction that this is the strongest storm right at the center. 85 kilometer per hour sustained winds 100 kilometer per hour gusts right near that center of circulation.

But look at the forecast track from the joint typhoon warning center. It does have an intensifying before reaching Southern Taiwan. That would be late Monday night into early Tuesday local time. And by the way, that's with 160 kilometer per hour winds so that is packing equivalent to a category two atlantic hurricane, just to put that into perspective for our North American audience.

So that both of our winds, at the moment, are located on the northeastern section of the storm. But look at how it fills in with the forecast wind radius right along that eye wall. Of course that's where we find the strongest winds.

This is by the way in Monday morning so still has a 24-hour time span before it even reaches Taiwan. And waters here are extremely warm. That means we have the fuel necessary for the storm to continue to strengthen.

The good news out of all of this is, meteorologists, myself and other people analyzing the storm do not believe that it will become as big of a monster as Meranti or Malakas was just two weeks or even a week ago. However, it is still a major threat for Taiwan and into Southeastern China. A rainmaker and certainly gusty winds out of the storm but Taiwan is so susceptible to typhoons, they really can handle a storm of this magnitude.

Nonetheless, there is a still the threat for landslides and mudslides across this region. And there's a monsoon to Fujian province. Later in the week next week, that's going to cause some flooding concerns as well. We have monsoon rains across Vietnam, Laos and into the Thailand region. And there's more rain to come. I want to show you this visuals coming out of this region because they have been dealing with just inundation of rain and it continues to fall across that area. There's the potential for another 100, 200 millimeters of rainfall as the southwest monsoon continues.

[02:25:01] ALLEN: All right. We'll keep an eye on Taiwan for sure too. Thanks Derek.

VAN DAM: You're welcome.

ALLEN: All right. So, where do you fall in the break up of Brangelina. The Hollywood power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie announced this week, they are divorcing. To some fans, it's the end of a love story but others, not so much.

Here's CNN'S Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELINA JOLIE: Still alive baby?

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're still alive, just not together. Listen to how audiences are taking the news.

OPRAH WINFREY, T.V. PERSONALITY: Angelina and Brad are breaking up.

MOOS: Even Brad's buddy George Clooney was surprised.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... on Angelina and your friend Brad. What happened why they are divorcing?

GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR: I didn't know that (inaudible). Because I feel very sorry. That's a sad story.

MOOS: But not everyone was sad. Fans of Brad's ex-wife Jennifer Aniston created a #JusticeForJen. There were gifs of her smiling, gifs of here smirking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is just ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It says like a whole out of their level.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

MOOS: In london, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum actually split up their wax figures, moving them apart. At a live performance, Adele dedicated her show, two hours of misery to Brangelina, calling it the end of an era.

ADELE, SINGER-SONGWRITER: It's time to say good-bye.

MOOS: In their last movie together just last year, they played a couple melting down. Angelina joked.

JOLIE: This is what a 10 years of marriage will do to you.

MOOS: But she says, this wasn't them.

JOLIE: It's because we're actually very, very stable.

MOOS: That shattered image of stability had folks tweeting "Love is dead."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about love? Can love ever survive?

MOOS: There is a even a "Love is dead" poll offering only one option. An optimist tweeted as long as the Obamas stay together love is still real. Someone else joked last power couple remaining is Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper.

With Angelina citing irreconcilable differences, we may never again hear the paparazzi yell this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guys, nice photo together please.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys look awesome tonight man.

MOOS: ... New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. "Open Court" is next. And our top stories.

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