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Cop Not Charged in Keith Lamont Scott Shooting; Trump Adds to Cabinet; Secretary of State Down to Four; Gingrich on Trump's Tweets; Trump Dines with Romney. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired November 30, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. You are watching CNN, I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me.

Let's begin in Charlotte, North Carolina, where just a couple of hours ago we learned that a police officer there will not face charges for killing a father of seven, as this father got out of an SUV. This was near his home. This is yet another case in what has grown into this national movement, setting off massive protests against use of force by police after this man's widow record his killing on video. The prosecutor today revealing that, quote, "all the credible evidence" points to the fact that Keith Lamont Scott was armed. That is despite what we heard from Scott's wife when she yelled out to officers just before those shots rang out in the parking lot of the family's apartment complex. Let me just play the video for you. Just a reminder, it is very disturbing to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLICE OFFICER: Drop the gun!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keith, don't do it.

POLICE OFFICER: Drop the gun!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keith, get out of the car!

POLICE OFFICER: Drop the gun!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keith, Keith, don't you do it! Don't you do it! Keith! Keith! Keith, don't you do it.

Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him? He better not be (EXPLETIVE DELETED) dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The 43-year-old was shot and killed after police say he refused their orders to drop a gun. The prosecutors said Officer Brentley Vinson followed procedure when he pulled out his gun and opened fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) R. ANDREW MURRAY, DISTRICT ATTORNEY IN MECKLENBURG COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: After a thorough review and given the totality of the circumstances and credible evidence in this case, it is my opinion that Officer Vinson acted lawfully when he shot Mr. Scott. He acted lawfully.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We heard from the Scott's family today. This was via the lawyer, responding to a question from CNN, saying that they still have concerns and may seek justice in court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN BAMBERG, SCOTT FAMILY ATTORNEY: I think it is safe to say that, yes, he did have a gun on his person during the course of this. It's a matter of where that firearm was. And at the end of the day, whether he had a firearm in his hand or not, that's not the key question in terms of determining whether or not Keith Scott should have lost his life. It's whether or not that officer should have pulled the trigger and extinguished his life based on everything as a whole that occurred during those moments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Scott's family and the district attorney's office had asked the community to remain calm. We remember the protests when the story first happened.

So Nick Valencia is there.

You have been covering this story. You were at the family's news conference. First of all, you know, we know no charges will be brought. How has the community reacted to this?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that later this evening there is a planned press conference -- I should say a planned rally outside of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department by a group -- part of the collective of voices that have been demonstrating here since the very beginning. That's something that they had planned. This is a decision that was dreaded by the family. A very emotional press conference for Rakeyia Scott (ph). She was there. Her eyes welled with tears at the very mention of her husband's name.

Unfortunately, this is what the community here, the protesters, the demonstrators had anticipated, which is why they had already planned this rally just days before this announcement was made. We stopped -- a family attorney stopped short of saying whether or not they were going to file a civil complaint, but they certainly seemed to set that up earlier in a press conference. They say it matters to them that Keith Lamont Scott never raised his hands towards police officers. They reminded the media that this is an open carry state and that there has to be something more than a gun in a person's hand to qualify or quantify a use of lethal force or an obvious threat. It's a point that the family attorney elaborated on at that press conference earlier. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES MONNETTE, SCOTT FAMILY ATTORNEY: You have to remember that standards of the department are aggravated, active risk, which they define as the discharge of a firearm, not the possession of the firearm. So we have to look at whether an objectively reasonable officer would determine that merely being in possession of a handgun in some way is such an imminent threat that it justifies pulling the trigger. And I think what you're doing with the gun is an important factor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: You have to remember what really complicated things here earlier this year in September, Brooke, when the shooting first happened was the competing narratives. The family saying that Scott did not have a gun, the police saying that there was physical evidence and eyewitness testimony that put a gun in Scott's hands at the time of the shooting. The family says that they're still processing this decision, they're still processing their own investigation, and that they're waiting for the full caseload of files from the district attorney's office to see what they had and the details that they have in order to decide their next steps.

[14:05:21] Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right, Nick, thank you so much in Charlotte for us.

So we know the decision is official from the district attorney's office. The case, though, may not be over. The family stating, "I could pursue a civil suit."

So for more on the legal perspective, let's bring in civil rights attorney and former trial lawyer Charles Coleman, Jr. And also joining us, a friend of Charlotte officer, a friend from Bible study of Officer Vinson's, former NFL player Michael Scurlock.

So, gentlemen, thank you both so much.

And, Michael, let me just start with you. you know, I don't know the last time you saw Officer Vinson, but as someone who lives in the community, who's been hearing how folks have been reacting, what was your response to hearing no charges to be filed?

MICHAEL SCURLOCK, FRIEND OF OFFICER BRENTLEY VINSON: Well, I think most of the individuals who I've spoken with thus far since I've heard the D.A.'s information was primarily, I think, similar to what we felt before. Just let all the facts and the details come out prior to the protests. And so I think the D.A. did a great job of putting the puzzle together and allowing the public to see how everything went step by step.

BALDWIN: Charles, to you. And there's a couple of factors I wanted to bring up that Nick mentioned. You know, the state of North Carolina, open carry law of guns.

CHARLES COLEMAN JR., CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Right.

BALDWIN: How -- you know, to his point on you can't just -- how would that impact an officer, let's say, approaching a scene like this?

COLEMAN: Well, I think it raises an interesting question in terms of policing in open carry states. We saw the simmer -- a similar thing happen in Louisiana with respect to Alton Sterling, who was also armed in an open carry state. And the reality is, Brooke, we can't expect officers to police the same way in open carry states as they would where guns are illegal because at the point that someone just has a gun or has possession of a gun as you heard Keith Scott's family attorney say, that in and of itself does not automatically make him a criminal, especially at the point that the officer has approached. So I think that that raises a very interesting question there.

Then now you talk about what action was actually taken. And this was a point that was made by the family's attorney again in that Walter -- I'm sorry, in that Keith Scott had not raised his hand or had not raised his arm to those officers. So it really does question or bring into question the level of threat that's being presented.

BALDWIN: But you heard the details. You know, and it's so -- it's difficult because of the misinformation, right? Was it a book? Was it a gun? Did he get shot in the back? Was it, you know, as he was being -- being approached? When you listen -- I mean I hung on every word of that D.A. --

COLEMAN: Sure.

BALDWIN: Because it's important to do that. Based upon what you heard and the evidence they presentenced, was that a fair assessment, no charges?

COLEMAN: It's a fair assessment based on the narrative that's been given to us by the district attorney. And I'm not suggesting that that narrative is misinformed or somehow untrue. What I will say, however, is that it would have been no crime if they had figured out a way to subdue Mr. Scott and not killed him. I think that there are other ways, and police have to be able to exercise and explore other means of subduing potential threats or subduing potential targets that does not involve lethal force.

BALDWIN: Michael, back to you. In Charlotte, you know, Nick, our reporter there, had mentioned a rally for this evening. And I remember when we had talked before, and we were showing the pictures of the protests. I mean people in Charlotte were upset, and understandably so at the time. Have you heard from anyone within the community that people plan to, you know, show their emotion again, take to the streets in your city?

SCURLOCK: No, I have not. I think, again, the D.A. did a, I think, a fabulous job of aligning all the facts, all the details. And I think the emotions obviously are not as high as they were during the incident itself. So I think -- I think if there is going to be a rally today, I think it's going to be something that's more of a peaceful protest and people just wanting to voice their opinions. BALDWIN: Tell me more about Officer Vinson. We had talked about this

before, but for people who are just watching for the first time, your relationship from Bible study and what kind of man he is.

SCURLOCK: Just a solid, all-around individual. Been a friend for many years. And, you know, there's not a lot that you can say that -- you know, he's just a fabulous person. You know, he's been out to youth programs that I run and have an opportunity -- he takes the opportunities to speak to the kids and gives them just great insight on just life as a whole. So Brent and his wife and their up and coming little child are just -- have just been fabulous people to know over the years.

[14:10:05] BALDWIN: What will your message be to him once you get him on the phone?

SCURLOCK: You know, I think the same thing is, I think a lot of us may be thinking. I think -- when the facts come out and the details are there, it's relieving to know that the decision that was made on that day was something that I believe he feels that just confirmed what he felt on that day.

BALDWIN: Charles, back over to you.

COLEMAN: Sure.

BALDWIN: You know, we've covered too many, you know, use of force officer-involved shootings and often times it's a white police officer and a black young man.

COLEMAN: Right. Right.

BALDWIN: In this case, it's an African-American officer and an African-American victim.

COLEMAN: Sure.

BALDWIN: And we were chatting before we even came on TV. And so folks who are saying, well, clearly this wasn't about race.

COLEMAN: Right.

BALDWIN: How do you respond to that?

COLEMAN: I think there are a lot of things that can be said in response to that. The first one is, it's bigger than race in this instance because it is a conversation about police culture. And while I don't take anything away regarding Officer Vinson and the type of character that he may have displayed in other aspects of his life, the reality is, that when we're talking about how police and law enforcement consistently engage communities of color, there's a discrepancy. And so while I may not go as far as to say that this individual officer had some level of discriminatory animus in his heart against Mr. Scott because Mr. Scott was a black man, what I will say again is that how officers over police communities of color is a larger function of police culture and what's wrong. Another thing that I wanted to point out, and we talked about this a

bit before the break, is that when you're talking about this particular incident or this particular instant, Keith Scott had what is known as a TBI. He had a traumatic brain injury. And that sort of impacted, as per his family, how quick he was able to respond to certain commands and sort of his level of mental capacity. That's relevant when you start talking about race and we start talking about class because often times when you're talking about law enforcement and communities of color or law enforcement in underserved communities, many of these police officers are not trained in terms of how to deal with these sorts of situations appropriately. And, in addition to that, many of these communities don't appropriately receive the right amount of resources in order to help prepare them for these sorts of situations.

BALDWIN: It's both ways.

COLEMAN: Right, so it goes both ways.

BALDWIN: Both ways. Both ways.

COLEMAN: So I think that there is an element of race here that's not being discussed, but it's not the typical white officer, unarmed black victim.

BALDWIN: Right. Just wanted you to bring that up.

Charles, thanks you so much.

COLEMAN: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And, Michael, as always, thank you for joining us as well. I appreciate both of you, out of Charlotte for me.

Coming up, let's move on and talk politics. Cutting ties. Donald Trump says he's prepared to separate himself from his businesses to focus on the task at hand, working out of the White House and running the country. Will this quiet critics who raise all kinds of concerns about potential conflicts of interest? We'll explore that.

Also ahead, a thousand jobs saved. Is the president-elect about to deliver on a campaign promise me made to keep an American company from entirely moving to Mexico? We'll go live to Indiana.

And, just into CNN, terror tie? New details about the Ohio State University's attacker's links to ISIS.

I'm Brooke Baldwin and this is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:17:18] BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

A huge development in the Trump transition here. President-elect Donald Trump making a promise that indicates exactly how much appearances matter to him. Trump just announced over Twitter that he's going to sever ties with his businesses. Quoting a series of tweets, quote, "I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December 15th to discuss the fact that I will be leaving my great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to make America great again. While I am not mandated to do this under the law, I feel it is visually important as president to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses. Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The presidency is a far more important task."

Now, a CNN analysis found that Trump own or has a position in more than 500 companies all around the world and as he cuts himself off from those companies, he is adding to his White House economic team. And for that we go to Sunlen Serfaty with more names who have been added potentially to the cabinet. Tell me who they are.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, a lot of wealthy, wealthy men on this list, this new economic team of Donald Trump's. And notably Donald Trump really pulling heavily from the Wall Street world with these picks, which, of course, he railed so much against during his time on the campaign trail as a candidate.

Trump choosing Steve Mnuchin for treasury secretary. He was a partner at Goldman Sachs for 17 years. Someone who teamed up with Trump as his national finance chair during the campaign.

Then you have Wilbur Ross for commerce secretary, billionaire investor. Someone who's known over the course of his career to really buy up failed companies and try to resurrect them.

Then you also have Trump naming Todd Ricketts as deputy commerce secretary. He's a member of the billionaire family, Brooke, who owns the Chicago Cubs. And I can tell you that there's already a lot of rumblings on Capitol Hill. Two of these positions do need Senate confirmation. Both Mnuchin and Ross need Senate confirmation. A lot of rumblings how these choices and these picks really squares with Trump's promise during the campaign to drain the swamp in Washington.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, those were a lot of faces. I'm going to let you take a breath, because I have one more question for you. I know it's a lot. As far as the pick potentially for secretary of state and then there were four.

SERFATY: That's right. Transition officials saying that there are still four people on Donald Trump's list for secretary of state and we all saw, of course, that very high-profile dinner date that Trump had with Mitt Romney here in New York City last night. And by all accounts it appears that the meeting did go well. Transition officials said that they had good chemistry, that they certainly are still getting to know each other.

[14:20:03] And we heard from Mitt Romney afterwards. He really lavished praise on Donald Trump. Something that we would not just be hearing even a few months ago. Very clear he's trying to smooth things over as he's going through this very public auditioning for this job. But, of course, there is still that deep divide and a lot of consternation within the Trump team, of course, because you also have loyalist like Rudy Giuliani still very much in consideration.

BALDWIN: Sunlen, thank you very much. Lots to get to with the panel. Let me bring them in. With me now, CNN political analyst Kirsten Powers, who's also a columnist for "USA Today," Trump supporter Betsy McCaughey is back with us, used to be lieutenant governor here of New York, CNN commentator Bakari Sellers, an attorney who served in the South Carolina statehouse, and CNN's senior reporter for media and politics, Dylan Byers.

Great to have all of you.

And, Kirsten, I'm turning to you first here because it will be -- if we're talking -- looking ahead to the news conference that Mr. Trump will be holding on December 15th, it will be about 18 weeks since he's done this before.

KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

BALDWIN: So I'm going to assume that the man's going to take questions. We hope. We hope. What would your biggest questions -- the most -- biggest unanswered questions be for him?

POWERS: Well, I mean, one of the things I have actually been wondering about is the choices that he's making in terms of foreign policy, because this is -- he is somebody who is extremely critical of really the mainstream Republican foreign policy establishment during the election. Sometimes making arguments or even to the left of Bernie Sanders against the Iraq War. And now he's looking at people like General Petraeus, for example, for, you know, top post in his administration, even though Petraeus was the architect of the surge, for example. And Mitt Romney, who certainly was in the mainstream of more interventionist foreign policy. So is he expecting that these people are going to follow his lead, or is he going to be following their lead, because he really is surrounding himself with people who I think do not reflect the views he expressed during the campaign.

BALDWIN: So that's a great question that I'm sure he'll be posed.

POWERS: Yes.

BALDWIN: And, Dylan, let me go to you as someone who I'm sure would like to get a question in on Mr. Trump. You know, I think just on media, the way he's been using Twitter, right, and how he's been dropping news on Twitter where it's -- whether it's the, you know, holding true on his campaign promise of working with Carrier and keeping some of those jobs in the U.S., or, you know, maybe detracting from what he would like us to be talking about and talking about flag burning and loss of citizenship.

But then there is this sound from his good friend Newt Gingrich. Here it was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: I think the worst thing he did was the tweet the other night about illegal votes. I mean, you know, presidents of the United States can't randomly tweet without having somebody check it out. I mean it's just -- it makes you wonder about whatever else he's doing. It undermines much more than just a single tweet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: But he's also said, if he were Trump and in the White House, he would just totally and completely ignore the press corps.

So, Dylan, do you think that once he's president, he will just continue to ignore, you know, folks like you and me and use Twitter to make news?

DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR REPORTER FOR MEDIA & POLITICS : Well, to a degree. Look, I think Donald Trump is Donald Trump and I think the president of the United States can randomly tweet out whatever he wants if that president is Donald Trump.

Yes, he will continue to do that. There's no doubt in my mind that he will continue to do that. There's obviously a great deal of hand wringing among journalists, among reporters, among news organizations about how you handle those tweets.

Look, what I -- what think I would say is, tweets are necessarily vague. They're only 140 characters long. We're going to need more access to Donald Trump. We're going to need more clarity on not just what he's thinking, but also on some of how -- you know, some of the deals that he's made, the carrier deal, his plan to separate himself from his businesses. How -- what that actually looks like, how that will actually pan out.

And, you know, for all this sort of hand wringing about Donald Trumping using his Twitter account to get his messages out, I mean the ground rules, as I see them, haven't fundamentally changed. The ground rules are you need -- you need to press politicians on what they say and what they're going to do. And when someone just goes out there and makes a statement, you need to follow up and you need greater clarity. And I think that's why Donald Trump knows he has to give a press briefing about this plan to separate himself from his businesses, rather than just throwing that out there in a tweet and expecting that the American people are going to be OK with that.

BALDWIN: Right. Right. And, lieutenant governor, you know, I'm sure his hard supporters, Trump's hard supporters, love the idea that he's saying, I'm not, you know, filling the media in on everything. I don't need them for everything. I'm sure they love that. But the thing is, isn't it a little dangerous when he drops like legitimate news on Twitter one day, but then baseless claims about, you know, millions of people illegally voting for Hillary Clinton in another?

BETSY MCCAUGHEY, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Maybe, but I'm really focusing much less on all this kabuki dance about Donald Trump and his relationship with the media.

BALDWIN: That's how we get news. That's why this is important.

MCCAUGHEY: That's -- well, that's true, but Americans are watching --

BALDWIN: But he's not talking to us.

[14:25:00] MCCAUGHEY: Americans are watching what he's actually done. And look at how the world -- America and the world are responding to this transition so far. Three financial markets have hit new records in the last week. The dollar is stronger than ever. Consumer spending, as we enter this holiday season, is shooting up. Great news for merchants, as well as families. By every single measure, people are responding directly to what he's doing.

These picks, for example, to me, are a dream team to jump start the economy. And look what he did with Carrier. He's not even president yet, but he picked up the phone, and as a result, there are 1,000 families in Indiana that owe mortgages and have to put food on the table for their kids and suddenly they're going to have a good holiday because they haven't lost their means of financial support, their living. That is terrific news.

BALDWIN: It is incredibly encouraging for those 1,000 families.

MCCAUGHEY: It is so fantastic.

BALDWIN: But, Bakari, you know, and listen, Betsy McCaughey makes great points, all true, but at the same time, you know, it's a little dangerous with the Twitter.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, they're all true, but she also left out one fact that the president of the United States and the reason that we're seeing consumer confidence, the reason that we've seen unemployment rates dip, the reason that we've seen the markets, you know, skyrocket is because the president is Barack Obama and we've been seeing that over the last eight years as the presidency and Donald Trump will inherit an economy that is growing. That's first and foremost.

But, yes, I mean Dylan brought up a good point. You know the Carrier deal, we're very thankful that those thousand individuals get to keep their jobs. The question is, how. The question is, you know, if Barack Obama would have done that, is he being questioned about choosing or picking winners and losers? What were the subsidies? What were the deals? If Carrier got it, does every other company in the United States get it?

When you talk about these conflicts of interest, things you just can't do in a tweet. Yes, he's simply saying that he's going to eliminate himself from the operating, but, you know, I own various businesses and although I'm not in the operation of, I still reap the benefits and I still know what's going on in those companies. You know, you're talking about a conflict of interest where literally in Washington, D.C., he will now be the boss of his landlord for his hotel. Or you look at Trump Tower, where their largest tenant is a state-controlled bank of China. And so it's going to take more --

BALDWIN: Let me jump in. You mentioned Trump Tower. But let me hit pause because it's really important to see all these different faces who are rolling through that lobby in Trump Tower. Linda McMahon just stepped up to the microphone. Do we have her?

LINDA MCMAHON (R), FORMER SENATE CANDIDATE: (INAUDIBLE), hi. How are you?

QUESTION: Can you tell us how the meeting went and why --

MCMAHON: The meeting went -- the meeting went great. It was really nice to be up and I was honored to be asked to come in. Any time I think the president-elect of the United States asks you to come in for a conversation, you're happy to do that. We talked about business and entrepreneurs and creating jobs and we talked about SBA. And so we had a really good conversation.

QUESTION: What about a job for you, ma'am?

MCMAHON: Well, that remains to be seen. Stay tuned.

QUESTION: Did he offer you anything?

MCMAHON: Stay tuned.

QUESTION: Is there something you'd like?

QUESTION: Did he offer you a role?

MCMAHON: Thank you.

BALDWIN: OK. We just always want to dip in and see who's there.

Speaking of the different faces, and, Bakari, I'm just going to move on, and, Kirsten, ask you. You know, on the Romney note, and let's talk about the stakes, the big dinner --

POWERS: Right.

BALDWIN: You know, and Jean-George (ph) and we know that the Trump loyalists have been called for, you know, Gingrich and Huckabee and others have been calling for Mitt Romney to really issue this full- throated apology for what he has said about Trump in the past.

POWERS: Right.

BALDWIN: And so I think what's so significant is that just after dinner, what Romney said, the note, he didn't say I'm sorry --

POWERS: Yes.

BALDWIN: But he came really close.

POWERS: Yes. Well, it was quite an about face if you compare the way he was speaking about Donald Trump before. And the question I would have for Governor Romney is, what changed, right?

BALDWIN: Right.

POWERS: So, what's different? And what he basically was -- seemed like he was saying is that Trump won and that's such a big accomplishment. And so, you know, he was able to do something that Romney wasn't able to do. He was able to win. But how does that change all the charges of him basically being a scam artist and a fraud and all these other things. Romney hasn't addressed that.

Now, I've talked to people who are close to Romney and they say Romney's a patriot. He believes he could help Trump and so that's why he's doing this and he thinks it would be better for him to be by his side than not. But I think that it does just raises some questions about was what Governor Romney said before true or not?

BALDWIN: OK. Betsy and Kirsten and Dylan and Bakari, thank you so much. Again, four contenders, the final four, for that big post of secretary of state. We watch and we wait.

Coming up next, as President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team are holed up at Trump Tower, his vice president-elect is busy working his way through Washington. The high-profile members of Congress Mike Pence is meeting with today. We'll take you live to Capitol Hill ahead.

[14:29:42] Also, just into CNN, the FBI announcing new ties between the attacker at Ohio State University and two terror groups. Why they are now asking for the public's help in this case.

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