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Interview with Walter Scott's Mother; Human Rights Activist Says Scott Killed Like "Runaway Slave." How Scott Shooting Story Would Have Been Reported Without Video; Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 09, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[14:30:00] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, AC360: That's what's keeping you going right now?

JUDY SCOTT, MOTHER OF WALTER SCOTT: Yes, knowing God as my personal savior.

COOPER: When did you get the news about your son?

SCOTT: It was Saturday.

COOPER: What did you hear? What did they tell you?

SCOTT: They -- really my elder son is the one that told me. I heard nothing from the police or anyone.

COOPER: And when you were told that the police were saying there had been a scuffle, your son had fought for the taser, did that sound believable to you?

SCOTT: I knew that was not true. Because he knows how, especially the North Charleston policemen, conduct themselves. He would never jeopardize his life.

COOPER: He would not have done something like that?

SCOTT: No, he would not have done it.

COOPER: So when did you learn there was a video tape?

SCOTT: The next day.

COOPER: When you finally saw it, I can't imagine what went through your mind.

SCOTT: I couldn't really watch the whole tape. When I saw my son running, and I saw the policeman behind him, I couldn't take it. I had to turn away. I couldn't handle it.

COOPER: Knowing what you know now, I mean, that not only what happened to your son, the way it happened, it was all captured on tape, and even what seems to be pictures of the policeman picking up something, maybe the taser, and placing it near your son's body, what do you think about what happened?

SCOTT: That was not right. The policeman is supposed to protect the people, not try to frame them or get out of what they've done wrong. They're supposed to be honest people protecting us.

COOPER: What do you want people to know about your son?

SCOTT: I want them to know he was a loving son, a loving father. He cared about his family. I will -- no matter what happens, it will not replace my son.

COOPER: Do you believe that justice will be done?

SCOTT: I believe God. With the policeman being arrested, he's got to get convicted. I believe since God moves so fast, that the God I serve is able. I know God will make a way. God will fix this.

COOPER: What do you think of the person who came forward with this video?

SCOTT: He was there. God planned that. He's the ram in the bush. I truly believe that.

COOPER: Because some people would have been scared and runaway. He not only stayed, he approached the police officer to get closer video.

SCOTT: Yes.

COOPER: Have you been able to talk to him or thank him?

SCOTT: No.

COOPER: What would you want to say to him?

SCOTT: I would want to thank him for what he did.

COOPER: Do you believe something like this has happened before here but nobody knows about it because there's not a video tape?

SCOTT: Yes. I do believe that.

COOPER: Is that something you've always felt?

SCOTT: Well, there are -- I hate to say it, but there's some dirty cops.

COOPER: I know the chief of police, I understand, came by, member of the clergy, I believe maybe the mayor came by as well.

SCOTT: Yes.

COOPER: What did you feel about their visit?

SCOTT: I thanked them for coming. I mean, I'm supposed to be really angry and upset and raging and all that, but I can't. Because of the love of God in me, I can't be like that. (CROSSTALK)

COOPER: You don't feel that in your heart?

SCOTT: No, I don't. I feel forgiveness in my heart. Even for the guy that shot and killed my son.

COOPER: You feel forgiveness?

SCOTT: Yes, for him. Yes, I do.

COOPER: Thank you for talking with us. Again, I'm so -- it sounds so hollow, but I'm sorry for your loss.

SCOTT: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[14:34:43] KEILAR: Still ahead, we're a waiting a live news conference from the family of the shooting victim, Walter Scott. We'll bring that to you live.

Plus, powerful words from my next guest who says Scott was shot like a, quote, "runaway slave." Hear why he calls this a big cover up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Just moments from now, the family of Walter Scott, the man killed by a police officer in South Carolina and now charged with murder, will speak live at their home.

As reaction to the graphic video pours in, human rights activist, David Love, isn't mincing words about what happened he saw. In an op- ed piece for CNN.com, Love writes, "Now after watching the footage, which should remain in your memory for a long time to come, one could say Slager shot Scott like a dog. But then again, dogs usually are not treated this badly, but the man was shot like a runaway slave."

David Love joins me now from Philadelphia.

These are strong words, David, evoking very potent imagery, which was no accident. This is what you're trying to get a cross the people. I guess, Explain to people what you want people to think about as they see this video and think about what happened.

DAVID LOVE, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Well, Brianna, it's a pleasure to be with you. I did say, in many ways, this man was shot down like a runaway slave. Some say that's a bit strong. You have to understand the history of this country. From years and years, all the way from slavery times, people of color have been facing this criminalization where they have essentially have gone through life always with this fear of being killed.

Now the case of Walter Scott is very serious. Frankly, I think the only reason why we're talking about it to the extent we are is because there was a video tape. The black community has known for years these types of incidents happen. It's just the issue of the fact there has not been a video a tape in many instances.

[14:40:51] KEILAR: You talk about in your column statistics. You're seeing this, that if you're a black American, you're having more of a fear of being killed than if you were a white American. But you say when you look at a Washington State University study, they looked at participants who were in scenarios with different suspects, some black, some white, that there's a bias they just automatically felt more threatened in the scenarios involving black suspects. You have black suspects who may or may not be guilty of whatever they're suspected of, right? Who are worried for their safety and don't feel they can trust a police officer. Then police officers, whether black or white, who are sensing more danger coming from black suspects, right?

LOVE: Yes. Yes. I believe that a lot of that is really unconscious. Once again, it's years and years of people being conditioned to believe that black is synonymous with criminality. When they see a black face, they automatically believe that person is dangerous and extreme measures have to be taken. Unfortunately, we see that in some cases with black officers, too. Perhaps they internalize that racism. But it's a lot of conditioning that has to be overcome. And when you look at a lot of police officers who are not racially sensitive, they bring the stereotypes of black people and black criminality. I believe that plays an important factor in a lot of these shootings that we're seeing.

KEILAR: David love, thank you so much. Your piece really gets us thinking. Really worth a read on CNN.com.

Thanks for being with us.

LOVE: Thanks for having me.

KEILAR: Next, the video of the deadly shooting is difficult to watch. Should it be shown by the media? We'll discuss that.

Plus, the video does show a lot, but does this mean this officer's murder charge is an open-and-shut case? I'll speak to a legal expert that says, actually, no. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:24] KEILAR: What if we didn't have the video of the officer that shot and killed the unarmed man many North Charleston, South Carolina. Before this story made national headlines, the police shaped a completely different narrative in local news reports than the story we've now seen emerge. So consider for a moment how this story might have read if this video never came out.

Let me read what Nick Wing, the politics reporter at "Huffington Post," wrote about a hypothetical report of this very case. It says, "A North Charleston police officer was forced to use his service weapon Saturday during a scuffle with a suspect who tried to overpower him and seize the officer's taser, authorities said. The man who has a history of violence and a long arrest record died on the scene as a result of the encounter despite officers performing CPR and delivering first aid, according to police reports."

Nick Wing and CNN's senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter, joining me now to talk about this.

Nick, thank you so much.

This is thought provoking. You're in the habit of writing articles as they happen. You looked at a lot of accounts. You looked at the police accounts. You wrote the article as if the video was not out there. Explain why you chose to lead with that text.

NICK WING, POLITICAL REPORTER, HUFFINGTON POST: We've known from a long time that law enforcement has the power to control the media aftermath of these cases, particularly when there are no video and eyewitnesses willing to come forward. What you see a lot of times in initial reporting is police feeding information to reporters that supports their narrative, which they want to be sympathetic to the officer and officer's actions. When that happens, frequently you get a partial view of who this person is. We led with biographical information about Walter Scott's arrest record because that fits their narrative he may have led the officer to feel threatened, may have acted erratically or aggressively. That all plays into their effort to lead the public to believe these actions were justified, that he used lethal force for a good reason.

KEILAR: What about other cases? You talk about they have the power of narrative in so many of them, but these other case where we take the police at their word on what happened. In many cases, reporters have no other options. There's no witnesses, no bystanders, no video. We learned in the Michael Brown case, you can't always trust witness accounts at times.

What do you think about that, Brian?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: You bring up the important fact. Even eyewitness testimony, when they believe they're telling the truth, may not be the truth. That's why video is so powerful and why video changes the balance of power. Not just the existence but when it comes out, the discussions we have changes, the coverage changes, considerations changes and amount of coverage changes. All those change as a result of this video like this one.

[14:55:25] KEILAR: Do you think, Nick, when looking at the story you wrote -- I have to say before the video came out, your story reflects a lot of local reporting we saw -- this isn't something you pulled out of thin air. This is what local reports suggested as they were working on information they had. Do you think a lot of readership -- and maybe it's white readership -- that they just will take for granted this is the truth and they're happy to buy into this narrative?

WING: It's very comforting for us to want to take law enforcement at their word and believe these people, who have the incredible responsibility to protect us, are simply telling the truth, honor driven and to hold themselves accountable and to be honest about what happened. Increasingly, I think we're finding that that may be a trust that's misplaced. Going forward, people may continue to have a more and more critical eye when it comes to taking these reports that rely exclusively on the police's account or something. Whether that leads to an ability for the public to actually force them to change their narrative, that's still to be discovered. But, yeah, it's very interesting.

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: I do think we should say there are many reasons to trust authorities and officials. To assume everything in public authorities say is a lie or untrue, has troubling consequences. That said, for journalists, we do have to be skeptical and do have to test the information we're given from authorities --

KEILAR: We also have to go out --

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: -- not just police but also government officials.

KEILAR: We need to go out and talk to families, friends. We need to get a sense of who this person is and whether this --

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: This is tricky. The insinuation police are lying, that's scary and troubling. It can be insulting to a lot of honorable professionals.

KEILAR: But you can get other dimensions as you go out and try to report.

I want to ask you about this video. We've seen a lot of it. It is hard to watch. Should it be shown?

STELTER: Several days into this, it does not need to be on replay. We're showing still photos instead of the video. That's an appropriate response. In the official hours when a story breaks, you show it and show it repeatedly. We're at the point now where, if you want to see it, it's available everywhere. It's available on the Internet. And to be judicious about it is the right answer.

KEILAR: I will say I learned a lot. It's hard to watch. It is sickening. But I learned a lot by watching it, repeatedly. I saw something new every time --

STELTER: New details.

KEILAR: -- whether that there was no blood on the officer's hands after observing the wounds. All of these things, important details.

Brian --

(CROSSTALK) STELTER: This story, a really great reminder for journalists to double check and triple check and to attribute -- when we say something happened, attribute it to police while we're trying to get the full story.

KEILAR: Attribute. That's right. Go searching for the story.

Brian Stelter, Nick Wing, thank you so much.

Next, we're live next in North Charleston where state police show dash-cam video that could shed light on the moments before that deadly shooting.

Plus, two legal experts who live there say this is far from an open- and-shut case. We'll debate that.

Plus, as the Boston bomber waits to find out if he will live or die, "The Boston Globe" says, "Save Tsarnaev's life. Don't kill him." Hear their reasons ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:57:230] KEILAR: The secret to a long life. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta gets advice in this week's "Human Factor."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Robust is one way to describe Dr. Ellsworth Wareham. The 100-year-old retired heart surgeon occasionally does his own yard work. He walks regularly and still drives.

(on camera): You drove here?

(LAUGHTER)

DR. ELLSWORTH WAREHAM, 100-YEAR-OLD SHARES SECRETS FOR LONG LIFE: Driving is nothing. I could have done heart surgery. It wouldn't have been fair to the patient. Sometimes you need reserve strength. If you gave me something to memorize, I would memorize just as quickly now as when I was 20.

GUPTA: How is your pain?

WAREHAM: It's good. I haven't had an acre of pain.

GUPTA (voice-over): The great grandfather believes his plant-based diet plays a big part in all this.

WAREHAM: If your blood cholesterol is under 150, your chances of having a heart attack are pretty small. Now my blood pressure is 117. There's no chance of me having a heart attack.

GUPTA (on camera): You're heart attack proof?

WAREHAM: Let us say I'm dealing with an area in which I understand. GUPTA (voice-over): Perhaps another key to Wareham's longevity, not

letting problems weigh him down.

(on camera): How big a role does stress play in your life?

WAREHAM: You asked the wrong person.

(LAUGHTER)

I have a philosophy, do the best you can. The things you can't do anything about, don't give thought to them.

GUPTA: What motivates you nowadays?

WAREHAM: I feel I have to make a contribution. When doing surgery, I did it by operating. Now I try to make it by teaching about preventative medicine.

GUPTA (voice-over): And showing people just what 100 years old can look like.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:00:12] KEILAR: Top of the hour now. I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Brooke.