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Jury Deciding Fate Of SC Officer; Trump Vows To Leave His Business To Focus On Presidency; Early Trump Backers: Still On Board

Aired December 01, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:02] BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORESSPONDENT: ... potential for him to be not guilty, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The jury actually went to the scene. Tell us about that, Boris. And I wonder what the prevailing thought is on the impact that may have on jurors. I happen to be at a campaign event in the area not far from there.

So this was maybe a year or so ago and I actually went to the site just to watch the video, to see it in person and what sort of struck me was that you got a sense of how far away Walter Scott was. And in person, it seems a lot further away than it does in the video. What's the thought on how being there in person might affect the jurors?

SANCHEZ: Certainly, Brianna. The video has played such a central role in the case that both defense and the prosecution have tried illustrating that distance you're talking about in several ways. At one point, the prosecution actually using a tape measure in courtroom to show those 18 feet.

Yesterday morning, the judge decided that he would allow the jury to actually visit the scene for themselves. This is after seeing that video several times and even after having a 3D model of the scene shown to the jurors. But they got a chance to go out there yesterday. The defense was making the case that the jury in their decision should not consider what was in that video saying, that what happened beforehand was really more important to the case, in the sense that there was that scuffle that you mentioned between Walter Scott and Michael Slager. The prosecution telling them that everything they needed to know was in that video. It will be interesting to see how their actual visit to the scene plays out. But I can tell you, it can't be understated how important that video of the confrontation between the two men, the closing moments of that confrontation was to this case, Brianna.

KEILAR: Well, I want to play for you a moment from the murder trial. He took the stand. Which we do not always see. And he was asked about how threatened he felt by Walter Scott with the taser from the distance that he was at. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've seen the video. MICHAEL SLAGER: I have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you've heard it was 18 feet away. Would you agree that he was not a threat to you with that taser without the cartridge from that distance?

SLAGER: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. So you're gonna stick to that.

SLAGER: Yes. And the reason is, from 18 feet, he could have turned around and attacked me again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: What is your thought when you hear that testimony on whether it's convincing to jurors?

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the immediate reaction I have is baloney because he's 18 feet away and really we have evidence there being an initial attack Slager. What you have here ...

KEILAR: Let's say there was -- even if there was, if there was a tussle, but then Walter Scott is running away fast. These are big steps. He's moving quickly away.

COATES: The most relevant part of this is you see the video footage of a man who's running away. After he's running away, and a good 17, 18 feet away, that's when he's shot. Not close to the officer's body, not in close proximity, but as he's running away. You don't have evidence of the taser being on his possession in that point. An armed man of any kind. That is the relevant part. Now, although it's odd sometimes to see a defendant take the stand in his own defense, here, he had no other choice, because the video, the proof is in the pudding.

KEILAR: So bad for him. So he also testified and this is something the video shows that it is especially damning and that is officer Slager, after Walter Scott is down, going to the taser, picking it up, moving it significantly closer to Walter Scott's video. Now, he says he doesn't remember doing that. And yet to many people who looked at this, they felt like it was him planting evidence, already sort of wheels turning to make his case.

And the other striking thing about the video that I think may affect the jurors and you tell me is that no one really helped Walter Scott for a very long time. He's clearly out of commission. He will later die. And no one is really there for minutes to help him.

COATES: Well, that's absolutely true. And in terms of planting evidence, that's exactly what it looks like. And remember the prosecution in this case harped on the fact that officer Slager had selective recall of the event. He also kept saying, I don't remember everything. My mind was kind of spaghetti at this point. But he remembers that maybe he went on autopilot because he's nervous about any loose weapons being in the area. And that's not a convincing argue when you have the fact that this officer told his colleagues up until the point that the video surfaced that he was in a confrontation, close proximity and was acting in complete self-defense. And only after that video surfaced that we actually see the other side, and I believe the truth in this scenario. So the fact that he moved this weapon, I don't think it was an autopilot. What the jurors are now deliberating Brianna, is really one thing. They have the gift of not only a murder charge consideration but voluntary manslaughter

[12:35:01] KEILAR: That's right.

COATES: Two widely different sentences. One could carry life. One is 2 to 3 years. That was a gift to figure out what are we doing, is this officer -- should that person have a murder charge or manslaughter?

KEIALR: There's a lot of discretion. And so we will see what they decide. All right Laura Coates, Boris Sanchez. Thanks to both of you.

COATES: Thank you.

KEILAR: Coming up, the president-elect says he will soon reveal how he plans to leave his businesses in order to focus on the White House, but will conflict of interest concerns really go away? We'll talk about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:39:49] KEILAR: President-elect Donald Trump vows that he is going to leave his business to focus on the presidency. He says he will announce details in two weeks about how he'll avoid conflict of interest when he takes office. Trump's tweets on this issue were met with praise by, weirdly, the government, the office of government ethics. It's a normally secretive federal agency and it even went so far as to post this on Twitter. Bravo, only way to resolve these conflicts of interest is to divest. Good call. Let's discuss with Noah Bookbinder, he is the Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. First off, a lot of people may not know what the office for government ethics is. They may never have heard from them.

NOAH BOOKBINDER, CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON: Right.

KEILAR: Give us the story on this tweet and how bizarre this is.

BOOKBINDER: Sure. And this is an office that essentially helps government employees to know what they can do and what they can't do. And as a general matter, they work behind the scenes. They work quietly with people to try to resolve situations before anything gets public. For them to get out with a comment before somebody's even in office, let alone before a situation is resolved, is extremely unusual.

KEILAR: It's so strange. OK, so there's one part of Donald Trump's tweets from Wednesday that has ethics experts including yourself a little concern. He says, "Hence legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The presidency is a far more important task". He's talking about business operations. He's not talking about ownership. And some are saying he's going to retain a financial stake. And also it appears that his children are going to be running the store. So how is that really being completely out of business operations?

BOOKBINDER: Well, I assume what that means is that he's not going to be involved in the day to day management of his businesses. And of course, he's not. He's got to be president. That's a full-time job. He can't be doing this on the side. But the problem is that he knows what his business interests are. Most of them have his name in them, often in big gold letters on buildings. Just because he's not involved in the day to day doesn't mean that he's not going to know what kinds of policy changes, tax changes, all kinds of other things can affect his interests and make him more money and that's a problem.

KEILAR: He's not putting blinders on, on really the big issue because, for instance, corporate tax reform is a big goal for his administration, right?

BOOKBINDER: That's right. That's something that he and Republicans in Congress have said is one of the first things they're going to tackle. He has already talked about the fact that he knows the loopholes that have helped him make a lot of money and save his businesses money. He's still going to know that. And if he still has those interests and knows what they are, which these tweets don't give us any indication he won't, we won't know whether his making change because they're the right thing for the country or because they benefit his businesses and his bottom line.

KEILAR: He has said there are cases where, you know, he's done things that were good for business, maybe not for the country, but his loyalty was to his business. And now it's different. So if there are cases where he has a chance to, in a way, I don't want say stymie corporations, but certainly look past the benefits to corporations to do what is best for the country.

Is that a way that he is going to make the case that, look, I'm actually on your side, main street's side now?

BOOKBINDER: Sure. But as long as he has business interests that he knows about and often we don't know about, he's never disclosed his tax returns. We don't know the full scope of his interest. We're not going to know which decisions he's making for which reasons.

KEILAR: We know some of his business dealings across the globe. Let's take a look at that. He owns or has a position in more than 500 companies. This includes 150 that have done business in at least 25 foreign countries. What kind of task is it really to remove himself from any potential conflict of interest? I've heard some people say he needs to sell his interest, have his kids not be involved and put whatever money he gets into a blind trust. That seems to essentially dismantle his empire, right, his legacy even.

BOOKBINDER: Look, this is somebody who chose to run for president. Decided that's what he wanted to do, that was the greatest contribution he could make to the country. If he wants to be president and he is going to be president, he has to be committed to that. Nobody's asking him to give up the value his businesses, to give back the money that he made. But he does need to sell those businesses and put the proceeds from that in a blind trust so that he doesn't know what helps him or what hurts him. He can be focused on being president and making the decisions that are right for the American people.

KEILAR: All right, Noah Bookbinder, really appreciate you being with us, thank you so much.

BOOKBINDER: Glad to be here.

[12:44:32] KEILAR: And next, we will talk to Donald Trump supporters throughout the campaign. We're checking in now about how they feel about the president-elect now that he has won and also what happens if he doesn't fulfill all of his promises.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Donald Trump, the president-elect today, kicking off a thank you tour of states that were key to his White House win last month. Today it's Indiana and Ohio for his first public event since Election Day. And this is also a good time for us here at CNN to circle back with a few people who were passionate Donald Trump supporters during the campaign season. We wanted to know if they're satisfied with the president-elect's decisions so far and whether the election results took them by surprise. Here's CNN's Alisyn Camerota.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN "NEW DAY" CO-HOST: OK, show of hands, who was surprised on election night? None of you were surprised. Though, so many people in the country were surprised by Donald Trump's win.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had confidence in Trump's ability from the very beginning. I never doubted him the entire time.

CAMEROTA: Paula, were you concerned when the polls suggested that he was not going to win?

PAULA JOHNSON, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I know he was going to win. Because when you believe in somebody and Mr. Trump always makes things happen.

CAMEROTA: What signs have you seen that you think are good signs so far?

[12:49:57] SUSAN DELEMUS, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I think all the people that I'm looking at that Trump has appointed or nominated have all been top of the class. Number one in their field. Extremely talented. Great leaders on their own.

CAMEROTA: Very funny to hear you say that. Do you remember who you really did not like last time around? Listen.

DELEMUS: Time to get rid of him.

CAMEROTA: Time to get rid of Reince Priebus?

JOHNSON: Exactly, time to get rid of him.

DELEMUS: Reince Priebus, that's right.

CAMEROTA: He's the chief of staff. So Reince Priebus, you all said he's got to go, time for him to go. How do you feel today?

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNSON: I think it's a very smart move because now he keeps the Republicans in check. He knows how to work with them, because he was the head of the GOP. And now if they want to get elected again, they need to toe the line.

CAMEROTA: So now you like Reince Priebus.

JOHNSON: I like him, but I think it's a good pick that Mr. Trump did.

CAMEROTA: How do you all feel? Toni, do you know much about Steve Bannon, how to you feel about Steve Bannon?

TONI DIBARTOLO, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I like him. I don't know too much about him. I'm more of a General Flynn fan.

CAMEROTA: What do you like out Flynn?

DIBARTOLO: I just feel that he will be an amazing leader. I love his military background. I think he's strong. I think he will give President Trump sound advice. You know, when to move, when not to be too aggressive, when to be aggressive I think he'll do that and I think he'll be a strong asset.

CAMEROTA: You know, he has said what ore considered controversial things about Muslims. He has said that basically that he considered it a political ideology, not a religion. He called it a cancer.

MICHAEL FLYNN, RETIRED UNITED STATES ARMY LIEUTENANT GENERAL: Islam is a political ideology. It definitely hides behind this notion of it being a religion.

CAMEROTA: It's interesting to talk to you Toni about this. Because remember we talked ...

DIBARTOLO: Yes, we did.

CAMEROTA: Last time around about your feelings about some of your Muslim co-workers I believe.

DIBARTOLO: Yes.

CAMEROTA: And you had a close relationship. Are you concerned about General Flynn's comments? DIBARTOLO: I'm not. I feel that people do say stuff that may be they regret at times and then they reflect on it and move forward and I feel that maybe some of the stuff was taken out of context or maybe he didn't exactly mean it. I'm in support of him. And I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

CAMEROTA: But you find those comments regrettable. Meaning you hope that they were taken out of context.

DIBARTOLO: Yes.

CAMEROTA: On their own, they would bother you.

DIBARTOLO: Yes, they would, they would. To be honest, they would, because I don't want people lumped together in just one category based on their religion.

CAMEROTA: How do you feel about the white nationalist movement, the alt right, some neo-nazi salutes that we've seen? What are we to make of what feels like a groundswell of that with the Steve Bannon/Breitbart connection?

JOHNSON: You know what? I'll tell you something. That's been around forever. You know, if you keep reporting on it, it's going to grow like a cancer. If you forget about it, then it's probably going to go away. But the media has to hop on everything and it's wrong.

CAMEROTA: There's been protests ...

DELEMUS: They're shipping cars over and burning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't even know if they know they're protesting.

JOHNSON: Protesting. And some of them did even vote. They didn't even vote. Voting is a privilege in this country. And you need to be legal. Not like California where 3 million illegals voted.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about that.

JOHNSON: I'm glad I brought that up, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Me too, Paula. So where are you getting your information?

JOHNSON: From the media. Where else would we ...

CAMEROTA: Which media?

JOHNSON: Some of it was CNN I believe.

CAMEROTA: CNN said that 3 million illegal people voted in California?

JOHNSON: Well, it was coming all across the media. All across, if CNN didn't do it, then they were being smart this time.

CAMEROTA: Do you think that 3 million illegal people voted?

JOHNSON: I believe in California that there were illegals that voted.

CAMEROTA: How many?

JOHNSON: I don't know. To tell you, the truth, nobody really knows that number.

CAMEROTA: But do you think 3 dozen or do you think 3 million?

JOHNSON: I think there was a good amount. Because the president told people they could vote and it happened in Nashville. We caught some people. And they went into national and they said the president said I could vote I'm here illegally.

CAMEROTA: Did you hear President Obama say that illegal people could vote?

JOHNSON: Yes, I did.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Tell me, where?

DIBARTOLO: You could find it -- Google it. You can find it on Facebook.

CAMEROTA: All right. Hold on. I don't want to waste any more time but anyway I see where it came from and it's "Fox Business Network" deceptively edited a clip of Barack Obama to argue that the president encouraged illegal immigrants to vote when in fact he did nothing of the sort when you go back to the transcript. You, as you're sitting here today think that millions of illegal people voted in this country? You believe there was widespread voting abuse?

JOHNSON: I think there was in some states.

CAMEROTA: In the millions of people?

JOHNSON: California allows it.

CAMEROTA: They do not allow illegal -- you mean voter fraud, California allows?

JOHNSON: I believe there was voter fraud in this country.

CAMEROTA: A flag burning people should go to jail?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: And lose their citizenship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

DELEMUS: Community services.

JOHNSON: And, you know what? And it's a sad thing ...

[12:55:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, they shouldn't but they should get a ticket for starting a fire out in public in a town.

DELEMUS: Right, exactly, but they need a permit for it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, they should go get a permit if they want to have a fire.

JOHNSON: How many illegals that are burning our flags and yet we're not arresting them and deporting them and they burn our flags. You want to be in our country but you burn our flags because you don't like it. Now will we just exactly send them home, I can't wait for the wall to be built.

CAMEROTA: What happened if the wall isn't built? If Mr. Trump doesn't build the wall, then how do you feel?

JOHNSON: Think -- I believe he will build the wall, but he will make sure that we have enough border patrol out there to take care of this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Thank you so much for watching "Newsroom". "Wolf" starts right after this break

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:59:59] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in New York, 8:00 p.m. in Beirut, 11:00 p.m. in Islamabad, wherever you're watching around the world, thanks very much for joining us. Up first, President -Elect Donald Trump celebrates the art of the deal that saved 1000 jobs. Right now Trump and Vice President -elect Mike Pence ...