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At This Hour

New Protests in Ferguson After Shots Fired; Outrage over Police-Related Shooting in Texas; New Hampshire Republican Power Player Says Trump Must Go. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 10, 2015 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00] PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Pamela Brown.

AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Ferguson on edge. New protests expected soon after shots rang out on the anniversary of Michael Brown's death.

And an undocumented immigrant attacking a woman inside her home. Hear why the police chief says the blood trail starts in Washington, D.C.

And it's time for Donald Trump to go. That is from a Republican power player in New Hampshire. She joins me live as Trump is not apologizing for comments being considered and called sexist.

And the moment of impact caught on video. See what happens after a twister touches down.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. John Berman is off today.

The first anniversary of the fatal shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, that sparked a national conversation about race and law enforcement going from peaceful, silent marches and prayers to rocks, bottles and a barrage of bullets. Police say it was not tied to the protest at all. Shots were fired as the new police chief was in the middle of talking about better relations with the community. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRE ANDERSON, INTERIM CHIEF, FERGUSON POLICE DEPARTMENT: We're trying to work with the community. We're explaining to them their rights. And we just want to be as patient as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A message to those who are looting --

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down. Shots fired.

(GUNFIRE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Police say a man unleashed what they called a remarkable amount of gunfire from a stolen handgun. Officers chased him down and fired back. Some of that encounter was also caught on camera.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: This is a crime scene. Back up! Back up!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give him some help!

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Back up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give the man some help!

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get some help!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That man is now in critical condition and undergoing surgery right now.

Our Sara Sidner is in Ferguson and has been following what was, as I said, peaceful protests and prayers in remembering this young man to breaking out in violence once again.

What happened, Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police were pretty clear in saying at the St. Louis County Police Department these were, as they put it, criminals, and not part of the protest that started all of the shooting that you heard there. And I happened to be standing, me and another reporter, with the chief of police as he was explaining that he was trying to get people to have patience, the change was coming and that the city is moving forward. And suddenly, those shots rang out. And so you heard them, you can hear them there, going over and over and over. I mean, there were a lot of shots fired. And then there was a whole second round of firing that happened. And then as the night went on, a couple hours later, a third round of firing on Canfield Drive, the road that Michael Brown was killed on.

Not the way that his family had wanted people to remember this day. But it did happen. And there are now three people who have been shot, one in critical condition. Police say this started, the first shooting started because of a dispute between two people actually shooting at each other. Then when police were involved to go after the suspect, the suspect started shooting at them, and that's when they shot back -- Kate?

BOLDUAN: Sara Sidner, thank you so much on the ground there in Ferguson. Thanks so much, Sara. A short time ago the United States attorney general, Loretta

Lynch, condemned the violence. She tweeted this, "Violence obscures any method of peace protests and places the community as well as the officers who seek to protect it in harm's way."

But Jeff Roorda, of the St. Louis Police Officer's Association, says the Justice Department actually bears a lot of blame for what happened. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF ROORDA, ST. LOUIS POLICE OFFICER'S ASSOCIATION: This is what happens when you plan civil disobedience and you have a Justice Department that pressures and bullies local police departments from doing their job. This hands-off disengagement approach was never going to work. It was a disaster in Baltimore and it was a disaster last night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Wesley Bell is joining me now, one of two recently elected African-American city council members in Ferguson.

Mr. Bell, thank you so much for joining me.

In your view, what happened overnight?

WESLEY BELL, FERGUSON CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: I think this is just another tragic reminder that weapons in an already wounded community is a recipe for disaster.

BOLDUAN: It sure seems like it. The St. Louis County police chief, John Belmar, said those were resorts to violence, they were not the protesters, not the -- the people who started the violence were criminals, not protesters. What are you learning?

[11:05:13] BELL: Unfortunately, you have a lot of protesters that are peaceful, but you have a certain amount of people using these individuals as cover, unfortunately. And we have seen this play out before. So this isn't new. But I think what we need to focus on, and something I have been talking about is we have to continue to push the narrative and the discussion toward community policing. This young man was known by many in the community as well as law enforcement to be a friend of mike Brown's. So instead of a weapon, this young man needed therapy. So I would call on social workers and therapists to flood our community with grief counseling.

BOLDUAN: So as you mentioned his name, it's been a year since Michael Brown's death. Since his death you have joined the city council. In your view, are things better one year later?

BELL: Well, I think the facts show we have made a lot of progress. We still have a lot of work to do. But there's no denying the progress.

(CROSSTALK) BOLDUAN: Where is the progress?

BELL: Well, if you look, we have been implementing more community policing. And I would just challenge you to look at the way the officers handles the situation over the weekend as opposed to last year. And I think you can see progress. And one thing I've been encouraged about that I've seen a lot more of is that the community in law enforcement are learning to listen to one another more. And that's -- and again, let me be clear, we have a lot of work to do. We are not there yet, but we are heading in the right direction.

BOLDUAN: That kind of speaks to one of the -- I guess you would call it a criticism we hear the change is not happening fast enough. It's been a year since Michael Brown's death. You still are seeing clashes with police. You're seeing violence breaking out when it should be peaceful protests and that's what people wanted. What do you say to folks who look to you now and say, the change that they need, the change that Ferguson needs and the healing that Ferguson needs hasn't happened fast enough?

BELL: OK, well, we have to be fair about this. If individuals want to do harm to a community, there's not much that law enforcement can do to stop it. But what we have to do is still engage our community and work toward more engagement between law enforcement, between our community, so that we can try to limit these situations. But to try and say that we're going to get so a point where there's absolutely no violence, obviously we know that's not going to happen. But if we move to a community oriented model of policing, we will be able to limit the things and this should be the priority.

BOLDUAN: Real quickly, how much do you fear the violence overnight is going to reignite those clashes from a year ago and overshadow the peaceful protest and progress you're trying to make?

BELL: I'm confident that they won't. But again, you know, law enforcement is working hard. There's a lot of members in the community that are also working to try and ensure that all our citizens are safe, which is the priority. So again, progress is a work in progress, if you will. But more so, I think we need to focus on bringing more social workers and therapy, because a lot of people are traumatized by these kinds of events. We have a lot of young people in the community that are trying to deal with these -- with these situations, and we need to focus on that.

BOLDUAN: Wesley Bell, thank you for your time this morning. We appreciate it. BELL: Thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: Coming up next, outrage erupts after a rookie officer shoots and kills an unarmed football player because he wouldn't surrender. His family says his crime wasn't life or death.

And a new denial from after Donald Trump after backlash over comments he made about FOX News host, Megyn Kelly. A female powerful Republican joins me live on why she says it's time for Donald Trump to go. And breaking news, two women launching an armed attack against

the U.S. consulate in Istanbul. Now a hunt is underway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:12:45] BOLDUAN: AT THIS HOUR, outrage after an unarmed black college football player was gunned down by an officer in training. Newly released edited surveillance video shows Christian Taylor moments before being shot and killed, kicking in a windshield at a car dealership in Arlington, Texas. The FBI is now joining the investigation into why rookie officer, Brad Miller, fired four rounds into Taylor and his training partner only used a Taser after confronting the teenager. The victim's father spoke out about the officer's actions to CNN affiliate, KTPT (ph).

ADRIAN TAYLOR, FATHER OF CHRISTINA TAYLOR: You know what I mean, you train to take down men with your hands. You have your Tasers or clubs and he's unarmed, an 18-year-old, and you shoot the kid?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Ed Lavandera is following this story for us.

Ed, what's the latest story. You see the video but it sure seems like a tragedy.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The focus is on one officer in particular, 49-year-old Brad Miller, who, despite his age, was a rookie police officer nearing the end of his training period. He was the one that fired four shots. We are told by the medical examiner that Christian Taylor, 19 years old, was hit in the neck, chest and abdomen. The second officer there with him used a Taser in this situation. So obviously, a great deal of discrepancy of what kind of force should have been used in that situation. And that is when Arlington police investigators say they are trying to figure out and get to the bottom of this. They say there was an altercation.

Once the officers approached Christian Taylor inside the car dealership that he had just driven into with a Jeep, that Christian Taylor was told by authorities to lay down on the ground but instead police say he started running away. And then there was some sort of altercation. Police can't say or won't say if it was a physical or verbal altercation, but it ended with Officer Miller firing four shots. So, obviously, investigators say that what is crucial in this investigation is the nature of that confrontation, what was going on there, and that's when investigators are focusing on today -- Kate?

BOLDUAN: They want to get to the bottom of it, Ed, but that comes with getting the story from the officers involved. I guess they have not been interviewed yet. When will they be?

[11:15:15] LAVANDERA: Well, they weren't interviewed initially. We are told it is standard procedure to give the officers a couple of days before they give their official statements. We have been told by Arlington police today that those statements, official statements will be given to investigators by the end of the day today. So at some point today, we know that both of the officers involved in this shooting will be meeting with investigators and giving their version and their accounts of what happened inside that car dealership.

BOLDUAN: I guess so.

Ed Lavandera, thank you so much.

Coming up, Donald Trump defends backlash over his comments about women and Megyn Kelly. At the same time, he says Carly Fiorina, the presidential candidate, the only woman running in the GOP field running for president, gives him a headache. Hear why.

Plus, an undocumented immigrant brutally kills a California woman inside her own home. Now questions on whether he should have been out of jail in the first place. As the police chief says, the blood trail leads comes from Washington, D.C.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: New this morning, Donald Trump says FOX News Megyn Kelly should be apologizing to him, not the other way around. That's after Trump made controversial comments to Don Lemon on CNN Friday night about Kelly, remarks perceived by many as sexist and offensive.

Listen to what Trump said and how he tried to explain it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:20:05] DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Well, you can see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.

(voice-over): I was going to say nose and/or ears because that's a very common statement.

I went to the Wharton School of Finance. I was an excellent student. I'm a smart person. I have built a tremendous company.

Who would make a statement like that? Only a sick person would think about it.

Who would say such a thing? If I would have said that, it would be inappropriate. The interesting thing is I really said nothing, because I stopped because I wanted to get on to jobs or whatever the subject was.

The fact is she asked me an inappropriate question and she should be apologizing to me, if you want to know the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: There you have it. That's what we've got today.

Joining me is influential GOP activist, Renee Plummer.

Renee, it's great to have you. It is said, to win New Hampshire, you have to win over Renee

Plummer. That's why your opinion definitely matters. And I want to get your opinion on Donald Trump. Because you said Trump's comments to Megyn Kelly were terrible. And you also said he needs to get out of the race. Why do you think so?

RENEE PLUMMER, REPUBLICAN ACTIVIST: Well, because people aren't focusing on the agendas. I mean, on the issues. They are focusing on entertainment. I mean, I feel as though Donald Trump should have taken Jon Stewart's place if you want entertainment. That was just horrendous. And probably he went home and his daughters probably said, what did you say? I mean, I really would like to hear what Ivanka -- and I think there's another daughters at home -- would say to him when he got home. They are probably quite embarrassed by the whole thing.

BOLDUAN: You heard us play some of the sound from him. He was trying to explain it, saying he, in no way, was trying to make a comment implying that Megyn Kelly was being hormonal. So why not take him at his word at this point?

PLUMMER: No, would you take him at his word at this point? I'm sure once he got off, all the P.R. people around him said, you can't do this. This is not the thing that you say. Certainly if you're running for president of the United States. I mean, he's going to be sitting across the table from Angela Merkel. What is she thinking? What would Margaret Thatcher thought about this? I know he's very smart and it's great what he's done in New York City and throughout the country and throughout the world with his empire. But, I mean, come on, you have to look at yourself in the mirror and say, I was just an absolute fool in saying that.

BOLDUAN: You have met with most of the Republican presidential candidates. You have sat down with them, you have dinners with them, all of them really wanting to win you over. You also met with Donald Trump. What was your impression with him? What was your impression of him then?

PLUMMER: He was charming. He came in. My husband and I do the roundtable luncheons, and so there were 60 or 70 business people. What really surprised me was the people that called me because they wanted to be at the table with him. These were finance people. And I was a little surprised. But they wanted to meet him. And he was good. He was gracious. He certainly didn't make any comments like that. I think I would have stepped in. But no, he was -- he was -- it was a great time for everybody.

BOLDUAN: As we have been following Donald Trump's campaign in the early stages, Renee, you have seen it as well, he's said other controversial things. Despite the controversial comments, he continues to rise in the polls. And Trump goes to lengths to point that out when anything pops up that seems controversial, in that when people start counting him out, if you will.

Listen to this morning, the co-chair of Women for Trump, a coalition in New Hampshire, speaking out to CNN. Let's listen to what she says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA JOHNSON, CO-CHAIR, WOMEN FOR TRUMP: That's an expression of blood spurting out of my eyes. It's something that is common. I didn't think a thing of it. And frankly, blood was spurting out of my eyes. I was pretty furious and upset from what -- the comments and the questions that Megyn had posed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Despite what he says, despite some of his controversial views, it doesn't seem to matter with voters. What do you make of it?

PLUMMER: Well, it doesn't matters with voters. I think people that like Donald Trump now love him. I mean, his supporters are always going to be his supporters. And when they seek trouble with a candidate, they are really going to rally around them. And that happens to all the candidates. You know, I see it with people, people who like Hillary Clinton, they don't just like her, they love her. And you can say that with a lot of other candidates. And it has happened with Donald Trump. They absolutely are going to stand behind him.

(CROSSTALK)

PLUMMER: Now will the rest of the country? I don't know.

[11:25:12] BOLDUAN: In the end, do you think -- he's been doing very well in terms of polling in New Hampshire. Do you think he could really be -- really win the primary?

PLUMMER: You know, funnier things have happened. I think with Trump, people want to be him. You know, they want to have that success. So it could happen. And that's why you have to be very careful because he could come out in the top two or three for New Hampshire.

BOLDUAN: So you're saying be careful what you wish for, Renee?

PLUMMER: That's right.

(LAUGHTER)

That's what it is, yes.

BOLDUAN: Great to see you. Great to meet you. Thank you so much for coming in.

PLUMMER: Thanks, Kate. Bye-bye.

BOLDUAN: Of course, bye-bye.

Coming up for us, here's something you hopefully will never ever see through your windshield, a car blown away by a powerful tornado. We'll have more of this incredible video for you. That's ahead. And also this, outrage grows after an Air Force contractor is

brutally murdered in her own home. The police chief blames immigration and says there's a blood trail all the way from Washington, D.C.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:00] BOLDUAN: AT THIS HOUR, angry words from a police chief after a woman was sexually assaulted and beaten with a hammer allegedly at the hands of an undocumented immigrant. Police says 64- year-old Marilyn Farris, who worked for the Air Force as a civilian contractor --