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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Video Scrutinized In Chokehold Death; Few Grand Jury Details Released; Arrest In Mall Attack On American Teacher

Aired December 04, 2014 - 16:30   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: You can see at least one officer was seen pushing his head into the ground and while other officers pinned him down. Remember the medical examiner's report found that it was not just the chokehold that contributed to Garner's death.

But also, quote, "compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police." Garner's pre-existing health conditions also listed as contributing factors, of course.

Now the other officer who put Garner in the chokehold, he was the only one brought before the grand jury. The other officers were granted immunity.

Now this video taken by a second cell phone shows that even once Garner loses consciousness, he remains handcuffed on the ground. Officers hover over him not doing anything to save him.

Seven minutes go by with Garner clearly in distress before he's given CPR. Let's bring in, Gil Alba, he is a former NYPD detective. Also, he was a former member of the Civilian Police Complaint Board.

Detective Alba, thanks for joining us. A lot of people are struck by the fact that Garner says, I can't breathe. I can't breathe at least eight times. What are officers trained to do when a suspect seems to be in serious distress during an arrest?

GIL ALBA, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: Well, they should have given more medical attention and be aware that -- I don't think they believed that he really was going to die. So -- I mean, they should have taken more action and called the EMS to come in and at least administer some kind of help for him, give him air or something to that effect.

But I just want to get back to the grand jury. And I don't believe -- it's my feeling all along, I thought that he wasn't going to get indicted. The reason I didn't think he wasn't get indicted is because he took him down, put him on the ground, it's obvious that there was something there and he died.

When do we ever see a photo, a video of this like someone dying under police custody or when they take action? So then it goes to the grand jury and then the medical examiner says that he died of a chokehold. So it was a homicide.

So therefore, now he's going to the grand jury because he killed this particular person. So really the grand jury has to deal with intent. Did this officer intend to kill this particular person, you know, Eric Garner?

That has a lot to do with it. So when they listened to his version of the incident and they put the information together, now you have to remember we only see a video.

But before that, there were probably a lot of calls between the police back and forth calling for help, radio calls, and all kinds of calls coming forward. So at the end of the day, did this officer intend to kill Eric Garner?

TAPPER: Right.

ALBA: I think that's what the ruling came down of no indictment.

TAPPER: Right. Of course, they could have gone with involuntary manslaughter. But let me ask you about -- what about when Garner's on the ground because I want to find out about procedure here. You can tell that the officers know something is wrong with Eric Garner but they don't remove his handcuffs and don't administer CPR. Why not?

ALBA: I think they were trained to call for the EMS to come and take action at that particular time. However, you could see that at that particular point he needs help. He needs help bad and it's critical. Every minute is critical for him at that time.

So you can see everybody watching this video, how frustrating it is, especially in the African-American community, how he wasn't getting help right away and how this happened and really it's a sad story with this happening and the fact that more training and more for police is called for.

But every -- you know, every police officer is different and how they take -- how they take action and what kind of force they use. I think eventually the investigation is going to be an internal investigation with the internal affairs and New York City Police Department.

And they will probably one of the charges will be excessive force, is it chokehold? And if they find him guilty, I'm sure the police commissioner would be terminated from the New York Police Department.

TAPPER: All right, Detective Alba, thank you so much, really appreciate your time.

ALBA: Thanks for having me.

TAPPER: Why did the other officers who held down Eric Garner that day receive immunity? New York Congressman Charlie Rangel is demanding an answer to that question. He'll join me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. Continuing with our National Lead, you're looking right now to live pictures from Boston where protesters are starting to gather. They are of course upset about a New York City grand jury decision not to indict the police officer in the death of Eric Garner.

By now, we've all seen this video, but what did the grand jury see that led them not to indict? Many calling for the release of those grand jury documents, usually not made public in New York. Earlier today, a judge is granting the order to release some details about the proceedings.

And joining me now is New York Democratic Congressman Charlie Rangel. Congressman Rangel, thanks so much for being here. We appreciate it.

So I know you've been calling for the release of documents, evidence that was presented to the grand injury. There are some basic facts released this afternoon, the fact that there were 50 witnesses, 60 pieces of evidence.

The fact that the grand jury was instructed on relevant principles of law including Penal Law 3530, the circumstances in which a police officer can use physical force in an arrest. I'm assuming you think this is not enough information.

REPRESENTATIVE CHARLIE RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: If I asked you if you want to read a book and you gave me the table of contents, I haven't found out a thing about your book. And so releasing this is releasing absolutely nothing except how many people was there and how many exhibits they had.

And you bet your life we're going to find this out. The whole world is watching. They want to find out one thing. There was a group of people there. One of them got killed and there were several policemen, simple as that, and the medical examiner said it was a homicide.

TAPPER: Right.

RANGEL: Now, setting aside suicide, something happened in that room to convince the people that was there that nothing happened and we just want to find out how could they possibly have reached that conclusion.

TAPPER: Do you think it's a mistake, apparently the other police officers were granted immunity and the medical examiner's report says that Mr. Garner died because of the chokehold, but also because he was lying prone and also because of pressure on his chest. Do you think it's a mistake to give the other officers immunity given that some of them also were taking actions that led to his death?

RANGEL: I think it was his stupid mistake. Immunity is given in order to gain the cooperation of witnesses in order to further the indictment that brings the case to court. Here police officers shouldn't need immunity to tell the truth.

If you insist on immunity, it means you think you should be indicted for a crime. And so we have a bunch of people that participated in what appears in the outside to be the killing of a human being. To give most of them immunity to me, a lot has to be explained.

It just doesn't make sense what's happened. But it's such a ridiculous scenario that it's not going to stand. The whole world is watching. They have made a terrible mistake by not explaining how they reached this conclusion.

And the fact that some facts are going to be released, as far as I'm concerned, they have still not responded to what I'm hope is going to be a federal Department of Justice demand and that is, tell us what happened inside the grand jury.

TAPPER: What do you say when young black men come up to you and express the fear that black lives don't matter given that your entire life lies in the face of that idea?

RANGEL: It's embarrassing. It's disgraceful. You're horrified. No one said it better than my president and my mayor. They have kids who have black blood running in their veins so they don't have to give political rhetorical speeches.

My son was a Marine. How do you tell him not to speak out, to be submissive if you think you're being chased by a cop, don't run, be quiet. This goes against all of the instinct that people try to teach their sons to be an example and be courteous and honest and all those different things.

It's difficult to say in this country just because you're black that it's going to make a difference in how you're going to be treated. Now, it's not that difficult if you start off and say, you know, we used to be cotton pickers.

We used to be considered subhuman. Over several hundred years we know that human beings with citizens with voting rights and we have human rights, civil rights, but boy we have a long way to go, the indictments that we would give to country because they are violating people's human rights is going to be very awkward to deal with this publicly until we clean this thing up.

The whole thing, in my opinion, is to admit that we have a cancer and a healthy body to deal with it. But until you admit that, because it's more than just body cameras, it's education opportunities, the ability to get a good job and live in a good community and be able to say you have a friend and you can say, he was black and I didn't notice.

TAPPER: Congressman Charlie Rangel, thank you so much for being here.

RANGEL: Thanks for letting me be here.

TAPPER: Coming up next, it was like a scene out of a movie, dramatic video of a police raid on a woman suspected of killing an American school teacher. Was the murder part of a terrorist plot?

Plus, President Obama pushing for body cameras for police departments across the country, but are body cameras fool-proof? That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. In other world news, we have just learned that an arrest has been made in a deadly attack on an American teacher at a high of end mall in Abu Dhabi. Investigators are trying to find out if the suspect had any ties to terrorist groups.

This is new video of the dramatic scene as police closed in on the alleged attacker, described as a woman of Yemeni origin in her late 30s. She's been taken into custody and is being interrogated, not only about the attack on the teacher but a foiled plot to bomb the home of an American doctor.

I'm joined now by CNN global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott. Elise, what else have you learned about this investigation?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, we learned that this woman that was arrested was an Emirate national, but she had Yemeni origin and she had been traveling back and forth to Yemen multiple times.

So what the Emirate authorities and obviously in coordination with the U.S. are trying to do is find out whether there was any connection to her and this American teacher or that doctor and whether she had any ties to terrorist groups.

TAPPER: Do you know if the suspect targeted this American teacher?

LABOTT: Well, they don't have any evidence of that so far. And from what we're hearing, this woman was waiting in this mall in Abu Dhabi for about an hour and a half. So it doesn't look as if she was actually targeting this teacher, Ibolya Ryan.

It doesn't look that she had any direct ties to her. What they are trying to do is piece all the pieces together to see whether there was any connection to the doctor and the teacher and see how they can paint a fuller picture.

TAPPER: And have they found any evidence of terrorist ties?

LABOTT: Well, Jake, the investigation is very early. It's only been about 24 hours and they are very loathed to say anything concretely yet but what officials are telling me is, listen, this doesn't seem to be some accidental random crime.

It does have a tinge of some kind of terrorist act. Whether this woman was a so-called lone wolf and acting alone or part of a larger group, it is not known. It doesn't seem to be initially an act of random criminal violence.

TAPPER: It doesn't seem as though she targeted the American teacher because she was American. Is that possible?

LABOTT: We don't know. A woman who is blond and goes into a restroom, you don't know off the top of your head whether she's an American. She didn't have the local dress of an emirate and the United States put out a warning about threats on jihadi sites to possible Americans being targeted.

This does seem to have been targeted a westerner, if not an American, whether this particular person was targeted or whether the doctor was targeted. I think that's what we'll learn in the coming days.

TAPPER: Very disturbing. Elise Labott, thank you so much.

When we come back, police officers across the country could be soon outfitted with body cameras, but how exactly do they work? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. The tech lead now, Eric Garner and Michael Brown in Ferguson to Amir Rise in Cleveland, hot button cases involving possible police misconduct continue to pop up around the country, many turning into law enforcement's word against the alleged victims' word if those victims could speak.

Now cities are aiming to eliminate that element of the unknown by adding new technology to their arsenal, body cameras. But is the threat of someone watching enough to change an abusive officer's behavior? Joining me now from New York, CNN Money correspondent, Cristina Alesci -- Cristina.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Now when you talk about this technology, Jake, it's not just about capturing an image. It's about the software, the programs that actually organized and store the video in a way that allows local police department to use it effectively without investing a ton of money and what the tech community calls the back end. A very complex issue, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESCI (voice-over): As protests around the country flare-up, police officers are outfitting their officers with the latest technology. Denver, Los Angeles and New York are major cities launching pilot programs for body cameras.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK: Body cameras are going to be an important additional step in the reforms that we are undertaking.

ALESCI: New York's public advocate estimates outfitting the entire force could cost $32 million. But if it means fewer lawsuits, it could be a worthwhile investment. Last year, the city paid $152 million to settle police misconduct claims. And local police departments could get a $75 million helping hand from the federal government.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm going to be proposing new community policing initiatives that will significantly expand funding and training for local law enforcement, including up to 50,000 cameras for law enforcement agencies. ALESCI: And that's could be windfall for companies like Tazer and Digital Ally. In Rialto, California, the police department says from 2012 to 2013, body cameras reduce use of force incidents by 59 percent and complaints dropped by 88 percent.

CHIEF TONY FARRAR, RIALTO, CALIFORNIA POLICE: I think you have to ask yourself, as a police chief, can you afford not to do something like this?

ALESCI: Tazer is pushing their low light capability. It's software and it says the batteries are dependable. But implementing the technology is where things can get tricky. The camera has to be manually turned on and, of course, can be turned off leaving room for human error.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALESCI: Jake, here the discretion of the officer seems to be the biggest concern for these cameras and how do you discipline one if one decides to turn it off before a confrontation situation where it should have been turned on.

TAPPER: Fascinating stuff. Cristina Alesci, thank you so much. That's it for THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. I now turn you over to Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Wolf.