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Don Lemon Tonight

McConnell Breaks With RNC, Calls Jan. 6 "A Violent Insurrection"; Canadian Trucker Protests Block Busiest International Crossing In North America; CNN Investigative Report: Kabul Airport Bombing; Authorities: Teenager Wanted In Connection With No-Knock Warrant That Led To Amir Locke's Death Was His Cousin. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired February 08, 2022 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST (on camera): The GOP deeply divided. Top Republican leaders in Congress at odds over the RNC's censuring two Republican House members and calling the January 6th insurrection legitimate political discourse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): We were all here. We saw what happened. It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Wow. That's a shocker, right?

Also, major international crossing block. Canadian truckers protesting COVID restrictions, blocking the busiest bridge linking the U.S. and Canada, adding to supply chain disruptions.

Also, ahead this hour, American athletes competing for China at the Beijing Olympics, including star skier Eileen Gu, who is dodging questions about her citizenship and brushing off critics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EILEEN GU, CHINESE-AMERICAN FREESTYLE SKIER, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: If people don't believe me and if people don't like me, then that's their loss. They're never going to win the Olympics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): But you know what I want to do? I want to bring in now CNN's senior political analyst Ron Brownstein and Brian Fallon, who is the press secretary -- was the press secretary for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. Gentlemen, good evening. Good to see both of you. So, Ron, I'm going to start with you. Top Republicans are divided over this RNC censure, calling January 6th a legitimate political discourse. McConnell is slamming it. McCarthy is embracing it. Will this hurt them in an election that is forcing Republicans to choose either the truth or Trump and all of his grievances?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, first of all, you know, it's valuable that McConnell said what he did. But let's keep in mind that in practice, he led the filibuster to kill an independent commission to study January 6. And he has also led the filibusters to kill the democratic efforts to respond to what Republicans are doing in the states growing out of the big lie to restrict access to voting. So, in practice, his actions, you know, kind of betray a different set of priorities than his words.

But look, there is no question that the RNC has drawn a very clear line in the party. And it has said that any effort to unearth the truth and to publicize the truth about what happened is in effect disloyalty to a Donald Trump era GOP. And that, I think, puts the onus on a lot of traditionally Republican leaning voters. Are they comfortable being part of a coalition sending that message?

LEMON: Mr. Fallon, I mean, we have been hearing the Democrats could lose big in the midterms with history working against them, party infighting, Biden's bad poll numbers. But with all this Republican infighting and the focus on 2020, do Democrats have an opportunity to hold on to the House and Senate?

BRIAN FALLON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DEMAND JUSTICE: I think so. It's going to be a hard road, but I think that the Republicans are making it easier. And I think that is what is going on here with Mitch McConnell's attempt to distance himself at least from the censure resolution.

You know, Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the House, the RNC, they've been given over to the Trump-Marjorie Taylor Greene wing of the Republican Party.

McConnell, for his part, would like everybody on the republican side to just shut up the next 10 months and let the midterm elections be a referendum on Joe Biden, his approval ratings.

They think this is opportunity with the COVID -- lingering COVID situation, with questions about rising crime.

[23:05:02]

FALLON: They just want this to be an up or down question on, are you happy with things as they stand right now?

And when he is asked questions, when Mitch McConnell was asked the other day, what is the agenda that the Republicans want to implement if they returned to power? He wouldn't answer the question. He doesn't want to introduce any variables. He doesn't want to provide a viable alternative. He just wants to make it a referendum on Biden. And this Donald Trump injecting himself into the Senate primary races that Mitch McConnell is overseeing is complicating his life, and these efforts by the RNC and Kevin McCarthy are further complicating his life because they are making it more of a choice between a sane, rational Joe Biden-led Democratic Party and a return to the crazy under Donald Trump and Kevin McCarthy.

LEMON: Ron, I also want to get to the former white house officials telling CNN that they saw Trump rip up documents as president. We're also learning the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago last month containing documents, memos like the so-called love letters from Kim Jong-un. That is according to "The Washington Post." And the Sharpie map. Remember that one that Trump drew tracing the wrong path of the Hurricane Dorian? That is according to "The New York Times."

So, those things don't belong to Trump. What does this say about his disdain for the rules? They're in boxes at Mar-a-Lago? What?

BROWNSTEIN: This is really like a miniature of the larger problem that is still, I think, going on and still unresolved, how it is going to turn out, which is that many of the constraints that we thought inhibited a president from violating traditional norms and kind of trampling over the Constitution, turned out to be much flimsier than anybody expected.

Trump showed on everything from firing inspectors general to this, defying the Records Act, that he was willing to openly defy what it seemed to be, you know, impenetrable barriers before. And to the extent that he is able to get away with that, you are basically inviting more of it in the future.

And so, on all of these fronts, whether it is the question of whether the Justice Department is truly investigating his role in January 6th, to these open and repeated and flagrant violations of the Records Act, the core question is, is there going to be any accountability, any consequences, because if not, you will see even more of the barriers that seemingly were there in the past just simply melt away in the future.

LEMON (on camera): Brian, destroying official documents, that is against the law and something Trump accused your former boss of doing during the 2016 campaign. Remember this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Thirty-three thousand emails disappeared.

People who have nothing to hide don't smash phones with hammers. They don't. People who have nothing to hide don't bleach. Nobody has ever heard of it. Don't bleach their emails or destroy evidence to keep it from being publicly archived as required under the federal law.

She also, and her staff, destroyed some of her 13 different phones, but this time with a hammer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): It's got to be galling for you to listen to that.

FALLON: You've brought so many fond memories back for me, Don. Thank you. To Ron's point, one of the reasons why that email matter became such a dark cloud over Hillary Clinton's head through 2016, unfairly, I believe, is because federal law enforcement officials at that time saw fit to launch a true, deep federal investigation into that email set up that she had. And not only that. They decided to disclose it publicly, which was a rather extreme step.

But they made a calculation that in order to preserve confidence in the rule of law, we have to visibly throw the book at Hillary Clinton and keep the public in suspense for a year about whether we might bring charges about her when any serious, credible law enforcement official behind the scenes was telling you they knew that there was never going to be any charges brought against her.

And yet you are seeing the opposite approach being taken with Donald Trump, who called the secretary of state of Georgia, trying to change election results in that state, and has openly incited an insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th.

Here, federal law enforcement officials in Donald Trump's case are giving no hint that he is facing any consequences, any investigation. There's been no whisper of any interview that he or senior Trump family members are being brought in to be questioned by federal law enforcement officials.

A number of observers have said it is quite strange a year end that we aren't hearing any peep of any grand jury proceeding that seems to have Trump as its target.

And so, am I surprised that he is feeling fine to flout the Presidential Records Act?

[23:10:00]

FALLON: Of course not, because he is getting away with having incited an insurrection and tried to overturn the results of an election.

So, I just think that the -- we need to see a step-up response from Merrick Garland here, or else, we're going to see continued reckless behavior from Donald Trump if he runs again in 2024.

LEMON: I just remember the conservative media. The bleach bit and the hammers and -- where is the shredder and the scissors and the ripping? Where are those stories about Donald Trump?

FALLON: Might that all have been in bad faith, Don? Hard to believe.

LEMON: Thank you both. See you soon. Be well.

I want to turn now to the Supreme Court ruling that will have a major impact on the right to vote in Alabama. In a 5-4 decision, the justices are allowing a redistricting map drawn by state Republicans to stay in place even though a lower court ruled that it likely violated the Voting Rights Act.

Here to discuss now, former federal prosecutor Elliott Williams and CNN's chief legal analyst Mr. Jeffrey Toobin. Good to see you both, gentlemen.

Elliott, I am going to start with you. What does the ruling mean for Black voters in Alabama? Because the republican map includes only one district where Black voters can elect a candidate of their choice.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Look, Don, these questions of

discrimination are sometimes hard to pin down or hard to prove because they are nebulous. What is discrimination?

But just look at the numbers, right? Blacks make about 27 percent of Alabama's population, but only 14 percent of the congressional districts. About a third of Blacks in Alabama live in a majority Black district. Ninety-two percent of whites do.

Now, you can say that somehow these were drawn and it just so happened to be the case that the numbers were so skewed. But the simple fact is when you look at the data, it is abundantly clear that the votes of Blacks in Alabama have been diluted.

And the law, as it is written now, very clearly allows consideration of race, not above all other factors, but at least consideration of it, to ensure that voters have the ability to vote for the leaders of their choosing. That is just not the case in Alabama right now.

LEMON: Jeffrey, Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent that by allowing this map, that the court does a disservice to Black Alabamans who under that precedent have had their electoral power diminished -- in violation of a law this court once knew to buttress all of American democracy.

Is this another blow to the 1965 Voting Rights Act? What is your take, Jeffrey?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: The Voting Rights Act is, you know, the most important civil rights law ever passed in the United States. And, you know, before 1965, African Americans, particularly in the south, effectively were unrepresented in Congress, in the state houses, in governorships, and this was really changed by the Voting Rights Act.

Over the past 10 years, the Voting Rights Act has become increasingly a dead letter, that basically what the Supreme Court is doing is saying to these republican-dominated states, look, you can do whatever you want to make sure that Republicans stay in charge, and that African Americans have less representatives in the House of Representatives, in the state houses, than they would, as Elliott pointed out, based on their percentages of the population.

What I think is really striking about today's decision or last night's decision is that Chief Justice John Roberts, who was the leader of the fight to limit the scope of the Voting Rights Act, even he was appalled and had to dissent by what was done by the five more conservative justices on the Supreme Court.

You know, the Supreme Court is changing before our eyes, and even John Roberts, a serious conservative, is saying, look, things are getting really out of control here.

LEMON: Yeah. Jeffrey, you know, you wrote the book called "The Nine," about the Supreme Court. I've been wanting to ask you since we had this whole controversy regarding, right, Black women.

You know, last week, when we were talking about GOP uproar over Black female justice, we were talking about what some Black politicos were doing -- I mean, excuse me, some white conservative politicos were saying about it, calling it affirmative action and all that. Also, Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana made remarks about wanting a justice who knows the Constitution from a J. Crew catalog.

His office has said to CNN that he has used that language before in regard to justice of the court. But regardless, he also said, you know, he spoke about being woke, right, in regards to the possibility of a Black woman.

What is going on with all of these Republicans who are making this about race or about affirmative action? What is this issue? What do you think is going on here?

[23:14:57]

TOOBIN: Well, you know, I think in fairness to Senator Kennedy, it is true that he has often said in his folksy way, look, we want people who know the law, not just politicos of one kind or another. That's true.

But I think what's going on in a broader way in the Republican Party is they are using the president's promise to put the first Black woman on the Supreme Court as an excuse to rile up people who are angry about affirmative action, who are angry about African Americans having power that they have been denied for the entirety of American history.

So, there is no doubt that Republicans generally are trying to turn this into a forum for white resentment even if what Senator Kennedy said was, you know, pretty common and fair for what he said in the past.

LEMON: Elliot, why would you call -- why would think a Black woman would be woke?

WLLIAMS: Well, I mean, just -- this is such an exhausting debate to have. Let's look at the credentials, Don, of Ketanji Brown Jackson, one of the people on the short list, who went to Harvard University twice, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, was a federal judge for nine years both in private practice and in government.

I don't think there is actually a sitting Supreme Court justice right now who has those credentials. And so, the whole idea of this nominee being an affirmative action, regardless of what the president said, just look at the data, look at the numbers, look at these people's resumes, and they are literally flawless. You cannot find lawyers in America with cleaner resumes.

So, yes, maybe, you know, it is a powerful talking point from certain political sectors here, but just look at these people's resumes, and that should end the debate.

LEMON: Well-stated.

TOOBIN: And let's just talk a little bit about diversity. You know, we always talk about diversity in terms of race and gender. You know, Judge Jackson was a criminal defense lawyer. We have not had criminal defense lawyers on the Supreme Court for a long time, people who have devoted serious chunks of their life to it.

And that is diversity that the court needs, especially when you consider how many criminal cases they take. Yes, racial diversity is important. Yes, gender diversity is important. But also, diversity of experience within the law.

LEMON: So, you're saying to me that these women would know a law book from a J. Crew catalog?

TOOBIN: I am saying that with great confidence.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Thank you, gentlemen.

Protests by Canadian truckers threatening the U.S. supply chain. Protesters blocking the busiest international crossing in North America. We're going to talk to Windsor, Ontario's mayor, Drew Dilkens, next.

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[23:20:00]

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LEMON (on camera): Protesters in Canada vowing not to give up until the government removes COVID-19 restrictions. The ongoing protests even having an impact in the U.S. as truckers block the bridge connecting Canada to Detroit, the busiest international crossing in North America. Many Canadians are saying that they have COVID fatigue and enough is enough.

Here is CNN's Paula Newton.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Freedom, it's the mantra here, and what has become an eyesore of a parking lot right in front of Canada's parliament. It stretches for blocks. It's gone on for days. The message, the same. We're done with COVID, and we're staying until the government is, too.

DORAN, TRUCK DRIVER: Till the end, till everything is over, till problems get solved.

NEWTON (voice-over): For Doran, behind this rig for 17 years, the vaccine is the problem. He says he is vaccinated but feels he was forced into it. He wants the freedom to choose. As a father, he admits he is stressed, losing hundreds of dollars every day he is out here.

DORAN: But there is something more important in this life than the money. You know, if you don't make any changes now, we're going to lose all freedom.

NEWTON (voice-over): But here's the thing. It's not just truckers. It is not just about the vaccine mandates. These Canadians drove five hours and are here to have their say, because the truckers tapped into a pandemic fatigue, they say they can no longer endure, and they say they're vaccinated.

UNKNOWN: One hundred percent.

UNKNOWN: Yep. Double dose. Got my QR code.

UNKNOWN: I even made and sold masks at the beginning of this. But you know what? When you keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result, that is the definition of insanity. We are insane right now. We keep doing the same things over and over again. Nothing is changing.

NEWTON (voice-over): To get change, they say, they're staying put. No one has brokered a way out of this.

(On camera): And now political leaders and police have learned the hard way that these kinds of truck blockades can pop up anywhere right across the country at a moment's notice.

(Voice-over): The latest effectively paralyzing one of the most important supply chains across any border in the world, the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor and Detroit. Police officials say it may seem easy to resolve, but confrontation and violence is a real risk.

But what's at stake couldn't be clearer for both Canada and the U.S. A movement of truckers that can stand their ground, it seems anywhere, and so chaos. It is for that reason that auto industry executives are joining other high-profile Canadians in warning American supporters of this protest to back off.

[23:24:50]

FLAVIO VOLPE, PRESIDENT, AUTOMOTIVE PARTS MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION: Let's see if Ted Cruz or the attorney general in Texas or any other number of American personalities are going to stand up for the manufacturers in Michigan who can't get their products exported or the Petro chemical companies in Texas that rely on parts suppliers turning those Petro chemicals into plastic parts and sending them north of the border.

NEWTON (on camera): Don, that support from the U.S. isn't just rhetorical, right? It isn't just words. Police here in this city say that on an organizational level and with money, that those supporting the protests here, they remind people, is actually supporting unlawful behavior. Don?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (on camera): Paula, thank you very much. We'll be right back.

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[23:30:00]

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LEMON: As you heard before in Paula Newton's reporting, protests in Canada over COVID-19 rules now threatening one of the biggest continental crossings into the United States. Participants in the so- called Freedom Convoy stopped traffic on the Ambassador Bridge which connects Windsor, Ontario to Detroit. Over 40,000 commuters, tourists, and truck drivers cross that bridge every single day.

Joining me now, Windsor, Ontario mayor, Drew Dilkens. Mayor, thank you very much. I appreciate you joining us this evening. You know, this morning, the Michigan Department of Transportation shut down Canadian- bound traffic on the bridge. Over $300 million in goods cross that bridge every day. Talk to us how this protest is impacting your city.

MAYOR DREW DILKENS, WINDSOR, ONTARIO: Well, this is a big deal. It's a big deal for the United States and for Canada, Don. It is the busiest border crossing between our two countries and we are each other's respective largest trading partner.

And so, when the border crossing of this magnitude, almost a third of all traffic between our two countries crosses here, when it closes down, it has an immediate and a material impact on the economies of both of our nations.

LEMON: Yeah. You said it was one of the busiest. It is one of the most important border crossings between the U.S. and Canada. I mean, they have already had huge supply chain issues due to the pandemic. How concerned are you about this making things even worse?

DILKENS: Well, it does make things worse. And so, Windsor, Ontario where I live is the automotive capital of Canada, and of course, Detroit on the other side is the automotive capital of the U.S. As you just said, there have been supply chain challenges, there have been chip shortages because of the pandemic. And so, you are dealing with an auto industry that deals in just in time delivery.

It is often said that the parts that go into a vehicle that rolls off the finish line, the assembly line at a plant, actually cross the border on average six times before they actually get put into the final assembly. So, that speaks to the tightness and the tight integration of the supply chain on the business side, but also on the human capital side.

Don't forget there are about 1,200 people that live in my community that cross to work -- to work in health care institutions in Michigan each and every day. So, when the border is closed, it has an impact on those facilities as well.

LEMON: You said 12,000. I understand 40,000 people travel across the bridge every day. Is that correct?

DILKENS: Yeah.

LEMON: Does that protest create a threat for public safety then?

DILKENS: Well, I think it creates an economic threat for both of our countries. There is no doubt it will have a material impact. The impact is felt almost immediately. And I can tell you, when the protesters first shut down the bridge just a day ago, it was less than an hour before folks were on the phone with us saying, what's going on?

And so, you know, we have to find a resolve here. Windsor police are working to negotiate, to find a resolution that allows the protests to happen. We are a democratic society, so protesting is okay, but blocking off the busiest border crossing between our two nations is not okay.

How do we get at least a lane of traffic open in each direction to allow trucks to continue to flow to get goods to market in the U.S. and for U.S. companies to get goods to market in Canada?

LEMON (on camera): U.S. politicians, from the former president to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, are throwing their support behind the Freedom Convoy, and the Fox network is following suit. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: If you could do us a favor, since you're able to shut down the northern border, can you head down maybe to Texas and shut that border down? We could use your help down south.

GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS HOST: This is a class issue going on right now. They just don't like the working class. You know, what's his face, the bozo who is --

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Trudeau.

GUTFELD: Right, Trudeau. Just an elite cupcake.

UNKNOWN: I support these truckers. This is about people saying we're going to join together. We're fed up with you and your nonsense and your make believe this and that and everything changes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Do you have anything to say to American supporters of these protests?

DILKENS: Listen, I think it is really worth noting that this protest, this movement, this truck convoy, started as a result of our country implementing mandatory vaccine requirement for truckers, Canadian truckers, returning to Canada. And just a week later, the United States government had given at least three months' notice, had implemented the same restrictions.

So, even if the folks who started this get what they wanted from our prime minister, they still can't cross the border into the United States because of rules that are in place federally with the U.S. government or by the U.S. government.

And so, this has become in some ways -- folks will remember about a decade ago -- the Occupy Wall Street movement that was somewhat leaderless and it wasn't quite clear what the objectives and the goals are. That is what is happening here now. People aren't quite sure what the objective, what the end game is with this particular group.

[23:35:00]

DILKENS: It has gathered a head of steam, yes, with folks who are -- who are, you know, feeling upset about vaccine restrictions or mandates, having to wear a mask, but it has also been a gathering point and rallying cry for many who are just angry with government in general.

So, it is unclear how this end and what would make everyone happy so that they go away and stop protesting. We're not sure.

LEMON: Well, we'll be watching. And if there are any updates, we'll have you back. Thank you, mayor. We appreciate it.

DILKENS: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: It was an attack, both horrifying and deadly. Thirteen U.S. Service members and at least 170 Afghans were killed last August in the Kabul Airport. Now, a CNN investigation raises questions about that attack.

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[23:40:00]

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LEMON: Last August, at the height of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the deadly terror attack at Kabul Airport killed 13 U.S. Service members and at least 170 Afghan civilians.

A Pentagon investigation into the attack released last Friday said everyone died as a result of the blast. The work of a lone suicide bomber, as a matter of fact.

But a four-month CNN investigation into that horrific airport attack now raises some serious questions about whether that has been investigated fully.

Here's CNN's Nick Paton Walsh. And I have to warn you, this report contains graphic images that may be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): The blast tore into the dense crowd.

MORSAL HAMIDI, SURVIVOR: A very high bomb blast sound and dead people. I saw a lot of hands, legs without their bodies.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): At least 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops died after an ISIS suicide bomber struck outside Kabul Airport.

The Pentagon investigation of the attack released Friday said everyone died in the blast.

KENNETH 'FRANK' MCKENZIE, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: The single explosive device killed at least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. Service members by explosively directing ball bearings to a packed crowd.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): The review unearthed this brief glimpse of horror. CNN spent four months investigating the incident, reviewing medical records and analyzing video, photos and audios of the scene, speaking to over 70 witnesses or families of the dead, doctors, hospital staff, and survivors, who insist some of the dead and wounded were shot.

The analyses and testimonies raised hard questions as to whether the bomb can explain all the deaths.

NOORULLAH ZAKHEL, SURVIVOR: I mean, the soldier came directly and they started firing. I laid down when they started firing like this.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): CNN spoke to doctors and medical staff at five hospitals who spoke of seeing or treating what they say were gunshot wounds. An Italian-run emergency hospital told CNN in a statement about that evening, their doctors assessed -- quote -- "gunshot wounds on nine victims who arrived dead in the hour after the blast." Seven were shot in the head, they said.

But there was no autopsy done. That was rare in Afghanistan. So, they assessed the appearance of the wounds. At an Afghan military hospital, a doctor recorded two other victims what were -- quote -- "dead due to gunshot injuries and blast injuries from the airport attack."

Then, there are the survivors. One Afghan survivor was treated in the U.S. Military's own Walter Reed Hospital outside Washington. He showed us his medical records, asking to be anonymous for his safety. They recorded a gunshot wound to the left chest and blast injuries, too.

Another survivor, Morsal Hamidi, had a bullet injury to the left side of her face, say her records from the Italian hospital in Kabul.

HAMIDI: I realize that the blood is coming from my face like water. I was hit by a bullet in my face, in my right jaw here, and the blood extracted from this part of my throat.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): We spoke to a doctor who treated patients at (INAUDIBLE) Hospital, one of biggest in Kabul. He said he pulled bullets out of four injured patients from the airport that night. He said he found gunshot wounds on many other dead bodies he examined, suggesting the number of people shot may be much higher. We asked we hide his identity for his safety.

UNKNOWN, DOCTOR AT KABUL HOSPITAL: There were two kinds of injuries. People burned from the blast with lots of holes in their bodies. But with a gunshot, you can see just one or two holes in the mouth, in the head, in the eye and the chest. I removed bullets from four or five injured.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): U.S. Military investigators insist that was not the case.

LANCE G. CURTIS, U.S. MILITARY INVESTIGATOR: There were absolutely no gunshot wounds. We found no evidence that post-blast U.S. Service members killed other U.S. Service members or Afghans.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): But investigators admit they did not talk to any Afghan civilians.

CURTIS: During the course of our investigation, we did not have an opportunity to speak with Afghans on the ground.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): Yet, dozens of Afghans assert there was deadly gunfire after the bomb hit here in Abbey Gate. We've built a 3D model of the scene. Here is the canal outside the gate, 45 minutes before the blast.

[23:45:06]

PATON WALSH (voice-over): And then, just before the device detonated, it packed and the marines are bunched up. The U.S. Military said the device was sophisticated and could be reasonably expected to have killed all the people.

The U.S. Military told CNN that doctors might have mistaken wounds made by these ball bearings for bullet wounds, adding they were too similar to tell apart without study of the internal wounds and the finding of the projectile that caused it, which the Afghan hospitals could not do in a mass casualty event. But the doctor who said he pulled bullets out of four patients disagreed.

UNKNOWN: According to my 15 years of surgery in Afghanistan, bomb and bullet injuries are very different. When a ball bearing enters the body, it makes a big hole, different from a shot bullet. When a bullet enters, it makes a small hole with a specific border. And when it leaves, it makes a big hole.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): Other staff at his hospital told CNN they, too, had seen bullet wounds. There was no dispute there was some shooting. Some in this video. Three minutes after the blast, you can hear three gunshots, but not see who is shooting. There is chaos and fear. U.S. Marines are likely tending to injured near the gate. Children are being carried away. Some crouched for cover. U.S.

U.S. Military investigators released drone video they say started just after this. It is patchy, but they said their analysis of the footage showed nobody running away and panic from gunfire or any evidence of shooting.

The U.S. and U.K. militaries have said there were three bursts of gunfire both at some point just after the blast. U.S. troops noticed a suspicious military-aged male across the canal soon after the blast. U.S. investigators said they fired four warning shots.

A U.K. defense official told CNN, there are troops on top of a tower fired warning shots at about the same time to prevent a crowd surge. The U.S. investigators said the British fired 25 to 35 rounds over the crowd from two positions.

Another marine team fired again, this time at a male on a roof armed, they said, with an Ak-47. Investigators couldn't say how many rounds they shot. The U.S. and British military say all the shots were fired over the crowded canal, but did not hit anyone.

(On camera): It is important to remember that none of the dozens of eyewitnesses we've spoken to have recalled seeing any other gunman, be it ISIS or Taliban, in that scene in the aftermath.

(Voice-over): Doubts over the Pentagon's story also emerged from Afghan survivors. They also recalled troops opening fire, but say civilians were hit. Morsal was there with her sister in the trench three meters from the blast, she said

HAMIDI: A head from -- was falling to my hands, and I just put it under -- other dead people.

PATON WALSH (on camera): You saw the soldiers on the wall of the trench shooting down into the trench?

HAMIDI: Yes, they shoot in the trench.

PATON WALSH (on camera): And when the shooting started, did you see it or did she hear it?

UNKNOWN (through translator): Yes, I saw the soldiers exactly. Some came to save their own colleagues. Others stood there and fired directly towards people.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): Noorullah Zakhel said he was also in the trench, hit in the head by the blast and tried to flee with his cousin, Sahil (ph).

ZAKHEL: I told to my cousin, Sahil, run. We run together. I tried to go climb out from the canal. I succeeded, but I think my cousin escaped. The soldier came directly and they started firing.

PATON WALSH (on camera): When did you find out that Sahil (ph) was dead?

ZAKHEL: In the morning time. When I called my family. Is he okay? They said, he is murdered.

PATON WALSH (on camera): And who was his body? What were the injuries on his body?

ZAKHEL: Just two bullets. On head, in this side and taken out from this side. Another one on shoulder.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): A total of 19 survivors CNN has interviewed said they saw people shot or were shot themselves. The U.S. Military said the witnesses we spoke to had -- quote -- "jumbled memories from a concussive event and are doing their best to piece together what their brain is unlikely to remember clearly."

The volume of testimony from Afghan survivors, though, does present questions as to how so many witnesses could make such similar claims.

[23:50:02]

PATON WALSH (voice-over): CNN hired a forensic blast analyst to see what the scene could tell us about the bomb.

UNKNOWN: There is actually nothing. But the concrete infrastructure in this area has been damaged significantly by a big blast. I do not believe that bomb was big enough to kill 180 people at all.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): Other experts disagreed, saying the bomb could have killed all those people, but there are enduring questions here from survivors of the blast. For them, the Pentagon's narrative is disputed by memories that haunt them.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kabul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (on camera): An update to the shooting death of Amir Locke, who was killed by Minneapolis police carrying out a no-knock warrant. Police arresting the person they were originally looking for, his cousin.

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[23:55:00]

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LEMON: An update tonight on the shooting death of Amir Locke, the 22- year-old Black man who was killed by Minneapolis police with a no- knock search warrant. Turns out they are looking for Locke's cousin, who is now charged with murder.

Police burst into an apartment where Locke was sleeping last Wednesday morning. Bodycam video shows him holding a gun, which his family says was legal. Police are saying he wasn't even listed on any search warrants. Locke's parents and others are now demanding an end to the use of no-knock warrants.

Thank you for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

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