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Surveillance Video Of Uvalde Released; Chief Jimmy Perdue Is Interviewed About The Uvalde Shooting; Murdaugh Charged This Week. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 13, 2022 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:33:48]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, outrage, frankly understandable outrage, from victims' families and local officials over that leaked surveillance video which is just incredibly disturbing.

It's from Robb Elementary School the day, the moments that 19 children and two teachers were killed. Families say they should have been shown the video before the rest of the world, regardless of the timing, Poppy, I've got to tell you, it made my stomach turn.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's a - it was nearly impossible to watch. The paper defending its decision to release the video saying they felt it was really important for the public to actually see the truth of really a lack of response here from officials.

Our Rosa Flores has details on the leaked video that led to even more criticism of law enforcement's response that day.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: It's very difficult to watch. So, a warning before we play this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): An edited version of surveillance video, one of two videos released Tuesday by "The Austin American Statesman" shows that at 11:32 on May 24th, the first shots were fired outside Robb Elementary School. An audio of a teacher calling 911.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The kids are running!

[09:35:01]

Oh my God. Get down! Get in your rooms! Get in your rooms!

FLORES: Then, at 11:33, school surveillance video shows the gunman entering an empty hallway, unhindered, walking casually with his gun hanging down. He slows down, peeks around a corner. A boy sees him as he starts shooting, and the boy runs.

According to "The Statesman," the gunman fired his weapon, an AR-15, inside two classrooms for two and a half minutes, stopping and starting multiple times.

"The Statesman" saying they edited out the most disturbing sounds, including screams.

The surveillance video shows seven police officers arriving, armed. Some with rifles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we got?

FLORES: They entered the hallway, weapons drawn, at 11:36, just three minutes after the gunman arrived while shots are being fired.

In total, the material revealing just over two of the more than 70 minutes police were in the hallway before killing the gunmen. Some rushing towards the classrooms. Other officers hanging back.

Within one minute, shots are heard. Sixteen rounds in total. And police can be seen retreating, running back down the hallway to take cover.

Then, at 11:52, 19 minutes after the gunman enters the school, the time stamp on the video shows more officers arriving, heavily armed, some with ballistic shields. Still, they wait.

At 12:04, the video jumps 31 minutes after the gunman enters the school and law enforcement is still waiting. At least 19 officers are now in the hallway according to the official timeline.

At 12:21, 45 minutes after police arrived, the gunman fires another four shots and police start to move down the hallway again, remaining outside the classrooms.

At 12:30, one officer uses the hand sanitizer dispenser in the school.

At 12:43 and 12:47, more 911 calls to send police and the caller says children are aware the police are outside the door.

Then at 12:50, 74 minutes after police first arrived, officers breach the classroom door and killed the gunman. At this point, the video shows officers in the hallway pushing to go in.

The Texas DPS director expressed his disappointment the video was released before the victims' families were given access to it, releasing a statement saying, those most affected should have been among the first to see it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: Now, the Uvalde city mayor telling CNN that he's calling for a criminal investigation into the leak of that video to "The Austin American Statesman." This as we learn more about the report that's expected to be issued by the Texas House Investigative Committee. A source close to that committee telling me that Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw was asked to testify a second time, this past Monday, to clarify some of his prior sworn testimony.

We're also learning from this souse that this report will show that the failure on that day was much bigger than one person, it was much bigger than the school police chief, that it was of great proportions. And, Jim and Poppy, I should add, that according to this source, the committee plan to do what they were scheduled to do, and that is come here to Uvalde on Sunday and present their findings in person in private to the families.

SCIUTTO: I mean to think, amazing watching that video, right, is that each of those officers is not following the training for active shooters, which, as we've discussed on the air multiple times, is to confront and to confront early once those shots are fired.

Well, Rosa Flores, good to have you on the story. Thanks so much.

Raises lots of question, God knows.

So, still ahead, I'm going to speak with the president of the Texas Police Chiefs' Association, Police Chief Jimmy Perdue, to get his reaction to what you're seeing right there, and if the Uvalde school police chief, Pete Arredondo, and others, frankly, deserve to stay in their jobs.

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[09:43:51]

SCIUTTO: Officers retreating from gunfire, heavily armed, some with ballistic shields, but not confronting a gunman who threatened children for more than an hour. One even took a moment to use hand sanitizer. That is what leaked surveillance video has shown about law enforcement's response to the Robb Elementary School attack in Uvalde, Texas. It's heartbreaking, disturbing, and for parents, it's infuriating. People now demanding to know how this happened.

With me now, president of the Texas Police Chiefs Association, Chief Jimmy Perdue of the North Richland Hills Police Department.

Chief, thanks for taking the time this morning.

CHIEF JIMMY PERDUE, PRESIDENT, TEXAS POLICE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION: Good morning, Jim. Thank you very much.

SCIUTTO: To date, the attention has been focused on the police commander on scene, Chief Arredondo. But when you look at this video and you see the number of officers in that room, each presumably with the ability to confront the gunman, do you hold the officers themselves responsible as well for not confronting the shooter earlier?

PERDUE: Well, Jim, you - you are -- the short answer is yes. I believe that the training is very clear on what we are supposed to do. Even a single officer has the responsibility to go stop the killing. [09:45:05]

And that did not happen. I've watched the video, as difficult as it is to watch, several times. And just like watching a re-run of a show, you hope that each time you watch it that the outcome will be different, that somebody will step up and this time it will be different.

This time somebody will actually go in the door. But that did not happen. And we all know the outcome. And it is hard to watch. It's a tragic thing to take place of.

SCIUTTO: Should though - a lot of attention has been focused on whether the chief should keep his job. Should those individual officers lose their job or face some penalty?

PERDUE: Well, it's difficult for me to - you know, because, again, we see the video, and as hard as the video is to watch, you know, I would not want to get into the middle of a disciplinary issue or an employment issue.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

PERDUE: That is the decision for that police chief, Chief Rodriguez there in Uvalde, or the school district. Those individuals need to be reviewed. Their each individual action needs to be assessed.

And if there's some discipline that needs to happen, I believe that they will do so. It's not appropriate for me, on the outside, to look and say, although I believe they need to be held accountable, I just don't know what exactly those actions are without having the full information available.

Once the entire investigation comes out and we have a better picture of everything that took place, what the - the mindset was, what they were thinking, then I think we'll be in a better position to judge that.

SCIUTTO: I know you're as outraged by this -- we - we were talking in the break -- as anyone is. You've served as an officer for many years. You've commanded other officers.

As you watch that, can you explain it? How could you explain what happened? Can you guess as to what was going through their minds? Like, was it miscommunication? I mean do you have an explanation for how it could have played out this way?

PERDUE: You know, I don't except to say that human frailties kicked in. I mean we teach the issue of - there's a concept called push versus hold. And there are absolutely times in a tactical situation where you are supposed to hold and not advance on whatever the situation is.

But there's just as many times where you are supposed to be pushing and pushing the issue towards the gunfire and towards the gunman. That is the thing that I noticed more than anything else is that from the time the officers came in the door, I counted 17 rounds that were fired before the officers were actually fired upon.

And so that tells me that they knew exactly where the gunman was, that they knew that there was an active shooter situation going on, and the rules of that are very, very clear.

We are supposed to go, push the issue, push towards the gunman, stop the killing. And that just did not occur. And I don't know why. I can only guess is that for some reason they decided to hold back, obviously, but that was not the right decision and the one that I'm sure they regret as well.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

PERDUE: One that we're going to have to assess as a profession.

SCIUTTO: That's a good point. I'm sure a lot of them do regret. Well, Jimmy Perdue, we always appreciate having you on. Thanks for taking the time this morning.

PERDUE: Thank you, Jim, very much.

HARLOW: Well, still ahead, a South Carolina attorney now could face charges in the deaths of his own wife and son. We'll have the latest in the Alex Murdaugh saga, next.

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[09:52:53]

SCIUTTO: An attorney for the disbarred South Carolina Attorney Alex Murdaugh tells CNN that he could be indicted as soon as this week now. This on murder charges in the deaths of his wife Maggie and his son Paul.

They were shot to death in June of last year near their rural South Carolina home. Since their deaths there have been just a slew of crazy twists in cases connected to the Murdaugh family, including the reopening of investigations into a 19-year-old's death in 2015 and the death of the Murdaugh family housekeeper in 2018.

HARLOW: And Alex Murdaugh is also accused of a failed suicidal fraud scheme and has been indicted on 71 charges of defrauding clients out of more than $8 million.

Our Dianne Gallagher has been following this story for months now and has the latest.

So, they think these charges are potentially soon, this indictment?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, according to his attorney, there were officers from the state law enforcement division that visited the Murdaugh family yesterday to inform them that they would be bringing indictments to a grand jury later this week, murder indictments, requesting the grand jury to take a look at those. Now, again, this is something that the attorneys say that they're not

going to comment on unless there are actual charges. This is something that we should learn, again, sometime later this week.

It comes more than a year after Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were shot and killed at the Murdaugh family hunting property in June of last year.

Alex Murdaugh called 911 to report that he had just returned home and found the bodies of his wife and son. Now, at that time, the attorney said that - Murdaugh has said he had nothing to do with the deaths of his wife and his son.

The family put up $100,000 reward for information. But he was always a person of interest in that case.

And since then, as you guys stated, really this sinister web of allegations and investigations surrounding Alex Murdaugh has unraveled. Of course, in addition to his wife and son's murder, there are three death investigations that are now connected to the Murdaugh family.

[09:55:02]

There is that suicide for hire insurance fraud plot. And then there are the millions of dollars' worth of fraud claims against Murdaugh. The more than 70 charges alleging that he defrauded his own clients.

Now, he has been in jail for months now because he cannot pay the more than $7 million in bond he has. And, honestly, charges just keep coming against him in terms of his dealing with his clients over years in South Carolina.

He comes from an extremely prominent family. As you mentioned, once a prominent attorney. He was disbarred by the state of South Carolina's supreme court just yesterday. And, again, we do hope to learn more about the potential charges against him in the coming days.

SCIUTTO: Just a bizarre, disturbing case.

Dianne Gallagher, thanks so much.

Still ahead, President Biden is in Israel kicking off a critical first visit as president to the Middle East, moments ago here meeting with the Israeli defense minister. We're following his trip live from Jerusalem. That's still ahead.

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