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Peaceful Protests Take Place in Memphis, Tennessee, and Other U.S. Cities after Video Released of Memphis Police Beating Tyre Nichols to Death; Memphis Police Chief Suspending SCORPION Unit Accused of Beating Tyre Nichols; President Biden Speaks to Nichols Family after Release of Video of Memphis Police Beating Tyre Nichols. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired January 28, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:54]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. It is Saturday, January 28th. I'm Amara Walker.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Amara. I'm Boris Sanchez coming to you live from Memphis, Tennessee, where this morning the city is still reeling from the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols at the hands of five now former Memphis police officers. The full video of that beating was released to the public last night, and it is extremely difficult to watch, Amara.

WALKER: Absolutely. And as you'd imagine that video, the series of videos bringing out strong emotions for so many people last night and into this morning. It is difficult to watch. It shows the deadly encounter between Tyre Nichols and Memphis police. The images and the four video clips are graphic. They are disturbing, as we said, and they are critical, though, to understanding the reality and gravity of what happened.

Now, Nichols was pulled over January 7th, allegedly for reckless driving, but the police chief said the department has been unable to find anything that substantiates probable cause or those claims of reckless driving.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and that is especially notable given what you just saw there. They immediately approached his vehicle and seemingly ripped him out. Nichols managed to run away but was soon surrounded. And then we saw this. The police surveillance video showing Nichols being struck, punched, bludgeoned, kicked at least nine times in less than four minutes when he is apparently not a threat to these officers in any way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out, watch out! (END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And this is happening on the ground as recorded by another police bodycam. Officers continue to hit and spray Nichols, struggling with him on the ground, telling him to give them his hands as Nichols cries out for his mother. In all, the video covers about 38 minutes from the moment that officers yank the 29-year-old over out of his vehicle, when they pull him over, to the arrival of an ambulance on the scene. And for 21 minutes it shows police officers, sheriff's deputies and EMTs talking and walking around him, but no on appears to renders aid as he is slumped over on a vehicle.

WALKER: That's another difficult portion of the video to watch. Five of the officers at the scene are now facing multiple charges, including second-degree murder and kidnapping. And this morning two sheriff's deputies who are present are now on leave pending an investigation. And what many feared would be a night of violence was largely peaceful, with protests across the country. In New York three people were arrested, one for breaking the windshield of a patrol car. But overall, what we saw were calm and peaceful protests.

SANCHEZ: Amara, I want to bring in CNN's Sara Sidner to this conversation here in Memphis. And Sara, you spent the night with protesters. You visited the scene where we watched that horrible video where all of that unfolded. When you were with the protesters, they got on the interstate. What were they sharing with you? What were they calling for?

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They wanted people to see them and see what had happened here and make sure that the community not just here, but around the country understood that there is a problem with policing, and that they wanted to see changes. They talked about whether or not they were satisfied, I guess, if you will, with the charges, satisfied with the response from the police department, first the firings of the officers, which came very swiftly, and then these charges, which included second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault.

But when they saw the video, they just felt there is so much more that has happened before this that could have stopped this. And so they are unsatisfied with what has happened here. I know everyone has been praising the police chief and praising the D.A. for going forward with charges so quickly, because that is unusual, and we've seen many cases where it's taken up to a year for anything to happen, and sometimes nothing at all.

[10:05:08]

But when they saw the video, and knowing what has happened to some of them in the past with their interactions with police, they were unsatisfied. They said this never should have happened. And because things weren't done before this happened to some of these units like the SCORPION unit, we have this situation where a 29-year-old who was a free spirit ends up losing his life.

So there was anger. There was frustration. There was a lot of pain. But there was no disruption. There was no valence. They disrupted traffic. They moved on after an hour or so, and that was the end of it. It has been a peaceful, mostly prayerful time here in Memphis. But they want to see major reforms, and they want to see it now.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And the families' attorney, Ben Crump, pointed out that only a few days before the incident with Tyre another person in this community had complained about that SCORPION unit, saying that they had used excessive force on him. What is the sense you are getting from the community and from leaders in the community about how likely change is to come?

SIDNER: Well, we're getting a clue when it comes to particularly the SCORPION unit. The police chief has basically put that unit on hold. The unit was put in place for crime suppression. The family and their attorneys say it turned into oppression of citizens. They were just sort of after people, in their minds, looking for people as suspects instead of looking at people as citizens. And so right now that has been put on hold. What the family is asking for, and their attorneys, is that they disband this group all together. Whether or not that will happen, we do not know. But there is an investigation they have put on hold underway.

And you may see more people either lose their jobs or be put on administrative leave, besides those two sheriff's deputies, because I think we counted more than nine people who were out there at the time. There is also the question that sticks in everyone's mind. The members of the Fire Department who were there, they are there not as law enforcement. They are there to save lives and help. And if that's not what they did and just stood around, then that is why they have been, sort of -- they haven't been fired yet because they have to go through a process. But there is a lot of questions, sort of the duty to intervene and the duty to do their work to try to save one.

So there's a lot of questions here. Imagine you are a person going through this and the people sent there to be the rescue do nothing. That really hurt a lot of people as well.

SANCHEZ: It was one of the most painful parts of watching all of that footage that, as they are holding on to him and beating him, when he presents no threat any of the officers around him, nobody intervenes, and then he is just slumped over. And it appears negligent. It appears that they are not actually tending to him as they are talking about what happened.

Sara, I am curious to get your perspective on this, because as we noted before and we were talking to defense attorney Shan Wu earlier this morning, he makes the case that there was nothing in the footage that shows a provocation or a threat that Tyre posed at any moment. In fact, if this was a traffic stop, why are they pulling him out of the car to begin with, right? Have you gotten any indication from perhaps law enforcement or from defense attorneys that there might be some explanation for how aggravated the officers were as they approached the scene?

SIDNER: The simple answer is no. From the D.A., no, from the police chief. They have not found evidence leading up to this to -- in any way, shape, or form that there was, a, reckless driving, and, b, any reason for this to get so hot, so fast, and be so aggressive.

What you do hear on the tape is officers sound very angry when they pepper spray, because the pepper spray blows in their face, and they blame it on Tyre Nichols. Not on themselves, the ones that sprayed the pepper spray so close up. They blame it, both two officers, you hear them blaming Tyre Nichols for this. So you could hear the sort of swell, the heightened emotions. And one person described this as, in their minds, they looked like a pack of wolves. The group mentality happened, there was a gang mentality that happened, and they, all of them in a fury, went after him. And you can hear him saying, you are doing too much. What are you doing? What did I do?

When he is screaming for his mother, and this will sit with me for the rest of his life, when he's screaming for his mom and saying over and over again, she is about 80 yards away, she said. And she believes he actually was hoping she could hear him. And she couldn't be there for her son in his last moments. And that will never leave her mind. And she says I don't know how to process that.

SANCHEZ: And who would, right?

[10:10:00]

Before we go, Sara, I just want to make sure that, for our viewers who have watched that footage, it's agonizing. But we do want to share who Tyre Nichols was and paint him in a different light than just the person, the victim that you see in the footage. You mentioned that he was a free spirit. His mom talks about him being a photographer who liked to photograph sunsets. She said that he was a skater. What else stands out to you when you hear those details from his family.

SIDNER: We went and looked. He has a photography site where he would regularly go out and take beautiful pictures of Memphis when the sun is setting. And they are beautiful pictures. That was his passion. He was working at FedEx. He was working, by the way, with his father. They both worked at FedEx. And the thing that also stuck with me is that he would come home almost every night for dinner with his family. He'd walk in and say, hi, family, and she says, I'll never hear that again. And I don't know how to live with that.

SANCHEZ: That is such a painful note. Sara, thank you so much. We know there might be demonstrations later, so look forward to your reporting on that. Always appreciate being on site.

SIDNER: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Amara, as you could imagine, the reverberations from what we witnessed here Memphis are being felt across the country and not just in the street. Local and federal officials are also responding to what we witnessed.

WALKER: Yes, absolutely. And what Sara Sidner says I think really strikes a chord with so many of us. When you hear that he was calling out for his mom, and I remember hearing Tyre Nichols' mother saying an interview with Don Lemon that she loved her son to death, he was a mama's boy. And he had her name tattooed on him. And of course, in his last moments you hear him calling out for his mom. Just incredibly tragic. Thank you so much, Boris, for being there on the ground. And our thanks to Sara Sidner as well.

As you know, President Biden was also very moved and upset by what happened. He says that he was outraged after watching the police video of that fatal beating of Tyre Nichols. And following the release of that video President Biden spoke with Nichols' family to offer sympathy and condolences.

Let's go now to CNN White House reporter Jasmine Wright for more on this. Jasmine, this is his wheelhouse. President Biden really knows how to empathize with people, and he did that in this call.

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, President Biden reacted really emotionally, Amara, because of the things that we just heard Boris and Sara really describe, all of that heartbreak. He released a lengthy statement about 30 minutes after the video went live, and I want to read you a part of it because he worded this so strongly. He said that he expressed outrage, his pain. He said, "It is yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain and the exhaustion that black and brown Americans experience every single day," really trying to call back to what Sara said, a lot of folks in that community feel that excessive policing, over-policing, President Biden tried to bring that upfront there.

Now, White House officials over the course of the day, Amara, they told us that President Biden hadn't seen the video in advance, but he was really staying with this topic at the top of his mind as he called the Nichols family during the day. A "Washington Post" reporter was actually in the room when the family got that call, so we were able to see really a very rare view into it, because something that folks who are consoled by the president because this type of thing is in his wheelhouse, they say that he links his own trauma, the fact that he has lost family members over the course of years, to their -- really trying to connect with him. Take a listen to this video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Your comment today were moving. I don't know how you do that. Rodney, I know as Tyre's dad, it's devastating.

RODNEY WELLS, TYRE NICHOLS' STEPFATHER: Yes, sir.

BIDEN: I know people will say that to you. But I do know. I lost my son in a war, a consequence of the war in Iraq being there a year. And I lost my daughter when a tractor-trailer broadsided and killed my wife and daughter. And I don't know how you stood there. I didn't have the courage to do what you did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: So there we heard from the president in what the White House leader called a deeply personal phone call. Now, later talking to reporters, President Biden said that in this moment he believed that the image of America was at stake and whether we really uphold law and order. Now, he also called for peaceful protests, joining the Nichols family. And I think that that's something we largely saw on the ground last night. Amara?

WALKER: And exactly what we saw, you are right. Jasmine Wright, thank you very much.

SANCHEZ: The brutal and savage beating of Tyre Nichols has intensified calls for police reform. And a Memphis city councilwoman says that officials need to get it right so that it doesn't happen again.

[10:15:01]

She is joining us this morning. Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas joins us live. Councilwoman, we're grateful to have you this morning. When I arrived last night, there was a palpable sense of fear. I saw businesses that closed early. The hotel we are staying at shut its doors as the sun was going down. There was a fear that protests might turn violent. That didn't happen. Do you get the sense that that's because there is trust in the community that the system is going to work to bring justice to Tyre Nichols' family?

MICHALYN EASTER-THOMAS, MEMPHIS CITY COUNCIL: I think that the fear came early, and because the media putting it out and other individuals putting that out, because usually we don't see the system responds as it needs to. And I think last night we saw a very peaceful and direct sense of protests in the city of Memphis. And I think that it's because that maybe we do have faith and hope that the system is going to get it right this time.

And I know the colleagues of mine and others that are in the county and on the state level are really going to make sure that we do all that's within our power to make sure that this is prevented, that the culture is diminished, and that we don't see an incident like this again in Memphis and, hopefully, not elsewhere either.

SANCHEZ: Walk us through those steps. What do you think needs to change at the local level? What kind of reforms would you like to see?

EASTER-THOMAS: I commend our chief, our police chief for pausing the SCORPION unit. I have already asked staff to draft legislation, an ordinance, disbanding all together, and then also pushing forth the data transparency ordinance as well. We had a local group incarcerate Memphis come a few months ago and talk to us about the fears and the coming issues of when stops like these happen. We didn't know it would lead to this unfortunate killing and murder of Mr. Tyre Nichols to give us that tangible view of why we should have done a few months ago what that community group asked us to do.

And so I think the legislation is already drafted. We just need to make sure we push it. So we as a council, we meet in one week, and I know that there will be a very robust meeting as we need to make sure we review these policies to ensure that the police department knows that we support them, but also want to make sure that they are doing their job with the utmost fidelity. SANCHEZ: It's a delicate balance, right, because part of the reason

that this SCORPION unit exists is because there has been violent crime here in Memphis. I was reading FBI statistics, and I think there is something like 650 murders that have taken place here in the last two years. So crime is a concern. But at the same time, when you have these sorts of specialized units, it appears that the intent can be corrupted. So how do you balance fighting crime with making sure that police are not abusing citizens?

EASTER-THOMAS: Yes. And that's a very integral point. I think that units like the SCORPION unit is a very intensified and directly focused area. But also, we want to add community co-at (ph) units as well. And so we don't have those anymore, those units that allow police to involve and engage directly with citizens in neighborhoods and make relationships. And so it seems as though we traded that out for more direct and forceful and violent units. And maybe that has led to the increase in murders. I am not sure. But I would like to see the return of community co-at (ph) instead of the support of units such as the SCORPION unit.

SANCHEZ: Councilwoman, I have talked to so many activists who want police reform, and one of the main things that comes up over and over again is that the police force should look like the community that it's policing. They believe that it makes it easier to engage with the community when there is a shared cultural experience. In this case, the people behind the badge were also African American, the same as the victim in this case, Tyre Nichols. What do you make of that?

EASTER-THOMAS: Truthfully, it hurts to see that. It really did. We have pushed for police residency requirements in the city of Memphis, community policing. And then to see those images revealed -- that look like us here in the city, it hurt. But it also gave us just more focus to really look at how are we supporting and training the officers that we have, and to really dig deeper and see that it's deeper than appearance. It's deeper than race and relation and how you can connect with someone based on how they look. But really what is your intention for being a police officer? How do you see service? How do you evolve yourself with the community and on a broader level? And just to reiterate, it hurt, but allowed us to look deeper into what we can really do to change the course of how we are developing and progressing our police department for the entire city of Memphis.

SANCHEZ: Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas, we appreciate your time. Thank you so much.

EASTER-THOMAS: Thank you.

[10:20:00]

SANCHEZ: Please keep us posted on these reform efforts. Obviously, they will be central to ensuring Tyre Nichols' legacy.

EASTER-THOMAS: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much.

EASTER-THOMAS: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

So Amara, as we send it back to you, I think that remains the open question. What is policing in the city going to look like and how do folks here ensure that what happened to Tyre never happens again?

WALKER: Yes, yes. A big question about policing culture. So, look, as you know, Boris, the video is out. Arrests have been made. The big question is what happens next. Coming up, we are going to discuss how the community and the nation moves forward after the release of that shocking video and what it can mean for policing in America.

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WALKER: Following the release of the police video showing the arrest and fatal beating of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, Memphis District Attorney Steven Mulroy has issued a statement promising his office will do everything it can to get justice for Tyre and his family.

[10:25:05]

SANCHEZ: Let's talk about what that looks like. With us now is former U.S. attorney Michel Moore and former Los Angeles Police Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey. Thank you both for being with us this morning. Michael, first, I want to start with you, because there are a lot of questions about what prompted the reaction that we saw from the officers in the video. It doesn't appear that they had cause to attack him the way they did after the stop. What did you think?

MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, I'm glad to be with all of you, and I am sorry it's on a day like this. Let me say I think that we can talk about training and that type of thing and upticks in crime. That has nothing to do with what I saw on the tape. That was sort of not a lack of training, but a lack of conscience on these officers. So I want to separate that out a little bit.

I do think that we have a situation where we have a lot of good people in law enforcement, and we have some folks who are not good. And we saw that on the tape. One thing that I may want to consider, and I would urge people to think about, is the use of these task forces and what it means and how are they monitored and how are they supervised on a daily basis. Are people in them for too long so that they start to lose their sense of community policing and of the job that they were hired to do, and that is to protect and to serve a particular community, not to act like an elite military team in the area.

So that to me is one place we can start. I hope we will have discussions going forward about outrage, and from community leaders, not just when we see an excessive use of force, but also when we see a spike in crime. At the same time I want to see the people who are concerned about a spike in crime upset when we have an excessive use of force, and those discussions need to happen. And I think that's how we have real discussions about moving forward and making progress. I don't think we can equate, though, the brutality on that tape with all police departments. That's something that those officers -- let the criminal system take its course in that case.

WALKER: There have been calls for the police union, the Memphis Police Association, to take a stronger stand, to issue a statement regarding these indictments, and, of course, the firings of these officers. And Cheryl, to you, we just got a statement from the Memphis Police Association. I do want to read it in full before I get your response. It says, "The Memphis Police Association would again like to extend condolences to the family of Mr. Tyre Nichols. The Memphis Police Association is committed to the administration of justice and never condones the mistreatment of any citizen nor any abuse of power. That faith is what we will lean on in the coming days, weeks, and months, to ensure the totality of circumstances is revealed. Mr. Nichols' family, the city of Memphis, and the rest of the country deserve nothing less. We pray for justice, healing and eventual closure for all involved."

No singling out of the officers, no mention of them, the indictments, the firings. Is this a strong enough statement, Cheryl?

SGT. CHERYL DORSEY, LOS ANGELES POLICE (RET): Understand that these unions are there to protect the officers. And so they are in some instances the lobbying arm of police departments in terms of rights of officers. And so they gave a very politically correct and wanting to seem sensitive statement.

But understand this. That police department and that city has a real problem. Now that we have had over 24 hours almost, coming up on 24 hours since that video has been released, I have so many questions about what that department did really to prevent this. All of this was preventable. You have officers who are young on the job, unsupervised out there doing what they do on a regular basis. This was not anything that they aren't accustomed to doing. And we know that they were very sophisticated and savvy in that they created an audio record to try to manufacture probable cause for the initial stop and everything that happened after.

SANCHEZ: And Cheryl, I want to stay with you because I find the dynamic, especially as you noted when they are discussing the incident after it happened, I find that very interesting. And notably, the police chief here in Memphis said that race is less of an incident than bias is. But another factor might be groupthink. In your experience working in police departments, is groupthink a marriage issue within the force, when someone witnesses someone else escalating and then they escalate? Do you get the sense that that contributed to what we saw?

DORSEY: It's absolutely a contributing factor. And I don't take race out of the issue, by the way. I referred to it as a wolfpack mentality. We see this all the time at the end of a foot pursuit where officers are putting in work, because that's what they do, they punish you when they catch you at the end of a foot pursuit.

[10:30:06]

And so we see officers who are coming on the scene after the fact, and they want to get in, get in a punch, get in a kick. Somebody comes up late and pulls out an ASP and starts beating Mr. Nichols with that. And so it's absolutely groupthink, not unique by the SCORPION unit. I'm bothered by the name, SCORPION, but not unique to the unit. That's police culture. That's what they do.

It's important, particularly in a small unit like that where camaraderie is a big thing and officers want to know, can I trust you? Are you going to back me? And so these officers have demonstrated time and time again, and on that incident, that you could trust me. I'm going to buy into and corroborate the lie that we are all going to together and tell about what happened here tonight.

WALKER: And Michael, to you, I'm just curious to know your thoughts on the charges that the officers are facing, particularly the second- degree murder charge. Is it aggressive? And from the legal standpoint, and I ask the aggressive question because I'm wondering from a legal standpoint how that could play out in terms of getting a conviction.

MOORE: Well, I think the charges were right, and they came at the right time. It didn't take much review of the tape to see what had happened, and I appreciate it very much my colleague's comments about how they manufactured a story on video camera. A first-year prosecutor could see that, can hear it. So I don't think it's going to be difficult to get a conviction in the case. It's clearly not a premeditated case. But it's clearly a case where they knew that the conduct that they were imposing and the violence they were imposing on Mr. Nichols would cause death, and could cause death. And then they left him unattended, slumped on the ground after they drug him over to set up against a police car without any aid.

And so I just think it's a matter of time before these officers see themselves -- former officers see themselves sitting in a penitentiary for a lengthy sentence. It's almost the place where we can't speak about it because it's so disgusting to watch it, and uncalled for and unnecessary.

It also cast a terrible shadow over the good police officers out there who are trying to do their job. And so, I think that the conduct not only had the awful consequences against Mr. Nichols and his family, but it's had terrible repercussions that I'm sure will reign throughout police departments across the country. We used to have under the Department of Justice, we were very active about going in and having consent decrees and monitoring police departments when these issues would come up. But you have to remember, plans and memorandums and consent decrees, it's not a one and done time. It's not a one and done thing. There has to be ongoing efforts to make sure that officers are trained, that we recruit the best people, that we support the people in the field, that we monitor them psychologically, that we do things to make sure that they know how to combat these stressful times, and also know how to push back and control these outbursts of anger.

And I do think it was a hyped up situation, but I also think it's just a lack of conscience in treating somebody less than human. And that speaks probably to a bigger problem, something that a piece of paper doesn't fix, a community meeting doesn't fix. But it's going to take the entire community, from community leaders who like to speak about the tragedy of it and the problems with the police department, to also the people who speak about the need for more policing because of spikes in crime in cities like Memphis where they have had an exorbitant number of murders over the last couple of years. We have got to address all of that in a way that is actually meaningful as opposed to just giving lip service about it when they with circumstances like this come up.

SANCHEZ: Michael, I quickly wanted your perspective on one statement that we got from former Memphis police officer Desmond Mills' attorney who said that his client did not cross the lines that others crossed during their confrontation with Nichols. What do you make of that defense?

MOORE: If he was one of the five and he didn't pull the guys off while they were beating the man, he crossed the line. He may not have had the baton in his hand, but if he didn't push his fellow officer out of the way, if he didn't grab him and subdue him, if he didn't try to break up the victimization of Mr. Nichols, then he crossed the line.

They take an oath to protect and serve. They didn't protect him. And there is nothing that I have seen, and nothing, no reporting that has been public, and it's been a fairly transparent case, that indicates that there was anything that Mr. Nichols did that might have resulted in even an aggressive traffic stop or an aggressive arrest.

[10:35:08]

And so, I don't know which officer he was in the video. I will say that handily. But if he is one of the five and he didn't stop the attack, then he is just as much a part of it.

WALKER: Makes sense. Cheryl, before we go, where do we go from here? I know President Biden has been pushing to renew efforts for the George Floyd Policing Act to be renewed in Congress, which would ban, among many other things, chokeholds and carotid holds, and more funding for police training. Where do we even start?

DORSEY: I don't say no to anything. And that sounds real sexy, but that's not going to do anything on the local level. And so where we need to start specifically with this department is taking a look at this special unit that they have. And these 18,000 police departments across the U.S. need to do something similar, because this is not unique to Memphis where you have hot dogs, elephant hunters, I like to call, on these specialized units who are out there creating havoc. And when you have an officer who has a demonstrated ill temperament, inability to do the police work, unable to relate to the community that they serve, you need to get them off the department and/or tie them to the desk if you can't fire them, because that's the lie police chiefs want us to believe.

WALKER: Michael Moore and Cheryl Dorsey, really appreciate this conversation. Thank you very much.

All right, just ahead, a new study looking at the patterns of people who commit mass violence. What do most of the attackers have in common? We'll tell you ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:56]

WALKER: The man facing seven counts of murder in shootings in northern California this week has reportedly admitted to the attacks. NBC Bay Area News reports Chunli Zhao says he wasn't in the right mind and that he regrets the attacks. Zhao was arrested Monday, and after allegedly killing seven former colleagues and wounding one at two farms in Half Moon Bay. CNN has not been able to independently confirm what Zhao said in the interview, and we have reached out to his attorney for comment.

A new study completed before the series of mass shootings in California looks at the backgrounds of suspects and circumstances surrounding those incidents. "Mass Attacks in Public Spaces from 2016 to 2020," that is the headline of the report, looks at factors leading up to shootings with the intention of helping communities prevent such attacks. The five-year study analyzes 173 attacks that happened in public or semipublic locations during which three or more individuals were injured or killed. Experts looked at each other's -- each attacker's background, motivation, and behavior before the attack. The study was done by the Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center.

Joining me now to discuss this is the center's director, Lina Alathari. Really appreciate you joining us. This is a very important topic. First off, the suspect in the Half Moon Bay shootings told a reporter that he had been bullied and that he had gone to his employer with concerns about his work conditions, his long hours. And the attack in Monterey Bay, there were reports that the shooter was not happy with the way that he was treated by the people at the ballroom that he shot up. What do you make of the grievances from these suspects?

DR. LINA ALATHARI, CHIEF NATIONAL THREAT ASSESSMENT CENTER FOR THE U.S. SECRET SERVICE: Good morning, Amara. Thank you for having me. And I really have to start off by saying on behalf of the Secret Service my condolences to the communities this week that have been impacted by these tragedies. We have been doing this research for over 20 years, studying targeted attacks. And as you said in this most recent report, we looked at a five-year analysis.

And what I can tell you, Amara, consistently across the five years that we studied, grievances were by far the most common motive for these attackers. And they could have been related to interpersonal conflicts, workplace grievances, as well as other issues. And also in terms of the behavior they elicited that they engaged in, they elicited concern in those around them for -- prior to their attacks.

WALKER: I guess, in theory, it's easier to address the grievances, talk to the people who are causing these grievances. But how do you get to the point of preventing these attacks when you know someone who is very unhappy, let's say, at work?

ALATHARI: What the Secret Service recommends, and in fact, is what we use as an agency, is a behavioral threat assessment approach. And what that means, Amara, it depends on the context. So, for example, you said about the workplace. So in a workplace, many businesses are now enacting behavioral threat assessment programs. Essentially what those programs do is they identify individuals who might be exhibiting those types of concerning behaviors or maybe in distress or experiencing a crisis, gathering information from multiple sources to assess, does this person pose a risk of violence? And if they do, what are the intervention strategies? So schools are doing that as well to identify students, workplaces are doing it, and so are others in the community level. So we really encourage communities to develop these programs so that bystanders come forward with information, and that's acted on.

WALKER: I thought I saw statistics that the mass shooters were getting younger. And in these two separated cases in California, you have senior citizens of Asian descent carrying out these attacks.

[10:45:01]

How do we reconcile those differences? And what have you seen in terms of the backgrounds and the similarities and differences among these shooting suspects?

ALATHARI: Sure. So there is no one profile of the type of individual that will carry out this type of attack. The youngest in our study was 14. The oldest was 87. In fact, I think there were two that were over the age of 70. However, the average age is usually around mid-30s. So they do skew younger over the five years. But because it's such a low base rate of attacks that we really shouldn't be profiling. We really should be focusing, Amara, as you said, on these behaviors that they are engaging in and the grievances that they are having.

WALKER: From a community level, what can be done?

ALATHARI: What can be done is that communities need to be trained on recognizing the warning signs. And this is why the Secret Service puts out this research. This is why we put out this guidance. Thank you so much for covering the report, because the information needs to get out there. People recognize the warning signs. They just don't know whether they should act on them at times. It's not just a law enforcement issue. It's not just a mental health professional issue. Everyone sees this. And we saw in the report the majority of the attackers elicited concern in those around them. And who were around them? Co-workers, classmates, family members, neighbors, even members of the general public that may have observed this behavior online or in person. So we need to educate - on he behavior.

WALKER: Yes, right, but I think that's the difficult part for people, right, because if you know people exhibiting erratic behavior, or something is a little off, that's a threshold we don't know at what point we're supposed to report them, and to whom.

ALATHARI: Absolutely. And I think that's the biggest challenge. But what we see in these programs, if you have these multidisciplinary threat assessment programs, the context of what is happening with the individual you are concerned about will dictate who you call. So for example, in our report, if they are making threats and they are bringing weapons and they are showing an intense fixation with violent extremism, misogyny, all of those things that we see in the background, then if there is an interest of imminent risk, then we must be contacting local law enforcement. However, maybe it isn't crisis. Maybe they need counseling. Maybe they need a mental health professional. It really depends on the unique situation of that individual.

WALKER: Of course, early intervention is so key. Dr. Lina Alathari, really appreciate your time and expertise, thanks so much.

ALATHARI: Thank you so much.

WALKER: All right, police in Israel are calling it one of the worst terror attacks in years. At least seven killed after a gunman opened fire near a synagogue. We're going to have a live report from Jerusalem next.

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[10:51:54]

WALKER: Jerusalem remains on high alert this morning after a gunman opened fire near a synagogue Friday, killing at least seven people and injuring three others. We do want to warn you, some of this footage may be disturbing. The attack follows days of deadly violence between Palestinians and Israelis on the West Bank. Israeli officials are calling it, quote, one of the worst terror attacks in the last few years.

Let's go now to CNN's Hadas Gold. She is live in Jerusalem. Hadas, I know police say the suspect was killed after a chase. What more can you tell us?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this took place in a neighborhood in northeast Jerusalem, as you noted, just outside of a synagogue. It was Friday night, Shabbat, so there would have been a lot of worshippers there. And as they were exiting, these attacks started taking place, the gunman shooting and killing seven people, injuring another three, including a 15-year-old boy who remains in hospital. He then got into his car, started driving down the road, and minutes later he was encountered by police. After a brief firefight he was then shot and killed.

And he has been identified as a 21-year-old Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem. Police say they believe he was acting alone, but it turned out to be what Israeli police are calling one of the worst terror attacks in Israel in recent memory.

And then actually this morning there was another shooting attack, Amara, in Jerusalem, just about 15 hours after that synagogue attack just outside the old city walls on the eastern side of the old city. A 13-year-old boy actually shot and injured two men as they were walking. He, himself, was then, the 13-year-old, was shot and injured, but he was not killed. So three injuries out of that.

And as you noted, this comes during what's been really three days of bloodshed here because Thursday was the deadliest day for Palestinians in the West Bank in over a year. That's after an Israeli military raid in Jenin and ensuing clashes. And then rockets were fired from Gaza to Israel, and Israel struck back with airstrikes. So it's an incredibly tense period right now. And I should also note that Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected in the region in the coming days. This was a preplanned trip. But obviously, there will be a lot on his plate as he arrives.

WALKER: Yes, absolutely, a lot to talk about. Hadas Gold, thank you very much.

All right, up next, we're going to take you back to Memphis on what is a very difficult morning for the community and really people across the nation. CNN Newsroom continues in a moment.

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[10:58:40]

WALKER: This morning there's so much grief and anger over the tapes, the videos showing the deadly police beating of Tyre Nichols. Boris Sanchez has been on the ground. He is there live in Memphis. And obviously, as people are grieving, the question is, where do we go from here?

SANCHEZ: Yes, that is the open question. How is that gulf between the police department and the communities going to be met? How are they going to repair that relationship? And obviously, what justice is going to look like for Tyre Nichols' family as we move forward here, Amara. A very painful moment for this city and really for the country.

WALKER: Thank you so much, everyone for watching.

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