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Sixth Memphis Police Officer Forced Out After Nichols Fatal Beating; Soon: Biden Speaks On Impacts Of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law; Biden, McCarthy To Discuss Debt Ceiling Limit Wednesday. Aired 2- 2:30p ET

Aired January 30, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hi, there. I'm Victor Blackwell. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): And I'm Alisyn Camerota.

A sixth officer is now off the Memphis police force in connection with the beating death of Tyre Nichols. Preston Hemphill was relieved of duty and his lawyer confirms he was wearing a body camera on January 7. The footage from it was released Friday, along with the other videos that show Nichols' ultimately fatal encounter with police. We have a warning for you. What we're about to play is disturbing.

BLACKWELL: Footage from the multiple cameras shows Nichols getting kicked and punched and pepper-sprayed and beaten with the baton. And when the assault stopped, no one gave Nichols any medical attention for at least 25 minutes. Now, five of the officers seen in the video have been fired and charged with second-degree murder, and their unit to fight street crime and guns known as Scorpion, that's now gone. It's been disbanded, happened over the weekend.

CNN correspondent Nick Valencia is with us now. So, what are you learning about this sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, and now being relieved of duty?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Yes, the Memphis Police Department telling me that he is on administrative leave. That he was relieved along with the other officers. So, this makes six that were relieved as the result of their involvement in the incident that led to Tyre Nichols's death. We know Preston Hemphill, as he has been identified, has been in the Memphis Police Department since 2018. And according to a source with knowledge of Hemphill's involvement, we know that he was part of this so-called Scorpion unit.

Also, according to his attorney, Victor, and Alisyn, we are told that Hemphill is the officer whose body camera we see in video one. You remember those four videos that were released on Friday showing the incident that led to Tyre Nichols's death? Well, Officer Hemphill, we want to show you in this video and warn you that it is graphic. We want to show you that officer Hemphill deploys his taser in this video. And we can hear him and see him deploying that taser. We also see him say -- one of them prongs hit the bastard. And just listen to what he had to say in this video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON HEMPHILL, MEMPHIS OFFICER RELIEVED OF DUTY: Freeze. Do you found him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here.

HEMPHILL: Martin and all of them are over there chasing him I hope they stomp his ass.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

HEMPHILL: I hope they stomp his ass. Smith has called for other cars because you know Martin is chasing him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: So, you could hear that officer as I've been identified as Officer Preston Hemphill by his attorney, you hear him there deploy his taser, use some pretty strong language about Tyre Nichols. And we are looking to hear and see if there was any charges that are going to be filed against officer Hemphill.

I reached out a short time ago to the district attorney's office and ask them directly, are you expecting charges or should we expect charges against officer Hemphill? They did not answer directly only to say that they are looking at everyone who's on the scene, all the officers and all the first responders. But clearly, this fallout still continuing from what happened to Tyree Nichols, Alisyn, and Victor.

CAMEROTA: And, Nick, we will be speaking to the district attorney later in the program, so we will ask that direct question as well. Meanwhile, there was a tower cam that got a bird's eye view of some of the worst parts of the Nichols' assault. It had no audio but CNN was able to sync up the audio from another camera. It was rolling at the same time. So, let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hand. Turn around. Real quick. Real quick.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lay flat. Lay flat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lay flat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: I mean, obviously you can hear them yelling lay flat -- lay flat. He appears to be laying flat during that time. But one of the big questions, Nick, is why were the officers so angry right from the get-go? I mean, what happened? What was the precursor to all of this adrenaline and anger?

VALENCIA: What was alleged that he was reckless driving, you know, something that wasn't substantiated according to the police. But it did seem like it was intensely personal, didn't it? So, we're looking into whether or not there was any personal connection between these officers and Tyre Nichols.

In fact, it's something that I asked the police department early on last week. And they said at this time, it is unknown whether any of these officers had a personal relationship or prior relationship with Nichols before this arrest. But it's clearly still part of their investigation, Alisyn, and Victor.

[14:05:12]

BLACKWELL: Nick Valencia with the reporting. Nick, thank you very much.

VALENCIA: You bet.

BLACKWELL: Tyre Nichols' parents have been invited to Washington to attend next week's State of the Union address. His death has renewed the urgency for nationwide policing reform.

CAMEROTA: CNN congressional correspondent Jessica Dean joins us now. So, Jessica, what is the actual likelihood of this getting done?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, long story short, guys. At this point, it is very, very low. And let me walk you through why that is. You'll remember that these negotiations, especially in the Senate fell apart in September of 2021 that was become between Republican Tim Scott and Democrat Cory Booker and then a representative Karen Bass, who's now the mayor of Los Angeles. And here we stand now where both Booker and Scott have said they are committed to doing something -- they both put out statements after that horrible brutal video was released, saying they wanted to do something. But the bottom line remains, what would that be? And is it at all what the other would want to do? We've heard calls from both the Congressional Black Caucus, from other lawmakers, and the NAACP to do something. I'll let you listen to the NAACP from Tennessee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLORIA JEAN SWEET-LOVE, PRESIDENT, TENNESSEE STATE CONFERENCE NAACP: We come to call to action for Congress by failing to craft and pass bills to stop police brutality, the blood of black America is on your hand. So, stand up and do something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And so here the fact remains though, we don't believe that anything would at this point come together in the Senate. If it even did, it would still need 60 votes. And then it's got to get to a now GOP-controlled House, Victor, and Alisyn, and they have telegraph specifically over the weekend, the head of the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan saying Meet the Press that he doesn't think any law could have made a difference, really telegraphing that this is not something that they plan to drill down on.

So, that is kind of the state of play right now. It remains to be seen exactly what happens. We could see some legislation introduced but the bottom line is at this point, it doesn't have what it needs to move through both chambers. Victor and Alisyn.

BLACKWELL: Jessica Dean on Capitol Hill, thank you, Jessica.

Joining us now is Antonio Romanucci. He's one of the attorneys representing the family of Tyre Nichols. Good to talk to you again. Let me first start with your reaction to this sixth officer now relieved of duty, Preston Hemphill, heard on tape saying I hope they stomp his ass and firing that taser. Your thoughts?

ANTONIO ROMANUCCI, ATTORNEY FOR THE FAMILY OF TYRE NICHOLS: Thank you, Victor. There is so much to unpack that every day, every time we hear the video, see the video more comes out. We knew about this police officer when we first saw the video, which has now been a week ago today. And certainly, there is no doubt that there has to be accountability for this particular officer.

I see his words and they're all culpable here. They're all accountable. But his words were really been decommissioned, weren't they, to what we saw happen to Tyre's second encounter? So, when he said, let's hope they stomp his ass, that is something that we see, especially in the Civil Rights arena from a -- from a legal perspective, as a customer of tolerance.

I guarantee this is not the first time that this Scorpion unit said let's go stomp somebody. This is -- this is multiple times. God only knows how many times. And so that's why not only there's there need to be accountability for this particular officer, everybody on that scene needs to be accountable. Wearing a uniform, whether they were police, fire, or EMT, I see everybody has been complicit here with this pattern and practice of failing to intervene and certainly violence.

BLACKWELL: OK. So, a couple of things. Hemphill's attorney says that he was at the first scene, but not at the second scene. That second scene is the view that we saw from that pole cam. But you say that all of the officials, the EMTs, the officers need to be held accountable. Does that mean firing all of them? Charging all of them? What's your view?

ROMANUCCI: Well, certainly, accountability means many different things. You know, the administrative, you know, the suspension, that's just the beginning. Whether or not they all get fired, I mean, it's my opinion that this is worthy of termination because we saw that somebody died very unnecessarily and violently, and savagely as a result of a severe beating. And this particular officer, Hemphill, started it by saying I hope they stomp his ass. Well, his wish came true.

So, I don't know why he should be excused. I don't know why because he wasn't at the second event, that his words should be excused, especially if they were broadcast. That part we don't know. But once again, what I'm saying is that this Scorpion unit and I have heard the reporting before, Do you know why so violent right away? Why did it start escalated from a zero to a 10? That's because this is -- (INAUDIBLE)

[14:10:06]

BLACKWELL: And that's something I want to get to.

ROMANUCCI: Yes.

BLACKWELL: That's something I'd like to get to because the question of why this happened, the officers claimed reckless driving. The chief said that there's nothing that substantiates that on the recording. Have you gotten closer to getting an answer there? Is there any information that you have that Tyre Nichols knew personally, or previously had any personal interaction with any of the officers on scene?

ROMANUCCI: So, first of all, with regard to the reckless driving charge, I don't buy it at all. I mean, that's just a justification. It's a defense, it's an excuse for a reason to stop Tyre. And you could see in the manner and how they stopped and they stopped them, like in the good old days of the jump-out boys, and they just pull him out of the car, and they immediately use violence and force.

Regarding anything personal, I don't think there's anything personal here. This is a modus operandi. This is ratified behavior. This is how this Scorpion unit was told that they could operate. We're all seeing how -- (INAUDIBLE) --

BLACKWELL: Mr. Romanucci, there's a distinction between my question and your answer. My question is, do you know if they had any personal interaction -- if they knew one another, personally? Your answer was you don't think this was personal. But I want to go back to the question.

ROMANUCCI: Sure.

BLACKWELL: Do you have any information that Tyre Nichols knew any of these officers personally? If they had an interaction before the incident that night?

ROMANUCCI: We have no information of that nature at all.

BLACKWELL: OK. All right.

ROMANUCCI: No.

BLACKWELL: Let me get to the case. We've talked about how the DA and the U.S. attorney and the chief came out early to try to prepare the public, to try to quell potential violence or vandalism, and then released this video. I was in Baltimore in 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray. And there was no video in that case, but there were the riots as we all watched as a country.

When the DA or the state's attorney, Marilyn Mosby came out that day, she said, I heard your calls for no justice, no peace. The defense attorney for those Baltimore officers says that in the time between the death and the charges, there was no way that there could have been a comprehensive investigation. Are you concerned that these charges, although I know you believe they're just, that they came at the right time, that all of the work necessary in the investigation leading up to them was completed by the DA in this case?

ROMANUCCI: I think so, Victor. I think these charges came out in an appropriate time because we do have good video. What we also have, what we know are the rules of engagement for police officers for the city of Memphis. And when you look at what the -- what the tolerance level is for force, it has to always be proportional, right? There's a -- there's a fine line between proportional force and disproportionate excessive force. And clearly, Tyre was unarmed. He was defenseless. So, the video I think was able to establish the charges very clearly.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Of course, I asked that because the three of the officers in Baltimore were acquitted, the other three -- they dropped the charges against them, and of course, the people who wanted some accountability for Freddie Gray's death, they did not get that in court. Antonio Romanucci, thank you for your time.

ROMANUCCI: Thank you, Victor.

CAMEROTA: Joining us now is Lora King. She is the daughter of Rodney King and the founder of the Rodney King Foundation. His violent baiting by the Los Angeles Police in 1991 was captured on video and sparked national outrage and calls for police reform.

Lora, great to see you again. When you and I spoke on Thursday night, I know that you said that you were sick to your stomach just hearing about the video.

LORA KING, RODNEY KING'S DAUGHTER: Yes.

CAMEROTA: And then on Friday night, I understand you watched the video. So, what was that experience like?

KING: I did. I -- still, I'm sorry. I still don't feel well. I don't wish that upon animal. I don't wish that upon, let alone any human being. I don't know how to feel. I don't. And if you're human, you should feel the same way.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

KING: You should feel the same way I feel. I'm not well. It's -- that's disgusting.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

KING: That -- I don't -- I'm still like numb. I don't know how to feel about this. I'm happy -- I'm happy to see you know, police reform coming into play. Finally. That makes me very hopeful. That gives me like light at the end of the tunnel. But let's push it through. Let's do it. You know, let's take it serious. Let's make it urgency because we all witnessed this. It seems like it's getting worse and worse. It seems like they -- I can't I'm trying to like compose myself. I don't wish this on anybody. I don't know how everybody's not OK with this. How do you explain this to your -- to your children?

[14:15:02]

The internet is everywhere. What do we do? How do -- I can't come to grips with explaining this to my kids. There's no -- there's nothing in that that is OK. And even from when he got pulled over, I was confused. I was so confused.

And honestly, I want to be honest with you. Based off of their body language and the words that they to use right when they smashed the door open, they didn't tell him what he did. They didn't -- I would have run because I would have been fearful for my life too.

You can't tell me you would -- he was doing everything and like, you know, someone said, they kept telling lie down. He was lying down. He was lying down. And I think -- I think they were repeating that because they knew they were recorded. So naturally, of course, other people going to say he wasn't complying with the police. He wasn't -- he was.

He was 140 pounds and it took that many men? Did it really -- did it really take that many men? And that disgusting officer in the back, as someone spoke. This is repetitive behavior. I hope he stump is -- come on. This is not the first.

And as my dad says in his documentation, he's not the first Rodney King. He's not the first -- he won't be the first. Unless we do something, this is going to keep happening. We're going to be sick. We're going to be disgustedly sick. I'm sick. I don't know how to feel. I don't.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

KING: I really don't.

CAMEROTA: I don't blame you. I -- it's OK to feel sickened by this, obviously. Your father's beating was 32 years ago. And then, of course, George Floyd and what we watched with that was two and a half years ago. And the fact that this is still happening, I too -- I mean, like you, I'm heartened that people are talking about police reform but there's a difference between talking about it and calling for it.

KING: Yes.

CAMEROTA: And then it actually happening.

KING: Thank you. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: And then you have some congressman, we just heard Jim Jordan, I think over the weekend, say that he doesn't see any basic law that could stop this. Let me just play that for you for a second.

KING: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM JORDAN, (R-OH): But I don't know that there's any law that can stop that evil that we saw, that is just -- I mean, just difficult to watch. What strikes me is just a lack of respect for human life. So, I don't know that any law, any training, or any reform is going to change. You know, this man was handcuffed. They continued to beat him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: And so, Lora, I mean, what do you say? I mean, obviously, he's describing he sounds disgusted by it.

KING: Right.

CAMEROTA: But what do you say to people who don't know what the solution might be?

KING: You know, the solution -- we have to reconstruct everything. Because obviously, the way that we've been doing it, it's having a domino effect, and it's getting heavier. It's not getting lighter. It's getting heavier, you know.

And, of course, these officers look like us. So that's -- I don't even know how to feel about that. I don't even -- and, you know, they reference him as if it was a game. The same they did with my father. They referenced my father as if it was a baseball game. We had a good one tonight. I hope you get him tonight. I hope you go get him, huh?

I can't comprehend that. My soul, my spirit, my God is not well. And that poor man's woman -- mom? She has to -- she has to have this nightmare replaying of her child crying out to her. He was what less than two minutes away from his house?

I don't -- I can't -- there's nothing you can explain. And I think everything needs to be redone. I think officers need to be mentally evaluated regularly. I don't think that they should be sent out and dealt with by society, given they probably have mental conditions. Because anybody that does this is not well.

You can't tell me -- you can't tell me you can't do that. And go home and eat with your family. So yes, today was good. What? Are you kidding me? Something's not right mentally. And this time, I hear multiple people being sick, not just people that look like me. Everybody's sick. They're sick.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

KING: They're numb. They're mute around their family. Now, I went out today, the whole vibe is always. Every time for me is different. But this time, people were like, looking at me with like, compassion. Like they felt like -- you know, and it's sad. And I felt the same way because I feel sorry for anybody that's not even black that have the watch that. Everybody is sick.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

KING: This is not working.

CAMEROTA: And, Lora, I mean, I think you speak to the national trauma that this inflicts on all of us every time it happens. But I think that your suggestion about routine mental evaluations, people should be able to agree on that. Just start there. And that's a great -- that's a great starting place. And we really appreciate you coming on and sharing your feelings and sharing some possible solutions. We'll speak to you soon.

KING: Thank you. Thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy set to meet face to face this week to try to keep the U.S. from defaulting on its debt. Ahead, what both sides say about the path forward.

CAMEROTA: Plus, Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on a high-stakes mission in the Middle East to urge Israelis and Palestinians to remain calm after a surge of violence there. We're going to take you to Jerusalem next.

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[14:23:48]

CAMEROTA: In just a few minutes, President Biden will speak at the site of a rail tunnel replacement project in Baltimore.

BLACKWELL: It's being funded by the new bipartisan infrastructure law. And the White House says it will bring 30,000 new jobs and fix the largest rail bottleneck between Washington and New Jersey. Now, when it's done, it will be renamed for Maryland native Frederick Douglass.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us live from Baltimore. So, what more are we expecting from the president?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, President Biden is about to step on stage here flanked by an Amtrak car, and these railway tracks leading into this 150-year-old tunnel, which is now going to be replaced with a new tunnel, thanks in part to the bipartisan infrastructure law. It's a $6 billion project, about $4.7 billion of which will come from federal funding. And it's expected to try and relieve this second-largest bottleneck between Washington, DC, and New Jersey allowing trains to go up to 110 miles an hour instead of the current 30-mile-an-hour that they go through causing massive delays.

But, of course, this is part of President Biden's overall salesmanship effort a week out from the State of the Union address. This is one of the very events that President Biden is holding, touting some of these new infrastructure projects. He'll be in New York tomorrow and then in Philadelphia on a Friday.

[14:25:05] And all of this, of course, leading up to a State of the Union address where the president wants to talk about what this next year is going to look like implementing these major infrastructure projects, all of course in the lead up to an anticipated 2024 reelection campaign announcing.

CAMEROTA: 30 miles per hour to 110 miles per hour, we're going to get to DC much quicker.

BLACKWELL: That's a nice boost.

CAMEROTA: That is. Meanwhile, on President Biden's schedule this week, Jeremy, also a meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. It's the first one since McCarthy took the gavel. What's on their agenda to talk about?

DIAMOND: Yes, that's right. I mean -- and excuse me, for the noise here, we have a train coming by. But if you -- if you can still hear me, this is going to be the first face-to-face meeting between the House speaker and President Biden since Kevin McCarthy became speaker of the House. And so far, all we know that there is agreement on is that the debt ceiling will be discussed. Whether or not that's actually a negotiation depends on who you ask. Here is Kevin McCarthy talking about it just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, (R-CA): We're going to meet this Wednesday. Though I know the president said he didn't want to have any discussions, I think it's very important that our whole government is designed to find a compromise. I want to find a reasonable and responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling but take control of this runaway spending.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: Now, President Biden for his part in the White House, they still insist that the debt ceiling is not something that they're going to allow to be used as a bargaining chip for the spending cuts that Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans are seeking here. Instead, what we heard from the White House just yesterday is that President Biden is going to ask Kevin McCarthy if he plans to meet his "constitutional obligation to prevent a national default." Again, putting the onus back on Kevin McCarthy.

I doubt that anything is going to be solved in this Wednesday's meeting. Instead, this is really about setting the table. Both sides trying to frame these discussions that will happen over the coming months up until this summer when we actually hit that debt limit. We'll see, of course, how that goes. Alisyn and Victor.

CAMEROTA: Jeremy Diamond with laser-like focus, trains, trombones don't matter. He keeps talking.

BLACKWELL: If you hold an event at a train tunnel, you're going to hear the train. CAMEROTA: That's right. Jeremy, thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Jeremy.

All right. For the first time in a month, staff and students are now returning to the Virginia School where a six-year-old shot a first- grade teacher. Hear from the parents about that pretty emotional return.

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