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All Five Ex-Officers In Memphis Plead Not Guilty To Murder; Police Body Cam Video Shows Fatal Shooting Of Unarmed Black Man; Biden To Speak With Xi Soon But Says He'll Make No Apologies. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired February 17, 2023 - 13:00   ET

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

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[13:00:47]

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Good afternoon. I'm Kasie Hunt in Washington. Right now, the family of Tyre Nichols is speaking out after all five former Memphis police officers appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to his murder. For the first time since Nichols death, his parents were in the same room with the men who brutally beat their son last month after a traffic stop.

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ROWVAUGHN WELLS, TYRE NICHOLS' MOTHER: We have to start this process of justice right now, and I want each and every one of those police officers to be able to look me in the face. They haven't done that yet. They couldn't even do that today. They didn't even have the courage to look at me in my face.

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HUNT: Each ex-officer is facing seven charges, including second degree murder and aggravated assault. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is outside the courthouse in Memphis. Shimon, what's the latest?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was their initial appearance. For the first time, we got to see them appearing all together inside this courtroom where they pleaded not guilty and really the legal battle just getting underway. Their attorneys really indicating that this is going to be a vigorous fight. They feel that the District Attorney rushed this case. They say that there's other evidence that's not been out there publicly that they feel will help their clients, right?

Question is, what could that be after the video that was released by the D.A., which depicts a really just a severe beating of Tyre Nichols. So you can tell from the defense attorneys here, at least in talking to them outside of court, that they're going to launch a vigorous, vigorous defense. The other thing, obviously this is really a day for the community, a community to come inside this courtroom, face these officers, and as you've mentioned, Kasie, for the parents, the family of Tyre Nichols to come face to face with these men, and really his mother saying that she will be at every court appearance. HUNT: Shimon, we're also learning about some other cases that involve the Scorpion Unit. What can you share about that?

PROKUPECZ: Right. And this is the unit that these officers were part of that was this crime fighting, aggressive policing that is now no longer. The police chief disbanded that group after the Tyre Nichols beating. The D.A. here telling me finally we're getting some numbers and finally we're being told that it's up to about 100 cases that the District Attorney could be now reviewing that these five officers are part of. They were part of 75 cases that the D.A. is now reviewing.

And then there's another 25 from an additional officer who has not been criminally charged, but was fired. You'll recall it's Preston Hemphill. He was one of the other officers on scene the night of the incident. And so he was fired as a result of his actions by the police department. And now his cases are also under review, so about 100 cases in total, and it could grow. And some of these cases could be dismissed over some of the activity by these officers, but that is a significant number.

And finally, for the first time, we're getting those numbers from the D.A. So, again, more fallout, again, from this incident, and obviously there's still a lot more that is going to come out. We're expecting more video, more audio to come out in the coming weeks that the police say they're still reviewing. And once they make some decisions about additional disciplinary action against some officers, they will release that video, Kasie?

HUNT: All right, Shimon, thanks very much for your reporting on this today. We really appreciate it. We're going to go now to Shreveport, Louisiana, where Officer Alexander Tyler is now facing a negligent homicide charge in the death of Alonzo Bagley. Body cam video now showing the moment that Bagley, who was unarmed and fleeing, was shot and killed earlier this month. Tyler and his partner were responding to a 911 disturbance call when they first approached Bagley in his apartment.

Tyler's partner then follows Bagley into a bedroom, where Bagley eventually jumps from the second floor balcony and a chase then begins. Once outside, Tyler's partner yells, he went that way, Ty. Five seconds later, there's a gunshot. Here is that moment. And we do want to give you a warning. This is very difficult to watch.

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[13:05:15]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He went, hey, he went that way, Ty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, God. This is happening.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dispatch an EMS right now, shots fired, shots fired.

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HUNT: Officer Tyler was also wearing a body camera. Here is his footage. Again, we want to warn you, this is graphic.

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ALEXANDER TYLER, SHREVEPORT POLICE OFFICER: Black male, blue shirt, running towards North Park. He's found. Where is he? Where did he go?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He went that way. He went that way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, Lord. Oh, God. This is happening.

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HUNT: Within seconds, the officers begin rendering aid. Both are visibly and audibly distraught.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No man, no, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on dude.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dispatch, send EMS right now 10-18, 10-18.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on dude. Stay with me. Stay with me. Stay with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put pressure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay with me, man. Stay with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go on, you're good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: That's the officer that you can hear crying. Bagley was pronounced dead at the hospital. CNN's Ryan Young joins us now. Ryan, members of Bagley's family and that officer's lawyer have spoken with CNN. What are they all saying?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, obviously, this is a tough video to watch, Kasie, when you go through it. We talked to the family and their attorney yesterday. Right after they watched the video, their emotions were completely raw, as you can imagine hearing their loved one trying to gasp their last breath was just something that hurt everyone in the family. His brother, his youngest brother was talking about the fact how much he loved him, and he didn't understand why this shooting had to happen, because he thinks when you watch that video, his brother didn't show any aggression toward the officers.

In fact, he tried to get away from them. And so that's something that stuck out in the family's mind, is because the entire time he tried to leap from that second story balcony. And one of the things the attorney also pointed to is this is not the first time that Mr. Bagley has had an interaction with the police department. A few years ago, he actually sued the police department after some of his teeth were knocked out after another arrest. So that's showing that he might have been scared of police to start with.

But take a listen to his brother in just the raw emotion that he had about losing his brother.

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XAVIER SUDDS, ALONZO BAGLEY'S BROTHER: It was really, really sad to watch, hurtful to watch, hard to watch. I won't be OK until we know, we know, I know that justice will be served. Charges, that's fine. That's cool and all, but we need to see more action behind that.

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YOUNG: Kasie, it's important to note that the state actually took over this investigation. LSP has been in charge. The lawyer and the family actually thanking them for getting this video out, and they're the ones who decide to make this arrest warrant against Officer Tyler. So now people are looking into this officer to try to figure out exactly what he was thinking or whether or not he was being reckless by running with the gun out and with his finger near the trigger.

That's been a lot of the questions here, because people in this community want to see some changes within the police training so that other citizens are safe. But listen to Officer Tyler's lawyer saying, it's hard being a police officers, and these are all split second decisions.

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DHU THOMPSON, POLICE OFFICER'S ATTORNEY: The mere fact that an argument is being made by the investigator in court that he was unarmed does not necessarily mean he's not a threat to the officer. There's not a requirement that every suspect has a weapon.

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YOUNG: And some other things to note here. The fact of where Mr. Bagley's hands were when that shot was fired. The officer is actually sort of turned and the camera view is obstructed for a second. But the LSP investigator was saying basically when the shot hits Mr. Bagley, it looks like his hands are up. That's something they're going to go back and forth over in court.

The mayor, for his part, actually apologized to the family yesterday, saying he didn't reach out and a fast enough time. The police chief tells us also he's reviewing all the policies of this police department and they will move forward also with an administrative look into what happened to see if they can calm some of the city leaders down because obviously a lot of questions, especially from community leaders who want to know how can they move forward as a city together when there's video like this out that makes so many people question what actually happened on that night? Kasie?

HUNT: So many questions, Ryan Young, thanks very much for that reporting.

[13:10:02]

With us to talk some more about these two cases, we have criminal defense attorney and former Prosecutor Bernarda Villalona and retired Los Angeles Police Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey. Thank you both for being here. And Sergeant Dorsey, let me start with you and let's start with what we just saw that video showing Alonzo Bagley. It's so hard, it's so hard to watch. I mean, when you see it, when you read the report, was this negligent homicide? Is that the right charge here? What do you see?

SGT. CHERYL DORSEY, LOS ANGELES POLICE (RET.): Well, listen, I'm not an attorney, but I think, you know, the charge could certainly be more substantive. I mean, you got a police officer running with his handgun. That's not what we're taught tactically. That's deplorable. And then to know that he shot this man, why? Because he ran.

Listen, suspects running is inherent to police work. And we see time and time again officers shooting black men because they run. And I find it so offensive and off putting that this attorney representing this officer would say that the mere presence, the mere existence of a black man is a threat. It's problematic. And so did he know when he ran with his gun that he was going to shoot him? I would have to say yes. Why else do you have it out?

You only draw your weapons when you're going to discharge it. And you only discharge it because you want to kill somebody, because you want to stop a threat when there's an imminent threat against you or someone else. And that didn't exist.

HUNT: I appreciate you underscoring the fact that he was running with his gun, because I wondered actually about that very point as someone who has not had the kind of training that you have gone through in your career. Bernarda, what challenges do you foresee for the prosecution and defense in this case? How's that going to play out in your view?

BERNARDA VILLALONA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY & FORMER PROSECUTOR: So in terms of the prosecution, the prosecution is going to have an issue. They're going to have an issue in the sense of there is that split second where you don't actually see the hands of this man. And unfortunately, that gives the defense a way out in the sense of trying to describe what was a threat in his mind.

Either way, the question is going to be for the jury, if it goes through a jury trial, is whether it was reasonable for this officer to use deadly force. Was it reasonable for him to see or foresee or believe that this man was a threat to him, that there was an imminent threat of deadly physical injury or serious bodily injury? That's going to be the question for the jury. It's still early on, but the first step, there has been an arrest. There are charges for negligent homicide, and then we'll just have to take it from there.

HUNT: Yes. I want to switch and focus a little bit on Tyre Nichols before I let both of you go. Sergeant Dorsey, there was a sixth Memphis police officer fired. A seventh was put on leave. Do you expect more charges to unfold in that case?

DORSEY: I absolutely expect more charges. I expect the district attorney, if he does his job properly, to dismiss more cases. Listen, they're talking about 100 cases, perhaps. I said this in the very beginning when this first happened, that these officers were a term, that they use compromise. They gave false leading statements in the midst of an administrative hearing. In other words, they're liars.

And so while they're investigating current cases, they need to look at everybody who's sitting in jail right now because of the Memphis five and anybody else on that police department who's comprised -- compromised, anybody who's on their giglio list. Right now, some folks are sitting in jail and they should be issued a get out of jail free card.

HUNT: And Bernarda, all five of the officers who have been charged with murder have pleaded not guilty. We saw that today. Can you walk us through what happens next in those trials?

VILLALONA: Well, we expected that. We expected all five officers to plead not guilty. So today was a formal chance for them to appear before a judge and the judge tells them officially what their charges are and for them to enter an official plea. Where we go from now, we go through several pretrial conferences to determine whether the cases are going to go to trial or whether any of those officers will be pleading guilty. And that pleading guilty part is going to be a huge conversation for the prosecutor to determine if they want to flip any of those officers to cooperate against the most culpable out of the group.

But in my opinion, if I were the prosecutor, I wouldn't flip any. We're going to trial with all five. The question will be, will it be five separate juries or will it be one?

HUNT: All right, Bernarda Villalona, Sergeant Dorsey, thank you both very much for being with us today.

Recovery operations are over for the suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down off of the South Carolina coast. The end of that effort follows President Biden's most extensive comments yet about the incident and about the other objects that were shut down in recent days. He assured Americans that the other three objects don't appear to be tied to China or to spying. But he does plan to speak to Xi Jinping about all of this with Chinese leader.

Minutes from now, the National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby is going to join the White House briefing and he'll likely face some questions about this. We're going to bring that to you live. But right now, let's go to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez who is at the White House. Priscilla, still a lot of unknowns here. The president does, though, seem to be focusing on what we may see in the future, more of these objects.

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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's exactly right. He listed some of the measures that the administration is going to take on airborne or unmanned airborne objects. So some of that includes, for example, devicing a -- or having a team device sharper rules to identify these objects, tasking his National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to lead a government wide effort on this and also establishing an inventory of unmanned airborne objects.

All of this to identify what these objects are, especially after what we saw last weekend. And to your point earlier, this was the most extensive remarks he's given on the issue amid speculation over what these objects were, as well as some concern over the transparency the administration was providing on this issue. And while he said there's no connection that they have linked so far to China and spying, they did note that they were connected most likely to private companies or research institutions.

Now, of course, recovery efforts are still ongoing for those three objects that were shot down over the weekend. But Biden also used those remarks to diffuse tensions with China and make clear that this hasn't upended relations between the United States and China. Take a listen.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We seek competition, not conflict with China. We're not looking for a new Cold War. But I make no apologize. I make no apologies, and we will compete and we'll responsibly manage that competition so that it doesn't veer into conflict.

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ALVAREZ: Now, he did not offer a timeline on when he plans to speak with the Chinese President, though he said that he would expect the White House to be taking questions on that this afternoon. Kasie?

HUNT: All right, Priscilla Alvarez at the White House for us. Thanks very much for that report.

Headaches, sore throats, and so many dead animals, residents in East Palestine, Ohio say that those are just a few reasons that they are terrified about their health after a toxic train crash derailed their lives. We're going to go there next.

Plus, behind the scenes when the cameras were off, they knew it was bogus. But when the cameras were on, they told a different story. The court documents that just pulled back the curtain on how top "Fox News" stars and executives peddled falsehoods for ratings.

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HUNT: The Biden administration is sending federal medical experts to East Palestine, Ohio, where a train loaded with hazardous materials derailed two weeks ago. Residents say they're getting headaches and sore throats and worry about their health now and in the years to come. Federal investigators are trying to learn why the train came off the tracks in the first place. These images are under scrutiny. Surveillance video obtained by CNN shows sparks flying from the train less than an hour before it crashed. CNN's Jason Carroll is in East Palestine. Jason, what have we learned today?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the governor just wrapped up a press conference a short while ago. A few headlines that I want to tell you about, Kasie. First and foremost, he says that 500 homes now in the area have been tested for air quality. Those tests came back clear. In addition to that, 20 air monitoring systems, he says, have now been set up in and around the area. Those air monitoring systems are mobile. They'll be moving them around. That testing is underway as well.

As he said over the past few days, the municipal water samples in the area continue to come back clear as well. He's been in contact with the Department of HHS. They are going to be setting up a clinic here next week. So anyone out here in the area who is feeling symptomatic can come in and speak with experts. So what you have here on the ground is you've got this disconnect because you've got state and local officials who are saying the air is safe, the water is safe, but you have people on the ground who simply do not believe that. And so the governor was asked about that. Here's what he had to say.

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GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): I understand people have been traumatized, and I understand skepticism. And sometimes skepticism is warranted, nothing wrong with healthy skepticism. All I can do as governor of the state of Ohio is tell you we have the best experts that we can get, and we have the best equipment that there is available to do the testing.

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CARROLL: So there you have it. The governor also saying that all of the contaminated soil that is in the area, he said that that contaminated soil is in the process of being removed and that will continue. There was a question about FEMA and whether or not the state will be trying to get FEMA assistance. He says not at this point. That's not something he says the state qualifies for, but he reserved the right to try to apply for that at a later time if necessary.

And finally, Kasie, accountability, there were a lot of questions about that. And once again, as we've heard from other officials, including the EPA, the governor also saying that the railroad company is responsible for this and they will ultimately be held accountable. Kasie?

HUNT: All right, Jason Carroll, thanks very much for being on this important story for us. Really appreciate your reporting.

[13:24:35]

Coming up next, the truth comes out. Court documents revealing text messages between top "Fox News" talent and executives trashing Donald Trump's election fraud claims. We'll show you that coming up next.

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HUNT: A stunning new court filing revealing how top talent and executives at "Fox News" trashed Donald Trump and ridiculed his legal team and their 2020 election conspiracies behind the cameras all while hyping those same conspiracies on the air to their viewers. And anyone who seemed to veer from that narrative and question the Trump claims on the air, they faced repercussions behind the scenes. It's all coming to light in dominion voting systems $1.6 billion lawsuit against the network. CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy has been all over this story for us. Oliver, walk us through some of the details from these court documents.

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OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIAL REPORTER: Yes. This is really a stunning court document that exposes "Fox News" as really a dishonest media organization.