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5 Ex-Cops Charged in Tyre Nichols' Death Plead Not Guilty; White House: Biden Will Give Remarks from Poland Next Week; Eight Class Action Lawsuits Filed After Chemical Spills. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired February 17, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:01:03]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Top of a new hour on CNN NEWSROOM. Good to have you. I'm Victor Blackwell.

Five former Memphis Police officers charged in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols pleaded not guilty in their first court appearance.

Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills, Jr. were arraigned together. They did not speak. Some more masks. The men face charges of second degree murder, assault, kidnapping and misconduct. And during today's arraignment, the judge stressed the need for patience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE JAMES JONES, SHELBY COUNTY CRIMINAL COURT: So be patient. Work with your attorneys, cooperate with them, meet with them, go over the discovery, make sure that if there are any delays that these delays are on account of any of your actions. To those also in attendance, as I've explained to the defendants, this case can take some time, so we do ask for your patience, your continued patience, your continued civility in this case. We understand that there may be some high emotions in this case, but we ask that you continue to be patient with us. Everyone involved wants his case to be completed as quickly as possible, but it's important for you all to understand that the State of Tennessee as well as each one of these defendants have a absolute right to a fair trial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The attorney for former Officer Bean made his case to reporters after the hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KEITH PERRY, ATTORNEY FOR TADARRIUS BEAN: Tadarrius Bean has the ability of a law enforcement officer to make a lawful arrest based off of a call coming in. And so at this time, that's where we're standing right now, that Tadarrius Bean was doing his job at that time and he never struck him. I think you hear his voice consistently saying, "Sit up, man, so you can get air," et cetera and things like that. I think you hear him consistently saying that. And Tadarrius Bean at no point in time did anything that would be different from a person who's doing his job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN's Nick Valencia joins me now with the Nichols family's reaction to this. Nichols' mother, what she said really stuck out to me, Nick, is when she said that I wanted them to see my face. I wanted them to look me in my eyes.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, Victor, this was a big day. It was the first time that we've seen the officers since the video of that brutal beating was released. And it's also the first time that the family of Tyre Nichols was in the same room as the men accused of killing their son. And we've seen the family operate with such courage and grace throughout this entire unimaginable experience with the mother going so far as to say that she believes that God sent her son here with a higher mission and a higher purpose. And today, RowVaughn Wells was on a mission of her own. She spoke to reporters after the arraignment had ended.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROWVAUGHN WELLS, TYRE NICHOLS' MOTHER: 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 after what they did to my son. So they're going to see me at every court day ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

WELLS: ... everyone ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, NICHOLS FAMILY ATTORNEY: Exactly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... and until we get justice for my son.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: She said she'll be there at every court date and the judge saying that this is going to be a case that's going to take some time to play out. The District Attorney having to face the challenge are proving that the officers knew that their actions would lead to the death of Tyre Nichols. Meanwhile, the District Attorney's office continues their investigation, a sprawling investigation now investigating pending in past cases of these officers who have been dismissed by the police department amounting to about a hundred cases that they're investigating.

And we're also waiting for additional video here. There's an additional 20 hours of audio and video that has not been released that we should expect to see sometime in the coming weeks, so this for a lot of reasons is really just the beginning here, Victor.

BLACKWELL: More to learn, Nick Valencia thank you.

Joining me now is Martavius Jones. He's the chairman of the Memphis City Council.

[15:05:05]

Sir, thank you for being with me. I want your reaction to what we heard for the attorney for Tadarrius Bean. I jotted it down here that he says that his client had the right to make a lawful arrest and he was just doing his job and pointed out, now, we don't know if this is true. He never struck him. But he said that he was doing his job. You watch the tape, what do you think.

MARTAVIUS JONES, CHAIRMAN, MEMPHIS CITY COUNCIL: It is quite problematic for Mr. Perry - for the attorney, for Mr. Perry to say that the officer was just doing his job. It's quite problematic, if that type of failure to intervene was a part of the training that he received as an officer of Memphis Police Department.

BLACKWELL: Obviously, the police department has some work to do to regain the trust and confidence of the people there in Memphis. I wonder your degree of confidence in the Chief, CJ Davis, leading through this next period, how she's handled it thus far and if she's the right person to make the changes and lead the department.

JONES: One of the things that can't take place in a situation like this is a person has to be visible. We are in public positions and when - it does no good from a public perception standpoint if the public feels that they're not being communicated with and I think that the Police Chief and the administration as a whole can do a better job of communicating and walking the public through this scenario.

We understand that there are limits as to what she can say and what she can answer, but I don't think that it's helpful for the public view that the city and the administration and the police department is being silent in this issue (inaudible) that trust is communication and that's not taking place now.

BLACKWELL: So when you say the communication isn't taking place, isn't that she's not coming to council meetings and explaining it to you or what would you like to see more specifically that you're not?

JONES: Chief - the police chief was at the last Council meeting, we'll meet again on Tuesday and I would - I would imagine that the Police Chief will be there. But it's not the trust of the council that's important, it's the trust of this community. It's the trust of this community that says, hey, when there's things that taking - that take place in this community when the police department needs the public - public's help, that they - that the city's police department has found themselves to be trustworthy with the trust of this community, that's not taking place without communication.

BLACKWELL: The training necessary for the Memphis Police Department is not free and it ain't cheap. Will there be the money to put toward the training and when you allocate the money to the police department - and I spoke with our intelligence and law enforcement analyst, John Miller, about this, take that money and put it into training, sometimes it's money that's not put onto the streets for an additional officer or for tangible resources.

Will the City Council allocate the money necessary? Does it have the money necessary to add training for the police department?

JONES: We have to find that balance between providing the necessary training and public safety. The police's budget has - in the time that I've been on the council pretty much has increased, probably without exception every year. So I'm not going to believe that there's not room in the budget for there to be additional funding for training. So the council will have to do so, the administration will have to present us a budget that talks about adequate training to prevent something like this from happening going forward.

BLACKWELL: All right. Martavius Jones, thank you so much.

A Shreveport, Louisiana officer is now charged with negligent homicide for the death of an unarmed black man named Alonzo Bagley. Police went to Bagley's apartment on February 3rd to respond to a domestic disturbance. Now, when they got there, Bagley ran off, jumped up from a balcony and then ran a bit more.

The body cam footage you're about to see is from Officer Alexander Tyler who was since been arrested. It is disturbing. And this clip begins as Tyler is exiting the apartment building and pursuing Alonzo Bagley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXANDER TYLER: Black male, blue shirt running towards north port. We followed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible) ...

TYLER: Where is he? Where is he? Where did he go?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He went that way. He went that way, (inaudible) ...

ALEXANDER BAGLEY: Oh, lord. Oh, god, he shot me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The body cam of the officer with Tyler shows what happens moments later as Bagley lay dying there. Again, the footage is graphic. It is disturbing.

[15:10:03]

Officer Tyler can be heard pleading with Bagley to stay with him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYLER: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go on.

TYLER: No, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go on.

TYLER: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're good. You're good.

TYLER: No, man. Come on, dude, (inaudible) ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dispatch, sending (inaudible) 10-18, 10-18 ...

TYLER: Come on, dude. Come on, dude, stay with me. Stay with me, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You go ahead and put a pressure.

TYLER: Stay with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put a pressure.

TYLER: Stay with me, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. Come on.

TYLER: Stay with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, that officer - Tyler's court hearing yesterday, an investigator told the judge that Bagley's hands can be seen raised there, just in the split second after the shot is fired.

Joining me now is Dhu Thompson, the defense attorney for the officer arrested, Alexander Tyler. Dhu, thank you for your time here. I'm going to start with the basic pedestrian question here. Why did your clients shoot?

DHU THOMPSON, ATTORNEY FOR SHREVEPORT POLICE OFFICER ALEXANDER TYLER: Well, again, first and foremost, thank you for having me. And again, this is a tragic and unfortunate situation for all involved. We are certainly disappointed by Officer Tyler's arrest and if necessary we're prepared to defend Officer Tyler in court.

But - and I'm limited on what I can comment, but I certainly can comment on the evidence that was brought forth in the bond hearing yesterday and from what it shows is that officers responded to a domestic disturbance call, which are always highly charged atmospheres and are dangerous by nature. And from the evidence, it shows that Mr. Bagley fled to the back of the bedroom, grabbed an object off the nightstand in which officers were not aware of what that object was, jumped off the balcony and took off running.

The testimony further showed that the officers gave chase, they lost sight of him. And then when Officer Tyler engages Mr. Bagley again, as the state police investigator testify, it was almost simultaneously and in a close encounter with less than one second to make a split decision. Officer Tyler was placed in a situation where he had to make that call.

So again, it's a tragic and unfortunate situation for all involved. However, that's the position we're placed in today with having to defend these charges.

BLACKWELL: So let me ask you, you say that there was something grabbed from the dresser in the bedroom and we've watched the body camera video. But between that moment to where you say that there was something grabbed, Bagley jumps off the balcony, your client runs in the other direction out of the apartment down the stairs around the building and then in the direction of Bagley. Does your client claim that there was something in his hand at the time that he fired that shot?

THOMPSON: Well, again, I can comment just strictly from what the bond hearing evidence brought forth, the encounter was almost instant as the investigator indicated less than one second and they're simultaneously coming at each other at the same direction. So again, the facts are going to just have to play out in court as far as what officer Tyler reasonably believed, based on the totality of circumstances, which is very important and has to be taken into account.

What all occurred and not just that specific encounter and moment.

BLACKWELL: Okay.

THOMPSON: Okay. So again, unfortunately, and I'm speaking in general terms, police officers on a day to day basis are faced with dangerous situations and at times were put in a position where they have to make a life or death split second decision, so that's the facts and evidence that have to be drawn out in court.

BLACKWELL: Listen, I know you're in a specific position here where you don't want to violate attorney-client privilege here. You are representing your client. I appreciate your time in answering some of these questions. I have a few more.

THOMPSON: That's all right.

BLACKWELL: Did your - did Officer Tyler have a taser with him? Was he equipped with the taser that night?

THOMPSON: I don't know if he was fully equipped at that moment, but I - my appreciation is that he was.

BLACKWELL: Okay. I want to read here from the use of force policy. This is from Shreveport and we can put this line up on the screen before I get to the other ones. It says that members shall not unnecessarily draw or display any firearm or carelessly handle a firearm. I spoke with Chief Ramsey who led the department in D.C. and Philadelphia and he says that he understands why the gun might have been drawn initially when Bagley ran into the bedroom, but then to run with the gun drawn, as I said, back out the apartment down the stairs and back in the other direction.

Is he confident that he handled that gun properly before we get to the use of it that elevated in drawing legal force?

THOMPSON: Well, again, you're going to have to - speaking in a general term ...

BLACKWELL: Sure.

[15:14:59]

THOMPSON: Police officers certainly and if you line up to use of force experts, you may get five opinions one way, five the other. But to the extent of what our manuals provide for, what Louisiana officers are trained on alongside with the national standards, all of that is meant to be played out in court as to whether or not the dropping of the weapon for clearing stairwells, buildings, side parts of the complex where they were, all of that is going to be an issue at trial for sure.

BLACKWELL: Basic question here, this is Section E subsection A of the Shreveport, Louisiana order of use of force, members are authorized to use lethal force only to protect themselves or others from what is reasonably believed to be a threat of death or serious bodily injury. I have not heard you say it. But did your client believe that his - that he was in some reasonable threat of death or serious bodily injury?

THOMPSON: Well, again, coming out from what the bond hearing evidence showed yesterday, it appears from the videos and from the state police investigator's testimony that my client was put literally in a split second, I mean, less than one second decision to make from a suspect that they were investigating on a domestic disturbance call who they properly identified as the individual at issue come in, in his same direction. After the evidence had shown at the bond hearing that the individual was non-compliant with the initial investigative efforts.

So to that effect, all of that is going to have to be drawn out of trial. But in general terms, again, officers are sometimes placed in split second decisions ...

BLACKWELL: I understand that.

THOMPSON: ... and in the narrative - any narrative that says, well, they're unarmed or anything to that effect, an unarmed individual, in general, does not necessarily mean they're not a threat anymore. So it's all case by case, various fact specific. And, of course, again, we reiterate our position that if we're forced to defend this case in court, we feel very confident in our position.

BLACKWELL: Dhu Thompson, thank you for answering a few questions. I hope you'll come back and answer more.

THOMPSON: Yes, sir, anytime and thank you for having me.

BLACKWELL: Thank you so much.

Ohio's governor says there, they found no contaminants in the homes that they've tested after the toxic train derailment. But is that enough to ease the concerns of the people who live there? I'll speak with one in just a moment.

And President Biden is preparing for a trip to Poland one year since Russia invaded Ukraine. The message he plans to deliver to allies, next.

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[15:21:42]

BLACKWELL: Moments ago, the White House gave new details on President Biden's trip to Poland next week. A week from today will mark one year since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine bringing war to the west for the first time in generations.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now from the White House. So tell us more about what we learned about the President and his trip, how he's going to mark this somber anniversary.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, this trip is really going to follow the themes of the last year and the position of the administration over the last year, which is providing the support to Ukraine and standing by Ukraine over the course of this war.

Now, the President is expected to meet with the Polish President and thank him for the assistance that that country has provided already to Ukraine, be it humanitarian or security. The President will also be talking about on Tuesday just that, standing by the country and continuing to provide support.

Now we heard from Ukrainian president, Zelenskyy, earlier today at the Munich Security Conference where he appeared via video and he told countries to speed up, that they cannot afford to lose time. And during the White House press briefing just moments ago, we heard Kirby respond to exactly that. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: You can't hardly blame him, can you?

I mean, one year on, how many millions flown into refuge inside and outside the country? How many soldiers killed? How many towns and cities destroyed? How many hospitals and schools bombed? Can't blame President Zelenskyy for wanting more, heavier, faster.

I mean, he's a commander in chief in a time of war - a war he didn't ask for it and certainly had - there was no justification for it. And we understand that.

We also understand the clock. And we know that time is critical here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, as you heard there, the White House really noting that this is a crucial moment, a critical moment as we hit that one year anniversary of that war. And so this is a visit next week that will really mark that occasion and allow them to provide and urge support from allies.

BLACKWELL: Priscilla Alvarez for us there at the White House, thank you.

Let's go to Ohio now.

The railway company that owns the derailed train that caused environmental chaos for a small town is now facing at least eight class action lawsuits. And despite assurances from the EPA, the people in East Palestine, Ohio are anxious that toxins from the crash and subsequent chemical burns there are damaging their health. Some say the air smells like burning plastic and they've had difficulty breathing.

Well, today the Biden administration is deploying federal medical experts to assess whether it is dangerous for people to return to their homes. But Ohio governor, Mike DeWine, says the public water supply there is safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R) OHIO: The testing results from East Palestine's municipal water source have come back and the results are that that drinking water, testing those five wells that go into the community system, those five wells have all come back clean. The water is safe to drink.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: My next guest has not yet returned to her home in East Palestine out of fear of the chemicals that she says are still lingering there.

[15:25:02]

She and her two kids have moved in with their - her mother.

Ashley McCollum, thank you for being with me.

I want you to hear from Mike Regan. He's the EPA administrator on what he says science says about the air there in your hometown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL S. REGAN, EPA ADMINISTRATOR: Since the fire went out, EPA air monitoring has not detected any levels of health concern in the community that are attributed to the train derailment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: After hearing that from Regan and about the water from DeWine, tell me why you don't feel safe.

All right. Ashley, we'll try to get her back up. Until then, let's get Dr. James Fabisiak up. And we've - I've read some of the descriptions of - good to have you by the way, Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health.

DR. JAMES FABISIAK, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: (Inaudible) ...

BLACKWELL: You've heard some of the concerns of the scratchy throat, some people have numb lips or tingling tongues, what are they feeling, if not the impact of the chemicals that burned there?

FABISIAK: Right. I mean, I think they very well could be feeling the effects of the chemicals that remain there. In any sort of disaster chemical spill situation like this, I think we have to sort of think of it almost in three stages. There's sort of the degree of damage that is sort of in that initial risk of fire, explosion, et cetera.

Then there is sort of the almost immediately threatening to life and injury complications that might be there with a high inhalation exposure to chemicals that might remain in the atmosphere.

And then a sort of longer term, chronic exposure to traces of chemicals, albeit smaller amounts that might remain in the environment, find their way into drinking water over time, remain in soil, that could be a risk for anyone working in the soil, young children, et cetera.

BLACKWELL: All right. So Doctor, I'm going to do a little bit of producing and directing here because we got Ashley shot back. Let's see if we can either put both of them up on the screen or about - there we go - you all anticipated. I appreciate it. Ashley, can you hear me now?

ASHLEY MCCOLLUM, RESIDENT OF EAST PALESTINE, OHIO: Yes, I can hear you.

BLACKWELL: Okay. So first, tell me why you don't feel safe going back home.

MCCOLLUM: It's kind of like a sense. You can send something wrong if you're smelling something like that. Even if the tests are coming back and you're still feeling dizzy, weak, tingling mouth, severe headaches, it's not okay. And with two young children, I don't want to expose them to that.

BLACKWELL: Is that something you feel when you get back into town or something you feel when you're back in your home?

MCCOLLUM: When I get to a point going into town, even my son has complained, I'm starting to get a stomach pain out of nowhere. And it's the same kind of area that we've been crossing over, I will get headache. It's about 15 minutes of being there, you started to have some kind of symptom, whether it'd be dry mouth, tingling, headaches. Some people are having nosebleeds, rashes. It's pretty severe. If you stay in my house longer than half an hour, it's worse.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Fabisiak, I wonder is it possible that - you're the expert, I'm not. But is it possible that what people are feeling is not related specifically to the air and water quality there now, but symptoms of the acute exposure from the initial burn of these chemicals, is that possible?

FABISIAK: It's possible that some of that has been left over. Now, if Ashley had actually left town and she's better when she's not in town. That would sort of say that, okay, that initial stage has resolved itself. If they return when she comes back, then there's clearly something still remaining that has some sort of effect on her.

BLACKWELL: Ashley, I've got you both up now and I've asked my producers to give you an opportunity to ask the doctor a question since you're the one living there in East Palestine. What's your question for Dr. Fabisiak?

MCCOLLUM: Since the chemical is still present in town, should we be frequently checking our homes even, say, in a month from now if it does get a little bit better? Should we still be doing frequent air testing or water testing or anything that would give us an answer that it's getting better and should we be testing (inaudible) ...

FABISIAK: Yes, I would think that - go ahead, finish your question.

MCCOLLUM: I'm sorry, should we be testing surfaces as well? I'm not sure if they attach to surfaces or if a special cleaner would have to be presented.

[15:30:05]

FABISIAK: Right. Right.