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Search Intensifies for Suspect in I-75 Shooting; Officer Placed on Leave After Dolphins Star Tyreek Hill is Detained; Georgia Honors Two Students and Two Teachers at Vigil; GA Shooting 45th School Shooting in the U.S.; NFL Kicks Off 2024 Season. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired September 09, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Schools across Central Kentucky are closed this morning as authorities search for a man accused of opening fire along Interstate 75. They're looking for 32-year-old Joseph Couch. Authorities described this as a sniper like shooting from a ledge overlooking the interstate there. 12 vehicles were hit on Saturday. Five people were killed are wounded. Two of them severely.

The attack happened in Laurel County, just north of London, Kentucky. Investigators found his car and an AR-15 that they believe was used in all of this along a road off of an exit. No word on a motive, but the sheriff's office says this appears to have been a planned event.

Now, to a disturbing scene in Miami. Dolphin superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill on the ground in handcuffs ahead of yesterday's season opener. The team says Hill was detained by Miami-Dade police following a traffic incident on his way to the stadium. And then just hours later, this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's gone. Hill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Tyreek Hill capping an 80-yard touchdown dash with an end zone celebration featuring a pair of handcuffs. Hill opened up about the incident following the Dolphins win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYREEK HILL, MIAMI DOLPHINS WIDE RECEIVER: No idea, man. It's crazy. No idea. I wasn't disrespectful, you know, because my mom didn't raise me that way. Didn't cuss, didn't do none of that. So, like I said, I'm still trying to figure it out, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Joining me now, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson and former NYPD Lieutenant Darrin Porcher. Joey, let me start with you first. Hill's agent spoke to CNN earlier and said this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DREW ROSENHAUS, TYREEK HILL'S AGENT: He was sore. He was hurting. He was physically and mentally distraught. This is something where we're seeking answers and we will pursue this to the fullest extent of the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes, Joey, do you think they have a legal case here?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: So, they do, Jim. Good morning to you and my friend, Dr. Porcher. I think the issue is whether or not they're going to pursue one. It's seemingly -- it seems that Tyreek Hill wants to use this as a teachable moment.

You know, you look and what he said, really, I think resonates with so many, what if he was not Tyreek Hill having the platform he has? And how often does this occur? It really raises the specter as to that. On the legal question, people are really free to move about the cabin, so to speak, unfettered from really police overreach.

And so, the issue, there's an internal investigation. So, the extent of the police overreach will really be examined. The nature of the interaction will be examined. The body cam will be examined, but you cannot, if not in good faith, take someone out of the car without basis. And so, we'll really discover, Jim, moving forward, what basis that is. But yes, he would have a viable legal case if pursued.

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Darrin, the Miami-Dade police cop there, Stephanie Daniels, said this, quote, "I have requested an immediate review of all details surrounding the incident, and we are also reviewing available body camera footage. One of the officers involved in the incident has been placed on administrative duties while the investigation is conducted."

And we should note and underline this, CNN has reached out for the incident report and body cam footage. We have not heard back. How soon could we see this footage? And what do you think we're going to see?

[10:35:00]

DARRIN PORCHER, FORMER NYPD LIEUTENANT: Well, based on the officer being placed on administrative leave, it's clear that the department determined that what the officer did wasn't in conformance or compliance with their procedural guidelines. So, that being said, more than likely, it should be rather quick that the department will display that information because they want to stand on the balance of transparency.

And I think that this is a challenging narrative because oftentimes when a vehicle stop is conducted, this is for a traffic violation. So, it's at the officer's discretion as to if he or she wants to administer a summons to the motorist. That being said, for a person to be taken out of a vehicle and handcuffed on the ground really speaks volumes to what the officer's actions were because it shouldn't have rose commensurate to the level of the motorist being removed from the vehicle.

So, I genuinely believe that we will see video that supports the administrative leave for the officer moving forward. And I think it should be within the next day or two.

ACOSTA: Yes. Joey, I mean, that's what everybody is saying when they look at this footage. You know, how could it lead to this after a traffic stop? You know, with the officer -- with, you know, putting him on the ground like this, it's just unbelievable.

JACKSON: Yes, it is. And it's very troubling. And again, it goes to the issue of how many others, right, may be treated this way who don't have the platform. Now, certainly, police do a great service, serving admirably and protecting others every day. But when you have any kind of overreach, it needs to be a direct -- really addressed and addressed swiftly.

Now, on the issue of really the law. You look at what an officer can do. Certainly, if there's an infraction, an officer can exercise their right to issue a ticket or do something else. But then, for it to elevate to the point where you have any type of reason to pull him out of the car, that's what's questionable. What specific facts led to that, if any, that would show any reasonable suspicion or probable cause of any criminality? And if that's absent, Jim, then I think the police have a lot of explaining to do.

ACOSTA: Yes. And, Darrin, just very quickly, I mean, what would be a reasonable explanation for this?

PORCHER: If the officers perceived that he was reaching for a weapon or they smelled drugs in the car or something to that effect, but I don't believe that's the case that we have here.

ACOSTA: All right. Joey Jackson, Darrin Porcher, we'll keep our eyes on this one. Thank you very much. And we should note the Dolphins ended up pulling off the win at home by a touchdown from Tyreek Hill. Is one of just many exciting moments to kick off the 2024 season. CNN's Coy Wire has more. Tyreek, back at it again.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, we will also have Cowboys and Lions and Bears. Oh, my. Highlights from Sunday Funday on CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta coming up.

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[10:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm even more thankful to the people we leaned on during one of the scariest days of our lives. Our teachers. You did everything you were supposed to do to keep us safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: An emotional scene in Georgia last night where a community gathered to honor the four people killed during last week's school shooting at Apalachee High School. The victims, two 14-year-old students and two teachers. Today, students will be able to go back and get their things that they had to leave behind at the school that day.

We've also learned that the mother of the teenage suspect called the school with a warning after receiving a text from her son. The teen's grandfather says the text read simply, I'm sorry, mom.

David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting in 2018, joins us now. He's also a co-founder of March for Our Lives. David, good to see you again. I do want to ask you about that. The suspect's mother warned the school about an unspecified but extreme emergency, as she called it, involving her son. But last year, we know this. The suspect was questioned about online threats he made about school shootings. What goes through your mind when you hear that? It just sounds like another one of these cases where red flags were ignored or overlooked?

DAVID HOGG, PARKLAND SHOOTING SURVIVOR AND MARCH FOR OUR LIVES CO- FOUNDER: Totally. It absolutely was. And it was grotesquely overlooked by the parents and the fact that they still went out and got him in AR-15 even after the police visited to discuss the threats that their son had made to the school. It's just disgusting.

And ultimately, you know, we can do all the work we can to try to make our schools safer, but nothing's going to make them safer than preventing somebody that is at high risk like that from getting a gun like that -- like an AR-15 or any firearm for that matter in the first place. Because by the time that we -- you know, if your solution can only start once that there's a gunman in your child's parking lot, we failed because somebody is going to die.

ACOSTA: And, David, you've had some time to think about all this since this latest school shooting. What's your answer to this? I mean, what needs to be done? What needs to happen?

HOGG: I mean, look, we need to have a holistic approach to gun violence. We need to address what causes somebody like that young man to want to pick up a gun in the first place and use it to murder his classmates and teachers. But we also need to address how he got that gun and the laws surrounding that.

And what we need to do is first, in my opinion, we need to abolish the filibuster. If we're going to get any action on guns, it's ridiculous that in Congress, it takes them 60 votes for a -- you know, to pass a bill. It's just absurd. And then on top of that, you know, students across Georgia are actually standing up.

On September 20th, many high schoolers are going to be walking out across Georgia to demand action on gun safety. And I've talked to many of those high schoolers because they're furious and upset that this continues to happen over and over and over again.

[10:45:00] What's not being covered a lot on the news are the number of threats that were made to local high schools following this shooting, and how traumatic that is for the students, even if they don't go through those shootings, because the fear that that brings, and how many teachers weren't showing up, how many students weren't showing up in the aftermath because they're afraid. And these young people, they're fired up and they're done with these politicians that frankly suck at doing their job.

ACOSTA: Well, and I did want to ask you about some of the students who survived. They're telling their stories, several including who took the shirts off their backs to try and stop the teachers bleeding after he was shot. That teacher, Richard Aspinwall, later died. Can you speak to the trauma of what these kids are going to be going through in the weeks ahead? I mean, they're just being let back to the school today to go gather their belongings. You know, I mean, this is just a trauma that's been inflicted upon this community.

HOGG: Absolutely. And it's extremely traumatic for the community that's gotten through it. And the thing is, everybody is impacted differently by it. Two -- even two students that are right next to each other, you know, in the same classroom can be affected completely differently because everybody is -- just perceives and processes this so differently, and it's awful.

After Parkland, you know, we had tons of resources, tons of, you know, people that showed up with therapy dogs and other things like that, and therapists and all those other things to care about the students. And of course, that was great. But ultimately, it's only putting a bandage on something that's so much bigger. Something that really needs stitches and ultimately, something that shouldn't happen in the first place.

Not to mention the fact, Jim, that, you know, we know kids -- this is the leading cause of death for people under the age of 19 in the United States. There are children across the United States, especially younger black and brown kids, that don't go through a school shooting, but go through gun violence outside of school, but never get the attention or resources that many young people, like I was when I was 17, who went through a school shooting, get.

And it's not to say that we shouldn't get that, it's to say every child, no matter where they're impacted by gun violence, needs that same attention and resources because that trauma is just as real. And we're failing to provide a lot of that coverage and care to a lot of communities that are the most impacted by gun violence.

ACOSTA: And David, what about the AR-15? I mean, we're talking about an AR-15. And in the Georgia case, just over the weekend, the I-75 shooter, but time and again, the AR-15 has shown up in these mass shootings. What is the message to the candidates? And we're going to have a debate tomorrow night. Does there need to be a debate over the AR-15?

HOGG: Yes, I think there needs to be a broader conversation about what we can agree on here. We've been debating this for, what? I was born a year after Columbine, Jim, right? We've been having this debate for a very, very, very long time. I think it's time for us to focus on what we can agree on and move forward on that.

Nobody wants kids, you know, to feel the need to pick up a gun to go and murder their classmates, obviously, and wants to get those young people the resources they need. But we also need to realize we can't stigmatize mental health at the same time when young people have such a growing issue of self-harm, of suicide, unfortunately, and so many other things, and it's a complex issue.

But we need our leaders to come together and focus on what they can agree on and move forward. And luckily, we have seen some of that. After Uvalde, despite what many people said, many people said that we wouldn't be able to pass a gun law in Congress, but we did. For the first time in 30 years, Congress passed a federal gun law that expanded background checks for people under the age of 21, and Republicans and Democrats voted for that. And over 800 high risk individuals under the age of 21 have been prevented from buying a gun like an AR-15 because of that law.

The FBI has openly talked about it many times, but that's clearly not enough. We need to go a lot further. We need to pass universal background checks. We need to repeal the industry protections. And we need to have a holistic way of addressing this that doesn't address just how does somebody get a gun, but why does somebody feel the need to pick it up in the first place. And I know we all agree we don't want this to continue.

ACOSTA: No, we absolutely don't. And, David Hogg, we always appreciate talking to you about this. I'm afraid we'll probably be doing this again, but thanks as always for your time. We appreciate it.

HOGG: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: We'll be right back.

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[10:50:00]

ACOSTA: All right. The NFL is back. Let's see how the teams did on week one. Joining me now is CNN's Coy Wire. Coy my Washington Commanders -- I am wearing the burgundy tie anyway, because I'm just glad we have a good quarterback now. The rest of the team, we got to get a little bit more, a little bit more effort next week, I hope, against the Giants. And also, we talked about Buffalo chicken on Friday.

WIRE: Oh, yes.

ACOSTA: I ate probably my weight in Buffalo chicken.

WIRE: That a boy, Jim. And that's what it's all about, baby.

ACOSTA: That's what it's all about. WIRE: Yes, it is. And there were some great games too. The NFL saving his best game for last yesterday. The Detroit Lions up by a touchdown at halftime. But the L.A. Rams and their quarterback, Matthew Stafford, playing his old team come storming back. Touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp in the fourth, taking a 20-17 lead. Kupp had 110 yards receiving, but the Lions would jab back. And from 32 yards out, their rookie kicker Jake Bates sends the game to overtime. Detroit won the toss and then it was a David Montgomery show. Running for 45 of his 91 yards on the drive, human battering ram, and the game winning score. Lions went 26 to 20.

[10:55:00]

The new highest paid player in NFL history, Dak Prescott, and his Cowboys got a 33-17 win over the Browns. Dak agreeing to a four-year extension hours before the game. A reported $240 million bucks, an average of $60 mil per year, Jim. 179 yards, a touchdown and a whole lot of money. That's a good day.

And it was not a good day for the number one overall draft pick, Caleb Williams, in his debut with the Bears, completing just 48 percent of his passes, sacked twice, welcome to the NFL. But despite the Titans' defense not allowing a touchdown, giving up just 148 yards, Chicago's defense and special team saved the day. The rare blocked punt returned for a touchdown. That's Simone Biles' husband, Jonathan Owens, scooping and scoring in the Bears 24-17 win over Tennessee.

And it was a big day for the NFL's new dynamic kickoff, aiming to make the game safer and more exciting. There were returns of 50 yards, 60 yards in this 96-yard touchdown by Arizona's Deejay Dallas against the Bills. It wasn't enough though. Buffalo gets the win 34-28. Let's go, Buffalo. And we have Monday night football tonight, Jim 49ers, and they are going to be hosting the jets in the return of Aaron Rogers,

ACOSTA: The return of Aaron Rogers. We didn't get to see him at all last season. We get to see what happens this time around. Coy Wire, great stuff as always. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it.

And thanks very much for joining us this morning. I'm Jim Acosta. Our next hour newsroom with Wolf Blitzer starts after a short break. Have a great day.

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