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Erin Burnett Outfront
Scott Family Has Viewed Shooting Video; National Guard Moves Into Charlotte Amid Protests; Tulsa Cop Charged With Manslaughter in Fatal Shooting; Protests Growing in Charlotte, City Under State of Emergency; Family Views Charlotte Shooting Video, Disputes Police; Sources: Rahami Went to Family Home After NY Bombing; Trump Campaigns As Clinton Prepares for First Debate. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired September 22, 2016 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:12] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, breaking news the family of Keith Lamont Scott, the black man fatally shot by Charlotte police watching the video of the shooting for the first time tonight. This is police now say the video doesn't clearly show Scott holding a gun. Why can't the public see it?
And more breaking news, charges tonight in the fatal police shooting of a Tulsa man seen with his hands in the air as he's shot. And Donald Trump says drugs are to blame for what we're seeing on TV at night? What exactly is he talking about? Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news. Hundreds of National Guard troops long with a police force of 18 hundred are on the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina tonight. The city's police chief saying, they are hoping for the best but prepared for the worst. The scene in Charlotte last night horrible to see. A second night of violence after police fatally shot Keith Lamont Scott. Officials refused to release body cam and dash cam video from the shooting. Video that even police admit may not even support their contention that Scott had a gun when he approached police. Here is the Charlotte police chief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF KERR PUTNEY, CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG POLICE: I don't have any visual definitive evidence that I can show and I can see him actually holding and pointing a gun at an officer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The attorney for Scott's family says there are witnesses who say Scott was holding only a book. Other whose say he had nothing at all in his hands and they say Scott's wife of 20 years is one of those witnesses.
And moments ago, the President weighing in about civil unrest in this nation without specifically mentioning Charlotte.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES: The overwhelming majority of people who have been concerned about police/community relations doing it the right way. Every once in a while you see folks doing it the wrong way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Ed Lavandera begins our coverage OUTFRONT in Charlotte tonight. And Ed, the Scott family has been asking to see this video for days and days. Right? The police saw it. They were talking about what was in it. The family hadn't seen it but tonight they finally have.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have about an hour ago, the family of Keith Lamont Scott left the police station here in Charlotte, North Carolina after being given the chance to see the body cam and dash cam footage. They left without making any comments. And Scott family's attorney also wouldn't say if what they saw matched the version and the descriptions that the police chief here in Charlotte has been making over the last couple of days. All of this as the city of Charlotte prepares and waits to see what will unfold on the streets tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Anger boiling over on the streets of North Carolina. A second night of violent protests sparked by the death of Keith Lamont Scott. A black man shot and killed by police in the parking lot of an apartment complex. Police say Scott had a gun in hand and ignored repeated demands to drop it. Tonight officials are still refusing to release body and dash cam of the shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Release the video!
LAVANDERA: Charlotte's police chief says the video is inconclusive on a most crucial point.
PUTNEY: The angle in which he's standing, I can't see his hands. Therefore I can't see a weapon in his hands or pointing a weapon that would be in his hands. I can't see based on the angle that definitive piece of visual evidence that I need.
LAVANDERA: Scott's daughter was distraught on hearing the news of her father's death. Attorneys for the family insist that is just the police version of events.
JUSTIN BAMBERG, ATTORNEY FOR FAMILY OF KEITH LAMONT HILL: We still don't know if there was or was not a gun even there. There are witnesses who are saying that no gun was there.
LAVANDERA: But a photo taken at the crime scene shows a handgun near Scott's body.
(Bleep)
(Bleep)
Protests that began peacefully last night quickly escalated. Authority say, a protester was shot outside a downtown hotel. He's alive but in critical condition. At the scene tear gas was fired to break up the growing and increasingly angry crowd.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not afraid that have (bleep).
LAVANDERA: Protesters taunted police. Rocks were thrown, trash were set or fire. Cars stomped. And windows smashed. Black Lives Matter spray painted on businesses. People including several journalists, randomly assaulted on the street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Other people came in and tried to (bleep) (bleep) -- including me.
LAVANDERA: As bad as that looked. A short while later, there was this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the guy who knocked you over. And I apologize.
LAVANDERA: And another protester tried to explain what was behind the violence and chaos.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I completely apologize for all this right here. And then it ain't got nothing do with me. But I'm standing right here in the middle, in the front line holding my fists up because I want change.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[19:05:05] LAVANDERA: And Erin, you know, over the last couple of nights the protests and destruction have really erupted in various parts of the city so it is hard to predict where and if this will unfold the same way it has the last two nights and unfold the same way tonight. But National Guard as we've mentioned, will be out in force, as well as state troopers, as well as police out and possibly riot gear the way we saw last night. So, they anticipate all that. There's been some talk and question about whether or not the police chief here would institute a curfew. The police chief says, he doesn't want to do that yet but says, if he needs to change his mind, he'll consider that -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Ed, thank you.
OUTFRONT tonight, someone who has seen the video of the shooting. Todd Walther. He is a Charlotte police sergeant in the Investigations Unit. And the former president of the Charlotte Fraternal Order of Police.
Sergeant, thank you very much for being with us tonight. The police chief Putney said, and I'll quote him. He said, the video does not give me absolute definitive visual evidence that would confirm a person is pointing a gun. Did you get the same impression when you watched the video?
TODD WALTHER, SPOKESMAN, CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE: I can only echo what the chief has already said. Because this is an active investigation. I have seen the video the same as he's seen. I will repeat what he has said that it is very clear that Mr. Scott exited the vehicle with a handgun in his hand --
BURNETT: And so, there is no question to you that it couldn't have been anything else. A book or anything else. You are sure it was a gun.
WALTHER: Oh, I'm positive a hundred percent that it was a gun and it was a gun that was recovered from the scene.
BURNETT: The officers, sergeant of course, were on their way to serve a warrant to someone else, not the victim. The chief said that Scott had gotten out of the vehicle armed with a handgun and then said the officer saw him get back into the car, then they went up to the car, they engaged the subject. From the video, do you have the whole time line from before this all started all the way through? I mean, are you able to tell why he got out of the car in the first place? Was it because they prompted him? What are you able to tell there?
WALTHER: It is a very short manner of time that when once he exits the vehicle at the commands of the officers, he's then given commands to drop the weapon. Repeatedly, to drop the weapon. And he refuses to do so.
BURNETT: And when he got out of the car -- I know he got out of car and he got back in the car and got out of the car. Are you able to determine whether the first time he got out of the car he had a gun or whether possibly he got back in the car and then came out with a gun?
WALTHER: The portion of the video that I've seen did not include or I didn't witness the first exit of the vehicle. I didn't know if that's on the video.
BURNETT: So only the second exit. OK. So, you know, just trying to think about what happened at that moment, Sergeant. You know, the officers obviously as we said there for another purpose, to serve a warrant to someone else. So, Scott may not have been expecting them. You know, he might have been very surprised by them coming up. We know the officer who shot Scott was in plain clothes, not in uniform. So, he didn't have a body cam. He didn't have a police vest. But do you think it is at all possible that Scott didn't see the vest. So, he didn't know it was a legitimate officer and might have thought, oh my gosh, here is someone who is armed who's coming at me?
WALTHER: Well, you're asking me in a possible question, to judge what he was thinking and I can't do that. You know, I can tell you from my personal experience but, you know, I've got over 26 years and 30 years in civil service. So, when I hear somebody yelling police, and they're standing there with the police vest on that says "police" across the chest, I'm going to assume and know that that is police. So, I am going to do it they're told whether I am in plain clothes as an officer or I am a civilian. I can't answer for him and what the judgment that he made, what he was thinking.
BURNETT: And Sergeant, obviously, you know, you are the former president of the Fraternal Order of Police and you're also a sergeant in the investigations unit now. As a member of the Charlotte police force, what is your view of what's been happening on the streets that have turned so violently these past few nights?
WALTHER: Well, the last few nights I've been very proud of our officers, our men and women there out on the streets. I've been very proud of my members, the Fraternal Order of Police and their conduct out there. How they are handling themselves. I still say that this is not Charlotte that is out here. These are outside entities that are coming in and causing these problems. These are not protesters. These are criminals. Protesters fight for a cause. They sit down and discuss it. These are protesters that commit crime. They are criminal. They are out here for a different purpose. They are not here to resolve issues and to resolve problems. They are out here for their own good.
BURNETT: So, you are saying that all the people on the streets are not from Charlotte?
WALTHER: Well, I'm not saying all of the people. But we've got the instigators that are coming in from the outside. I mean, you heard reports even last night. They were coming in on buses from out of state. If you go back and look at some of the arrests that were made last night, I can about say that probably 70 percent of those had out of state IDs. They are not coming from Charlotte. Yes, we have got some people here in Charlotte that are upset because they don't have the answers. Well, we don't have all the answers either and that is why we have to trust in our system and do a thorough investigation to get to all the answers.
[19:10:42] BURNETT: All right. Sergeant Walther, thank you. Appreciate your time tonight.
WALTHER: Thank you.
BURNETT: All right. OUTFRONT now. Former NYPD Officer Bill Stanton and criminal defense Attorney Paul Martin who's represented police officers involved in shootings. I just want to start off by confirming to our viewers, last night many of you had heard about the protester who was shot. We can confirm the bad news that that protester now has officially died. So someone has now died in these protests.
Bill, you just heard Sergeant Walther. Now, I want to just say, you heard him says, he was hundred percent certain that Scott is holding a gun. Hundred percent. He said, without question. I spoke to him just before the Charlotte police chief who saw the same video and said that he actually did not -- was not able to say because I couldn't see his hands. I wasn't able to see if there was a gun. They seem to be saying conflicting things. Does this video need to be released so everyone can see for themselves.
BILL STANTON, FORMER NYPD OFFICER: Absolutely the video needs to be released. The reason being is because it is going to get leak to anyway. So, whatever it shows, the Police Department and the city needs to get in front of this story because what it is leading is, total conjecture by everybody and whatever party you are from, you are going to go to the extreme in that area.
BURNETT: What do you make of this apparent discrepancy, right? You just heard Sergeant Walther, he is sure. The police chief is now saying, I couldn't see the hands. They saw the same video.
PAUL MARTIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, HAS REPRESENTED OFFICERS IN SHOOTINGS: Well obviously the video is not definitive as to what transpired.
BURNETT: Right.
MARTIN: If it was, it would have been released. I thought it was interesting by the Sergeant's interview, if you take it back 50 years, he said the same thing that Wolf Connor (ph) said. These outside agitators are coming in here and what they are doing is they are acting like criminals. The same attitude of the deep south fifty years ago.
STANTON: People are shooting people. People are looting. And I don't call these folks that are engaging in these protesters. I call them rioters and I do call them criminals. Where am I wrong in that? If someone is looting, when you're breaking in a window and stealing a merchant's items, how is that a protest? That's not civil obedience.
MARTIN: You are wrong in this. If you'd watched the reports last night -- there were numerous individuals sitting before the police officers, raising their hands, raising an issue regarding the fact that this situation has to stop. The death of men -- black men in America, this has to be addressed.
(CROSSTALK)
No, no. You said that they were all criminals and what I'm trying to say to you is that they weren't protesting. And what I thought was interesting last night, those individuals that were commenting on television wanted them arrested. And that is exactly what the people that are protesting, they want them to be arrested.
BURNETT: So, when Sergeant Walther said, those 70 percent of people arrested last night. His number, were from out of state. What does that mean to you?
MARTIN: That means we have a group of individuals that care about what is transpiring across the nation and they are coming there to make a statement.
STANTON: And that statement is to loot, is to harm people, is to spit on cops. Is that the statement?
MARTIN: We don't know first of all. There were people arrested that were sitting in front of the police officers that were protesting.
STANTON: So no one looted.
MARTIN: Wait, wait. There was people protesting and acting in a manner that was appropriate that I saw were dragged behind the line because of what they were saying. Now destroying of property serves no purpose. I agree with you a hundred percent.
STANTON: So those are rioters, those aren't protesters.
MARTIN: I agree with you a hundred percent.
STANTON: We're in agreement.
MARTIN: But the majority of the people that I saw were protesting and the protesting in the right way.
BURNETT: All right. We'll leave it there for now.
And next, breaking news in Tulsa. The police officer who shot and killed these unarmed black man is facing charges tonight.
And Donald Trump says drugs are a very, very big part of what you're seeing on TV at night. Is he talking about Charlotte?
And more breaking news in the New York terror bombing. The suspects returned home that night after the bombings. Did his family know?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:17:48] BURNETT: Breaking news. The officer who shot and killed an unarmed black man in Tulsa, Oklahoma charged tonight. Officer Betty Shelby charged with manslaughter. Terrence Crutcher was standing next to his car. You see him there from aerial footage, next to his car when he was shot. Officer Shelby claimed she was afraid Crutcher was reaching for a weapon.
Sara Sidner is OUTFRONT with the breaking details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Less than a week, after the killing of Terrence Crutcher, the district attorney deciding to charge Tulsa officer Betty Shelby.
STEVE KUNZWEILER, TULSA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: In the matter of the death of Terence Crutcher, I determine that the filing of the felony crime of manslaughter in the first degree against Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby is warranted.
SIDNER: While the family and the community grieves Crutcher's death, the attorneys have already began making their cases in the court of public opinion -- a key issue. Whether Crutcher was reaching for something inside his SUV window before he was shot.
SCOTT WOOD, ATTORNEY FOR OFFICER BETTY SHELBY: She was yelling at him to stop for probably at least 10 to 15 seconds. He gets to the window of the SUV and has his hands in the air, looks down the side of the car at Officer Shelby and his left hand goes into the window.
SIDNER: Crutcher's family attorney points to an enhanced picture of the window in question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see that it is completely up and there is blood going almost to the top of the window.
SIDNER: We analyzed the video frame by frame zooming in. It appears that the window is up and a reflection of his arms are in the window. Outside of law enforcement, Pastor Ray Owens was one of the first to look at the video before it was released.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did you see?
RAY OWENS, PASTOR: My impression was that he was actually leaning against the car so as to position himself to not be a threat. I did not see anything in that video that suggests that the police officer should have viewed Terence Crutcher as a threat.
SIDNER: While evidence can seem conclusive, experts say it is never the only evidence brought to trial.
RONALD THRASER, ASSOCIATE FORENSIC PROFESSOR, OKLAHOMA STATE: Any piece of evidence is just that is. Piece of evidence. But it is inclusive and it is not conclusive. So, the video is a piece of the puzzle. It is not the entire puzzle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: Now, to give you a taste of what could happen at trial, we just got off the phone with another forensic evidence who looked very closely at the video frame by frame and he says, he's not sure the window is all the way up. He says it might be down a bit and the reflection may have been just the seat belt with a bit of blood on it. This is the kind of thing that you're going to see in trial. Dueling experts saying opposite things and the jury will have to decide themselves looking at the totality of the evidence -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Sara, thank you so much because OUTFRONT now, we have Benjamin Crump. He is the attorney for the family of Terrence Crutcher.
Good to have you with me, Ben. I appreciate it. Let me start with the charges here. Officer Shelby now charged with manslaughter. Does the family, your client, think that this is enough?
BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR FAMILY OF TERRENCE CRUTCHER: Well, his mother and father are relieved that there were charges brought. There are some in his family like many in the community that they saw a murder occur on that video. That slow motion documentation of another person of color being gunned down by law enforcement where there was no articulable reason Erin, that was an intimate threat that she needed to use excessively to force.
BURNETT: So, some still believed that murder should be the charged. I mean, the other question obviously here is, do you think race was a factor in what happened?
CRUMP: Well, certainly when you think about everything that's been happening around America and you hear the helicopter police for whatever reason pre-judge him, says he looks like a big, bad dude, when he's not committed a crime. He's not been accused of committing a crime. He's only had his automobile in distress. And he should be given consideration like every American citizen but yet often times people of color are treated like a suspect, a criminal or doing something nefarious and that is the crux of the matter here, Erin. That is why we have what's going on in Charlotte and what's been going on in other places this past year.
[19:22:16] BURNETT: You know, Donald Trump talked about this case. As you are probably aware. He spoke about Terence Crutcher. He said he was troubled by the footage. He had a specific motivation on this of what he thought was to blame. He didn't talk about race. Instead he said this. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Did she get scared. Was she choking? What happened? But maybe people like that, people that choke, people that do that, maybe, they can't be doing what they are doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Do you agree with Donald Trump that she was perhaps simply just scared and unprepared. His word choked?
CRUMP: Well, implicit bias is something that we feel should come out as a result of this here. They need annual training and based on what you see on that video. You know, Erin, people can believe what was the motivation. But what we know that there was no need for -- there was no need for that excessive lethal force. And whether the lack of training or whether the result of some pre-judgment, this person of color, we won't know what was in her heart. But we know anybody who watches this is video has tension in their heart when you see this unarmed man yet another unarmed person of color get gunned down by the people who are supposed to protect and serve them.
BURNETT: All right. Benjamin Crump, thank you very much. I appreciate your time.
CRUMP: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next live pictures of what's going on in Charlotte. Protesters are gathering right now as you can see. Many people gathering now along with police and the National Guard bracing for another night of possible violence.
Plus, breaking news in the New York terror bombing tonight. Did the suspect's family know about his attack plans?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:28:02] BURNETT: Breaking news as Charlotte braces for a third night of protests over the shooting death of an African-American man by police. Right now Donald Trump live in a rally in Pennsylvania. Two campaign sources just confirming to CNN, that he is considering a trip to Charlotte after Monday's debate. And moments ago, Trump pleading for an end to the violence. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The rioting in our streets is a threat to all peaceful citizens. And it must be ended and ended now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Jim Acosta is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After the violence in Charlotte, Donald Trump is all but blaming President Obama for the racial wounds opened in up in another American city.
TRUMP: Our country looks bad to the world especially when we are supposed to be the world's leader. How can we lead when we can't even control our own cities?
ACOSTA: The GOP nominee is both diagnosing what he sees as the root causes of urban unrest.
TRUMP: It just seems that there is a lack of spirit between the white and the black.
ACOSTA: And prescribing a new national crime strategy suggesting that illegally drugs were partly to blame for the rioters, actions in Charlotte.
TRUMP: And if you are not aware drugs are very, very big factor in what you are watching, on television, at night.
ACOSTA: But the Trump campaign is having a hard time preaching racial harmony after one of its Ohio County Sheriff's Kathy Miller told the Guardian newspaper.
KATHY MILLER, FMR. TRUMP CAMPAIGN CHAIR, MAHONING COUNTY, OHIO: Now, you know, with the people with the guns and shooting up neighborhoods and not being responsible citizens, that is a big change and I think that is the philosophy that Obama has perpetuated on America. I think that is all his responsibility. And if you are black and you haven't been successful in the last fifty years? It's your own fault.
ACOSTA: Hours after her remark surfaced, Miller resigned saying, "My personal comments were inappropriate. And I apologize."
[19:30:05] And Trump is industrial grappling with another issue that offends African Americans in particular, his long-held belief that President Obama wasn't born in the U.S. Now he says he only claimed to change his mind on the subject so he could move on politically.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, I just want to get on with, you know, we want to get on with the campaign and a lot of people were asking me questions and, you know, we want to talk about jobs. We want to talk about the military. We want to talk about ISIS.
ACOSTA: Clinton campaign's response, Trump only gave a 30-second press statement last week to try to change the subject and it didn't work.
Trump is facing an uphill battle with African American voters who overwhelmingly prefer Clinton and may have made matters worst endorsing stop-and-frisk, a controversial police tactic previously used in New York, before it was found unconstitutional in federal court, which ruled it unfairly targets minorities.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Now, Trump did say earlier today that he's only recommending stop and frisk for the city of Chicago. Not nationwide. He's continuing a tough law and order message at this campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Erin, saying the problem in this country is that there are not enough police officers.
And as you said, Trump is considering a visit to Charlotte next week. After the debate, I'm told those logistics are being planned right now -- Erin.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Jim, thank you.
OUTFRONT now, Donald Trump supporters Kayleigh McEnany and Paris Dennard. Paris is also a member of the National Diversity Coalition for Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton supporters Maria Cardona and Basil Smikle also joined me. Maria's firm currently does work for a pro- Clinton super PAC.
Basil, let me start with you -- you just saw Donald Trump say let me quote him. "And if you're not aware, drugs are a very, very big factor of what you are watching on television at night." His campaign manager says he was not talking about Charlotte or protests in general. It was an ad libbed line. He had been talking about Chicago and Rudy Giuliani and New York policy on crime.
What do you think he was talking about?
BASIL SMIKLE, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: I think he meant exactly what he said. And I think Kellyanne tried to clean it up afterwards but the ad lib is him talking. Look, I think the comments about law and order, the stop and frisk, the sort of bringing that back are -- is a return to Nixonian language, which is terrifying to me and I think it should be terrifying to a lot of folks that are watching this.
What is even more pernicious in my mind is if you take the comment that he just made about the illegal drugs and you sort of pair that with other comments he made about. So there are these good black families and then there is these protesters, right? To me, why that is problematic is if you apply this sort of law and order rhetoric, that means that we can work with some black families and the rest of the black folks need my boot.
And that's the problem that I see with this African-American -- so called African-American outreach that he's engaged in.
BURNETT: So, Paris let me ask you. By the way the statistics here on drug use among whites and blacks, just for those watching the CDC, 12.4 percent of blacks use illegal drugs. White, 10.4 percent. They are both low and they're about the same number here, just for context here.
What's your response to Basil?
PARIS DENNARD, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, I think to Basil's point is we have to look at what's going on in our community and ask the question about the why. Nobody is talking about the why. Why is it that when something like this happens, when a black officer shoots a black young man, then we have eruption of violence in this community?
BURNETT: So, you think when Trump made his comment that drugs are very good part of when you are watching TV night that he was referring to Charlotte. I mean, he did say it today ad lib, after all we just saw last night in Charlotte.
DENNARD: I take Mr. Trump for his word and I think that Kellyanne said what he meant to talk about was in general. But I think there is a point to it, that whether there is a point to it. Whether there's hopelessness and people turn to drugs in this urban communities that we see sometimes where violence is in these different cities. So, that is a systematic problem that we have across the country.
BURNETT: OK. So, on the issue of what people are watching at night, Donald Trump also at this rally, Maria, just said something about Hillary Clinton and what she is not watching according to him, at night. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The people who will suffer the most as a result of these riots are law-abiding African American residents who live in these communities. Our job is not to make life more comfortable for the violent disrupter, but to make life more comfortable for the African- American parent trying to raise their kids in peace.
Hillary Clinton does not have to worry about the sirens and gunshots at night. She doesn't worry about it. She's sleeping. She's sleeping.
No. It's the poor family, living in the inner city.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA CARDONA, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: That just makes him look foolish because I'm sure he really does have to worry about the sirens, right? In the neighborhood he lives in, I'm sure.
But here's a problem of the fundamental issue Donald Trump is grappling with and I wish he would listen to people like Paris.
[19:35:04] But the fact of the matter is that he is either, A, not interested at all in doing real African-American outreach, or, B, he's completely ignorant in terms of what the community is going through. If he really cared about violence in the community, he would talk would about the underlying issue. He'd talk about the people who are protesting who are violent. And everybody condemns that, from the left to the right.
What he's never talked about. And in fact hence said something completely the opposite but what he's never talked about to get to the bottom of is the racial bias that does exist in policing. That doesn't mean every single police person is biased or is racist.
No. We all know that most of them are honorable people. But he's never talked about that. He's never acknowledged that that is a problem that we have to really look at and come together with a solution. He's always looked at divisive --
(CROSSTALK)
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Not true. I look at the way the two candidates responded to this and we heard basically silence from Secretary Clinton.
(CROSSTALK)
MCENANY: Let's look at what he heard from Donald Trump, he said we need to endeavor to walk in each other cease shoes, we need to learn where the other person's coming from in order to fix this broken nation. Donald Trump has spoken out about Sandra Bland, when Sandra Bland was treated unduly harshly by a police officer, he said it was terrible.
He looked at Tulsa and he said he doesn't like what he's seeing. He's trying to see the other side. Unlike Secretary Clinton, she won't even respond to police unions who are asking for --
(CROSSTALK)
SMIKLE: Let me say this very quickly. Secretary Clinton did respond. She had an op-ed in "New York Times" about addressing this very issue, how you engage poverty. Donald Trump is a real estate developer.
(CROSSTALK)
SMIKLE: Donald Trump is a real estate developer. Where has he talked about housing for the poor, Hillary Clinton talked about that. The Democratic platform talked about this, $15 minimum wage, paid family leave. What is Donald Trump talking about?
DENNARD: Basil mentioned Nixonian language, (INAUDIBLE) reflect that, President Nixon did very well to black communities. So, whatever he did to connect to the black community in terms of double digit support, I will take that because --
(CROSSTALK)
DENNARD: To you, Maria, when you talk about what Mr. Trump is saying, that he is talk about the issues, it's the economy, it's jobs, bringing that back to these communities. That's what we need. If you have a job, you are not on the street --
(CROSSTALK)
SMIKLE: -- against the civil rights bill. Let's be clear about that.
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: On the debate with Nixon, I will hit pause.
Next breaking news, moments ago, the Scott family releasing a statement after seeing the video of Keith Scott shot and killed. A live report on that next. The family just speaking out.
And new details about the suspected New York bomber's movements on the day of the attacks. Did his family know?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:41:44] BURNETT: Breaking news on our top stories tonight: the Charlotte, North Carolina shooting. The family of Keith Lamont Scott speaking out for the first time. They were finally allowed to watch the video tonight.
Ed Lavandera is OUTFRONT.
And, Ed, what are they saying?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they say that they did watch the body cam and dash cam video footage and say at this point, one of the lawyers in a statement releasing for the family saying, "It is impossible to discern from the videos what if anything Mr. Scott is holding in his hands." And then they also go on to say, "It is incredibly difficult for the family members to watch this video."
They did say that while the police did give him several commands he did not aggressively approach them or raise his hands at members of law enforcement at any time.
So, that is the statement that the attorneys for the family of Mr. Scott are putting out tonight, just a little over an hour ago, they were at police headquarters here in Charlotte where they were allowed to watch the dash cam and body cam footage of that scene. So, they say they have many more questions than answers at this point. So it is clear from what the police chief has been saying and what the family is now saying that perhaps these video videos don't necessarily paint the fullest of pictures of exactly what was going on during that altercation.
There is still the question of the gun. The family -- several -- lawyers have said that several witnesses said that Mr. Scott simply had a book. Police say that there was a handgun recovered there at the scene. So there is still that discrepancy. And the investigation to all of that continues.
But that is the latest we are hearing from the family of Mr. Scott -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you.
I want to go straight now to Paul Callan, criminal defense attorney, joining me on the phone.
And, Paul, the family coming out and saying really the opposite of what police are saying and what police told us, and they are all look at the same video.
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST (via telephone): Well, it is not at all surprising. I mean, the tragedy of this magnitude with the family, fresh in the grief process, they are not going to believe for a moment that he was posing a threat to the police. So, I'm not at all surprised by that.
Now, of course, the police are making the claim ultimately in the end that even if he was not carrying a weapon, that the officer had reasonable cause to be in fear, that it looked like he was carrying a weapon. And that he was not obeying lawful police commands, which sort of compounding this fear in the police officer.
I'm telling you that that is how the police defense will play out should there be criminal charges.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Paul Callan, thank you very much.
And you are looking at live pictures right now of Charlotte.
Breaking news details in the New York terror bombing next. The suspect's father now coming out and telling us what he told the FBI about his son.
Plus, Hillary Clinton debate prepping behind closed doors, off the trail. But can anyone prepare for this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Excuse me. One second --
JEB BUSH (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The simple fact is, Donald, you did not take --
TRUMP: More energy tonight. I like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news in the New York and New Jersey bombing investigations. Tonight, law enforcement sources tell CNN the suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami went back to his family's home after the bombings. His family said when he came home, he acted normally. But, of course, this is racing serious questions about whether they knew.
Deb Feyerick is OUTFRONT. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some five days after a terrorist detonated a bomb in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood, investigators still have no indication where that bomb and at least nine others were built. Fingerprints tie several of the homemade explosive devices to 28-year-old New Jersey resident Ahmad Khan Rahami.
JOHN MILLER, NYPD DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, INTEL AND COUNTERTERRORISM: The question is, could one person make that many devices cover that amount of ground, do all that by themselves, it is certainly possible but it is also possible there may be others involved.
FEYERICK: Investigators now believe Rahami left New York City about three hours after the explosion, driving through the Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey. Investigators have not said where Rahami was during that three-hour window.
Family members have told investigators and interviews that Rahami returned to the family's Elizabeth, New Jersey home some time Sunday, apparently before he was identified as a suspect.
His father, Mohammad, now saying in a "New York Times" interview that he explicitly warned the FBI in August 2014, allegedly telling them about his son's interest in al Qaeda, jihadist music, poetry and videos.
"I told the FBI to keep an eye on him," the father's quoted saying.
[19:50:03] But officials earlier told CNN the father downplayed concerns when he originally talked to the FBI.
JAMES WATERS, NYPD COUNTERTERRORISM CHIEF: These individuals are witnesses. OK, we're very much interested in the talking to them.
FEYERICK: Despite urgent request from authorities, two men who came into contact with one of the two pressure cooker bombs have still not come forward. They were working along West 27th Street Saturday night when they saw a carry-on bag, removed the pressure cooker device and took the bag.
MILLER: We want the bag. It may have evidence. They may have explosive residue and forensics. And it's very valuable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Got it.
(GUN SHOTS)
FEYERICK: The law enforcement source says the handgun Rahami used to open fire on police had been traced to Virginia.
During his capture, police returned fire, shooting Rahami at least seven times according to a source. Court documents describe Rahami as incapacitated and intubated. Breathing with the help of a machine and making even a bedside hearing impossible. Meantime, Rahami's wife returned to meet with the FBI who want information on her husband's travels through Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he went and who he may have met with.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: And, Erin, two days before this attack, Rahami did test some of that explosive material, it appears, in his backyard. It was recorded by a individual, a relative who we know now was his sister and, of course, authorities very, very interested to understand just what the family knew, and also especially since he was there right after the attack and seems to have been behaving normally -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Deb, thank you very much.
And next, Hillary Clinton today at home prepping for her face-off with Donald Trump. We're going to go inside the war room.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:55:58] BURNETT: You are looking at live pictures. That's Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania right now.
Hillary Clinton tonight meantime behind closed doors preparing for the first debate which, of course, is just four days away.
OUTFRONT tonight, someone who knows firsthand what happens during debate prep, the former governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, who played the role of Sarah Palin during Joe Biden's debate prep in 2008, now a senior advisor for pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC.
So, you have been there, Governor. Take us inside the room. What is Hillary Clinton doing right now to prepare?
JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D), FORMER MICHIGAN GOVERNOR: Well, you know, I don't know exactly what she's doing right now, but I'll tell you what they are likely to do is bounce questions off the candidate. Obviously, it's important to have somebody play the role of Donald Trump. Maybe there are people playing Donald Trump, the various versions of Donald Trump that might appear. You try to answer the questions.
So, what you want do is get the question, right?
BURNETT: Yes.
GRANHOLM: And you want to answer that question. You don't want to avoid the question. Answer the question and then know what your pivot is going to be.
So, what's the pivot to either an attack on your opponent or a pivot to another substantive area that you might want to explain to people. So, you have to know sort of what's coming at you and how you want to either elaborate or move on.
BURNETT: So, the Clinton campaign, as you point out, they're not saying who's playing Trump or how many people maybe playing Trump to your point. When you played Sarah Palin, though, how much did you study Sarah Palin to get ready?
GRANHOLM: Totally study. Oh absolutely.
BURNETT: So, you really tried to be her.
GRANHOLM: Oh my gosh. I was her. I joked they became a Palin- tologist.
I studied all of her previous debates. I looked at everything she had done online. I knew exactly what her positions were. And you have to -- if you're playing that character, you have to respect that character.
So, I came to that debate camp ready to go. I wore the glasses. I don't have the hair. And did everything I thought she would be doing.
BURNETT: Even physically.
GRANHOLM: Oh yes. I didn't wear a wig or anything like that. But I really wanted to be Sarah Palin. And it worked out really well because we anticipated all of the questions that Joe Biden would get with the moderator, of course, who's there and we felt like at the end of it, that we did really well in anticipating.
BURNETT: Now, Donald Trump is unpredictable. We saw that in the primary debates. For anyone who's forgotten some of the moments, here they are.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Most of the people on this stage I've given to, just so you understand, a lot of money.
First of all, Rand Paul shouldn't even get on this stage. You get along with nobody.
Excuse me. One second.
BUSH: No.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: More energy tonight. I like that.
He referred to my hands, if they are small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there is no problem. I guarantee you. OK.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
BURNETT: How do you prepare for that, Governor?
(LAUGHTER)
GRANHOLM: I just have to laugh. I mean, you have to give it too him. He's a showman, right?
BURNETT: Yes.
GRANHOLM: He knows TV. And so, a certain extent, he'll have a bit of an advantage going in and he'll also have an advantage because many people have said that the bar will be lower for him. I hope that doesn't happen, I hope CNN holds everybody the same level, but you cannot anticipate, right?
So, this is why during practice you have got to try the crazy Donald Trump. And you have got to try the presidential Donald Trump. You have to try all of it.
And you have to try the Donald Trump that tries to get under your skin and that is really important. You want during debate practice to have people come at you with the hardest questions, the biggest attacks. So, that by the time you get up there, you are not thin-skinned about it because you have to -- you cannot let people get under your skin.
You always have to remember that the camera is on you at all times.
BURNETT: Right.
GRANHOLM: People are likely to have a split screen.
BURNETT: Yes.
GRANHOLM: Do not show that they are getting to you, period.
And by the way, come away enjoying it. Be a happy warrior. Enjoy what you are doing. Have a little light-heartedness. Show some humor. Those are all good pieces of advice.
BURNETT: Smile, in other words. Of course, harkening to the last --
GRANHOLM: For both sides.
BURNETT: OK. Governor, thank you so much. Appreciate your time tonight.
Thanks for watching our show, everyone. See you back here tomorrow night.
"AC360" begins right now.
