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Erin Burnett Outfront
Memphis Releases Deadly Police Beating Video; Five Police Officers Had Been Charged With Second Degree Murder In The Case of Tyre Nichols; Initial Part Of The Traffic Stop In The Video Showed How It Started And Then Tyre Nichols Runs Away. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired January 27, 2023 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:00]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: You should know that if you choose to watch it. The Memphis Police chief who has viewed it calls what we are all about to see together heinous and inhumane, but we've decided and we believe that it is important to watch this, together, because we've been told this video shows a man pulled over for a traffic stop, beaten to death and five police officers had been charged with second degree murder in the case.
We do believe this is of great public importance. The family and the police chief all want the world to see this video. Here it is in its entirety.
OK. As we were saying, you're going to have some parts where you hear and some parts where you don't. It begins in this first clip. It is silent This is the police officer's body cam who is approaching the traffic stop which is already in progress.
So in a little bit here, the audio will start and you will see him pull up to the actual traffic stop and that's in about 15 or 20 seconds. But I just want everyone to understand your TV's working fine. You're not hearing it because there isn't audio. That audio is going to begin here in just a few seconds and we're going to just sit all back together and watch this, as this officers pulls up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blow the fuck up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your ass out the fucking car.
TYRE NICHOLS, MEMPHIS RESIDENT: Damn. I didn't do anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn over your [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn your ass on the ground. NICHOLS: All right. All right. All right. All right.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] doing that, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the fucking ground.
NICHOLS: OK. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] tase your ass.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tase him, tase him, tase him.
NICHOLS: All right. I'm on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lay down. Lay down. Lay down.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the ground. I'm going to tase you. Get on the ground.
NICHOLS: Stop. All right. OK. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring up [inaudible] break your shit.
NICHOLS: OK, dude. Dang.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn the fuck around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your fucking hands on your back. Bitch, put your hands on the back. [inaudible] . I'm going to knock your ass the fuck out.
NICHOLS: OK. You guys are really doing a lot right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, lay down.
NICHOLS: I'm just trying to go home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just trying to go home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lay down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man, if you don't lay down --
NICHOLS: I am on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands behind your stomach.
NICHOLS: I am, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the fuck back. NICHOLS: Stop. I'm not doing anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tase, tase him. Tase.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 29-38. We're in Raines and Ross. Taser was deployed. Suspect is running down Ross.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Description of the suspect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yong male, black, slim build, blue jeans, and a hoodie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Check. Which way he's running?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Southbound on Ross where we last saw him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Check [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got you. All right. Hang on. Hang on. Ready?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the run.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Just starting. One of the [inaudible] hit the buster.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Your car is right in front of you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get my car [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Hang on. Where is your water?
(COUGHING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. I got you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 29-30 [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get [inaudible] here. Right here. Negative 29-38. Where are my damn glasses at?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Huh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] [19:05:01]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's for [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] again?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't see jack shit. My glasses when he's fighting me.
(POLICE SIRENS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Negative. We just saw him running down on Ross.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] west.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, 29 [inaudible].
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: right eye.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. You're ready?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which way he run?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. I got to find my glasses and get this damn taser unloaded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait. Is that all?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 29-31 [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jeans, like a camouflage jacket, like [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 29-38, did you also read that I had pulled my taser?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Check 29-38, I have it [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Check.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which way did he run?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thin, male, black, blue jeans and a plaid jacket.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] give me the information on him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're good right there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: on foot was southbound on Ross.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They found him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Check.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: [inaudible]
[19:10:19]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Huh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mark and [inaudible] wherever they're chasing them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I has sprayed [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you sprayed too. Luckily they didn't get my eyes, just on my eyebrow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope they his ass. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] down here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope they stop his ass. Smith is calling for other cars because, you know, Martin is chasing him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You sure?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay right at the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. I got you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: [inaudible]
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: All right. We are watching this traffic stop unfold right now. We're going to play the second video clip in just a second. What you just saw there in the very first of several was in the initial part of the traffic stop right after it had started. And then Tyre Nichols runs away. One of the officers attempts to hit him by taser and fails.
You then hear the chase play out on the radio. So now let's get to the second part of the video released by the city of Memphis. This one -- this one is from an elevated camera mounted to a street pole. All right. I'm sorry. Let me -- let me be clear. This is all coming in. We're doing this together. This is actually going to be from another body cam. So let me just play this for you again. This is another body cam from one of the officers on the scene.
So everyone understands here. Audio will start in just a little bit, but I have -- we do know here generally what's about to happen again. Police body cam. This is from one of the officers. We don't know which one. We do believe that what you will see here when the audio begins is where the actual beating of Tyre Nichols took place.
So you should be aware that that's what you're about to see if you want to see this. We're watching this all together. We have not seen it and the audio is going to start in just a few seconds. So this is an officer driving up to the scene, as you know, Tyre Nichols, we just saw had run away. A police officer tried to hit him with a taser, failed to do so. He ran and a chase ensued.
This is the most disturbing one. We are told that we are going to see of all this footage, so let's listen in now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 29-30, we say we're on foot. There's no [inaudible] Southbound on Ross. Ross and Castlegate Lane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut the fuck up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hand. Give me your hand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spray it again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Mike [inaudible]
(SCREAMING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out. Watch out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out.
NICHOLS: Mom. Mom. Mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands. Give me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your fucking hands. Give me your hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. OK. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands, bro. Give me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out. Spray his ass again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, give me your hands, bro.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spray.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands, bro.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, shit. Oh, shit.
NICHOLS: Mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your fucking hands.
NICHOLS: All right. All right.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got him. I got him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands, bro. Give me your hands. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your fucking hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands. Give me your hands.
[19:15:04]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lift your hands. Give me your hands. Turn around. Lay flat. Lay flat goddammit.
NICHOLS: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lay flat. Goddammit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lay flat. Lay flat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lay flat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lay flat, goddammit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] give me your motherfucking hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out. I'm going to baton the fuck out at you. [inaudible] fuck it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hit it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lift your hands. Give us your hands. Give us your hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, location. Ross and Castlegate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your fucking hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands.
NICHOLS: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your fucking hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands motherfucker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ross and Castlegate. We are east of the intersection.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 29-31 [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's right here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 203-0. The Castlegate and Bear Creek. And you can get here for Ross and Castlegate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Motherfucker let me sprayed myself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me -o and me too tased him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, can you get my arms?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fuck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 29-30 [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Let me get my car real quick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 29-38 [inaudible]
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: OK. That was the second clip of four that we are going to get. What you just saw there, of course, was part of the horrible beating of Tyre Nichols. One of the police saying, I'm going to baton the F out of you. Pepper spray also deployed.
Now, we're going to play another clip from an officer's body cam. And what you're about to see here is an officer who's going to run to the scene where police are struggling with Nichols. And this is crucial because you're going to see the paramedics respond as well, we are told.
Again, what you're about to see is graphic and difficult to watch. It starts silently and then you will hear the audio. But, again, this is going to be the crucial part of when the paramedics came. What did they do and didn't do? We do know, of course, the two of the firemen who had responded to this have also been fired.
We don't know their role. We don't know much about what happened at this crucial moment when the paramedics arrived. After this, there is still another clip where you're going to see the sky cam footage from above. And you will also see, we understand, the beating of Tyre Nichols in detail from a different angle.
So we're -- that's going to give us a lot more information. But what this is going to be is more of that actual incident itself and the paramedics arriving. So let's listen again into this. It'll be quiet for a little bit more here at the beginning. And let's listen as the audio begins.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're on foot. South on Ross.
NICHOLS: Mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the ground.
NICHOLS: Mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me -- give me your fucking hands. Give me your fucking hands.
(CROSSTALK)
[19:20:07]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands. Give me your hands. Give me your hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
NICHOLS: Mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out. Watch out.
NICHOLS: Mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands.
NICHOLS: Mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your fucking hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. OK. All right. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, give me your hands, bro.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands, bro. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands, bro.
NICHOLS: Mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your fucking hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. [inaudible]
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands, bro. Give me your hands. Give me your hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your fucking hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're motherfucking hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands, bro.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your hands.
NICHOLS: I'm on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hand. Turn around. Lay flat. Lay flat goddammit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lay flat, goddammit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lay flat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lay flat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lay flat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Goddammit.
NICHOLS: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lay flat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your motherfucking hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out. I'm going to baton the fuck out of you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hit his fucking hands.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands. Lift your hands. Give me your hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ross and Castlegate. Ross and Castlegate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your fucking hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your hands. Give me your fucking hands. Give me your hands. Give me your hands.
NICHOLS: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ross and Castlegate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] Bear Creek. Bear Creek goddammit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
NICHOLS: Help me. Help me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: motherfucker made me sprayed myself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fuck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 29-38 [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Goddamn, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can get in trouble [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get him up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get him [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On his [inaudible] [19:25:03]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Goddamn. Fuck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He own some.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That motherfucker own some.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He own some.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] he cutting through traffic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm talking about [inaudible] oncoming traffic, everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man, I got us on camera.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 29-38. This is [inaudible] we need to come down to you or are you bringing him right down here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring him down here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring him down here. Walk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you looking for your glasses, bro?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, this is [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see some lens over there?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fuck. [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got to be that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've seen them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He turned around.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He took -- he snatched [inaudible] run.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fuck man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's talking about straight light there, I'm talking about not injured.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all want to bring him down now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I'm not bringing a dude. No, hell --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring him down there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fuck this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]. My leg, bro. My knee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] that's him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, he took all running so [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. Where you all see him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was running to the yard, bro. This one I got --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said, I couldn't see no more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you said that. We went from there. You all say about there though.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But then he start running, bro?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: he's wiping his face. [inaudible] so that's him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He came right on time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I see [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Right on time. So we'll about to take his ass to the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I fuck my leg, bro. [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] but when I've seen that boy running, bro, [inaudible] no more, bro.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] somewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come the fuck over here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit out, bro. Sit out, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, man [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Motherfucker [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shit. My shit [inaudible] like a motherfucker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Motherfucker [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I see you [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I want my light on, bro.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's in a [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hit him [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Hold on. Hold on. Let me [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please. Man, I will hear him [inaudible]
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hear me, dog.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
[19:30:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I spray, he spray, hit me with tase. He jumped off [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then you're going from a [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He grabbed - he grabbed Mark [inaudible]
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] the wallet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I -- look, I think [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, bro. You good?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] he hit me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He reached for Mark's gun and slammed to the car and we were [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] oh, my God, like that motherfucker is on there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This boy is dope. The boy is dope. He cut strong [inaudible]
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was he driving?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He got his ID right there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: [inaudible] running.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] his way running, he ran so goddamn far.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know that might [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know we get it out, man.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just stay like that.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've seen him running, man. Really real pass and running, so I got him right here.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oncoming traffic. So we tried to - I'm talking about [inaudible] we tried to give a stop, he did stop, we [inaudible] stop, stop, stop [inaudible] drove around, swerve like he's going to hit my car. So then I'm like, goddamn. What are we doing? He pulled up the red -- like stop at the red light, put his turn signal on. So we [inaudible] by the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So it went from there. He got [inaudible]
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got my shit in my pocket. I won't use that, bro. [inaudible] use that.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm trying to see that shit now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see my [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm trying to find it. Well [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Mills. Where Mills at?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All over the town here right here. All right. Move.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] we're trying to get you straight. [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't go nowhere. You can't go nowhere. You can't go nowhere, man. You can't go nowhere.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no, where the fuck [inaudible]
[19:35:59]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 29-30 [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: [inaudible] any unit available.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But he tell me he got one in custody, bro.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, hell no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Lou. Come here. Come here, Lou. Come here. Come here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible] over there but [inaudible] for a car. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 29-01 [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [inaudible]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can get on the radio and take this off.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 90 -- 907 [inaudible] unit transported [inaudible].
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: All right. And that portion you -- you're just seeing at the end there when paramedics came. Obviously, pretty excruciating just to watch everyone standing as Tyre Nichols is lying on the ground. You also heard him there of course yelling, "mom, mom, mom." and crying out in that, as well as the officers sort of explaining to each other what they said had happened.
Now, we're going to play the final video for you now released by the city of Memphis. And here's what this is going to be. This is from an elevated camera mounted to a street pole. So on this one, there will be no audio.
But what you will see is Nichols being thrown to the ground by police and kicked in the head. You will see him handcuffed and dragged by police to a nearby car. All of this is going to be on this sky cam video basically from a light pole near where this happened.
So you won't hear it. You will see it though. And it is incredibly graphic. So I warn you about that. I want you to know, of course, as you make a decision on whether to watch it, that that is what you will see here. So here it is.
And in this moment, as it begins here. John Miller is with me, of course formerly of the NYPD. John, what we have seen so far and we're about to see now, the excruciatingness of just watching them standing around. So many of them, more than the five who were charged in each instance.
JOHN MILLER, CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Yes. So at some point, you see up to eight police officers on the scene at the second scene. But we're start -- it's -- the story is starting to take shape. And that you see the first scene when the officer who's got the body cam running, arrives on that first scene. There's already screaming and yelling going on. They're already trying to drag him out of the car. So it's operating at a very high pitch.
BURNETT: At a very high pitch. Now, this what we're looking at, to be clear, we had -- we had been looking at body cams. This is not a body cam.
MILLER: Right.
BURNETT: This is a different camera. This is just a camera that any city would have or a town. There's a camera mounted to the top of a light pole.
MILLER: This is a Memphis PD camera. It's halfway up a light pole that's on the area of Castlegate and Ross where this second part of the incident after the half mile --
[19:40:04]
BURNETT: Chase.
MILLER: -- chase goes on. The half mile chase is interesting because -- well, it looks like we're getting into the incident now, right?
BURNETT: Yes. Let's watch this here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(NO AUDIO)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: As we watch this, the officers now pulled Tyre Nichols over to the car. John, that was the angle from the sky cam that showed the real horror of what occurred here, kick after kick, punch after -- crushed with a baton.
MILLER: I mean, what you're seeing is a fairly significant number of officers who are failing at arresting control tactics and making up for it with brutality. From what everybody who has seen this it said, is it a shocking video? Yes.
[19:45:11]
BURNETT: Darren Porcher, former NYPD lieutenant. And you've investigated many of these situations of police violence. You've been in charge investigating. What do you see here?
DARRIN PORCHER, FORMER NYPD LIEUTENANT: I was a lieutenant in the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau. So investigations of this magnitude would have come into my purview. And it's clearly excessive force.
But the biggest problem that I have is there's a lack of supervision. There's no direction on the ground. A first line supervisor, which is a sergeant, is a terminal component in policing. So when we look at it from a micro perspective, that officer is under the direct supervision of a sergeant, and that sergeant did not take control of the situation.
The macro perspective is the chief of police. The Chief of Police is not on the scene. It's that micro perspective that involves a police officer and the first line supervisor, and that's where we see the void and supervision.
BURNETT: And just that what you're seeing here, police officer after police officer, and that's what's incredibly painful to watch. After we have watched all these videos from the body cam perspective, it's the static one from on high that shows the real magnitude of what happened here, Darrin.
I mean, are you shocked to see anything like this? Again, you see the kick after kick just viciously. The guy is already lying on the ground, he comes in waving the baton over his head and slams into him again and again and again. That's another officer. Then another officer just sucker punching him.
PORCHER: We have something in policing we refer to as the force continuum. And that's where an officer starts with the lowest level of force, which is merely their presence, then it elevates to verbal commands, and then physical and then it goes to pepper spray, a baton, and the worst-case scenario is deadly physical force with a firearm.
I don't foresee the need for the elevation above the physical force. I see a baton was used. I see officers kick this individual in the ahead. It's clearly excessive. But what's even more troubling is no officer was willing to intervene and say stop.
I mean, there's a point where you have to intercede and say either stop or physically step between the officer that's assaulting the person. And that actual individual and that didn't happen, so --
BURNETT: No, no. Not even an intimation of such a thing happening.
Charles Ramsey also with us, the former Philadelphia police commissioner and D.C. police chief. What do you see here, Chief?
CHARLES RAMSEY, FORMER PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, the pole cam video is the damning video. The first video, you can see how aggressive the officers were in taking him out of the car. Obviously, they use pepper spray. They not only sprayed him, they sprayed themselves, because you could see him getting water flushed -- to flush their eyes and so forth.
The second video, I couldn't pick up a whole lot from there. I caught a little bit of it, but the pole cam video is the one that is really justifies the charges that have been placed. I mean, is it beyond anything in terms of policy training or anything else? Nobody trains for that.
And, you know, I mean, these guys are acting so far outside of a bounce that, you know, you really can't explain it. Now you see him standing around. You know, one officer kicked him so hard and so much that he's limping around. The other when Nichols was handcuffed. I mean, he's throwing hook shots at him, punching him in the face.
You know, I mean, it's as bad as it was described. I mean, there's no way of describing it any other way. I've not seen -- I was looking to see if I ever saw a sergeant or any supervisor at the scene. It's nighttime. So it's very difficult. I was looking for Chevron's or something that would indicate a supervisor. I haven't seen that yet. But that's something that I guess the police chief would know whether or not there was a supervisor on the scene, but I haven't seen one yet.
BURNETT: But then to you and Darrin both mentioning the importance of that. Joey, one thing that the chief just mentioned, you see the people standing around, and that is the other part that just stands out about this. They are standing around. Even when the paramedics come, and I want to clarify earlier said the two firemen were fired. They were put on administrative leave. So I want to clarify that.
But that also stands out. You have a guy that they know they did this to and he's just sitting here. We're just watching this. They're just -- he's continuing to stand there. You've got at one point if you count, I've counted at least eight people.
JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's really just horrific. It's brutal. It's very difficult to watch, Erin, you know.
[19:50:00]
I'll tell you this, my dad was a police officer. May he rest in peace. And he always told me that out of all the weapons that he had, the most effective weapon he can ever use was interpersonal communication, speaking to someone, relating to someone, respecting someone, treating them like they're a human being and that they matter, and that would de-escalate everything.
So what do I see here? What I see here is no interpersonal communication at all. I see no immediacy of threat that was posed to the officers such that they would respond. I see no proportionality with respect to the force in hitting and the punching and the kicking and using, you know, everything that they used.
And then finally, I see summing that all up there and I see no reasonableness, last, last point, right? And that is you ask about, you know, the milling around and what they could do. You have a duty to act to intervene, and that did not happen. And that is problematic, it's troubling, and it's criminal. And that's why this is being prosecuted to the degree and the expediency in which it is.
BURNETT: And I should say here, right now, I just counted nine or 10 people. We know that five have been charged with second degree murder. There haven't been other charges yet. There may be, right? There's a lot here that we don't know.
Watching this, as we've all watched it together, the -- when Tyre Nichols was screaming, "Mom, mom, mom," I mean it really -- it -- that's hard. It's hard to hear.
Don Lemon, you've been waiting this. Watching all of this, as we all have together, what has stood out to you the most seeing it?
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: As long as we're being honest, all of it. I mean, from the officer's actions, to their words, to what has happened to this young man. I mean, the officers -- listen to -- they sound like they're hanging out that a barbershop or outside of a bar talking shit. That's what they sound like. They don't sound professional. They sound like they're just, hey, man making up excuses. Yes, and he did this. And he did that.
I can't believe that these are professional police officers. And from the very beginning, the police chief is right. They started, they were amped up. And I believe that your panelists, Joey, all of these guys are right. All they had to do was explain to him why they were stopping him. He said, why are you stopping me? You all are doing a lot. All they had to do was tell him why they were stopping him and they didn't do it. They kept going.
So what I may have run to if a bunch of people just ran up to my car and try and pull me out and became aggressive. I might do the same thing. So he runs and then they find him. It is obvious the man is trying to run home to his mom. That's what he's trying to do. So they get him in the neighborhood. And then they catch -- they put him on the ground and you hear them talking crap again, your mom, she can't hear you, as if your mom can hear you, and I'm going to tase or pepper spray the shit out of you. I'm going to baton the F out of you. They're saying all of these things -- it doesn't sound -- why? What is the need for that?
And then they get him on the ground and this pole camera is -- you're right, it is the most damning. Now listen, I have to be honest. This is bad and that this man -- young man is dead. Is it Rodney King? I don't believe. I think this is Tyre Nichols. It's different. Rodney King was beat for baton for minutes. If you go back and look at the Rodney King video. Rodney King was on PCP. Says -- gives you this extra strength that police officers can tell you about. It is different.
Is it just as bad? It's worse, because this man was killed. Rodney King wasn't killed. He ended up dying eventually from something else. This is awful in its own. This can stand on its own. So we don't need to do the comparisons to Rodney King. This is different.
But then -- but then when he is unconscious on the ground, after they beat him and kick him, they leave him there. They prop him up against the car, he falls over, they prop him against the car, he falls over, they prop him against car, he falls over. And you have all of these people on the scene and not rendering help. This is awful. This is a failure, not only in policing. It's a failure in humanity.
And I'm uncomfortable actually watching it. And I know this is my job as a journalist, but this is uncomfortable. We're watching a man being beaten to death on live television right now. It is a tape, but we're live doing it.
Shimon has been sitting -- Shimon Prokupecz has been covering this. He's been standing here. We've been watching this. Both of us outraged and on the verge of tears. I cannot believe the actions or inaction of the police officers.
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: You know what, this kind of reminds me of like movies you watch like thugs, like gangs, they like gang up on someone, they hold them back. They use their fists, they kick, they use sticks. You know, this is something you would see in like a gang movie, thugs. A bunch of thugs jumping on someone and just attack them.
And I think everyone's making very valid points, the beginning, what was that about? Why were the officers so angry and so amped up and so riled up that they had to pull them out of the car, throw him to the ground, he then escapes because he's clearly fearful for his life. And he takes off.
[19:55:16]
LEMON: But as we're talking about these officers, when they're discussing, it sounds like they're like, hey, man, I was doing this and he was doing that.
PROKUPECZ: Yes. I think it's also a part, they're trying to make excuses almost for why they did. I think there's one officer somehow mentioned that maybe he tried to grab his gun.
LEMON: I didn't see that.
PROKUPECZ: Well, there's -- right. And there's another officer says, he's high, he's high. So they're already making excuses for some of their actions.
What's really -- think about where we are now in this video, how many minutes are we into this? And he's still laying there and the EMTs --
LEMON: He's still laying on the ground.
PROKUPECZ: No one is giving him any kind of care.
LEMON: Shimon --
PROKUPECZ: This man is brutally beaten at this point.
LEMON: Standby. Let's --
PROKUPECZ: They have time to take him to a hospital and perhaps had they acted sooner. I don't know, we don't know this medically.
LEMON: Yes. But let's bring it -- let's bring in -- speaking of, let's bring in CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta to help us do that.
Sanjay, this man has been laying there for a long time. No one is rendering care to him. He's been kicked, he's been punched, he's been battoned [ph]. You can -- we saw in the video that he's been bleeding, obviously his injuries.
Take us through this medically. What should have been done on the scene? And what is he suffering from?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, obviously, it's horrific to watch. And, you know, as a -- as a trauma surgeon, trauma neurosurgeon myself, you know, sometimes we'll see patients who are brought in, but we never really see this part of things.
I was keeping very close track of things, both in terms of what was happening, but also the timing of things. And he was -- he was sort of dragged over to this car in handcuffs and laid up against the car. That happened around 8:33, according to the clock.
It was about eight minutes later that you first saw a fire truck pull up. But nothing really happens at that point. That's what sort of stunning. I guess that's what you and Shimon are both sort of alluding to 8:55. So 15 minutes later, roughly, is when the first time he seems to be assessed, someone actually has a bag and is trying to assess him, but it's not till nine o'clock.
And I don't know if we've seen this in this video yet. I watched some of that earlier, when you finally see people starting to actually administer some sort of care. So it's about a half an hour. And, you know, when you watch this, there's all sorts of different injuries he may have suffered. I mean, so many of the injuries to the head. I mean, you saw kicks to the head, you saw these, these blows to the head, punches to the head. That's obviously very, very concerning.
And what can happen in that situation is that the brain may start to swell. And that's why this timing is so critical, because if the brain is swelling, he's still -- he's still seemed like he was talking at some point, but he's obviously getting worse, the brain starts to swell, then you're not getting enough oxygenated blood to the brain anymore. And that's what causes the big problem and what can lead to death ultimately.
Don't know. All we've been told from the pathologist so far and from Benjamin Crump's office was that he had significant bleeding associated with the beating. We know that. We can see that. My concern is that so much of that happened inside his skull, Don. And I mean, it was just -- it was just really, really hard to watch.
LEMON: Sanjay, he should have been taken to a hospital immediately. Am I wrong?
GUPTA: No, absolutely. I mean, I count at least a half an hour probably. And that's after the fire trucker, EMS. I can't tell what vehicle that is, was there. So, yes, he should have absolutely been taken.
I -- Shimon made the point. Do we know that would have made a difference? Can't say that. But, yes, I mean, he's just laying there, obviously, in critical condition at this point.
LEMON: Go ahead, Shimon.
PROKUPECZ: But, you know, there was a discussion with -- you can hear on the -- on the -- on the transmissions about whether or not to bring him back to the scene. What I can't figure out and I've been sort of still -- this is something that has, I don't know, this -- the fact that the EMTs did not take him, the fact that we had heard about this earlier, has sort of stayed with me.
And when you watch this, it's just -- it's hard to believe that none of them they -- would offer him any kind of aid at this point. And you see, he's handcuffed at this point. And he's seemingly unconscious. He's falling in different directions, but no one -- LEMON: I think he's going in and out of consciousness, because there's
a point where he's laying and he falls over and obviously he's out of it. And then he -- they tried to --
PROKUPECZ: But no one's helping him on.
LEMON: -- and that happens --
PROKUPECZ: No one.
LEMON: -- Sanjay, in this situation, right? He goes -- he can go -- come to and then go back out again.
GUPTA: There's a phenomenon. And I hesitate to even say it because it's hard to think about, but it's basically talk and die where you're still talking, but because of that brain swelling that's occurring, you're -- you are sort of lapsing in and out of consciousness.
