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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Violent Protests Over North Carolina Police Shooting; White, Working Class & Worried; FBI Investigated Rahami In 2014; Team Trump Defends "Profiling"; Report: Trump Used Foundation Money To Settle Lawsuits; Global Rally On Fed Decision Day; Mark Cuban Takes On Trump. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired September 21, 2016 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:45] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking news. Protesters take to the streets in North Carolina after police shoot and kill a man they say was armed. Demonstrations turning violent in the early morning hours -- tear gas deployed, looting. All of this after another black man was shot and killed by police in Tulsa days ago. We have the very latest.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone, I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's thirty-one minutes past the hour. A developing situation this morning in Charlotte, North Carolina after a police officer shot and killed a black man, 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott.
Police in riot gear have been using tear gas to disperse protesters overnight. Some of those protesters throwing rocks and water bottles. At least a dozen officers were injured in the clashes. We know maybe seven or so protesters taken to the hospital, maybe for tear gas exposure. Some protesters set a fire on the road and looted trucks that were forced to stop there.
CNN's Brynn Gingras joins us for the very latest this morning. Good morning, Brynn.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine. Yes, I mean, the investigation just unfolding -- just getting started, really, at this point. But right now, the Charlotte mayor is really calling for calm and a full investigation into the shooting of 43- year-old Keith Lamont Scott by Officer Brentley Vinson.
Both the officer and the victim are African-American, and listen to the local police chief describe what led up to the shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERR PUTNEY, POLICE CHIEF, CHARLOTTE, NC: At this point, all we know is they're in the apartment complex parking lot and this subject gets out with a weapon. They engage him and one of the officers felt a lethal threat and fired his weapon because of it. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the warrants weren't for the man, but we're not sure if this man was connected to them.
PUTNEY: Absolutely. They were not specific to the deceased but we don't know if there's a connection of the deceased with the suspect that we're looking for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRAS: That explanation, though, not sitting well with protesters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But as far as my child, my nephews, I am concerned. I'm worried about them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was my brother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something has to be done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the problem.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whether it's our city leaders, whether it's our state leaders, these presidential candidates that are coming on to the scene, something has to be done. There was a terrorist -- New Jersey, New York. He was taken alive. They said they wanted to question him. So because of you wanted to question him, does his life mean more than our black men across the nation?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It doesn't make any sense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRAS: Certainly a lot of frustration. Officer Vinson has been placed on paid administration leave while the shooting is investigated. We have pictures of Lamont Scott -- Keith Lamont Scott and we want to show those to you. He is a father, according to his family, of seven and they dispute the idea that he had a gun. They say he was sitting in his car reading a book when officers came up firing that shot that killed him.
ROMANS: One of his daughters saying he was waiting to pick up one of his kids off the school bus --
GINGRAS: Right.
ROMANS: -- and was just waiting there. All right, that investigation, as you say, just now getting underway. Thanks, Brynn.
BERMAN: And to be clear, we expect to hear from a lot of people in news conferences this morning, including the police, including the family.
ROMANS: I think 10:00 a.m. Eastern is the next news conference we're expecting.
BERMAN: Ten a.m., so stay tuned for that. Earlier, we spoke with Adam Rhew, an associate editor for "Charlotte Magazine". He was discussing the protest. He said he saw seven protesters and/or bystanders taken to the hospital, as well. It was a busy, busy night. It really just ended very, very recently with very few protesters now still on the streets.
He explained to us how in this city -- in Charlotte -- really, no one expected the demonstrations to take the violent turn they did.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAM RHEW, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "CHARLOTTE MAGAZINE" (via telephone): Charlotte's a nice city. People get along. There's been, generally, a positive relationship between police and the public there. Our relatively new police chief is a -- is a big supporter of community policing and has launched some initiatives that have gone over very well.
However, in the last several years there have been several incidents that have involved shootings by police of citizens in this community, and that has certainly started to erode some of the trust that has been built up -- some of the goodwill that exists in this community for the police and the public.
[05:35:00] Perhaps the most high-profile case was two or three years ago -- I guess, now three years ago -- when a white police officer shot an unarmed black man -- a young man who the police officer believed was a threat. The district attorney did not file --or I'm sorry, the court decided not to move forward with charges against the officer and there was some concern when that happened -- when that was announced -- I believe that was late last summer or early last summer.
When that happened there was some concern about violence then and, really, the community and the police did a great job of letting people express their concern -- their frustration with, perhaps, how the legal process turned out. And the police and the public and the city government gave folks a venue and a place to do that respectfully and peacefully and, really, the weekend passed without major incident.
And so, while there was tension and while there still continues to be tension, I think a lot of folks, when they heard reports of this shooting yesterday afternoon, thought that maybe that's what we would see. That there would be some protests -- that people would have a place to express their anger but that it wouldn't turn violent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: In fact, it did turn violent. We saw the protests overnight, those fires on the streets there. A great deal of frustration this morning and it all comes on the heels of the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Now police say PCP was found in the vehicle of the victim, 40-year-old Terence Crutcher. They suggest he may have been on some sort of drug. An attorney for Crutcher's family says they're looking into that but he says this remains an example of how not to handle someone in that situation. (Video playing) Dash cam and helicopter video shows Crutcher with his hands up -- his hands up -- being shot by an officer as he walked toward his SUV. Protesters were on the streets outside Tulsa police headquarters.
We want to get the latest from CNN's Ana Cabrera.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, outrage is growing in this community with protesters gathering in front of the police station, calling for the arrest of Officer Betty Shelby who opened fire, shooting and killing 40-year-old Terence Crutcher. His family calling the video leading up to his shooting devastating, saying there was no evidence or reason for her to open fire.
Now, there are two separate investigations into whether or not this shooting was justified. First, the criminal investigation by the Tulsa police homicide unit. There is also a federal civil rights probe that was sparked after Department of Justice officials saw the video -- the video from the police dash camera, as well as the police helicopter. Both videos showing Terence Crutcher with his arms in the air as he approaches his SUV.
But in neither video can you see Officer Shelby open fire. That is the crucial moment and the big question mark here. Officer Shelby's attorney telling us leading up to that moment Terence Crutcher had refused to obey several commands and that he reached into his vehicle, which is why Officer Shelby opened fire, fearing he may be grabbing for a weapon. Now we know there was no weapon. He was unarmed and there was no weapon in the vehicle.
As outrage continues to grow in this community and around the nation the police chief is asking people to withhold judgment until the investigations are complete, and he vows justice will prevail -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, thanks so much for that, Ana Cabrera. We're going to have more on your money right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:42:35] ROMANS: All right, 42 minutes past the hour. Working class white voters carried Donald Trump to the Republican nomination and now a new survey -- a new survey from CNN and the Kaiser Family Foundation reveals how they feel about the most important election issues. Now, this survey defines working class as those without a four-year college degree and Republicans and Democrats were included here.
This is what the survey found. First, 53 percent of white, working class voters say they are very dissatisfied with the economy. That's a much stronger response than college educated whites or black and Hispanic working class respondents.
This content seems to lie in the future. The survey asked will your children be worse off than you. Fifty percent of the white working class said yes, a much higher percentage than other groups. But they aren't just worried about the present. Sixty-three percent say they are satisfied with their personal finances. Only 33 percent are not.
BERMAN: All right, new details emerging this morning about accused bomber Ahmad Rahami with authorities filing federal charges. Court documents reveal that investigators recovered new video from the cell phone of a family member.
The video is said to show the suspect setting off an incendiary device that was partially buried in the ground. The document says that in the video he lights the fuse, with a loud noise and flames, and then billowing smoke and laughter. CNN has also learned that two years ago the FBI investigated Rahami following a violent family fight.
CNN's Pamela Brown has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, John and Christine. The bombing suspect, Ahmad Rahami, has been named in federal charges, including use of a weapon of mass destruction, bombing, destruction of property, and use of a destructive device.
The complaint says that 12 fingerprints were recovered from the pressure cooker, duct tape, and cell phone recovered at 27th Street in Chelsea. And it says that he bought some of the bomb items used over eBay.
And CNN has learned that just two years before that the FBI opened up an inquiry into Rahami after he was charged in a domestic dispute. A neighbor apparently heard the father call his son a terrorist and notified authorities, according to a U.S. official. The FBI interviewed his father who we're told recanted the fact that his son was a terrorist, and just said he was worried about people he was hanging out with.
But apparently the FBI did not interview Rahami, who was in jail at the time. The grand jury decided not to indict. The FBI revealed in a statement that it conducted internal database reviews, interagency checks, and multiple interviews, none of which revealed ties to terrorism.
[05:45:00] Meantime, we have learned the Pakistani wife of Rahami has been cooperating with U.S. officials. She apparently was on her way back to the United States from her overseas trip and was questioned after her husband was identified as the bomber. She is not accused of any wrongdoing at this point in this investigation -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Pamela, thank you so much for that. Again, we are also following what's happening in North Carolina right now. A very tense night. Violent protests there overnight. It's calmed down now but we will be watching that. There will be some press conferences coming up.
Also, it's decision day for Janet Yellen and the Federal Reserve. Will the Fed board hike interest rates and make mortgages and credit cards more expensive? We're going to get an EARLY START on your money, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:50:20] BERMAN: Breaking news out of North Carolina this morning. (Video playing) You're looking at it right there. Protests -- angry protests overnight after a police shooting of a black man there. You can see some of the protesters setting fire on the streets there. There was also some rocks thrown, as well as bottles. Police say that 12 officers were hurt. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
We're told that, for the most part, over the last hour or so those crowds have dispersed. At least a dozen officers, police say, were hurt. We're told about seven protesters or bystanders were taken to hospitals to receive treatment.
Those protesters demanding answers after an officer shot Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old black man apparently the father of seven, at an apartment complex on Tuesday. The officers were there serving a warrant for someone else. The police say that Scott was armed. Scott's family disputes that. Charlotte's mayor is urging calm and a full investigation into the shooting.
ROMANS: All right, this morning the Trump campaign is defending the candidate's support of profiling to prevent bombings like those that happened over the weekend. Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway tells Erin Burnett political correctness is hindering investigations into suspicious people and behavior.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: The idea that people feel that they've got a reason to be suspicious and don't feel comfortable to say that. I mean, I've talked to Mayor Giuliani about this. We used to have -- police officers were able to patrol certain places of worship based on reasonable suspicions, and that's just all gone away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right, joining us now from Washington to talk about politics -- he is the managing editor of "CNN POLITICS DIGITAL", Zachary Wolf. Zach, nice to see you this morning.
ROMANS: Good morning.
BERMAN: I have to believe the events overnight -- these protests overnight, the looting overnight, the fires, and just the anger over another police shooting of a black man -- I believe that will be front and center on the campaign trail today. Hillary Clinton has an event in Orlando. It's supposed to be about the economy but I won't be surprised if she talks about this.
ZACHARY WOLF, MANAGING EDITOR, "CNN POLITICS DIGITAL": That's right. You know, she hasn't been afraid to weigh in on these issues. She spoke about the police shooting in Tulsa earlier this week so it's clearly something she wants to talk about and present a contrast with Donald Trump.
Key to her election strategy is motivating the Obama base of support which includes African-Americans. There's clearly a lot of tension throughout the country and with that community, so I'm it's something she'll have to talk about.
ROMANS: Donald Trump, yesterday, was in North Carolina before this event happened and he talked about -- well, he talked about the African-American community. This is what he said -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape that they've ever been in before -- ever, ever, ever. You take a look at the inner cities. You get no education, you get no jobs, you get shot walking down the street. They're worse -- I mean, honestly, places like Afghanistan are safer than some of our inner cities.
And I say to the African-American communities, and I think it's resonating because you see what's happening with my poll numbers with African-Americans. They're going, like, high.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Trump has been pretty supportive of police officers in prior shootings. What do you make of his position or what do you think his position will be influenced on the trail today on this North Carolina situation?
WOLF: Well, I think he made those comments before this current North Carolina situation, although Ibelieve he was speaking in North Carolina. He has been very supportive of police officers in the past. It will be interesting to see what he says with these sort of twin incidents in Tulsa and North Carolina now.
I think you have you to give him a real big fact-check there on whether his poll numbers with African-Americans are going real high. I don't think that's the case, at least in the polling that I've seen, although this issue is clear to -- is sure to play out, I think, in the coming days.
BERMAN: Other people are fact-checking whether the situation for African-Americans is worse than it's ever, ever been, particularly in North Carolina where there was slavery and Jim Crow laws and segregation. Zach Wolf, an article in "The Washington Post" today -- the front page --
ROMANS: Yes. BERMAN: David Fahrenthold revealing that $250,000 from the Trump Foundation, he says, went to pay legal settlements from Donald Trump's profit corporations. That's called self-dealing. The Trump campaign attacking the reporter but not necessarily disputing the facts of the case. Has legs?
[05:55:00] WOLF: Yes, definitely, and you have to pair it with an earlier report from the same reporter, first, that Trump hadn't given money to his own foundation for a number of years. And now it turns out money from the foundation, which was taking money from other people, was used to settle out-of-court disputes for for-profit Trump businesses.
You know, for a billionaire, probably a quarter of a million dollars used to settle disputes is not a lot of money, but it's certainly not the kind of thing Trump wants out there right now.
ROMANS: All right, Zach Wolf -- and also, David Fahrenthold, the author of that article and a lot of other good reporting about the Trump Foundation. He's going to be on "NEW DAY" in about a half an hour, I think. So, thanks, nice to see you.
WOLF: Thank you.
ROMANS: Thanks, Zach. All right, let's get an EARLY START on your money this Wednesday morning. It is decision day for the Federal Reserve but investors are not worrying about a potential hike. No way -- look at that. Dow futures are solidly higher. European stock markets are rising. A big jump in Tokyo overnight. The action there from central bankers, who unveiled a new long-term interest rate target near zero.
Billionaire investor and star of "Shark Tank", Mark Cuban, is backing Hillary Clinton but he's also bashing Donald Trump again. Last week, he made Trump an offer -- this offer -- tweeting, "$10mm to the charity of YOUR choice if you let ME interview you for 4 hrs on YOUR policies and their substance." He then upped the ante and said he would write Trump a personal check for $10 million.
This week, Cuban sat down with my colleague, Alison Kosik, and explained why he's ramping up the public pressure on Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK CUBAN, BILLIONAIRE ENTREPRENEUR: I think Donald Trump is an immediate and present danger to the security of this country. His inability to control the things he says, his inability to understand the impact of what he says, his inability to have situational awarenesses creates risks for my country and for my kids, for my family. For everybody I know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: He did say Trump does a better job marketing himself than Hillary Clinton and that's part of the reason why some people feel she is -- BERMAN: Did Alison get paid? Is Cubanpaying everybody for interviews or just Donald Trump?
ROMANS: Just Donald Trump.
BERMAN: Oh, poor Alison.
ROMANS: He will just pay Donald Trump for interviews.
Owners of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 can trade in their phones today at the retail location where they bought it. Samsung shipped 500,000 replacements to U.S. stores. The recall covers one million. About 25 percent of customers have already turned theirs in. Faulty batteries are causing some phones to catch fire -- a problem. There are 92 reported incidents of that in the U.S.
If Note 7 owners do not return the older devices Samsung will push a software update to all recalled devices warning to turn the phone off and return it.
BERMAN: It's sort of like "Mission Impossible", right? You know, warning, this message will self-destruct.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: That's how they did it then, that's how they're doing it now.
All right, a lot going on this morning. The developing situation in Charlotte, North Carolina. There were protests all night. We saw looting, we saw fires on the street. This, after the police shooting of a black man -- a black man. The police went to this apartment complex with a warrant, not for the man they ended up shooting and killing. "NEW DAY" picks up the coverage right now.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. We do begin with breaking news. A bad situation in Charlotte, North Carolina. You have violent protests going on after police shot and killed a black man they say had a gun. Demonstrators taking to the highway, looting tractor trailers, setting fires. Police deploying tear gas as cruisers were being destroyed by the protesters.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: At least a dozen police officers are hurt. The city's mayor is calling for calm at this hour.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
Now, this unrest comes just hours after a different demonstration in Tulsa, Oklahoma, demanding the arrest of the police officer there for shooting this unarmed black man. So we have it all covered for you.
Let's begin with CNN's Brynn Gingras. She has the breaking news out of Charlotte. What do you know, Brynn?
GINGRAS: Alisyn, you see from that video a tumultuous night in Charlotte. The family of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott says he did not have a gun. And, instead, he was sitting in his car reading a book when an officer shot Scott, killing me. The differing accounts is what sparked all this outrage and Charlotte's mayor calling for calm.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GINGRAS: Overnight, violent protests erupting on the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All I want is police officers accountable for what they do.
GINGRAS: Several hundred protesters blocking a major highway, looting trucks and setting fire to some of their cargo. Officers in riot gear deploying tear gas, setting off flash bangs as angry crowds swarmed squad cars throwing water bottles and rocks at the officers, injuring at least a dozen.
Protesters moving to a local Walmart. Video shows them attempting to break in, but running once SWAT teams arrived.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The citizens have a legitimate concern and their concerns shouldn't be taken lightly.
GINGRAS: The clashes breaking out following the fatal shooting of a black man, Keith Lamont Scott. Police say they arrived at an apartment complex looking to serve a warrant to another individual when they encountered Scott who, they say, was armed.
