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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Violent Protests Erupt In Charlotte; North Carolina Governor Declares State Of Emergency; Federal Reserve Expects Economy To Grow 1.8% In 2016; How Does Media Coverage Affect Protests?; NY Bombing Suspect Unconscious; Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Looks To Prevent Or Manage All Diseases. ired 5:30-6a ET

Aired September 22, 2016 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:50] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

(Video playing)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Violent protests exploding in Charlotte for a second night in a row. Demonstrators shattering windows, trashing cars, even attacking reporters. Now the family of the black man killed by police is challenging the official account of that encounter. We are live from Charlotte right now.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everybody, I'm Christine Romans.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman. About 31 minutes past the hour right now and the breaking news this morning, this new eruption of violence in Charlotte, North Carolina. This was the second night of protests -- protests that took a dangerous turn. And you can see here, really, it went beyond protest to all-out riots.

It follows the police shooting of a black man in that city. Governor Pat McCrory issued a State of Emergency. Charlotte's mayor tells CNN that she is considering a curfew for tonight -- for Thursday night -- if these protests continue. Every sign that they will.

Overnight last night, rioters smashed windows, they vandalized buildings. They damaged the Bank of America building and a Charlotte Hornets store, just a few of the businesses that were hit. At the Hyatt, the manager says that protesters smashed out the windows and actually ended up punching hotel employees.

Our friend, CNN's Ed Lavandera -- he was slammed to the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They were trying to get various people -- agitators -- out of the crowd. And as other people came in to try to grab those people -- (pushed to ground).

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Ed, are you OK?

LAVANDERA: Yes, yes, yes, we're fine, Anderson. We're fine. So, just someone taking out their frustrations on me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Ed is doing fine. He's a great reporter and a good guy.

Police say four Charlotte officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries. They say one person, a civilian shot by another civilian, is on life support this morning and in critical condition. Officials actually corrected earlier reports that that person had died.

ROMANS: Now, as to the police shooting that started all of this, very different stories emergency of Keith Lamont Scott's death. Scott's family says he was unarmed. He was reading a book in his car waiting for his 5-year-old son to get off the school bus.

Charlotte's police chief says Scott exited his car with a gun which investigators recovered. He says no book was found. They were, of course, there to execute a warrant for someone else -- the police were.

This morning demands are growing for the release of police video of the shooting but the governor, who has not seen the video, says he has concerns about that, saying one video doesn't tell the whole story and the video can be used to jump to conclusions.

For the very latest we turn to CNN's Nick Valencia, live in Charlotte for us. And it was another tough night in Charlotte, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. A tough night is saying it lightly. Things turned very chaotic here last night very quickly. At about 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. -- that's when the peaceful demonstrations started here on the streets of downtown Charlotte, but just within a matter of about an hour or so things turned violent. Police blame agitators for causing the chaos.

A demonstrator I spoke to said things didn't get out of hand until police launched tear gas canisters. What is left behind -- the aftermath -- is a string of businesses along this thoroughfare in downtown Charlotte that have been left looted, vandalized, graffiti spray-painted on the outside. We're standing out in front of one of those stores that suffered some of the worst of the damage. A lot of those items still -- some of them are still on the shelves but unrecognizable at this point.

I spoke earlier to the Hyatt general manager. That's another hotel that was attacked last night and hotel employees assaulted. That business is -- a business, I should say had items thrown through the windows that smashed out glass out front.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT ALLEN, GENERAL MANAGER, HYATT HOUSE: Earlier on in the night, yes, it was a very peaceful -- you know -- everyone -- they actually seemed like they were in good spirits. There seemed to be some good comradery and then I don't know what happened. They marched up the street a little bit and then things got ugly fast, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP) [05:35:00] VALENCIA: Part of what's adding to the frustration here is what demonstrators say is the lack of transparency. The focus right now, for them, is on this body cam footage. They really want to see the video of what happened. There have been some complications, so to speak -- storylines that have been competing. One storyline being put out by the police, another being put out by Keith Scott's family.

They say Scott was unarmed. The police chief answered to those allegations at a press conference yesterday saying that his officers feared for their lives and that Mr. Scott did not comply with a demand to drop his weapon, which is why he was fatally shot -- John, Christine.

BERMAN: There is some video of this incident. Police not releasing that video, at least not yet. All right, Nick Valencia, thank you so much.

We spoke earlier with Marcus DiPaola. He is a freelance photographer who was in the middle of all the unrest last night. He described how things unfolded as the violence worsened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VOICE OF MARCUS DIPAOLA, FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER (via telephone): From about 8:00 p.m. to midnight there was so much tear gas and so many pepper balls being shot that I really didn't have a chance to take off my gas mask for more than a couple of seconds at a time. Protesters were smashing glass everywhere. And I remember what I now assume was the restaurant manager or owner screaming at protesters for breaking their windows.

One of the most striking visuals that I'm remembering -- and I actually haven't slept yet because I just finished compiling my footage -- was when protesters got on the highway. Police got in single-file line and shot pepper balls at them to get them off the highway.

This was really bad night for the city. I was pushed to the ground twice and so were other members of my crew but, thankfully, everyone that I was with got out uninjured.

BERMAN: You know, Marcus, you were out there overnight. Do you have any reason to believe that tonight -- Thursday night -- won't be like this again?

DIPAOLA: Yes, you know, I did not see a huge amount of organization on either the part of the police or the protesters. It really looked like police lost control of the situation. And I think that now that both police and protesters are going to have a good six to eight hours during the daylight after everybody goes to sleep and wakes back up, everybody's going to have some time to organize.

I'm really nervous about what's going to happen tonight, meaning Thursday night, just because people will have time to organize.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: And again, a man gravely injured, shot in that crowd last night by someone else in the crowd. Certainly, just a dangerous night.

Joining us here in New York, CNN law enforcement analyst Matt Horace. He's a former executive with the ATF and a senior V.P. at FJC Security Services. What are your initial thoughts when you see pictures like this and do you think -- I can clearly see the faces of many of these rioters -- people who are bashing in windows. Will those people be charged, do you think?

MATT HORACE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, SENIOR VP, FJC SECURITY SERVICES: Well, I'm hoping that the police chief and the city sit down today and develop a strategy and the strategy has to be centered around several elements.

The first, crisis management. In that crisis management strategy, management of their message, what information are they going to release, management of the investigation, the shooting investigation, collateral investigations, when they can identify people that are committing crimes, and management of the process.

What are they going to tell protesters for tonight? We're going to give you space to protest but police are going to be on hand. We're going to give you a designated area. They have to have a strategy to ensure that this doesn't happen again tonight.

BERMAN: Does that mean a curfew?

HORACE: It may mean a curfew but it may mean a combination of here's our curfew, here are our parameters, protest as you will.

BERMAN: Well, let me as you a question here. One of the problems that we're seeing on the ground there in North Carolina is just the incredibly divergent views between the official word and the opinion of what happened among those in the community there on the street.

The police chief says that Scott had a gun. Protesters say they don't believe there was a gun. The police chief says that they found no book. You know, the demonstrators there on the ground say he was carrying a book. When there's that much distrust -- if they can't come together on what even is a basic fact, how do you heal?

HORACE: Well, let's go back to what I said earlier. Management of the message, management of the crisis. They don't have to come together on what they hear. There's only one set of facts and the facts need to be released at the appropriate time in the appropriate way. The shooting is being investigated and I'm quite sure that the chief is working with the city to come up with a strategy --

ROMANS: Right.

HORACE: -- on how we release that information and to what degree we release the information. There is only one set of facts and those facts will come out within due time. ROMANS: This is -- this is downtown Charlotte so it's a little bit different than some of the other riots we have seen which have been in neighborhoods where something happened.

HORACE: Right.

ROMANS: This is downtown Charlotte so that, I think, maybe elevates the message a little bit, right?

HORACE: Yes.

ROMANS: It's sending a message just how angry and distrustful people are in North Carolina. But what's the difference between Charlotte and what we're seeing last night and the night before, and Tulsa, where there was also a shooting. Someone with his hands up, clearly, with video released right away. But that city is much calmer.

Is it social media? Is it because the daughter in the Charlotte case put this very -- this heart-rending message about the very moments when she learned that her father died -- and the emotion is different?

[05:40:00] HORACE: Well, let's go back to condition, what I referred to earlier. And what I referred to as coptics, the optics of policing in the digital age. We never had to deal with that before and we have to deal with it now. The difference in Charlotte and Tulsa, the police chief came out right away and he deplored the incident based on what he saw. In Charlotte, the deceased's daughter put something out on Facebook, and Twitter, and Instagram. It went viral immediately.

ROMANS: And that was the first message about the shooting.

HORACE: That was the first message. So then people who want to believe that there is a problem with the police believe it based on her message. The police department, today, has to come out with a message. They have tell -- and let's face it, he's already done that. The chief said there was no book, there was a gun, but no one is listening to that message. They have to get control of this situation before we get to tonight.

BERMAN: Matt Horace, hoping they do. Thanks for being with us.

HORACE: Thank you.

ROMANS: All right, 40 minutes past the hour. Time for an EARLY START on your money. Janet Yellen and the Federal Reserve holding interest rates steady, so your mortgages, your credit cards, your car loans will stay near rock-bottom rates for now.

My Romans' Numeral today is 2.6 percent. That is the economic growth rate in 2015, just slightly lower in 2014. At that time it was criticized as not fast enough. Well, guess what? The Fed was waiting for all the economic signals to align before raising rates, which it finally did in December of 2015. Two points, so now the Federal Reserve has cut its number to 1.8 percent. So the 2.6 -- that number was criticized for being not fast enough and look, here we are at 1.8. BERMAN: All right, 41 minutes after the hour right now. We're going to have an update on the protests in Charlotte. The damage this morning as the sun comes up. And in the heat of it all several reporters came under attack, including one of our own, Ed Lavandera. We're going to get an update on how Ed is doing. He's doing fine. We'll talk more about this, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:46:10] BERMAN: (Video playing) The breaking news, protests and violence in Charlotte, North Carolina. You can see here rioters smashing windows. They vandalized storefronts across the downtown area. Reporters, including some of our own, targets of violence as Ed Lavandera, our friend there, knocked off of his feet by a protestor. Local outlets in Charlotte are also reporting injuries to their crews.

Joining us now is senior media correspondent Brian Stelter, host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES". Brian, just to be clear, Ed is OK and it was clear right after he got knocked down he got right back up --

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT, HOST: Right back up, yes.

BERMAN: -- and kept on reporting. And he doesn't want to be -- he's been on Twitter -- doesn't want to be part of this story, he just wants to report the story.

STELTER: Yes. He said I'm fine, thanks for your well wishes. I'm back to work now. CNN's crews and many other crews on the scene last night experiencing the effects of the tear gas, as well. And, quite literally, they were attacking the messenger, which you always hate to see. Reporters do not want to be combatants in any situation, especially in a situation like this.

But there were some very hairy situations as the devolved in Charlotte. And now, as we see the National Guard pour into this city -- you know, always disturbing when you see that kind of response. A necessary response but disturbing images to see. And it means the story is going to continue, not for hours but for days to come.

ROMANS: Do those stories -- the pictures that you see -- the pictures that we're showing -- you know, hotel employees say they got -- they were punched. You see people clearly engaging in acts of violence. Does that undermine the original story, which is the outrage over a man being shot?

STELTER: It undermines the story and, yet, let's be honest, it also attracts more interest and more attention. There is something about acts of violence that both frighten and fascinate viewers. That it will get more attention and will get shared online. There will be more attention around the entire story about Charlotte as a result of this.

You could actually compare what happened in Charlotte to what's been going on in Tulsa, where there have been entirely peaceful protests over a police-involved shooting. Interesting to think about the compare and contrast between the two.

BERMAN: This isn't a downtown area. This is the business area --

STELTER: Right.

BERMAN: -- right there. It's where the Charlotte Hornets play, where all the hotels are right there and intentionally so. We heard from community leaders there yesterday calling on boycotts for business. Saying that I'm not going to tell people not to go out on the streets tonight.

STELTER: It reminds me a little bit of what happened in Milwaukee. A couple of months ago there was a police-involved shooting there. There was a small area of violence and looting in one of the neighborhoods. There was a warning that there would be protests in downtown Milwaukee if the police didn't -- and the authorities did not take action and conduct a proper investigation. We did not see that actually transpire but we did here in Charlotte, last night.

And it's impossible to not link or think about the consequences --

ROMANS: Right.

STELTER: -- of this for the political campaign. We're only a few days away from the first debate. A couple of days ago we were all thinking about how the explosion here in New York City would affect the debate. Well, now it's Charlotte and now it's Tulsa, these recent shootings and the consequences of these shootings. You have to wonder how Trump and Clinton will engage on this at the debate.

ROMANS: Another interesting media angle on this story, I think, is social media and the number of people who are Facetiming or using Periscope. And really, the first -- the first word, the first sort of visceral reaction to the shooting was from the daughter of the -- of Scott -- of Mr. Scott, who did a Facetime live right away.

STELTER: Yes.

ROMANS: And I think that sort of helps set the tone in a way that we haven't seen before. They're waiting a few days for the police investigation and the forensic review of the tapes, et cetera, et cetera.

STELTER: Right.

ROMANS: In the age of social media that just looks like not being transparent.

STELTER: Indeed, and we should think about the organizing effects of social media, as well, both for positive and negative purposes. Here in New York City last night a protest with hundreds of people in the streets. As we often see, "Black Lives Matter" protests -- those kind of things organize very quickly through text messaging and social media. Unfortunately, something like this in Charlotte can also be organized very quickly through social media.

BERMAN: Brian Stelter, thanks for being with us this morning.

STELTER: Thanks.

BERMAN: Appreciate it.

ROMANS: All right, 50 minutes the hour, 10 minutes to the top of the hour. The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged but it did lower one important number. We'll tell you what that is when we get an EARLY START on your money, next.

BERMAN: That's suspense.

ROMANS: That's suspense.

If you head to Las Vegas on business consider checking out some of vintage Vegas in your downtime. Business owner Victoria Hogan shows us her favorite spots.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICTORIA HOGAN, LAS VEGAS RESIDENT: The part about Vegas that I love the most is vintage Vegas. In contrast to the strip, on East Freemont Street you can come in contact with vintage relics such as the Ruby Slipper and the El Cortez hotel and casino.

We're here at the Mob Museum that's housed in an original courthouse from the 1930's where some of these mobsters were actually tried. This is the "choice of weapons" wall where we can see a variety of weapons that mobsters may have used to knock each other off, get back for revenge, or just because they were angry.

When my friends come to Vegas I always bring them to the pinball museum. It's the largest collection of pinball machines in the nation. Instead of going to the casino and spending their entire paycheck on the casino floor they can come to the pinball museum and spend 25 cents per game to have some kitschy fun. The nostalgia of these vintage machines is what I like the most. The colors, this magician with his card trick and his assistant pulling a rabbit out of his hat. I really like this one because it's so creepy.

[05:51:35] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:56:05] BERMAN: (audio gap) -- left 29 people injured. FBI agents are guarding him around the clock. Rahami's wife is now back in the United States. She met with investigators in the United Arab Emirates and is expected to cooperate with authorities here.

The FBI also wants to talk to these two men captured on camera touching the bomb that did not go off in Chelsea Saturday. They opened the duffle bag it was in and left the explosive device behind. They went off with the bag. The two men are -- (audio gap).

ROMANS: (audio gap) -- your money. This morning, stocks in the Fed afterglow, up yesterday. Stock markets in Europe and Asia higher, too. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady, near rock- bottom, but its growth forecast for the year was cut. Now just 1.8 percent. That's down from two percent in June. The Fed preparing everybody for a rate hike later this year, but gosh, cutting growth forecasts makes people wonder if they are too late. They should have been hiking rates last year.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, have a new mission -- curing all disease. The two launching the aptly-named Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Here is Zuckerberg explaining his approach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, FACEBOOK: By the end of this century -- now again, that doesn't mean that no one will ever get sick but it does mean that people should get sick a lot less and that when they do we should be able to identify quickly and treat it or at least be able to manage it as a non-harmful, ongoing condition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The couple plans to invest $3 billion over the next 10 years to build tools to advance health care. And some of these new billionaires -- it's so interesting to see them look at -- you know, the Bill Gates of the world, the Warren Buffetts of the world, and try to really do something with all that cash. Something that matters, something that's legacy-building.

BERMAN: They still have that new billionaire smell to them and they're trying to figure out how to get comfortable in that new billionaire smell.

All right, a very, very busy night. New violent protests in Charlotte, North Carolina. There were storefronts shattered. That city is very much on edge. What is going to be done today to make sure that tonight is not another night of violence? "NEW DAY" picks up the coverage right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone, welcome to your new day. It is Thursday, September 22nd, 6:00 in the East.

We do have some breaking news for you. A second night of violent protests erupting in Charlotte as anger builds over the deadly police shooting of a black man. North Carolina's governor declaring a State of Emergency. This chaos is in the city's business district. Protesters clashing with police who used tear gas to try to break up the crowds.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: It started as protesting but it's not that anymore when people are shot and assaulted and businesses and hotels are vandalized. At least one person critically wounded, shot by another civilian. Four officers also hurt in the melee. The big question this morning is why won't officials release video that could put to rest the wildly different accounts of what led police to shoot and kill Keith Lamont Scott?

We have every angle covered. Let's begin with CNN's Nick Valencia, live in downtown Charlotte. Quiet now -- it wasn't overnight.

VALENCIA: Good morning, Chris. We're outside one of those businesses that was targeted by looters last night. What began as a peaceful protest quickly escalated into much worse. And while demonstrators have dispersed for now police anticipate another round of protests later tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Overnight, a State of Emergency declared in Charlotte. The governor deploys the National Guard.

GOV. PAT MCCRORY (R), NORTH CAROLINA: We cannot tolerate violence. We cannot tolerate the destruction of property, and we'll not tolerate the attacks toward our police officers.

VALENCIA: Violent protests erupt for a second night. In the chaos, a man lays bleeding on the ground from his head. Authorities say one person was shot by another civilian outside the city's Omni Hotel. That person is on life support and in critical condition.

Police descend on demonstrators in riot gear, firing flash grenades and deploying tear gas to disperse crowds.

CNN's Boris Sanchez in the middle of the intense scene.

(Flash grenade)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, OK.