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American Morning

Death in Custody

Aired December 03, 2003 - 07:08   ET

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

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


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the complete coroner's report on the death of Nathaniel Jones could be released as early as today. Now, yesterday, a new video tape was released -- you're going to see it right here -- of Jones, who died Sunday while in the custody of Cincinnati police. Now, this tape you're looking at, it's from inside the restaurant. It shows this man dancing and marching around inside the restaurant, and a little bit later outside, before police were called. Jones died after being subdued by police.
Joining us now from Cincinnati with the latest in the case, CNN's Brian Cabell.

Good morning -- Brian.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Anderson.

And a number of developments expected today in this particular case. As you say, the coroner's report on the official cause of death, we're expecting that sometime around midday. We also may get the specific levels of PCP and cocaine in Nathaniel Jones' system when he died.

And, as you mentioned, the surveillance tapes from White Castle, the restaurant where this altercation occurred, that tape was released yesterday, indicating that -- the images are not all that clear, but showing that he seemed to be in a fairly good mood. He was dancing. He was animated. He was talking to other customers in the restaurant, certainly not belligerent at that time. And the question remains: Why happened? Why did his mood change? What precipitated that violent struggle that we see with the police in the police tape afterwards?

Another issue that's still not resolved here is why did the paramedics who were on the scene initially, why did they leave when the struggle took place? Apparently there was a problem with police. Police were not happy about it, as far as we can tell. So, there is an internal investigation taking place within the fire department to determine exactly why they left at that point.

Another question that is still raising suspicions is what about that mysterious one minute and 37 second gap? What happened during that time when the police tape was not rolling? Activists want to know what happened then. The family of Mr. Jones wants to know as well. They've retained an attorney apparently, and they may be speaking to the media later on today.

As for the police, they still are defending their officers' actions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. VINCENT DEMASI, CINCINNATI POLICE: All indications are that the officers were attempting to keep him at bay. They had summoned additional assistance. And that had Mr. Jones followed their commands, you know, it certainly could have been a quite different outcome. But clearly, from what we can see, Mr. Jones is the aggressor in this particular case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: Finally, there are plans under way right now for a rally on Sunday in support of Mr. Jones. So, clearly, Anderson, there is still some anger here in this community, but more than anything, there are simply a lot of questions.

COOPER: You know, Brian, you mentioned something which I had never heard before -- that the paramedics actually left the scene when the police got there. Is there some sort of a rift between the fire department and the police in their accounting of this?

CABELL: There appears to be at this point, although it's not been fully disclosed. The paramedics arrived initially to treat him. Then, they called the police. And then, when the police got into the struggle with Mr. Jones, you can see the fire truck leaving. And it seems as though you can hear on the tape one of the policemen saying, "Why are they bailing on us?" Meaning, why are they leaving?

So, there appears to be a rift. The police don't want to talk about it much. The fire department doesn't want to talk about it much. But the fire department is looking into that very problem.

COOPER: All right, Brian Cabell, thanks very much for that live report.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired December 3, 2003 - 07:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the complete coroner's report on the death of Nathaniel Jones could be released as early as today. Now, yesterday, a new video tape was released -- you're going to see it right here -- of Jones, who died Sunday while in the custody of Cincinnati police. Now, this tape you're looking at, it's from inside the restaurant. It shows this man dancing and marching around inside the restaurant, and a little bit later outside, before police were called. Jones died after being subdued by police.
Joining us now from Cincinnati with the latest in the case, CNN's Brian Cabell.

Good morning -- Brian.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Anderson.

And a number of developments expected today in this particular case. As you say, the coroner's report on the official cause of death, we're expecting that sometime around midday. We also may get the specific levels of PCP and cocaine in Nathaniel Jones' system when he died.

And, as you mentioned, the surveillance tapes from White Castle, the restaurant where this altercation occurred, that tape was released yesterday, indicating that -- the images are not all that clear, but showing that he seemed to be in a fairly good mood. He was dancing. He was animated. He was talking to other customers in the restaurant, certainly not belligerent at that time. And the question remains: Why happened? Why did his mood change? What precipitated that violent struggle that we see with the police in the police tape afterwards?

Another issue that's still not resolved here is why did the paramedics who were on the scene initially, why did they leave when the struggle took place? Apparently there was a problem with police. Police were not happy about it, as far as we can tell. So, there is an internal investigation taking place within the fire department to determine exactly why they left at that point.

Another question that is still raising suspicions is what about that mysterious one minute and 37 second gap? What happened during that time when the police tape was not rolling? Activists want to know what happened then. The family of Mr. Jones wants to know as well. They've retained an attorney apparently, and they may be speaking to the media later on today.

As for the police, they still are defending their officers' actions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. VINCENT DEMASI, CINCINNATI POLICE: All indications are that the officers were attempting to keep him at bay. They had summoned additional assistance. And that had Mr. Jones followed their commands, you know, it certainly could have been a quite different outcome. But clearly, from what we can see, Mr. Jones is the aggressor in this particular case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: Finally, there are plans under way right now for a rally on Sunday in support of Mr. Jones. So, clearly, Anderson, there is still some anger here in this community, but more than anything, there are simply a lot of questions.

COOPER: You know, Brian, you mentioned something which I had never heard before -- that the paramedics actually left the scene when the police got there. Is there some sort of a rift between the fire department and the police in their accounting of this?

CABELL: There appears to be at this point, although it's not been fully disclosed. The paramedics arrived initially to treat him. Then, they called the police. And then, when the police got into the struggle with Mr. Jones, you can see the fire truck leaving. And it seems as though you can hear on the tape one of the policemen saying, "Why are they bailing on us?" Meaning, why are they leaving?

So, there appears to be a rift. The police don't want to talk about it much. The fire department doesn't want to talk about it much. But the fire department is looking into that very problem.

COOPER: All right, Brian Cabell, thanks very much for that live report.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.