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Several NYC News Choppers Targeted by Lasers; Mission Underway to Retake Strategic Town from ISIS; Police Tactics Questioned after Tasing Video Emerges; GOP Candidates Spar Over Immigration; Does Tea Party Support Carson? Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 12, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:02] RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOV'T REFORM CORRESPONDENT: Take a listen. This pilot was quick thinking. He zoomed in on the suspects who were flashing that laser at the chopper. And eventually, police were able to arrest them. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see the people involved right now. They're walking in and out of the building. Hitting us right now. Don't look, George. Oh, yes, you think this is a joke, huh?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: The second news chopper was targeted over Brooklyn. And separately, the FAA says three commercial passenger planes were hit with lasers in the Dallas area. All were at altitudes between 3,000 and 4,000 feet, coming in for a landing at the airport there. Critical point of flight, where pilots just simply cannot afford to be distracted.

This is a federal crime. Unfortunately, it happens very often. The number of reported laser strikes on airplanes has soared in the last few years. Thousands are reported each year nationwide. Last year, nearly 4,000 incidents -- Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, they're messing with the wrong people. This time, the camera trained right on them.

All right, Rene. Thank you so much for that.

Breaking overnight overseas, Operation Free Sinjar launched in Northern Iraq. Over 7,000 Kurdish forces on a mission to retake that key city from ISIS. The U.S. playing a pivotal role. Coalition warplanes providing air cover at all times.

We're going to take you to the outskirts of Sinjar and bring in our senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh -- Nick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Nine o'clock local time last night, that's when we understand the offensive began. And we could see it from the top of Mt. Sinjar. The night sky lit up by a series of explosions, part of days of efforts by coalition aircraft to soften up the town of Sinjar's ISIS defenders.

Now, it's symbolically vital because of what happened there last year to the Yazidis that live there, forced into the mountains, forced into slavery, captivity. But it's strategically vital, as well.

And what's clear today, as the fighting continues, is it's about the highway that runs a distance behind me here, Highway 47. It goes from Raqqah in Syria, the caliphate self-declared capital of ISIS, to Mosul in Iraq. The Pentagon think if they can cut that, they can perhaps cut off ISIS's ability to sell black-market oil around the region.

What we're hearing in the past few moments is intense explosions behind us. It clearly shows a coalition aircraft coming to the support of what may have been an ISIS counterattack to move back down the highway.

The Kurds are clear. They need to cut that road off. They say they've done it in certain parts. But that is going to be, in the hours ahead, where the greatest fighting and uncertainty is. It is both symbolically and strategically vital, Sinjar, and I think, presents a momentum that Pentagon officials want to have. But their efforts here are going to lead to something in the fight against ISIS.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Nick Paton Walsh there for us. Thank you.

Back here at home, new video surfacing of a man who died in police custody after being repeatedly Tased. The images emerging as this man's family pursues a $25 million wrongful death suit against the police department. A hearing in this case is expected today, and CNN's justice correspondent, Pamela Brown, is live with the very latest.

What do we know, Pamela?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, this video received through the attorney with the family involved with this $25 million lawsuit shows the handcuffed man being Tased by police, though CNN is not able to independently verify the exact number of times he was hit with the Taser. And the video shows him dying while in police custody, despite the fact the incident happened at the doors of the emergency room.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): This police video shows three officers in South Boston, Virginia, Tasing a man right outside a hospital emergency room. Shortly after, that man, 46-year-old Linwood Lambert, died in police custody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not locking you up. BROWN: The video begins with officers picking Lambert up at a motel

early one morning in May of 2013 after several 911 calls were made about noise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got you. I got you.

BROWN: In court records, police say because of the way Lambert was acting, they decided to take him to the hospital for a mental health evaluation. They say he made comments about murdering two people and hiding their bodies in the ceiling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to take you to the emergency room. We're going to get you looked at and make sure you're good to go.

BROWN: Inside the patrol car, police say he kicked out the window. Then the video shows Lambert running straight into the hospital doors while handcuffed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on your belly!

BROWN: He falls to the ground, and the officers repeatedly ask him to roll over onto his stomach while threatening to Tase him. Lambert then admits he was on drugs.

LINWOOD LAMBERT, DIED IN POLICE CUSTODY: I just did cocaine, man.

BROWN: But instead of taking him inside the emergency room, the officers take him to the police station.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're under arrest. Stand up.

BROWN: The officers Tase Lambert multiple times. He's bleeding, apparently from breaking the squad car window. By the time they reach the police station, Lambert appears unconscious in the back seat. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital after going into cardiac arrest, according to the medical examiner's report.

[07:05:09] The report ruled the cause of death as acute cocaine intoxication, but the family blames the police. And they filed a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit, alleging, quote, "The officers' callous disregard for Linwood Lambert in Tasering him multiple times and depriving him of the medical care he needed violated his Constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment."

Police have denied the allegations, saying Lambert's erratic actions required the use of force.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And the South Boston Police Department released a statement saying, "We are vigorously defending the case. Our position is affirmed by the reports of two independent well-qualified experts in the field."

CNN did attempt to reach both South Boston police, as well as Virginia State Police, who picked up this investigation of Lambert's death. We have not heard back. And there have been no charges against a police officer since this happened two years ago -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: And that is a key fact. I mean, people are going to see this, Pamela, and they're going to say, "Wow, I wonder what will happen." The answer is nothing. There have been no charges, so let's discuss what might happen with this civil suit.

Joining us now, our CNN law enforcement analyst, Harry Houck, and HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson.

What do you say, Harry? Do you want to make the case against this as a use of force today and let Joey defend it, or do you want to stick to just defend it with the Constitution?

HARRY HOUCK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, let me -- let me just tell you one thing here, and as far as the police officers' actions, up until where they get him shackled at the feet, I'm fine with it, OK?

CUOMO: Because?

HOUCK: Because I think everything they did at that time was legal. Because, you know, here he jumps out of the car, all right, tries to run into the building.

CUOMO: He does run into the building.

HOUCK: He tries -- well, he runs into the door, right.

CUOMO: Runs into part of the building. And he falls down.

HOUCK: Right. Falls down. All right? He's not cooperating. They Tase him. And they finally get him shackled at the feet. I'm fine with that.

CUOMO: You're fine with them Tasing him initially.

HOUCK: Right.

CUOMO: OK, so let's hold the analysis.

Are you OK with them Tasing him initially?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: I think initially, certainly, the argument can be made that the police did not know what his intentions were with regard to running into the building. Did he pose a danger to anyone in there: medical personnel or others, or to himself? And so therefore, the argument could be made that that, up to that point, the Tasing was appropriate.

Whether you needed three officers to collectively Tase him at the same time...

CUOMO: So let's hold it there.

JACKSON: ... is a problem.

CUOMO: Three officers, plenty of manpower. Not, you know, frail- looking officers. Multiple Tasers. Necessary?

HOUCK: No. One Taser. Not three. That was excessive.

CUOMO: And how many times?

HOUCK: All right. Well, it depends. You know, I mean...

CUOMO: Twenty times over 30 minutes?

HOUCK: Well, that's because you've got three Tasers. Way, way too much, all right?

A lot of times, also, when you squeeze that thing, the person isn't shocked. It doesn't work 100 percent of the time.

CUOMO: Twenty times, 30 minutes.

HOUCK: That's a lot. And it's excessive, as far as I'm concerned also. And what I didn't like also is when they took him, and they put him in the back of the radio car.

CUOMO: Why didn't they put him into the hospital like their original intention?

HOUCK: That's exactly what I was saying. That's where the police officers had made the mistake. What they could have done, and what we do here in New York, get a gurney out there. Put him on the gurney. Strap him to the gurney.

Now, in my P.D., when we have a situation where somebody is having some kind of psychological event, we have an ambulance respond. Never even put him in the police car. All right? They would have had this guy all tied up on a gurney, and we wouldn't have went through this problem.

But seems to me that there's a problem with experience here. All right/ Knowledge on how to handle a man like that. and there was a sergeant on the scene who should have known a lot better.

CUOMO: Now, there's also a report. And in the report from the officers, they say that there were two points where they needed to restrain him after this initial thing. The videotape contradicts it. The second time they say it was necessary, the man is clearly unconscious in the back of the car. That seems to be demonstrably false from the officers, but yet no charges.

JACKSON: Well, that's problematic, and certainly, that's going to be raised in the civil lawsuit. And in addition to what you're talking about, which is them claiming that he was apparently fighting with them in the back of the car, that not really being carried out. And we know at the police station, of course, he's unresponsive; he's unconscious. So we have medical personnel...

CUOMO: You see them putting their hands on the guy, checking his pulse. He obviously wasn't a threat. JACKSON: Then you have the chief of the department, apparently, issuing a statement in a press release, not even referencing the Taser.

I think there are multiple errors here. And I think it breaks down legally into three points. No. 1, was the force necessary to begin with? You can really break it down at the different parts of that to argue that point.

But even if you get to whether force was necessary, then it becomes was it disproportionate. Was the force used proportionate to any threat he posed. The jury, look at the jury. Was he posing a threat when he was shackled? Was he posing a threat...

CUOMO: Cuffed -- cuffed and eventually shackled.

JACKSON: And not only cuffed. Not only cuffed. But after he was cuffed, right, he indeed was shackled. But he was on the ground at that time. And when they initially Tased him, he fell to the ground. So what threat is he posing then?

Then you get to the point is -- the point was, look, did the officers collectively act as any other reasonable officer would under those circumstances? And so that's really the analysis for the jury.

[07:10:10] So, if you conclude that the threat was disproportionate, there was no threat he posed, and what they did to him was disproportionate, because he wasn't posing any danger, then how do you get to Tase him using 50,000 watts of electricity? And how, at all, do you justify, when he's in the back of that police car, using a Taser to subdue him when clearly he does not need to be subdued?

CUOMO: And lying about him fighting with you.

HOUCK: If that -- if that turns out to be true, that statement that they said once he got back to the station house, he fought them again...

CUOMO: It's in the report.

HOUCK: ... if that turns out -- if that turns out to be true, these police officers should be in trouble.

JACKSON: If what turns out to be true? Because we know he's unconscious and not responsive. He clearly is not fighting anybody.

HOUCK: We can clearly see that, as far as I'm concerned, looking at that man in the back of the radio car, he looks dead to me.

CUOMO: That is what it looks like sometimes.

But here's my point, Harry. This happened two years ago.

HOUCK: Right.

CUOMO: The people who need to know, know everything they need to know just to charge. I'm not saying that you send these men right to jail.

HOUCK: Right.

CUOMO: But are you surprised that there was no charge brought here? So that at least this analysis and case could be made?

JACKSON; Right. The guy's dead.

HOUCK: Listen, we're making pretty good analysis here just based on...

CUOMO: They didn't even charge.

HOUCK: ... on reports that we're reading.

CUOMO: But they didn't even charge. What does that tell you?

HOUCK: I don't know. It's confounding to me that somebody wasn't charged. Even alone, if you just saw the Tasering in the backseat of the radio car alone, itself, that was excessive force.

JACKSON: The prosecutor gave the indication initially, the opinion that the officers did not act with criminality.

And we should also point out, because we know that the cause of death was apparently acute cocaine. Right? The failure of the heart due to the acuteness of the cocaine. The medical personnel who rendered that assessment did not have the benefit of the videotape in reaching that conclusion.

CUOMO: Right.

JACKSON: And so clearly, the jury in this case will have that videotape and will be able to supplement that initial finding of cocaine with what the officers did to him at that time.

CUOMO: There's a low concentration of coke in his blood for what it's worth. But are you surprised, from the prosecutor's side, that there were no charges brought?

JACKSON: I am. Based upon what we've seen. Now -- and here's why, Chris, because they have -- that is the prosecution and law enforcement personnel -- when they're evaluating this, they have the benefit of all of this information.

Why does it take the release of it to the public so that everybody else could see what happened and the outrage for the prosecutor to say, "Well, we're still investigating it. And what I said initially was merely an opinion. But you know, there may or may not be charges to file."

HOUCK: The question is...

CUOMO: Final point.

HOUCK: The question is, did the investigation take a blind side to that statement regarding what happened after he got to the station house? If it was, then it definitely smells like some kind of a cover-up.

CUOMO: Well, we're reaching out to the prosecutor's office. We're reaching out to the police to try and get their take on this. We'll see if they want to take the opportunity. Harry, my man, always enjoy it.

HOUCK: Thank you.

JACKSON: Thank you very much. Enjoy it.

CUOMO: Always, Joey. Always, Joey.

All right. Back to you, Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Chris. Immigration certainly a hot topic as the presidential candidates get back to campaigning. That subject certainly sparked some tense exchanges during the recent GOP debates on the candidates stepping up their game. Donald Trump's deportation plan certainly a prime target.

Athena Jones is in Iowa this morning.

Hi, Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

It was Donald Trump's hardline stance on illegal immigration that helped rocket him to the top of the polls, even as Republicans and Democrats on and off the campaign trail have warned that his approach could hurt the party's chances in 2016. Still, it's clear this divide in the party over immigration isn't going away.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump!

JONES (voice-over): GOP 2016 hopefuls, back on the campaign trail, fanning across the country.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We started off with 17. And one by one by one, they're disappearing.

JONES: Trump in New Hampshire. Chief rival Ben Carson heading down the coast of Virginia, highlighting his religious bona fides with evangelicals.

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In Romans Chapter 8, it says, "If God's before you, who can be against you?" You don't have to worry.

JONES: Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Chris Christie hitting Iowa.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Got some more coffee coming your way. JONES: Amidst a deep divide over illegal immigration.

TRUMP: We would do it in a very humane way.

JONES: Trump not backing down from his build-a-wall-and-deport-11- million-people immigration strategy.

BUSH: I don't care what Donald Trump says.

JONES: Jeb Bush continuing to attack his plan as unworkable.

BUSH: A half a million people basically, I think, would double the number of people processed through our judicial system. It's not possible.

JONES: And instead, proposing a path to citizenship and a guest worker program.

BUSH: Having an ability for people to legally come back and forth to allow them to work.

JONES: Rubio open to the idea.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via phone): After ten years on the work permit, I personally am open.

JONES: Carson also weighing in.

CARSON: I propose that we give them a six-month period in which to register.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is nothing compassionate about a bunch of politicians saying, "I'm so compassionate, I'm going to give away your job."

[07:15:05] JONES: Cuban-American Ted Cruz quick to charge that his GOP rivals are supporting what he believes will be amnesty.

CRUZ: If we just agree with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on amnesty, Republicans will lose.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Now, I asked Bush last night if he felt that most Republican primary voters agreed with him on immigration. He said yes, pointing to the applause he got on debate night when he challenged Trump's deportation plan -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Athena. Thanks so much for all that.

Now to a disturbing story out of San Francisco, where police shot and killed an armed man who had climbed on top of an elevator at a construction site, and he was aiming his rifle at a nearby hospital. They say the gunman had just stolen the weapon from a sporting goods store. Officers shot the suspect when he turned the rifle on them. No one on the ground was injured. And no word on a possible motive. CUOMO: Now for a little something to lighten up your Thursday. I

know that Mick's going to love this very much.

That is Bei Bei...

PEREIRA: Bei Bei!

CUOMO: ... the Smithsonian's baby panda, taking his first steps.

PEREIRA: Oh, my gosh.

CUOMO: The little guy may be struggling, but he's no quitter. This video taken earlier this week. His mom is so happy. She picks up her son, gives him a bear hug. The zookeepers say Bei Bei is making great progress since his birth and will soon be able to eat your face in just weeks.

PEREIRA: Come on now.

CAMEROTA: Great.

PEREIRA: That's why I've been savoring this, because I wanted to see how you could make this seem like it was something that was going to tear off your face.

CUOMO: Here's the thing, I like pandas as much as the next guy, but I feel that you want to have a panda. You would like a pet panda.

PEREIRA: Do you have a panda? Would I like one?

CAMEROTA: I'd like one.

CUOMO: Because you are so much mirroring the color pattern.

CAMEROTA: You are telegraphing your thoughts to the panda world.

CUOMO: I'm just saying they are not something to hop into the cage with, that's all.

CAMEROTA: All right. Meanwhile, back to the cage fighting of politics, Dr. Ben Carson making most of his position as an outsider in the Republican race. But how do Tea Party conservatives feel about him versus Rand Paul or Ted Cruz or the others? We'll ask the Tea Party leader, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:51] CAMEROTA: Dr. Ben Carson was at Liberty University yesterday, where he asked students there to pray for him, and he said that his religion powers him through his White House run. So how does he stack up against other conservative candidates with the Tea Party voters?

Joining us now is Jenny Beth Martin. She helped start the Tea Party and is now chairman of the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund.

Ms. Martin, thanks so much for being here on NEW DAY.

JENNY BETH MARTIN, CHAIRMAN, TEA PARTY PATRIOTS CITIZENS FUND: Thanks for having me, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: So which candidate is most appealing to Tea Party voters?

MARTIN: Well, I think the great thing about these candidates is that they're talking about the issues that the Tea Party cares about. You have Trump, Carson, Cruz, and even Rubio talking about a lot of the issues that we've been talking about for the last seven years. We want to see more personal freedom, more economic freedom. We want there to be a balanced budget in this country. And these are the things that they're talking about.

CAMEROTA: They're also, of course, talking about immigration. That was a big source at the debate this week.

So let me play for you what Dr. Carson's plan is for the undocumented illegal workers here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARSON: If they register in that six-month period and they have a pristine record, and they wish to be guest workers in this country, they would have to pay a back tax penalty, and they'd have to continue to pay taxes going forward. But they would no longer have to live in the shadows.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So, Ms. Martin, what do you think about that? That's so different than what Donald Trump is suggesting, which is deport all 11 million who are here. And, you know, Dr. Carson is saying that there would be a pretty quick system to get them into the workforce?

MARTIN: I understand that's what Dr. Carson is saying. I think that what Tea Party supporters have been saying for the last several years is that the first thing that they want to see is that the border is secure.

And that's what Donald Trump has said that he would do. He would make sure the border is secure first. And that's the thing, I think, that Trump is saying that resonates the absolute most. Not just with Tea Party supporters, but with -- with Republican voters and all voters. We have to first secure the border, before we start looking at the other -- the other issues, how to solve the other issues.

CAMEROTA: Well, sure. Beyond -- this is beyond securing the border. Do you like Trump's idea to deport everybody? Or do you like Ben Carson's idea to make them register and pay some back taxes?

MARTIN: I don't think it's as important that I like, as it is what the voters think is the appropriate action in this country. What we know for certain is there's already a legal pathway to citizenship in this country. And it's not fair to those who are here legally and on that legal pathway to reward those who have broken -- broken in line or broken the law to be here.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about federal spending, because there was this interesting moment in Tuesday night's debate where Rand Paul was challenging Marco Rubio. They had a bit of a heated exchange about military spending. And I want to get your take on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How is it conservative to add a trillion dollars in military expenditures? You cannot be a conservative if you're going to keep promoting programs that you're not going to pay for.

RUBIO: Can I respond? We can't even have an economy if we're not safe. There are radical jihadists in the Middle East beheading people and crucifying Christians. A radical Shia cleric in Iran trying to get a nuclear

weapon. The Chinese taking over the South Chinese Sea. Yes, I believe the world is a safer -- no, no, I don't believe, I know that the world is a safer and better place when America is the strongest military power in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So what of that? How does the Tea Party feel about this? Increase military spending or cut military spending?

MARTIN: Following that exchange, Senator Cruz stepped in and said that he thinks he has a solution that takes care of both, making sure that we have a debt-free future and that we are a strong, secure nation.

And that is to make sure that we do have a strong military, while cutting spending where needed so that we can get to a debt-free future and a balanced budget.

And I think that that's the balance that Tea Party supporters are looking for across this country. And I think it's also the balance that Americans are looking for across this country.

[07:25:06] CAMEROTA: OK, Jenny Beth Martin, thanks so much for being on to share the Tea Party perspective.

MARTIN: Thanks, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: We appreciate it.

Let's get over to Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Alisyn.

Donald Trump says his deportation force can get undocumented immigrants out of the country. But can his plan work? Is it fair to compare it to a decades-old plan from Dwight Eisenhower? We'll dig a little deeper, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:29:23] CUOMO: All right. Breaking news from northern Iraq: an estimated 7,500 Kurdish forces launching Operation Free Sinjar. The mission is to retake the strategic Iraqi city from ISIS. Here's the big news. They're joined on the ground by Yazidi fighters, while the Yazidis and they are fighting on the ground. U.S. warplanes are providing air cover at all times. They'll try to drive some 700 ISIS fighters out of the city while chase -- choking off a major ISIS supply line linking Syria to Mosul. As we get information, we'll give it to you.

PEREIRA: Back here at home, a second student in Missouri taken into custody overnight for allegedly making threats on social media. It comes hours after 19-year-old Hunter Parker, pictured here, was arrested for allegedly posting racially-charged death threats against University of Missouri students.

Racial tensions boiling over at other schools across the country.