Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Philando Castile's Mother Calls For Peace; Justice Department Monitoring Minnesota Shooting Investigation; Portugal Upsets France In Euro 2016 Final; Nation On Edge Following Days Of Protests. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 11, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:05] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Philando Castile's mother calling for peace in Minnesota. Protests there are turning violent over the weekend. More than a hundred people were arrested there on Saturday night after shutting down Interstate 94 for hours.

This comes as we learned that Castile was pulled over dozens and dozens of times. He got more than 50 citations and he was also cited for a lot of the minor offenses. Let's talk about it in the context of what we've seen over the last week.

Our Brynn Gingras is with us from St. Paul this morning with more. What a weekend there?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, definitely, Poppy. Those minor offenses I want to reference because many of them included the presence of no insurance for Mr. Castile and also just not having a driver's license. Many of them actually were thrown out.

So it does raise the question of racial profiling, at least from members here in the community. Now, as far as the investigation goes, officials with the BCA, the state agency overseeing this investigation, they say, well, they're being prompt, but this is going to take some time.

I did have a chance to talk to Mr. Geronimo Yanez, the officer identified as the man who shot at Castile. I talked to his attorney over the weekend, Tom Kelly. He says that this has nothing to do with race, that his client had to fire that gun because he says there was a gun produced in that traffic stop.

And he also says that if Mr. Castile obeyed commands then this would have never happened. So there are a lot of different sides coming out as far as this investigation is concerned. He says Yanez has cooperated with the BCA investigation, but again it is going to take some time -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you very much. This is a complicated situation, especially because this video ignited the outrage, but we don't know what happened before it. This is going to be a long process before we can have any reasonable certainty that we do.

But we do know something. This is a real problem. It happens all the time, and there are many different perspectives on it. We're going to talk to the head of the Minneapolis NAACP as well as a man whose own son was killed by police when NEW DAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:09]

CUOMO: The attorney for the St. Anthony police officer placed on administrative leave for the shooting death of Philando Castile tells CNN race was not a factor. Instead, he's pointing to the presence of a gun in the stop, which Castile did have a legal right to carry.

All right, now let's discuss what we're dealing with as universe of fact and then what are these bigger issues at play in this situation? Police review advocate and retired U.S. Air Force, Lt. Col. Michael Bell joins us.

His son was shot and killed by police in 2004. He has ideas that he says will help this situation be safer. We also have attorney and president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, Nekima Levi Pounds, with us this morning.

Nekima, let me start with you. The state of play in terms of what's going on with the investigation. We know that in Baton Rouge, there's going to be a federal inquiry simultaneous with any other investigation. We hear it's only observational in Minnesota. What do you understand to be the reality and the reasoning?

NEKIMA LEVI POUNDS, PRESIDENT, MINNEAPOLIS NAACP: Well, Governor Dayton called for a federal investigation into this matter. My guess is that because of the concern surrounding the DOJ's response in the Jamar Clark shooting from November of last year that the federal government has decided to sit on the sidelines in this situation.

Many of us have declared that we do not have faith in the system as a result of the way in which the Jamar Clark case was handled. Jamar Clark was shot in the back of the head. The Hennepin County attorney, Mike Freeman, chose to decline to bring charges against those officers, and so did the federal government. So we do not trust in the system at this point.

CUOMO: Now, trust in the system is an issue. You also have the realities of the system, which happen to be a systemic problem here. By that, I mean federal charges are very limited in situations like this.

[06:40:08]State charges are abundant. There are lots of different things that could be charged. So the federal government often effectively has its hands tied until after an investigation when it can review how that investigation was done and see what civil rights violations could be at play there.

Lieutenant Colonel, you are well aware of this and say that's why we need a fix in every one of these situations that triggers a unique process. Explain.

MICHAEL BELL, POLICE REVIEW PROCESS ADVOCATE: I'm a retired Air Force pilot. I had a son killed by a police officer. I feel the pain on both sides of the fence here and I know this, that there are two different systems. There's the law enforcement and there's aviation.

They're very, very similar. But if you take a look at the data, aviation has had a round of success where law enforcement is almost in a national crisis.

I'm saying that the system that's in place with the National Transportation Safety Board and its investigative process is what needs to be transferred over to the law enforcement side. The problems are correctable.

CUOMO: All right. Well, let's take one more step down this road. So you have a situation like this where there's a use of force, there's a question of whether or not it was excessive, someone's dead. Who's supposed to investigate?

BELL: It has to be an outside investigation, an external investigation where other people that aren't associated with Minneapolis Police Department come in there and collect the data. But then there needs to be an independent review. It can't just be civilians.

It has to be people that understand policing. They need to be appointed by a high-ranking elected official. That's the same way the National Transportation Safety Board is run.

What they need to do is they need to look at those circumstances and say, what were the factors at play, and how can we prevent this from happening again. Was it a mechanical error? Was there improper training?

Identify those factors and then implement them statewide so that way it can help reduce the occurrence of this from happening again.

CUOMO: Nekima, in your experience, does this sound like a workable solution, and why do you think it hasn't happened?

POUNDS: Well, here's the problem. In the state of Minnesota when you think about the culture of policing, there is a widespread lack of accountability when it comes to officer-involved shooting cases and even with regard to excessive force cases.

For example, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is currently investigating the Philando Castile case and also investigated the Jamar Clark shooting case, has an abysmal track record for holding officers accountable when they shoot civilians.

This is our so-called independent agency within the state of Minnesota, and they have not been doing an effective job at holding police accountable. That was a part of the reason that the Minneapolis NAACP called for an independent federal investigation into the shooting death of Jamar Clark. We said we cannot trust the Minneapolis Police Department to conduct a fair and impartial investigation. We cannot trust the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to conduct a fair and impartial investigation.

So what else can we do other than turn to the federal government? So I like the solution that's being proposed by Mr. Bell. The problem is that it will be difficult to find law enforcement officers and agents in the state of Minnesota who will be willing to hold police officers accountable.

We may have to bring in experts from outside of the state in order to have some semblance of justice in this case.

CUOMO: Look, we've heard from you, Mr. Bell, on numerous occasions about this. It's an idea others have picked up on as well, but it hasn't happened. Some states have done it, but it hasn't happened. We're going to put pressure on this and find out why the system is how it is and how it could be better. Thank you to both of you for having this conversation with us this morning.

POUND: Thank you.

CUOMO: Poppy.

HARLOW: An important one. We're going to change topics now and look ahead to Rio, the Olympics. Just a few weeks away. Team USA gymnastics is set. It's a mix of new and some familiar faces. We'll have details ahead in the "Bleacher Report."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:39]

CUOMO: All right. Some big, big things went on in sport over the weekend. Portugal defied the odds and did the improbable. They won what is certainly the Super Bowl of European soccer. Let's bring in Coy Wire. He has this and a lot more in this morning's "Bleacher Report." How are you doing, Coy?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Doing great, Chris. Good to see you. The party might still be going on in Portugal today, but it didn't look that way early on in the European championship. The nation's goal scoring super star, one of the best players in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo, goes down with an injury in the first half.

They're playing against host nation, France, big-time favorites in this one. No Ronaldo, no problem for the underdogs. Game was scoreless until this moment. Second period of extra time. Portugal's Aider scores the goal in the 109th minute gives Portugal its first ever major tournament title. Look at Ronaldo's face. Incredible victory for Portugal in Euro 2016.

Kobe Bryant and gymnastics legend, Nadia Kominich (ph) were at the U.S. Olympic trials last night. What a show they witnessed. Gabby Douglas darling of the 2012 London games finished in seventh place with a couple of solid performances, including the vault and uneven bars, were enough to make her a selection of the five-person squad that will represent Team USA in Rio.

They will be led by America's new sweetheart, Simone Biles. She straight up dominated. She has won the all-around title at the last three world championships, and she's considered a lock to win gold in Rio. She could win up to five of them if she can do what many think she will.

Now, a playoff should have decide the winner of the U.S. Women's Open between American Britany Lang and Ana Nordquist of Sweden, but it all came down to a controversial penalty. Watch this.

On the second playoff hole, cameras caught Nordquist inadvertently letting her club touch the sand in a fairway bunker, barely. Now by rule that mistake caused her a two-stroke penalty. The problem was the players weren't told about the penalty until they were in the middle of playing the final hole.

Lang sealed the win with a par putt while Nordquist made bogey to lose by three shots. A little bit of drama but a great win nonetheless for Lang in the end.

HARLOW: Absolutely. Coy Wire, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Now back to our top story. Calls for peace and justice, are they enough to keep protesters very angry over those police-involved shootings from becoming violent? You see those scenes across the country this weekend. What more can be done to bring the sides together? A closer look at that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:53:19]

HARLOW: Tensions are high. A nation is on edge after days of protests following the shooting deaths of two black men by police and the ambush that killed five Dallas police officers and injured seven more.

Tensions remain high in communities across the country. The question that everyone is asking this Monday morning is how can we unite, how can we come together?

Joining us now is Reverend Jeff Hood, a core organizer of Thursday's protest in Dallas, where those police officers were attacked. Thank you for being with me, sir.

I was reading some of your remarks, and you said, look, some of those officers that work at the department right behind where you're standing right now possibly saved your life that night and the life of the other protesters.

I want to play for our viewers something that you said on Thursday evening in that protest before the police were attacked. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEFF HOOD, CO-ORGANIZER OF DALLAS PROTEST: I know a preacher I admire tremendously, Jeremiah Wright. And I'm going to say, God damn white America. God (inaudible) white America. White America is a (inaudible) lie. I'm sick of the bodies of black and brown people being slaughtered in our streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Why did you choose those words? What was your goal?

HOOD: Sure, sure. You know, I think it's very important. Obviously that was part of a much longer speech.

[06:55:00]But I do think it's important that when you talk about God damn America or God damn white America, what I'm talking about is God damn these structures of racism that black and brown people across this nation. I mean, we have to --

HARLOW: It's just not what you said, sir. It's not what you said.

HOOD: Hold on. Let me finish. What I'm saying is there has to -- we have to move beyond white America to America.

HARLOW: That's a message of unity, right? America as a whole. But that's not the message that you used. I want to read for our viewers some of the other things that you've said to give them some context here. Let's look at this.

Back in December of last year, you said, our laws allow for our police to shoot first and ask questions later. In May, you said, the police are always prepared for a gunfight, we shouldn't be surprised when they actually get one.

And then in April of 2015, you said, the judgment is coming, those police who contribute to spill the blood of black men will be held accountable. Those are the same police, sir, that you say possibly saved your life on Thursday night. What do you mean may be held accountability? What's the message there?

HOOD: Sure. I think for me what I'm trying say, it's a religious message. What I'm trying to say is that ultimately we have to begin to hold police officers who commit this type of brutality accountable, in my opinion spiritually, and certainly legally as well.

We're at a point in time where there has to be dual hands of love and justice. If there's just calls for unity, calls for peace, and no calls for justice, then I believe that we're going to continue to see the hate that we've seen in places like Dallas and other places around the country.

HARLOW: But what about many that would argue that the inflammatory language that you use that we just heard and we just saw does the opposite of that, contributes to hate?

HOOD: Sure, and I think that -- absolutely. You know, everybody who is a part of what happened on changed. There's no question about that. I think for me, you know, my language, while I continue to be direct and continue to, you know, really want to speak to a need for love and justice, we certainly have to be careful to really call for those two things specifically, love and justice.

HARLOW: Are you saying that Thursday night the ambush of those police officers changed your language going forward? Do you regret the words you used?

HOOD: I'm saying that it changed my life. I'm not talking about just my language. It's not lost on me that those police officers were running to save my life. I was running backwards to try to save other lives. I mean, it's a great experience. There's no question about that. I certainly want to be a person who is all about bringing the dual hands of love and justice.

HARLOW: Would you use those same words today, the words that you used, God damn white America, would you use those words today after the events of the last week? Do they help this country?

HOOD: I mean, certainly I did -- obviously I didn't know, I had no ability to know what was going to happen.

HARLOW: Of course.

HOOD: As far as helping our country, I do think that it is important that we begin to say, what do we want to get rid of? I mean, the language of damnation for the Christian has always been about what do we want to get rid off, what do we want to purify ourselves from? I hope that what we want to purify ourselves from is hate and racism. Now more than ever we feel that way.

HARLOW: With all due respect, you didn't answer the question. Would you use those words today?

HOOD: I think that I would use -- I hope to use a variation of that. There might be a real need to maybe push more, I guess, harder on the love piece and not just the justice piece. So yes, I do feel very strongly about the need to really connect on love and justice.

HARLOW: I hope we see a lot of love, a lot of people coming together certainly and justice as well in the weeks and months and years ahead. Thank you very much for joining us, Reverend Hood. I appreciate it.

HOOD: I hope so too. Thank you.

HARLOW: All right. We're following a lot of news. Let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was going to target law enforcement and thought that what he was doing was righteous.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A brutal attack on our police force is an attack on our country.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is too much senseless killing, too many people dead who shouldn't be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God, please don't tell me he's dead.