Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Milwaukee Police Shooting Protests Continue; Louisiana Flooding Documented; Olympic Wrap Up. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 15, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

CHRIS CUOMO, HOST: But then we get to what he just said there. And that plays a larger dynamic. We're hearing the same things from that community we hear all over the country. What do you make of the situation?

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that it is a microcosm, as you said, of every problem we have right now in urban America, but really America at large. I haven't seen all the details of the shooting, I don't have all the facts yet, I haven't seen the body camera footage. But let's assume for a minute that the shooting is justified. When we hear something like that, fix the ghetto, it raises questions about police judgment. It raises questions about whether or not even if the shooting is justified legally, whether it still had to happen we saw this again with Korryn Gaines a few weeks ago. Yes, the police may be legally justified, but is it also -- was it the absolute necessary thing to do? These are questions that get raised. And again, it speaks to everything from economics to police relations and everything else.

CUOMO: Clark says, Joe, yes, all that may be going on, life can be hard for people in these communities, but fix whatever leads a kid to want to go towards a gun when a cop comes at him and we'll have a lot less of these types of shootings. What's the point of that?

JOSEPH GIACALONE, LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINER: Well, I mean, we have to remain professional as police administrators. So we have to be careful about the words they choose and the words they say.

CUOMO: I think Clark chooses his words very carefully. You know what I mean and that's part of what makes him interesting in the political dynamic but he's not saying this off the cuff.

GIACALONE: Right, well I mean he's a bit of a lightning rod. So I mean in regards to you know that respect, he makes good television. But from a former police perspective, I need to make sure we have cooler heads prevail. We need to make sure that we fix some of the problems we have. If we're trying to build bridges to the community, we don't want to upset people even more by saying you know whatever the rhetoric, you know combatting it with more rhetoric. So we have to be careful about what we say.

CUOMO: Right, but you have this reaction to the reaction that's in the country going on right now, which is -- you know, whether it's the media or whether its different advocates or people with an agenda, you try to make every one of these guys who gets shot a victim, and then you have Clark sit up there, and he plays to that and he says let me read you the rap sheets. You know arrested for this, 12 days for that, cocaine here, drug dealing there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: And he says these guys have been given their chances. That's a reaction of a lot of people, these are bad guys that the police have to deal with. Nobody wants to say that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Right, well the problem is if you're a police officer, your job is to deal with bad guys. That is the job. And selling cocaine is a bad thing to do, but it's not a capital crime. You shouldn't be executed for it. So just because you're a bad guy doesn't mean you should be shot for it. Now if the shooting is justified, that's a different issue. But just because you have a rap sheet doesn't mean you deserve to die.

The other thing in this is Sheriff Clark says something like stop trying to fix police, fix the ghetto. He didn't even say stop only trying to fix --

CUOMO: He didn't say both.

HILL: Yes, he said stop trying to fix police. So we -- even the most extreme police acknowledge that there are some problems that need to be fixed. He's saying, no, stop all that, just fix the ghetto. And even the choice of the word ghetto itself plays to a certain ideology of a certain kind of political stance that people have around black and brown people. So all of this is part of the problem. So again, it makes it people - it makes it hard for people to trust the police. It makes it hard for people to believe what's on the body camera footage until its released.

CUOMO: Do you have a problem with the police departments bringing out body cam video to prove what they say is, you know, a justifiable shooting in cases like this? You think it should happen every time?

GIACALONE: Absolutely. I think it we want to be transparent, we need to get this information out to the public. Because when you don't, Chris, people start filling in the gaps, people start saying, oh, you're trying to hide stuff. Get the video out there. If it proves he's holding a gun, that he turns to the officers with a gun, you know the discussion is pretty much done with at that point. I mean when you wait 5 hours, 10 hours, 12 hours, or even we've seen years right with Chicago, you it festers...

CUOMO: Why do they wait?

GIACALONE: Well because -

CUOMO: Clark says he's seen it. He says I'll get it out at some point. But they haven't - why? What goes into the consideration not to put it out?

GIACALONE: It's about the old police mentality about that you know it's going to hurt our investigation. It's not going to hurt the investigation at this point.

CUOMO: What investigation? You mean the investigation into whether the cop did the right thing?

GIACALONE: Right. If it's a justified shootable - justified shooting or not. You know first of all, you know there's no such thing as a good shooting. I mean all shootings are bad. It's just that if they're justified or not. But if we need -- we need to get this information out there. We need to get it out quickly because when we don't, it presents a whole other set of issues, especially in the age of social media where people just start running with their own stories and rumors start developing and then you know you can incite riots like we're seeing right now in Milwaukee.

HILL: It reflects a little disrespect for the public to me. There's a sense here that we're the police, you're not. We make the final decisions, you don't. And over the last few years, because of surveillance, because of protests, because of these kind of conversations that we're having, suddenly the police are being held accountable in ways that they haven't been before. And to some extent many police resent it. And so this kind of resistance, this kind of slow-down of releasing of information is almost like a push back and that's what I find so disrespectful. .

CUOMO: The police are the ones who have to put out the fires you know with the first responders in these communities, it seems like they should want the most. If there's clear evidence, that look, this is what this officer had to do in this situation they'd want it out. They have to deal with the reaction more than any other citizen. Gentlemen, thank you very much. This conversation is going to continue.

[06:35:08]

CUOMO: What do you think about this? Please tweet us @newday. Post your comment on facebook.com/newday. Alisyn?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, HOST: OK, Chris. There's a state of emergency in parts of Louisiana this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Deadly flooding destroying entire neighborhoods and driving thousands of people from their homes, and the threat is not over yet. We have a live report for you next.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Southeastern Louisiana is under a state of emergency. There is historic flooding there. At least five people have died. There have been 20,000 rescues and some of them are just amazing to see footage of.

CNN's Boris Sanchez live in Baton Rouge. The worst is not over there, Boris. What's the situation?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly not, Chris. The rain may have stopped, at least in some places several hours ago, there's still more in the forecast, but the real problem is where all the flood water is headed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[06:40:00]

SANCHEZ: We're actually in a neighborhood now just outside of Baton Rouge where not much rain fell at all, but as you can see, this neighborhood is totally submerged. Part of the reason is that behind these homes is the Manchac Bayou and as that wetland overflowed, it came into this neighborhood. You see people's possessions floating in the water.

Yesterday we saw a children's toy just moving down the street. It's a very, very precarious situation for people here, especially as they're going out in the roads, either trying to escape the water or trying to go check on their homes. Yesterday we saw some very impressive video from a CNN affiliate - a group of volunteers rescuing a woman who had become stuck on the street. I want to play it for you in full.

[VIDEO PLAYING]

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: So as you can see, very, very dramatic video. That woman incredibly lucky that those volunteers were there to help her. It's something we've seen over and over again across the state. People coming with their personal flatbed boats, their personal airboats going into areas that are devastated to help those who need it most.

And one more note Chris, - yesterday where we were standing was totally dry. Now it's in about a foot of water. This is going to continue rising, continue going into homes. Hopefully soon it will start to recede.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Boris, what a video you just showed us. I mean what a guardian angel that volunteer was. First he saves the woman's life. Then he saves her beloved dog.

CUOMO: And boy, I hope that she'll realize how lucky she is. I don't know who that guy is or what kind of training he had, but to figure out how to deal with a submerging vehicle in moving water and get her out and get the dog out, it doesn't get much better in terms of that kind of situation.

CAMEROTA: An angel on earth. We will keep you posted on that story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Meanwhile, the NYPD is questioning a possible suspect in connection with the double murder of Imam and his associate. This happened on Saturday. A gunman killed Imam Maulama Akonjee and his aide, Thara Uddin in broad daylight as they were leaving a mosque in Queens. Investigators are trying to determine a motive. So far they say no evidence that the victims were targeted because of their faith.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: A massive police presence at JFK Airport last night because there were reports of shots fired inside terminal eight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Authorities do not believe shots were actually fired. They're investigating whether a hoax phone call forced the evacuation of two terminals. Hundreds of passengers leaving behind luggage and leaving the airport with officers from the NYPD's Hercules strike team responding to the scene. Airport operations getting back to normal this morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK. A very scary incident for four U.S. Olympic athletes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: These swimmers, including Ryan Lochte, they were -- they're cooperating now with police after being robbed at gunpoint in Rio. So what does this mean? Are the other athletes safe? We have a live report from the summer games straight ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:02]

CUOMO: More history at the Rio Olympics as both superstar gymnast Simone Biles and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt clinch gold. But the story that has everyone talking is a new look at the risk for athletes down there. The armed robbery of Ryan Lochte and three other U.S. Swimmers.

CNN sports anchor Coy Wire live in Rio with more.

You know, this was an undercurrent. Everybody had Zika on the brain when it came to what would happen in Rio. But this is a dangerous place real criminal element. But this was a scary situation for several reasons. Tell us about it.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: My goodness. You're absolutely right, Chris. Imagine, you're an Olympian, you're celebrating a new gold medal. You finally get some time off after all that training. You have a barrel of a gun put to your forehead. That's what we're talking about here with Ryan Lochte and some of his teammates and we'll have more on that in a second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: But let's first get you to your medal count as our new day begins. USA in front with 69. China in second with 45. Great Britain in third with 38.

Now Chris, last night I got a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a once in a lifetime athlete, Usain Bolt, every person in that stadium watching, hanging on his every move as he made his move into the record books.

Jamaica's Usain Bolt living up to his name, the fastest man alive, catching, then pulling away from his competition to defend his title.

USAIN BOLT, JAMAICAN OLYMPIC SPRINTER: I knew from the semifinals that I would have won because I could tell I felt good, I felt smooth.

WIRE: The Jamaican superstar becoming the first man in history to win three consecutive gold medals in the 100m dash. American Justin Gatlin coming in just eight one hundredths of a second behind him to take home the silver.

In gymnastics, Simone Biles just won't quit, striking gold for the third time in Rio, wowing judges with her complex vaulting skills. Biles is the first American woman to win gold in this event.

Teammate Madison Kocian clinching silver on uneven bars, flying high and nailing the landing.

Alex Naddour's sharp moves on the pommel horse, earning him a hard- fought bronze ending a 32 year medal drought in this event for the United States.

But the story that has everyone buzzing in Rio is 12-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte and three of his teammates robbed at gunpoint by men posing as police officers.

RYAN LOCHTE, U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMER: They pulled us over. They pulled out their guns. They told the other swimmers to get down on the ground.

WIRE: Lochte revealing chilling tails about the encounter after refusing to comply.

LOCHTE: I was like, we didn't do anything wrong. So I'm not getting down on the ground. And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it put it to my forehead and said get down, and I was like, I put my hands up, I was like, whatever. He took our money, he took my wallet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:50:00]

CAMEROTA: Yes, OK, that's terrifying. CNN's sports analyst, Christine Brennan joins Coy now in Rio. Good morning to both of you. Christine, I mean how does this happen? Are there's -- is there any talk of protecting the athletes down there better after this incident?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: We're certainly asking those questions today in a way we have not before. Obviously we've known about the issue of street crime in Rio and of course many other cities around the world. But this has brought it home in a big way. And the Australians are taking measures now for their team, saying they cannot be on the beach -- actually on the beach Copa or Ipanema from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., basically during the nighttime hours.

But here's the issue in a nutshell. What happened last week, athletes were competing. Literally every athlete was still competing. They were not out on the town. Now you've got thousands, Coy, thousands of athletes who are finished with their competition wanting to enjoy a little bit of Rio. And who can blame them. The options are limited when you're out late at night to get transportation back to the village. And so this is an issue that these Olympic committees have to deal with because it's either cabs, Uber or walking. And at 4:00 in the morning, athletes are going to be out. We know that. This is not going to be the last time athletes are out and wandering around.

WIRE: Yes, we were prepared greatly for security here, to keep ourselves safe. We were told what to do, what not to do.

We were told only use the taxis in front of your cab that your hotel approves of. You know, highly prepared to keep ourselves safe. And I was at one of these events. As Christine mentioned, these athletes now as they finish their competition, swimming was over, I think they get out and they want to celebrate. They've sacrificed. They have been on strict diets. They can celebrate a little bit, some gold medals in the case of Lochte. But you see some of these athletes. I was there with a bunch of swimmers, and they're letting their guards down a bit, they're having fun finally and I think that then transfers when they go out to leave this venue to go back to the Olympic Village and they're a little less cautious maybe than they should have been.

CUOMO: Well but you can't - it's hard to blame the athletes in this situation. First of all, it's a dangerous city, as you guys are learning there right now. And this was sophisticated. This cabbie got pulled over by guys who were posing as cops. You know this wasn't your typical stick them up on the street because you're walking down the wrong place you know in a poorly lit area.

All right, so that's the bad part of what happened at the Olympics. But there's a lot of good. Christine, let me ask you something - we haven't seen Usain Bolt in a situation like the one he was in last night. He's always slow off the start because he's so long, but he was in fourth in that race with like 30 meters to go. What did you make of it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENNAN: Well it was different. You know he's going to do something different each of these three gold medals. It's 2008, 2012, and now this incredible triple with 2016. But Justin Gatlin had the lead really three-quarters of the way in. And of course, you kind of knew it. In fact, I think you definitely knew it, Bolt was going to catch him. But this was not Bolt then prancing and dancing and turning around as he crossed the finish line. He worked. In the end, he shut it down. But it was fun to actually see him challenged in a different way. Justin Gatlin, of course, the Olympic gold medalist from 2004, twice banned through doping, another doping issue, but Bolt had it at the end Chris, you just kind of knew it. Copy didn't you feel that way?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Absolutely. I mean I'd never been to a big-time race like that before, guys. So when I was sitting there and you see Bolt walk in and that whole stadium stands up on their feet, I'm getting goose bumps again because they just go absolutely crazy. You can feel the tension building as he's walking around.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: He commands the whole stadium with his presence. He'll look to one section of the crowd, they go crazy. He gets in the blocks, he goes like this, the whole stadium goes like that. So to see the command that he had over that fan base was incredible. So what an event.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: As Gatlin got out, I thought, is he going to do it this time? Is he going to do it this time? And then boom, he's gone. It was unbelievable to see and witness that history guys.

CAMEROTA: So Christine, beyond Usain Bolt what has been the most striking winning moment for you?

BRENNAN: I think I have to go back to the swimming pool where I spent a lot of time the first week. And I would say two things. I'd say two Americans. On the men's side, Michael Phelps, 31 years old. We knew he was going to be good, Alisyn, but we didn't think this good, five gold, one silver. This is just a remarkable performance.

And then Katie Ledecky, who just -- I think she's maybe the best closer in sports, not just in swimming. And 19 years old, already talking about Rio in 2020. So get ready for more Katie Ledecky in four years.

CAMEROTA: Got it. Christine, Coy, thank you very much great to get that update from Rio from both of you.

CUOMO: All right, a big day ahead for Donald Trump. He's slated to lay out his previously secret plan to defeat ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: His team, though, is just as focused on us, the media. Donald Trump, the victim of the press, is this what he should be talking about at this stage in a presidential election? We have more next

(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:59:45]

CAMEROTA: Very scary situation there in Louisiana. And the flooding has not crested yet, so it could get worse. We're keeping an eye on that. Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to your "New Day" up first, it's a pivotal day for Republican nominee Donald Trump and for the party, who want him to get back on message. Trump is expected to lay out his plan to fight and defeat ISIS.

CUOMO: Today's speech comes as Trump intensifies his attacks on us, the U.S. media, maintaining we're not treating him fairly.