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New Day

Violent Protests Erupt in Charlotte; Unarmed Black Man Shot and Killed by Police in Tulsa; Trump: Black Community in Worst Shape "Ever, Ever, Ever". Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 21, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:03] MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, a big issue for both Trump and Clinton will be enthusiasm at the polls. Terry Madonna, that guru of Pennsylvania politics says his polling shows that many voters are motivated more by fear of the other candidate rather than love for their own.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Miguel Marquez, you are in the right place at the right time. Thank you for the reporting.

We're following breaking news, another deadly police shooting. Let's get into it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your new day. We begin with breaking news. Violent protests erupting in Charlotte, North Carolina, after police shoot and kill a black man that they say had a gun. Demonstrators taking to the highway turned into riots in many places, setting fires, attacking police cruisers and police themselves. Tear gas had to be used to quell the vi1ence that you're seeing on your screen right now.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: At least a dozen police officers are hurt and the city's mayor is calling for calm. This unrest comes just hours after a different demonstration in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That one after police released this video of the shooting death of an unarmed black man. So this morning we spoke exclusively with the family of Terence Crutcher and we have it all covered for you. Let's begin with CNN's Brynn Gingras. She's on breaking news out of Charlotte. Brynn?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, in so many of these cases like you just saw in Tulsa, we see video of what happened. In this case no video as of yet. The investigation is just in the beginning stages, and that hasn't stopped protesters from taking to the streets of Charlotte, outraged by the shooting death of 43-year- old Keith Lamont Scott, a father of seven who his family says wasn't carrying a gun when police approached. Instead they say he was reading a book.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GINGRAS: Overnight violent protesters erupting on the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hold the police office accountable for what they do.

GINGRAS: Several hundred protesters blocking a highway, looting trucks and setting fire to some of their cargo. Officers in riot gear deploying tear gas and setting off flash bangs as angry crowds swarmed squad cars, throwing water bottles and rocks at the officers, injuring at least a dozen. Protesters moving to a local Wal-Mart. Video shows them attempting to break in, but running once SWAT teams arrive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The citizens have a legitimate concern, and their concerns shouldn't be taken lightly.

GINGRAS: The clashes breaking out following the fatal shooting of a black man, Keith Lamont Scott. Police say they arrived at an apartment complex looking to serve a warrant to another individual when they encountered Scott, who they say was armed.

CHIEF KERR PUTNEY, CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG POLICE: Make some imminent threat to them and because of that at least one of our officers fired rounds at the subject.

GINGRAS: Brentley Vinson, identified as the officer who shot Scott, is also a black male, according to local reports now placed on administrative leave. But protesters are out in full force, questioning when will black lives truly matter?

NOELLE DUNLAP, PROTESTOR: A terrorist, New Jersey, New York, he was taken alive. They said they wanted to question him. So because of you wanting to question him does his life mean more than our black men across the nation?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: That's been echoed all over social media. Charlotte's mayor promising a full investigation, but in the meantime calling for calm. Of course we are expecting to learn more about where this investigation stands later, Chris, and we should certainly get that as the day goes on.

CUOMO: Appreciate the reporting. We'll stay with you on this.

Protesters also taking to the streets in Tulsa, Oklahoma, calling for the firing of a police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black man. Hundreds gathering in front of the police headquarters last night, calling for the arrest of the officer who killed Terence Crutcher, a 40-year-old father of four. We have CNN's Ana Cabrera live in Tulsa. She has more. Ana?

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. Protesters here want to see officer Betty Shelby arrested. That depends on the outcome of the local police criminal investigation, but there's also a federal civil rights probe going on right now. The Department of Justice opening its investigation after seeing the video of what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CABRERA: Police video shows the moments before 40-year-old Terence Crutcher is shot and killed by a Tulsa police officer from this dash cam video and a police chopper.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has his hands up there for her now.

CABRERA: You can see Crutcher with his hands up. Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby follows with her gun drawn as Crutcher walks back towards his SUV that's stopped in the middle of the road.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy still walking and following commands.

CABRERA: Three other officers respond, standing between Crutcher and the dash cam video, but in the helicopter video it appears Crutcher drops at least one of his hands when he gets to his video.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time for a Taser, I think.

CABRERA: But you don't see what Crutcher is doing as he is shot. The helicopter is circling around at that moment.

[08:05:11] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That looks like a bad dude, too. He could be on something.

CABRERA: Crutcher falls to the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has been Tasered.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shots fired.

CABRERA: Shot and Tased.

CHUCK TULSA, TULSA POLICE CHIEF: There was no gun on the suspect or in the suspect's vehicle.

CABRERA: Crutcher was unarmed, but Officer Shelby's attorney Scott Wood says she didn't know that. Wood says Crutcher was not responding to Shelby's questions and ignored multiple commands. Police now say the drug PCP was found inside of Crutcher's car. Attorneys for the Crutcher family say they are looking into that, but say no matter what police mishandled this situation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did him being a big black man play a role in her perceived danger?

SCOTT WOOD, ATTORNEY FOR OFFICER BETTY SHELBY: No. Him being a large man perceived a role in her being in danger. She's worked in this part of town for quite some time and, you know, just the week before she was at an all-black high school homecoming football game. She's not afraid of black people.

CABRERA: Shelby is now on paid administrative leave. While police and Shelby's attorney say Crutcher was reaching in the window of the car when she fired, video of the incident appears to show the driver's window is closed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That looks like a bad dude, too.

DR. TIFFANY CRUTCHER, TERENCE'S TWIN SISTER: That big bad dude was my twin brother. That big bad dude was father. That big bad dude was a son. That big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa community college, just wanting to make us proud.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Terence Crutcher's story appears to have really hit a nerve all over the nation with everyone from politicians to sports stars weighing in on social media using the #TerenceCrutcher, and urging for police officers to be held accountable. The local police chief Chuck Jordan saying his office will conduct a thorough and transparent investigation and he vows, quote, "We will achieve justice, period." Alisyn?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Ana, thank you for all of that background. Earlier this morning we had an exclusive interview with that family of Terence Crutcher here on NEW DAY. It was of course an emotional conversation as they process their loss and the pain of seeing his death on video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got his hands up there for her now. Hit the recorder. This guy is still walking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time for Taser, I think.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a feeling that's about to happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That looks like a bad dude, too. Could be on something.

DR. TIFFANY CRUTCHER, TERENCE CRUTCHER'S SISTER: I hear someone who was paid to protect and serve us prejudging my brother. He didn't know my brother at all. And I have so many friends who are officers of the law, and they stand with us and they say that's not representation of who our public servants are supposed to be. And it just validates what we've been angry about, what we've been confused about, what we've been hurt about.

CAMEROTA: Because he looks like a bad dude what does that say to you?

TIFFANY CRUTCHER: It says that anyone who is big in stature or may have brown skin, it just seems like they automatically criminalize or demonize or say, hey, we're going to get you. I'm really sad, and I have friends who have young boys and they are afraid to go to driver's ed. They don't want driver's license. They're afraid and that saddens me.

CAMEROTA: You want them to know that your brother was not a bad dude. He was a father and a brother and a son.

TIFFANY CRUTCHER: He was all of that. All last night I have been flooded with love and support from people all around the world from all different backgrounds, all different cultures. And one that really broke me down and really touched my heart was one of his professors at Tulsa community college who said Terence was in my sociology class last fall. He never missed a class. All he talked about was his children, and his final presentation that he did was on Christianity. And she said her heart breaks and she is going to miss him. And I lost it. And so that big bad dude mattered. He truly mattered.

CAMEROTA: And yet, Mr. Crump, the police say that he wasn't following their instructions. Maybe he told -- maybe they told him to stop, maybe they told him to get down. They say that that's what caused him concern, to either of you, that he wasn't following instructions. And police probably would have said get down, don't go to your car. Why wouldn't he have followed those instructions if that's what was issued?

[08:10:10] DEMARIO SOLOMON SIMMONS, FAMILY ATTORNEY: We don't know what was said because there's no audio, but what we do know is that we have a video that does not have a political affiliation, it does not have an ulterior motive. We have a video we can clearly see. We don't have to explain it. We can see on the video that Terence did not have a weapon. We can see on the video that Terence has his hands up in the air. We can see on the video that Terence was moving in a very slow and deliberate manner. With see very clearly on the video that Terence never made a sudden movement towards the officers or towards going inside of the vehicle. We can see on the video that when Terence was shot the officers were not in any imminent harm.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR TERENCE CRUTCHER'S FAMILY: And it was broad daylight, Alisyn, the whole time, and there was no justification for this use of excessive force.

CAMEROTA: The police say that they found the drug PCP inside the car. Do you believe them?

CRUMP: We don't know what they found in the car. We will take it at their word because they got all the, quote/unquote, "evidence" in their custody. They say they are going to be transparent. This is an opportunity for the leadership to be transparent so they can go the trust with this Tulsa community that maybe can be an example, Alisyn, for communities all over the area. We see what's happening in Charlotte. We saw what happened in Florida when Mike Brown had his hands up. We saw what happened to Tamir Rice in Cleveland. And when you're not transparent and the community feel they cannot trust you, then we have terrible things that happen in our communities.

CAMEROTA: Would that change the equation for you if there were PCP in the car and if that meant that somehow he was debilitated by having taken a drug somehow?

CRUMP: Alisyn, you look at that video, and nothing in that video justifies them using excessive lethal force on him. And if we are going to start declaring the death sentence to anybody that has drugs in their system, well, they are going to go to a lot of communities, not just our community, then God help America. CAMEROTA: Tiffany, you and your brother, you are twins, as I said you

just celebrated your 40th birthday is month ago. And on that day he told you that he was looking forward to the future and what his plans were.

TIFFANY CRUTCHER: Yes, he told me that he was excited about the future, excited about starting school. I have a final text message, the very last one, where he told me that he loved me. I told him that I loved him. And he said, "God is going to get the glory out of my life" in that text message. And we are a family of faith and we know that all things work together for the good. And if any good comes out of this, if any good can come out of this, we're hoping that America will open their eyes, everybody, and see that there is an issue, a systemic issue that needs to be solved. And we're pleading with the leadership of this country, everyone, to just see that and let's put some systems in place to prevent this from happenings again.

CAMEROTA: And yet, Reverend Crutcher, you wake up this morning and there are protests in Charlotte, North Carolina, because there has been another incident. Not the same. This man police say did have a gun but he was sitting in his car. These are the protests you are waking up to this morning of another incident. What are your thoughts when you see this continuing to happen?

REV. JOEY CRUTCHER, TERENCE CRUTCHER'S FATHER: It's just a continuation of the same thing over and over and over again. And it's perpetuated against people of color more than anything else. If it would have been in the reverse, if it would have been a Caucasian, it would have been totally different because there are records that indicate and show that this situation wouldn't have happened if that would have been a Caucasian. And if the circumstances were in reverse, Terence would have been charged immediately.

CAMEROTA: Mrs. Crutcher, how are Terence's kids doing?

LEANNA CRUTCHER, TERENCE CRUTCHER'S MOTHER: Well, they're doing the best that they can do at this present time. What's breaking my heart is that his youngest son, we call him little Terence, asked me the day before yesterday, where is my dad? Because he hadn't seen him, you know, in a couple of days. So in his mind he's wondering what's going on. So we told him, because we are people of faith, that dad went to heaven.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: So I'm always struck by these families who come on after an incident like this while they are still in the throes of their grief, because they want the conversation to happen, they want something to change, they want some action. So even though that was really hard for them and they struggled before and after that interview to talk to us, they felt that it was important to talk about where their family is.

[08:15:02] CUOMO: Well, first of all, you gave them a great opportunity in how you conducted the interview for them to talk about what matters instead of just trafficking in their grief. They feel that this is the only way to justify his death, is to somehow make it mean something going forward.

And the question is clear, this has to be about the use of force in situations by police. Why does it escalate so quickly?

CAMEROTA: Yes, and training. Everybody says that that it might be about better training.

Coming up in just a few minutes, we're going to hear from the other side of the story. OK, that's the lawyer representing the police officer who shot Terence Crutcher. So, what is her side of the story? We'll talk about that.

CUOMO: Now, this is obviously playing into the election as well. Donald Trump says African-American communities, quote, "are in the worst shape they have ever been in before." Is that true? Is it going to help win over black voters? We're going to put that question to the Trump campaign, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:20:06] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Our African- American communities are absolutely in the worst shape that they have ever been in before. Ever, ever, ever. You take a look at the inner cities, you get no education, you get no jobs, you get shot walking down the street. They are worse -- I mean, honestly, places like Afghanistan are safer than some of our inner cities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Donald Trump standing in front of a white audience, talking about black America, raising some eyebrows with that assessment that it is the worst ever, ever in black communities.

So, he is the so-called law and order candidate, yet silent so far on these shootings in Charlotte and Tulsa.

Let's discuss with Brunell Donald-Kyei. She is the vice chair of diversity outrage for Trump's national diversity coalition.

Counselor, thank you for joining us this morning.

BRUNELL DONALD-KYEI, NATL. DIVERSITY COALITOIN FOR TRUMP: Thank you so much, Mr. Cuomo, for having me.

CUOMO: It's a pleasure. I know your background. You understand the problems with urban violence and policing in this country very, very well. The candidate you support has been silent so far, uncharacteristic of him. Why?

DONALD-KYEI: You know, what I would say to you is that we've got -- we know that most police officers are law abiding citizens, they get up, they go to work just like everybody else, you know, going out to make our communities safe. And then, you have of course like in every profession, you have those bad apples that go out and they -- you know, they give us -- all of us a bad name. We have those few bad apples that give us all a bad name.

So, you know, like I said, most of the police officers that go to work, they go to work, they want to serve and protect. They want to take care of us.

And so, it's unfortunate that you have officers, some officers, a small percentage, are not following the rules and following training.

CUOMO: So, how do you explain your candidate not sending that message out right now, not leading in a situation like this? He ordinarily has something to say when something happens. Does he believe that this is a problematic situation for him politically? Why is he quiet?

DONALD-KYEI: I believe that Mr. Trump, like all Americans, are waiting to find out what the actual facts are. I mean, this is an investigation and, you know, the police have to do their investigations and, you know, the -- you know, talk to the officer and different things like that.

So, we definitely have to allow the police to do their investigation and get to the bottom of this. But I do know that good police officers all around the world as well as this family just want to make sure that there is going to be an honest investigation into what's happening.

CUOMO: Obviously, Mr. Trump is making an effort to try to get more voters, specifically African-American voters, on to his side.

DONALD-KYEI: Yes.

CUOMO: Latest numbers have him at about 6 percent.

Will it help him get black voters by saying falsely that the black community is in the worst shape ever, ever, ever? Is that going to get you black votes?

DONALD-KYEI: What I will tell you this, is that, you know, the majority -- I a lot of black people are doing well in this society, but unfortunately, we do have that 25 percent that are living in abject poverty.

I'm from Chicago where there have been almost 3,000 deaths, shootings in Chicago this year alone.

And, Mr. Cuomo, many people are out there eating poverty and drinking hopelessness because the jobs that were promised eight years ago and four years ago under the Democratic rule never came. The investment into the black community that was promised never came, better schools in our communities, it never came.

And so, you know, there are people who have waited on life support, literally waiting for jobs, waiting for better and it did not come.

And so, I'm not saying that it's ever, but what I will say is that black people and during the civil rights movement were being -- you know, there were problems with police and then the schools were an issue, as well as no jobs, and it's going on right now in 2016.

And so, you know, I would have to say that it's a general -- you know, a generalization, no, but there are pockets of about 25 percent of the African-American community that are worse off, that are not doing well, that are starving, picking between gas and food, picking between whether they are going to dilute their baby's milk or pay rent, or whether they're going to pay child care. I mean, there is a sense of hopelessness on the ground.

I am in the courtrooms and on the ground all the time talking to every day people and honestly, there are black people, there are white people, there are Hispanic people who are poor and they waited for help that never came.

[08:25:04] CUOMO: Brunell you paint the desperation accurately and very well.

DONALD-KYEI: Sure.

CUOMO: I don't think there is any denying that there is great need on the facts it is not the worst ever, ever just about a way you want to measure it and that's not just about debating facts, it's about what the focus is of this pitch.

DONALD-KYEI: Yes.

CUOMO: What is it about Donald Trump other than saying you are not worst shape ever which just isn't true what is he promising the black community that you believe is better than what you're hearing from Hillary Clinton?

DONALD-KYEI: Let me tell you something -- Donald Trump, he's running for presidency of the United States. That's the thing, we're making it a black thing, making it a white thing, making it a Hispanic thing. We have got to stop talking about it in terms of race and start thinking about it and talking about it in terms of America.

We need jobs. We need better schools. We need investment in communities. We need that. And that is what he is offering.

You have to remember, Donald Trump is the head of Trump Organization and when you look into that organization it is filled with blacks, whites, Hispanics, Arabs, Asians, it's different religions, different creeds.

So he has -- he is a person that has created jobs. He is a person that signs checks, he is a person that works on the bottom with the person who is doing the foundation, as well as the guy sitting in the office.

So, all of that I think is important when we're thinking about our next president. Our people, the American people, many of them are losing hope and we need a champion in that office that will provide the jobs, that is looking at school choice, which is a big issue even in the African-American community. We need, you know, investment in the communities. So, that is what -- he is not running -- he is a running as a president of the United States, not just black or white or Hispanic.

CUOMO: Brunell Donald-Kyei, thank you very much for making the case for Donald Trump on NEW DAY today. Good to have you on the show.

DONALD-KYEI: God bless you and thank you so much.

CUOMO: You as well.

Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris.

The Justice Department is investigating the fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher, that's an unarmed black man in Tulsa. What is the officer's side of this story? Up next, we'll speak with the attorney of the Tulsa officer, who fired that fatal shot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)