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Chilling Video of Gunman Encounter Released; Socialite Charged in Officer's Death; Detained American Calls on Biden to Take Action; Intense Heat in West Expanding East; Man Who Shot Reagan Now Posting Love Songs Online. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired June 02, 2021 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:30:38]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Police in San Jose, California, have released dramatic, new body camera video that shows the moment officers first encountered the gunman who killed nine co-workers in a railyard shooting.
CNN's Josh Campbell joins us live with more on this new footage.
And, Josh, obviously we need to note, this was several mass shootings ago. Still, it's very revealing.
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. In this new video from the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department, what we're seeing are officers arriving on the scene from multiple jurisdictions fusing together in what's called the contact team.
Now, I want to warn our viewers that this video is graphic, it might be disturbing, but this is what it's like to be a police officer arriving on the scene of a mass shooting.
Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I've got that white hat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, get your hands up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, hey, all right, hands on your head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on out. Turn around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody stand by.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep that (INAUDIBLE). Back up. Back up. Back up. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What have you got?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a (INAUDIBLE). I work at (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. OK. Come back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Honestly know who's out there. I'm going to swing it open. Ready?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm clear right. Come with me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go left. Go left.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, hold on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm clear right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL: Now, at this point, officers are on the third floor of this railyard building and they have not yet heard the sound of gunfire to help vector them towards the location of the shooter. That is about to change.
Again, I'll warn our viewer, this is graphic. What we're about to hear is gunfire. This is the moment that the shooter took his own life.
Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), third floor. (INAUDIBLE), third floor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Conference room?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. OK. I've got somebody down (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, we've got somebody down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On three?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me see your hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold right. Hold right. Hold right. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got that stairwell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff's office! Sheriff's office! Sheriff's office!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, he's in here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). Hold left. Hold left.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch his hand. Watch his hand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be careful. Watch his hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch his hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold that stairwell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stairwell. Stairwell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold that stairwell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Topside's clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, you hold this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one's here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, the gun -- I see the gun in his hand right here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, stand by, stand by. Let's just clear it all. Hold it. Hold it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL: Now, after that moment, these officers, once they determined that that was the actual shooter there who died by suicide, they continued to render aid to some of the victims that were in and around this building. We know, sadly, people -- nine people lost their lives.
John, this has obviously been a trying year for law enforcement. We'll continue to report on those instances where officers abused their authority or whenever they disgrace the badge, but we're also going to report on the heroism. And that's what we see here, these officers, as everyone else is flooding out of this building, they are rushing in toward the sounds of gunfire trying to stop a threat. John.
BERMAN: Doing their job.
Josh Campbell, appreciate the reporting. Thank you very much.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Another California workplace shooting also developing this morning. Police say that an off-duty L.A. County firefighter went to his station on Tuesday morning and opening fire on two people, killing one fellow firefighter and critically injuring the captain. The motive for the attack is still under investigation. The suspect then fled to his home where he allegedly set the house on fire before turning the gun on himself.
BERMAN: In Florida, a 14-year-old has been injured after engaging in a shoot-out with police. Officials say the girl and a 12-year-old boy, both foster children, ran away from their juvenile home before allegedly breaking into another house where they found multiple guns and started firing on officers.
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SHERIFF MIKE CHITWOOD, VOLUSIA COUNTY, FLORIDA: Deputies did everything they could tonight to de-escalate, and they almost lost their lives to a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old.
Where have we gone wrong that a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old think it's OK to take on law enforcement?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[06:35:00]
BERMAN: The sheriff went on to say he has not seen anything like this in 35 years on the job.
So was it a case of a drinking game turned deadly? Next, a socialite charged in the mysterious death of a police officer.
KEILAR: Plus, the man who tried to assassinate President Reagan performing love songs on YouTube? We'll have that story coming up.
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KEILAR: Developing this morning, a Canadian socialite facing manslaughter by -- manslaughter by negligence charges for the shooting death of a police superintendent in Belize. Jasmine Hartin, who is the partner of the son of a British billionaire, has been arrested and charged in this officer's death. The circumstances, though, remain very unclear.
Paula Newton is in Ottawa with the latest on this.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, unclear are those details. Just absolutely incredible for the family of Henry Jemmott to really understand. At the heart of all of this mystery, Brianna, is, of course, this Canadian woman.
[06:40:01]
And the family told me that, look, she is the person who can really give them the answers. She's the person who last saw them alive.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON (voice over): Police Superintendent Henry Jemmott was a father of five and a law enforcement veteran. His friends and family say they are stunned by his sudden death and equally shocked that a police officer could die this way.
Jemmott's sister, Marie Tzul, holds on tight to family members during an interview with CNN from Belize. She tells me none of the circumstances makes any sense to her.
MARIE TZUL, SISTER OF SLAIN OFFICER: My family right now is really hurt. We are missing our brother. His children is missing him. We are devastated. Really devastated by this.
NEWTON: Police in the Central American country confirmed Jemmott did not die in the line of duty but instead in what they describe as an incident. The details disclosed, that Jemmott and a woman were drinking alone on the pier and both were fully clothed. Details beyond that are scant. Police in Belize say they have charged Canadian socialite Jasmine Hartin, seen here, being transported while in custody. Hartin's lawyer says his client is cooperating.
GODFREY SMITH, ATTORNEY: The charges, manslaughter are negligence. Bail has been denied. We appeal to the supreme court, as is normal.
NEWTON: What is not normal, says Jemmott's family, are the details as outlined by police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police found the female on the pier. She had what appeared to be blood on her arms and on her clothing. And inside the waters right near the pier, police recovered the lifeless body of Mr. Jemmott, with one apparent gunshot wound behind the right ear.
NEWTON: Police say Hartin, covered in blood, was in an emotional state when they first arrived but will not disclose what she told them, if anything.
Jemmott's family says they want to know more from Hartin, the long- time partner of Andrew Ashcroft, the son of British billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft. Hartin and the Ashcrofts have been fixtures in Belize for years. Jemmott's family says their brother knew Hartin and the Ashcrofts. The details of how he died, though, they say, do not point to an accidental death.
TZUL: What we don't know why they did not charge her for murder. They should have taken that to court, murder. Let that play out in the court and the court will decide. NEWTON: Police say they continue to investigate, underscoring he was
also their beloved friend and colleague. And Jemmott's family says they want answers on the devastating loss of a father, brother, and devoted police veteran who police indicate may have been killed by a bullet from his own service weapon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: You know, Brianna, and in speaking to the family here, you know, such an interview where they're saying, look, our brother was careful with his service weapon. And I know the Ashcrofts -- this is big news in the U.K., big tabloid headlines here. But I was really struck in speaking to the whole family. This is a father of five and this family wants to know how this police veteran may have been killed with his own gun.
Brianna.
KEILAR: Of course, they do.
Paula Newton, thank you so much.
President Biden warning that U.S. democracy is at risk amid the GOP assault on voting, and we are going to speak with the Republican, one of them, behind the Texas bill.
BERMAN: Plus, CNN speaks exclusively with an American imprisoned in Russia and charged with espionage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CNN PRODUCER: And if you could get a message to President Biden ahead of this meeting, what would it be?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: His answer, next.
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[06:47:33]
BERMAN: This morning, a CNN exclusive interview with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year prison sentence in Russia for alleged espionage. And he has a message for President Biden ahead of his summit meeting with Vladimir Putin later this month.
CNN's Matthew Chance live in Moscow again with this exclusive.
Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, thanks very much.
It really is extraordinary access because Paul Whelan is currently incarcerated in a labor camp in the Russian region of Mordovia, which is, frankly, miles away from anywhere. He works in what he calls a sweat shop making clothes and, of course, he's now looking to President Biden in his upcoming summit with President Putin of Russia to negotiate his release.
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CHANCE (voice over): For more than two years Paul Whelan has languished in Russian jails, insisting he's an innocent pawn in a political game.
PAUL WHELAN: I want to tell the world that I'm a victim of political kidnap and ransom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
WHELAN: There's obviously no credibility to the situation.
CHANCE: Now the former U.S. Marine has spoken to CNN from his remote Russian penal colony ahead of a much anticipated summit between the U.S. and Russian president.
CNN PRODUCER, And if you could get a message to President Biden ahead of this meeting, what would it be?
WHELAN: Decisive action is needed immediately. The abduction of An American citizen cannot stand anywhere in the world.
This is not an issue of Russia against me, it's an issue of Russia against the United States and the United States needs to answer his hostage diplomacy situation and resolve it as quickly as possible. So I would ask President Biden to aggressively discuss the resolve this issue with his Russian counterparts.
CHANCE: It was at this upscale hotel in Moscow in December 2018 where Whelan was detained by the Russian security services, the old KGB, accused of receiving a flash drive containing classified information. In a closed trial, he was sentenced to 16 years after being convicted of espionage, a trumped up charge, he says, intending to make him a valuable bargaining chip for the Kremlin, something Russian officials deny.
WHELAN: It's pretty simple. There was no crime. There was no evidence. The secret trial was a sham.
[06:50:00]
As I said, you know, the judge, when I was sentenced said I was being sent home. This was done purely for political motive. And it's really up to the governments to sort out either an exchange or some sort of resolution. My hope is that it will be quick. It's been, you know, more than two years.
I have not had a shower in two weeks. I cannot use a barber. I have to cut my own hair.
CHANCE: Ever since his arrest, there have been serious welfare concerns. The state of Russian prisons is poor. Now, Whelan tells CNN he spends his days sewing clothes in a prison factory, but that health issues, especially during the COVID pandemic, are a worry.
CNN PRODUCER: So tell me how -- how are you doing? How are you feeling?
WHELAN: I'm doing OK. I've got some sort of illness right now. I call it a kennel cough. It kind of comes and goes in the barracks. People have it, get better, and then have it again. Getting medical care here is -- is very difficult.
CNN PRODUCER: Are there concerns about COVID still where you are? I imagine the vaccine hasn't reached you?
WHELAN: Yes. We have serious concerns about that. I just had one shot and I should have a second shot I think two weeks.
CNN PRODUCER: Oh, wow. OK.
WHELAN: So that's -- that's a step in the right direction.
CHANCE: A step in the right direction perhaps. But for Paul Whelan, it may still be a long road home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE: Well, John, the Russians have made no secret of the fact there's people in U.S. jails that they want released, including someone who was convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and, in addition, one of the world's most notorious arms traffickers. Those are the guys that potentially they want swapped out.
John.
BERMAN: It was really stunning to hear Paul Whelan's own voice there, Matthew.
Has there been any change in the posture toward this situation with a shift in administrations in the United States?
CHANCE: Well, I think that both administrations, both this one and the previous one, had been working to try and sort of find a negotiated settlement to this, try and work out ways in which there could be some kind of prisoner swap perhaps or some kind of release of Paul Whelan and the other American that's in Russian custody. His name is Trevor Reed, also a former U.S. Marine serving a long sentence here.
But with this Biden administration, there's an extra effort underway, particularly with Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, working with U.S. officials to try and sort of try and bring this matter to a close. And that's why there's so much positively and so much hope when it comes to this summit in Geneva, Switzerland, taking place on the 16th of next month and hopefully this issue can finally be resolved.
BERMAN: Matthew Chance, again, with that exclusive reporting. Thank you very much. So new delusional claims from Donald Trump, reporting that he's actually telling people he'll be reinstated as president this summer. The reporter who broke that story joins us next.
KEILAR: Plus, he shot President Reagan to try to impress a famous actress and now John Hinckley is performing love songs online.
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[06:57:50]
KEILAR: More than 13 million people are under heat alerts in the west and warmer weather is heading east.
So let's go now to meteorologist Chad Myers.
Chad, tell us what's on the horizon here.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Brianna, temperatures in Vegas, Phoenix, going to be running almost 105. It heats up, it dries out, and wildfire season gets going. That's what's going on out here in the west.
This weather is brought to you by Carvana, the new way to buy a car.
Now, that air is headed to the east, no question, by the weekend. Not right now. Very pleasant today. But the west heats up well over 100 degrees in (ph) California. The cool air is here right now, but look at the hot air coming in by Sunday. Even for Chicago, by Friday, temperatures well above normal. Should be in the 70s. Chicago on Sunday, you'll be 94.
Brianna, back to you.
KEILAR: All right, thank you so much, Chad.
BERMAN: So a bizarre development involving a man who tried to kill President Ronald Reagan and a new YouTube channel. John Hinckley Jr. spent 35 years in a psychiatric hospital after shooting Reagan in 1981. Now he's posting love songs on YouTube.
CNN's Jean Casarez joins us now with this strange story.
Jean.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But a judge is allowing it. Well, John Hinckley is going to be back in court on Thursday for a status hearing. One thing the court is monitoring is Hinckley's new YouTube channel. Hinckley asked the court several years ago to share his artistic work with others. Legal documents state that Hinckley was allowed to post his music anonymously, but he was disappointed because he wasn't getting many views and there wasn't much feedback.
According to a court order, in October 2020, Hinckley asked for permission to upload his singing for the public to see under his name. Legal documents say Hinckley also stated he would like to make money from the music and art, quote, to create things I think are good. And like any other artist, I would like to post them and profit from them to contribute more to my family. I feel like I could help my mother and brother out. I could make money from my art.
And late last year, a judge ruled that Hinckley may, quote, publicly display under his own name, without restriction, his memorabilia, his writings, paintings, photographs, artwork, or music created by him.
[07:00:09]
