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New Day Saturday
Four Women Killed In Macy's Mall Shooting; Curfew Ends After Peaceful Protests; Victim's Family Releases Video Of Fatal Encounter; Ohio Paper Endorses Clinton After Century Backing GOP; Presidential Debate Starts Monday; Florida Nightclub Shooting 911 Call Audio Released; SoCal Wildfire Detailed; Joss Whedon Sets Up PAC for Political Ads. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired September 24, 2016 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:00:10] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. We're so grateful to see you. I'm Christi Paul.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you.
PAUL: There's some breaking news we want to get to you out of the state of Washington. Take a look at that on your scene there. Police are looking for this man. Trying to hunt him down right now because they say he opened fire inside of a shopping mall last night and killed at least four people.
Our CNN's Jessica Schneider has more for us. Hi, Jessica.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christi. Well, authorities believe one shooter is responsible and now they're searching for that man who took off toward Interstate 5 right after the attack. Witnesses there say one minute they were enjoying a night at the mall. Then next they saw officers with guns telling them to leave and fast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Chaos and confusion at a shopping center an hour outside of Seattle. Four women shot to death, one man wounded Friday night at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington. All the victims were inside the Macy's Department store.
SGT. MARK FRANCIS, WASHINGTON STATE PATROL: Yes. It sounded right there in the makeup department.
SCHNEIDER: This morning, police are looking for this unidentified subject captured on the store's surveillance camera. Authorities believe he was carrying a hunting-type rifle and believe he acted alone. Police searched the mall, but some reports say he left and headed toward a freeway.
FRANCIS: He killed four people. He seriously injured a fifth who might also pass away. I would be extremely diligent and careful if you come in contact with the suspect. SCHNEIDER: The shooting came amid a typically busy night at the mall. After the gun fire, the entire complex was evacuated. Many of those who came out were taken to a nearby church for safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most chaotic at a scene in a while. The most chaotic to me that's ever been here. I wouldn't think this would even happen here. So, I'm shocked.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: Police and K-9s have been searching that nearly 500,000- square foot mall all night long. The shooting began around 7:00 p.m. local time. As they conduct this manhunt, authorities say there's no indication that any additional attacks were planned in the state -- Christi.
PAUL: All right, Jessica Schneider, we appreciate the update this morning. Thank you so much. Obviously, we'll continue to follow this story and bring you the very latest developments as we learn them throughout the morning.
BLACKWELL: Just moments ago, a mandatory curfew for Charlotte, North Carolina lifted another night of peaceful protests. Demonstrators vowing to avoid the violence that marred the city earlier this week.
You hear the chant "release the tapes, release the tapes." They're calling for justice in the police shooting death of Keith Scott and demanding that Charlotte Police Department release body and dash cam video. Authorities tell CNN, there were no arrests. No use of tear gas, no injuries, no property damage in the protests there.
Our Brynn Gingras joins us now from Charlotte where another rally is expected to start in a few hours this morning. Authorities, I wonder if they had any trouble enforcing the curfew from midnight to 6:00.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Victor. You know, that curfew started at midnight. As you said at that time, the Charlotte Police Department tweeted that they didn't have any issues and that those protests were peaceful.
About two hours later at 2 in the morning, they sent out another tweet saying there were about 75 people that weren't following the dispersal order. So it's unclear at this point if they had to eventually make some arrests overnight.
But overall, it does seem like the night was pretty peaceful. There was time that the protests were on the highway, on the streets, but everyone was certainly following those orders. So that is the good news.
Again, we're hearing from protesters that they are going to be here throughout the weekend, really. As they continue to say exactly what you mentioned, release those tapes. That's the focus of these protesters at this point after the Scott family released their own version of what happened. Now, they want the Charlotte Police Department to release the tapes, body cam footage and dash cam footage. We're hearing that the Charlotte Police Department is in talks with the state investigators, who is now the lead on this investigation.
We're also hearing that attorneys are now involved to have the discussion about whether or not those tapes are going to be released. Yes, in the meantime, Victor, we do expect more protests to pick back up today at 1:00.
BLACKWELL: All right, 1 p.m. Brynn Gingras, for us there in Charlotte. Thanks so much. And of course, the fear that some had was that after the release of the video that we saw on midday Friday that there would be a return to the violence that we saw earlier in the week.
PAUL: Right.
BLACKWELL: And of course, that urge continues now. People asking the Charlotte Police Department to release their video, after as we said, the release of the cell phone video, that led up to and actually showed that shooting.
[06:05:12]PAUL: Right. We just want to forewarn you, we know it's early, it's Saturday morning, and the video we're about to let you see here, it's difficult to watch. You're going to hear his wife pleading with officers not to shoot. You're going to hear her reaction after he is shot. Randi Kaye has more for us here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The video is 2 minutes and 12 seconds and it's hard to watch. The tape begins with a standoff between Charlotte police officers and Keith Lamont Scott. His wife, Rakeyia Scott, is recording the video.
RAKEYIA SCOTT, KEITH SCOTT'S WIFE: Don't shoot him. Don't shoot him. He has no weapon. He has no weapon. Don't shoot him.
KAYE: A second later, though, you hear police shout about a gun. Listen carefully.
SCOTT: Drop the gun.
KAYE: The shaky video shows police surrounding Scott's white vehicle, but what you don't see from this vantage point is Scott himself. Twenty seconds into it, another firm warning from Scott's wife that her husband does not have a gun, but that he does have a traumatic brain injury.
SCOTT: He doesn't have a gun, he has a TBI.
KAYE: A few seconds later, she tells officers her husband just took his medicine that he's not going to do anything to them, but the situation escalates. Rakeyia Scott walks closer telling her husband to get out of the vehicle. SCOTT: Keith, don't let him break the windows, come on out of the car.
KAYE: Police can be heard on the video yelling to Scott to drop the gun at least nine times.
SCOTT: Don't shoot him, don't shoot him. He didn't do anything. He doesn't have a gun. He has a TBI.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun. Drop the gun. Drop the gun.
KAYE: Then about 50 seconds after he was told to put his hands up, police fired, but not before one final warning.
SCOTT: Keith, Keith, Keith, don't you do it.
KAYE: Four shots can be heard on the video. Though the actual shooting is off camera, it's still unclear what Mrs. Scott was trying to tell her husband when she shouted, "Don't do it." Watch those final moments again.
SCOTT: Keith! Keith! Keith, don't you do it.
KAYE: Still up for debate? If Keith Scott had a weapon as police have claimed and what prompted officers to shoot. His wife clearly shocked by what she witnessed.
SCOTT: Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him? He better not be dead?
KAYE: She moves closer until the camera can see her husband on the ground. Unsure he's alive or dead, Rakeyia Scott is stunned.
SCOTT: He better live. I swear he better live. Yep. He better live.
KAYE: On the video, it's hard to tell if the gun police said they saw is anywhere on ground, but look at this photo acquired by Charlotte police. The chief says it shows what appears to be a handgun on the pavement at Scott's feet.
The photo was clearly taken after the video since crime scene tape not seen in the video is up. When asked about the gun being in the photo but not clearly in the video, a spokeswoman for the city of Charlotte told CNN, quote, "It is part of the investigation and a question for the state investigation board." Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: So, obviously, there is a lot to analyze in that video, asking questions about what is seen in the video and what is not seen in the video and what possibly we can learn from the dash cam and the body cam video that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has not released.
So coming up next hour, our team of reporters and our analysts will scrutinize key moments that will be vital to the investigation. We'll try to get some clarity and answers for you.
PAUL: We want to move into the political arena with you. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton has put plans to visit Charlotte on hold while that situation plays out.
Their next big focus, of course, is Monday night's presidential debate. What to expect when they go head to head. That is Monday, 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
BLACKWELL: Meantime, after months of bitter name calling, Senator Ted Cruz makes a stunning U-turn, a full about-face. Signs for the team -- the Trump team will see what this means for their future.
PAUL: And also we're talking with Hollywood Director Joss Whedon about his star-studded video. What does he want to do? He wants to keep Donald Trump out of the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I think she's perfect? No. Do I agree with all of her policies? No. Do I think she's competent and caring and ready to run the country? Yes. Do I think Donald Trump is a living human being? Not sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:13:28]
BLACKWELL: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton finally face off on Monday. And on the eve of the first presidential debate, Donald Trump picked up an endorsement that really stunned many in the political establishment. Senator Ted Cruz, the man who recently said he would never be, quote, "servile puppy dog" to Trump now is singing a different tune.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: A year ago, I stood here and I made a promise I would support the Republican Party. That's a promise I made to people across this country. And as I thought about it, prayed about it, what to do, what my conscience told me, is that I need to keep my word.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is picking up a pretty surprising endorsement of her own. The "Cincinnati Inquirer," one of Ohio's largest newspapers, the editorial board there backing her after supporting a Republican presidential nominee in every cycle for nearly 100 years.
PAUL: CNN's senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, has been following both presidential candidates as we lead into this debate. Here's more. JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Christie, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz set aside their bitter primary battles and make this endorsement happen. Trump once questioned whether the Canadian-born Cruz was eligible to be president and he speculated that Cruz's father was involved in a the Kennedy assassination, but the former Cruz adviser tells me the hope is this move will help to win back never-Trump Republicans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[06:15:01]ACOSTA (voice-over): With the clock ticking down to round one of those debates with Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump just lured a crucial new ally into his corner, Ted Cruz. The same Texas senator who declined to endorse the GOP nominee at the Republican convention this summer.
CRUZ: Vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the constitution. I appreciate the enthusiasm of the New York delegation.
ACOSTA: Now, Cruz says he's backing Trump to keep the Supreme Court from tilting to the left. Adding in a Facebook post, "A year ago I pledged to endorse the Republican nominee and I am honoring that commitment. And if you don't want to see a Hillary Clinton presidency, I encourage you to vote for him."
After the violence in Charlotte, Trump is already previewing his lines of attack against Clinton for their first debate accusing her of siding against the police.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Those peddling the narrative of cops is a racist force in our society and this is a narrative that is supported with a nod by my opponent. You see what she's saying? And it's not good. Shared directly in the responsibility for the unrest that is afflicting our country.
ACOSTA: The Clinton campaign say that's nonsense. Tim Kaine argues it's all about coming together.
SENATOR TIM KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you make the relationship between the police and the community more adversarial, you're not going to close down the gap, you're going to widen the gap.
ACOSTA: Clinton's advisers are looking to drive their own wedge -- between Trump and women voters. In this new ad energizing a key Clinton voting bloc.
After a busy week of rallies, Trump stayed at the office today. Top adviser, Rudy Giuliani, called it a strategy session. Sources familiar with both candidates debate preparation say Trump is watching videos of Clinton's past debates while Clinton is studying briefing books and Trump's debate performances for ways to get under his skin.
While the Trump campaign is setting low expectations for their candidate, the GOP nominee has been trash talking Clinton all week.
TRUMP: Where is Hillary today? Well, they say she's been practicing for the debate. Some people think she's slipping.
ACOSTA: Both sides have colorful characters adding to the hype. College basketball legend, Bobby Knight, is talking up Trump's chances.
BOBBY KNIGHT, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I think people will really get a look at him that maybe they haven't seen before.
ACOSTA: While the Clinton campaign confirmed they have a brash billionaire on their side in Mark Cuban, who tweeted he just got a front seat to watch Clinton overwhelm Trump at the Hofstra on Monday.
MARK CUBAN, CLINTON SUPPORTER: I think Trump is an immediate and present danger to the security of this country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Both Trump and Clinton will be back in debate prep this weekend, but not until the full two days before their face-off, Trump will travel to Virginia for a campaign rally later today and the Clinton campaign says the Democratic nominee will visit Charlotte tomorrow -- Victor and Christi.
BLACKWELL: All right, Jim, thank you so much. We've learned just in the last few hours that Hillary Clinton will be putting off that trip to Charlotte until next week after request from the mayor to give them some time with stretched resources there. We're going to talk a lot about the presidential debate. Also Ted Cruz's endorsement of Donald Trump.
We've got our political panel with us, Scott and Scottie, ready to get into it this morning. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:21:58]
BLACKWELL: The battle lines are drawn and now the two presidential nominees will face off on the debate stage on Monday night. Pay attention to the counter on the screen.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton they've got a lot at stake. Here to discuss that and more, A. Scott Bolden, a Hillary Clinton supporter and former chairman of the Washington, D.C. Democratic Party, and Scottie Nell Hughes, a CNN political commentator and a Donald Trump supporter. Good morning to both of you.
I want to start with you, Scottie. Trump we know has been watching videos looking for ways to rattle Clinton. He's looking for the big moment, not really involved in the specific details. I wonder, though, can he go for this 90-minute debate without putting real meat in these policy bones without a teleprompter.
SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, he doesn't need to show that he's the most expert in every single field. He doesn't need to sit there and quote facts and numbers everywhere, but he needs to show that he has a good perception, a good grasp on the issues.
He needs to show that he's not a terrible risk. He needs to speak with confidence something we know he can do. And when it comes to dealing with Clinton that we know to come at him to get under her skin he needs to address her with dignity and some respect, and move on.
And try to pivot back to the policy issues and just these top lines and let the people continue to do their research on their own.
BLACKWELL: All right, Scott, let me come to you. He's going for the big moment. We know that Clinton is spending time looking through the policy documents, her own, looking through Trump's. Is there a problem here potentially for her getting too down and muddied into the specific details without the big moment?
A.SCOTT BOLDEN, FORMER CHAIRMAN WASHINGTON, D.C. DEMOCRATIC PARTY: I don't think so. She's a skilled litigator. She's a skilled lawyer and debater. She'll be at the top of her game. But again, the bar is low for Trump, but it's also low for Hillary because of who she's going against.
Listen, Donald Trump can run, but he can't hide as my mother used to say. It's going to be Hillary. It's going to be Trump and the moderator. She's got so much material to attack his record, to attack his policies, to attack his credibility.
That it will be interesting to see how Donald Trump manages that, if you will. It will also be interesting to see whether he does well or not. It's going to be a long night for him, because he's going to be on the defensive yet in his policies, his positions and his hypocrisy.
And he's never had just one debate -- one debater on stage. He can't hide behind those lines now. So let the games begin.
BLACKWELL: This is new for Donald Trump one-on-one. There was that call for a one-on-one debate between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. He refused to do that. How well do you think he'll do one-on-one, I was going to say mano y mano, but we've got a man and a woman here on the stage, Scottie?
HUGHES: Well, the one good thing we know about Mr. Trump is because of his confidence, because he is used to being in the spotlight. It's easy for him to have. And just like JFK, Ronald Reagan, he needs the people focus on him and not necessarily have her be the headline, which is pretty easy.
And it's interesting to hear Scott talk about he's got to stand up for 90 minutes and the stamina. That's one of the issues we're questioning right now. She's going to be focused on getting down in the dirty and dealing with policies.
[06:25:10]But she's also got a record that's so full of things to attack. She's the one that actually has a voting record. She's the one that's been in government.
So with Mr. Trump, you're just trying to pull these very big open speculation this is what he might do. We know what kind of President Hillary Clinton will be.
And that right there is the reason why she's not winning overwhelmingly or it's she angrily said in her video, why she's not winning by 50 points in her polls.
She doesn't know. Well, it's because of your record, Hillary Clinton and your positions on policies.
BLACKWELL: Hold on for a second, Scott. Let me ask you, Scottie, about the attacks that I think many expect Donald Trump will bring to this debate. He still has to catch up and close this gender gap as it relates to women.
There's a CNN poll out this month that 60 percent of women believed that Trump has unfairly attacked Clinton in the general so far. How does he walk that line of bringing the criticisms that you've mentioned without further alienating the women that he needs to win over?
HUGHES: Well, unfortunately, I think it doesn't matter who is up there, maybe even Jesus Christ himself would have a problem -- the white elephant in the room is sexism. If he comes over too strong, he's going to be seen as a bully.
If he comes just with simple answers, they're going to see him being as weak. This is a hard line for any candidate to walk especially Mr. Trump. But I think this is his message is resonating. Hillary Clinton does have a problem with women. That's why you see this advertisement out. She's losing by 17 points --
BOLDEN: So does Donald Trump.
HUGHES: She's losing 17 points with married women. These are women that are highly engaged, highly motivated to get out and work for Mr. Trump and Hillary Clinton is turning 2 points less than Barack Obama did in 2012. This is why she's panicking right now and needs to get this voter out. That glass ceiling, it was broken in the '70s by my mother's generation. It's kind of plexiglas at this point.
BLACKWELL: I don't know if the glass ceiling of presidency was ever broken, but let me come to you, Scott. Panicking, you hear the word? Panicking Clinton is.
BOLDEN: I doubt that seriously, she never panicked when it comes to Donald Trump. Donald Trump will be on stage alone with one debater and no teleprompter. He can't help himself but to go off message.
When he gets cornered as we've seen in the past, he's going to go on the attack. If he doesn't attack policy, he attacks personally. And what Hillary Clinton who is an historic women's political figure, he's going to go on that attack, and he losses the debate at that juncture because he's going to lose the women vote because he doesn't know thousand attack her policies.
He can't get around that. It's going to be entertaining, but it's going to be detrimental for him and his campaign. That is the difference between him and Hillary Clinton and winning this debate.
If she can take her time attacking him with his own words, his own video, and all the other deplorables that come with Donald Trump.
BLACKWELL: Well, you know, we've got the e-mails that are making headlines again this weekend. We'll see how high the latest release from the FBI moves that topic into the evening. A. Scott Bolden, Scottie Nell Hughes, thank you both.
All right, still to come, fed up and demanding action, Congressional Black Caucus members storm Washington and go there to the AG's office as the nation reels from two more killings at the hands of police.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:31:05] PAUL: We have a new update for you regarding the breaking news that we've been following this morning out of Washington state, just learning here moments ago that a fifth victim has died now while they were in the hospital, after that shooting spree inside the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington.
Police right now hunting for this man. Please do us a favor, take a look at your screen here. They say this man opened fire last night, killing four women, and now this morning one man who was also shot and died at the hospital, we have just learned.
The chaos unfolded inside the Macy's store there at Cascade Mall, police searching the mall. They say some reports say that he left the scene, that he was headed toward a highway, Interstate 5. I don't know if he was headed there on foot or in a vehicle, but we were told the suspect was carrying a hunting type of rifle.
Officials are warning people in that area to stay inside, to be very vigilant, as they do not know where that suspect is right now. We'll continue to follow this this morning, and keep you posted.
BLACKWELL: Time now, 33 minutes after the hour, and just 33 minutes ago, the curfew in the city of Charlotte was lifted after a fourth night of protests in the city. Before the curfew began at midnight, though, we saw a lot of peaceful protesters.
They are, though, demanding the release of the official police video showing the shooting death of Keith Scott. Now the family has released cellphone video from the scene, it was reported, by Scott's wife. They said they released her video because the police would not release their video. Now, we're going to show you just a bit of it, but it is certainly disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun.
RAKEYIA SCOTT: Keith, get out the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun! RAKEYIA SCOTT: Keith, Keith, don't you do it. Don't you do it. Keith! Keith! Keith! Don't you do it. F***. Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: All right, we'll continue to have conversations with some of our analysts and reporters with the latest there from Charlotte, not just on the investigation, but on that videotape, and whether more videotape will be released from the dash cam video, and the body cams from the police that were on the scene there.
Also want to talk to you about Tulsa, Oklahoma. Terence Crutcher's funeral is going to be held tonight, at 8 o'clock there. Remember he was shot and killed by a police officer in the middle of the street on September 16th. Here's video of that scene.
Following the release of the video that you're watching here, a few days later by the police department, Officer Betty Shelby was charged with manslaughter. Crutcher's twin sister told our Sara Sidner that her brother was working to change his life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIFFANY CRUTCHER: He just left school. He wanted to make us proud. He wanted to do something bigger, he wanted to grow, he wanted to become a better person. He wanted to be better, and he didn't want this. He didn't ask for this. And so that's what I think about. Sorry. I'm going to miss him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: And this is Officer Betty Shelby. She turned herself in shortly after she was charged, and she's now been released on $50,000 bond.
BLACKWELL: Congressional Black Caucus members are demanding aggressive action in wake of both Crutcher's and Scott's killings. They're calling on the federal government to help restore faith in the criminal justice system. Let's talk about that with CNN's politics reporter, Eugene Scott. Eugene, good morning.
EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, Victor.
BLACKWELL: So members of the caucus, they're taking their grievances straight to the attorney general's office, Loretta Lynch's door, and they're asking her to investigate these and other killings at the hands of police, of black men, women, and children, they say. What specifically are they asking for, and what's the tone we're getting from the CBC?
EUGENE SCOTT: Well we saw some members of the CBC march towards the justice department earlier this week, and present the attorney general with a letter that they asked for her to investigate these killings and actually quite a few others throughout the United States. What they want to see specifically is whether or not there was a civil rights violation involving the deaths in Tulsa and Charlotte, and they want to hear solutions about how the government will go forward with preventing similar situations from happening in the future.
BLACKWELL: So there is this urgency for transparency, as we've discussed, in these shootings. And New York state representative Greg Meeks, he is chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, when I say New York state I mean state-wide, in Congress of course. He says that more body cameras are the answer here. Listen to what he says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. GREG MEEKS, (D) NEW YORK: We have to fund more body cameras, because what we know is that when you have a visual view of what's taking place, it helps transparency. And we can pas a piece of legislation that will require the attorney general to come up with the statistics, clearly showing the makeup of who is being shot, and who's not. We don't even do that. So there's pieces of legislation that's written that we can pass, that can make a difference and give people, you know -- to believe the trust factor that's involved here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: And he is chair of the CBC political action committee. What's the likelihood that something like this, in this climate politically, will pass?
EUGENE SCOTT: Well Representative Meeks made it very clear that the desire for more funding for body cameras is actually bipartisan. He also said that there's bipartisan support for more funding for training for law enforcement, so that they know how to respond better to situations like this.
So it's not, you know, a very partisan issue in terms of support and interest along those lines. And so maybe there is an increased likelihood that there can be more support for this, since people from both sides are on board with it.
BLACKWELL: OK, let's talk about the role of presidential politics in this. We are fewer than 50 days out from the general election, so no surprise that there is potentially some role of run for the White House in their decision to become so aggressive and assertive on this issue.
EUGENE SCOTT: Yes, we've seen both candidates speak out very boldly about these situations this week on multiple situations, and multiple events, because it has affected voters across party lines and along the House. But it seems like their approach is very different in terms of what they think needs to happen.
I think Donald Trump spoke very specifically about the needs that have more support for law enforcement, and to protect those communities, whereas Hillary Clinton spoke very aggressively about the need for systematic racism to be pushed back against, and for voters to understand more of what this history -- this country's history has been with these issues.
BLACKWELL: And this also could be a play from the CBC to firm up their support with supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement, who believe that maybe they have not been as supportive of it as they should have been.
EUGENE SCOTT: Absolutely. President Obama was at the Congressional Black Caucus conference last week, and he spoke very boldly about the need for blacks and millennials to get on board Hillary Clinton's campaign, because they have not had the rates that they have President Obama's campaign in the past, and they're hoping these representatives that this action can motivate those voters to join them in their support for Hillary Clinton.
BLACKWELL: Yes, Hillary Clinton now at 37 percent with millennials in the latest Fox News poll. Barack Obama won with 67 and 60 percent of voters under 35 respectively in '08 and 2012. We'll see what she does on Monday night to try to boost those numbers. Eugene Scott for us, thanks so much.
EUGENE SCOTT: Thank you.
PAUL: Newly released 9-11 tapes reveal just some of the Orlando shooter's chilling last words in June. You're going to hear more, that may give us some indication, does it, of why he opened fire on that packed nightclub back in June.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "My homeboy, Tamerlan Tsarnaev", says Mateen, "did his thing in the Boston Marathon. My homeboy did his thing, OK?"
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: 44 minutes past the hour right now, and newly-released 9-11 calls reveal a closer look, let's say, into what happened at the Pulse Nightclub mass shooting back in June.
BLACKWELL: Yes, we're hearing more of what the gunman told 9-11 operators and police negotiators during that stand-off in the club in Orlando. 49 people, you'll remember, were killed, 53 others were wounded. Here's CNN's Miguel Marquez.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the midst of the unfolding horror and chaos, people fleeing, others shot being carried from the bar. In the end, hundreds of calls to 9-11 operators.
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: Yes, we have gunshots at Pulse.
MARQUEZ: Perhaps the most disturbing of all, one call came from the shooter himself, Omar Mateen. Even just the transcript is chilling. "This is Mateen. I want to let you know I'm in Orlando, and I did the shooting." The 9-11 operator tries to engage him. "What's your name", says the operator. "My name is I pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State."
The operator continues to try and engage Mateen, but almost as soon as the call starts, he hangs up. As the massacre unfolded, Mateen called 9-11 several times, and operators desperately tried to call him back. It's not clear there was ever any more discussion between Mateen and the 9-11 operators.
For three excruciating hours, Mateen held up in the building, at first moving through the club looking for victims. For the first time, we're seeing the actual attempted negotiations between police and Mateen.
"You have to tell America to stop bombing Syria and Iraq", Mateen tells negotiators. "They are killing a lot of innocent people. What am I to do here, when my people are getting killed over there? You get what I'm saying?"
The gunman telling police his attack on the nightclub was in retaliation for an airstrike that killed ISIS leader Abu Waheeb, an Iraqi who fought the U.S. during the insurgency in the Iraq war, and later joined ISIS as a military commander.
"That's what triggered it, OK?" Mateen tells negotiators. It's unclear why Mateen attached such importance to Abu Waheeb's death. Nothing in the transcript tells us why. Mateen mentioned other terrorist attacks, like the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, that killed three, and injured hundreds.
"My homeboy, Tamerlan Tsarnaev", says Mateen, "did his thing in the Boston Marathon. My homeboy did his thing, OK? So now it's my turn, OK?" He told negotiators he was wearing a vest, teasing them at times about whether or not it was explosive, and whether bombs were in his car. No explosives were ever found.
Mateen threatened, "your people are going to get it, and I'm going to ignite it if they try to do anything stupid." Mateen was finally killed when police stormed the building shortly after 5 AM, more than three hours after the shooting began, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, 49 people dead. Miguel Marquez, CNN, New York.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
PAUL: Well the worst Santa Ana winds of the season are fueling a wildfire threat in southern California. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has been looking at it. What are you learning, Allison?
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And good morning to you. Yeah, we take a look at what we've got going on for you here today. The winds are going to peak today, with the temperatures peaking tomorrow, and it's that combination of the two that could potentially fuel some fires. We'll have some more details coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLACKWELL: Well thousands of people in southern California are under an extreme fire threat over the next few days. They're bracing for the first big Santa Ana wind event of the season, with gusts projected up to 50 miles per hour.
PAUL: Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is in the weather center, so we know that it's hot, we know that it's dry there. We hear about these kinds of winds that are expected, I understand, to peak on Sunday. How severe is the threat, Allison?
CHINCHAR: So when you hear Santa Ana, to people who don't live in California, you think OK, California gets fires, that's nothing unusual. But to the people in California, these are the particular winds that they take note of, and that's because these are the ones that really can cause some of those dangerous fires.
Now all of this area in red that you see is under a critical fire danger, we're talking the southern third of the state. We're talking strong winds as you mentioned, 50 to 55 mile per hour gusts. We're talking hot temperatures back in the 90s, even some triple digits, and the dry air, low humidity, is often 10 percent or even less.
But what are the Santa Ana winds, and what do they do? So let's take a look at what we have going on, because it's really needy (ph) to understand the topography that goes on in this area, to understand. So right in California, you have all of the mountains that kind of come up.
You have the hot desert area, the dry desert air, that's out a little bit farther inland, meeting with that marine layer that's closer to the water. And when we have offshore winds, meaning they're coming from land towards the shore, it takes that very dry air through these very narrow passages.
And what that happens is it condenses those winds, and it allows for it to speed up a little bit, and you end up resulting getting a lot of the fires into the valleys, and the Santa Ana winds are known for producing these. So again, the threat going forward as we hit this peak event, is going to be the fires that will incur over the coming days. Guys?
PAUL: All right, Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.
BLACKWELL: Hollywood stars lend their voices to a new Get Out the Vote campaign. We talked to the director behind the Save the Day super PAC, about why he's turned his attention from big-screen movies to presidential politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCARLETT JOHANSSON: It affects everything.
JAMES FRANCO: Not just the presidency.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the Senate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The House.
MARK RUFFALO: Your local officials.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Immigration.
NATHAN FILLION: Immigrant.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Student debt.
JULIANNE MOORE: Common sense gun laws.
KEEGAN-MICHAEL KEY: The Supreme Court.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: Well writer and director of The Avengers and Age of Ultron, Joss Whedon, jumping into the heated political arena in the form of a new super PAC that's cranking out web videos.
BLACKWELL: Yes, it's the Save the Day PAC. It's jam-packed with Hollywood elite. Watch a portion of the first ad, called Important.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT MCGORRY: -- famous people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of us aren't as famous, but still pretty famous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like, you've seen us somewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes a not famous person will be mixed in with the famous ones.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: The purpose is to keep Donald Trump from being elected president. I spoke with Joss Whedon about why he created this PAC, and why he actually donated $1 million of his own to this effort. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSS WHEDON: I think the selection is just very different from anything that's come before it. I think the stakes are higher. I think it's really a question of who we are as a country, and whether or not we're going to survive as a body, as the United States.
I think, you know, there's been differences in ideology, this has gone beyond that. This is a difference in our very essential being. I don't think it's ever been more important for people to remember that voting is something that can change the nation.
BLACKWELL: Yes, and the stars in this ad actually tick off some of the issues. Let's watch another portion of the ad.
SCARLETT JOHANSSON: It affects everything.
JAMES FRANCO: Not just the presidency.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the Senate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The House.
MARK RUFFALO: Your local officials.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Immigration.
NATHAN FILLION: Immigrant.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Student debt.
JULIANNE MOORE: Common sense gun laws.
KEEGAN-MICHAEL KEY: The Supreme Court.
BLACKWELL: You actually call this, or I should say that one of the actors in this ad calls this a tipping point. Do you think that the voters you're trying to reach, most of them millennials, some of the groups that support Hillary Clinton, see this as a tipping point?
WHEDON: I think not enough people do. I think there are a lot of people that say well, it's, you know, everything's corrupt, or it's the lesser of two evils, and I think that's a very strange and myopic way of looking at what is a fight between good and evil in a way that has never been so clear. I think apathy is the thing that can put Donald Trump in the White House, and can kick this nation back to the Stone Age.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: All right, so coming up at 8 Eastern, we'll have more of my conversation with Joss Whedon, and you'll see more of the video, which has already been viewed more than 30 million times.
PAUL: Well there's an awful lot going on to tell you about this morning.
BLACKWELL: Next hour of your New Day starts right now.
PAUL: Want to wish you a good Saturday morning, and thank you so much for sharing your company with us. We're always grateful. I'm Christi Paul.
