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CNN Sunday Morning

"America's Comeback Team"; Clinton: Syria Bloodshed Needs to End; Police: Handcuffed Man Killed Himself

Aired August 12, 2012 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Mitt Romney makes his pick, a bold move that some say recharges his campaign.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (INAUDIBLE). I'm really excited about this race.

But is the conservative big gun a big gamble for the republican ticket.

Plus, please call it suicide. Family members call it murder. What really happened to 21-year-old Chavis Carter in the backseat of an Arkansas police car?

THERESA CARTER, VICTIM'S MOTHER: I think they killed him. I mean, my son wasn't suicidal.

KAYE (on camera): Is it possible physically to be handcuffed behind your back and somehow pull the trigger on a gun that you weren't holding when you were handcuffed?

(voice-over): And the NFL star formerly known as Ochocinco in jail this morning all over what happened last night inside his car.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Good morning, everyone. Happy Sunday. I'm Randi Kaye. It's 7:00 on the East Coast, 4:00 a.m. on the West. Thanks for starting your morning with us.

Off and running, the newly formed Republican ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan now on the second day of a bus tour that will take them across key battleground states. After kicking thinks off in Virginia, the pair is now in North Carolina. Later, they'll make a special appearance in Ryan's home state of Wisconsin for an evening rally. The pair will then head their separate ways for campaign events tomorrow.

And we're getting new insights from the candidates about a pairing that they hope will help Republicans take back the White House. They spoke from their new campaign plane on their way to North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For us, it's a campaign of ideas in a direction for America, what's America going to be, what kind of nation is it going to be, how are we going to help people across this country have a better future? Having two people talk about that I think is a far more compelling dynamic than just being out there on my own.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: We understand that was a bit tough to hear, but that was Mitt Romney talking about a better future, and that's what they're trying to do. For his part, Paul Ryan, who is no stranger to Washington but is somewhat new to the national stage described what the experience has been like so far and what he hopes to contribute going forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: It's gone from the surreal to the real. By the time we met in person, I kind of knew it was going to happen, and I was very humbled. It was the biggest honor I've ever been given in my life. And I love this country dearly, and I feel like we have an opportunity to fix things once and for all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And President Obama hopes the selection of Paul Ryan will inspire his supporters as well, especially when it comes donations. He is back home in Chicago where he will attend five fundraisers, including one at his Hyde Park home.

Meanwhile, the Obama-Biden team is wasting no time in blasting their opponents, calling Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, quote, "the go back team." On their official Web site. That, of course, is a play on the Republicans' nickname for themselves, which is "America's comeback team."

Fighting has raged in Syria for a year and a half now, killing thousands. But what happens when the fighting finally stops? The U.S. and Turkey are making contingency plans. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been in Istanbul this weekend, talking with Turkey's leaders.

CNN's Ivan Watson is joining us now from Istanbul.

Ivan, good morning.

What did Hillary Clinton say the U.S. and Turkey have actually agreed to do?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Randi.

Basically Clinton's team requested this urgent team with the senior Turkish leadership, a close American ally, to discuss Syria, and in a joint press conference on Saturday, she said that both countries had to work together to try to find ways to bring an urgent end to the ongoing bloodshed there and to prepare for a post-Bashar al Assad period in Syria. But she also said they had to look at ways to try to speed up this transition without making bloodshed worse. She said now is an important time for analysis and said that the U.S. and Turkey would set up a working group which would include the military and intelligence agencies to come up with contingency plans.

I was, frankly, surprised to hear this, Randi, because this is not a new problem. The Syrian crisis has been going on for 17 months. More than 17,000 people by conservative estimates have been killed, around 150,000 refugees. And now, the U.S. secretary of state was talking about analysis and contingency plans almost as if this was a new problem -- Randi.

KAYE: Yes, where has all that analysis been? Exactly.

Let me ask you about her number one goal. I mean, she has said it is to hasten an end to the bloodshed, but how might that happen? I mean, is it safe to assume she's ruling out military means and is talking about nonmilitary measures?

WATSON: The U.S. is still talking about nonlethal assistance to the opposition in the form of radios and communication devices. She's also talking about some 8 $85 million in humanitarian assistance to the growing refugee crisis and pledged an additional $5.5 million. And she said that she's also going to be working with other countries that have been providing lethal assistance in the form of small arms and ammunition.

It's falling far short, however, of what the rebels are asking for, which is anti-aircraft defenses to protect against the fixed winged jets from the Syrian air force that have been bombing Syrian cities day after day over the course of the last month.

KAYE: Ivan Watson in Turkey for us -- Ivan, thank you very much.

After more than two weeks of intense competition and new world records, the London Olympics will come to a close later today. London will hand the games over to the next host city. That is Rio de Janeiro in the closing ceremony.

Now, last night's big moment. Usain Bolt led Jamaica's 4x100-meter relay team to a gold medal and a new world record. The team finished in less than 37 seconds. The U.S. took second and Canada was third but was disqualified when a runner stepped out of the lane, so Trinidad and Tobago took the bronze.

And today's big event is men's basketball, USA versus Spain for the gold medal later this morning.

Back in the U.S., future star Chad Johnson is in a Florida jail this morning on a domestic violence charge. You may know him as Chad Ochocinco. He's accused of head-butting his wife last night. He married reality TV star Evelyn Lozada last month.

Davie, Florida police say that the two started arguing in the car when she found a receipt for condoms, she being his wife, and Johnson claims that they accidently butted heads. It is a case that even has the FBI baffled. Police say this man killed himself even though he was handcuffed with his hand behind his back. I traveled to Jonesboro, Arkansas, looking for some answers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Suicide or homicide. That's what the FBI is helping to figure out after man died in the back of a police car in Arkansas. He was shot in the head.

Jonesboro police say 21-year-old Chavis Carter shot himself in the head while handcuffed with his hands behind his back. But his family and others in the community just don't buy it. Hundreds of people came to a candlelight vigil last week to honor him and to show their support. Some carried signs, one sign said, "Justice for Chavis Carter, what really happened?"

I traveled to Jonesboro, Arkansas, this week to try to get answers from police.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE (voice-over): No one is disputing that Chavis Carter died from a gunshot to the head while in the back seat of a police car in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The question is who pulled the trigger? Police say he committed suicide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quite frankly, I have seen some of our people in custody do some amazing things.

KAYE: But Carter's mother doesn't buy it. She believes Jonesboro police killed her son.

THERESA CARTER, VICTIM'S MOTHER: I think they killed him. I mean, my son wasn't suicidal.

KAYE (on camera): At this point, it's still debatable and still under investigation. Here's why. The 21-year-old Chavis Carter was handcuffed at the time the fatal shot was fired. Double locked behind his back.

Is it even possible physically to be handcuffed behind your back and somehow pull the trigger on a gun you weren't holding when you were handcuffed?

CHIEF MICHAEL YATES, JONESBORO, ARKANSAS POLICE: For the average person that's never been in handcuffs, that's never been around inmates and people in custody, would react exactly the same way that you just did, about how can that be possible? Well, the fact of it is, it's very possible and it's quite easy.

KAYE (voice-over): Chavis Carter and two others were pulled over July 29th just before 10:00 p.m. for driving suspiciously. The first officer called for backup. Then the two of them questioned and searched the three men in the truck. (on camera): When officers first searched Carter, they say they found a small amount of marijuana and some small plastic bags. They did not find a gun. According to the officers, Carter was then placed in the back seat of one of the police vehicles.

At that point, they say, he was not handcuffed. It wasn't until later when the officers searched the suspect's vehicle and found drug paraphernalia like electronic scales and a large bag of white powder that they patted down Carter again.

They placed him once again, they say, in the same police vehicle's back seat, only this time, he was handcuffed.

(voice-over): How Carter managed to shoot himself while handcuffed using a concealed weapon police missed during not one, but two searches is a mystery to many, including the FBI who was looking into it.

(on camera): In their searching, they find a small bag, $10 worth of marijuana, but they miss a gun?

YATES: Apparently.

KAYE: Is that disappointing to you?

YATES: Yes.

KAYE (voice-over): The chief says the two men with Carter who were white were released. But Carter was held back after the officers who are also white discovered he'd given them a fake name and there was a warrant for his arrest in Mississippi, where he'd skipped out on a drug diversion program.

The chief says his officers don't know exactly when the fatal shot was fired, even though they were just feet away. According to this incident report, one of the officers heard, quote, "a loud thump with a metallic sound." But thought it came from a vehicle that ran over a piece of metal on the roadway.

(on camera): Don't your officers know the sound of a gun being fired?

YATES: One would think. But when those guns are in a confined space like the rear of a police car it could be very, very different.

KAYE (voice-over): It wasn't until the officers were about to leave when police say one of them smelled something burning in his vehicle. The chief says it was likely gun smoke.

That's when police say the officer found Chavis Carter bloodied and slumped over into the back seat. The officers say they called an ambulance and tried to revive Carter. He died at the hospital.

We asked the chief about Theresa Carter's allegations. That one of his officers pulled the trigger.

(on camera): Can you safely say you've ruled that out in your investigation?

YATES: Not at this stage in the investigation and certainly a remote possibility. Like I say, we haven't excluded everything. But I feel confident that that's not what it is. But I certainly understand how she might feel that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Carter's mother says its all doesn't add up. She says her son was shot in the right temple even though he's left-handed. Police only would say he was shot in the head. So, clearly, many questions surrounding the police accounts of what happened. I'll talk about this case with our legal contributor Paul Callan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: I've been asking you about the Chavis Carter story on Twitter. Do you think man handcuffed behind his back could be able to shoot himself in the head? One of my followers wrote in, "Absolutely not. That's the most asinine thing ever proposed. If he did do it, he was the greatest magician to ever live."

And Michelle tweeted this, "There's no way that guy did it to himself. He may have been a criminal but he didn't deserve to be shot by the police."

Of course, those are just their opinions coming in on Twitter this morning. But a lot of really wrong opinions. If you keep them coming, you can find me on Twitter @RandiKayeCNN. Tweet me there.

Much more on this story coming up in 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Twenty minutes past the hour.

Before the break, we told you about the controversy surrounding the death of man in police custody in Arkansas. Jonesboro police say 21- year-old Chavis Carter shot himself in the head while handcuffed with his hand behind his back, but his mother begs to differ.

I'm joined now but our legal contributor Paul Callan.

Paul, good morning. This case is getting a lot of attention, so many questions about how this could have happened.

But the police chief put it this way, telling me, quote, "It's very possible and quite easy." As far as you know, is it?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, no. It is not easy. It is possible.

But, you know, I did some research getting ready for this today, just to se how we could explain such a bizarre shooting, and it's, frankly, very difficult to explain. However, escape artists, Harry Houdini, David Blaine, they know how to get out of handcuffs. I found in "Guinness Book of Records," by the way, has a record of blindfolded man getting could get out in 3.5 seconds.

So, is it theoretically possible? Yes, it is theoretically possible. But I will say this, this is highly unusual. I've never heard of a police shooting like this in the United States. I'm not saying it's never happened but it's certainly bizarre.

KAYE: Yes.

Carter's mother, Chavis Carter's mother, says he was left-handed. That's what she told reporters. But she also tells reporters he was shot in the right temple. Police would only tell us when pressed he was shot in the head. They wouldn't say which side.

But how do you begin to build a case based on this? I mean, does it all come down to forensics?

CALLAN: Yes. I -- well, I think it will be more than forensics because we have two video footage from two police cars which have not yet been released. So there's going to be some actual evidence that we can.

But forensic evidence I think will be very important. If he shot himself, there'll be powder burns on his hands indicating that he shot himself. There may be stipple marks on his back indicating the trajectory that the bullet took.

And also, I think people are making an assumption here, statements are being made that he tried to kill himself. You know, there's another possibility too. If he had the gun illegally tucked in his waistband he may have been struggling to get it out of his waistband to throw it on the floor of the police cruiser so it wouldn't be associated with him or maybe in his mind he thought that and it accidentally discharged or it could be a deliberate police shooting. So, we have a lot of possibilities here, Randi.

KAYE: Yes. And a lot of people, you know, we have a lot of smart folks tweeting me this morning also raising that question, could this have been an accident. By the way, they do have, as you said, the video and the audio from the dash cam. But the cars were trunk to trunk that they don't actually see Chavis Carter in the back seat but they do see the officers which, as you said, could be beneficial to what they're saying happened.

But the police chief says his officers did search Carter twice. They did miss the gun. Pretty unlikely, though. I mean, not even has the FBI baffled that they would miss a gun in two searches.

CALLAN: And then you have to come up, of course -- and I'm sure the FBI is looking at. If the police did commit this murder, and by the way, they're held to the same standards that anybody else, that you and I would be. And, obviously, if you or I were in a car and they found a man in the back seat shot in the back of the head, you'd be arrest for murder pretty fast. Now, they're giving these police officers that benefit of the doubt ,and the one thing, of course one of the things they're looking at it is what would be the motive? Why would they want to kill him? I don't know that I've seen anything yet that would suggest homicide in the case. But you know this is all going to come down to the physical evidence in the end, I think.

KAYE: Right. And you can flip that as well and say what was his motive have been to take his own life, because they only found $10 worth of marijuana. He wasn't really facing any serious charges. There was a bag of white substance found in the suspect's car but it turned out to be something like sugar. So he would have been aware of that.

So, again, what would be his motive?

CALLAN: He wouldn't have a motive. And I'm not buying the motive of suicide. If the police are not involved in this, I think it's going prove to be an accidental shooting while he was trying to struggle to get rid of the gun or to get it put on the floor of the police cruiser so it wouldn't be at least in his mind linked to him, and somehow discharged accidently. It's either that or a deliberate shooting by the police.

I don't -- I can't see suicide by Chavis Carter. It just doesn't ring true, Randi. I don't think so.

KAYE: Yes. And the police say they're working on their own reconstruction of what happened. They took a police car, similar vehicle. They took the doors off. They took the cage out, just to see if that was possible, and they're going to compare to that to the autopsy results.

How much weight do you think that reconstruction will have?

CALLAN: Well, I think it will be very important but bear in mind this investigation of the Jonesboro police should be conducted independent of the Jonesboro police, and I hope the FBI is more heavily involved than I've read at least in initial reports because anything they reconstruct will be considered highly suspicious. You kind of need an independent look at this it's such a highly suspicious case. And as I said, it's the kind of case where if a civilian were involved, they'd clear be under arrest right now for murder.

KAYE: Yes.

CALLAN: So, we need a fresh look at this case, I think.

KAYE: Absolutely. And the FBI is monitoring. We'll monitor it as well and keep an eye on it.

Paul Callan, nice to see you. Thank you so much.

CALLAN: Nice to see you, Randi. Good morning.

KAYE: Still to come, I'll have a check of this morning's headlines, so keep it here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: This just in to CNN: The U.S. Geological Survey says a 6.3 magnitude earthquake has struck the western Chinese province of Xinjiang. The epicenter is reported to be about 5 1/2 miles deep. We're told this is a very remote region. This is the second quake there, by the way, in the last 24 hours. We'll have much more on this story as we get the new developments.

More top stories at the top of the hour when CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues. What made Mitt Romney decide to pick Paul Ryan as his running mate? We'll take a close look at the vetting process that was under way for weeks.

But, first, "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." begins right now.