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NEW DAY

Officer in South Carolina Caught on Tape Shooting Fleeing Man; Ferguson Elects New City Council Members; U.S. Service Member Killed in Afghanistan; Interview with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired April 8, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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


ANNOUNCER: -- Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:00:02] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, April 8th, 8:00 in the east. Michaela is off. John Berman is joining us. Good to have you, my friend.

We have a lot of news. The big story, a South Carolina cop said he feared for his life and had to fire at a victim. Turns out Officer Michael Slager had something much bigger to fear, a videotape. What you're watching right now shows the reality. There it is. The victim running away, 50-year-old Walter Scott, the officer, Slager, shooting at him. This video from a bystander, a cell phone, and it does capture what appears to be a completely excessive use of force.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And as you said, Chris, Walter Scott, the victim, was running away from the officer. But Slager, the officer, still fired eight times. This incident reigniting a fierce debate about excessive force by police. We will speak to Walter Scott's brother in just one moment, but first CNN's Martin Savidge is live in Charleston, South Carolina, with more. Martin?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. We're standing outside of the Scott family home. And that family has been speaking out. Of course, first and foremost, they are horrified to see the death of their son and their brother on video and then broadcast around the nation. But they are also grateful that the truth has come out. They are grateful for the video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: This disturbing video has South Carolina officer Michael Slager behind bars this morning, charged with murder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have two here, one on the way.

SAVIDGE: The three-minute video capturing the shooting death of Walter Scott over the weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you're wrong, you're wrong.

SAVIDGE: Taped by a bystander it reveals the 33-year-old officer shooting Scott in the back while he ran away.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, police said officer Slager stopped Scott for a broken taillight in North Charleston. Through an attorney Officer Slager described a scuffle, claiming the 50-year-old fought for his Taser and he felt threatened. In this video you see what could be a Taser fall and Scott takes off running away as Slager fires eight times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired. Subject is down. He's grabbed my Taser.

SAVIDGE: Although he's lying face down, the officer handcuffs Scott. Next, Slager jogs back to where he fired his gun and picks up something, perhaps the Taser, but from this video it's not entirely clear. Back by Scott' body he drops the small black object. Then moments later he picks it back up. The Coast Guard veteran and father of four dies on the scene. Scott's family attorney contends without the video there would be no murder charge.

L. CHRIS STEWART, SCOTT FAMILY ATTORNEY: The officer said that Mr. Scott attacked him and pulled his Taser and tried to use it on him, but somebody was watching.

SAVIDGE: When asked if race played a role, North Charleston's police chief says he isn't ruling it out.

EDDIE DRIGGERS, NORTH CHARLESTON POLICE CHIEF: I think that all of these police officers on this force, men and women, are like my children. So you tell me how a father would react to seeing his child do something?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Just about everyone agrees if it were not for that video it could literally be a whole different story. As to who shot that video, that person remains anonymous this morning and reportedly in hiding, fearing for their own safety. Back to you.

CAMEROTA: OK, thanks so much for all of that background, Martin. We want to bring in now Walter Scott's brother, Anthony Scott, and joined by Justin Sandberg. I hope I have that right.

JUSTIN BAMBERG, SOUTH CAROLINA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Yes, ma'am.

CAMEROTA: Thank you. Thanks so much. You are a late add so we're happy to have you there, but I do want to start with Anthony. Anthony, we can only imagine what these past few days have been like for your family. Can you tell us when you first heard that something bad had happened to your brother?

ANTHONY SCOTT, BROTHER OF WALTER SCOTT: When I first heard something bad happened to my brother I just thought that he had went down, maybe had gotten injured at the traffic stop. And when I learned that he was dead, I just couldn't believe that something like that would happen from a traffic stop. And I know that he didn't have anything, you know, tremendous happening to him in his life, so I'm like, what could have happened, gone wrong, actually.

CAMEROTA: And when was it that you and your family first saw this video?

SCOTT: I saw the video on Sunday.

CAMEROTA: How did you process what it was that you were seeing on the video of your brother's last moments?

[08:05:00] SCOTT: Well, the first thing that I thought about when I saw the video, I was like, nothing that the officers had reported previously lined up to what was seen on the video. I was like, that's -- he did not struggle. There was not a struggle for the Taser, which I didn't believe my brother would have done that anyway. But at the scene, the video, I was like, he was running for his life, not to be shot down, not to be Tased anymore. And I think -- I think my brother might have thought that he was just -- he was not going to be shot. No one would have thought that.

CAMEROTA: Of course. I do want to bring in State Representative Justin Bamberg now. Mr. Bamberg, can you explain to us how the community has responded to this now that this videotape is so widespread and people can watch what happened?

BAMBERG: Well, essentially what I'm seeing in terms of social media is a big one, people are upset. People are pointing out how wrong the officer was in gunning down Mr. Scott in the fashion that he did. I can tell you that as I stand here I have not seen nor heard of any unrest in the communities in the sense of any talks of rioting or any of that nonsense that we do not want to happen. And I will take a second and say to anyone watching, we do not want that to happen. Things are in play now, and this officer is in the process of being prosecuted. We ask that you let the justice process run its course.

CAMEROTA: And that is what makes this so different from some of the other incidents that we've seen, such as Ferguson. I mean, the police department acted swiftly. At first they came out and it seemed that they had gotten the story wrong. They were behind their officer and they believed that he had only shot Mr. Scott once. But then when they saw the video they had to backpedal, and they arrested this officer and they charged him with murder.

Anthony, you have been so measured and so cool headed throughout all of this, but when you heard that the police officer claimed that there had been some sort of altercation before the shooting that led to this and that he feared for his life, what was your response?

SCOTT: I didn't believe it. I didn't believe it from the beginning. Once I heard -- once I heard the report and read the report, all I could say and think to myself was that everybody will know the truth because that -- I know it didn't happen the way he said it happened. I just knew it. I knew because I know my brother.

CAMEROTA: And did your brother have any violence in his past?

SCOTT: No, ma'am. No, ma'am. CAMEROTA: Can you tell us about the last time that you spent

with your brother?

SCOTT: The last time I spent with my brother we just celebrated my mother and my father's 50th anniversary, and we had a big celebration for them. And that's the last time we were all together.

CAMEROTA: And I read that your brother was happy and he was -- he loved music and he loved dancing, and you thought that it was sort of a real high point for you two?

SCOTT: Yes, it was. Yes, it was. It was a great celebration, and it was actually a surprise for my mother. My dad and my brothers planned it, and she was just totally surprised. And now this happens. It's so tragic.

But I would like for America to know that we would like for this to stop. And I would like for cops to be accountable and let them know that if they try this again, somebody may be watching, so they need to think twice before they fire their weapons.

BAMBERG: And if I may jump in here. Along those same lines, I want to go back to your mention, the swiftness of the arrest and the charge of this officer. I want to point out a very important distinction here is that after the incident SLED, which is the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, which is a state agency independent of the North Charleston police department, they stepped in and took over the investigation a of the shooting.

The city of North Charleston and the North Charleston Police Department is not off the hook. Myself along with Chris Stewart are representing the family, and we do intend to file a civil lawsuit. We have concerns right now as to the initial statements that were made.

[08:10:01] And you heard him mention earlier with regard to some inconsistencies between what the officer said and what the video showed. We need to find out exactly what the officers who may have been on the scene saw, heard, and told their superiors. I will give credit to SLED as well as solicitor scarlet Wilson for moving things along. Four days for a murder charge in a law enforcement officer shooting is pretty quick, and I think everybody can acknowledge that.

CAMEROTA: Yes, absolutely.

BAMBERG: But there's a distinction between the city of North Charleston and SLED, which is the office that took over the investigation and made the decision to do it. Yes, ma'am.

CAMEROTA: Anthony, we understood that your brother had four children. What was his relationship like with those kids?

SCOTT: He had a very good relationship with his children. They have different parents. The older two have a different mother, who is deceased. And now they also lost a father. And the younger two have -- was married to his wife. He was married to her. They're divorced, but he brought them together like brothers and sisters from the same mother, and there was no separation there, and they loved each other that way. Now they no longer have a father.

CAMEROTA: Anthony, what do you want to see happen?

SCOTT: I just want to see more accountability in the United States. I don't want to see any violence. We don't want -- we just want it to be a change. We want this thing to change how officers handle situations and that a change can come over America where no other family would have to suffer the way my family is suffering right now.

CAMEROTA: Well, Anthony Scott, your words are so rational despite what your family is going through, and we appreciate you taking time to share your family's experience with us on NEW DAY. Justin Bamberg, thank you for telling us your plans to tell us how to fix what's going on in North Charleston. Thank you, gentlemen.

SCOTT: Thank you.

BAMBERG: Thank you so very much.

CAMEROTA: Chris?

CUOMO: An all-important transition there from the problem to finding a solution.

And on that level, we just had the first election in Ferguson, Missouri, since Michael Brown was killed. And guess what, Missouri made positive history, tripling the number of black representatives on the city council. CNN's Ana Cabrera is live in Ferguson with the reaction. And what is that?

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. This city has taken a big step forward if you just look at the voter participation. In fact, there were more city council member candidates that are African-American and a whole lot more people in this community turned out to the polls this time around. And the voter turnout was more than the city's last election, a hopeful sign in this community that change has come.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: A fresh face for Ferguson's future. Ella Jones is now the first African-American woman elected to the Ferguson city council.

ELLA JONES, ELECTED TO FERGUSON CITY COUNCIL: This is home, and I'm going to do everything I can to make it a better place for everyone.

CABRERA: Jones is one of three new council members poised to transform the embattled St. Louis suburb.

FAITH BANKS, FERGUSON RESIDENT: You want to see changes done in a community, you've got to be involved.

CABRERA: Change, the common mantra among voters trickling into polling stations Tuesday. KELLY CHRISTY, FERGUSON RESIDENT: The voice is not going to work

anymore. We have to straighten that out.

CABRERA: The result, new leadership that better reflects the city's demographics, a city that's almost 70 percent African-American.

WESLEY BELL, ELECTED TO FERGUSON CITY COUNCIL: I am going to be the hardest working councilman, period, bar none.

CABRERA: Now with Wesley Bell and Jones, the city council's racial makeup flipped from five white members and one African-American to three white and three black members.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want people in leadership that's going to do right by the people.

CABRERA: Lack of diversity among city leaders drew criticism following the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown last summer. A Department of Justice investigation recently revealed systemic racial discrimination by the Ferguson police department and municipal court system. Some residents say those root issues sparked the eruption of emotion that led to weeks of violent protests and looting, leaving painful reminders of the past and businesses that just haven't recovered.

What are your hopes for this new city council?

TABITHA DRIVER, FERGUSON RESIDENT: I hope for a change. Pretty much I hope this just can bring Ferguson back together.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: The future of Ferguson is, of course, still in question, but this new group of city council members agree economic development is a priority, especially in the Canfield Green neighborhood where Michael Brown lost his life. Residents there are counting on these new leaders to make a difference. John?

[08:15:03] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Ana Cabrera, thanks so much.

We have breaking news out of Afghanistan this morning. An American service member killed during an exchange of gunfire. Afghan police say the shooter was an Afghan soldier.

CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh joins us now.

Nick, what do we know?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know a U.S. defense official is confirming one U.S. fatality in this. It is unclear how many other U.S. soldiers may be injured in this. (INAUDIBLE) American and Polish soldiers remain in place.

Now, we understand there was a U.S. diplomatic mission often protected by U.S. soldiers. They're very aware of the potential for these rogue Afghan military to try and attack them. We saw ourselves in that same area, how guardian angels protect U.S. forces as they go around, specifically looking out for this kind of incident.

Now, this delegation was inside the governor's compound in Jalalabad City. They, we're told, were leaving about to get on the helicopters that now ferry them around the area. Very limited movements for U.S. personnel now in Afghanistan at the end of the war.

An afghan soldier on the top of a military vehicle opened fire with the heavy machine. Of course, the U.S. personnel fired back. That soldier was killed and two others apparently wounded according to Afghan local police. As I said, they're still piecing together the instance here. That one U.S. fatality will be the first known publicly since December of last year at the end of America's longest war. It's this kind of threat that is the most prevalent against the U.S. personnel.

Back to you, Michaela.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much. I'll take it, Nick. Thank you for that.

Well, another round of jury deliberations set to get underway in less than an hour from now. The panel met for seven hours yesterday, but did not reach a decision on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's fate. They did send out two undisclosed questions to the judge. Tsarnaev faces the death penalty or life in prison.

BERMAN: This 12-year-old, we're going to show you right now, is majoring in bracketology. Sam Holtz, he beat everybody, I mean everybody -- the experts, the adults. He claimed the top spot in ESPN's top challenge out of 11.5 million brackets entered.

He's number one out of 11.5 million. He missed only six games out of the 67. He got everything right since the sweet 16, but there is a problem.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: What?

BERMAN: ESPN says Holtz is not eligible for the grand prize of $20,000 and a trip to Maui because you need to be 18 to enter the bracket challenge.

CAMEROTA: Oh, no.

BERMAN: That's low.

CAMEROTA: So who wins the prize?

BERMAN: Some dude, 18-year-old guy. This kid's good.

CUOMO: Mitt Romney.

BERMAN: He did top 1 percent, but he finished 6,000th in the thing. This kid, that much better than Mitt Romney.

CAMEROTA: He's robbed.

CUOMO: Should he get the prize, that's the question?

BERMAN: I think so. There's a guy that tied him technically. That guy gets it all alone now.

CAMEROTA: We'll make it right somehow.

CUOMO: Impressive, Camerota-esque --

CAMEROTA: Indeed.

All right. Back to our top story, another controversial police shooting involving a white police officer and a black man, but this one is different. We'll show you how.

CUOMO: Plus, campaign 2016 already underway. Rand Paul now in. Cruz in. Rubio getting close.

What about the other side? Could a surprise name be in the wings? We have an interview with just such a name, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:58] CUOMO: The race for president in 2016 is real. We have a new candidate in the hunt for the White House, Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky, making it official. He's in there for one simple reason, and here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have a vision for America. I want to be part of a return to prosperity, a true economic boon that lifts all-Americans, a return to a government restrained by the Constitution.

(CHEERS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: A vision and from an eye doctor, no less, making it even more powerful. So, is Senator Paul's vision for America the best for you?

Let's talk about it and much more with Senator Bernie Sanders, independent from Vermont, ranking member on the Budget Committee, among other committee.

Senator, first, I put you on the spot.

When you look at the Republican field, as it is developing, with Rand Paul, with Ted Cruz, with maybe Rubio getting in there, maybe Chris Christie as well -- do you see a man that is better than you?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: The word is not better but I understand what these guys stand for. And what they ultimately stand for is more tax breaks for billionaires, never ending wars and major cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education and the needs for working families.

Chris, the bottom line for me in politics is as a result of Citizens United, you're going to have people, have billionaire families like the Koch brothers, pouring huge amount of money into the political process.

CUOMO: As speech.

SANDERS: Oh, yes --

CUOMO: The Supreme Court has said money is speech.

SANDERS: That's right.

CUOMO: So, you can give as much as you can.

SANDERS: You're right. You can spend hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars to buy the particular candidates you want and to dominate the legislative process. I think that is a horror show. And I worry very much whether candidates representing working families are going to be able to win elections in the future.

CUOMO: Why? Is money just too much now?

SANDERS: Absolutely, absolutely.

CUOMO: Give me an example.

SANDERS: Well, yesterday, we had an election in Chicago. The guy I supported, his name is Chuy Garcia, put together a strong coalition of working class families. He got out spent 6 to 1.

CUOMO: By Rahm Emanuel.

SANDERS: By Rahm Emanuel.

And I just -- when you have so much money coming into the political process, from people like the Koch brothers, who believe -- this is their agenda. They want to get rid of Social Security, they want to get rid of Medicare, want to get rid of Medicaid, want to do away with the concept of minimum wage. We don't care, we're going to cut federal aid to education and Pell Grants, that is a terrible attack on the middle class.

The goal is to do away with every major piece of legislation passed in the last 80 years and give more tax breaks to billionaires.

CUOMO: Do you see outrage about this because I don't? The Supreme Court made it the law. It is a demonstration of First Amendment speech. Both parties, you're an independent, so you got a little bit of a pass on this.

But, you know, Democrats do it just as much as Republicans, maybe even more.

SANDERS: No --

CUOMO: President Obama got more money from Wall Street than the Republicans did.

SANDERS: All right.

(CROSSTALK)

SANDERS: I think, yes, Democrats do do it, but no one is going to keep up with the Koch brothers who are prepared to spend $900 billion in this election cycle.

[08:25:01] That is more money than the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.

Meanwhile, the average American is working longer hours for lower wages. The average American is wondering how come 99 percent of all new income, Chris, is going to the top 1 percent, top 1/10 of 1 percent own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent.

CUOMO: You don't believe anybody in the race right now wants to change that?

SANDERS: Those guys?

CUOMO: Yes.

SANDERS: Oh, yes, they want to change it. They want to give more tax breaks to the richest people and make devastating cuts on programs for the working people. They want to make the rich richer and everyone else poorer.

CUOMO: Not what Rand Paul says. He says he believes in rising it for all Americans.

SANDERS: That's -- yes, how do you do that? By giving huge tax breaks to the wealthy and large corporations. The same old, same old trickle down economic theory.

CUOMO: Hillary Clinton have a better strategy?

SANDERS: Well, we'll see.

CUOMO: What do mean why? Why slow on Hillary Clinton? What has she said that you believe is suggesting of something better? She said she won't take any big money from people like the Kochs?

SANDERS: Well, I think what we'll have to do is see what Hillary Clinton is standing for. I will tell you what I believe, that is for example the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement is a disaster, that our trade agreements are costing us a whole lot of money. We have to rethink trade, NAFTA, CAFTA, permanent trade relations with China.

I will tell you climate change is one of the great planetary crises we face, proud to have voted against the Keystone pipeline. That's my view.

You have to ask Hillary her views.

CUOMO: How passionately do you feel about this? How important is it to my kids' futures?

SANDERS: We are fighting for your kids and for my grandchildren. If we end up in a nation in which so few have so much and so many have so little, where billionaires can buy elections, where we are not dealing with climate change, I worry very much about the future of this great country.

CUOMO: If you worry so much, when are you going to get in the race, Senator Sanders?

SANDERS: Well, we're working on it.

CUOMO: I keep asking you the same question.

SANDERS: Maybe next time I'm back, I'll have a different answer.

CUOMO: Oh, yes? Because every time you see someone else get in the race, is it emboldening you or is it making you think it's not for me?

SANDERS: When you run on the platform that I'm giving thought to running on, that is taking on the military industrial complex, taking on Wall Street, taking on the insurance companies, taking on everybody, what I have to ascertain, is there support in this country? Are people prepared to take on the billionaire --

CUOMO: The biggest income disparity we've ever had. You got the most people sitting on the sidelines, not even looking for jobs anymore, giving a deceptive view of the unemployment rate.

What else do you need to see?

SANDERS: Whether or not those people are so demoralized or whether or not they can -- are prepared to jump into the political process. Let me very honest and tell you something --

CUOMO: People need a leader. Leaders go first.

SANDERS: Let me tell you something, no one else is going to tell you this. It may be that we are at a stage where we can't beat these guys, they're just too powerful, but I believe in what I have got to do and many of us got it. We have to continue the fight.

We cannot let a handful of billionaires control the future of this country and that's all we're going to struggle with.

CUOMO: Senator Sanders, always an important message. Appreciate having you on the show from Vermont. See you again, sir.

SANDERS: Thank you very much.

CUOMO: Keep pushing you on this.

All right. So, today at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, the man who just entered the race -- Kentucky Senator Rand Paul right there, Wolf Blitzer is going to sit down and test his vision for America.

John?

BERMAN: Thanks so much, Chris.

A white police officer charged with murder after killing a black man as he ran away. This, of course, comes in the wake of several deadly police encounters that sparked protests all across the country. Our panel joins us to weigh in. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)