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@THISHOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA

Monster Tornadoes Devastates Midwest; Dash Cam Video Shows Passenger in Scott's Car; Clinton's Big Announcement; Do Body Cameras Help? Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired April 10, 2015 - 11:00   ET

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


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[11:00:10] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Utter destruction in the Midwest. Tornadoes devastate homes, businesses and lives. We have some jaw dropping pictures to show you.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Why did Walter Scott run? Dash cam video shows another view of what happened before an officer shot him dead. We have new details in this case.

BERMAN: Hillary Clinton is going to run for president. Are you shocked? OK, maybe you're one of the few people who knew. But what you didn't know, the inside details of how and where she will announce. CNN has uncovered the details of the rollout ahead.

BOLDUAN: Hello. Happy Friday, everybody. I'm Kate Bolduan.

BERMAN: Happy words they are. I'm John Berman and great to see you today.

We have some devastating storms to tell you about. They are on the move this morning. One longtime resident of the Midwest called it the biggest tornado she had ever seen and that was one of just 14 reported in at least three states. A powerful system so powerful -- I want to show you this video right here -- it tossed that truck right off the road.

BOLDUAN: You can imagine the winds required for that to happen. Also, homes were leveled, local landmarks destroyed, even a local sheriff's own home was flattened in this mess.

Let's go to correspondent Ryan Young. Ryan, you're taking a look on the ground now. You're there. What are folks seeing now that they are able to take a look at the damage in the light of day?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we've been here overnight. I can tell you, once the light came up, you can see all of the damage that's left behind. It looks like someone just picked up all this heavy equipment and then dropped it like toys.

If you look through, everywhere you look you can see heavy pieces of equipment turned over, like that big silo over there. We've also seen heavy pieces of equipment. If you walk back this direction with us, you can see this large truck. It's a farming truck that's been tossed to the side.

All this shows you the pattern of the storm as it was pushing through here. Something that we've talked about this morning is a restaurant that's just across the street here. And as we walked out, that restaurant right there, people were actually in the window taking pictures of the storm and they all of a sudden noticed the storm was coming closer. They ran. They got downstairs in a storm shelter and they hid. We're actually told that as the last person got in, the roof came off the backside and went on top of that storm shelter. In fact, they were trapped for two hours smelling the gas as they were trying to make sure. They called 911 to get rescued.

But, now today, we've been told full subdivisions have been destroyed. One person did die in this storm. Eight others were injured. You can just see the devastation as everybody is trying to assess the situation here. You can really feel for this community as they try to put pieces back together. John and Kate?

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And kind of the schizophrenic nature of a tornado, how quickly it can change directions. It looks far away and then it's right upon you. Some estimates are that the tornadoes cut a 50-mile wide stretch in six counties in North Central Illinois. That's really amazing to think about, the devastation that can be left in its path. Ryan, thank you so much. Ryan's taking a look at all that for us this morning.

We also have this new this morning. The former officer charged with the murder in the shooting death of Walter Scott in South Carolina, he has been placed in isolation. He's being monitored for his mental health at this point. This comes after a new dash cam video was released, showing the former officer, Michael Slager, talking to Scott during the traffic stop that kicked off the chain of events leading to Scott's death.

BERMAN: Now, this is an important moment, because it provides context for what happened just seconds later. You can see Walter Scott fleeing right there. We know from other video that Slager ended up shooting Scott several times as he tried to run away.

Now, on top of this, there is new eyewitness, a new eyewitness right there. She has emerged and is describing to CNN what she saw go on between the two men.

CNN's Brian Todd is on the ground there. He got that new account and, Brian, you were also at the scene of this incident, which they actually tried to reconstruct.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John and Kate. We were at the scene yesterday kind of taking everybody through the steps of where everything happened, where the car was pulled over, the paces to where Walter Scott finally fell. About 246 yards total between those two points.

Now, that release of the dash cam video, as you mentioned, is a very crucial development because it does fill in one crucial gap. There are several gaps in this story having to do with what happened before Feidin Santana's amateur video kicked on and you saw those fatal shots. What happened before that? What provoked that -- those shots being fired?

Well, the dash cam video fills in a little bit of that at least. You see Walter Scott running from the vehicle. Now, between the time that that dash cam video cuts off and the time that Feidin Santana's cell phone video kicks on, there is a gap.

[11:05:04] And what happened in those moments? This witness that we spoke to, her name is Gwen Nichols, she said that she saw what happened in those moments between those two videotapes. She described it as a tussle between those two men. I asked if they were fighting, rolling around on the ground, because that account that was given by another person. She said no, it was just a kind of tussle like, hey, what do you want, what did I do type of thing.

Now, Gwen Nichols has experience with this. Her own son was pulled over by North Charleston police for a busted taillight. He was hassled, he was arrested; then they dropped the charges. So she was sensitive to this happening when she was witnessing this happening between these two men. So they then round the corner. She did not see the shooting, but she heard gunshots and she described to us what she felt when she heard those shots. Take a listen.

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GWEN NICHOLS, WITNESS: I started to cry. Sorry. I started to cry because I thought about the altercation with my son and it could have been my son. It could have been any one of these young, black young men around here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: And ,again, her son, Maruice, she says had been pulled over by a North Charleston police officer for a busted taillight, that he was arrested, that he was hassled . They later dropped the charges. So she is very sensitive to all of this. She does say that North Charleston still has a lot of good police officers, but she believes they really need to get more involved in community policing, just being more involved in the neighborhoods where they patrol the beat. John and Kate?

BERMAN: And Brian Todd, one other key piece of evidence from this dash cam video, there is a passenger inside that car who could also be a witness to this whole thing. We will talk about significance of that coming up. Brian Todd, thanks so much.

First though, the biggest political news that everyone in the world knew was happening.

BOLDUAN: What was it?

BERMAN: It's actually happening! Hillary Clinton is running for president. Did you know? Well, what we didn't know were the details about how she would make it official. And now CNN has the dirt. She's going to jump into the race on Sunday with a video message on social media.

BOLDUAN: The video has already been shot. The first campaign stop's already set. So what else do we need? We need Brianna Keilar. Clinton will be the first Democrat to declare candidacy. And if you're keeping tally, which of course you are, Clinton will be joining at this point Republicans Rand Paul and Ted Cruz in the race for the White House. That's only so far. There's many other people to jump into the race.

Brianna is here with much more of the details. So what more are we learning about the rollout?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. So the video is already shot, as you said. And it's going to be sort of this one-two punch. So she's got the video where she's announcing her -- kind of her rationale for running. And then she's going to be heading to Iowa, as we understand it.

This is pretty important because Iowa not friendly to Hillary Clinton back in 2008. You will recall, she didn't just come in third -- I mean, not second. She was third. Third to Barack Obama, third to John Edwards. And so this is a signal, we're told by supporters of Clinton's, that she wants to campaign really aggressively for the nomination, which is kind of weird, you might say, because who else is really in the race against her? No one officially yet. And she's so far ahead of other Democrats, likely Democrats, in these polls.

So what's her message? That's really also the big question. She's going to run as if she is a grandmother. That is our expectation. "The Huffington Post" got a hold of the epilogue in her new paperback of her book, "Hard Choices", which was out a year ago and she's going to be talking about how she wants to really leave a better world behind for her granddaughter's generation. So that's how she's going to be looking at the future, which is very key. Elections are about the future.

BERMAN: Interesting. Any idea where she shot the video? Always interested if they have like a domestic setting in the house in Chappaqua or if it was on a set somewhere.

KEILAR: We don't know, but it's funny that you say that because, remember, that's something that even "SNL" has recently poked fun at her for. I'm just a relatable woman on a couch, which was kind of the video that she shot last time she ran for president. We don't know. Is this one going to be different than 2008? I suspect it might be. We'll see.

BERMAN: She won't say I'm in it to win it. I'll tell you that.

BOLDUAN: And it's interesting with the reframe and the reintroduction, the first focus that she really wants to push is the personal focus.

KEILAR: That's right.

BOLDUAN: That sells. That's what people really want to know. That's what they think, at least.

KEILAR: That's exactly right. She has this huge history behind her, so it's all about how does she look forward and that's a way she can and she's certainly capitalizing on that.

BERMAN: Interesting. Sunday, big day. Thanks, Brianna. Appreciate it.

KEILAR: Thanks. Nice knowing me, wasn't it?

BOLDUAN: Exactly. We'll see you in 2016, Brianna.

BERMAN: Ahead for us AT THIS HOUR, so who was that passenger in Walter Scott's car? This is a new question in the South Carolina police shooting. Will the passenger be identified and what kind of new information could this witness shed on this incident? And what does he know about what happened just before Scott was killed?

BOLDUAN: The jury still out in the Aaron Hernandez trial, deliberating right now for another full day.

[11:10:01] Could they reach a verdict today? Everyone's eyes are on that case.

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BOLDUAN: A surprising new development in the South Carolina police shooting. The police dash cam video has been released. It reveals there was a second person in the car with Walter Scott when that police officer pulled him over for that broken taillight. You see him highlighted right there on the right side of your screen. Police eventually asking that passenger to get out of the car at one point.

BERMAN: Police detained him in a patrol car. The Scott family says that that witness is a coworker and friend. The key question now is can he fill in gaps between the time that Officer Michael Slager pulled Scott over and what we see in this cell phone video that shows the officer shooting Scott in the back? He was hit five times.

Joining us now to talk about this, and really the idea of this new witness, is the president of the Police Foundation, Jim Bueermann. Jim is also the former police chief of Redlands, California. Thanks so much for being for us. Appreciate it.

Question now is there is this witness. We didn't know about him, the media didn't know about him. The public didn't. But obviously police knew it right away. So they've been talking to him from the beginning. In some ways, there's a lot that happened quickly here once this video came out, Jim. Officer Slager was arrested immediately and charged immediately. No grand jury here, as we saw in other cases. But other things appear to be taking some time. What the do you think that investigators will want to get from this witness?

JIM BUEERMANN, PRESIDENT, POLICE FOUNDATION: So there's really kind of two phases to this. Immediately after Mr. Scott ran from the car, the first responding officer to the scene of the traffic stop would have wanted to ascertain whether that person in the car was a potential victim.

[11:15:02] There's obviously uncertainty as to why the driver would have fled from the car. Was that passenger a suspect in some crime that they hadn't yet detected. Is there a body in the trunk?

And once they figure that piece out and it starts to settle down, then they'll going to want to know what did that passenger see. So, the line of sight issues, in other words, where that car is relative to where the struggle and subsequent shooting occurred, is important. They're going to ask that individual did Mr. Scott say anything to you before he ran? What do you know about him and those kinds of questions.

BOLDUAN: And Jim, I mean, there's so much once the original video came out, that cell phone video came out, now this video has come out, there's so much that has come out very quickly, as John said in relation to other instances we've covered, in terms of police shootings. Is it surprising to you that we haven't heard or the public hasn't heard about this passenger? Do you think it's a critical piece of this story that the public should know about?

BUEERMANN: Well, yes, I think it is important. What he said to the police is to what he knew about why Mr. Scott ran from the car is going to be important. I think we're all going to find out pretty soon. His identity will eventually be revealed. And as the investigation moves forward, the District Attorney is going to release some of that or it will come out in court. The D.A. has to protect the integrity of their case. So, they're not going to release everything because that could create a prejudicial environment where you affect the jury pool, but we are going to find out more about this incident sooner probably as opposed to later.

BERMAN,: All right, Jim. Stick around. Thanks so much. Interesting to find out more about this witness. We understand he wants to remain, you know, private right now which you can understand given the publicity.

BOLDUAN: So much attention. Absolutely.

[11:16:53] BERMAN: Ahead for us AT THIS HOUR, absolutely devastated. Tornadoes tear through the Midwest. Daylight now reveals this destruction. We're going to speak to an emergency official on the ground who tells us what he is seeing. We'll get the latest status report next.

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BOLDUAN: AT THIS HOUR, now former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager is being held in isolation in a jail cell, charged with murder. This, while the public is gaining some new perspective on this police shooting. From police dash cam video, it shows the initial encounter between Slager and Walter Scott during a traffic stop. Then, Slager goes back to his patrol car and Walter Scott takes off running. BERMAN: There's a gap in the video you're see here right here, and the

cell phone video, we've all seen now, which shows Officer Slager shooting Scott five times. There would likely be no gap had the officer been wearing a body camera. One of the first things the Mayor of North Charleston did after the shooting was to order more of those body cameras. Thousands of police departments officers already require their officers to wear them, but not everyone agrees this is the right move.

Joining us now, Boston police detective, Larry Ellison, is the President of the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers and Former Police Chief of Redlands, California, Jim Bueermann is back with us. Let me start with you. Kate, hold up this camera right here. We actually have one of the body camera

BOLDUAN: It's huge. Yes, this is the V-view.

BERMAN: This is one of them. It's awfully small. It doesn't seem like it would be terribly intrusive to wear that any time for a police officer. So, Larry, you actually question whether it's a good idea. Explain to me how something like this could be detrimental.

LARRY ELLISON, BOSTON POLICE DECTIVE: Well, I don't think it's detrimental. I think first of all, we don't know what effects its will have on the officer's long-term health. The other issue is that we've seen in numerous shootings across the country, that the camera -- that people had cameras, I think everyone who has a cell phone pretty much has a camera. So, I don't think cameras are the issue.

BERMAN: Well, it couldn't hurt, right? Look, if they're wearing cameras, it provides you with a different perspective. It might serve as a deterrent. That's one theory that's out there too Larry. That if a police officer knows that he or she is capturing footage of an incident while it's going on, perhaps he or she would approach that incident in a different way. Is that a valid argument?

ELLISON: Well, I think it's a valid argument. But, I don't think it's the cure-all for the problem. I think he problem is that if you look at the number of shootings that have taken place around the country, they predominately involve people of color. So, I think if you don't have some type of dialogue where the communities of color and the police are acting in a better manner or collaborating together, the cameras record what took place. It's not going to cure the problem.

BOLDUAN: Jim, I want you to jump in on this as well. There have been limited studies on this so far as there are about -- as the estimation I have seen is there are about 4,000 to 6,000 U.S. police departments out of 18,000 nationally, that are using body cameras right now. And in the limited studies that have been done, they have seen less instances of use of force, fewer complaints against police and anecdotally, when this was announced by the Mayor in North Charleston, there was applause amongst the public that were standing there. Do you think this is a fix?

BUEEMANN: I think Larry makes a valid point. The real issue is the relationship between the police and the communities that they are paid to protect. At this point, I think this particular train has left the station. That if policing in this country is to regain the trust and confidence of many communities that they work for, they're going to have to take steps to do things like use body cameras. I think this is very clear that the preliminary evidence is that the use of body cameras reduces complaints and use of force by officers, but if you think about it, it just makes sense, whether we are kids in a classroom or we're driving along and highway patrol is behind us, when we believe we're being watched by some authority figure, we behave better.

So, this is called the civilizing effect of body cameras and I think that's what drives a lot of the reduction in complaints and use of force is when we're being watched, everybody behaves better. But, it's not at cure-all. There are issues related to the use of these cameras. Absolutely.

[11:24: 43] BERMAN: I feel like the idea that it's not a cure-all is a bit of a straw man. Both of you gentleman who have vastly more experience than I do, bring this up. But I don't think anyone's suggesting that it's a cure-all. Larry, I don't think anyone's suggesting that you don't try to create more communication between the police and community at large here. I think people are only suggesting that perhaps if these existed, it would reduce some of the questions that exist after incidents right now. Look if there had been a body camera in Ferguson, Missouri, perhaps we would have known much, much sooner what the grand jury ultimately revealed.

ELLISON: Well, that's true, but I mean, a lot of times the body camera didn't decide how and why the police officer stopped the gentleman in South Carolina. So, there are a lot of things that body camera won't pick up. I think in most police departments around the country, the officers are allowed to turn the cameras off at certain times. I don't think it's going to fix all your problems. I'm not saying it wouldn't be an aid to having documentation of what took place, but the problem is deeper rooted than just the cameras. It's the relationship.

I think if you have a very working relationship, you'll have people who will come forward with their own testimony that the cameras only document, but it's more important to have people in the community working with the police in a way that the cameras are there as an aid.

BOLDUAN: I definitely gets to the systemic issue that many folks say that is a much bigger cultural problem that can take a lot longer. In the mean time, a lot of folks looking at body cameras, including even the White House endorsing the use of body cameras amongst police departments all across the country. Larry Ellison, Jim Buerrmann, thank you both so much for taking part in the conversation that's going on everywhere.

BERMAN: It's a good discussion. They bring up good points. How to use them is a whole separate issue because there are serious questions there as well.

BOLDUAN: Serious questions. One of the biggest questions I was just alerted to is how do you store the data? The massive amounts of data that you bring in. It costs a lot of money. I saw one estimate that LAPD want to get 7,000 cameras. It would cost $7 million they estimate annually just to store and maintain the data and the cameras.

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE) Just beginning.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: Coming up for us, absolutely devastated. Tornadoes tearing through the Midwest. Now in daylight we can see just how bad it was. We'll speak to emergency management official who is on the ground there to get the latest update on conditions. Next.

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