Return to Transcripts main page

NEW DAY

Deadly Tornadoes Rip Through Midwest; Sheriff Loses Home in Tornado; Walter Scott Traffic Stop Video Released; Obama Set to Meet Castro; Hillary Clinton to Announce Candidacy. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired April 10, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. This is violent.

[07:00:04] YOUNG (voice-over): It was the tornado outbreak...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, there goes cars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw headlights go flying.

YOUNG: ... that residents in the heartland feared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's over, he's over. Go, go.

YOUNG: Tornado watches stretching across the Midwest.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh. That's going right through.

YOUNG: Coming to fruition. Over a dozen tornadoes touching down across Missouri, Illinois and Iowa, according to the National Weather Service.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guys, we can't stop.

YOUNG: Illinois, the hardest-hit. One tornado pummeling the northern city of Rochelle, leaving a path of destruction more than 25 miles long.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We quickly went down to the basement. And could feel the tornado right over our house.

YOUNG: Rochelle's hospital in disaster mode throughout the night.

Emergency crews quickly clearing debris, rescuing a dozen people trapped in the storm cellar of this local restaurant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The back wall fell right on top of it when the tornado hit. And we were trapped. And we were about an hour, hour and a half in there at least.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm in shock. I've got no job and no car, so it's -- it's scary. So -- but I'm glad I'm alive. YOUNG: Just north in the cities of Fairdale and Kirkland, Illinois,

the local fire department says a tornado pretty much wiped out the town.

And in Iowa, the storms breaking out so quickly -- that this camera crew planning on covering a baseball game...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED), dude, it's spinning.

YOUNG: ... instead captured this footage of a possible tornado.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God, a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) tornado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG: So our Chicago affiliate actually has a helicopter up right now getting a survey, some of the damage as first light comes up. Some amazing video of what the wind did to this area. You can even see behind me, the semi-truck that was tossed around by the wind. And you can still hear the wind pushing through this area, but obviously, so many people happy they were able to survive through this -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Ryan, we can see the winds still whipping through there. Hopefully, the worst is over. We'll check back with you.

Now, the big difference for so many people in terms of lives being saved is knowing it's coming. So this storm is centered in northern Illinois, but the system actually spans hundreds of miles. So where's it going next? Let's bring in our meteorologist, Jennifer Gray.

Jennifer, what do you see?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Chris, you are so right. Having that plan and knowing what to do when severe weather is approaching is key. There's some very lucky people in Illinois as of this morning. We're going to see more storms firing up. In fact already seeing severe weather, watches and warnings this morning.

You can see that severe thunderstorm watch that's in effect until about 10 a.m. Eastern Time. That includes Charleston, also Knoxville as these storms continue to push. We're already seeing lightning this morning and even severe thunderstorm warnings out there.

The ingredients are in place again today. We have that very warm and moist air coming in from the south. We have dry air approaching from the west. Behind that front and so with the warm temperatures, the very dry air, the clashing of the two air masses, we are going to be able to get severe storms again today.

Look at those temperatures: in the 80s across the East Coast; in the 60s on the other side, so quite a temperature difference there.

We're looking at the possibility of severe storms anywhere from New Orleans, Montgomery, even Augusta. I do think the storms are going to hold off until after the golfers play today. But we could see some storms later today there. Also, Raleigh, Charlotte, large hail, damaging winds, the possibility of isolated tornadoes again today.

So Alisyn, folks need to be on the lookout again today, have that plan, know where to go if severe weather strikes your area.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Jennifer, good warning. Thanks for keeping an eye on that.

Joining us now is Ogle County sheriff, Brian Van Vickle. His home was destroyed by a tornado.

Sheriff, thanks for being here this morning. We're so sorry for the loss of your home. Can you tell us where you are this morning and what you're standing in front of?

BRIAN VAN VICKLE, OGLE COUNTY SHERIFF: Well, I'm out in a subdivision in front of my -- my -- where my home used to be. And it's -- everybody is safe. That's the only thing that we can say today, that everybody is safe, and things can be replaced.

CAMEROTA: That is a blessing, Sheriff. Is that your home? I mean, are we seeing the debris of what was your home directly behind you?

VAN VICKLE: You're seeing the debris of what was my home and what was my neighbor's home, scattered about through my yard, as well.

CAMEROTA: Oh, Sheriff. Where was your family when the tornado hit?

VAN VICKLE: Well, my family was-- my wife and children were out of town. You know, fortunately my sister-in-law and brother-in-law also live right across the street from us, and they were just a few miles away, but they weren't home, either.

So all of our immediate family was safe and sound, and all of our neighbors are -- are unhurt. So it's truly a blessing here this morning.

CAMEROTA: Thank goodness. Sheriff, where were you when the tornado touched down?

VAN VICKLE: I was actually at a law enforcement meeting in another jurisdiction when I got the initial phone call that the tornado warning was issued.

CAMEROTA: And so what happened when you came home? When you came home to see the scene of what's happened to your town and your relatives' homes and your home?

VAN VICKLE: Well, you know, when I got here, we immediately started an incident command post at the local fire department. And I truly never made it to my house until about an hour ago. That was the first time I had been here all night. And I knew it was gone. And there wasn't anything I could do. So it was time to help the community and help all the -- you know, the citizens of this great area.

CAMEROTA: Oh, Sheriff. So an hour ago, you saw that scene behind you of what was your home. Is there anything retrievable? Can you sift through and get some belongings?

VAN VICKLE: Well, my mother-in-law found our dog out in the yard. So that was -- that was a blessing, too. So I'm sure there's stuff that we're going to find. And like I said, things can be replaced, and the family is safe. So that's all I'm worried about.

CAMEROTA: So your dog was home, but somehow survived?

VAN VICKLE: Yes, we don't know how she did it. She was out on my daughter's mattress out in the yard laying down. She didn't really care to let anybody to come up and touch her, but she was just fine. So...

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, if only your dog could talk, we could hear what -- how she made it through.

VAN VICKLE: That would be a story to tell.

CAMEROTA: That would be a story. So but Sheriff, it sounds as though you live in a community with many of your relatives: your in-laws, your siblings. So what's the state of their houses?

VAN VICKLE: Everybody else's house is fine. My mom and dad, my in- laws, everybody else's house is fine. So, you know, it's a typical rural Midwest community where everybody will pitch in and rebuild. And today will start the hard work.

CAMEROTA: And so where will you stay during this?

VAN VICKLE: We've got family around, and we'll be at family's houses undoubtedly.

CAMEROTA: Sheriff, you have a great attitude. How do you explain why you're able to go through an ordeal like this and still be positive?

VAN VICKLE: It's simple. I mean, nobody got hurt. We didn't have a single fatality in the county. We had three people transported to the hospital by ambulance for what I've been told are minor cuts and bruises.

And you know what? You count your blessings and you thank God, even though you see what's behind me. You thank God that everybody is safe, and everybody is going to go to a hotel or go to a family member's house for the next few weeks. And that's what you have to focus on.

CAMEROTA: Sheriff, it does seem miraculous that when we look at that scene behind you, that there were no fatalities in your county. And we're so happy that you and your family are safe this morning.

Sheriff Brian Van Vickle, thanks so much, and we wish you the best of luck.

VAN VICKLE: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Michaela. MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: It's incredible. It's incredible to see that he saw that an hour ago, and he's able to sort of speak so clearly. Our thoughts and prayers are with those families, because they're going to have a lot to do to rebuild.

To South Carolina now. We're now able to see the moments leading up to Walter Scott's fatal shooting. Newly-released dash cam footage from Officer Michael Slager's patrol car shows the traffic stop that started it all.

CNN's Martin Savidge joins us live from North Charleston, South Carolina, with the very latest -- Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

The attorneys for the Scott family say that this new dash cam video does nothing to change the case against former police officer Michael Slager.

But it does give us some insight as to how that terrible day began.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Dash cam video now released, capturing the moment Police Officer Michael Slager pulls over Walter Scott last Saturday morning. Slager's patrol car follows Scott as he pulls into the parking lot of an auto parts store. Moments later, Slager approaches the car and asks Scott for his driver's license.

MICHAEL SLAGER, FORMER POLICE OFFICER: The reason I stopped you is your third brake light is out.

SAVIDGE: In less than a minute, the talk turns to paperwork. Questions over Scott's purchase of the car.

SLAGER: Just a minute ago, you told me that you bought it, and you're changing everything over on Monday.

WALTER SCOTT, SHOT BY POLICE: I'm sorry about that.

SAVIDGE: Slager returns to his patrol car. Moments later Scott starts to get out of his vehicle.

SLAGER: Got to stay in the car.

SAVIDGE: And in fewer than 30 seconds, Scott gets out of his car again and runs. The possible reason the 50-year-old tried to flee? A bench warrant was out for his arrest since January 2013 after failing to pay over $18,000 in back child support for two children.

What happens next is out of view of the camera but partially picked up on the officer's microphone. He sounds like he's running. And can be heard yelling.

SLAGER: Taser! Taser! Taser!

[07:10:06] SAVIDGE: One eyewitness says a tussle ensues.

GWEN NICHOLS, EYEWITNESS: It wasn't on the ground rolling. It was like a tussle type of thing, like you know, like, "What do you want?" or "What did I do?" type of thing.

SAVIDGE: The man who took this disturbing cell-phone video says they were on the ground before he started recording.

FEIDIN SANTANA, EYEWITNESS WHO VIDEOTAPED SHOOTING: I went to the scene. And Mr. Scott was already on the ground. The cop was on top of him. He was -- just Tasing him, Tasing Mr. Scott.

SAVIDGE: Slager joined the police department five years ago. In 2013, police records show he was exonerated following a complaint of improper use of force with a Taser involving this man: Mario Givens. He says that Slager burst through his front door in a case of mistaken identity, meaning to arrest his brother for robbery.

MARIO GIVENS, FILED COMPLAINT AGAINST OFFICER SLAGER: He pulled out his Taser and told me, "If you don't come out, I'm going to Tase you." I put my hand up. I also moved out of the way, and he still shot me with the Taser.

SAVIDGE: Slager's mother, Karen Sharpe, told ABC she hasn't seen the video and can't imagine her son shooting and killing an unarmed black man while he ran away.

KAREN SHARPE, SLAGER'S MOTHER: I just have to let it be and hope God takes care of everybody involved. Not only my family, but Scott's family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: All right. In other news, there is a big meeting supposedly between President Obama and Raul Castro. It's going to take place in Panama. So let's get to Rosa Flores. She's there in Panama City.

What do we know?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

You know, all eyes are on the United States and Cuba, and in this symbolic handshake between both countries.

Now let me tell you something. There is no bilateral meeting set for President Obama and President Castro. However, they are expected to mingle during this event.

And here's the other big thing. Hear this: So Secretary Kerry and his counterpart, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, meeting late last night for a bilateral meeting. And let me tell you something: a bilateral meeting of this level has not happened since 1958. So it's a very big deal.

The State Department also set to recommend to President Obama that Cuba be removed from the state-sponsorship terrorist list. So a lot of different meetings going on, Chris. We're going to be watching all of it.

CUOMO: All right. Rosa, thank you very much. We'll check back with you -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: In Maryland, a Census Bureau guard is dead after being shot by a kidnapping suspect. The guard, Lawrence Buckner, observed a couple fighting in a car. And when he approached to help, he was shot. The driver then sped off, leading officers on a high-speed chase through Washington, D.C. Buckner and another officer were shot. The alleged kidnapping victim is safe.

PEREIRA: A Wisconsin man is in federal custody this morning, accused of trying to join ISIS. The FBI arrested Joshua Van Haften this week at Chicago's O'Hare Airport after he was flown back from Istanbul, Turkey. The 34-year-old nearly pulled it off but was not able to help find -- to find help, rather, crossing the border to join the Islamic State in Syria. FBI agents say they know that, because he posted several times about it on Facebook.

CAMEROTA: Goodness.

Well, much more on the tornado outbreak in the Midwest. Now with the sun about to rise, we will get our first daylight look at the devastation. So we have a live report ahead.

CUOMO: Plus, we know how it ended in South Carolina. How did it begin? We now have the dash cam video. What does it tell us about what went wrong in this situation? And what needs to change? Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: We know how it ended. But how did it begin? The dash cam video is the key to what happened to Walter Scott, why he wound up being dead at the hands of Officer Slager. So how did things go so wrong?

Let's start at the beginning and take a look with an expert, Charles Ramsey, commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department, also the co-chair of President Obama's task force on 21st Century Policing.

Chief, thank you for being with us. Let's take a look here, all right? So the beginning of this, it does appear to be just an ordinary traffic stop, right? Does anything stand out for you as a reason for us to take time on what you see early on?

COMMISSIONER CHARLES RAMSEY, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: No. No, there's nothing unusual; just a traffic stop.

CUOMO: All right. So he goes back to the car. Obviously, he's got the guy's license. He wants to check for warrants. There will be one there. It's going to be for unpaid child support, about 18 grand. He'd been brought in for it before. And that's when the door opens, and Walter Scott is trying to talk to him. He says, "Get back in the car." That's going to be strong language, but is that unusual? RAMSEY: No, that's not unusual. You don't want a suspect moving

around. You've not had a chance to search him, the car or anything like that.

CUOMO: Right.

RAMSEY: So having him remain at the car at that point in time is standard.

CUOMO: Standard, black, white, green, yellow. "You get out of the car when I've told you to stay in it," you're going to hear it from the cop.

All right. So then the unusual part of a traffic stop, he gets out and runs. Now what is the officer's directive at this point? The guy's running away. Let's assume he knows that the warrant -- the officer knows the warrant was for child support. Is he supposed to give chase?

RAMSEY: Yes. There's nothing wrong with giving chase. Obviously, you'd want to get on the radio, and you'd want to give your location to the dispatcher so you can get some assist units in, if you have time to do that.

But the warrant may be for missing child payments, but there could also be something else that you're unaware of that causes an individual to flee.

CUOMO: So he chases him; he catches him. We hear him saying, "Taser, Taser." The officer is saying that. Are you supposed to announce into the radio, if you can, that you're using a Taser? What do you think that indicates?

RAMSEY: Well, I don't know what it indicates, to be honest with you. Every department is different in terms of their policies and their procedures. If you're going to use a Taser, it's not uncommon to at least announce your intention to the individual. But it depends on the policy of the department.

CUOMO: Here's what I'm stuck on, that makes me think that, even if we didn't have this videotape, Slager was in big trouble. If he had used the Taser on Walter Scott -- and we do know he used it at some point, because we see the wires hanging off him. Could he have had a reasonable fear that the Taser could be used on him? No, right?

RAMSEY: Well, I mean, he didn't have possession of the Taser. And when we look at things like this, whenever we have an incident of deadly force, at the moment the shots are fired, what's the threat? And the individual is running away. It doesn't appear he has a firearm or anything like that in his hands. He's not an immediate threat to the officer or to another citizen.

CUOMO: Right.

[07:20:15] RAMSEY: So the use of deadly force in that case would be inappropriate. CUOMO: There's no question that what happens on the videotape at the

end, no lawyer is making a defense there that's going to stick with anybody. It was clearly not a function of any reasonable fear.

But I'm saying even before that, when he said, "I had to shoot a warning shot because I was afraid he had grabbed my Taser." Had he used the Taser on Walter Scott, he didn't have a reasonable fear of Walter Scott with his Taser, because it could only be used on the guy with the prongs in it. Isn't that true?

RAMSEY: Well, both prongs have to strike the individual before the Taser is effective. Again, irrespective of what happened...

CUOMO: I'm not saying whether it would have hurt Walter Scott. I'm saying it couldn't have been used again against the officer. That's what I'm saying.

RAMSEY: Right, yes. I mean, it has to be rearmed before it can be used.

CUOMO: Right. See, that's -- why am I harping on this when we already know what happens at the end? Because authorities at the beginning went with the officer's story. That there was an altercation over the Taser, and he had to shoot a warning shot. If they knew that he had used that Taser already, they had to know that was a bogus story; it couldn't be right. Even before they got to the body with the five bullet holes in it, even before they hopefully heard from an officer if they saw it, that the guy dropped the Taser near the victim's body. And it makes me wonder if this is a window into a reality that cops should not investigate cops in excessive force cases. What do you say?

RAMSEY: Well, there's a couple of issues there. First of all, in any situation, whether it's police shooting or another crime, the first story is never -- it never turns out to be 100 percent accurate. That's why you have an investigation. That's why you have to look at forensic evidence and all of these kinds of things. That's not really unusual.

I do believe, though, that there is an issue when it comes to police departments investigating themselves with serious uses of force, particularly fatal shootings. I think it should be done independent by another agency, and not by that agency. Not that they aren't capable of doing it, but certainly, the credibility that we have at this point in time across the country is such that having that outside look at what took place is something that I think is really needed in our business.

CUOMO: Chief Ramsey, thank you very much, and thank you for the work you're doing with the commission on this issue. Appreciate it -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Chris, we have a key race alert right now. We do have some breaking news about when Hillary Clinton will officially launch her 2016 campaign.

Let's get to CNN senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. Jeff, what have you just learned?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

We have learned that former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, is expected to announce her candidacy on Sunday, about midday on Sunday, through a video message that she has already recorded. This has been widely expected, widely anticipated by Democrats. But she is in. I'm told that she has shot the video. It's being edited right now. And it is expected to be sent out to supporters in the social media world on Sunday.

But right after that, more importantly, she's going to begin campaigning aggressively. Starting in Iowa, then I'm told going to New Hampshire and perhaps other early voting states across the country.

So one week from now, she will be firmly in this race, she'll have talked to voters in all these early states. And she is making official what we have widely known, widely been anticipating for so long. That video message will be coming out around noon, I'm told, on Sunday -- Alisyn.

PEREIRA: I'll take it here. And CNN can also confirm that Jeff Zeleny, you're going to have a busy weekend ahead. All right.

CUOMO: On the Lord's day, announcing. Controversial.

PEREIRA: Big.

CUOMO: You're supposed to rest.

PEREIRA: They like Sunday, you said? Yes?

CUOMO: Weekends are great for announcements, because you get to extend the news cycle. You get the whole week.

CAMEROTA: Right. You get the jump on Monday morning news.

PEREIRA: We'll be ready to do it.

All right. We're back to our top story: destruction across the Midwest. A large twister flattening everything in its path. Now, as day breaks, we're getting an even closer look at all the devastation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:28:05] CAMEROTA: Devastation in the Midwest following an outbreak of tornadoes. Northern Illinois the hardest hit, with nearly a dozen twisters touching down, demolishing homes and businesses.

Some people managed to escape after hiding in basements for hours. Some still in need of rescue at this hour.

Let's bring in CNN's Ryan Young. He is live for us from Rochelle, Illinois.

It's light now, Ryan, we can see. What are you seeing?

YOUNG: You can really see some of the devastation here. If you look behind me, look at this. It looks like a scene out of a movie, all this destroyed. The wind moving through so very quickly.

People were actually inside this restaurant when the storm hit. They had to shelter in place to save their own lives. In fact, someone was trapped in a bathroom on the inside here.

And you can look at the power lines that are down. They had to come through here this morning to tie all these lines up. They're really worried about us being out here with the lines down.

But you can see from the aerial view, the destruction through this area. In fact, the storm moved through very quickly. You will talk about the size of the storm. People who've lived here for a long time say they have never seen a storm of this size.

In fact, a man was telling us, he's lived here for -- his family has lived here for five generations, and they never remember a tornado of this size.

Now, if you look across the street, you can see the damage that the wind did here.

Now one person did die; eight others were injured. But so many people talked about the idea that they were happy that their family survived through this powerful storm -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: Sobering to see that where you see where houses once stood, those families' lives changed. But we know they will rebuild. Ryan, thank you.

We want to turn to South Carolina now. Dash cam video showing Walter Scott's traffic stop moments before he was shot dead, has offered few answers and only more questions. The community of North Charleston has been left to grapple with the visuals while Officer Michael Slager remains charged with murder.

Joining us this morning to discuss it all, Sheriff Al Cannon of Charleston, South Carolina. He also was once the former police chief of North Charleston. Jim Bueermann joins us, as well. He's president of the Police Foundation, a police think tank. He happens to be the former Redlands, California, police chief. Gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us.