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Officer Charged After Shooting Teen 16 Times; Trump Not Backing Down from 9/11 Remarks; What Trump/Cruz Showdown Would Look Like; 200 Percent Increase in NYC Suspicious Incident Reports; Minneapolis Black Lives Matter Protests Hit by Gunfire; State of Emergency in Tunisia after Explosion. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired November 24, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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


[14:30:00] RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Other officers report to the state's attorney office they didn't feel like Laquan McDonald was a threat. His partner walked over after he was shot and kicked the knife out of his hand. Now you have Jason who was in court charged with first-degree murder and granted no bond.

One of the things the judge wanted to see is he wanted to see the video. The prosecutor's office felt like reading everything that happened was going to be good enough. The judge said, no, he wants to see the video before making a final determination on November 30th. We know we'll be back here on Monday to see what exactly happens in court.

This whole city is bracing for this video to be released. I can tell you by the description of what was said in court a lot of people will have questions about what happens when you have someone shot several times as he was on the ground. Several civilians noted to the police department they thought he was trying to get away from the police officer and didn't pose a threat.

We talked about that knife that was four inches. Now they are saying it's three inches and it folded into about an inch holster. It sounds like it might have been a pocket knife. We have never seen that evidence so far.

You can understand that people in this community are bracing themselves for what could happen next once it's released. We had civil rights activists inside the courtroom after they heard the details for the first time about how graphic the shooting could play out once people see it on video. Once again, they are talking upstairs now, detailing what has happened over the last few months to get us to this position.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I know we hope to hear from one of those community leaders next hour with you.

Ryan, thank you so much for now in Chicago.

Ahead, back here live in Paris, more breaking news out of this beautiful city here. This new suspect in the attacks identified now suspected of driving one of the bombers to Paris. Plus, we are now hearing about the second wave of attacks the

mastermind planned after the massacre here in Paris. Hear about his specific target.

You're watching CNN's special live coverage. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:36:29] BALDWIN: Donald Trump and the truth. The Republican presidential front runner is standing by claims made about 9/11 that he saw thousands and thousands of people in New Jersey celebrating after the terror attacks in 2001. He's also standing by his claim that he saw victims jump to their deaths from the twin towers from his midtown high-rise. Here you go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: During a speech recently I said that I saw in parts of New Jersey, I saw people getting together and in fairly large numbers celebrating as the World Trade Center was coming down killing thousands of people, and I saw people, and I saw them on television and I read about it on the Internet.

I watched people jumping off the building. How would you like to be 102 stories up and your choice is burn or jump? And many people jumped. And I witnessed it. I watched that. Because I have a window in my apartment that specifically was aimed at the World Trade Center because of the beauty of the whole downtown Manhattan. And I watched as people jumped. I watched the second plane come in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, that was Donald Trump talking about seeing the people -- the horrendous images we saw in photos of people leaping out of those towers.

Here's Manhattan. You see on the left-hand side of the screen Trump Tower and you see all the way downtown. That would have been where the trade towers stood. Just to explain to you how far away, if he's saying he witnessed it with his own eyes, you see the math, you be the judge.

Fact checking publications have called his statements false, but Trump has only doubled down on his assertion.

Joining me, "Daily Beast" columnist, Ben Collins; and also CNN national political report, Maeve Reston.

Great to have you both on.

To your piece, Ben, on "Trump and the Truth," it's hard to fact check this man. Why is that?

BEN COLLINS, SENIOR NEWS EDITOR, THE DAILY BEAST: Because he's running a campaign based on plausible deniability. His entire problem at this point is that he has said some things we now know are totally untrue, this idea that there were thousands of people cheering the death of people on 9/11. It's factually incorrect. We know this is incorrect. But the biggest problem with all of this is we're complicit in this. We're questioning as a media if it's our role to talk about this it.

It isn't. It's our role to say these are lies. It's our role to say these things can't be possible and did not take place. In my story, we wrote about how media covered this tweet he wrote that 84 percent of white murdered Americans are murdered by black people. This is the opposite of the truth. 15 percent is the truth. And you see stories in the hill. Here's a headline. Donald Trump takes heat for tweet about black murder rates. Nowhere does it say it's fictitious. So these are fictitious things he's saying. They are factually untrue and we're sort of reporting it as a debate. It's just not a debate.

BALDWIN: So why is it, though, that despite everything you're pointing out and the nose at the top of your column on "The Daily Beast" today, you look at the polls, listen, he's still number one. Americans don't care.

[14:40:15] COLLINS: Yeah, and I think it's because, in part, we're preaching this debate. We're saying this is a part of a question. Is it possible that these things are happening? When we're talking about the emotional truth of these instead of the actual truth that's happening. We're raising his profile. When we raise his profile, he gets more media time and we attack him as he would say when what we're doing is fact checking him, what comes out of that this is us against the media. He'll use that as anti-mainstream talk, anti-Washington talk when in truth he's just not telling the truth.

BALDWIN: Maeve, I want to hear your voice here. You have Donald Trump. Then you also have this new number two. Really -- talk about Senator Ted Cruz. These two have really had similar Republican base and now that he is number two in Iowa specifically I'm curious, give me a preview of what a Trump/Cruz showdown now might look like.

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: I don't know if any of us can imagine that, but it's going to be such an interesting dynamic of this race. You have seen Cruz rising in the last couple weeks. These early contest states at the expense of Ben Carson, who has also made some questionable claims. Although on the 9/11 step, he backed dun on that yesterday. But it's so interesting because Trump defies all of the normal political rules.

His people stand by him when he says this is the truth. And to be honest, I don't know that any of us could know what he saw from his apartment on 9/11. But it will be interesting to see Cruz really take him on especially in Iowa. We have expecting Cruz to rise. He's got a really robust fundraising operation. So far he's take a light touch with Donald Trump that you're starting to see him draw policy contrast. For example, on the database of American Muslims. Cruz saying he does not agree with Trump on that. It could be a really interesting debate as we head into the holidays.

BALDWIN: Maeve Reston, thank you both. Ben Collins, as I was reading your piece, I can't help but think of

the great Stephen Colbert and that word "truthiness."

(LAUGHTER)

Ben Collins, thank you so much. Great writing at "The Daily Beast."

Thank you, thank you to both of you.

COLLINS: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Major cities across the United States now retraining police officers to deal with active shooters. Anderson Cooper takes us on a look at those operations.

We're now hearing about a second wave of attacks the ring leader planned. We have information on what and where they wanted to target here in Paris.

This is CNN's special live coverage, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:23] BALDWIN: Since the attacks here in Paris half a mile down the road from where I'm at, New York City police have seen a 200 percent increase in the number of what they are calling suspicious incident reports. The city has had to boost the number of detectives following up on all of these calls. We are looking at the NYPD. They are conducting anti-terror drills inside the subway system. This is happening as the U.S. is entering a busy holiday travel season.

We have our justice correspondent, Evan Perez, standing by.

I know, Evan, you are so close with a lot of people in law enforcement and a lot of tips coming into NYPD. How many of them do they have to see through as an investigation?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: They have to see every single one of them through. That's one of the difficult challenges of doing law enforcement in New York City. Everyone knows that the top target for terrorist groups, everybody from ISIS to al Qaeda. So that's what the NYPD does now is every single lead that comes in whether it comes from 911 or this toll number, all of it goes into this database. The FBI takes a look at it and sees whether there is something they need to look at and then the NYPD decides if they are going to track this down. Someone who ran out of gas and abandoned a car, something they have to check out. Or someone who posted threats on Snapchat or Facebook, they have to look at every single one of them. 500 of these investigations have been conducted so far this year -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Evan Perez, we are so thankful for what they are doing as we are entering the holiday season.

PEREZ: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: Thank you so much. Coming up next, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHANTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:49:38] BALDWIN: Black Lives Matter protests in Minneapolis hit by gunfire. Multiple demonstrators wounded. And now, two arrests, right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Breaking news into CNN. French media reporting that gunmen have taken hostages inside a home or apartment in the northern part of this country after a bank robbery that went wrong. This is a northern French town. According to the AFP, a special police unit has been deployed. No indication of a link to the Paris attacks. But as soon as we learn more about what's happening there in northern France, we'll let you know.

I can tell you there have been two arrests in a shooting near a protest site where dozens of Black Lives Matters demonstrators were holding this occupation. They want justice in the deadly police shooting of a 24-year-old. The protest camp is sitting outside of the police station and, according to witnesses, a white supremacist opened fire on them. Five people were shot. Investigators said they were looking for at least three men.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEKIMA LEVY-POUNDS, PRESIDENT, NAACP, MINNEAPOLIS: Everyone has been on high alert. Because in the last several days there have been lots of conversations on white supremacists websites and chat rooms talking about coming to the protests, and talked about having weapons, and also doing things that would agitate the crowd to incite confrontations between protesters and police officers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:55:28] BALDWIN: Police say they are still looking for more suspects.

With me now is the communications chair of the Minneapolis NAACP, Raeisha Williams.

Ms. Williams, thank you so much for joining me.

RAEISHA WILLIAMS, COMMUNICATIONS CHAIR, NAACP, MINNEAPOLIS: Thank you for having us, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So what I'm hearing now not just one arrest here, but two. Tell me, is that what you're hearing, and what do you know about the individuals that are in custody? WILLIAMS: So we're hearing two at this time, but we don't necessarily

trust that. We know that the police department is behind this. This is our personal belief after receiving witness accounts. Me, being on the ground has thrown --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Wait, I have to interrupt you. I know there's a delay here. You said you believe the police department is behind what?

WILLIAMS: We believe the police department is facilitating the injustice and bullying the protesters and believe they are involved in this shooting. We know from black boards and chat rooms and also videos that we have posted on our website that police are from different counties and different districts have come down to entice the protesters, have come down --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I understand you are there in Minneapolis and you know more about this, but those are serious allegations you are just laying down on national television.

WILLIAMS: And we are standing behind it. We don't back down from these allegation allegations.

BALDWIN: Where is your evidence that they were involved in the shooting?

WILLIAMS: So we know that when the incident happened police were lurking over top of the police station. Once the victims were shot, protesters ran to the door of the e police station and asked for an ambulance. The police came out and one officer said this is what you've been wanting and shut the door on us. It took 15 minutes for the police to even arrive and shortly after that they began to mace the crowd. So if you're not part of the problem, if this is not something you're trying to cover up, why would you not attend to victims that pay for your salaries?

BALDWIN: But do you have concrete evidence? I understand what you're telling me you heard when the door was open at the police station, but what is your concrete evidence of this?

WILLIAMS: We have video footage. Go to our website, of an undercover cop getting into an unmarked car. We have the license plate. We have been running it. They have been coming down to our facility. But we have our protesters and they have been trying to entice us the whole time. So we believe and we stand behind our belief that the Minneapolis Police Department are not protecting us and, therefore, they stand with racist white supremacists who want to destroy a peaceful movement all over the country when things like this have happened. And Minneapolis, we have not rioted or burnt anything. Even after we have been shot at and injured by white supremacists and police did not but begin to mace our protesters, we have not taken to the streets angry. We're a peaceful group of all nationalities and religions and all different points of views. We all come together to stand in one righteous truth. We want justice for Jamar.

BALDWIN: We're going to wait for concrete evidence, and this police press conference from Minneapolis.

Raeisha Williams, thank you so much for your time, from the NAACP.

WILLIAMS: Thank you so much.

BALDWIN: Got to move on to breaking news here.

Tunisia declaring a state of emergency after a bus explodes. 15 people killed in what authorities are calling a terror attack.

CNN's Sara Sidner is in Tunisia near the scene and joins me by phone.

Sara, what do we know?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I can tell you right now, Brooke, basically what's happened is the streets of Tunisia are about to be very, very quiet because a state of emergency was just put in place. And basically people had about an hour to half an hour to try and get home and get settled because they want the streets clear.

This happened about an hour and a half ago where there was an explosion and what we're told is a van that had presidential guards in the van. We're told the van often parked in the same place and it's where the guards would get in and out to go to and from work. The explosion happened and at least 15 people have been confirmed dead by an official. And the prime minister's office telling CNN that this is, they believe, some sort of terrorist attack.