Return to Transcripts main page

ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT

Obama: Iran Must Halt Nuclear Activity For 10 Years; Kerry Warns Netanyahu: Not Reveal Sensitive Information; Iraqi Forces Battling ISIS Over Key City; Jihadi John Emails Reveal Path to Radicalization; New Video Shows LAPD Shooting of Unarmed Man

Aired March 2, 2015 - 19:00   ET

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


ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news. The Obama administration now warning the Israeli Prime Minister not to leak secret information in his speech to Congress tomorrow. The top Israeli official our guest OUTFRONT.

And CNN has obtained e-mails written by Jihadi John. The man at the center of the ISIS beheading videos talks about marriage, finding a job and even thoughts of suicide.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(INAUDIBLE)

(Gunfires)

(Screaming)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Oh, my god!

(Bleep)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: We have new video of a police shooting and killing a man during a violent arrest. OUTFRONT tonight, the eyewitness who caught all of this on tape. Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening to all. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, a stern warning from John Kerry. The secretary of state tonight charging that Israel could divulge sensitive and classified information from the nuclear negotiations with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: I want to say clearly that doing so would make it more difficult to reach the goal that Israel and others say they share. In order to get a good deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: President Obama is also speaking out tonight, calling the proposed deal with Iran the best hope of keeping that nation from getting a nuclear bomb.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES: And we've got a way of verifying that. There is no other steps we can take that would give us such assurance that they don't have a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Now, in a warmup to his speech before Congress tomorrow, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu today, said a nuclear deal with Iran would threaten the very survival of Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISRAEL NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Iran envelopes the entire world with its tentacles of terror. This is what Iran is doing now without nuclear weapons. Imagine what Iran would do with nuclear weapons. And this same Iran vows to annihilate Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: As many as 39 democrats including the Vice President of the United States say they will not attend Netanyahu's speech tomorrow, a speech which is expected to be much more critical of the Iranian nuclear deal. And as we indicated might have a lot more details about that deal.

Michelle Kosinski is OUTFRONT from the White House. And Michelle, the President has made it clear he wants the deal. We just heard him there, right?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right.

BURNETT: He's going to all the points why this is good. But he also is very worried a deal might fail, why?

KOSINSKI: Right. What we're hearing today is very, very much a strong, prebuttal to this speech by Netanyahu before Congress tomorrow. So, the President is laying out what this deal would entail. And remember, this is in anticipation of Netanyahu possibly laying out some very private information there. Something, by the way, that the White House today said, if Israel does do that, continues to leak secret information, then that would be a betrayal of the trust between allies. So, the President said that a good deal would be a long-term deal. At least ten years of Iran stopping and rolling back parts of it is nuclear program. There would be intrusive and frequent inspections. Stopping the enrichment of uranium and plutonium at its key locations. And he did acknowledge though that this is difficult, that there has been progress, but there's no guarantee that Iran is going to agree to this. And we just heard National Security Adviser Susan Rice spell this out. That if Iran does not agree to these very stringent demands, that would further isolate them and there would be more costs in terms of more sanctions. But Israel may have other plans in terms of a response to this -- Erin. Certainly could. Military ones. All right. Michelle Kosinski, thank

you very much. And we should note of course that during the interim deal that we have been facing over the past 18 months or so, Iran has not allowed full inspector access, perhaps a foreboding indicator of what would happen with a full deal. John Kerry speaking today from Switzerland where he's meeting with his Iranian counterparts trying to finalize some of these serious problems.

Jim Sciutto is OUTFRONT from the talks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NETANYAHU: My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to President Obama.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The acrimony between the U.S. and Israel in Washington --

NETANYAHU: I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these dangers.

SCIUTTO: So far having no impact on the nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran here in Switzerland. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif meeting multiple times this week, with talks exhilarating in negotiations to end a decade's long dispute over Iran's nuclear program. With Kerry well aware of Israel's concerns.

KERRY: Any deal that we would possibly agree to would make the international community and especially Israel safer than it is today. That's our standard.

SCIUTTO: So what does a deal look like? Obama administration officials say a deal is intended to limit Iran's ability to build a nuclear bomb by extending the time it needs for so-called breakout to one year. This, while allowing Iran to maintain a civilian nuclear program for power generation and medical research. Opponents, including Prime Minister Netanyahu and some U.S. lawmakers say the only way to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is to end Iran's nuclear program altogether, particularly in light of Iran's past cheating. Yesterday, the IAEA said, Iran's deal has not provided information on past efforts to research weaponization.

YUKIYA AMANO, INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: We have asked questions and the questions are clear so they can answer.

SCIUTTO: The trouble is, Iran says it will never give up its nuclear program entirely. Meaning that if no deal is reached, military action and perhaps war could follow. Even as the gaps narrow today, another key disagreement was exposed. If there is agreement, the west wants sanctions lifted gradually to retain leverage but Iran wants the sanctions lifted all together right away.

MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: If they want an agreement, sanctions must go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Secretary Kerry saying here today in Switzerland, in no uncertain terms that is he concerned that Prime Minister Netanyahu will reveal details of classified information shared between allies about the nuclear talks going on just behind me here. And it's really remarkable, Erin, when you think about this. You have that kind of bitter back and forth between long-time allies, the U.S. and Israel, while here in Geneva you have much friendlier public comments between long-time adversaries, the U.S. and Iran as they continue really a feverish pace of negotiations here. Just tonight, Kerry and Zarif meeting twice for an hour each in the span of three hours. They are going to do the same sort of thing tomorrow and into Wednesday as you get a sense here that these talks are accelerating -- Erin.

BURNETT: Right. Jim Sciutto, thanks very much. They've delayed and delayed again, it really feels like this time they won't be able to delay.

OUTFRONT now, Israel's Economic Minister Naftali Bennett, he's in the United States traveling with the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Also OUTFRONT democratic US Congressman Steve Cohen, he's Jewish, he will not attend the Prime Minister's speech before Congress tomorrow.

Naftali, let me start with you. You've heard John Kerry say he's worried Prime Minister Netanyahu will release classified sensitive details of the nuclear deal. This could jeopardize the deal. I know you've worked closely with the prime minister ahead of this speech. Is this true?

NAFTALI BENNETT, ISRAELI ECONOMIC MINISTER: Our goal is to prevent a disastrous deal that is being created as we speak. This deal legitimatizes Iran's ability to acquire nuclear weapon, to enrich uranium. Why should they be allowed to enrich uranium? Is there's some inhalable right to enrich uranium? There's dozens of countries in the world that have nuclear energy and do not enrich uranium. Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Spain and many others. Iran's clear goal is to acquire nuclear weapon. And if this deal happens, it will spell an unmitigated disaster. We need to do everything in our power to stop it.

BURNETT: Interesting point you make that other countries with a peaceful nuclear programs don't always enrich. But just to be clear, you're not directly answering my question about the sensitive information.

BENNETT: Well, I don't understand. If this is such a great deal, what's the problem of divulging what the deal is? We need to make our case the best case possible to the American people, to the Congress in order to stop this very bad deal from happening. Because it risks the very existence of the State of Israel.

BURNETT: Congressman Cohen, President Obama has said the goal of a deal is to keep Iran a year away from a nuclear weapon. Here's exactly how he put it today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: What we're trying to negotiate is to make sure that there's at least a year between I've seen them try to get a nuclear and then actually being able to obtain one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Congressman Cohen, is this the best the United States can do, try to keep a year, just one year between Iran going for a nuclear weapon and actually getting one? That's a good deal?

REP. STEVE COHEN (D), TENNESSEE: Well, the President and there's five different nations involved here as well as the P5 plus one are doing the negotiating. I presumed they think that's the best deal. It is a year away and if for some reason that we don't get an agreement, Iran's probably closer than a year. I think the agreement would be in the world's favor and in Israel's favor. I'm all for Israel. I do not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon. I believe diplomacy is the best way to resolve this. I'm afraid that the speech is going to be and has been a failure for Israel because the best way to go about seeing that the agreement has improved would be to work quietly behind the scenes with the state department and with the President and maybe even the departments of the other five countries but not to go public to Congress in a way that is gone behind the President's back, basically put a finger in his eye with this invitation that was not bipartisan and officially held out from the President and having him speak in the Congress against the President's position. Better diplomacy would have been to work with the administration and I'm afraid Israel loses.

BURNETT: And Naftali, what is your response to that? You know, the Prime Minister of Israel today has said, look, the United States and Israel are family. John Kerry has said, I'll quote him, we will not accept a bad deal. No deal is better than a bad deal because a bad deal would make things less secure and more dangerous. To the point that the congressman is making, you know, let's get right to the heart of this here. Are you really basically saying you do not trust the United States, you do not trust John Kerry and Barack Obama?

BENNETT: Well, the words are comforting but the facts are not. And sometimes things look very differently from Israel where we are surrounded by ISIS, Nasrallah in Hezbollah, Jabhat al-Nusra in Iran. We don't have an ocean separating us from Iran. I would ask Congressman Cohen, I mean, both of us are celebrating this week, the Jewish festival of Purim which commemorates an event 2,500 years ago of a Persian king that was set to annihilate the Jewish people in Eastern Mordaka (ph) step up to the plate and save the Jewish people. I think both of us are placed at our locations right now. We need to do everything possible to save the Jewish state. We don't have another Jewish state. And the way things are looking, this deal would present an immediate threat to Israel's very existence.

BURNETT: Congressman Cohen?

COHEN: That's where we different. I'm for preserving the Jewish state. I always have been and will be. But I think the best way to do it is diplomacy. We'll have inspectors and all of the facilities and all of the ancillary Facilities that they would need to have a nuclear weapon. We'll have requirements to ship certain items out of the country. I think this is a better way than to try to ratchet up these sanctions. I think the Iranians will just put their backs up. I don't think they will force them to their knees, I think they'll have their backs put up, they might even force them into getting a nuclear weapon, and then the only result would be war. And I don't think anybody wants that.

BURNETT: So Congressman Cohen, let me just ask you though. The interim deal, inspectors, Iran has not allowed them into key military sites even on an interim bases, to show good faith. And in November I asked the State Department's spokesman about this deal and I asked her about whether she thrust Iran and I want to play for you what she has to say because you've got to hear it from her own mouth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: This has never been about trust, it's never been about an opening in a relationship. This is about their nuclear aspirations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Congressman Cohen, the ultimate question for you is, you know, when I asked Minister Bennett about whether he trusts John Kerry and Barack Obama. How do you deal with a country that you do not trust, that you think has nuclear aspirations? How do you deal with anybody who you do not trust?

COHEN: Well, we've got requirements that there's going to be observers at all their facilities and everything involved. And we got observers there which we didn't otherwise to know what they are doing and when they're doing it, where they are doing it. That's so much better than when we didn't know and I trust the President. I trust the Secretary of State to do the best thing for Israel and for the world. We all have the same end result. We just have a different way of getting there. I think that the manner which has been suggested by the prime minister is wrong. I don't think coming to Congress is the right way to do it and I think the idea that you're going to force the Iranians to their knees with sanctions is a mistaken notion and will result in a catastrophic situation that would be war and when the minister talks about Hamas and Hezbollah, then you're going to have them unleashed because you'll have war in the Mideast. I think we want to avoid war at any cost.

BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate both of you very much taking the time to be with us with two very, very divergent opinions. Please let us know yours ahead of the Prime Minister's speech tomorrow.

And OUTFRONT next, e-mails from the key ISIS militant Jihadi John. We have them, they're so surprising new details of his life including thoughts about marriage and suicide.

Plus, new video of a man shot by police officers. Was this brutality or was this a justified use of force? We have new video from a whole new angle. OUTFRONT tonight, the witness who reported it all. And a 12-year-old playing with a pellet gun, shot and killed by

police. Now, the city of Cleveland says that boy is responsible for getting himself killed. His mother is OUTFRONT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: ISIS propaganda machine turning out new images tonight this time of the militant group launching rockets. Allegedly, what you're looking at is south of the Iraqi city of Tikrit where ISIS is facing a strong offensive from Iraqi security forces. They are desperately trying to take back that area which is currently controlled by ISIS. Iraqi forces which you can see here are fighting back with force.

This comes as we're learning more about Jihadi John, the man at the center of all of those horrific ISIS beheading videos in which several Americans lost their lives. Deborah Feyerick is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His eyes and voice have become symbols of brutality and hatred.

MOHAMMED EMWAZI, ISIS MILITANT: This knife will become your nightmare.

FEYERICK: Jihadi John named after one of the Beatles is now identified as Kuwaiti born British educated Mohammed Emwazi. E-mails released by a Muslim advocacy group and purported to be from Emwazi show him as frustrated and angry at the way he's treated by British security and anti-terror police during a trip to Tanzania which he calls a, quote, "Ordeal that completely changed my life." Emwazi maintained he was on a safari with two friends in 2009 when he says he was imprisoned in Tanzania and interrogated by security at the airport security there and interrogated again in London. British officials believe he was meeting with the terror group al Shabaab. Richard Barrett, formerly with British intelligence MI6.

RICHARD BARRETT, FORMER BRITISH INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: Two of the people that he was quite associated with ended up going to Somalia after Tanzania and being officially important to be part of drone strikes.

FEYERICK: A year later, in 2010, Emwazi returns to London from Kuwait. Once again, he says, that British Intelligence Agency MI-5, and anti-terror police question him. He's temporarily blocked from returning to the Middle East writing, quote, "I had a job waiting for me and marriage to get started but now I feel like a prisoner, only not in a cage, in London, controlled by security servicemen stopping me from living my new life in my birthplace and in my country, Kuwait." The e-mails are between Emwazi and Muslim advocate Asim Qureshi.

ASIM QURESHI, CAGE ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION: When are we going to finally learn that when we treat people as if they are outsiders, they will inevitably feel like outsiders and they will look for belonging elsewhere. FEYERICK: Whether or not he feel like an outsider is to be

determined, it appears that Emwazi's radicalization was well under way.

RICHARD BARRETT, FORMER BRITISH INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: We don't know what he was doing there and it's highly unlikely that he would have broken off contact with the people that he was hanging out beforehand.

FEYERICK: In fact, four years before ISIS attempted a prisoner swap between bomb maker Aafia Siddiqui in exchange for American journalist James Foley, Emwazi writes, quote, "My dear brothers, keep up your work so that you can say on the Day of Judgment, this is what I have done for Aafia Siddiqui.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: And terror experts say, Emwazi was not only friends with the two men who became prominent in al-Shabaab. Apparently he was also friends with people who intended to carry out a London bombings week after the subway and bus attacks in 2005. He wasn't even 20 at the time. Experts say his associations show him on a much more serious path to extremism -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right, Deb, thank you very much.

And joining me now OUTFRONT, former Navy SEAL Robert O'Neill, member of SEAL Team 6 who claims to kill Osama bin Laden. Robert, always good to have you with us. So, Jihadi John, he's been known to British authorities. We've now found out for years. Right? They knew him years ago, and then they figured out who was. They knew it for months before his name actually leaked out. How has he not been killed or found yet? Does that surprise you?

ROBERT O'NEILL, FORMER NAVY SEAL: Thanks for having me again, Erin. Glad to be here. It doesn't surprise me that they haven't found him because the only way we can find targets is real-time actionable intelligence.

BURNETT: Right.

O'NEILL: Part of that would be the human intelligence to gather on the ground. And you're going to need to have security on the ground for people to feel safe to help because if no one is there to help them and they help us, ISIS finds out about it and all of a sudden they are beheading people again.

BURNETT: Right.

O'NEILL: So, a lack of intelligence, not just one kind of intelligence, but many kind, one of which being human intelligence is definite.

BURNETT: So, is there any way to track them without that human intelligence?

O'NEILL: Yes, there are ways to track another certain things that they can do. And he's pretty savvy about the technological stuff. There's a personal social media stuff that can't be track by --

BURNETT: All right. Don't keep switching your cell phones and things like that?

O'NEILL: Yes. Yes. But, you know, he's smart enough to know that if he uses it, he will leave where he was and, you know, by the time the intelligence could have gotten to the place where we can effectively attack with an air strike, he's not going to be there.

BURNETT: It's pretty amazing though when you talk about how easy it is to find things and find everybody in this day and age, that someone like this has been able to evade detection for so long. I mean, he's become an incredibly powerful propaganda tool for ISIS in these videos, right? I mean, and of course he's speaking so fluently. Do you think he's getting more protection now? Has he perhaps risen the organization because of it?

O'NEILL: Well, he's getting protection and he's being used as a tool to recruit western jihadist as well. But even Abu Musab Zarqawi who ran al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2007, even when my team was after him.

BURNETT: Yes.

O'NEILL: He was still, it was hard to find him and we had intelligence all over the place, we had American troops on the ground, we had signal intelligence, all kind of stuff.

BURNETT: And even then it was hard?

O'NEILL: Right. And now he has free rein of the place because there's really no border between Syria and Iraq and even people that would like to turn him in, they can't. Because, I mean, look at what happened in al-Baghdadi right outside the al-Assad airbase. They helped us in the surge in the awakening we didn't helped them and others are being executed.

BURNETT: So how would you plan a raid for someone like him?

O'NEILL: Well, for someone like him, I would just try to get something in place where we could find him where he is, and I hit him with as many bombs as I could.

BURNETT: So, you would go from the air? You wouldn't actually risk like your --

O'NEILL: Not for someone like him. I don't think he is worth the tier one status --

BURNETT: It's not worth you going in of course like you did for Osama bin Laden?

O'NEILL: No. I don't think he's worth an American life. I think that we need to get the intelligence we can and hit him with a major air strike.

BURNETT: All right. Roberto O'Neill, thanks very much. Always good to see you.

O'NEILL: Thank you.

BURNETT: And OUTFRONT next, a new video obtained exclusively by CNN. This is police officer shooting and killing a man, and my guest tonight is the eyewitness who actually recorded all of this.

And police shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice, they thought his pellet gun was a real gun, the city of Cleveland now says that he is to blame for his death. His mother is our exclusive guest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Tonight, new video of a fatal shooting involving police officers and an unarmed man. This new video taken from a building nearby. Take a look at it. If you look towards the top of the screen, you'll see what police say was a brutal altercation, this is between officers and a man known as Africa. Seconds later, as you can see from this cell phone video, Africa is on the ground. It is at that point that police say he reached for an officer's gun. The police opened fire. Shooting five times and killing him. In a moment, we're going to speak to the man who shot that video.

But first, Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT in Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is how the fatal confrontation ends captured by Anthony Blackburn on his cellphone.

ANTHONY BLACKBURN, WITNESS WHO FILMED FATAL SHOOTING: I heard the officers say, he's going for my gun and that's when the officers backed up and five shots rang out.

LAH: But we're learning how this unfolded. A video from an overhead security camera obtained by CNN and seen for the first time today reveals a more complex picture. The surveillance video shows the man known among LA's homeless as Africa apparently dealing drugs from his tent. The sad and only real currency of skid-rows economy. He gets into a fight with the man in the orange tent next to him, violently tipping the tent and kicking the man. About 25 minutes pass on the video before a number of officers arrive. And at first, they talk calmly to Africa. When Africa dives into his tent, officers draw their weapons. About 30 seconds later, Africa comes out swinging at police.

An Anthony Blackburn's video, you can hear the sound as officers use their tasers which police say doesn't subdue him. You then hear an officer say Africa is reaching for his gun.

Homeless, Africa died on the sidewalk outside a shelter, Union Rescue Mission. He did not want the help. Africa told this man, who goes by the name Nick G., an ex-drug dealer and ex-Skid Row homeless person, all he wanted was one thing.

NICK G, ACQUAINTANCE: He wanted to get away from here. He wanted to go back home. He was very depressed, very, very depressed. Very depresses. But he had a good side to him, a good heart.

LAH (on camera): How long did he live here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least weeks. I recognize him from weeks.

LAH: Weeks?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. But time flies here.

LAH (voice-over): Union Rescue Mission's Reverend Andy Bales doesn't blame the LAPD who in a news conference showed pictures of the officer's gun, proof they say a struggle over the weapon. The chief of police says officers did all they could, given the circumstances.

CHIEF CHARLIE BECK, LAPD: The reality is, this is much more than a problem the police alone can solve.

LAH: The reverend agrees.

(on camera): For you, this is a bigger issue.

REV. ANDY BALES, UNION RESCUE MISSION: The fact that we allow people, precious human beings to live in the untenable situation that is Skid Row and then we have officers trying to keep peace in this untenable environment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: The officers involved, wearing body shirt, what do officials said about when we're going to see those tapes, Kyung?

LAH: Well, the chief of police would not say when exactly they will be released. He did say that two of them were wearing them, that they will be a critical part of this probe and then after the probe is completed, Erin, that's when they want to release the body cam video.

But here's something that's really important. This is a takeaway for the city of Los Angeles and for other big cities, is that L.A. is rapidly expanding a pilot program on body cameras. The mayor of Los Angeles has pledged in the next year or so, every single officer will be wearing a body camera. That's 7,000 body cameras on the streets of Los Angeles. Of course, all of this happening in the wake of Ferguson -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Kyung Lah.

And OUTFRONT now, Anthony Blackburn, the man who actually filmed this shooting.

Anthony, thank you for being with us.

I'm sure when this happened you were in shock and you were in shock at the fact that so many millions have now watched what you filmed. What happened that made you decide to take your phone out and start filming this? ANTHONY BLACKBURN, WITNESS WHO FILMED FATAL SHOOTING: Well, after the

officers said that they was going to tase him, that's when I felt like I should videotape it, put it on Facebook or something like that.

BURNETT: And then, of course, it turned into something much bigger and much more horrific in terms of the man losing his life. I want to ask you, Anthony, police say that one of these images -- and I'll show it from your picture, I've got a close-up here and a still. You can see the officers standing. The suspect is actually -- Africa is on the ground in this image. So, he's lying on his back and you can see his hand.

Officers say that that hand is reaching for the officer's gun on the screen as people can see now, again, this still. You were actually watching this in action. Did you see Africa reach for an officer's gun?

BLACKBURN: Well, I seen reach for the officer's gun, I just heard the officers scream and say he's reaching for my gun and I just seen the officers, you know, step back and fire five shots.

BURNETT: But you didn't actually see the reach at all? Were you in a position that you could have seen it, or just you weren't really able to see that closely?

BLACKBURN: Well, I wasn't able to see that closely but I didn't want to proceed to closer, you know what I'm saying?

BURNETT: Totally.

BLACKBURN: But I just heard him say that he's reaching for my gun and then the officers stepped back and fired the shot.

BURNETT: And after the shooting, Anthony, you could hear the bystanders start insulting the officers on your video, just so people can hear that. I mean, that started immediately.

BLACKBURN: Right.

BURNETT: Let me just play it so people can see it off your video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLICE OFFICER: Can you back up? Can you back up?

(EXPLETIVE DELETED)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Obviously, a lot of profanity there.

Anthony, I know you used to work in that area. You know Skid Row. What is the relationship between police and the community? I mean, is it something where you could see an incident like this turning into something so horrible so quickly? BLACKBURN: Well, I've never seen something like that turn so horrible

so quickly and you can hear on the video the officers screaming saying that, can you back up, can you back up? That was one of the officers that fired the shots. So, after -- you know, after he came and was stating that, I was ready to get up out of there.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Anthony, I really appreciate your taking the time and sharing that video with us. Thank you again.

BLACKBURN: Yes, ma'am.

BURNETT: And OUTFRONT now, our legal analyst Paul Callan.

Paul, you've seen Anthony's video that we've just obtained from the roof of the nearby building looking down. When you look at that key picture that police say is the man Africa lying on his back with his hand in that small circle they say reaching for the gun and the officer standing and the man is on his back.

So, I have two questions for you. Could he have been reaching for the gun and even if he were, when he's on his back and they are all standing, does that justify shooting him five or six times?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, of course, it's easy to second- guess the cops in this situation but they had the numbers. You know, it was a number of them against a single person, but the police are supposed to escalate their force on a proportional basis. As a suspect gets more violent, the police can get more violent to subdue him.

But there's one factor that changes everything. And that is, if a suspect is reaching for or touching an officer's gun and he gets that gun, in an instant, you'll have a dead police officer or a shot police officer. So, that's sort of changes everything. And if in fact --

BURNETT: Even if he was on his unarmed, even if he was on his back, it's still possible that this was justified?

CALLAN: Exactly. I think that picture probably has played to a grand jury would persuasively suggests that the suspect had reached the point where he was a danger to the police officers and the use of force may be justified. But frankly, I'd want to see all of the videos and have a clearer picture of this before I reach the final conclusions.

BURNETT: The surveillance video shows Africa apparently dealing drugs before the shooting. They say people who knew him knew said he had a lot of mental issues, he may have been known to police. Is that relevant?

CALLAN: I think it's relevant, because the police probably knew that he was dangerous. I mean, they say that they tased him and that had no effect. He looks to be a deranged person, a mentally ill person who may have been capable of violence. So, I suspect that the police thought that.

And look how violent he was when they pulled him out of the tent. It was -- it looked like a dangerous situation.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Paul Callan.

And OUTFRONT next, Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old black child shot by a white police officer, city of Cleveland just come out and said, guess what, it was Tamir's fault. His mother is my guest.

And the 23-year-old model with Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov when he was murdered in Moscow. She was the only other person there. She's breaking her silence to CNN. She's now under investigation for his death.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: The city of Cleveland is blaming the action of a 12-year-old boy for his own shooting death.

Last November, you may remember this video -- Tamir Rice playing with a pellet gun by a park. Someone called 911 to say, quote, "There was a guy with a gun." The caller said it was probably fake.

Investigators say it appear the responding officers did not hear the second part of the 911 call, but they didn't wait to find out. Within two seconds of arriving on the scene, Tamir Rice was shot by a white police officer, Timothy Loehmann. Now the city of Cleveland says Tamir's injuries were, quote, "directly and proximately caused by the failure of Tamir to exercise due care to avoid injury."

In other words, it was 12-year-old Tamir Rice's fault that he was shot and killed. Now, the Cleveland mayor is apologizing for what he calls the city's insensitive response.

But is this enough to stop the outrage?

OUTFRONT tonight, an exclusive interview with Tamir's mother, Samaria Rice. She's joined by the family's attorney, Walter Madison.

I appreciate you taking the time to be with us.

WALTER MADISON, RICE FAMILY ATTORNEY: Thank you.

BURNETT: Samaria, let me start with you. The city of Cleveland says your son caused his own death. I know you and I have talked before about this horrible moment, about what happened. How did you possibly feel when you first read this?

SAMARIA RICE, MOTHER OF TAMIR RICE: Oh, well, it was not justifiable. Let me just say that, first of all. He's a child. And you can't expect for a child to know what they are doing.

You know what I'm saying? I just believe that the officers should have followed procedures. Who was going to be following procedures that day? So by them being adults, I just think they should have followed procedures in a situation like this when they got the call. Let's talk about even if they did say what they said, how can they say it in 1.7 seconds? They never even gave him a chance. The whole world seen the same video like I seen and I'm sure the whole

world is saying, you guys never gave him a chance.

So, with that being said, it could never be justified.

BURNETT: And as you say, it was 1.7 seconds. They did not -- they drove that car up so closely to him, opened the door and, of course, fired on your son. Walter, Tamir was in a park with other people. And I guess the only question I would have for you is whether the officers' fear of him being there with other people, that their thought from that 911 call that he had a gun, they thought they might save lives.

Is there anything about this that could maybe justify them saying they couldn't afford to wait, that this was obviously a horrible mistake, but that it could have been justified?

MADISON: First of all, without concession, let me say Timothy Loehmann should have never been a police officer. So, with that having been said, I'll say --

BURNETT: Well, he, of course, did have a past record of poor performance, I will note for the record. Yes.

MADISON: That's correct. So, that's not Tamir's fault.

Another thing I'll say to you, you know, we are heaping responsibility on a 12-year-old child reserved for adults. There's no place -- and I challenge anybody to tell me or show me a scenario where we expect 12- year-old children to behave like adults. They can't vote, they can't drive cars, they can't enter contracts and all of that is for a reason, because they are immature and incapable of understanding the consequences of some of their behaviors.

BURNETT: Yes.

And, Samaria, you know, when you try to find justice for your son, there have been other recent cases, of course, where black men have been killed by police officers who were not indicted, of course, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Eric Garner in New York. Do you believe there will be justice for your son or do you feel at all like giving up?

RICE: Oh, no. I don't feel like giving up. I'm not going to give up either. I'm not justifying nobody else's child. But Tamir was a 12- year-old kid. How are you going to justify a 12-year-old kid playing in the park? There's no justification for that.

BURNETT: All right. Well, I very much appreciate talking to you again, ma'am.

And also, Walter, thanks to you.

MADISON: Thank you so much, Erin.

BURNETT: And OUTFRONT next, a top Putin critic gunned down right outside the Kremlin. His girlfriend, a 23-year-old model speaks out for the first time, is she being framed for his murder? Our special report.

Plus, they're calling it Google for the physical world, a tiny scanner that can tell you everything -- how many calories are in the c the cookie on your plate is to how potent an ounce of marijuana is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: A new development in the assassination of one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's harshest critics, opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down on Friday night. Just blocks from the Kremlin, on a main bridge. I actually broadcast from that bridge at one point. It's a man thoroughfare.

Tonight, we hear for the first time from Nemtsov's 23-year-old model/girlfriend who was with him the moment he was shot. She is now being investigated by Russian officials, but claims she didn't see the killer. Her mother fears she could be blamed for the murder.

And Ivan Watson is OUTFRONT in Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Boris Nemtsov was one of Russia's last recognizable vocal opposition figures. Many of the others either in exile, under house arrest, behind bars, or dead. Nemtsov was gunned down within a stone-throw of the Kremlin on Friday night.

Russian officials are looking into his relationship with 23-year-old Ukrainian model Anna Duritskaya, who was with him when he was killed.

INNA DURITSKAYA, MOTHER OF ANNA DURITSKAYA (through translator): They had dinner and went outside. Anna suggested getting a taxi, but Boris didn't want to. He wanted to walk across the bridge. When they were walking, she was holding his hand and heard a clapping noise. Boris became stopped and fell on the ground.

WATSON: Russian investigators have been interrogating Duritskaya for the last three days.

ANNA DURITSKAYA, GIRLFRIEND OF BORIS NEMTSOV (through translator): Now, I have a status of a witness. I gave all evidence possible.

WATSON: It's no secret that Nemtsov was a Putin critic, not afraid of cameras, or microphones. His last interview on Friday given to Russian radio station Echo Moscow.

BORIS NEMTSOV, OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): I don't want to lie. Putin is our expert in lying. He's a pathological liar. I don't want to lie to you.

WATSON: Two hours later he was shot at least four times in the back, according to Russian police, outside Russia's seat of power. Vladimir Putin condemned Nemtsov's killing and offered the family his condolences. Russia's president said the murder bears all the hallmarks of a contract killing aimed at provoking unrest.

Russia's investigative committee announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Nemtsov's killers. And Putin has promised to personally look into the killing.

Ilya Yahsin is a friend and political ally of Nemtsov and strongly criticizes the Russian president.

ILYA YAHSIN, FRIEND OF BORIS NEMTSOV: It's the place where Putin spends time daily. There are thousands policemen everywhere, cameras everywhere.

WATSON: Nemtsov had been organizing an opposition rally, criticizing Russia's role in the war in neighboring Ukraine, scheduled to be held in Moscow on Sunday. Instead, tens of thousands took to the streets, paying their respects to the memory of an ardent critic of Putin's Russia, mourning another lost voice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: Now, Erin, Anna Duritskaya, the 23-year-old Ukrainian model/girlfriend, and key eyewitness to the murder, we've heard from the Ukrainian foreign ministry that after she had gone public asking to be sent back home to Ukraine, that she was actually allowed to leave the country, to leave Russia, and to fly back home.

Now, the only video that has emerged of the shooting, of the incident itself, comes from a video camera hundreds of yards from where I'm standing right now, across the Moscow River, and it shows at the moment of the shooting, there was an orange snowplow blocking the view of the actual couple when he was shot.

This area is bristling with security cameras. The Kremlin over here, there are security cameras almost like every 20, 30 feet. That video has not yet been released by Russian authorities. Presumably, it's being used as part of the investigation. Of course, many of Nemtsov supporters and friends are questioning the sincerity of the Russian government when it says it will try to pursue the killers of Nemtsov -- Erin.

BURNETT: That's pretty incredible. I remember those cameras and they point at anything going on on that bridge.

Thank you very much. Incredible to imagine they weren't on at that moment?

OUTFRONT next, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: And now, the ultimate calorie counter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT (voice-over): The Tricorder, a "Star Trek" staple, a scanner that provided an instant diagnosis. Now in much the same way, SCiO is a hand-held noninvasive scanner can tell you anything from the calories on your plate to the sugar in your soda.

DROR SHARON, SCIO CEO: It can give you the nutritional value. So, how sweet it is, how many carbs, how many calories, for example, per 100 gram of size.

BURNETT: Consumer Physics is the startup company that's developing it.

SHARON: It fits in the palm of your hand. We envision, as I said, really a Google for your physical world.

BURNETT: CEO Dror Sharon says think of every chemical element as having a fingerprint.

SHARON: So, we scan the molecular fingerprints of materials, send it to our Cloud for analysis and send instant relevant information to your smartphone.

BURNETT: Right now, they're building a database. The plan, to be able to analyze any food or liquid.

SHARON: So actually, this little healthy baby food is 15 percent sugar, and, you know, Coke is about 10 percent. So, I'm not sure which is healthier for your baby.

BURNETT: But SCiO's potential goes far beyond finding out exactly what's in your food. It can also tell you how potent a drug is.

SHARON: It surprised us that people wanted to know, was THC content in cannabis.

BURNETT: It could also be a boon to the elderly and chronically ill.

SHARON: Just buying this for your dad or mom or taking pills, and you don't want to mix it up. That's one of those things, because all the pills look pretty much the same, right?

BURNETT: For many of us, it will be all about counting the calories.

SHARON: You take the device, the question is which is sweeter, the tomato, the apple. You point it, scan, within two, sends it to our cloud for analysis. So, 51 calories versus like 20.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Hmm. That's pretty awesome.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Anderson starts now.