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AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA

Violent Protests After Police Shoot Black Man in Charlotte; New Details in Police Shooting of Terence Crutcher in Tulsa; Presidential Candidates React to Police Shootings; Don King Uses Shocking Words in Trump Introduction. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired September 21, 2016 - 11:00   ET

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


[11:00:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

At this hour with Berman and Bolduan starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Violent protests erupting on the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: Hold the police officers accountable for what they do!

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: The clashes breaking out following the fatal shooting of a black man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a terrorist. He was taking a life. Does his life mean more than our black men across the nation?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The contents of his notebook are emerging in new court documents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: References terrorists, including Anwar al Awlaki and Osama bin Laden.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He hit my son, he hit my wife, and I put him to jail.

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Honestly, places like Afghanistan are safer than some of our inner cities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. The breaking news this morning, another black man shot dead by police, sparking protests that ended just this morning. His name was Keith Lamont Scott. He was 43 years old.

This morning, emotions in Charlotte, North Carolina are raw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SCREAMING)

UNIDENTIFIED DAUGHTER OF KEITH LAMONT SCOTT: They just shot my daddy! He's dead! My daddy is dead! (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Those cries were live-streamed on Facebook by Scott's daughter the moment she learned her father had died.

Police said Scott was armed, that they recovered a gun at the scene. His family says he was carrying only a book. We just heard from the police chief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENT PUTNEY, CHIEF, CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT: I can also tell you we did not find a book that has been made reference to. I can just tell you what I know based on what we have gathered through the scientific process of going through the evidence, and we did find a weapon, and the weapon was there, and the witnesses corroborated it, too, beyond just the officers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: You heard the police chief say they found a gun, but no book. No video has emerged yet from this scene. Officials are now appearing -- appealing for calm after the protests turned violent overnight.

BOLDUAN: You see it there. The Charlotte police chief says 16 officers were injured during the protests. He says they were forced to use tear gas to disperse the crowds.

All this comes on the heels of video coming out in another police- involved shooting, this one in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 40-year-old Terence Crutcher, he is seen walking away from an officer, hands raised. He was unarmed.

Let's get the very latest on both cases and what is happening today.

CNN's Brynn Gingras has much more on this.

Brynn, what are you picking up?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Guys, in so many cases, we do see video and, at this point, there is no video that has emerged in this particular case, though it does exist.

Charlotte's police chief saying body cam footage, dash cam footage being reviewed as part this ongoing investigation. Not long ago we heard from Charlotte officials. Here's what they say happened. They said they were executing a warrant for another man at an apartment complex when they encountered 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott. Authorities say Scott got out of his vehicle and showed a hand gun, then got back in his car. And when officers approached, they say Scott did not obey commands, and got out of his car again, and that's when police fired, killing Scott.

The family says Scott was a father of seven. They claim he was sitting in his car reading a book, waiting for his child to get off the school bus when this encounter with police happened.

Again, you heard from the police chief, a very different narrative. They say not only was a gun recovered off of Scott, police say he did not have a book.

Charlotte police identified the officer who fired that shot as Officer Brently Vinson. Police say he was in plain clothes but showed a badge and was not wearing a body camera. Right now, he' on paid administrative leave.

And you have seen the video, the outrage that this has all caused in the Charlotte community. Protesters took to the streets in the early morning hours, shutting down a major highway, looting, throwing rocks at officers. Police were in riot gear. They used tear gas on protesters. 16 others again were injured. Protesters also hurt.

Listen to what one woman explained her frustration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But as far as my child, my nephew, I am concerned, I'm worried about them. Something has to be done, whether it's our city leaders, whether it's our state leaders, these presidential candidates that are coming on to the scene, something has to be done. There was a terrorist, New Jersey, New York, he was taken alive. They said they wanted to question him. So because of you wanting to question him, does his life mean more than our black men across the nation? It doesn't make any sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Shortly after, Charlotte officials came out with their news conference. Community leaders held one of their own, calling for a boycott of police. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:05:05] REV. H.J. MURPHY, NATION OF ISLAM: What we are standing up for now is our black manhood and our black people who are being gunned down in the street and we don't get no justice. So what I'm calling for and what we are calling for is an economic boycott of the whole Charlotte. Since black lives do not matter for this city, then our black dollars shouldn't matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Again, more protests scheduled for tonight. Charlotte's mayor calling for calm. She said it multiple times at that news conference.

This investigation still ongoing. They still need to review all the video. They said they have several witnesses as well. BOLDUAN: Brynn, thank you very much.

BERMAN: Now to some new details on the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man in Tulsa. His name, Terence Crutcher.

Crutcher's parents and twin sister spoke with CNN just a short time ago. His sister says that audio from one of the police helicopter pilots says Crutcher looks like a "bad dude" speaks directly to the problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. TIFFANY CRUTCHER, SISTER OF TERENCE CRUTCHER: He says that anyone who is big in stature or may have brown skin, it just seems like they automatically criminalize or demonize or say hey, you know, we're going to get you. I'm really sad and I have friends who have young boys and they are afraid to go to Driver's Ed. They don want driver's licenses. They are afraid. That saddens me.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: You want them to know that your brother was not a bad dude. He was a father and a brother and a son.

CRUTCHER: All last night I have been flooded with love and support from people all around the world from all different backgrounds, all different cultures. And one that really broke me down and re really touched my heart was one of his professors at Tulsa Community College who said Terence was in my sociology class last fall. He never missed a class. All he talked about was his children, and his final presentation that he did was on Christianity.

LEANNA CRUTCHER, MOTHER OF TERENCE CRUTCHER: We need to come to some type of way of making this right, getting justice for not only Terence but for all of those killings across our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Hearing from the family.

Let's now go to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Ana Cabrera is there.

Ana, what are you hearing on the ground right now?

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are working to get more information about the investigation. We now know there are two open investigations. One is the local police criminal investigation into whether the use of force here was justified. There's also the federal DOJ civil rights investigation, which will look at whether civil rights were violated. That investigation was opened after police released the video, the video that has so many people outraged, saying Terence had his hands up as he was walking toward his vehicle.

One of the questions that we are hearing out here is, why did Officer Shelby use her weapon, her service weapon, the gun, instead of a taser. We know another officer who arrived on the scene after Officer Shelby did, indeed, fire a taser at the same time she fired her gun. When we asked her attorney about that, listen to how he explains her decision-making process.

I'm afraid we do not have that sound bite for you. Let me summarize it. Essentially, he says she was the first officer to arrive on scene and she assessed the situation. She believed that Terence Crutcher may have had a weapon on him. He was not responding to her commands, nor responding to her questions, is what her attorney is telling us. So that is why she drew her gun. You see her with her gun drawn as she is following Terence Crutcher in that police video that we have shown you, the helicopter video, as well as the dash camera video.

Now, she calls for backup, reportedly, on her radio at some time in this confrontation with Crutcher, saying he is not responding to her commands. So that's the knowledge when other officers respond. They have that.

We are told by her attorney that officer, Officer Turnbough (ph), responds. He assesses the situation and pulls out his taser in order for them to have options. According to her attorney, who is also a former police officer, that is proper protocol.

Of course, that will become a big part of the investigation moving forward into whether her use of force was justified -- Kate?

BOLDUAN: Ana Cabrera, a lot more to learn there. Thank you so much.

We are looking for more developments in both Tulsa and the Charlotte cases. We'll bring them to you throughout the morning.

But also, both candidates on the campaign trail reacting this morning. Donald Trump, renewing his outreach to the African-American community, voters in Ohio specifically. Just moments ago, speaking at a church near Cleveland, he reacted to the Tulsa shooting. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:09:57] TRUMP: I must tell you, I watched the shooting in particular in Tulsa and that man was hands up, that man went to the car, hands up, put his hand on the car. I mean, to me, it looked like he did everything you're supposed to do. And he looked like a really good man. And maybe I'm a little clouded because I saw his family talking about him after the fact, so you get a little bit, you know, different image maybe, but to me he looked like, you know, somebody that was doing what they were asking him to do. And this young officer, I don't know what she was thinking. I don't know what she was thinking, but I'm very, very troubled by that. I'm very, very troubled by that. We have to be very --

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We have to be very careful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Just moments after this, he actually raised the question, did the officer choke, as we heard him say in other contexts, of course. Joining us to discuss, CNN political commentator, former executive

director of the Congressional Black Caucus Angela Rye; and New York City councilman and Donald Trump supporter, Joseph Boreli.

Guys, thanks for being here.

You heard Donald Trump reacting to one of the shootings today. Hillary Clinton sent out a tweet on both the shootings we have been talking about, saying this: "Keith Lamont Scott" -- the man in Charlotte -- "Terence Crutcher" -- the man in Tulsa -- "too many others. This has to end." Signed with an "H," which means she wrote it personally.

Angela, your reaction, how the candidates are handling it?

ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I want to commend Donald Trump for the comments that he just made. I think for the first time in this campaign, I saw someone who was human and saw people who looked like me as human. That is not the type of presentation I'm used to hearing from him about black people. In fact, just last night in North Carolina, where of course there was this other shooting, he said some things that were as inflammatory as he's always been.

What I think is troubling for me in what he said, he said is well, I heard from the family as well and maybe that may have colored my judgment. I think that generally, black people who are shot and killed by the police are deemed inherently criminal and violent. In fact, their past, and whether or not there were drugs in their system and whether or not they were threatening or deemed threatening because they look scary, are often fact patterns that are created, the narrative that's created afterwards, and I think very dangerous.

On the other side, Hillary Clinton has been consistent. This is the type of rhetoric we have heard from her throughout. She gives people who look like me the benefit of the doubt. And I think he's got miles to go. I know if you listen to some of the people, some of the surrogates, they believe in this "L.A. Times" poll that I think, I don't know where the sample is, the sample size was or the date range or whatever --

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: That he's gaining as an outlier.

RYE: Yeah. As an outlier. I'm encouraged by what he said today. I still think he's got --

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: I definitely appreciated it.

BERMAN: You know, Councilman, this feels different than the types of things, the reaction Donald Trump has made in the past. What comes to mind is reacting to Baltimore and the legal decisions in that case where he goes back and condemns the city for the way they handled it. Your reaction? JOSEPH BORELI, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think I would agree

with Angela, in that this is a Donald Trump who is responding to this in a much more reserved and somber way.

BERMAN: Has something changed?

BORELI: I think maybe perhaps he's more cognizant of the need to be reserved in a moment in time where I think that type of attitude and approach before you know all the facts of the case is more appropriate.

What we didn't hear on your though, was Hillary's reaction yesterday on "The Steve Harvey Show" where she basically said this is systemic racism of the police department and she attacked essentially all white people and told them she was going to lecture white people.

RYE: That's an overstatement.

BORELI: You listen to the statement.

RYE: But it's really an overstatement.

BORELI: And as far as the "L.A. Times" poll, it's a poll that tracks people's opinions over time. Why that's significant is that the poll went from 3 percent about a month ago to 20 percent of --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Let's talk about the candidates' words. Words matter.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: One thing that, you were this is what Donald Trump said last night. And he actually referenced it in a different way this morning, how in reaching out to African-American communities he says it's the worst it's ever, ever, ever been.

BERMAN: It's important to know, he said this before I think he learned of the shooting in Charlotte.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. You can absolutely -- we don't know, and I would absolutely right.

This morning, he even said inner cities are worse than Afghanistan or like Afghanistan. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape that they have ever been in before, ever, ever, ever. You take a look at the inner cities, you get no education, you get no jobs, you get shot walking down the street. They're worse -- I mean, honestly, places like Afghanistan are safer than some of our inner cities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Ever, ever, ever? You comfortable with that?

[11:15:14] BORELI: I don't think he's talking about the days of Jim Crow, even the days of the civil rights movement in the '60s, and obviously not slavery.

But he's saying the African-American community is at times being outpaced by other communities. He was being criticized for not actively trying to engage the African-American community. Now we see he's moving to do that, we see the poll results going. And he's talking -- you mentioned three things, jobs, security, education. When you look at things like education where 60 percent or 75 percent of African-Americans support school choice and the Democratic Party is standing in the way of these things, that's why his support is growing.

BERMAN: Again, let's leave the polls out of it again --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: If you want to quote polls, North Carolina, where he made that speech, he's at like 2 percent among the African-American community and Hillary Clinton in the latest poll is at 98 percent.

RYE: I think what's more important is this is not an effective outreach strategy. I have said consistently and I still -- at this point, it still remains for me, he needs to fire his black outreach team because they are not doing a good job. You don't reach out to communities by condemning them, by stereotyping them, by talking -- I grew up in a neighborhood that was diverse. My dad always told me we were upper middle class. It was diverse. My parents are married still and were gainfully employed. My dad is now retired but he still consults with small businesses to help them get ahead. You cannot generalize communities like that.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: I think my point --

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Hang on. Just to be clear, when you were saying you don't think he was talking about segregation or Jim Crow, he didn't say ever. He said ever, ever, ever, which to me indicates a long time span.

(CROSSTALK)

BORELI: We know he sometimes speaks hyperbolically.

(CROSSTALK)

BORELI: But to Angela's point, in a city like New York, 60 percent of small business owners here are minorities or people who have recently immigrated to this country. There are people of color in every city who are probably naturally Republicans, and I think Donald Trump is reaching out to those people with again, with three things, jobs, security and education.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: Hang on one second.

In the introduction to this event, we just saw in Ohio right now, Don King, the boxing promoter, who was, at one point, convicted of second- degree manslaughter, later pardoned, he introduced Donald Trump and used words that are shocking people right now, namely, he used the "N" word. We will discuss when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:21:24] DON KING, BOXING PROMOTER & TRUMP SUPPORTER: I told Michael Jackson, I said, if you're poor, you're a poor Negro. I would use the "N" word. But if you're rich, you are a rich Negro. If you are intelligent, intellectual, you are an intellectual Negro. If you are dancing and sliding and gliding -- Negro.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That is boxing promoter, Don King, a bedazzled Don King, we should add, wearing quite a jacket but using quite a word as he introduced Donald Trump in Ohio. He used the "N" word.

Angela, your reaction?

RYE: So, first of all, my reaction is less about Don King because we know that Don King is outrageous, maybe almost as outrageous as John's (sic) candidate. What bothers me about this I see three white men, including Donald Trump, laughing and smirking and smiling while he's making every comment about negro and slips and says the "N" word that I won' say on air. That is highly problematic to me for so many reasons. We were just talking about black outreach, and Donald Trump has to know, if he doesn't know anything else, because he thinks we're in the worst conditions that have ever been in my community, he has to know the "N" word is not anything we smirk and grimace about, particularly in church.

I don't know who decided Don King would be the best person to intro him. But even still, the word is beyond the pale. So for the kudos I gave him moments ago about the police shooting and what he said that was calm and measured and the first balanced thing I have heard him say in situations like this, because normally he's calling us thugs, he lost all of that with that smirk.

BOLDUAN: What Angela is saying is something you hear from other folks, the criticism that Donald Trump is not really reaching out to African-American voters or to the black community. You call it faux outreach or he's more reaching out to show moderate white voters that it's OK to vote for him. BORELI: We can't fall into the trap of criticizing Donald Trump for

not reaching out to African-American communities and then when he does, actually saying it's all fake, it's all a farce, without drawing sop line and saying both cannot be true at the same time. To this point, to this point, you know, clearly Don King is saying some type of story where he's paraphrasing some story. Everyone in the background was smiling. Maybe it was a comical story. I have no idea. He slips and says the "N" word.

RYE: He says Negro is unacceptable in 2016, John (sic).

BORELI: Look --

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: Joseph, I'm sorry. I'm mad.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: John is always acceptable.

BORELI: John's a great name.

(CROSSTALK)

BORELI: Look, he's telling a story, speaking to an audience. He might be giving an example of what happened back in a worse era. I have no idea. We are --

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: He's talking about Michael Jackson.

BORELI: We are talking about -- we are taking the story without any context. It was a clear slip of the tongue. He clearly didn't mean it.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: Please tell me you understand that using Negro in 2016 is also unacceptable.

BORELI: I mean, have you not listened to music where other African- Americans use --

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: Please don't do that to me. Please don't do that to me today. Please don't do that to me today.

(CROSSTALK)

BORELI: You can't say Don King is saying a word that is suddenly now not acceptable.

(CROSSTALK) BORELI: It's not a word I would use but --

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: What I'm saying to you is this trivializes your candidate's black outreach. I'm going to tell you openly and honestly, and there will be people that are black, white and everybody in between that won't like what I have to say. There are passes that black people get to use certain words. What I'm not going to give Donald Trump --

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: I'm not finished.

BORELI: OK.

RYE: Donald Trump is in the background smirking and grimacing while these comments are being made.

BORELI: You don't know the context. You don't know the context.

[11:25:11] RYE: I don't need the context. The "N" word is unacceptable to irk and grimace about when you are doing black outreach.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: That is entirely the problem. He doesn't have enough black friends who he can listen to on critical race theory issues to understand why his outreach is a problem.

BORELI: And if he listed to all his black friends, you would just say he's listing to his black friends to make a point.

RYE: No, because I don't believe he has any real black friends. That's why the woman from the Trump organization had to speak twice --

(CROSSTALK)

BORELI: His national press secretary has been an African-American woman since the beginning of the campaign. I think he's always highlighted specific African-American people in his campaign.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: To be specific, the RNC wouldn't let him speak at the convention.

RYE: Great point.

BERMAN: Why bring out Don King when you're doing African-American outreach? What does that say?

BORELI: I don't know. I wasn't involved in that. I don't know what the content of the speech he's giving, other than he's meeting with some members of an African-American community somewhere. RYE: Or --

BORELI: I'm not going to speculate and make a head line based on my own estimation. Obviously, he's trying to show something, show he has support among African-Americans.

RYE: Ignorance. And Don King, if they knew anything about basic black outreach, they would know that Don King is not a respected figure to use for black outreach. He is someone that is trivialized in the community. He's not respected in our community overwhelmingly. That is well known. That further demonstrates my point that Donald Trump's black outreach people should go, if he really wants to reach out to black voters.

BERMAN: Angela Rye, Councilman Joseph Boreli, interesting discussion.

Thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.

BOLDUAN: Thank you very much. Really appreciate it.

Coming up, the New York and New Jersey bombing suspect calling Osama bin Laden, quote, "brother" in a notebook, and threatening police, while Afghanistan says it just doesn't know anything about him, even though he's from there and traveled there.

BERMAN: And Donald Trump's campaign hitting back after "The Washington Post" accused Trump of using his charity's cash to settle his own legal problems. They say the article was, quote, "peppered with inaccuracies and omissions," without actually listing a single inaccuracy or omission. We will talk to the reporter ahead.

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