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Report: Officials Say Rahami's Wife Did Not Know of Plot; Trump Campaign Clarifies Comments on Stop and Frisk, Says Applied to Chicago Only; Trump Ohio Chair Quits After Racist Remark; Family of Keith Scott to Speak Out; U.S. Boy Asks Obama If He Can Adopt Syrian Refugee Boy; Attorneys for Shooting Victim's Family Speak. Aired 3:30- 4p ET

Aired September 22, 2016 - 15:30   ET

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


[15:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Also moments from now the family, of Keith Scott dead at the hands of a Charlotte police officer. You will hear what they have to say live next.

We have breaking news from the investigation in New York and New Jersey. Authorities have pieced together a timeline. Evan Perez is with me. You've been on this since the news broke, since the bomb exploded this weekend. The focus is Rahami's wife and coming back to the United States. What do we know about her travels?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: We know that now federal authorities have finally figured out where she was and they've talked to her, she's back in the United States, she returned yesterday, she was transiting through the United Arab Emirates, Poppy, when they -- the FBI contacted the UAE authorities and had her basically brought in for an interview. She told them she had no idea what was happening, she had no idea about this attack/

HARLOW: It just happened to be she was out of the country?

PEREZ: She left on a pre-planned flight, the FBI believes her. They think she bought tickets way in advance and she wouldn't have known. She was scheduled to be coming back at the time he was doing this, so she's back here and they say she's cooperating with them and they expect that this is going to continue.

HARLOW: But who is not cooperating is Rahami. And now he's intubated so he can't be questioned.

PEREZ: We hear from the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey that there will be time before they can ask questions of him. The thing with this case is that they have so much evidence against him, they feel that they can take some time to question him about it.

[15:35:00] They have spent the last couple of days building a timeline, they believe they have a very good idea of everything he has done since the night before the Seaside park bombing on Saturday morning. Figuring exactly where he has been all the way through to the time he was captured. There's a three-hour gap between the time of the first Chelsea bombing and the time he leaves Manhattan. They are still working on that, exactly what he was doing, who might he have been talking to? They found on his cell phone that he didn't have service so he was using Wi-Fi to communicate using encrypted apps, so that will be an issue. We have seen this in a lot of cases recently.

HARLOW: San Bernardino.

PEREZ: San Bernardino and other terrorism cases where terrorists are using apps and the FBI can't get access to those communications. That is going to play a role in this investigation as well.

HARLOW: And the fight we saw between the FBI and Apple in the San Bernardino case --

PEREZ: Has not been resolved, right.

HARLOW: Has not been resolve, thank you very much, Evan, we appreciate it.

To politics and the Donald Trump campaign now personally walking back comments that suggested the controversial policy of stop and frisk be widely expanded. This as the Republican candidate makes his pitch to African American voters. Listen to what he said this week during a town hall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would do stop and frisk. I think you have to. We did it in the New York, it worked incredibly well. You have to be proactive. You really help people sort of change their mind automatically. You understand. You have to have -- in my opinion, I see what's going on here, I see what's going on in Chicago, I think stop and frisk. In New York City it was so incredible the way it worked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: But this morning both Donald Trump and his campaign clarifying saying he was specifically referring to Chicago. Well, the mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, blaming and blasting Trump's remark saying if the policy were reinstated tension between police officers and black communities would increase.

So take a look at the stats and here's what the numbers show us. The numbers also show us this, let's pull up the other graphic. From 2004 to mid-2012, 4.4 million people were stopped in New York City. Black or Latino. Only 12% of them were charged. Those are the numbers from 2004 to 2012. Paul Ryan was asked about this, house speaker Paul Ryan was asked about this and his take on stop and frisk after Trump's comments. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL RYAN, (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I don't have an answer for you because it's not something I've familiarized myself, the constitutionality of it, its efficacy, whether it worked well in New York City or not. That's my point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Let's bring in chief political correspondent Dana Bash. He punted. He did not answer. And the fact that the matter is the data is out there. The raw numbers are out there. What do you make of his answer?

DANA BASH: CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Paul Ryan is actually -- has been relatively open to either agreeing or disagreeing and in many cases disagreeing with controversial things Donald Trump says. In this case he did punt. My sense is he has maybe one shot at punting, and the next time he's asked he won't have that ability to do it, or he shouldn't because now he has the opportunity to familiarize himself.

He's a budget guy. He has a lot of strengths that he knows off the top of his head. Maybe this isn't one of them. But given what is happening in this country and in Charlotte over the past 24, 48 hours, everybody has to familiarize

themselves with these stats, especially those running the country.

HARLOW: Let's talk about a volunteer in the key swing state of Ohio, a volunteer for the Trump campaign, Kathy Miller, who said something very controversial. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHY MILLER, VOLUNTEER FOR TRUMP CAMPAIGN: I don't think there was any racism until Obama got elected. We never had problems like this, you know, I'm in the real estate industry. There's none. Now, you know, the people with the guns and shooting up neighborhoods and not being responsible citizens that's a big change and that's the philosophy that Obama has perpetuated on America.

I think that's all his responsibility and if you're black and you haven't been successful in the last 50 years, it's your own fault. We have three generations of all still having unwed babies, kids that don't go through high school, I mean, when do they take responsibility for how they live? I think it's due time and I think that's good Mr. Trump is pointing that out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:40:00] HARLOW: All right, so she resigned, they've put out a statement saying they accepted her resignation. Your thoughts on that and how reflective that is of the Trump campaign. I mean they are clearly separating themselves right away from it.

BASH: And you can see the reaction real time from that reporter looking and like saying, "Are you really saying this to me right now?" It's preposterous. Forget about the facts which are not on her side at all and we could do a show about how they're not on her side but also the politics of it which is just crazy for her to be saying something like that at this time. She wasn't just a volunteer. She was the county chair in Ohio, Ohio being an incredibly important state.

HARLOW: That county, too, is like key swing county with a ton of undecided voters.

BASH: Exactly, exactly. And to people who are looking at the Trump campaign saying this is exhibit A of why they are intolerant and every other reason why people really don't like Donald Trump then they'll use it. But to people saying wait a minute, we're misunderstood, they're going to say this is exactly what is right with the Trump campaign, as soon as she said with what she said -- she resigned, she was dismissed. She not only separated herself from the campaign she made clear not participating in the electoral college process.

HARLOW: Dana, thank you for the reporting.

BASH: Thank you.

HARLOW: Coming up, any minute now we'll bring you a live news conference out of Charlotte, North Carolina, we're just waiting for the family of Mr. Scott who was shot and killed by a police officer this week coming out to speak following a second night of violence and riots in Charlotte. We'll bring you that live as soon as it happens.

Also a six-year-old boy's touching letter to president Obama makes its way to the floor of the United Nations. Why the president says we could all learn a lesson from what this little boy has to say about Syrian refugees.

[15:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: A letter to the president, a letter different than most, the writing that of a child, Alex, a six-year-old boy from New York wrote a letter to the president asking if he could arrange for his family to adopt a Syrian refugee, specifically this young five-year-old boy, Omron. You know his image, his home was struck by those airstrikes in Aleppo just a few weeks ago by, his brother died in the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX, BOY WHO WROTE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: "Dear president Obama. Remember the boy who was picked up by the ambulance in Syria? Can you please go get him and bring him to our home? Park in the driveway or on the street. I will be waiting for you guys with flags, flowers, and balloons.

We will give him a family and he will be our brother. Catherine, my little sister will be collecting butterflies and fireflies for him. In my school I have a friend from Syria, Omar, and I will introduce him to Omron and we can all play together. We can invite them to birthday parties."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is with me. It breaks your heart. And this letter is one that the president and the White House made public you saw that was on their web site. The president even read it during his speech at the United Nations.

MICHELLE KOSINKSI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: If you haven't, you should take a look at the letter. You don't even need to hear the little boy Alex read it, you don't need the music in the background. Even just looking at it and reading the words written in the hand of a six-year-old, it's hard not to get emotional and that's I think what the president wanted to speak to in the speech he gave Tuesday at the U.N.

So often we see numbers associated with this refugee crisis and they're staggering. 65 million displaced around the world. More than 500,000 people killed in Syria. But a lot of times you hear the numbers. You feel like you have heard them before.

It might not register until you see that human face on it and we've seen that a number of times this year. All those people thousands of them walking through Europe with just their possessions. The little boy who was three, the Syrian refugee who was dead and face down on the Turkish beach. That was another one and president Obama mentioned him, too, but he saved special words for this boy who wrote him a letter, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The humanity a young child can display who hasn't learned to be cynical or suspicious or fearful of other people because of where they're from or how they look or how they pray. And who just understands the notion of treating somebody that is like him with compassion, with kindness, that we can all learn from Alex.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: The speech on Tuesday kind of got lost in the news shuffle of the day. Remember, it was the same day he gave what was essentially his farewell speech to the U.N. so people tended to focus on that. In this speech that we talking about now on refugees specifically, he used some of the strongest words we've ever heard the president use on the subject.

He called out other countries for not doing enough, saying too often we make excuses or politicians pay attention to attaining power and holding on to it. He said what's going on in Syria is unacceptable. He said it's a test of our common humanity and that failing to act would be a stain on our collective conscience. Poppy.

HARLOW: Michelle, he said in that long "Vanity Fair" interview that the situation in Syria haunts him, that 6-year-old boy really bringing it to life in this letter. Thank you, Michelle.

At any moment now you will hear from the family of Mr. Scott killed in Charlotte by that police officer. They're about to take the podium. What will they say, especially after the violence and the riots broke out in their city last night. We will bring it to you live. Stay with us.

[15:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: The press conference from the family of Keith Lamont Scott, shot and killed by a police officer in Charlotte, just getting under way. You see Justin Bamberg there, I believe. Let's listen in.

JUSTIN BAMBERG, ATTORNEY FOR FAMILY OF KEITH SCOTT: I want to let you know that, leading up to these moments, the family had every intention of being here. However, they are in a moment of grieving and, quite frankly, emotionally they weren't ready. And I would apologize for that, but I don't see a reason to because, at the end of the day, this is about the family. This family is grieving the loss of someone they care very deeply about. And honestly, this family has questions, and they deserve answers.

This community deserves answers. This side of the story, that side of the story, it seems as though every which way you look, there is a witness who says I saw this, there is a witness who says, I saw that. We have been made aware that the police apparently have video footage that may have caught some of the incident that is the subject of us being here today.

And the family requested to be able to view that video. And later on this afternoon we will, in fact, review that video, and we hope to have some additional answers. When we look at what happened to Mr. Scott and when we look at what has happened around the country with individuals being shot down and killed by law enforcement, we can't talk about those incidents in isolation because we have to look to the root problems.

When you look at the fact that there has been rioting in Charlotte, North Carolina, there has been property damage in Charlotte, North Carolina, there have been individuals injured here in Charlotte, North Carolina, and many of us wonder why. Let me make this very clear.

[15:55:00] This family -- this family does not -- does not agree with rioting or innocent individuals being injured or killed.

But they do support citizens and their right to voice their frustration, to voice their anger. And when you look at those who take to the streets and you look at those who raise their voices and take certain actions, whether you agree with them or not, you have to be willing to step back and understand why they feel the way that they do. You see, in this country we do have a problem, and it has to be talked about.

Regardless of the facts of how these situations play out at the citizens in this country feel as though many minorities, when they are encountered with the police, they're guilty until proven innocent. They're a threat until they prove that they are not a threat. And quite frankly, many feel as though they are inhuman until they are proven to be human.

That is the underlying problem. I ask for calm. We ask for calm here in charlotte. We don't want to see people getting hurt. We want you to voice your opinions, but we don't want you to destroy the very community that you live in. The family doesn't want that either. However, feel free to voice your opinion. Feel free to speak up against the things that you see as injustice, against the injustices that have unfolded and been uncovered.

Feel free to do that because that is you right. But do it in the right way. Again, the family wants answers, the family deserves answers, and we will continue to work and investigate the facts until all of the accurate facts come to light.

UNIDENTIFIED ATTORNEY: Thank you very much. This now this family is in deep mourning. They look the answers to bring closure to their lives. They've hired us to do an in-depth investigation to ascertain the due process of Keith Lamont. They've asked us to look into the situation to see whether or not what happened to Mr. Scott was lawful and legal. And we intend to do so. We are here. The land cries out for an answer. The blood, once again, of a black man has been shed. Are we our brother's keepers? We intend to find that out. Thank you for coming.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What does the family feel about the video being released public?

BAMBERG: Quite frankly, we don't know what's on the video. We know what law enforcement says is on the video. In terms of it being released to the public, they can't answer that until we have the opportunity to see what it shows. You have to keep in mind, with regards to these videos -- and we talk about it -- we have seen videos leaked online of individuals losing their lives before the family has the opportunity to sometimes even find out. That is traumatic.

We have become desensitized as a society to the killing of citizens in this country. And these videos contribute to that. So we have to be mindful of the feelings of the loved ones of the people who have died before we rally to say, make the video public. Today we'll have the opportunity to view and see what's on the video, and then we will address the rest later.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So you are disagreeing with some of the protesters and demonstrators who say that the video has to be released for transparency. Right now you are saying you're not sure if you want the video released until you see it.

UNIDENTIFIED ATTORNEY: First and foremost what we want out is the truth. Ultimately what I think the whole community here wants is the truth. And to the extent that release of the video can somehow help us reach that truth, I think that the family will ultimately support its release. But one thing we did learn in the Johnathan Ferrell case and other cases is these videos don't always hold all the answers --