Protests Over Wisconsin Police Shooting; Apple Watch
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Right now, people again flooding city streets, chanting, "Black lives matter." I'm Jake Tapper. This is THE LEAD. The national lead. It sounds all too familiar at this point, an unarmed black teen shot and killed by a white police officer. This time, it was in Madison, Wisconsin. The city's police chief this morning says he's sorry. But did the cop who fired the fatal round actually do anything wrong? Also in our national lead, a cell phone video exposes a bus of University of Oklahoma racist frat boys singing joyfully, using the N- word, making jokes about lynching black students. A campus scandal becomes a national disgrace and some on campus are today wondering if the university is doing enough. And the money lead. You have probably been counting down to this day on your iPhone's iCalendar for iMonths. The Apple Watch, the first new Apple category since Steve Jobs died, makes its debut and it could push the company to new moneymaking heights. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to begin with breaking news in our national lead. Hundreds of people packing into the statehouse in Madison, Wisconsin, standing shoulder to shoulder, shouting, demanding justice for another unarmed black teen gunned down by police. Right now, those protesters are moving back towards an apartment where police responded to 911 calls on Friday night. Those calls were about a suspect who was dodging in and out of traffic, assaulting a friend, allegedly, even trying to allegedly strangle someone. That's when authorities say the 19-year-old, Tony Robinson, got into a scuffle with an officer inside an apartment to which he fled. Over police radio, you hear a frantic voice saying shots fired, shots fired, the confrontation turning deadly. And Robinson would die in a nearby hospital that evening. We have since learned that Robinson did not have a gun when he was shot, conjuring ugly memories of what we have seen in other places, Ferguson, New York City, Robinson's killing sending waves of protesters into the streets. In an effort to move away from the us vs. them narrative between protesters and police, perhaps in addition to quell some of the tensions in his community, the chief of Madison police department, Mike Koval, took to his blog today and issued an apology, writing -- quote -- "Reconciliation cannot begin without my stating I am sorry. And I don't think I can say this enough. I am sorry. I hope that with time Tony's family and friends can search their hearts to render measure some kind of forgiveness" -- unquote. Let's go live to CNN's Rosa Flores, who is in Madison, Wisconsin. Rosa, you just talked to a friend of the victim. What did he have to say?</s>ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's overcome by emotion, Jake, saying that this is not an appropriate time to talk to the media, very much understandably. He did tell me however that he was not in the house when this happened, but that his father was in the house. Now, some of his friends, you can see behind me, they just arrived. They have been gathering. The police tape has just been removed from around the house as these young men and the supporters of the Robinson family ask for solidarity.</s>FLORES (voice-over): Frustrated, angry and asking for justice, demonstrators continuing to hit the streets of Madison, Wisconsin, demanding answers in the shooting death of unarmed 19-year-old Tony Terrell Robinson at the hands of officer Matt Kenny, who is now on paid leave. The scene of the shooting still guarded heavily by police.</s>KATHLEEN BUFTON, NEIGHBOR: Also right here on this wall of the kitchen.</s>FLORES: Kathleen Bufton lives a thin wall away from where the gunshots rang out and said she heard the deadly exchange unfold from her kitchen after a scuffle caught her by surprise.</s>BUFTON: It was a little noisy.</s>FLORES: Then pounding on the door, she says. (on camera): Was that the police?</s>BUFTON: Yes. And he forced the door open.</s>FLORES (voice-over): What she didn't know, according to police, is that there were multiple calls into dispatch regarding Robinson, including an alleged battery incident.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look for a male black, light-skinned, tan jacket and jeans, outside yelling and jumping in front of cars. .</s>FLORES: Police say officer Matt Kenny responded, heard a commotion inside the home and forced his way in, and then gunfire.</s>BUFTON: You could really hear it right here. Nothing went through.</s>FLORES: Police say Robinson attacked Kenny, provoking the officer to use deadly force. But Bufton has her doubts.</s>BUFTON: I wonder, if it was a white person, if they wouldn't have got shot. They would have got Tased.</s>FLORES: Her thoughts echoed by Robinson's family.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the cop shot him because he was afraid of hi.</s>FLORES: This is not the first time the 45-year-old officer used deadly force. Officer Kenny was exonerated for an incident that took place eight years ago. The police chief says he's working to regain public trust.</s>MIKE KOVAL, MADISON, WISCONSIN, POLICE CHIEF: We need to start, as any healing or reconciliation would, with an "I'm sorry."</s>FLORES: But hundreds gathered throughout the weekend demanding more than apologies.</s>FLORES: Now, a lot of people in this community wondering, did this police officer have another tool other than a gun? I asked the police chief that question and he says that indeed this officer did have a stun gun with him. But he said that he couldn't comment about the use of deadly force -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: Rosa, Chief Koval seems to be making a real concerted effort to reach out to the community to apologize. I have even seen on social media people who support the police officer in question objecting to the chief apologizing. Is it resonating in the community at least?</s>FLORES: We have seen that as well in some of the more charged protests. We have seen that some people come up and say, you know, you can't charge at every single police officer because of what officer Kenny did. So there is some of that, of course. But I have got to tell you, the police chief telling us yesterday evening, he says we do need to apologize to the community because it's our community. It's a community in mourning. And he says, we have to own up to what has happened here. And at the end of the day, this is a case in which an unarmed teen was killed by police. He says, we own up to that. We have to apologize. And then he said, I still have to have my officers in this community so we can repair the damage -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: Rosa Flores, thank you so much. Appreciate it. There is still so much unknown about the particular circumstances of this shooting. Whenever an officer-involved incident occurs, of course, the case gets automatically referred to independent investigators. So for the Madison community and for the family of Tony Robinson, they might have something like an agonizing wait ahead of them for concrete facts. Even so, I guess the big question, do people in Madison trust this investigation to serve justice? I want to go to protesters on the ground right now in Madison, Wisconsin, if we can. M. Adams, she co-founded the Young, Gifted and Black Coalition. And, M., tell me who you have with us, because I don't know the name of the other gust we have.</s>M. ADAMS, YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK COALITION: I'm also with Brandi Grayson, another co-founder of the Young, Gifted and Black Coalition.</s>TAPPER: OK. Well, welcome to both of you. M., let me start with you. The police chief issued this apology today to the community and to Tony Robinson's family. What is your reaction to that?</s>ADAMS: I think -- yes, I think it's fine that he apologized, but that's not enough. I think the police need to make sure, the city needs to make sure, we as a community need to make sure that the officer is held accountable for the actions. An apology is not enough when a child is killed. That's not enough.</s>TAPPER: We have seen the huge crowds of protesters hitting the streets chanting for justice. M., I'm going to stick with you because I'm told your friend does not have an earpiece. What does justice look like for the protesters?</s>ADAMS: It looks like a number of things. I think certainly what the family understands to be justice is very important. And also what the black community understands to be justice is very important, because this is about Tony Robinson, but it's also about part of an historic legacy of armed killings of black people and particularly over the last few years young black people. So, justice looks like making sure that the police chief and the mayor takes full responsibility for what happened here, and that includes paying out everything that the family needs, including paying all the money for funeral services. It also includes making sure that people have adequate mental wellness, access, and that the young people and the community and the friends have full access to whatever we need as a community to begin healing. And it also means arresting that officer and charging him and convicting him with murder. This was murder. An unarmed child, a 19- year-old, was slain by a police officer. That's also a part of it.</s>TAPPER: Well, M., look, I don't want to get into a situation of blaming the victim. But there is due process in this country. And the police officer, as I understand it, and please correct me if I'm wrong, he is saying that Tony Robinson was trying to grab his gun. Is that not what the police are saying?</s>ADAMS: I think that the police are going to say a number of things to cover their tracks. I think that Tony Robinson was unarmed. I think he was a kid. And I think that the officer shot him wrongfully. I think that the violence doesn't match here. If this were you and I and we were in a scuffle or not a scuffle, and we shot at somebody in the chest five times, when we were held accountable to the country's laws and when we were held accountable in front of a community, that a jury of our own peers would say that this is excessive and not warranted. And the police are no different. This was excessive and unwarranted and the police slayed the child -- they slayed an unarmed child. And there's nothing to back up what the officer is saying, other than what the officer is making up right now at the time.</s>TAPPER: All right, M. Adams, Brandi, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Obviously, a community in pain, and we hope there is some peace found in the coming days and weeks. Another major story we're following today, shocking video of members of a fraternity laughing, clapping, singing a racist chant which includes the N-word and references to black men hanging from trees. The fraternity has been shut down today, but will the students on the shocking video be punished? That's next.