ad info

 
CNN.comTranscripts
 
Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback  

 

  Search
 
 

 

TOP STORIES

Bush signs order opening 'faith-based' charity office for business

Rescues continue 4 days after devastating India earthquake

DaimlerChrysler employees join rapidly swelling ranks of laid-off U.S. workers

Disney's GO.com is a goner

(MORE)

MARKETS
4:30pm ET, 4/16
144.70
8257.60
3.71
1394.72
10.90
879.91
 


WORLD

U.S.

POLITICS

LAW

TECHNOLOGY

ENTERTAINMENT

 
TRAVEL

ARTS & STYLE



(MORE HEADLINES)
 
CNN Websites
Networks image


Morning News

Giuliani Put on Defensive About Handling of Latest Police Shooting

Aired March 27, 2000 - 10:48 a.m. ET

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

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The shooting death of an unarmed Haitian immigrant in New York last week and a clash with police at his funeral on Saturday is causing further strains on New York's political landscape. The Reverend Al Sharpton is calling for an investigation into police actions at the funeral, while the mayor, Rudy Giuliani, is blaming the protesters for the violence.

From New York now, here's CNN's Frank Buckley has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It began as a funeral mass for 26-year-old Patrick Dorismond, the off-duty. unarmed security guard shot to death last week by New York City police during an undercover drug operation, but it turned into a melee, with some in the crowd bombarding police with bottles. Twenty-eight officers were injured, five civilians were hurt. Twenty-eight people were arrested.

MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI (R), NEW YORK CITY: I'm glad the police were able to arrest so many of them. I'm very, very glad that the police handled it in a very professional and restrained way.

BUCKLEY: But political opponents criticized Giuliani for blaming the disturbance on what the mayor called "demagogues."

REV. AL SHARPTON, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: I think that rather than scapegoat, if he has evidence of people that were responsible, as he said, he ought to name them so that we can deal with them. Or he ought to admit that rather deal with the issue he turns everything into a political contest with his critics.

BUCKLEY: Since the shooting, critics have complained about Giuliani's response, especially the release of Dorismond's criminal history.

Among those who've questioned the mayor's actions, his opponent in the Senate race, first lady Hillary Clinton.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK SENATE CANDIDATE: He has led the rush to judgment. That is not leadership.

BUCKLEY: And while Giuliani was greeted with enthusiasm Sunday at a parade in New York, the results of a new poll of likely voters surveyed Friday and Saturday indicate the mayor may be suffering politically from his handling of the shooting. Three weeks ago in the poll, he was ahead by seven points. By Sunday, Clinton was up by three.

ESTER FUCHS, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: There's no question that his reaction to the Dorismond shooting has really been detrimental to his Senate campaign.

GIULIANI: So be it. I believe that I'm handling it correctly. I don't use polls to guide my activity as mayor.

BUCKLEY: And Giuliani shows no signs of changing his response or softening it in an attempt to win back potential voters, saying instead that in the long term his handling of the case will be vindicated by the facts.

Frank Buckley, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

 Search   


Back to the top  © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.