Death Drugs; Killer Dies After Botched Lethal Injection
TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. The national lead, he was convicted of a barbaric crime, shooting a teenager, watching as she was buried alive. So, few were shedding tears when Clayton Lockett took his final steps last night along death row. But today, after state of Oklahoma botched his lethal injection, the way that he died is making headlines, even getting the White House's attention.</s>JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We have a fundamental standard in this country that even when the death penalty is justified, it must be carried out humanely and I think everyone would recognize that this case fell short of that standard.</s>TAPPER: Clayton Lockett did die last night, but according to witnesses, he certainly did not just quietly and painlessly fade away. Our justice correspondent Pamela Brown has that story for us.</s>PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, the botched execution in Oklahoma is reigniting debate over the politically and ethically charged issue of the death penalty and putting focus on state's efforts to shield the names of suppliers used to kill inmates like Clayton Lockett.</s>BROWN: Seven minutes after officials start pumping the first drug, witnesses say inmate Lockett appeared to be conscious, 16 minutes in, it was clear the execution was not going as planned.</s>LIS EXON, NEWS MANAGER, OETA: He mumbled, something's wrong. He is lifting his whole upper shoulders and head off the gurney and writhing.</s>BROWN: It was then officials closed the blinds shutting out the media gathered to witness the death of the man convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering a young woman who was then buried alive. The execution was stopped but Lockett died of a heart attack.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was my decision at that time to stop the execution.</s>BROWN: Officials used a cocktail of three drugs -- the first to sedate, a second to stop his breathing, and the third to stop his heart. But the deadly mixture is cloaked in secrecy.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They wanted to hurry up and get it done, with as little transparency as possible.</s>BROWN: A majority of the 32 death penalty states, including Oklahoma, have shield laws so that no one, not even death row inmates can know where the drugs came from. Lockett's defense team pressed to learn where drugs were made but lost a lengthy legal battle.</s>PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The supplier are afraid they'll be put out of business by cooperation with the death penalty process. If the doctors that they sell prescription drugs to are aware that they're supplying the drugs of death to places like Oklahoma, these companies are fearful that they'll lose prescription business.</s>BROWN: Some suppliers won't let states use their drugs for executions. Those that do want their identities protected for fear of retaliation. A recent shortage of lethal injection chemicals has forced some states to try new drug combinations or use drugs from loosely regulated companies. The Food and Drug Administration has not approved any drugs for the use in executions.</s>CALLAN: Physicians, a lot of times, are not involved in the process because it's a violation of medical ethics and a Hippocratic Oath to assist putting somebody to death. So, it's become a real amateur operation in terms how we actually put people to death in the United States.</s>BROWN: In fact, it's not even a doctor administering the deadly shot. Prison officials do it because the American Medical Association bans doctors from giving lethal injections.</s>BROWN: And another inmate was supposed to be executed right after Lockett, but Oklahoma's governor put a halt on the execution for two weeks pending an investigation. Meantime, the next planned execution in this country is May 13th in Texas. Officials there have been using a single drug since 2011 and so far, haven't had any issues -- Jake.</s>TAPPER: And this is hardly the first time this year, even, that an execution has gone wrong.</s>BROWN: That's right. In fact, less than four months ago, Jake, there was an execution in Ohio involving a Dennis McGuire and he was executed with a new combination of drugs due to unavailable of tested drugs and his lasted for 25 minutes. Much longer than it should have, Jake. Witnesses say, for about 10 to 13 minutes he was seen gasping for air. So, that is the latest example of a botched execution.</s>TAPPER: Pamela Brown, thank you so much. When we come back, Malaysian officials bombarded with questions today about missing Flight 370. How did they respond when families ask why emergency transponders never signaled a crash? Plus, just days ago, a Nevada rancher was wondering if African- Americans might have been better off as slaves. Now, a black congressman causing a stir for calling Clarence Thomas a, quote, "Uncle Tom". That's ahead.