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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Iraqi Yazidis Make Perilous Journey to Kurdistan to Escape ISIS; Why Ferguson Police Won't Release Name of Officer in Michael Brown Shooting

Aired August 13, 2014 - 12:30   ET

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


ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It's only sure to grow.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, absolutely, Ashleigh. This is now a tent city. UNHCR has set up many tents. Hundreds of tents will be here in the next few days to accommodate the thousands of people who have arrived.

Officials believe some 70,000 have come in the last few days, and many more are en route. We went down to that border crossing where Ivan's report was from. We didn't see any people coming.

It looks like that wave, this one particular wave, has arrived. They are now here, at this UNHCR camp.

These people are desperate, Ashleigh. They have been on the go for days. They have witnessed atrocities. They were telling us their stories about seeing family members beheaded, murdered in front of their eyes. They were showing us the pictures. They truly have been to hell and back.

And now they're here with only the clothes on their back, living in tents, in the dust, in the dirt. Food is limited. Water is being handed around. But these people are saying, you know, where do we go from here?

You know, they were professionals. They had jobs. They had livelihoods. And now they've been driven out of their homes by these ISIS militants. They say they cannot go back. They would be executed.

Genocide is certain, as far as they're concerned, and the Yazidis are appealing to these national communities to come and help them. They say they're no longer safe in Iraq, that, yes, they're taking refuge here in Kurdistan at the moment, but they're not safe, and they're asking for asylum elsewhere, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: So the story that's evolving here today is this decision by the U.S. administration on how best to rescue the rest of those people who are up on the mountain and who are also in an even more dire circumstance, depending on rations being thrown out of planes and helicopters.

Is it expected that if there is this rescue by air or by land, they will end up where you are, a place that is ill-fit to even handle the people they have now? COREN: Very likely. It will depend on where they are taken, whether

they're taking directly to Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan, which is much better equipped to handle the Yazidis.

Hundreds of thousands of other refugees from, you know, religious minorities have taken to Erbil to seek refuge, but for the Yazidis, they don't believe that is an answer.

This is a religious and ethnic sect that has been persecuted for years, and they truly believe that this is the time to leave, that they no longer believe in Iraq. They're not welcome, and that they must seek asylum.

And just a side note, the governor of the group who is overseeing this operation, he's extremely critical of the international community and also the United Nations, believing they needed to intervene a lot earlier than what they have.

He says, where were they when this crisis was unfolding? As far as he's concerned, this is a catastrophe, not just a disaster, and he also is pleading for help.

BANFIELD: Understandable. Anna Coren reporting from the Iraqi/Syria border, thank you for that. Anna and her team has been doing terrific work, as well as our Ivan Watson as well.

You'll probably know that about this time yesterday, as we were reporting an Iraqi helicopter that was bringing aid to Mount Sinjar refugees and trying to help those refugees get up off the mountain, carrying as many as they could actually put on board, that helicopter crashed, and today, we've got some incredible pictures from a "Time" magazine photographer who was on board and who with several others ended up being hurt in this crash.

The helicopter's pilot was killed, but everyone else, including the Iraqi civilians who clamored up on board, escaping that horrible existence on the mountain, as well as a member of Iraq's parliament on board, a "New York times" correspondent whose wrists were broken, and the mother of these terrified kids, they all survived that crash, thank god.

Another helicopter flew them all to safety. And you can see the images of those on board, given what they've been through, thinking that they'd finally clamored on to a rescue helicopter only to have it crash, just remarkable what these people have suffered through.

We've also got an update on a little girl named Aziza. Do you remember this picture? This grief-stricken little girl in the purple dress? She had been on board of the helicopter Ivan Watson was on board on Monday. He brought us these pictures.

But she was saying, "Daddy, Daddy," because somewhere on that mountain he had been left behind, and they knew nothing about his whereabouts. They figured he was at the mercy of the elements and ISIS radicals.

And today, we have an update. Ivan and his team found Aziza again. They found her in a ramshackle building where she's been staying with her sisters, her cousin, her aunt. And today, the smiles, there's a good reason for them. They have had a phone call from her daddy.

He's alive. As for the situation, the family says it is bad, but at least he is alive. And we're so happy to be able to bring you at least that part of Aziza's story.

We have another big story that we're following today as well, new information about the Missouri officer who shot and killed an 18-year- old unarmed teenager.

We're going to share the details of what happened to the officer, injuries to the officer that might shed light on what led up to the shooting in the first place.

That story, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: For the first time since a Missouri police officer shot and killed an unarmed teenager, we're hearing the officer's side, or at least a very small part of it coming out, little pieces of puzzle, but a critical one nonetheless.

Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson told our affiliate, KMOV, the officer involved was injured in an alleged altercation between him and Michael Brown, the 18-year-old who was killed.

The police chief says the officer was hit and that the side of his face was swollen, but who he is is still a mystery to the public. The officer is apparently getting death threats against not only him but his family as well. And because of that, the police department says it won't release his name right now, a decision that lawyers representing the family have blasted.

Many people in Ferguson are furious over the actions of the police department after the shooting. And they're of course furious about the shooting itself.

To give you a sense of the tension between the police and the community, this picture perhaps sums it up very well. Look closely at the riot squad passing a mailbox. One man has his hands in the air, and then we zoom in past the group of armed officers in riot gear, on the right-hand side of your screen, the message on the mailbox, "F the police."

In a town that is 63 percent black, the police force does not represent the community in terms of demographics. Ferguson has 53 officers, including the command staff, but only three of the officers are black.

I want to bring in Cedric Alexander. He is the executive director of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement.

Mr. Alexander, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me. I want to ask you, first and foremost, the news that came out this morning from the police chief that the officer who was involved in this shooting himself suffered a facial injury, that his face is swollen, does that change the dynamic of this conversation at all in your opinion?

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF BLACK LAW ENFORCEMENT: I believe it begins to open up some, beginning to show some transparency in this case. But there's a lot more discussion that is going to have to take place.

One thing that is clearly important, becoming more evident to me every day, I certainly do understand the chief's and his department's position in terms of wanting to protect that police officer who have had threats made against himself and his family. That is very serious, and we must respect that as well too.

But at some point, in order to reveal what is going on in this case, the police department is going to have to make a decision to reveal that officer and tell the community and this country who he is.

But I think that we all can be sensitive to the fact that for our law enforcement personnel, we certainly don't want any harm to come to them or their family.

So any information right now that the chief is able to give to the public and share with people across this country I think it opens up an opportunity for discussion, particularly there in Ferguson.

So it becomes very important for him in that community to share as much as they can without compromising that investigation.

BANFIELD: So I know you're also the chief of police for DeKalb County in Georgia, and clearly I know that you walk a sensitive line when talking about another police chief and his department, and of course they're not even the ones doing the investigation. They've turned it over to the county of St. Louis.

But what is the protocol in your assessment? Or at least do you know what the range of protocol would be when a weapon is discharged? Is it protocol to immediately release the name of an officer?

Because this police chief is saying he hasn't been charged. And nowhere in anyone's legal protocol do you release the name of someone's name who hasn't been charged. But is it different for police who haven't discharged weapons?

ALEXANDER: Let me back up and let me say something and be very, very clear about this. There is -- it is very important for me as the president of NOBLE to be fair and unbiased in this process, but at the same time, in regards to that chief's decision, I have to respect that.

Now, I have never throughout my career and my experiences, and I've been involved in a number of police shootings involving my officers, where the name of that officer has been immediately released.

But this is a -- I don't -- I'm not there on the ground in Ferguson. I don't know their circumstances. But typically, this -- what makes this very unusual -- but here again, let me be clear about something, when the community, which in this case is pretty evident to me, doesn't have a good working relationship with the police department, and you have a situation like this to occur, it will reach a tipping point, which clearly it already has, because there are a lot of mistrust and distrust between the community and the police.

So I would hope here very, very soon that that department is able to release the name of that officer and give as much information about that case here again without compromising that investigation. And that is very, very important too.

BANFIELD: Can you just clarify? I'm not sure I understood. You have never in your history -- you're a police chief as well -- you've never seen the name of an officer released right away or not released?

ALEXANDER: No, no, generally, the officer's name is released following a police involved shooting.

BANFIELD: Immediately?

ALEXANDER: Immediately.

BANFIELD: OK.

ALEXANDER: So this is very different. That has been my experience as a chief and an executive in doing this job for the last 30 years.

BANFIELD: You recognize the circumstances in this one, very different than so many others.

ALEXANDER: But -- and they very well may be different in all fairness to them there in Ferguson.

BANFIELD: OK. Mr. Alexander, I could speak to you for hours about this and I think -- I dare say that we will likely be speaking again because this is only just the beginning.

ALEXANDER: Right.

BANFIELD: Thank you, sir. Appreciate your time.

ALEXANDER: Thank you for having me. OK.

BANFIELD: Cedric Alexander joining us live this morning.

What exactly happened in the moments before Michael Brown was shot and killed by that police officer in Ferguson? Michael Brown's friend was there and he has spoken to CNN and he has given his account. In fact, he's given it a few times. It's pretty darn consistent too. You're going to hear it coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: We have some new pictures of Michael Brown, the unarmed 18- year-old who was shot and killed by a Missouri police officer. High school graduation pictures. They were taken on August 1st, which is just 12 days ago, right before his death, a week before his death. He was supposed to start college just this last Monday. His death, a shock to many who loved him. So many of them called him the gentle giant. To his friend, Dorian Johnson, he was "Big Mike." And Dorian was with him at the moment he was shot and killed. And he told our Wolf Blitzer his version of what happened from start to finish. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DORIAN JOHNSON, MICHAEL BROWN'S FRIEND: As we're walking down the street, the squad car vehicle approaches us. Now, we're on the side of the vehicle. And the officer says, get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of the street, verbatim, it was his words. And at that moment I told the officer -- my friend, Big Mike, didn't speak. I told the officer that we was not but a minute away from our definition and that we would be out of the street. And at that time me and my friend, Big Mike, started to walk again. And the officer, he seemed like he was driving off, but in a second he put the car in reverse and he reversed very rapidly at a fast pace. And he slid (ph) the car to (INAUDIBLE) it almost hit me and my friend Big Mike, so we had to step back. And we were now front center with the officer inside the vehicle, but we were so close, almost inches away, that when he tried to open his door aggressively, the door ricocheted, both off me and Big Mike's body, and it closed back on the officer.

At that time, he reached out the window with his left arm. He grabbed on to my friend, Big Mike's throat, and he's trying to pull him in the vehicle. And my friend, Big Mike, very angrily, is trying to pull away from the officer. And the officer now is struggling with trying to hold a grip on my friend Big Mike as he's trying to pull away. And as -- in a minute, I heard, I'll shoot, I'm about to shoot. And I'm standing so close to Big Mike and the officer. I look in his window and I see that he has his gun pointed at both of us. And when he fired his weapon, I moved seconds before he pulled the trigger. I saw the fire come out the barrel and I instantly knew that it was a gun. I looked at my friend, Big Mike, and I saw that he was struck in the chest, or upper region, because I saw blood spattered down his side, his right area. And at that time, we both took off running.

Now, it was almost two or three minutes, we was running, and I was able to hide myself behind the first vehicle that was up on the scene. And the officer then got out his car. My friend, Big Mike, was still rubbing. He ran past me and saw me in plain sight. He said to me verbatim that -- he said, keep running, bro. And he kept running. And I was so scared and feared for my life that my body was in shock. I couldn't move. I couldn't think at that time. And almost in an instant, my body started rising and I see the officer proceeding after my friend Big Mike with his gun drawn, and he fired a second shot and that struck my friend Big Mike and at that time he turned around with his hands up, beginning to tell the officer that he was unarmed and to tell him to stop shooting. But at that time, the officer was firing several more shots into my friend and he hit the ground and died. I watched him until his body stopped moving. And then I ran and -- vomit in my mouth, throwing up, hyperventilating, not knowing what to do. I just ran. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: I'm joined by CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Mark O'Mara, who you'll remember defended George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin murder case.

And, Mark, we're hearing now from the police one significant detail that they say the police officer in this shooting was injured and suffered a swelling to his face in some way. And I'm wondering if you think that changes the calculus of the greater discussion that's going on or if it adds anything to the notion that they have not released his name and that's making -- it's creating a lot of consternation in the community.

MARK O'MARA, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I understand the consternation. Don't forget, the name has been released to all other law enforcement officers like the federal government who's investigating. I think that's very significant. I think it should go to the victim's family, although with the confidentiality agreement. But I understand the need to protect an officer in times of such animus between the two communities, the black community and the police community. You do have to protect the officer.

I don't think that's helping at all with the overall picture of dealing with race relations both in that community and across the nation, but we just have to take our time. This is one piece of evidence on the other side. This -- what this show us, I think, is that we don't know a lot yet and we should not rush to judgment.

BANFIELD: Agreed. The rushing to judgment seems to be one of the biggest problems when a story like this develops. But - well, I can tell you this, that Dorian Johnson also revealed for the first time that the officer involved - because he clearly got a look at him -- is white. Perhaps not a surprise given the dearth of black officers on that force. But given the notion that there's so little that's known right now and that raises the ire and the hackles of those who might speculate and then, of course, publicly say, you know, talk about that speculation. Should the police at least release any other information, the distance, the number of shots? Anything else that they possibly can, should they?

O'MARA: Well, in one sense, yes. But here's what's going to happen. As soon as they let out one snippet, it's going to be interpreted as being a biased snippet. So I really think that if there's a chance for us to wait and let the process work quickly and transparently with the agencies that have some trust, the federal government, not the Ferguson Police Department, then we have to wait to make sure that the investigation is done well because if they put out a picture of the officer's cheek, it will be suggestive that they're just trying to show that it was Michael Brown's fault.

Unfortunately, we know these matters take time. Let's not forget, we're only a few days into this and we're getting a lot of information done. Federal government's already involved. If we can just wait and be patient and not allow speculation to rush into the void of information that exists right now, we'll have a much better result. BANFIELD: Just quickly, I only have 10 seconds left, do you see this

playing out the same way your case did or are you see things handled better perhaps as a result of your case?

O'MARA: Handled better because now people are going to look at the case and demand transparency that didn't exist in the first five or six weeks of the Zimmerman case. So, yes, it's going to be done in public view and that's going to help.

BANFIELD: Mark O'Mara, always good to talk to you. Thank you so much for your time and your insights. Appreciate it.

O'MARA: (INAUDIBLE).

BANFIELD: And I am flat out of time. Thanks so much for watching, everyone. My colleague Wolf starts right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, the United States is looking at options for rescuing the thousands of Yazidi refugees gathered on an Iraqi mountain. The question now, could they be rescued without putting American boots on the ground?

Also right now, the Iraqi prime minister, the outgoing one, Nuri al Maliki, he is digging in. He says efforts to replace him are part of a conspiracy and he won't leave office till a court tells him to leave.