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Holder Promises Fair Investigation; Secret Mission to Rescue Americans Failed; Interview with Mayor James Knowles of Ferguson, Missouri

Aired August 21, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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


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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight here in Ferguson, silent night. Peaceful protests throughout the evening with only minor incidents, just hours after Attorney General Eric Holder tries to calm community leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: People know that a federal, thorough investigation is being done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: And one night after this. Now, that officer removed from duty, as new questions about another police shooting surface.

Does this new video challenge the police version of events?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Plus new details on the dramatic raid to try to free American James Foley from ISIS militants. How close did U.S. Special Operations get? This as more American troops are now heading into Baghdad.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When people harm Americans anywhere, we do what's necessary to see that justice is done.

BOLDUAN: What is their mission?

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY continues right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY. It is Thursday, August 21st. We are live in Ferguson, Missouri, where a heated situation has started to cool off literally, this huge lightning storm made it a little bit easier to keep things quiet and calm here.

Protests stayed mostly peaceful overnight, Kate. BOLDUAN: And meantime, Chris, Attorney General Eric Holder met with

the Ferguson community, promising a fair and thorough investigation into Michael Brown's shooting.

CUOMO: And he also met with Michael Brown's parents. Just think about this, it's been 12 days since their son was killed. This was the first time Wednesday that they got to see his body. The autopsies, the investigation, all of that made this their first opportunity. Just think about that.

So, now, despite six arrests last night, there is certainly a reduction in the tension between protesters and police, at least on the street.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO (voice-over): Overnight in Ferguson, the first real hint of calm.

PROTESTERS: Mike Brown! We are! Mike brown!

CUOMO: Since Michael Brown was shot and killed 12 days ago.

CAPT. RON JOHNSON, MISSOURI HIGHWAY PATROL: You can often tell how the night is going by the radio traffic and tonight, the radios were mostly quiet.

CUOMO: One brief confrontation when demonstrators and supporters of Officer Darren Wilson collide.

A very different scene from the night before, this video showing an angry St. Ann police officer pointing his gun at the crowd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My hands are up, Bro. Hands are up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raised and pointed at civilians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll (EXPLETIVE DELETED) kill you, get back, get back!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to kill him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get back.

UNIDETIFIED MALE: What's your name, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go (EXPLETIVE DELETED) yourself.

CUOMO: A St. Louis County police sergeant steps in to defuse the situation, forcing the officer to lower his weapon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) gun down.

CUOMO: That officer now suspended indefinitely. Attorney General Eric Holder is here, meeting residents, hoping to ease tension.

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We want to help as best we can and we also want to listen.

CUOMO: Meanwhile, a new witness to the Michael Brown shooting comes forward telling CNN's Anderson Cooper what he saw.

MICHAEL BRADY, WITNESS TO MIKE BROWN SHOOTING: By the time I get outside, he's already turned around, facing the officer. He's balled up, he has his arms like under his stomach, and he was like halfway down, like he was going down and the officer lets out about three or four shots at him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The policeman pull up.

CUOMO: This as another video surfaces showing the moments St. Louis police shoot and kill 23-year-old Kajieme Powell Tuesday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They got a gun up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shoot me! Shoot me!

(EXPLETIVE DELETED)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the knife!

(EXPLETIVE DELETED)

(INAUDIBLE)

(GUNFIRE)

CUOMO: Police said he came at them with a knife after stealing from the convenience store. The incident --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We at war with the police.

CUOMO: -- fueling controversy about excessive force here by the police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's all they want. That's all they want.

CUOMO: Do you believe the cops want to shoot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what they're doing. That's what you see. That's what we see. That's what we're waking up to.

CUOMO: St. Louis police chief Sam Dotson said the officers acted appropriately.

(on camera): Could you have done something else in the situation other than kill him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He brings up a very good point. What about why use bullets? Why not use a stun gun?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tasers aren't 100 percent. If the taser misses the subject continues on and hurts an officer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Let's get some reaction to the latest developments with Daryl Parks. He is an attorney for Michael Brown's family.

Counselor, good to have you with us this morning.

DARYL PARKS, ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL BROWN'S FAMILY: Good morning.

CUOMO: Let's get to what really matters most of the family I am sure, 12 days they haven't been able to see their son. They got that opportunity. How were they after?

PARKS: It's tough. I mean, you can't describe the feeling of knowing that your son was murdered execution style in his final days and it's just a tough situation for them to know that his final shot came to the apex of his head, when this officer did not have to shoot him.

CUOMO: And for them now obviously, the focus is on why it happened, what happens coming out of that situation. They got to meet with the attorney general of the United States. What did that do for them? What was the message?

PARKS: Well, they actually met with his representatives as early as last week, Chris, last Thursday, and very clear they said they were going to do a thorough investigation. The family obviously indicated that they trusted the Justice Department in the investigation that they were going to do and have all the confidence that a thorough investigation will take place whether St. Louis County does it or not. But the Justice Department definitely would.

CUOMO: Now, oversight will be helpful, assuming that the investigation stays with the local prosecutor and his grand jury and moves through the system that way. Nobody wants to see justice done more than the brown family, and it will come down to leadership.

Do they have confidence in the prosecution? Do they have confidence in the leadership here that there will be changes in this community and justice in this case?

PARKS: Well, they have very little confidence in the current prosecutor. However, we do have some level of confidence in the governor of Missouri. You know, although he didn't put it out there publicly, Chris, he did finally state in the last two days that he had met with the family and prayed with them. That actually took place last Friday.

We found him to be very sincere in his approach, when he prayed with the family in this case. I think he has to be very careful in his role, though, in that there is an investigation taking place, there is a prosecution taking place and prosecution taking place. It is excessive issue, but I think as it relates to the human side of this cases, he expresses condolences on the 6.5 million people in the state of Missouri. And that -- you know, he help, whatever he can do, he would do.

I want to clarify the governor has been in the area, almost every day, flying from Jefferson City back to Missouri. Now, he hasn't always made that very public, but I'm very aware of some of the meetings he's had behind the scenes, some of the things that he's done.

For example, we have to remember before he took action, the state highway patrol in Missouri was not involved in this situation. That was his executive action. Also, the National Guard, he took action when the activities elevated, he was the one that called the National Guard.

Now, we didn't quite agree with the curfew issue, but he thought it necessary to put the executive order in place as it relates to the curfew.

I think that the toughest decision that was made here, though, the decision to put the highway patrol in charge of a local scene in lieu of an existing police department, in lieu of an existing county police. It's a very, very sensitive issue for a sitting state executive to go against the county and the city, local law enforcement and to supplant your own law enforcement agency in that place. That's probably the toughest decision that's been made thus far in this situation.

CUOMO: Counselor, you represent the Brown family. The governor represents them and all the people of this state.

The challenge to what you're saying about what he's been doing here is that he hasn't been here. Politics is appearances. Leadership is often about appearances. If you want to keep a situation quiet, be there, show support.

You're not there when you call in the National Guard. You're telling people to be calm but you're not there to help enhance calm. That's a part of the job, and I'm glad to hear that behind the scenes he's doing things that you think are important.

But don't you think that in trying to calm down this situation, if you're going to lead, you got to lead from the front. You have to be there, don't you?

PARKS: Well, I think you do, and he'll have to speak for himself in terms of the public perception of that, but I want to at least let it be known that the things I was aware of behind the scenes taking place and are in action with his office what he's done locally with his representatives to try to address some of the needs from an investigation standpoint and as it relates to any needs this family might need from the state of Missouri, at this time.

CUOMO: That's good. Because you know what happens? As this temper starts to drop, whether it's because of the weather or just fatigue or people have to get back to school and start living their lives again and the energy gets out of the outrage, where will the change come from, counselor, the change that your clients want?

It's not going to come from the media. It's not going to come from you, you know? They'll have the investigation, maybe there will be a trial, maybe not. Then what? If you don't want there to be another situation of abuse, there has to be changes. Who is going to make it? Where are the leaders?

PARKS: Well, I'll say this, I agree with you. I think we have a systemic problem in this area. My dad actually lives in the city of Pine Lawn, which is close to Ferguson, and so, some of the issues that you see as I talked with my local friends who are elected officials there in the St. Louis metropolitan area, you see a very serious issue that goes, Mike Brown is the beginning of it, but the issues go to education, economics and socially in the metropolitan area.

They obviously have a long way to go in that community. Mike Brown will be the evidence that started the change in St. Louis County that we pray but first and foremost this family wants to see this officer arrested. I think we continue to see evidence pile on every day. I mean the witness that we saw last night on "AC360", it's very powerful.

On his testimony alone, this officer should be arrested. I mean, it was clear what he saw that this kid was trying to give up yet this officer continued to shoot him. And I think it's important he talked about how Mike was down on the ground giving in and succumbing to the officer because the last shots that we see are very consistent with that testimony.

CUOMO: And what do you make of the information about the officer being injured? Even if you give -- do you believe it, and even if everything that they say about an injury, the worst possible injury possible, would that change your analysis of the situation?

PARKS: Not at all, because even if you take the altercation that happened at the car and the best version for the officer, nothing justifies the threat is completely gone when those kids get ready to start running away from the officer. There's no threat to him at that point.

He begins shooting at that time, on that alone is an excessive use of force and he should be found guilty of a civil rights violation in the Department of Justice's inquiry.

And so, we see clearly right there that action alone shooting while the kids are fleeing with their backs turned to him with no apparent threat to him clearly shows that at a minimum, violates the civil rights of those two kids.

CUOMO: And obviously, the key to your representation is going to be keeping energy and interest in this process to keep it legitimate. Grand juries take time, even with the best of intentions so there's a long battle in front of us, no question about that.

Mr. Parks, thank you for your perspective and the information about the family and the case. Appreciate it as always.

PARKS: Thank you so much.

CUOMO: Kate, to you?

BOLDUAN: All right. Chris, thanks so much. Let's turn to the shocking revelations coming to light about an

attempt to save James Foley before he was viciously executed by ISIS militants. A U.S. official says special ops unit were sent into Syria earlier this summer to rescue him and other American hostages held by the militants, but the mission was clearly not successful and now, we're learning ISIS militants demanded a ransom, according to "The Wall Street Journal."

Foley's captors wanted more than $130 million from his former employer, "GlobalPost" and his family. "GlobalPost" also says ISIS warned Foley's family by e-mail last week that he would be killed.

Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has been following all of these developments for us and there are a lot of them.

Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate.

Was the intelligence bad from the beginning that sent those U.S. commandos in to Syria? Did ISIS even know it was American troops they got into a firefight with? These are some of the questions we never thought we'd even be asking.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): U.S. Special Forces launched a daring raid earlier this summer inside Syria to try to rescue James Foley and other Americans being held by ISIS. Dozens of the most elite U.S. commandos from units like Delta Force and SEAL Team 6 went in by helicopters, fighter jets and surveillance aircraft provided overhead protection.

The U.S. will not disclose the location, but when the commandos arrived, the hostages were not there. Several ISIS operatives were killed, one American slightly injured.

The White House says it demonstrates the U.S. will spare no effort to secure the safety of Americans and hold their captors accountable. Before the operation was revealed, president Obama vowed to be relentless in the face of Foley's killing at the hands of ISIS.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When people harm Americans anywhere, we do what's necessary to see that justice is done.

STARR: British and U.S. intelligence experts now analyzing every frame of the video for clues about the murder, especially the British accent of the killer.

Foley's parents calling for peace.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jim would never want us to hate or be bitter. We are just very proud of Jimmy.

STARR: So far, ISIS has not made attacking the West a major priority, but now, the killing of Foley said to be direct retaliation for U.S. air strikes in Iraq, air strikes which are continuing around Mosul dam to push ISIS back. U.S. nerves running high.

The State Department asking for up to 300 additional U.S. troops for unspecific security reasons in Baghdad.

The intelligence community worried about what will happen next.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: It's not clear whether the leadership will now pivot towards attacking the West. There's a lot of concern they could.

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STARR: And I don't think that you can emphasize it too much here at this point, sending U.S. commandos in to Syria, it just doesn't get more dangerous than that -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely right, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Barbara, thank you so much.

Going to take another break. Coming up next on NEW DAY, we're going to have more of our continuing coverage from Ferguson, Missouri. Chris, you can see right there, speaks with the mayor of the town, about why he thinks law enforcement and the community are so at odds. How can the town heal now?

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CUOMO: We are live here in Ferguson, Missouri, about 7:20 local time, 8:20 in the East. Overnight there were these massive storms, lightning storms, spectacular, that literally cooled off the situation in Ferguson between police and protesters. Demonstrations have consumed this town for the better part of two weeks, since Michael Brown was shot and killed by police. This is going to come down to leadership and accountability, if things are going to change.

We spoke with the mayor of Ferguson, his name is James Knowles. We want to know what he's going to do to bring his community back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Mr. Mayor, appreciate you doing the interview.

MAYOR JAMES KNOWLES, FERGUSON, MISSOURI: You're welcome.

CUOMO: Tell us a little bit about where we are. Looks like a campaign headquarters here but your name is not on the sign. It says "I love Ferguson."

KNOWLES: Right, people are here to support the whole community and you know, right when this began, there were some people that thought you know, with he should go out there and counter-protest.

CUOMO: Is it too soon for something like that? You're still trying to figure out what the problem is here. Is it too soon to say there is no problem?

KNOWLES: Well, this isn't about saying there is no problem. This is about saying that we support our community. The national media is saying that we're this divided community; that we're divided among socioeconomic lines. We're divided among racial lines and so we wanted everybody here wanted to make sure that people realized that we are not divided per se, we are united.

CUOMO: It is OK for the citizens to want to own their idea of what Ferguson is for themselves. It's different for you, as the mayor, though, to come across as tone deaf to the complaints of the community.

KNOWLES: Sure.

CUOMO: You're concerned that if you're sitting here with an "I love Ferguson" sign, when they're saying Ferguson doesn't love me, you come off as tone deaf.

KNOWLES: Well, that's the perception we're trying to fight, because again, we're trying to show so many of the people protesting are not from Ferguson. Sure, there are people in the community who are concerned, maybe about what happened to Mr. Brown.

Everybody in the community wants justice, but we're not -- I think this group of people here are showing that they're not wanting to try to tear our community apart over it.

CUOMO: Your message is: we are not just our problems. I get it.

But in saying that, should you also be more forward in admitting and acknowledging those problems as the mayor?

KNOWLES: Well, absolutely. You know, day one before you guys, national media showed up, I said it to the local media. This was not -- this is not started in Ferguson. The concerns about law enforcement and the relationship with the African-American community or with young African-Americans, that's a nationwide issue. That's been, that's been talked about all across the country.

CUOMO: It's bigger than Ferguson.

KNOWLES: Right.

CUOMO: But that doesn't mean it's not happening in Ferguson. It doesn't mean you don't have a problem with how a certain portion of the African-American community sees its relationship with police.

KNOWLES: Part of the problem has been and it's a regional problem in St. Louis is keeping people in housing, affordable housing that's good housing, they can stay in, put down roots, become part of the community. It's one of the reasons why the school districts around the north county region have suffered because people bounce from house to house and they bounce from school district to school district. It's a problem we've been dealing with at the schools and now we're dealing with this problem as it relates to their relationship to government.

CUOMO: Fifty white police officers, three black.

KNOWLES: Um-hum.

CUOMO: Does that ratio have to get better do you think if you're dealing with a population that is mostly black?

KNOWLES: Right, that's one of the things that the other mayors and I spoke about. How do we get young African-Americans to want to do, have a career in law enforcement? That's tough, especially as you mentioned, and I contend it's a nationwide issue, where there are a lot of young people who don't have trust in law enforcement.

So, if you don't trust them are you going to go into law enforcement?

CUOMO: The police, when you look at how they handled this situation since it happened, leaving the body there for a long time, the information about the robbery, the video, withholding the officer's name. You know the list of things that have been criticized. Should they have handled it better?

KNOWLES: I wish we could have handled it differently. I mean, certain things we were required to do. If we hadn't called St. Louis county police in from the start to do the investigation, which we did, we'd have been criticized for covering up. We had to leave the crime scene, you know, for lack of a better term, intact.

CUOMO: Not covering the body? You don't think they would --

(CROSSTALK)

KNOWLES: See, that was the confusing part. The body was covered for a while and so it wasn't covered -- it was uncovered for a while and there was a lot of pictures of that.

CUOMO: That's right.

KNOWLES: As soon as they got an ambulance there they covered it for a while and put up the screens. It was left out there for a while. And that in and of itself is just, you know, horrifying.

CUOMO: When you say it, you mean he.

KNOWLES: I'm sorry, you're right -- the body, the gentleman.

CUOMO: Think they should have made an arrest right away, filed a complaint, done the probable cause hearing, had a judge, had it be public?

KNOWLES: I don't know how that -- I honestly don't know how that works. He is an officer -- the officer that had this unfortunate incident, he was performing his duty as a law enforcement officer. Now, you can call into question whether or not he was outside the bounds of the duty of his office. Was he, did he act with --

CUOMO: Excessive force?

KNOWLES: -- excessive force? But that's in question. The officer is always in a position to use force. If you and I are in a scuffle and I'm performing my duty as a police officer and in the course of doing so I have to use force of any kind, whether it physical or otherwise, if we were normal people, it's assault.

If I'm a police officer, I'm doing my job.

CUOMO: Um-hum.

KNOWLES: But I think we have to get the evidence, get the information and let, allow due process. I this I this officer needs to be afforded that as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: And a big part of that process in terms of making things better in Ferguson going forward will be that police culture and the mayor says he's working with other mayors in the state to try to find a way to attract African-American officers and keep them so that they can be part of the community policing here.

One thing is for sure, it's going to take leadership to make a difference and he is right, Ferguson is a great place when you cover a story, you get to know the people there. There are good people here and everybody wants the situation to get better.

Coming up on NEW DAY, there's going to be more out of this situation of what's going on down here in the streets and with the leaders who are supposed to be doing their job, the investigation specifically.

There is a new witness who says he saw what happened in Michael Brown's shooting. He's come forward. He's told his story. You get to hear it and judge for yourself.

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