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CNN NEWSROOM

Michael Brown Funeral; Michael Brown's Parents Asking for Peace

Aired August 25, 2014 - 10:30   ET

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


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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the day when it really sets in, when you have to put your child in the ground and you realize that he's not coming back ever again. And I think so many people are coming out here to support this family because he has become symbolic of a lot of pain and frustration that people of color all around America know all too well when it comes to senseless gun violence and police brutality.

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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. That was the lawyer for the Brown family. Looking inside the church, the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis where Michael Brown is being eulogized.

We just got word that the Brown family has arrived. They're going to be sheltered from cameras much of the day. We don't expect to hear from them. They will be in seclusion for much of this -- for much of the funeral. But there'll be plenty of other speakers. And of course, as the pastors begin speaking we'll take part of their eulogy live.

As many hope that the shooting death of Michael Brown will have some sort of impact on national policies some are noticing silence by those who may be making bids to lead the nation in 2016 among them Hillary Clinton who had a West Hampton book signing this weekend, ignored reporters' questions about the incident.

In light of that, get this, on the conservative blog, redstate.com this morning, one columnist says the issue of race is one that can no longer be ignored. He writes in part, quote, "We should listen respectfully, consider the concerns of the black community, and encourage healthy engagement of the political process. And we as conservatives need to take the chip off our shoulders and stop refusing to consider that there is an important message in what the Ferguson protesters are saying. There is a systemic race issue both in Ferguson and the nation and something should be done to address it," end quote. On the conservative blog Red State this morning.

Here to talk about all of this, CNN commentators Marc Lamont Hill and Charles Blow, and in St. Louis the Reverend Starsky Wilson, pastor at St. Johns United Church of Christ in St. Louis. Welcome to all of you.

REV. STARSKY WILSON, ST. JOHNS UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here.

Marc, I want to start with you. We just got word that Governor Nixon, the governor of Missouri will not be attending the funeral for Michael Brown out of respect for the family. Was that the right decision?

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first, I want to make sure that we're clear. If the family said we don't want you here, then of course that's absolutely respectful. I was at the peace rally last Sunday, and Officer Ronald Johnson left and all of the law enforcement agents left. And I said why are you guys leaving? They said, well because out of respect for the family we don't want a police presence here. We don't want a state presence here.

So that could be it. But if that is not the case then I find it very problematic. I think as a symbol that you care about the healing of this nation, that you care about substantive change in the state, you have to show presence. It doesn't mean you're taking a side. It doesn't mean that you're being partisan. It means that you're showing what matters here. And oftentimes, politicians like Hillary Clinton and others than I'm sure we'll talk about I think have been too careful on this. They have been trying to thread a political needle rather than doing the right thing.

COSTELLO: Well Charles, let's go on with Governor Nixon and I'm going to read his statement for our viewers. "The governor has communicated to attorneys representing the family of Michael Brown that he will not be attending today's funeral out of respect for the family who deserve time to focus on remembering Michael and grieving for their loss."

CHARLES BLOW, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right. But the moment that you decide to have a public funeral, you are kind of making the decision to be a bit of theater and sometimes that can be specifically because you want to send a message that something has happened to my child and the world can no longer look away from it. And, you know, Emmett Till's mom made that choice with an open casket saying "I want the world to see what they did to my boy."

You know, if the parents have not -- specifically asked him not to come and has allowed a lot of other very public people to be there, they have kind of bought into the idea that although this is a very private moment, I'm going to allow it to be used to be the symbol and to be a point where the community can heal, where people can coalesce around the death of my child.

If that is the case, I think that the governor doesn't quite make sense to me to say do it for the family because the family has obviously agreed to have cameras there. That doesn't quite add up.

COSTELLO: Reverend Wilson, I wanted to ask you, Hillary Clinton she was asked two times by reporters over the weekend to comment on Ferguson and she did not. It brings to mind all of these politicians always campaign in black churches, including both Bill and Hillary Clinton, so does it bother you she's not speaking out?

WILSON: Well, what I would ask Secretary Clinton to think about is how she would feel as a mother and if she could find the space as a mother to connect with the pain that Lesley McFadden is going through then I think that would be an appropriate thing for her to do. What we find ourselves in today is the reality of human mourning and grief and I think that's something that should touch any heart as much as we look to our elected officials to provide and to connect with us as human beings, to see us as made in the image and likeness of God in the same way we ask our public servants to do so, including police, then I would think she may have something to say about that.

So even if it's not a political statement, perhaps there's something to say to those mourning mothers, like Lesley McFadden and others who go through this experience that she should have some tender care for them at this moment as she reflects upon her own relationship with her family.

COSTELLO: When the Reverend puts it that way, Marc, it doesn't seem to take that much political courage to do just that.

LAMONT HILL: Absolutely. But again Hillary Clinton is being careful about, as she always is -- the Clintons always are -- about what the political consequences are speaking out as someone who wants to attract voters on both side of the aisle, someone who wants to be seen as a uniter. She's very careful about what the other side thinks.

COSTELLO: That makes me sad.

LAMONT HILL: It makes me very sad, too. It's very sad. But Hillary Clinton also needs to be careful because while she has, once again, garnered the favor of black voters, we're not that far from South Carolina, you know, in 2008, when she lost a big chunk of black voters because of the way the Clintons navigated the racial politics of the day.

So she needs to not make too many wrong turns here because she's still in very unsafe territory. And again, this is very sad to me and I don't want to let her off the hook. I don't want Hillary Clinton to just say this is sad for mothers. That's the easiest way out. That might be a great statement for a first lady to me, right. But she's Secretary of State. She wants to be president -- presumably.

Let's talk about the issues here. Let's talk about state violence.

COSTELLO: Republican Rand Paul spoke out -- right?

BLOW: She could certainly say something along the lines as what the President said which was, "I don't condone violence. We have to wait for the investigation to take place, however this is very troubling and we want to get to the bottom of it as best we can. And I feel deeply for the parents of this dead boy and this officer deserves to have his day in court."

I mean, I don't think that that really takes a lot of courage. That's just saying that I'm engaged. I'm watching this and I sympathize with people when they are in pain.

COSTELLO: Reverend Wilson, I'm just curious as to -- there was a lot of cameras there, I'm sure that maybe the Brown family has arrived, right? Because I can't imagine -- of course, there are many celebrities there.

But Reverend Wilson, I wanted to ask you, there will be a lot of famous people there today and a lot of them will have a lot to say. Who do you most want to hear from? Who will make the most difference?

WILSON: Yes. I think there will be a setting today where one of the family members who is also a minister will speak. I think the capacity to connect with the family in an occasion like this, the capacity to be thoughtful about the person, who was Mike-Mike. Who was Mike Brown? To be able to do that and also to be able to frame it in a religious context while being aware of the political implications is what I think his uncle will be able to do. And I think that's the voice that I look forward to hearing most today.

I appreciate the wider work that is to be done in the days ahead. There are those of us already building response, seeking to organize and engage in the community. But today we need someone to be able to walk the line of reflection on the personage of the human soul that's been lost while we then consider what the gospel has to say to us to give us comfort in these times.

And so I look forward to hearing that voice from his family member who can do that.

COSTELLO: Let's pause for just a moment. Michael Brown's father is now inside the church. Let's just pause to watch for a moment.

This is Trayvon Martin's father. I apologize. Let's watch.

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CAPT. RON JOHNSON, MISSOURI HIGHWAY PATROL: It would appear peace is being restored in Ferguson. Through 11:00 p.m. again tonight, we deployed no smoke devices, no tear gas and no mace. And again tonight no police officer fired a single bullet. Nor did we have to respond to a single call. I believe the citizens of Ferguson have spoken for peace, and I am happy for Ferguson tonight.

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COSTELLO: Michael Brown's parents are urging peace in Ferguson this morning as they prepare to lay their son to rest, just as hundreds of children return to the classroom after nearly two weeks of unrest following Brown's death. Joining me now from St. Louis, Don Lemon and CNN political commentator, L.Z. Granderson. Welcome back to both of you.

Don, describe the scene because more and more people are arriving. We saw Trayvon Martin's father. Also expecting Martin Luther King Jr., Reverend Bernice King, Jesse Jackson, and also the family of Sean Bell.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We've seen some of them. Reverend Jesse Jackson walked up just a short time ago. We saw Trayvon Martin's father arrive. Along with Spike Lee -- they didn't arrive together but they arrived at the same time. Spike Lee got a round of applause as he sat down. And as you said, we've seen Martin Luther King III here as well; and a number of different people.

The family arrived just behind us as you guys were talking and if I look around here some of them are still out here. You can probably see the shot on television from a different angle, but it's like a procession, right, L.Z. with the folks who are guarding the line here, and allowing people to walk through, making sure nobody is bothered. And it's quite a peaceful sight here.

There are motorcycles -- there's is a motorcycle procession that's happening right now and they have been lined up down the street in front of the temple, and it's really just sort of been an interesting thing to watch -- people from all walks of life, all different ethnicities and all different backgrounds.

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Don, I spoke to some of those members of the motorcycle gang who came down. They are telling me they are expecting over 150 by the time the funeral begins.

LEMON: That's a lot of them.

GRANDERSON: Some as far an hour away just to come to this funeral just to show support for the Brown family.

LEMON: Yes. And this temple Carol holds about 2,500 people and it's filled to capacity now, so they are going into an overflow room. Those are the motorcycles I hear -- looking at -- they are going into an overflow room and that overflow room I believe is full as well. So there's going to be -- you know, there are tons of people who are here today and I think there are two words here today right, healing and peace. Healing and peace -- I think that's what people -- that's the words I've heard the most.

GRANDERSON: When I stepped inside the overflow room, there was a recording playing and the choir was singing. You could hear the people out there were walking into the area singing along with the recording wanting that peace. There's still, as I talk to other young people trying to define what does that peace look like? It can't go back to what it was prior to this tragedy.

They have to figure out now once they go past this to defy what does peace truly look like for Ferguson and for the St. Louis area? Because despite the fact that there may not have been as much violence being televised, the fact is that the systematic racism that precipitated all these for decades and decades has to be addressed, in order for there to be true peace. We can't mistake a lack of violence for being peaceful.

LEMON: Yes. And it's like you know, we keep mentioning over, the names of people who are going to be here. That's all well and good because those people have a voice and they can continue that voice in the media -- right. They have a platform.

But this is really about that family of a young man, that grieving mother who can barely stand up who's, you know, she's so mournful and so tired. She's almost hunched over at the waist when she walks in. She looks like a woman who is defeated. Watching her yesterday walk into the room with the mother of Sean Bell and with Trayvon Martin's mother, it seemed to lift her spirits.

It's the first time during our interview that I saw her smile. Sybrina Fulton who is Trayvon Martin's mother made a joke. She later told me that she made that joke on purpose because she wanted to at least see her laugh a little bit and then the people in the room all tried to take credit for the joke and Trayvon Martin's mom says that was my joke. I did that.

But it was the first time that I had seen her smile, and I ended the interview and I asked her, because the two mothers had been talking, saying, you know, how they felt about her and that they were not going to let her go. As we know Trayvon Martin's mother has a foundation now and she turned to them and she said I'm sorry this happened to you and she turned to Trayvon Martin's mother said "I'm sorry this happened to you" and Sean Bell's mother said "I'm sorry this happened to you".

And I kept thinking, in all of the pain and the suffering and angst and the hurt that she's going through and the anger and whatever it is the state of her grief, she has the wherewithal to say you know what -- I'm sorry that this happened to you. She knows now. She knows -- Carol. She knows.

COSTELLO: She does. Sadly she does. Thanks, Don. Thanks, L.Z. I got to take a break. I'll be back with much more in the NEWSROOM.

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COSTELLO: All right. You see Michael Brown's mother I believe entering the church right now, the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis where her son is being laid to rest and eulogized by the famous and not so famous. In fact Rev. Charles Ewing, Brown's uncle will deliver the eulogy. He had spend this past week writing it. He says he was writing what God is giving me, to heal the hurt not only in the city of Ferguson but the whole nation, the whole world is hurting.

A lot of people are anxious and looking forward to hearing that eulogy because they believe that his words are important and that they'll help heal now only Ferguson and St. Louis but the entire nation.

With me now, Charles Blow, Marc Lamont Hill, L.Z. Granderson and Don Lemon -- Charles, let's start with you. What should the reverend say? I just can't imagine how hard he worked during the week to find exactly the rights words.

BLOW: Well, I think, you know, he will speak directly to the parents and the family and people who knew and loved this young man. I do think though when we talk about healing and peace, the thing that under lies that is progress. There can be no true healing. There can be no true lasting peace until you make progress on larger issues.

I was re-reading James Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son" this week. It was written 60 years ago, one of the essays talk about how people get upset with African-Americans because they disengage with politicians, and it's partly because they felt lied to, that their conditions didn't change enough regardless of what happened.

And I think that there is kind of systemic issue that still persist 60 years on from those essays being written and people look at that and they say I don't want to go back to a simmering silence where, you know, I'm not necessarily in the street but I am really not happy with my conditions right now. I'm not happy with the conditions of my community and I don't want to go back to that simmering silence.

COSTELLO: Well, in my mind at least, and I could have this completely wrong. But I think a tipping point has been reached on whether or not it's important to vote because you hear a lot from African-American leaders about, you know, through all of this what we've learned is that we need and we need to get out and we need to vote and we need to put the right leaders into place to represent us.

LEMON: Carol --

COSTELLO: I'm sorry -- Don, go ahead.

LEMON: Carol, can you hear me?

COSTELLO: I can, go ahead.

LEMON: L.Z. and I have been talking about a lot of the big push now to make changes in registering people to vote. Everywhere we've been going, if there's a protest, if there's an event, they have been registering people to vote.

But several things I just want to talk about because you guys were discussing it, and L.Z. and I were here witnessing the mother getting out of the limo. And we're looking at the live feed. There you see Tom Joyner who's going to be speaking today, radio host and there's Spike Lee. Both of them wearing glasses -- Tom Joyner the one to the left of your screen; Spike Lee to the right of your screen.

We're going to interview Tom a little bit later on here on CNN. He's going to talk to us about peace. What do we need to do to go forward, to heal. But the mom got out of the limo and I have to tell you today is the strongest I've seen her. L.Z. said she looks good and she wore red. She wore red today.

GRANDERSON: It's a home going, you know. And part of that, we saw it in our coverage earlier this year or late last year with Whitney Houston about a home going, how that's different from a funeral. Yes, they're going to mark the life but it's not going to be completely wrapped in complete sorrow. There's also going to be a celebration. 18 is way too young to be gone but you did get 18 years. Those 18 years were joyful. Those 18 years were celebratory. And she looked as though she was ready to recognize that part of Michael Brown's life even as she prepares to say goodbye to her baby. LEMON: That's Ben crump, here attorney came out to meet her. You can see all the people around her and some people started applauding. I guess they realized that it wasn't -- they didn't feel it was appropriate on this day, but I have to say she looks good and she's wearing red. And you know what, God bless her.

And just to finish off here, when you are talking about what Charles Ewing is going to say, who is an elder in the family and he's actually Mike Brown's great uncle and he is the uncle of the mother, Lesley McFadden. He said to me in an interview. He said, "I held her in my arms as a baby and I held him in my arms as a baby. We're going to miss him for things like picnics and barbecues and family reunions and holidays.

And he said, I'm just going to go with what the Lord told me. He said I tried years ago to preach from notes and I can't do. I'm going to say what's on my mind and what's on my heart and whatever God tells me to say. That's what he told me for this. So I'm looking forward actually Carol here to what he has to say.

COSTELLO: All right. Don Lemon thanks so much. L.Z. Granderson, Charles Blow. Charles Blow, Marc Lamont Hill.

And thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"@THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA" after a break.

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