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NEW DAY

Member of British Diplomatic Team Killed in Kabul; Ferguson Mayor Vents Frustrations; Nor'easter Causes Holiday Travel Nightmare

Aired November 27, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news, a suicide bomber attacks an embassy convoy in Afghanistan, a British diplomat among the dead. Dozens more injured. The Taliban is taking credit. The question now is will U.S. troops be able to end their Afghanistan mission next year as planned?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Darren Wilson's fate as massive protests grip the nation. Many are wondering, what is next for the Ferguson officer who shot and killed Michael Brown? We'll discuss what Darren Wilson may be contemplating.

CUOMO: Black Friday frenzy. You know it's one of the busiest shopping days of the year. What you need to know is, where are the best deals and what is the best time to get them. Guess what? We have answers for you.

Your NEW DAY continues right now.

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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan and Michaela Pereira.

PEREIRA: You're debating ham versus turkey.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: But we're not a big fan of ham. So, turkey (ph), I think is a violation of --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Agreed.

CUOMO: All right. Good morning. Welcome to -- we got that settled. And it is Thanksgiving. So, it's appropriate conversation.

It's good to have you here with us on NEW DAY. It is Thursday, November 27th, just after 8:00 in the East.

Chris Cuomo, Michaela Pereira, Deborah Feyerick -- thanks for everybody being here today. And thanks to you for spending part of your holiday morning with us.

We do have breaking news to tell you about. A member of the British diplomatic corps is among five people killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan.

PEREIRA: A car loaded with explosives detonated at the convoy of foreign embassy cars that was passing through Kabul. What exactly is behind that attack?

We want to turn right to our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, who joins us with the latest details.

Barbara, good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you guys up here on this holiday.

A very grim reminder how dangerous war zones really are for all of those who serve. A British diplomat, he's now said to be a member of the security team, the civilian security team for the British delegation, killed in Kabul, when a car laden with explosives detonated when a convoy of vehicles was going by. Five killed, this person included. Five killed, 33 wounded, including a number of children.

The Taliban taking credit. You see the aftermath, very grim business. Taliban really sort of moving in again in so many areas in Afghanistan, if indeed they ever left. A number of attacks in Kabul in that region in recent days and in other places across the country. Raising the question: as the U.S. and coalition presence winds down in Afghanistan, will the Taliban again be on the rise?

The U.S. presence expected to within weeks now to go down to about 10,000 troops or so, through most of next year. They will continue to do some training, advising, assisting of Afghan security forces. They will continue to conduct counterterrorism missions against al Qaeda and Taliban operatives.

But right now, you know, if anybody ever thought the Taliban left town, they certainly appear not to have done that -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: A violent and sad reminder, especially on this day.

All right. Barbara, thank you so much for that.

Cold and calm ascending on Ferguson, Missouri. Protests remaining mostly peaceful overnight, after two nights of violent protesting after the decision not to indict the officer who killed Michael Brown.

The anger, however, is not in the past. It is still being felt in cities across the nation. More than 160 people were arrested at various protests in California.

I want to bring in Stephanie Elam, who is live in Ferguson.

Good morning once again, Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

Much calmer night here in Ferguson, but, yes, protests continue here, in the United States, and around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM (voice-over): A beefed up National Guard presence in Ferguson, keeping the peace and protecting property. A small group of demonstrators braving the snow and freezing conditions to continue the protests.

Ferguson Mayor James Knowles expressing frustration that the Guard wasn't deployed sooner.

JAMES KNOWLES, FERGUSON MAYOR: At that point, you're beyond antagonizing. You know, the destruction is already under way. There's no reason not to deploy them. I have no idea why they weren't deployed. That's frustrating.

ELAM: Missouri's governor admitting the state must do better after more than tripling the National Guard force yesterday. After two days of arson, looting and vandalism, this burnt out stretch of West Florissant Avenue now considered a crime scene.

Ferguson police investigating a fire that destroyed the church where Michael Brown's father worships and trying to track down who stole an AR-15 rifle from a police car that was torched on Monday night.

The town's business owners and residence now clearing debris, boarding up windows and attempting to rebuild their community.

PROTESTORS: Hands up, don't shot!

ELAM: Meanwhile, protests around the country continue, with hundreds of people once again pouring into the street.

PROTESTORS: Show me what democracy looks like.

ELAM: In nearby St. Louis, police arrested three protesters following a demonstration outside city hall.

PROTESTORS: People united, we'll never be defeated.

ELAM: Protesters marched into the building after holding a mock trial of Officer Darren Wilson on the steps of the city's courthouse.

In southern California, demonstrators blocked the 101 Freeway, sparking confrontation with drivers and police.

Further north, the Los Angeles police arrested 130 protestors, while trying to coral demonstrators.

PROTESTORS: No justice, no peace! ELAM: Outrage over the grand jury's decision reaching as far as London, where roughly 5,000 protesters marched outside the U.S. embassy, in solidarity with the Ferguson community Wednesday night.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: And back here in Ferguson, while there is fatigue with the attention on Ferguson and the story here in this town, there are many people who say the drum beat should not be stopped and that the relationship between law enforcement and young people of color continually needs to be examined -- Chris.

CUOMO: Stephanie, I'm surprised you get any of this, your mouth as old as it is there in Ferguson.

ELAM: Sorry.

CUOMO: Thank you very much for joining us, especially on Thanksgiving. You have nothing to be sorry for reporting. It's been great. Thank you for it.

Let's bring in Chris King and Lizz Brown from "The St. Louis American". Chris is the managing editor, Liz is a columnist at the paper, and it's one of the oldest, continuously published African- American newspapers in the city.

So, it's important to have both of you here and nice to see editor and columnist elbow to elbow. Hopefully it's for Thanksgiving. This, you know, spirit of comity.

Now, we do see the protests going on. We don't want to see anyone targeted, but, Lizz, let me ask you this -- why so much focus on the police and not the political leadership that makes the decisions that control the police -- your governor, your big elected officials, the mayor. How have they escaped the scrutiny here?

LIZZ BROWN, COLUMNIST, ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: I have no idea, Chris, because I personally lay the blame of what has happened here at the feet of Claire McCaskill, at the feet of Jay Nixon, and at the feet of Bob McCulloch. All three of them are the top lawyers in the state. And these top lawyers made a decision that Bob McCulloch should not be removed from this case.

The top lawyers in this case, Claire McCaskill in particular, said because Bob McCulloch is my friend, I don't think he should be removed from this case. I see no reason for it. I know how honest he is.

These three people could have gotten together on day one and made the decision that it would be impossible for any attorney, any prosecution, to be fair and impartial when prosecuting a case of this size against their own police officers.

CUOMO: All right. Now, I have the new break down --

BROWN: I lay the responsibility of that. CUOMO: I have a new breakdown of what was said. We don't know what

the grand jurors voted. We don't know the count. We're not going to know the count, but we now know what witnesses said mattered and why. I want to go over the bullet points with you.

Chris, start with you. More than 50 percent of the witness statements said that Michael Brown held his hands up when Darren Wilson shot him -- 16 out of 29 such statements. And as we all know, the prosecutor keeps saying, he threw every witness in there that he could, even some people felt -- they should have known didn't tell the truth. So, it's not about not having the right witnesses -- 16 of 29 said he held his hands up.

What does that mean in terms of how they still didn't indict?

CHRIS KING, MANAGING EDITOR, ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: Well, we're looking at the demographics of St. Louis County which was reflected in the grand jury, which was empanelled by a district judge before August 9, when Michael Brown Jr. was fatally shot. And those are the same majority wide voters, 9 out of 12, that elected Bob McCulloch over and over again and will elect him again if they get a chance, I'm afraid.

CUOMO: Here's another for you, Lizz. More than half of the witness statements said Brown was running away from Wilson when the police officer opened fire on the 18-year-old. While fewer than one fifth of such statements indicated that was not the case. That's confusing. More than half of the witnesses said he was running away when the shooting started.

That's inconsistent with Officer Wilson's testimony. What do you think got the great jury past that statistic of the witnesses in favor of what Wilson said?

BROWN: I think that the issue of credibility of a cop got them past that. We have to keep reminding ourselves that a grand jury is not a trial setting. There's no cross-examination. There's no vetting of the information.

And I tried dozens and dozens of criminal cases, and one of the most important things you do as an attorney is a voir dire selection, you try to weed out the jurors that have predisposed positions and attitudes about people, and in particular, a police officer.

In this case, in the grand jury, this police officer walks into that room with credibility-plus. They already believe what police officers say. So, when Darren Wilson spoke, they listened, and they believed him because there was no cross-examination, and he walked into that room with super, super, super credibility, and then, if we want to talk about the race component of it as well, he walked -- a white police officer walked into this room with credibility and also the advantage of being white.

CUOMO: Now, one of the things that is interesting, Chris, in this PBS -- "PBS NewsHour" did a breakdown of the testimony and they created a grid for us, that's what we're working off of. They did not ask as a category how many people said he was charging when he was shot. They don't have that there. Obviously, that wound up being the biggest determination on what Officer Wilson was basing the largest part of his actions on. This will never get more sussed out than it has been already legally.

So, the question becomes where is there closure? Not meaning it should go away, but you move past this into the direction of progress. What are you hearing on the ground about what that will mean for people? How does that start?

KING: Well, you know, the front line protesters, they are angry at the police. They have good reason to be angry at the police. They're going to remain angry at the police. There needs to be a better leverage on the middle line or the back line of supporters and there are very intelligent people in St. Louis and Lizz and I know them well, who have advised the younger protesters to a limited extent, and mostly let them lead and do their own thing.

But now there is a chance to go to the bargaining table with some of the power brokers who made the mistakes to get us where we are, and get those power brokers to behave differently, to enact better policies, and to take responsibility for the mistakes they made so that we actually can improve St. Louis and Ferguson instead of continue to destroy it.

CUOMO: The only thing -- well, look, and that's what it's all about, right? It is finding a way forward. There's no question that you have a division between the community being policed and the men and women who are supposed to protect them, but it comes back to the leadership.

Once again, this doesn't happen just from protests. President Obama was right about that. It's about that -- it doesn't come from violence and destruction of a protest. It comes from change of leadership. And we're going to have to see what form that takes in Ferguson, if at all.

Lizz Brown, Chris King, thank you for joining us, especially on Thanksgiving. You've been very helpful to us.

BROWN: Thank you.

CUOMO: Enjoy your day with your loved ones.

Mick?

PEREIRA: Well, of course, the question is, are you getting home to be with your loved ones for this Thanksgiving? We know the weather is certainly not cooperating. So many flights canceled yesterday. The roads were really bad for a lot of people due to the nor'easter we experienced on Wednesday.

Many of you are probably watching us from the airport TVs, in fact. We know that 700 flights were called off, 4,000 others delayed.

So, the big question is, what about today? What's in store for our holiday? Meteorologist Jennifer Gray is here.

Please tell me there's there news.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: There is good news. Things are much, much better today. Airlines should be getting back on track.

The bad news is, if you had to spend the night in the airport, waking up in the airport, hopefully you will be able to get a flight soon. So, those airlines will be playing catch-up as the storm system pushes out.

It was a fast mover, so it did dump quite a bit of snow, maybe interior sections. We saw eight inches across portions of New England. Donna, Virginia, we saw close to a foot. Some areas, even more. So, a lot of snow with this, but it did impact the interior sections a little bit more.

Here's an outlook at your Thanksgiving Day. Cold but clear across the Southeast. We are going to see very cold air up in the Northern Plains, a little bit of rain and snow for the Great Lakes for today. That's really the only trouble spot, though, as we look into highs today -- 37 in Kansas City, 64 in Denver. What a great day there, 45 in D.C., temperatures chilly here in New York City.

Lows tonight dropping down into the teens and even single digits across the Midwest and the Northern Plains. So, very cold start to a couple of Black Friday shoppers heading out for tomorrow. We are going to see a quiet weather pattern, though, set up for the East as we go through the weekend.

So, if you are traveling back Saturday or Sunday, the Northeast and the East Coast looks much, much better.

A lot of folks heading to the streets of New York for the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, 37 degrees right now, feeling like 35. And, guys, we are going to see those temperatures stay very cool throughout the parade. It will be in the 30s, feeling below freezing.

So, at least it's not going to be windy. It should be a good day. It's Thanksgiving. We expect cooler weather, right?

PEREIRA: Or rainy, too, because, you know, you can bundle up in the cold. It's harder to stay dry.

GRAY: Absolutely.

PEREIRA: All right. Thanks so much. We appreciate that.

CUOMO: Thanksgiving. It's going to be good no matter what.

PEREIREA: Yes.

CUOMO: There's a lot of news this morning. Let's get right to Deb for some of the top stories.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, you guys.

Well, the headlines:

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is said to be resting comfortably after having a stent placed in her artery. Doctors discovered a blockage Wednesday after she experienced discomfort during routine exercise. At 81, Ginsburg is the oldest active justice. She is the most liberal in the court. She previously survived colon and pancreatic cancer. A court official says that she expects to be back on the bench Monday.

And police in Cleveland released surveillance video showing the moment a 12-year-old boy was fatally shot by officers. And we do want to warn you, that the video is graphic and troubling to see.

Authorities released the images at the request of the family of the 12-year-old Tamir Rice. He was shot as officers responded to reports of a guy in the park brandishing a gun. Police say he was holding what looked like a real gun. Well, it turned out to be fake. They say he was told three times to show his hands.

There are questions, however, about why police fired just seconds after they pulled up in front of the boy.

Well, Israeli security forces say they have broken up a massive terror plot. They say Hamas terrorists were planning to abduct civilians and carry out attacks on targets, including a football stadium and train stations as well. At least 30 people were arrested, rifles, ammunitions and explosives were said to have been recovered. Officials say the terrorists were getting support from operatives in Turkey, Syria, Gaza and Jordan.

And an experimental Ebola vaccine proving successful in its first human trial. Researchers found all 20 people who used the vaccine developed antibodies against Ebola. Well, the results are incredibly promising -- promising enough to now launch a trial for thousands in West Africa. The only issue is the high dose of the vaccine, which is make it harder to manufacture in a timely matter and get it to the people who need it the most.

But at least it's hopeful, and that's great news for all of those in West Africa.

PEREIRA: Yes, absolutely. Very good news, indeed.

Thanks, Deb.

FEYERICK: Of course.

CUOMO: We need it. We need some good news. That's for sure.

So, Officer Darren Wilson's attorney say it's only a matter of time before the officer leaves Ferguson. But with two Justice Department investigations and a possible civil suit hanging over him, the story is far from over. We'll tell you what might be coming next for him. PEREIRA: Also, we'll hear from Michael Brown's parents. They sat down with Sunny Hostin, what they said to say about that officer. You'll hear that interview coming up.

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CUOMO: We're now talking about the fallout from the Michael Brown shooting because it continues to figure out now what happens.

You have two federal investigations focusing on Ferguson. One concerns possible racial profiling by the police department. The other one focuses on Officer Wilson specifically and whether he violated Michael Brown's civil rights.

Let's figure out what those investigations are all about and what is most likely with CNN commentator and legal analyst Mel Robbins, and HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson.

Joey, I want to start with you. But, first of all, we have this breakdown from PBS that we were using in the last segment. I said I didn't see them asking how many charge -- how witnesses say he charged. They did have it. I just didn't pick it up the way they worded it.

Six to four said that Michael Brown charged the police car or the police officer, six to four.

PEREIRA: Six witnesses.

CUOMO: Yes, and four said he did not. And most of them were n/a, you know, they didn't -- there was no response.

PEREIRA: Maybe they didn't remember it, didn't see it?

CUOMO: Yes, or no question for that fact. So, that was that.

And a majority said, though, Michael Brown did reach into the car. So, that's where they are on the breakdown. But that then gets to what the jury weighed and what they didn't.

And now, they came to their conclusion. That part is over. These federal investigations, the next part, is either of them likely to bear fruit? If so, why?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, here's how I see it, Chris. How I see it is this. The federal investigation as it relates to civil rights violations is very difficult to establish. And here's why.

When you talk about a federal investigation that talks about, did you violate civil rights, you have to show purposeful deprivation of a civil liberty. What would that be? Purposeful violation, the use of excessive force. That's the violation of your constitutional right. We have a right to walk around without being shot.

However, in showing that, you have to show some animus, some malice, some evil purpose. And so, you need to do that. If you can't just show that he acted, that is Darren Wilson, in a reckless of negligent way, you have to show he violated his rights. And that's pretty difficult.

As to the other issue, as it relates to the pattern and practice of the police department, who knows, it's pretty mature to say, because they'll be looking into that in detail about what they have always customarily done and what they continue to do.

PEREIRA: Well, that's what I want to pick up with you, Mel, because we have seen the 160-some odd protests around the country. There's a great deal of people who feel as though things need to change in this country. They're looking to this federal probe as maybe bringing about some changes in policies and procedures.

Do you think that's likely?

MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR & LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I don't think that the federal probe is likely, because as Professor Joey Jackson just so thoroughly and eloquently explained the law in this, it's a very, very high bar and they've got to show a pattern and practice for this police department, you know, on behalf of the police department to find a violation.

I do think, however, what will cause change is the protests, the conversation, and the family's push for what they're calling the Michael Brown law. You already heard in the press conference in the tragic Cleveland shooting of the 12-year-old with the toy gun, during the press conference when they released the video, they said that by January, all Cleveland police officers will be wearing the cameras on the actual bodies of police officers. And I think that is a very, very good step.

But one thing that I would love to talk about is that last year, the FBI reported there were 461, quote, "justified police shootings." I think the real issue here, and Joey has been talking a lot about this, I heard Chris when he was on the ground in Ferguson talking about this -- you know, in these cases, when there's a police shooting, it goes to this grand jury process that is controlled by the prosecutors who have a very tight relationship with the police.

And one of the things that I think needs to happen is, is there an alternative to that process? In looking at --

PEREIRA: A more objective --

CUOMO: There is. It's called a special prosecutor.

PEREIRA: But it seems like a political move.

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: -- we're talking about it, what Mel is talking about is listen, this should be as a matter of law, not as a matter of saying, let's make the educated decision. Should the governor take it away from me, should I recuse myself? As a matter of practicality, as a matter of law, you shouldn't be doing it.

I work with you every day, I respect you, I admire you, I need you for my investigation.

PEREIRA: How can I objectively question you?

JACKSON: How can I objectively evaluate what you do.

And so, people say, but it's the same evidence. It's all in the manner of the presentation of that evidence, that's significant.

How are you going to present it, what are going to be the order of witnesses? How are those witnesses going to be questioned and analyzed? All of that goes in to the perception of whether there's a problem.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: So, what's the compromise? The compromise is that a prosecutor comes in like Bob McCulloch then said, we're going to be impartial here. I'm going to present you with all the evidence, grand jury, as you make the decision for yourself.

What message does that send? And is that putting too much strain on the system?

JACKSON: See, if that's a problem because it's the way it's presented. For example in this case, prior to Darren Wilson testifying, who was called? You had his sergeant that was called, and what questions was he asked?

What do you know about Darren Wilson? He's the greatest guy. He smiles every day. He's a wonderful person. He's never had an issue, no disciplinary record at all and he's bolstered his testimony. That's improper.

Now, you know, look, the grand jury had a job to do, I respect the job they did. All I'm saying is, when they evaluate the evidence, the grand jury proceeding is a great way at getting information. It's not such a great way at sifting through the information and critically analyzing it and subjecting it to the scrutiny that a trial would subject it to, and that's the issue.

PEREIRA: All right. Our thanks to both of you.

Can we release them now? Can they have thanksgiving with their families?

CUOMO: They remain sequestered.

PEREIRA: Oh my goodness! Mel --

JACKSON: There's a great Thanksgiving going on here, right back in the green room, lots of food. Now, you're missing out.

PEREIRA: Joey, Mel, our thanks to you. ROBBINS: Hey, don't rub it in, Joey.

PEREIRA: He did. We're like siblings here that can't get along. Thanks, guys.

CUOMO: Well, look, we're certainly grateful to have you as part of the NEW DAY family. You, Mel and Joey, thank you very much.

Now, one family who will be having a very hard Thanksgiving is the Brown family, no matter what you think of the case, they don't have their son this Thanksgiving. The family is speaking out. They sat down with CNN. You want to stick around for the interview. They had a lot to say about the man who took their son's life and what should happen next.

PEREIRA: And families are gathering about a half hour from now for this.

CUOMO: Oh, boy. There's a bunch of turkeys.

PEREIRA: That's a turkey family. We've got live pictures for you. People bundled up in their outfits. Some of them comical, some of them warm, for the 90th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving parade. It's about to kickoff. We're going to take you to the parade route before it begins, coming up.

CUOMO: Trivia: what do you call a group of turkeys?

PEREIRA: A gaggle.

CUOMO: Is that it?

PEREIRA: I don't know.

CUOMO: I thought it was --

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