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CNN NEWSROOM

Rams Controversy; Student Walkouts; U.S. Troops Warned About ISIS; Iraq Paying Ghost Soldiers; Missing Boy Found; Comedian Talks About Fear

Aired December 1, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go. Top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me on this Monday.

Right now, from the highest levels of government to street level demonstrations by students, the nation is seeking answers with regard to what happened in Ferguson, Missouri. Right now, you're looking at these pictures here in New York, which folks, let me be clear, this is across the country today, you have protests underway in more than 50 high schools and colleges from Middletown, Delaware, to Missoula, Montana. Students united under the #handsupwalkout. They are decrying police violence.

Keep in mind, it has been exactly one week since that grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, chose not to indict Police Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown.

And right now, 2:00 Eastern, as I'm looking at the clock here, we know that President Obama is scheduled to meet with young civil rights leaders and that's not it for the president today. We know later this hour he will gather with community and faith leaders and law enforcement.

We have reporters on the ground throughout those different walkouts and we'll bring those to you live here on CNN. But these protests, not just on the streets. They were on the field Sunday night, as in the football field. And today the NFL says the players involved will not be disciplined. Were you watching this? Five St. Louis Rams players placing their hands up at the start of the game against the Raiders. This was a sign of solidarity with the people of Ferguson, Missouri. Here was what one of the players had to say about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You didn't - you didn't pick sides?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, that's what - you want me to pick sides? Did you pick sides?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, no, but that's how some people are interpreting it. That's what - that what you need to clarify.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, OK. Not at all. We just want to know - let the community know that we support them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The active protest led to a letter of protest from the St. Louis Police Officer's Association. Business manager Jeff Roorda spoke earlier by phone about why his organization is absolutely outraged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF ROORDA, ST. LOUIS POLICE OFFICER'S ASSOCIATION (voice-over): Let's not diminish what the show of hands meant. Again, it's accusing a police officer, a brother police officer, of executing a young man in cold blood. Not only are St. Louis police officers mad, but friends in law enforcement from across the country were calling me last night that were offended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: With me now, Rachel Nichols, CNN sports. I mean you heard Mr. Roorda. They are furious. You also know that -- think of just all of the eyeballs on the screen watching those Rams players doing this. You've covered sports for a long, long time. Your thoughts.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS: Well, it's interesting hearing Jeff Roorda and I think it's just important to remember that everyone has an opinion here. It's coming from their own personal perspective.

BALDWIN: Of course.

NICHOLS: Jeff Roorda, if you wanted the background on him, used to be a police officer in the St. Louis area, was actually fired from that job for filing false reports, first against a suspect, then against his own police chief. Then he became a local legislator in the Missouri state legislature and introduced a bill earlier this year advocating that police officers who shoot civilians on the job should be able to keep their names secret. So it doesn't surprise me that somebody with that track record is coming out against football players who are saying that they sympathize with the community and general protests about the way that police operate in minority communities. So that is the background here of where this conflict is.

And then it doesn't surprise me, in turn, if that's who is, quote, "protesting," the St. Louis Rams players, that the NFL turned around and said, you know what, we're not going to discipline them here.

BALDWIN: Did that surprise you, no action taken?

NICHOLS: You know, I think around the league, there's a lot of players in a lot of locker rooms today who are happy about that. There's not been a lot that NFL players have seen eye to eye with the league office on this season, so I think that there is general relief that their First Amendment rights, as they feel that they are, being upheld. Of course, you work for a sporting organization, they can go in and start making rules about what you can say and not do. I've heard some people today make comparisons to say touchdown celebrations. The league has rules against that. This is, obviously, very different from a touchdown celebration. I think the NFL has made a smart decision here to separate those things. This is not celebrating in the end zone, this is somebody really speaking from the heart about how they feel about their community. These players play just less than 10 miles from where a lot of these protests are going on and where a lot of the real action of this has happened and they're saying to the people around there, we feel that you are hurt about it, all of what's just (ph) happened.

BALDWIN: I think just finally broadening it out, I talked to Benjamin Watson of the Saints -

NICHOLS: (INAUDIBLE).

BALDWIN: Who wrote that, I thought, phenomenal piece, the essay, and, you know, sort of sympathetic, expressing his sympathy to both sides and was really sort of from the heart. It's interesting to see these players of this sort of stature with many, many fans, many of whom are young speaking up and out about this.

NICHOLS: Yes, and that's really changed. We've seen a real sweeping with that. And I think LeBron James is one of the people responsible for that when he spoke out on the Trayvon Martin issue.

BALDWIN: Yes.

NICHOLS: Remember that Michael Jordan - this wasn't that long ago, 10, 15 years ago, admittedly really refused to speak about politics, even when really questioned on it. And the idea that a lot of people figure was, hey, he wants to sell shoes, the era (ph) of Mohamed Ali, Billie Jean King has passed. Now (INAUDIBLE) we care about are the dollars. And we've seen a real swing back. And once a guy like LeBron spoke out, we've seen a lot of players follow his lead. Aaron Rogers has spoken out about issues in the Congo. You've had other players speak out about other political issues in the last year. And I think it's an impressive way for athletes, no matter what side of the debate they're on -

BALDWIN: Totally agree.

NICHOLS: They don't have to think one thing or the other. But sports is where we increasingly have national discussions in this country. Ratings are split over everything else, right? Entertainment shows. We don't come together over the season finale of M.A.S.H. any more.

BALDWIN: Right.

NICHOLS: If you look at the ratings every week, it's sporting events.

BALDWIN: Right. Right.

NICHOLS: Politics. We don't even talk on the same channel any more. We don't have discussions where we meet each other. Members of Congress don't actually have discussions more - you know, less than we would like them to. Sports is where we all come together. And if that's where we have to have a discussion on race and policing, then that's where it has to happen. BALDWIN: That they're engaged. That the pendulum is swinging back that

way. Rachel Nichols, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

You know, we mentioned some of those walkouts here and I can tell you that we have Jason Carroll now on the phone with me in the thick of things in New York.

Jason Carroll, talk to me. Tell me - tell me who you're talking to and what you're seeing?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, the protesters have left Union Square, where they started their demonstration. They marched up 3rd Avenue. Now they are heading west on 34th Street. They are staying out of the streets and clog the sidewalks as they make their way west. Two people, we saw put in handcuffs when they ventured out into the streets. So the New York City Police Department keeping these demonstrators, more than a 100 of them, maybe 200 at this point, walking west on 34th Street.

As you know, Brooke they've called for a national day of walking off the job, walking out of school in honor of Michael Brown, to draw attention to excessive force and police brutality. At this point, once again, in terms of this crowd that we see here, most of them are students. They appear to be students, many of them very young, speaking out for Michael Brown.

And also a local case here that's gotten a lot of attention. The case of Eric Gardner (ph). This is a man who was illegally selling cigarettes, Illegally allegedly in Staten Island and was taken down by police. He was put in a chokehold and died. A lot of people calling that out as a case of excessive force as well.

So, a number of students, protesters here on West 34th Street marching west to speak out against police brutality. We're going to see where they go. We're going to keep following them. So far the demonstrations have been mostly peaceful.

BALDWIN: Jason, let me just press you a little more as you're talking to -- it sounds like predominantly younger people. When they're talking about excessive force and police brutality, are they offering specifics as far as what they want changed?

CARROLL: Well, I think one point is clear and one point that Michael Brown's parents have also made as well, they'd like to see police officers, one, held more accountable in terms of the justice system, and, two, the idea of police officers required to carry cameras. That's something that I've heard a lot of people in this crowd speak about as well.

I think a lot of folks here just simply want to have their voices heard, Brooke, which is why they're out here today. In terms of solutions, those are two that we've heard of, but these are discussions that I think are going to be taking place in the next coming days.

BALDWIN: Jason Carroll, thank you for helping on the phone with me. Let's stay in close contact with you as we continue to tell their stories and we continue to hear both side of this. Jason, thank you, for me in New York.

Back to this developing story in just a moment, but first the FBI warning American soldiers ISIS may try to target troops on U.S. soil. We have those details ahead.

Plus, a disturbing development, Iraq says it has uncovered 50,000 troops, 50,000, who get paid but don't show up. Hear what these so- called ghost soldiers are doing to get away with it.

And a boy disappeared four years ago, now he's back in his mother's arms. Hear why a hidden wall is involved, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

The FBI is warning the military that ISIS might try to target U.S. troops right here on U.S. soil. Here is part of a joint statement issued overnight by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. It warns current and former troops about their presence online and recommends they review their social media accounts for postings that might attract ISIS or its supporters. It reads, "use caution when posting."

This, by the way, is the government's strongest warning yet about ISIS making plans to strike troops here at home. Jim Sciutto is with me now from Washington. Here he is. He is our chief national security correspondent.

And I'm curious, first of all, I mean, what kinds of postings by troops, Jim, might be getting the attention by ISIS. Why this, you know, social media focus?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you, it's in two directions. It's a social media of U.S. military personnel, so that they don't make themselves targets in effect. So don't advertise so it makes it easy for ISIS and its supporters to identify you as a potential target. That's part of this bulletin.

But I'll tell you, there have been other bulletins from the FBI warning of this kind of attack before. What's particular about this one and new is that they have information they're saying that members of ISIS are, in the words of bulletin, and I've been briefed on it, "spotting and assessing" individuals in the U.S. to find like-minded individuals who might carry out attacks in the U.S., including against U.S. military personnel. So it's going in both directions here. They're seeing - they're saying to U.S. military personnel, be careful what you post so you're not easily a target, but they're also observing, and this is new, members of ISIS searching via the Internet for potential recruits to carry out attacks.

You know, this is a big deal, Brooke, because when I speak to U.S. intelligence and counter terror officials, they say the most likely kind of attack to happen on U.S. soil are these so-called lone wolf attacks. Someone here radicalized by someone over there who makes a choice to carry out a violent act, like, for instance, we saw with the Ottawa shooter last month.

BALDWIN: Right.

SCIUTTO: Or in October, I should say. It's a real concern, not just of the U.S. military and law enforcement, but of U.S. counterterror officials.

BALDWIN: So you have the online postings on the one hand, but the warning also mentions the presence of ISIS supporters here in the U.S. I mean might there be a particular scenario in which that would really worry the FBI? What are they suggesting with that?

SCIUTTO: No question. And they based the most worrisome scenario on attacks that they've already seen across the border in Canada. So think, one, you had the shooter in Ottawa in late October taking a gun, shooting a soldier at a ceremonial posting there in the Canadian capital. But you also had two other attacks, which were a great worry, and those were attacks where attackers used their cars. They just drove their car into Canadian soldiers in uniform. They killed one, they injured another one. And that's of great concern too because the thing about lone wolf attacks is that, you know, one, you don't need any formal connection between you and the U.S. and ISIS back home. You can just read their propaganda and decide to act. Two, you don't need a lot to carry out an attack, right? You could make a bomb on the Internet but you could just use your car or you could use a gun. And it's because of that that these things are so difficult to police.

BALDWIN: I remember talking to Paul Cruickshank when all that broke, using the cars, and that was precisely what ISIS was calling for online, use -- those specific kind of attacks.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BALDWIN: While I have you, Mr. Sciutto, let's talk today about this story about the Iraqi government paying out thousands of basically for these bogus soldiers salaries. I mean are these soldiers just not showing up or is it more?

SCIUTTO: Or, even worse, not existing.

BALDWIN: Wow.

SCIUTTO: You know, what they believe is happening here is you have commanders who are basically, you know, puffing up their numbers of soldiers on their payroll, saying that they have 100 when they have 50, say, and pocketing that money from the government, which is remarkable. And that figure, 15,000, think about this, there are 280,000 some odd soldiers in the Iraqi military. So that's more than, you know, one in six that doesn't exist.

And you may remember, the U.S. military did an assessment of the Iraqi military earlier this year and found that only about half of Iraqi military, about half the brigades, are up to snuff as a fighting force to fight against ISIS. I mean this is a country that already has -- and we saw this as ISIS swept across the country and Iraqi soldiers, you know, took their uniforms off, you know, dissolved into the countryside, they already have major problems. The idea that 50,000 of them don't exist and were just, you know, were just kind of made up to pad the pockets of Iraqi commanders is pretty alarming. It just shows how deep a hole, you know, that country is after years of American support.

BALDWIN: It's incredibly alarming. This is the country we're hoping to lean on to get the help to beat these terrorists, to beat ISIS.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BALDWIN: It's deeply troubling. Jim Sciutto, thank you.

SCIUTTO: These are the ground force, right?

BALDWIN: Yes.

SCIUTTO: We talk about no U.S. ground forces.

BALDWIN: Yes.

SCIUTTO: The Iraqi forces are the ground forces.

BALDWIN: This is who we're relying on.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BALDWIN: My goodness. Jim Sciutto, thank you so much, sir. I appreciate it.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

BALDWIN: In Washington, joining me today.

Coming up next, this mother spent four years searching for her son, only to find out he had been kidnapped and hidden behind a wall for some of that time. Now they've been reunited. We'll tell you that story.

Plus, I'll speak with one entertainer who says, as a black man, he's afraid of police. He has a personal story to explain his own fear.

All of this the backdrop today, President Barack Obama meeting about Ferguson, protests erupting, these walkouts across the country in nationwide efforts. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A missing 13-year-old Florida boy is back in his mother's arms four years after she reported him missing. Police say the child traveled to Georgia to visit his father and never returned. Authorities say the boy was hidden behind a fake wall. Here is CNN's Jean Casarez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Jonesboro, Georgia, an emotional reunion four years in the making as a 13-year-old boy reported missing in 2010 finally reconnected with his mother after police found him hidden in his father's home.

SGT. JOANNE SOUTHERLAND, CLAYTON COUNTY, GEORGIA POLICE: We opened the compartment where he was, and I saw him and asked him to come forward and he was horrified. And he retreated away from us until he knew that those people weren't around him.

CASAREZ: The discovery was made on Friday night after police received a tip asking them to check the home. Authorities did not find the boy during that first visit and people inside told them they had no information on the child. But during a second search, the boy reportedly was able to contact his mother who told police to look behind the false wall. One of the officers involved opened up about the 13-year-old's reaction once he finally realized he was free.

DANIEL DAY, CLAYTON COUNTY, GEORGIA POLICE: He just couldn't thank us enough. He just kept saying, thank you, thank you, thank you. Just overjoyed that we had found him.

CASAREZ: Neighbors of the family, who moved into the home about six months ago, are absolutely stunned, saying they saw the boy playing outside frequently and doing yard work. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mother told me he was home schooled. So I didn't question as far as why he was always home.

AKONO EKUNDAYO (ph), NEIGHBOR: Gosh, it was right under our nose and we could have done something if we had known, but he wasn't never in distress it didn't seem like.

CASAREZ: Police say the boy had been visiting his father in 2010 when he refused to return him to his mother in Florida. A judge has denied bond for the father and boy's stepmother, who both face charges of false imprisonment, cruelty to children, and obstruction. It is not known if they have hired an attorney.

Three other people have also been charged in connection with the incident. Police didn't explain which parent has legal custody of the child or why police were not contacted sooner.

Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Jean Casarez, thank you.

An American couple cleared of starving their child to death but right now they're stuck. They're being held, trapped in Qatar. I'll talk with a father who I can assure you is incredibly anxious to come home to his other two children.

Plus, as protests break out across America over what happened in Ferguson, Missouri, one entertainer wrote an incredibly powerful piece. And what it's like being a big guy and black in America. He joins me live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Just about the bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

You know, what's happening in Ferguson has made one comedian take a serious look at the risks he endures every day just by being three thing, the same three things that describe Michael Brown, big, black and male. Here's a quote from comedian W. Kamau Bell in "Vanity Fair." He writes this. "Simply put, I am afraid of the cops because I am black. To raise the stakes even further, I am male. And to go all in on this pot of fear, I am 6'4" and weigh 250 pounds. I have been endowed with the triple crown of being killed for no good reason, big, black and male." W. Kamau Bell joins me now live.

Kamau, thank you so much for coming on with me. I appreciate it.

W. KAMAU BELL, COMEDIAN: Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: You know, listen, what happened in Ferguson and how you feel about -- to quote you being, you know, big, black and male, this isn't news today. This is something that you have felt for a lifetime.

BELL: Well, yes. I mean I've always been black and male, the bigness came later in high school. But, you know, my mom always prepared me for that. When I go out into the world, I had to be aware of the fact that I was a black male. And this is since I was a child, you know. And so as I moved through life and I become 6'4" and I'm a big guy, I'm just aware of the fact that currently it feels like America feels like big black men are ticking time bombs and I have to be careful of how I move through the world.

BALDWIN: Tell me about -- as you're moving through the world, tell me the story you wrote about in "Vanity Fair" about when you were trying to buy, what was it, an ice cream bar, ice cream sandwich?

BELL: Yes. Yes. An instant (ph) ice cream, which is a delicious ice cream. And I went out at 12:30 at night, which is late, but not too late, and I decided I wanted some ice cream. And I live in a very sleepy neighborhood in Berkeley, but there were some unsavory characters around that - by my eye unsavory. I don't know that they were.