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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Exodus of Biblical Proportions: Yazidis' Journey to Safety; A Desperate Airlift; Ferguson Police Will Not Release Officer's Name; Protests During Investigation into Ferguson, MO, Shooting

Aired August 12, 2014 - 12:00   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 madness.

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ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Exodus of biblical proportions. Iraqi refugees on the run this hour. We will catch up with CNN's Ivan Watson, who is at the Syrian/Iraqi border. We'll also ride along on a daring helicopter rescue of more refugees under siege on Iraq's Mt. Sinjar.

And also ahead, a second night of violence in Ferguson, Missouri, where a policeman shot and killed an unarmed teenager. Witness and police versions of the story, as different as night and day. So what was it that really happened? We'll hear from the friend who was with Michael Brown when he was shot and we'll find out more about this young man who was supposed to be heading off to college this week before his life was cut short.

Hello, everyone, I'm Ashleigh Banfield. It's Tuesday, August the 12th and welcome to LEGAL VIEW.

The plight of Iraqi Yazidis has come to illustrate the cruelty unleashed by the jihadi fighters known as ISIS, or Islamic State as they prefer to be called, and, of course, the danger facing all who resist. Just within the last hour, those dangers were horribly realized as an Iraqi air force helicopter crashed on a desolate mountain while trying to bring food and water to desperate and terrified Yazidi people. By the thousands, these members of a small and ancient religious sect remain stranded on Mt. Sinjar where dozens, maybe hundreds, have died since fleeing their homes under orders to convert to radical Islam or face slaughter.

But thousands have also been saved. And we've got the images of some of them. This is new CNN video of Yazidis who were led off of Mt. Sinjar over the weekend by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. They were able to cross into Syria. Yes, they sought refuge into Syria, and now are crossing back into the relative safety in Iraq's far north known as Kurdistan. Our Ivan Watson is with them and sends this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look at these people fleeing across borders to escape ISIS militants on this bridge, which leads from a Kurdish controlled part of Syria, here into Iraqi Kurdistan. We've been watching a stream of desperate families carrying little more than the cloths on their backs, walking. Some of these people have been on the move for days. Some of them have been camping. And now they're arriving here, in Iraqi Kurdistan, after fleeing their homes, in many cases in just a matter of minutes.

This stream of people, thousands every hour, has been continuing, I'm told, for days across this bridge and it's a part of a much larger wave of desperate people all across the north of Iraq who are fleeing ISIS militants, which appears to be carrying out a campaign of ethnic and sectarian cleansing. Because many of these people, I mean just look at the faces, look at the children here and what they're able to bring with them after they've been made instantly homeless.

And these people, and we've seen it, will end up tonight sleeping on roadsides, sleeping in ruined, abandoned buildings because there is simply no place else to go. The cash-strapped government of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq is trying to help some. There are some international organizations helping. But for the most part, this is a local project to help these people escape danger and come to a new place where there is no infrastructure and hardly any network of support for these people. And you can see how dazed they are when they come across the border and they have to find some place else to go.

These are not warriors. These are the elderly. These are children. These are mothers. These are fathers and husbands desperate to find some place where they can protect their families. This is a humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in front of our eyes here in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Ivan Watson, CNN, reporting from the Peshabor (ph) River between Iraqi Kurdistan and Syria.

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BANFIELD: The helicopter that crashed on Mt. Sinjar reportedly was carrying the Yazidis' only representative in the Iraqi parliament. And days ago she pleaded with fellow lawmakers to come to her people's aid. Make sure you take a look at the subtitles that are on your screen of this next clip.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Mr. Speaker, our (ph) woman are being killed or sold as slaves. This is a collective (ph) attempt to (INAUDIBLE) people. (INAUDIBLE), let's put our political differences aside and work together as human beings. (INAUDIBLE) of humanity, come to our rescue, come to our rescue.

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BANFIELD: Iraqi TV is reporting that the pilot of the helicopter was killed in this crash, but we're now getting word that the lawmaker apparently has survived the crash and that she's been rescued. We are also learning that a "New York Times" journalist was on board that chopper as well. Her name is Alissa Rubin. She's their Paris bureau chief. She survived the crash with an apparent concussion and broken wrists.

U.S. and British cargo planes are also airlifting rations to Yazidis on Mt. Sinjar, while U.S. warplanes and drones attack ISIS positions nearby. CNN has learned that the Obama administration may send as many as 75 additional U.S. advisers to Iraq to figure out ways to get all of the Yazidis to safety and protect the American interests there as well.

In the meantime, a lucky few are being flown off the mountain by Kurds in Iraqi air force helicopters. The same kind that just crashed a short time ago. Yesterday, our Ivan Watson and senior photographer Mark Phillips were flying along on a mission of mercy that you just have to see to believe.

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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The crew hurls packages out the door. People swarm the chopper.

WATSON (on camera): This has been one chaotic aid distribution. I mean, I really hope we didn't hurt anybody with the bottles of water we were throwing down from a height of 20, 30 feet. It's chaotic, but people were waving, they were giving thumbs up. And there are a couple -- there' are a couple of people very relieved to be off the mountain and clearly very, very frightened.

WATSON (voice-over): Then the helicopter lands one last time to pick up more passengers.

WATSON (on camera): Here they come. More desperate people throw themselves at the aircraft, heaving their children on board. It's first come, first serve. There were some who couldn't make it.

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BANFIELD: I'm joined now on the telephone by the man behind CNN's camera on that incredible journey, senior photojournalist Mark Phillips.

Mark, I'm so glad that we're able to speak with you about this. Those images are so harrowing. I cannot imagine what it felt like to be on that helicopter amid all of that. Can you bring it to us from your own words?

MARK PHILLIPS, CNN SENIOR PHOTOJOURNALIST (via telephone): Well, when we took off, you know, we knew we were flying over ISIS territory. And we didn't realize how dangerous it was until the guy started shooting their machine guns off the side of the helicopter. At first we thought they were clearing their weapons, making sure they worked. But the whole trip in, they just kept on shooting and shooting and shooting until we got to where the mountain was and where all the displaced people were. And then there was another problem there. As we came into land, people

would rush the helicopter. Now you saw in those pictures, people were desperately trying to get on and climbing over each other. There were old people who couldn't get on. There are young children who were basically thrown on board. And once that -- not settled down but once the helicopter had actually moved off while people were trying to get on, then there was a moment of relief that you're on the helicopter but also fear that now you've got to fly back over ISIS territory and hopefully not got shot down.

So it was a kind of strange mix of emotions. You could see in the people's eyes when you looked at those pictures, there was this like unbelievable relief that we've got out of here, but there was also the fear of, now what's next?

BANFIELD: And, Mark, we're looking at the pictures as the chopper takes off, leaving so many of those desperate people behind. They had to. As I understand it, the chopper was already overloaded, correct?

PHILLIPS: That's correct. I mean, those choppers are only supposed to carry about 15 people. And I think we came out with a little bit over 30.

BANFIELD: Oh, God.

PHILLIPS: The pilots were concerned that they couldn't take any more. There was a helicopter that went in before us and that brought out about 42 people. So it was fairly dangerous going in and out.

BANFIELD: And then today, Mark, I know you've heard this news that one of these M1-17 helicopters, which is the same model you were on, I don't know if it's the same helicopter, it's crashed with a journalist on board and a freelance photographer. Apparently the journalist, Alissa Rubin, is slightly injured with a concussion and broken wrists. Adam Ferguson, the photographer, survived. He's not injured. But they're citing technical failure. Do you think it's possible that it's because they're overloading them with so many of these desperate refugees?

PHILLIPS: Well, it could be. These helicopters do three runs a day. They fly in and out constantly. And so, you know, it's a lot of wear on the helicopters. And one of the pilots spoke to me when we came out. He said, the big concern is that when people rush the helicopter, they grab the helicopter and they push it sideways and they're trying to compensate to make sure that the helicopter doesn't crash there and then when people rush on board.

Yes, it's hard to know what actually happened to that helicopter. It's sad that the journalists were hurt. As journalists, you know, we try to get into the story. We try to see what's going on and try to get those pictures out. We thought about going back in today, but we thought we pushed our limits on that helicopter and so we didn't bother going back.

BANFIELD: And who knows if you would have been on the chopper that ultimately crashed. The pilot of that helicopter was killed. It's just such a sad situation all around.

I wanted to also ask you, Mark, about some of the people who were on board. When the M-60s were opening up and the cacophony of the bullets was terrifying those kids. One of the children stood out the most, a young girl who seemed to be crying for her dad. Was it because her dad was left on the ground or had she been separated from him at a different time? What was her story?

PHILLIPS: She'd been separated from him earlier on. It was unclear. We tried to get the story out. It was unclear how she'd become separated. He'd been left behind in the village and for the first two days he was making phone calls to the family on the mountain saying that he was OK and then the phone stopped. And they hadn't heard anything from him after that. When she got on the helicopter, it's hard to hear but you could hear her saying, "pa, pa." So she was very, very upset about leaving him behind.

And that was part of the situation. There was that joy of getting off the mountain but, you know, it's the heartbreak of, where do we go to next and how do we start again? And, you know, people are coming here and they have to find their own way once they get here. And that means finding an abandoned building, finding their own food, you know, any kind of housing. So they're kind of destitute here until they can sort themselves out.

BANFIELD: Mark, you have been in this business for decades. You have seen all of the worst that our fare has to offer. You have covered these war zones. Have you ever been through anything like you were -- what you went through with Ivan yesterday?

PHILLIPS: Not as much chaos. It's really sad to see people that desperate. You know, you feel for them. And I think for me the best thing I could do was keep on rolling and take their picture. Ivan was in their helping people get on board and helping as many as he could. But to me, you've got to take pictures and you've got to show how desperate the situation and show that emotion so people start to care for this plight. Because if they don't, you know, these people won't get any help and, you know, this situation will go unnoticed.

BANFIELD: Well, Mark, we are all so proud of the work that you and Ivan did yesterday and the great risk that you put yourselves in to tell this desperate story. It is such a critical story. And I cannot imagine that a number of administrations around the world, with the reach of CNN, haven't been able to share and see your pictures and understand the dire situation. So. Mark, from all of us, thank you. And, please, you and Ivan, stay safe and get some sleep. That had to be a really tough day.

PHILLIPS: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Mark Phillips joining us live after a harrowing journey. And again, one of those same helicopters that they were on yesterday has crashed today, killing the pilot, injuring a "New York Times" correspondent, the Paris bureau chief, Alissa Rubin. Her photograph, Adam Ferguson, a freelancer, not injured, but surviving that crash today as well. If you want to help the people that you're seeing in those images, the

people in Iraq who are fleeing the ISIS forces, you heard Mark say, you heard Ivan say, they're just innocent people, they're not fighters, they're desperate to survive. You can do so, you can help them, by going to cnn.com/impact. There you've got a list of organizations that you can choose from, helping people who are directly in harm's way in the most need.

And now to our other big story today, the shooting of an unarmed teenager in Missouri and the angry protests in response, it has become so tense that police have had to fire tear gas now.

We've got the LEGAL VIEW on what now the FBI can do, the Department of Justice can do, the local police can do, and where they are in this investigation.

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BANFIELD: We've got some interesting news out of Ferguson, Missouri. That's the site where an 18-year-old young man, an unarmed man, was shot dead within the last two days, and where the police had said they might release the name of the officer behind the shooting who's now under investigation.

They said they might release that name today. Well, that has changed, and there's a good reason for it. The police say that apparently a wrong name got out and that the wrong name of an officer apparently became the target of death threats, and they have now decided they're not going to release the name of the officer who's under investigation.

So we still don't know who it was who actually shot 18-year-old Michael Brown dead. When we do find out that person's name, here is a sample of what that officer's going to be going up against.

We showed you the protests live yesterday. Right now, protesters are walking through the streets outside the prosecutor's office in Clayton, Missouri. The protests became somewhat violent last night. There were gunshots. Ultimately, the police had to fire tear gas to make sure everyone stayed back.

That unarmed teenager died on Saturday. It started allegedly over some stolen gum or cigarettes and how it ended is very much up for debate. George Howell looks at the latest outcry and the investigation.

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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tempers flare on the streets of Ferguson on the second night of unrest over the death of Michael Brown, police in riot gear facing off with protesters, firing tear gas canisters, yelling at them to move.

Protests during the day remained peaceful, but here, anger and frustration linger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we want? UNIDENTIED MALES AND FEMALES: Justice!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When do we want it?

CROWD: Now!

HOWELL: This community outraged and demanding answers for what some believe was an unprovoked attack on an unarmed teenager.

The FBI is now launching an investigation into the racially charged shooting to parallel the police investigation following the massive outcry from community leaders to get involved.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, BROWN FAMILY ATTORNEY: Their baby was executed in broad daylight, and that's why people are so outraged

That's why people are frustrated, because they're saying yet again, one of our children executed before he even becomes a man.

HOWELL: A recent high school graduate, the 18-year-old was shot and killed by police Saturday, the spot where he fell marked this memorial.

The circumstances surrounding his death are still in dispute. Police say Brown assaulted the officer in his car trying to take his gun, but witnesses say the teen was surrendering with his hands in the air when the officer opened fire.

What's not known is exactly what transpired in those moments before the fatal shots and why his grieving parents tell CNN's Don Lemon they want justice for their gentle giant.

LESLEY MCSPADDEN, MICHAEL BROWN'S MOTHER: Never a day we think we'll be planning a funeral. We was waiting on his first day of school, and they robbed us of that.

Just because my son is a 6'4 black male walking down a city street does not mean he fit the profile for anything other than just walking down that street. That's all he was doing.

MICHAEL BROWN, SR., MICHAEL BROWN'S FATHER: My son don't have justice, and we don't have no peace. If he has no justice, we won't get no peace.

HOWELL: An autopsy on Brown is now complete, but findings have not yet been made public. Neither has the officer's name, the six-year veteran now on paid administrative lead while the investigation into what led up to this shooting continues.

George Howell, CNN, Ferguson, Missouri.

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BANFIELD: And clearly there is, now, the investigation that is under way, full bore, and I want to bring in CNN's legal analyst Paul Callan, criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, to weigh in on that.

We're not just talking about the police investigation, the potential for homicide or some kind of murder charge, if that is the potential. We're talking about a civil rights investigation. The feds have descended. The FBI is there, the Department of Justice, civil rights division. I could go on and on.

How is this playing out? Map this out for me. Who's doing what, and what might result in the end?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, ultimately, the U.S. Department of Justice civil rights division is in charge, and their primary investigators are the FBI.

Now, the FBI has its own division that's devoted to this. And then in Missouri, in that area, there are local U.S. attorneys who are Department of Justice employees.

But you know something? It's all part of the federal government law enforcement arm looking at this, saying, if we find civil rights violations, if we find other federal violations, we may supersede the local cops and prosecute.

BANFIELD: Correct me if I'm wrong, but in all the cases we cover, it's usually something ends up in court, and then ultimately you hear about the Department of Justice getting involved far, far down the line. This is within, you know, 48 hours.

CALLAN: It's unusual to see them jump in some quickly. In looking back on prior cases, when there's rioting that occurs, when there's widespread protests surrounding an arrest and accusations that it was made maybe based on racial animus, they do get involved at a much earlier stayed.

BANFIELD: You just used those key words, racial animus. There's no secret that there is a racial element playing out here.

Sixty-seven percent of this community is black. They don't feel that the police force represent that the police force represents them demographically. Certainly the some of the statistics are askew if you like at the number of stop, arrests, et cetera, compared to the percentage of the population.

What is the DOJ -- what are the Department of Justice investigators looking for in order to actually levy some kind of a civil rights violation?

CALLAN: People have to understand, there are a huge number of federal statutes that could apply. For instance, if it was a hate crime, if a person was killed based on their color or religion, that's a federal crime.

But there's a wider net that can be thrown out there. That is -- it's called color of law case. That means that if a law enforcement official, that's somebody acting under color of law, kills somebody without proper justification, that's a federal crime, because the constitution says you have the right to life.

So people always think that these are civil rights violations, but they're actually general constitutional violations that can be investigated.

BANFIELD: So far, so far there are varying witness accounts. We're going to hear both sides of the story at this very, very early time in this the investigation, obviously,.

But no one is saying there were racial epithets being thrown. No one is saying anything along those lines. They're just saying it's unfair that a black unarmed teen just shouldn't be shot in the streets.

But in order to get a civil rights violation, do you have to have some piece of evidence to show that, or can you make this general sweeping sort of comment that the police aren't being fair or they're targeting African-Americans unfairly in order to get that kind of justice?

CALLAN: Just to show you how rare it is that the feds get involved in these cases, average 12 million arrests in the United States annually, 200 civil rights cases get prosecuted and you get convictions, nationally. That is such an infinitesimal statistic, and it's because they don't have the resources to jump in on all cases.

So it's got to be a really bad case with strong evidence of either racial animus or a pattern of excessive force used by police against minorities.

BANFIELD: So there's a possibility race might not come into it. The excessive force alone could carry the day for one of these kinds of --

CALLAN: It could, yes.

BANFIELD: Paul Callan, thank you so much.

And as I just mentioned, there are two sides to this story, clearly sometimes three. In fact, as the stories come out, they're not matching.

A witness who says that he was walking with Michael Brown gives his account. Have a listen.

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DORIAN JOHNSON, MICHAEL BROWN'S FRIEND: Once my friend felt that shot, he turned around and he put his hands in the air and he started to get down. But the officers still approached with his weapon drawn. He fired several more shots.

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BANFIELD: But what police have to say sounds very different.

We're going to present both sides of the information that is at hand at this stage, right after the break.

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