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Curfew In Place For Ferguson, Missouri; Texas Governor Rick Perry Indicted On Two Felony Charges; U.S. Forces Bombed Islam Militants In Northern Iraq Today

Aired August 16, 2014 - 20:00   ET

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


POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: As we have seen, tonight a state of emergency has been declared in Ferguson, Missouri, coming down from the governor of Missouri. The town's fragile peace has crumbled in the days after the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a police officer.

We have just learned that Brown's family has hired famed pathologist Michael Baden to perform a second autopsy on Brown's body. Baden testified in the trials of O.J. Simpson, Phil Spector, and Drew Peterson.

In just five hours, the curfew goes into effect on the streets of Ferguson. And short time ago, Missouri's state patrol captain Ron Johnson spoke at what became a very contentious community member meeting, really, talking about why they're putting this curfew into place. At the same time, what you heard from members of the community speaking out after that announcement saying, we want justice, we want justice now, saying when is an arrest going to be made? It went on for a very, very long time. A contentious meeting between some of the leaders of that community and the police officers and some of the community members demanding answers.

As we mentioned at the top, this curfew begins at midnight central time. A short time ago, I spoke with Brown family attorney Anthony Gray. I asked why the Brown family is now going to conduct a second autopsy and why they chose this pathologist to perform it. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY GRAY, BROWN FAMILY ATTORNEY: He's worked on multitude of high-profile cases. We think that there would be no problem with his experience or his stature within the pathologist community. And so, we think we've got one of the best in the world that you can ever have in order to do a thorough autopsy on this particular -- in this particular case.

We're conducting an independent autopsy, the family is, and so we want to have those results at our fingertips in order to be able to examine some information that we trust and that we can rely upon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Important to note we did ask him if they are going to release the results of that autopsy to the public, they have not decided on that at this point. We should also note that St. Louis coroner's office did already perform an autopsy on Brown's body and those preliminary results are not known to the public at this point in time.

A little more information now about that pathologist, Michael Baden. Apologies, I missed pronounced it at the top. He is a former chief medical examiner in New York city. He's lectured at numerous universities. He's served as an expert witness in many high-profile trials as mentioned including the trial of O.J. Simpson, the Claus von Bulow trial, and also the trial of Marlon Brando's son. He has also written numerous books, published articles in national and international medical journals. He's been featured on an HBO special on the topic as well.

And you know, to say that the people of Ferguson are frustrated is an understatement. You only had to watch today's news conference held by, as we talked about at the top, the governor and also local law enforcement leaders there to see that. They had trouble keeping order. Many times they had to stop and wait for people to voice their concern. Many people jumping in and demanding justice, demanding answers. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me, governor, you need to charge that police with murder.

CROWD: Yes!

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

GOV. JAY NIXON (D), MISSOURI: The task that we have at hand, the task which I have been tasked to lead, is a task, first of all, that represents the people of the state and the people of this area. But also to make sure that we have peace and security.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even though you're in command were you not aware S.W.A.T. teams were being deployed? Did you know about them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I did. And last --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You gave that order?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes. Can I answer your question? Can I answer your question?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were reports this happened without you knowing --

CAPT. RON JOHNSON, MISSOURI HIGHWAY PATROL: Let me answer the question. Last night we had several officers that were trapped in a parking lot. They tried to get out. We sent an armored vehicle to help them out. We sent two armored vehicles to help them out. We had three officers injured. One officer deployed one can of tear gas. He was there, he made that decision. I got a call on the phone and I said, I'm backing round. I got back out of my bed and I went en route. And I said, make sure we are not going to use any force that's not necessary. And it was one can that got out. I removed those officers out and the next thing that you saw was a group of officers standing on the roadway. And yes, that happened.

(CROSSTALK)

NIXON: If I could --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop skilling our people, police! Stop killing our people!

NIXON: If I could please -- please.

REP. WILLIAM LACY CLAY (D), MISSOURI: I asked attorney general Eric Holder to take over the entire case and to prosecute it as a civil rights violation. And I will continue to pursue that. But I think for some in this room, your anger is misdirected. On a state charge of murder, the county prosecutor files the charges. Now, so if you --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

CLAY: I agree with you, I'm willing to go. I agree with you, I agree with you. But he hasn't filed the charges. And it's very -- wait a minute -- it's very peculiar that the victims -- I'd rather we get -- I would rather that we get to all the facts. Let the process go forward and let the feds prosecute.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: We are watching that very closely. It was a long and very tense meeting there.

Meantime, new developments on another big story today. Texas Governor Rick Perry says indictments accusing him of abusing his powers are politically motivated and a quote "farce." Perry is accused of threatening a district attorney by vetoing funding for her unit unless she resigned after she was arrested for drunk driving. She pleaded guilty to that charge. Perry says the whole thing is motivated by politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R), TEXAS: We don't settle political differences with indictments in this country. It is outrage jus that some would use partisan political theatrics to rip away at the very fabric of our state's constitution. This is (INAUDIBLE) amounts to nothing more than abut of power. And I cannot and I will not allow that to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Perry says he stands by his actions and maintains, he says that they were legal.

Another top story tonight. The fight against ISIS in Iraq rages on. U.S. air strikes today, at stake a major dam. If it is breached, catastrophic flooding could occur.

Barbara Starr joins us next live with the very latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Welcome back. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.

U.S. forces bombed Islamist militants in northern Iraq earlier today as part of an operation to help Kurdish fighters retake control of a critical location, the Mosul dam. ISIS militants who now call themselves the Islamic state took control of the dam earlier this month. And U.S. officials have warned a failure of that dam could be catastrophic, resulting in flooding all the way potentially to Baghdad.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins me on the phone now. Barbara, what do we know in terms what was has transpired today?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Good evening, Poppy.

This is really a significant expansion of the U.S. military operation now in Iraq in the skies over Iraq. Nine strikes today. Some in Erbil and areas we've seen before. But a significant expansion to Mosul, specifically to try to push ISIS out of being in control of Mosul dam. Nine air strikes against ISIS armored personnel carriers, armed vehicles, humvees, that sort of thing. These mobile targets, these mobile vehicles that ISIS uses to move around. By all accounts they are still in control of the dam at this hour.

And I think the real question is sort of, what is the U.S. mission now? Because the U.S. has said -- the Obama administration had said it was not about to become Iraq's air force to help them push is out. But that's exactly what appears to be transpiring. U.S. aircraft in the skies now every single day. Part of it, they say, is for humanitarian reasons. Because ISIS, still on that rampage, many reports of mass killings against Iraqi civilians. But now going against ISIS' control, at least on infrastructure on this dam, on the basis that it could, you know, devastate Baghdad if the dam was broken. And the U.S. has promised to protect Baghdad. So falling within the rules of the engagement that the U.S. has laid out, that may be just stretching them a bit -- Poppy.

HARLOW: And Barbara, you bring up such an important point. These air strikes began because the president said it is unacceptable what is happening to all of these religious minorities who were at that point trapped on the mountainside. Now, this is for a different purpose. The administration has repeatedly said, no boots on the ground.

But I wonder, as this changes clearly the strategy here, do you think that the U.S. strategy is going to change here if we perhaps might see at least some special forces boots on the ground?

STARR: Well, you know, the administration, when they are asked about the phrase "boots on the ground," they then again will specify, we mean no boots on the ground in a combat role. So they're ruling that out. No troops, ground troops engaged in offensive combat. But let's be clear. I mean, the U.S. military is in combat in the

skies over Iraq. ISIS if it could would certainly make every effort to attack U.S. war planes over Iraq. There are pilots in many of those cockpits. Some are unmanned drones. But you have U.S. air crews average over Iraq.

So for the U.S. military, I've talked to an awful lot of guys about this, a lot of military personnel, they're not fond of the phrase "boots on the ground" with the distinction of combat boots because their feeling right now is they're being asked to perform a combat mission.

HARLOW: Right.

STARR: And they are very, very aware of that.

HARLOW: Barbara Starr, appreciate you calling in for us this evening, thank you for that.

Let's go to our CNN military analyst and retired Lieutenant Rick Francona. Do you think mission creep?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I certainly do.

HARLOW: Is that what this looks like it could be?

FRANCONA: This started off as an effort to protect American people in Erbil. Then we are going to help the Yazidis get off that mountain, humanitarian effort. This is neither of those. This is supporting Iraqi military, the Kurdish Peshmerga, on the ground in a combat operation.

So I don't see how you can call it anything but that. We are performing as the Iraqi air force, as Barbara said, and there are likely, likely some U.S. personnel on the ground up there.

HARLOW: And that is something we do not know yet. That is not being confirmed by the Pentagon and the administration. Let's show that graphic, guys, if we can. Again, the dam, the Google earth, just the location of the dam as you tell us about the significance of this dam in Mosul. Why is this so important? And I know the infrastructure there is horrible on this dam. They don't want it to break.

FRANCONA: Well, you can see, it's about 15 miles north of Mosul. And it creates a huge reservoir of water. If anything happens to that dam, of course, that water comes right down the Tigris valley, comes through Mosul and some of the major cities on the Tigris and then it gets to Baghdad. There are some stops along the way, smaller dams but nothing that will stop that amount of water. So, it's very critical that this dam be secured. And the best way to do this, of course, have the Kurds and Iraqis go back in there and get it, take it away from ISIS.

HARLOW: And why does ISIS want to continue controlling it?

FRANCONA: Well, ISIS is trying to set up a state. They've called themselves now the Islamist state, although a lot of the pushback in Muslim world for that. They want to set up a state. They need infrastructure, They want to provide the power. They want to provide the water.

HARLOW: A whole control over it or not provide it.

FRANCONA: Or not provide it. They also can now decide how much electricity is used, say, in the Kurdish area and down south. They're also going for some of the other dams. They want to control all of the infrastructure up there.

HARLOW: And you know, when we look at ISIS, this is such a well- funded group. You know, arguably between $1 billion to $2 billion in funding. Even U.S. officials coming out this week talking about how significant a threat they are along the lines of al Qaeda.

FRANCONA: Well, they have taken over oil fields. They're going toward the Kirkuk oil fields which is singularly the largest oil field in Iraq. They've taken several oil fields in Syria. And they're selling that oil on the black market every day to the tune of $2 million to $3 million every day.

HARLOW: It is incredible to think for many people that a group like this can do that, I think. But this is the reality on the ground there. And the potential risk as they get further south increases.

FRANCONA: And as they get closer to Baghdad. They're already south of Baghdad in some spots, around the airport they're threatening that, and they seem to be growing in strength. As many of the Sunnis ally with them. Now, I know that U.S. wants to have this inclusive government hoping the Sunnis will then rebel against ISIS and stand with the new government. So far, that's not working.

HARLOW: Let's talk about humanitarian, though. I mean, yes, at least the situation of the Yazidis trapped on Mt. Sinjar has improved, but you still have serious, serious civilian casualties. We heard today 350 Yazidi men were massacred by ISIS. We know women and children taken by them. Is the U.S. doing enough to stop that?

FRANCONA: Well, they're going to have to ramp up. And I think that's probably what's driving expanded air strikes. Because humanitarian effort goes anywhere these people are. Because they are ruthless. When they move, in the first thing they do is they eliminate the civilian infrastructure. They kill anybody that doesn't conform. Anybody that's associated with the government are dead. And then they start going to forced conversions.

So there's a lot of death and destruction that follow these people. So the only way to stop that, the humanitarian effort, is to get rid of ISIS. And I think the realization is coming that we are going to have to help the Iraqi do this now, rather than waiting for the standup of the government, which could take a month.

HARLOW: At the same time, you have this question about what the U.S. role should be here. Is this the only option at this point in time? Is this the right strategic move to be making? FRANCONA: Well, I think the initial thing was, let's get in there and

slow this down white Iraqi government stands up. Give them, as General Marsh likes to say, time and space to get their act together, reconstitute their forces, and then move against ISIS. Unfortunately, I don't think we have the time. They're moving much too fast. They are moving much faster than anybody thought.

HARLOW: And before we wrap up, can you give me a sense of how ISIS continues to gain members? I mean, it seems like as they progress their march south that they have more and more people banding together. Am I right?

FRANCONA: Nothing works like success. And they appear to be successful. So as they move into an area, if you're kind of wavering on who you're going to support, were you going to back the new government in Baghdad, which is going to be a Shia-dominated government, or are you going to stand with your own sect, the Sunnis, and say, I might get a better deal if I sign up with ISIS. And so, they are attracting. And a lot of these people they're attracting are former Iraqi military people who know how to use weapons.

HARLOW: Wow.

FRANCONA: Know how to fight, know how to use all this equipment.

HARLOW: Colonel Francona, thank you for the expertise, we appreciate you and Barbara on this big developing story that we will continue to cover here on CNN. Those brutal killings have really become their trademark in Iraq, ISIS militants murdering entire families.

Next, the CNN reporter talks to the family of a man who was executed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: The desperate race to escape ISIS fighters in northern Iraq was documented earlier this week by CNN's Ivan Watson and his team on the ground there. Ivan joined an Iraqi helicopter flight to drop food and water to Yazidis stranded on the Mount Sinjar and bring back a handful and desperate people. Here's what it looked like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The crew hurls packages out the door. People swarm the chopper. 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, the height of 20, 30 feet. It's chaotic. People were waving, they were giving thumbs up. And there are a couple -- a couple people very relieved to be off the mountain and clearly very, very frightened.

Then the helicopter lands one last time to pick up more passengers.

Here they come. More desperate people throw themselves at the aircraft. Heaving their children on board. It's first come, first served.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: We're going to take you inside that dramatic rescue mission. Our Ivan Watson and his team take you on that helicopter through the chaos and into the lives of those desperate refugees as they flee genocide in Iraq. Do not miss the CNN Special Report tonight beginning in a few moments.

Back to today's U.S. military air strikes that targeted ISIS militants in Iraq. The Pentagon now confirming that combat jets and crones fired at is positions in far northern Iraq. But many people on the ground are saying western involvement has come too late.

Our Nick Paton Walsh has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the heat, a shimmer. Men as long as it runs queuing in turn to die. Cadets from a military academy overrun by ISIS militants in June herded to slaughter. ISIS filmed their murder. Perhaps the most infamous shock video yet used to speed their advance.

Here they chant "ISIS forever." Anything to buy time alive.

In the dusk the masked men take leisurely turns in the endless killing of perhaps 1,700 people. In Baghdad, Sadr city, a Shia stronghold against ISIS this horror has a face of crippling human loss. For Ahmed that video is where he watched his brother Ihad (ph) die. The last time they spoke on this same phone, Ihad said his base was surrounded, would Ahmed look after his children?

"I felt that his life had just ended," he says. "That he is dead because of the way he was speaking, things like take care of my children. I said to myself, he knows he's going to die."

It took three weeks before he could bring himself to watch the video. "I was afraid to see it," he says. "So I kept hesitating. My son would bring it up, I would put it down. Up, down. There's not one thing in that video that I do not remember. All of it is dark, murder, violence. All in my head." They knew it was Ihad because of his green track suit. New.

Each murder, casual here. Each loss, seismic. He can't understand why they let themselves be herded to their death.

"I was not afraid for just my brother," he says, "for all of them. They were not supposed to turn themselves in, they were supposed to fight. Why would one turn himself in and have fear in your hearts and torture your family and loved ones?"

The video hangs over this home. His wife doesn't know about it, the children will never see it, the men pledge. Ihad's body is perhaps still at a military airport after being found by Tikrit locals. That indignity compounding fury. "Death is a solution to ISIS," he says. "The world peace to get rid

of them. these people have no place on earth, but under it. Everyone to get rid of them, the Sunnis, the Shia, the Christians, everyone."

One of perhaps 1,700 calls for blood vengeance and 1,700 child hoods shattered.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Nick, thank you for that.

I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Thank you for being with me tonight. "Flight from Terror" begins right now.