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At This Hour

Ferguson Calmer; Michael Brown Funeral Approaching; Holder Visits Brown's Parents; Journalists Family Received Emails From ISIS Terrorists; Questions Raised Over Key Witness's Past

Aired August 22, 2014 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Ferguson seems to have rounded the corner from chaos to calm. Now the town prepares for a public funeral while the investigation picks up steam.

Michael Brown's parents say they believe in the process. They want justice for their son's death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BROWN SR., FATHER OF MICHAEL BROWN JR.: He's got to go to jail, so we can have some type of peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Plus, journalist James Foley's brutal execution at the hands of an ISIS militants shocked the world. Now his family reveals that they received an email from the terrorists warning that he would be killed.

Hi, there, I'm Michaela Pereira. John Berman is off. Those stories and much more ahead @THISHOUR.

So much to get to on this Friday, we want to begin with cautious optimism in Missouri in Ferguson, and the hope that constructive debate not destructive reactions will prevail. The latest protests brought fewer people and a whole lot less drama. In fact, police report fewer than 10 arrests over night.

Today, the National Guard is expected to start withdrawing at the prompting of Governor Jay Nixon.

The family, meanwhile, of Michael Brown, they are preparing to lay their son to rest. There's a public funeral for the slain teenager planned for Monday.

Now there are two wrinkles in the investigation that we're following, including questions about a key witnesses credibility and about reports that Officer Darren Wilson was injured in his reported struggle with Brown, a source telling CNN Wilson did not have a fractured eye socket as has been reported by some outlets. And check out this. This is the "Time" magazine cover this week, that picture well worth a thousand words. The photographer who captured that very moment was arrested earlier in the week as he covered those very protests.

So much going on. Let's bring in our Nick Valencia on the ground in Ferguson. We also know it's going to be oppressively hot there today, so I hope you are finding some shade my friend.

Apart from all of that, set the scene on what's happening and what you are learning there in Ferguson today, Nick?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. Certainly some signs of relative peace and calm, if last night is any indicator, seven arrests, when you compare that to the dozens that were arrested in the two weeks prior to last night.

Half of those people arrested yesterday, Michaela, were not were not from Ferguson, were not even from Missouri, were from out of state. And when I spent time in the neighborhood where Michael Brown was shot yesterday, that's what people were telling me, that the troublemakers, those that were confronting police and causing this chaos, so to speak, are not from here and that's not representative of this community.

There is certainly anger here among the residents. I just actually spoke to the pastor of the Brown family and Michael Brown, and he said that he worries that if there's not charges leveled against Officer Darren Wilson, murder charges or at the very least manslaughter charges, he fears that this peace that we're seeing now and relative calm will turn violent again.

Michaela?

PEREIRA: Yeah. That's a real concern there, and as the investigation continues forward, we hope that all the Ts are being crossed the Is being dotted as they uncover every corner of this investigation.

Turn to the scene on the ground there for a second. We know that the governor has said the National Guard can start withdrawing. Have you seen evidence of that yet, Nick?

VALENCIA: Yeah, that request made Thursday by Governor Nixon here in the state of Missouri. We don't see them around here. We're right across the street from the police station, the presence of that National Guard probably a few miles away from where I'm standing here.

We haven't seen specifically, myself, my eyes have not seen the National Guard getting out of town, but we know that the request was made and that it was going to happen soon.

On the investigation, Michaela, we know that the grand jury has been meeting on a weekly basis to go over evidence. They will expect to meet until at least mid October, so, again, getting back to that interview that I had with the pastor just a little while ago, he said that people in Ferguson, they are willing to give the police this time to conduct their investigation, but they really want charges leveled against Officer Darren Wilson.

They feel that their march, No justice, no peace, is a real slogan. They are going to stand by that, and if they don't see justice here, there won't be peace.

Michaela?

PEREIRA: Right. And we know that with the public memorial being planned for Monday, tensions will be high again as grief sets into that community. They will burying a teenager on Monday.

Nick Valencia, thank you so much for that. We really appreciate your reporting.

Michael Brown's grieving parents had an opportunity to sit down with our Anderson Cooper last night. They said that, despite the calls for the arrest of Officer Wilson, they don't want justice to be rushed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC360": It's going to be a long road. I mean, the grand jury just started yesterday.

LESLEY MCSPADDEN, MICHAEL BROWN JR.'S MOTHER: Yeah.

COOPER: We learned it may not be till October that they come up with a decision about what they are going to do.

Does it feel like -- obviously, you want answers now. Are you ready to --

MCSPADDEN: Right.

COOPER: -- are you able to wait?

BROWN SR.: Yeah. I want everything to -- I don't want a rush judgment. I want everyone to take their time so there won't be no mistakes and get it done right.

COOPER: You've talked publicly about justice. You want justice. For you, what is justice for your son?

BROWN SR.: He's got to go to jail, so we can have some type of peace. He's still walking around with pay. That's not fair to us. You know? We're hurt. Ain't no telling what he's doing, but he has his life. Our son is gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Their grief is palpable. Brown's father also said the protesters were causing that trouble on the ground in Ferguson are only causing more pain and shame on his son's name.

We're going to turn to another story now, and sadly, another set of grieving parents were speaking out today, the parents of American journalist James Foley whose horrifying execution was posted online this week.

They tell the world that they were warned. They actually received an email from ISIS terrorists before the group beheaded their son. They never thought the militants carry out the threat, though.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN FOLEY, FATHER OF SLAIN U.S. JOURNALIST: We hadn't heard from Jim's captors since December, and, you know, I actually was excited to see an email despite the conclusion that they would execute Jim.

I underestimated that point. I did not realize how brutal they were, and I actually hoped we could engage in negotiations with them, if they were willing to send us any sort of communication because we'd had none prior.

DIANE FOLEY, MOTHER OF SLAIN U.S. JOURNALIST: In December, we had received several emails, but then they stopped communicating and so we were just anxiously waiting.

We had established a special email just, you know -- and sent multiple messages, hoping to engage them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: From the "Today" show on NBC, it's amazing that they could even speak out, the horror and the grief they must be experiencing. We're going to have details of that email a little later this hour.

We're going to take a short break now. After this break, the attorney general meets with the grieving parents of Michael Brown in Ferguson. We're going to tell you a little bit about that meeting, what it was like.

Also, the federal investigation, as we mentioned, is indeed moving forward. We're going to speak with a former deputy attorney general to get his sense of things, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Eleven minutes past the hour now, Attorney General Eric Holder has assigned dozens of FBI agents and Justice Department investigators to look into the police shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. This is part of the federal civil rights investigation into the shooting.

Holder visited Ferguson on Wednesday. We told you about that on CNN. We also know that he met privately with Michael Brown's parents yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Did it make a difference that he came here, that he looked you in the eye, that he met with you privately?

MCSPADDEN: Yes. It did to me. COOPER: In what way?

MCSPADDEN: Because you can read a person and when you are looking at them and they are looking at you in your eyes, it puts some trust back there that you lost, and he did and showed that it will be a fair and thorough investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: The investigation will determine whether Missouri police violated any federal civil rights laws in that shooting.

Joining us now is former deputy attorney general, George Terwilliger. Thanks so much for joining us @THISHOUR. Sir, I know as deputy AG, essentially, you were number two in the DOJ. I think your perspective is a vital perspective to have here.

Good move for A.G. Holder to visit Ferguson?

GEORGE TERWILLIGER, FORMER DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think it was a really good move.

I think it contributed to the de-escalation of the violence there along with all the good work that was being done in the community and reassuring the community that there will be a fair and impartial investigation on the federal level as well. I think it's very, very important.

PEREIRA: And perhaps that visit with the parents was maybe the most important meeting of them all.

TERWILLIGER: Yes, certainly an important meeting and probably as important from a humanitarian perspective as from a legal perspective.

PEREIRA: Can you walk us through in your estimation and your experience, sir, how this investigation likely will be carried out?

TERWILLIGER: I can to a degree. Obviously, not being part of it, I'm sure there are things that I won't know, but, you know, this is obviously an investigation that will depend a lot on eyewitness testimony.

And when investigators approach eyewitnesses, they begin by letting the witnesses tell their story, understand what the witnesses are saying, and then break that down into what the witnesses actually heard or saw or felt as the case may be rather than what they might think.

And then there's the process of reconciling differences in eyewitnesses testimony, which always exists.

In this case, I must say I think that those tasks are going to be made more difficult for everybody because there's a lot of media interviews of witnesses going on which are not necessarily conducted the same way an investigative interview would take place.

PEREIRA: What needs to be proven for there -- to be a violation of federal civil rights? What criteria needs to be met?

TERWILLIGER: Well, the most essential criteria and what I would imagine would be in play in this case is whether the officer acted with intent. Some evidence of his intent to deprive the individual of his civil rights. That's a very, very high threshold.

But what's more important about that investigation, I think, is the fact-gathering part of it. If the -- whether the federal government brings charges or not, there's a federal contribution to the effort to be made here by the fact-gathering, and I would presume cooperation in the investigative process with the state and location authorities.

PEREIRA: Final thought, how long of an investigation do you anticipate it being? Time frame.

TERWILLIGER: I think it is going to take a while and, frankly, I think as an observer, the passage of time would be a good thing. To let -- let feelings cool a little bit.

PEREIRA: Yes, emotions have been hot on the ground to be sure, and around the nation, and on social media we know as well.

George Terwilliger, thank you so much for joining us and giving us your expertise from your point of view. We appreciate it.

TERWILLIGER: Thanks Michaela.

PEREIRA: Have a good Friday.

All right, we're going to have more on the case up ahead. Also, we're going to talk about how investigators are trying to tracking down the militant, the ISIS militant, who brutally murdered American James Foley. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: An intense manhunt is under way for the ISIS militant who beheaded American journalist James Foley. That man dressed in black, he has a distinctive British accent that is heard on that tape, investigators are focusing on that accent, as well as his build, his height, his eyes, his mannerisms, anything that might identify him.

We will turn now to our Atika Shubert, she is live form London. It's such a heartbreaking thing to learn, Atika, that the Foleys, that James Foley's parents received an email from these militants. They bravely have made it public. Tell us what you know about it.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They received an email and the language is very much like the language that is used in the video that we hear that man that appears to be British speaking. What he says. I'm going to read you a little excerpt of that email that was sent to James Foley's parents.

It said, quote, "Today, our swords are unsheathed towards you, government and citizens alike, and we will not stop until we quench our thirst for your blood. You do not spare our weak, elderly, woman or children, so we do not spare yours. You and your citizens will pay the price of your bombings, the first of which being the blood of the American citizen James Foley. He will be executed as a direct result of your transgressions toward us."

When you hear those words and you know what happened next, of course, it's very chilling. And right now, British investigators are focused on trying to find out who the man in the video with Foley is. And they are looking particularly at his voice, using voice recognition technology, to compare it with audio and video recordings of jihadists that they already have.

PEREIRA: How torturous and horrifying that that poor family received that email. It must have been surreal for them. Talk to me about this, it seems as thought we're seeing the number of journalists killed in Syria and even the number kidnapped has been on the increase. Why this sudden spike?

SHUBERT: We have definitely seen a spike. We already started to see the numbers rising when the Syrian conflict broke out. We do have numbers for you here, if we can bring them up quickly. You can see that the number in 2010, five killed in Iraq, but by 2012, you are getting 13 killed in Syria, 2013, 28 killed in Syria and really that's a direct result of the increase in fighting on the Syrian front lines.

For any journalist going in, it was tremendously dangerous because there are so many rebel group operating and there are quite a number of kidnap gangs as well. So it became dangerous for journalists on all sides, being attacked by the regime, by militants, and possibly by other rebels there. What's also alarming is that the number of kidnappings has soared and we do know that ISIS militants still hold a number of other hostages.

PEREIRA: A number of other hostages, a number of other Americans being held around the world as well. It's just torture for those families. I can't even imagine the anxiety and the grief and pain that it means for them.

Atika, great reporting, thanks so much for that. She mentioned the other American, you probably saw him shown at the end of that horrifying ISIS video. That young man is Steven Sotloff. This is what we know about him. Thirty-one years old. He speaks Arabic. He picks up some freelance writing work for several publications, "Time", "Foreign Policy", "World Affairs", and the "Christian Science Monitor".

Sotloff traveled to Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. He apparently disappeared during a reporting trip to Syria in August of 2013. Now, one of his friends from college describes him as someone you want in your circle of friends, just a good, good guy. If you would like more information on ISIS and its ongoing threat, CNN.com is your resource.

Short break here. Ahead @THISHOUR, he was with Michael Brown when he was fatally shot. He will likely be a star witness in the case. However, some are pointing to his past. His past, they say, has cast a cloud over his credibility. Should a run-in with the law three years ago matter? We'll have that conversation next.

COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN BOSLEY JR., ATTORNEY FOR DORIAN JOHNSON: The fact that whoever the powers might be want to make this about something other than what happened, by bringing up the past, when as you put, and as the former mayor put, when in fact that was disclosed to the right people, it was never hidden, never shied away from, I think underscores the fact that we should not be focusing on their past. What we should be focusing on is what happened in this street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Speaking with my friend Chris Cuomo right there, that was the attorney for Dorian Johnson defending his clients credibility.

Dorian Johnson was with Michael Brown, there he is right there, when he was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson. His testimony is really a key part of this investigation. However, a mugshot, here it is from 2011, along with the news that Johnson was busted for theft and for making a false report to police have some questioning if he is a trustworthy witness.

Let's bring in our legal analyst Danny Cevallos, along with attorney and radio host Mo Ivory. We're going with ladies first on this Friday, Mo, because we know how you two can get passionate and things can go hot here in a second. And a lot of people are going to say why is the media even talking about this mugshot in this 2011 arrest? It is going to be part -- it's going to come up in trial, is it not? Is it relevant here?

MO IVORY, HOST, THE MO IVORY RADIO SHOW: Sure, I mean, you know Michaela, absolutely it's going to come up in trial because credibility of witnesses always comes up in trial. And if they open the door to good character, they are going to open the door to bad character. Definitely it is going to be relevant in this case.

But is it relevant right now to focus on it the way we are? I do not think so. I think there is such a -- the part about the injustice that I feel about what's going on right now is all the negative information coming out about the witnesses and nothing coming out about the officer, nothing coming out about Josie, the so-called reliable source for what Officer Wilson had to say. It's just so imbalanced and that narrative will play a part as to taint a jury and that's the part I worry about in this information coming out right now.

PEREIRA: Now, Danny, we know that police say that Dorian Johnson didn't commit a crime the day that Michael Brown died. So that -- in terms of credibility, that's vital, that's an important piece of this.

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: OK, so we retreat to the rules because the answer lies within. The rules of evidence in Missouri say if you have a prior conviction, even probation, anything like that, that can be introduced against a witness to impeach their credibility. However, the Missouri rules specifically state that evidence of a prior arrest, not a conviction, the mere fact of an arrest or even that you went through a trial is not admissible to attack the credibility of a witness.

So we simply apply the rules of Missouri evidence, and they're pretty clear. When it comes to a prior conviction, even if it's 20 years old, that is coming in. If it's an arrest only without a conviction, that will not come in as evidence of the lack of credibility.