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Questions Emerge About Key Eyewitness; Ferguson Teen's Parents Speak Out; Ferguson Police To Install Dash Cams; Growing Support For Officer Wilson

Aired August 22, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. In Ferguson, Missouri, after more than a week of unrest following the shooting death of Michael Brown, it seems that calmer heads are now prevailing. The governor ordering the National Guard to begin pulling out, saying that with fewer arrests and fewer problems there's no need to have the same show of force.

But as the situation on the ground is deescalating, questions are growing for Dorian Johnson, the young man who was with Brown at the time of the shooting. After the discovery of two arrests in 2011 for theft and a false police report and news that a warrant for Johnson's arrest currently exists.

Nick Valencia is in Ferguson, Missouri to tell us more. Good morning, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes. Those arrests have certainly drawn into question Dorian Johnson's credibility for some people at least.

But as his attorney told CNN's Chris Cuomo this morning on "NEW DAY," he called it it's a red herring and said that it's distracting from the issue at hand and what should be the focus. He says it's irrelevant.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Did you know anything about your client's criminal background before today?

JAMES WILLIAMS, ATTORNEY FOR DORIAN JOHNSON: The client's criminal background is really a red herring here. This is a case where you have two innocent unarmed citizen walking down the street, who eventually had to flee for their lives unarmed with their hands in the air. Criminal background or not, everyone is entitled to constitutional protection.

This police officer can't be judge, jury, and executioner, criminal record, history, a student, honor roll, whatever it is. The point here is that you can't gun down innocent people.

CUOMO: Understood. Credibility, however, key, especially in assessing testimony when they hear about the criminal background and the types of crimes involved, do you think it hurts your client's credibility?

FREEMAN BOSLEY JR., ATTORNEY FOR DORIAN JOHNSON: I think it's something they may take into consideration. He met with the FBI, the Justice Department, the prosecutor's representative, detective, and at that time over a week ago he laid out his whole life to them.

They asked him about his criminal background. They asked him about the matter that he had a warrant out against him. He talked to them about it at length and in detail.

CUOMO: If you are counsel, if this goes to trial, OK, and your client comes up and takes the stand and says what his testimony is about let's start with the robbery, he had no idea what was going on, he doesn't know why Mike Brown did what he did and an opposing counsel says you had no idea?

Haven't you been charge with a larceny before? Have you ever been charged with making false statements to the police before? Isn't that very damaging?

WILLIAMS: Not at all. His credibility in this case has nothing to do with what he's been charged within the past. It has to do what he saw here, seeing his friend get murdered in cold blood by a police officer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: In an update for our viewers as to what happened here last night, there were some signs of calm, especially compared to the last two years of unrest where dozens were arrested. Seven people arrested yesterday, half of them from out of state, Carol.

When you talk to people in Ferguson, they tell you that the majority of those trouble makers are not from Ferguson. Last night is certainly an example of that -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Nick, I'm just getting some -- a little bit of breaking news in here. Apparently, the Ferguson Police Department will now install dashcams in all of their cars thanks to a private company who is funding the effort.

We're going to try to gather more information about this and pass it along. As of now from what we understand from local affiliates in St. Louis, the Ferguson Police Department will now install dash cams in their police cruisers.

Also this morning, Michael Brown's parents say they still face a long and agonizing journey to justice and trust. Brown's mother says he has hope for the future. CNN's Anderson Cooper sat down with them yesterday one day after they met with the attorney general, Eric Holder.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": You both met with the attorney general yesterday, Eric Holder. How was that? What did he say to you?

LESLEY MCSPADDEN, BROWN'S MOTHER: He just kind of talk to us from man with kids his self-perspective.

COOPER: He talked to you as a parent?

MCSPADDEN: Yes.

COOPER: Did it help?

MICHAEL BROWN SR., BROWN'S FATHER: It actually happened me because he has our support, you know. You know, he is supporting us, and he said he's not going to stop. He's going to help us all the way through.

COOPER: You believe him, you have faith in this?

BROWN: Yes, I do. I believe him.

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, yes, he 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, and it eyes -- it puts some trust back there that you lost and he did and showed that it will be a fair and thorough investigation.

COOPER: Do you believe -- do you have confidence in the investigations? Because there's the state investigation, the county, the federal investigation. Do you have confidence that --

MCSPADDEN: Up until yesterday? I didn't. But just hearing the words coming from his mouth, face to face, he made me feel like, one day I will, and I'm not saying today or yesterday, but one day they will regain my trust. But first I have to get to where I'm wanting to get to and we haven't even begun.

COOPER: It's going to be a long road.

MCSPADDEN: Yes.

COOPER: I mean, the grand jury just started yesterday.

MCSPADDEN: Yes.

COOPER: We learned it may not be until October that they come up with a decision about what they are going to do. Does it feel like -- obviously you want answers now?

MCSPADDEN: Right. COOPER: Are you ready -- are you able to wait?

BROWN: Yes. I want -- I want everything to -- I don't want to rush -- 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: For this guy to go to jail, so we can have some type of peace. He's still walking around with pay. That's not -- that's not fair to us. You know, we're hurt. Ain't no telling what he's doing. He has his life. Our son is gone.

COOPER: If the grand jury, if the federal investigation, if they decide that charges won't be brought, what then?

BROWN: Federal investigation and we'll look to the federal government to get involved. The family as well as many in the Ferguson community are very distrustful of the local authorities, and so they are putting their faith more so in the federal authorities to make sure they look at this unbiasedly.

And as long as it's fair and impartial and that it's very transparent, Anderson, then people can accept a jury's verdict, but it's when it's this secret grand jury stuff that nobody knows about, then that's what's troubling.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: A lot of things to talk about in light of what Michael Brown's parents told Anderson. Our legal analysts, Sunny Hostin and Paul Callan, are here to discuss. Thanks for being back with me. I appreciate it.

So Paul, first of all, you heard Michael Brown's father say he was upset that this police officer is walking around with pay? Is that standard procedure?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It is standard procedure. I was looking for instance, there was a case in New York involving a choke hold that's under investigation now, similar kind of thing, and the officer has been taken off regular duties.

He's got desk duty, but they remain on the payroll while the case is pending. So that's kind of how it's always handled. Now, if there's an indictment, there's a trial, you may see that situation change going down the road, but at least for now it's being handled the way these cases usually are.

COSTELLO: I'm sure that won't be a great comfort to Michael Brown's parents.

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALSYT: No, it's not. Remember, there hasn't been an indictment. There hasn't been a charge yet by the prosecutor, and everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and so the suggestion that he should be taken off the force or not paid is just something that generally just doesn't happen in these situations.

COSTELLO: I wanted to get into a little bit of this. The Ferguson Police Department seems to be adjusting to this case. Now it's going to install these dash cams thanks to this private company that swooped in and provided them the money to do that. That's a good thing, right?

CALLAN: I think it's a great thing. Frankly, and I'll tell you something. You know, I know there are strong feelings about this among different people, thinking the officer is guilty and others who say he's not, but you know something, if he's innocent, the dashcam will exonerate the officer. So there's no down side to this.

CALLAN: I think it's a great thing. I know there are strong feelings about this among different people, thinking the officer is guilty and others who say he's not.

But you know something, if he's innocent, the dashcam will exonerate the officer. There's no down side to this. It's good for anybody who is looking at the criminal justice testimony, I think it's a great idea.

HOSTIN: I agree in there. There has been a movement for dash cameras to be, you know, sort of just par for the course all around the country. But I'm also in favor of body cameras on police officers.

Because -- I've spoken to a lot of people in law enforcement and some officers feel very comfortable about it and some officers don't. You know, they've told me how would you feel if every day at work you had a body camera?

But I think like Paul said, it really does protect the officer in many occasions because you do have these type of shootings happen often. You have, you know, robberies, all sorts of things.

And if you have that body camera, I think it is just another eyewitness. And so I think there's a movement towards body cameras and I really support that.

CALLAN: That if I were wearing a body camera, the audience would hear you agreeing with everything that I'd say off camera.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about something else that Michael Brown's father says he's concerned about the secrecy of this grand jury. That's also pretty common, right?

CALLAN: It's very common. You know, I understand his frustration with this. He would like a public proceeding especially because he's fearful the case is going to get dismissed. But let me tell you something, if there's an indictment in this case, the reason the prosecutor likes to do it in a secret proceeding is he can put in a very barebones case.

So defense attorneys don't have long transcripts that could be used against the witnesses in the future because the DA controls the grand jury. In a public proceeding, there'll be cross examination and there will be a bigger record and it's a little bit harder to try the case.

Now, it looks better, the optics are better, the public maybe has more confidence, but as a trial lawyer, I would rather a case come out of its grand jury.

HOSTIN: And bottom line is grand juries proceedings are always see secret and really the history of it is to protect witnesses because you don't want your witnesses being killed. You don't want them being intimidated and so that really is the rule across the country.

I will say this, and I think we can all agree, the prosecutor is the person who charges a case, and in this case, I don't understand why the prosecution didn't just decide to either charge a case or even have a special prosecutor assigned to the case.

The suggestion that we need a grand jury to do this is really a fallacy, and in my view, when I look at the facts of this case, Carol, it seems like a punt to me. It's sort of the easy way out because he's a long time prosecutor.

He's been the prosecutor in St. Louis County for 23 years. His father was gunned down when he was 12 years old by a black man. All of his family members or many of them have connections to law enforcement.

There is an appearance of an opaque process here, notwithstanding the grand jury. So I just don't understand why this prosecutor won't step aside, have a special prosecutor assigned and do it that way.

COSTELLO: Because the Missouri governor came out and said last night that he's not going to ask the prosecutor to step aside.

HOSTIN: It's remarkable to me.

CALLAN: In fairness to the prosecutor, he's been re-elected numerous times by the public and he believes that he's fair. His experience as a prosecutor is not a detriment, but it's something that will help him be fair in this case. I know that's what he thinks and prosecutors don't often go easily away from a high profile important case easily.

COSTELLO: Sunny Hostin and Paul Callan, thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, as support grows for Officer Darren Wilson, we'll hear from a member of the St. Louis Police Wives Association and their mission to help officers and their mission to help officers and their families.

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COSTELLO: The streets of Ferguson were much calmer last night, but a lot of distrust still festers between some members of the community and the local police department.

But support for Officer Darren Wilson is growing. The fundraising web site go fund me has raised more than $200,000 in just four days. Another group, the St. Louis Police Wives is also raising money for Officer Wilson and his family. Joining me now on the phone is a member of the St. Louis Police Wives Association. For her safety, we've agreed to call her "Hope." She and the other wives wanted us to ask them specific questions and hide their identity because they fear they will get death threats after this interview.

We believe at presenting all sides of the story that's important to us so we agreed to hide "Hope's" identity. Good morning, Hope.

HOPE, ST. LOUIS POLICE WIVES ASSOCIATION: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. Thank you for being here.

HOPE: Thank you very much for having us.

COSTELLO: Thank you for being here. Tell us about your organization. What do they do? How do they do it?

HOPE: Sure. We are the St. Louis Police Wives Association, and we are mostly composed of wives, mothers, sisters, and even widows of officers and our mission is to assist injured officers as well as police families in a time of need or crisis.

So I guess a little bit about how we do that, I should start with food. Over the past two weeks, we've been providing food for two command posts in Ferguson for approximately 500 officers, 24 hours a day. The amount of donations that have poured in from our community to do this has just been outstanding.

And we want to thank everyone for their support as we continue to assist these officers through this crisis. The second part of what we're working on right now is organizing community food drops to food pantries on behalf of the Ferguson Police Department.

And we have coordinated with organizations and churches to make these drops securely, but to get these items and goods into the community, to the families who need them.

COSTELLO: There's been a lot of distrust coming from the community and pointed right towards Ferguson police officers. So tell me how are officers holding up during this time and how are their families holding up at this time?

HOPE: Well, many times we are the support system for these officers and their families during crisis situations, so obviously we're all exhausted emotionally and physically, but, you know, the St. Louis Police Wives Association, we take our mission very seriously. This is who we are.

This is what we do, and we do everything for each other from baby- sitting each other's kids or being a shoulder to cry on, preparing meals for each other.

There's been times where we've gone to a family's house that, you know, dealing with something, and help them just by cleaning their house or picking thing up. I mean, this is what we're here for, to support officers and their families.

COSTELLO: Have other police wives organizations from across the country reached out to you?

HOPE: Absolutely. It's been a little overwhelming. We've heard from organizations across Missouri, Michigan, Illinois, even Texas. The words of encouragement and support coming from all over the country has been greatly appreciated. And it really -- it's really been an uplifting experience for not only us as police wives, but for the officers as well.

COSTELLO: Can you tell us about your security and safety concerns at this time?

HOPE: Well, safety for us is top priority obviously. We have policies and procedures in place. These help us to operate efficiently, effectively, safely. We realize there's a risk associated with being a police family.

I mean, I can speak for myself personally that there's always this undeniable fear every time my husband straps on his vest or puts on his boots and leaves the house that he may not come home to us.

And I'm very proud of his commitment to protecting our community and for all the sacrifice that our officers and families make for them to do this job.

COSTELLO: And as far as threats against police officers or threats against your organization, how do you deal with that?

HOPE: Well, we -- we have had to relocate some families due to safety concerns. You know, but our mission to serve these officers and their families with anything that they need during these situations and we are very passionate about that.

COSTELLO: All right, Hope, thank you so much for joining me this morning. I appreciate it.

HOPE: Thank you, and if anybody is, you know, looking to be involved or looking to help, we encourage them to go to stlpolicewives.org. That is our web. They can donate with monetary donations. They have opportunities, volunteer opportunities as well. Thank you so much for getting this side of the story out there. We appreciate your time.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, what could police in Ferguson have done differently to defuse the crisis? After a break, we'll talk to a former police chief to get his insight on easing tensions between police and citizens.

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COSTELLO: With all that has happened in the nearly two weeks since Michael Brown was killed, what happens next and how do police restore trust when one of their officers is accused of wrongdoing by members of the community? Let's bring in Bernard Parks. He is the former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department and was part of the force during the 1992 L.A. riots. Welcome back, sir.

BERNARD PARKS SR., FORMER CHIEF OF POLICE, LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT: Thank you very much, Carol.

COSTELLO: Can you help us understand things? Because there's been some criticism as to why more information about this police officer isn't being released. For example, we know a lot about Michael Brown's history. We know a lot about Dorian Johnson's criminal record now. We know very little about this officer accused of this improper shooting. Why is that?

PARKS: I think the issue is whether state law, I don't know if it requires that they keep certain information confidential, but in the reality, in the short and long term, what's most important is to get the investigation done and to also ensure that we not lose focus on what the real issue is.

And that is did the shooting occur legally or illegally and the forensics and the physical evidence will tell more about that circumstance than the -- eyewitness testimony or officer brown is or anything else. That's the key factor that we should not lose sight of.

And I will hope over time all of the energy that's been expended and the passion shown in that city, they would not lose sight of what they put together in the last few days of communicating amongst every level of their community from the pastors to the police and a variety of things.

But I hope that passion continues into voter registration and also voting, I've been concerned that the local leadership has been MIA since the beginning. The first time we saw a public statement from the mayor was for him to say in the middle of a riot, and over 200 arrests, we have no racial problems in our city.

That either gives an indication that he is unaware of what occurred, but certainly hasn't provided the leadership and I think it's an opportune time for the 21,000 residents in that city to make remarkable changes in their local governance by voting.

COSTELLO: That's right, use your feet to make a change, but going back to information about this officer. I think part of the reason that there is so much frustration there is because this officer was whisked away and he remains in hiding and I understand why. I do.

And there's been no statement at all as to what happened from his side of the story, except from these anonymous voices that appear on radio stations.

PARKS: Well, I think one of the dilemmas you have is that the more information and speculation that occurs, the more you are allowing individuals to fill in the blanks who now will not be giving independent testimony when they go either before the grand jury of the court.