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Controversy Erupts Over Ferguson PR Head; Ferguson Police Chief Apology Enough?; Fighter Planes Deploying From Ship Carrying Out Airstrikes

Aired September 26, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was already working with a partnership before all of this happened, before Mike Brown was killed. He was moved on to do PR here with the police station.

It came out in a local newspaper that he was convicted in 2006 of manslaughter, aggravated manslaughter because of that, this came out in the newspaper, then he was fired.

While this whole apology tour was happening, he was supposed to be here with the police chief, but he wasn't because he was fired. When I talked to him today, he said that everyone has known about his background. In fact, take a listen to what he had to say to me today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I come from the streets. I worked my way up. I overcame challenges from gangs, being shot myself. This incident was part of that. It was, again, one of the trials and tribulations that I had to overcome.

I started my company shortly afterwards and have been doing everything I could to get my life on the right track, and to get going in a different direction. I've always been forthright with my clients about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: I should also point out that while the partnership may be done with him, the mayor of Ferguson says he has known about James' background and that he fully supports him and what he thinks he has done with his life to turn it around is amazing.

I will also tell you that Devin James says that he does not believe that the police chief is a racist. He believes he's a good guy just trying to do his best. Lots of interesting characters here in Ferguson.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Stephanie Elam, appreciate you. Thank you very much.

I want to bring in now a familiar face in this story, State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson, he joins me now. He's not only been monitoring what's happening in Ferguson, but was also put in charge of security after those heated protests more than a month ago. Thank you for joining us on CNN. I know that you -- there some positives, a lot of positives coming out of Ferguson, Missouri. Can we get this out of the way before we talk about that?

Why would -- I guess, you don't know what's behind his motivation, but did that serve to accomplish anything by the police chief going out on the streets of Ferguson?

CAPTAIN RON JOHNSON, MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL: I don't believe so. I believe the intentions were there. That is not what the protesters, citizens are ready to hear right now. I think we're trying to gain trust. Trust takes time. You know, I talked to the chief this morning. I think he regrets going out there last night. The timing just was not perfect for last night.

LEMON: Yes. It was poor timing. And of the apology, he said last night -- as he was walking, he used some expletives about why he did it, it's been on his heart. Do you -- what do you make of his apology?

JOHNSON: I do believe it's something that he's been tussling with. You know, as far as what thought process went into making it yesterday, I'm unaware of that. All the people in the decision making process.

LEMON: So, I think you know this, maybe you'll -- you know, maybe you'll agree or disagree. He's a really nice guy in person. I just -- maybe he doesn't understand the magnitude of what's happening or the optics of it. He is a very affable guy when you meet him. I wonder why he would do that.

But anyway, let's move on. You have not spoken to the media in some time. You were giving daily updates, nightly updates, that subsided because things got better, but on Wednesday, you did hold a press conference. What came out of that?

JOHNSON: We kind of talked about the positive things that are going on in Ferguson. We also talked about the negative things. The protests cannot take away the freedoms of our citizens and people have to be able to walk the streets and go get produce and those things.

But there's a lot of positives going on. We haven't been doing news conferences because we've been attending meetings, attending panels, going throughout the neighborhoods, going to schools. We've been meeting with business leaders.

Usually my day starts off at 8:00 in the morning and ends 7:00 at night. Most days I get into the office for an hour or so. A lot of things are going on.

LEMON: Is there a sense that things are getting better there? I haven't been there in almost a month. Is there a sense that things are getting better? Because it was palpable right on the edge people were jumpy. We hear about infrequent skirmishes and disruptions, but is there a general sense that things are better? JOHNSON: I believe things are getting better. We still have a group that's intent on keeping the fire going that I believe truly don't want it to get better. This has become a part of their daily lives. For the most part, over 99 percent of the people here are looking for it to get better and are doing things to make it better.

LEMON: The big question is, I don't know if you can answer, why no indictment? Why no arrest? Why hasn't anything happened to the officer?

JOHNSON: Once again, you know, I've always talked about my charge has been making sure that the freedoms of the people to protest and freedom of speech and the safety of the citizens and businesses here are my task.

The task as far as the court proceedings, those really aren't tasks that I have. Those aren't -- I'm not a part of that decision making process. I don't have contact with those entities that are charged with that.

LEMON: And is there any -- I don't want to worry people unnecessarily, but any concern that if something does not happen soon, that there will be more unrest?

JOHNSON: You know, my concern is that people are safe. I'm not going to anticipate what someone is going to do, what a group is going to do, what our community is going to do. That's unfair. I think a lot of people want to put -- define the actions of the people of Ferguson, the people of St. Louis, and I don't think that's fair.

I think we are a great community. We have great people. I think we need to make sure that we stand up and show the nation who we are, not be defined by those who are intent on negative behavior.

LEMON: Captain Ron Johnson, I really appreciate you taking the time. Good to see you. Next time I come, hopefully it's under better circumstances. Thank you very much.

JOHNSON: Thank you a lot.

LEMON: All right, up next, will the United Kingdom join the war on ISIS? Just moments ago we got the answer. After a fiery debate involving David Cameron, my next guest says America should wake up and demand Congress do the same thing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: British jets will join the bombing campaign against ISIS, but not in Iraq -- but only in Iraq, not in Syria. British lawmakers voted today for the strikes on ISIS 524-43.

My next guest is Michael Dougherty. He is a senior correspondent for theweek.com. Your headline says wake up, America. It's time to properly debate our endless war in the Middle East.

So we saw some video of parliament in the United Kingdom debating the issue. Do you think our Congress should be taking it up and debating it like that?

MICHAEL DOUGHERTY, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, THEWEEK.COM: Absolutely. It's not just my opinion. The American republic was designed so that issues of war and peace are so important. They're not left just to the president. They're left to the people through their representatives. Unfortunately, our representatives have been out to lunch on this war.

LEMON: I think you used the word abdicated.

DOUGHERTY: Yes. Congress has essentially abdicated its role on foreign policy. In a sense the American people have done so as well by not holding them to this. We've been in Iraq on and off with a few cigarette breaks since I was 8 years old.

We're going back in just a few years after we withdrew and the withdrawal was popular at the time. Now we're going back in, and General Petraeus said in Tokyo that this would be a years-long operation. I think that should be debated.

LEMON: The withdrawal was very popular and still is popular. I mean, the American public is, as we say, all warred out. There is war fatigue here. Isn't Congress following the lead of people because that's what recent polls show, that there's war fatigue, but people support striking ISIS?

DOUGHERTY: Right. People do support striking ISIS, but part of the reason that the support is there, there has been no discussion of the costs to American treasure or to American honor or integrity.

We're just getting reports from the "Wall Street Journal" about the back room deals with Saudi Arabia over how American troops might help Syrian rebels engage Assad after they take on ISIS.

You know, a year ago, the president was urging us to intervene in Syria on the side of the rebels against Assad. Now we're intervening against some of those rebels in ISIS. This should be bewildering to the American public and yet --

LEMON: It will take more discussion, though, if you saw the video and what happened live on CNN, this is real. They're beheading people and shooting people. It takes much more than discussion.

DOUGHERTY: Of course. Listen, I'm no apologist for ISIS. It's no wonder that it's very popular to confront them in some way. But America's record of just engaging in air power over Iraq was a failed one in the 1990s. It didn't accomplish what it needed to.

So what we're going to see, I think, over the next six months is more and more talk of how do we get ground troops if the Free Syrian Army of the Kurdish rebels aren't --

LEMON: I think they've already talked about it. They say ground troops don't have to come from America, but they believe they will be needed in order to stop ISIS. Thank you very much. Michael Dougherty, appreciate it. DOUGHERTY: Thank you.

LEMON: Coming up, we'll bring you on board the ship launching airstrikes against ISIS. CNN is there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The United States is carrying out air strikes on ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. Many of the fighter planes are coming from the Persian Gulf on the deck of the USS George H.W. Bush. CNN's Becky Anderson is aboard that aircraft carrier right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's around 3:00 in the afternoon here on the aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush. What you are witnessing are the F-18 hornets or super hornets returning from training or armed mission. It's incredibly noisy. It's incredibly hot from the exhaust. It's quite something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That was Becky Anderson on the deck of the USS George H.W. Bush.

I'm getting some breaking news, U.S. government officials are telling CNN that some senior leaders of the al Qaeda cell targeted in U.S. airstrikes may have survived and they could still be plotting against America. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Breaking news, the U.S. State Department reportedly tweeted out possible images of dead ISIS fighters. I want to show you a State Department Twitter page called "Think Again." Many of the tweets denounce ISIS and highlight victories in the battle against ISIS.

Some images show debris from airstrikes. Some images show ISIS militants with stolen food. Let's bring in our Jake Tapper, the host of "THE LEAD." Jake, tell me about these tweets that ABC News reports showcase dead ISIS fighters?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "THE LEAD": This is part of an interagency department called the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications. It's basically intended to counter pro-jihadist propaganda with propaganda from the west, from the U.S. government. It's been going on for a while.

The department was set up in 2010 under the Obama administration. Mainly it has focused on transmitting information in Arabic. But in the last few months, it's been doing more things in English because there have been more ISIS fighters from the west.

And you can find -- it's actually called "Think Again, Turn Away." It's basically aimed at mocking ISIS and pointing at the hypocrisy of their, quote/unquote, "Islamic beliefs" by pointing out all the things about ISIS and similar groups that are horrific, that we report on all the time.

It has only about 10,000 followers on Facebook. There have been questions raised about whether or not this division is worth the $5 million or $6 million it costs taxpayers every year. But the counter argument to that is, should they do nothing to combat this?

This obviously was a mistake, the U.S. State Department has not responded to numerous requests for comment from CNN about this incident showing these allegedly dead ISIS fighters Tuesday and deleting it by yesterday.

LEMON: I wish we had more time. But if I spent more time with you, I would go over into your show.

TAPPER: That would not be acceptable.

LEMON: And you'll have more information on this breaking news coming up in your show. Some senior leaders of the al Qaeda cell targeted in U.A. airstrikes may have survived and they could still be plotting against America. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It is time to meet our CNN Hero of the week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love being a mom. It's a most rewarding thing I've ever experienced. On the flip side, the financial burden of having a child is just tremendous. So many people have such an abundance, and so many others strive to afford even the basics. Who wants to water?

I remember reading an article and it was about a mother who decided to give her child up for adoption because she couldn't stand to hear her crying from hunger. I just thought that no mother should ever be faced with that choice. That was when I decided that I need to do something.

I started to collect excess baby gear and that was when this was born. Boys' clothes are to the left. Girls on the right. We like to call them shopping days because they're shopping. They're just not paying anything for them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been out of work for about ten months. New clothes, diapers and wipes. They're a constant expense. It was hard to afford the things that I needed for my kids without an income. The things that I got today will allow me to put that money towards my rent or my bills.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every child deserves a fair start. And if what we're doing helps bridge the gap between people from different backgrounds, even in a small way, then it's definitely worth all the hard work.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: That is it for us this hour. Thank you for joining us. I'm Don Lemon. Have a great weekend. I'm going to turn it over to Jake Tapper now in Washington with "THE LEAD."