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Michael Brown's Parents in Geneva; Ferguson Braces for Grand Jury Decision; Russian Bombers to Patrol Near U.S. Coasts; Sources: Obama Seeks Review of Syria Strategy; Comet Probe: "Touchdown! My New Address: 67P"

Aired November 13, 2014 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, from Ferguson to Geneva, Michael Brown's parents front and center at the United Nations asking it for intervention back home. This hour, I'll talk with family attorney Benjamin Crump.

Also, bomber patrol. Russia flexing its military muscle, conducting regular missions close to America's shores. These flights haven't happened with this regularity since the Cold War. Sow hat's up with that?

And the comet's Kodak moment, the first 360-degree snapshot we've seen from the speedy ice ball roaring through space. This is definitely the coolest thing you will see all day.

So let's talk, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(MUSIC)

COSTELLO: Good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for so much for joining me. We begin in Geneva, Switzerland, where the shooting of unarmed Missouri teenager Michael Brown has taken center stage this week after Brown's parents made an emotional plea for the United Nations to intervene.

Right now, a U.S. delegation is appearing before the U.N. Committee Against Torture, which fights cruel or degrading treatment by government authorities. The U.S. group says Michael Brown's death, as well as police actions during the subsequent protest, violate that U.N. committee's convention.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin is in Geneva this morning with more.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the U.S. delegation is expected to answer tough questions today, some of which were Ferguson specific. The panel of eight independent experts asked them yesterday about the steps taken to review police practices following the events in Ferguson. They also asked them about the distribution of military equipment to local forces, perhaps a reference to the police response to the protests that followed Michael Brown's death.

And they also asked them about the independent oversight to prevent excessive force by police. Now, the issue of excessive force actually came up in a 2006 review of the U.S. compliance with the U.N. Convention Against Torture, specifically the committee there expressing its concern about reports of police brutality in the United States. They also expressed concern about allegations of ill treatment of vulnerable groups, including minorities, and here they are eight years later talking about the very same issues.

Now the parents of Michael Brown are expected to attend today's session. They are of course awaiting the grand jury's decision whether or not to indict the police officer who shot and killed their unarmed son and they told me they're here looking for justice and accountability. Carol?

COSTELLO: Erin McLaughlin reporting from Geneva, Switzerland, this morning. Thank you.

Back here in the United States, residents in Ferguson, Missouri, nervously await a grand jury decision that could spark even more tension in a deeply divided town. If the town explodes in unrest, one female pastor says she will stand between police and protesters appealing for calm while she, too, protests against America's policing system.

CNN's Sara Sidner spoke with her. She joins us from Ferguson. Good morning.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. You know, first I want to tell you a little bit about what we're expecting this morning. We're expecting to hear from the attorneys for Michael Brown's parents; they're going to be addressing what the governor talked about and announced just a day ago, talking about the plans that police have in place in case of unrest when that grand jury decision comes down.

And right behind me is the prosecuting attorney's office; they're going to have the press conference here. They're also supposed to give us an update on the analysis from the pathologist that the family hired to do the initial autopsy on Michael Brown.

But I do want to tell you about what's going on in that town and this particular pastor who has been out many, many nights with the protesters, trying to keep it calm.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REV. RENITA LAMKIN,PASTOR, ST. JOHN AME CHURCH: If hate compels the fight, the fight is lost before it is begun.

SIDNER (voice-over): Reverend Renita Lamkin says she's in the middle of one of the biggest fights of a believer's life. When she's not here praying for her congregation, she can often be found here on the streets of Ferguson, marching against police brutality and the killing of Michael Brown and waiting for the grand jury decision.

LAMKIN: I've heard the predictions, been pulled into secret meetings. I've received anonymous messages. If all of that prediction holds true, it's going to be very scary. SIDNER: Where will she be? Where she always is, standing in between

police and protesters when tensions explode.

That's her there on August 13th when tear gas flew and military vehicles rolled in.

LAMKIN: I just was praying, you know, that's it, just interceding, asking God to build a line, to draw a line that couldn't be crossed on either way.

SIDNER: She says that night she left with bruises, hit with a police projectile. But she keeps going back and has been criticized for it, accused of inciting protesters. That's her, wearing a scarf to cover her face.

LAMKIN: Really, all I'm doing out there is praying. I'm very aware of the presence of evil and how -- as I'm seeing this, a spiritual warfare.

SIDNER: She says the war she and others are waging is against the policing system in America.

LAMKIN: There is a nation of exhausted people and we are exhausted with the policing system having carte blanche opportunity to gun our children down without accountability.

SIDNER: Those with opposing views would say there is accountability and that's what the grand jury is for. Initially, even some protesters weren't so welcoming to her, saying --

LAMKIN: "This isn't your fight. It's not a white person's fight. It's not the place."

SIDNER: Lamkin now receives death threats for protesting, but she keeps at it. The mother of two mixed race children says she has plenty to fight for.

LAMKIN: When I see the anger in their faces, the kids' faces, I mean, I've seen that anger in my own children's eyes. Seen that pain.

SIDNER: That pain evident on a recent Sunday at her church when one of the fiercest Ferguson protesters visited and ended up breaking down, sobbing in Pastor Lamkin's arms.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (on camera): And you saw there, there are people here who -- protesters in particular -- who have told us time and again that they have told anyone who plans on being violent that they're not a part of this movement. But we do know there is a small group of people who are planning violent acts. We know that from talking for weeks now with the folks here on the ground, and there is a lot of worry from the police standpoint, from the residents' standpoint, from the businesses' standpoint, that there's going to be real unrest here. Carol?

COSTELLO: All right, Sara Sidner reporting live from Ferguson, Missouri, this morning.

Joining me now by phone is Benjamin Crump; he's the attorney for the family of Michael Brown. Welcome, Mr. Crump.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, BROWN FAMILY ATTORNEY (voice-over): Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm glad you're with me this morning. I understand you're holding a press conference next hour about the pending grand jury announcement. Why are you doing that?

CRUMP: Well, we got media inquiries from CNN and other news outlets to respond on behalf of the family from Governor Nixon's comments, and so we'll be doing that as we are going to court this morning with Dr. Baden, escorting him to give his testimony. And then right after that happens, we're going to come out and respond.

COSTELLO: What did Governor Nixon say that you object to?

CRUMP: Well, it appears, Carol, that his remarks were directed only to the supporters of Michael Brown Jr., the dead, unarmed teenager. We are going to respond not only to those supporters but the entire St. Louis metropolitan community, as well as assembled law enforcement. We all have a role to play here to make sure this community heals.

COSTELLO: Are you specifically talking about the security measures that the governor will be putting into place after that grand jury announcement comes?

CRUMP: Well, the fact that he talked about militarization and things won't be tolerated, well, he should have said things won't be tolerated for people who act irresponsibly in support of Michael Brown, but also law enforcement officers who acted irresponsibility in August. We saw them putting guns in the faces of 13-year-old children, shooting bullets on women; that's not American.

COSTELLO: Well, you heard what Sara Sidner reported; there is a small group of protesters who are planning violent acts and doesn't the governor need to pay attention to them?

CRUMP: Well, Carol, there were police officers that we know acted inappropriately, that shot guns and said just terrible things to people. So there has to be responsibility on both parts. And so many were offended by his comments when he only talked to just the supporters of Michael Brown. We all have a role in this. This is one America and we all have to take ownership and accountability for actions on both sides, and that's what we're saying, is the entire St. Louis metropolitan community, it's the assembled law enforcement, as well as the supports of Michael Brown Jr. who are expressing their First Amendment constitutional rights as American citizens.

COSTELLO: But still, doesn't the governor have a responsibility to protect the business people in that area?

CRUMP: Absolutely. COSTELLO: I know the business people have already boarded up their windows. So what should the governor say?

CRUMP: Well, he should have talked to both sides. He should have said to the supporters of Michael Brown that, well, you have your rights as American citizens under the Constitution, but you also have to be responsible with those rights. And then especially to the law enforcement, that's so critical in this whole equation, that we expect our law enforcement officers to treat American citizens as citizens, not treat them as something less than citizens.

Because isn't this what this is all about? Certain people feel marginalized, certain people feel like they don't get equal protection, equal justice, they don't have due process. So you have to speak to all the citizens. You're the chief law enforcement officer for the State of Missouri.

COSTELLO: You're talking as if the governor and public officials and the police haven't learned anything from the protests, you know, from a few months back.

CRUMP: And that is the concern, that we will repeat the horrific interactions that we saw in August. And if we don't learn from the past, we will repeat our mistakes in the future.

And as we wait for this outcome, not assuming any outcome -- that's one of the other things we don't want to do. We don't want to assume one way or the other what the grand jury is going to do, because we want to try to believe that it is a system that works for all people, Michael Brown as well as the police officer. But you want to make sure that we address everybody; it's all of us together in this boat, Carol.

COSTELLO: Benjamin Crump, thanks for taking the time to talk with me this morning. I appreciate it.

CRUMP: Yes, ma'am, thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, flashbacks of the Cold War. Russia says it will dispatch bombers to patrol near the U.S. shoreline. CNN's Matthew Chance live in Moscow.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, is it a new Cold War? We'll certainly try and answer that question and bring you all the latest on the escalating tensions with Russia, after the break.

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COSTELLO: Echoes of the Cold War are resonating again this morning. For the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian bombers will begin regularly patrolling near U.S. shores. Russia not only confirms these patrols but says they're in response to the global anger over its military involvement in Ukraine.

CNN's Matthew Chance live in Moscow with the latest. Good morning, Matthew.

CHANCE: Good morning, Carol.

It actually says because of the anti-Russia feeling that's being generated inside NATO, amounts to the same thing.

But, you're right. I mean, for the first time since the end of the Cold War, Russia officially announced it will restart the fights in international air space remember. It's not going to go into America with these planes. They wouldn't last very long in they did.

But they're going to fly from their bases in the Arctic to Alaska on the sort of Eastern Pacific and to the Western Atlantic as well, down to the Gulf of Mexico. They used to do this all the time back in the 1980s and the 1970s. They stopped at the end of the Cold War because they were just too expensive and there wasn't any need for it.

But the fact they're being reinstated now shows us where we really are in our relationship with the West and Russia over the situation in Ukraine and over a range of other issues as well.

COSTELLO: So, how often do they plan to do this?

CHANCE: Well, they're not telling us that. They'll do it whenever they fancy it. In fact, they're within their rights to do that as long as they stay within international air space.

They've been doing it a lot inside Europe and inside European air space, the international air space inside Europe and a think tank in London has recently said there's been a dangerous escalation of this kind of brinksmanship on the part of Russia. They've been a number of incidents, particularly one I want to highlight -- a near collision of a civilian airliner from Sweden with a Russian bomber, one of these enormous nuclear bombers like the Russian version of a B-52. A midair collision nearly happened simply because these fighters and these bombers from Russia, they often travel undercover, they go as stealth as they can, don't turn their transponders on, so air traffic controllers can't see them.

You know, it's potentially dangerous not as a military threat, they'd get shot out of the sky if they attempted anything like that, but they pose a threat to civilian airlines in the skies around the area.

COSTELLO: All right, Matthew Chance reporting live from Moscow for us this morning -- thanks so much.

In Myanmar, where world leaders are meeting for the east Asia summit, Ukraine may have been the topic of the meeting but neither man is saying. President Obama spoke briefly with the Russian prime minister as you can see in this picture.

CNN's Jim Acosta asked Mr. Medvedev if the United States and Russia will ever come into agreement over Ukraine. And the Russian definitely sidestepped that the question saying time will show. Also new this morning, signs the White House is questioning its

mission and goals in Syria. Sources tell us that President Obama has asked his national security team to examine the political strategy. A new direction could possibly expand the fight against ISIS to toppling Syria's president. Some view that as an essential step in defeating the terror group.

Elise Labott is CNN's global affairs correspondent. She joins us now from Washington.

Elise, you broke this story. Tell us more.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, this administration until now hasn't really linked a political transition in Syria to defeating ISIS. The administration had hoped to go after ISIS in Iraq first, then take on Syria after they trained a moderate rebel force to go after ISIS and go after Assad's forces later on. But officials now saying developments on the ground make that untenable.

You know, the opposition is really fighting a two-front battle against ISIS and the regime forces and could be destroyed by the time the U.S. pivots from Iraq back to Syria. Coalition allies are asking for a much more coherent Syria strategy.

Carol, to be clear we're talking about a political strategy, not any military action to get rid of President Assad. Diplomats tell me Secretary of State Kerry is trying to get everyone in the region to try and reenergize efforts on a political road map that will ultimately transition Assad from power. There's also talk about expanding the train and equip program for the rebels.

Now, the White House is saying there's no formal review going on, just what officials there call a, quote, "recalibration" of the strategy. Congressman Ed Royce, the chair of the House International Affairs Committee speaking on CNN's "NEW DAY" said he had heard about a shift but whatever you want to call it, Carol, recalibration, one official to me called it a vigorous assessment. I think there's a realization they need to rethink how Syria fits into the overall campaign against ISIS.

COSTELLO: Elise Labott reporting live for us this morning -- thanks so much.

Still to come in THE NEWSROOM: brand new images of a lonely little comet millions of miles away.

Frederik Pleitgen is here to tell us what's ahead.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's the first time that people have ever laid eyes on what's on the surface of this comet. It's more than 300 million miles away from the earth. We now have the first images. That's coming up right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: If you look at Mars in the night sky over the next couple of weeks, that's where comet 67P is currently located roughly 310 million miles away, and this is what the comet's surface looks like. This is the very first picture beamed back to Earth from the Philae module which landed on the comet yesterday after chasing it for 10 years across the solar system. Isn't it awesome? It's so cool.

Landed exactly does not describe what happened, more like it hopped. I'm talking about, you know, the module.

Our Frederik Pleitgen is at mission control in Germany, where scientists have been updating reporters and -- geez, when can we expect more pictures?

PLEITGEN: Well, they're going to keep downloading pictures, Carol, as we go along. But the ones we've gotten so far are just amazing.

And certainly, one of the things that the scientists keep saying they themselves are surprised by what they're seeing on the surface of that comet. They thought the comet surface would mostly be covered in some icy powdery metallic powdery kind of mass, but it seems as though the place where this probe landed the Philae lander from the European Space Agency seems to be a pretty rocky surface but it's unclear if you look at those images what exactly those materials are. Are those rocks? What's inside those rocks, all of these are things that the Philae lander is now supposed to find out.

I just want to show for you pause I have my little model of the Philae lander with me. What they say happened is they hit the landing zone that they wanted to hit, however there was a harpoon system that didn't deploy and so the Philae lander bounced.

Now, you bounce in outer space with little gravity it's going to take a long time. It was in the air for almost two hours, then came down, bounced again, was in the air for another seven minutes and then sort of came to a standstill like this, so they say they believe at this point two of its feet are on the ground, one might be in the air and it appears to be on the edge of a cliff.

Now on the one hand it's all right, because it can still do most of the scientific stuff. They're not sure it's able to drill bus it's not anchored on the comet at this point.

The big problem they have right now is because of its position, it's not getting very much sunlight and right now it's on battery power, that battery lasts for about 60 hours and then it needs sunlight to recharge. And they say, with the little sunlight they're getting, it could impact the mission. They can still do things but maybe not at the pace that they wanted.

But at this point obviously, they are very, very happy with what they're seeing and the images are breathtaking especially if you're a scientist that's been following this thing going through space for 10 years, Carol.

COSTELLO: There's no way they can maneuver this probe to anchor it at all?

PLEITGEN: Well, it's a good question and it's one that was posed here at the press conference as well. It does have the limited capability to maneuver but one of the things they're scared of, because of the very little gravity here, is that possibly if they try to maneuver it could fall off the comet or one of the things they could try to do is afterward shoot the harpoons to try to anchor it into the comet.

They're afraid to do that as well because they believe the blast from firing the harpoons could also then push it off the comet as well and if there's very, very little gravitation there, which there is around a body that is this small in space, it might fall off the comet and then detach from the comet and be lost forever.

So, right now, we'll keep it in that position and monitoring it from a space probe going around the outside to see whether or not there might be some way to change it but right now they'll stay in this position for now.

COSTELLO: All right, Frederik Pleitgen, thanks so much. I couldn't help but look at that model. I think know towed to improve it, Fred, could you talk to them?

Still to come in THE NEWSROOM, the Keystone oil pipeline goes to a vote on Capitol Hill. CNN's Dana Bash is following the latest developments for us. She'll join us next.

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