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The Aftermath In Ferguson

Aired November 25, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And we continue along. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

You are watching CNN's special live coverage of the grand jury's decision in the Michael Brown shooting.

Just a heads-up for all of you. We are watching and waiting to see live pictures here for this news conference that will be held specifically on the status of officer Darren Wilson's job with the Ferguson Police Department. What may come of that? We will find out momentarily. Stick with me. That will happen, as I mentioned, any moment now.

But this is all happening, just to get in context for you, one day after those 12 grand jurors chose not to indict that officer who shot and killed Michael Brown back on August 9. So, no arrest, no trial, no courtroom.

But there's a passionate objection from the family of Michael Brown. In fact, just a couple of hours ago, their attorneys slammed the grand jury process, calling it broken, calling it unfair, and the Saint Louis County prosecutor's office, the decision to use this grand jury. The family's protests come after a night of violence.

According to police, more than a dozen buildings burned, businesses looted. We will talk to someone who lost their entire business, totally burned. At least 61 people were arrested and more than 150 shots fired, many of them aimed straight at police.

And while Michael Brown's parents have called for peace, the family's now being questioned over this video from "The New York Times" we're about to play for you. In this video, it shows Brown's mother just absolutely emotional, breaking down, after the news from the grand jury last night, but then you see Brown's stepfather.

He speaks up. He is clearly enraged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have been here my whole life. I ain't never had to go through nothing like this. Don't none you all know me, but I don't do nothing to nobody. Anybody say so, they're a liar. They're a damn liar. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know it. We know it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) the police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was somebody's child.

(SHOUTING)

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right. Let's go straight to Ferguson, to my colleague Don Lemon, who is going to join me now live.

And, Don, just to let you know, you know how this goes, we're watching and waiting for that news conference, waiting to hear from the mayor of Ferguson to see and learn the status of this police officer. So, we're the have to pull away from you as soon as that happens.

That said, we just played the video. I know you were at that news conference, Ben Crump, Michael Brown Sr., and they specifically addressed the -- they responded to that video. What did they say?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, initially, they didn't want to respond to it because they said it wasn't Michael Brown Jr.'s parents who had made that comment, but it is Lesley McSpadden, the mother. It is her partner.

And so they ended up having to respond to it. And let me again make it clear it's the stepfather. They said the parents all along have been saying that they want peace, even making a public service announcement.

And so, again, when questioned -- I questioned about it on the phone. They initially gave a statement just addressing the mother's statement. I said, no one is questioning the mom statement. Brooke, I mean, she's a grieving mother, right? And she didn't really say anything wrong, except I have never hurt anybody and I don't understand what's going on.

So, people can understand that. When the stepfather started saying, burn things down, the question is, did he incite some of the violence and the looting and the burning that happened? Here's how they responded in the press conference, Brooke.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR FAMILY OF MICHAEL BROWN: Raw emotion, not appropriate at all, completely inappropriate, and, you know, God forbid your child is killed the way they're killed and then they get that just devastating announcement in the manner it was announced and somebody put a camera in your face. What would be your immediate reaction? So, don't condemn them for being -- don't condemn them for being human.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Yes.

So, again, and I have to go on to say, the part we played, don't condemn them for being human, they did denounce what he said. They did not condone. And I have to give them credit for not trying to explain in a way, because what he said was not productive.

But what they were saying and their sentiment is to cut the family some slack. The man's name is Louis Head. Again, that's the stepfather. But, you know, there was a lot of violence last night. A lot of people lost their businesses and lost their livelihoods. And so many in the community here were saying, you know what, that should never have been said. Those sentiments may have sparked some of that. And we don't really -- we're not down with that. That's basically what they're saying.

BALDWIN: Yes.

We're hours from nightfall. I'm sure you will be out there again, and we're all hoping. We're hoping for calm and those peaceful protests. Hey, just quickly, we just found out, I just got word from our control room as we await this announcement from the mayor of Ferguson specifically on the future of the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, we now have more sound from George Stephanopoulos, anchor over at ABC News, who just sat down with officer Wilson for more than an hour.

According to George Stephanopoulos, no question was off-limits. Here's another piece of that sit-down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: Yes, I also asked him directly. I pressed him. I said, would this have gone down any differently if Michael Brown were white? He said, absolutely not. He says he has a clean conscience over his actions that day, even though he's sorry for the loss of life and understands the grief of Michael Brown's parents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Don Lemon, let me just bring you back in. I don't know if you could hear that, but basically George Stephanopoulos saying that officer Wilson would've responded the same way had Michael Brown been white, that he is sorry for the loss of life. Is that enough for that community?

LEMON: It's not enough for the community.

But -- it's not enough for the community. What I can -- and I am tempering my words here as -- you know why, Brooke, because I met with Darren Wilson as well, and it was an off-the-record meeting. It wasn't a secret meeting, as it's been made out to be. And that's all I will say is off the record is off the record.

No. Your direct question, is it enough for the community. no, I don't know what will be enough for the community, but I do know this from speaking with someone who is very close to the officer Darren Wilson is that he feels that he has been made out to be a villain, made out to be a bad person. And in his estimation, he's not.

And what they said to me was that he feels that he -- what he was doing was to save his life. And so -- and what he was doing was in the line of duty. And this was last night when all they would tell me is he's in an undisclosed location and that this was before the announcement even happened, that that person who is close to him said that there was not going to be an indictment because Darren Wilson had not been asked to come in, and that had been the message from the prosecution all the time that if there was indeed an indictment that Darren Wilson have been asked to turn himself in.

And that did not happen up until a few minutes before the announcement. What they also said was that he felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulder and that his biggest concern was for the men and women who are in uniform who are out. And he wasn't sure what type of violence or situation they were going to face after the announcement of no indictment would be made, and that he was concerned not only for their safety, but for his safety and the safety of his fiancee, now wife, who is also an officer for the police department right behind me.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Just got married -- got married a month ago. We will wait and see.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: He got married a week ago Friday. They applied for the license a month ago, but they didn't get married until a week ago Friday.

BALDWIN: There you have it, recently married to a fellow Ferguson police officer. The big question, could he possibly stay on, not just in Ferguson, but anywhere in the country?

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: It's not happening.

BALDWIN: I agree with you. I don't think it's possible. I have talked to a lot of our lawyers walking around here at CNN.

LEMON: It's not happening.

BALDWIN: But we're waiting to hear the status of what his future could look like. Don Lemon, my thanks to you, again watching and waiting for the news conference.

Meantime, dozens of buildings in and around Ferguson, Missouri, scorched last night. Many were looted, and now we have a fuller picture, a fuller view of the damage from a night of explosive protests and, in some cases, wanton destruction. All that's really left of this building, you see it here, is the sign "Prime Beauty" still intact at the front of heap of smoldering rubble.

The owner of that store joins me now, Steve Safi and his brother Gus.

Gentlemen, welcome to both of you. You're joining me there from Ferguson. I'm sorry about the loss of your store. Can you just take me back to last night when all of this really began? How did you find out it was a loss?

STEVE SAFI, OWNER, PRIME BEAUTY: Absolutely. Hello there.

We actually weren't home. And the alarm company called us and said the alarm went off. So we went and went to the store. And when we got there, I saw the scene of the store getting on fire. It was a small fire, but -- it was a medium-sized fire, let's say. We tried to put it out, but we couldn't risk our lives to get in there.

And we heard also gunshots fired, and, you know, across the street from us, the police were all over the place. We called 911 to try to save the place, save the business, you know, without anybody being harmed.

And we couldn't do that. We just literally stood there and we were like hopeless to just watch it burn. And we thought the fire department had put the fire out, but, you know, we realized it actually took the whole building down.

GUS SAFI, OWNER, PRIME BEAUTY: I also -- I also feel disappointed by the situation, you know.

They were called. State of emergency, we thought it was going to be under control. And I feel also disappointed from the protesters because the few bad apples made it worse for the whole community.

I know everybody didn't want this to happen, but those few particular people, a few bad apples made (INAUDIBLE) worse. And I know now the situation after what happened last night is going to make it worser and worser. If you're seeking for justice, you're making it worse, I believe, after what happened last from last night.

BALDWIN: You say you're disappointed. You have every right to be disappointed. You have every right to be furious. And everything that we have learned about, well, you know, some of these people who were out last night, especially when you talk about the arrests, the majority of those arrested were -- actually, they weren't from out of town.

They were from -- 61 arrested, many were from Ferguson and Saint Louis. These were not outsiders. So, knowing that, does that just even, I don't know, frustrate you more?

S. SAFI: It is absolutely frustrating. It's just a horrific scene. We didn't actually expect it to get this bad, but it turned out to be very bad. And it looks like it's going to be even worse.

G. SAFI: I really bad for what happened to my business and for other people's business. But, in the end, I'm safe, my family's safe. That's what matters. I know -- I feel that, for everybody, for the community, for the employees, everybody's going to be affected from what happened. But, in the end, we're safe, our family's safe, and everybody was -- nothing traumatic happened yesterday, last night.

BALDWIN: Sure. As you point out...

G. SAFI: And we pray to the lord. We pray to the lord, you know, hopefully nothing would happen tonight, and everything will be under ground, like would to see some troops on the ground.

BALDWIN: I'm with you. Protest, but protest peacefully. That's exactly what so many people have called for, including the family of Michael Brown.

G. SAFI: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: Gentlemen, thank you so much. Again, I'm so sorry about your loss of business. And I certainly hope that tonight looks nothing, nothing like it did last night.

BALDWIN: Quick break.

When we come back, we're watching and waiting for the mayor of Ferguson, for this news conference to happen. We will take it live on the status of officer Darren Wilson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, just a quick reminder. Top right of your screen,. live pictures of a podium. We're waiting to see the mayor of Ferguson step behind that podium and deliver some sort of news as it pertains to officer Darren Wilson's job. So, stand by for that. We're watching and waiting for it.

In the meantime, we keep getting these new sound bites from this interview. George Stephanopoulos over at ABC News just sat down with officer Wilson, his first interview since the grand jury reached its decision. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: I asked him directly, did he shoot towards Michael Brown's back? He said, no. He said Michael Brown reached into his car, grabbed for his gun and that's why he feared for his life.

He also said that later, when Michael Brown left the car, he actually charged toward officer Wilson, did not raise his hands in surrender, and that's why officer Wilson said he had to shoot Michael Brown on that day.

While he did say he was sorry for the loss of life, the loss of Michael Brown's life, he said he would not do anything different that day, that he did what he was trained to do, he was simply doing his job. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, simply doing his job, those are the words from officer Darren Wilson, the man who shot and killed an unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, back in August.

Let's take you now straight to Ferguson to the mayor here. Take a listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have to scoot on down a little bit. Scoot on down a little bit. Have quite a crowd.

JAMES KNOWLES III, MAYOR OF FERGUSON, MISSOURI: Good afternoon.

I am James Knowles, mayor for the city of Ferguson. Today, I'm joined by local clergy, Ferguson business owners, Ferguson residents, and members of the Ferguson City Council.

Twenty-four hours ago, Saint Louis prosecutor Bob McCulloch announced the decision of the grand jury. Although we cannot speak concerning the decision, our thoughts and prayers are with the Brown family. Words cannot express the grief that a parent is feeling with the loss of their loved one.

Many of our residents, business owners and citizens are asking for prayers during this time of unrest. We truly understand that the world is watching, both the city of Ferguson and the Saint Louis region, as well as the state of Missouri. I would like to make this statement perfectly clear.

We would like to think the many police officers, firefighters and Missouri Highway Patrol troopers for putting themselves in harm's way to protect our citizens and our businesses.

Unfortunately, as the unrest grew and further assistance was needed, the National Guard was not deployed in enough time to save all of our businesses. The decision to delay the deployment of the National Guard is deeply concerning. We are asking that the governor make available and deploy all necessary resources to prevent the further destruction of property and the preservation of life in the city of Ferguson.

Many of our residents at this time are cleaning their businesses and wondering, what happens tonight? I want to convey to business owners and residents of Ferguson that we will continue to work with the National Guard and local authorities, and we will work hard to build a more diverse and stronger community.

I have asked to join me for the press conference today several clergy members and business owners. You will now hear from each of them briefly.

VIVIAN DUDLEY, ONE CHURCH OUTREACH MINISTRY: Good afternoon. I'm evangelist Vivian Dudley of One Church Outreach Ministry, also a ministry that's located in Ferguson. I stand here mostly with clergy that is continuing to do what we have

been doing all along. As I drove through our community this morning, I have called all the clergy that have been praying since this event together, regardless of race, color, creed or religion.

We came together, over 800 pastors and people of faith, believing that the one answer that will turn this situation around is prayer. And we're here today to pray for this city, to pray for our nation, to pray for the residents, the business owners.

Whatever the solution is around this issue, none of it will be resolved by violence and what we have seen in our community tonight. And we're crying out to all of you all for peace and for healing with us. This is not an answer to continue to destroy us.

I'm also going to introduce another of my colleagues that also pastors in Ferguson, Bishop Calvin Scott of Believers Temple Word Fellowship Church.

BISHOP CALVIN SCOTT, BELIEVER'S TEMPLE WORD FELLOWSHIP CHURCH: Let me say first and foremost, as I watched the unraveling in our community last night, 1:00, 2:00 in the morning, my heart was grieved by the destruction.

The other side of the coin is, as a pastor, my heart goes out to the community at large because the business community, our young people, as a matter of fact, we are presently working with the school district offering meals to the young children. The emotional side of that is that they are traumatized by the events that are happening in our community.

And I believe it's going to take a concerted effort of all of us working together. Our loss is your loss. Our gain is your gain. And I appeal to the young folk, individual rioting, there's a different way to handle conflict. I appeal to government, law enforcement, the clergy, the community at large, we together can make a difference.

And as we're stating today, we believe the power of prayer is an intricate part of the process, also us getting on the ground zero, mobilizing our energies, our finances, our thoughts, our processes, bringing together a solution.

But this problem is systematic and frankly it's not going to go away without us working together as a team. I pray that as we pray today, that all that believe in the power of God will come and pray with us.

TIMOTHY WOODS, FIRST FREEWILL BAPTIST CHURCH: My name is Timothy Woods. I'm pastor at First Freewill Baptist Church in the city of Saint Louis. I'm also a resident. I live in Ferguson.

I have been on the streets since day one back in August. We have helped to supply needs. We have done as much as we possibly can as far as feeding the community, praying for our community.

I want to say, as one who was on the streets all last night, I know that we have got a distorted image of some of the things that took place. First off, we do not condone the violence that took place. We are not supportive of any violent acts that took place.

Those people who were hurt, those businesses and those buildings that were burnt down, we want to stand in solidarity and say we condemn those acts. We condemn those things that were done. We love people. The acts, we condemn. The people, we love.

And those people who were out on the streets all last night, they were out with a message. Those people who were out trying to exercise their constitutional rights and their God-given rights to speak their mind, we support them. We to want make sure that it is understood by everybody that we in Ferguson are a people who simply want to see the best for our community.

We're here because we want our community to experience the greatness and fruition of all of those things that have been promised us and have been said before that we can be. We believe in the potential and the possibility of all of those young people, regardless to how they express themselves.

We believe that they are capable of rising above any violence and being those productive citizens that we know they can be. We support them in building who they can be.

We want to make sure we stand with our government and with these other clergy and let them know that we are all in this together. We are all on the same side. We want to let our police officers also know that we're on the same side. We're not fighting each other. We're fighting for a cause together. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good afternoon, everyone.

I first would like to thank my lord and savior and give honor to him for being so blessed at a time of this, to be chosen apparently, and I believe that I speak for myself and my fellow business owners in the community that we are definitely saddened by what has happened.

I drove down the street before I came here, and I was in tears. It really, really looks bad. And I'm so thankful to the clergy. I'm thankful to everyone here and who was out there, who was praying for us as a community and as business owners, praying for people, period.

I have always been told at church, in the Bible, throughout the Bible that love conquers all. So, my prayer is that I know that God is in control. I pray that, for these next days, weeks, whatever have you, that we as a people continue to pray, that we leave God in control of this, that everyone is protected, our rights, our words, the things that we have to say and that we can move positively in love.

HELEN DOUGLAS-TAYLOR, FERGUSON RESIDENT: Good afternoon. My name is Helen Douglas Taylor and I'm a resident of Ferguson. I am also an educator in Jennings and in Ferguson, Florissant.

I really want to appeal to parents that we have to understand the awesome responsibility of raising our children and consequences of actions and that one small act, though it seems small, affects so many. But this isn't the end, that we can get through this, but we all have

to look in the mirror, each and every one of us and take an examination of everything that we do and that we say, and that it is about human life, not black, white, purple or polka dot. It is about God's love, one to another.

And I just feel blessed and fortunate, as I was just going about my day, that for some reason God chose me,even in my sinful nature, to stand here and have this platform to say, let's take an examination of ourselves, because once we examine ourselves and stop pointing the fingers elsewhere, I believe change can happen with the grace of God. Thank you.

ELLA JONES, FERGUSON RESIDENT: My name is Ella M. Jones. I'm a 36- year resident of Ferguson, Missouri.

I served on the Human Rights Commission Human Rights Commission of Ferguson.of Ferguson. It does not yet appear what Ferguson can be when we all work together. We have been holding courageous conversations every week. We have ONE Ferguson that focused on children, commerce and community. We have Ferguson Together, where we hold the courageous conversations.

And we invite people to come out and discuss whatever bothers you, because we want it to come to the forefront. And the only way we can heal is everyone brings their problems to the forefront. Last night was not a good night for me and no one else in Ferguson. My heart bleeds for my city.

And I know that when we work together as human beings and resolve our differences, then we can only go forward. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, I'm going to courageously invite everyone that believes in the power of prayer in this room, in this nation, and across this world that can hear our voice to let's do the one thing together that we believe.

We know what we don't agree on, but there's a lot of us that believe in the power of prayer. So now I will ask you to pray with me, bow your heads, as I summon the prayer to our only wise God.

Our father and our God, we first praise you for your goodness to our city and our nation, giving us blessings far beyond what we deserve.