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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Protests Erupt in Ferguson; Protests Spread Nationwide; International Media Criticize U.S.

Aired November 26, 2014 - 04:00   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.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight: protests erupt for a second straight night in Ferguson, a day after businesses were burned to the ground. The community outraged after a grand jury did not indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. We're going to go there live.

The outrage spreading nationwide. Angry protesters taking to the streets across the country from New York, to Nashville to Los Angeles. We're going to show you what happened coast to coast.

And good morning, everyone. And welcome to EARLY START. I'm Deborah Feyerick, in for John Berman and Christine Romans. It is Wednesday, November 26th. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East.

We welcome all the viewers here in the United States and around the world.

Well, we begin, of course, with breaking news in Ferguson, Missouri, where there was another night of protests and violence, though not as bad as the first night. Demonstrators torching a police car, pepper spray filling the air, police making 44 arrests overnight, with some 2,200 National Guard troops on the street overnight. The situation was vastly calmer.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is standing by live for us in Ferguson.

Stephanie, you were there. You were in an area where there was protesting going on. Describe last night compared to the night before.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Deb, a very different scene between the two nights for sure. There was a period last night when we didn't see any law enforcement on the streets for a good 30 minutes or so. That's when we saw mayhem breaking out. People breaking into stores, we saw building set on fire, looting all of that happening last night.

A very different scene tonight. When you were out there on the streets, that same section of streets where I was last night, completely blocked off. The National Guard out there armed as well. The street blocked off. No one walking on the street. It was actually really, really quiet, like most of Ferguson the last

couple of nights. It's important to point out where the protests have been, have been in a very isolated area.

But one question that keeps coming up is, you take a look at the response tonight, or I should say, last night, to the protesters and how quickly law enforcement was able to move in and be there and block parts of the street and so forth. Many people wondered why that did happen the previous night -- the night that we found out the fate of Officer Darren Wilson. Well, we knew that the decision had been in for hours, yet, we still did not find out what the actual decision was. Why were they not better prepared?

Well, that question was asked of Captain Ron Johnson, and here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. RON JOHNSON, MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL: None of us could have imagined last night was going to be what it was. If any of us knew what last night was going to be what it was, through a crystal ball, we had probably done something different. But we could never have imagined that. So, you know, we'll re-evaluate it and I think we're there where we need to be. And we'll continue to get better at it.

Now, we all understand what we need to do to make this safe. I think we're all on the same page.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And out here tonight, they did have those arrests of, 44 people arrested. There were a lot more protesters on this side of town, though, outside of the Ferguson police station where I am right now. And the police did come through, sweep out of the area of protesters after some people threw some bottles. They said this is no longer peaceful, this is unlawful assembly, and now, leave otherwise face arrest.

But that went down pretty quickly. They moved people out and all is quiet here, Deb.

FEYERICK: You know, it was interesting also, because the police chief at that press conference that you attended a short while ago, also said that the area where all the fires took place, that is actually now a crime scene, arson investigators going in to determine exactly what caused the blaze. They didn't say the fires. They didn't quite say whether in fact they anticipated any arrests, though. Did they?

ELAM: Not that we know of. But, you know, if you're going to investigate, you have to go out and look at the video. That was one of the things while we were out there the previous night, and we were rolling, recording on what was going on. We saw people breaking into stores.

I actually had a man come up and threat me for rolling on that, for taking in what they were doing. But that's what police will do. They'll go back and look at all of those footage that they can see. They'll look at what we had on CNN, on other stations, and they'll try to figure out who these people are, if there's any cameras there. They may go after them that way.

But I have to tell you, standing out there on the street, those fires as they started, going down the street in order, it did look suspicious to my eyes just the way things were happening, Deb.

FEYERICK: Yes, absolutely, especially because there appears to be pictures of those spraying lighter fluid. Which means that night, they absolutely came to be prepared or seemed to have come prepared for what was about to happen.

All right. Stephanie Elam, thank you so much. We appreciate that. And, of course, we're going to be checking back in a short while. I know you've got a lot more.

Well, the events in Ferguson Monday sparking protests across the country overnight. Traffic snarled all over Manhattan, with marchers taking on over the FDR Drive on the east side, shouting Michael Brown's name, but walking peacefully through Times Square, then to west side to Harlem.

And that's where CNN's Miguel Marquez found himself in the middle of a very huge and extremely passionate crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the end of the protests, so it appears for tonight. They have marched across the city from the south, to the east, to the west. And now, all the way back to Harlem. We're at Adam Clayton Powell.

I'm being quiet because they have a little bit of a performance going on now.

PROTESTERS: Please don't, please don't shoot us --

MARQUEZ: And this is the first time that we've seen this sort of -- the performance, the guitar come out. They are telling people tonight that this may be the end for tonight, but that they will be out again, promising to come out on Thanksgiving. It has been a peaceful but forceful crowd tonight, making their point that they want justice in the system, taking to the streets, taking over the streets, to show the world who is in charge.

Back to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Yes, and a very determined crowd. They walked a couple of miles there.

Well, in California, the highway patrol says 300 to 500 people stormed a freeway in Oakland, setting bon fires to block traffic. An officer on the scene described the crowd as hostile.

A similar scene in Los Angeles where protesters shut down the busy 101 Freeway and surrounded LAPD headquarters.

The demonstrators marching miles across the sprawling city to make sure that their voices would be heard.

CNN's Paul Vercammen was with them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN REPORTER: Deb, this was mainly a peaceful demonstration. And you can see right here, the protesters were from time to time stopped and seal off intersections here in downtown Los Angeles, many of them chanting, no justice, no peace, hands up, don't shoot.

There were a couple of flashpoints. One of them was when it was clear that the protesters might get near the metro railroad tracks. There was also a car that was surrounded underneath the 110 Freeway.

And also, there was a moment where some protesters jumped the fence or some tried to knock a hole in the fence. But just to show that the overall them was one of peace, some of the organizers said, "Listen, just get out of there," they didn't want them to get on to the freeway and be heard.

But the sentiment here is, we are in alliance with our fellow protesters in Ferguson. And we want change in the aftermath of what happened in Ferguson.

Back to you now, Deb.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: All right, Paul Vercammen.

So, we go from Los Angeles to Chicago, where hundreds of protesters marched there downtown last night, voicing anger with the decision that cleared Police Officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown. The day began as members of the city's black youth project going down outside Mayor Rahm Emanuel's city hall office. They planned to stage a 28-hour sit-in but police ordered them to leave early in the evening.

And in Cincinnati, more than a dozen arrests in a rally that shut down Interstate 75, protesters chanted "hands up, don't shoot" and "no justice, no peace." Police moved, handcuffing protesters, and warning them to get off a highway or be locked up. The march was led by Reverend Al Sharpton.

Well, Ferguson protesters taking to the streets in New Orleans Tuesday night. A crowd of about 100 people chanting loudly, marched and blocked traffic. They tried to get back on to the interstate. They were turned back by police. No arrested there reported. The parents of Michael Brown have condemned the violence in Ferguson

that followed the grand jury finding, speaking to CNN Tuesday night, Michael Brown's great uncle echoed those feelings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL'S GREAT UNCLE: We the family, we encourage peaceful protests, but we do not encourage violence. Violence is not the answer. Destruction of people's personal businesses or properties, we do not endorse. That is very unnecessary, and is not proving a point at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: And Reverend Charles Ewing says that the Brown family is encouraged by all the protesting peacefully in Ferguson and across the country against the decision to clear Officer Darren Wilson.

Well, the police officer at the center of the Ferguson controversy says he feared for his life when he shot and killed Michael Brown. Darren Wilson telling ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that Brown reached into his police car, grabbed the gun and then repeatedly punched him. Wilson says Brown then backed off turned and charged at him with one hand below his shirt at what appeared to be his waistband. That's when Wilson says he fired several times and Brown was killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: Was there anything you could have done differently that would have prevented that killing from taking place?

DARREN WILSON, FERGUSON POLICE OFFICER: No.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Nothing?

WILSON: No.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And you're absolutely convinced when you looked through your heart and your mind, that if Michael Brown were white, this would have gone down exactly in the same way.

WILSON: Yes.

STEPHANOPOULOS: No question.

WILSON: No question.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Something that you think will always haunt you?

WILSON: I don't think it's a haunting. It's always going to be something that happened.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You are -- you have a very clean conscience.

WILSON: The reason I have a clean conscience, because I know I did my job right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Well, Wilson still faces an internal investigation, two federal rights inquiries and a possibility of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Brown's family.

And we'll continue our breaking coverage of the protests in Ferguson and around the nation in moments. We'll also hear from people in the community affected by the chaos that hit their town.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Disappointment, frustration, anger -- demonstrators hitting the streets again with protests erupting for a second night in Ferguson, Missouri. Protests started out peacefully, then took a turn towards violence. Demonstrators broke the window of the police car and lit it on fire, also taking out windows at city hall.

But for the huge National Guard presence on the ground Tuesday night, it was a much calmer scene overall. Anger (INAUDIBLE) Ferguson, with protests from coast to coast, including Detroit. At least five demonstrators there were arrested for trying to walk on to the I-94 freeway.

Well, one of the many unfortunate victims of Monday night's madness in Ferguson was Varun Madaksira, the owner of the Original Reds Barbecue. Varun fed many Ferguson residents and the media during the uprising back in August. Now, sadly, had his business has been badly damaged by fire.

Anderson Cooper managed to track him down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: In August, there was destruction as well. You guys reopened. You -- I remember, I was out there. You were cooking barbecue in the parking lot.

VARUN MADAKSIRA, OWNER, THE ORIGINAL REDS BBQ: Yes. The seating area was still bad, so we decided to go that extra mile. We thought that we needed to put something positive out in the community. So and just, you know, summertime, barbecue, just cook outside, that's what we did. And hopefully, it helped. I think it did help. People started coming out after that initial struggle of three or four days and that was exactly the agenda. So --

COOPER: And now to have this, I mean, what -- do you feel like it was outsiders? Do you feel like it was people who -- maybe from the community? What does it feel like?

MADAKSIRA: I'm still a firm believer in the fabric of a strong neighborhood. I'd hate to believe -- you know, I don't think people in the neighborhood would do that. But again, it's still convenient. Destruction is destruction. It has happened. It's affecting not just me. This time, it's at a much larger scale than what I've ever seen before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: You can hear the sadness in his voice. Varun told Anderson that he wants to reopen but he's not sure his customers would want to come back. He fears his business could be damaged again.

Well, public officials reflecting the anger and dismay held by many Ferguson business owners and residents. St. Louis Alderman Antonio French telling Anderson Cooper that he was most surprised on Monday night by government officials' apparent lack of preparation for the scale of the unrest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO FRENCH, ST. LOUIS ALDERMAN: I was really struck by how off guard the government seemed to be caught. You know, we were out in Wisconsin where the office was, and there were no police, no National Guard. When the looting started, the fires were starting, there was just no one out there. And so, you know, it seems like we got all the negative sides of the state of emergency being called preemptively but none of the benefit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: French has been one of the most outspoken officials and one of the few to consistently appear at the Ferguson protests starting back in August.

Well, the anger in Ferguson spreading across the nation and around the world where protesters plan to gather later today. That coming up straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Ferguson's still simmering this morning after a second night of protests. Police had to use tear gas to disperse a crowd outside of city hall after they broke windows and set a police car on fire. The presence of 2,200 National Guard troops keeping the violence largely in check. There were 44 arrests last night.

And you can hear the protesters, demonstrators saying "don't shoot, hands up." Protests also springing up across Baltimore. Demonstrators shouting "hands up, don't shoot" as a group of 18 law students from the University of Baltimore laid silently on the ground motionless in honor of Michael Brown.

Ferguson is in the spotlight around the world as news media point events at an example of failed American race relations. In London, there's even a protest planned for later today.

With more, CNN's Max Foster is live with us now from London.

And, Max, are these expatriates? Are these basically folks who are watching what's going on here? MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, to give you a sense of the sort of news coverage around the world, these are some of the images played out here on the U.K. Certainly, this has been a big story in world. But also, it's about the U.S. story, what's happening in Ferguson, but it started to move on now.

Yesterday, I spoke to a British MP David Lammy. He was very much involved in recovery after some riots here in London. A similar story. A young black man was shot by police officers and there were protests several days.

And he said this plays into -- this Ferguson story plays into that wider concern in the world that black communities aren't fully involved in the institutions that run their communities. Today, the front of "The Independent", for example, the economist writing, Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson because he was black.

And as you say, protests organized through the U.S. embassy in London. And throughout the morning, more and more groups have been backing that and asking for their members to go there.

Mark Duggan's aunt is part of that. She'll be speaking there. This is what she said, "Michael Brown has not got justice and neither have Mark Duggan. The police are here to protect, not kill our children."

Another MP Diane Abbott saying, "Just as in Britain, the U.S. has a fraught system with police."

So, this is about black communities, the relationships with institutions, and particularly with police. This is a global problem, they're saying. They're standing in solidarity in Ferguson today.

FEYERICK: You know, Max, it's a global problem, but it also underscores just how raw certain communities are because they don't feel that justice applies to them the same way it applies to others.

Are more demonstrations planned? Are we expecting to see more protests there in London?

FOSTER: We'll wait to see. This one certainly is escalating.

If you look at social media, the amount of people talking about it and more and more groups joining in. Also some concern, there are some sort of smaller groups which is trying to get involved saying the initial organizers are white organizers. This should be a black-led demonstration.

So, we'll wait to see how it does develop. But actually in London, a lot of healing has taken place, according to many black community leaders since those protests.

When you speak to David Lammy, for example, the guy I spoke to yesterday, he's part of that protest. He said what Ferguson needs to do is hold a full inquiry, get a whole community involved. So, they feel this is looked at again but in a way that is more inclusive.

FEYERICK: Interesting. That's exactly what the federal government is going to be doing here, a lot more lawsuits to come.

Well, thank you, Max Foster. Appreciate your insights on that.

And another night of violent protests in Ferguson, we're going to take you live there in moments.

And for CNN International viewers, stay tuned for "AFRICAN VOICES."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

FEYERICK: Breaking news: another night of protests erupt in Ferguson, the night after businesses were torched to the ground, dozens of those businesses. The community outraged after Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted for killing Michael Brown. We're going to hear from Wilson for the first time.

Well, the protests have been spreading coast to coast. Demonstrators marching from New York to Los Angeles. Dozens of people arrested. We're going to show what's going on on that front.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm Deborah Feyerick, in for John Berman and Christine Romans. It is now almost 29 minutes past the hour.

And we begin with breaking news in Ferguson, Missouri, where there was another night of protests and violence. Demonstrators torching a police car, pepper spray filling the air. Police making 44 arrests just last night. But with 2,200 National Guard troops, triple the number from the night before, the situation was significantly calmer.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is standing by live for us in Ferguson.

And, Stephanie, the presence of that many more national guardsmen who played a supporting role really seemed to help police do their job a little bit more efficiently or more targeted I should say.