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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Protests Erupt in Ferguson; Protests Spread Nationwide; Snowstorm Hitting East Coast

Aired November 26, 2014 - 05:00   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 night in Ferguson, a day after a dozen businesses were burned to the ground. A community outraged after a grand jury chose not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. We're going to be there live.

The outrage and frustration spreading across the nation. Angry protesters marching in the streets across the country from New York, to Nashville to Chicago and Los Angeles. We're going to show you what happened coast to coast.

Good morning and welcome, everyone, to EARLY START. I'm Deborah Feyerick, in for John Berman and Christine Romans. It's Wednesday, November 26th, it's 5:00 a.m. in the East.

And we begin, of course, with breaking news in Ferguson, Missouri, where there was another night of protests and some violence. Demonstrators torched the police car. Pepper spray filled the air, trying to disperse. Police making 44 arrests overnight, but with some 2,200 National Guard troops, triple the number agency the night before, the situation was significantly calmer.

Chris Cuomo is standing by live for us in Ferguson.

And, Chris, very different from the first night. Police now say they simply underestimated what they believed was going to happen, but not anymore.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Well, they certainly didn't get it right the first night. That I think, all we all have to agree to. I would say it was different in quantity, not quality. The anger, the resentment is still palpable here.

In fact, it may have been ratcheted up a little bit for two reasons. One is hearing what Officer Darren Wilson had to say about what happened there, the feelings on the ground here. There were a lot of questions remaining about his testimony and there was certainly ground for probable cause. That's what a lot of people are saying.

The second reason for that is this feeling of powerlessness. All of the leaders, whether it's President Obama, or the governor or the mayors talking about the situation, they're not here. They're not among the protesters. And that really leaves them searching for someone to kind of tell them what will make this OK.

Right now, all you have are the signs of where the danger is, if you push the police too far. If you go past what the rules are for protests. So, there's a lot of negativity still here, Deb, and this community is going to try to figure it out and they can't do it alone.

FEYERICK: And that's the question. What is the next step for the people there who are in Ferguson, who fill they got nobody who they can talk to, no way to reconcile this. Critics have said, look, it wasn't just about getting an indictment, the violence perhaps could have been even worse if there had been one but then no conviction.

So, where's the cap? What's the solution?

CUOMO: It's complicated, right? If it were simple, we wouldn't be in this situation.

But I do think that leadership is about presence. And it's about being here in a time of crisis, in a way that is visible, so that the people in this community know that there's a hope for improvement.

What did the grand jury mean? The grand jury meant, not that these grand jurors were bad people, but that the prosecutors in their minds hadn't pushed this case, it wasn't important enough to that office. That is what the message is. That the system doesn't work for them.

So, they're going to have to find ways to have the police deal with the community. To have the leadership elected and otherwise to make this community feel wanted and respected. And it's not there right now.

But also on the ground here, Deb, you're going to need something that calls in some calm. Right now, it's just all tension. The only issue is how much.

FEYERICK: You know, Chris, the police chief came out this morning. The head of Missouri state police also came out this morning. They're trying to calm the situation. They're trying to do the right things.

Are the leaders, those who are out in front of this, we certainly haven't seen the governor in all of this, but those who are there, are they simply in a no-win situation?

CUOMO: No, I don't think so. I think that many communities go through something like this. It is sad that in this day and age, we're still going through the similar dynamics of what was going on 30, 40 years ago. But you can get past it, but you have to do it with a very multi-variant approach.

You have to have community relations. You have to have a board that overseas the police. You have to have a police force that represents the community in some way. You have to have a police force that reaches out to the community in some way.

Here, they've been told in Ferguson, we need for it to cool down. Well, that is what cools it down. And also, when you wait for it to cool itself down, it almost certainly never does.

But, Deb, you can't understate or underestimate the impact of hearing from Officer Darren Wilson. He needed to be tested, his story. For the people here, there are lots of aspects that demand follow-up questions.

They feel that never happened. The prosecutor didn't do it. The grand jury didn't do it. And as we saw in the press conference with Benjamin Crump and other leaders for the family, they don't know when that will happen and that is really adding to the frustration.

FEYERICK: So, the issue of him not being cross-examined. Let's take a quick listen, Chris, as to what Wilson did tell ABC's George Stephanopoulos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: Is 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: You know, it's so interesting, Chris, when you listen to him speak, I think for many people, there's the presumption that perhaps he was racist and perhaps what he did was also racist.

But, you know, I've spoken to a number of people in law enforcement, they say that race didn't have anything to do with this. That if the situation were reversed and a black officer who shot a white person that, frankly, there simply wouldn't have been the amount of attention. It's just that Darren Wilson has now become a rallying cry for a well of injustices suffered by the black community.

CUOMO: Maybe there's a metaphor effect here. I think that's completely a reasonable assertion. You do have a disproportionate number of young black males who are killed by police officers. There are underlying reasons for that, about concentrations of crime and contact with the police.

But it's still a reality. And the problem here is that George Stephanopoulos who obviously we both know and he's whip smart, and it was good that he got his interview. It was important. But he is not a cross-examiner. And is there anything else you could have done? No.

Well, on its face that has to be untrue. You know, he could have done a lot of different things that wouldn't have caused that situation. But in his mind, he felt he had to do these things.

Well, why? Why did you feel another punch might knock you or kill you given what we see in the pictures of the injuries from that day that were taken right after? Why did you feel you had to get out of the car? Why did you think that was your duty? And then, what happens in the critical moments not just in the car but obviously leading to the get death of Michael Brown?

There's a way these stories, Deb, that you know so well as an excellent crime reporter you that test the story. And you don't do it to undermine the officer. You do it to validate that narrative. The officer should want it as much as the people who are skeptical, because that's the only way that you reinforce the questions that are fuelling the doubt which will not only lift the officer's standing with people who doubts. But also give some feelings of satisfaction to those who don't buy those stories.

FEYERICK: And as a lawyer, as you know, that's exactly what the good ones do.

All right. Chris Cuomo, we know you're going to have a lot coming up for us at the top of the hour. Thank you so much. Great work there in Ferguson. We appreciate that.

And the even in Ferguson Monday sparking protests across the country overnight. In California, the highway patrol says 300 to 500 people stormed a freeway in Oakland setting bon fires to block traffic. And officers 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. They really wanted their voices to be heard.

Paul Vercammen with CNN walked 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 the police was clearly concerned that some of 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.

And that wave traveling across the country. Traffic snarled all over Manhattan, with marchers taking over the FDR Drive which is on the east side. They were shouting Michael Brown's name. They walked peacefully to Times Square and up along the west side up to Harlem.

And that's where CNN's Miguel Marquez found himself in the middle of a huge and very 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 right 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: All right. Miguel Marquez, thank you.

And the Ferguson grand jury ruling triggering demonstrations in many, many cities. In Chicago, hundreds of protesters marched through downtown last night, voicing anger with the grand jury decision not to indict Ferguson police officer in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

The day began with 200 members of the city's Black Youth Project hunkered down outside of Rahm Emanuel city hall office. They had planned to stage a 28-hour sit-in. You can see them lying on the ground. But police ordered them to leave early in the evening.

In Kansas City, a largely peaceful solidarity march with protesters calling for justice in the wake of the Ferguson grand jury ruling. Police kept a close watch on the crowd's demonstrators as they moved through the city facilitating their journey. Several people were detained but there were no reports of violence or property damage.

In Cincinnati, more than a dozen arrests in a rally that shut down I- 75.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROTESTERS: Hands up. Don't shoot. Hands up. Don't shoot. Hands up. Don't shoot. Hands up. Don't shoot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Protesters chanted "hands up, don't shoot" and "no justice, no peace." Police moved in, handcuffing protesters and warning to me get off the highway or get locked up.

The march was led by Reverend Al Sharpton.

The parents of Michael Brown have condemned the violence in Ferguson that's followed this ruling. Speaking to CNN Tuesday night, Michael Brown's great uncle echoed those feelings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. CHARLES EWING, MICHAEL BROWN'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 the Uncle Reverend Charles Ewing said the Brown family is encouraged by so many of these peaceful demonstrations across the country. And, that, of course, triggered by the decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson.

Well, we will continue our breaking coverage of the protests in Ferguson and around the nation in moments.

We're watching a major winter storm also. That's right, we thought we were headed into Thanksgiving. Well, this week shows it's anything but. All that snow gets in your holiday travel (INAUDIBLE).

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: And angry demonstrations erupted for a second night in Ferguson, Missouri. Protests started out peacefully, but then they took a turn towards violence. Demonstrators at the city hall breaking windows and also lighting a police car on fire.

But for the huge National Guard presence, some 2,200 guardsmen on the ground Tuesday night, it was a much calmer scene overall.

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

And, Stephanie, the people, you saw them marching, the anger is still there. But it seems that the tendency to arson is not, I suppose?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. The anger that we saw immediately after finding out that the grand jury did not indict Officer Wilson on any counts, still there, but not simmering at the top as it was the night before. Still, people are out here protesting, out here demonstrating as well. But the streets that we saw before that were just mayhem in the previous night, were blocked often early on. Something we expected to see the night with all the hours between, we knew when the grand jury had made a decision and what they actually made it public. Something that we thought they were preparing for.

Here's what Captain Ron Johnson had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN RON JOHNSON, MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL: None of us could have imagined last night was going to be what it was. If anyone of us knew what it was, with a crystal ball, we probably would have done something different but we never could have imagined that. So we re- evaluated and I think we're there where we need to be, and we'll continue to get better at it. And I think now, we all understand what we need to do to make this community safer. I think we're all on the same page.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And there was one police cruiser that was torched in the last few hours out here tonight. But overall, a much calmer night, with protesters clearing out as they were asked to at the end of the evening here -- Deb.

FEYERICK: It's so interesting because we know that law enforcement did so much outreach to community leaders to make sure that the protests which they expected would not be violent. However, they now acknowledge they simply underestimated the threat. Now, you've got all those national guardsmen. You know, there are going to be more investigations that are going on.

The FBI looking into whether civil rights were violated. We understand there was an incident involving FBI agents.

Is this related to Ferguson?

ELAM: It's right around 3:00 in the morning is what we're understanding. Two FBI agents were shot. Nonlife-threatening injuries is what we're understanding, and that this had to do with a barricaded individual. That's the little information we have at this time.

It's in St. Louis County. Ferguson is in St. Louis County, but at this point, we have no reason to believe that this has anything to do with the issue here in Ferguson, Deb.

FEYERICK: And, you know, right now, police try to maintain calm and maintain control over it. But they have cordoned off the area where all of those businesses were burned. You've got arson investigators going in there to see whether perhaps -- is it possible there could be some convictions? Or charges, I should say?

(CROSSTALK)

ELAM: Right. It's hard to do. It's hard to find that.

But they will go through video. They will go through footage they will see from news outlets, they will see what they can find because there are a lot of cameras going on while you're out there watching these buildings start to burn. I have to say while I was standing out there on West Florissant, it did look suspicious.

So, they will be looking into that. And you're talking about businesses that will be affected and obviously jobs as well, Deb.

FEYERICK: Yes, exactly. So, clearly, this not going away. There are going to be a lot more layers to what is a very complicated story.

All right. Stephanie Elam, thanks so much.

And we will get right back to our breaking Ferguson coverage.

But first, we want to look at another big story. It is a major storm that's hitting the East Coast. It's going to affect Thanksgiving travel for millions of people. Airlines are already starting to cancel flights.

Let's get to our meteorologist Indra Petersons.

You're live at LaGuardia Airport. Indra, you're going to be one of those traveling. So, how bad is it going to get?

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You see I'm smiling right now because you see the board right over my shoulder. Right now, here at LaGuardia, all the arriving and departures on time. But we know it's not going to stay that way. In fact, 35 flights here in LaGuardia alone have already been cancelled because they know the storm is coming. Thirty million people in the Northeast is going to be affected by winter weather. It's already on the way. It's developing.

Just take a look at some snow totals. Now, the major cities, they're all affected. All of the hubs, biggest travel day the year.

Philadelphia, D.C., New York City, Boston, this is not good news. But if you look at their totals alone, they're kind of in the low end, about three to six inches out towards Boston and New York City. But just go a little bit inland or possibly towards New England itself, you're talking over a foot of snow in some places.

So, it's all about timing. It's about getting out before that things change. I mean, right now, in New York City, temperatures in the 50s. It's going to get colder throughout the day. In fact, freezing temperatures expected by 11:00 a.m.

That means rain shifts into snow. So, look at the system that's already out there. If you're out towards D.C. and New York City, you had heard it before 10:00 a.m., before you see that switchover, that's where you get that hairy mix. If you're further to the north like Boston, you have until 1:00. After that, it's that wintry mix as it gets colder and colder, it turns into all snowfall.

The only lesson we have is by tomorrow, the majority of this will kick out of here. So, if you miss your flight, hopefully, you can get in another one through tomorrow. And if you're driving the I-95 corridor, almost that border to the right, most likely seeing rain to the West. We're talking about most likely seeing heavy amounts of snowfall. So, very tricky there on the roads as well.

Other hubs affected, Atlanta looks good. But in the Midwest, a few flurries are going to be other, out towards Denver. We're talking a little wind that could be a concern out towards in the Pacific Northwest. Also some showers moving into the Northeast, that's the tricky spot.

Just so you know, though, the Thanksgiving Day parade, unlike last year, doesn't look like it will be affected. The winds will be calm. So, the balloons -- they will be flying.

FEYERICK: OK. That's the bright spot. You always find a silver lining, Indra. You're going to have to execute your departure perfectly like all those millions of other travelers hoping to get home in time. All right.

Indra Petersons for us -- exactly me, I'll cross my fingers four as well. All right. Good travels there, safe. And have a great Thanksgiving.

And we will continue our breaking coverage of the protests in Ferguson and around the nation, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FEYERICK: Fergusson is still smoldering this morning after a second night of protests. Police had to use tear gas to disperse a crowd outside of city hall after a police car was set on fire. Local public officials reflecting the anger and dismay felt by many Ferguson business owners and residents. St. Louis Alderman Antonio French telling Anderson Cooper he was most surprise on Monday by government officials' apparent lack of preparation for the scale of the unrest.

French has been one of the most --

(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 West Florissant, where the (INAUDIBLE) 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: And French has one of the most outspoken local officials and one of the few to consistently appear at the Ferguson protests starting after the shooting in August.

We'll have much more breaking coverage just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

FEYERICK: Breaking news: another night of protests in Ferguson. A night after businesses were torched to the ground, a dozen of them. The community outraged after Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted for killing Michael Brown.