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Protesters Erupt After Grand Jury Decision in New York; NYPD Feds to Investigate Chokehold Death; Governor Defends Use of Troops in Ferguson; On the Frontlines in Kobani
Aired December 04, 2014 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM. Chokehold.
New York explodes after a grand jury shocker.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This fight ain't over. It's just begun.
COSTELLO: A white NYPD officer not indicted in the death of 43-year- old Eric Garner.
ERIC GARNER, VICTIM: I can't breathe. I can't breathe.
COSTELLO: His wife stunned.
ESAW GARNER, ERIC GARNER'S WIFE: Hell no.
COSTELLO: A city shaken.
As promises of rebuilding relationships are announced.
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: All lives must be valued. All lives.
COSTELLO: CNN is with the family.
BEN GARNER, FATHER OF ERIC GARNER: I don't want no reason for nobody to get locked up, go through the same (EXPLETIVE DELETED) that we're going through all the time.
COSTELLO: America asking this morning, how could this have happened?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You got to be kidding me. They didn't indict him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that's crazy. That's ridiculous. I cannot believe that.
COSTELLO: Let's talk, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
"I can't breathe," that cry from Eric Garner shortly before his death at the hands of a New York City police officer. It's now become a rallying cry for protesters nationwide demanding change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands behind your back.
E. GARNER: I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: A grand jury deciding not to indict the officer whose chokehold killed Garner during his arrest in July for suspicion of selling loose cigarettes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: NYPD.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: But unlike what we saw in Ferguson after the grand jury's decision was read, New York protesters were disruptive but peaceful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No justice.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: No peace.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No righteous.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: No peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Anger in the streets but there were no stores looted, no fires set, no bottles thrown.
Jason Carroll begins our coverage. He's live in Times Square this morning.
Good morning.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And a very quiet Times Square out here, Carol. Much different situation than we've seen out here last night when you had hundreds of protesters marching throughout the city right here, through Times Square, and other parts of the city chanting the same thing that Eric Garner's wife said last night basically saying that they would fight until the very end for justice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe.
CARROLL (voice-over): Protesters pouring into the streets of New York last night after a grand jury did not indict New York City Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of 43-year-old Eric Garner.
E. GARNER: I can't breathe.
HOLDER: It's a very painful day for so many New Yorkers.
CARROLL: Arrests made throughout the night as outrage pulsed throughout the city streets for more than nine hours.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Black lives matter. Black lives matter.
CARROLL: Most chanting Garner's last words.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: I can't breathe, I can't breathe --
CARROLL: Before dying on this Staten Island street.
E. GARNER: I can't breathe. I can't breathe.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: I can't breathe.
CARROLL: Police, some in riot gear, blocking intersections as protesters began shutting down the city's most iconic landmarks. Stopping the flow of traffic into and out of the island of Manhattan for hours, some lying down right in the middle of the road, the same inside Grand Central Station.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: I can't breathe. I can't breathe.
CARROLL: Where other protesters staged a massive die-in as evening rush hour hit its peak. Police heavily guarding the Rockefeller tree lighting ceremony.
As protesters tried to disrupt the show.
The city's public outcry reaching a fever pitch nationwide. From Los Angeles --
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: I am Eric Garner.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: I am Eric Garner.
CARROLL: To Philadelphia.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Don't shoot.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Hands up.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Don't shoot.
CARROLL: Protesters took to city hall during their tree lighting ceremony holding up signs reading, "Black lives matter."
The demonstrations across the country disrupted but peaceful, fulfilling Garner's family wish.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we want to you rally but rally in peace.
B. GARNER: No violence.
CARROLL: Officer Pantaleo said in a statement, "It is never my intention to harm anyone and I feel very bad about the death of Mr. Garner," but Garner's wife says it's too late.
ESAW GARNER: Hell no. The time for remorse would have been when my husband was yelling to breathe. That would have been the time for him to show some type of remorse or some type of care for another human being's life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Last night some 83 arrests, mostly for disorderly conduct. New York City's mayor also releasing a statement this morning, Carol, basically saying this is not the end of the Eric Garner story, only the end of a chapter -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Jason Carroll, reporting live for us from Times Square, thanks so much.
Eric Garner's widow says her husband should be alive right now celebrating Christmas with her and their six children and their grandchildren. Esaw Garner spoke to NBC News about how she felt when she found out the cop who put her husband in that chokehold would not face charges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ESAW GARNER: I just dropped my phone and just -- started bawling, I started crying because it's not fair. It's not fair. What do they not see? How could they possibly not indict? You know? I felt hopeless. I felt like there was not another corner to turn, like there was nothing left for me to fight for, but, you know, then I got some encouraging phone calls.
From the beginning, I had no faith in Staten Island prosecuting anybody from Staten Island, you know. I just didn't have any type of encouragement, you know, I felt no remorse. I felt no compassion, no anything from Staten Island, like, besides the people on Staten Island, but as far as like the police and the DA and -- there was no sincerity in his eyes from day one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Shortly after the grand jury decision was made, the attorney general, the U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder, announced the U.S. Justice Department will conduct an independent investigation into Garner's death, and he says trust needs to be rebuilt between law enforcement and the communities they serve. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLDER: And we've all seen the video of Mr. Garner's arrest. His death, of course, was a tragedy. All lives must be valued. All lives.
Mr. Garner's death is one of several recent incidents in our great country that have tested the sense of trust that must exist between law enforcement and the communities they are charged to serve and to protect.
This is not a New York issue nor a Ferguson issue alone. Those who have protested peacefully across our great country following the grand jury decision in Ferguson have made that very clear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Now the trust between the community and police will be hard to restore. Many people simply cannot understand why the grand jury did not indict when they could actually see video of what went down between that New York police officer and Eric Garner. All of this over a man who was allegedly selling loose cigarettes.
New York's Commissioner William Bratton is now reviewing the case but he has not yet decided whether the officer, Pantaleo, violated department policy when he put Garner in what looked like a chokehold.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BRATTON, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: The process now moves into an administrative review to see if the officer or officers involved in the death of Mr. Garner were in violation of the department policies and procedures, and if they were, to what extent, and based on that finding, if there's a finding of guilt, then a decision be made as to appropriate penalty, discipline for that. So it's much too early in the process to comment on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Well, let's talk to a man who's been in Bill Bratton's spot. I'm joined now by former New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir.
Welcome, sir.
HOWARD SAFIR, FORMER NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Good to be with you .
COSTELLO: It's nice to have you here because there are a lot of things people don't understand when they look at this video. How can anyone say that the officer didn't put Eric Garner in a chokehold?
In your estimation, was that a chokehold? Or was it a takedown maneuver? What was it?
SAFIR: It was a takedown maneuver that ended up in a type of chokehold. And there are various types of chokehold. You know, the chokehold that is prohibited by the NYPD is a chokehold that is meant to render an individual unconscious. That did not appear to be what the police officer was doing, but nevertheless it did result in the tragic death of Mr. Garner, and you know, whether it was the prohibited chokehold or not will be determined by the administrative procedure with the NYPD.
COSTELLO: The officer said he never thought Garner was in mortal danger. Never. Even though Garner 11 times yelled, "I can't breathe." That doesn't make sense to a lot of people.
SAFIR: I understand that, also I understand that, you know, the officer might have assumed that if he could say, I can't breathe, he could probably breathe, but, you know, all of this is not that relevant as is the grand jury procedure. And what I'm hoping is that the court will allow the district attorney to make the transparent grand jury procedures public so that people will see what actually happened in a procedure that is now a law.
COSTELLO: I don't think that they're going to release the grand jury transcripts in this case so people will be left to draw their own conclusions and you think that's not right.
SAFIR: Well, I think this case is so public and there's such outrage among the public that I think like they did in Ferguson I think it would be helpful for members of the public to understand what the grand jury heard, what the police officer said, why the grand jury took his statement and believed that he had no criminal intent and a crime was not committed.
COSTELLO: If this were your officer, this officer in question, what would you do?
SAFIR: If I was that officer in question, I don't know what I would do because I wasn't there. I mean, what happened here is an individual was committing a crime --
COSTELLO: If you were his boss, what would you do?
SAFIR: I would look at the circumstances. I would see whether or not he violated department policy. There's a procedure in the NYPD where you do an investigation after the criminal investigation is over, and you make a recommendation to the police commissioner on whether or not this individual violated NYPD policy, and whether he should be disciplined or terminated. And that's when the determination will be made, as Commissioner Bratton said just prior to my appearance here.
COSTELLO: When you look at the video, as a police officer, what conclusion do you come to?
SAFIR: I come to the conclusion that you have an individual who is resisting arrest and a police officer tries to take him down. Now whether that was proper or not will be determined by the investigation, but, you know, all of this would not have happened if Mr. Garner had complied. COSTELLO: It's true, but he was accused of selling loose cigarettes.
Can't you just wait a guy out? I mean, everybody was angry, but should six officers have tackled him to the ground for selling loose cigarettes?
SAFIR: It is a minor violation. The continuum of force that police officers are trained to use tries to deescalate situations. In this situation, Mr. Garner clearly was not complying, and they had to make a decision on whether or not to arrest him or not.
Now again, whether or not policy was followed or not will be determined by the department investigation. What is clear is that a grand jury determined there was not a crime. Now there is further proceedings that will take place. I mean, the NYPD has the most oversight of any department in the country.
The federal government will look, the Eastern District of New York on whether or not there was a civil rights violation and they will determine whether or not there was a crime committed -- a federal crime. But you know, that burden of proof I believe is much higher than what the Staten Island grand jury looked at.
COSTELLO: And just a final question because Officer Pantaleo, he's been suspended without pay. Does that indicate that he probably did violate police policy?
SAFIR: I don't believe that's correct. I believe he's on modified assignment and his badge and his gun has been taken from him, but I do not believe he's been suspended.
COSTELLO: So in your estimation, what can calm the community? What can rebuild trust? I mean, and you heard Mayor de Blasio said this is the first step and there are many more steps to come. So what's the answer?
SAFIR: There are many more steps to come. The public has to learn more about what police do and why they do it. They have to understand there are six million contacts between the police and the public each year. This was a tragic one and there's no great consolation to the Garner family, but the NYPD is the most restrained and the best trained department in the country.
And, you know, bottom line here is it was a tragedy, but it was precipitated by Mr. Garner not complying with a lawful order of a police officer.
COSTELLO: Former police commissioner, Howard Safir, thank you so much for joining me this morning. I appreciate it.
SAFIR: Good to be with you.
COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, "I will fight to the end." That was the promise from Eric Garner's widow after a grand jury announced it would not indict the police officer involved in her husband's death. Up next we'll talk to someone who knows exactly what the Garner family
is going through. His son was killed by police eight years ago, a day before his wedding.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Concerns are still high surrounding police conduct and training in the Ferguson area. St. Louis officials are expected to announce a new civilian police review board today.
Also today, the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder takes his nationwide Ferguson conversation tour to Cleveland. Holder spoke in Atlanta on Monday and will follow up with trips to Memphis, Chicago, Philadelphia and Oakland. The talks focus on community relations with law enforcement following the Ferguson grand jury decision.
The Justice Department is continuing its investigation into the shooting death of Michael Brown and a separate probe into Ferguson's police department practices.
Something else to consider this morning, one of the five St. Louis Rams who made the "hands up" gesture before Sunday's game with Oakland is now defending his actions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JARED COOK, ST. LOUIS RAMS TIGHT END: It was a perfect example of a peaceful protest. If anything, if anything should have been said about it by anybody, it should have been an example of a way to peacefully protest and peacefully get your point across without tearing up the neighborhood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Ferguson with more this morning.
Good morning, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Carol.
Some parts of the city of St. Louis yesterday after the grand jury decision was announced in New York City, there were a number of protests that kind of made their way through the city as well, and there's several people standing vigil outside the Ferguson Police Department, but everything, you know, peaceful here in terms of the protests that went on yesterday, and really what a lot of people are focusing on is getting the businesses that were damaged in last week's rioting and destruction, getting those businesses back on its feet, so a lot of work and cleanup that continues along those portions and those areas of Ferguson that were hardest hit.
And the governor of Missouri is still being asked questions about what last Monday night, how everything was handled, and whether or not the National Guard should have been put into place sooner, and to protect those businesses that were damaged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOVERNOR JAY NIXON (D), MISSOURI: The loss of property was significant clearly, individual business owners our hearts go out to them. But when you put it in context the fact that we didn't have a single one of those folks shot or a single law enforcement or trooper or national guardsman shot, nor any of their weapons discharged in that difficult a situation, you had to make decisions about life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: And, Carol, the big issue for a lot of those businesses, I've had a chance to speak with several business owners over the last few days, many of them who had their businesses burned out and they're really grappling with the decision whether or not to rebuild, whether to keep their businesses here, and then you talk to several of them that lost thousands and thousands of dollars just in those couple of days and about a week or so where everything had to be shut down, lost business and lost inventory and that sort of thing. So, a lot of people still dealing and grappling with that this morning -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Ed Lavandera reporting live from Ferguson this morning.
Still to come, we're waiting to see if NASA will launch Orion on its first test flight for a potential Mars mission. The launch window closes at 9:44 Eastern this morning. The launch has been delayed a few times already. First, it was the weather, now it's a valve problem. We'll keep you posted.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Machine gunfire, mortars raining down, ISIS fighters just 65 feet away and nowhere to hide in a war zone. You will not see this anywhere else.
Our own Nick Paton Walsh and his crew braved the front lines in the besieged Syrian town of Kobani.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From inside Kobani, the day's ferocity gets no respite at night. A prize so small, but so valued, the violence seems to swallow it hole, grinding its streets down to the bone.
We're heading to the front line where nightly, daily, ISIS hoped to advance, with Meedya, a Kurdish female fighter, also in their egalitarian world, this unit's commander.
Coalition air power did this, pushing ISIS back. They abandoned their dead as they retreat, the decaying smell haunts these front lines.
Some call it Kobani-grad after the city's Stalin sacrifice to make a point.
Little left here, but a bulwark of Kurdish defiance 20 meters from ISIS.
(GUNFIRE)
WALSH: They think they see something in the rubble.
(GUNFIRE)
WALSH: Even after coalition support, desperately in need of better arms.
(GUNFIRE)
WALSH (on camera): This is the kind of exchanges that happen here hourly. ISIS literally meters to that side, shooting at this position that we've seen return fire as well.
(GUNFIRE)
WALSH (voice-over): This surely wasn't the death is recruits were sold in their propaganda videos.
Mortars are often used, so we pull back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on over against the wall.
WALSH: Meedya is 22 and has been within five meters of ISIS.
Here, friends are made and lost. Her best friend Reban (ph), died saving others.
MEEDYA RAQQA, YPG KURDISH COMMANDER (through translator): There were very heavy clashes with is. We were outnumbered and out of ammunition. She herself was injured, but she advanced to help save the other injured with her. ISIS surrounded her, because girls are very prized by them. She then blew herself up and killed a lot of them with her.
I was near her then, her last words to me were, "We will liberate our land with the last drop of blood in my body."
WALSH: The men bring us tea.
This is the polar opposite of is' world view.
They cannot afford to stop the fight, even if that means there's little left to live on when they do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Just unbelievable.
Nick joins us live from the Turkish side of the border with Syria.
Are U.S. airstrikes helping at all?
WALSH: From what we saw, they've certainly allowed the Kurds to retake some ground there definitely. That frontline you saw, what's behind them there is, in fact, obliterated buildings hit by air strikes, that's where you saw the ISIS fighters' dead bodies.
So, clearly, yes, evidentially there, that enabled some territories still held by the Kurds, but is it conclusive? Far from it. As you saw there, we have women in their early 20s with often old weaponry holding back ISIS on the front line. They're the ground troops really in this coalition war at the moment, and they are struggling. That fight you see it in the balance every night. We are being told roughly a third of the city was in ISIS control.
I have to say, from looking at the front lines that we saw, I think probably 40 percent, 50 percent was the figure we were hearing that's more reliable.
Carol.
COSTELLO: Courageous people. Nick Paton Walsh, thanks so much. We appreciate it.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, what did the grand jury see that we didn't? We will walk you through each step of Eric Garner's confrontation with police, from his proclamation of innocence, to that fatal chokehold.
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