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Loretta Lynch's Confirmation On Hold In Senate; Police Make Arrest In Cop Shooting Case in Ferguson Eleven American Aid Workers Exposed to Ebola In Western Africa; Real Estate Heir Robert Durst Arrested; Arrest Made In Ferguson Shootings; Three Teens Face Terror Charges In Britain; Authorities Hold News Conference On Ferguson Arrest

Aired March 15, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. And thanks so much for joining us in the NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We start this hour with breaking news. Police have made an arrest in connection with the shooting of those two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is on the phone with us now from Clayton, Missouri.

So Stephanie, what can you tell us about this arrest?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): What we are understanding at this point, Fredricka is that the St. Louis county jail is holding a man who is being held on a 24-hour hold for assault against a police officer and for firing at or from a vehicle. This is related to that shooting of the two police officers outside of the Ferguson police department last Wednesday night. This was as the protest was coming to an end. We know that one of those officers was shot in the face, the other shot in the shoulder. Both of those men recovering at home but they have been working to find out who did the shooting. So there's about to be a press conference here at St. Louis county police where they're going to give us more information about the shooting. And that is we are now. So we'll have more information for you coming up, Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK. So for now, just being notified via twitter from the St. Louis county police department that an arrest has been made, and very few details about the circumstances even of that arrest?

ELAM: Right. Right now we're waiting to find out more in this press conference about -- anything about who this person might be and how they were able to track him down and get a hold of him. But looking like this arrest happened overnight and they're going to the give us some details today.

WHITFIELD: All right, Stephanie. Hold tight. I want to bring in law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes into the equation here.

So Tom, how do you suppose this arrest may have been made? THOMAS FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST (via phone): Fredricka,

we knew from very early in the investigation that they had identified -- in this. And you know, they held their information very close as far as what they knew and how they knew it. But the fact that they said they had a suspect in mind and were searching for that person indicated that they were probably successful in finding that person.

WHITFIELD: And it appears win person, initially it was unclear whether it may have been a gunman or more than one, just because there has been one arrest made, doesn't mean necessarily out that there could be others, right?

FUENTES: No, that's true. There still could be others. And it depends if the one person is cooperating in giving any more information as to, you know, details about other shooting.

If I could add, you know, there's lot of speculations during an investigation of why the police don't reveal more. One good reason that they don't is because if they don't, when they actually do have something in custody. If that person starts talks about what he did and how he did it, they want to make sure that facts aligned. That it isn't somebody confessing to something or providing information to something based on having heard everything about it in the media. So that's one reason that they would hold a lot of details that only the shooter or someone who was with the shooter would have access to that information.

WHITFIELD: And Tom, you were just in Ferguson on Friday. Stephanie, you have been there as well. But to you, first, Tom, was there any sense that you got from people in the community there that they were willing to help cooperate in any potential arrests in this case?

FUENTES: Yes, they would help and would cooperate. The difficulty for the people of Ferguson is, and we heard this a lot there, they resent all of the outsiders that have showed up. Even just the protesters that are coming into town, you know, they just would like to get their town back and start rebuilding and start, you know, trying to have the police department that they want.

And the fear that they had all along, from the beginning was that when there's been violence, when there's been shots fired from, you know, outside the crowd at the police or just in the area, that it been outside agitators that have come from not just the greater St. Louis area, but from other states, from as far away as California or New York, people have showed up there and in some cases, deliberately to cause trouble for police, is so that's the part they have resented.

So, you know, we have been saying that even if the police -- I mean, if the community wanted to help the police, they just might not have been able to provide information if somebody came into town, came -- drove out there that night, fired the shots, drove away, no one in the community would know who they were or anything about it.

WHITFIELD: And Stephanie, your are still in the general vicinity, did you get a sense especially while being in Ferguson over the past couple of days and said while there has been historically lack of trust between the community and police, have there been kind of a renewed feeling among community members that they wanted to participate in any way they could to help get to the bottom of this arrest? Has there been any renewal of trust so to speak?

ELAM: I would definitely say that while -- there have been hundreds of days of protesting in Ferguson. And most of those days we don't hear anything about, people come and they demonstrate and they leave. And there's a difference between the people who are protesting and the people who are agitators. And for the people who are out there protesting, they don't -- folks I have talked to do not want to be associated with the agitators. And they don't think anyone coming and those who are shooting, wounding police officers, especially in that ambush kind of manner is going to help their cause in any way.

So there are some of people out there protesting who are very upset by how this all happened and how it went down and didn't want that. That whoever is behind this to be found because they don't think that this is going to bring any progress.

At the same time, business owners in Ferguson concerned about the shooting against police officers and wondering what that would be for their business. So concern about that as well, is just hoping that this does not become an issue. And for the most part, it seems everyone that was out there agrees that shooting at police officers was not a good idea. It's not a good thing to do to just wound people and it's not helping anyone's cause moving forward.

WHITFIELD: All right, Stephanie Elam, Tom Fuentes, thanks to both of you.

Again, we are expecting a news conference at 2:30 eastern time. We'll bring that to you. Stephanie Elam is there. We'll get that information as it happens.

All right, on to politics now, U.S. senate majority leader Mitch McConnell says President Obama's choice to replace attorney general Eric Holder will not get a confirmation vote unless Democrats relent on a human trafficking bill. Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn is one step away from becoming the country's first African- American woman attorney-general. Democrats are holding up the trafficking bill because it has an abortion provision they opposed. And McConnell on state of the union today wasn't budging.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sounds like you are threatening to hold up Loretta Lynch, who has been in limbo for months and months --

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MAJORITY LEADER: It's not a threat. We need to finish this human trafficking bill that came out of the Judiciary Committee unanimously. That's the next -- it's on the Senate floor right now. We need to finish that before we turn to the attorney general because in the next weeks we'll be doing the budget and two weeks-- and the next weeks after that Congress is not in session. BASH: So unless Democrats give in, Loretta Lynch's nomination will

not be on the senate floor next week?

MCCONNELL: We have to finish the human trafficking bill. The Loretta Lynch nomination comes next. And as soon as we get the human trafficking bill, we'll turn to the attorney general.

BASH: I want to ask you the attorney general because she initially really had bipartisan praise and support, and as the weeks and weeks and weeks have gone on and has not gotten a vote, I believe maybe it was the longest in history for her post. She has lost support from many Republicans who say they don't like the idea that she agrees with the president's immigration plan. But what else would they expect? The president, of course, will nominate somebody who agrees with his own plan. I mean, that is his prerogative.

MCCONNELL: Well the nomination hasn't taken it long if you consider when it was actually taken up this year. The democratic majority back in December had a chance to work on the nomination earlier, decided to delay and until this year, the nomination is scheduled to be considered as soon as we finish the human trafficking bill. I think to the attorney general nominee is suffering from the president's actions. There's no question about it. The actions he took, unilaterally on immigration, after the election enraged a number of members. Lots of members have voted, have talked to the nominee. She has bipartisan support in the committee. We'll take her up just as soon as we get through this is important human trafficking bill.

BASH: Will you vote for her.

MCCONNELL: I haven't made a decision yet?

BASH: What's holding you back? Is it that issue?

MCCONNELL: I'm bringing her up. So I'm not denying the administration an opportunity to have to nominee her.

BASH: I mean you personally.

MCCONNELL: I'm going to announce what I'm going to do at a later time. But first thing we need to do is finish this important human trafficking bill and then we can turn to the nomination of the attorney general.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, the senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, responded by issuing a statement through his spokesman in part saying quote "Senator McConnell should keep his word and bring attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch up got a vote this week. By continuing to stall Lynch's nomination, Republicans are failing another basic test of their ability to govern," end quote.

CNN's chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash is with me now.

So Dana, you know, Lynch's name was announced last November, sent to the Senate in January and now it's going to be even longer. And the irony here is that Republicans have for a very long time wanted Eric Holder out. Is this an indication that they have changed their mind?

BASH: No. It's just a problem that they have with a Republican base really demanding in any way that they possibly can, that they hold the president's feet to the fire on his immigration plan, which they call amnesty. Of course, the president says that it's simply allowing people who -- many of people who are in this country illegally to stay for a bit longer, give them legal status.

But I think the bottom line is, that what you have is, as I was sort of trying to get at with Mitch McConnell. You do have this woman in Loretta Lynch who has had pretty broad bipartisan support for months with regard to her abilities, her qualifications, the things that matter the most.

The reason why Republicans are spooked is what I mentioned, that she was nominated before the president actually took his executive action on immigration. And because she is up for the post of attorney general, she's the way that they can express it. And it is certainly frustrating Democrats and it's frustrating even Republicans and they think it's time for the reason they started out with, fled, because Eric Holder was to the man probably that they wanted out of the Obama cabinet for years more than anyone. And the irony is that they're holding up his successor for political differences and philosophical difference, but they are holding her up and keeping him in a job.

WHITFIELD: So, is there also express frustration for even Mitch McConnell's comments this morning that it seems as though there isn't a singular message coming from to the Republicans, but now a confluence of messages when it pertains to Lynch's nomination being holding up or even recently the letter being sent by Republicans to Iranian leaders.

BASH: There is some frustration. I think that maybe, you know, when it comes to the whole concept of can Republicans govern, there is maybe a connection there. But when you're just talking to Loretta Lynch, I just talked since that interview to a Republican senator who said, look, I just think it's a mistake to be holding her up for the reasons that I just talked about.

First and foremost, it's time to get Holder out of there from the Republican perspective. But also, she's qualified. A lot of Republicans believe that she is qualified and they are kind, you know, old school and that they believe in advise and consent the way it was suppose to be. That it is the president's prerogative to pick members of his cabinet.

And although, of course, Republicans are not going to agree with everything that a nominee of a democratic president believes in, but at some point, you have to kind of, you know, let the wheels go in motion. And now, what is happening is the whole reason why this is an issue, is not because he's been not gotten a vote for months. But also because last week Mitch McConnell said point blank he was going to put this nomination on the Senate floor this coming week. And now he is backing up because he is blaming Democrats for a fight at another bill.

So it is, again, big picture that people are looking in at the Congress, at Washington saying, here we go again. I mean, it is probably just noise, even though Republicans are trying to say it is in to us, it is Democrats. I'm not sure people really get that.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dana Bash. Thanks so much from Washington.

BASH: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And now new concerns today about the largest group of Americans possibly exposed to Ebola to come home, 11 aid workers. Five of the aid workers who may have been exposed to the virus in Western Africa are now back in the U.S. They are now at Emory University hospital and University of Nebraska Medical center in Omaha, for observation.

The other sick patients are expected to arrive in the U.S. either today or tomorrow. They will immediately be transferred to either Emory in Atlanta or the national institutes of health in Maryland. None of these individuals have been diagnosed as having Ebola, but health officials are concerned that they may have been exposed in Sierra Leone where an American healthcare worker contracted it. That patient is now being treated at national institute of health (NIH) and is lifted in serious condition.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is with me now.

So Elizabeth, did all of these people work together in Sierra Leone? Was it that they were in close contact or just in the same village or area of treatment?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, we don't know a lot of details, but this is what we do know. So they all worked for partners in health which is a Boston-based aid group. And they so wonderful work all around the world trying to help people in Haiti and various places anyhow. They all work for partners and help in Sierra Leone. And they came this group of other folks came to the aid of the person who has Ebola. So the person who has Ebola was ill, and they tried to help him or her, so now they may have been possibly exposed.

WHITFIELD: So why do they think that is alarming? Because the aid -- the healthcare workers were there to take care of other people who have Ebola and so they were treating or offering car. Why would it be different when it's one of their own, when you're talking about the same kind of equipment and precautions that are being taken, right?

COHEN: You are asking why didn't they have that sort of moon suits on them. We have all (INAUDIBLE). It maybe they didn't realized that this person had Ebola. I mean, this person may have been ill, may have needed some help, but they didn't necessarily know that he or she had Ebola.

Now having said that, you can take care of someone with Ebola and not get Ebola. You know, you can just be near them and not get Ebola. You need exposure to their bodily fluids. So for example, if the person with Ebola vomited on them, that's serious. I mean, that is a serious risk. But if you were just near them, that's not as necessarily as serious of a risk. We don't know how much expose these aid workers have.

WHITFIELD: But it is alarming, nonetheless, because we are talking about the largest group. I mean, the number 11 is big.

COHEN: It is big number when you consider that is about the same number of people who have been treated with Ebola in this county. So 11 possible Ebola cases, that is a big number all at one time. So again, possible, and they are sending them here out of an abundance of caution. But it's 11 people who are being sort of scattered between these three different hospitals. So hopefully no one hospital would be burdened.

WHITFIELD: And they would be staying at the hospital, once being treated, even if, you know, we are talking about those exposed or is it a matter of staying off campus somewhere, coming back for treatment of observation? Or do they stay in the hospital for observation?

COHEN: Right. Good question. They're not at the hospital. So right now, these folks are going to go into hotels or some other kind of housing, on the campus of the hospital or nearby so that they can be watched and they can be monitored. Then if they get sick, then they go to the hospital. But right now, they're just in housing. And they haven't been real specific about what type of housing, but they all in some kind of housing. They have not been admitted to the hospital.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right, fascinating details, keep us posted. Thank you so much, Elizabeth Cohen. Good to see you.

COHEN: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right, once again an arrest has been made as it pertains to the shooting and injuring of two police officers in Ferguson. And now a press conference is expected to happen, just about 15 or so minutes from now, 2:30 eastern time. Of course, we will have live coverage on that. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

This breaking news, an arrest has been made for to the shooting and injuring of two Ferguson, Missouri police officers. A press conference is about to get underway. You are seeing the mic checks right there. It is just about ten minutes from now. And of course, as it happens, we'll take you there live.

Meantime, another big story we are following. Real estate heir Robert Durst is sitting in a New Orleans jail right now, weeks after he (INAUDIBLE) talked about murder cases on an HBO documentary. A warrant was issued by Los Angeles County late last night, the eccentric 71-year-old millionaire New Yorker has been tied to multiple homicide investigations, including the disappearance of his wife. Last night's arrest comes just hours before that documentary of his

life titled "The Jinx, the life and death of Robert Durst" on HBO owned by CNN's parent company Time-Warner. And this is the dramatic promo that has been airing for tonight's finale, which eerily foreshadows Durst's arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing happens that way it is supposed to happen when it comes to Bobby Durst.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was clear enough that I might be dancing with the devil.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our society is safe with him behind bars, if you back him in a corner, you threaten his freedom, he will kill you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something big is going to happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was shocked.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need to know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had it coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was found inside the disk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you kidding?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, Shasta Darlington has been following this story.

So Shasta, after being accused of three murders, spending four decades is its documentary in large part. Why Durst was arrested right know?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well according to his own attorneys, Fredricka, this stems to the brutal murder of his very close friend Susan Berman. She was shot execution style in Los Angeles in 2000. They never charged anyone with her murder. And recently, the attorney general in Los Angeles reopened that investigation.

And of course, now, we have this documentary, "the Jinx," which is revealing all sorts of new details. And one of the more interesting aspects is Robert Durst himself speaking in pretty extensively about the different investigations. He says he had nothing to do with Susan Berman's murder. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terrible for Susan. I was astonished that they thought I put it all this together that I did it or I caused it to be done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DARLINGTON: Now remember, Fredricka, this murder took place after Berman herself told Durst that police want to talk to her about his wife's disappearance. Well then, she turns up dead. And one of the interesting new pieces of evidence that this documentary airs is a letter that Durst sent to Berman before her death and they compare it to an anonymous letter, presumably sent by the murdered of Berman and they show the handwriting. That's what is very interesting here.

And what it shows is that the handwriting is very similar if not identical and even the word Beverly is misspelled. Now, in the anonymous letter, this was warning that a cadaver would be found in Susan Berman's house, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: It is a fascinating case all the way around.

Thank you so much, Shasta Darlington in New York. And we'll be back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

Breaking news, we're awaiting a press conference to take place any moment, this after an arrest say police was made after the shooting and injuring of two Ferguson police officers a few days ago. And so, at any moment, 2:30 eastern time is the posted press conference time. When it happens, we'll take you there live.

Meantime, let's talk about the Pope. Pope Francis continues to surprise the catholic community. In an interview to celebrate his second anniversary of being elected to the papacy, Pope Francis says he doesn't think his tenure will last his lifetime as might be expected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS, CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADER (through translator): I have the feeling that my pontificate will be brief, four or five years, even two or three. Two have already passed. It's somewhat strange sensation. I say maybe not. But it is the psychology of he who plays and thinks he's going to lose so that he won't get upset but they will be happy if he wins. I don't know what is, but I have the feeling, if the Lord as placed for short time. But it is just a feeling and so I have the possibility open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Just a feeling.

So with a snap, Father Edward Beck. So, how do you interpret that he's saying, you know, tomorrow's not guaranteed. I mean, there's nothing definitive about our lives. And so, maybe that's why he's not going to be around for too long or did you hear something else?

FR. EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION COMMENTATOR: Well in some ways, Fred, I think he is being realistic. This is a 78-year-old man? Remember when he was 21, he had a piece of his lung removed. He hasn't always been in the best health. And so, he realizes that his time is necessarily limited by his age first of all. Remember that Pope Benedict retired when he was 86 because he felt he really wasn't up to the job anymore. So that's a precedent that has been set. Pope Francis has said of Benedict's retirement. He's opened an institutional door, which means, you know what? Maybe I'll retire too.

So really, I think it's about being realistic with his age, his stamina and what is possible in his short time.

WHITFIELD: Age? OK, I'm shocked that he's 78. I think probably a lot of people forgot about that. But stamina, he seems to epitomize stamina and someone who has taken up the roll, you know, of being the pontiff unlike anybody else. So I guess it's hard to envision him talking about or anyone accepting that retirement is in his near future.

BECK: Well, look. We certainly would want to keep him around a long time. He has been great for the church and he has been great for everyone who have come in contact with him. The only thing he misses, he said, is he can't go out for pizza anymore. He loved his anonymity. Remember when he was in Buenos Aires, he went to the barrio. We would visit people. He would sit and have a cup of coffee.

WHITFIELD: He would ride a bus.

BECK: And he misses that.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, I'm sure people will just have to enjoy him as long as they can. And maybe he is not talking about tomorrow right away, but just somewhere around the corner. Maybe this is way of just kind of preparing everybody that nothing is forever, right?

All right, Father Beck, thank you so much. Always good to see you.

And of course, CNN's new original series "Finding Jesus" continues with the Gospel of Judas, what can archaeology reveal about the betrayer of Jesus, was he a betrayer? Watch tonight at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

Again, just moments away from a press conference to take place in the St. Louis area, in Ferguson, an arrest has been made, where we're following that breaking news, two police officers shot and injured in Ferguson just days ago.

You're looking at the setup right now of the press conference to take place there. Our own Stephanie Elam is there in Clayton, Missouri where the press conference will be getting under way at any moment.

So Stephanie, all we know right now, unless you've learned something new within the past 30 minutes, last time we spoke, one arrest made, but still unclear the circumstances of that arrest? STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Exactly, Fred, at this point we don't have any more information on that, but what we do understand is this arrest happened overnight, that's what CNN is learning. That they've arrested this man and he's being held on a 24- hour hold for assault against a police officer and firing at or from a vehicle.

Now we've know that this is obviously happening -- something has happened because they called this press conference to share this news with everyone about what has happened yesterday.

They said they didn't have anyone in custody, but it was not a cold case, that they were continuing to work around the clock to identify who was behind it. We're getting indications that they may have known who they thought they were looking for, but they kept a lot of information close to the chest.

And from that, we're hoping to get more information on who this individual is and how they were able to track them down -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And it's interesting the sequence of events, because isn't it correct that it was St. Louis County Police that kind of revealed that this arrest have been made, a press conference would be under way by way of Twitter?

ELAM: Right. We got word of it a little bit before that tweet, but yes, it is St. Louis County Police. That department is the one that has made this arrest and he's in the St. Louis County jail.

And you know, after that shooting that happened outside of the Ferguson Police Department, where those two police officers were injured, one on the shoulder and one shot in the face.

The St. Louis County Police did take over security and was looking into this investigation along with the Missouri State Troopers as well so not completely surprising there, but now we're in Clayton here to see what the latest is on this individual.

WHITFIELD: And then St. Louis County Police taking over security at various protests and you have been covering them really throughout the weekend and the latter part of last week, have there still been some protests, albeit peaceful, but protests even taking place after that shooting that occurred on Wednesday?

ELAM: Definitely. It's important to keep in mind that the protests have continued nonstop since Mike Brown was killed. But the protests continuing throughout the weekend, people out there demonstrating and at the same time you see people out there talking to some police officers and having conversations but not always hostile.

And a lot of people are very bothered by the fact someone would take it upon themselves to shoot at police officers especially in this manner where they may have been ambushed.

And they are saying they don't want that to derail the change that they were trying to have happen in Ferguson and around the country. So the protests are happening.

And also some people are coming out to let it be known that they support the police officers in St. Louis County and as well as Ferguson, and saying that, you know, we have those problems, but we do not need to condemn all the officers that are here and working on the force.

WHITFIELD: Can you kind of refresh our memories of what the tone or tenor has kind of been at these protests because remarkably the night of that shooting we heard from at least one eyewitness account where a woman says that you know, she thought that everything was going along peacefully.

And then she opens the door and sees a red laser dot on her chest and not long after there was a shooting. Have there been other eyewitnesses or other attendees of protests who have had similar stories like that?

ELAM: There were other people who said that they did (inaudible) and from what we gathered that this time of the night, the protest was wrapping up. Most people were getting ready to call it a night when the shooting happened.

So, yes, there were people out there who saw things and they be traumatized by what they saw and how things happened especially because of the proximity of where the shooter may have been? But yes, a lot of people were still out there on the street to see this.

And I think this paints a different between what you see of protesters and then people who are agitators and there seems to be a difference and the protesters are really concerned about that?

WHITFIELD: And most detectives will tell you that the cooperation of the community is paramount when trying to apprehend suspects, do we know whether this community, where the shooting took place, whether eyewitness accounts may have been at all instrumental in this arrest?

ELAM: Yes, that's what we would like to know. I don't know yet whether or not that was the case. I do know that the police were talking to people in the communities in the hills, that little hill area that's across from the police station, whether or not that led to the fact that they were able to make that arrest overnight, we should be able to find that out today.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, Stephanie Elam, thanks so much. You're there as the setup continues and we're waiting for any representation of the police force to come out to give detail about that one arrest made. We'll have much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. At any moment now, we expect to see some police force representatives there in St. Louis County. An arrest has been made as it pertains to the shooting and injury of two Ferguson, Missouri police officers earlier last week. All we know is that an arrest has been made and that person is currently being held at the St. Louis County police station. More details as soon as this press conference gets under way and of course, we'll take it live.

Meantime, overseas now, three teenagers who may have been trying to join ISIS are instead in custody in a police station in Great Britain. London police say they were stopped by Turkish authorities as they attempted to travel to Syria.

At least two of them are said to be British. Word of their arrests comes as new details surface on the investigation of three British girls, who are believed to have already travelled to Syria to join ISIS.

CNN's Atika Shubert joins us live now from London. So Atika, first, these new arrests, what are officials saying about these three teenaged boys that are in custody?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it looks like there was a lot better cooperation this time between British and Turkish authorities. Counterterror officials here learned that two 17-year-olds from northwest London were traveling with the intention of crossing over into Syria.

They alerted Turkish authorities, who arrested them as soon as they arrived there and also discovered that they had a 19-year-old man, who was also traveling with them.

Now all three have been deported back here to the U.K. and they are currently at a Central London prison where they have been arrested on suspicion of terror offenses.

So this is a case where it seems to the communication was working. Turkish authorities were able to act quickly because they had information in time. That stands in stark contrast to just a few weeks ago when those three teenage girls, two 15-year-olds and a 16- year-old were able to arrive in Turkey, spend three days and then cross over into Syria.

They are actually now believed to be in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa. Their families are still waiting for word as to how and why exactly they were able to slip past authorities so easily especially since two of them were minors and passed over into Syria.

WHITFIELD: All right, Atika Shubert, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

All right, meantime, back here in the U.S., keeping a close watch on a press conference to get under way at any moment now in St. Louis County, Missouri, just days after two Ferguson police officers were shot and injured.

Our Stephanie Elam is there, and Stephanie, that was supposed to take place at 9 minutes ago, and for lots of unknown reasons, it hasn't quite gotten under way, but what's the expectation from this presser? What kind of detail might we receive?

ELAM: Right. It's running a little bit late, but considering it all was announced that this was happening rather quickly. It's not too much of a surprise, but what we are hoping to learn is more about this man that they had in custody that St. Louis County police, from what we understand able to apprehend overnight and that is being held in St. Louis County jail.

What we want to know is how they found this individual and what led to the arrest. We do know that they were interviewing several people that they were talking to people, that they had some leads, but they didn't have anyone in the custody yesterday during the day.

And so what we're hoping to find out is how they were able to track this individual down -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK, and we are expecting this to be conducted primarily by St. Louise County Police or would Ferguson police also be involved in this?

ELAM: No, from what we're seeing right now. This is St. Louis County police who is conducting this and that is who have this person in custody here in Clayton, Missouri, which is not too far away from Ferguson.

But part of the issue here and what we have seen is after that late Wednesday night, early Thursday morning, when that shooting happened when those two police officers were shot, is that the St. Louis County Police Department did take over the investigation.

And we do know at the same time that they have been working with Missouri State troopers as well to then keep the area secure, so there has been help coming in from the surrounding communities and from the county as a whole to help out Ferguson police.

And also worth noting that the two police officers that were shot were not from Ferguson. They were there to help as part of this crowd control as the protests were happening.

And this shooting happened at the end late Wednesday night, really early Thursday morning when this shooting occurred so just a few days since then and this is where we are now where they have been able to make an arrest.

WHITFIELD: So if you wouldn't mind then take us back to earlier in the week, the Wednesday night, early Thursday morning and the sequence of events and what unfolded, which resulted in the injuries of these officers?

ELAM: Right. From what we understand is that this was the end of the protests that there were some people out there who were protesting, like they have been doing for weeks on end. Out there protesting, end of the night, when there was, from what we understand, muzzle flashes and then there were two officers hit.

We know there were two men that were hit. Veterans of the police forces in neighboring towns, and when that happened, there were a lot of protesters who ran, people were freaked out and scared about this because there was gunfire.

They believe that it was not someone who is a protester. They were saying that they thought it was somebody else. All of this transpiring after, of course, that Department of Justice report showed that there was racism within the Ferguson City Department also throughout the police department.

So we saw people leaving their jobs and also the departure on his own will of the Police Chief Jackson as well. Just keeping our eyes out to see if anything is happening here behind us, but it was after that departure and that is what has led to where we are now. So it looks like we're about to get started so I'm going to listen.

WHITFIELD: OK, very good. All right, again, for those who are just now joining us, again we're about to listen to St. Louis County Police representatives, stepping up to the microphone there, perhaps revealing a little bit about how and why one arrest has been made.

The circumstances of the arrest, who that person might be, what kind of relation they may have to the night of the protest in which it happened leading to the shooting and injuries of officers.

ROBERT MCCULLOCH, ST. LOUIS COUNTY PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: I want to let you know this morning that we filed charges just a few minutes ago against Jeffrey Williams, Jeffrey Williams, a 20-year-old man. He is now charged with two counts of assault in the first degree for the two police officers who were shot a couple days ago in Ferguson in front of the police station.

He's also charged with firing a weapon from a vehicle, which is a class b felony in the state of Missouri, and charged with three counts of ample armed criminal action, one for each one of those.

At this point in the investigation, and I stress it's ongoing, there's still an awful lot to be done. But the charge at this point is the result of the investigation so far, information that was developed through or the case developed through information that was provided by members of the public.

Essentially what we have charged him with is firing shots, it's possible at this point that he was firing shots at someone other than the police, but struck the police officer. So the charge is still assault in the first-degree, they're class a felonies for striking those two officers.

There was a weapon recovered, which has been tied to the shell casings that were recovered there, weapon recovered from him and he has acknowledged his participation in firing the shots, or there is -- that in fact he did fire the shots that struck the two officers.

So I do want to say first, as with all cases, they are mere allegations and he's innocent until proven guilty. He is in custody in this building now. The bond is set at $300,000 cash only. The investigation is still ongoing. We know after reviewing what we have so far, the police have done that there are still a lot of people out there. We can tell from some of the videos that were there who may have witnessed this or at least seen parts of it.

We can see them looking in certain directions. This is information that was provided to them by members of the community. I can't stress how important that is in every case, but certainly in this case, it has been invaluable to do that.

There is a lot more information and we can tell from is as I said the videos that there are a lot more people who were there who may have something to offer, whether they are additional charges to be filed or whether these charges are adjusted in some manner.

Whether there are additional people to be charged. We urge anybody who has any information at all contact crime stoppers or contact the county police. I will have a copy of the charges available and the probable cause statement.

Anybody has a few questions at this point. Keep in mind, this is an ongoing investigation. There's still a lot to be done so there's not a whole lot we can talk about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) was not firing at the police officer?

MCCULLOCH: Well, the evidence developed at this point in part on his statement that he may have had a dispute with some other individuals, or felt some dispute, we're not sure we completely buy that part of it.

But in any event, it's possible that he was firing at some other people and the officers, of course, were in the back. However it's still an assault in the first degree, it was a Class A felony.

First of all, we're not sure there was a dispute. We have to go on the evidence that we have at this point, like I said, the investigation is going to continue.

There are claims that he's made that he had a bit of a dispute with some other people who were there, which had nothing to do with the demonstrations that were going on, but he was firing at them, as opposed to directly at the police officer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was the car you've said. He was in a vehicle driving down the street there?

MCCULLOCH: Correct. He was on that side of the street, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was he a passenger in the car?

MCCULLOCH: There's a lot more investigations that need to be done. As you know from previous investigations that we compare what information we have from people to the physical evidence that's there. Some of that matches up, at this point, some of it does not. And that's still going to do, but certainly enough right now to file these charges. I'm sorry, you were saying?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are there other suspects?

MCCULLOCH: It is possible that there are other witnesses, whether other people ultimately be charge, we'll have to wait and see. That's why we need the cooperation of the public. We're requesting anybody with any information to come in and this is a result of the public contacting the police department, contacting law enforcement providing information that led to this gentleman being arrested.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us about the weapon that was recovered?

MCCULLOCH: I can't give you a whole lot of detail on it. The weapon that was recovered certainly matches the shell casings recovered at the scene was fired from that weapon. It was a handgun, a 40- millimeter handgun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible)

MCCULLOCH: These are members of the public who provided information, that's as far as we're going to go with that at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So was he involved in the protests?

MCCULLOCH: Yes, he is a demonstrator. He was out there earlier that evening as part of the demonstration. He's been out there on other demonstrations, but at this point, it appears that as you already know, the demonstration was pretty much over at that point and that's when this came about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you think that he was targeting the police?

MCCULLOCH: I wouldn't go that far. No. I wouldn't say that he was targeting police. I'm saying right now the evidence that we have supports filing the charge that he may have been shooting at someone other than police and struck the police. That when the investigation is completed and we may be able to just prove a lot. That part of it --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

MCCULLOCH: No. No, there was no physical fight, physical altercation or anything involved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is Mr. Williams local?

MCCULLOCH: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is he from?

MCCULLOCH: don't think it's in Ferguson, exactly, but in the general vicinity, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, were the police officers been notified and so what is their reaction? MCCULLOCH: Well, they've notified and they've notified by their departments and so I'm sure they're relieved, but short of that, I have not talked to them. I'm sorry?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

MCCULLOCH: It was a handgun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).

MCCULLOCH: It was recovered pursuant to a search warrant that was issued again based upon information that we received from the public in his residence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

MCCULLOCH: That's all, I don't know. There's so much more that needs to be done. We're looking at this point right now to see if there's a basis to file charges and hold them at this point so there's a lot more to be done about the specifics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does the video evidence support the --

MCCULLOCH: There is a lot of video out there, and I hope there's a lot more from the various organizations that are here, that -- and if there is anything that may show that or anything at all, certainly we would appreciate that being provided to law enforcement.

At this point, there's audio and video, or there's -- I'm sorry, audio as part of a video where the shots have been fired and the like but --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a red vehicle that turned on Tiffin, was that the vehicle that was involved and did the shots come from that car?

MCCULLOCH: The shots did come from that, how far up that hill, I don't know, but it came from up in that direction and the red vehicle certainly was a big part of the investigation, still is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you confident that this was the only shooter who was involved?

MCCULLOCH: At this point, no -- we are not -- I mean, confident that I think it appears that there is only one person firing shots. But it's possible there may be other people who were with him at the time who were participating in this. That's where the investigation is going now, among other places.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

MCCULLOCH: Again, I have to be somewhat careful of the rules that are there and I can't go into the great detail on that. So the information I can say is yes, he has acknowledged firing the shots.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible). MCCULLOCH: He's on probation here in St. Louis County for receiving stolen property. And actually I think there's a warrant out for him on that because he has neglected to report for the last seven months to his probation officer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

MCCULLOCH: I'm sorry?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible)

MCCULLOCH: Did the tips do that? Absolutely, that's the purpose of the reward that if anybody has information, to bring that information forward and that's obviously a determination we finally made down the line, but yes, absolutely be eligible for that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

MCCULLOCH: Jeffrey, j-e-f-f-r-e-y.

WHITFIELD: All right, you're listening to the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch.

MCCULLOCH: He didn't live specifically in Ferguson, I don't know if there's a particular -- but not far from Ferguson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

MCCULLOCH: Yes, inside the car. At least the allegation at this point is that he's inside the car, at least for some of the shots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

MCCULLOCH: No, that vehicle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you been given a lot of cooperation from the people who were at the protests and how has that helped your investigation?

MCCULLOCH: I can't tell you exactly where all those came from, but yes, I know there are a lot of people who were out there who provided information, yes, absolutely.

But the specifics and I'm sure there were, yes, some who were demonstrators and some who weren't. Observers and some who were out there, I can't tell you specifically who was doing that but yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For instance the dispute that you were referring to, did this happen earlier in the evening or was it something what was happening then?

MCCULLOCH: I hate to be too terribly vague about it, but, you know, we're not 100 percent sure that there was a dispute. That's, you know, part of the claim right now.

And so that's something that's being investigated. But a lot of people around, and it's difficult to tell particularly just at this point whether there's an actual back and forth going on, or whether it's on some of the video and the like.

That's something everybody is looking into. It's possible that there was a dispute, and it was possible that he was charging the police officers. We just had to wait for the investigation to develop more fully.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what he is claiming that there was a dispute?

MCCULLOCH: That's what the evidence shows is the basis for these charges. I do want to point out, specifically, he is charged with assaulting these two police officers.

It's still, regardless of who may be an intended target, that's still an assault in the first-degree, it's still a Class A felony, it's still punishable by life in prison. That's on each one of the counts pending against him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

MCCULLOCH: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you spoken to that individual?

MCCULLOCH: No. As I said, we're looking for anybody who was out there, anybody who has any information or anybody who may think they have information to contact the county police or crime stoppers and we'll follow up on it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

MCCULLOCH: You know, the charge is still going to be assault in the first-degree, so it's still essentially the same charge, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Considering how the officers were lined up that night, were there any civilians around that could have been the target?

MCCULLOCH: There were civilians between where the shooter was located and where the officers were. There were civilians between them. But as I said, there are still a lot more investigation to go on, to where we can finally determine that.

But the point is, yes, two officers were shot and seriously injured and that's the basis of the assault. Whether it ends up being assault of a law enforcement officer, or assault in the first-degree, it's still a class a felony.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has anyone said that I was assaulted by this (inaudible)?

MCCULLOCH: No, nobody's made that claim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you talked to an individual named Williams who was arrested for arson and murder?

MCCULLOCH: It's not the same guy, but I don't know of any relationships.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are the officers doing?

MCCULLOCH: The officers are still recovering.

JON BELMAR, ST. LOUIS COUNTY CHIEF OF POLICE: They're OK. I mean, their condition really hasn't changed much since we spoke yesterday afternoon, they do know about this, we told them last night as the investigators were continuing to investigation this case.

It's obvious we need to make the victims in this case know what's going on in the case and we in fact did that. I have no update in their condition right now. They're getting better, not getting worse that's good news.

I would like to commend the investigators, we at least born in not only from the area here, but as far away as the east coast, departments trying to assist us, federal agencies, local agencies, all manner of local agencies, and the federal, and the public is a big deal.

You will hear police officers say this all the time. We cannot do this by ourselves. We have to have the ability to engage the public to where we can work together and we can make it happen.

In fact that happened in this case and I am certainly buoyed by that. That is the way it's supposed to be.

The outpouring of support from all manner, all strata of folks that are involved in this has been overwhelming and I do appreciate that also. Thank you, guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, what's the ethnicity of the suspect.

BELMAR: Jeffrey Williams is African-American.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In an earlier report that the officers (inaudible).

BELMAR: I haven't heard that myself, yet. So I don't know. Thanks, guys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).

BELMAR: At 10:30 last night. Take care.

WHITFIELD: All right, you kept hearing the Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch, as well as the St. Louis County Police Chief John Belmar trying to end that press conference, but a whole lot of questions, even though we heard a little bit more detail about one arrest made. The 20-year-old Jeffrey Williams, who was at the demonstration the night of the shooting, when a St. Louis county policeman and a Webster Groves policeman, who were part of the security for the protest there in Ferguson were shot and injured.

You heard the police chief say they are getting better no worse, but still lots of questions surrounding the circumstances of why police were led to that individual.

The police chief as well as the prosecuting attorney did say that there was a lot of community operation and that's what's needed in large part for an arrest of this kind.

Let's talk more about this, our Stephanie Elam is there, as well as Tom Fuentes, our law enforcement analyst is also with us.

So Stephanie, to you first while at first I heard the prosecuting attorney say it appears as though the police officers were shot almost by mistake because of a dispute that the alleged gunman may have had with someone else.

But then not long after that, he said there's still a strong possibility that those police officers were targeted. So is there anymore clarity or is there more confusion?

ELAM: Yes, he left room for interpretation there as the investigation continues on that point, Fred, which is exactly a key point.