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Univ. of Missouri President Resigns; Giant Hole Swallows Cars. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired November 09, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Brooke Baldwin.

We begin this hour with a major shakeup at the University of Missouri. The president has quit, not for what he did, but for what he admits he failed to do in the wake of a series of complaints of racial bias against minority students. The pressure had really been building. Students protested, football players threatened a boycott as seen in this tweet here, and just today faculty called for a walkout of classes. Then, at the university curator's meeting today, President Tim Wolfe announced that he's resigning, breaking down at one point over this rising controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM WOLFE, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI: So the question really is, is why did we get to this very difficult situation? It is my belief we stopped listening to each other and I take full responsibility for this frustration and I take full responsibility for the inaction that has occurred. And my decision to resign comes out of love, not hate. I'd like to read some scripture that's given me strength. I hope it provides you with some strength as well. Psalm 46:1, "God is our refuge and strength and ever present, help in trouble." We need to use my resignation - please, please, use this resignation to heal, not to hate, and let's move forward together for a brighter tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Polo Sandoval joining me now.

You hear Wolfe there, Polo, he's sort of falling on his sword. What's the reaction been like on campus to this?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you have to imagine that it was a very emotional moment as well for Wolfe himself. And - but also, as you mentioned, for students outside. I think the general feeling and the consensus is that they are satisfied with the decision for Wolfe to step down. And I think you can also expect for them to push for even more action as they feel that work is far from over. I want you to listen to a bit of what was heard outside of that building as now ex-president Wolfe was announcing that he would resign. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CROWD (singing): We shall overcome.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody! Everybody!

CROWD (singing): We shall overcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And, again, I think that sound alone, it means a lot. It's a big symbol here because you - you have what was, Brianna, a student movement initially. Before you know it, the football team, the Mizzou Tigers, jumped on board. Their head coach supports them as well. And now, as we saw today, a staged walkout among faculty members. So this is much more than a sports story. This is much more than really the student movement. But really it is - now what we're seeing here is change to a certain extent. It's something that they do hope happens here very soon. And they feel that this is a first step.

KEILAR: Yes. It sounds like, yes, more to come certainly. But I know that one of the frustrations that students had with the president was this exchange that he had with students. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLFE: I will give you an answer, and I'm sure it will be a wrong answer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You going to Google it?

WOLFE: I will give you an answer. I'm sure it will be a wrong answer.

(CROSS TALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tim Wolfe, what do you think systemic oppression is?

WOLF: It's - systemic oppression is because you don't believe that you have the equal opportunity for success.

(CROSS TALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you - (EXPLETIVE DELETED) - did you just blame us for systemic oppression, Tim Wolfe?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So clearly they thought that he was very dismissive there. But I also know it isn't really just one incident. When - when they talk, when students are talking about what has really outraged them over insensitivity, what are they talking about? What are the incidents?

SANDOVAL: Well, yes, it's not just that video that was taken over the weekend at that - what - what later to be determined to be a poor choice of words there in his interaction with the students, but also several other incidents. For example, the repeated open use of several racial slurs. Some of our colleagues on the ground actually told us a bit about what is a - someone who's a journalism professor who claims that she was actually called the "n" word in open (ph). So I think that that's one of several issues as well. Not to mention what we discussed before, this swastika that was actually painted on a dorm. But I think in general terms, it was just a feeling of frustration that they were not being listened to, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Polo, thanks so much. Polo Sandoval for us on this story.

[14:05:03] Now, Missouri football players, you heard us just talking about this, they threatened a boycott in support. There was a hunger strike by a graduate student seen here, Jonathan Butler. The university president, Tim Wolfe, actually mentioned Butler's name during his resignation statement. Butler spoke to CNN moments after Wolfe announced he - that he was leaving the University of Missouri. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN BUTLER, GRAD STUDENT THAT HAD BEEN ON A HUNGER STRIKE: Just wow. I'm sorry, I just finished crying because this moment really means so much to not just me, but so many people because we've been fighting as underrepresented students for so long and to see that there's a clear stance on racism and clear stance on inequality on campus is huge. I mean my initial reaction is - is - my body got a little bit more faint because I was just so overwhelmed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And my next guest was also protesting President Wolfe. She helped organize a faculty walk out that was set for today and tomorrow. We're bringing in now Associate Professor Elisa Glick.

Tell us what you think about this. How is this going to be more than just a moment? How is this going to be a movement towards something substantive and it's not just one person stepping down?

PROFESSOR ELISA GLICK, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI: Well, I think that's a great question, Brianna, and I'll say that it already is a movement and has been a very, very powerful one on campus for some time. I think that what we're seeing is many individuals, including faculty, really stepping up rather late because we've realized that we have an ethical imperative to make our campus safer and more inclusive for all of our students.

And I think this is just the beginning. There are other demands that students have - the concerned student 1950 group have articulated and they've, for example, are asking for substantial reforms in terms of diversity curriculum and they're asking for more faculty of color among other things and these are issues that many of us pledge to work on and to help us move forward and make our campus a better place.

KEILAR: What role did you see President Wolfe playing here? How much blame do you think that he shoulder for what students say has gone on, has really outraged them there at the university? GLICK: Well, I mean, I think that it's - it's a complex question

because there's a lot of blame to go around. There are other questions of leadership. Some of your viewers might be aware that I'm a member of the university English department, as well as women's gender studies, and the English department has had a - recently had a no confidence vote in our chancellor, Chancellor Lofton (ph). That's - that kind of measure is a foot in other departments in schools on campus. So there certainly are grave concerns about leadership - a number of leaders at the university. But the issues around Wolfe, particularly with regard to his - his failure to respond to the seriousness of the issues raised by the concerned 50 group really sort of went beyond the pale. When you have a student on, you know, day five of a hunger strike and there has been barely a response, that's something that's gravely wrong.

KEILAR: I wonder what you - we look at sort of what - when did this reach critical mass I guess is my question? Some people looking in might think it was when the football team said, you know, we're going to boycott a game. They had the backing of their coach in doing this. Do you think that it was that - it was really that protest that made the difference? Was it this planned walk out?

GLICK: Well, I - again I think that's - that's a great question. I think that all of these things have a snowball effect. And that's what happens when a movement builds momentum. Certainly the football players did - and athletes of color in particular, did an immensely courageous thing, are to be commended, and inspired many of us and continue to inspire many of us on campus. I, for one, felt that if athletes could take the chance to boycott, I as a tenured faculty member need to do more.

[14:10:18] KEILAR: That you needed to plan a walkout? And real quick, before I let you go, Elisa, is that something that's still going to be happening or do you feel like enough of a move has been made here with Wolfe's resignation that that's on hold?

GLICK: Well, I can't speak for all of the concerned faculty group, but I can say that in the conversations that I've had so far, people are continuing to call for the walkout precisely to emphasize the need to bring the magnitude of these issues to the foreground and make sure that we're not just healing, but also taking steps towards institutional change here at the University of Missouri.

KEILAR: Elisa, thanks so much for being with us. Elisa Glick joining us there from Mizzou.

Up next, a new twist that we want to tell you about in the case of two police officers charged with murdering a six-year-old boy. Did one of the cops know the father who was driving the car that the boy was in? Hear what happened in the court just moments ago.

And then a scandal involving hundreds of students, hundreds of nude pictures, as a massive sexting ring is uncovered at one high school. Hear about the secret vault and why officials there have no idea what to do next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:15:45] KEILAR: We have a new development today in the police shooting death of a Louisiana six-year-old. This was just a short time ago that a judge set a million dollar bond for each of these two police officers. Both of them charged with second-degree murder in this little boy's death. It's a shooting that happened last Tuesday. And first grader Jeremy Martis was shot multiple times, we've learned, as police pursued his father's car.

Just a few hours ago, we got news that doctors have upgraded the father's condition from serious to fair. And while little Jeremy is being laid to rest this afternoon in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, among the other things that we're also learning, sources are telling CNN, one of these officers knew Jeremy's father. Investigators now looking into the nature of that relationship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. MIKE EDMONSON, LOUISIANA STATE POLICE: Certainly we heard the same things. We believe they've had some type of relationship where they met each other, knew each other. Certainly some - as this progresses, we'll certainly find out more and more information. But - but I think in a town like this, everyone knows each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Joining me now from Marksville, Louisiana, is the town's mayor, John Lemoine, with us right now.

Thank you so much for talking to us.

And we've just learned that bond for each of these officers is set at $1 million. Both of them have been ordered to surrender their firearms and their badges. The question, though, mayor, I think really has to do with motive and this still remains a mystery. Can you tell us why these officers were in pursuit of Jeremy's dad and why they opened fire as we hear that they fired 18 shots?

MAYOR JOHN LEMOINE, MARKSVILLE, LOUISIANA: To this day we don't know yet. We're still waiting for the - report from the colonel, from the state police. We don't know what the motive was. We just don't understand why he was in pursuit. We don't understand why the warden marshal wanted to go ahead and use officers in our city limits that we already have 26 police officers that are already patrolling the streets of Marksville and chief, and assistant chief and they've taken care of it. We just didn't know why he wanted to go ahead and use these additional officers to duplicate what we were already doing.

KEILAR: Why - why are they - are they withholding that information? They haven't clued you in? I mean this is something that happened days ago.

LEMOINE: No, ma'am, they don't know the motive yet. They haven't let me know. They haven't left our police commissioner know. They haven't - from my knowledge, they haven't let our chief of police know. So we - we're at - we're at a wait and stand to see -- standstill to see what we plan on doing.

KEILAR: What about what we're hearing? We've heard from a source that one of the police officers knew this little boy's father. I mean what are they looking into when it comes to that and what have you heard about that?

LEMOINE: That's a little - a lot of rumors floating around. To my knowledge, I don't know anything about that yet. I've heard about it, but I can't say whether it's true or not. And like I said, there's - there's hundreds of rumors floating around this small town. But we're just trying to get it together. I want to meet with Trooper Colonel Edmundson to meet with our police department to bring our police department all in and to get everything back on the same page and try to move forward from this tragic situation that we have.

KEILAR: What - what about this - we know there's another video. This comes from another officer's camera. There were one of two officers, two other officers on the scene and one had a camera. State police say that it's - it's pretty disturbing. Can you tell us anything about this video? Have you been briefed on this? Are they - are - are police clueing you in on this?

LEMOINE: I just know what the colonel from the state trooper's office told us, that it was a very disturbing video. We just went ahead and got these cam - body cameras for these officers and I'm glad that we did. And it was able to go ahead and shed a lot of light on what happened the other night and was able to - to arrest these two officers that were involved.

KEILAR: What was disturbing about it?

LEMOINE: Well, from what the colonel said, it was just very disturbing about the way that the little six-year-old kid was - was shot.

[14:20:10] KEILAR: Ok. Mayor, thanks so much for talking to us. Mayor John Lemoine joining us from Marksville, Louisiana. Thank you.

LEMOINE: Thank you very much.

KEILAR: Let's talk about this other story. This is so interesting, alarming. Hundreds of kids at one school busted for sharing naked pictures of themselves. What does this town do about this? Do they send hundreds of kids to the sex offender registry? This is a legal and a moral dilemma.

Plus, incredible images as the earth just opens up and swallows a dozen cars in an IHOP parking lot. How does this happen without warning? I'll be speaking with a geologist, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:25:02] KEILAR: Well, people in Meridian, Mississippi, were just enjoying their Saturday night dinner when they looked outside and they saw their cars disappear. This hole was outside a brand new IHOP. Twelve cars in all fell right into that 30-foot wide hole. The good news is that no one was hurt. But, obviously, this is a very interesting to figure out what happened here. There's been some debate over whether this is technically a sink hole. The public safety director calls it an accident.

And joining me now to get to the bottom of this is Patrick Abbott. He's a professor of geology at San Diego State University.

So, Mr. Abbott, explain this to us. What happened here and why do you say this is not a sink hole?

PATRICK ABBOTT, GEOLOGY PROFESSOR, SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY: Well, this is not like what we are used to, like what happened in Florida that took a house down -

KEILAR: Yes.

ABBOTT: Or in Kentucky where the Corvette Museum disappeared into a limestone cave. You can see the linear trench, the even walls, and width. And when you look carefully at the pictures of the walls, you can see the layering and sand layers. You can see weak, loose sand. I think what's happened here is the present has run into the past. That was probably a drainage culvert or some sort of pipe underneath. Water moving underground has moved a lot of those lose sand grains. And now with construction, and the weight of the cars, kind of the straw the breaks the camel's back, the ground collapsed.

KEILAR: Is this a freak accident or is this something that you think could have been prevented?

ABBOTT: This definitely could have been prevented. But the trick is, you know, we can be having some of this erosion going underground. In other words, these cities have pasts to them. We can go way back in the past and say, well, had - they h ad a drainage ditch here some time, you know, 80 years ago or something or other and it's maybe lost to memory. And so if you don't know it's there or there's no record that something like that formerly existed, you're inheriting problems from what folks did a long time ago.

KEILAR: So who needs to deal with this and how do you make sure that this doesn't happen, you know, right there in the immediate area? Could this get worse?

ABBOTT: Well, certainly it looks like it could continue on. We see about a 600-foot length, a nice parallel walls along a human dug trench. And how much farther does it go? Well, we don't know now. But, of course, now people are aware of the existence of this. And you ought to maybe do some drilling to see if you encounter this real loose sediments someplace else. And also try to figure out what it was. Was this some drainage system that has branches in it, other areas that might collapse now in the future? But, you know, Meridian's an old, old town. We're going way back into the 1800s and a lot of things have been dug and reburied during that time. And it's hard to know all of the things that are directly below the ground surface.

KEILAR: I'm sure they'll be taking a closer look, though, to make sure that this doesn't expand. Thanks so much for sorting that out for us. I know there was a lot of debate about whether this was a sink hole. Patrick Abbott, thanks for being with us.

ABBOTT: My pleasure.

KEILAR: And let's get back now to our breaking news. One of the student groups calling for the resignation of the University of Missouri president for failing to respond to racial incidents on campus is right now speaking out about Tim Wolfe resigning just a short time ago. Let's listen.

JONATHAN BUTLER, HEAD HUNGER STRIKE TO PROTEST UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: We, the original 11 organizers of Concerned Student 1950 are a coalition of students mobilizing outside of traditional, organizational affiliations. We share the same concerns and commitment to justice, equality and liberation. Our goal is to abolish inequalities at the intersection of race at the University of Missouri Columbia.

While today may seem bright to some, this is just a beginning of aiding and dismantling systems of oppression within higher education, specifically the UM system. The resignation of Tim Wolfe is a glimmer of hope for historically margined students whose voices have been silenced by patriarchal, white male institutions.

Moving forward, Concerned Student 1950 demands an immediate meeting with the UM System faculty council, board of curators and the governor of the state of Missouri to discuss shared governance and create a system of holistic inclusion for all constituents. Again, moving forward, Concerned Student 1950 demands an immediate meeting with UN System faculty council, board of curators and the governor of the state of Missouri to discuss shared governance and create a system for holistic inclusion for all constituents.

[14:29:46] Our demands must be met in totality to create systems of healing within the UM system. Again, our demands must be met in totality to create systems of healing within the UM system.