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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Mizzou President Resigns; Bond for Louisiana Officers. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired November 09, 2015 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:05] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. And welcome to LEGAL VIEW.

Breaking news, the president of the University of Missouri has resigned. Tim Wolfe's downfall is coming after a series of racial incidents on the main campus, and complaints that he acted too slowly to resolve those incidents. Here's what he said not too long ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM WOLFE, FORMER PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI SYSTEM: I am resigning as president of the University of Missouri System. The motivation in making this decision comes from love. I love M.U., Colombia where I grew up in the state of Missouri. I have thought and prayed about this decision. It's the right thing to do. The response to this announcement I'm sure ranges from joy for some, to anger to other, and that's why we're here today. So let me speak to why this is so important at this time.

To our students, from Concerned Students 1950, to our grad students, the football players and other students, the frustration and anger that I see is clear, real, and I don't doubt it for a second. To the faculty and staff who have expressed their anger, their frustration, it, too, is real.

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)

BANFIELD: Among the grievances and the complaints dating back to the summer, back in August, a swastika was drawn in feces in a dorm bathroom - or a bathroom door in a dorm. And in early October, before homecoming, black faculty members say that they were subjected to a racial slur during a rehearsal of a homecoming event. And students felt that President Wolfe was dismissive of their concerns, which led to students blocking his car during the homecoming day parade. And at that point, he did not get out of the car to talk to them. There was this exchange also between students and that president right before a university fundraiser at its Kansas City campus. And the video was caught on a student's phone. And we do want to point out here that we don't know if the president said anything prior to the beginning of the students posting the video clip and that he was also shouted down before he could complete his answer. But here's the video.

(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?

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

(CROSS TALK)

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

WOLFE: It's - systematic oppression because you don't believe that you have the equal opportunity for success (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSS TALK)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: The university board was under a lot of pressure, including the fact that football players with the coach's backing had threatened to sit out Saturday's game at Arrowhead Stadium and that would have cost the university $1 million. CNN's Kyung Lah joins me live now from the Columbia campus with the very latest.

I'm not so sure people were expecting this resignation to come, but what's the reaction? What kind of reverberation has there been on campus?

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's still quite early. The reaction that we're seeing is - has really been through social media. A lot of the students are talking about this on social media, and many of them are celebrating. You heard the university president, the now ex-president, say that this was going to be met with some joy and some sadness, but certainly it's going to be varied depending on who you speak with.

And the building that you see behind me, Ashleigh, that was the building where the president did resign. And you are right, in the very beginning, it looked like it was just going to be an ordinary meeting. Everyone was quite calm. Tim Wolfe himself looked quite relaxed. But as soon as he stood there, as soon as he said those words, a dramatic change in this story. And this is a very different Tim Wolfe than we had seen in those paper statements over the weekend. Those were very official. This was very personal. You could hear his voice breaking and you could feel it in the room, people did not see this coming. This speaks to the potent power of what these students were doing, not just the hunger strikes, but also the football players, and then the sentiment on this campus, Ashleigh. [12:05:02] BANFIELD: So, Kyung, does that mean effectively that things

are back to normal? And I say that with a real grain of salt. Only in that there was this - this intense threat to pull out of the football game this weekend, which could have been - you know, had -- had a significant financial impact on the university. But then also there was a - a student who was hunger striking, and he has now announced on CNN that that is over as well.

LAH: He has said it is over. And - and it - this is just the beginning. If you heard what the president said, he says we need to continue to speak, not to shout at one another, and we're starting to see that. The board here actually invited Butler's family to come here to begin a dialogue. The family arrived here and they actually walked back and forth inside the meeting to the meet with some of the curators and then exited and they were just walking back and forth. And this is a visual sign, a sign that this university understands that it has problems. They've invited the parents of Jonathan Butler here so that they could begin a dialogue, certainly symbolic and hopeful that there will be continued dialogue, not just among these university curators, but also among the students and the faculty as well.

BANFIELD: So, Kyung, bear with me while I read this tweet from Jonathan Butler. This is the student who has ended this hunger strike. "The Mizzou Hunger Strike is officially over." And as we said, he mentioned that as well on CNN just in the last half hour.

But, Kyung, again, I want to get back to the issue that is upsetting those students, and that is, that there wasn't enough reaction from the university. A lot of people have said that the president of the university systems, responsible for four different universities, wasn't sort of into the intricate workings of the administration. So is there anyone else sort of on target right now? Is there anyone else that the - that the movement is looking at to say, you need to go too and, you know, change won't effectuate until you go as well.

LAH: He was the only named target. He was the one that they were gunning for. And they believe that this president was setting the tone with his inaction. And we heard him say today that he takes full responsibility for that inaction.

But, you know, he is a symbolic head of this university. There was a problem over the weekend. Some students has been tweeting out pictures where there appear to be someone driving around campus with a confederate flag. That this sort of sentiment on campus takes time to change and there has to be movement, a ton set from the top, but that has to also then trickle down and there has to be a deliberate intention set among the administration, but also this has to continue among the entire student body.

BANFIELD: All right, Kyung Lah reporting live for us. Standby, if you will.

I want to bring in the top elected official in Columbia. Joining me now is Mayor Bob McDavid. Mayor, this has been a pretty significant and I think some would say very quick movement. Others would say, not quick enough. I want to get your reaction to what happened this morning.

MAYOR BOB MCDAVID, COLUMBIA, MISSOURI: Well, I think what this represents is a seminar in civics and a seminar in democracy. It shows what an organized, dedicated group of students can do when they feel the need to redress wrongs. So the fact that they stuck together and the fact that they accomplished their goal says a lot for the organization. Let's face it, protest is American. It's a right of democracy. It's uniquely part of what we do in the United States of America. And I'm - I congratulate the students on achieving their goal.

BANFIELD: So you have probably heard the words of President Wolfe. He said that will be met with joy and sadness. And there are those who are upset over this, even suggesting that if football players had walked off the field that they should suffer the consequences in the way of having their scholarships pulled as well. So there is another side of this issue as well.

Do you feel, as mayor of that town, that this was the right move? That this university president, again systems president, responsible for four universities, needed to step down because of what the students said was inaction due to their complaints? Do you think it was the right thing and that he needed to step down?

MCDAVID: I respect the president's decision, and I think that it will allow healing to occur. Let me say this, Columbia - this is a Columbia problem. This is a Mizzou problem. But make no mistake, this is a microcosm of race in America. We have 35,000 students in Columbia, and they come from all over the state of Missouri, all over the country, and they've come from other countries around the world. So what we have seen here is a problem that we have not completely addressed. Certainly we don't have slavery. Certainly we don't have the Jim Crow law. Certainly we don't have overt segregation. But until we deal with the pain that minorities have, until we eliminate disparities in education achievement, disparities in income, disparities in employment, our work is far from done.

[12:10:32] BANFIELD: And do you think that the resignation of this president will bring about the change that these students say is needed? And I don't think anyone is suggesting that what the students have gone through isn't terrible. No one should be subjected to racial epithets. No one should be subjected to slurs on the street. But when you're looking for change, is just calling for, you know, the highest head going to bring that change?

MCDAVID: I think you'll see a series of initiatives at the University of Missouri. There will be a continuation of initiative at the city level. And I think you'll see these initiatives around the country, at all institutions of higher education. Change is hard. Change is difficult. Change will take time. I think it's unrealistic to expect the problem to be solved today at this point. This is a conversation. As I said before, we have a lot of work to do. We're only done when every student has the freedom to fulfill her hopes and dreams unimpeded by a prejudice or racial epithets.

BANFIELD: Mayor Bob McDavid, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us. I do appreciate it, especially with such short notice. Thank you.

MCDAVID: Thank you.

BANFIELD: A lot of people are reacting to this news as well. I want to bring in Naomi Collier. She's the president of the local chapter of the NAACP at the University of Missouri. She's also a student.

Miss Collier, I want to get your thoughts right off the bat on hearing that the president tendered his resignation.

NAOMI COLLIER, MU-NAACP PRESIDENT: First and foremost, to God be the glory. I'm very happy that he understood what needed to happen and that he was able to just recognize his role in everything and do what was necessary for this university.

BANFIELD: So I guess the question I would have for you is, is what the mayor just said to me right as I was saying thank you to him and bringing you on the program, he said the words, "it's realistic to see the problem solved at this point." Do you agree with that statement?

COLLIER: I do. We're dealing with a systemic oppression that has been in place for hundreds of years. And I mean outside of just the University of Missouri. I mean across this country. So this is an issue that obviously our whole nation needs to deal with. But for this to be a major university, especially, you know, in the Midwest, in the state of Missouri, especially in the S.E.C. as far as our football players are concerned, this is definitely some - a one big step. But we have a huge mountain to climb as far as systemic oppression is concerned across the nation. We have a huge mountain to climb as far as racial equality is concerned across the nation and we've seen that over the past year. Over the past two years, honestly. And, yes we - this is - it is unrealistic that this one, you know, this one instance is what's going to bring about change. But it is a - it's an excellent start in my opinion, especially for university students to be able to see this. It's kind of an example of what needs to - what culture should be like on university campuses.

BANFIELD: So I was reading some of the comments because, as you can imagine, there were thousands of comments on many of the postings online, and one of the comments was from a philosophy student, and might have been a philosophy professor, the person didn't really identify himself or herself. But this person suggested that systemic oppression is a far greater and different thing than these individual instances of oppression, which have been very, you know, clearly highlighted, these racial epithets, the swastika that was scratched in feces. I mean these are awful things. But for systemic oppression, I wanted to get your take on why you believe that the university president was responsible ultimately for systemic oppression, and what your definition of that systemic oppression was at your school.

COLLIER: Right. Well, we have to understand his role as it comes to this state and the students in this state. Missouri - or the University of Missouri has four different institutions within its systems, and he presided over those four. And so in order for us to really try to go at this issue, we need to understand the hierarchy. What Tim Wolfe expects from his administration is what they're going to give him. So if his expectations are not in line with what students of color need on campuses across the state, then we obviously have a problem. We - and I say we as far as students of color, have written e-mails, we have written statements, we've submitted all types of different forms of communication to administration and little to nothing has been done. And so we feel as though, you know, in order for us to really start to effect change, we have to change how the hierarchy looks and the ideas that they have. For him to not necessarily understand what systematic oppression is, or at least have a relatively decent definition of it, that's a problem because it is a very real thing and it is something that students of color have to deal with across campuses across the state of Missouri.

[12:15:46] BANFIELD: Naomi Collier, good of you to join us. Thanks so much for your time and you're your - for your insight. Appreciate it.

COLLIER: Thank you.

BANFIELD: So much more to talk about here. And coming up next, like it or not, this whole situation might not have received as much attention or played out so quickly were it not for something like this, a photograph with the football team arm in arm in solidarity. The significance of it and what it meant, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:20:17] BANFIELD: We're following the uprising that just brought about the resignation of the president of the University of Missouri. It was started by students, and it was joined by faculty, alleging an indifference response by administrators at that university to overt acts of racism at that university. CNN Sports anchor Rachel Nichols joins me live now.

What's interesting about this whole movement, and some again say it was real slow and others say it was real fast, was the social media aspect of it and the football team diving right into that. We might not have had as much national attention were it not for this football connection.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, I don't think there's any question. The University of Missouri football team, as a whole, said that they stood in solidarity with several of the African-Americans players on their team, saying they would not play another game, they would not participate in practice until the university president resigned. That is a huge muscle to exercise. It is a huge money muscle to exercise. The university would have lost more than $1 million this weekend alone if those guys did not go out and play a football game. So the activism by student athletes on that campus was remarkable. And I think you are going to see a ripple effect among other athletes at colleges and frankly in the pro level because we've seen an uptick in athletes sort of flexing that muscle. And now that they've seen real, concrete change come, I think we'll see more of it. BANFIELD: So for them it's the upside, wow, all we need to do is flex

our football muscle and with can effectuate social change. Is there a risk for a player out there right now who's thinking, I might stage a walk off too?

NICHOLS: Oh, there's a huge risk, and that's why we didn't see it for a long time. Look, in the '60s and '70s, there was a wave of social activism by athletes. And we know the names, of course. Billie Jean King may be the most prominent among them. And then we saw a real wave of athletes for maybe two or three decades say, hey, I want to protect my brand. Pro-athletes who said, I don't want to sell less sneakers because maybe someone disagrees with me. And college athlete who said, well maybe in this case, I don't want to lose my scholarship. Maybe I don't want to lose my one chance of being drafted in the NFL if someone thinks I'm a trouble maker. So there are risks here at both levels.

But we have seen LeBron James come out in support of the Trayvon Martin family. We have seen athletes in the NFL and the NBA where "I can't breathe" t-shirts on the field after Eric Garner. We saw the L.A. Clippers come out after the Donald Sterling incident and make a stand as a team against racism and having that owner in their league. So they have been examples to now a younger generation of athletes to say, you know what, we have some power here too.

Sports is the way society moves forward. We have seen that from Jackie Robinson on. It is the fabric of the discussion that we have on these issues. And athletes are seeing their power here. Now that's not to say other student and faculty didn't have a huge role on this issue, but the fact that the football team wasn't going to play a game on Saturday -

BANFIELD: Yes.

NICHOLS: And cost this school more than $1 million, don't think that wasn't a big part of that decision today.

BANFIELD: I think there are going to be a lot of people watching that game this weekend to see if there any subtle messages coming from the players. Any kind of armband. Any kind of, you know, continued solidarity.

Rachel Nichols, thank you for that.

NICHOLS: Thanks.

BANFIELD: It's been a fascinating and very quick moving story. Appreciate it.

Our another big story today on LEGAL VIEW, breaking news in the case of the two police officers who are now facing murder charges because a six-year-old boy was shot to death. Those officers have just been told their bond is high. How high? Real high. We're going to Louisiana next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [12:27:58] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BANFIELD: And this breaking news, we just learned that the bond for two Louisiana police officers, who were charged in the shooting death of a six-year-old boy, has been set, and it is $1 million for each of them. You may have heard about Jeremy Mardis, a first grader who was shot on Tuesday as police were pursuing his father's car. Jeremy, of course, was just an innocent victim, simply caught in the middle because he was in the passenger's seat. He is set to be laid to rest this afternoon in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

We're also learning today a source telling CNN that one of the officers knew Jeremy's father, Chris Few. Investigators are looking into the extent of their relationship. All of this as Chris has had his condition updated from serious to fair. Our Nick Valencia is live in Marksville, Louisiana.

I want you to take me, if you can, through the hearing this morning and what we may have found out about that connection or that potential connection with one of the officers and the person who was shot.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ashleigh, no one was allowed inside that court proceeding. It actually did not take place at the court. It took place here behind me at the Ovoils (ph) Parish Detention Center between the judge and those two officers who are charged with the murder of that six-year-old. The conditions of that ruling, we have here. It's bond, as you mentioned, set at $1 million for each officer. If they make bond, the conditions, of course, here listed are home incarceration via electronic monitoring, surrender of all service firearms and badges, as well as police officer certifications.

Meanwhile, all of this happening as the father remains in the hospital. His condition has been upgraded to fair. But everyone largely is focused on this six-year-old little boy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was just an innocent little boy.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Nearly a week since the death of Jeremy Mardis -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was always an angel.

[12:29:56] VALENCIA: There are still two big questions, why would law enforcement chase the boy's father down a dead end road, and why would they use lethal force. The boy was buckled into the passenger seat of his father's car when police opened fire. He was hit five times in the chest and head. His father, Chris Few, was also hit and