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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Twister Impacts Texas; Deadly Snow, Tornadoes and Floods; Two More Chicago Police-Related Shootings; Terror Stronghold Ramadi "Liberated". Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired December 28, 2015 - 12:00   ET

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

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[12:00:14] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it is massive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!

CHRISTIE PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about the tornadoes, the blizzards, the flooding. It's all coming from this monster storm system affecting about 100 million people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At least 43 deaths in seven states in just days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, man. I hope it's not hitting houses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The force of that EF-4 tornado was just so loud that it muffled the warning system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw it coming. Put all the grand - great- grandkids and the grandkids and the wife in the hall, and then it hit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It hit some wood, buildings cracking, I mean ripping stuff up. And all we could do was run to the closet and pray.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seemed like about 20 seconds it lasted. And then it got real quiet. And I stepped out and saw this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was just praying to God that he protected our house and nothing bad happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Damages, that can always be fixed, but we were very grateful that everybody is alive.

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DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: And hello, everyone. I'm Deborah Feyerick, in for Ashleigh Banfield. Welcome, everyone, to LEGAL VIEW.

Well, 60 million Americans are under flood threat as a deadly storm heads east. Severe weather has already claimed the lives of 43 people over the last week with more than half of those deaths happening this past weekend alone. And it's not just intense rain and tornadoes, but also record snowfall. Texas, all the way up to the Great Lakes could see winter weather.

Meanwhile, parts of New Mexico are under 16 inches of snow right now. That snow is now heading east. And that's where multiple tornadoes struck northern Texas. Eleven people lost their lives in that area. Officials are calling the devastation catastrophic. And in the Midwest, there's deadly flash flooding with cars being swept away. Rescue crews were able to pull off more than 100 water rescues in Missouri alone.

Meanwhile, Dallas area residents are trying to recover following a string of tornadoes. Garland, Texas, among the towns hardest hit by the weather. Eight people were killed there after a twister touched down. One man saying, "I saw it coming." To make matters worse, families whose homes were destroyed by the storms will now have to deal with snow and very cold temperatures.

CNN's Nick Valencia is in Garland.

The residents must just be wondering how they're going to come back from this?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the shock still hasn't settled in for some of them, Deb. We have spoken to some that have come back in the last couple of hours or so to salvage what little they have left. We're joined now by the Johnson family, Michael Johnson, his son Jaylen (ph).

Hey, how are you? How you doing? His wife, Latonya. How are you guys doing?

MICHAEL JOHNSON, TORNADO SURVIVOR: We're living. That's what I keep telling everybody, we're living. We walked out and we're all four still together and, you know, thank God for that, but we're living.

VALENCIA: You guys rode out this storm as a family. Your son Jaylen was telling me that he told you he heard the sirens, but it seemed like it might have been a little too late for you guys. Explain what happened.

M. JOHNSON: It was just quick. The moment he said he heard the sirens, we could hear them. They got a little louder. We all got up and put shoes on. We headed towards the bathroom. And you could hear the most terrible noise you've probably ever heard in your life. It sounded like a giant stepping on a forest. I mean just trees cracking, crunching. Then you kind of heard the distinctive - what everybody says - the train sound, but I've been by train tracks, it didn't sound anything like a train, I'll tell you that much.

VALENCIA: Do something with me here. Look - look - look right here. This is your home, right? Just beyond in the back here. And when - when you see this, when you see this scope of damage, I mean, you're starting to tear up looking at it.

M. JOHNSON: Yes. It's - I mean, I've gone - I've gone through that since Saturday night, you cry a little bit and then look at your family, you're a little happy and you thank God that we made it through and you start to nod off and you feel the vibration again and it all comes back surreal to you. You know, for two days I've been asking one question is, where is my car, and I think they were saying they got a shot of it earlier. We finally saw it today. It's halfway through the middle of this building here.

VALENCIA: Your car was in the parking lot, got picked up and moved that way?

M. JOHNSON: It was in (INAUDIBLE) in our parking lot. Our building is very - at the very back of these, but it picked it up and it threw it. It's about halfway through that buildings there and it's upside down and -

VALENCIA: I mean this experience has to have -- come - come on in here, Latonya. This experience has to have brought you guys closer together as a family. I mean what - what were those moments like when that - when that tornado was bearing down on you?

LATONYA JOHNSON, TORNADO SURVIVOR: It was - it was scary. The only thing we could just say was, God, please. God help us. God help us. God, please.

VALENCIA: Just praying.

L. JOHNSON: Just - just praying. Just praying. And we was all together huddled, just holding each other, you know, just riding it out, just hoping that this was the - the - the extent.

[12:05:02] VALENCIA: Not the end.

L. JOHNSON: Right, not the end. You know, just feeling the vibration of the house and hearing it. It was like a - a deep roaring sound, you know and -

VALENCIA: Well, we'll let you guys get back to your - your recovery. We know that you have a lot to go through and a lot certainly on your minds. There's so many people thinking about you guys across the nation. So our thoughts and our prayers - my prayers are definitely with the Johnson family. You guys, thank you so much for taking the time with CNN.

M. JOHNSON: Thank you.

VALENCIA: it's just incredible and courageous stories of survival like that of the Johnson family that really is keeping this community going. Many people saying that they did not have really any warning, that the force of this storm was so loud that it muffled the sounds of those tornado sirens here. You see now residents like the Johnsons coming back to try to see what the damage is and where they go from here, Deb.

FEYERICK: Just an amazing description there by Mr. Johnson. It sounded like, quote, "a giant stepping on a forest." And I know you spoke to somebody else earlier who basically said it was 20 seconds and then it was there and then it was gone.

Nick Valencia, thank you for covering this on the ground for us.

VALENCIA: Yes.

FEYERICK: And as we mentioned, it has been a crazy day. Winter weather expected from the Plains to the Great Lake. And millions across the southeast are facing the threat of severe weather.

CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray has the latest.

And, Jennifer, when does this end? When do we get relief?

JENIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, for Texas, the storm relief has come. That's - the storms are moving to the east. But I just want to add something to what Nick was saying about the people with little warning. These storms were moving very, very quickly, at 55, 60 miles per hour. So by the time the warning comes out, the storm is pretty much on top of folks. And another thing, the tornado sirens aren't designed for people inside their homes. They're designed for people outdoors. That's why it's so important for people to have weather radio. That's what's going to wake you up in the middle of the night. Don't rely on those sirens.

Forecast wise, though, we are looking at winter storm warnings in place across the Plains, the Midwest. Still a huge flooding concern across the middle section of the country. And also a winter storm watch for folks in New England. A lot of people seeing the first snow of the season coming up in the next 12 to 24 hours. So the very heavy rain pushing to the east. That thunderstorm concern is still there. We're also looking at snow across places like Oklahoma, up into Iowa, Missouri, and even a wintry mix. So the ice is going to be a huge concern. It only takes a little bit to bring down those trees and power lines. So we are going to see power outages.

Look at Chicago. It is getting very messy. We're also seeing a wintry mix there. And then eventually all of this will turn into rain. So the main threats today, damaging winds, isolated tornadoes for places like Mobile, Birmingham, Memphis, you're also included in that. We also have a couple of tornado watches in effect for a large portion of Alabama, even the Florida panhandle. We've already seen several tornado warnings around the Florida panhandle and then southern Alabama.

So moving forward in time, all of this rain pushes up the mid- Atlantic. We do get that wintery mix around place in New York state. Also, Boston picking up a couple of inches of snow and then turning into freezing rain and sleet. We could even see some power outages there. It is going to be a messy morning commute in the Boston area and then eventually changing over to rain. So all of this is going to move out quickly, and we're not expecting a lot of this to stick to the ground. It's been so warm lately. And so we're not planning on much of that. But we are planning on this icing concern around Oklahoma City, Kansas City and then up into Chicago, Detroit. It is going to be a mess, Deb, over to the next day as we deal with the ice and then, of course, the freezing rain and as well as the snow in the northeast.

FEYERICK: All because - all because of this crazy el Nino weather front.

All right, Jennifer Gray, thank you so much.

And we will be going to Chicago for a live report after the break. The mayor, on vacation, and community angry and saying no more police shootings. That's straight ahead.

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[12:12:14] FEYERICK: And now to Chicago where police and the mayor have two more controversial shooting deaths to answer for. Authorities already have deemed the death of 55-year-old Bettie Jones a tragic accident. Jones was hit when an officer opened fire on 19-year-old Quintonio LaGrier, who allegedly had threatened his father with a baseball bat and was combative towards police. LaGrier's family is reported to have said he had a mental disorder.

CNN's Rosa Flores is on the story for us.

And, Rosa, what exactly happened? How was Jones involved in this?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Deb, there's still a lot of questions about exactly what happened, but here's what we know from her family. Her family says that this grandmother, that this mother of five, all she did was open her door. Now, she's a neighbor of LaGrier.

Now, here's what we know about what transpired based on what his family has said publicly. They said that his father called police because of a domestic disturbance. Now the police say that when they responded to the scene, they were confronted by a, quote, "combative person," this 19-year-old, and police later confirming that this 19- year-old had an aluminum bat and was coming at police officers with that aluminum bat and that police officers responded by firing. And, of course, now we know that this 19-year-old and the 55-year-old were shot and killed.

But, again, Deb, there's still a lot of questions as to where each subject was and how all of this transpired and why police officers opened fire.

FEYERICK: Yes, and what has been the reaction of the community? Because a lot of people are saying that the mayor, Rahm Emanuel, should come back from vacation in Cuba, that this is just sort of a continuation of what's going on in the community and with police.

FLORES: Well, the mayor releasing a statement even from Cuba asking for IPRA, and that's the Independent Police Review Authority, and Chicago Police to review their training, specifically for their crisis intervention. And what that is, is that's the training that's triggered for all calls involving mental health crises.

Now, LaGrier's family is not saying or confirming that the 19-year-old was having a mental health episode. They're not saying that. In fact, they're saying it doesn't matter if - even if he was, that police should not have responded with lethal force because the teen did not have a gun.

Now, we should add that the officer involved is on desk duty for 30 days, and the superintendent of police, now this is the interim superintendent because, let's remember, just a few weeks ago the superintendent was replaced following the Laquan McDonald shooting release of the video of that shooting.

[12:15:05] FEYERICK: Yes.

FLORES: And so now the superintendent saying that that is new policy. They want to evaluate a police officer before the police officer goes out in the field again.

Deb.

FEYERICK: Yes, it's - it's interest. This is a besieged mayor and a police department clearly that is being sort of turned upside down because of what's going on there.

Rosa Flores, thank you.

And Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is ordering police to sharpen their training for dealing with suspects who might be having mental health crises, what's known as emotional dysfunction - disabilities. This follows the weekend death of two people at the hands of a Chicago officer who responded to a call from a man who said his son was threatening him with a bat.

Now, the officer fatally shot the son, 19-year-old Qintonio LaGrier, and also killed that neighbor, as you heard Rosa Flores report, Bettie Jones. She had been asked by the father to open the door when police responded. When they did, they shot her by accident.

Now we're going to go to our panel of experts. I want to talk more about this. Defense attorney and HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson, and CNN law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander.

Cedric, a lot of people are saying Tasers should have been used. Initial reports is that this emotionally disturbed 19-year-old, a university student, had a bat, was threatening his father. What should have been the police response?

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, first of all, we don't really know yet, Deborah, that we have an emotionally disturbed person or not as indicated by your correspondent. I think what's important here is that they're going to have to go back and do a thorough investigation in terms of what occurred. As to whether they should have used a Taser or not becomes an option at the discretion of their officer and the training that they receive. That may have been an option. It maybe not have been.

The problem for Chicago P.D. is that they're operating from a deficit. They're a department that is still being critically scrutinized by the passing incident that occurred involving the shooting there that we all very well know about, and the credibility of the department as well too, along with their investigative body internally is at question. So they're going to be operating from a deficit.

One thing I would recommend for them is that they go and use outside, independent sources to review this investigation. And it has to be done carefully and methodically so that that community can begin to have some sense of trust in that department again.

FEYERICK: And, Cedric, you know, you - when you think about this, you say Taser could have been an option, maybe, maybe not, it all depends on how close that young man was to the police officers -

ALEXANDER: That's correct.

FEYERICK: Or even if they saw him, because Tasers don't work in every circumstance.

ALEXANDER: That's correct.

FEYERICK: But - but when you're dealing with a place like Chicago, that has had so much gang violence, do you think police are reacting in a way that they've been trained to that extreme violence, even when it comes to dealing with emotionally disturbed people, which is what the call came in as?

ALEXANDER: Well, regardless of who the population, the community may be confronting, but particularly there in Chicago where you have communities of color, and the challenge there is going to continue to be this whole trust issue. Unfortunately, Deb, you're going to have police shootings. Chicago is a major metropolitan city. It has incredible hot spots, as most major cities do across this country. So the optics - so the engagement there of another police shooting is going to be very likely.

But what has to happen here, each case must be looked at individually. And I still would encourage an outside independent review that would give that community and across whole Chicagoland an opportunity to feel a sense of confidence with an outside investigative source, and a D.A. office as well too that's going to act expeditiously and - with a great grill - and with a great deal of integrity because they, too, are at question.

FEYERICK: And, Joey, the Justice Department has launched an investigation, an overall review of the Chicago Police Department. How do you think that - what is the outcome there? What do you think? How does that work?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: You know - good afternoon, Deb. Good afternoon, Cedric.

The outcome, of course, is still in question, but I think it's something that's very important that be undertaken. Why? Because Cedric speaks to the issue of trust. It's so important to when you have police policing the community that there be some level of trust and respect between the community and the police. I think that starts with knowing exactly what happened in this instance and every instance. And whenever you get the federal government involved, there's a sense that there's some outside source that's going to review everything. It's not going to be politics. It's not going to be business as usual. It's going to be an investigation that's predicated upon the facts, that's predicated upon the circumstances and allows the chips to fall wherever they do. So, in terms of what the investigation will reveal, we don't know.

[12:20:00] We do know that the federal government, a few weeks ago, has launched the investigation to look at the patterns and the practices of the police conduct, the interaction that they have with the community, and what, if anything, can be done to restore that trust, to restore that integrity and to build the gap between the community and the police department.

FEYERICK: So, Joey, in the case of Bettie Jones, police have acknowledged that it was an accident. She was shot when she was near the door that LaGrier was apparently running towards. Do they - is there a civil suit or do they, as in the case of Laquan McDonald, simply pay her, her family?

JACKSON: You know, Deb, I think there's going to be a couple of things looked into. There's going to be any criminality. That will be investigated. And, of course, the civil will be investigated. The distinction between the two is to determine whether the officer acted criminally. We don't know. We don't have all the facts. We don't know all the circumstances. That's what investigations are for.

But when you look to the civil side of it, it's the reward of money. Now the fact is, is that of course the family wants their mom and the only way our system, unfortunately the way it works in law is to pay someone for any misdeed that may have occurred. So from the negligence perspective, that's what civil looks at, Deb, it looks at, was there carelessness, was there a lack of judgment here, what could have been done differently so as to have the personal live instead of dead? And, of course, there are two people dead at this point.

FEYERICK: And so, gentlemen, to both of you very quickly, the Chicago Police does have an independent review board, but they have ruled really in favor of police officers in these controversial shootings. The mayor has appointed a new head. Can justice be done by an internal review of what happened, or is there simply too much distrust, and as Cedric says, should there be somebody from outside, and very quickly.

ALEXANDER: Well -

JACKSON: You know -

FEYERICK: To you first, Joey.

ALEXANDER: Well, OK.

FEYERICK: Go ahead.

JACKSON: I really think there needs to be because there has to be an evaluation that's based upon, what was the immediacy of the threat here? Is the fact that there's a baseball bat, did it warrant lethal force? Should that have been the first option? Maybe, maybe not. Or could there have been other things that have been explored? Number two, the proportionally of the force used. Did you really need to fire at a person multiple times who has the bat, and how reasonable was the officer in acting this way? And I think if you have an independent source that looks to that, I think the community would have much more confidence in that than having the internal district attorney and this review board you talked about that's indicted or found two wrongdoings in 400 police cases, 400 and there's two wrong shootings, something's problematic when 0.5 percent of the time the police got something wrong.

FEYERICK: All right, and, Cedric, as you said - Cedric, as you said earlier, it's going to be very hard for the police to police themselves and somebody also independent has to be brought in. To both of you, gentlemen, I thank you.

ALEXANDER: Thank you. Thank you.

FEYERICK: Cedric Alexander and Joey Jackson, we appreciate your thoughts on this.

JACKSON: Thank you, Deb.

ALEXANDER: Thanks a lot.

FEYERICK: And still ahead, victory cheers in Iraq as the military there claims victory over ISIS in one key city. We'll take you live to Baghdad.

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[12:26:35] FEYERICK: And Iraqi security forces are declaring a major victory over ISIS, claiming that they've recaptured a key government facility from ISIS in Ramadi and raising the Iraqi flag on top of the building. The Iraqi military, along with the help of U.S. air strikes, insist they now have taken control of the city, which fell under ISIS control in May. CNN's senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir joins me from Iraq with the very latest.

And, Nima, how sure are Iraqi forces that they've actually driven ISIS out?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they acknowledge that there are still pockets of fighting and they - they say they're having to go unbearably slowly to try and avoid a lot of this booby-trapping and those IEDs that ISIS tends to plant whenever they are forced out of cities like this. but they say there is momentum and those pockets of fighting are in the northern most tip of the city. This, for them, if they are calling it a bit too soon, it is just purely the sheer excitement that this moment has finally come.

When Ramadi fell, it really was the lowest point of humiliation. Not just for the Iraqi government, but for the U.S., and their strategy here in Iraq, and whether they could possibly find a strategy that could not only work, but could actually be replicated in other cities across Iraq and possibly into Syria. So this is a hugely strategic moment and really a moment where there's finally a sense of momentum here, Deb.

FEYERICK: And as you have said, Washington had a big role in this, U.S. airstrikes helping in the fall off Ramadi. But what is the mood there in Baghdad, where you're reporting from?

ELBAGIR: This really was the first time that we were getting on a plane to come out here to Baghdad, and everyone we were speaking to on the ground was excited. There really is a sense of optimism. Of Course, it's not perfect. Very few of these situations are. And the Iraqi government does have a history of calling liberation before perhaps they really should. But in this situation, everyone we're speaking to, all of our sources in the western diplomatic community say they almost don't begrudge them that. We were actually speaking to some other sources, and halfway through the conversations they said, do you know what, there might actually even be celebration here for New Year's Eve. There is a sense finally that Iraq could be putting so much of this violence, so much of this strife, behind it.

FEYERICK: And the interesting thing is that they did it also with the help of the Sunni tribesmen, the Sunnis who were effectively excluded from the early Iraqi government.

Nima Elbagir, thank you very much.

And we're going to continue talking about this with our CNN military analyst, retired Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona and retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling.

General Hertling, we've heard Iraq forces say before that they've liberated a town, then they've sort of reversed themselves, as you heard Nima say. Can we trust that now Ramadi is in their control?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, first of all, Deb, you're right, we have heard this before. The media has heard this and reported it before. And, truthfully, I've listed it before. I've been involved in several liberations of towns with Iraq security forces when I was there a few years ago.

They do tend to announce too early. There's still a lot of work to be done in Ramadi. They still have to secure the city from all these IEDs that are placed all around. I'm' very familiar with that kind of action and that will take a while. Plus, they then have to get the government back in place, get police security back in the towns, get the water and the electricity turned back on. That's going to take a bit longer. So, yes, it - it - we're not through with this fight just yet, but it's a very good sign and I can understand why they're celebrating.

[12:30:10] FEYERICK: So they took back the city. Now they've got to rebuild the city. Gentlemen, I'm going to have - ask both of you this question, but first