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New Day

Members of May's Government Resign; Roberson Family Speaks Out; California Wildfire Death Toll Increases; Wintry Mix Hits Northeast. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired November 15, 2018 - 06:30   ET

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


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[06:33:41] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning. Saudi Arabia's top prosecutor charging 11 people in connection with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Five of them will face the death penalty. The prosecutor claims Khashoggi was killed following, quote, a fight and a quarrel at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi was reportedly tied up and injected with an overdose of a sedative that killed him. His body was then dismembered and given to a local collaborator.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: More breaking news. Five members of Theresa May's conservative party have quit the government. This comes hours after the 500-page draft for carrying out Britain's plan to leave the European Union, the Brexit, was submitted to the European Council and as Prime Minister May attempts to deliver assurance in the parliament there.

CNN's Phil Black live in London with the very latest.

Phil, this is happening very quickly.

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, John.

What we're talking about here is the most important issue in modern British history. And Theresa May is fighting to get her plan for Brexit through this country's political structure, through cabinet, though parliament and now it increasingly appears that her immediate political future is really directly tied to this. She's fighting to survive. We're talking about the withdrawal agreement, the divorce deal that would see Britain break away from the EU early next year.

[06:35:00] Negotiators have thrashed out a deal over some period of time. A very technical deal. Last night, after a very many hours of talks, Theresa May came out where I'm standing now and said that her cabinet supports the deal.

But what we've learned since is that key members of her cabinet do not, because we've seen two members of her cabinet resign, including Dominic Raab, who is the Brexit secretary. The man whose job it is to negotiate and arrange all of these things, to make sure that this all happens in an ordinarily way. They've said we can't support this in good faith.

Theresa May, as we speak, is now in Britain's parliament continuing that fight for this plan and she is struggling. For over an hour now, she has faced very, very difficult questions.

The key issue here, the real sticking point that appears that all of this hinges on is very technical but it relates to the border with northern Ireland, between the Republic of Ireland and northern Ireland itself, where -- the guarantee, if you like, that there will never be a hard border in that space. That's what critics of this plan say would simply mean that the U.K. would not have sovereignty over its own territory.

Take a listen now to Theresa May talking in parliament just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THERESA MAY, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: While some people might pretend otherwise, there is no deal which delivers the Brexit the British people voted for which does not involve this insurance policy. Once a final deal is agreed, I will bring it to parliament and I will ask MP's to consider the national interest and give it their backing. Voting -- voting against a deal would take us all back to square one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: So what happens now? We look to see if Theresa May can survive if there are further resignation. There's doubt on that. And then even if she does survive, she has to get parliament's approval, a majority in parliament, for this deal.

And what's at stake is huge. As I say, it's about Brexit and whether or not Britain tumbles out of the European Union in a chaotic way or in an ordinarily way, which is what this withdrawal agreement is designed to achieve.

Alisyn, back to you.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, Phil, just please keep us posted. It sounds like things are developing very quickly there. Thank you so much for the report.

All right, meanwhile, this story. The family of a security guard fatally shot by police is demanding answers. Why did police treat him as a suspect rather than as a hero? They're speaking to us on NEW DAY, next.

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[06:41:03] CAMEROTA: Witnesses say security guard Jemel Robenson was acting as a hero when he stopped an active shooter in a Chicago area bar early Sunday morning. But moments later, Jemel was shot and killed by a police officer. Police claim the officer gave Jemel Robenson multiple verbal commands to drop his weapon.

Joining us now is the mother of Jemel Robenson's nine-month old son and unborn baby, Avontae Boose, and her attorney, Lee Merritt.

We're so pleased that you're both here and able to speak with us and we're so sorry for your loss, Avontae.

AVONTAE BOOSE, MOTHER OF JEMEL ROBERSON'S SON: Thank you.

LEE MERRITT, ATTORNEY FOR FAMILY OF JEMEL ROBERSON: Thank you so much.

CAMEROTA: Mr. Merit, here's what the police say. Here's what the Illinois State Police say.

Upon his arrival, a Midlothian Police Officer encountered a subject in plain black clothing with no markings readily identifying him as a security guard armed with a gun in the west parking lot. According to witness statements, the Midlothian Officer gave the armed subject multiple verbal commands to drop the gun and get on the ground before ultimately discharging his weapon and striking the subject.

So they're talking about Jemel Roberson there, obviously. What makes you think that he was clearly identified as a security guard?

MERRITT: Well, my office has spoken to multiple witnesses who have said the opposite, that he was marked at least three times from his head gear, which said security in big, bright white letters, to a shirt that said security, to a vest that said security on it again in big, bright white letters.

But not only that, there are other witnesses who have come forward and who have given statements to say that when police arrived, and they put guns on Jemel, they responded to the police, don't shoot him, he's a security guard.

We have to remember who we're talking about. This was somebody who just heroically saved countless people in a bar. And he was -- he -- he apprehended the suspect, the original shooter, who just shot four other people. And so the idea that he should put his gun down, if that were even the facts, that he should put his gun down in front of the person who just -- who just committed a mass shooting, who attempted to kill several people, that in and of itself would be kind of ridiculous.

CAMEROTA: There are so many heartbreaking things about this. I mean not only that he was acting as a hero, but that he so quickly, after that, lost his life.

So, Avontae, tell us how you learned that Jemel was killed.

BOOSE: A family member told me about it. She called me and told me, did I hear what happened? And I said, what do you mean what happened? She's like, yes, the police shot him. And I told her, are you playing? And she told me, no, she's not playing. And then I just broke down crying in a bathroom. And (INAUDIBLE) in a bathroom till somebody had to come in there and cover me.

CAMEROTA: And what -- I mean I don't know, obviously, your son Tristan is nine months old, so he can't comprehend what happened. But have you seen a difference in him? Is he aware on any level of what's happened to his father?

BOOSE: No. He's just been calling his dad.

MERRITT: And what Avontae and I -- and I have been discussing this is that at nine months this -- this is her son's first Christmas coming up and her and Jemel were looking forward to this Christmas. He actually was taking extra shifts as a security guard so that he could buy them gifts. They both share a birthday is early February. The baby's on February 6th --

BOOSE: The 7th.

MERRITT: The 7th and Jemel's on --

BOOSE: The 6th.

MERRITT: On the 6th. And so he was looking forward to them spending these first milestones together. He was a great father. And so this is really -- has been a really tragic time, really difficult time for the family.

[06:45:03] CAMEROTA: Yes, we can imagine.

The Midlothian Police Chief has said this. We view this as the equivalent of a blue on blue friendly fire incident.

How do you interpret that, Mr. Merritt?

MERRITT: No, they don't. They -- if they do so, they would be doing this differently. They've already released information that they believe to be exculpatory in their preliminary report. And so if -- if this was a case where they saw this as a friendly fire, as if someone, as if a police officer was shot, then we would see this being handled much differently. There would be more transparency. They would have released the name of the officer. We would know more about his background, his training, whether he has a history of brutality. We don't know any of that. The only thing that they have been willing to release are statements that they believe would paint Mr. Roberson, Jemel, in a light that would justify this shooting. And they haven't given credence to those witnesses who have given statements in the other direction.

And so we're seeing here what we often see in cases of police brutality is that the investigators, who are -- who are the police, are policing the police, and they're crafting an investigation in such a way as to find a way to justify the unjustifiable.

I don't know that we can truly appreciate that this -- this guy should be being celebrated right now. Jemel should be being celebrated across the country. He prevented another mass shooting. He's the quintessential good guy with a gun that we say we need in situations like this, but he still had to face the reality of being a black man in America. And so although he's a good guy with a gun who's done absolutely right thing and that that was his job to do, when police arrived, they saw a threat and they executed him. CAMEROTA: Avontae, there's so much that's tragic here. I mean just as

Mr. Merritt spelled out, we have a picture of Jemel and your son. And, of course, you're pregnant right now with another baby. What will you tell your children about their dad?

BOOSE: He was a good father. He was a hero. There's so much. He loved -- he loved his son so much. He would call him "Juice," because he loved to eat. But it's hard for me and my family and his family that he's gone. And I'm going to tell him when he get -- they get older, when they get real older, what happened to their father, that he was a hero and he saved a lot of people.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Well, Avontae Boose, Mr. Lee Merritt, please, we're obviously -- CNN is staying on this story and we will see how the police department responds. Thank you very much for sharing your personal photos and story with us.

BOOSE: Thank you.

MERRITT: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: We'll be right back.

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[06:51:58] BERMAN: The death toll in the California wildfires has risen to 58. The Camp Fire in northern California has killed 56 of those people. Two have died in the Woolsey Fire in southern California, where crews may finally be gaining the upper hand.

CNN's Scott McLean live in Paradise, California, one of the towns hardest hit.

Scott, what are you seeing?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John.

Well, crews now have that Woolsey Fire more than 50 percent contained and the winds are expected to die down today. That is obviously good news. Here at the Camp Fire, though, it's hard to find much of anything to celebrate. As you said, 56 lives have been lost. There are still 130 people missing. More than 10,000 structures have been destroyed, most of those are homes, 138,000 acres have burned and the fire is still just 35 percent contained. That number hasn't changed since Tuesday. The death toll, it is also expected to rise as crews go out searching through the ash and debris looking for more bodies. It is a process that could take weeks. And some people may never be found at all.

And because this fire burned so, so hot, authorities have now run into another problem. Listen.

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STEVE COLLINS, INVESTIGATIONS SERGEANT, BUTTE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: We're trying to determine the difference between human remains and non-human remains. It's going to be extremely difficult in these fires to make that differentiation for those of us that are untrained. We feel really bad for the people that don't know what happened to their loved ones and our hearts go out to them, that we want to -- we want to give them some answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: And lawyers for 22 people whose homes were lost in the Camp Fire filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the local power company, Pacific Gas & Electric. No official cause of the fire has been determined, but it was started near transmission lines that the company had been working on just 15 minutes earlier. The company says that if it is found to be responsible, well, it doesn't have enough insurance coverage or even cash on hand to cover the potential damages that Moody's estimates could be near $7 billion.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, Scott. I mean how will people rebuild there? There's just so many questions still this morning. Thank you very much.

So there's this dangerous storm that has left two people dead and 44 hurt after a bus headed to a casino crash on an icy road in Mississippi. That same storm system is now moving up the East Coast. It is expected to bring rain and the first snow here.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has a look at the forecast.

Where is it now? When is it arriving?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Finally starting now in D.C., in Suitland and Rockville, Gaithersburg, snowing obviously across parts of West Virginia. Here's the latest radar.

To the east, where it's warmer, it will be all rain, but temperatures are cold enough to support snow, especially State College. You are in it to win it. The Poconos in it as well.

Here we go, as we move ahead until about 10:30 this morning, Philadelphia, you're specking up some snow. New York, you start to see snow around the noon hour. It will be snow, sleet and rain all mixed together. There will be some very heavy coatings of snow. There will be eight to 10 inches of snow, but it won't be in the cities because we will warm things back up somewhere around 35 by this afternoon.

[06:55:10] The bullseyes of snow, some people happy, kids, maybe, but must adults not so much.

John. Alisyn.

BERMAN: Looks ugly.

All right, Chad Myers, thanks for that. We'll be watching that very, very close over the next several hours. President Trump's mood taking a dark turn, fueling dysfunction inside

the White House. So what did the president think about his wife's power play in getting a senior White House adviser removed. The answer, next.

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[07:00:05] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sources say the president is weighing several major staffing changes.