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Tense Protests in Ferguson; American Beheaded by ISIS; Attorney General Arriving in Ferguson Today; Americans Say No Boots on Ground in Iraq

Aired August 20, 2014 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY. We are live here in Ferguson.

And today is going to be a big day in terms of the investigation into what happened on August 9th when Michael Brown was shot. The attorney general of the United States, Eric Holder, will be here in Ferguson today to take a firsthand look at investigation into the shooting and death of Michael Brown.

Now this follows another night of protests, but they were fewer in number. There was much more intensity here for peace and organizing for that purpose. There's been a leadership vacuum here in Ferguson, and the question was who would step in.

It seems the local leaders here have been established, especially among the clergies. They have put themselves in between protesters and police. They have been here and talking to young people, and they are trying to stop the violence before it starts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's his name?

CROWD: Mike Brown!

CUOMO (voice-over): Tuesday night, the scene in Ferguson basically quiet.

A far cry from Monday's madness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody in the community let calm minds prevail.

CROWD: Yes.

CUOMO: On the front lines, religious leaders trying to turn the violence and turmoil plaguing their community.

BISHOP EDWIN BASS, FOUNDER AND PASTOR, THE EMPOWERED CHURCH: My hope is that there will be peace in the community and that's our goal in being out here. Certainly, some of the forces that have been or probably are going to be out here again tonight, but we're hopeful that we'll have an impact on that. CUOMO: And their presence seems to have done just that. Members of

the clergy, local pastors and bishops out in full force use the power of prayer and dialogue to help alleviate tensions.

BASS: What we've trade to do is speak not only to the protesters, but we're also speaking to law enforcement.

CUOMO: They walk amongst protesters at teams, even putting themselves directly between crowds and police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to get back. You're risking my people's lives.

BISHOP ZACHERIAH DAVIS, GREATER HARVEST CHURCH: Emotions are running high. There's a lot of anguish. People are angry about the situation, and literally, you know, we have to stand in between oftentimes to try to get the crowd to calm down.

CUOMO: Many pointing fingers at a small group of isolated instigators here for the sole purpose of provoking violent reaction from authorities.

PASTOR ROBERT WHITE, PASTOR, PEACE OF MIND CHURCH OF HAPPINESS: Our community knows us, so it's easy for us to talk to our constituents and then make friendship with the police officers to try to serve as a barrier between the two. But when you're from out of town and your sole purpose is class action lawsuits, your sole purpose is to push an agenda for the revolutionary party things like that, that makes it difficult. To be honest with you, Anderson, we want those folks out of our neighborhoods.

CUOMO: Community leaders working with a government to identify the individual outsiders and rid Ferguson of them. Many hope that that will bridge the divide that's polarized Ferguson.

WHITE: Police are out here to protect us. I mean, if we can get most of our protesters to protest with a purpose, it will go smoothly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no (ph) peace.

CROWD: We want justice!

CUOMO: These leaders encouraging others to keep marching and keep the peace.

BASS: I think we're at a signal point on race relations. We're at a signal point in terms of how law enforcement interacts with the community, and quite frankly, I'm optimistic that out of that dialogue, we're going to come up with some good solutions, and the country is going to be turned into a better trajectory.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: And, look, let's be honest. That is highly aspirational at this point. Still a lot of anger, a lot of hostility, and a lot of work that needs to be done to heal this community and -- and in part of doing that get answers to the big questions here.

But, Michaela, one of the things that's been missing on the ground in Ferguson was leadership, and having the local clergy and other local leaders and some elected stepping up and filling that void is key to making progress here on the ground.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely, and it's an important place to start. You said there's a long way to go, that's absolutely true, Chris. But we have to have a starting point and maybe, maybe we've started there. Thanks so much for that. We'll turn back to you.

But I want to give you a look at some of our headlines. We want to begin overseas now.

Really chilling video emerging that shows ISIS militants beheading American James Foley. Foley was kidnapped in Syria nearly two years ago. These are still images of his final moments. The video is just far too unsettling for us to show you.

ISIS calling it payback for the U.S. bombing campaign against them in Iraq. They are now threatening to kill another captive American if U.S. airstrikes don't stop. Authorities have not verified the authenticity of that video.

The death toll is rising from devastating landslides in western Japan. Authorities in Hiroshima say 27 bodies have been recovered, 10 people still missing. Police say the city was deluged with a month's worth of rain in just 24 hours. Loosening slopes already saturated by downpours from the past few weeks.

Intense fighting in the rebel-held Ukrainian city of Donetsk. Gun battles broke out on streets and in a shopping mall as troops made progress trying to regain control of that area. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will meet next week to find -- to work to find a resolution to that crisis.

Boy, this is bad news around our offices. Peanut and almond butter is being recalled over a possible salmonella danger. Four cases of illness have been linked to products made by Inspired Natural Foods. The recall includes peanut and almond butter sold under the Arrowhead Mills and Maranatha Brands as well as trader Joseph, Kroger and Safeway. If you want to find information on the recalled products, you can go to FDA.gov.

Look, you have all of our producers and Nischelle Turner scrambling to look in their cupboard.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And if you look at the list of stores, that covers a large part of the country. Kroger is a very big in the Midwest.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Everybody almost. -- unless you have an allergy, loves peanut butter.

BOLDUAN: It seems to be more and more --

PEREIRA: Caveat, caveat, caveat.

BOLDUAN: Caveat, caveat, caveat.

Let's get over to meteorologist Indra Petersons keeping track of the forecast for us.

Whoa! That is a lot of water, Indra.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we were just talking about what was going on in Japan. Take a look at what's going on here. We're talking about some flooding just north of Phoenix yesterday. A 1 in 1,000-year event, 5 1/2 inches of rain fell in just 12 hours. Put that in perspective, that means the river flooded to above 25 feet in just about 12 hours as well.

So, here's what was going on. We have that typical monsoonal moisture that was inundating the area. The concern as we go forward in time is we now have a tropical storm heading off the coastline. Now, keep in mind. It's going to be heading offshore and making its way farther away from land.

All of that moisture can get sucked into the region. We're still going to be watching for the threat of more thunderstorms that could bring more dangerous flooding like that.

Otherwise, Ohio Valley into the Northeast looking for showers spreading in towards the Northeast by tomorrow. Today those scattered showers around the upper Midwest, one to two inches of rain. Down to the South, still all the humid air, jet stream way to the North.

All that moisture making it hot and muggy, and it doesn't stop there. We're talking about heat advisories in effect. As we go through the afternoon spreading over the next couple of days as high pressure is building in. You're talking about temperatures feeling like they are in the 90s. Actually like in the 90s but feeling like they are other 100 degrees, and it's only getting worse as we go do the weekend. Definitely a danger with heat as well.

BOLDUAN: High temperatures somewhere.

PETERSONS: Still summer somewhere.

BOLDUAN: Somewhere. Thanks, Indra.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, we're going to have much more coming out of Ferguson.

But, first, how will the White House respond to that gruesome video of an American being beheaded by an Islamic extremist in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes against ISIS?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back. We're following a horrific story this morning. The terror group ISIS

posting a video online showing the beheading of American James Foley. These are still images of him. CNN is not going to be airing the graphic video.

ISIS says the U.S. airstrikes in Iraq are to blame for Foley's execution. The video ends with the terrorists threatening to kill yet another American, Steven Sotloff.

Let's bring in CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski, as well as CNN political commentator Errol Louis to discuss this further.

So, Michelle, what are you hearing from the White House? What is their reaction, and what are you hearing?

MICHELL KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We haven't heard directly from the White House on this. President Obama arrived pack in Martha's Vineyard where he's been trying at least to take some kind of a vacation. But, you know, we've heard from the White House twice. We heard directly from President Obama twice last week while he was here on Martha's Vineyard regarding Iraq, and, you know, the news was good. He talked about the progress made.

We heard from him just this week on Monday from the White House, again, talking about the progress made, but now this happens, and so far at least we have not heard a statement directly from the White House. You can imagine what's going on behind the scenes. I mean, while this other American journalist is in ISIS hands, his life hanging in the balance, the White House and its national security team deciding what exactly to say and when. The sensitivity of this situation surely intense. I think we're virtually assured of hearing something though from the White House today. You know, we did hear from the national security team saying that they are appalled by the apparently brutal murder of an innocent American journalist. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Well, and Michelle, you get really at the heart of the issue for the president here. I mean, at end of that video the -- the ISIS militant says that this man's life depends on Obama's next move or next decision is how he puts it. There must be a lot of conversations going on of exactly what the president can say and what impact it will have.

KOSINSKI: Exactly. You have the brutality of this situation itself and what we know is shown on that video, but then you have the brutality of what they are putting in the American people's hands, you know, saying that the onus is on the American president and what his decision is next. Of course, the White House knows what they are dealing with here and the capabilities of this group that we've seen before, but to put it in these terms, yes. It is incredibly difficult, and I think, you know, even among ourselves talking we were saying can you imagine being in that position? You're the president. You're his advisers trying to decide in the intelligence community especially what can be done, what kind of contact there can be between the administration and this group, if any, and what do you do from here? Along with that, what do you say to the American people publicly at this time? So I think today we'll know the answer to that question, at least in some extent. I think we will hear from the White House at some point, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Errol, how does this change the dynamic, if at all, in the U.S. role in Iraq, in how involved the U.S. should be in Iraq?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, we can dispose of one question. There's absolutely no chance that the commander in chief, the president of the United States, is going to negotiate with these people. This is a group that al Qaeda has sort of distanced themselves from, its just inconceivable. So the president will probably stick to what all the polls say is what the American people want which is no more boots on the ground, no deeper involvement and, look, frankly the fact they have resorted to such savagery suggests that the air strikes are working, and that's the kind of statement I would expect to hear from the White House, is that this is what happens when a desperate band of barbaric terrorists gets pushed to the wall, and that's exactly what the public wants. That's exactly what the president promised, and I think that's what we can expect to see more of.

BOLDUAN: Do you see this changing American public opinion towards U.S. involvement in Iraq? Everyone knew how bad ISIS is. The administration says it over and over again. I know we say it in news programs all the time, but to have this horrific reminder so clearly played out for people.

LOUIS: Sure.

BOLDUAN: Do you think it changes public opinion now?

LOUIS: I think it probably deepens it. Every poll suggests that 2-1, sometimes 3-1, no more boots on the ground. Don't send our kids back there. If journalists want to go and sort of take these incredible risks and pay the ultimate price, as a few people seem to have, and, look, that are a couple of journalists who are still in captivity, we should remember, that's one thing, but the American public is absolutely clear. They want air strikes, they want air raids. They don't want any deeper involvement, and they fear getting sucked into another sort of Bush administration type major commitment, and I think politically that's what this administration, which basically campaigned on getting out of Iraq in part, that's the last thing that they want, an Iraq war, Syria or whatever this new thing is going to be, this ISIS.

BOLDUAN: Errol gets to an important point. Obviously no one expects the president to negotiate with ISIS in any way, shape or form, but is there anything in your view, Michelle, from your perch at the White House, that you can see that the administration can or will do to try to save the American still in captivity, Steven Sotloff.

KOSINSKI: It's possible that that stands that we're not going to negotiate with a terrorist group. We'll send the message, obviously, that it would be futile to do this. I don't know that ISIS necessarily cares about its PR, but to do something so brutal isn't going to help them. You know, this isn't a situation where we're dealing with a group affiliated with a government in some way or looking for, you know, an electoral victory eventually in a country. This is a much, much different situation, a horribly difficult situation, really. I don't know that there's any other way to put it.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

KOSINSKI: And you just think about the administration trying to craft a response, but knowing that this other American's life could hang in the balance. It's not as if necessarily the administration can do anything about it in the immediate sense, but then what happens if the worst happens again? It's really a terrible situation to try to figure out what the next step is, but I think Errol put it well. The president has been careful to say each time we've heard from him on Iraq is that this is not -- this is not going to be a situation of mission creep. This isn't going to blow up into being a much bigger situation, and he's emphasized the progress that has been made already. Wanting to keep the American role extremely limited in this case, and it's not as if the American public sees what has happened there already as America's fault in some way necessarily, regarding the case of these American journalists in captivity.

BOLDUAN: And Errol, I mean this all comes as, you know, it's not like this is a static role that the United States has in Iraq right now. I mean, this comes as military planners, many are suggesting, they are looking into the possibility of even new air strikes, not only on the largest dam that was retaken in Mosul, but the Haditha dam. There's even some conversation about will the United States assist in air strikes there. That will further get to that issue of is this mission creep, is this not? So this is not all happening in a vacuum, this is happening in real time.

LOUIS: Well, that's right. Look, This is the policy that was debated in 2008 during the campaign and again in 2012, and it's a very contentious one, but the notion that terrorism of this sort can be sort of controlled and contained and, you know, it's a horrible thing to say but sort of normalized. Meaning that rather than committing hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of troops what you do is strike after strike, air strike after air strike. I'm sure if there's any possible way to rescue any of the remaining captives the SEAL teams will go to work, but other than that this is going to just have to be part of what goes on in that part of the world. The American public seems to support the notion that we want to contain it. We want to control it. There will be losses along the way, but no more major commitments like the occupation of Iraq.

BOLDUAN: It is just such a horrible reminder of what a brutal, brutal group ISIS really is, if anyone needed that reminder. And now one family having to live with this reality that they finally have found the whereabouts of their son and their family member, but this is what they are learning. Its just truly almost too much to take. Errol, thank you so much. Michelle, thank you as always, we'll get back to you throughout the show. Michelle, traveling with the president in Martha's Vineyard right now.

Coming up next on NEW DAY.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

BOLDUAN (voice-over): We're going to have more of our continuing coverage from Ferguson, Missouri. Attorney General Eric Holder is heading there today. We're going to talk with Holder's former spokesman about the case and the role of the attorney general.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's his name?

CROWD: Mike Brown!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's his name?

CROWD: Mike Brown!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tensions are running very high at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to get back, you're risking my people's lives. Get back now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is about transparency. This community has distrust for the local law enforcement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There can only be federal civil rights charges if they can prove intent to discriminate on the basis of race.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freelance journalist James Foley has been killed by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are no words to describe this kind of inhumanity.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome back to NEW DAY. Breaking coverage this morning in Ferguson, Missouri. A mixed bag overnight here. There was noticeable improvement, no question about that, but not without tense moments for police and protesters, Kate.

BOLDUAN (on camera): And today, Chris, Attorney General Eric Holder will arrive in Ferguson to oversee the Michael Brown investigation.

CUOMO: That will be a big day. Now, what led up to where we are, it was a night of peaceful protests in the streets mainly. The vacuum of leadership was here filled by clergy, the demonstrators were walking arm in arm with many of them locked to keep away these outside agitators who they say have infiltrated the crowds just looking for peace.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hands up.

(CROSSTALK) CUOMO (voice-over): So 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 there was calm. There was loud protesting, but nothing worse. And then, after midnight, a water bottle was allegedly thrown at police. Officers take every provocation very immediately and harshly here, so they rush in. There are arrests. Then they say there were more bottles thrown at cops and the cycle went on and on. In all 47 people, police say, were arrested, some of them for threatening police. Pepper spray was used, but no tear gas, no shots fired.

That's important. It may sound like that is too high a bar, but you have to remember where we were on this, and the calmer it gets here, the more attention can be put on the investigation. Today there is a visit from the country's top law enforcement official, Attorney General Eric Holder, and as we mentioned, for him to come into a location and say he's taking on an investigation is very rare. Also, on the local level, there's a lot of scrutiny and criticism about why no arrest. But there is a grand jury that will be supposedly presented with testimony in the case as early as today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO (on camera): There's a lot to find out about the investigation. Let's get to George Howell. He's following it for us. George.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, good morning to you. So, yes, a lot playing out now here on the legal front. In the forefront, as you mentioned, Attorney General Eric Holder coming here to Ferguson, promising people a complete and thorough federal investigation. But in the backdrop there are questions about St. Louis' prosecuting attorney, the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney and whether he can handle fairly a case like this.