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New Day

Hamas Leaders Killed in Airstrike; Holder Meets Community Leaders in Ferguson; Waiting on Obama's Next Move in Regards to ISIS; Ferguson Residents Claim Police are at War Against Them

Aired August 21, 2014 - 06:30   ET

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

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It landed a few miles south of here in an open field. Hamas said it fired an M-75 long range rocket towards the airport. So far today, just one cancellation reportedly for security concerns. That was a Royal Jordanian flight from Amman, but the rest of the airline schedule seemed to be operating as normal, as does the airport here that are coming and going. They are arriving as well and international carriers continue to take off and land.

Hamas was clearly hoping to repeat what happened last month when a rocket landed not far from the airport and many international carriers decided to divert from Ben Gurion Airport for about a day and a half. That was seen as a blow to the Israelis, both economically and symbolically. Hamas claimed that as a victory. They are hoping for the same thing today but so far, Kate, it just hasn't happened.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Well, a lot of daylight left as we have to say, John. Thank very much. John Vause in Tel Aviv, for us, thanks so much.

Let's get over to Christine Romans who is taking a look at more of our headlines.

And news on the Ebola victims, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: There's a lot going on this morning.

OK. Breaking this morning: the American doctor infected with Ebola will be released from an Atlanta hospital today. Kent Brantly contracted the deadly virus while treating infected patients in Liberia. Now, earlier this month, Brantly was flown to Emory University Hospital in an isolation jet. He was able to walk on his own when he arrived.

His colleague, Nancy Writebol, is expected to be discharged from the hospital's isolation unit, but it's not immediately clear whether she would leave the facility. We wish them both well.

New details coming to light after the barbaric killing of American James Foley by ISIS. A U.S. official says special ops units went into Syria this summer to rescue him and other hostages, but they were not successful. All this revealed as air strikes keep pounding the area around Mosul dam to push ISIS back. The State Department now asking for up to 300 more U.S. troops for unspecific security reasons in Baghdad. An uptick in violence in eastern Ukraine. At least 34 people were

killed and dozens injured in fighting between the military and pro- Russian officials. Donetsk authorities say most of the dead are civilians. Meantime, a controversial convoy is back on the road from Russia to Ukraine. The Russians say it's humanitarian aid, but the Ukrainians are concerned this is all a ploy to get more Russian assets into the country.

A settlement against one of the banks at the center of the mortgage crisis could be announced as soon as today. Sources at the Justice Department say that Bank of America has agreed to almost $17 billion, a $17 billion settlement for its role in selling risky mortgage-backed securities. It will be the largest settlement ever paid to the government, the largest ever by a single company. Part of the money will go to provide mortgage relief to struggling homeowners. There are plenty of homeowners who say I need that had relief about five years ago.

BOLDUAN: That's absolutely right.

ROMANS: And I needed the banks not to behave this way in the first place.

BOLDUAN: Did I hear with ear as I was reading the paper this morning, that you say that an amazing statistic, that this is equivalent to three years of profits for banks.

ROMANS: It would be the equivalent of three years of profits. Yes, the Justice Department really trying to exact some pain on some of these things.

BOLDUAN: Do they admit wrongdoing, though?

ROMANS: Usually when you settle, you don't admit wrongdoing.

BOLDUAN: There you go.

Thanks, Christine.

Christine and I will be back in just a second.

Coming up next, a night without violence in Ferguson, Missouri, after Attorney General Eric Holder was on the ground promising a thorough investigation of the Michael Brown shooting. We're going to go back to Missouri. Chris is on the ground for us, was out there all night for more on Holder's visit and what this means to the community.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

We are live in Ferguson, Missouri, this morning, where the focus is now on the investigation into the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Attorney General Eric Holder is promising a thorough investigation on the federal level, somewhat unusual. He came here, very unusual, to meet with community leaders on Wednesday, including the man in charge of security, Missouri Highway Police Captain Ron Johnson. CNN's Don Lemon spoke with Johnson about the meeting, and here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. RON JOHNSON, MISSOURI HIGHWAY PATROL: He said this is what policing is about. This is what policing has to be, and (INAUDIBLE) what a great statement.

LEMON: Did you talk about anything? Did he tell you about what he wants to have happen in this community?

JOHNSON: He said what we're seeing now, community policing, getting out and being a part of the community, to me that's what he said is needed.

LEMON: Do you think it will make a difference that he came here?

JOHNSON: I think so. I think so. I think it shows that the White House, you know, our government at the highest level has heard the voice of the people that are here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: It's hard to argue that it's not good that he came, but the question is what will he do?

Let's bring in NAACP board member, also met with Attorney General Holder, John Gaskin.

John, good to have you have here.

A.G. is here, an unqualified positive, shows a respect for the community.

But in talking to him, what do you think happens?

JOHN GASKIN, NATL. BOARD MEMBER, NAACP ST. LOUIS: Well, I think that, number one, I think people should be aware that the Justice Department is on the job and so is the FBI. For the attorney general to make the decision to come here, it wasn't necessarily the decision of the president. He said it was his decision to be here on the ground, to be updated, to be briefed on what's going on and to get an understanding of where we are in this investigation, with this that he has on the ground.

And so, I think that speaks volumes in terms of the priority of the investigation. What his priority is and it's obviously a top priority to him. It obviously speaks to what his agenda is, not only for the administration but, you know, for his tenure at the justice department.

CUOMO: Talk versus action. How important is it for people to see that things get done because that is setting up false expectations, right, because the civil rights case is very difficult to make on a federal level. GASKIN: Absolutely, and I think we're starting to really realize

that, and so updating the people on the ground on what's going on. I think last night we had some peace because they saw a federal official came to town. It's getting some attention. The grand jury met yesterday, and people in the community are beginning to maybe realize -- start to realize the process and seeing what those steps are.

CUOMO: So, do you have more confidence now knowing that there's at least federal pressure, right, so that the local prosecutors know that they are being watched, have to do their best, not to insinuate that they wouldn't do that, but do you feel better about the prosecutor keeping the case and going through the grand jury, instead of recusing himself and bringing in someone else?

GASKIN: Well, you know, the governor, we would think would reappoint someone.

CUOMO: He has said he's not going to ask him to step down.

GASKIN: Right, and that's a whole other story in itself. We're not going to go there. But I would say this much, but would I hope that since he's not going to do that. He's the governor -- first of all, his leadership probably needs to be re-evaluated and furthermore --

CUOMO: You think that this situation has proven that the governor is not tuned into the community involved.

GASKIN: I think it's definitely a sign for the voters to re-establish their leadership probably across the board to be quite frank with you. But, you know, I hope that he will continue to stay engaged. I hope that our federal elected officials will continue to stay engaged with the justice department.

CUOMO: Time is the enemy.

GASKIN: Absolutely.

CUOMO: Because people are angry now. They want things to happen now. Nothing is going to happen now.

GASKIN: Well, I have a question for you. You've probably done this a lot more than I have. Why can't the grand jury meet more than once a week? It would probably help move things along.

CUOMO: It's expensive. People have lives. They have jobs. Grand jury is not like the trial. Grand jury is -- you get the subpoena the same way. You get the notice.

GASKIN: Right.

CUOMO: And then you are pushed to serve for a certain period. You meet one day a week, give you different cases and they may even hear other things than that one unless it's especially empanelled. So, then, the prosecutor gets to present evidence when or how she wants, depending on who's bringing it. It is a man in this case who works the grand jury. They are supposed to give evidence for and against handing up an indictment which means evidence of Officer Wilson's alleged injuries to his face, whatever evidence there is of that, that gets to them as well, and then they decide whether or not to bring it. But it's only a day a week.

So, when the prosecutor says it's not until October, that's realistic.

GASKIN: So in terms of -- is there any kind of priority in terms of what type of evidence is presented first to the grand jury?

CUOMO: No, it's done strategically by what the office wants to do, so, you know, they have to show them everything they want to show. The question comes down to how are you using the grand jury? What's your motivation as a prosecutor? Do you think this prosecutor wants to bring a case against this cop or wants to find a way not to bring a case, what do you think?

GASKIN: I would hope that Bob McCulloch would do the right thing and do his job which he's done for many, many years now. I would hope that he would use his experience to leverage the situation and do what's right. Will he do that, you know, with that being a question and with that a major question from not just black community leadership but across the board, I think, you know, the safest thing would have been to get a special prosecutor here on this.

But with that all that -- at this point all we can do is hope and pray and hold people accountable.

CUOMO: So, your constituents will say you came up for a while in Ferguson. Your mom was here. You remember being here. You're supposed to represent us.

You've got to leverage this situation as well. You've got to do something for us. You've got to make it better for us here in terms of what we see as a culture of abuse of policing. We don't trust them.

What can you do for people here?

GASKIN: Well, the first thing we can do is begin to call investigations on these municipal police departments because Ferguson, you know, I've been telling people, is not the only one. Right here within this ten-mile radius you've got -- I'm not going to go into names, but have you a number of them that have a history of police brutality and have an issue with how they treat BMWs, black men walking, as we say at the NAACP.

You know, yesterday at the meeting, you know, we really heard from people's hearts on how they feel about many of these smaller municipal police departments. We hear it all the time at the NAACP. We've been telling people, warning people that this is a problem.

It's an epidemic in America. Something has got to be done about it, or we're going to find ourselves in a very, very, very different situation.

CUOMO: So, you're going to have to be ever present, even more present here.

GASKIN: Even more.

CUOMO: Monitoring the situation, keeping things calm and work on progress.

GASKIN: Even more.

CUOMO: All right.

GASKIN: I think that this is just the tip of the iceberg. I think that there's a lot more to go.

CUOMO: John Gaskin, thank you for being here.

GASKIN: Thank you for having me.

CUOMO: We'll be staying with you throughout the situation.

GASKIN: Absolutely.

CUOMO: All right. Let's take a little break on NEW DAY. When we come back, we're going to have much more out of Ferguson. There's a lot to tell you.

Plus, we have new details about a failed attempt to rescue Americans held captive by ISIS. What happened? Why didn't it work? We're going to take a look at what the president may likely do next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY. New revelations this morning about a failed attempt to rescue Americans being held hostage by ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Among those captives was James Foley who was recently beheaded in that gruesome video that was posted online. Intelligence indicated Foley and the other kidnapped Americans were being held by militants in Syria, but when the Delta Force commandos reached the location, the hostages were gone.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BOLDUAN (on camera): Let's dig into this with retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. He's a CNN military analyst and a former commander of U.S. troops in Iraq. General, its great to see you. A lot of questions, I mean just the tale. Whenever we hear about one of these special ops units going in it always piques our interest. What's your take on what we know now? Was the intelligence bad, or is that too much to say?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Now that's way too much to say, Kate and good morning. What I will suggest to you is they probably had very good intelligence, but what you have to counter the intelligence with is a little bit of bad luck. All of those things factor into any of these kind of operations. I'm sure they had very good targeting information from human sources, from aerial sources, from signal sources, the kinds of things that allow you to pinpoint in on a target, but the luck piece plays a part in any of these kind of missions whenever you send special operators into contact.

BOLDUAN: Well, especially when you make that decision to send in, as it was described, dozens and dozens of special ops commandos. That puts ISIS on alert that the U.S. is on them, right?

HERTLING: Well, it certainly does after the fact

BOLDUAN: Yes.

HERTLING: And that's why I think the release of some of this information is so reprehensible on the part of the individual that did it. I know reporters are doing their job, when they get the get the information they have to publish it, but whoever is leaking this kind of information will affect future operations, and that's very unfortunate, because these guys are operating all the time and they're operating on a razor's edge. So the kind of information to know, that ISIS now knows, that these folks are coming after you, you better be ready, might change their operating tactics a bit, too, and that's unfortunate.

BOLDUAN: Well, and I wanted to kind of ask you about that because I think it's also significant, as I was talking about with Barbara Starr earlier, that this also indicates the first time we've become aware that there were boots on the ground in Syria. When you think about the timing and the place that this is all occurring, it also makes me wonder, and I'd love your opinion on this, what kind of dangers these commandos were coming up against just going into the country there.

HERTLING: Well, all military personnel, but especially special operators, are coming up against danger all the time. That's what they do. That's what I used to do. That's what we do. You know, that's part of our constitutional oath. It's a different kind of profession. We put our lives on the line for the security of the United States so it just gets to the level of these things and special operators are at the highest level. They signed up for this job, and they know that their missions are always going to be tough ones. There's no easy missions in the special operations force.

BOLDUAN: I think that's definitely safe to say.

Let's talk specifically about this situation with James Foley. We're hearing this morning and "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that there was a ransom that was requested. $130 million was requested by ISIS from his employer as well as his family. What would the U.S. government have done with that?

HERTLING: Well, first of all, let's talk a little bit about the ransom. That is a mode of operation of all terrorist groups. We saw that multiple times in Iraq with al Qaeda, with Ansar al-Sunnah, with all of the terrorist groups. Whenever they take someone, it's a means of generating funds so they will always ask for that. We've made it our national policy not to negotiate with terrorists so that's not going to happen. Whenever you start getting into that game, it makes it really tough, and I think most terrorists know, especially the ones who at this level of conflict know that the United States is not going to pay money for ransom.

BOLDUAN: There are so many questions I have, but I think the big question is looking forward is the what now? In-depth video, you have that captor with the British accent talking about this is retaliation for U.S. air strikes in Iraq, and it's Obama's next decision that decides the fate of another American that's being held, but air strikes have continued. There were 14 air strikes just yesterday, so that doesn't seem to be changing any policy of the United States. What should the president do? What do you think he's considering?

HERTLING: Well, I think he's doing exactly the right things. He's continuing to maintain the air strikes. He's continuing to push the Iraqi government because it is going to be Iraqi forces and the combined forces of the world which is going -- which are going to stop ISIS. It isn't going to be just the air strikes. They are certainly putting ISIS on their heels right now, and I think in conflict, which is war, you have this tit for tat. Whenever you do one thing, the other side is going to do something else, and I think the air strikes really put ISIS on its heels. They did not expect that. It is blunting some of their operations. It certainly is not destroying them, and there's going to be a whole lot more effort to eliminate this -- this organization. But it is putting them on the heels, on their heels right now, and I think that will continue as the Iraqi military and other international actors come to play in this crisis against this reprehensible and horrific organization.

BOLDUAN: And General, when you take all of that together, what does this mean for the life of the American that we saw in the end of that horrible video of the beheading of James Foley. Steven Sotloff, he's still as far as we would be able to consider, he is a captive by ISIS as well. What does this all mean for his life? Is he at greater risk now?

HERTLING: Well, I think speaking frankly, and this is unfortunate, I think they publicized what the next steps are going to be. That is truly unfortunate. It is the way they act, and there's not a lot that you can do about that other than try and counter their actions with either raids, air strikes or the kinds of military options that will put them out of commission. I don't want to comment on what might happen next with the other reporter but, you know, it's unfortunate. I think they have publicized what's next.

BOLDUAN: Unfortunately, I think you might be right. Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. General, its always great to have you on. Thanks so much.

HERTLING: Thanks, Kate. Have a great day.

BOLDUAN: Of course. Thank you, you too.

Following a lot of news, obviously, out of the Middle East and also right here at home in Missouri. Let's get right to it.. Meet and also right here at home in Missouri. Let's get right to it.

(START VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People know that a federal, thorough investigation is being done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were no Molotov cocktails tonight, no fires, no shootings.

(CHANTING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll never, ever win a fight with a cop on the street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe the front lines are what's important.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The entire world is appalled by the brutal murder of Jim Foley.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The intelligence community worried about what will happen next.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY, it's Thursday, August 21st. We are here in Ferguson, Missouri. Residents are waking up to something barely seen in days. Quiet, as protests remain peaceful overnight, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank goodness for that. As you said yesterday, Chris, take progress where we can see it.

This also comes following a visit from Attorney General Eric Holder who is reaching out to the community, trying to ease the racial tension. We're going to have much more on that ahead. Let's get back to Chris in Missouri. Chris?

CUOMO: Eric Holder, of course, is promising Michael Brown's parents and this community a fair and thorough investigation as they see their son's body for the first time 12 days after he was killed. That's when the family finally got to see the body of their son, a very difficult moment, no matter what went into this situation. Now, a grand jury, they started to hear evidence on Wednesday. The prosecutor says the process will take months. That's just a realistic expectation of a grand jury, but this morning there is relief because authorities are touting progress after a more peaceful night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO (voice-over): Overnight in Ferguson, the first real hint of calm.

(CHANTING)

CUOMO: Since Michael Brown was shot and killed 12 days ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can often tell how the night is going by the radio traffic, and tonight the radios were mostly quiet.

CUOMO: One brief confrontation when demonstrators and supporters of officer Darren Wilson collide. A very different scene from the night before. This video showing an angry St. Ann police officer pointing his gun at the crowd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My hands are up, bro. My hands are up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will (EXPLETIVE) kill you, get back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to kill him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's trying to kill him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your name, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go (EXPLETIVE) yourself.

CUOMO: A St. Louis County police sergeant steps in to diffuse the situation, forcing the officer to lower his weapon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your (EXPLETIVE) gun down!

CUOMO: That officer now suspended indefinitely. Attorney General Eric Holder is here meeting residents, hoping to ease tension.

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We want to help as best we can, and we also want to listen.

CUOMO: Meanwhile, a new witness to the Michael brown shooting comes forward telling CNN's Anderson Cooper what he saw.

MICHAEL BRADY, WITNESS TO MICHAEL BROWN SHOOTING: By the time I get outside he's already turned around and facing the officer. He's -- he had his arm, like, under his stomach, and he was like halfway down, like he was going down and the officer lets out about three or four shots at him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police pull up. Y'all call the police?

CUOMO: This as another video surfaces showing the moment St. Louis police shoot and kill 23-year-old Kajieme Powell Tuesday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have a gun out.

(YELLING)

CUOMO: Police had said he came at them with a knife after stealing from a convenience store. The incident --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're at war with the police!

CUOMO: Further fueling controversy about excessive force here by police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's all they want. They want -- that's all they want.

CUOMO: You believe the cops want to shoot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what they doing. That's what you see. That's what we see, that's what we're waking up to.

CUOMO: St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson tells us the officers acted appropriately.

CUOMO (on camera): Couldn't you have done something else in this situation other than kill him?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He brings up a very good point. What about, why use bullets? Why not use a stun gun?

CHIEF SAM DOTSON, ST. LOUIS POLICE: Tasers aren't 100 percent. If that taser misses that subject continues on and hurts an officer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: There's still a lot to be resolved in this situation in Ferguson, so let's bring in State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal, Democrat, state senator, she represents parts of Ferguson. Senator, its good to have you

SEN. MARIA CHAPPELLE-NADAL (D), MISSOURI: Thank you so much.

CUOMO: It will only be better when change is made. You are in the change business, what can you do for these people?

CHAPPELLE-NADAL: Well, I've been on the ground since day one.