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New Day

Protesters Become Peace Marchers in Ferguson; New Witness Speaks Out in Michael Brown Shooting; Pentagon Issues Chilling Warning About ISIS

Aired August 22, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every commanding officer under him.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Overnight in Ferguson, impassioned prayer, clergy and police hand in hand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless you.

CUOMO: Protesters now peace marchers lining the streets. As others pause in solemn reflection, leaving roses as part of a makeshift memorial for Michael Brown, Jr. These sounds of calm now set the scene here in Ferguson, as law enforcement begins to pull back.

Missouri's governor ordering the National Guard to gradually draw down.

GOV. JAY NIXON (D), MISSOURI: As we see the folks getting calmer, fewer arrests, fewer problems here, that mission, what we're going to draw down off that, we don't need the same force strength.

CUOMO: This as new information clarifies reports about Officer Darren Wilson's condition after the shooting. A source with detailed knowledge of the investigation tells CNN, "Officer Wilson had a swollen face, not a fractured sigh socket as some media were reporting."

Meanwhile, new details about Dorian Johnson, Michael Brown's friend, and the eyewitness to the shooting. According to police documents, Johnson was arrested in 2011 for theft, and making a false report to police.

(on camera): Credibility, however, key, especially in assessing testimony. When they hear about the criminal background and the types of crimes involved, do you think it hurts your client's credibility?

FREEMAN BOSLEY, JR., FORMER ST. LOUIS MAYOR: I think it's something they may take into consideration but remember he met with the FBI, the Justice Department, the prosecutor's representative, detective. And at that time, over a week ago, he laid out his whole life to them. They asked him about his criminal background. They asked him about the matter that he had a warrant out against him. He talked to them about it at length and in detail.

CUOMO (voice-over): Now as peaceful memorials take the streets where violent clashes once broke out.

CROWD: We are -- Mike Brown!

CUOMO: Captain Johnson commends the community for another night of calm, a coloring book, box of crayon's and sock puppet on display where handguns and Molotov cocktails sat just a few days ago.

CAPT. RON JOHNSON, MISSOURI HIGHWAY PATROL: This is what defines a community. This is truly the community of Ferguson, what we see on this table today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: And now as you have peace on the streets, you can shift the energy and the focus to the investigation, and the moments leading up to Michael Brown Jr.'s death, are still very much a mystery. We do know what the key moments will be, what happened at the car, what happened in the pursuit of Michael Brown Jr., and what caused the officer to shoot and kill him.

Now, Michael Brady is a young man who has come forward as someone who saw the incident almost from beginning to end. There has been a lot said about what he knows, but it didn't come from him.

So, we took it step by step to test what he did and did not see and hear. Judge for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL BRADY, WITNESS TO DEATH OF MICHAEL BROWN : First, I was inside the house, in my bedroom, and I hear an altercation. I look out the window and I see some kind of tussling going on at the window.

CUOMO: So you see hands going both ways?

BRADY: Yes, yes, you know what I'm saying? And heavy tussling --

CUOMO: Like this?

BRADY: You know, just in and out the window - you know, because I'm from like 100 feet away.

CUOMO: Can you see the officer's face?

BRADY: No, not exactly, no.

CUOMO: OK. Can you see Mike Brown's face?

BRADY: No not exactly.

CUOMO: Do you ever see the officer's hands go up around his neck?

BRADY: No. CUOMO: Do you ever see Mike Brown do a motion where he's going to lump this cop, where he's going to hit him?

BRADY: That might have been going to happen, maybe while the tussling was going on or whatever

CUOMO: And high voices?

BRADY: Yes, I head high voices, not sure what was said.

CUOMO: The chance that the officer was punched in the face, do you believe there is a chance he was punched in the face?

BRADY: Yes, that's a possibility.

CUOMO: OK, so that's going on, as you come and start watching, now what?

BRADY: So like I said, after the tussling going on through the window, all of a sudden, he just takes off running.

CUOMO: they both take off running, why?

BRADY: I'm not even sure why?

CUOMO: That's interesting because the speculation is that there was a gunshot that sent them running -- you heard no gunshot?

BRADY: I didn't hear no gunshots in the vehicle.

CUOMO: But for whatever reason, you don't hear it.

BRADY: Yes, I didn't hear that.

CUOMO: So, they take off the little guy goes behind the car?

BRADY: Yes, his friend - he runs behind this two-door white car -- like hides behind the trunk looking at the officer that's shooting -- watching to make sure the officer's not coming towards him.

CUOMO: OK, so you say that's shooting, so the big guy - Mike Brown - he takes off running more in a straight direction --

BRADY: Yes, he takes off running in a straight direction.

CUOMO: And what is the officer doing?

BRADY: The officer, he's out of his vehicle - he's right now past his own vehicle.

CUOMO: So he's also running?

BRADY: He's basically taking large steps, not running.

CUOMO: Is his weapon's out?

BRADY: Yes, the weapon's drawn out --

CUOMO: So he has his weapon drawn out as Mike Brown is definitely running away?

BRADY: With his back turned, yes.

CUOMO: Is he talking? Is he yelling, stop, or anything?

BRADY: That's what I don't remember if he was yelling out 'stop' or anything --

CUOMO: But you remember this and Mike Brown is faced the other way and there's this --

BRADY: Yes, he's like I said - like 20 feet down already, OK, so like a taser wouldn't have even touched him.

CUOMO: And then what happens?

BRADY: So he's away from his own police cruiser and I notice that he walks down past the friend that ran --

CUOMO: Doesn't even look at him?

BRADY: Doesn't even look at him. So when I get outside -- Mike Brown -- he looked hit already because now he's facing the officer.

CUOMO: OK, so let's stop right there - you saw the officer taking large steps, you saw the officer with the weapon drawn.

BRADY: Yes.

CUOMO: He did not fire at that time?

BRADY: No, he fired, he fired.

CUOMO: OK, see that's important, that's important.

BRADY: He definitely fired, he definitely fired.

CUOMO: So, Mike Brown is running away, the officer is out of the car, the weapon is drawn, and you see him hear and fire at Mike Brown while he is running away?

BRADY: Yes.

CUOMO: Absolutely?

BRADY: Absolutely.

CUOMO: So he is hit and he's now facing the officer.

BRADY: Facing the officer.

CUOMO: What is the position of the officer?

BRADY: The officer -- he's still got his gun drawn --

CUOMO: Gun is drawn.

BRADY: and he's at a distance - still about 15-20 feet away.

CUOMO: OK, Mike Brown is hunched over.

BRADY: He's hunched over like this, like he was already shot when I come outside, so now he's facing the officer, I remember him taking like 2 small steps - like he was going down anyway, he didn't look like he was going to give up, it looked like he was already hurt.

CUOMO: What's the loaded word? The loaded word is charged. Does the word charged fit was Mike Brown was doing?

BRADY: Charged, no -- like want to charge toward the officer?

CUOMO: Yes.

BRADY: No, no, no, there's no way.

CUOMO: There's no way?

BRADY: There's no way, there's no way. He was already like this -- and the officer took like three or four shots at him and that's when he went down just like he --

CUOMO: So, as he's going in the motion that you're describing, you do see and hear the officer fire again?

BRADY: Yes, before he went down.

CUOMO: For sure?

BRADY: Yes.

CUOMO: And then what happens?

BRADY: And that's it - the closest he ever got to Michael Brown other than the window was like five feet after when he's dead, he's standing over him.

CUOMO: Is he trying to talk to Mike Brown?

BRADY: No.

CUOMO: Is he trying to assess injuries on Mike Brown?

BRADY: No.

CUOMO: Did his face look beat up?

BRADY: No, it don't.

CUOMO: OK. Does he look distressed? Does he look upset?

BRADY: He looked kind of lost --

CUOMO: Maybe shock or something.

BRADY: Yes, like kind of you know like --

CUOMO: How many sounds do you think you heard when he was running away and the officer was shooting?

BRADY: Probably I was thinking four shots the first time --

CUOMO: There was more than one? More than two?

And then when he was like this, how many?

BRADY: I'm thinking four more.

CUOMO: And the only unknown is in that one moment of what you say four-five steps of yours between where Mike Brown was definitely like this and like this. What happened in that moment, you don't know but otherwise you're sure?

BRADY: Right.

CUOMO: So, what do you think of the officer saying he charged him? You think that's a convenient story? What chance do you think there is that it's true?

BRADY: No. It just can't be.

CUOMO: Why can't it be? We missed that moment from your own observation.

BRADY: Because of the distance from the officer and Mike Brown because you know the 25, 20, 30 feet.

CUOMO: So, your point is you didn't see it but in the time that you covered the distance, you don't think it was enough time for Mike Brown that distance from the officer to get that much smaller?

BRADY: I don't think so.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: All right. Now, remember, I'm testing this as an attorney for what you would see as this gets brought into trial. So, Kate, here's what we know. What does he not provide? He doesn't see how it starts, irrelevant. He sees what happens at the car, he sees if there's a hit in the face relevant, he sees the pursuit of Michael Brown and actually firing highly relevant and troubling.

The moment he misses, though, and it's so odd, he sees so much, but he doesn't see the one thing that may matter the most, in the time that it took him, Michael Brady, to travel from one room to the next, which is just moments, he doesn't see what made Michael Brown Jr. stop from this motion and come back to where he was facing the officer, and that's where you get into the charge versus turn to surrender, and that's going to be a very important moment of analysis, but other than that, he is a very powerful witness. He's been interviewed a lot by different agencies, and he's expected to be used even more.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Interviewed by a lot of agencies, and all of this comes in the context of this is all going to be going, is going to go before the grand jury, that's the first step, and then this all becomes as you're talking about relevant or not, if this goes to trial, all of this important to remember in the context you're offering, Chris.

We'll get back to Chris on the ground in Ferguson, doing great reporting, of course, for all of us.

Let's turn now to a disturbing warning from the Pentagon, though, about the terror group is. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel sounding the alarm days after American James Foley was beheaded by the militants. During a press briefing, Hagel stressed that the U.S. needs to take a cold, steely, hard look at ISIS, and also, he said, get ready.

And U.S. airstrikes on ISIS targets continue in Iraq, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey, warns defeating the terror group will not be possible unless its presence in Syria is addressed.

CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has much more for us live from the Pentagon.

Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate, alarming words from the Pentagon leadership. So, where are we on all of this?

Well, officials tell me all options remain on the table for how to deal with is, but it is not yet clear whether that would include U.S. air strikes inside Syria, as ISIS continues its murdering rampage, alarming words from the U.S. secretary of defense about the threat the group poses to Americans.

CHUCK HAGEL, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Oh, this is beyond anything that we've seen. So, we must prepare for everything, and the only way do you that is you take a cold, steely, hard look at it, and get ready.

STARR: But ready for what? U.S. officials insist there are no ISIS sleeper cells in the U.S. right now. But U.S. intelligence agencies are worried some Americans fighting with ISIS overseas could come back to this country and carry out attacks.

HAGEL: They're beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology, sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess. They are tremendously well-funded.

GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: This is an organization that has an apocalyptic end of days strategic vision, and which will eventually have to be defeated. Can they be defeated without addressing that part of their organization which resides in Syria? The answer is no. That will have to be addressed on both sides of what is essentially at this point a non-existent border.

STARR: For now, U.S. military strategy remains limited to airstrikes inside Iraq, not in Syria, is' home base. But there has been the first U.S. military mission into Syria with the acknowledgment of a failed July 4th raid to rescue James Foley and other American hostages.

The Pentagon insists it wasn't an intelligence failure.

HAGEL: In intelligence doesn't come wrapped in a package with a bow. It is a mosaic of many pictures, of many factors.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: So, again, where are we on all of this? Some officials are saying the next step could possibly be stepped up U.S. airstrikes in Iraq against ISIS positions. The intelligence they say is showing that the airstrikes that have been conducted are having some effect on ISIS positions and ISIS personnel inside Iraq, but still the major strongholds, the home base of ISIS across the border in Syria -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And, Barbara, the Pentagon spokesman saying earlier on the show that yes, all options they are looking at all options, though. He would not go into further detail what those options include at this moment.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- thanks so much, Barbara.

All right. Michaela, take a look at other headlines.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, there's a few others.

We've been watching the situation as I mentioned earlier, a Ukraine border with Russia breaking this morning. Ukraine security chief is calling this a direct invasion, what do I mean? Thirty-four Russian trucks carrying humanitarian aid have crossed the border into eastern Ukraine, 90 more are on the way.

However, Ukrainian officials say the convoy was not supposed to enter without the Red Cross. The Red Cross is no longer escorting the trucks as planned because of continued fighting in the area. The Ukraine says it will not use force against that convoy.

Also, breaking this morning, Hamas media reports the terror group executed 18 people suspected of being Israeli informants. This comes a day after an Israeli air strike killed three Hamas leaders. This after another night of deadly Israeli air strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza. Dozens of Palestinians were killed in the latest round of violence. We'll bring you a live report ahead.

The deal that freed Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five Taliban leaders back in may was a clear violation of the law. That's according to the government accountability office. Their investigation found the Pentagon failed to inform Congress 30 days before, as required by law, and the nearly $1 million used to make the transfer was not authorized. We are learning now that the day after actor and comedian Robin

Williams committed suicide he was cremated and his ashes were scattered in San Francisco Bay. The 63-year-old Williams was found dead in his California home earlier this month. He recently had been suffering from severe depression. His widow says the Oscar winner was in the early stages of Parkinson's disease. He was beloved in San Francisco, and he loved that town, and it seems only fitting that his ashes would be sprinkled in the bay.

BOLDUAN: Probably not a surprise, beloved in that town but beloved, I mean look at the outpouring coming in.

PEREIRA: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Since then.

Coming up next on NEW DAY: we're going to be talking about going back to Missouri, almost two weeks since the shooting death of Michael Brown, new questions are surfacing. One of them, how seriously was Officer Darren Wilson injured during the struggle with Michael Brown.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

A night of calm in Ferguson, Missouri, as important issues develop in the Michael Brown shooting investigation, including questions surrounding the credibility of the key witness, the key eyewitness, Brown's friend, Dorian Johnson, and whether officer Darren Wilson was injured. How seriously was he injured in his reported struggle with Michael Brown?

A source has told CNN that Wilson did not suffer a fractured eye socket, despite others, some reporting that.

Let's bring in Sunny Hostin, CNN analyst and former federal prosecutor, and Mark Geragos, CNN legal analyst and defense attorney, to discuss.

Let's start with the account, not the account of Dorian Johnson.

MARK GERAGOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The cop supposedly had a broken eye socket.

BOLDUAN: That's second. You leave this, when you sit in this chair, you start the segment. We can change seats.

(CROSSTALK)

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You want to do it?

GERAGOS: I just want to know one thing, how many times -- I love it when the cops always say I have an injury, I'm injured off duty, it's always that same B.S. that they've got. This is --

BOLDUAN: This isn't B.S. though. He had a swollen face. GERAGOS: In 90 percent of the cases.

HOSTIN: A reported swollen face. We don't know what -- first it was a socket injury, now we're hearing maybe just a swollen face, maybe he was treated the at the hospital, maybe not. So, I don't know that we can put too much stock in that.

But I think what is interesting -- GERAGOS: You can't, because that's usually, they concoct that, the

cops always concoct that and that's the reason they get a --

HOSTIN: I don't know they always concoct that.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: For this argument, for the matter of argument here, if he had, if it was, I don't know how you describe, definition of --

GERAGOS: Fracture or something.

BOLDUAN: Swollen or the definition of serious injury is but if he had a swollen face, is that important?

HOSTIN: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

HOSTIN: That's important because he has to show that his -- that he didn't use excessive force, that he was in fear for his life, imminent danger or great bodily injury or death, but I don't really think that that is what this issue turns on. I think the case really turns on whether or not the eyewitnesses' testimony will be found credible and what has been troubling to me, quite frankly, is the new narrative out there that you can't trust any of the eyewitness testimony.

I've heard at least five eyewitnesses to this shooting and they're not different. They're all saying the same thing that Dorian Johnson is saying. They're saying that there was some sort of struggle at the car.

GERAGOS: This is the argument that you're going to hear from the prosecutors.

HOSTIN: It's true.

GERAGOS: The defense is going to have a field day with the witnesses.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: You really think they're going to have a field day?

GERAGOS: The defense will have a field day with the witnesses.

The biggest problem for the defense in this case is not so much the witnesses. It's the number of shots. The number of shots is really troubling. I mean, if I'm defending this officer, I can do, I've got no problem

if there's only two shots. Six shots is a real problem in this case.

HOSTIN: It's a problem especially, though, Mark, when you have in conjunction with that five, at least five at this point, eyewitnesses whose stories in my view are basically identical.

GERAGOS: You know why the officer's lawyer is not going to worry about that? This is the prosecutor's worst nightmare you can tell me, you've got all of these guys being taped.

BOLDUAN: Doing interviews.

GERAGOS: Doing interviews and everything else, that's a prosecutor's worst nightmare.

HOSTIN: They're all saying the same thing.

GERAGOS: There are inconsistencies you can exploit.

BOLDUAN: If they could be exploited they would be.

GERAGOS: They absolutely will be exploited.

HOSTIN: There really aren't inconsistencies.

GERAGOS: What the prosecutor always says.

HOSTIN: The story with the witnesses is there was a struggle at the police car. Michael Brown starts running away with Dorian Johnson.

(CROSSTALK)

GERAGOS: How do you deal with Dorian Johnson?

HOSTIN: He gets his hands up and continues to be shot. That narrative is the same.

GERAGOS: How do you deal with Dorian Johnson?

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: The fact his past is coming up?

HOSTIN: It would be troubling if his story was markedly different from the four other witnesses who have no dog in the fight. They're all saying the same thing. It makes him more credible.

GERAGOS: I don't think that's true and I'll tell you why. And what's gong to happen is Dorian Johnson is an essential witness for the prosecution. No matter what everybody else says.

BOLDUAN: Because he was there.

GERAGOS: He was there, he knows what happened before, during and after and he's the only guy who does. The fact that he's got a history of giving false statements is going to play large, but ultimately what's going to happen is, if they file a case there will be so much squirmishing over had this.

BOLDUAN: His attorneys say his past has nothing to do with it.

HOSTIN: It doesn't have anything to do with it.

GERAGOS: You're going to keep it out?

HOSTIN: You may not be able to keep it up, but the bottom line is, he doesn't have this huge past of filing a false police report.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: So, it will be brought up if there's a trial.

GERAGOS: There's no way they'll be able to keep that out, no way.

HOSTIN: But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because all of the other eyewitness stories are completely consistent.

BOLDUAN: Mark, what are you talking about that you think if there's an indictment, if an indictment comes down, the officer will argue that the process has now been completely tainted because of the pressure to bring criminal charges. Really?

GERAGOS: Yes, that will be the first challenge legally is that if the grand jury indicts f the grand jury had too much pressure, when you have --

BOLDUAN: Even if that indictment doesn't come until mid-October, November?

GERAGOS: Absolutely, because they're going to say the process is tainted, the fact that you've got the attorney general there, the fact that they're going to argue every time somebody says we need justice, that means we need an indictment, we need criminal charges, that they're telegraphing that, the people think if I don't bring an indictment, there's going to be a riot.

BOLDUAN: How does the county prosecutor deal with that?

HOSTIN: I can perhaps agree with Mark on that because the bottom line is, look, it's a prosecutor that brings cases, and the prosecutor in this case didn't need to bring this in front of a grand jury, right? Bottom line is they could have just chose on it charge.

I think what is fascinating is that the prosecutor, quite frankly, even kept this case. This is a case that really screams for a special prosecutor. It really, I think, sort of watered down all the tensions in Sanford when you had Angela Corey come in and that's what should have happened here.

GERAGOS: What people don't remember is this same issue came up during O.J. They had started in front of the grand jury. The argument was at that time they went to the judge, who was supervising the grand jury and said, you can't do this in front of a grand jury. There's too much publicity and pressure. And they ended up doing Shapiro -- Bob ended up doing the preliminary hearing.

So, the same argument has been made before and I -- it would surprise me -- I think that the prosecutor has got a real problem here. I don't understand, it makes no sense to me and God forbid that I agree with sunny, but --

HOSTIN: I feel terrible that I am agreeing.

BOLDUAN: I'm cringing. We're both cringing.

GERAGOS: I do understand, it's a cop-out to go to the grand jury.

BOLDUAN: Sure.

GERAGOS: Because you can then say because the prosecutor can get a grand jury to do anything I want. If I wanted to indict your unborn baby I could do it, but in front of a grand jury. Admit it.

BOLDUAN: Sunny --

(CROSSTALK)

HOSTIN: True.

GERAGOS: The prosecutor can get the grand jury to indict, he can get them not to indict and if they don't indict, what is he going to say? I let the people decide.

BOLDUAN: What can they do now? The grand jury is --

(CROSSTALK)

GERAGOS: He should step aside.

HOSTIN: And have a special prosecutor assigned and have that special prosecutor go by way of just bringing charges.

BOLDUAN: We have no suggestion that will be the case and the governor said he is hands off.

GERAGOS: Can we also agree on one other thing?

HOSTIN: Yes.

GERAGOS: This governor is really, is really not ready for primetime.

BOLDUAN: What do you mean?

HOSTIN: I would agree with that.

BOLDUAN: Why?

HOSTIN: Because the governor is the one that makes the choice whether or not to assign a special prosecutor and relieve this prosecutor of his duties and he's not doing that.

GERAGOS: I think he's handled this just abysmally.

HOSTIN: Yes, improper.

GERAGOS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: All right.

HOSTIN: We agree!

GERAGOS: I know, twice --

BOLDUAN: We're just going to end it right there. Guys, it's great to see you. Welcome back from vacation even though you could barely take it because we had you on all the time.

Thanks. Great to see you, Mark.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, we're going to have much more coming out of Ferguson, you'll hear from Michael Brown's mother as she describes the moment that she learned to her son had been killed. Her tearful, very emotional but very important interview coming up.

Also this, Hamas reports it has executed several people suspected of being Israeli informants, they say. Is it retaliation for deadly air strikes?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)