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New Day
2013 CNN Hero of the Year; Next Legal Steps in Michael Brown Case; Obama to Find Replacements for Key Positions
Aired November 28, 2014 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And it's going to start looking a lot like Christmas at the White House. The first lady will be on hand for a welcome ceremony as the White House Christmas tree arrives later this morning. A lot of anticipation for that.
And, of course, we are always updating the five things to know, so go to newdaycnn.com for the very latest.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And this programming note, when that tree arrives, we will cover it live right here on CNN. It's going to happen at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: We have to. It's genius.
BERMAN: It's a wonderful thing. It will happen during "At This Hour," which is the show where you can see us again.
PEREIRA: All right, we're counting down the days until our annual broadcast, one of our favorite events here at CNN, "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute." It's our annual holiday tradition honoring the year's top 10 heroes and we name the hero of the year. Right now, though, Anderson Cooper checks in on last year's top honoree who remains dedicated to cleaning America's rivers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, ANCHOR, CNN'S "AC 360": In 17 years, Chad Pregracke and his team picked up 8 million pounds of trash from America's rivers.
CROWD: Yeah!
COOPER: Last November, for his inspiring work, Chad picked up a big honor.
COOPER (on camera): The 2013 CNN Hero of the Year is Chad Pregracke.
COOPER (voice-over): One year later, we caught up with him to get an inside look at what he does and how he does it. At the heart of his work is a massive 800-ton barge that stores the huge piles of trash Chad's team collects. It looks like a floating junkyard, but --
CHAD PREGRACKE, CNN HERO: Welcome to CNN Cribs (ph).
COOPER: It's also Chad's part-time home. PREGRACKE: So pretty much everything is reclaimed or recycled out of
either old buildings, old barns.
COOPER: The goal is serious, but there is definitely quirk in this work.
PREGRACKE: So this would be a creepy doll collection. Why do we have it? I really don't have any idea other than we find a lot of creepy dolls.
COOPER: And trash isn't all he needs to look out for on the river.
PREGRACKE: One of the safety concerns is actually the flying carp. They really do fly out of the water at high speeds and they get rather big.
COOPER: It's all part of Chad's work. Work that also includes growing trees. Chad started this environmental effort in 2007, but he was able to expand it after being named CNN Hero of the Year. In the end, Chad's crusade is about much more than cleaning rivers.
PREGRACKE: It's about people taking action in their own communities. And that's really what it's all about. That's how you change the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PEREIRA: You can see more of Chad in "Rescuing the River," a CNN Heroes special. That will air Friday night. And then, of course, I know, John, you'll be tuning in Sunday, December 7th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. You can watch "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" to see us name the 2014 CNN Hero of the Year. This is a star-studded event. There's music. You will have tears in your eyes. You and your family will not want to miss this inspiring evening.
All right, ahead here, Officer Darren Wilson not out of the legal woods quite yet. Could a wrongful death suit be on the horizon?
BERMAN: And the challenges for President Obama, they continue to mount. Who will he tap to be his next defense secretary and will Republicans even approve the nominee? We'll discuss, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEREIRA: Days of violent protesting and demonstrations in Ferguson have subsided mostly for now as that community tries to move forward. Plans are circulating on social media for more protests. What impact could they have on black Friday? Joey Jackson here. He's HLN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney. He's with me once again this morning.
We'll talk about Black Friday. There are a lot of things to get to. But I actually kind of want to begin with some of the revelations that are coming out, now that we've seen these 70 hours of testimony that the grand jury was presented with. We all are getting a chance to wade through some of that. JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Sure.
PEREIRA: And really interesting revelations coming to light about inconsistencies, the way people were interviewed and questioned, revelations about the investigation. You have some concerns.
JACKSON: Sure.
PEREIRA: Where does it go? If there are these issues with how the investigation was done, is there any recourse?
JACKSON: You know, it could be problematic, Michaela, and here's why I say that. Listen, a grand jury is a body and they're empaneled and they're given the evidence, but they're given the evidence by the prosecutor, and generally the prosecutor presents it in a manner that they believe to be appropriate. But remember, while they gather the information and give it to the grand jurors, it's not challenged, it's not questioned, it's -
PEREIRA: By somebody like you, a defense attorney, right.
JACKSON: Exactly. And you want to subject it to scrutiny.
PEREIRA: Yes.
JACKSON: And, you know -
PEREIRA: Put it under the microscope.
JACKSON: One hundred percent. And you do that in an effort to give a fair hearing of the issues. If I had a conversation with you and I just continued to tell you all the wonderful cases I had and all the wonderful things I did.
PEREIRA: You're essentially leading the testimony in a direction you want it to go.
JACKSON: Right. Then you have somebody else, tell Michaela about the cases you've lost. Tell about the homework you didn't do. And, you know, that gives a brighter sense of what occurs. And so I don't think the ball game is other. Now there are --
PEREIRA: You think that we're going to see more legal action specifically?
JACKSON: Well, I do, because, listen, Michaela, when you have, as critical in the investigation, the officer says he touched my gun, now, there's no indication of prints on the gun. Why? Because there was no looking for prints. That's a problem. What about DNA, though, because sometimes you can touch a gun and not leave prints. Was there DNA done on that gun? When you have an officer involved in the shooting who's allowed to voucher that weapon himself, meaning to turn the weapon in, put it in with the police department, that's a problem. Who's allowed to wash his hands, that's a problem. When you have a medical investigator at the scene who says, you know what, my battery ran out - PEREIRA: So I didn't take pictures, right.
JACKSON: So the camera died, the batteries died, I didn't take any pictures and measurements. That - I didn't need to do that. That's something that really needs to be looked at.
PEREIRA: So here's a question. We know these two federal investigations are underway.
JACKSON: Right.
PEREIRA: There's a chance that the family will pursue some sort of civil case. Are you talking beyond that, that there could be litigation or legal recourse?
JACKSON: I'm talking even from step one. I'm speaking about, there could potentially even be a representation to a separate grand jury. If we continue to see, Michaela, these types of issues that occurred in the grand jury, there could be calls to present it to another grand jury who could evaluate it anew.
PEREIRA: Who makes that call finally? Who's the person that will make that happen if it were to?
JACKSON: You know, what I think will happen is, the federal government weighs in. Now states are autonomous, but I think with -- through pressure of the governor in appointing potentially a special prosecutor at this late point, and in prevailing upon the local prosecutor, who shouldn't have been involved in the first instance -- and the reason I say that, Michaela, police are not equipped to investigate police. Prosecutors are not equipped to prosecute police.
PEREIRA: Right.
JACKSON: Only because that -- there's that close relationship. If I admire you, if I trust you, if I work with you, if I rely upon you -
PEREIRA: How am I going to now investigate you?
JACKSON: How do I investigate you? And particularly for the future. So not only could we see a representation of that, we know we'll see a wrongful death action by the family for the death of Michael Brown.
PEREIRA: You bring up the prosecution and I want to talk about the prosecutor. There have been reports that the prosecutor and the police chief were targeted in some sort of threat. We understand two men have been arrested.
JACKSON: Yes.
PEREIRA: What do you make of that? Is that par for the course? We know that prosecutors and police chiefs receive their share of threats.
JACKSON: Right.
PEREIRA: Does this concern you? Does it say something else to you? What do you make of it?
JACKSON: Well, it concerns me in that, in the event that their lives were threatened, that should never happen.
PEREIRA: Of course.
JACKSON: Violence is not the answer and if people were attempting to kill the sergeant, to kill the chief, to kill the prosecutor, you know what, they should be punished to the full extent of the law. Now there's indications, of course, that two people were indicted. They've been indicted, you know, federally for various crimes, including getting a gun and, you know, what they may have done or may not have done, we don't yet know, because evidence is still coming out. And, you know, we'll see where that leads. But, you know, you know that tensions are always flying high. You know that this case in particular, Michaela, has really struck a chord, not only in Ferguson, but throughout the country.
PEREIRA: It ignited a lot too.
JACKSON: But we also know that no one should be plotting, planning to kill anybody. This should stay in the legal system.
PEREIRA: Another aspect there in Ferguson that we've seen in not just Ferguson, nearby Dellwood as well, a lot of property damage. We've seen fires. We've seen looting. We've seen a lot of destruction on the ground there. And one thing that was of actual concern, because of the specificity of the target, was the church that the Brown family worshipped in, firebombed.
JACKSON: Right. Right.
PEREIRA: Is that -- do you think we'll see any criminal charges there?
JACKSON: I -
PEREIRA: Do you think we'll see arrests? We'll see an investigation?
JACKSON: I hope so, Michaela. There needs to be an investigation and there needs to be arrests. Look, violence is not the answer to these particular issues. What is the answer is a community coming together, looking to see what can constructively be done in the future. There have been indications that police should wear the Michael Brown Law they've refer to - you know - to it as, a body cam so that everything could be recorded. I think there should be calls for a reexamination of the entire process. When an officer is involved --
PEREIRA: That's what the calls and protests are calling for.
JACKSON: Absolutely. Should we change the mechanism where the local prosecutor gets to investigate you?
PEREIRA: Yes.
JACKSON: Absolutely we should. And so if you want to talk about constructive things moving forward so that we can get to the nitty gritty of what occurred and engender trust in the community -
PEREIRA: Yes.
JACKSON: So that they can rely upon it, let focus on that. But any crime, any burnt down buildings, it needs to be investigated. And those who have done that should be held accountable. No place for that at all.
PEREIRA: Joey Jackson, we appreciate your voice. We appreciate you being here. Thanks so much for that.
JACKSON: My pleasure, Michaela. My pleasure.
PEREIRA: A great conversation with you.
So, here's a question, who is going to replace Chuck Hagel as defense secretary? This is a big decision the president has to make soon. We know a confirmation could be even tougher thanks to that shift of power in Washington. We'll discuss that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: All right, welcome back to NEW DAY. New, big challenges for President Obama as he has new big, key vacancies to fill, including defense secretary and attorney general. Already Republicans are threatening to block nominees because of the president's executive action on immigration. I want to talk more about this now with Marc Lamont Hill, a CNN political commentator and professor at Morehouse College, and Ben Ferguson, a CNN political commentator and host of the "Ben Ferguson Radio Show."
Gentlemen, thanks so much for being with us. Happy thanksgiving to both of you. Marc, let me ask you about the defense secretary gig, because no sooner did the White House announce that Secretary Hagel was on his way out that we heard there were three leading candidates to become the next secretary of defense. That was a week ago, and already two of those three leading candidates that we were sort of wink, wink, nudge, nudged by by the White House have withdrawn their names from consideration. Seems to be a job people would want, so why are people running for the hills here?
MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, six years ago this job many people wanted, particularly since President Obama was committed to putting together a team of rivals, having - - Even Chuck Hagel himself is sort of evidence of that. But over the last six years, we've seen the Obama administration, and the Defense Department in particular, develop a particular plan of action which some disagree with. Many people in the foreign policy realm disagree with, and as a result, many people who are being recruited for the position simply don't agree with the Obama administration's direction.
And when you combine a different ideological direction with a very deeply entrenched mess in various places, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, et cetera, it creates problems. And then, of course, the third piece of this is the fact that the Obama administration has been said to interfere and undermine the abilities and the functioning of the defense secretary position, and nobody wants to inherit a messy job where you don't have the full support of your boss. I'm not saying that's exactly fair or true, but that is the wrap, that's Chuck Hagel's story, that's many people's story.
BERMAN: Right.
HILL: As a result, people don't want the job.
BERMAN: Whether or not it is true, there is certainly that shadow there. Ben, go ahead.
BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think you're seeing now the innerworkings of this White House, and there has not been a good relationship between those in the military and the defense secretary and the president actually taking their advice. In fact, maybe the only circumstance we have is when Osama bin Laden was, you know, the target. But since then, this has been a very ice cold relationship, and so if you are thinking about doing a job for two years, do you want to have a job where the president of the United States of America probably will not listen to your recommendations, will not listen to your advice, and will not move on a path that you tell them is the best one for the military?
That doesn't sound like a job I would want, and it looks like most people, they don't want that job either. So, now you have this bigger issue and that's this. You're going to get somebody that quite possibly could be on the b team or a minor league player all of a sudden becoming the secretary of defense to actually find someone to take this opportunity, maybe for resume, and that doesn't help us when it comes to national security or defense at all.
HILL: I don't think that's the case.
BERMAN: Let's wait and see who gets nominated before we relegate them to the b team.
FERGUSON: Well, it's certainly a chance.
BERMAN: There's a lot of people out there.
FERGUSON: When you have your top three people the White House puts their name out there, and all of a sudden you're in the media and you run away from it, you're telling me the next three are going to be just as good? I highly doubt it.
BERMAN: Let's talk about a nominee who --
HILL: Just to be fair -- -
BERMAN: Go ahead, Marc.
HILL: Bob Work, Ash Carter, current and former secretaries of defense, they're still on the list. Adam Smith, who was the highest ranking Democrat of the House Armed Service Committee is on the list. These are not b teamers, these are significant players and people who very well could do the job with honor and integrity. BERMAN: I do want to talk about a nominee to be part of President
Obama's cabinet who may actually have a hard time getting to the job, getting confirmed, and that' s Another member who may have a hard time getting confirmed, Loretta Lynch, who's been picked to be the next attorney general. Senate, the Republicans in the Senate, are saying hey, you know what? We may hold up this confirmation because we don't like the president's executive actions on immigration. Ben, do you think that's a smart move?
FERGUSON: Yes, you have to fight fire with fire with the president of the United States of America pretty much says I don't care about Congress. I'll go around you at any opportunity and any chance I get. I don't need you. Well, now all of a sudden the president of the United States of America needs them to get this nominee that he wants that he chose. And so, when you go around Congress and you make law on immigration reform and amnesty for 5 million people, and you say I can't wait on you and brand new members of Congress are coming in, this is the problem the president has when it comes to relationships on Capitol Hill. And he doesn't seem to care about them until he needs them and now he needs them and guess what? They're not taking phone calls.
BERMAN: Ben, you say the president needs an attorney general. Don't we as Americans, Marc Lamont Hill, need an attorney general?
HILL: Exactly.
BERMAN: Particularly now, given what's on? Go ahead, Marc.
HILL: Well, that's exactly the problem. First of all, the logic that you fight fire with fire to me is somewhat immature. If you disagree with the president's executive action --
FERGUSON: But, I would say tell the president of the United States of America that, Marc.
HILL: Please, let me finish the thought, Ben. If you disagree with the president's executive action, which so far has not been proven to be unconstitutional and it is within the realm of his power, if you disagree with that contest that on constitutional grounds. You don't stop the United States from having an attorney general and other major cabinet positions. You're not punishing the president. You're punishing America at a moment when we need a justice department to be active and functional. You don't stop doing your job because the president didn't his.
BERMAN: Gentlemen, I want to say thank you and happy Thanksgiving to you both, and before we say too much more, I want you to get a chance to digest your food from yesterday and face the day with a smile on your face. So, Ben Ferguson, Marc Lamont Hill, thanks so much for being here, appreciate it.
HILL: Thanks for having us.
BERMAN: All right, here's an everyday question for you. I know you think about this all the time. How do you get two hamsters, a rat and a rabbit to sit down and eat their Thanksgiving dinner? Well, you know what? It is harder than it looks. You know why? Because portion control is a real, real challenge here. We're going to have the story behind this ridiculous tease next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEREIRA: Well, we certainly hope all of you enjoyed your Thanksgiving, the family time, the football, all of that food. Before we go today on this Friday, our Jeanne Moos has a look at a few furry friends who apparently enjoyed their own little feast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Baste the turkey, prepare the pie. When you sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, give thanks your portions aren't hamster sized. Tiny hamsters, tiny Thanksgiving is actually dinner for four, two hamsters, a rat and a rabbit which made it --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Extremely chaotic.
MOOS: And long, this not quite two minute video took 12 hours to shoot. The Pilgrim hats are taped on and the human Pilgrim serving the feast is actually an L.A. food critic. Hamster Thanksgiving was brought to you by the same folks who created tiny hamster eating tiny burritos. And tiny birthday cake. Then tiny hamster versus Kobayashi, the former Nathan's Hotdog eating champ. The hamster won. A viral ad agency called Denizen dreamed up tiny hamsters eating tiny food to show off their creative chops.
MOOS (on camera): Are those actually dental instruments you're using?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MOOS (voice-over): That's a dental mirror inspecting a burrito and that's a scalpel carving the turkey.
MOOS (on camera): We are assured no hamsters suffered indigestion in the making of these videos.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With every shoot we hire a food stylist to kind of design and work with the animal trainers to find out what each animal's diet is.
MOOS (voice-over): Then they turn hamster friendly ingredients into human looking food. The videos were so popular they inspired imitators who paid homage by using pet hamsters to suck up spaghetti. And nibble pizza.
MOOS (on camera): As is often the case with Thanksgiving dinners, there was friction between the tiny diners.
MOOS (voice-over): One hamster was caught in the act of stealing a drumstick from the other hamster's plate, but at least there were no pies in the face. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: You think that society or civilization might be in decline?
PEREIRA: No.
BERMAN: I want you to put on this video.
PEREIRA: No.
BERMAN: And you will feel better about everything.
PEREIRA: No hamsters at your Thanksgiving dinners? How was yours, Pam?
BROWN: No, I'm thinking maybe for next year, you know?
PEREIRA: Yes? How was your Thanksgiving, by the way/
BROWN: I never even thought about that. It was nice I was here for most of it, but then met up with some friends. It was lovely.
PEREIRA: And you had the Berman family?
BERMAN: We did, we had 16 people at the house. We deep fried a turkey in the driveway using a ladder, a pulley system, a tent. It was extraordinary.
PEREIRA: Apparently a turkey got away.
BERMAN: Yes, well, ours did not end up looking like that by the end. Sorry, I have to admit.
PEREIRA: I continued my four-decade-long aversion to brussel sprouts, and feel proud that I've been able to keep them at bay.
BROWN: That's quite an accomplishment.
PEREIRA: I know, because they were there.
BROWN: That really is, that really is.
BERMAN: You know who had a great Thanksgiving? A certain Miss Carol Costello.
PEREIRA: Yes.
BERMAN: Who is the anchor of the "NEWSROOM" who is a huge Detroit Lions fan, and for I think the first time in a dozen years, the Lions, they won a football game, which didn't happen last week against the Patriots.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, hey.
BERMAN: But they won yesterday, so --
COSTELLO: Hey, Mr. Patriot. BERMAN: We know you're happy.
COSTELLO: John Berman taunted me last weekend when the Lions lost to the New England -
PEREIRA: That doesn't seem like him.
BERMAN: Happy Thanksgiving, Carol.
COSTELLO: Happy Thanksgiving.
