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New Day

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Attacked With Knife; Interview with Senator Patrick Leahy; Hillary Clinton Responds to Email Controversy; DOJ Report Blasts Ferguson Police

Aired March 05, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

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AMB. MARK LIPPERT, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH KOREA: I'm bleeding here. I need an ambulance, fast.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. ambassador to South Korea slashed in a bloody knife attack.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The host country is responsible for the security of the ambassador.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a really bad move on her part.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She wants the public to see her e-mails.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think one tweet is going to solve this problem for her.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A monster storm is slamming much of the nation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The roads look pretty bad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm outraged; you're targeting people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ferguson police officers routinely violate the Fourth Amendment.

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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Periera.

CUOMO: Good morning, this is your NEW DAY. John Berman is joining us because Alisyn is on assignment.

And we do have a major headline. A bloody attack on the U.S. ambassador to South Korea hailed by North Korea as a, quote, "knife shower of justice." Ambassador Mark Lippert who is really exhibiting unusual poise after being slashed in the face and arm as he was about to deliver a speech in Seoul. The ambassador suffered a four-inch gash to his face, needed two-and-a-half hours of surgery, 80 stitches to close the wound.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Ambassador Lippert in fact sending out a tweet saying that he feels fine this morning and that he feels he should make a complete recovery. The president of South Korea calling this all an intolerable attack on the South Korea-U.S. alliance. CNN's Andrew Stevens is tracking all the developments live for us from Hong Kong. Andrew?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, doctors are saying that very, very nasty cut that required 80 stitches on his face, that is not going to have any long lasting damage but there could be some nerve damage associated with anther cut which is on his left forearm. So we're waiting to see what happens there. But Mark Lippert was due to talk about the prospects for peace in the Korean peninsula when he was attacked by a man, a man known to the police.

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STEVENS: A horrifying scene, blood dripping down the face of U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert, the diplomat undergoing nearly three hours of surgery overnight receiving more than 80 stitches on his face alone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pressure. I'm bleeding here. I'm bleeding here.

STEVENS: Lippert slashed by a 10 inch knife in the face and arms moments before delivering a speech in Seoul Wednesday. The weapon slicing open his left forearm damaging the nerve system to his fingers, the gash on his right cheek four inches long and an inch deep. South Korean surgeons say if the facial injury was any deeper it could have been life threatening.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's one of our top Asia policy experts in the U.S. government.

STEVENS: In this new surveillance video you can see the suspect, 55- year-old Kim Ki-kong leaving his home and arriving at the venue. According to witnesses, once inside Kim pushed the diplomat from behind on to a table before assaulting him. Bystanders tackling him to the ground as police rushed him out of the conference room. Witnesses say they heard Kim yelling anti-U.S. sentiments, shouting the South Korea-U.S. military drills must stop, a reference to the annual drills which North Korea sees as a provocation.

Authorities say the assailant has a history of similar attacks. In 2010 Kim received a suspended two-year prison sentence for throwing a piece of concrete at a Japanese ambassador to South Korea.

President Obama calling Ambassador Lippert, wishing him a speedy recovery, the two close since Obama started in the Senate in 2005. Lippert tweeting from the hospital, "Doing well and in great spirits. Will be back ASAP to advance U.S./South Korean alliance."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: And certainly this is going to raise, Chris, questions about the security that surrounds U.S. ambassadors, not just in South Korea but worldwide. The Seoul police saying today that the American embassy didn't request any additional security measures, any special security measures. But certainly that is going to be very, very closely looked at now.

CUOMO: All right, thank you for the reporting there, giving us the background.

Let's discuss those issues now with Ambassador Mark Lippert raised by this attack with Democratic Senator from Vermont Patrick Leahy by phone. Ambassador Lippert is a former staffer for Leahy, knows him well. He also understands the issues. He works on the appropriations committee for foreign service. Senator, thank you for joining us. We were all so impressed by how Mark Lippert handled this with such poise given the depth of the injury. Tell us about who he is as a man and how he and his family are handling this.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY, (D) VERMONT (via telephone): I think one has to know mark to realize he is an extraordinarily accomplished person. He is somebody who, whatever the issue is, knows it extremely well. I know how valuable he was when he was in my office.

But he's also somebody who's outgoing, friendly. He and Robin, his wife, who's wonderful, they both tried to do the same thing. They would try to get out with people, be with people, show the face of America. And with him it's a face that we want shown. That's what diplomats do, and he really worked very, very hard at it. I mean, this is a terrible thing. Both my wife and I were so shocked. We heard about it. I immediately contacted Robin and Mark to see how they were doing. But he was doing -- I guarantee you he'll be out with the people again.

CUOMO: He tweeted that.

LEAHY: That's the person he is.

CUOMO: He tweeted that right away while he was recovering. I mean, he handled it so well that you actually had to, as a broadcaster, kind of make people realize the urgency of the situation because he was so calm during -- which is obviously, as you say, a testament to his character.

Now, how about the issue that grows out of this about security? Yes, he was in a friendly area, but given the climate around the world right now, is it time that security for our diplomats isn't a maybe or circumstantial, it's a must?

LEAHY: Well, I think in most places there is security available, but I think that most of our ambassadors prefer not to have a lot of security around them because they don't want it to appear that they are isolating themselves from the people -- you know, from the country that they're in. They want to show the openness of America. They want to go toward them. And I -- CUOMO: But is that practical given the threat?

LEAHY: I think in this case it is probably not practical. I think that there will be more security around both the Lipperts in the future. But I -- knowing Mark, he is going to do everything possible to be still outgoing and where people can see him. He walks usually from his residence to the embassy. He doesn't go in a car or flotilla of cars. I think he tries to be as open as possible. Of course, the Koreans themselves want him to have more security.

But I think people have to realize every one of our ambassadors, they go to represent the United States, of course they face certain threats, but they do that because they're loyal Americans and they want America well-represented. Mark is probably the epitome of that. I testified at his confirmation hearing saying if we want to send the face of America, here's the man to do it with, and we have. And I understand the South Koreans are very upset by this. And I applaud their sentiment toward him. Right now we just want him to get better. And I -- there will be a balance on security. There has to be.

CUOMO: Right.

LEAHY: The most important thing is for American ambassadors to be able to be with the people of the country to show the face of America.

CUOMO: Sure. They have to do their job and do it safely. The irony is not lost that you're putting Ambassador Lippert out there as the face of America and obviously it was his face that was attacked. But also it was the grace that he showed in handling that attack that really just speaks to the strength of his character and his commitment and certainly just made him that much more of an impressive individual, at least to us back here covering it.

Final word, Senator, what do you respond to in terms of what North Korea put out here, the ugliness of how they said this was justified? Do you dignify the remark or do you just see it as an example of what's wrong with that place?

LEAHY: No, the stupidity and isolation that comes from that country doesn't deserve a response.

CUOMO: All right, Senator Leahy, I know he's not just a colleague, he's a friend, and please extend our best wishes to the family. We look forward to covering when he gets back to work.

LEAHY: Thank you very much. Take care.

CUOMO: All right, Senator, you, too. Michaela?.

PEREIRA: All right, something that's affecting a whole lot of Americans today, winter roaring into March like a lion, a storm slamming a third of our nation, Texas all the way to Massachusetts. Look at these pictures right here. Snow hitting Philadelphia. And 90 million people we're told are in the storm's path. Thousands of flights have been grounded and delayed, school districts forced to close. Chad Myers is the man responsible. I mean, he is the man who has the

information you need to know. Hey, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I have extra padded shoulders today. I'll tell you what, here's what has happened in a lot of cities already. It was raining yesterday, changed to sleet and then to snow. That transition is happening right now in New York City, happening in Philadelphia, eventually into Baltimore and D.C., changing over. But inches of snow, feet of snow in some sports from Kentucky all the way into Ohio.

The temperatures are falling. The cold front is pushing to the south, so rain in D.C. especially southward, but already snowing in Dulles, already snowing in New York City. In fact, I have a picture of New York City right here. We're seeing in Central Park the walkway is completely snow covered but the road still OK.

The problem is tonight, New York City, you get down to five. That's not going to be liquid anymore. Everything is going to be frozen. And it's not going to have a chance to evaporate because it's still snowing. Same story at Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C. Get home, stay home. Don't go out. Tonight's the night. The transfer to get home is going to be a real mess. It's a train kind of day, if you know what I mean, across parts of the northeast. Take the subway because driving through anywhere tonight is going to be a headache.

Flying today is also going to be a headache. Here's what the airports look like. Over 2,000 airport delays already. This is about 40 percent of all flights in and out of the northeast are gone, are off the board right now. Be lucky to get there later on tonight. You probably don't even want to try. John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chad Myers. Don't even try. Give up right now. Chad, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

This morning Hillary Clinton doing some damage control over the escalating controversy surrounding her use of a personal e-mail account while she was secretary of state. Mrs. Clinton herself is now speaking out, or I should say tweeting out. CNN's Brianna Keilar in our Washington bureau. Good morning, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. She is tweeting out. No doubt she's having some help with aides as she sent out this tweet last night. This came, John, just a little before midnight, and here's what it said. It said "I want the public to see my e-mail. I asked State to release them and they said they will review them for release as soon as possible." The State Department saying they are going to do that, but certainly this is a process that is going to take a lot of time because as we understand it, they will be released -- reviewed and then released from the 55,000 pages of e-mails that Hillary Clinton and her team already handed over to the State Department last year but that have not been made public at this point.

Of course, all of this is in response to calls for more transparency after it was revealed in the last couple days that Hillary Clinton while secretary of state was using solely a personal e-mail address to conduct government business. And then we learned yesterday that she actually owned the server that her e-mail was operating on. The question now, is this going to be enough for critics, and even many observers here, Chris, because, again, these are the e-mails she has already turned over to the State Department, meaning that she and her team have been that first line of discretion. They have been the arbiters of deciding what should be turned over to the State Department, not some independent entity making that decision.

CUOMO: And now you have this whole facet of they're calling on the State Department to release them. But why don't they just release them themselves if they're private e-mails and they have a server. It continues and we look to you for guidance on that. Brianna Keilar, thank you very much.

Also this morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's big speech to Congress barely moved the needle back home. He faces an election, remember, less than two weeks away. Look at the poll by Israel's Channel 2 News. And 44 percent of the Israeli people think the speech strengthened support for the prime minister, 43 percent, no difference, 12 percent weakened support for the prime minister.

BERMAN: A 17-year-old Virginia student accused of being a recruiter for ISIS. The unidentified teen was taken into custody last week. "The Washington Post" reports that investigators tracked him for more than a month before arresting him. Right now he is charged as a juvenile but prosecutors would like to try him as an adult. Federal investigators say he helped a man travel to Syria to join ISIS.

PEREIRA: Breaking news this morning and also a sign of the times perhaps. Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus just announced they will phase out elephant acts by 2018. The Associated Press is reporting this move is in response to growing public concern about how elephants are treated. Those elephants that are currently in the circus will go to the company's animal conservation sanctuary in Florida. Some of them are already there. There's 29 animals that already live there. And the rest will be phased out by 2018.

BERMAN: Think about that. Think about the history here. Over 100 years of elephants in circuses, and now the biggest circus going to stop it.

PEREIRA: Why do you think it takes until 2018?

CUOMO: I don't know. It has got to be mostly a business decision. They have to figure out what else to do. Since the '90s more than 30 elephants have died. I don't know how many from age, how many from something more pernicious than that. But they do cite that moms and calves are separated. They use training hooks. So the culture is certainly moving away from what we do with animals that we used to.

All right, so the Justice Department's damming report reveals rampant discrimination in the Ferguson, Missouri, police force. Whatever you can imagine, this was probably worse. We're going to tell you what the report said, and, more importantly, what will be done about it.

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CUOMO: The Justice Department releasing a scathing 102-page report detailing a pattern of racism and systematic discrimination against blacks in Ferguson, Missouri, by the police department, period.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has the latest.

Ed, the more you read, the worse it gets.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Chris, many of the anecdotal stories that are talked about in this length report issued by the Department of Justice many citizens say they relate to extremely well.

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LAVANDERA (voice-over): Months after racially charged protests in Ferguson, a new Justice Department report is exposing the ugly and pervasive culture of racism that ignited the unrest.

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Our view of the evidence found no, no alternative explanation for the disproportionate impact on African- American residents other than implicit and explicit racial bias.

LAVANDERA: The Justice Department's report reveals a pattern of practice of racial discrimination of African-Americans by Ferguson police and municipal court employees. It's filled with specific cases and shocking racially offensive e-mails targeting the president and first lady.

One e-mail depicts President Obama as a chimpanzee. Another includes a photo of a group of bare-chested women dancing in what appears to be Africa with a caption that reads "Michelle Obama's high school reunion."

Community leaders in Ferguson are outraged.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they will say that about the president of the United States, what do you think they will say about poor black men and poor black women living in a racialized area of this city?

LAVANDERA: The searing report showed that African-Americans made up 93 percent of arrests, 88 percent of cases where force was used by police, 90 percent of citations and 85 percent of traffic stops.

They faced that kind of discrimination at the hands of Ferguson police day in and day out for years. In one example an African-American man was pulled out of his apartment after an argument. When he told police, "You don't have a reason to lock me up," the officer responded using the N-word and said, "I can find something to lock you up on."

The report paints a scathing portrait of the department's policing efforts, with officers using minor traffic and other violations to raise money for the city.

JAMES KNOWLES, FERGUSON MAYOR: These actions taken by these individuals are in no way representative of the employees of the city of Ferguson. We must all work to address issues of racial disparity in all aspects of society.

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LAVANDERA: And many residents here in Ferguson say that what they have seen in this report and what they have experienced themselves is just outright harassment over the years, but despite the mayor speaking out briefly, John, it was the police chief who did not appear at that press conference and has not spoken out publicly since the report was issued -- John.

BERMAN: Ed Lavandera, thanks so much.

I want to talk a whole lot more about that. I want to bring in the managing editor of "The St. Louis American", Chris King, along with Reverend Starsky Wilson. He's co-chair of the Ferguson Commission, an independent group studying social and economic conditions in the St. Louis area.

Chris, let me start with you here. I mean, this report in some ways as the first day of the rest of the Ferguson police department's life and the police chief, Tom Jackson, not even there for the release, Chris.

What does that say for you?

CHRIS KING, MANAGING EDITOR, THE ST. LOUIS AMERICAN: It says that they're trying to make a deal to get him to go away is what it says to me. If I was the mayor of Ferguson, thank God I'm not, but I would have opened that press conference by saying I accepted the resignation of Chief Tom Jackson today. This report shows that we don't have a professional police department.

BERMAN: And, Reverend Wilson, I mean, is there any way given what's in that report, given what's in that report, given the contents of what that report says has been going on in Ferguson -- is there any way the chief should be allowed to keep his job?

REV. STARSKY WILSON, CEO OF THE DEACONNESS FOUNDATION: I think the chief has to be thoughtful about what's best for the community, what's best for the region. Quite frankly, this is something he could have considered a long time ago. He could have taken this action by now.

But it is also the case of the city council that the city manager, who really has chief administrative responsibility in the city of Ferguson should be thoughtful about how they can have an opportunity to move forward if this is, indeed, the first day of that police department's -- the rest of that police department's life, they have to be thoughtful about who they want to guide it, how they want it overseen.

And the report suggests they need to totally reorient the thinking and orientation of policing there. This requires culture change which requires leadership change.

BERMAN: To continue this metaphor, Chris, the first day of the rest of his life, should this police department even have a life anymore? One option would simply be to disband it, hand over jurisdiction or policing duties to St. Louis County or one of the areas around there.

Do you think it's capable, possible even to fix things?

KING: No. Darren Wilson came to Ferguson from the Jennings Police Department, another poorly run and racist police department. It was dissolved and they contracted for police services with St. Louis County, which has 850 cops. Ferguson has about 50.

So, look at the scale. The scale is reflected in the professionalism. St. Louis County Police Department is flawed and it's under a collaborative review with the cops division of the Department of Justice and we can improve that police department, but we shouldn't have a Ferguson Police Department.

BERMAN: Reverend Wilson, talk to me now about what you are going to do. How does this affect your job in the coming days and weeks as you talk to city leaders, the elected officials there, the appointed city managers?

WILSON: Well, first and foremost, this work that we're doing through the commission is regional work. And while we do have this particular input about one particular police department, we recognize that you could go a couple of miles in either direction and you're in another city where quite frankly you could have run this same study and you could have these same kinds of results. Bellefontaine Neighbors, which is nearby, has some similar kind of things that we find in this report coming out now about them.

So what this does is this gives us an opportunity and an assessment tool from a third party external to the region to be thoughtful about all of our policing. So, to be thoughtful about what true community policing actually is, what it means to have the community engaged, to have police to be accountable to them.

So, this becomes a tool in our work. We've seen more than 22 reports posted through the commission so far. This needs to be an input for our citizen law enforcement relations group and, quite frankly, it becomes validation not just for the truth of the testimony we've heard from citizens but also from some of the early priorities coming out of our working group for citizen law enforcement relations and municipal courts and governance.

So, the question is, how many folks are going to step up, receive this report and honor that it's not just about one municipality, it's rather about a regional approach to policing that needs to be reoriented.

BERMAN: Chris, you keep nodding your head agreeing with Reverend Wilson here.

Is that because you simply are not surprised at all by the findings of this report, that you agree with the suggestions inside of it and you think the way forward is obvious now? KING: Well, I'm agreeing with Starsky because he's right, what he's

saying is correct about our regional fragmentation. Ferguson is very typical of north county municipalities. The Department of Justice has a mandate and Congressman Clay has urged them to take this mandate to extend the review.

And if you listen closely to the attorney general, he said other municipalities and then he repeated that from his prepared remarks. So, I don't think they're not done looking. If they're not done looking, I'm here to tell you they're not done finding other police departments that don't deserve to be police departments.

BERMAN: Talk to me a little bit about the process yesterday.

Look, since August things in and around Ferguson have been complicated, that's being euphemistic. They've been messed up largely in the way a lot of this has been handled from the beginning.

Chris, what did you think about the way this information was released yesterday after being leaked in the days before?

KING: Very, very, very bad decision by the Department of Justice and did I let my feelings being known to our direct contact there. There's not reason to manipulate the public. I felt manipulated as a journalist myself. I had to read about this in the national press.

We're the African -- "St. Louis America" is the African-American newspaper for the state of Missouri and certainly the eastern half of the state and for St. Louis, and we have a national voice to the black public and for us to have to read a leaked report, I had to get it from a reporter I know in Washington, D.C. I was very personally insulted on behalf of our readers that we had to be manipulated.

Just give us the complete report. Trust us -- let us at the grownup table, just let us read the report, don't manipulate what we think about the report. Let us read the entire report and we should be talking about it after we've read it.

BERMAN: Chris King and Starsky Wilson, thanks so much for being with us. Good luck going ahead because the work is just beginning there.

Let us know what you think about this. You can tweet us @new day or go to Facebook.com/newday. Leave us your thoughts.

Michaela?

PEREIRA: All right. John, some of you may be at risk of losing your health insurance. The Supreme Court taking on a make-or-break Obamacare case this week. Why your coverage could be compromised, ahead.

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