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Police Shooting Video Sparks Unrest in Chicago; CNN Money Now; Women Detail Life Under ISIS Rule in Raqqa. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired November 25, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:33:45] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight, protesters marched across Chicago after police released dash cam footage showing an officer shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald to death. This was back in 2014, but the video was just released. That officer is now behind bars, charged with first-degree murder.

Jedidiah Brown joins us from Chicago. He's the founder and chairman of the Young Leaders Alliance in Chicago, as well as a pastor.

Jedidiah, thank you so much for being with us.

JEDIDIAH BROWN, FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN, YOUNG LEADERS ALLIANCE OF CHICAGO: Glad to be here.

CAMEROTA: So you are a strong voice in the community. Tell us what you were telling the protesters last night.

BROWN: What I was telling the protesters was to be effective - or be angry, be articulate and effective, not destructive. And the individuals who are not residents of the city to come and be the wind in our back, but don't redirect the message of our pain.

CAMEROTA: The police - well, I should say, the prosecutor's office arrested this officer and charged him with murder. I mean we haven't - that's something different than what we've seen in some of these other incidents. So what are you calling for?

BROWN: I'm calling for - I mean it's a step in the right direction but there's so much more needed. This is not a situation or an incident. This is the reality. Even with another video in processing of Ronald Johnson's shooting, there needs to be major reform and transformation in the culture of policing Chicago, especially when it relates to the police and the African American community. There's been failed and in effective leadership across the board and we want to see - we want to see our superintendent step down and we definitely want answers from Anita Alvarez and ultimately her resignation because there is no reason why - this video clearly shows that this kid who already had a hard life, he got 16 bullets. And I would say that's one bullet for one completed year of - of hard living already. Why it took her so long to get us to where we are today.

[08:35:50] CAMEROTA: So beyond those two resignations, I mean how do you suggest the culture change? BROWN: Culture change? There needs to be more. We need officer friendlies back. We need the police officers to go back in the neighborhoods like they used to know, knowing the business owners, knowing the residents. Policing in America has to change actually where, you know, the police claim to have the intelligence of knowing who the troublemakers are. Well, then we need to be trying to put preventative measures in place where they're given opportunities to not commit crimes. And I think that our police department could be more empowering instead of disarming and oppressive. And I think it should also foster some level of comfortability for all of us to express their experiences on the job. There's opportunity a no snitch rule on both sides of the table and we've got to get our communication aligned. Rules without relationship breeds rebellion. And the citizens are rebelling because they feel the rules, no relationship.

CAMEROTA: I want to show you some interesting numbers because "The Washington Post" analyzed who is being shot by police. They looked at 2015 and the numbers might surprise you. Here's what they found. There were 418 white people shot by police this past year, 224 blacks, 143 Hispanics. Now, what's interesting is, of course, it's almost double - the amount of whites shot is almost double that of blacks. Now, of course, proportionately, to the population, there are still many more blacks shot than whites. But, still, the point is, is that it feels as though this is ubiquitous and happening everywhere, but maybe the - it's just increased awareness. Maybe there's just more media coverage over it and at the end of the day the numbers don't reflect that this is as big of a problem as we all think it is?

BROWN: The facts may say one thing, but the truth in how things feel may look completely different. I don't necessarily isolate this to a race issue. Again, I think that police and community relations need transformation and reformation across the board.

CAMEROTA: You met twice with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel. What did he tell you?

BROWN: Well, we - well, in the first meeting, we told the mayor - we told him our displeasure, we told him what we know. We asked him to commit to ongoing conversations and looks like he may possibly consider a task force to address the police culture in Chicago. And in the second meeting which was a - clergy - the first meeting was with young activists, the second meeting was with clergy and it was more of an informational session where he was giving them understanding of what was taking place and asking them to be agents of peace. But it was - that was a very tense meeting because the pastors felt that they were not equipped in enough time and they wanted to make it clear that they were not responsible if something happened other than peace.

So the mayor, he definitely knows that, again, I - I believe he definitely knows, OK, again, you waited too long. Good - good move. Wrong timing. I'm just hoping that they have a change in how they handle things in hour city. No, no, no, no, no, we're not going back to business as usual. There will be a change in how they handle things.

CAMEROTA: Yes. And certainly this could act as a catalyst for all of that.

Jedidiah Brown, thanks so much for your perspective on this.

We want to get your take on this. Please tweet us using #newdaycnn. Post your comments on facebook.com/newday.

Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Here's a provocative question, what is life like after ISIS? Three women brave enough to escape the terrorist regime are speaking out. You'll hear their compelling story ahead.

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[08:43:46] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for "CNN Money Now." Business correspondent Alison Kosik in the Money Center.

Happy Thanksgiving early.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And early happy Thanksgiving to you, Chris.

Are you traveling for Thanksgiving? Well, here's something to be thankful for. Gas pricing will be their cheapest in seven years. The national average for a gallon of regular sitting at $2.06. Prices peaked in 2012 when drivers paid an average of $3.50 to get to their Thanksgiving dinners.

Tech giant Amazon is giving it to critics and pulling ads for its new streaming series. The ads feature symbols like the Nazi eagle and iron cross for its series "The Man in the High Castle." Some people here in New York complained the ads, which are plastered in subways, they kind of wrap the subway cars, they say they were offensive. The show imagines what the world would be like of the axis of powers won World War II. I want to see the series. I don't necessarily want to see Nazi insignia on my commute.

CAMEROTA: There you go. I'd say that makes perfect sense.

KOSIK: Yes.

CAMEROTA: All right, Alisyn, have a great holiday.

Well, the Ironman is, of course, the ultimate of all triathlon races. But for Hector Picard, who you're about to meet, he became the first double arm amputee to finish an Ironman. It is just one of the ways, though, that he enjoys life. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has his story in this week's "Turning Point."

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[08:45:00] DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): As a young electrician back in 1992, the prime of Hector Picard's life was in front of him. But as he was climbing a transformer to dismantle it, tragedy struck. HECTOR PICARD, ADAPTIVE ATHLETE: It made contact with my right arm and

13,000 volts of electricity went through my right arm, down my side, blew out the top of my foot. 30 days later I wake up from a coma. My entire right arm is gone, half my left, and second and third degree burns over 40 percent of my body.

GUPTA: But he says he never let the "why me" attitude take hold.

PICARD: And then I started thinking, okay, I got to get my life back but I've got to learn how to do all these things for myself.

GUPTA: He accepted that challenge and learned a whole new set of skills to achieve it. And then he discovered triathlon.

PICARD: It's a great way to go out there and challenge myself. Be competitive.

GUPTA: He swims on his back. Bikes using his knees to brake and steer. You may recognize him from this popular YouTube video, changing a bike tire with his teeth and feet. 119 races later, Hector says he's never felt better.

PICARD: I'm happy to be alive. I got a second chance at life and I want to live it to the fullest.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: What an incredible man. Incredible.

CAMEROTA: Wow.

PEREIRA: Ahead, three women brave enough to escape from ISIS. What was their time like? How did they get out? We're going to speak to a journalist who spoke to them.

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[08:50:06] PEREIRA: Not much is known about what life is like for the Syrian women who are forced to join ISIS. Our next guest got extraordinary access to three young women who were able to escape the terror group, making their way from the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa to Turkey, taking great risks to do so.

"New York Times" contributor and author of "Lipstick Jihadi," Azadeh Moaveni joins us now from London. Really a pleasure. Incredible storytelling. You can find it in "The New York Times."

First of all, how did you get access to these young women?

AZADEH MOAVENI, CONTRIBUTOR, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": I was originally looking for women from the West - I was looking for British women. So I reached out to contacts in southern Turkey and even in other parts of the region looking for any women who had been inside ISIS who could tell me about, you know, the women who come from the West that go in inside. That is how I came across these women and then discovered in the course of talking to them how extraordinary their own experiences were and the story we don't hear about much at all.

PEREIRA: We don't at all. And what's interesting is that there was choice. Not choice in traditional matter. A terrible choice. They chose - or joining what they call the organization as ISIS is known in Raqqa, they chose the organization as a means for survival for themselves and for their families.

MOAVENI: That's exactly right. I mean I think in talking to them I came to understand how people of that city, people of Raqqa, unless they fled, it was very, very difficult to get by even, you know, without in some way collaborating or coming to some kind of accommodation with the organization with ISIS. You know, money was scarce. Even basic services. Taxes. If you could imagine what it is like if a Mafia has a complete stranglehold over a town. That is what life in Raqqa had become for them.

PEREIRA: And it's such a contrast. I think what hit me the most, Azadeh, was the fact that their lives changed so dramatically, drastically, as though this dark oppressive cloud moved in, in a city that they loved of Raqqa. These were worldly. These were universally educated, independent women.

MOAVENI: Absolutely. And I think that is the really chilling kind of backdrop to this story is exactly -- They were progressive. Two of them didn't even cover their hair before ISIS. They read the novels of Dan Brown. They listened to music. They were on Facebook. They would go sit in parks and coffee shops with their friends in the evening, mixed groups, men and women together. So they were just completely moderate and contemporary young women in many ways. And everything in their lives changed. Not only with their conflict deprivation and oppression, but their basic identity, who they were in the world was reshaped.

PEREIRA: What was reshaped partly because they were married off to ISIS fighters. Two of those men ended up dying as suicide bombers. But what is very interesting is in your conversation with them, these women had affection, even though they did not align with ISIS ideology. You talk about the fact -- And they speak quite freely about the fact that they felt affection, almost even love, for their husbands that they were married off to. What a juxtaposition.

MOAVENI: It was. It was really startling to hear that for me because, you know, our imagination, the way we conceive ISIS is just monstrous and what they do is monstrous. But I think their experiences help us see that this organization is filled with people who do not subscribe to all aspects of its ideology. Who are human beings in the end. And in the case of these women, you know, ended up having to make compromises and choices in order to survive. But, you know, within that they still wanted to have love and a semblance of a marriage. Although in the end they saw how empty that was because they were betrayed. Their husbands left them for death essentially.

PEREIRA: Right. And then they were asked to marry off another ISIS fighter and that is when some of them made the choice to leave and they fled and were able to leave that terrorize. So now what are their hopes? They are safe, I understand. Do they have hope? Do they ever want to return to Raqqa if freedom is found for it?

MOAVENI: They didn't seem to want to go back. They felt as if Syria had just become -- you know, the Syria they knew, the Raqqa they knew had ceased to exist. The place of their memories, their childhood, their university years. So they see it as a place that's just descended into so much violence in which everyone is really complicit in one way or another. A neighbor, whether they aligned with Assad with Nusra or with ISIS, they see it as a place that's almost without a future anymore. I think they are looking - You know, they feel tainted by what they have done but they want to go somehow into the world.

PEREIRA: Azadeh, this is a really extraordinary piece of journalism. I encourage people to check it out in "The New York Times." A compelling and thought-provoking read. Thank you for joining us to talk more about it today.

[08:55:01] MOAVENI: Thanks so much for having me.

PEREIRA: And wish you a happy Thanksgiving, even there in London. Enjoy some turkey, I hope.

MOAVENI: Thank you so much.

PEREIRA: All right. We'll have some "Good Stuff" for you coming up next.

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CUOMO: We like to do gooder (ph) on Thanksgiving. So here is some better stuff. We recently told you about Collin Clarke, extraordinary young man with Down's syndrome. Extraordinary dream, be a bodybuilder. He was working at the desk at a gym and started imitating a trainer's moves. The trainer saw him do it, took him on. In a matter of months he dropped 60 pounds. More than 20 percent of his body fat. And guess what? Colin finally living the dream. There it is. (inaudible).

CAMEROTA: Oh my god.

CUOMO: He took the stage of his first body building competition. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you believe you have done this?

COLIN CLARKE, BODYBUILDER: No, not at all. I can't believe it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think about it?

CLARKE: What do I think about it? I think it's pretty awesome.

GLENN UBERHOR, TRAINER: I've never seen anyone with more desire and more conviction. He's just so determined.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: There it is.

PEREIRA: I heard he was No. 7 on the list of the most fit men in America.

CUOMO: Oh no, he's certainly more fit than I am.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Absolutely. And he showed that he is not his limitation. He showed that you are what you want to be almost all of the time. Good for him.

CAMEROTA: Great message before Thanksgiving. Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.