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New Day Sunday

Senate Passes Bill to Avoid Govt. Shutdown; Protesters Call for End to Police Killings; FBI Joins Probe into Teen's Hanging Death; Japan Votes for New Parliament

Aired December 14, 2014 - 07:00   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: The deal is done in D.C. In an extraordinary Saturday night session, the Senate OK'd that controversial budget bill. So, now, President Obama has to sign the dotted line.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Can the anger and frustration now be turned into action? Tens of thousands rally across the nation, demanding an end to deadly force by police against unarmed black men.

PAUL: And Bill Cosby has a message for the media. What the comedian is saying after weeks of silence now.

(MUSIC)

PAUL: All righty. You made it to Sunday. So glad to see you here. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Sunday is a good place to make it to.

Good to have you with us.

PAUL: It is. That's true.

BLACKWELL: Let's get to this breaking news overnight, because this is big. The Senate got it done. And now, the threat of another government shutdown is off the table -- of course, at least for a while.

PAUL: Uh-huh. That's after a bipartisan group of lawmakers approved a controversial $1.1 trillion spending bill. And that bill, of course, now headed to President Obama's desk.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Erin McPike is live in Washington with the latest for us -- Erin.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Christi, you said it. It was bipartisan. It passed 56-40.

And here's who voted against it, liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, 21 Democrats, 18 Republicans, and one independent voted against it. Now, the reason they were able to get it done is they struck this

deal with Ted Cruz, that junior Republican senator from Texas, though, very high profile. They allowed him to have a point of order vote, essentially just making the point that he wants to make, that President Obama's executive order on immigration is unconstitutional.

Well, listen here to him make that point last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Tonight, both Democrats and Republicans will have the opportunity to show America whether they stand with the president who is defying the will of the voters or with the millions of Americans who want a safe and legal immigration system. This point of order is targeted not to the entire omnibus, but specifically to the DHS funding that the president has announced will be spent unconstitutionally. If you believe President Obama's amnesty is unconstitutional, vote yes. If you believe President Obama's amnesty is consistent with the Constitution, then vote no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: But that particular vote failed, of course. And, in fact, even 20 Republicans voted against it.

But on both sides of the aisle, there was a lot of theory about this and listen here to the Majority Leader Harry Reid discuss that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: Junior senator from Texas raised a point of order attacking the pending legislation on the grounds that the president has acted unconstitutionally. The junior senator from Texas is wrong, wrong, wrong on several counts. Most importantly, for us, this evening is an attack on this bill because it's not an appropriate place to debate the constitutionality of any executive branch action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: But it wasn't just Harry Reid or Democrats. Republicans from Susan Collins, a moderate in Maine, all the way to Jeff Blake, a conservative in Arizona, were pretty mad at Ted Cruz for holding up the weekend -- Christi and Victor.

PAUL: All righty. Erin McPike, we appreciate the report. Thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: We've got our senior correspondent for CNNPolitics.com, Chris Moody, on the phone.

Chris, let's talk about the sabotage and the infighting and finger-pointing that we saw over the past week or so. The budget battle is over for now. But when we heard from Senator Elizabeth Warren and Ted Cruz and are these just warning shots? Because I think maybe most people knew that this was going to pass. CHRIS MOODY, CNNPOLITICS.COM (via telephone): It was a very

unusual vote for the Senate to have something like this on the weekend.

But you're right. It is very interesting that all of the people in the Senate could possibly be running for president in 2016 all voted against it. You're right, they knew it would pass, but they wanted to try to influence and take advantage of it as a messaging tool or to get the word out that there were things in this bill that conservatives and liberals would not like in the end here. And they were going to vote against it, probably the whole time.

But the government is funded until the entire fiscal year. So, we're not going to see a fight like this again until about next Halloween.

BLACKWELL: Obviously, a big fight in the Senate. But the typical narrative is that the House has this back and forth. That Boehner can't reign in or bring in the Tea Party.

Did one chamber or did party come out looking better than other?

MOODY: Oh, I think that's a tough thing to say, especially this is kind of the swan song of this Congress, because they're going to end at the end of next week. It was a tough slog of a Congress not very much got done.

They really have gone out with a bang. A lot -- as Erin said, a lot of anger on both sides. I think a lot of people are ready to be finished, that the challenge next year for President Obama and for Congress is that Republicans are not only embolden in the Senate, of course, not only embolden in the House, but they have won the Senate.

So, it's going to be a lot more difficult for Democrats to get their way, which is why it's so interesting because when Senator Cruz and Senator Lee forced the votes here over the weekend, Democrats are arguing that gave them an opportunity to vote on a number of controversial nominations that President Obama wanted passed. They might not have been able to pass so easily had they done the votes next year. Republicans take over the Senate.

BLACKWELL: Yes. More than a dozen folks have taken.

And, Chris Moody, we thank you very much for your time.

MOODY: Thank you.

PAUL: Also this morning, protesters across the country are hoping that Congress is going to hear their pleas for justice against police violence. Thousands of demonstrators turned out in cities across the country from Ft. Lauderdale and Boston, to San Francisco, and Chicago yesterday.

BLACKWELL: But Washington is the city where four moms took their voices. The families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner all unarmed black men and boys killed by either bullets or police. Moms joined the tens of thousands of demonstrators in the nation's capital.

PAUL: And most of yesterday's nationwide protests were peaceful, we want to point out. However in, New York, we do know two police officers are recovering in the hospital after officials say protesters attacked them on the Brooklyn Bridge last night.

And in Oakland, California, at least 45 people were arrested after a night of protests there.

BLACKWELL: Demonstrators calling yesterday's big march in Washington, they're calling it a history making moment as thousands marched to the U.S. Capitol demanding change.

CNN's national reporter Nick Valencia has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHANTING)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL REPORTER (voice-over): They came by the hundreds for a justice march in the nation's capital. Some were bussed in by organizers from nearby states.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I live in New York.

VALENCIA: Others walked a few minutes to get here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from D.C. I'm in Glover Park.

VALENCIA: Power in numbers from across the United States.

This man says he showed up with his familiar I had to show his infant son that his future can be better than his present.

ANTHONY PASSMORE, DC RESIDENT: Ii want a future for them to actually be able to do what they want to be, be what they want to be. They say this is the land of opportunity and land of freedom. Let them live life. Let them choose the direction and which way they want to go.

VALENCIA: Eleven-year-old Wallis was one of the youngest demonstrators.

(on camera): Show me what's on your shirt. What does that shirt say?

WALLIS KYLE, YOUNG PROTESTER: I can't breathe.

VALENCIA: Why are you wearing it?

KYLE: To like show that, like, it's unfair what happened to Eric Garner.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Garner's family spoke to the crowd, so did relatives of others that lost their sons at the hands of police, including the father of Mike Brown, the unarmed teen killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

Their message --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will get justice for our children.

VALENCIA: Also in the crowd, Washington, D.C.'s police chief who said she showed up to stand in solidarity with the community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For many, many years, there's been a feeling that the justice system doesn't treat everybody equally. That's been -- you know, when I was coming up through school and studying law enforcement, the justice system has to treat everybody equally. Black, white, rich, poor, and that's always been an issue. This is not a new issue. It's just an issue that now is very, very emotional, and very, very wrong. It has to be addressed.

VALENCIA: Addressed here in Washington, D.C., and beyond.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: And demonstrators I spoke to say it this is the first step in a very long road ahead. They say they want change and while the groups that were marching yesterday, they want change for different ways. They see that differently. But everyone is in agreement that this fight, this march, they will continue until they get their spotlight shined on the deaths of unarmed civilians killed by the hands of police -- Victor, Christi.

PAUL: Yes, we know voices are going up in churches, too, for black lives matter Sunday as well across the country. Nick Valencia, we so appreciate it. Thank you.

VALENCIA: You beat.

BLACKWELL: The St. Louis prosecutors office is apologizing this weekend after failed to make public all of the documents that the grand jury inquiry into Michael Brown's death. Hundreds of previously secret documents have now been released, including the transcript of an interview that Dorian Johnson, the friend with Michael Brown when he was killed by an officer, had with the FBI days after the shooting.

That interview is consistent with others Johnson did including his testimony before the grand jury. Now in them, Johnson says Officer Darren Wilson grabbed Michael Brown and Brown was shot while running away from Wilson and that Brown's hands were up when he was shot.

PAUL: I want to share some breaking news with you we're getting out of Alabama overnight. An Auburn University football player apparently has been shot and killed in the hunt is on now for the suspect. We'll tell what we're learning this morning.

BLACKWELL: And comedian Bill Cosby is speaking out. His message for the media amid those allegations of sexual assault.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PAUL: Breaking overnight: Auburn University football player

Jakell Mitchell was shot and killed early this morning at an apartment complex near the school's campus. Now, police are hunting for a suspect this morning in the 18-year-old's death. In the Auburn Tiger's Web site, Mitchell is being remembered as a good receiver and runner.

Now, according to reports, Mitchell, a freshman from Alabama, by the way, was expected to be in the running for a starting spot next season. But again, they are looking for the suspect.

BLACKWELL: Well, we talked this morning about the thousands of marchers across the country who are out this weekend.

But let's talk about the hundreds of protesters who gathered in a small town in North Carolina. This is Bladenboro and they want to know what happened to a 17-year-old high school student. He was a football player at his school. His name is Lennon Lacy. He was found hanging from a trailer park swing set in August.

State authorities ruled his death a suicide. But his mother and his brother say that he was found wearing shoes that were not his, the belts found around his neck did not belong to him, and now the FBI has now opened an investigation into this case.

Joining me now, HLN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson.

Joey, good to have you this morning.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Victor. Always good to be with you.

BLACKWELL: So, Lennon's mother and brother, they say that things here just do not add up. There are too many questions. Listen to what the head of the North Carolina conference of the NAACP told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. WILLIAM BARBER, PRESIDENT, NORTH CAROLINA NAACP: There are too many questions and it very well could be a lynching or stage lynching, we don't know. But what we do know is there has to be a serious and full investigation of these matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, the Department of Justice is involved. I want to ask you specifically about the manner in which he was killed and is that possibly why the FBI is involved? We know that there is a limited jurisdiction for the Department of Justice for a federal crime.

But a lynching in the South of a black man speaks to a specific history. Do you believe that is why they came in? Or is it just the questions regardless of race?

JACKSON: You know what, Victor? It's all of that. Let's talk about why.

Whenever you come to take an advantage in any community, there has to be trust. And there has to be respect for ultimately what the conclusion is of that investigation. Now, in this particular case, the district attorney in that small town has asked the federal government to come in and, of course, the community welcomes that. The community has been calling for the federal government to come in.

Apparently, the NAACP has conducted an investigation of their own. They have information. But there is a disconnect between the local authorities because they feel, Victor, that the case was not thoroughly investigated at the outset.

Why? If you look at the facts of case, there is a major concern. First, a symbolic undertone wherein August 28th, of course, 1955, you have Emmitt Till who was murdered. He's the 14-year-old who was murdered for apparently flirting with a white woman.

In this case, this death is 59 years later, you know, almost to the day. It happened the day after. So, that's somewhat symbolic. When you add to that, Victor, the fact that this 17-year-old was apparently dating a 31-year-old white woman, the age of consent is 16, nothing wrong with that, but it raised concerns and then he goes out for a midnight jog. He doesn't return; 7:30, the mom gets a call. She goes.

She doesn't recognize the belt he is hanging with. He has on shoes that are two sizes too small. His Nike shoes are missing.

You know, it raises the specter of is this a suicide? And would he have basis to commit suicide when the football season is starting the day after? Or something more nefarious taking place?

So, I think the family wants to get answers and based upon that the federal government is involved and cooperating and working with local authorities to find out exactly what those answers are.

BLACKWELL: Quickly, how might this federal investigation appear or in actuality be different than the state investigation, the local investigation? How will they be different?

JACKSON: Well, you know what happens, Victor, they're both somewhat consistent in as much as whether it's federal or the state, you want to get to all the facts.

But I think the concern on the part of the family is even the medical examiner, Victor, when they were examining, you know, they examined the body. They ruled OK, it's a suicide. But there were no death scene photos that they evaluated. Certainly, the federal government wants to see the death scene photos. They were no dimensions of the swing set that he's found hanging from that they evaluated, certainly the federal government wants to see that.

And then the family was concerned because apparently the police department did not ask for his cell phone, computer records, look at his room or anything like that. So, the community is saying, wait a minute, we want a full, fair and thorough investigation. It may be suicide. We don't know. But certainly there is an obligation to find out.

I think they want to get to the crux of the fact, the crux of the issues so that there is respect for the outcome and there is a confidence by the community in what that outcome is, whatever it is. And that's what will happen here, hopefully with the federal government's participation, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes, that teenager's mother, I spoke with her. She said she can accept that her son committed suicide if it is proven, if it is explained. She says thus far, the state investigators have not crossed that threshold.

Joey Jackson, thank you so much.

JACKSON: Always a pleasure. Have a great day.

BLACKWELL: You, too.

PAUL: Well, actor and comedian Bill Cosby briefly broke silence, just to give his thoughts on the media, and to say his wife is standing by him. Cosby said the African-American media should be impartial. He told "The New York Post," quote, here's his quote, "Let me say this, I only expect the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism and when you do that, you have to go in with a neutral mind", unquote. Cosby would not discuss the rapes and sex abuse allegations from a growing list of women that now includes supermodel Beverly Johnson.

I want to say good morning to all our friends on the West Coast, and give you a little bit of a heads up. There is another storm system moving your way, preparing to drench California yet again. We got your forecast straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the West Coast. At least they had Saturday. Saturday was nice. It was sunny.

You look at the tornadoes of Friday and now, the West Coast is bracing for another stormy day.

PAUL: I know. It's like you had a minute to breathe. And now, you got to get your jackets back out. Wild weather is moving across the country.

We have to go to meteorologist Karen Maginnis, because she's been watching this.

What are you seeing, Karen?

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That was faint hope. There is another weather system that is due. It's coming on in as we look into Monday. But this isn't going to be the last. There is another one right behind it by about midweek or perhaps into Thursday. Here we go, pushing in that moisture from the Pacific. Doesn't

have that pineapple express component like we saw that brought in that huge volume of moisture. But still enough that even in southern California another round of wet weather. Northern California could see between 1 and 4 inches.

All right. Well, take this area of low pressure, push it in from the four corners into the south Central Plains where a risk of severe weather today primarily high winds and hail, but can't rule out the possibility of an isolated tornado. Winds return from the Gulf of Mexico, and those temperatures go from 60s and 70s into the 40s in some areas.

In the Midwest, we go if 40s to the teens, in Fargo, and into Minneapolis, and watch out over the next several days the added rainfall for the West Coast.

Back to you, guys.

PAUL: Merry Christmas.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: Karen Maginnis, thank you.

BLACKWELL: Japanese voters are choosing a new parliament. The vote is seen as a huge test for the country's prime minister. Will his economic reforms get a thumbs-up? The exit polls are out.

And Merry Christmas from the royal toddler.

PAUL: I love it!

BLACKWELL: Prince George is going solo in his Christmas portrait, maybe for the last time as his mom gets ready for baby number two. This is my favorite.

PAUL: Right there. Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Media exit polls are this morning predicting that a landside victory is ahead for Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The ruling coalition in parliamentary elections, Mar. Abe called snap elections to boost support for his economic reform measures, because the world's third largest economy slipped into recession late this year.

PAUL: And, finally, merry Christmas from Prince George. Wouldn't you just fall over if you got this in your mail box?

BLACKWELL: Cute kid.

PAUL: Britain's royal toddler celebrating the season in his new Christmas portrait. If you look closely there, royal guards are knitted on to that sweater vest. So, only obviously he is allowed to wear that. George's last Christmas as an only child. Of course, his parents William and Kate expecting a baby in April.

Everybody, I'm sure, wondering, will it be a boy? Will it be a girl?

BLACKWELL: He is soaking it up. He is soaking it up.

PAUL: The smirk and showing the little hands. I am a sucker for baby hands. They're just so fat.

BLACKWELL: Yes, pudgy little hands.

PAUL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: All right. Thanks for joining us this morning. We'll see you back here at 8:00 Eastern.

PAUL: Uh-hmm. Yes.

"SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." starts right now for you.