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New Day Sunday
Senate Passes $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill; Protesters Call For End To Police Killings; California Cleans Up After Powerful Storm; American Bashed U.S. In North Korea; Eyewitnesses Gave Grand Jury Controversial Testimony in Michael Brown's Case; Case of Possible Lynching in North Carolina; Multiple Attacks in Afghanistan; Captain Ron Johnson Serving Ferguson Community
Aired December 14, 2014 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, the Senate approves a $1.1 trillion budget bill to keep the government running. Now it's now waiting for President Obama's signature. We'll talk about that.
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, it's not over yet. Thousands from around the country gather in Washington to protest the death of unarmed men killed by police and this morning the five are echoing in thousands of churches.
BLACKWELL: This is happening as we get new details into what the grand jury in Ferguson heard and why they decided not to indict Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown.
PAUL: You're up early on Sunday, but we're glad you're keeping us company. I'm Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's 6:00 here on the east coast. I have to correct something. It wasn't a budget bill. Congress doesn't pass budgets anymore. This is a continuing resolution to keep things going.
PAUL: Yes. We need to keep going this morning, remember.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
PAUL: In a lot of ways. Listen, we get breaking news overnight as we talk about how the Senate got it done. The threat of that other government shutdown is now off the table. The key to say here is for now.
BLACKWELL: Yes, for now and that is after a bipartisan of group of lawmakers approved this controversial $1.1 trillion spending bill. The bill is now headed to President Obama's desk.
CNN's Erin McPike is live in Washington. Eri, do we know when the president will sign this?
ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Christi, President Obama likely will sign it either today, possibly tomorrow morning. But you may remember that yesterday or really late last night President Obama did sign that short term extension that funded the government through this coming Wednesday.
And then after the Senate passed that last night, they took up the entire spending bill. They had a procedural vote and allowed Ted Cruz a small vote on his amendment about defunding this little measure that would strip funding from President Obama's executive order on immigration. That failed.
But I want to play for you what Ted Cruz said on the Senate floor last night. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Tonight, both Democrat and Republicans will have the opportunity to show America whether they stand with 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: Now that particular vote failed and then they went ahead with final passage. Listen here to Harry Reid talk about Cruz after that last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: A 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 accounts.
Most importantly for thus evening is an attack on this bill because it's not an appropriate place to beat the constitutionality of any branch action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCPIKE: And because they appeased Ted Cruz by giving him this vote, they were able to hold the vote on the bigger bill that will fund the government through September 30th. They got that all done last night -- Christi and Victor.
PAUL: So Erin, I'm wondering what does this battle tell us about the incoming majority leader Mitch McConnell after the 1st of the year?
MCPIKE: Well, he is certainly going to have some problems on the far right with both Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, the Republican senator from Utah, also a junior senator who objected on Friday night and sent this legislation into this procedural mess all weekend long.
We did hear from a number of Senate Republicans yesterday and really Republicans throughout Washington who are very fed up with Ted Cruz and Mike Lee for what they say are antics. They say this is not the way for conservatives to do what they want to do.
BLACKWELL: All right, Erin McPike, thank you so much and we'll watch to see when the president signs that bill. Thanks.
PAUL: Thank you. There is renewed hope this morning that Congress will hear the cries of protesters against police violence and that lawmakers will do something about it.
BLACKWELL: Yes, thousands of demonstrators turned out in cities across the country, Ft. Lauderdale and Boston and San Francisco, Chicago. Let's go to Boston first. Nearly two dozen demonstrators were arrested when police said they tried to shove past the line of officers.
PAUL: But Washington is the city where four moms took their voices. The families Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner, all unarmed black men and boys killed either by bullets or police. They join the tens of thousands of demonstrators in the nation's capital. Garner's mother addressed the huge crowd there in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GWEEN CARR, ERIC GARNER'S MOTHER: It's just so overwhelming to see all of you that came to stand with us today. I mean look at the masses, black, white, all races, all races, all religions, this is just a great moment. This is a history making moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Let's go to CNN's Sunlen Serfaty now in D.C. Sunlen, you heard there that Garner's mother talked about all of the diverse group and she saw people there of all ages and races. I imagine that's what everybody saw. Let's go to Sunlen.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi and Victor, this crowd was peaceful but impassioned. The mood is really one of focus. Protesters seemed like they had a task to do and they took that task very seriously.
And organizers say they were going for size and symbolism. Symbolism in choosing Pennsylvania Avenue, a very iconic street in Washington, D.C., to hold this march, and we marched every step if start to finish, nearly a mile, with the protesters.
We met people if all over Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, all who had either driven overnight just to be here. And they all had one message for Congress. That specifically was that they want to see change.
They want to see a change in the law and they do want to see hearings in the New Year. Here is a bit from one conversation I had.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICIA CREW, JUSTICE RALLY MARCHER: Black lives matter. One day I'm going to have a black child. I want him to be safe in the United States.
MCPIKE: What do you think being out here today will accomplish?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's showing everyone that everyone is coming together to take a stand. Racism can no longer be a thing.
MCPIKE: You're marching to Capitol Hill. What is your message to Congress?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our message to Congress is to take black lives seriously and make changes so we all can live in America and see the land of the free.
MCPIKE: It is emotional for you to be out here today?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me this is the most beautiful thing to see so many different people of ages and races coming to take a stand together to, yes, it's very emotional.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCPIKE: I was most struck by the feeling that protesters had this is a moment in history, many harkening back to the same sorts of marches that happened here in D.C. during the 1960s.
One woman I spoke to said that her father marched in the civil rights marches of the '60s. She called him. And he said I'm very proud of you.
So really that sends, especially from the majority of young people here in the group that there is a sense that they're picking up the baton from previous generation who started this march. And that march really does continue -- Christi and Victor.
PAUL: All right, Sunlen Serfaty, we appreciate it. Thank you. This morning thousands of churches across the country are hosting black lives matter Sunday to remind the nation how important the lives of African-Americans are.
BLACKWELL: The majority of protesters and the protests across the country were peaceful. But in New York overnight, police officials say protesters attacked two officers on the Brooklyn Bridge as they were trying to arrest a man who threw a garbage can into the street.
According to police, the group, quote, "attempted to steal their portable radios and tear away their police identification jackets." Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JAMES P. O'NEILL, NYPD CHIEF OF PATROL: This is where we have to draw the line. We want to facilitate the protesters. People have a right to protest. But we also have to balance their right to protest with the rights of the other 8.5 million New Yorkers.
If our cops are assaulted, that's where we have to draw the line. That's when arrests are being made. When there is property damage, we'll make arrests.
JOHN MILLER, NEW YORK POLICE: These individuals are not interested in lawful, orderly protest. They have their own agenda. Part of that agenda that has been demonstrated is to create physical violent conflicts in some cases with police officers and commit acts of property damage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: This morning the two injured officers are recovering in the hospital.
PAUL: Also breaking overnight, in Oakland, California, at least 45 people were arrested. And there were several reports of vandalism including broken windows, some small fires.
Earlier protests that included around 3,000 people were peaceful though. Police say a crowd of about 500 remained for protests later in the day and that crowd did become more violent.
BLACKWELL: People in California are mopping up after that powerful storm pummeled the drought stricken state. There were mudslides, power outages and a tornado in Southern Los Angeles. More rain may be on the way.
Karen Maginnis joins us now from the CNN Weather Center. Karen, they've had enough. More storms coming.
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That is ironic that they would be tired of the rainfall so quickly because the entire year they've been in severe or extreme drought. But this is much needed winter moisture. Farmers and growers really rely on the winter moisture.
But here comes our next wet weather system, but also across the south in the United States at that same storm system is going to inject out of the interior west pulling to the south central plains and produce scattered or isolated thunderstorms.
Mostly what we're looking at are some high winds and the possibility of hail. You can't rule out the potential for isolated tornados. We get that returned flow from the Gulf of Mexico and into Texas. It's going to be fairly breezy over the next 24 hours or so.
So watch that one weather system pull away. The next one moves on shore to California. How much rainfall are we expecting from this next system? It's not going to be just the one system. There is another one that lies right behind this. In Northern California, you could see one to four inches of rainfall. potential for flooding and localized mudslides or some landslides. Back to you, guys.
BLACKWELL: Wow. All right, Karen, thank you so much.
So consider this, a man from Texas, he makes his way to North Korea illegally and then holds a news conference there and said some -- I guess it would be fair to say -- not so flattering things about the U.S.
PAUL: Plus, high drama from a low speed car chase. Think about this, this woman is trying to evade police while driving with her six kids in the car.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Welcome back to NEW DAY. It's 15 after the hour now. Let's get you caught up with your "Morning Read."
PAUL: Yes, deputies in rural Alabama have caught one of three escaped inmates. Two charged with murder are still on the run. Deputies say the three inmates were in one cell. One of them screamed at another was very sick to get the guard's attention. The guard unlocked the cell and the inmates jumped him, took his keys and ran off.
A Utah woman is facing felony charges including child endangerment after leading police on a low speed chase with her six kids in the car. According to CNN affiliate, KSTU, the woman had been reported missing earlier. May have been suffering from mental illness they say. Her children are now in the custody of their father.
BLACKWELL: Big win for Wall Street last night as the Senate passed a massive spending plan included in the $1.1 trillion bill are changes to banking regulations that pulled back on restrictions enacted after the financial collapse. The critics say they will allow banks to make risky trades with customer's money and put taxpayers back on the hope for potential bailouts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: The winner of the 2014 Heisman Memorial Trophy is Marcus Mariota of the University of Oregon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: There he is. Star quarterback Marcus Mariota won college football's most prestigious award last night. He is a junior and the first player from the University of Oregon and the first native of Hawaii to win the Heisman.
On January 1st, he is going to leave the Ducks against last year's Heisman winner, Jameis Winston and Florida State in round one of the inaugural college football playoffs. Congratulations to him.
BLACKWELL: A man who says he's from El Paso, Texas, says he illegally crossed into North Korea. Now in a news conference this morning, Arturo Martinez bad mouthed the United States, to say it plainly, political and economic system in the U.S.
Martinez said he first tried to get into North Korea by crossing a river along the South Korean border but failed. He was successful when trying again from a river in China. They also explained why he chose North Korea.
All right, that was a little difficult to hear. Hopefully, we get the words up on the screen. Will Ripley joins me live from Tokyo with more on the story.
Will, we have to mention that there are questions about his mental state and if you could reiterate for the folks who could not hear that because it was tough why did he choose North Korea and these mental concerns.
WIL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor. We spoke with his mother and I listened to that full statement that he gave to a packed room in Pyongyang. And his mother in El Paso tells us that he has a history of mental instability.
He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder is and in fact was off his medication when he made his second attempt to cross into North Korea by way of Beijing, a successful attempt in November, just days after the American diplomat, James Clapper, went in and retrieved Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller.
All of a sudden, this 29-year-old shows up in Pyongyang and says that he wants to give them information about the United States and he went on essentially a long rant calling the United States essentially a large scale mafia, accusing billionaires of controlling the political system in the U.S. and trying to take over the world.
Victor, he also talked about UFO sightings and devices being implanted in people's heads to give them voices in their heads. But, of course, North Korea, they have an American citizen in their capital city and they broadcast this message to their country.
To them they say this is proof that the United States is the bad guy and that North Korea is innocent of the growing course of allegations internationally this country has engaged in widespread human rights abuses of tens of thousands of people.
BLACKWELL: Yes, he appears to have their full attention. What is his status now? He's not a prisoner. He is free to leave the country?
RIPLEY: According to what he said, he actually thanked the North Korean government for pardoning him of his crime of illegally entering the country and giving him a lavish reception, essentially. He wore a suit and tie.
He also said that he plans to seek asylum in Venezuela after he leaves the country. But Victor, when I reached out to my North Korea government source who tipped us off about this and helped CNN break the story, I asked if he was free to go or still under criminal investigation. A source told me no comment. We have to wait and see what happens.
BLACKWELL: All right. Will Ripley sorting this out, really bizarre. Will, thank you so much.
PAUL: Still to come, we have some pretty stunning images for you from the year's best and brightest meteor showers.
BLACKWELL: Yes. These pictures are amazing. Also a rare feast for the eyes at the Grand Canyon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: It's so good to have you with us. It's 23 minutes past the hour and if you haven't seen this week's series "Ones to Watch," we went to Chicago to explore the world of street art. This is a subculture associated with vandalism. One artist's iconic images prompted people to think differently about it. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shepard Fairey, the American street artist behind the Obama hope poster, an image he plastered over the streets of America during the U.S. president's first election campaign.
SHEPARD FAIREY, STREET ARTIST: It is a great example, I think, of how grassroots imagery and activism can make a difference.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shepard used simple images to make a statement and to build a brand. He's worth an estimated $15 million thanks to his clothing company which features his most iconic images and his prints which sell at auction for upwards of $80,000 and still he takes to the streets to paint.
FAIREY: I used to be far too street to be considered mainstream. Now some people consider me too mainstream for the street. But there is validity to both and there are different things about the street and the gallery. But, you know, they're both useful platforms. Democratizing art is what I've been about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, Shepard is in Chicago scaling the heights of a brick wall with a bold message.
FAIREY: What I think it toys to breakthrough as a street artist is a tenacity, a willingness to go out there and put work up and, you know, have it clean, have it covered by other artists and not be too precious about it, to accept that street art is finding good places and making imagery that has a unique look that sets your work apart from other people's work is really important. But tenacity is crucial.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: You can watch the entire "Ones To Watch" show at CNN.com/onestowatch.
BLACKWELL: If you didn't get a chance to check out which weekend's shower, you're in luck on two parts here.
PAUL: Yes. CNN I-Reporters around the world captured stunning images. Look at these things. This is the year's most spectacular light shows. We have more for you at ireports.cnn.com.
BLACKWELL: OK, the light show comes around annually in mid-December when the earth encounters debris from the climate. You can go and look at the pictures on CNN.com or this isn't over. So you --
PAUL: I believe you can still see it --
BLACKWELL: For the next couple of nights.
PAUL: -- yes, for the next couple of nights. They do say if you're not in the city, it's easier to see them.
BLACKWELL: Yes, from a building.
PAUL: This is quite a sight as well. It's very rare, we should point out. Time lapse video showing a sea of clouds filling the Grand Canyon so when you're standing above looking below, you get to see the clouds and the push of them.
BLACKWELL: Meteorologists call it an inversion because cool damp air became trapped in the lower levels of the canyon. The park says it almost looked like the tide coming in and going out. You can see that ebb and flow there. It's really nice.
PAUL: That is beautiful.
BLACKWELL: So still ahead, hundreds, more documents have now been released from the grand jury inquiry in Ferguson, Missouri including an interview from the man who was with Michael Brown when he was killed.
PAUL: And we want to show you a little prince. Look at that guy. A royal photo looking more adorable, that is his Christmas portrait. We'll show you more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: Breaking news we want to show to you right now. We're learning Jackall Mitchell, an Auburn University football player was shot and killed early this morning. This happened at an apartment complex near the school's campus ...
BLACKWELL: And now police are hunting for the suspect in the 18-year- old's death. Mitchell who was the freshman from Alabama was expected to be in the running for a starting spot next season at the halfback and the tight end position. So we'll continue to follow that one.
PAUL: Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people gathered yesterday across the country. Protesting police violence against African- American men. Demonstrations largely were peaceful. Now there were a few pockets of violence, though. In New York, police say two officers were attacked by demonstrators. And in Oakland, at least 45 protesters were arrested.
BLACKWELL: The prosecutor in Ferguson, Missouri, has released hundreds of previously secret documents from the grand jury's inquiry into Michael Brown's death. The trove includes the transcript that would interview that Dorian Johnson, the friend who was with Brown when he was killed by an officer, that one that he had with the FBI days after the shooting. Now that interview is consistent with others Johnson did including testifying before the grand jury. 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. But while Johnson's story has been consistent, that's not always the case with other eyewitnesses.
Kyung Lah explains why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then they were joined by the rest of the receiving corps.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The now universal sign of the Ferguson protests, the St. Louis Rams players igniting a firestorm of their own on national television.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Hands up, don't shoot! Hands up, don't shoot!
LAH: The grand jury ultimately rejected this notion saying it lacked probable cause that an unarmed Michael Brown had his hands up in surrender. But how is it in the seconds after Michael Brown was shot that witnesses recording or recorded from three different angles testified to the grand jury wildly differing accounts of that critical moment from this recording, audio from an on scene nearby man who says he saw Brown moving towards the officer. Then there's this video, this contractor throws his hands up moments after the shooting and others also testified Brown did not run towards the officer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He turns around and faces the officer and puts his hands up. And the officer continues to shoot him until he goes down to the ground.
LAH: Who is telling the truth? Maybe everyone, or at least they believe they are.
ELIZABETH LOFTUS: Just because somebody tells you something with a lot of detail. Just because they say it with confidence, just because they express it with emotion, it doesn't mean that it really happened that way.
LAH: Cognitive psychologist Elizabeth Loftus says she's testified in 300 cases since 1975. And says, over and over again eyewitnesses are often wrong. The Trayvon Martin case, one witness saw a black man with a hoodie on top of a white man. While another witness recalls a man with a white shirt on top of another. The 2002 D.C. sniper shootings, multiple witnesses described a white van or box truck. Police shut down freeways to frisk scores of van drivers. But the real car used, a blue Chevy four door sedan. The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, a key eyewitness rented Timothy McVeigh and a suspect John Doe number two the rider truck that carried the bombs used in the attack. But there was no John Doe number two. That witness was not intentionally lying, says Loftus. A memory is flawed and affected by stress.
LOFTUS: The major cause of wrongful convictions is faulty eyewitness testimony. That's the major cause. And it's responsible in maybe about three quarters of the cases.
LAH: Kyung Lah, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: Now while a lot of witnesses obviously do their best to tell the Ferguson grand jury what they remembered, it does appear that there were also some who may have simply lied. There is a story this morning on CNN.com that looks at specific parts of this testimony.
BLACKWELL: Yeah, CNN's Josh Levs is overseeing a team that's sifting through the thousands of pages of the documents so far. What are you finding?
JOSH LEVS: Well, some of these people admit it. Some of these people actually got up there in front of the grand jury and said, yeah, I lied. Or at partway through their testimony end up saying OK, I was lying to you before this. And as we've been piecing through this, we've been putting together a series of stories that we're going to start to release in the coming days. But I can tell you right now, the first one is out this morning. It's on CNN.com right now.
And what we're looking at is a series of people who were brought forward to the Ferguson grand jury only so that it could be proven that they had no credibility. Either because they were lying straight up or because their credibility was so severely damaged in other ways, the Ferguson grand jury sat through hours of testimony that was not helpful in trying to figure out what may or may not have happened. And let me give you a couple of examples here. We're going to start with witness number 35 who gave all these dramatic descriptions. These are people on both sides. This was someone who was very much from the pro-Michael Brown contingent.
So he gave all these dramatic descriptions. And then a grand juror asks him at one point in his testimony, which all starts to fall apart, this juror says, are you telling us that the only things that true about all of your statements before this is that you saw that police officer shoot him at point blank range? And he says, yes. So, he acknowledges everything he had said up to that point was totally false. Now, here's someone on other side, someone who was very pro- officer Wilson. He's actually created a group to support him. He gets all these fantastic descriptions and then starts to fall apart. So, the prosecutor asks her is it possible do you think that you just dreamed that you dreamed about this after it happened and it feels real to you? That you were up there?
And she says, I never dreamed about it. But she's an example of someone who has no credibility. Because by the time they've gotten to that point in her testimony, they've established that she is running a pro-Wilson group, she posted a racist rant on the day that it happened. But there is no sign that her car was ever even there. She is on some kind of medication and she has memory problems. So what we have found is a series of witnesses, not the majority, but people who were brought forward and factually were not helpful to any grand jurors in trying to figure out what could have happened.
PAUL: OK, so I have to ask you, why were some of these people brought into the grand jury? Were they - was it just so the grand jury could say, listen, we covered all our bases?
LEVS: That is quite possible. You know, I've been asking our legal teams about this. Why would you take hours of time for these people when it's clearly not helpful testimony in that respect? So, you have these two contingents. You have this one side, like Sunny Hostin, one of our legal analysts who feels that they wanted to give a big jumbled confusing case to the grand jury, because if they did that, then there's a good chance that Wilson would be exonerated. But then there is another contingent that says that they knew that there would be a federal investigation.
There will be all the scrutiny afterwards. There will be all these people looking into it, and they want to be able to say we tossed everything at the grand jury, everything we heard, anything from anyone, we put it all out there. So, you know, there are these two different predominant theories as to why it happened. But what is not in doubt is that a lot of people, a series of people, were brought in here that were either lying or just completely not believable.
PAUL: Wow. All right. Well, again, you can see all of that on CNN.com. Josh, thank you so much.
LEVS: You got it. Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Marching for answers. You know, the protesters joined the family of a teenager who was found hanged in North Carolina. Local authorities ruled that he killed himself, but now the FBI is looking into the case. We got that story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Well, as thousands of marchers took to the streets in Washington and cities across the country this weekend, hundreds of protesters also gathered in a small town of North Carolina. Bladenboro there, population 1700. The people who live there and people from out of town they want to know what happened to a 17-year- old. Lennon Lacy was found hanging from a trailer park swing set in August. The state authorities ruled that he killed himself but his mother and brother say that's absurd. They say he was found wearing shoes that were not his and that belts around his neck did not belong to him. I sat down and talked with his mother and brother.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PIERRE LACEY, LENNON LACY'S BROTHER: His size, his stature does not add up to him being capable of, I mean, just constructing all of this alone in the dark.
CLAUDIA LACY, LENNON LACY'S MOTHER: That's all I've asked for what is due rightfully to me and my family. Justice. Prove to me what happened to my child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: The NAACP says that the North Carolina state bureau of investigation did not follow basic guidelines. It also says that the state chief medical examiner didn't have all the information about the death scene before she ruled Lacy's death a suicide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. WILLIAM BARBER, PRESIDENT, NORTH CAROLINA NAAPAUL: There are too many questions and it very well could be a lynching or a staged lynching. We don't know. But what we do know is there has to be a serious and full investigation of these matters.
BLACKWELL: And that is now what is happening. The FBI is now looking into this case. We'll have much more on this next hour.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Also I want to get you some of the other stories making headlines. And we start in Georgia where two young children have died in a house fire. Firefighters say they found five kids alone inside that house. No adults at home at the time. A 10-year-old is in critical condition now and two children were able to escape.
BLACKWELL: Turning overseas to Japan, parliamentary elections are under way. And media exit polls are predicting a landslide victory for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ruling coalition. He's called, Shinzo Abe called snap elections to boost support for his economic reform measures. The world's third largest economy slipped back into recession late last year.
PAUL: Secretary of State John Kerry due to meet today with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Rome. They are expected to discuss recent developments in Israel, the West Bank and Jerusalem. Now Ukraine, Syria, and current initiatives at the U.N. are also on that docket.
And Merry Christmas from Prince George. Britain's royal toddler celebrating the season in his new Christmas portrait. If you look really closely there, you can see royal guards knitted on to his sweater vest. The photos were taken last month at George's home, Kensington Palace.
BLACKWELL: That's my favorite.
PAUL: I know. Isn't that great? I heard a rumor that they released these to thank the paparazzi for basically leaving them alone most of the year.
BLACKWELL: That's nice enough. That's nice enough/ PAUL: He is a cutie.
BLACKWELL: All right.
PAUL: Yeah, that's the best.
BLACKWELL: Yeah, a weekend of violence in Afghanistan. Some U.S. soldiers are among the casualties. And the Taliban is claiming responsibility for several of the attacks. So is Afghanistan now turning in the direction of Iraq? We'll ask our military experts to weigh in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: Forty-nine minutes past the hour right now. And in Afghanistan, two American soldiers and at least 19 Afghans have been killed in multiple attacks this weekend. The attacks all took place in eastern Afghanistan. Here's what we know. In the latest, a bomb exploded hitting a convoy of NATO-led troops that included two U.S. Soldiers. Separately, 12 Afghan civilians were attacked while clearing mines planted by the Taliban.
Also unknown gunmen shot to death an Afghan judicial official. And a suicide bomber targeted a bus killing six Afghan soldiers. The Taliban claimed responsibility for some of these attacks. But we want to bring in CNN's global affair analyst Lieutenant Colonel James Reese. Colonel, thank you so much for being with us. We're going to get to Afghanistan in a minute. But I want to point out the fact that you're in Fallujah, Iraq right now. So, I'm wondering, how are Iraqis reacting to the CIA torture report that came out this week?
LT. COL. JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yeah, good morning and good afternoon. It's very interesting. I've been talking to Iraqis all week long, both folks that I know very well and just folks on the street about that same issue. And it's very interesting. You know, they kind of say Inshahallah, you know, it's in god's hands. It's an American problem. And, you know, a lot of them said, hey, we've done the same thing. So from the man on the street perspective, there is one perspective. Then you have the political perspective that folks will try to use this against the Americans to show us not being as moral and high character as we are.
PAUL: OK. I want to switch it -- thank you for that. I want to switch to the Afghanistan situation. What do you think is the cause of the sudden flare-up that we're talking about this morning?
REESE: Well, unfortunately, it's not a sudden flare-up. It's just with the U.S. drawdown going on and the reactions to what we're watching with the political aspects and the new leadership in Afghanistan, it's just a new spotlight back in Afghanistan. What we as the U.S. and, you know, the Department of Defense has to take a lot of cautious with as we start moving out we start smelling the barn and we got to be very careful as we're redeploying soldiers out of there. We've got to be careful. We still have got to provide for protection and keep them safe. But Afghanistan continues to be a very, very dangerous situation. PAUL: Colonel, do you think, though, that the Taliban has the
capacity and the resources to turn Afghanistan into what we're seeing happening in Iraq with ISIS?
REESE: I do. The Taliban is a strong organization. They have got good leadership. They can move around very quickly. But again at the end of the day, this has to be an Afghan problem solving issue. We need to stay. We just cannot bail out of them. We have got to stay. And those forces that's are staying have got to continue to help, advise, assist and support and make sure the Afghanis are doing this. So, you know, we're going to be there a long time. And it's not something we need to pull out and waste all these last 13 years.
PAUL: Do you have any indication of how prepared Afghan forces are to take on that task themselves?
REESE: You know, it's hit or miss at times. The Afghans have an absolutely outstanding special operations force. But just like the American force, you know, it's small. And it's finite. And it can't be used everywhere. So the Afghans have to put that national army together. They have a pretty good national police force. But one of the things we have got to do as Americans, we can't go in there and try to put our values on top of them, advising and training their folks. We have to figure out what values motivate the Afghans and do that. That becomes one of the sticking points we have and one of our issues is to try to put American values on. It doesn't work most of the time.
PAUL: So, colonel, lastly, because you're in Fallujah, wondering what you're seeing there in Iraq in terms of Iraqi forces and their ability and capabilities right now.
REESE: Well, the Iraqi forces in the last couple of weeks, especially up north, have started to pick up some ground. There are some of the Shia militia up in Samarra and they're slugging it out with ISIL right now up in Samarra and there have been some posting some pictures that are pretty gruesome. Out west right now, it continues to go back and forth. The air strikes are doing very well, just over my right shoulder here, there were multiple explosions about 30 minutes ago. And you can see the black smoke flying up from there. But again, it's going to be a long one. But the Iraqis, I believe are committed to doing this. Baghdad is very well secure. And, but you see the Iraqi forces moving around and it's good to see after spending all these years here in the past.
PAUL: All right. Retired Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, we so appreciate the update. Take good care there, sir. Thank you.
REESE: Thank you.
PAUL: Sure. Victor?
BLACKWELL: Still to come, a government shutdown off the table. How senators pulled off a rare weekend vote to keep the government agencies open. That's coming up at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Three minutes till the top of the hour. This Tuesday night CNN will introduce some extraordinary people who have done extraordinary things in 2014.
PAUL: And one of them, a state highway patrol captain who has worked to restore peace in Ferguson, Missouri. Here is Don Lemon with a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: Hey-hey, ho-ho! These killer cops have got to go! Hey-hey!
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It seemed like something out of the '60s.
(DOG'S BARKING)
CROWD: Hands up, don't shoot!
LEMON: With Ferguson cops at the middle of the controversy -- the governor turned to the highway patrol.
GOV. JAY NIXON (D) MISSOURI: Today I'm announcing that the Missouri Highway Patrol under the supervision of Captain Ron Johnson who grew up in this area will be directing the team that provides security in Ferguson.
CAPT. RON JOHNSON, MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL: When I became a policeman, it was to make this community better.
LEMON: And this community never needed him more than in this moment.
CROWD (YELLING)
(on camera): Whether the governor called you, you were probably telling everybody, I don't think so. But did you know?
JOHNSON: I don't think I wanted to know because of the magnitude was so large of what I saw. And not knowing if I was strong enough to face it.
LEMON: You didn't think you could do it?
JOHNSON: No.
LEMON (voice over): Johnson took action immediately.
JOHNSON: We are going to have a different approach and have the approach that we're in this together.
I love that press conference. And I knew it was a march that was going to occur and the pastor and I was in charge of that. I knew her. And so I asked her if I could march with the group. And she says I rather you not.
LEMON: Johnson finally overcame the pastor's objections and started the healing by joining the marchers.
JOHNSON: And she looked at me. She says, no, I want you to march in front with me. And I tell people that was a changing point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Well, don't miss Captain Johnson on the CNN special "Extraordinary People" this Tuesday night at 9:00 Eastern.
