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Don Lemon Tonight

More Russian Troops Seen Near Ukraine; Evidence With Racial Slurs Read In Court; Police Bias Displayed In Broad Daylight; NFL Hired Loretta Lynch. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired February 16, 2022 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:00]

DON LEMON, CNN HOST (on camera): This is DON LEMON TONIGHT and Laura Coates. I mean, but it is sometimes, though, --

(CROSSTALK)

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: We're not going to replace him.

LEMON: -- when you are there sitting.

COATES: Well, you know, then I just say, and hello, I am not Don Lemon, Sorry to disappoint the masses. he will be back.

LEMON: I think they know.

COATES: He will be back.

LEMON: I mean, look at you. Nobody thinks that I'm you, I mean, I could never look like you. But you know, we're going to -- of course, we're going to cover the big news Laura, that's happening in Ukraine, but I wanted to ask you about something.

All of these things that we're seeing. We're seeing the things happening in the mall, you're seeing what's happening with Ahmaud Arbery in that case with the McMichaels. And we've been having a very interesting conversations about the use of words, the n-word that they used.

COATES: Yes.

LEMON: And it's, I mean, hearing that word is tough, and for a lot of people, even for -- and using it, for people of color and a lot of folks. What do you think about the use of that word and, obviously, people shouldn't be using it in the way they did, but it's been, there's a proliferation of that word in the culture?

COATES: It is. And the culture in terms of how it's used familiar, as used by other black people you're talking about? I think that the use of the word is not appropriate, period. But I'll tell you this. One of the things my father always said to me was, never delegate your joy, and never delegate any power to somebody to make them believe that a single word can be something that will reduce you to less than you are. They can wield it, and I don't -- I'm not fine when I hear it, don't

get me wrong, but the idea of handing over one's power completely to let somebody win, to believe that you now think less of yourself because they lack the vocabulary to articulate what their grievance really is, you know, that's something they often think about.

And the ideas of reclaiming power and how it's used, but you know, what's most shocking in so many respect is the overall climate of this, Don. I mean, we're talking about the clawing back of voting rights in this country. We feel in many ways like it's 1964, before the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

And the language that was used today in that trial and heard, I mean, you could essentially look at any era in American history and it would feel evergreen, and that is abominable.

LEMON: Yes, I think that it hurts to hear that word, no matter what. I think that, you know, sometimes sanitizing it doesn't help. It depends on the context of the word. I think that sometimes when we don't say it, it's almost like people who are fighting not to teach history in the classroom, because they don't want to be offended, or they don't other people to be offended.

So, I think you have to, you know, there are times when you should use it to hear the impact of it, and there are times when it's just not appropriate. And so weird.

COATES: Yes.

LEMON: I mean, the conversation we're having even at certain times of the day. You know what I'm saying, on television if I'm going to use it or not. Like I definitely wouldn't say it on the morning show. But I'm going to --

(CROSSTALK)

COATES: Yes, you know, it's funny.

LEMON: Yes.

COATES: I think to myself, even today before the broadcast, how do you -- how do you say it?

LEMON: Yes.

COATES: You know, I'm not like you, I haven't been doing this my whole life, and I still look a wonderful professional and not a day over 22, I might add, Don Lemon. But I got to tell you, when I think about this, you know, as an audience member, and somebody who is a consumer of media as well, oftentimes, you know, what we'd say in the courtroom or how we would --

LEMON: Right.

COATES: -- relative verbatim versus what we want out there. It almost feels in many ways like, are you perpetuating it? Are you complicit? LEMON: Right.

COATES: And the longevity of this term? Is there something that we could do to arrest it? Because, you know, there are so many words, and you wonder how does this get passed down from generation to generation? That people know to wield it in that way?

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: I'm going to talk about that.

COATES: Is it because of this?

LEMON: Casual racism, that's what -- we're going to talk about it, coming up now.

COATES: I can't wait.

LEMON: But I love -- I love having this conversation with you, and I think we're the right two people to have it in this moment. So, listen, I just want to tell the audience, I'll tell them after. I'll let you go. Have a great one. I'll see you tomorrow.

COATES: Thank you, Don Lemon.

LEMON: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is DON LEMON TONIGHT. Thank you, everyone for watching.

So, I was having to cut that thing because I'm not actually going to say the word. I -- I usually like saying that word when it's app -- not like saying the word, that's the wrong way to put it. I used to think it's important to say that word when you're pointing out someone who is using it in an offensive way.

But I understand that it offends some people to hear the word. So that's always a tug of war for a news anchor, or for someone like Laura whose an attorney who has to recite it in documents in the courtroom. Or I have to recite what's happened in the courtroom or someone has done in the news story.

So, just be cognizant when I say n-word tonight, the person or people actually wrote the actual word, and they said the actual word. They didn't say n-word, they said the actual word. So, we're going to talk about racism rearing its ugly head. Ugly, ugly head in the courtroom in Georgia.

Disturbing evidence in the federal hate crime trial of three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. Texts and social media messages from two of the men full of racist insults. Offensive language you might not expect to hear in an American courtroom in 2022, as Laura just pointed up. And handed down from generation to generation and generation.

And even armed with all that evidence, the prosecution still has to prove the murder of Ahmaud Arbery who was chased down and shot to death on broad daylight what he was jogging in a Georgia neighborhood. [22:05:05]

They have to prove that brutal crime was motivated by hate. But this is more than a legal story. Thought, it is that. It is that. It is about justice for all, black, white, brown. But it's also about the America that we live in. The America where every day there are people who feel completely free to speak hate, to text it to each other. And they don't do it, right, out in the open, sometimes they do, but usually they don't. To make jokes loaded with it, to laugh about it.

It's the kind of everyday hate that doesn't always end up in court. But it's there just the same. Infecting our country. Now, as I said, I'm going to read you some of the text messages the prosecution introduced today, and I have to warn you, they're full of offensive, racist language.

There's this text exchange between Travis McMichael and a friend, a random ordinary exchange talking about a local Cracker Barrel restaurant. The friend texting McMichael, and I quote here. "This Cracker Barrel up here is full of some other kinds of people." McMichael replying, and remember I'm quoting here, need to change the name from Cracker Barely to n-word bucket, except they didn't write n- word, they wrote the full word.

And it's that tough for you to hear. If that is tough for you to hear, if you're offended by that, well, you should be. There's another text message between McMichael and a friend from March 20 -- March 16, 2019, discussing his new job and why he liked that he didn't work with black people.

And I quote again, "they ruin everything. That's why I love what I do, not an n-word in sight." In your head, didn't say n-word, it wasn't that cute. Casual racism. Right out there in the open.

And then there's the WhatsApp message between William Roddie Bryan and a friend after Bryan discovered his daughter was dating a black man, it was no, no. Right? This message dated February 19th, this is 2020, February 19th, 2020 just four days before Ahmaud Arbery was murdered.

Quote, yes, "she has her n-word now. I've been calling that for a while now. Not surprised."

Casual racism. Ahmaud Arbery's family didn't want a plea for his killers in the hate crime trial. And with all that, you can certainly understand why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WANDA COOPER JONES, AHMAUD ARBERY'S MOTHER: What I thought all along was true, that Travis killed Ahmaud not because Ahmaud had committed a crime, it's because Ahmaud was black and because Travis was truly a racist.

UNKNOWN: It's just really a shame that they got that much hate in them out there for African American people. It's just really a shame. Man, that's a sickness. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Strong words from Ahmaud Arbery's family. Those words in that courtroom today are a sickness. They're like poison. How did those words land when you hear them? For people who look like me, it's like the words are slapping you in the face. The hate, the racism, right?

Again, it's so offensive because, as I was saying to Laura earlier, when you hear people, they don't want to teach about racism in school. They don't want people to hear the full thing. It's -- imagine how offensive it is for black kids in school to learn about slavery, but the whole idea is so white kids won't be offended or feel bad when they hear about it.

It's kind of same thing with that word. It makes people feel better when they -- when you say n-word. But that's not what people call you in the public. People actually call me the word. It's not surprising. Still shocking.

And all this comes as outrage is growing over a video showing what happens when police break up a fight between a black teen and a white teen at a New Jersey mall. The video shows the boys arguing, fingers are pointed, punches are thrown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: You're talking to him.

(CROSSTALK)

UNKNOWN: What are you going to do?

UNKNOWN: Yow. (muted).

UNKNOWN: Holy (muted).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): So, the black teen ends up on the ground, two Bridgewater Township police officers arrive. A female officer pulls the white teen away and pushes him to the couch without handcuffs, while the other officers presses a black teen to the ground, kneels on his back. The female officer coming over to kneel on the teen's upper back while they place him, and only him, in handcuffs.

[22:10:04]

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy saying, quote, "the appearance of what is racially disparate treatment is deeply, deeply disturbing." The county prosecutor's office is investigating this. And we're going to have much, much more on this tonight when I talk to that black teen, his mother, and their attorney, Ben Crump.

And there's news in another big legal case tonight. President Joe Biden rejecting his predecessor's latest attempt to keep records from his administration under wraps, this time it's White House visitor logs, including appointments for individuals allowed into the White House complex on January 6th. The National Archives sending a letter to the former president today informing him that document will be delivered to the committee in two weeks.

And then there's the escalating crisis in Ukraine. Turns out there's a good reason for the White House to be skeptical about Russia's claims that some of its troops are withdrawing. Tonight, there are 7,000 more Russian troops along the Ukraine border in spite of Moscow's claim. An administration official telling the New York Times, quote, "they received a lot of attention for that claim both here and around the world, but we know -- we now know it was false." The White House warning the window for potential attack is still open.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The bottom line is this. We're prepared either way. We're prepared to engage in diplomacy with Russia if it's serious about it. We're also prepared for renewed Russian aggression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): I want to bring in now CNN military analyst, retired Colonel Cedric Leighton. Good evening, Colonel Leighton. Thank you so much. I appreciate you joining us.

This is serious. I've been telling the audience and every guest that's come on about this. I have a bad, bad feeling about it. Let's hope that I'm wrong. But the U.S. now says Russia has added 7,000 troops to the border in recent days despite claims from Moscow that it was pulling back. There's also this new satellite image that shows a tactical bridge being built across a key river in Belarus less than four miles from Ukraine's border. What does this signify to you?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Don, good evening. It's, like you said, this is one of those worst-case scenarios where everything is coming together. On the one hand, the Russians are saying all kinds of relatively good things diplomatically, at least in these last few days, but their actions are telling us a different thing, they're telling us a different story, and that story is that they're continuing to prepare for an invasion or some kind of military operation that is not going to be good for Ukraine. That's -- that's basically what it looks like right now.

LEMON: So tactically, what should we be seeing on the ground if they were actually, you know, pulling back as they said they were? What should we be seeing?

LEIGHTON: So, you'd be seeing some real movement of troops. For example, you have all these forces in Belarus, which are engaged in an exercise. So, you probably wouldn't expect those to be pulled back unless they ended the exercise early. That exercise is supposed to end on the 20th of this month.

But what you would be seeing is forces coming back from the Ukrainian/Russian border. So, they would be pulling back to areas that are further back like to (Inaudible) which is still close to the border, but it's further away from Russia -- from the Russian/Ukraine border itself.

Then on the other hand what you have is, you know, some movement in the Crimea. You are seeing more helicopters going down to Crimea. That should not be happening if they're withdrawing forces and if they're willing to talk, if they're really willing to talk (Inaudible) right now.

LEMON: Colonel, the last couple seconds of what you said cut out. Can you please repeat it.

LEIGHTON: Sure. When you're looking at what's going on in Crimea, for example, they have all these helicopters, 60 helicopters that deployed to Crimea. That should not have been happening. You should not see any new deployments of forces to the front, to the border, and that's what you're seeing.

That is the kind of thing that shows that they are not serious about negotiating. They are more serious about moving their forces forward, keeping them prepared for an offensive operation, and that's exactly what's going on right now.

LEMON: We are learning tonight that the U.S. navy aircraft had an extremely close encounter with multiple Russian military jets over the Mediterranean this weekend, that's according to multiple U.S. officials.

Now, let us -- let's be very clear here. The U.S. is not going to war with Russia over Ukraine, but do you worry amid rising tensions mistakes or unintended encounters could happen and that could just, I mean, that could be a hornet's nest?

LEIGHTON: It sure could. That's one of the biggest problems that we're dealing with here, Don, is that law of unintended consequences. When it comes to the aircraft incidents, one aircraft suppose -- one Russian aircraft supposedly got within five feet of an American aircraft, that's way too close.

There is no reason that any aircraft should be that close to another aircraft, and you're looking at the possibility of miscalculation, the possibility of accidents.

[22:15:03]

Those kinds of things are very dangerous in a situation like this, and a miscalculation of that type will spiral into an international incident, an international incident could lead to much worse things and we don't need that, neither side needs that right now.

LEMON: We're lucky to have you at our disposal here to come on and talk about this. Thank you, Colonel Leighton, I appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Don. Any time. LEMON: So, offensive, racist messages read out in the hate crime

trial of three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. How will the jury react?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Ahmaud didn't know that he was targeted. And he had no clue. This breaks my heart over and over again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON (on camera): OK. So, here we go. Pay attention, please, everyone. Disgusting racist text and social media messages from two of the white men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery disclosed in their federal hate crimes trial today.

[22:20:03]

An FBI intelligence analyst testifying what investigators found from Travis McMichael and William Roddie Bryan. A warning, the language I'm about to share with you is graphic. It's racist, and it's extremely offensive.

The first text message introduced into evidence was between Travis McMichael and a friend. McMichael was discussing a new job and why he like that he didn't work with black people, saying, quote, "they ruin everything, that's why I love what I do, not an n-word in sight."

Another text message from 2019 referenced McMichael meeting up with a friend at a local Cracker Barrel restaurant. The friend tells Travis this Cracker Barrel up here is full of some other kinds of people. Travis replies, needs to change the name from Cracker Barrel to n-word bucket.

On social media, McMichael posted a comment reacting to a video of primarily black teenagers showing a white teenager being beaten up by a mob. Travis commented on the video on Facebook -- on a Facebook post and says I shoot them all in Full Saiga would have done wonders. F those goddamn monkeys. Saiga is a type of semiautomatic gun.

And the FBI analyst also testified about messages found in the phone of William Roddie Bryan that showed evidence of racial animus. A WhatsApp message dated January 20th, 2020 which was Martin Luther King Jr. Day between Bryan and a friend, quotes, Bryan is saying, "Happy Bootlip Day." A derogatory term for a black person. "And I worked like an n-word today."

Here with me right now CNN's Nick Valencia, who was in the courtroom. Nick, good evening to you. Thanks for joining us this evening. These messages are stomach-turning.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don.

LEMON: What was the reaction to the testimony in the courtroom from the defendants, the jurors, and the Arbery family?

VALENCIA: Yes, I sat directly behind Ahmaud Arbery's family, Don. And they were noticeably disgusted by what they heard. A lot of us in the gallery were disgusted by what we heard. But specifically, Ahmaud Arbery's family, they were occasionally shaking their heads as they heard this evidence presented that the McMichaels and Roddie Bryan regularly used racist language.

At one point Marcus Arbery Sr. had to get up he was so bothered by what he heard. And afterwards I asked, you know, what was going through your mind as you walk out of court? He said I was just so sickened, so sickened to know that someone like that lived around me, that lived around the children in this community. He said after today there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that Ahmaud Arbery was murdered for jogging while black.

LEMON: I think we have a sound bite here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCUS ARBERY SR., AHMAUD ARBERY'S FATHER: Because he was a young black man. You see -- you see all the racism they were doing on their Facebooks and stuff. They are not kids. If a kid black, they hated him. You see what they were saying about a little kid. That should get everybody to wake up call. You know what I'm saying?

Their words on these people like (Inaudible) in this world. They hate black people that bad. It's a bad -- it's a bad sickness for this whole generation, this whole world, not just the black people. It affects white people too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA (on camera): We're also looking for reaction from the jurors. Remember, three of them are black, one of them is Latino. They sat mostly attentive, listening to the evidence. You know, it was a very difficult day in court for many people in that courtroom, Don.

LEMON: Yes. Just awful. Nick Valencia, thank you very much. I appreciate that. I want to discuss now with Michael Moore, he is a former U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. Michael, thanks for joining us.

MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY, MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA: Glad to be here.

LEMON: This is gross, right, hearing this stuff. I just want to read a social media post uncovered by the FBI intelligence analysts relating to racial violence. In one example, Travis McMichael replied to a private message sent to him from a friend with a video where a black man put barbecue sauce on a white man's head. This was allegedly a humorous video.

But McMichael responded, I'd kill that effing n-word. This is explicitly racist. And it relates directly to violence. But does it prove that Ahmaud Arbery's murder was a hate crime? MOORE: You know, I'm glad to be with you. I'm sorry that we're having

to talk about this. Let me say one thing I've enjoyed listening to Mr. Arbery, the father, speak candidly from his heart throughout this process. I think that's moving.

This is the difficulty with a hate crime prosecution. No matter how disgusting and sickening, racist comments that somebody might make, that just gives a picture of their character. But it doesn't necessarily prove the hate crime.

I mean, that's a little tough to explain except that you got to actually say that Mr. Arbery was killed because of his race, that that was a motivator in the killing. And the government is going to have to approve that. That's why we're looking for comments that maybe close in time, text or Facebook postings to things close in time.

[22:24:57]

That's one of the comments that we heard that Mr. Brian relayed that he heard at the scene right after Ahmaud was shot, that honorable comment. That's that one of the reasons that's so important. Is it sort of paints a picture and it puts it into context?

Remember that we prosecute people for what they do. We don't prosecute people for what they think, no matter how disgusting they may be.

LEMON: A set of WhatsApp messages uncovered by investigators discuss Roddie Bryan discovering that his daughter was dating a black man. And that's just between Bryan and a friend dated February 19th, 2020, four days before the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery.

Quoted, Bryan is saying, "yes, she has her n-word now. I've been calling that for a while now. I'm not surprised." How should a jury weigh information like that especially that it was sent four days before Arbery was killed?

MOORE: You know, I think they need to weigh in and put it into context and think about it in the totality of the circumstances. What's interesting in this case is this case is not about whether or not there was a murder. There was. This is now simply a case about what the motivation for the murder was.

And so, if you think back to the state case, the defendants almost created their own defense now talking about, well, we didn't do it because it was a young black man running in our neighborhood, we did it because we tried to enforce the law and we were going to deputize ourselves, I guess, and do a citizen's arrest.

If that's going to be the theme. I think we'll hear going forward, that in this case, the jury is going to be overwhelmed with this information that's coming in, these horrible text and messages and that's going to start to paint the picture. It's just going to depend now on whether or not the government prosecutors can fill in the rest of the painting to find out, you know, can we actually link and can we give enough information to the jury for them to link, in fact, the killing with racial motivation. You could have the sorriest people saying the sorriest things about

other folks, but you still have to tie their motive for other particular time. Did on that day, the fact that Ahmaud was a black man and these gentlemen obviously had, that I use the term loosely, had racist thoughts, then, you know, could they make that ultimate connection for the jury.

LEMON: What other elements and evidence will prosecutors need to present to the jury beyond messages from before the killing to make it clear that it was about Arbery's race?

MOORE: You know, it's going to be interesting to see whether or not they bring in evidence of, again, the comment that Mr. Bryan overheard. It's going to be interesting to see whether or not they talk about things like the old confederate flag and those types of things, whether or not they try to paint that picture.

And there may be other comments that we're not privy too yet. We don't know what else might be -- because we really didn't get into the racial evidence during the state case. I think that was a smart move by the assistant district attorney at that time because she didn't have to prove motive. So here we may -- we may start to hear other things that things have been said. Who knows?

We may hear something that's been said to somebody who's a cell mate, somebody who's been locked up with them that they may have run their mouth to. That seems to get folks in trouble all the time when they -- because they can't keep their mouths shut when they get into trouble.

So, we just don't know. That's the kind of evidence I would be looking for. What do we have in a close proximity to the shooting that tells us this was not a case of somebody, a horrible event, this was a case where actually because of his race he was hunted down?

It may seem obvious to us, and I think a lot of us because we're so invested -- we have invested in him because we watched his murder. But the government is going to have to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt to the jurors.

LEMON: I have to ask you, since you're from Georgia, you have worked in the community for years. Are you surprised to hear this language being used even in private? I mean, we would hope that this kind of hatred doesn't exist anymore. Look, I'm not shocked. I'm from Louisiana, from the deep south.

MOORE: Yes.

LEMON: It doesn't have to be from the south. I hear people doing it all the time. But these messages show that, you know, it's disturbing. It's not the case that people don't do that. They do, do it.

MOORE: Yes. I'd like to tell you that I'm surprised, and I think it's a shame that I can't say that surprised. What I would tell folks who aren't from the south is just don't believe that all of us are like that. You wouldn't have heard that language in my house from my children. So. it's disgusting. There's no other way around it and there's nothing that you could say about it.

And I hope that we find a place where we carry some of the spirit again of Mr. Arbery, who's been talking to us straight from his heart, in my opinion, about how, you know, we got to live together and get along and treat each other with respect no matter what the color of our skin is.

LEMON: Thank you, Michael. I appreciate it.

MOORE: Glad to be with you, Don. Thank you.

[22:29:59]

LEMON: Two teens get into a fight at a New Jersey mall, but only one was cuffed, the black teen. Now there are accusations of racial bias. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON (on camera): So. I want you to sit down and watch this as well. Two teenagers getting into a fistfight last weekend at a New Jersey mall. But when police arrive to break it up, the black teenager was held to the ground and handcuffed while the white teenager wasn't. And it is sparking outrage and action of racial bias.

CNN's Athena Jones has more on the story.

[22:35:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Accusations of racial bias by police after they broke up a fight between a pair of teenagers, one black, one white at a New Jersey mall. A now-viral video shows the teens having a heated discussion. The white teen even the pointing his finger in the face of the black teen who pushes the white teen's hand away.

The white teen then shoves the black teen, and the two begin to tussle. At one point the white teen tackling the black teen and pinning him to a couch then throwing him to the ground. When police arrive to break up the fight, a female officer pulls the white even the away and pushes him to the couch without handcuffs. While the other officer presses the black teen to the ground and kneels on his back while. The female officer also coming over to kneel on the teen's upper back while they place him and only him in handcuffs.

UNKNOWN: No. Holy (muted).

A. JONES: Treatment some viewed as unequal, unfair, and racially biased. One bystander exclaiming in surprise as police handcuff the black teen.

UNKNOWN: Yow, it's because he's black.

A. JONES: CNN affiliate WCBS spoke with one of the teens involved, 14-year-old Kye, who asked that his last name not be used.

KYE, TEEN INVOLVED IN NEW JERSEY MALL FIGHT: I was like, confused. Why they saw me as a bad person. Like, me as aggressive.

A. JONES: The eighth grader telling CNN affiliate WABC the fight began when he scooped up for a friend, a seventh-grader being picked on by the other teen who the station identifies as a high school student. The teen calling the encounter with police scary and frustrating.

KYE: If they don't know how to treat the situation and deal with the situation equally and fairly, then they shouldn't be able to deal with the situation at all?

A. JONES: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy saying --

GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): I'm deeply disturbed by what appears to be a racially disparate treatment in the video. We underscore with emphasis that we're committed to increasing the trust between law enforcement on the one hand and the communities they serve on the other.

A. JONES: The NAACP New Jersey state conference calling for the officers involved to be removed from the force, pending an investigation. And saying despite years of talk about bias training and accountability, when Bridgewater police found two youths fighting, the immediate reaction was to aggressively throw the black child to the ground. At the same time, the white youth was carefully eased onto a couch and treated like a victim.

EBONE, MOTHER OF TEEN INVOLVED IN NEW JERSEY MALL FIGHT: It's very obvious --

A. JONES: Kye's mother Ebone, telling WCBS --

EBONE: Maybe they could have broken up the fight and maybe set them aside and called their parents, no cuffs, no aggression, dealt with them like they were teenagers.

A. JONES: Asked what they want to see happen to the officers --

KYE: I guess I want them to be fired.

EBONE: I'm not happy about it and I do want those two cops to become unemployable. That's what I would like.

A. JONES: The Bridgewater Township Police Department saying in a Facebook post it knows the video of the incident has upset members of the community and is asking county prosecutors to conduct an internal affairs investigation.

The Somerset County prosecutor's office internal affairs unit says it is investigating the fight itself and the police response to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

A. JONES (on camera): The police department says it has received additional videos from members of the community and both the department and the prosecutor's office are asking anyone who has a video of the incident to get in touch with them. Don?

LEMON: Athena Jones, thank you so much.

So, everyone, Kye is here, so is his mother, Ebone, and their attorney, Benjamin Crump. We'll speak right after this.

[22:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON (on camera): There is outrage after a video showing two New Jersey police officers breaking up a fight between two teens in a New Jersey mall. Police pinning 14-year-old Kye to the ground, handcuffing him, while leaving the other teenager uncuffed.

Kye is here with me now along with his mother Ebone, and attorney for the family, Ben Crump. Thank you for joining us. We really appreciate it this evening. Kye, I'm sorry this happened to you. You say this whole incident began when this older teenager who happens to be white seen on the video was bullying another kid. So, tell us what happened next. What went on?

KYE: So, he was messing with my friend. He was kind of bullying because he knew he was older. I didn't like that. I didn't the fact (Inaudible). So, I decided to do something about it and it turned into a whole fistfight.

He started saying -- well, he started saying thing to me that he said to my friend, so it turned into whole fistfight because I was mad about it. And then we end up on the ground, cops came over, they tackled me, put their knee in my back, and then the cop that was dealing with him came over to help handcuff me and put her knee in my back.

LEMON: They put you in handcuffs. And then I understand that they took you away to a holding area, right?

KYE: Yes.

LEMON: So, what was going through your mind as the officers were handcuffing you and keeping you on the ground and then the white teen was just left there on the couch?

KYE: I kind of felt like the cops were, like, going along with what the older kid was saying to him about being bigger and stronger and superior. I felt like they were agreeing to it.

LEMON: What do you mean by that? Explain that, Kye. If I can speak up, please. too, as well. Explain that, what do you mean?

KYE: I feel like they were treating her like -- treating him like he was superior to me and agreeing with the fact that he knew he was superior. That he, like, thought he was superior.

[22:45:01]

LEMON: Ebony, teenagers, especially teenage boys tend to fights sometimes. You know, it happens. It's not unheard-of behavior. Do you think there's any reason to have two fully grown adults holding your son down in the first place? What did you think of the treatment and the difference between how they treated your son and the other teen?

EBONE: I think that it doesn't take two adults, it doesn't. I just -- I just -- I just can't understand it. I don't. I keep trying to wrap my mind around it and no possible scenario does it make sense to me. If -- I hate to say this, but if it wasn't for race, then what is it?

What made them tackle my son and not the other kid? What made them be so aggressive with my son and not the other kid? Why is the other kid sitting down looking at my son be humiliated and put into cuffs? It just doesn't make sense. That makes me angry.

LEMON: What does this -- what does this do when there's already so much mistrust between black communities and police? What if there hadn't been so many people recording this on their phone, Ebone?

EBONE: It could have been worse. I feel like if it wasn't in a mall setting where there were so many eyes -- if they did that when there were so many eyes I can't imagine if it was in any other scenario. That's scary, especially knowing, you know, -- especially knowing what has happened before. It's just scary to think of it.

And I would like to, you know, have us trust the cops. I'm not saying all cops are bad, but what I'm saying is there are a few out there that feel they are above the law, I would say. I just -- I just -- I just don't understand to be honest.

LEMON: Yes. Ben, did they explain, anybody explain to you why he was handcuffed and the other teen wasn't?

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR KYE AND EBONE: No, they haven't, Don Lemon. And the only thing as Ebone said, it has to be the racial factor because when you think of her son Kye doing exactly what you want children to do, to stand up for other children against bullying, and he was the hero in all of this, but yet the police treated him like the menace.

Why is it the black kid is presumed guilty and the white kid is presumed innocent? The black kid is face down with a knee in his back and the white kid was allowed to sit on the couch and observe him being humiliated. Why is the black kid put in handcuffs, falsely detained, and taken to the security facility, while the white kid is allowed to leave scot-free, when we know now he's the initial instigator?

It really troubles us and we have to fix this society because if we allow this to be swept under the rug, it leads to what happened to Ahmaud Arbery, it leads to what happened to Trayvon Martin where our children are being profiled based on the color of their skin in the worst type of way. LEMON: Ben, the New Jersey NAACP is calling for the officers involved

in breaking up this fight to be, quote, "immediately removed." Do you and the family agree with that?

CRUMP: I think the family has already expressed that they want them to be held accountable, and if this is what they call good policing, then they don't want them on the police force because, as Ebone said, they had cameras here. Don, what do they do to our children when our cameras aren't on the incident?

LEMON: Ebone, you were saying absolutely.

EBONE: Absolutely, yes. I don't want them -- I want their badges taken away. Because if they'll do it now, I'm sure they've done it before -- and what will they do in the future? Their -- if you do something once, you can do it again.

LEMON: Kye --

EBONE: It might be worse.

LEMON: Kye, you're OK, you're going to be OK?

KYE: Yes.

LEMON: Ben, before we go, you also represent Wanda Arbery, and you mentioned -- Wanda Cooper, I should say, Ahmaud Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones. I want your reaction to the testimony today in the federal hate crimes trial and whether it shows a racial motive.

CRUMP: I believe, as Wanda and Marcus, Ahmaud's parents have said all along, they lynched him because he was jogging while black. Everything from the 911 call to all the text messages say that this was a racially motivated murder, and they should be convicted of a hate crime.

[22:50:01]

LEMON: Ben, thank you very much. And again, our thanks to Ebony and Kye. We appreciate you are joining us. Best of luck. Look, keep us updated. We want to know what happened. All right? Thank you so much.

EBONE: Thank you.

CRUMP: Yes, absolutely.

LEMON: So, the NFL is facing a class action lawsuit alleging racial discrimination, so what do they do? They lawyer up. And take this. They're going big. They're hiring the first black female attorney general in U.S. history, Loretta Lynch.

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LEMON (on camera): Take this. The NFL has hired former Attorney General Loretta Lynch as part of its defense counsel against a bombshell class action lawsuit filed by Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. Lynch who was nominated by former President Barack Obama was the nation's first black female attorney general.

[22:55:04]

Now a league official says she will be on the team defending the NFL in the suit. Flores who is black has sued the NFL, the New York Giants, the Denver Broncos, and the Miami Dolphins organizations alleging racial discrimination. On the show he likened the NFL to a modern-day plantation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN FLORES, FORMER HEAD COACH, MIAMI DOLPHINS: But we need chance.

LEMON: You really think it's like a plantation?

FLORES: A modern form of -- of that. Look, the people who make the decisions and, you know, the people who are working, the players. Seventy percent of them are black, the people making the decisions the majority are white. And what we're trying to do with this lawsuit is really create change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): The NFL has called Flores allegations meritless. As of today, there are only two black head coaches in the league. Pittsburgh Steelers Mike Tomlin and Houston Texan's Lovie Smith.

Up next, Russia is saying one thing but doing another. U.S. officials saying Russia's adding thousands of troops to the border with Ukraine. We're live in Ukraine right after this.

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