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Ferguson Waits for Grand Jury Decision on Officer Darren Wilson; European Space Probe About to Land on Comet; U.S. Navy Harassed in Istanbul; Michael Bloomberg's Career Advices

Aired November 12, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, I'm Pamela Brown in for Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being here with me.

In what may seem like overwhelming odds, a European space probe launched ten years ago is right now nearing its destination. A weirdly shaped speck of ice and dust on the other side of the solar system, we call these objects comets, which are known for the brilliant tails they develop as they near the sun.

Our Frederick Pleitgen is in mission control in Germany where scientists are on the edge of their seats right now. Frederick?

FREDERICK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, it's some very exciting moments here at the European Space Agency. What's going on right now is that the Philae lander -- and we have a model of it -- is going very, very close to the comet that it's supposed to land on.

Now, what's going to happen, as it gets closer, is it's going to shoot out harpoons into the surface of the comet and try and pull itself towards the comet, and at the same time it also has a single booster that's supposed to push it onto the comet's surface as well. Because, of course, this comet barely has any gravity. So the lander drops very, very slowly and has to hit exactly the right landing spot, because this thing, it might look rocky on this model that we have here, but it's made mostly of ice and metallic dust so they don't know how solid surface there is going to be.

However, if this landing succeeds, the Europeans hope to get some very vital information off this comet. There is the theory that 3.5 billion years ago, many of these comets landed on Earth, they slammed into the Earth and the ice from the comets melted into water, the metallic dust then reacted with the sunlight to create the first molecules which then morphed into the first forms of life on our planet. So this thing might hold a lot of answers as to how everything started on our Earth. Again, they're going try and make this landing happen and then are going to conduct experiments on the comet for several weeks. Pamela?

BROWN: Really, unbelievable there. We're going to keep an eye on this story, thanks Frederic Pleitgen. And now to the city of Ferguson, Missouri. Where - a city that has already seen months of protests after shooting of teenager Michael Brown is bracing for more. As a grand jury decision on whether to indict the officer involved is expected any day now. Brown's parents making a plea for justice in their son's death before a special United Nations panel in Geneva. And today Brown's parents and their attorney speaking out on why the U.N. is the right place to handle their request.

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DARRYL PARKS, ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL BROWN'S FAMILY: Probably the most powerful thing that the United Nations offers is perception. It's the same thing that we use against other countries as a country. When we look at other countries, when they have atrocities that exist in their countries where people are killed and lose their lives and when the government doesn't respond, any aspect of the government. Being at the U.N. is quite appropriate and I think I'll take one of the comments from Michael Singer yesterday, it's a simple message. That all life matters and black life matters, too.

MICHAEL BROWN SR., MICHAEL BROWN'S FATHER: Me and his mother, we came here to the U.N. to get justice for our son. I think that it couldn't be a better place than we could start at. And we want to just thank y'all for having us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: CNN's Sara Sidner joins us now from Ferguson. Sara, we got word this morning that the pathologist for the Brown family will testify before that grand jury tomorrow. What more can you tell us about that?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is what the Brown family attorneys are telling us. And what it basically says to a lot of folks is that this grand jury is not finished listening to witness testimony. I can tell you, Pamela, after being here for months and months that basically every single day there is a rumor that today's the day, that today the grand jury will come back and so this helps to tamp that down somewhat: there have been swirling rumors that constantly sort of keep people on edge here. And that may have been one of the reasons why the governor came out to explain that there is a plan in place when it comes to what police are going to do when that grand jury decision comes down.

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SIDNER: As the grand jury announcement on whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson grows ever nearer, the Missouri governor sent a message out to everyone -- law enforcement is ready.

JAY NIXON, GOVERNOR OF MISSOURI: Anybody that comes here needs to know they're going to be safe, while at the same time exercising those rights of speech. If folks cross that safety line on property or on person, we will use a full power of the law to keep peace.

SIDNER: The governor says he will send in the National Guard if required.

NIXON: When we make the determination that the National Guard is necessary to provide support, you know, I'm purported - preferred to issue that order.

SIDNER (on camera): We've talked to dozens of people from pastors to residents to protesters to police and they all say the city is on pins and needles waiting for the grand jury's decision and everyone is planning, not just here in Ferguson, but in the entire St. Louis metropolitan area.

The St. Louis County police department is already gearing up, purchasing more than $100,000 in riot gear. Some protesters blame police for escalating tensions after the killing of Michael Brown and they, too, are planning their reaction.

DEBRA KENNEDY, RESIDENT & PROTESTER: It's probably going to be a little anger, a little tension. There are going to be a few bad apples that do some looting, but my position is you can always replace a window, you can replace things, but you can't replace human lives. So as long as no lives get lost and if any lives are lost, it's probably going to be at the hands of the police officers and then that would just cause more problems.

SIDNER: But police said they have been diligent over the past 90 days, meeting with the community to make safety for all a priority.

CHIEF JON BELMAR, ST. LOUIS COUNTY POLICE: We have had instances where officers have been injured. We have had instances where they've been hit with rocks in the face and different things like that. So we're going to do what we can to protect them. But at the same time we try to always portray a posture of appropriateness to the situation that we're faced with.

SIDNER: While the community plans, Michael Brown's family was in Geneva speaking to the U.N. on police brutality. They've been calling for a peaceful reaction to any decision, but if there is no indictment, they told CNN they will join protesters in the streets once again.

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SIDNER: And so you heard there that the Brown family -- and they have been from the beginning asking for peaceful protests to whatever the decision is. I do want to tell you a little bit about this town. I mean we're talking about 21,000 people who live here. It's mostly a quiet town. There are only two streets where it is very visible that people are worried, on West Florissant where the initial protesting started back in August, nearly every single building, we just went down there a few moments ago, nearly every single building has boarded up with the exception of one or two shops. And here which is right near the police department there are a couple of buildings that are boarded up as well with business owners very concerned that the unrest is going to crash directly into their businesses. Pamela?

BROWN: Such anticipation. Thank you so much, Sara Sidner, we appreciate it.

And let's continue to discuss this. Joining me now from St. Louis, Michael McPhearson, co-chair of the "Don't shoot" coalition and executive director of Veterans for Peace.

First, Michael, I want to get your reaction to Governor Nixon's announcement that the National Guard will be on hand to help in the event of any violence after a grand jury announcement. The headline, as we see right here, in today's St. Louis "Post-Dispatch," "Plan in Place." So, Michael, how has that news been received by the community?

MICHAEL MCPHEARSON, CO-CHAIR, DON'T SHOOT CAMPAIGN: Well, at least amongst the activist community, people who are concerned about police violence is of great concern to us. It seems as if there's a lot of planning going on thinking or just assuming that activists are going to be violent. And instead of dealing with the issue, which is police accountability and transparency, people seem to be -- the police and the governor are gearing up as if there's an enemy coming to attack. And that's of great concern.

BROWN: And we heard the police chief talking there and he said before that some of the officers were hit in the face with rocks and that they have reason to prepare for something -- for more violence. So, what is the solution here? You know, police need to care about their safety, but at the same time, you don't want to send the wrong message to the community. What do you think the solution is?

MCPHEARSON: Well, certainly the solution is not preparing the National Guard. There's a long way from people being concerned about being hit by water bottles and having the National Guard standing by as if we're some kind of enemies. And if you look at the majority of the time over the past 90 days, there has not been violence. There's been some agitation, meaning protests. There's been education and there's been work for policy change. And when there has been violence, it's been based on the escalation of the police. Because when you show up in riot gear and things of that nature, when you show up to peaceful protests -- and I've seen this before this time period, I've seen this over the past 12 years as a protester or resistance person against these wars, we'll come as peace activists with baby carriages, with parents, with children, and the police will come in riot gear. And all that does is rises - raises the tension amongst the activists. And that raises the tension of the police.

And one thing that's important to understand, when you put on riot gear like a football player puts on their gear, it changes the mind- set of the person that's getting dressed. I mean, you just become a different person, that's part of human nature. So we don't see riot gear and things of that nature really deescalating things. It actually escalates things.

BROWN: And your group has also asked - what are you calling rules of engagement, included in that, and asking for police to avoid riot gear, also allowing media to do their jobs freely, establishing channels of communication in advance, and one that's really gained a lot of attention is the request for 48 hours advanced notice when a grand jury decision has been made. You say you can help quell any violence with these requests. Do you think that they're actually going to be met? MCPHEARSON: Well, we're in discussions with the police and yesterday

I think it was Chief Belmar said he's seen those requests and at least a number of them he sees as reasonable so we're going back and forth on that. And the idea here is that if we believe -- they believe -- that the police need prior notice then we also believe the community needs prior notice. And just like I heard a person before me on your show talking about how the whole region is on pins and needles, we think that given prior notice will help people be able to plan how they -- what they want to do and feel a little more comfortable and not from day to day being afraid. We also know that they should not rely solely on law enforcement to solve the problem because law enforcement actually put us in this situation.

Any violence that we have seen has been in response to violence. It's been in response to Michael Brown being killed, being left in the street for 48 hours, two dogs being brought to the scene. This is what the reaction was to. But once again, we have to look at the past 90 days and the preponderance of that time has been non-violent, has been education, has been discussion. So like I said, it's as if they're about to wage war and we as activists are just being prepared to participate and exercise our constitutional rights.

BROWN: And Michael, I have to wrap up here but I think that what some people are asking is you have the rules of engagement for police, but what about rules of engagement for the protesters? I mean why isn't it reciprocal in that sense?

MCPHEARSON: Well I think it is reciprocal because we are non-violent direct action. And there are rules to being non-violent. So if you're talking about people screaming and hollering at the police, that's not violence and we have a constitutional right to express ourselves. Now, I'd say myself, I don't do things like that, I don't scream and holler at police, but I think people have the right to do that and I was told when I went and served overseas that I was protecting and serving to protect people's constitutional rights. So I think that the rules of engagement for the activists are already set in the Constitution and we don't need to have like a separate rule of engagement.

BROWN: Okay, thank you so much Michael McPhearson, we appreciate it.

MCPHEARSON: Thank you.

BROWN: And still to come right here, in "News Room" billionaire Michael Bloomberg has a tip for high school seniors -- college may not be worth it, try plumbing. The CNN's Christine Romans is on the story. It's the latest salvo in the "is college worth it" debate, a fiery debate that really has a lot of interesting angles. We're going to tell you what Michael Bloomberg had to say about why some high schoolers should grow up to be plumbers and not go to college. When we come back.

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BROWN: We have some breaking news coming into the CNN newsroom. Three U.S. Navy sailors are attacked in Turkey in what appears to be an anti-American act of violence. Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon collecting the newest details. Barbara, what can you tell us?

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BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Pamela. We're going to start by showing this video and we will keep replaying it for our viewers. Three Navy sailors earlier today in port in Istanbul off a U.S. Navy warship came under attack on the pier portside. You see the militants coming up to the Navy sailors, these young militants identified themselves as part of an anti-Turkish government right - left wing, pardon me, anti-nationalist group.

They come up to the sailors, they start chanting slogans at them, anti-American slogans and shortly you will see they began to rough them up. They throw paint at them symbolizing blood and they even place bags over their heads. Very anti-American. You see that young Navy sailor there and the other sailors, three in total, taking a very thankfully passive approach.

The Navy is telling us that they're very proud of these sailors because they did not fight back. They put their hands up, the incident played out not very pleasant to say the at least and then the young sailors were able to get away. At this hour, they are back on their ship, the USS "Ross" in Istanbul. Port leave obviously has been canceled for the rest of the day. The U.S. embassy is working with the Turkish government now to determine who these militants are and try, hopefully, to identify them.

The Navy and the U.S. embassy saying that this is not reflective of the hospitality that the U.S. Navy and that the U.S. military gets when it is in Turkey, which is a NATO ally, a reflection, perhaps, as you see this unfold, of the continuing unrest in this region at this point. But three young Navy sailors today really getting the brunt of it. They were on shore leave and they got roughed up pretty bad. Pamela?

BROWN: Yeah, this video really tells the story. I know we're trying to learn more about the assailants, but do we know anything about them as of now? If they had any ties to ISIS, which, of course, is in neighboring Syria?

BROWN: I think that's a really good question. Right now the group is identifying themselves as part of a Turkish Youth Union movement. This has been a group that has been identified in Turkey as anti- nationalist, very anti-government in Turkey. They object to Turkey's military involvement in the ongoing unrest and they specifically object to the U.S. military presence, these militants basically chant "Yankee go home" "imperialism," they want the U.S. out of Turkey. Turkey, of course, a NATO ally that the U.S. is working very closely with in the war against ISIS. But these are very virulent anti- American and anti-Turkish government slogans that these people are chanting.

I think it's really important to note that they -- it's not just these militants that you see, but clearly there were sympathizers in the immediate vicinity of this pier. It does not appear from this video, at least, that anyone stepped in very quickly to try and help these U.S. Navy sailors. They had to make a run for it and get away. They are back on the ship. We're told they did not require medical attention. We are told that they are traumatized. The Navy at this point not identifying them and not, obviously, permitting any additional military personnel to go on shore leave in Istanbul, at least not for today. Pamela?

BROWN: Yeah, you can just imagine how shaken up they are after that. Thank you so much, Barbara Starr, keep us posted on any developments.

And we'll be right back.

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BROWN: Right now far, far out in space, a first in space exploration and in human history as the countdown clock shows as we had up there previously the 40-minute window. There we go, it just opened up for a European space probe to set down on a small chunk of ice and dust called comet 67-p. Now, take a look here. These are the first images now beaming back to Earth as the probe closes in on its target. Hard to tell what that is, exactly. If successful, the landing will represent an enormous technological achievement because of the sheer complexity of the mission across a vast distance. Now, once this probe touches down, a confirmation signal will then reach mission control in Germany about 30 minutes later. Which means if it lands right now we should know before the top of the hour. As you can imagine, those scientists in Germany on the edge of their seats right now. We will stay on top of this story.

Meantime, another story we're following, Michael Bloomberg knows how to succeed in business. I think it's pretty safe to say that. But the billionaire and ex-New York City mayor is now suggesting the rules have changed. CNN's Christine Romans is here with the story. He said something that some people may not expect here, Christine. What did he say?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this is from somebody who went to college, he went to Johns Hopkins University and I think he went to Harvard Business School. This is exactly what Mayor Bloomberg, former mayor Bloomberg, a billionaire said. He said "Today if your kid wants to go to college or become a plumber, you've got to think long and hard. If he's not going to go to a great school and he's not super smart academically, but is smart in terms of dealing with people and that sort of thing, being a plumber is a great job because you have pricing power, you have an enormous skill set." Now this is the latest in the "is college worth it" debate quite frankly. A lot of people have been saying look, people are graduating from college with hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans in some cases. The typical burden is more like $30 grand. 44 percent of students don't even complete a degree in six years. The cost of tuition is $30,000 a year and more than half of new graduate jobs don't even require a degree.

So a lot of people are asking is college worth it. Mayor Bloomberg weighing in with the - Michael Bloomberg weighing in with that "consider plumbing." Now, I will say I love ladder jobs, this is a ladder job, it means you start as an apprentice, right? Then become a plumber and then maybe you hire somebody to work with you and then maybe you buy a couple of trucks and then before you know it you are a small business owner. These are the kinds of jobs you can really build a good solid foundation from. They can't be outsourced and they're in great demand. So, coders, you know, the computer jobs, the coder jobs, everyone talks about those jobs, but these trade jobs, these ladder jobs, electricians and the likes, skilled machinists, these are very good jobs. If you don't want to go to school for four years at $30,000 a year ...

BROWN: Which isn't for everyone, as we know.

ROMANS: Which isn't for everyone -- plumbing and the trades aren't for everyone, either.

BROWN: Exactly.

ROMANS: So you have to - I think the bottom line here and what Bloomberg is saying is that you have to know your kid, know their skills and push them in the right direction. Because just a four year degree, it is a golden ticket, but you have to know how to get it punched in the economy and if you don't finish college or you take six years or longer to finish, then it becomes bad debt and then the - is college worth it debate is very easy for you. If you take too long, you drop out, or you have too much debt, well, no, it is not worth it.

BROWN: Right. Interesting advice, Mayor Bloomberg. Thanks to bringing it to us, Christine. We appreciate it. And be sure don't miss CNN's films "Ivory Tower" which looks at the ever climbing tuition race in student loan debts we were just talking about. That's Thursday, November 20 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN. We're back in just a moment.

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