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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Outrage Over No Indictment; Federal Civil Rights Investigation; Michael Brown's Stepfather Speaks Out; American Schoolteacher Stabbed in Abu Dhabi; Oil War Pushes Gas Prices Lower
Aired December 04, 2014 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Protesters shouting "I can't breathe" march across New York after the grand jury decides not to hand down an indictment in Eric Garner's chokehold death during his encounter with the police. Garner's shocked family calls for peace.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And Michael Brown's stepfather now speaking about this video. His angry reaction to the grand jury decision in Missouri not to indict a police officer in his stepson's death. He apologizes now and says emotions got the best of him.
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Thirty-one minutes past the hour.
Breaking overnight: protests erupt across the country as nine days of unrest in Ferguson. The issue of race and justice and law enforcement once again moves squarely to the center of the national agenda. And once again, the flashpoint is a grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer in the death of a black man. In this case, a New Yorker named Eric Garner.
BERMAN: Garner died in July after the officer used a chokehold trying to arrest him for selling loose cigarettes.
Following the announcement of grand jury's decision, activists organized protests.
His widow also spoke out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ESAW GARNER, WIDOW OF ERIC GARNER: I'm determined to get justice for my husband, because he shouldn't have been killed in that way. He shouldn't have been killed in any way. He should be celebrating Christmas and Thanksgiving and everything else with his children and his grandchildren. And he can't. Why? Because a cop did wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: CNN's Joe Johns now with latest from the scene of Garner's death on Staten Island -- Joe. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, this is the place where that altercation occurred back in July, resulting in the death of Eric Garner. There is a makeshift memorial here with flowers, posters, candles. And into the night, the number of people visiting the scene rose and fell, some expressing anger and exasperation.
What seemed difficult for many to reconcile was the plain evidence on video of what occurred here on the street last July and how that could not lead to an indictment. But other whose showed up here, including community leaders and family members of Garner, encouraging the crowd to keep it peaceful.
The scene is walking distance from the Staten Island district attorney's office. And the only statement coming out of there was that the law requires the activities of grand juries to remain secret and there would be no release of information about the decision unless a court orders it. There was a small protest here with perhaps a dozen people or so marching through chanting "no justice, no peace". But we only saw them once.
For his part, Daniel Panteleo, the New York police officer whose actions were under review by the grand jury, did release a statement expressing his condolences to the Eric Garner family -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Thanks, Joe, for that.
Eric Garner's father, Ben Garner, also had a message for the public telling Joe Johns that he is disappointed by the grand jury decision, but that people should keep protests peaceful and lawful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN GARNER, FATHER OF ERIC GARNER: I was hurt by it, but still, I don't want no reason for anybody to get locked up here and go through the same (EXPLETIVE DELETED) that we are going through all the time.
JOHNS: What do you think happens next? Have you talked to the lawyers a bit about, you know --
GARNER: The feds will take over.
JOHNS: And you are hopeful that the federal government --
GARNER: I'm quite sure they will give us the right decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: And his message of peace struck a message with New York City's mayor. Bill de Blasio told reporters about the painful personal talk he had with his son Dante, who's black. De Blasio says even he, the mayor of New York, had to warn his sons to be careful, he said that -- he remarked how interesting it is that even he as mayor has to talk to his son about interactions with police officers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: I couldn't help but immediately think what it would mean to lose Dante. Life could never been the same thereafter. I could feel how it will never been whole again. Things will never been whole again for Mr. Garner.
And even in the midst of his pain, one of the things he stopped and said so squarely was, there can't be violence. And said Eric would not have wanted violence. Violence won't get us anywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Following the grand jury decision not to uphold an indictment in Garner's death, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Justice Department will launch a federal civil rights investigation to the case. He promised it will be, quote, "independent, thorough, fair and expeditious".
The investigation will be handled at least initially by the woman President Obama has nominated to replace Eric Holder, the U.S. attorney from Brooklyn, Loretta Lynch. The president himself also weighed in on the Garner case vowing to build more trust and accountability between police and the communities they serve.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As I said when I met with folks both from Ferguson and law enforcement and clergy and civil rights activists, I said this is an issue we have been dealing with for too long. And it's time for us to make more progress than we've made. And I'm not interested in talk. I'm interested in action. And I'm absolutely committed as president of the United States to making sure that we have a country in which everybody believes in the core principle that we are equal under the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The protests around the country overnight, they were peaceful in New York City's Grand Central terminal. Hundreds chanted "I can't breathe" during a die-in. Organize on social media under the #thisstopstheday. Police stopped protesters from disrupting the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center. Some blocked traffic and they took the street. A total of about 30 arrests were made.
ROMANS: In California, protesters took to the streets of downtown Oakland. The demonstrations mostly peaceful with no reports of injuries or arrests.
On the East Coast, protesters in Atlanta took to the streets. You see demonstrators staging die-ins. They were also spotted marching down several other downtown streets, blocking traffic while chanting those protests slogan. BERMAN: In Ferguson, Missouri, Michael Brown's stepfather says he is sorry for his emotional outburst, his called to burn this bitch down, those were his words, that came the night a grand jury there decided not to indict a police officer in his stepson's death.
CNN correspondent George Howell now with the latest from Ferguson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police in Ferguson are looking back at what happened last week to determine to find out why and what started the looting and rioting that we saw. And they are focusing on video and that audio. You will remember, Louis Head making the comment. He's the stepfather of Michael Brown, telling people to burn things down. Police are questioning whether that helped incite a riot.
Mr. Head has since apologized for those comments, saying that he made them in a fit of rage. He was angry and he did not want to see this community burn down.
In the meantime, we are also hearing from the governor of the state, Jay Nixon. You'll remember, he took some heat for his decision on how he deployed the National Guard after the rioting took place.
Take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: There are business owners who said, hey, had the National Guard been there, maybe my business would not have been looted or burned down. Your decision, though, to bring them in later.
GOV. JAY NIXON (D), MISSOURI: The loss of property was significant, clearly. Individual business owners, our hearts go out to them. But you put in context, the fact we didn't have a single one of those folks shot or single law enforcement or trooper or national guardsmen shot nor any of their weapons discharged in that difficult a situation, I had to make decision about life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: In the aftermath of what happened in New York with Eric Garner, I can tell you, there were about a handful of protesters in front of the police department. But overall, here in Ferguson, everything remained peaceful -- John, Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Thank you for that, George.
Now, a bizarre and scary story out of the Middle East to report to you. An American teacher stabbed to death in a shopping mall in Abu Dhabi. Was her death related to a threat against American teachers?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROMANS: Welcome back.
Happening now: Reaction to the case of Eric Garner. A New York City grand jury declined on Wednesday to indict the police officer who tried to arrest Garner using a chokehold that ended in Garner's death. The grand jury's announcement sparked protest nationwide last night and in New York, marchers virtually shutdown midtown Manhattan for a time.
BERMAN: Breaking overnight: an American man held captive in Yemen is begging for help. Luke Somers was kidnapped last year by an al Qaeda affiliate. In recent video, you can see Somers appears nervous as he introduces himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUKE SOMERS, KIDNAPPED BY AL QAEDA: My name is Luke Somers. I'm 33 years old. I was born in England, but I carry an American citizenship and have lived in America for most of my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Last week, both U.S. Special Operations and Yemeni forces tried to free Somers without success. An al Qaeda official says, in his words, that Somers will meet his inevitable fate if the United States does not meet the group's demands in three days. Those demands were not outlined in the video. Somers says his life is in danger. He needs help immediately. He is a freelance photographer who's kidnapped by terrorists last September.
BERMAN: All right. Police in the United Arab Emirates is searching for the suspect in the slaying of an American teacher. Forty-seven- year-old Ibolya Ryan was stabbed in rest room of a high end mall in Abu Dhabi. Now, security footage shows the suspect right there covered head to toe in women's garb.
CNN's Becky Anderson is standing by live in Abu Dhabi with the latest.
Good morning, Becky.]
And that suspect that they have on that surveillance tape, it looks -- you can't tell if that is a man or woman. You can't see really anything about that person.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Correct. That is what is baffling authorities here, just who killed Ibolya Ryan and why.
Let's look at the images which were released by the interior ministry yesterday. This attack actually happening on December 1st. If we show her or he in talking to a security guard and walking towards the right side of the screen, which is toward a restroom.
In that restroom, we are told, an argument broke out at some point and some 90 minutes later, that same suspect dressed in an abaya, which is a full black gown worn here by Emirati women, gloves and niqab, which is a full veil on the face, flees the scene. Gets into an elevator and goes down towards an underground car park and disappears.
There is a press conference being held by the interior ministry here in about two hours time at which we hope to learn more details of the attack. But, clearly, shocking residents and particularly expats alike here who know Abu Dhabi to be very free of this sort of attack. There is a very low murder rate here. I mean, almost inconsequential so far as the numbers are concerned.
This is really shocked the community. This is an upscale mall. Some of our staff live in the area. They use the supermarket which is in that mall. A very shocking incident here in the UAE. We will learn more details, we hope, in a couple hours time.
The U.S. embassy here has warned U.S. citizens, this is not the first time they have done this, to be on their guard. There were jihadist messages we know in the past back in October warning specifically teachers, Americans and Australians, and European teachers in schools in the UAE. But we do know that in Egypt, we're told the interior minister actually arrested somebody who they say was behind those jihadist Web site messages.
So, lots of speculation and conjecture here. We hope some of that will be nailed when we hear from the interior ministry around your time at 7:00 a.m. -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Becky Anderson for us in UAE -- thank you so much, Becky.
BERMAN: All right. Forty-seven minutes after the hour.
New women coming forward saying that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them. We will hear from one woman who spoke out to CNN. We're going to tell you what her lawyer is proposing that Cosby do now about the allegations.
Stay with us.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Mr. Garner's death is one of several incidents across the country that have tested the sense of trust that must exist between law enforcement and communities they are charged to serve and to protect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: New this morning, Attorney General Eric Holder has announced a federal civil rights investigation into the death of Eric Garner.
A New York City grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer who tried to arrest Garner. The city medical examiner had ruled that the officer's chokehold was the primary cause of Garner's death. The grand jury decision sparked protests nationwide. Including one here in New York that virtually shutdown the streets in midtown Manhattan Wednesday night.
Take a look at this morning's cover of "The New York Daily News." The headline, "We Can't Breathe." It basically paraphrases Eric Garner's last words and has become mantra shouted by many protesters.
BERMAN: The maker of airbags that federal regulators called defective went before a congressional committee on Wednesday. Takata officials defended the company's decision rejecting regulators' demand that the company expand the recall from coast to coast. The movie sets up a possible legal showdown. Takata senior vice president sys there is not enough scientific evidence to change or expand an existing regional recall nationwide. The airbags in question can explode with a lot of force which you can see here, the demonstration, it hurls debris which really serves as shrapnel at drivers.
ROMANS: Now to the first major legal challenge to President Obama's executive action on immigration. Seventeen states and governors filing a federal lawsuit saying the president violated the Constitution and broke federal laws by giving millions of illegal immigrants tentative legal status and work permits. Now, the states strategically decided to file their challenge in Brownsville, Texas, where last year, a judge wrote a scanting order saying Homeland Security was conspiring to reunite illegal immigrant kids with their undocumented parents rather than arrest the parents.
BERMAN: Three new accusers have come forward, claiming they were sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby. Famed attorney, Gloria Allred, joined the women at a news conference where Allred proposed a settlement for the alleged victims. One of those women, Beth Ferrier, spoke exclusively to "CNN TONIGHT" about what happened to her after the alleged abuse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETH FERRIER, COSBY ACCUSER: My life ended the day I met Bill Cosby. It did.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Why do you say that?
FERRIER: Because he is as the powerful -- and I'm Christian, he is as powerful or more powerful than god and you don't mess with god.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Allred proposed Cosby place $100 million into a fund for all alleged victims.
ROMANS: All right. We've got live pictures for you. The launch is a go. In just about three hours, NASA will launch a highly anticipated test flight from Cape Canaveral. The Orion spacecraft blasts off at 7:05 Eastern. Set your alarms, folks, because it's going to be cool.
BERMAN: We're up already. You don't have to set your alarm.
ROMANS: It's a top to an unmanned Delta 4 rocket. Now, the capsule is designed to eventually take astronauts to an
asteroid or perhaps even Mars. Today's mission will last 4 1/2 hours. Orion is expected to orbit the Earth twice. It could be seven years before an astronaut flies in Orion.
BERMAN: Very, very cool.
ROMANS: Very super high altitude.
BERMAN: Look, the space shuttle and everything at the International Space Station is 200 miles up. This is much, much higher. It is where they need to go if you want to continue space flight and travel, beyond where we've been the last 40 years. This is going beyond past the moon.
ROMANS: That's cool.
BERMAN: Gas has fallen below $2 a gallon, at least in one place.
ROMANS: What?
BERMAN: We'll tell you where. You will get an early start on your money, next.
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ROMANS: All right. Let's get an early start on your money this morning.
Asian stocks soaring. Just look at Shanghai, up 4.3 percent because of strong data from the U.S. and then hopes of more stimulus measures there. European stocks are up as well, ahead of a decision on interest rates by the European Central Bank.
U.S. stock futures they are barely budging. But forget about that. Look at that. Stocks are the highest they have ever been. Yesterday, the Dow and S&P 500 both record highs. Stocks have been a broken record, a broken record. The S&P 500 up 12 percent this year.
It's an oil market game of chicken. American energy going up against OPEC. Prices are falling. Neither side seems willing to budge. Right now, crude oil about $67 a barrel. That's following OPEC's decision not to cut output, down almost 40 percent from summer highs.
It means oil producers everywhere are hurting. But oil heavyweights like Exxon and Chevron could survive $40 a barrel.
BERMAN: That they don't want to.
ROMANS: Who does, right? Well, Americans do.
If prices stay low, smaller energy companies are likely to be in bigger trouble. That means more oil company mergers in the near future, if you were an investor in the oil patch, maybe fewer dividends. Watch this space. And tumbling oil means cheap gas. And when I say cheap, I mean, less than 2 bucks a gallon in some places. Some gas stations in Oklahoma right now are already selling gas below $2. And GasBuddy says drivers in, here we go, Virginia, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, and New Mexico, you could join Oklahoma, folks, by this weekend. I'm not kidding -- by this weekend, gas below $2. If the oil war keeps pushing prices down, below $2 gas could soon be common in lots of places.
BERMAN: Wow.
All right, EARLY START continues right now.
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