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U.S., China Agree on Climate Change; Terrorists Threaten U.S. Embassy in Yemen; Spaceship to Land on Comet; American Remains in Cuban Prison; 8,000 Russian Troops Near Ukraine's Border; Missouri Governor Outlines Ferguson Preparations

Aired November 12, 2014 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I am proud that we can announce a historic agreement.

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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, a landmark deal reached between the U.S. and China. Why it's being called a game changer for the world. And, is China ready to address human rights issues on its own soil?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And growing tension as Ferguson, Missouri, awaits the grand jury's decision on the Michael Brown shooting. Missouri's governor announcing that police will not tolerate violent protests, so what will they do, as Brown's parents speak before a U.N. committee.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Making history, right now scientists are trying to land a spacecraft on a comet for the very first time. How could this change the future of space exploration?

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, and Michaela Pereira.

CUOMO: Good morning and welcome to NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, November 12th, just a few clicks before 6:00 in East. Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota here with breaking news. An historic agreement between the U.S. and China for a significant reduction in green house gas emissions. President Obama calls the deal ambitious, but achievable. However, here's the odd twist: the main obstacle going forward may not be the normally change-averse China, but it could be the new Republican-controlled Congress.

CAMEROTA: The two leaders met for five hours Tuesday -- that's longer than expected -- before announcing the deal at a rare joint news conference where China's president also addressed human rights in his country.

President Obama is now headed to Myanmar, the next stop on his Asia- Pacific trip. CNN's Jim Acosta is covering it all live for us in Beijing.

Hi, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn. Good morning.

President Obama is wrapping up his visit in China with a big surprise splash on two fronts. First, cutting an historic climate change deal with China's President Xi before both leaders took questions from the press. That's something that hardly ever happens on Chinese soil.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): In a deal forged by the world's two largest economies, and its biggest polluters, to combat climate change, President Obama and Chinese President Xi unveiled an aggressive plan to cut greenhouse gases.

OBAMA: This is an ambitious goal, but it is an achievable goal.

ACOSTA: Under the agreement, the U.S. would cut nearly one-third of its carbon emission levels set in 2005 by the year 2025. China would have until 2030 to level off its emissions.

The climate accord may be the boldest sign yet of the president's determination to bolster U.S. ties with China at a time when he's butting heads with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

OBAMA: The United States welcomes the continuing rise of a China that is peaceful, prosperous and stable.

ACOSTA: Then, Mr. Obama and Xi went on to take questions. One from an American journalist, a rare occurrence on Chinese soil.

In a moment of high drama, the Chinese president initially appeared to ignore the question from "New York Times" reporter Mark Landler on press access in China, leaving Mr. Obama looking astonished.

But then Xi conceded his country's human rights record was not perfect. "China has made enormous progress on its human rights, and that is a fact," Xi said. "On the question of China's human rights, we should never consider our work to be mission accomplished."

Xi eventually answered Landler's question, blaming "The New York Times" for its own access problems in China. The party that has created the problem, Xi said, should be the one to resolve it.

White House officials breathed a sigh of relief. After working for weeks to convince skeptical Chinese officials to hold a news conference, it was a diplomatic victory.

Before leaving Beijing, Mr. Obama toasted Xi for China's efforts to help fight Ebola in West Africa. Xi offered some praise of his own, saying the U.S./China relationship had reached a new starting point.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CUOMO: All right, Jim. We're using a lot of big qualifiers for this deal. But what's the meat in the middle of it? What would make this so new and more than ever before?

ACOSTA: Well, what President Obama and president Xi both hope to do is REALLY spur change around the world. They figure if the two biggest polluters around THE world can do this, THEN other countries can, as well.

And then this would be a big part of the president's legacy in the United States, if he can get the rest of the world to go along with this climate change plan.

This is a proposal that has been stymied up on Capitol Hill. He hasn't been able to get the Republicans to go along with legislative proposals to go after climate change. So he's hoping he can do this on his own.

But as mentioned, Chris, at the top of the show, the Republicans have been criticizing this plan announced by the president already. The new incoming Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said it's unrealistic and a plan that he would be -- the president would be leaving to his successor. So it remains to be seen just how far the president can make this deal work.

CUOMO: Quite the commentary there, Jim, when you can get China to do something before can you get your own Congress to do it.

But let's go to the enforcement part of this, because that will be the big ticket on it. How do you make this stick? Any word on that yet? Or is this -- too early for that?

ACOSTA; You know, I think it's too early for that. And, you know, what is interesting about this is that this is something that both President Obama and President Xi have been working on for some time, in part in secret. And a special White House counselor, John Podesta, has been working on behind the scenes for almost a year now.

So if they can get this done -- and you just mentioned that there are lots of doubts as to whether or not they can do it -- this would be a huge part of the president's legacy. I remember covering the president's first presidential campaign back in 2008. If you asked President Obama what was the one thing you wanted to do as president, he said tackle climate change, above all of these other things he's done as president. So if it can get done, it will be a big deal for him.

CUOMO: To have the U.S. and China, as you said, being the two biggest offenders, coming to a deal, that is a good start to say the least. Jim, good checking in with you from China -- Alisyn.

ACOSTA: Sounds good. See you.

CAMEROTA: Chris, so much international news to tell you about this morning. There are several developing stories out of the Middle East. There are escalating tensions in Yemen, and they are forcing the U.S.

officials to consider evacuating personnel from the embassy in the capital.

And also, in Iraq, we've learned that Iraqi security forces have retaken a key city back from ISIS fighters. This is important, because that city is home to Iraq's largest oil refinery and a major electricity plant.

And also this morning, a human rights group says the U.S.-led coalition airstrikes have killed 865 people, most of them militants, since the operation started in September.

So for everything you need to know about the hot spots overseas, let's bring in Bobby Ghosh. He's a CNN global affairs analyst and managing editor of "Quartz."

Good morning, Bobby.

BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Hi.

CAMEROTA: We have a lot to talk about.

GHOSH: We sure do.

CAMEROTA: Let's start in Yemen, because this morning, this is where American officials are considering evacuating American personnel from the embassy, because we have word that al Qaeda in Yemen has joined forces with al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. What does this mean?

GHOSH: Well, the al Qaeda in Yemen is actually the much bigger group. And for a long time it has been the most dangerous of the many franchises of al Qaeda. They call themselves al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula. The Saudi Arabian unit is relatively small, and so this is a bigger deal for them than it is for the Yemenis.

But the big problem in Yemen is that the capital here in Sanaa has essentially been overrun by a Shiite militia called the Houthi, and they're now setting themselves up for basically an open war with al Qaeda. So basically, what the Yemeni al Qaeda has done is called in reinforcements from Saudi Arabia. Because you're seeing a battle developing between Shia and Sunni, essentially, militias. And caught in the middle are all the foreigners. And so things are becoming very dangerous in Sanaa, which is why the U.S. is thinking of withdrawing, which is a very big step.

When that happens -- when the United States embassy says its people have to pull out from a key country like that, you know things are getting quite out of hand.

CAMEROTA: Let's move to Egypt, OK, because a militant group there have just pledged -- they were called ABM.

GHOSH: Yes.

CAMEROTA: And they have just pledged their allegiance to ISIS. How troubling is this?

GHOSH: Well, this is -- we've seen now this happen more and more often. As ISIS has become more and more successful in Syria and in Iraq, a lot of other al Qaeda-related franchises are switching allegiance to ISIS. We saw this happen in Libya recently. Some Pakistani groups have done the same, and now you have this group in Egypt saying, "We're pledging allegiance to ISIS." So they're trying to attach themselves to something that's successful.

This has important ramifications for their fundraising abilities, for their abilities to recruit people. Whether that makes them more dangerous to the Egyptian authorities, that we will see. Whether this is just simply rhetoric or whether they're actually going to act on this is something that we need to see.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about Iran, because you have written a very interesting excerpt in "Quartz" that explains how complicated Iran's relationships are in the region and will be with the United States. Let me read this excerpt for everyone.

"From the American perspective, Iran is not only the enemy of an enemy," meaning ISIS, :but also the friend of a friend, Iraq. And the friend of an enemy, Assad and Hezbollah, and the enemy of a friend, Saudi Arabia." So in other words, Bobby, this is complicated. So Iran is now friends with Iraq?

GHOSH: Iraq and Iran have been friends since there's a Shiite government. They are both essentially Shiite majority countries. So they're friends. Iran is also friends with Turkey. Iran is also friends with Syria.

Iran is a rival of Saudi Arabia. And pretty much all the Gulf Arab countries which are Sunni countries.

CAMEROTA: And a rival of ISIS.

GHOSH: And of course, the rival of ISIS.

So what's going on here is that the traditional military sort of axiom has been "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." So you seek out the enemy of your enemy, and you can work together. And there's some -- there's some talk in this country of doing that with Iran.

Unfortunately, it's not as simple as that. This conflict is so complex, that none of those old adages hold true.

We're working, for instance, recently in Syria. We were bombing ISIS to basically help out a Kurdish group called the PKK. Now Turkey, which is our friend, regards the PKK as a terrorist group, so essentially, we were helping out the enemy of a friend. And these are the kind of calculations the White House is having to make all the time.

I mean, there are so many different groups at work here: who's friend, who's foe? It can actually shift from month to month.

CAMEROTA: It appears to be, so thank you for helping us understand the shifting landscape as it is today.

Let's go back to Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Alisyn. Also breaking this morning, an historic moment high above us a decade in the making. For the first time ever, a spacecraft is going to land on a comet. Here's what we know. It's all systems go for the lander. It has been successfully released from the mothership and touched down with the comet is expected in just over four hours. However, sounds a lot more simple than it is.

That's why Fred Pleitgen is live for us in Germany and he has models to show us this. What do you have, Fred?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I -- I certainly have models for you, Chris and you've caught us at a very interesting and very important moment.

Now what happened earlier is that the Rosetta spacecraft -- and all of this is happening even further away from Earth than Pluto-- it released the lander. That's going to land on a comet of which I have a model right here.

Now, the lander is dropping very, very slowly. Just a couple of minutes ago made the first contact here back to earth. Every signal that this thing sends out takes a half an hour to get to earth because it's so far away.

Now in four hours, they hope it will land safely on the comet. But it's a difficult landing, because they can't steer this thing at all. It's like throwing a bomb off a World War I aircraft, and then they don't know what the underground is going to be like. They don't know if there's going to be an even surface for this thing to land. They hope and are quite confident everything goes according to plan.

And, Chris, the data they hope to get is to see whether or not human life might have originated from comments, because they're made of ice. They have a lot of minerals on them. And they think perhaps 3.5 billion years ago, a lot of these crashed into the earth. Made the first water on earth and the minerals inside the water in conjunction with the sun turned into the first life on earth. So a lot of potential data we could get from this mission, Chris.

CUOMO: It is amazing that you might start getting at least -- at least on the path to answers of how it all began. Really interesting stuff. Stay with us on it, Fred. Let us know how it goes, we'll check back in a little bit -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Very cool stuff.

Well, meanwhile two U.S. senators are returning from Cuba today empty- handed. Senators Jeff Flake and Tom Udall were hoping to bring American prisoner Alan Gross home. The Cuban government has said that he could be freed, but only through a prisoner swap. This comes just days after a diplomatic mission to North Korea proved successful, bringing home two Americans. So why didn't this mission work out?

Patrick Oppmann is following developments out of Havana for us. What do we know, Patrick?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

And this mission was always a long-shot from the get-go. But you could really see the disappointment in these two senators' faces that they're going to be going back to D.C. this morning; Alan Gross will remain here, serving out the remainder of a 15-year sentence.

They said that Alan Gross is increasingly upset at the United States. He's not meeting with U.S. diplomats any more. So they were encouraged that he would meet with them. They did say that Alan Gross has threatened to commit suicide, something he said before, that he will not serve out another year in Cuban prison. Despite Alan Gross's very understandable frustrations, though, Senator Jeff Flake said that progress in Gross's case is being made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: I do feel we're closer there. One, because what Alan Gross has said himself. This is -- this is going to end one way or another. And you know, we've got on five years, a d I think any benefit that the Cuban government may have seen, has to have evaporated by now. In that regard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPMANN: And the Cuban government has said that they are essentially proposing a prisoner swap. They have three intelligence agents that are serving lengthy prison sentences in the U.S. They want to see those agents returned here. The U.S. has called them spies and has really nixed the idea of any kind of swap here.

And senators Flake and Udall wouldn't endorse a prison swap, but they said if any deal is going to be made, if any negotiations are going to happen between the U.S. and Cuba to free Alan Gross, that that needs to happen now -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, Patrick. This is not a case that obviously has been in the forefront of Americans' minds, so please keep us posted as to what happens with freeing Alan Gross. Thank you.

All right. There's more news to tell you about. Let's get over to Michaela. Good morning.

PEREIRA: A story that we've been watching for some time here. The cease-fire deal between Ukraine and Russia looks as though it's in dire jeopardy this morning. CNN has learned that fighting between pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian military has returned to levels preceding the truce, possibly bringing the standoff to a new level.

CNN's Matthew Chance is live for us on the ground in Moscow. What can you tell us, Matthew?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michaela. Well, this truce that has been in force since September on the ground in eastern Ukraine was always very shaky. But there are now growing concerns that we're going to return to full-scale conflict in that region.

The international observers that are on the ground in eastern Ukraine saying within the past 24 hours, that they've observed 43 unmarked military trucks in the region around Donetsk, the main city there. Five of those vehicles carrying 120-millimeter howitzers, big field guns. Another five carrying multiple rocket launchers. The authorities in Kiev, the government in Ukraine, saying that they believe this is Russian equipment, along with troops, being used to reinforce the pro-Russian separatist rebels in the region.

There's also been some very disturbing comments made by the supreme military commander of Europe, of NATO saying that look, you know, NATO has observed that military bases inside Crimea -- that's the area of Ukraine that was annexed by Russia in March, inside Crimea, military bases there, they're seeing military equipment being deployed by Russia that is capable of carrying nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons. Not that there are nuclear weapons actually there. But the actual machinery, the equipment there that can carry nuclear weapons is in place.

So very worrying signals at the moment being sent by the Russians to the west.

PEREIRA: Very worrying indeed, especially giving the fact that President Obama and President Putin made some face time in Asia over the past few days. Thank you so much. We'll be following this.

Back here at home, an off-duty Chicago police officer is fighting for her life this morning after she and her 21-year-old daughter were shot at the daughter's home. Reports out of Chicago say the daughter's boyfriend is the suspect. He was taken into custody hours after he allegedly fled the home with the couple's 2-year-old child. The child was taken to the hospital for observation but appeared to be unharmed.

The surgeon at the heart of a series of sterilization deaths in India is pointing the blame at local officials. Dr. R.K. Gupta says medical distributors gave patients expired medicines after their surgeries. The surgeon says no medicine was distributed at the mobile clinic where the surgeries were performed. At least 11 women have died. Dozens more needed medical care after having those operations.

Got to show you this dramatic water rescue in Dallas. A city employee pulled from the water by two co-workers after he had some sort of medical emergency behind the wheel of his truck. He lost control; the truck went into this creek. But two guys driving by on their way to a job noticed the brake lights flashing on and off the submerged truck. Jumped in when they realized someone was still inside, you saw used a hammer to bash out the window to save him. That driver said to be in stable condition at an area hospital.

Thank goodness they happened to be driving by.

CAMEROTA: Right. These good Samaritans who are so brave. I love these stories that you bring to us.

PEREIRA: And that their instinct is to grab a tool and get right in there. Amazing.

CUOMO: People step up all the time.

PEREIRA: So glad for that.

CAMEROTA: It is beautiful. All right. Let's get to meteorologist Jennifer Gray. She's in for Indra Petersons. She's keeping track of the latest forecast for us, which we understand will be cold.

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, very, very cold. You know, we've had a lot of snow in the northern plains and the Midwest. A lot of that snow is going to stay on the ground for the next week or so as temperatures not expected to get above freezing for quite some time.

Denver, right now you are at 2 degrees. We are nine degrees below zero in Cheyenne. We're also a degree below zero in Billings. When you factor in the wind chill, though, temperatures feeling like 15 degrees below normal in Denver; 14 below zero in Billings. Feeling like -- Chicago is feeling like 20 degrees this morning. And Kansas City, at 7.

These temperatures are going to stay in place. We are 40 to 50 degrees below normal. Denver, your high temperature today only 5 degrees. That's 49 degrees below normal. Seventeen degrees below normal in Minneapolis. As we go through the next couple of days, that chilly air is going to head to the east and southeast. St. Louis, your high temperature tomorrow, 35. And then New York, we go to 50 degrees to 45 degrees on Friday. Ten degrees below normal. And temperatures about 44 in D.C. on Friday.

So guys, these temperatures are going to stay in place for the next week or so. Just reinforcing those cold temperatures.

CAMEROTA: Yikes. The next week or so?

GRAY: Yes.

CAMEROTA: All right, thanks for preparing us, Jennifer. Great to see you.

All right, well, the governor of Missouri says he will take steps to prevent any violence whenever the grand jury announces its decision in the Michael Brown shooting. We'll debate those steps, next.

CUOMO: All right. And speaking of police, there's a police officer stuck inside a burning squad car, OK? Just moments from a terrible fate. But then something happened that we're going to show you and you're just -- you have to see it. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: The grand jury decision in Ferguson expected any day now, Missouri's governor is issuing a stark new warning. Governor Jay Nixon says violence will not be tolerated, and anyone who crosses the line will face consequences. He's considering calling out the National Guard. Meanwhile, Michael Brown's parents spoke out during a U.N. meeting in

Switzerland, saying the world needs to know what happened to their son, CNN's Sara Sidner has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the grand jury announcement on whether to indict officer Darren Wilson grows ever nearer, the Missouri governor sends a message out to everyone: law enforcement is ready.

GOV. JAY NIXON (D), 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 the full power of the law to keep peace.

SIDNER: The governor says he will send in the National Guard if required. 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 & PROTESTOR: There's probably going to be a little anger, a little tension. There's 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 life. 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.

SIDNER: But police say they have been targets of violence and have been diligently meeting with the community over the past 90 days 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 in the head with rocks, in the face, and different things like that. So -- 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 parents took their message to the world, speaking to the U.N. committee on torture.

MICHAEL BROWN SR., MICHAEL BROWN'S FATHER: What we're trying to do is get help from whoever we can.

LESLEY MCSPADDEN, MICHAEL BROWN'S MOTHER: It's overwhelming. It makes you emotional. And to talk about it makes you relive that day. And I hate reliving that day. I hate that day.

SIDNER: Sara Sidner, CNN, Ferguson, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: All right. Now a lot of questions about how this situation has been handled and how it's being prepared to be handled. So let's get some perspective here. We've got Mel Robbins and Joey Jackson. Mel, CNN commentator, legal analyst; Joey legal analyst for HLN and a criminal defense attorney.

All right. Let's starts with the governor. There is plenty of criticism to go around to the leaders, from the state down, about not being present in a way they may -- should have been in a situation like Ferguson. Fair. But is it fair to call what the governor just said in that press conference a warning, Joey? Or is he just saying exactly what the statement of fact is: "I have to have my people ready to deal with the situation in a strong as possible mode"?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know, Chris, here's the reality: in living in America, people have the right to their opinions, certainly. But at the same time that you want to express that opinion freely and voluntarily, and there should be a change of ideas; and there are hurt feelings, and someone's dead. At the same time you need safety; you need security. And it's the governor's obligation to provide that.

And so irrespective of how he couched it or his bedside manner, the message is clear: protest, do so, express your opinions, express thoughts, but everyone should be safe and everyone should be -- feel comfortable that they're doing it in an environment where no one gets harmed.

CUOMO: I mean, Mel, you've seen the pictures. I was there watching what was happening. If this were Boston or New York City or Los Angeles and they were anticipating this kind of event, do you think they'd do anything different?

MEL ROBBINS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST/COMMENTATOR: Of course not. Actually, he's doing exactly what he should do, based on what they've seen in the past.

And Chris, we keep talking about riots in the event that there's no indictment. What about what's going to happen if there is an indictment?

CUOMO: What do you think happens?

ROBBINS: You have people storming the streets in celebration, like you see in major sporting events. And people can get rowdy and destructive and get completely out of control in those instances, too. So let's also keep in mind that, regardless of what happens, whether it goes toward the indictment, whether it's no indictment, you're going to see people reacting. And when you've got this much emotion bottled up, and you've got that many people congregating in one place, it's bound to get out of control.

CUOMO: All right. So the criticism is this, though, on the face of it. It's that, you know, the way you seem to be handling this is enhancing division. You know, you're making it us versus them. And that's a problem.

Now you can debate that about the police thing. Where it's less debatable is in the piece of sound I want to play you right now. This is from the Brown family about what their relationship has been with the prosecutor's office, with authorities since this happened. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: We haven't heard from anyone, which that I feel that's -- pretty cruel. And unfair, you know. With this -- with this type of situation going on. No one really reached out. Let us -- no hand, no hug, no nothing. Just you know, basically just deal with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Now, we've all worked in and around the system as counsel. How unusual is this, Joey, that the office isn't in contact with a victim?

JACKSON: Highly unusual. And in fact, Mel and I watched the interview yesterday together as we were appearing with Ashleigh Banfield, and we both had a similar reaction in looking at each other and our jaws dropping about it.

The reality is this: As a former prosecutor in Manhattan, you have a victim's advocate unit. And that victim advocate unit -- and I understand the dynamic of this case, Chris. It's an unusual case. There are certainly entrenched sides; there are entrenched feelings. There are very hurt feelings, you know, by the family; and the police officers have their position.

But at a minimum you have an advocate to work with the family, to explain the process to the family, to indicate that if there is an indictment, we'll reach out to you. If there's not an indictment we'll reach out to you. So the fact that there is not that connection between the two is very shocking.

ROBBINS: Well, there's even more. In St. Louis, Chris, there is a victims services division to the St. Louis prosecutor's office. And typically, if you're prosecuting a case or you're putting a case into the grand jury where it involves a deceased person, the family of the deceased person is almost like your client. You're prosecuting on their behalf. And so the fact...

CUOMO: You always hear prosecutors saying, "We've consulted with the family."

JACKSON: And even if there's not a deceased person.

CUOMO: But how often do you hear it? "We talked to the family. This is what they want. This is what they don't want." Not here.

ROBBINS: Yes. And in this case, absolute radio silence according to the family.

CUOMO: Right. Now, unless they come out on the other side and say, "That's not true. We offered it; it was rejected. The lawyers said they don't want it." But we haven't heard that yet. ROBBINS: No, we have not heard that at all.

CUOMO: This is not a good message in terms of how it's being handled.

JACKSON: It's problematic.

ROBBINS: I think it is cruel. He said it was cruel and it was hurtful. And I think that's exactly what it is to a family.

JACKSON: And unfair.

ROBBINS: And unfair.

CUOMO: And those types of moves, that type of communication is not as important as what happens with the administration of justice in the case. But almost as important. So let's see what happens going forward.

Joey Jackson, Mel Robbins, thank you very much -- Alisyn.