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New Day

Protests Continue in Ferguson, Missouri; FBI Warns of Renewed Threats from Terrorist Lone Wolves; Janay Rice Speaks Out

Aired December 01, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Fixing Ferguson. President Obama holding White House meetings with civil rights leaders as protests continue in Ferguson. Pressure is growing on the president to visit the city. How to fix the issues between law enforcement and communities across this country is the question.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama's daughters told to show a little class, a GOP staffer apologizing for criticizing the girls for their Thanksgiving Day outfits and facial expressions. Controversy around what some call a classless attack.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Sales slump. Black Friday sales leave retailers disappointed. Deep discounts fail to get shoppers to spend more. We'll look at today's hottest deals.

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY continues right now.

It is a beautiful day, new day of the month. Good morning. It is Monday, December 1st, just 30 seconds before 8:00 in the east. Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota here. President Obama will hold a meeting with his cabinet. What happened with the Ferguson shooting, and how do we do better going forward?

CAMEROTA: Meanwhile the mayor is outlining plans for improving relations between the community and the police, which includes recruiting African-American officers to make the force diverse. The mayor insisting no severance was paid to Office Darren Wilson when he resigned.

And a "hands up don't shoot" gesture by five St. Louis Rams players before their game Sunday is getting a thumbs down from a group of St. Louis police officers who want the team and the NFL to act against the players. CNN's Ed Lavandera is following all of these developments for us. He's live in Ferguson. What's the latest, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Alisyn. It was a quiet night in Ferguson, and around here, that is a very good thing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOR JAMES KNOWLES, FERGUSON, MISSOURI: We have not severed ties with Officer Darren Wilson.

LAVANDERA: After six years on the Ferguson police force, Officer Wilson turned in his badge over the weekend.

KNOWLES: The city of Ferguson will not make a severance payment to Officer Wilson.

LAVANDERA: Wilson says the risk of violence to resident and police officers prompted his letter of resignation, which reads in part "It is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal." City officials are ready to move on.

KNOWLES: Now is the time for the city of Ferguson to begin its healing process.

LAVANDERA: But protestors in Ferguson and around the country from Oregon to Washington D.C. aren't ready to let go. During Sunday's matchup between the Rams and Raiders, 50 extra security officers surrounded the St. Louis stadium while protestors chanted outside, while inside, several Rams players staged a show of solidarity as they took the field, displaying the hands up don't shoot pose adopted by protestors.

The player's support for Michael Brown struck a sour note with the St. Louis police officers association. The organization's business manager said in a statement "I'd remind the NFL and their players that it is not the violent thugs burning down buildings that buy their advertiser's products. It's cops and the good people of St. Louis that do." A community polarized and in need of money.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon called for critical funding Friday to cover payroll of thousands of National Guard and state highway patrol members who have policing Ferguson's restless streets. This as the NAACP calls for reform, taking their message on a 120 mile march from Ferguson to Nixon's mansion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our goal is really to bring about reform of policing in this country and the end to racial profiling.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: And Chris and Alisyn, an incredible sight that has been kind of developing over the last couple of days. You see behind me, these are a lot of the boarded up windows. And there have been groups of people who have spent the last couple of days walking around the city and painting over those boarded up windows where they're been smashed out over the last week leaving behind beautiful works of art. And this is something we've seen seeing popping up dozens and dozens of times across the city. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: And we see that message "Come in, Open" and that peace sign there behind you, Ed. Thanks so much for showing us all that.

As Ferguson continues to deal with the fallout from the Michael Brown shooting, President Obama announcing an effort to improve law enforcement nationwide. The president holding key meetings today to discuss options that he says will strengthen relationships between law enforcement and minority community members. CNN's Jim Acosta is live for us at the White House. What is the president saying, Jim? JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, good

morning. We should say that after a long weekend the president is wading back in the politics of Ferguson. The White House schedule at least publicly is almost all about Ferguson. First the president will be sitting down with members of his cabinet to talk about what his administration will be doing to deal with this issue of lack of faith in law enforcement in minority communities.

Then the president will be sitting down with young civil rights leaders in the Oval Offers. And then after that, the president and the vice president will be in a larger meeting with law enforcement leaders, church leaders, civil rights groups from around the country. They'll be coming to the White House to meet with the president. And part of that meeting will be open to cameras. So we may hear the president speak briefly this issue of Ferguson later on this afternoon.

But still no word yet, Alisyn, on whether the president will be traveling to Ferguson. The White House is still not tipping its hand on that question. But we should mention that Attorney General Eric Holder, as you mentioned earlier this morning, will be down in Atlanta later on today to get this national dialogue going. He'll be going to various cities around the country to keep that conversation going.

And we should point out there's some pretty stark language in this White House statement that we received last night. The White House talking about what their calling a disintegration of trust between law enforcement and the people they're supposed protect. So heading into these meetings today the president and his officials on down are being very candid about this problem that exists in Ferguson and many other communities around the country, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, Jim Acosta, thanks so much for that preview. Let's get it over to Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The problems are obvious, but the solutions have been evasive so far. We just can't figure out what to do. So let's see what the answers are. We have the mayor of Ferguson, James Knowles, with us. Mr. Mayor, it is good to see you. Unfortunately you are standing in front of this great mixed message behind you there that's going on now. The shops all boarded up, yet it's saying come in, we're open for business. Do you feel you can fix Ferguson?

MAYOR JAMES KNOWLES, FERGUSON, MISSOURI: Absolutely. This community over the past 15 years has gone through a lot. We just a few years ago we went through several tornados that damaged and destroyed several of these businesses and we've come back stronger than before. The resiliency of Ferguson business owners and Ferguson residents as shown in the past, and right now you can see behind me that it's continuing to show through again.

CUOMO: When a hurricane is gone, it is gone. And this is about a mood, this is about culture, this is about a community. What do you do to change the feelings of the black and poor communities there about how the police treat them? KNOWLES: Well, that's why we're looking to try to engage both the

African-American community and law enforcement community, bringing them together so that we can have mutual understanding so that we can have some growth and some healing.

One of the things that we've been focusing on is a citizen review board that we started the process on several weeks ago to create an opportunity, an outlet for citizens to give input into law enforcement policies and procedures. And it gives an opportunity for law enforcement to kind of educate the citizens and let them know as far as how policies and procedures are implemented and why. And so creating that mutual understanding between the community I think is going to key in moving forward.

CUOMO: Good start to be sure. What about more black cops? I remember the last time we spoke you had 53 on the force or something. Only three of them were black. You said you had problems getting black recruits who wanted to become cops, that they get stolen by bigger jurisdictions. You have a fix for that as well, I hear. What's the deal?

KNOWLES: So what we're looking to do is instead of going out on graduation day and trying to get African-Americans from the police academy, competing with other law enforcement agencies, we're going to take it further and we're going to go to high schools. We're going to go to community colleges, colleges, and we're going to get people who are near completion maybe with their education interested in law enforcement and get them to make that commitment, hire them then, and put them through the police academy so that we can get young men, African-Americans or other men of color to come be a part of our police department starting at lowest level, starting at high school, starting at community college and others. And we think this is going to be very helpful.

In terms of putting them through the academy, of course there's going to be a commitment to work for the city of Ferguson.

CUOMO: Sure. So men and women, I'm sure you're going to be recruiting them as well, and they'll get a scholarship to go through the academy. That's the incentive.

KNOWLES: Absolutely.

CUOMO: OK, so now you have to deal with the hard work of putting the community back together. Darren Wilson resigns. You come out and say, by the way, we're not paying him any severance. When someone resigns, do they get severance?

KNOWLES: I think it just depends on what's negotiated. In this case, Officer Wilson did not ask for a severance. And so typically if someone just resigns on their own, they're not given a severance package.

CUOMO: Right. Then why come out and say we're not giving him severance? What was the point of that? KNOWLES: We knew you would ask. We knew somebody would ask if he was

getting one. That's clearly going to be a question. And so we just preempted by saying it up front that he wasn't.

CUOMO: Right, but if he was exonerated by the grand jury and he's deciding to step down, is this your way of saying you think he should be punished?

KNOWLES: Absolutely not. We're not saying -- not making any judgment on Officer Wilson. Officer Wilson did this so that he could obviously for his own safety and for the safety, as he stated in the resignation letter, for the safety of the citizens of Ferguson and his fellow law enforcement officers. We absolutely -- for the past 110, 120 days now we've stood by and left Officer Wilson on paid administrative leave throughout this process. And so by no means is the city trying to abandon our law enforcement officers. Officer Wilson did this on his own. He felt this was his way of helping the city and helping law enforcement going forward. And so that was his decision. In fact he submitted his resignation to the media before he submitted to us. So there was no conversation, no ask for a severance package.

CUOMO: What do you think about the Rams players holding hands up in what seems to be a "hands up don't shoot" gesture?

KNOWLES: I think it's a little misguided unfortunately. Unfortunately, I think we don't -- we try not to have political statements on the field. The NFL doesn't even allow them to celebrate like they use to. So I think we should be focusing on the game and not political statements.

CUOMO: You know inside every one of those helmets that was doing that is a young black men. And you know that right now they have very mixed feelings about law enforcement. And that's why we're seeing it echo across the country. Mr. Mayor, important to point out for people, you are trying to step up here as a leader of the community. Being mayor of Ferguson is supposed to be a part time job. It has turned out to be anything but that for you. Thank you for joining us on NEW DAY, sir., appreciate it, as always.

KNOWLES: Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Chris, we've had some breaking news overnight. An FBI bulletin warning ISIS is calling for attacks against U.S. military members here on American soil, and they're looking for sympathizers to carry out those attacks. CNN's Pamela Brown is live at the Supreme Court with more. What do we know, Pamela?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're just learning, Alisyn, that the FBI sent this warning last night urging caution to members of the U.S. military in the homeland. According to this bulletin that was sent out there are renewed calls by ISIS members overseas for likeminded individuals here in the U.S. to attack members of the military. So according to this bulletin, it asks members of the military to review their online social media presence for any information that might attract the attention of violent extremists, advising that members of the military use caution and practice operational security when posting.

This is the latest bulletin sent out by the FBI in regards to ISIS chatter calling on attacks from lone wolves here in the U.S., small scale attack. ISIS has urged this in the past, urging, you know, hit and runs, urging beheadings, urging anything on the street that could instill fear. And so this is just renewed calls by ISIS. They've done this before with member of the military as far as warnings from the FBI and law enforcement and even members of media. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Pamela, and we know you're at the Supreme Court because the justices today are hearing this important case about online threats in social media. Tell us more.

BROWN: That's right. This is actually the high court's first examination of free speech rights and social media. And this groundbreaking case could really decide the limits of what you post online. And it all centers on this man named Anthony Elonis. He was posting on his Facebook page. Initially he was posting messages that were seemingly targeted at his estranged wife. And one of the messages that he posted on his Facebook said "There is one way to love ya, a thousand ways to kill ya." After posting that and a couple other messages, his estranged wife received a court order, a protection from abuse order. And then after that he posted on his Facebook page, "Fold up your protection from abuse order and put it in your pocket. Is it thick enough to stop a bullet?"

So those are a couple of examples. Now, we spoke to his attorney, and his attorney says these messages were therapeutic for him, cathartic, similar to the way a rapper blows off steam in a rap song. The attorney contends that what should matter the intent of the person posting the message, not how a reasonable person would perceive the message. However, the government disagrees with that. Don Verilli, the solicitor general who is going to be arguing on behalf of the U.S. government today, said that it's similar to a bomb threat, that it doesn't matter what the intent is. It matters how a person would perceive that, what kind of a reaction it would cause. This is bound to be interesting today when oral arguments take place at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. Alisyn and Chris?

CAMEROTA: It will be fascinating to see which way the justices go with that decision. Pamela Brown, thank so much.

More news, let's get over to Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go with your headlines. It's 13 minutes past the hour. Police are investigating the death of an Ohio State football player reported missing last week. And 22-year-old Kosta Karageorge was found in a dumpster dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. His mother told police that he had concussions and spells of confusion. In fact she said he sent her a text message before his disappearance saying he was sorry if he, quote "was an embarrassment."

U.S. diplomats are telling CNN an American couple, Matthew and Grace Huang, will be allowed to leave Qatar and return to the U.S. soon. Their conviction in the death of the adopted daughter was overturned by an appeal court in Qatar, but until now officials would not let them leave, even confiscating their passport at the airport. We're told though, now, that the delay is simply procedural and merely a matter of paperwork getting completed. We'll update you when they are able to leave.

Congress will have a busy slate when lawmakers come back today. They'll try to cram two years of left over business into two weeks. The first order of business being avoiding a government shutdown when a temporary funding measure expires in 10 days time. House and Senate committees are negotiating a $1 trillion plus spending bill. They're promising to have it ready in a week.

Uh-oh, several unreleased films leaked online after a massive cyber attack. At least five Sony Pictures movies are getting early exposure, including the upcoming remake of "Annie". The leak comes after a group calling itself #gop boasted about obtaining internal data and threatening to leak to the public. They're investigating a possible North Korean link to that hack. This is not good.

CAMEROTA: That's terrible, going after --

PEREIRA: A drag.

CUOMO: Don't encourage it.

CAMEROTA: I won't.

PEREIRA: See it the legal way.

CUOMO: So, Ray Rice, here's the latest, he was reinstated by the NFL. They had to. The legal system told them they had done the wrong thing there. But now, will a team pick him up? That's the question.

CAMEROTA: And this, Chris, as his wife Janay explains her side of the story. What she's saying about the vicious emphasis punch.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT LAUER, NBC'S TODAY SHOW: Was there ever any incident of violence in your relationship with Ray or has there been any incident of violence since that elevator incident?

JANAY RICE, RAY RICE'S WIFE: No. There's no way. He know what is he would have to deal with, you know, if this was something -- I'm not going to sit there in silence and let something happen to me in, you know, God forbid in front of my child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was Janay Rice speaking to NBC this morning. The interview comes after a judge ruled that Ray Rice's indefinite suspension from the NFL was wrong and reinstated the embattled running back immediately, though Rice is no longer part of any team.

ESPN'S Jemele Hill also sat down with Janay Rice, getting the first interview after that ugly elevator incident. And Jemele Hill joins us this morning.

Good to see you, Jemele.

JEMELE HILL, CO-HOST, ESPN'S "NUMBERS NEVER LIE": Good to be here. Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: I want to start with that sound bite, that clip that we just played from NBC, where Matt Lauer asked Janay if Ray Rice ever hit her before, because so many people had wondered about that, or since that elevator incident. And frankly, I found her body language a little strange when she was answering that. She -- it seems clear he hasn't hit her since. She seemed to sort of -- to not answer directly whether or not he had hit her before.

Did you ask that in your sit-down interview with her?

HILL: Yes, I did. I asked her if, you know, he had ever hit her before. She said no. I asked her if he'd ever spit on her before. She said no.

I also asked her if they had disagreements in the history of their relationship where she felt in fear of something happening, like if they had any kind of confrontation whatsoever which she would consider dangerous or would lead her to believe that he was capable of something like this. And she said no.

CAMEROTA: I know that you got the first interview since the elevator incident with her. And you had to agree to conditions to make them comfortable. Did Ray or Janay Rice try to control any of the content that you put out?

HILL: No, they really didn't. I realize on the outside looking in how it sounds, but it was more of a collaboration if anything. And realize this -- I mean, as a career journalist in this network and what we stand for, we would have never ever published something we didn't feel comfortable with or we didn't feel that would best or that would compromise our journalistic integrity in any way. It would have done me a disservice and it definitely would have done her a disservice because eventually she was going to have to answer these questions.

I sat with her for about two and a half hours. I asked her probably everything Matt Lauer did if not more. So, it wasn't where she told me her story and I accepted that. She was asked three pages worth of questions, not only about that night, the history of their relationship, her family, everything. I wanted a complete story.

CAMEROTA: OK, one of the things that came out this morning and I play you a little clip of it, is another thing that so many people have speculated about, which is why after she was knocked out cold in the elevator Ray Rice didn't help her. He didn't seem compassionate. He milled around the casino lobby. Watch this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICE: I asked him after I saw it. Why did you just leave me there like that?

LAUER: Did you see that part?

RICE: Uh-huh. That's the one --

LAUER: That from the outside.

Why didn't you comfort me?

RICE: Yes, he said he was terrified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So, that's a big issue. He seemed to lack compassion. It seemed he might have done this before.

What was her response to you in terms of how he left her like a sack of potatoes?

HILL: What I asked her, you know, in general, what was your reaction when you saw the video? And then I asked her, what did she make of his reaction -- which is obviously essentially the same question. She told me something similar. She said that she asked him why didn't he try to pick her up, he asked her, why he seemed callus and cold? She asked him these questions once she saw the video, and his explanation to her was he was terrified, he was in shock, he really didn't know what to do.

And that was -- I think this was a big reason why she never watched the second video. At least that's what she maintained to me. She never saw the second one. I think seeing the first one was so traumatic for her that she realized that seeing the second video was not in her best interest.

CAMEROTA: She maintained that again this morning, that she never saw what happened inside the elevator. She intentionally didn't watch that part of the video. But she did watch the aftermath where her body was pulled out by Ray.

You also asked if her if they told the commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, everything, if they shared with him all details. What was their response to that?

HILL: Well, based off what she told me, she said that they had always known there was a video of this. She knew there the first night. The police and the authorities told them that. So, their assumption was that at some point, the NFL or the Ravens, if they were all going to see the video. So, it didn't make any sense for them to go into the commissioner's office and lie, because they thought they knew a video existed if not had already seen it.

So, it just didn't make any sense for them to tell them a mistruth, or a story or to even try to shade the truth and make it not seem as bad. I mean, she said Ray told the commissioner everything. The only thing that seemed to change for NFL was really video. They finally saw it. And once they saw it, obviously you know what the reaction was.

CAMEROTA: So, Jemele, what was your take away after sitting down with her so long and talking to her. What's your take away of her? And do you think in their speaking out to you and today that this will help restore Ray Rice's career?

HILL: Well, I think he'll get another opportunity to play. I felt that absent of this interview, and that's just because this is the nature of NFL. It's a talent-driven production based business. And we've seen examples of other players who have done very serious things and they have been allowed to play. Josh Brent is with the Cowboys. He killed his teammate in a DUI accident. He's on a football team. Donte Stallworth, he also hit a man in an accident and killed him. He played in NFL.

So, certainly, Ray Rice I think will get his opportunity given the nature of the league.

Now as far as what I felt about her, I think what will be the conundrum for people who read her and for that matter hear her interview with Matt Lauer, it's a matter of, we've been told a narrative of domestic violence. And she is not willing -- or in her mind, she does not fit that narrative.

I found her overall to be genuine, very thoughtful. She has great perspective on a lot of things. And I met her family. And given her kind of support system, you know, I just found her to be extremely genuine.

Now, obviously, only the future will tell. You can say everything that you want. But actions kind of tell the story. But I walked away being impressed with her.

CAMEROTA: Jemele Hill, thanks so much for sharing your reporting and your perspective with us. Great to see you this morning.

HILL: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: We want to know what you think about this story. Will any team pick up Ray Rice? Should they?

You can message us at Facebook.com/NewDay. And find us on Twitter.

Let's go over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Alisyn. A Republican congressional staffer is apologizing, sort of, after attacking the first daughters and their appearance. We'll tell you what she said that set the social media world and world beyond on fire. Decide for yourself.

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