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New Day Saturday

Ray Rice Wins Suspension Appeal; March For Michael Brown Kicks Off Today; Community Grieves After 12-Year-Old Killed; Who Will Replace Chuck Hagel?; How Can Ferguson Heal?

Aired November 29, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you on this Saturday morning. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell.

Coming up on 8:00 here on the East Coast.

PAUL: Yes, and we begin this morning with Ray Rice being cleared now to return to the NFL.

BLACKWELL: Months after his fight with his now wife brought the league's domestic abuse issues into the national spotlight. The former Ravens running back appealed his indefinite suspension and he won and now he is free to play football again. But that's if a team wants to sign him.

PAUL: Judge and arbitrator, Barbara Jones, ruled that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell never should have increased Rice's original two-game suspension because he didn't lie to the league about hitting Janay in an elevator that February night.

BLACKWELL: Now the news comes as Janay is now talking about what happened that February night in Atlantic City. Here's what she told NBC's "Today" show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANAY RICE, WIFE OF FORMER RAVENS PLAYER RAY RICE: I was furious. We came home and we didn't talk the entire ride. I didn't speak to him the entire ride home. He tried to talk to me. I didn't want to hear anything. I just knew, he hit me, and I was completely over it.

I was done, didn't want to hear anything. I just didn't even want to entertain him, anything that he had to say, any explanation. Of course, in the back of my mind and in my heart I knew that our relationship wouldn't be over because I know that this is us and it's not him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Let's talk about with Rick Horrow here. He is a sports business analyst and the CEO of Horrow Sports Ventures. Rick, so glad to have you with us here. So Rice, free to join the league immediately if he wanted to. Do you think anybody would sign him this year?

RICK HORROW, CEO, HORROW SPORTS VENTURES: I think not. You know, he's played six seasons. He is 27 years old. He had 6,100 yards under his belt, 37 touchdowns for the Ravens. He was a great back who hasn't played for a year and he didn't have a great year last year, but that's not the point.

There is a PR fire storm that masks the big issue about consistent punishment going forward. The NFL as you know has an amazingly powerful anti-abuse series of public service ads.

But sponsors like Procter & Gamble and Visa and Campbell Soup are all looking very carefully about the promise from Roger Goodell about having a uniformed consistent policy in place before the Super Bowl.

It is possible because in the NFL all you need is one team that needs a running back. I'm not going to even believe that any team is going to take a shot.

PAUL: OK. What about the fact that he and Janay now are speaking out? Do you think any of whatever they might say could that temper some of you know, the feelings towards him?

HORROW: Well, of course, it could, but it could also increase the fire storm. Look, Ray Rice has had a lot of goodwill in the bank not to excuse this, nobody should ever excuse this, but he was 12th on a football list of our power 100.

We did with Bloomberg and others that talked about on field and off field endorsements, but he was at that level. He was a significant citizen in the Baltimore community. The problem let's say is not Ray Rice this year or even next to year because he theoretically could play next year or the year after.

His lawyers are saying he's in good shape, which is a back-handed want ad to try to get picked up. But the bottom line is this is much larger. Remember Roger Goodell's press conference in September saying, I'm quoting now, "We need to create a fair, clear, consistent transparent process.

And Judge Barbara Jones said this was arbitrary because it was basically the second punishment based on the first incident. Now everyone cries out for a standard that frankly goes beyond Ray Rice.

PAUL: All right, well, and then the league has given a statement. I want to read part of that to you. It says that Judge Jones' ruling underscores the urgency of our work to develop and implement a clear fair and comprehensive new personal conduct policy you just mentioned.

They go on to say we expect this policy to be completed and announced in the weeks ahead, our focus is on consistently enforcing and improved policy going forward.

Now we also understand that the players union is calling for collective bargaining so it can have a say in any new policy. Do you think that there could be any sort of complications there?

HORROW: Well, of course, there are complications when you have two sides bargaining on anything. It's not just semantics because as a lawyer you understand what the labor laws are all about and this should be collectively bargained, but the cycle doesn't allow for it.

So how about the head of the union and Roger Goodell sitting in a room and discussing these issues, I'm not being naive. This is just at a point of sponsor urgency. The good thing is we know that the calls to the help line have risen about 2,000 percent since this has happened.

That's good. But the bottom line is the NFL average franchise is $1.4 billion and each franchise is increasing its value about 23 percent over the year before so. Everybody needs to preserve the brand, the integrity and the consistency of the NFL.

PAUL: All righty, and we'll see what happens. Rick Horrow, always appreciate your voice in this. Thank you for being with us.

HORROW: See you soon.

BLACKWELL: All right, let's turn to Ferguson now. Protesters are just a few hours away from the start of a march to honor slain teenager, Michael Brown. This kicks off around 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

PAUL: Demonstrators plan to spend the next seven days walking 120 miles to the governor's mansion in Jefferson City. The event comes as day after protesters clashed with officers outside the police station in Ferguson.

We know at least 15 people were arrested and across the country there were other protests over the grand jury's decision not to indict officer who fatally shot Brown.

BLACKWELL: In San Francisco, a TV news van was smashed. Look at this. Demonstrators in nearby Oakland disrupted public transit service, from Wichita to Raleigh, protesters swarmed major shopping districts trying to disrupt Black Friday sales.

Let's bring in Stephanie Elam now. Stephanie is there in Ferguson. Tell us, this 120-mile march, what do the marchers who are headed to the governor's mansion in Jefferson City hope to accomplish?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Victor and Christi. The idea behind this journey for justice is to bring attention to the fact that they are saying police brutality and racial profiling need to end and they are one clear goal is to get the police chief from Ferguson Police Department to get him to step down.

They say there needs to be new leadership in that one department. But they are saying this issue is much broader than that, that they want people throughout the country to participate in this march and even if you can't get to Missouri they are saying, go ahead, go online, pledge how much you're going to walk.

One person is saying he's going to walk 18 miles, one for each year of Michael Brown's life and someone else planning to do the 120 miles. They are asking people to do this in their communities. And they have to be prepared for the folks that are going to be in Missouri.

There is supposed to be rain. It's cold overnight, chilly, so they are asking them to bring warm clothes, lip balms, two pairs of comfortable shoes as they make this journey to Jefferson City -- Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: So Stephanie, we saw that everyone saw what happened on the 24th and the 25th, the day and the day after the announcement. Then there was some calm, then the rest overnight. What's planned for next week? What's the trend here? Are we going to see even more unrest there in Ferguson?

ELAM: It's not done, I don't think. It's much smaller, and it's not violent now. It's worth pointing that out. Even when you saw clashes with people being arrested, some nights it's four people, some nights it's 100 people. It varies every night.

You can see they are continuing to show up. What is worth noting, though, is that since Monday when we found out that Officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted is that you've seen this message resonate not just here in the St. Louis area but around the country.

And even going so far as around the world with one night this week, with 5,000 protesters in London taking to the streets talking about Mike Brown. So there is something that's resonating with this message about police brutality and about the relationship needing to change between law enforcement and young people of color.

And that seems to be spreading throughout the world, really, but definitely throughout the United States.

BLACKWELL: All right, Stephanie Elam there live for us in Ferguson, Missouri. Stephanie, thanks.

PAUL: Thanks, Stephanie. And you know, we can't talk about Ferguson without talking about another city this morning in shock after a police shooting, and this one we're talking about a 12-year-old boy who was killed. We have reaction from the horrified community as well as the police department there.

BLACKWELL: Plus, a rare visit to Turkey for the pope. The message the Catholic Church leader delivered to the president of this predominantly Muslim country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: A community in Cleveland is grieving this morning after a police officer fatally shot a 12-year-old boy last weekend. People gathered peacefully for a meeting on gun violence and police relations last night. This is video from that meeting.

BLACKWELL: Police have released the surveillance video of the shooting and the recordings of the 911 calls and the dispatcher's tape. PAUL: Rosa Flores is live for us from New York and she's been looking at this. So Rosa, what happened at that community meeting? What was accomplished?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's such a tough time for this community and community leaders as well. The family of this young man asked the community to have a constructive dialogue. In a statement even said that the pain and that emotion should be used to create positive change.

Well, a church meeting yesterday really embodies that. I want you to take a listen because not only do church members express their grief during this meeting, they also applaud police and it all happens during the same gathering.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we tolerate a world where the lives of black people mean nothing. It's that basic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been on the job 30 years and never had to shoot anybody and I've been out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: And again those are applauds to that police officer. It's all a conversation triggered by the death of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old who was shot and killed by police. Surveillance video shows the boy walking around, sometimes brandishing his gun, and sometimes pointing it at people.

One person called 911 telling dispatchers about a black man, probably a juvenile, who was pointing a pistol. But here this adding that it could be fake, twice. Two police officers respond, the video shows that within 2 seconds upon arrival the 12-year-old is shot.

The police say that the officer asked the boy to show his hands three times before shooting, the boy died a day later. It turns out the gun was fake, it was a toy. All of the details of course under investigation and the two officers involved are on leave.

But again, what resonates here is just how this community is honoring the request from the parents and having a constructive dialogue between the community and the police -- Christi, Victor.

PAUL: All right, yes, it was a Beebe gun. Rosa Flores, we appreciate it so much. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in Rashid Abdul Salaam. He is a private investigator and a security specialist, also a former sheriff's deputy in Littleton, Colorado.

Rashid, first I want to ask you when I look at this video, let's put it up there, did we lose the feed? It looks like we lost Rashid. Hopefully we'll get back to him in a second because we've got him back? All right --

PAUL: Ask and you shall receive.

BLACKWELL: Let's go to the video. When, I look at this, my first question is why did they pull up so closely to this boy? He's not even a teenager. Is that standard procedure?

RASHID ABDUL-SALAAM, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR AND SECURITY SPECIALIST: That's totally against protocol. No trained officer would pull up right in front of a residence or any other scene where you have been dispatched that someone is there with a firearm or any type of violent confrontation.

I looked at the video and I could see that there are areas that they could have taken cover. There were areas that they could have driven to and observed what was going on prior to their approaching this young man.

And I understand that it was a rookie police officer that actually did the shooting that was on the passenger side of the vehicle. But he was riding with, as they say, certified training officer.

My contention is whoever that training officer was, he himself needs additional training. I don't understand it for the life of me why any police officer would drive right into a situation without observing what was going on, there was nothing going on that indicated that anyone was in any imminent danger or threat by that young man.

And there's of course that disconnect between the information getting to those officers that it was possibly a toy gun.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about that because what came from the 911 caller was that it's probably a fake, and you know, we've been using the word toy. This does shoot 6 mm pellets, though, it's an airsoft gun the caller said that it was probably a fake.

And that was not relayed from the dispatcher to the officers. That element of liability there, how often do those details slip through the cracks or is this a glaring mistake that does not happen?

SALAAM: Unfortunately it happens more often than you would imagine it does. For whatever reason, the dispatchers are getting information and they are under the gun, taking in calls. They are disseminating information. They have to stop and take a step back and give due diligence to serious type of calls.

That type of information is crucial as we see. The results of it not getting to those officers, it certainly should have tailored how they even responded to the call. You are correct, I shouldn't have said toy. I stand corrected. There is a difference between saying a toy gun and something fake or air pistol.

BLACKWELL: That's all right. I appreciate that. Let me ask you this. We all know what happened in. Tell us what you would have expected after hearing this report. You said that you've seen areas where they could have taken cover. The reports are that the officer said show your hands, three times, but we see him pull up and Tamir is shot within 2 seconds. How long would you have expected that exchange to last, what that conversation should have been?

SALAAM: That conversation, it's nonsensical that you would pull up that fast, and he said he rolled his window down and said put your hands up. It must have all been garbled because there is no way you could have given instructions to someone where they could respond to it and for your counter response that quickly.

It was just a total mishandling, debacle on the part of those two officers. And the most of the blame has to go to the veteran officer and he was supposed to be a training officer. So, it's just -- leaves me scratching my head.

BLACKWELL: So many asking a lot of questions and you look at the video and you wonder if they'd just pulled a distance away and said show your hands, a 12-year-old boy quite possibly would have been frightened with the police yelling at him and would have dropped this air soft gun.

That's assumption because within 2 seconds he was shot and killed. Rashid Abdul-Salaam, thank you so much.

SALAAM: Thank you, Victor, Christi.

PAUL: Thank you sir. You know, I know football's on a lot of your mind this is weekend, right. Not just the NFL. It's rivalry weekend in college, big games, big national title implications. We'll talk to you about it.

And more protests, more arrests in Ferguson. We're talking with community leaders about what can be done once and for all really to help the town come together and heal after the shooting death of Michael Brown. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: It is a new day and we are so glad to share it with you. We have a lot to tell you this morning too. Here is your "Morning Read."

BLACKWELL: That's right. Police are trying to figure out why a man just went on a shooting rampage round after round, shot at a federal court house, police headquarters, Mexican consulate, all happened in the downtown district of Austin, Texas, early Friday morning.

PAUL: No one was injured, but we know the gunman was shot dead. Investigators say he does have a criminal history and they are combing through anything he might have posted online.

BLACKWELL: A lot of people in Egypt, they are calling it their country's trial of the century. Well, now a court in Cairo has dismissed charges against former President Hosni Mubarak in the deaths of hundreds of protesters. This happened during Egypt's Arab spring, the uprising in 2011. He was found not guilty of corruption although he is still serving three years for embezzlement.

PAUL: The spiritual head of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics is reaching out to Turkey's Muslims. Pope Francis is in Istanbul. A serious civil war rages across the border, but this morning, he visited the city's historic blue mosque just a short while ago and he will hold a mass at a cathedral in Istanbul in the next hour.

BLACKWELL: College football's rivalry week is here. Big games, busy day, full of action, kicks off at noon eastern when Ohio State takes on Michigan --

PAUL: Go bucks.

BLACKWELL: I knew you were going to squeeze that in. At 3:30, you can games like Ole Miss taking on Mississippi State. You've got Florida versus Florida State. Tonight, fans can watch the 79th edition of the Iron Bowl, Auburn takes on Alabama, 7:45 Eastern, Oregon and Oregon State also go head to head at 8:00 Eastern.

PAUL: Think about it. Two days without power. That's what more than 48,000 households in New Hampshire and Maine areas are dealing with this morning. Look at these pictures. That will tell you all of it. The power is slowly being restored, we're told, after storms and ice left more than 200,000 people in the dark on Thanksgiving.

BLACKWELL: Well, the protests, they are continuing in Ferguson and around the country. Now we're seeing them outside of the U.S. borders. Dozens have turned out, upset over a police officer not being charged for shooting and killing an unarmed teenager in Ferguson.

We've seen larger protests across the country. We're going to tell you in this community how the people who live here are trying to piece their town back together.

PAUL: But first, in this week's start small think big, the business of Chinese fortune cookies. Most people go after the fortune in the cookie, a California woman started a company focused on the entire cookie in a big way. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DARIA ARTEM: Hi. My name is Daria Artem and this is my company ladyfortunes.com. Lady Fortunes started at a Chinese restaurant of all places. My fortune said I was going to be successful in business. I really wished that I could share with it everyone at the table.

One of my friends suggested that I should create a fortune cookie the size of a cake, that way everybody could get a piece. Starts with perfect ratio of powdered sugar, to flour, to eggs, oil, and a little bit of cornstarch, and they are all mixed together while it's still hot. You have to fold it. I'll tell you, it's not that easy to fold those cookies. One of the key decisions I made in my journey has been to diversify, to expand on our line. I had a lot of people tell me that we should do one thing and do it well.

That was great, but how many times are you as a customer going to buy a giant fortune cookie from me. We will create a cookie that fits your style, your personality, your budget, and the very first year of our business I think that we netted about $20,000.

Today, we're at $4.5 million in sales and growing, and there you have it. Beautiful fortune cookie decorated for a happy birthday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Eight-thirty on the dot right now. Welcome to your NEW DAY. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to have you with us.

Here are five things you need to know for you NEW DAY.

PAUL: Yes. Number one, we've been talking about Black Friday. Guess what? Gun sales were up yesterday. The federal background check system was expected to set a record of more than 144,000 background checks. FBI officials say 2 percent of those checks would most likely fail because of insufficient information from records such as court documents.

BLACKWELL: Number two, a tragedy overseas, at least 120 are dead, 270 are wounded after suicide bombers blew up a mosque in northern Nigeria on Friday. Authorities suspected Boko Haram is behind it. Now, although it's an Islamic militant group, they target mosques because they believe, quote, "the establishment is perverting Islam." Well, the attack comes two weeks after one of Nigeria's most influential Muslim leaders called for civilians to rise up against Boko Haram.

PAUL: Number three, Russia's defense ministry says it successfully tested an intercontinental missile that can carry nuclear warheads. It says the missile was fired from the submarine in the Bering Sea, and landed on a military training ground in Russia's eastern peninsula. The test went as planned we're told, it follow as previous test in September which was also a success.

BLACKWELL: Four now, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie decided that it's OK for pregnant pigs to stay in crates that are so tiny they can't turn around. He veto add bill Friday that could have banned those crates. Animal rights activists say it's a form of cruelty, but advocates say it prevents the mother pig from accidentally injuring her piglets. The move would likely win over Iowa farmers if Christie decided to run for president.

PAUL: Number five, a cast member from MTV's "Real World New Orleans" has died. Police say 28-year-old Ryan Knight was found unconscious on Thanksgiving morning. Now, the cause of his death is pending a toxicology report. But the "Real World New Orleans" aired back in 2010. And in a statement, MTV says they send condolences to his friends and his family. But remember, earlier this month, MTV lost another cast member Diem Brown from the show "Challenge", lost her battle with cancer.

BLACKWELL: Chuck Hagel is out as defense secretary, but who will replace him? Already, two people have turned down the job even before being offered the position.

PAUL: Yes, now, the White House is rushing to find the right candidate. CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has more.

Good morning, Barbara.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Christi, Victor, who's in, who's out, the question may really be, who wants the job?

(voice-over): President Obama scrambling for his fourth defense secretary in six years. The short list of candidates includes Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, the former top Pentagon lawyer, but his key role in crafting Obama's immigration executive action could mean an explosive confirmation hearing. And Ashton Carter, a former Pentagon number two, well-regarded but with limited international experience.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The next secretary of defense is going to have big shoes to fill.

STARR: A top priority for whomever is chosen: dealing with the war on ISIS. Caught between President Obama's insistence on no combat troops and the senator who will run the confirmation hearing, Republican John McCain a leading voice for a more assertive military strategy against ISIS.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: There's going to be a gradual escalation, they are going to have to send more over there. They're going to have to have forward air controllers on the ground. They're going to have Special Forces people. We're going to have to have trainers.

STARR: One advantage for choosing Johnson, he is already steeped in ISIS, telling CNN in a recent exclusive interview.

JEH JOHNSON, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The new phenomenon that I see that I'm concerned about is somebody who has never met another member of that terrorist organization, never trained at one of the camps, who is simply inspired by the social media, the literature, the propaganda, the message to commit an act of violence in this country.

STARR: Some officials say early front runner Michelle Flournoy, a former Pentagon policy chief, withdrew her name not wanting to deal with White House micro management which had frustrated Hagel. The same complaint raised by his two predecessors just days before Hagel resigned.

ROBERT GATES, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: It was that micromanagement that drove me crazy.

LEON PANETTA, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Members of the cabinet and others that oftentimes go to a National Security Council meeting but by the time you get there, the fact is that the staff has probably already in many ways determined what the president should or should not do.

STARR: But Gates, perhaps the most telling.

GATES: I was touring JSOC headquarters in Kabul and discovered a direct line to somebody on the NSC. And I had them tear it out while I was standing there.

(LAUGHTER)

GATES: And I told the commanders, you get a call from the White House, you tell them to go to hell and call me.

STARR: The president always could decide to shuffle some Pentagon official into the top job. But he fired Secretary Hagel, people say, because he wanted a new direction. So, if he really does, many say he will have to make an innovative choice for a new secretary of defense, possibly someone nobody has thought of -- Christi, Victor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us, thank you. Telling anecdote from Secretary Gates.

PAUL: Wasn't it? My goodness.

BLACKWELL: Wow.

All right. Fresh clashes overnight after a grand jury decides not to indict a police officer in the death of Michael Brown. So, what is next for Ferguson? We'll talk with a retired St. Louis police captain now a clergyman about how that community can heal.

But first, we turn to an NFL star with a desire to help others. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has found a way to make an impact each week. Here is more in this week's "Impact Your World".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY (voice-over): As a Super Bowl champion, Drew Brees knows how to lead others to victory. Now, he's using those skills off the field to rally professionals to volunteer in their communities. It's called the Super Service Challenge.

DREW BREES, NFL QUARTERBACK: No matter, you know, what business you're in, what industry, there's always something that you can do to give back, and to be able to do that on a skill based or a pro bono level. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I serve to share my strengths.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I serve because my skills are in short supply.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I serve to keep kids in school.

CUOMO: People send in videos of themselves volunteering.

BREES: Through our -- the partnership with our foundation, The Brees Dream Foundation, we're trying to inspire others to want to go out and serve.

The challenge is, you get a group, you know, together. You identify a charity to go serve. You go serve them. You document that experience. You submit that video. And then you might be one of the ones that's chosen.

CUOMO: To add a little friendly competition, the Super Service Challenge will make donations to some of the charities featured.

BREES: We have roughly $1.5 million, you know, to give out. I don't know if there's anything that makes you feel better than giving.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Nineteen minutes before the top of the hour now.

Let's take you to Ferguson, Missouri, where we know protesters are gearing up to begin a 120-mile journey. It's a march to the governor's mansion to call for an end to police brutality. Of course, this is coming after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

PAUL: The journey for justice kicks off one day after let's say a tenuous calm was shattered in Ferguson.

Take a look at the scene overnight outside the police station. Some demonstrators were pulled to the ground, shackled with plastic handcuffs, 15 people were arrested including one who's now facing a charge of assault on a law enforcement officer.

What is it going to take for Ferguson to move forward and heal now?

We're joined by Charles Alphin. He's a retired St. Louis police captain and he helps to spread Dr. Martin Luther King's message of nonviolence through his work with the King Center right here in Atlanta.

Mr. Alphin, so glad to have you with us. Thank you.

CHARLES ALPHIN, RETIRED ST. LOUIS POLICE CAPTAIN: My pleasure.

PAUL: I know you have been to Ferguson several times along with Dr. King's youngest daughter Bernice, and that you were there this week. What do you make what's happened in the last few days? ALPHIN: Yes, the King Center was invited to Ferguson. And we took

some unique people there. Reverend bolder who worked with Dr. King and old gangster from Los Angeles that we met in the L.A. riots, and we took that team to Ferguson and did a survey, information gathering, and we found a lot of information there. We talked to the leaders, the gang leaders, the clergy, the educators, the high school students, and we found a lot of complexity in that situation, a lot of anger, the young people are very, very angry and a lot of them are traumatized.

PAUL: What specifically are they angry about?

ALPHIN: Feeling that nothing has been done, that their lives don't mean anything. They don't know -- they want justice but they can't describe what justice is. Is justice arresting a police officer? Is justice firing the mayor? So, they are very, very angry and they are frustrated that nobody seems to care about them.

PAUL: Do the people you spoke with feel anger toward the police department and feel that they are targeted?

ALPHIN: I think it's anger toward the system and the police and the national guard are the closest things to them. I think they are frustrated with the system because fee feel the system has not been fair and it is selective law enforcement and a lot of things that have been built up. I was born and raised in the city of St. Louis and that situation has been there for decades and we knew as African- Americans not to go in those communities because they were not fair and they leaned on African-American people and also ticketing.

PAUL: You know, one of the things that has been brought up from this is that the disparity in the representation there that you know, two thirds of Ferguson has an African-American population but only three of 53 police officers are African-American.

Why do you think that is? Is there a lack of hiring? Is there a lack of application?

ALPHIN: I think there are several reasons. Number one is that the system is not fair and doesn't do a good job of selecting people or trying to find African-Americans. The second part is that a lot of people don't want to be police men. When you join the police department you lose your friends. They think you are a snitch and you violated the whole culture. So, we have to change the image.

PAUL: And how do you change -- how do you change that culture of -- I would think if you could have more African-Americans on the police department, if they could get there, there would be some sort of understanding, some respect. No?

ALPHIN: Yes. Well, sometimes we have to be careful because it's not all about color. Sometimes African-Americans are sometimes there's abusive as other people -- so, police officers. So we have to make sure that there is a selection, interview, the inspection of supervisors, how people are supervised as they perform their duties. So, I lean heavily on the supervision and the covering up of things

that should not be covered up. So, we have to have a transparent situation, we have to have a clean internal affairs where people can complain and get results. And we have to have leadership that understands the community solve the problem, not the police.

PAUL: Well, we certainly hope that for that community and so many more.

Charles Alphin, we're so grateful for your company. Thank you for being with us and giving us your perspective.

ALPHIN: Thank you very much.

PAUL: Absolutely. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Hundreds of thousands of people in the Northeast still do not have power this morning.

PAUL: Strong storms battered West Virginia, Maine, New Hampshire during Thanksgiving.

Look at this. I mean, it's pretty, but it doesn't do much for my heat. Icy conditions made it difficult for utility workers, too, to try to restore that power.

Jennifer Gray is in the CNN weather center.

Oh, when are our friends going to get help, Jen?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know. How brutal is that? They haven't had power since Thanksgiving Day. And so, numbers are down quite a bit. Now, we're less than 50,000 without power in Maine and New Hampshire. It should be restored throughout the weekend.

Luckily, there is a warm up in store, but most of these people have power again before the warm-up happens. Look at these temperatures.

No power and temperatures in the single digits, in the teens across portions of Maine. We're seeing temperatures in the teens in New Hampshire as well. So, a very, very cold morning, a lot of folks huddled around that fireplace I'm sure.

We do have good news, though. In the coming days, warmer air is going to start to move into not only the Southeast but the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast ahead of a cold front. The very cold temperatures, though, unfortunately, are going to stay in place across the Midwest and the Northern Plains, temperatures in the teens, Sunday into Monday.

But look at this temperatures in the south. Dallas, in mid-70s for the weekend. Gorgeous for you. We'll be close to 70 in Atlanta by Sunday into Monday, even New York City gets a little warmer with temperatures in the mid-50s by the early start of the week. Another big story today we're watching, rain pushing into the West.

Yes, California getting some much-needed rain as we go through the weekend and to the early part of the week. Also getting some snow in the West as well. That includes Seattle and then points to the East.

So, we're looking at the possibility of six or more inches of rain across some areas in California. However, most of the state will get about an inch or two, isolated amounts two to four.

So, if you are traveling back on Sunday after visiting family for the holiday, travel looks much better Sunday compared to Wednesday when we had all of those troubles, especially in the east, looks much better if you travel back tomorrow with temperatures in the 50s and 60s across the East Coast. Sunshine, a little bit of snow around the Detroit area, if you travel the Pacific Northwest, though, you may have a little trouble there.

But much of the country looking good with to go.

BLACKWELL: But travel expert says wait until Monday if you can.

GRAY: Yes, roads are going to be busy, and the skies as well. But at least as far as weather goes, you'll be all right.

PAUL: Weather's not going to be your culprit.

GRAY: Yes.

PAUL: Maybe the people next to you that's going to be your culprit.

Thank you, Jen.

GRAY: All right.

PAUL: Speaking of culprit, were you in the mob?

BLACKWELL: Which mob?

PAUL: Well, meaning, the shopping mob.

BLACKWELL: Oh!

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: In this mob right here, were you doing this at the store?

BLACKWELL: Thursday night I was. I was.

PAUL: I am impressed. I didn't even venture out. If you played it safe and stayed away, you know what, there are plenty of bargains still to be had. We're going to fill you in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLACKWELL: All right. So, let's go straight to this video. I want to see this because you know, I go out for Black Friday shopping. I went out Thursday.

PAUL: Did you see this?

BLACKWELL: No. I didn't really go anywhere that interesting. I went to a clothing stores. I bought socks and shirts and things. My stuff was boring.

But there are people who have black eyes, that video of the woman who loses her wig at Walmart running in.

PAUL: That poor woman.

BLACKWELL: Every year, we see that wig fall off.

PAUL: Yes, I know.

Well, look, I don't know how great the deals were. The numbers are not yet. But my gosh, did you guys pack the stores. Look at this. A few fights broke out. I mean, Victor talking about in Houston police had to be called in after customers fought over $5 Barbies at Walmart.

Is there a boxing Barbie? There should be.

BLACKWELL: She should at least have, you know, some guards up at least.

Hey, so if you like Christi who avoids the Thursday shopping, the Friday shopping, we've got your back. There are deals to be had. You need to know when and where and of course how.

PAUL: So, with us is the man with a holiday shopping code, Mark Ellwood. He's the author of "Bargain Fever: How to Shop in a Discounted World."

I live in that world, Mark.

MARK ELLWOOD, AUTHOR: I love hearing that.

PAUL: You say forget Cyber Monday. It's cyber weekend -- meaning if I go home today and I get online I'm going to get the same thing as I would if I waited until Monday?

ELLWOOD: Look, Cyber Monday is a throwback. It's going the way of record stores and paper airline tickets. It's weird we're thinking Monday. The great thing is you can shop anytime. Starting probably last Monday you are going to get great deals, all weekend. You're going to really see fantastic markdowns.

So, just get started now. It's great.

BLACKWELL: So, this is blowing my mind. Some of the things, this is going to shock people.

PAUL: I think so. I agree.

BLACKWELL: Some of the things you buy on Black Friday are not discounted, they are made specifically for the sale. In other words, they are a cheap alternative to the real item, the real deal you think you're getting.

ELLWOOD: It's exactly. And I think it's important to remember this. It's like an outlet mall. Between 60 and 70 percent of what you buy at an outlet mall may be really cute, but it was made to be at the mall. It wasn't discounted.

And now, Black Friday is pretty much the same. You'll go in the store and there will be a lot of stuff there that is cheap but it wasn't in the store last week. So, always ask yourself, hey, was that TV here last week? Then you know the inside scoop.

PAUL: Interesting. You say any time before Christmas is a good time to buy, but with one caveat. You have to be ready to haggle. I don't know that I'm good at that.

BLACKWELL: I love it.

PAUL: How do you do it? Help us.

ELLWOOD: One of the studies I read said that about 5 percent of Americans are comfortable haggling. But over Black Friday weekend about 50 percent of people will try. I think it's important, haggling isn't about being rude, it's about smiling and saying, hey, is there a way of getting a better price than this? Are there secret coupons? That is haggling as much as saying, give me half price or I walk out.

BLACKWELL: I mean, it helps to raise that one eyebrow, too, I learn that if you --

PAUL: If you have dimples like you and Mark.

BLACKWELL: I wonder if there is a discount to be had.

ELLWOOD: That's exactly it. You say it really nicely. And, you know, working at retail over this weekend is a miserable time. If you are the customer who says, hey, how are you, how is your weekend? What's going on with the deals? What do you think it's going to do, it's the charm discount. It's going to open up.

PAUL: It's the charm discount. What about price matching?

BLACKWELL: At least 5 percent.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: What about price matching?

ELLWOOD: That's a great question. Price matching is really escalating. Walmart has said it will match all of Amazon's prices, which is a bit of a misnomer because it's normally cheaper anyway but if you stand in a store with your smartphone you have a discount ray gun. You show that to the sales and say, hey, it's 20 bucks cheaper online.

What do you reckon? Normally, if you ask nicely at most of the big box stores the manager has the power to match that price. They would rather you spend with them than somewhere else.

PAUL: A man with an accent like his that says what do you reckon? You have the charm factor going, Mark Ellwood.

BLACKWELL: Hey. How about a good 5 percent off that if you don't mind?

Mark, I've enjoyed it and learned a lot.

ELLWOOD: Thank you so much.

PAUL: Thank you, sir. Happy shopping.

ELLWOOD: You too.

BLACKWELL: Hey, we've got much more to tell you about this morning.

PAUL: "CNN NEWSROOM" starts now.