Transcripts For CNNW At This Hour With Berman And Michaela 2

Announcement that officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted in the death of Michael Brown. Michael browns mother, you can see her right there, was speaking to a crowd of supporters. She began sobbing and then this. Look. Burn this bitch down burn this bitch down burn this bitch down burn this bitch down burn this down is wh is wh louis brown said. Repeatedly. Lets go to ed lavandera. Ed, the stepfather is being investigated but whats the latest . No charges have been filed. Were told by the police chief in the city of Ferguson Police department that they are looking into this as an investigation, a formal investigation at this point and that the Police Investigators have spoken with friends of Michael Browns stepfather but that no charges have been filed yet and interestingly enough, ben crump, the attorney for Michael Browns parents, were asked about if they were if he was concerned about any possible charges stemming from this last night and they said and attorney crump said that they were not concerned about it, that this was something said in the heat of the moment and that it was an emotional reaction. But that he should not be condoned for it. And thats an important distinction to be made there. I think a lot of people are wondering, ed, and maybe youre getting a sense of it on the ground what folks are saying, this is a community thats very much in need of healing right now, how on earth is this going to help the mending of relations with police . I think news of this is just trickling around. Its hard to imagine how this will go over well. And i think what a lot of people will point to is those comments were made outside of the Police Department here in ferguson and thats where some of the first police cars were set on fire and that sort of thing. But the stretch of road where most of the fires were set and the looting and rioting exploded was about a mile away and that was happenings moments basically around the same time those comments were being made. So i think people might point the fact that, you know, his stepfather made those comments in a completely different area. Its hard to imagine that the people who were in the other area of town where the rioting and the looting was taking place which i happened to be at as well and once aware of the comments his stepfather was at, that might play into this situation as well. But there have been calls from a great number of people who have seen that video, from the Lieutenant Governor of the state in missouri who has wondered if that investigation should be formally launched as well, and clearly it has this morning. Well watch to see what is the result of that investigation. Ed lavandera, thanks so much for that. The outrage in ferguson has prompted the president to make ending racial profiling the number one issue on the doe megs i can agenda. The president is vowing to use his last two years in office to address what is 1 calling the simmering distrust between police and authorities. There have been commissions, task forces, conversations, and nothing happens. What i try to describe to people is why this will be different and part of the reason this time will be different is because the president of the United States is deeply invested in making sure that this time is different. The president s plan includes tightening standards on military style equipment purchased by Police Department, also creating what a task force on 21st century policing. Well look at some ways Police Departments have improved Community Relations and make those efforts national. The president plans to provide about 75 million for Police Officers to wear body cameras. Attorney general ache holder says he will announce rigorous new standards for federal law enforcement. We are dealing with concerns that are truly national in scope and that threaten the entire nati nation. The justice departments investigation into the shooting death of Michael Brown as well as our investigation into allegations of unconstitutional policing patterns or practices by the Ferguson Police Department Remain ongoing and remain active. [ cheers and applause ] the president says its ready for discussion. They say the goal is to make things better. We are joined by two people in there that very meeting at the white house with the president. Michael skoel nick is editor of global grind. Com. Judith brown is the codirector of the advancement project. Im so glad you could join us today off this meeting. I want to get your reaction, michael. Ill start with you. I know you spent a lot of time with Michael Browns mother in conversati conversation, putting your heads together, comforting her. Im sure your curious about this news that her husband is being investigated from the comments he made after the announcement not to indict Darren Wilson was made. Whats your reaction to that . The first image i saw of this tragedy was that gentleman holding a cardboard sign handwritten saying a cop killed my unarmed son. Before we saw the body of his son in the street for four and a half hours, i saw a photograph online on twitter of him holding a sign. 100 plus days later, the state still did not protect him and his family. That was raw emotion. The fact that police are investigating that he incited a riot after 110 people protesting the state to at least indict this Police Officer is ludicrous. I mean, look, let me just say this. How do you interpret his statements as anything other than a call to be a call for action at that moment. He said burn this blank down. Burn this blank down. Im not saying charges should be filed. But it did happen. But did that incite a riot . That raw emotion, that reaction to an indictment by the prosecutor, what happened in Wes Florissant is different than what happened on south florissant which is about ten minutes away. So where the burning and looting occurred was not even near where he was. So the fact that you would then interpret that, if the police want to investigate Michael Brown, jr. ,s stepfather for inciting a riot youll start all over again. Thats the concern. Some headway is starting to be made. This conversation that was held yesterday, you were a part of it, judith, you were there with the president , gathering leaders, gathering law enforcement. Im curious what your reaction is to that meeting. I think people are wondering was it just talk or do you feel there was substantive action planned . First, thanks for having me. I think most important part of the day i spent most of that day with Young Leaders from ferguson, florida, ohio, and new york at the white house and with eight young people who met with the president in the oval office to talk about policing in their communities. And this was an opportunity for them to talk about their daily lives. How they are harassed by the police, how they are criminalized by the police unnecessarily. What it feels like to be in a community where the people who are supposed to protect you are the people you feel you need protection from. So that was a really important moment for this movement of young people around the country who know that ferguson is everywhere. And i think that the president s statements showed that he is committed to making a change. And now this movement has to keep moving to get them to action. Michael, i was reading your tweets yesterday and i know you were impressed by the listening that went on during these meetings. When does listening need to go beyond conversation and turn into action and what kind of actual action at the federal level do you want to see . Well, i think to my good friend judith who was there is that the president listened to young people and the folks in the room. He invited folks from ferguson, from ohio to sit there and talk to him and he talked about action. He said hes going to put 263 million into a federal program to buy body cameras, to train Police Officers in deescalation tactics and implicit and explicit biases. Hes asking for 50,000 body cameras across the country and last night we saw the mayor of atlanta already going into the program saying he will use atlanta as a Pilot Program for body cameras. So hands up united, lost voices, organization for black struggle have been doing this work for over 100 days, these have been their demands, theyve been asking for accountability for the police and the president listened to them and now hes taking action. My ear piece is killing me. Its trying to jump on youre. I appreciate you staying solid on that point. I think there will be some that will say, judith, body cameras, you can make changes to funding certain programs. All of these changes may happen with the support of the president with the sweep of a pen can make some changes but you cant necessarily change attitudes and misconceptions. How do we start there . Well, part of it is that the federal government actually has a lot of power through purse strings. And part of what theyre going to be doing is looking at training. We have to have doubledown on training for Police Officers on excessive use of force which many Police Departments only get in the the academy and never again after that. The federal government can do that. Also the, the federal government has the ability to take money away through the Civil Rights Act of 1964 so i think that will happen but we have to look at the local level. This is not about the individual bad officers but this is a systemic problem throughout the country and i think that we have to come together as america to understand that there is a problem, there is a difference of perceptions and communities of color feel like they are under attack and thats the hard work before us. Judith brown, michael skolnik, thanks for joining us today. Thank you. Also new at this hour, cnn has learned who is likely to be the president s pick to be the next defense secretary. Will this set off a heated confirmation battle . Also, three women with a similar story. They claim Comedian Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them. For the first time they meet, they share their stories together. Youll hear from them ahead at this hour. My names louis, and i quit smoking with chantix. I had tried to do it in the past. I hadnt been successful. Quitting smoking this time was different because i got a prescription for chantix. Along with support, Chantix Varenicline is proven to help people quit smoking. The fact that it reduced the urge to smoke helped me get that confidence that i could do it. Some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. Some people had seizures while taking chantix. If you notice any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. Tell your doctor about any history of Mental Health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix or history of seizures. Don take chantix if youve had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. If you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be lifethreatening. Tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or develop new or worse symptoms. Get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. Decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. Use caution when driving or operating machinery. Common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. I love myself as a nonsmoker. Ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. To help spread some holiday cheer. Before earning 1 cash back everywhere, every time; and 2 back at the grocery store. Thank you even before they got 3 back on gas, all with no hoops to jump through, a couple was inspired to use their bankamericard cash rewards credit card to throw the ultimate Ugly Sweater Party of the season. Thats the spirit of rewarding connections. Apply online or at a bank of america near you. Happening now, cnn has learned the president s choice to replace chuck hagel as defense secretary. Barring any lastminute complication, Administration Officials tell cnn that man will be ashton carter, former second in command at the pentagon. I want to get straight to Barbara Starr at the pentagon. Also joining us is peter brooks, senior fellow of National Security affairs at the heritage foundation. Barbara, i think its safe to say ash carter is not necessarily the president s first choice to be defense secretary, but he is a pentagon insider. How will this nomination will received . I think very well by military and by the pentagon leadership. Well known around here until late last year he served as hagels deputy. He has been the top weapons buyer here at the pentagon. He knows how billions of dollars of taxpayer money is spent and with budget cuts coming potentially from congress he will be on the hot seat to figure out what is cut, what is kept. Hes someone who is likely to get readily easily confirmed by the Republicanled Senate Arms Services committee. They know him. He shouldnt run into any particular problems. Perhaps the biggest question, though, you know, hagel was pushed out because the administration, the white house said it was time to transition to new leadership. Is ash carter really new leadership . Probably not. And a big question about whether the white house really wants that. You hear an awful lot about micromanagement from the National Security council from the president , will a new secretary of defense offer new ideas . Will he will listened to . Will the white house even want to hear new ideas or is it basically full steam ahead with what the status quo is for the next 18 months or so. Interesting thought. Peter, lets bring you into the conversation. This is also coming at a time when the u. S. Is facing a fair amount of strife, its safe to say, in the middle east. He definitely is facing his share of challenges if he were to be put in this position if he gets confirmation. Whats your reaction to it all . Well, i think the senate is certainly going to bring up obamas policies. I mean, youre replacing as i wrote last week, i mean, you can replace the secretary of defense but the policies are really the problem. I mean, were facing a war with isis, iraq, syria, afghanistan, violence is up, the rise of china, russia, ukraine, so you can change the head of the pentagon, but if you dont change the policies, the result is not going to be any different. And i think were facing an unprecedented level of International Challenges here and i think part of it is bays of the policies that this administration has pursued and i expect thats what the Senate Arms Services commit see the going to get at in his confirmation hearing. Barbara, despite his vast experience inside the pentagon itself, not to mention his education, the guy is a rhodes scholar, a ph. D. In theoretical physics which makes him a million times smarter than i am, he never served in the military. Thats not unheard of for a defense secretary. Its not. And let me throw something in here. Really interesting. Not only a degree in theoretical physics, not only a rhodes scholar. Oddly enough, he has a degree in medieval history. Ash is really considered yeah, very interesting guy. Really considered by everyone who knows him to be brilliant intellectually. But also a good a good sort of practical handson knows how things run. Never served in the military. Not that unusual. Perhaps more unusual was, in fact, chuck hagels experience as a soldier on the ground walking the patrol during the worst times of the vietnam war. That is something that was very much revered by so many enlisted people currently serving in the military. They felt that hagel really understood what they had been through. But a lot of secretaries of defense have never served. Barbara starr, peter brooks, thank you so much, well watch to see what happens when the official announcement comes out about the nomination and wait to see if he is confirmed. Well have more to discuss with you both. Thank you. Ahead for us right now at this hour. The rams apology or nonapology for the handsup protest that stirred up trouble for the st. Louis Police Department. Were going to have the he saidhe said controversy next. We give you relief from your cold symptoms. You give them the giggles. Tylenol® cold helps relieve your worst cold and flu symptoms. But for everything we do, we know you do so much more. Tylenol® if you have moderate to severe Rheumatoid Arthritis like me, and youre talking to your rheumatologist about a biologic. This is humira. This is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. Doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. Humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage in many adults. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Talk to your doctor and visit humira. Com this is humira at work then all the parts. Come together, and there it is. Our new car so, thats how san