Transcripts For CNNW Erin Burnett OutFront 20141127 : vimars

CNNW Erin Burnett OutFront November 27, 2014

Im erin burnett. Outfront tonight we begin with the breaking news. The atf is investigating the fire that destroyed the Flood Christian Church in ferguson. They said arizona sonists may h targeted the church because Michael Browns father is connected to the church. This as the mayor of ferguson tells cnn Darren Wilson is with the Police Officer and he has not worked out any resignation. Obviously we are waiting to hear if hes going to make a decision like that, that is something we dont know at this point. Nothing has really changed. Again, he still remains a ferguson Police Officer. He is on administrative leave. It is a Personnel Matter and at this point, we cant really discuss that any further. Well the unrest continues today. 300 protesters in st. Louis staged a mock trial for officer Darren Wilson an then stormed city hall, fighting with police, chanting shame, shame. The demonstration arent just in ferguson but across america and now overseas. Thousands takes to the streets of london demanding justice for Michael Brown. Protests are planned for tonight, thanksgiving eve. And a tunnel leading to highways were shut down last night and we begin with evan perez on Michael Brown sr. s church. Evan, excuse me. What are you learning . Reporter erin, this was a big surprise on monday night. There were stories burning, but nobody noticed that there was this church that burned which is very surprising to Law Enforcement and now we learned that the atf has taken the lead of the investigation because they have jurisdiction when there is suspicious fires of houses of worship and they are looking at because there is great suspicion that perhaps perhaps this church was targeted because of Michael Brown sr. He is a member of the church. And they say that there was a breakin and they saw that the fire began right near the front, right near the foyer entrance to the church. And so now the atf investigators are looking to see if there was accelerant or things used to make sure the church burned down, erin. Evan, thank you very much. Obviously that is a very Sobering Development as they look into that. And more breaking news. Sara sidner interviewed the mayor of ferguson a short time ago and confirmed that Darren Wilson is still with the Police Department and on administrative leave. I believe paid. Sara is outfront with the breaking story. This is going to shock a lot of people because we were told for days and weeks he was negotiating his resignation . Reporter right. But when that happened, we also spoke with someone at the city and they said actually that negotiation isnt happening. So weve been hearing a lot of different kinds of information. My sources telling me there was no final, for example, negotiation early on. But i did want to talk to the mayor about that and i asked him point blank, what is happening, what is the status of officer Darren Wilson . Michael browns mother reacts to officer Darren Wilson explaining why he shot and killed her son. I gave myself a mental check, can i shoot this guy. Legally, can i. And the question i answered to myself is i have to. If i dont, he will kill me if i dont. She doesnt believe a word of wilsons story and the grand jurors did and decided not to indict him. Nobody from the city of ferguson has reached out to her after her sons shooting and that is why they decided to listen to the announcement of the grand jury decision outside among the protesters in front of the Police Department. I felt the need to do that because one, they never addressed us, and you heard our pleas and our cries for everything to go the way it should be, and then third of all, we heard this and it was just like like i i like i had been shot. Like you shot me now. No respect, no sympathy, nothing. And so my emotions were raging and hi to go up and i had to let them know, you just really dont care, do you . Why dont you care. This could be your child. This could be anybodys child. Reporter she reacted with sorrow. Her husband responded with anger. [ yelling ] reporter louis head has been accused by some by inciting the riots with those words. His emotions were taken over just like mine and he spoke out of anger. It is one thing to speak and it is a different thing to act. He did not act. He just spoke out of anger. Im a grieving mother. That is my husband. Hes been around michael at least four years so hes grown to love him, not as much as i do, but hes loved him like he loves his own children. So when you are that hurt and the system has done you this wrong, you may say some things as well. Weve all spoke out of anger before. Reporter so you can certainly hear the sadness and the sorrow that the brown family feels. I do want to talk to you a little bit about the frustration and sorrow that the folks here in ferguson feel who own businesses, the folks and residents who live here and the fact that the National Guard is still here. They are still here at the p. D. Let me give you a look. The National Guard members out in a much smaller force today because i want to show you why. Before there were quite a few more troops. Normally weve got a fair number of people who are out protesting. Today, were not seeing that. What were seeing is just a couple of people, mostly a bus there. Mostly just Media Standing here. But for days, for more than 100 days there have been people out here every single night. This is the first night we havent seen any sort of big crowds. Erin . Sara, thank you very much. And dont miss the interview with Michael Browns parents at the top of the hour. And joining me now Patricia Bynes sand paul could you han and james wilson, the attorney for Michael Browns friend, dorian johnson, who was with Michael Brown the day he was killed ab also testified before the grand jury. Patric patricia, let me start with you and start first with this news about possible arson, that it could have been an arsonist who burned down the church that Michael Browns father is affiliated with. Is this something that shocked you . No, not at all. After being down here on the ground. What has happened with the protest attracted people with their own agendas. And i mean from the people that are here, this is to be expected. There are a lot of people who are here and have come from out of town to use this as an opportunity to be destructive. So that is not surprising to me at all. And i believe authorities are have been aware of that as well. And obviously at this point we dont know who might have been responsible, if it was arson. But james, let me ask you, what about the other breaking news that we just heard the mayor of ferguson say, that Darren Wilson has not yet resigned from the police force. We were under the understanding that would happen immediately, if there was not an indictment. What is youre reaction to the fact it is not done yet . This is the latest in a series of broken promises from the leadership that have given us this grand jury verdict. Weve been promised transparency and we didnt see that. We were told that Darren Wilson would leave the police force and he isnt. These are the kinds of things and the kind of inconsistencies that are leading to the frustration we are seeing in the ferguson community. No one condones the violence or likes to see the Property Damage but the frauft reagan and anger are the frustration and anger are understandable that time and time again in this case we are being told one thing and the reality is different. And at the very least, it appears to be incredibly tone deaf. Local authorities have been tone deaf from day one in regard to this case. And in regard to the potential resignation, i was surprised by that story and i know there was negotiations going on but for a officer to offered to while facing potential murder charges would have maybe sent a signal to the grand jury that, is he guilty. The fact that there was no indictment, they should have had it ready. You would think, except for this. But first of all, i was looking into the ferguson pension situation. You have to be a cop for eight years to qualify for a pension in ferguson. Hes been there for six years. Now he was at another police force and maybe he can put that on. But retirement from a police force is all about do you get pension benefits. So im sure there is that going on in the background and they probably didnt reach an agreement with him. Now, patricia, i guess it may shock some people but let me ask you about what you just heard in our piece. You heard Michael Browns mother reaction, were going to burn that b. I. T. C. H. Down and there is question about whether that moment and that scream and that shout was inciting the riots we saw. You said you felt betrayed by what he said . Yeah. It was very difficult to watch that video, when he said that. Because there has been a Community Behind this family and behind getting to the truth and getting justice. What happened to what happened to mike brown. And it felt like such a betrayal because the lashing out that was expressed to the community by burning down businesses, there are people that are out of jobs now. There are people and it is terrible. The entire i mean the Community Feels horrible about what happened and has been trying to support this family and it selfthrough the entire situation but it seemed like burning down ferguson, i dont that doesnt help that doesnt bring mike brown back. And it just seems like such an ugly thing to say when there have been so many people out here working towards justice. It was really a sad moment. I think you have to admit, no matter whether you think it caused the violence or not, it was an ugly things to say. And the head of the naacp was on the show last night and i asked him whether he thought that comment, burn this down, caused this violence. And his response was no, i dont think that was a call for violence or called violence. I was surprised he said that. Were you . No. I agree with him. Listen, this was a comment made out of frustration when the world had witnessed one of the worst injustices that weve ever seen. This is not unlike a lot of things we say in frustration to children. Im going to kill you to a spouse, i cant believe you will do that. Without any real intent. He was frustrated and angry. But the governor didnt call in the National Guard because Michael Browns stepfather might make these comments. They knew that the injustice of the sham process they set up would come crashing down and no one man speaking out in frustration gave rise to this. This was the culmination of a disrespect that started in august and has continued through today. Well, i dont know that a sham process was used here. I think the attorneys representing the officer would say it was quite a fair process, when the grand jury got all of the evidence. And forgetting about the grand jury process, because weve discussed that a lot. In terms of the security arrangements, what bothers me is local authorities including the governor seemed to have been paralyzed by the criticism from the press and the media and the demonstrator, that First Amendment rights were being put out and this was causing the demonstrators. So they were not ready to move in aggressively when looters and arsonists started to do bad things and they should have been ready regardless of whether this individual made an inappropriate statement. It was inappropriate. But there was a bigger picture. Thanks. And it is a fair point. When you look at their headlines, a state of emergency and they called in the National Guard, it was shocking they werent prepared. Out front next, in the wake of the grand jury decision, testimony and evidence released shows some really really serious things could have gone very wrong in this investigation and that is next. Plus the breaking fuse that officer Darren Wilson is still with the Ferguson Police department. This, as a lot of the grand jury Decision Centers around one man, the st. Louis prosecutor Robert Mcculloch. A full report. And heavy rain and wind and snow and 30 million americans trying to get to where they want to go by tomorrow. We have the very latest. [ male announcer ] over time, youve come to realize. [ starter ] ready [ starting gun goes off ] [ male announcer ] its less of a race. Yeah [ male announcer ] and more of a journey. Keep going strong. And as you look for a Medicare Supplement insurance plan. Expect the same kind of commitment you demand of yourself. Aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plans insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Go long. Toasty or frosty . Exactly the way you want it. Until boom, its bedtime your mattress is a battleground of thwarted desire. Enter the sleep number bed. Dont miss the ultimate sleep number week going on now. Hes the softy. His sleep number setting is 35. Youre the rock, at 60. Silent night not so silent . 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The only emotion i felt was fear and then survival and training. And you are absolutely convinced when you look through your heart and your mind that if Michael Brown were white, this would have gone down in exactly the same way . Yes. No question . No question. And now with evidence presented to the grand jury becoming public, new questions are emerging about the way the investigation was handled. Immediately after the shooting. Officer wilson washed blood off his hands and told the grand jury, from everything weve all been taught about blood, you dont want it on you. I had to wash my hands so i go directly to the bathroom, i actually washed them. And officer wilsons gun was not turned over or finger printed immediately after the shooting. Instead wilson brought it back to the Police Station and put his own gun into an evidence bag. I think all of those were problematic. I think the gun should have been taken and secured. I think that the blood should have been swabbed and secured. Reporter the Police Sergeant the first to interview wilson after the incident, told the grand jury he didnt take notes or record it. Saying, number one, i didnt have a recorder and number two, i didnt take notes because at that point in time i had mult pull things going through my mind besides what darren was telling me. And the scene is being questioned. The prosecutor asked did you take any photographs. The medical examine replied know. When asked why not . He said the battery in my camera died. They said it wasnt necessary to take any distance measurements at the scene. I got there and it was selfexplanatory what happened. Somebody shot somebody. Cyril who a forensic pathologist who handled many highprofile cases. I cant believe anybody would have had the audacity or the stupidity to make that statement. You want to note everything in terms of measurements and photography. You want to get everything in meticulous detail. And were going to get to more of the steps in a moment. This is pretty shocking, but when you looked into the Police Training to see was this a coverup or just perhaps por training or incompetence . Well ive been talking to former cops about this and that is the question i asked. A lot of them say, look, the procedures an the training, it varies from Police Department to Police Department. And when you get to the smaller Police Departments like the ferguson one, they may not perhaps have the same amount of strongly rehearsed practice procedures as maybe youll see at bigger cop shops such as l. A. , new york. And so that could be a play here as well. And in the bigger cop shops there are dedicated teams, internal affairs that will investigate Police Involved shootings. That is not what the case was with the ferguson, Police Department. The st. Louis county cops came in to help investigate. But what you see is a disparity with the amount of training at play here with the Police Departments across the country. And then you see Somet

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