Transcripts For MSNBCW Ronan Farrow Daily 20141125 : vimarsa

Out. That dont make a lot of sense. Leslies Immediate Reaction which was caught on videotape at the hearing, the devastating news that the killer of her child was not going to be brought to justice was overwhelming to her. She understands that we have a lot of responsibility to protect. Thats one of the reasons why she is not speaking today. You dont want to devastate the family and the devastating news of the prosecutor who was supposed to go and represent people like Michael Brown and accused Michael Brown to try to move on the focus and the cause of saying nobody is going to conduct violence and. Have you ever since talked to we opened all this evidence up and gave everyone a chance to take a look. We have been transparent. They made an effort to be above and beyond. Two quick things on that. As an attorney reminded me, when you put on your case, you dont put on your worst case. You put on your best case. Does anybody think he put on his best case . Why change the rules when the child is deadon the ground. For all 28 years that he was the prosecutor when and he did grand juries, he recommended charges. He didnt dump everything out. This way it was so fair. Dont change the rules on us. We want equal justice. Due process. Yes, maam . Yesterday the grand jury handed out a decision in washington. President obama awarded a president ial medal of freedom to three civil rights activists. Their killers were not indicted by the state, but by the federal government. Are you hoping for the same thing here and number two, last night as we covered the protest in front of the Ferguson Police station. Riot troopers and state police were there and advance weaponry was. They were stopped by police as they were at the protest. It was wide open. It has been the negative that huh to go to the federal government and could not depend on the states. Whether it was Michael Brown jr. So we are not in a strange place. We hoped we would be in a different place. It is not strange. I think that it is interesting that on the day that goodman, cheney and swerner were given the medal of freedom was the day that cullo decided in the dark hours to announce his decision on the Michael Brown case. And eight years ago today, shawn bell was killed by police in new york. All of these things come together, but i think the lawyers have stated the case. I say that many of us for cornell brooks and all of us, this is not our first rodeo. We deal with this in a way civil rights leaders have. Her husband said lets burn this down. Completely inappropriate. God forbid your child is killed the way they killed. Just devastating announcement in the manner it was announced that someone put a camera in your face. Dont condemn them for being human. Michael brown sr. Stated very clearly for his family that they want people to behave in a responsible, peaceful manner. We are not going to dwell on this because we want to focus on the issue of getting this system corrected so we dont have people feeling so frustrated that they have to march throughout the night. They said there is another way other than to explode and other than to i have an outrage like that. Many of us condemn, but we are the vehicle to try to address these things. Yet we are considered incendiary when we are trying to show the constructively way to get justice. After you burn stuff down, then what . Thats not going to get us justice. If you burn down believes, you achieved what . You dont get justice for Michael Brown. Thats why we are here this morning to show a better way. We just need the system to meet us halfway and do what you said you would do. We condemn the violence and the looting for them. Thats right. Reverend al sharpton with attorneys for Michael Browns family giving their first remarks since the announcement in ferguson. 10 00 on the west coast. We heard from the other side. The first News Conference since last nights violent protests erupted and since the st. Louis county prosecutor said there would be no changes and no trial for the Police Officer who killed that familys son. We object we object as we can on behalf of Michael Brown jr. s family. The process should be indicted. Todays News Conference happened near the Police Station were just last night. The scene look like this. Reactions pouring in and the decision not to charge Darren Wilson with local businesses set on fire, looted. Lets go to local Community Leaders who have been living out the reaction in realtime. You havent seen the press conference, but i want to get your reaction to something that there just wasnt enough of a presence and they didnt do enough to check the violence. I top the get your reaction. We have seen in past protests, a lot of objection to how heavy handed they have been. It was or was it not a good thing that there was a lighter touch this time . Its interesting that you say lighter touch. I am only a couple of hours from taking tear gas off of my clothes and face and out of my eyes. We didnt feel like a lighter touch when i was in front of Police Department and getting tear gassed and when i was in my car picking up Peaceful Protesters who were getting tear gassed in a place that was agreed that would not be attacked. We might have seen less presence on a certain strip and most certainly the destruction that i witnessed a couple of minutes ago was far worse than i saw previously. I sincerely think that while we do have to address the supportive businesses in this community, we have to address the systemic underlying issues that brought people to this point. We cant point fingers at people who are burning things and not the at system that continues to disenfrance chiz them. What are we heard is that there were fewer signs of that Police Presence and hearing accounts similar to brittanys, that it felt as heavy as can be. Which is it . We heard that crowd at the press conference cheer to reverend als agreement that the authorities and the words that was questioner let ferguson burn. Was it not enough or too much Police Response . I definitely have to agree with what brittany said. You have part of ferguson which is the primarily caucasian area which is where many of your upper class businesses are located along with the new Police Department and fire station. It was protected as it was a box of gold. On another strip of ferguson which is where the Africanamerican Community lived and blocks from where Michael Brown was killed, it was a freeforall. No type of protection and no type of guard up to protect the Business Owners and the protesters that may have moveed from one area to the next. The governor said he would bring in the National Guard, but to be frank with you, i was over there and i saw no National Guard. They were in clayton and the white neighborhood protested those businesses where no one was. Where was the protection last night is my question . Not as simple as too light or too heavy, but more just not executed well. Thats take on things. I want you to stay there and i will get more of your take. He saw how prosecutors words were received. They didnt want to insight more of a reaction. That has been the call all the way through saying we want a peaceful response to this. How did itsome so fast. I dont think we know the answer to that. Try to figure out who did what. Was it a criminal element and outside agitators. Was it ordinary people and it may have been some or all of that. The National Guard would protect the command post as they did last time. The plan was never according to the police for them to be in the community because the emphasis was to let police be in the community. So the police could be with the people. That may be why the National Guardsmen were in the streets. There was damage on the other side of the town. I rode down the street and i saw one place with kathys kitchen which was a popular restaurant and there was a rock through one of the windows out front. A blackowned business. There were black businesses that were victimized by this. On this street which is arguably the heart of the town, the heart of at least one of the areas where a lot of black consumers go and own businesses there. There was damage here, but im not sure how i think it will be night here soon. That decision to announce all the grand jurys decision at 8 00 or 9 00 at night was criticized. Was that a good idea . I guess that can be seen in many ways. We are not sure why they did it that way. I would love to drill down on that. It has been so contentious to announce at night. What did you hear from the community to that choice . They said it would be more prone to violent reaction . People just dont understand why that would happen. In the normal course of something, why would you wait until 8 00 or 9 00 at night. It wasnt like the grand jury was debating and ruffling and fighting and arguing over this decision until 8 00 at night and then they finally came to a decision. They heard from the last witness earlier in the day and their work was done. Why there was the lag, we dont know. He and the press conference last night, i dont think he gave an answer to that. We were focused on what he was saying and why that question didnt come um. What happened here. Its a question of the Police Chiefs who did a press conference who said they didnt think the time of day mattered. Common sense suggests it would. If you did something in the middle of the afternoon, you have light. A lot of School Officials and others asked for a decision to come on a weekend and not on a weekday when they think kids would be safely at home and families and parents would be home from work and there would be less going on in the streets than at 8 00 or 9 00 at night. A lot of questions about why they would handle it this way. You have been reacting to that. One thing he said that is getting a lot of coverage saying Michael Brown looked like a demon. He said holding him was akin to a 5yearold and holding on to hulk hogan. Are you hearing any acceptance about this idea that the officer may have genuinely feared for his and been motivated by that . What i think that quote and so much of this case really points to is the continual disrespect of children of color. In that we criminalize them when they are the victim so often and disproportionately in these types of incidents. We continued to see the that we continue to hear him being referred to as a thug and a demon as Darren Wilson put it. I work with thousands of children across this region and i am here to tell you that none of them are demons. They are bold and brilliant and beautiful and they deserve our respect. To continue to discuss them like that and he was an 18yearold with his whole life ahead of him, the community is very frustrated with that. They are frustrated with the fact that we told him to trust in the system that is continuously beat up on them and puts their children in substandard schools and we told them to trust that system and that system failed them. That frustration is far and wide. A friend of mine said this was another brick of the wall. I would have to agree and say we have a lot of work to do to make sure we come up with systemic solutions. Its important you mentioned that commission appointed by the governor to look at the problems and that powerful response suggests there will be a targeted focus in that. I want to wrap that up. What are you telling protesters are urging them to stay away from further protest and trying to organize more peaceful protests. What is the next step here . Protest leaders have been consistently peaceful. They have been persistent from the heat and the cold and having to face that heavy equipment and tear gas and they have been resilient to that. That sends a message that they are well aware of what the playbook of oppression is. It appear they have their own playbook that leadership here in the and i believe the protest will remain peaceful and remain consistent. A lot of people are watching ferguson and thinking this is just going to go away. Often times that happens in Race Relations here after a few weeks of just getting swept under the rug. This is going to be a conversation that is going to continue to loom. If we separate ourselves from those that are out selfishly trying to tear apart things and create chaos, i believe the movement will continue to grow. If we continue to push out of our city and continue to make the message clear and continue to control the narrative that its not about burning things, its about the legacy of Michael Brown and listening to what the family said and that is act in a dignified way no matter what happens. Our thoughts are with all of you and trying to help it heal. Thank you to all of you. Appreciate that. More as this sad story unfolds. The prosecutor under fire all morning. We dive into his record and controversial announcement last night with the attorney this is an interesting perspective who ran against him for county prosecutor. After this break. And also we want to get your take on this. Do you think it was the right idea or the wrong idea for him to time that press conference in the way we discussed at night, at 8 00 p. M. Tweet us your hash tag. Tell us whether you think it should have happened so late. There demonstrations happening across the country. Ferguson not by any means the only city where this is exploding. Take a look at these Police Confrontations in los angeles last night. Well be right back. Im only in my 60s. Ive got a nice long life ahead. Big plans. So when i found out medicare doesnt pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. Then i got a Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan. [ male announcer ] if youre eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. Call now and find out about an aarp Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. 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Remember, all Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans help cover what medicare doesnt pay. And could save you in outofpocket medical costs. Call now to request your free decision guide. And learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now and down the road. I have a lifetime of experience. So i know how important that is. This is the equivalent of the and this is one soda a day over an average adult lifetime. But theres a better choice. Drink more brita water. Clean, refreshing, brita. We do expect to get justice here. The system doesnt provide justice for anyone in our opinion, especially not black males. This is just more of the same. This is basically par for the course. More reaction to last nights grand jury decision in ferguson. Welcome back. Just coming in over the wires, a new statement from jay nixon. The violence we saw is unacceptable, he said. Thats why im meeting with leaders from the guard and Law Enforcement to ensure the lives and property. From the moment this decision fell into the hands of a grand jury, it was contentious. The man at the heart of that firestorm was Bob Mccullough. He stayed on the case despite calls for tim ho step down. The Bar Association even called on him to recuse himself. Some changing he had a track record of siding with police. They dogged him for decades. Someone who knows his history well, she ran against him for st. Louis prosecutor and lot of in the primary earlier this year. A st. Louis criminal defense attorney and professor at the Community College in ferguson. And an outside take from lisa bloom. Lisa, stay with us. I want to get your reaction in a moment. I want to hear from leslie on this given your personal experience going up against cullo. There is a storm of criticism. Hasnt he stayed true to the letter of the law. Did you stay true to the letter of the law . Is that your take or not . Thats an interesting question. We have to know and understand that we dont know what went on behind the closed doors. He is the only one who can present evidence to the grand jurors. He controls the narrative. Its not necessarily what you say, but how you say it. He carries with the favor wi