Transcripts For CNNW At This Hour With Berman And Michaela 20141125

Hello, everyone, im john berman. Im michaela pereira. Reaction to a grand jurys decision to clear Police Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. Peaceful protests are back on the streets of ferguson, missouri, this morning. Such a different scene than the one we saw last night. The violence, the looting, the chaos that erupted after the grand jurys decision was announced. After their exhaustive review of the evidence, the grand jury deliberated over two days, making their final decision. They determined that no probable cause exists to file any charge against officer wilson and returned a no true bill on each of the five viemts. That announcement and the way that it was announced by st. Louis county prosecutor was tough to hear for many, many people. Michael browns mother became very emotion al tears streaming down her face. Other protesters were also emotional. Some crying and chanting in the streets. Stephanie elam reports on how those peaceful protests quickly unravelled. Reporter peaceful protests erupting into chaos after the announcement of no indictment. What are you saying . That you are that our lives are not equal . Our lives are not worthy . Are not even a day in court . Angry protesters hurling bottles, rocks and bricks in the media. Its that kind of scene out here right now. Protesters attacking police cars, shattering the window of this cruiser as cops run in with guns drawn to disperse them. But mayhem on the streets looking like a war zone. Gunshots ringing throughout the night. Flaming engulfing several police cars, buildings ablaze roaring out of control, some burning to the ground. Firefighters stretched thin with the number of fires erupting and moving out fearing their own safety. Widespread looting, several businesses vandalized including ferguson market and liquor where brown had allegedly stolen cigars before his death. You need to get out of the street or you will be subject to arrest. Police in riot gear and armored trucks firing tear gas and smoke bombs refusing to disperse, forcing demonstrators to run. Anger and frustration about the grand jury decision spreading across the country. Protestiest in chicago facing off with police as they voiced their anger. In new york, massive crowds marching through manhattan, reaching three major bridges with one known arrest. Protesters in times square even throwing fake blood at new York Police Commissioner bill bratton. Demonstrators gathering outside the white house, weaving together on the ground along pennsylvania avenue. In oakland, california, protesters shut down the expressway, lying down inside chalk outlines drawn on the streets. A similar scene in seattle where demonstrators dropped to the ground. The man who simmered tensions this summer urging restraint in the aftermath of chaos. We definitely have done something here that is going to impact our community for a long time. Thats not how we create change. Change is created through our voice and not destruction of our community. Reporter stephanie elam, cnn, ferguson, missouri. Right now we want to get a sense of what the scene is like now on the ground in ferguson, missouri, ana cabrera is outside Police Headquarters there. Were hoping its a different mood and a different food will proceed throughout the day, ana. Literally night and day. We are in one of those hot spots outside the Ferguson Police station, this area crowded with hundreds of people here yesterday. It got heated. You can see behind me there are people up and down the street in this parking lot, throughout this zone who weve seen out here this morning picking up trash and trying to clean up, trying to put their lives back together. You see a will the of traffic moving through here freely. This area was completely blocked off last night but its one of the busier and main thoroughfares in the town of ferguson. We drove up and down this street and it was a sad sight. We saw a lot of businesses that had broken window, had to be boarded up, some of the businesses we know would normally be open right knew even if they werent damaged were r closed with the fear of what could come. Lets pivot to show you the Ferguson Police department which is just across the street. Forgive the lighting, i know the sun is shining into the camera not ferguson Police Officers, st. Louis county Police Officers who are manning this post. We understand the missouri governor has declared that more National Guard will r going to be move in to respond to additional unrest that could foll follow. Any sense from the activist community. Is anyone stepping up and saying not again. Do not do this again tonight. People are just regrouping here. They were calling for calm. They are devastated by the destruction they witnessed. Ana cab rare are on the streets of ferguson. Calm. And i think thats important for everyone to know. People want to know whats happening on the streets what happened last night. Also we are learning key details about what officer wilson told the grand jury. His version of events that apparently influenced the grand jury a great deal. The story according to officer wilson. Our legal analyst and former federal prosecutor sunny hostin is joining us from ferguson. Good morning to you, sunny. We know youve had a chance to look over reams and reams 60 paper of this testimony. Im sure there were things that really struck you in there. What stood out the most to you . Well, there were a lot of things, michaela, that struck me and stood out to me. But id like to back up and put it into context. When a perspective defendant gets in front of the grand jury, which is rare, a prosecutor then has the opportunity to crossexamine that person, to test that persons version of events because you know if youre a perspective defendant, you have incentive to try to put your best foot forward. You have incentive to not be credible, to not be truthful. That is not what happened here, quite frankly, in reading the grand jury testimony of officer wilson. He was not tested by the prosecutor, he was not crossexamined, he was treated with kid glove, he was tossed a lot of softballs and, in fact, the more difficult questions came from the grand jurors themselves. So in light of that, what was striking to me was that his testimony just seemed to be very fanciful. He described what we have never heard before which is that he had been struck with full force two times, the third time he thought could be a fatal strike yet his injuries seem inconsistent with that kind of force, michaela. He also described that he thought he saw Michael Brown reaching into his waistband which is something, unfortunately, that Police Officers often say to justify shooting someone. However, one of the grand jurors asked officer wilson whether he felt or thought that Michael Brown had a weapon and he officer wilson responded that he hadnt thought of that. So when you really take a look at the testimony and the context, it just appears to be very selfserving, quite frankly. And fanciful and just not credible. Nevertheless in my view. Nevertheless, the grand jury seemed to believe it, sunny, and i think that is the key question. Why . Why is it that this grand jury seemed to believe the testimony of officer Darren Wilson . Were going ask that question to a panel of attorneys, not all of whom agree with sunny hostin. Sunny, thanks for being with us. Stick around, we want you to be part of the conversation. Ahead, officer wilson claims Michael Brown charged him. What he said about those final moments before Michael Brown died. Plus, well hear from some of officer wilsons supporters. What they are now saying this morning that hes been cleared of state charges, what theyre saying about the protests, the demonstration, the looting, what they are seeing they want to see happen now. When it comes to medicare, everyone talks about what happens when you turn sixtyfive. But, really, its what you do before that counts. See, medicare doesnt cover everything. Only about eighty percent of part b medical costs. The rest is on you. [ male announcer ] consider an aarp Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like all standardized Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans, it could really save you in outofpocket medical costs. So, call now and request this free decision guide. Discover how an aarp Medicare Supplement plan could go long™ for you. Do you want to choose your doctors . Avoid networks . What about referrals . 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And hopefully they will repeat their call for peace and calm because i think Everyone Needs to hear that so we do not have to repeat especially from them. So we dont have a repeat of what happened last night. Officer wilson has not appeared before cameras. Earlier this morning, one of his supporters read a letter officer wilson wrote, a statement, apparently, that comes all the way back from august after the first protest broke out. Listen. I would like to thank all of you for standing up for me during this stressful time. Your support and dedication is amazing and its still hard to believe all of these people i have never met are doing so much for me. He closes with please keep my family in blue in your hearts and prayers. They have all made a sacrifice of their own lives in order to work the excessive hours through the heat and rain to ensure the riots and protests in ferguson were as safe as they could be. That supporter did not want her identity revealed. She says she is being threatened because of her support for officer wilson. Lets talk more about officer wilsons grand jury testimony. There is a lot in it. We have some great legal minds with us. Legal analyst mark omara back from ferguson. Legal analyst and former federal prosecutor sunny hostin. Sunny, its interesting something you were mentioning beforehand about the grand jury testimony p. You were bringing up this point, john, we can maybe pick up from that point in the conversation because we can pick through this as much as we want to, but what it boils down to is that grand jury believed the testimony from officer wilson. You know, i think that clearly the grand jury took his testimony into consideration. We dont know what they believed, michaela, because the bottom line is were not going to hear from the grand jurors, were not going hear the vote, were not going to hear the split, were not going to hear their reasoning. So we need to be care informal saying that they wholesale believed all of officer wilsons testimony because when you look at the grand jury transcript, its pretty clear that they are probing and theyre asking him questions about his testimony. Theyre also asking questions which do reveal a little bit of how theyre thinking, sunny. Mark, im glad youre here with us because, you know, even if they did not buy hook line and sinker officer wilsons story, as sunny suggests, clearly they agree with enough of his line of reasoning not to offer any indictments here. Absolutely. The questions that they asked really incite informal some cases. Do they go to questions about forensic evidence. They asked in great detail about the blood spatter evidence which indicated that Michael Brown walked or may have indicated that walked back or ran back, that there was blood further on down the line, his body ended up being 20 feet closer to officer wilson. What does that tell you . Its probably the most significant piece of evidence that is there because, one, its forensic. Its not somebodys interpretation, opinion or insight on it. Its evidence that completely supports the idea or the fact that mike brown was moving forward at some point and he turned around and came back 25 feet. Whether he ran, charged, walked, stumbled, he came back and that 25 feet is so significant because if for no other reason that helps us get some insight, the grand jury get some insight, into what wilson was thinking as this person whos already been shot is now coming back at him. And, again, whats so interesting hear is to hear the grand jury ask about it because we can see now how theyre thinking. Theyre honing in on this information. Absolutely. And i dont believe that they believed everything that wilson said. I think that any witness, particularly if youre the one under potential indictment, is going to embellish a little bit, polish it up a little bit. They dont need that. They need to get to the heart of what what he said and if it is con thsistent or inconsistent. Had mike brown kept going he would have been shot in the back and it would have been first degree murder. If he came back, that somehow explain ace tway tragedy. Mark omara, stay there, sunny hostin, well be back with this legal conversation in just a moment. Ah, push it. Push it. P. Push it real good ow oooh baby baby. Baby baby. If youre saltnpepa, you tell people to push it. Push it real good. Its what you do. Ah. Push it. If you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. Ah. Push it. Im pushing. Im pushing it real good why did the grand jury in missouri decide not to indict officer Darren Wilson . Well, we have some clues. Poring over the transcripts that have been released of the testimony before that grand jury, lets bring in our legal analyst again mark omara. Also from ferguson sunny hostin i believe is still with us and here with us on set also mel robbins. Mel, youve been going through this trying to get into the grand juries minds here. Looking at the questions they asked of detectives who investigated this case. Yes. So on november 21, which was just last week, i mean, just a few days ago, the detective who investigated this case appeared for the third time before this grand jury and the first thing that struck me is that over the course of almost 100 pages they pepper this detective with questions. It was the questions on pages 87 and 88 and im sure you can find them on cnn. Com if you want to pore through them yourselves the grand juror asks questions of the detective trying to nail down what mark and sunny and you guys were just talking about. This physical evidence of blood and the blood pattern and whether or not this blood pattern establishes the distance that Michael Brown traveled so the grand jury asked this. As far as physical evidence we have the blood on the ground. That was about 21 or 22 feet from where michael ground ended up. So we know for a fact thats a minimum distance he might have advanced and from eyewitness testimony that placed him at the corner of copper creek. So why is this important . Explain that. Its important because as mark has been days all morning, as many legal analysts have been saying, what the grand jury was focused on is whether or not officer wilsons perception of the threat was reasonable. And what they have to weigh is not only the testimony of officer wilson which has some problems with it but for the most part is corroborated by other witnesses, is corroborated by physical evidence. If you have blood evidence that tracks away from the scene, stops, turns around, and comes back presumably dripping from a hand from the wound that establisheser refutdable evidence that Michael Brown traveled back at the officer which which corroborates the officers claim and the witnesses claim that he was charged by Michael Brown when he fired those fatal shots. And would these be crossexamined at trial . Yes. However, this kind of evidence is the most powerful kind of evidence that you can have other than eyewitness we know can be discredited, it can be unreliable. This is the kind of evidence that established something that was at dispute and you see the grand jury granning with this. On pages after they ask more questions after this. Can i interject for a minute . Were all talking about how distance played such an important part in this case and mel, my friend, is talking about blood evidence. Blood splatter evidence, while a science, is much more of an art. What we generally use when we talk about crime scene is measuring distances. If you look at the first grand jury person that testified, that was the medical investigator. He said he didnt take pictures of the crime scene because his camera was out of batteries and he said he didnt measure the distances didnt measure the distances because the distances were obvious. So we need to take that into consideration and thats why the grand jurors were stuck with trying to measure blood spatter as opposed to having accurate measurements and were having to call back all of these witnesses and peppering them with questions. What it really goes to show is that the prosecutors way of presenting evidence to this grand jury was less than transparent, was overwhelmingly confusing and didnt necessarily give the best picture. Now were talking about blood spatter distance as opposed to measurements. Physical blood is not accurate . You cant measure it so youre saying its not accurate. Mel you know and im sure mark omara would agree that blood spatter evidence while scientific is much more of an art. What you need do in crime scenes and what crime scene technicians and medical investigators are supposed to do, they are supposed to measure distances and that wasnt done in this case. My quick response. This isnt blood spatter evidence. This is bread crumb evidence. What this shows is where mike brown went because every photo, he was leaving a drop of blood from the injury. So it showed where he went and showed he came back. This is not blood spatter to show where a fight happened or whether or not someone was standing up. This is bread crumb. It just shows where he was. But it doesnt show he was charging necessarily but it showed he turned on the officer and that for a 25foot distance there was what everything was happening where he did not go to the ground, which is probably would any officer would say and what wilson himself testified to. Most significantly, if wilsons testimony was disputed by physical evidence like this or any other physical evidence, then they would have thrown out his testimony, probably in some like we tell our injujuries to because its unbelievable. But if its consistent with the physical evidence, and this seems to be, then its credibility. When its a specific issue you have to figure out to make a decision what to believe. Was he in fear . The fear could have been there because of the advancing back at him. Thats why its very significant evidence. And was he advancing when you have these three witnesses and the blood that actually shows where he physically was. Sunny, go ahead. Mark, would you agree that its odd that a crime scene investigator, a medical investigator, would not measure the distances . Well, they were measured by police and it should have been measured by everybody and the idea that somebody comes to us, comes to anybody and says i didnt take pictures because my batteries were out, they should be fired. I think wed all agree on that. I dont think that is very helpful in the investigation to be sure. To say the least. This all, though, again, gets to what the grand jury was thinking. I am so glad youve been here to discuss that because these are the questions we are asking today and will continue to ask as these days go forward. Mark omara, sunny hostin, mel robbins, thank you so much. Overnight, though, looting, car fires, ferguson looked like a scene out of a terrible movie. After first being criticized for being heavy handed, did police let protesters get out of hand last night . Well look at that angle of the story. And our big idaho potato truck is still missing. So my buddy here is going to help me find it. Here we go. Woo who, woah, woah, woah. 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Police have three and a half months, roughly, to prepare for last night. How did things go so terribly wrong. We should point out again, nobody was killed. This is an important thing to point out. Were not told of any serious, serious injuries. Lets turn to former new york city Police Commissioner bernard kark, kerik. I know you were criticized you criticized back in august the response as being too heavy handed, that Ferguson Police was the initial response, right. The initial response was too heavy handed. You said, no, a heavy hand was needed but some will fast forward to last night and say where were they . Businesses were burned, stores were looted, cars were burned. There was no presence there that a lot of our reporters said on the ground. Michaela, you know what i relate that to . People are afraid to do their job. This is driven by the media, its driven by the community, its driven by the critics. A lot of these Police Officers and people that are out here trying to protect society, they want to protect society but theyre being criticized constantly for doing the job theyre doing and i think last night i wasnt there. From what i saw, you cannot allow people to act like savages, you cannot allow people to act like animals. If i was Police Commander today i would be going through videos from last night and id go around and start sucking up all those people that were out there doing this destructive damage you cant torch buildings, you cant shoot guns into the air. And this relates to the grand jury ago no bill. This is insane. They wanted justice, justice has been served. Theyve gone through the process. Thats what the process was. But the problem is you have people that were out there last night. They said they were going to do this whether he was indicted or not. It didnt make any difference to them and they did exactly what they said. Its interesting. You blame the media for Law Enforcement not doing their job or being afraid of their jobs. Ive heard the media being blamed for inciting the demonstrators to get violent. Ive seen the media blamed for a lot here. Media didnt set any buildings on fire. But you know what hang on commissioner. The media also it isnt our job to patrol the streets to keep people from burning down a building. I want to talk about the constructive here. What to do next. What we can learn from what went wrong. Let me ask you about the announcement itself. 9 00 at night announcement. To a lot of people that strikes them as pure lunacy. After dark you give people hours and hours to get themselves ramped up. Was that the right call. Last night i sent out a message. I think the prosecutor did an excellent job on his explanation of the return of no bill of indictment. I think he did an excellent job on getting the information out to the public. I disagree with what time it was done. I think it should have been done 9 00 this morning, the first sign of business this morning. The protesters, normally theyve come out in the evening hours. I would have done it, i would have waited until this morning. I think he may have feared that it would have leaked out through the night. I dont know. I dont know him. I dont know what his position is, but personally i would have rather seen it come out this morning because as you guys have been reporting, there arent any protesters out there today. The streets are calm. And they seem to light up like the goblins at nighttime. So ill have rather seen it this morning myself personally. Bernard kerik, thank you so much. The concern is what tonight holds. I know family will speak b speaking a short time from now and we know their voices will be added to ours in urging calm instead of chaos. Thanks so much for joining us. Right now, blessedly, there is come in ferguson after that night of chaos. Ahead, Michael Browns family will address the community. Well bring those comments when they happen. But we want to talk about what happens next. What does the future hold for the community . What happens with officer wilson. Theres so many questions yet to be answered. holiday mhey is playing i guess were going to need a new santa the music builds to a climax. more people are coming to audi than ever before. See why now is the best time. Audi will cover your first months payment on select models at the season of audi sales event. Visit audioffers. Com today. Big day . Ah, the usual. Moved some new cars. Hauled a bunch of steel. Kept the supermarket shelves stocked. Made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. Whats up for the next shift . Ah, nothing much. Just keeping the lights on. laugh nice. Doing the big things that move an economy. See you tomorrow, mac. See you tomorrow, sam. Just another day at norfolk southern. At this hour, police in ferguson, missouri, are reporting more than 60 arrests, arson, burglary. We have been told six people have been treated for injuries according to a hospital spokesman. But the amount of damage, the material damage is just shocking this morning, damages to businesses, damage to property. All these people, Small Business owners paying the price for the chaos that happened overnight. And, remember, that means people will be put out of jobs. There will be blight in the community, in a Community Already struggling. Its an important view to get. Im sad, in a way, that were bringing it to you know but im happy to have Jason Carroll because this is so important to see the damage that was done. Jason, walk us through it. What a change to see today versus last night. You can see behind me this is whats left of a Beauty Supply store here on west there are no florissant. You have a laundromat still smoldering, were told folks came out here, looted this place and set it on fire. We saw so many fires. If you look in the distance there, at the corner of west florissant and chambers, the street is blocked off. To give you a point of reference, about two miles south of the street that youre looking at right now, thats where Anderson Cooper was reporting last night from the command center. Its blocked off now, that big chunk of west florissant. Were told it is an active crime scene. Theyre not allowing anyone into that area. So many Business Owners coming back now and finding nothing but rubble and a burned out mess. People also coming out here trying to clean up what they can. Its hard wrenching for the Small Business owners like the owner of this Beauty Supply store. Today its about cleanup and trying to figure out what happened here. A lot of people expected there to be unrest but a lot of people we spoke to did not expect this, did not expect it to be worse than what they saw out here in august. People trying to figure out how now to move on as a community. John, michaela . We were talking about the fact that ferguson has had its share of economic, financial and employment issues. Earlier this morning on new day we heard somebody there the activist community, one of the pastors of the church, we heard from him a short time ago voicing frustration that police didnt do more to protect those businesses. Interesting jason, i know st. Louis chief john belmar during his press conference early this morning, he said police tried to move their cruisers and other vehicles in an attempt to save businesses. Did you hear anything confirming that on the ground . Well, i can tell you this the police were definitely more measured, that would be an understatement in terms of how they responded to people out here. I heard one Law Enforcement official last night simply say that once they saw so many people moving in and trying to cause so much damage that at one point they literally just backed off and let people do whatever it is they were going to do. I can tell you from being in this crowd, it was much different than what we saw out here in august. In august when i was right here on west florissant, there were pockets of people causing unrest. Last night, a much, much different story. More than a pocket of people causing unrest. There was a vast number of people who were out here wanting to do damage. Looking at these pictures, jason, they must be looking at them also, do you get the sense they dont want to repeat this again given just the awful damage thats been caused . I think jason is having a hard time hearing me given the sound. We want to thank Jason Carroll showing us these pictures of the businesses, the stores, the lives that were upended . To a lot of people it doesnt make sense that your rage turns you on to your own community but as chris cuomo said, anger doesnt have a conscience. And people remarking cops werent they there protecting the buildings. Firefighters were having ha hard time. That may be so but they didnt light the match. So theres a lot of blame to go around. We want to turn to our legal analyst. Lisa wayne is a criminal defense attorney. We wanted to, lisa, if we could, focus with you instead of what happened yesterday but sort of the aftermath of what happens now. In terms of a measure of justice, i mean, i dont think any of us are going to forget the look on that mothers face. Theres she doesnt feel theres justice for her son. Her Michael Browns father doesnt feel theres been justice for their son. What are the next steps for them . Is there legal resource fsrecou them . I just want to say having done this for a long time that the one thing that sticks with me with victims families, with defendants, is that vengeance is not closure. That is so important here because even if this officer had been indicted and people felt like this was the right thing to do, it doesnt give you closure. Doesnt bring your son back. Sure does not. And the other thing we know is you dont want the wrong person to go to prison just to be to make up for past things that have happened and so this community to me has reacted so much and theyre angry, but its because theyre reacting in the disparity thats taken place. They dont see other defendants being given the benefit of the doubt like Darren Wilson did. They dont want them to go to prison, we dont want him to be indicted if he didnt do this, but the heightened scrutiny he was given, give it to all defendants. There should be disparity. And so in moving forward, im hoping people are going to say give us the benefit like this. If someone points a finger at my child or my son or my daughter, give heightened scrutiny to this. We know it doesnt happen. And i think thats what people are reacting to. Its not fair. We dont want an innocent person to be indicted but its not fair the way you did this . In terms of the legal avenues available, theres still a federal investigation. The bar is very, very high there. Its very high. So if youre looking at a civil recourse or a 1983 action, you violated my civil rights, thats going to be a tough one to overcome, too. Particularly based upon the transcripts and the physical evidence in this case. You know, last night i said this, i said where this went wrong to me is when im reading the transcripts and, yes, i see the physical evidence and wilson could come in and say that obviously brown was the initial aggressor, that he felt intimidated. There was one statement he made that he felt like a fiveyearold trying to get ahold of hulk hogan. Okay, i get that. But what happened is the interaction on that sidewalk in that moment. It could have been avoided. The way that he interacted with these kids, you know, i dont want to in hindsight say this is what you should have have, could have, but why did he need to get into this confrontation over a pack of cigarellos . Thats the mindset and thats that implicit bias that this community is reacting to because if he had been a white kid, would his interaction have been different with him . Thats hard. Lisa wayne, we see so appreciate your tone, your message for joining us here. I want to turn and bring in our l. Z. Granderson. Hes a commentator here with us on cnn. Also joe hicks is joining us now. Gentlemen, i want to make sure you both can hear us okay. L. Z. , its interesting because i think one of the conversations thats going to be had for the coming weeks and months is how do we change the dialogue, the narrative, the reality on the ground in ferguson given this . Because a lot of people are feeling frustrated, like lisa said. A lot of people are feeling justice wasnt served. How do we begin the healing process, l. Z. . Despite the images and the damage that was done last night, i believe that the healing process and moving forward has begun on a multitude of levels and this is why. You see the burning buildings, but what hasnt been shown a lot were the people who were trying to calm the crowd down, who were talking about alternate ways in which they can address the disparity in terms of racial profiling, in terms of the arrest, in terms of being pulled over by Police Officers. Youve seen artists using their gift from god to create messages of peace within ferguson. Youve seen a lot of these things that have told me as someone whos been here multiple times, including last night, that there are a lot of people in the city of ferguson who are looking at ways to change what has created a really, really disgusting pattern for the past 20 years here. Joe, youve been an activist for a long, long time. Were joined by joe hicks. Martin luther king said a riot is the language of the unheard. I think that may help explain what happened last night. I dont think it justifies what happened last night when you see these buildings burned, these cars on fire, these lives upended. Im wondering what your feelings are when you were watching these fires overnight . Well, i was probably as distraught as anyone was to watch people burn their own community down. But in this case, it wasnt necessarily people from that community. I think a lot of people from ferguson stayed home. You had the revolutionary communist party in the streets out there. You had the occupy wall street people who flew in from all over the country to be there. You had the new black Panther Party in that city. All intent on not healing rifts, as you will, if that city but operating a political agenda. Theyre not concerned about healing and much of the National Black leadership that ive heard is not particularly interested in healing and moving forward. They are using this as part of the political agenda. Thats unfair to people who now have to struggle with the aftermath of whats left after these people get on the planes and fly back to their respective cities. So its really unsettling. And ive heard a parade of people, both from there in ferguson and across this country saying that they wanted the justice that they demanded. They could care less about what the grand jury said, they wanted the kind of justice they demanded. Thats not how we do things in this country and i think there are a lot of people that are very unsettled by its an interesting point he makes about the folks from ferguson stayed home. But when those folks all leave, ferguson is left to ferguson. And that community has had its share of struggles with poverty and unemployment. Im really glad you highlighted some of the positive things that are happening there. But theres going to have to be more in the coming days. Absolutely, and i just want to also make sure thats included in that group of people that were here to cause chaos, i also heard multiple people in the crowd talk about look out for the kkk and be careful when you go back home from these protests because theyre out there as well. Wanted to make sure that group was also included in the conversation in terms of people coming in and perhaps causing chaos. There are things that i believe the federal government can do. One of the things the naacp has pointed out, i certainly agree with, that the department of justice has about 400 million in grants that it disburses around the country to the Police Departments. If we can tell them to find ways in which you can have more diversity training, sensitivity training, deescalation training, making sure that Police Officers have body cameras so there are less questions and more transparency available, there are things we can do to move forward, not only in ferguson but across the nation. This isnt just a ferguson problem. There are 70 Police Departments around this country that arrest black people, up to ten times more at the rate of any other race. This isnt just about Michael Brown and ferguson. This is about a nationwide problem that needs to be addressed collectively and not just isolated. Joe, lz makes many eloquent points about the discussions we need to have. Im interested in what we can do by tonight, what we can do to make sure more buildings arent burned down theres an urgency to this. How to get more leadership on the ground there . Does the president whos going to chicago today, does he need to consider going or saying something again . I dont think so. Thats not whats going to really help here. The people who are doing all the damage last night arent going to listen to the president or the attorney general, although hes not been helping in terms of the messages hes been delivering. We talked about the National Guard being deployed, we heard about the preparation. Its not like it was a secret that this was going to be taking place. Where is the National Guard . Why arent they protecting business many of those businesses are owned by black people in that community and other people in that community. Where is the National Guard thats protecting that community from the thugs and others that have come to destroy it . I appreciate the uplifting message im hearing from your other guest here. But im saying right now today, we need to secure that community for the good people that live there, that means protecting lives, protecting what property that they cant burn down and violate yet again tonight. Thank you both. We appreciate your comments. Want to turn back to Jason Carroll whos on the ground in ferguson. Hes taking a look at some of the reaction and how it played out last night. Youve been moving around the community, youve been in front of some of these buildings that have been burnt to the ground. Firefighters not able to get to them. Some of them having to flee with their hoses still left on the ground. Reporter yeah, it was just too dangerous last night. Obviously at one point, michaela, fire officials got into this area here on west florissant where we are and then started hearing gunfire and for their own safety had to pull out. This is a different Vantage Point from that building i showed you last time. This is whats left of that Beauty Supply store. On the other side of it, show you a little bit more of what was burned on this side here. It was a laundry mat. And the store behind it was looted as well. That area behind west florissant is blocked off. It will stay blocked off throughout the day and into the night. It is now an active crime scene. As you know, there are several businesses that were burned there, a lot of Business Owners coming back and just wondering what happened. A lot of us are wondering what happened. Jason, we appreciate you very much. That brwraps it up for us. Im michaela pereira. Im john berman. Coming up after a break, well hear from Michael Browns family. Theyll address the community reaction. And i think theyll address their own personal reaction. Sometimes measured, sometimes not as much. Ashleigh banfield will have that live at noon. 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Thats the real walmart. Hello, everyone. Im ashleigh banfield. Welcome to a special edition of legal view. Just moments from now, the parents of Michael Brown are expected to come before the cameras in st. Louis. And theyre expected to talk about that grand jury verdict that they feel does not bring justice and certainly did not bring peace last night. Daylight gave us certainly fite a full view as we await their words of just what happened after last nights verdict was read of the damage from the night of explosive protests. Take a look at your screen. This is the aftermath, folks, it is not pretty. This is what the protests yielded. In some cases, this was just wanton destruction that followed word that Michael Browns killer, the person who shot him dead in ferguson, a Police Officer named Darren Wilson, would face no criminal charges. There would be no indictment. So thats what led to this. And in the end, more than a dozen of this. One dozen plus buildings in ferguson burned and nearby communities as well. They were torched. Many other businesses were looted. Police resorted to teargas and made more than 80 arrests across st. Louis county. And yet what is perhaps remarkable is that no one was seriously hurt. Amidst who looked like total chaos and for some people, absolute destruction of their livelihoods. There are many families today who will have to start all over if theyre even able to after this kind of destruction. My colleague, chris cuomo, saw for himself, you worked a very long night. I watched you as you came under fire, effectively, the teargas canisters started to come right into your location. Youre now able to after only two or three hours of sleep assess what it looks like today and where things are going. Can you sort of bring me to ferguson, chris . Reporter absolutely, ashleigh. Its a pleasure being with you, as always. The sun is up. Its a Beautiful Day here. However, the situation continues. Buildings were burned well into this morning. A couple are still burning now, partly because of the size of the structures involved,