Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20141205 : comparemela.com

Afford to live there. Ifill those are some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by lincoln financial committed to helping you take charge of your life and become youre own chief life officer. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions and. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Ifill racial tensions and police use of force dominated the nations agenda today after the latest high profile caase involving a white officer and a black victim. This time, it happened in new york. But new calls for calm, and new cries of anger, echoed across city after city. Around the country, protests built as the day wore on. In pittsburgh, people laid down in the street, blocking traffic. And in new york city, with more rallies starting this evening, mayor bill deblasio again urged calm. We will not tolerate violence or disorder. But we think by showing respect for the democratic process is one of the right ways of setting a tone that keeps the protests peaceful. Ifill 83 protesters were arrested last night in new york, but as in many cities and on many college campuses, the demonstrations were largely peaceful. They began after a grand jury decided against indicting Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the killing of eric garner last july. Viral video showed police stopping garner on Staten Island for suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes. I did nothing were sitting here the whole time, minding our business ifill when garner balked at being arrested, pantaleo wrapped his arm around garners neck, wrestling and holding him down. Garner, who had asthma, pleaded that he was suffocating. I cant breathe i cant breathe ifill garner died later at a hospital. A medical examiner ruled it a homicide by a banned chokehold. But today, the head of the citys police union called pantaleos action a textbook maneuver. This was a Police Officer who was sent to that location to do a difficult job. Had to bring a person to the ground that said im not going and was resisting arrest. While bringing that person to the ground, yes, they said, we cant breathe. but the Police Officers and the ems did what theyre supposed to do at that time. If youre speaking, you can breathe. Ifill mayor diblasio disagreed. He said today hes ordering a retraining program for the citys police. And civil rights including reverend al sharpton, focused on the Legal Systems handling of the cases in new york, and ferguson, missouri. We need to centralize and make clear that we want the Justice Department and federal government to deal with the fact that grand jury systems on state level are broken and seem to lack capacity to deal with police. Ifill attorney general eric holder has already ordered a civil rights investigation in the garner case. And today, in cleveland, he announced findings that that citys police use Excessive Force far too often. I think we certainly see patterns that have emerged through the investigations that we have done, where you see inadequate training, where you see resource deficiencies, where you see cultural problems that exist within police deptartments, and so i think the ifill the review began even before an officer shot and killed a 12yearold boy who turned out to be carrying a toy gun. A new agreement calls for a courtappointed monitor to oversee reforms in the Cleveland Police force. Civil rights figures are laying plans for a march and summit in washington later this month. We will delve deeper into the tensions involving race and justice after this news summary. A white police chief was indicted in utahville in 2011 when two men argued over a traffic ticket. Ex chief richard combs said he shot and killed Bernard Bailey in selfdefense. Combs had been charged with misconduct in office. Ifill House Republicans pushed through a bill today aimed at president obamas executive actions on immigration. Last month, the president shielded up to five million undocumented immigrants from deportation. But by 219 to 197, the house declared that step null and void. House Speaker John Boehner insisted that the Senate Follow suit. For the Outgoing Senate democrat majority, to do anything less would be an act of monumental arrogance. The American People elected us to heed their will and not to bow to the whims of a white house that regards the legislative process established by the constitution as little more than a nuisance. Ifill despite that demand, theres little prospect of the bill advancing in the senate. The immigration issues recognized are ones that generate a lot of passion, that it does not make sense for us to want to push talent out rather than make sure theyre staying here and applause considering this. Ifill the president made no mention of a white house detail but threatened one if the bill ever reached his desk. The house also passed a defense spending bill today authorizing 585 billion dollars, and expanding operations in iraq and syria. 5 billion of the money will go for the fight against Islamic State militants. The measure also gives u. S. Troops a one percent pay raise, and it again bans moving terror suspects from guantanamo to the u. S. Mainland. President obama will name his choice to be secretary of defense, tomorrow. The white house announced that today, without confirming that former pentagon official Ashton Carter is set as the nominee. If confirmed, hed succeed chuck hagel, whos leaving after two years. Hagel would not say today if he felt pressured to resign. Instead, he called it a mutual decision. In yemen today, an offshoot of al qaeda threatened to kill american hostage luke somers. The 33yearold photojournalist was abducted more than a year ago, and had not been seen until todays video message. The white house confirmed that u. S. Special forces had hoped to find somers during a raid in yemen last month. As soon as the u. S. Government had reliable intelligence and an operational plan, the president authorized the department of defense to conduct an operation to rescue mr. Somers. Regrettably when the operation was executed, luke was not present, though hostages of other nationalities were present and they were rescued ifill the alqaeda group today gave the u. S. Three days to meet unspecified demands, and save somers. Gun battles rocked the capital of russias southern province, chechnya, today. Unknown attackers stormed a building in grozny, killing 10 policemen. Ten of the attackers also died in the ensuing clashes, while the building burned. Islamist separatists in chechnya have been fighting to break away for more than a decade. Back in this country, thousands of lowincome workers in the fast food, home care and Airline Industries staged protests, demanding a 15dollaranhour minimum wage. Organizers said rallies and strikes were being held in at least 190 cities, making them the most expansive yet. The demonstrations were backed by major labor unions. Average premiums on healhtcare. Gov will increase five percent on average next year. That according to a report released today by the health and Human Services department today. But Obama Administration Officials Say more insurers will participate in the online marketplace. And they maintained customers should be able to save money if they are willing to shop around. On wall street, the dow jones average lost 12 points to close at 17,900; the nasdaq fell five points to close at 4,769; and the s p 500 slipped to two to finish below 2,072. Nasas first test flight of the new orion spacecraft was put on hold this morning. Gusty winds and a valve problem in the rocket that carries orion scrubbed the launch attempt until tomorrow. Plans call for the spacecraft to eventually ferry people to mars. The unmanned test flight is slated to last fourandahalf hours in earth orbit. Still to come on the newshour, race and justice in Staten Island, and across the nation. The rise of reports of Sexual Assaults in the military. How the kremlin uses reality tv in russia to promote politics. Silicon valley moves south, as more Tech Startups set up in los angeles. Plus, poet Claudia Rankines urgent verse on race and politics. Ifill the uproar over another grand jurys decision not to indict is making itself felt coast to coast. We start in Staten Island, where eric garner lived and died, and where members of the grand jury reside. The borough is also home to many of the citys Police Officers and fire fighters. Newshour correspondent William Brangham takes us there. While protests of outrage emerge across the country, and in different parts of new york city, Staten Island, where eric garner died, is relatively quiet. Thats because this borough of nearly half a million residents is not like the rest of new york. James cohen teaches criminal law at Fordham University in new york. Staten island is part of new york city, but in many respects it is unlike the other boroughs. It is the most conservative of the five boroughs. It is the most demographically the same. Reporter Staten Island is also home to a large percentage of new yorks active and retired firefighters and Police Officers. And having those Public Servants as friends and neighbors might influence how people here feel about police and the garner case, even compared to the rest of the city. According to a recent quinnipiac poll, while only half of new yorkers approve of Overall Police performance in new york, nearly 80 of Staten Islanders do. In the garner case, 65 of new yorkers felt there was quote no excuse for the Police Actions seen in that video, but only 45 of Staten Islanders felt that way. When asked whether criminal charges shouldve been brought against the police for garners death, 65 of new yorkers supported the idea, but only 42 of Staten Islanders did. I would think justice would prevail. We actually have it on tape doing the maneuver, and it seems like justice isnt giving them that. I dont understand how its, like, possible for that to even happen. Like, remove the badge, youre a human being. You should be charged just as much as anyone else. The Staten Island District Attorney daniel donovan, jr. Up for reelection next year stated he conducted a thorough investigation into garners death and presented the information to the grand jury. He said yesterday i assured the public i was committed to a fair, thorough and responsible investigation into mr. Garners death and would go wherever the evidence took me without fear or favor. According to james cohen, d. A. S across the u. S. Are too close with local Police Forces and prosecutors have a conflict of interest trying to fairly judge police behavior. There is something inces incestuouss in a way about that and that is a principal explanation for why these cases ended up with no true bill, no indictment. Jurors usually get it right, and you have to be in the system a lot to see it, but it does work. It does work. Staten Island Defense attorney patrick paroda says he believes the system works fairly and has seen instances where Police Officers get punished for wrongdoing but, according to him, the garner case just wasnt one of them. These cases that evoke a lot of emotional response are very difficult, and the result of them is certainly unpredictable sometimes, and sometimes are paltaable, the result, but i havent lost faith in the system. Ifill for the viewer from new york city hall, were joined by zachary carter, advisor to mayor bill de blasio. Wasnt city hall bracing for this outcome, mr. Carter . Because it was anticipated that the grand jury would be taking action in this case, obviously we were prepared that, depending on what the outcome of the grand jurys investigation and process, that there might be a response and, so, we certainly prepared ourselves for a response. Brown part of the response the mayor announced today was retraining the entire police force. How does one go about doing that . Its a pretty big police force. First of all, i think there was acceptance immediately after the garner incident that retraining was necessary. The Police Commissioner bill bratton stated immediately after the incident that he believed that, based on his review of the video, that any legal choke hold prohibited by the Police Departments policy apparently had been used. There was a determination to embark on making sure that the policy prohibition was reinforced through directives and training, and that has been done. But the commissioner was going further and is embarking on a very am a bicious retraining ambitious retraining program that reaches every single officer in the department to focus on the use of force, the avoidance of unnecessary use of force, and constructive ways of engaging with the community. Brown as you know pardon me. But as you know, commissioner bratton has come under fire himself for what is called the broken windows policing policy where he brings Police Action to bear on the most minor offenses. Representativeee vet clark in washington yesterday called it just a cousin to stop and frisk. Actually, i dont think that is true. First of all, with respect to stop and frisk itself, the mayor and Police Commissioner bratton made it very, very clear and by their action ended the abuse and overuse of stop and frisk as an enforcement tactic, and the statistics bear that out. But with respect to the broken windows theory, the issue isnt whether or not the broken windows theory makes sense in policing in urban settings because all the broken windows theory simply says is there should be attention to lowerlevel offenses so there is a sense of order, even in our most empoove richard communities that are overrepresented by people of color. But how you address those minor offenses is critical, and in the wake of the eric garner incident, there was a close reexamination of whether or not the use of the arrest power was a necessary part of addressing minor offenses, and the mayor and the Police Commissioner concluded after this review that there were broad categories of minor offenses in which arrests were not necessary and that alternative means of securing the attendance of persons before the court, like summonses, were available and were the wiser course of action in order to avoid unnecessary confrontations. Brown im sorry to interrupt. Interrupt. Ifill let me ask you bluntly, do you agree this decision of the grand jury is a just one . Do you agree and does the mayor agree . I think without having an opportunity to review all of the evidence that was presented to the grand jury, i dont think it would be responsible to judge whether or not those grand jurors reached a reasonable decision. Obviously on the basis of what was Public Record and, obviously, that most prominently was the videotape, it would be puzzling for, im sure, most residents of the city and even those like me who grew up in Law Enforcement as to how they could necessarily come to the conclusion that they came to. But again, there may have been much presented before the grand jury of which we are not aware. What i think is important in our system and in any system of justice is there has to be both a reality and the perception of justice and, obviously, those perceptions, to a large extent, were formed by a videotape that appeared to provide a fairly full account of what occurred. Ifill thank you zachary carter, chief legal officer for the city of new york. Ifill now for a broader look at how this latest intersection of race and justice, we turn to. Candace mccoy, a professor at John Jay College of criminal justice in new york. And jelani cobb, director of the Africana Studies institute at the university of connecticut. We have a split screen of law and emotion. Was the grand jurys conclusion a surprise to you, jelani cobb . No, it was not. I was in ferguson up until last week and beyond that, you know, its well known its very difficult to get indictments against police and we also know the history of failure to indict or failure to convict people who are guilty of offenses against africanamerican citizens. So its difficult to hear the previous desk mr. Carter kind of ramble through that bureaucratic doublespeak and say the video attempts to show something but we dont know what the grand jury experienced. We all have eyes and know the person use the add maneuver banned by the nypd and culminated in the persons death and no one said the grand jury was supposed to have convicted mr. Pantaleo for this. Simply was there enough evidence that theres a trial warranted. And the fact it didnt warrant a trial is a muse carriage of justice. I dont know why he couldnt just say tha