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Erin Burnett Outfront
Protesters Plan to Disrupt Royal Couple's NYC Visit; Protests Growing Across U.S.; California Police Bracing for New Violent Protests; Interview with Eric Garner Jr.; Tamir Rice's Mother Wants a Conviction; Protesters Stage "Die-Ins" in Multiple Cities; Two Hostages Killed by Al Qaeda During U.S. Raid
Aired December 08, 2014 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT tonight, protests from Brooklyn to Barkley. Police preparing for possible violence tonight. Protesters at this hour looking to disrupt the royal couple's visit to New York.
Plus two very special guests tonight. Eric Garner's son and hip hop mogul Russell Simmons on the president's message tonight.
Is it really getting better for young black men? They're both OUTFRONT.
And more breaking news. Thousands of Marines on high alert a day before the release of an explosive report on America's use of torture in the war on terror.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And a good evening to all of you. I'm Erin Burnett. We begin OUTFRONT tonight with the breaking news.
Protesters out in force in Brooklyn tonight as Britain's royal couple, Kate and William, attend a basketball game there. Demonstrators vowing a, quote, "royal shutdown" of the game using the high profile even to call for change in the wake of the Eric Garner decision.
American royalty LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers will be holding court, too, there tonight. James has reportedly decided to show his support for demonstrators and wear an "I can't breathe" T- shirt during warm-ups tonight.
You're also looking at live pictures in Washington, D.C. Protesters just a short time ago completely blocking traffic as you can see with the die-in near the White House.
Police in Oakland are on alert tonight after a weekend of often violent protests, the first real violence in the demonstrations in cities across the United States. Over the weekend 500 protesters in Berkeley, California, blocked a freeway and a stand-off. Rocks, explosives all thrown at police. They responded with tear gas. At eight were arrested.
This as President Obama just spoke to BET talking to young black men about the violence and what he believe many Americans saw in the Eric Garner video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think a lot of people who saw the Eric Garner video are troubled even if they haven't had that same experience themselves, even if they're not African-American or Latino.
I think there are a lot of good, well-meaning people. I think there are probably a lot of police officers who might have looked at that and said, that is a tragedy, what happened, and we've got to figure out how to bring an end to it to these kinds of tragedies. And the value of peaceful protests, activism, organizing, it reminds the society this is not yet done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Dan Simon is live in Berkeley, California. Athena Jones is in Washington tonight.
I want to begin, though, with Deborah Feyerick. She's outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Protesters threatening to disrupt tonight's game where really the world will be watching Prince William and Kate Middleton actually in attendance there tonight.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, Erin, I'm just to the side of the camera here. What we're showing you now is this die-in. All these people who have come here. And one of the organizes saying let's show with it our bodies, not with our voices. And so it is silent. They are laying down. This is -- these die-ins that they've been having.
They're here in the entire plaza of the Barclays Center just out front. You can see the subway is just passed them. And they're really surrounded by a group of both supporters but also a number of media folks here covering the royal visit.
We're also covering this protest. And really, it was within the last half-hour that all of these people began to show up. Many of them from Brooklyn. Others from all five boroughs throughout New York City and they're here making sure that everybody understands why they're protesting. We've heard a lot about police over excessive force, about violence. The same chants. "I can't breathe." Also, history will judge you and black lives matter.
You can see some of the demonstrators now lying here quietly -- Erin.
BURNETT: Pretty powerful to watch those die-ins and how this is continuing and growing more and more powerful.
I want to go to Washington where parts of the capital right now are at a complete standstill. Protesters shutting down a key central area, DuPont Circle. Organizers telling us they don't plan to move for four and a half hours because that's how long Michael Brown's body remained on the street after he was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson.
Athena Jones is OUTFRONT live. He's in Dupont Circle.
So, Athena, what are you seeing?
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Erin. Well, the protesters have changed up their plan a bit as they've been doing all night. Originally, they were to meet in front of the White House and march up about a mile to Dupont Circle and try to shut it down for four and a half hours. That changed when police shut down Lafayette Park, the park right in front of the White House.
They did, however, end up in DuPont Circle. And instead of shutting it down for four and a half hours, they shut it down for four and a half minutes, lying down, holding what we've seen across the country called a die-in, lying down in the intersection there or in the circle there in order to stay there for four and a half minutes to represent the four and a half hours that Michael Brown's body lay in the street in Ferguson, Missouri.
But now we are on the move yet again. I've -- we're covering a large proportion of the city as we have the last several nights of this protest. I've been speaking to all sorts of people who are out here. And one of the key markers of this protest has been the diversity of the crowd.
I spoke with a young white woman who said to me earlier, she's coming out here because this is what -- this is how you make things change. Protests themselves will not bring about change but they'll get the attention necessary of the people in power to try to change policies, change police tactics and make the justice system fairer. That's what these protesters want to see. That's why they're out here tonight and we're going to keep following them -- Erin.
BURNETT: Athena, thank you.
And for the first time this weekend protests against the Eric Garner decision turned violent. Police in California are on alert tonight after a group of demonstrators in Berkeley tried to burn police cars, loot buildings, a number of officers were injured in the confrontation.
Dan Simon is OUTFRONT live in Berkeley tonight.
And, Dan, what are police ready for?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Erin. The protesters are expected to begin organizing in about one hour. If police are going to be doing anything differently, they haven't told us. But this is an example of the kind of thing that we've seen over the past few days. These smashed ATMs along a major thoroughfare in Berkeley.
Why these particular protests, Erin, have turned violent we don't know. But according to police, some splinter groups have broken off from the main demonstration. And they've been intent on causing problems.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SIMON (voice-over): Berkeley's long and storied history of protests going back to the '60s and the Vietnam war now has a new one to add to its chapter. But the message of wanting to stand with protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York, is now being overshadowed by images of violence and looting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A guy with a crowbar comes in and starts stealing stuff, like as much as they can get.
SIMON: It began on Saturday night. Police say an unruly crowd began throwing bricks at their officers who responded with tear gas. From there things got even uglier as some protesters began smashing out businesses.
Authorities hoped the violence would be over Saturday but on Sunday night the tension was even higher. And the chaos even more widespread. A whole row of ATMs shattered. A Sprint cell phone store looted and the crowd spilled over to nearby Oakland as demonstrators tried to shut down a freeway.
Now authorities in Berkeley are bracing for another long night.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON: About a dozen people were arrested over the weekend as we've seen in other cities. It is just a small number of people that are really causing the main issues. The question, though, is what are we going to be seeing tonight. And of course there's a real concern that we may have a repeat of what we saw the last few days -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, Dan, thank you very much.
Certainly all eyes will be on Berkeley.
And OUTFRONT now, one of Eric Garner's children, Eric Garner Jr.
And, Eric, it's good to have you with us tonight. I'm so sorry about your father and I know you must feel blessed now that you've got his name. You have that always to share. I know you watched the video of what happened to him for the first time recently, just a few days ago.
When you hear all these protests going on, and still going on, how does it make you feel?
ERIC GARNER, JR., SON OF ERIC GARNER: It made me feel proud because I don't have to share this moment by myself and my family. We've been coming together, talking about it. But it's amazing how everybody is doing this for my father. And I appreciate it.
BURNETT: It is -- it must be. I know the horrible reason for it, but yet something that can make you so proud of him.
Your mother told a story about how she and your father at one point were harassed by police on Staten Island. And we've been telling the country, as we've reported on this on Staten Island, you know, it's more white than a lot of boroughs in New York. It stands out in that way. The president has talked a lot about young men your age and about how he experienced a moment where, because of the color of his skin, he felt people were judging him or were afraid of him.
Have you ever experienced that?
GARNER: This one time being in a park late, just putting up shots, and like cops would come in and said get out before you get a summons. Like, I don't think it's the color of the skin. They probably just following the rules.
BURNETT: So I want to just, you know, talk about your age. You're 19, right?
GARNER: Yes.
BURNETT: And I know you're in college right now. This is -- your age group, though, and you being African-American, is something the president has been talking a lot about. You know, he has this new initiative. And he actually just gave an interview to BET about a meeting he had with some young men your age. And I wanted to play you a brief clip of what he said so you can hear it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: When they described their own personal experiences of having been stopped for no reason, or having generated suspicion because they were in a community that supposedly they didn't belong, my mind went back to what it was like for me when I was 17, 18, 20.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Sounds a little bit like the story you were just talking about.
Do you feel, when you hear the president, that he knows what it's like to be you?
GARNER: Yes. He felt our pain and what we go through. We could just be walking in a group and cops would just stop us because of our color.
BURNETT: And do you think that he can do something about it? Do you think that things can change?
GARNER: Yes. That's why there's protests. There's protesters out there now. No matter what color they are.
BURNETT: And what is one thing -- I go back to your name, that you share your father's name. One thing that you'd want us to know about your dad. Because everyone watching this show tonight has seen that video. It's imprinted on everybody's mind. That's not what you want people to remember about your dad probably.
GARNER: No.
BURNETT: What do you want people to know? GARNER: That he was a loving, caring father. He always supported his
kids. Like, he's been in my life, my whole life, you know, since I was a young kid. He supported my dream. And he was looking forward to watching me play college ball this year.
BURNETT: Well, I know he would have been very proud of you. And thank you for coming in and talking to us, Eric.
GARNER: Thank you. You're welcome.
BURNETT: And next, a black 12-year-old with a toy gun killed by a white police officer. His family wants the officer charged without a grand jury. There's actually video of what happened in this case, too. And we have that for you.
Plus, tonight, Russell Simmons speaks to OUTFRONT about race and police violence. Is the White House doing too little too late? Russell Simmons will be my guest exclusively.
And the deadly mission to rescue hostages in Yemen. Did the failure to talk to the families end up in the hostages' deaths?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news. You're looking at protests -- pictures of protests outside Brooklyn, New York, in the Barclays Center. That's where an NBA game is going to happen. These folks staging a die-in. Just a few moments, the NBA game will begin. Obviously, all attention and eyes are on this because you have Kate Middleton and Prince William going to be attending this game so you have more and more protests gathering outside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Also tonight the mother of a 12-year-old black boy gunned down by a white policeman. Speaking out publicly for the first time. The mother of Tamir Rice saying today that she was threatened with arrest when she tried to rush to her son's aid while he lay dying on the ground. \
And here's the story. Tamir Rice was playing with a toy gun in the park. You see police officers arrive on the scene. Two seconds later, two seconds later, they shot the 12-year-old boy dead.
Martin Savidge is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a news conference, the mother of the 12-year-old shot and killed by Cleveland Police was asked what she wants.
SAMARIA RICE, TAMIR RICE'S MOTHER: To answer your question, I'm actually looking for a conviction.
SAVIDGE: Speaking publicly for the first time, Samaria Rice says as her son Tamir lay dying, she tried desperately to get to him only to be stopped by police. RICE: As I was trying to get through to my son, the police told me to
calm down or they will put me in the back of a police car. And so of course I calmed down.
SAVIDGE: Rice says police already handcuffed and detained a 14-year- old daughter who also had tried to reach her wounded brother. Police declined to comment on the family's allegations.
How police acted after last month's shooting the family says only compounded their pain and suffering over the loss of their son who was shot carrying a toy gun in a public park just yards from his home.
A 911 call reported someone with a gun in the park and that they believed the gun was probably fake. But the fake part appears to have been left out of police communications to the responding officers. The gun was plastic.
Rice was black. The officer who shot him is white. And in light of grand jury decisions not to indict officers in Missouri and New York, the family's new attorney, Ben Crump, says there are concerns here.
BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR THE PARENTS OF TAMIR RICE: The family is very distrustful of whether local authorities will indict a police officer even though it is very clear, very transparent, that several things were done inappropriately.
SAVIDGE: The tragedy is all captured on security cam video at the park. It shows the 12-year-old by himself on a snowy day playing with and pointing the gun. Then a police car speeds up within feet of Rice, and within seconds, two officers jump out. And the closest to Rice opens fire, hitting it at least once. He died the following day.
Many are shocked at how quickly it all happens. And say police instead of de-escalating the situation with their tactics, intensified it. Critics say it's another case of police acting too aggressively, too fast, resulting in a tragedy all too familiar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Erin, the authorities say that the two officers involved are currently on paid administrative leave. That's why the Cleveland Police investigate the situation. That investigation could take until February or March. Then it's expected to be handed over to the prosecutor's office and eventually a grand jury.
It should be pointed out the father of one of the officers who opened fire says that his son didn't know the boy was only 12 and didn't know the gun was fake. Critics say had they just slowed their response and been more careful, they might have known both -- Erin.
BURNETT: Martin, thank you.
And now our political commentator Van Jones, criminal defense attorney Paul Callan, and David Klinger who's a former LAPD officer, now professor of criminal justice at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. David, let me start with you and make sure our viewers understand your
story. When you were a cop, you once shot and killed a black suspect who was wielding a knife. You tried to wrestle it away, though, first before that shot happened. The encounter between Tamir Rice and the police officer in Cleveland was caught on video. And I want to play it again for our viewers because that officer car zooms up, the officer arrives, and the boy gets shot. That happens within two seconds.
DAVID KLINGER, FORMER LAPD OFFICER: Right.
BURNETT: Did the police shoot too soon because Tamir Rice was black?
KLINGER: Not at all. Police officers all around the country are trained. There is not a single academy, not a single in-service training block that tells officers, if you are 10 or 12 feet away from someone who is reaching into a waist band and throwing a gun to wait. You don't have a choice. The choice is to wait, and maybe the person will -- what we call slap the gun, they'll throw the gun on the ground.
I've had four people look me right in the eye from about 12, 15, 20 feet away. Fortunately each time I had cover. I didn't have to shoot. But people do that. And police officers are trained, however, you can't afford to way because if someone goes like that with the gun or comes up and shoots, you're dead.
The problem here is -- and the correct way to look at this, is they never should have been so close. That's the critical thing here. And it doesn't make sense to me that we want to prosecute a police officer whose partner made a critical tactical error by driving in so close.
What they should have done, what the officer who is the senior officer driving the vehicle, should have done, stay back behind cover, find a place, maybe 20, 30, 40 yards away. Locate a decent point of cover. Stop. Then we have time. Then we have space to make a much better decision to maybe identify this individual as a young child.
BURNETT: Right.
KLINGER: To maybe identify this not as a gun. The critical mistake was not the decision to shoot. The critical mistake was made seconds before that when the officer decided not to stop at a safe distance.
BURNETT: So, Van, what's interesting, what David is raising is this issue of they didn't even know how old the child was. That they said they didn't even know he was only 12 years old. This happened so fast. They didn't -- weren't even able to evaluate his age.
Do you think, Van, that that would have happened, that any of this would have happened if Tamir Rice was 12 years old and was white?
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, it's so hard to know in these situations and circumstances. A couple of things I think are important. There is a lot of data that shows that people tend to look at young African-American men as being both older than they are, bigger than they are, and more dangerous than they are.
That's not just police officers. That's just -- you're seeing more and more data showing this unconscious bias against young black men. And that's part of why you see people saying black lives matter, black lives matter. Trying to raise this issue up.
I think that, you know, it's hard for me to imagine in my own mind. You have a little white guy who's playing with a gun in the park, that the police would respond exactly the same way. Maybe these cops would. Maybe they wouldn't. But I think a bigger issue here is what happens now?
We've got to move from protest to policy. I do not trust any longer prosecutors who work with the police every day to prosecute their own co-workers anymore. I think it's important that when a mom says she wants an independent investigation, an independent prosecutor --
BURNETT: Right.
JONES: -- she is not wrong, I think, for her concern.
BURNETT: All right. So, Paul, let me bring you in on that. Because you've now got Benjamin Crump, a name now known to all of our viewers. A face now known to all of our viewers. He is now representing this family. The family says forget about this. We want to charge these guys. We don't want a grand jury.
Now this we've heard the before. Prosecutors sometimes have this discretion. So should it happen?
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, they don't have that discretion in Ohio in the sense that --
BURNETT: So they couldn't even if they want to.
CALLAN: Well, no. A grand jury has to look at the case eventually. Yes. The cop could be arrested pending the presentation to the grand jury but you can only proceed with a felony by grand jury indictment or if the cop waves the grand jury presentment. It's different than the law is in Missouri.
BURNETT: Well, why would the cop do that?
CALLAN: He's not going to do that.
BURNETT: Right.
CALLAN: He's going to want to appear in front of the grand jury and tell his side of the story.
BURNETT: Right. Which, of course, David, includes the point that he's going to say he didn't know it was a fake gun.
KLINGER: But what crime is he -- what crime is going to be charged with? He was presented with every single police officer's worst nightmare. An individual who is in the process of pulling a gun on him. And then he has an even worse nightmare when it turns out -- it's a kid and the gun is not real.
And Van was talking about the implicit bias research. And one of the fascinating things, and Van is aware of this, what they do is they flash images of guns and other things. This would have been an implicit bias study, what we call a shoot scenario. An individual is holding a firearm. The officer had no choice other than to risk his life. Police officers cannot be expected --
JONES: Let me just say -- look.
KLINGER: -- to sit back when a gun is being drawn. They can't.
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: First of all I agree -- believe it or not --
(CROSSTALK)
CALLAN: The one thing that Van said.
Van, just one thing, OK, on the special prosecutor issue. As supposed to having the local prosecutor handle the case. I was at an event the other night with the new African-American district attorney of Brooklyn who is kind of astonished that people want to eliminate his job investigating cases like this. And I think African-Americans are achieving political power across America.
So be careful what you wish for with these special prosecutors. The governor appoints somebody who has no connection to the city. And I think we should see how this case turns out first before we make that decision.
BURNETT: Van, you were going to respond also to David.
JONES: Let me speak -- well, there are a couple of things. Well, first of all, you talk about the African-American DA in Brooklyn. I believe the African-American public advocate for the whole state of New York is calling for special prosecutors.
These are situations where it's very difficult for a prosecutor to turn around and try to put in prison someone they've got to work with every day. And because they are elected, the good thing about DA's is, they're mostly elected. The bad thing is they often have to get the police officers union to give them money and an endorsement. And that creates a conflict of interest. That's one thing.
But I do want to say, listen, we actually agree that this was a terrible situation for the police to be put -- for the officer to be put in. At the same time there is a pattern and a practice now of overaggressive law enforcement when it comes to -- when you see an African-American. There is an overaggressive pattern now and that leads to tragedy.
And we've got to be able to back up. On this case in particular we'll see what happens. But I think everybody has got to take a big step back here. It is hard for me to imagine a little white boy in a park playing with a gun and having an officer making a decision to drive up on him and then --
BURNETT: And then shoot him.
JONES: -- have the other officer open fire. It could happen but it's hard to imagine. It has not been happening in this country the way we see with the black kids.
BURNETT: All right.
KLINGER: Can I jump in just for a second?
BURNETT: Yes, of course.
KLINGER: It has happened unfortunately where young white kids and young Hispanic kids and kids of all colors have been shot because police officers find themselves in these difficult positions. Sometime there's nothing a police officer can do.
BURNETT: OK.
KLINGER: Sometimes there is. And in this situation in Cleveland, the tragedy could have been prevented and I agree with Van. We need to teach police officers how to be more tactically sound and to create distance when they have opportunities to do so.
BURNETT: All right. Thanks so much to all of you.
And OUTFRONT next, more athletes wearing "I can't breathe" on their shirt. We'll talk to Russell Simmons next about his call for action.
Plus, two hostages killed by their captors during a rescue attempt by American SEALs. What blew SEAL Team 6's cover?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news: you are looking at live pictures of a huge crowd of protesters outside Brooklyn's Barclays Center. Those demonstrators are trying to disrupt tonight's NBA game there. Protests have now spread inside the arena. A number players, including LeBron James, wearing "I can't breathe" t-shirts.
Now, part of the reason there's so much attention on the focus on this is that Prince William and Kate Middleton, the duke and duchess of Windsor, are actually there, on a long plan and very, very globally publicly seen trip. They are in New York right now.
Deborah Feyerick is OUTFRONT tonight.
And, Deb, I know that it's outside. It's now inside the stadium as well, as you got LeBron wearing that shirt.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Erin. This crowd is a lot bigger. They did a die-in just a little while ago in front of Barclays Center. Now, they're taking a major intersection here in Brooklyn. This is in the corner of (INAUDIBLE) and Atlantic Avenue. They're marching around. A person from Rhode Island, another person from Tennessee, all of them coming out here because they really say they're the ones speaking for Eric Garner and Michael Brown. They have come here and they want to make sure everybody here hears their message and hopefully, they're expecting that things might change, that there either might be an indictments, or that the system may change.
There are a lot of harsh words against police officers. You can see there is a police presence here. We saw about 100 police officers. They've set up a perimeter. They're allowing this to happen. They're allowing it to go down very peacefully.
And these demonstrators, we do want to keep this in mind. They are peaceful. They angry, they are upset. But for the most part, they are doing this very peacefully just to make sure that their message gets out, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Deborah Feyerick, thank you.
And LeBron James is wearing that shirt joins a growing list of major pro-athletes who are voicing their outrage over grand jury decisions not to indict, now in the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown.
Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEMONSTRATORS: I can't breathe! I can't breathe!
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The rallying cry and the protests across the country. Demonstrators chanting Eric Garner's last words.
But it was a silent shout from Chicago Bulls player Derrick Rose wearing the words, "I can't breathe", on his shirt over his jersey in pre-game warm-ups. A potent message from the NBA's 2011 MVP.
(on camera): This is a place for professional athletes to weigh in on this.
DERRICK ROSE, NBA PLAYER: I could care less about who else weighs in. Usually, professional athletes tend to stay away from this. But this time, I just felt like I had to do something about it.
LAH (voice-over): And he is not the only professional athlete.
SPORTS ANNOUNCER: He gets away but he goes down --
LAH: In the NFL, Washington Redskins defensive lineman Chris Baker making the "hands up, don't shoot" gesture after a play. Detroit Lions runningback Reggie Bush wore an "I can't breathe" warm-up shirt before the game.
There's been virtually no backlash, a big difference from the reaction to the hands of gesture by the St. Louis Rams. Criticism from police groups, to even some fans who burned Rams merchandise this weekend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Burn baby burn.
LAH: In this case, the Chicago Bulls head coach supported and continues to support the display.
TOM THIBODEAU, CHICAGO BULLS HEAD COACH: He has something to say, I think it is a great message. You know, it's about equality and justice for everybody.
LAH: The world has seen athletes as civil rights figures before. This potent image in the 1968 Olympics, the black power salute in the midst of the movement. The athletes' medals later revoked. It is these very visible moments that can help shape a national conversation.
(on camera): Can sports figures make a big difference in our discourse?
ANDY MASUR, WGN RADIO 720: Yes. I mean, they're kind of -- I mean, they're role models and a lot of people follow what they do. That's his platform. I mean, that's Derrick Rose's platform. His basketball court, of course, is where he does his work and where he is the most visible. And that's the time if you're going to do it, to do it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: And let's take a look at some of the other players who are also getting in on this. All the players that you've seen so far have been yesterday, take a look at what's happening tonight inside that Cleveland Cavaliers versus the Brooklyn Nets game.
First, we have LeBron James. He is wearing a very similar shirt to what Derrick Rose wore yesterday. It also says, "I can't breathe." Then, his teammate Kyrie Irving also wearing that shirt. We asked Rose what he thought about all of this. He says he simply finds it encouraging that someone especially like LeBron James would pick up this movement -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Kyung, thank you very much. LeBron James will be seen around the world doing this.
And joining me now is the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, the founder of GlobalGrind.com, Russell Simmons.
Russell, today I saw you retweet a picture of Derrick Rose wearing that warm-up shirt that read "I can't breathe".
RUSSELL SIMMONS, GLOBALGRIND.COM: Yes.
BURNETT: This is something I know you support. You believe these athletes are in the right to do this. And you want more of them to do it.
SIMMONS: What I see is the beginning of the end of police policing police. On Wednesday, there will be a list of demands, a lot of thoughtful -- thought leaders who are activists, who are visible in the streets today, and they are doing an excellent job. And there are conscious athletes like LeBron who I campaigned with for the president when he was only a junior in college. So, he has always been aware of the power of his celebrity.
But there are many people who haven't even begun to weigh in and want to. From Miley Cyrus, who has 25 million Instagram followers, to the Nas, the Conscious Rapper, to all of the people who have the big followings. They haven't even begun.
And on Wednesday, we're going to ask for those indictments and the list of other achievable demands.
And America has not seen protests like those that are coming if justice doesn't start to come down.
BURNETT: So, let me ask you about those indictments. I want to ask but the demands. But these indictments, the Attorney General Eric Holder was out again today. A lot of Americans are frustrated with this, they say, look, the Justice Department is looking at the Trayvon Martin case. It's now looking at the Eric Garner case and we keep being told, it is almost impossible to get an indictment, to get a charge.
SIMMONS: Do you know that over 150,000 cases came before the grand jury and only 11 cases, they didn't come back with indictments? That it is like lightning striking the black community over and over and over again.
So, we have demands. Of course, police sensitivity training is important. Of course, we have results from when you wear a camera 95 percent of the incidents go away. So, police should have cameras. And, of course, we know that police cannot police themselves. And we know certain things. And these things are simple demands that we are going to achieve results on.
BURNETT: What do you think when you see --
(CROSSTALK)
SIMMONS: I want to say we have not begun to engage the young leaders who are waiting to go to work.
BURNETT: What do you think when you see this on tape? Eric Garner, there was a camera. And I'm not saying cameras won't work. I'm just saying there was a camera. What does that make you think?
SIMMONS: That means special oversight committees. That we shouldn't leave it to the D.A.s who work the police, to police the police. It is impossible.
So, this injustice and others that are happening around the country and have been happening, although under the public radar, they have been happening, this is something that we can correct, and we will correct it.
And you haven't seen young people like this in two generations and they haven't even begun.
BURNETT: So, you don't feel defeated by the fact this happened again and again and the protests happened and then there is another case and they start again. You feel --
SIMMONS: We're going to get indictments now. We're going to get indictments, because again, America hasn't seen what's coming. And I know it. I've seen it happen.
You know, I have to tell you a funny story. We wrote a letter to the president and to Eric Holder. And it was signed by the NAACP and the Urban League. And lots of rabbis and imams and Reverend Jackson and Sharpton and the Drug Policy Alliance and all these people, Brad Pitt signed it, and Cameron Diaz. We sent it to the president and it made some news. It was about the prison industrial complex's chokehold on the black community and on first time nonviolent offenders.
And it was something that he could have done when he first walked into office but didn't do --
BURNETT: Until Justin Bieber --
SIMMONS: And until Justin Beiber tweeted it out. We got a call to our office from the attorney general.
So, in other words, it's good that the conscious individuals are spreading or working. But when it goes pop, when it goes pop, when it becomes and people understand the injustice properly, the way these protesters understand it, they're all going to fight for justice. And that's going to change this system and the demands that we make, which will be simple, will be met.
BURNETT: All right. Russell Simmons, thank you very much. I appreciate your time.
We're going to see more of those demands on Wednesday.
And next, al Qaeda militants killing two hostages during a rescue attempt by SEAL Team Six. Ahead, why the families of both men say that mission was a mistake by the U.S.
Plus, marines on high alert around the world. An explosive report on the CIA's use of torture will be released in hours. Will it spark terror attacks against Americans?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, the family of an American hostage killed by al Qaeda during an American rescue attempt this week is speaking out. The family of Luke Somers says they were not asked to sign off on the raid Friday night. Somers was killed during that raid.
A South African teacher Pierre Korkie was also murdered by al Qaeda during the raid and now, his family says Korkie actually would be free and back home with his wife today if American SEALs had stayed away.
Barbara Starr is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Outrage from the family and friends of the South African hostage Pierre Korkie.
IMTIAZ SOOLIMAN, GIFT OF THE GIVERS FOUNDATION: There's a lot of anger against the U.S. government and a lot of understanding on the other side too. There's mixed comments and mixed thoughts on the process.
STARR: After months of being held by al Qaeda in Yemen, his family thought he would be free within hours.
LUKE SOMERS, AMERICAN HOSTAGE: My name is Luke Somers.
STARR: U.S. officials say, however, after seeing this video of American hostage Luke Somers late last week, the Pentagon concluded Somers was in imminent danger of being killed. The U.S. scrambled for a last-minute rescue.
By Thursday, the U.S. had satellite images of the compound where Somers was being held. By mid-morning Friday, the mission was a go. It would not succeed in the end.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president does not at all regret ordering this mission to try to rescue Mr. Somers.
REP. MIKE ROGERS (R-MI), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: I commend the president for acting, because the intelligence showed an urgency to get in or they were going to kill this American hostage anyway.
STARR: It was the dead of night in Yemen. U.S. officials say V-22 aircraft raced to a remote region in eastern Yemen. About 30 commandos from SEAL Team 6 and combat medics began hiking to the compound where Luke Somers and South African Pierre Korkie were being held.
Just yards from the target, dogs began barking. The U.S. says the SEALs were spotted. A firefight erupted. With aircraft keeping watch, the SEALs battled the terrorists. U.S. officials say one terrorist ran back into the compounds, shooting Somers and Korkie. The U.S. did not know Korkie was there.
It was a desperate 30 minutes on the ground. The medics tried to stabilize both critically wounded men them called for the V-22s to land as close as possible. But one hostage died on the aircraft, the other back on board a nearby Navy ship.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Some in American hostage Luke Somers' family say they wished more had been done earlier to get him out of Yemen and that they were not consulted about the raise. U.S. officials point out they do not consult hostage families before classified missions like hostage rescue attempts are undertaken -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Barbara, thank you.
And now, I want to bring in John McGuire, a former Navy SEAL.
John, you just heard Barbara's reporting. Dogs began barking. Then, the SEALs were spotted. Obviously from what we now understand, that was the key, at least from the reporting that we have. This is something obviously you would expect the SEALs would know about, be prepared for. They may have had to plan this very quickly.
When you hear that about the dogs, what do you think?
JOHN MCGUIRE, FORMER NAVY SEAL: Well, I'm a little bit skeptical if that account is true. The missions that we do are very difficult.
BURNETT: So, there could be things. If you're going very quickly and into a highly populated area, perhaps they had to take risks because they thought this was the last chance, only a few hours, or something like that.
MCGUIRE: I don't always agree with this administration, but I definitely agree with the decision to go rescue Luke based on the evidence that was given.
BURNETT: So, the United States says it didn't know the South African hostage was with Luke Somers. They were going obviously for the American hostages. They say they didn't know that Mr. Korkie was there.
U.S. officials also say they didn't know that there was an agreement to free Korkie. Korkie's family says yes, it was done. The money had been handed over. He was going to be freed within hours of this. Instead, he was killed because the U.S. SEALs went in to try to save Luke Somers.
Should U.S. officials have known that?
MCGUIRE: Well, first of all, my heart goes out to Luke Somers and Peter Korkie. I mean, I'm sure their families are really feeling it right now. But I tell you what, I think the policy for South Africa and the United States is that we don't negotiate with terrorists. If we did, it would be open season and it would be 10 times worse. So I think communication is certainly key to anything. But based on all the information, I think we still did the right thing.
BURNETT: You think the SEALs still did the right thing.
All right. Thank you very much, John McGuire, as we said, a former Navy SEAL himself. Thousands of marines now are on high alert around the world, guarding embassies and military posts against a possible violent backlash from the release of a report on the CIA's use of torture. That report coming out tomorrow.
We've just learned the White House has delivered the declassified torture report to senator Diane Feinstein, head of Senate Intelligence, who will officially release the report tomorrow. The report is from Democrats on the Senate intelligence committee. It costs them $50 million to put it together. And it will include ugly new details about the use of waterboarding, detainee deaths and how the CIA supposedly misrepresented the program to Congress and the Bush White House.
This weekend, Republican Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, warned a possible revenge attacks on Americans if the report is released.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGERS: Our foreign leaders have approached the government and said, you do this, this will cause violence and deaths. Our own intelligence community has assessed that this will cause violence and deaths.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The State Department also issued a statement expressing concern about the timing of the release saying in part, a lot is going on in the world. These include our ongoing efforts against ISIL and the safety of Americans being held hostage around the world. Sources tell me that are well familiar with this program that they say every single thing the CIA did was approved by the Department of Justice, senior members of Congress and the White House.
Well, OUTFRONT next, the royal couple keeping calm while in New York, including the naked cowboy carried on. Jeanne Moos is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: So, with the lovely Kate Middleton in New York, some kids couldn't believe their eyes. It was a real life princess in person. Others were royally unenthused. Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The distant screams carried a whiff of Beatlemania, but no, this is another British import, though these fans will cheer anything.
MAX FOSTER, CNN: This is CNN.
(CHEERS)
MOOS: Local news anchors hammed it up and late night comedians were doing jokes before the royal couple even landed, the pros and cons of their visit to New York.
JIMMY FALLON, NBC: Pro, seeing the naked cowboy in Times Square. Con, realizing that's actually Prince Harry. Oh, really?
MOOS: The naked cowboy's underwear was not on the royal agenda. Kate's outer wear was, from the Seraphine she arrived in made by a designer of luxury maternity clothes, to this coat by Goat. Yes, there's a British fashion label called Goat that Kate wore to
visit a child development center.
Kate proved to be adept at wrapping gifts for the kids. Meanwhile, Prince William was wrapping things up with President Obama. You try making small talk as a herd of photographers descends upon the Oval Office.
(on camera): The royals are just like us. When Prince William flew between New York and Washington, he took the U.S. Airways shuttle first class.
(voice-over): One passenger tweeted a photo of the prince looking as if he were searching for some place to stash his carry-on.
On the way back to New York, CNN's Anderson Cooper tweeted, "Prince William just got on my D.C. shuttle flight. I'm hoping this means an on-time departure." It did.
The royal couple reunited at a reception celebrating wildlife conservation attended by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.
FOSTER: Is it about William or is it about Kate?
CROWD: Kate!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you remember who is coming to visit you today?
CHILDREN: Princess.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know they think you're out of "Frozen."
CHARACTER: Cold never bothered me anyway --
MOOS: In frozen New York, you won't catch this princess tossing off her thousand dollar Goat coat.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: The Goat coat. But wow, you have to say, her hair always looks absolutely luxurious. We hope they have a great time at the game tonight.
And on their visit to New York next, more of the breaking news, protesters outside the NBA game where the royal couple are in attendance at this moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Protesters are out in force in Brooklyn, New York, tonight. Demonstrators turned out to disrupt tonight's major NBA game. Britain's royal couple are in attendance, Kate Middleton and Prince William. You also have LeBron James wearing the "I can't breathe" on his T-shirt, which you hear the protesters chanting now.
Our live coverage of the protests from coast to coast, from New York to Berkeley, California, continues now with Anderson.
