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CNN TONIGHT

Michael Brown Remembered; Justice for James Foley?; Will Grand Jury Indict Michael Brown's Shooter?; ISIS Attracting Recruits from Around the World

Aired August 25, 2014 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Good evening. This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.

We're live on the streets of Ferguson again, streets that are peaceful in the hours after the funeral of Michael Brown, but celebrities, civil rights leaders, and officials, including three White House representatives, on hand to support the grieving family and say farewell.

Tonight, I'm going to talk to Michael Brown's uncle and his cousin, also Bishop T.D. Jakes and the man who was at Mike Brown's side moments before he was killed, sadly, Dorian Johnson, who will also be a key witness in the case. He's going to join me exclusively.

And we're also following the very latest in the pursuit for justice, justice for James Foley, who was executed by ISIS. Breaking news: President Obama has authorized reconnaissance flights over Syria, according to a U.S. official who says the first flight could happen at any point. We will get into all of that tonight for you in the next two hours.

We will begin with some moments from today's funeral for Michael Brown. And we need to remember that for all of the controversy and the unrest in the past two weeks, today is about a family mourning their son. But it is also about a family and a community crying out for justice. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC DAVIS, COUSIN OF MICHAEL BROWN: We have had enough of the senseless killing. We have had enough of it. And what you guys can do to continue this, show up at the voting polls, let your voices be heard and let everyone know that we have had enough of all of this. And this change must come. Any time change has come in this country, it has come through the youth and the young generations.

TY PRUITT, COUSIN OF MICHAEL BROWN: Then we're going to hit the streets again and we're going to yell out for our freedom and our equality and we're going to yell out Mike-Mike's name, and it's going to shake the heavens from the thunder that we release, but not today. Today is for peace, peace and quiet.

PASTOR CHARLES EWING, UNCLE OF MICHAEL BROWN: Yes, Michael Brown was my nephew. Yes, I was an uncle. I held his mother, I held him in my arms. Yes, we call him the gentle giant. We call him big Mike. We call him Mike-Mike. He said, one day, the whole world will know my name.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Joining me now, two family members who spoke at Michael Brown's funeral today, his uncle, Reverend Charles Ewing, who delivered the eulogy, and his cousin, Ty Pruitt.

Thank you, guys, so much for joining us.

Reverend, you gave an impassioned eulogy. Why do you think so many people, thousands of people showed up, many of whom did not even know Mike?

EWING: I believe the reason they showed up, because the community cares, and they really feel for what has happened in the community. Everybody has been touched by this incident and knowing that it was totally uncalled for and justice must be served.

LEMON: Celebrities, politicians, even a White House delegation showed up. What did that mean to the family, to you guys?

EWING: It means a lot with T.D. Jakes and Spike Lee and all the celebrities that came from afar to take out the time and come and mourn with us during this occasion, because I believe the situation has touched the whole nation. As a matter of fact, it has touched the whole world.

LEMON: Yes. This was -- today, it was -- it is far from over, right, because you have to deal with it for the community, because this was really a political rallying cry. I heard your relative there saying, you know what? We need to get out. We need to vote. We need to change it. This is a political rallying cry.

PRUITT: Absolutely. If you don't like what's going on today, then you can change it. It takes one man to fix the world.

LEMON: Do you think that, after the cameras are gone, after the -- much of the attention dies down, that there will be some political change? Will you and the family demand that?

PRUITT: Absolutely. Absolutely.

LEMON: Why so?

PRUITT: Well, starting with this governor.

The only question he has to ask is for the prosecutor to step down, so we can get a special prosecutor in here, so this case can be worked the way it is supposed to be worked. And I think that everybody came out today and everybody was watching today. It's one word, compassion. Everybody can feel the loss of a son.

LEMON: The governor did not show up today. Did you invite him or not invite him?

PRUITT: Absolutely not.

LEMON: Did you invite him?

PRUITT: I believe he was going to come, but we had that conversation.

LEMON: Would you have wanted -- did you want him to come? He says he didn't show up out of respect for the family. Is that so? Or did you...

PRUITT: Absolutely, out of respect.

LEMON: Out of respect. You would rather him not show up?

PRUITT: Absolutely. Absolutely. What is done here is an injustice. And until that's fixed, absolutely not. yes.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: I want to -- you said today, Reverend Ewing, you said making Brown's blood is crying from the ground, crying for vengeance, crying for justice.

What does justice mean to you?

EWING: I believe justice is a process that the parties that are involved shall be convicted when there is a crime.

Don, I myself was a victim of racial profiling 40 years ago, and I found out that officer -- the officer was transferred from the city of Jennings; 20 years, 40 years ago in the city of Jennings, my mother bought -- in 1974, my mother bought me an automobile. My sister and I were driving to Jennings.

I had a valid driver's license, a valid registration. So did my sister. The Jennings Police Department pulled me over because they claimed that my identification tag was not properly affixed to the dashboard. They handcuffed me.

LEMON: And the same thing is going on today.

(CROSSTALK)

EWING: Even worse.

LEMON: That's -- I want to ask you more about Michael, because I don't know if you saw "The New York Times" saying today -- there was an article that said, he is no angel. They had to apologize for that, because, you know, the experience with marijuana, the experience with alcohol.

The question is, what teenager or someone going off to college doesn't do it? Very few. Do you think that was a fair -- they have had to apologize for that, for saying that. What do you make of that? EWING: I believe they should have apologized. I think it's so fair,

because, first of all, it's biased they are using bad character against Michael. They are painting a picture like he was a villain, like he was a gang leader. And that's not the person that portrays his character.

LEMON: Ty, you tensed up when he said that. Why is that?

PRUITT: Because I keep hearing people attacking his character. I keep hearing people talk about what type of kid Michael was, what type -- here's the thing. Michael was a high school graduate. This would have been his second week in college. If he smoked a little weed, who cares? If he drank, who cares?

Our president smoked weed. What president have we had in the White House that did not smoke a little weed?

LEMON: Or...

(CROSSTALK)

PRUITT: Or drink, too, for that matter.

Now, here's a question I want to ask all those people who are attacking my cousin's character. What type of man do we have wearing a uniform that could put six to seven shots in an 18-year-old kid and go on vacation? That's the next article we need to be printing out. What type of man is that?

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Can this community move on peacefully?

PRUITT: Absolutely. Absolutely. It has to happen.

LEMON: We are going to get into all of that just a little bit later on. We thank you. A little bit more of this. Thank you, Ty.

PRUITT: Not a problem.

LEMON: Appreciate it. Thank you. I know you're getting calls from everyone.

(CROSSTALK)

EWING: That's OK. Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Please give our thoughts and prayers are with the family.

PRUITT: Absolutely.

EWING: Absolutely.

LEMON: We have got much more ahead here from Ferguson tonight. And coming up, the friend who was with Michael Brown before he was

killed. He's a key witness in this case. Tonight, Dorian Johnson is here live. He is going to join me exclusively.

Plus, new developments in the investigation, what officer Wilson says happened.

And as for the search for justice that goes on in here in Ferguson, the White House considers airstrikes on ISIS in Syria. Will that bring justice for murdered journalist James Foley?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're live in Ferguson, Missouri.

Dorian Johnson is a young man who was with Michael Brown when he was fatally shot by police officer Darren Wilson. He joins me exclusively tonight, along with his attorneys, Freeman Bosley Jr. and James Williams.

Thank you all for joining us and for doing this tonight.

And everyone has been wanting to hear from you after your eyewitness testimony, but also on a day like today. You went to the funeral. How you doing? How was it? A rough day?

DORIAN JOHNSON, EYEWITNESS: It was tough. Yes, it was real tough.

I broke up a lot, broke down a lot. But, thankfully, there was a lot of people that comforted me, that showed me love, his family, big Mike's family that showed me love, everybody else, the rest of the supporters. They have been showing me love and they have been trying to help me through this rough time that we're going through.

LEMON: I was talking to his relatives earlier, talking about some of the criticism that he's gotten, "The New York Times" article that was written. Today, we heard a lot of good, we have heard a lot of bad. What kind of friend, what kind of person was big Mike, your friend?

JOHNSON: Well, I heard a lot of things, too, and it really saddens me.

It strikes me down in my gut that they would try to throw salt on this man's name after he is deceased like this. And, to me, we was around each other. He was a good friend, never spoke down about anybody, didn't really tease anybody about being smaller than him, because he was bigger than a lot of people we were around.

He was a real good friend. He didn't like to see other people down.

LEMON: You have spoken to the family?

JOHNSON: Yes. I spoke to them.

LEMON: What did you tell them about that day?

JOHNSON: We loved him very much. We spoke about him, that we loved him very much.

LEMON: Did you tell them about what happened that day?

JAMES WILLIAMS, ATTORNEY FOR DORIAN JOHNSON: Don, I'm sorry, not to cut off, but I do just want to say, because Dorian has been cooperating and speaking with the FBI, we can't really get into the details of what happened that day.

We can certainly talk about some of Dorian's experiences, but, if we could, because, again, this involves a federal investigation, we would like to stay away from the details.

LEMON: Well, I'm not asking him the details.

But did you speak to the family about what happened that day? I'm sure they wanted to know and that would offer them some comfort about what happened.

JOHNSON: Yes.

After the family was getting no answers from the police force, I did tell them what happened.

LEMON: You did.

Is it -- you have gotten a lot of -- and, listen, I think people -- you have gotten a lot of criticism and you're having to deal with that. A lot of people are questioning your credibility. You understand that.

JOHNSON: Yes.

LEMON: Do you understand why?

JOHNSON: I really don't understand why. I see they bring up my past, my history, but it is not like a long rap sheet. This one incident shouldn't make me a bad person.

I was a college student at the time. I was enrolled at Lincoln University. It was my freshman year. I was around a bunch of kids. It wasn't -- the incident didn't just happen with me. There were some other kids involved in this. And I was never charged of the crime at all.

I was going to court, and everything was working itself out, but Jefferson City -- I live in Saint Louis. Transportation...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: So people -- so this filing of a false police report or what have you that they said that you did, so you don't think this has any bearing on you telling the truth about what happened that day?

(CROSSTALK)

FREEMAN BOSLEY JR., ATTORNEY FOR DORIAN JOHNSON: ... things about that, though -- and I'm sorry -- is, what we're really dealing is whether police used excessive force when this man shot this young man down. And people are trying to drag the issue of the false police report into this.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Well, that's why I want to ask him about it, because you say it is a red herring. And that's what I'm trying to get out of you, whether he is -- whether he understands that people think that he is not credible because he did the false police report, he didn't tell them about what happened at the convenience store, that, apparently, you guys were stealing cigarillos. There's videotape.

WILLIAMS: And let me just say this, Don. Excuse me.

You know, again, whatever happened, stealing cigarillos is not a capital offense in Missouri. Having a past where something happened, whatever it was -- we're talking about a backpack in college -- is not a capital offense in Missouri.

So we really don't want to focus on -- particularly on a day like today, we don't want to focus on these things. We want to focus on the memory of Michael Brown, what kind of friend he was, and that the tragedy that has happened.

LEMON: I don't disagree with you. I think everyone understands that.

But everyone wants to get some sort of understanding of what went on and why -- why he didn't say that in the initial interview with CNN.

You said he was forthcoming with the FBI and everyone he's been interviewed with. That's what I'm trying to get at here.

BOSLEY: See, that's like -- the media doesn't quite understand, or maybe they do and don't care.

The duty was not to the media. The duty was to the FBI and authorities, the Department of Justice, the representative from Bob McCulloch's office. Full disclosure right up front. Spent three hours with them.

So, we didn't necessarily feel compelled to have to tell that story to the press.

LEMON: You have been watching, I'm sure, a lot of media. Right?

JOHNSON: Yes. Yes.

LEMON: Have you heard the account of what the officer said as to what happened?

JOHNSON: I never seen the officer one time say anything at all. I have heard a third-person view of what he might have said, but I can't say he said it because we never heard his voice.

LEMON: And that third-person view saying that he -- that big Mike charged the officer, that big Mike had a scuffle, that big Mike hit him in the eye, knocking out his eye socket, what do you say to that?

JOHNSON: I really can't -- can't comment on that right now, because, like they said, I'm under investigation. So, anything regarding the case, I can't really talk about right now until furthermore -- anybody let me know.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: And let me be clear. He is not under investigation.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: He's a federal witness. I understand that.

BOSLEY: He's a federal witness.

LEMON: Do you -- is there anything that you would have done differently that day?

JOHNSON: Honestly, Don, that day was like a regular day. If I had known what would have happened that day, I would have just stayed in the house, probably the same thing, told him to go back in the house. If I knew he would have died that day, I would have told him to stay in house.

LEMON: And you wouldn't have -- you wouldn't have left the house either?

JOHNSON: I wouldn't have left the house neither.

LEMON: If you had to do that CNN interview all over again with Wolf Blitzer, would you have told him about the convenience store?

JOHNSON: I didn't feel it was relevant at the time, so much as, why was it a dead person laying in the street uncovered?

LEMON: And how long was he laying there?

JOHNSON: Like they said, at least -- I can't give you a specific time because I was still in shock, because everyone keeps calling me a witness.

And they are trying to misconstrue the fact that I am also a victim. I was not just standing feet away from big Mike. I was standing side by side. I could have been shot just as well if I didn't duck for cover.

LEMON: Is he going to testify before the grand jury?

BOSLEY: If he's called, if he's called. And he's available. As of this moment, nobody has called us. Not been contacted.

LEMON: So, the family and -- can the family rely on what you said for comfort, do you believe, what you have told investigators?

JOHNSON: I believe the family is 100 percent comfortable with the story I have and what I told them what happened and everything I'm saying.

LEMON: What would you say to big Mike? I know that I talked to his mom, sadly, asked her -- and she said she talks to him, especially when it rains. She feels his presence and she talks to him.

He was your friend.

JOHNSON: Yes, he was my friend, a good friend.

And I feel -- every night, I hear loud bangs, I wake up. I can't sleep at night. I think about him. I hear his last words to me, "Keep running, bro."

Even in -- after he's injured, he is telling me to get to safety. That's all I think about, all I hear in my -- my head. And that's all I know, that he was a good person. And he cared more for someone else than himself.

LEMON: What do you say to people who are either calling you or portraying you as a thug, a liar, as someone who had a -- as someone -- a robber? What do you say?

JOHNSON: People have been called way worse names.

It is not nothing that don't happen every day. I'm 22 years old. I have been in Saint Louis, Missouri, all my life. Name-calling doesn't affect me whatsoever.

LEMON: You were very courageous to come on national television live and do this. So, thank you. I appreciate you coming on.

JOHNSON: And can I say one more thing?

LEMON: Absolutely.

JOHNSON: The service was beautiful. I enjoyed every bit of it. It brought me to tears, but I love everybody that came out and supported us. Thank you so much for coming. And thank everybody for coming out and showing the family love and support, because they really need it. We all need it.

This, it got to change.

LEMON: Thank you, Dorian.

Thank you, Freeman. We appreciate it.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Thank you, James.

WILLIAMS: All right. Take care. Thanks.

LEMON: Best of luck to you guys.

Police officer Darren Wilson has been out of sight and on leave since he shot Michael Brown -- up next, what we know about him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back. We're live in Ferguson tonight.

It is up to a grand jury to decide if police officer Darren Wilson will face criminal charges in the shooting death of Michael Brown. That decision is not expected until mid-October.

In the meantime, Wilson is staying out of public eye.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is at the memorial of Michael Brown tonight. And he joins us now live.

So, officer Wilson has been a rather elusive figure. What have you learned about him today, Ted?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, as you can imagine, he is keeping out of the public eye as this investigation continues.

One thing that we have seen in the last few days, though, is that his supporters are starting to become more and more vocal. Over the weekend, there were two separate rallies in Saint Louis for him. And, online, they have raised over $400,000 for his legal defense fund.

So there are people here in the Saint Louis area that support him, people that knew him and others who are supporting him because they are supporting law enforcement. And then nationwide, worldwide, there are a lot of people out there supporting him, donating money.

LEMON: Is it likely that we will ever hear from him personally, Ted?

ROWLANDS: I doubt it.

There is really no -- while this -- every indication -- his lawyer is not even coming out and talking on his behalf. So, every indication is, is that their strategy is to do the direct opposite, don't say a word and wait until this investigation concludes and until the grand jury has made a decision.

Now, if things go bad for them with the grand jury decision, maybe then they will change strategy. But, right now, all signs seem to be pointing towards hunkering down, getting out of the public eye and not saying a word.

LEMON: And, as you know, as we have been researching this and from other stories, it is difficult to convict a police officer of wrongful death. Why is that?

ROWLANDS: Well, it's a he said in this case -- when there's no video or audio monitoring, you have got an individual that is taught to protect his or her life while on the job if certain scenarios develop and present themselves.

And then it is up to that officer whether or not that officer perceives that they are in danger. And when you have an officer who says, in front of investigators or a grand jury or a jury, that, yes, this is what I perceived, it is difficult to get a conviction, as you can imagine, because it is a dangerous job inherently.

And unless there is credible evidence to the contrary, either extensive witness evidence or audio or visual monitoring, it is a tough conviction.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much. I appreciate that, Ted Rowlands.

I'm joined now by Ed Davis, a former police commissioner of Boston, and then Chris Chestnut, an attorney who represented the family of Jonathan Ferrell, the former college football player who was shot dead by police last year, and Matt Fogg, who is a retired chief deputy U.S. -- look this way, sir -- retired chief deputy U.S. Marshal.

So, Matt, I'm going to start with you. We have heard a lot -- a great deal about Michael Brown. Why have we heard so much about officer Wilson? Why do you think that is?

MATT FOGG, FORMER CHIEF DEPUTY U.S. MARSHAL: Well, I think mainly because the officer was involved in an incident that is worldwide. And I think that the fact the police department -- I mean, there is a lot of what we call investigative stuff that's going on behind the scenes.

So, I think that's one of the reason why he probably doesn't want to give any statements or say anything.

LEMON: Yes.

Commission Davis, Darren Wilson had a fairly unremarkable career, I mean, up until this point. The question is, is it unusual for a police officer like that to become involved in such a high-profile shooting?

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: No, it's not. It is not unusual at all.

This officer has worked there for four years and apparently has not had any particularly good or bad experiences with the community. So that's an indication that there's more to the story here. And I think it is important that the grand jury be allowed to do their work and get all the facts up.

LEMON: How do officers generally react after a shooting like this, Commissioner?

DAVIS: Well, you know, there are many officers that are separated from service after an incident like. They can no longer work in the environment where these incidents occurred.

So, they have to be followed very closely and receive the appropriate assistance and treatment that is necessary after an incident like this.

LEMON: So, I would imagine they often remain quiet, or at least try to keep as much privacy as they can.

Chris, a former attorney for the department of justice, the Civil Rights Division, wrote a piece in Politico today, and it says that officer Wilson will probably walk, that there are very long odds against convicting an officer in a case like this.

Do you agree with that?

CHRIS CHESTNUT, ATTORNEY: I do agree, especially given that the prosecutor has already come out, I should say, somewhat biased.

We have seen information leaked that is totally not relevant to the case, the video of the convenience store. So, I don't think the prosecutor is passionate about prosecuting this officer. So, I don't think he can get a conviction.

The grand jury is relegated or limited to the evidence put before them. And I'm just not confident that they are going to put all of the evidence before the grand jury.

LEMON: As I said that question to Chris, you were shaking your head in agreement.

You think it's -- it's tough to convict?

FOGG: Yes, it's very tough to convict an officer. Especially once you put all this information out and the jury -- jury pool has been tainted. A lot of information has been put out there, and that makes it difficult.

LEMON: Yes. What -- How important -- well, we just spoke with Dorian Johnson. How important will his testimony be in this?

FOGG: I think it's very important, but again, I mean, if there's some changing in it, again, all of that will come into play. And again, it's important but again, what effect it's going to have on the jury is a different story.

Again, it's very difficult. When you're talking about all this information that's put out in the jury pool. The jury has heard it all and the various things that they've said which again, the Mike Brown situation that occurred at the store. All of that to me has sort of tainted the jury pool. So that makes it very difficult.

LEMON: Chris, I want to get your reaction. How important will Dorian Johnson's testimony be?

CHESTNUT: I think it will be very important. I think they also -- the prosecution has tried to taint Dorian Johnson and discredit him before he has even had an opportunity to testify.

So I think there are a lot of issues under-riding here. It's very concerning that, if law enforcement can't preserve the evidence of the case, how can we expect them to truthfully try a case or present evidence for the prosecutor to try the case? So clearly, the law enforcement in this community is tainted. They're

biased. And thank God we have Eric Holder, who's going to come in and hopefully give us some justice, but I'm not confident about an indictment either.

And to the officer's record. You know, it is noted that it's unremarkable. But I think we also have to look at the internal protocols of the law enforcement there. I mean, what are the reporting procedures? What about internal affairs? I've not heard anyone from the community come up, of color, and defend this officer, which means he probably -- probably had other incidents. They just weren't reported.

LEMON: We're going to get into a little bit more of that coming up. And everyone, stay with me, because up next, policing the police. How to make sure the department treats all citizens equally and with respect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back. Live in Ferguson, Missouri, tonight. It is calm hours after Michael Brown was laid to rest. The Ferguson Police Department has been under intense scrutiny for the last two weeks.

I'm back now with Ed Davis, Chris Chestnut, and Matthew Fogg.

Commissioner, to you first. You say it took nearly 40 years for the Boston Police force to come to reflect the demographics of the community. What were the challenges there?

DAVIS: Well, the challenges really were in getting enough officers to pass a civil service test given by the state. And that was dealt with by the courts, and the test was reworked. And a certain number of individuals were put into the police department in that 40-year period. To the point now where it's better than it was. It's not exactly indicative of the diversity of the city, but we're close.

LEMON: And Matthew, last week, two St. Louis police officers got in trouble for making a statement on tape. One on Facebook. There are also reports of a lawsuit over questions of how some other officers have treated young suspects in the past. How many do you police the police department is the question?

FOGG: Well, that's always a problem, man. Because once officers on the inside, if they see something and they know it's not correct, you've got sort of this culture of what I call -- we call it the blue wall of silence. And if you speak out, you know, you have to count on other officers to back you up.

So there's always a problem that when you start talking about -- we're talk about now body cameras. We're talking about maybe even citizen review boards. But internally, I myself have been involved in class action lawsuits, trying to police within our Justice Department. So again, it's a very difficult thing, because you've got to work with these people. LEMON: And Ed, Ferguson, the court fees and fines are the second

largest source of revenue for the city. I think it was $2.6 million that was collected in 2014 alone. Eighty-six percent of the traffic stops are African-Americans, even though the city is 67 percent black. Does that raise a red flag for you?

DAVIS: Sure, it does. That kind of a number, when you look at those statistics, you really have to try to understand why these tickets are being given out. Some people will say that it is to raise revenue. That should never be the goal of a police department.

When you look at -- we track our traffic citations all the time. We pay close attention. If there's a discrepancy, we dive into that and we try to find out exactly what was going on. And those are the kind of things you think are in place in police departments across the country.

JACKSON: Chris, I mean, what do you make -- what do you think about that? Are they raising money off criminalizing black people?

CHESTNUT: Absolutely. You know, as I was listening I was thinking, looking back on Apartheid. This -- Ferguson reminds me of Cape Town, South Africa, before Nelson Mandela was released from prison. I mean, we have a minority ruling, and they're using the authorities to keep everyone down, to oppress. This is modern-day Apartheid.

And then you look at the treatment of the citizens with the tax dollars. I mean, we saw tanks. We saw assault rifles. We saw tear gas. It was reminiscent of 1964 minus the dogs. And moreover, we saw fatigues. These officers had fatigues that were more appropriate for Desert Storm than the streets of Ferguson. They didn't even -- they didn't even match.

So we have to really look at what is reflective and why are people reacting? Why are people protesting? This is a major issue and it has to be dealt with.

LEMON; The cameras, you see pulling out. You can look around us. Not many people are still -- news organizations are still here. Long after the cameras are gone, can anything -- what happens to Ferguson? Can anything positive come out of this?

FOGG: I'm going to tell you, and that's going to be a tough one. I hope something positive comes out of it.

The biggest thing is that the president has stepped in and weighed in on it and has said as far as the militarization of police departments, he wants to try to see -- look into that and see how they can stop that.

The other thing would be the body cameras. Making sure that everybody gets the chance to see what an officer at the time he does a shooting. It just -- things like that. Community policing, making sure that the racial makeup of the community matches the police department. These are things they can do right away.

LEMON: Matthew, Chris, Ed, thank you. We appreciate you joining us here on CNN.

I need to tell our viewers that we're expecting a live -- live news conference from the Missouri State Highway Patrol captain, Ron Johnson, in our next hour. And we're going to bring that to you live here on CNN.

And when we come right back, is the White House one step closer to air strikes on ISIS in Syria? President Barack Obama has authorized reconnaissance flights over Syria, which could happen at any point. More on that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back. I need to tell you that we're expecting a live news conference from Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson in our next hour. We're going to bring that to you live.

And we have some breaking news for you tonight. President Barack Obama authorizing reconnaissance flights over Syria. That's according to a U.S. official who -- who says that the first flight could happen at any point.

The terrorist group ISIS capturing the world's attention once again. But it's not just the ferocious rampage through Iraq and Syria that's causing concern. It is their recruitment strategy.

Jean Casarez has more now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Who is this man in black holding the knife, ready to murder American James Foley?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As the government you have been at the forefront of the aggression towards the Islamic state.

CASAREZ: He is a member of ISIS, and government representatives from Great Britain believe he is a British national, recruited out of England, where hundreds of others have joined the terrorist group.

British officials say they are very close to identifying one of their own who left to join ISIS, which has succeed in attracting many westerners to their group.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only the message (ph) that we enter paradise.

CASAREZ: According to the private intelligence organization, the Soufan Group, ISIS has recruited thousands of members from 83 countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and at least 100 members from the United States.

RICHARD BARRETT, THE SOUFAN GROUP: The Islamic State, as they call themselves, has a media department which is very savvy at making videos, at putting out propaganda.

CASAREZ: Word is getting out because of an aggressive social media campaign, which includes Twitter, Facebook and an online magazine, much of it in English.

(on camera): What about the ages you're seeing? Because the social media campaign, along with video, the Internet, that tells me a younger generation.

BARRETT: The generation is probably between 15 -- as young as 15 people going to about 25.

CASAREZ (voice-over): New members are given cars, guns and money just for joining. Women recruits are another priority target group for ISIS.

MIA BLOOM, AUTHOR, "BOMBSHELL: WOMAN & TERRORISM": it's western women. They come with their western passports. They're going to fall under a radar screen.

CASAREZ: While the world has come to associate ISIS with harrowing images, like the execution of journalist James Foley, global recruiting efforts of ISIS show a softer side to the terror group. Instead of violence and mayhem, messages of cheer and support.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The happiness that we're feeling.

CASAREZ: Recruitment efforts take money. Not a problem for ISIS.

BARRETT: They really have a lot of money. They have huge resources in Iraq and Syria they control. Oil fields. You know, they exhort taxation from businesses and so on.

MONER MOHAMMAD ABU-SALHA, CONVERT TO ISIS: My name is Abu Romera (ph). I'm from America.

CASAREZ: One U.S. citizen who bought into the message Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, born and raised in Vera Beach, Florida. Abu-Salha is the first American suicide bomber. He bragged about his plan to blow himself up at a checkpoint in Syria.

In the U.S., fear that these recruits will one day return home.

BARRETT: People going will be associating with extremely radicalized people from other countries who will say to them, "Look, the enemy is also America."

CASAREZ: And experts warn recruits who do decide to return home could pose a threat to their communities.

BARRETT: Their behavior in the future becomes pretty unpredictable, and their loyalties, as well, are rather unpredictable.

Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: So joining me now is Michael Weiss, a foreign policy expert and "Now Lebanon" columnist. And Philip Mudd, CNN counterterrorism analyst and a former CIA counterterrorism official. Good evening, gentlemen.

Michael, British officials say they are close to knowing the identity of the man in the James Foley video. What are the -- what clues do they have?

MICHAEL WEISS, COLUMNIST: Well, MI-5, which is Britain's domestic intelligence agency, apparently leaked this information to "The Sunday Times," which is a major broadsheet in the U.K., suggesting that this man might be called Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary. He is a 24 year old -- again, this is not confirmed. This is what news reports are saying.

He is a 24-year-old British rapper who is famous for making music. Apparently, one of his songs made it onto the BBC at one point. Also the son of an Egyptian national, who is now serving a lengthy prison sentence in the United States for his role in two embassy bombings in East Africa in the late 1990s. The father is also said to be one of the closest confidants -- or was one of the closest confidants of Osama bin Laden.

So if this is confirmed, and I think it's now more or less consensus that -- that whoever did this, this awful beheading of James Foley, is indeed a British national based on his accent. But if it's confirmed that this is the person responsible, I think the British government has got a huge crisis on its hands.

LEMON: I think it's important that you say what you say: if it is confirmed. Because again, that is -- it's not confirmed. That's not CNN's reporting.

So Phil, we saw in the piece that ISIS is brutal. Just look at that Foley video. But they also recruit with these softer videos. Explain that tactic and which gets them more recruits? The ones like Foley or the softer ones?

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: I think the softer ones. What you're dealing with is youth in places like America and western Europe who are vulnerable; 17, 18, 19 years old, even younger. Youth who are looking for an organization to join, almost like a cult or a gang culture.

When you see older figures who you feel are responsible people, who draw you into the organization, because the ideology is so magnetic.

I think what they're trying to do with these videos is create that sense of cult culture and convince people that, if they travel to places like Syria and Iraq, they can join organizations that will give them a better path to a golden age for Islam.

Just to tell you one thing, Don. When I watch this in Europe and the Untied States, the youth they're trying to recruit can flip in as few as days or weeks. Kids who are vulnerable, who are talking to their friends and see these videos will switch on like a light switch in days or weeks and go join these organizations. Very emotionally driven kids.

LEMON: So I've got another question for you. The al-Nusra group released American hostage Peter Theo Curtis over the weekend. Is this related to ISIS in any way, and did the U.S. have any role in that release?

MUDD: I think probably what happened with that release was a couple of things. First is, al-Nusra has well-publicized differences with ISIS. They might have had al-Nusra people say, "Look, we just saw what happened with the ISIS beheading. We want to differentiate ourselves from this fringe, this extreme group." That might have gained a lot of media publicity for this beheading, but a lot of people in extremist circles don't -- they don't support that kind of activity.

The second thing going on is we don't have an intermediary between us and ISIS. There is an intermediary that we're learning between us and al-Nusra to negotiate, and that is the Qataris. So that combination of ISIS and al-Nusra, al-Nusra wanted to differentiate itself. And al-Nusra having somebody to talk to between us and them I think was probably what happened in this recent hostage release.

LEMON: The question that most people here in the U.S. want to know, Michael, how dangerous is ISIS to the United States?

WEISS: I think it's extremely dangerous. I mean, you've had a number of intelligence officials, both past and present, say that this is worst thing that the U.S. has ever seen in terms of a national security threat in the age of sacred terror.

You know, your reporter earlier mentioned the number of nationals from Europe, indeed also from the United States who have gone over to join ISIS. Many of them burn their passports when they get there, but many of them probably do not. That means that they can return easily to their country of origin.

I reported from Syria in the summer of 2012, and I crossed the Turkish border into Syria. And I can't tell you just how easy it is to get in and out of that country through the Turkish border. So I think Turkey has a huge problem on its hands, as well, in terms of both invigilating and closing the border to these foreign nationals. People take a flight from Istanbul to Antakya, and it's just about an hour's drive or so, you know, to cross into the Idlib Province.

This is a major crisis. Turkey is a NATO ally, and I think the U.S. is now leaning very heavily on the Erdogan government to basically shut its border.

LEMON: So ISIS is celebrating a capture of a key Syrian military base and expanding its hold on a vast stretch of territory. The Obama administration, as we reported at the top of the show, now authorizing reconnaissance flights over Syria. Do you think that we will see air strikes against Syria soon in the coming days?

MUDD: I think if not in the coming days, in the coming weeks. Look, you start to line the cards up here. The Pentagon, the secretary of defense, has talked about the significance of this threat. The White House has talked about the threat. We had an American suicide bomber, as you mentioned earlier in the show, from Florida. We had a beheading in Syria.

There is one bigger question, though, Don. And that is, we're bombing targets in Iraq, targets like artillery that are fighting against the Kurds. Where is the command and control of this organization that potentially threatens? I think Michael's right, that potentially threatens the region: Turkey, Jordan, et cetera. That command and control is in Syria.

So if we're going to mount -- if we're going to create a threat, talk about how big the threat is from the Pentagon, the White House, and then not go against the core of the threat, its command and control in Syria, I think people like me would ask questions. Why do you create the significance? Sort of magnify the significance of this threat and not go after the heartland? I think we will see strikes, and I think they'll be pretty soon.

LEMON: Mike -- I've to ask you this, Michael. And just in the short time we have left. How do we stop ISIS? I mean, do we need to partner up with our traditional enemies to fight ISIS?

WEISS: No. I think that's probably the worst thing you could do. This notion that Bashar Al-Assad is suddenly the -- you know, the counterterrorism chief of the Middle East is such a farce. I mean, this guy was running Al Qaeda into Iraq all throughout the mid-2000s. I'm sure Phil can attest to what I'm saying. I've spoken to former U.S. military commanders in Iraq and these past six weeks, who all said that Iran should not be trusted in this respect either.

Look, the people that we need to partner with, that we spent a decade of blood and treasure in Iraq learning this lesson, learning how to do this, these are the Sunnis. You know, Syria is a Sunni majority country. The Sunni minority population in Iraq is now the waters in which ISIS swims. You're going to have to turn the people against ISIS. You're going to have to work with the Syrian rebels...

LEMON: Yes.

WEISS: ... in Syria who have the longest and most, you know, the biggest experience fighting ISIS in northern Syria. So absolutely do not work with Assad; don't work with Iran.

LEMON: Come back soon. Thank you.

WEISS: Sure.

LEMON: Appreciate your expertise.

When we come right back, three mothers united in grief. The sisterhood of strength wrapping their arms around Michael Brown's mother.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Look at me once we talk.

It is impossible, almost impossible to imagine what Michael Brown's mother is feeling tonight, hours after burying her son. But sadly, there are at least two women who know all too well.

Valerie Bell's son, Sean, was killed by New York City Police. That was back in 2006. And Sybrina Fulton is the mother of Trayvon Martin, who was killed by George Zimmerman in 2012. I sat down with all three of them this weekend exclusively for a long, emotional conversation. We're going to have more on that in our next hour. But listen now to their advice for Lesley McSpadden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYBRINA FULTON, MOTHER OF TRAYVON MARTIN: You have to focus on when he was smiling. You have to focus his first day of school. And you have to focus on Christmas day and things like that, the happier times. And put a picture up when he was happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

FULTON: And you have to focus on those. Just don't focus on the death, because that's going to eat away at you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: It is 11 p.m. on the East Coast, 10 p.m. here on the streets of Ferguson. I'm Don Lemon. Welcome back to CNN TONIGHT.