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NEW DAY SUNDAY

Ferguson Waits for Grand Jury to Reconvene; Former DC Mayor Marion Barry Dead at 78; Deadline Nears for Iran Nuclear Deal; Buffalo's New Threat: Flooding

Aired November 23, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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


CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good to see you on this Sunday. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Eight o'clock here on the East Coast.

And we begin this morning in Ferguson, Missouri, where residents are anxiously awaiting the grand jury to reconvene tomorrow. They could finally decide whether a white officer who killed unarmed black teenager will be indicted. But that decision could be delayed until the January 7th deadline.

Twelve members who make the grand jury are having to sift through so much evidence.

PAUL: Yes, we've got testimony from Officer Darren Wilson, for one. There are photos, videos, crime scene evidence and autopsy reports.

And in the meantime, protesters have been calling for justice for Michael Brown. His parents are begging them to stay calm and not to resort to violence.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is live in Ferguson.

Stephanie, do you think the waiting has exacerbated the anxiety there, or just -- is it helping the protesters formulate what they're going to do next?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think the protesters have known what they plan on doing, Christi and Victor. I think that part has been solidified, if anything, there's probably some anxiety on the residents here in Ferguson. Some of the folks I've spoken have said tat. They've just kind of -- want it to be more like a band-aid. Just rip it off and be done with it at this point.

As you talked to people on the other side of Ferguson, and you hear people saying, look, I thought it wouldn't take so long for them to come to a decision and other people pointing out, you know what, maybe they are taking their time to actually, thoughtfully go through this and come with their decision here about the fate of Officer Darren Wilson and not doing it too fast. So, you hear all types of thoughts on this. There's definitely a

level of fatigue with the attention on Ferguson and what's going to happen here with Officer Wilson but the protesters are not backing down. Peaceful protests happening again here in Ferguson last night, about 50 people or so, maybe blocking the streets for a little bit of time.

But overall, you're not seeing violent clashes and they are out here every night, Victor and Christi.

PAUL: Well, if there's no indictment tomorrow, you say that they are still making plans. Do you have any idea what those plans are? And are these people -- can you discern if they are people who live there in Ferguson or if they are people who have come from outside?

ELAM: Right. Well, definitely when you talk to protesters, they've been planning for this all along. And they say that they all work in collective, the folks that I've spoken to, and they work on how they are going to demonstrate and how they're going to protest.

Some of the protesters are telling me that this is now larger than Mike Brown. It speaks to the larger issue of how law enforcement relates and conducts itself with young, black men, young men of color in Ferguson and in surrounding areas and in other cities.

And so, when you look at the protesters who are here, when you see that there have been either protesters arrested for unlawful assembly, a lot of them are coming from St. Louis. They are not just coming from Ferguson.

But there are also other people here. I spoke to one man who has been living here since everything happened in August, and he's from Seattle, a young, white man. There are people here from Kansas, people here from Oakland, California. You do see there are people here from other areas. But in Ferguson, specifically, we do that the people who have been arrested are from St. Louis, most of them. That's the case there.

PAUL: All righty. Stephanie Elam, thank you so much for the very latest, live for us there in Ferguson this morning.

BLACKWELL: Well, as you know, experts, at least some, expected a decision out of Ferguson this weekend. So, a little earlier I asked about the four charges that the grand jury's consideration -- first degree, second-degree murder, voluntary, involuntary manslaughter. I asked Paul Callan what it would take to charge Officer Wilson with first-degree murder, the most serious charge.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think it's a really tough hill to climb for the prosecutors to prove first degree murder here, because first degree murder requires premeditation and planning, and certainly whatever happened in that tragic encounter between Michael Brown and Officer Wilson, it happened very, very quickly, and sort of almost impulsively. And I don't think they are going to have an easy time proving premeditation.

So, if you see an indictment, I suspect it's going to be on the lower counts that are submitted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, of course, we are watching the situation in Ferguson and we'll bring you any update as soon as we get it.

PAUL: Also we have sad news that we need to share with you this morning. Former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry has died. He was 78 years old and we are not getting word of a cause of death. Apparently, that is still unknown, but certainly know that Barry had struggled with some help problems recently.

BLACKWELL: But you should know that in Washington, outside of Washington, Barry's name became synonymous with the capital city. He started in the civil rights movement. Of course, he had a hands-on approach. He was a four-time mayor and city councilman and he was often praised for creating jobs and breaking racial boundaries.

PAUL: Earlier this morning, the Reverend Jesse Jackson shared his memories of Barry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. JESSE JACKSON, PRESIDENT, RAINBOW PUSH COALITION (via telephone): He was a freedom fighter that changed this nation. We talked just as much about his book from the plantations in Mississippi (INAUDIBLE) University. He was freedom fighter. He lived and died with a special place in the hearts of the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And though he became of a symbol of this city, Barry's service, it wasn't without scandal. I want to bring in CNN's Erin McPike in Washington.

Erin, what are you learning this morning?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christi, just moments ago we got a statement from his family. I want to read part of that to you.

His family says, "It is with deep regret that the family of four- time D.C. mayor and city councilman Marion Barry Jr. announces that he has passed." Now, you may know that Marion Barry has been a councilmember up to this moment.

The statement goes on to say, "Mr. Barry transitioned at approximately 12:00 midnight on November 23, at the United Medical Center, after having been released from Howard University Hospital on Saturday." It goes on to say that he released his autobiography, "Mayor for Life: The Incredible Story of Marion Barry, Jr." in June of this past year.

It goes on to say, "He leaves behind his wife, Mr. Cora Masters Barry, and his only child, son Marion Christopher Barry. We ask that you respect the family's privacy at this time. Further details would be forthcoming."

So, they did not release the cause of death. We're still waiting for more details on that. But we are expecting a hospital press conference later this morning.

As we mentioned, he had that autobiography out this past year and it goes into detail about the four terms that he served as mayor. He served three terms until the early '90s and then was arrested for that video of him smoking crack in a hotel and served six months of jail time. That's a pretty infamous story about him. He also had a number of run-ins with the law over the last few decades for both fraud and taxes.

But he was beloved in Washington. And he told our Fredricka Whitfield that his top issue has been trying to get statehood for D.C.

I want to play a little bit more of that interview for you now. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARION BARRY, FORMER DC MAYOR: I've led a rich life, not just a 15-minute -- second sound bite. But when you say Washington, D.C., everybody knows when I came here in 1965, Washington was a sleepy, southern town. No high-rises, no anything. No new buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue, except the FBI building.

Look at Washington now, all of downtown. Our neighborhoods have been transformed because of my blueprint. I appointed Herb Miller. He was living downtown.

More importantly, I brought hope to the hopeless. In Washington, I have worked hard for the people. And I'm beloved by the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: We've also gotten a few statements in this morning from a number of people talking about him. The current mayor of Washington, Vincent Gray, said, "Marion was not just a colleague but also was a friend with whom I shared many fond moments about governing the city. He loved the District of Columbia and so many Washingtonians loved him."

We also heard from the mayor-elect, Muriel Bowser, who said, "He's been a part of my family for decades and he will continue to be an example to me and so many others."

Again, we will probably hear a number of other statements throughout the day, Christi.

PAUL: Sure, sure, as they get out there. All right. Erin McPike, thank you. We appreciate it.

We do have some other stories that we're following this NEW DAY. Scrambling to secure a deal, negotiations going on right now between Iran and the U.S. and its allies over Iran's nuclear program. Tomorrow is the deadline to get it done. We're taking you live to Vienna.

BLACKWELL: Plus, the University of Virginia makes a major decision after allegations of gang rape at a fraternity house but some are questioning the school's response.

PAUL: And mounds of melting snow in Buffalo with a major warm- up, rain on the way. The city's mayor is joining us to talk about how they are prepping for a potentially dangerous flood threat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: This morning, there are major concerns that a possible deal with Iran over its controversial nuclear program may not happen by tomorrow's deadline.

PAUL: An Iranian official says because of the limited time, that it would be, quote, "impossible to find common ground." Right now, we know Secretary of State John Kerry is in Vienna, Austria, to address serious gaps that still remain.

BLACKWELL: Our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto is live in Vienna, where those talks are talking place.

We're hearing words like impossible. Secretary Kerry is talking about these big gaps. It looks like that maybe they'll need a little more time?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Victor and Christi, the trouble is you have so much conflicting information coming out of what is an almost completely impenetrable negotiation process. You have that report from Iran but I spoke to a senior State Department official a short time ago who said that, yes, big gaps remain, but they are taking steps, and that the focus now remains on reaching an agreement by that Monday midnight deadline.

That said, no one I talked to says, you know, there aren't still serious disagreements here.

Here's how Secretary of State John Kerry described it last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have big gaps. We still have some serious gaps which we're working to close. The good thing is P5- plus-one are united and working in concert, and we're simply going to not say anything about the discussions while they are going on, but a lot of serious work is going on by a lot of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: What we're seeing now, and you could consider this a positive development, though, difficult to read, is you have a flurry now of visits coming to Vienna, the foreign ministers, the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council negotiating here, you have the French, the British, the Russian foreign ministers all flying to Vienna today to make an effort before that deadline, whether it will be sufficient, we don't know, but it's a serious one because, really, there's so much riding on this by both sides.

BLACKWELL: So, if there is no deal by the Monday deadline, is there a possibility of an extension or are the talks off? What happens then?

SCIUTTO: There's a whole range. From one end, where you could have a complete collapse of the discussions, which is something that few people I spoke to expect to happen. You could have a simple extension, say we could not make it by the deadline, we need another week, we need another couple of weeks to work on this.

You could also have something, a step beyond that, that is still short of a comprehensive agreement where they could announce a framework deal, and say, listen, we've come to an agreement on the big issues but we have to sit down and hammer out the details at the technical level, this kind of thing which you'll often here in these negotiations that happened when they were negotiating the provisional agreement last year. That's another possibility.

And then, of course, you could have surprise for everyone and a comprehensive agreement in the next 24 hours. But it's a whole range of possibilities. I would say the least -- the least likely results are a collapse or a complete final agreement, somewhere in between an extension, perhaps a framework agreement, all possible.

BLACKWELL: All right. We'll wait to hear. Jim Sciutto in Vienna for us, thank you so much.

PAUL: Still to come, oh the things that people in Buffalo have been dealing with already and now this new weather threat that they are looking at.

BLACKWELL: Yes. It's a big warm-up. Typically that would be good news but not when you have 7 feet of snow around your house. We'll tell you what that means for rising waters, possible flooding. The city's mayor joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: First, Buffalo was hit by a wall of snow. Now, it could face a wall of water.

PAUL: Oh my goodness. Just days after feet of snow hit the region, temperatures are rising, rain is on the way which means, of course, the snow is going to melt.

BLACKWELL: Erie County officials say there could be 5 to 6 feet of water in some areas in a short amount of time. Dozens of roofs have already collapsed and there's fear that more could give way.

PAUL: Fire crews we know from across New York and hundreds of national guardsmen are heading to Buffalo to help, we understand, 180,000 sandbags are ready to go.

But I want to know where that big, old pile of snow -- 50 feet high --

BLACKWELL: Yes, what are they going to do with that?

PAUL: That they dumped, where does that go when it melts?

BLACKWELL: Unfortunately, maybe into some people's homes. We're going to talk about with the mayor in a moment.

But let's start with the rain and our Jennifer Gray. Our meteorologist is standing by.

When is it coming?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, we've already gotten a little bit of rain earlier this morning. It's very light rain and more is on the way. We're not looking at huge amounts as far as rain goes for the Buffalo area, but when you factor in the warming temperatures, the snow melt and any additional water you're going to add to it, it's just going to add insult to injury. That's the concern.

This system is pushing up to the north and east. And you can see by Monday morning, we kind of have a bull's eye over the Buffalo area, western New York. And we are going to see the rain continue to come down there, and then it's going to move out. Temperatures will be warming, in the meantime, and then we're going to actually see the temperatures drop again by the middle of the week.

So, we're looking at less than an inch, possibly an inch in isolated locations. So, that's what we're looking for as far as rainfall totals. But that flood watches now, now a flood warning for areas around Buffalo from this evening through Wednesday morning, due to that warm air, the rain and snow melt.

Looking forward in time, look at this, 45 today, 60 tomorrow with rain, possible snow again, guys, on Tuesday as temperatures drop below freezing again and then the sun could come out on Wednesday and we could see more flurries on Thursday.

So, we kind of yo-yo back and forth throughout the week. Luckily, it doesn't look like we'll have a lot of sunshine today with that 45, and so maybe with extra cloud cover, we can get more of a gradual melt. Time is going to tell, of course, and they haven't seen this much snow at one time. So, it's going to be hard to predict exactly what's going to happen. It's good that they are preparing for the worse, though, guys.

PAUL: Sixty back down to 36. It's like Mother Nature is schizophrenic or something. Jennifer Gray, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Thank you so much, Jennifer.

GRAY: No problem.

BLACKWELL: Let's get more now on how Buffalo is preparing for this big meltdown and rising waters.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown is joining us on the phone.

Mr. Mayor, good to have you. Oh, he's in front of the camera. Good to have you with us here.

MAYOR BYRON BROWN, BUFFALO, NEW YORK: Good to be with you.

BLACKWELL: Put into real terms for us, we've talked about watches and warnings. But help us understand what it means for the people of Buffalo. This warm-up and the rain that's coming, what is it going to mean for the people there?

BROWN: Well, let me first say very quickly -- six days and six feet of snow has fallen in the area of the city and now, we have over 100 percent of streets that are passable, pretty amazing.

As you mentioned, we are going to have rain. We're going to have a significant warm-up. We are preparing for the worse, hoping for the best in terms of flooding. We have issued warnings and briefings to the residents of this community, to remove belongings from their basements, to unplug items that are in the basements.

People have been very cooperative. The people of Buffalo are incredibly resilient. They are tough. They look out for each other. So, we are about as prepared as one community can be.

BLACKWELL: There are reports of so many roofs collapsing. I imagine the people have to go somewhere. Are you operating shelters now?

BROWN: We have shelter availability. We have been sheltering people in fire headquarters and police stations. Neighbors have been helping neighbors. People have been supporting each other as we do in Buffalo and Western New York.

One of the reasons why this community is known as the city of good neighbors and, again, we've had the opportunity to prove that to the nation and to the world.

BLACKWELL: You know, I just cannot imagine, I'm 6'2". Seven feet of snow coming down around my home and then you've got the water coming.

I mean, as the mayor responsible for so many of the day-to-day operations inside the city, it had to be, in some ways, just overwhelming. BROWN: Well, you know, we have gotten so much support from

municipalities all across the state of New York. The governor of the state of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has been here with us for days. I think this is going to be the fifth day that the governor has been with us, which is absolutely amazing. Our congressional delegation has been here.

People have stepped up in a major way. We have an array of assets in the city right now and we are prepared to do everything that we can to ensure the health and safety of the residents of this community.

BLACKWELL: All right. Mayor Byron Brown, we appreciate your time. I know that you've got a lot of work ahead of you. Looks like you have a thin jacket there. Is it warming up already?

BROWN: It is warming up already. It's in the 40s right now. And based on the temperatures that we've been dealing with, it's pretty balmy.

BLACKWELL: Pretty balmy. You've got feet of snow on the ground there.

All right. Mr. Mayor, thank you so much.

BROWN: Thank you.

PAUL: They are used to it. I'd still be in a coat if it was in the 40s there, just saying. They wear it well.

Still ahead, have you seen this, crowds gathering outside of the frat house at the University of Virginia? They are demanding justice and changes on campus in the wake of a brutal rape allegation that's detailed in "Rolling Stone" magazine. What's next in this case? Are -- is anybody going to see charges filed? We'll talk about it in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Twenty-nine minutes past the hour. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Thanks for being with us this morning.

PAUL: Yes.

Some 200 protesters rallied this weekend outside the University of Virginia's Phi Kappa Psi house, demanding changes to campus rules and to a culture of sexual assault after a horrific rape allegation.

BLACKWELL: And the campus outrage is growing in the wake of this month's issue of "Rolling Stone" magazine, where a student describes how she was gang raped over a three-hour period at that fraternity house, as well as her frustration over trying to get justice.