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DOJ Investigation into Chicago PD; GOP Slams Obama's Address; Jimmy Carter Announces He's Cancer-Free; Medical Examiner Cross- Examined in Baltimore Trial Today. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 7, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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


[09:30:00] RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, this is one of the things we're all talking about here in Chicago, the fact that there's going to be a second video released, the idea that more scrutiny is going to be put on the police department. And a lot of people are wondering, what changes will happen in the next week? Of course the superintendent is gone, but could more changes at the top of the city happen soon?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we want?

CROWD: Justice.

YOUNG (voice-over): As the Justice Department plans to announce a probe into the Chicago Police Department, another city official out of a job. Overnight, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announcing Chicago's Police Review Authority leader resigned effective immediately. Meanwhile, the DOJ plans to launch a civil rights investigation into the department's patterns and practices, expanding the probe into the shooting of 17- year-old Laquan McDonald by officer Jason Van Dyke in October of 2014.

Over the weekend, newly released police report sparking renewed outrage. Reports of the night of the shooting contradict what actually plays out in this police dash cam video. According to Van Dyke's account, quote, "McDonald raised the knife across his chest and over his shoulder, pointing the knife at Van Dyke and attempted to kill Van Dyke." In the video, we see McDonald walking with a knife in his right hand. Authorities say he had just punctured the tire of a police cruiser. Six seconds after getting out of his car, Van Dyke opens fire as the teen is seen walking away from police. Van Dyke's handwritten report says, quote, "in defense" of his life, Van Dyke back pedaled and fired his handgun at McDonald to stop the attack. At least five officers corroborate Van Dyke's version of events. A stark contrast to the video.

CROWD: No justice, no peace!

YOUNG: This as Chicago prepares for the release of dash cam video from yet another fatal police shooting. The family of 25-year-old Ronald Johnson, suspicious of the police account that Johnson was shot dead after pointing a weapon at officers. DOROTHY HOLMES, MOTHER OF RONALD JOHNSON: It's been over a year now

that my son has been murdered and y'all still haven't did y'all's job to convict this cop of murder.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG: Now, Ronald Johnson was shot and killed eight days before Laquan McDonald. His attorney says that the police believe there was a gun in his hand. The attorney's saying there's no way that could happen after being shot. The gun was still under his body. So there's still a dispute about where the gun actually came from.

But the conversation today will be, what will happen moving forward and whether or not the Department of Justice will get more involved in what's going on at the police department that's just behind me.

Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. And we were expecting that announcement, as we see there on the screen, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Thank you so much, Ryan Young.

And take a look. Just in at the hour, we have a brand-new picture of Tashfeen Malik and her husband Syed Farook as they entered the Chicago O'Hare Airport on July 27, 2014. This is when Malik entered the U.S. on that (INAUDIBLE) visa, also known as the fiance visa. Then about a year later, that is when she became a conditional resident here. But this brand-new picture in showing them arriving in the U.S. from Saudi Arabia, where they first met.

And in other news at this hour, President Obama vows to destroy ISIS and reassures the American people the U.S. is equipped to deal with the evolving threat of terrorism. That rare Oval Office address was intended to ease fears sparked by last week's San Bernardino rampage. The president's critics, though, wasting no time blasting his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): I would not be spending a lot of time talking about what we're not going to do. And I would not be talking about how the American people are afraid. I think what -- what's going on is the American people are frustrated.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He announced nothing new, other than, we need gun control, even though it would have done nothing to prevent the attack in California.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we're going to take away Second Amendment privileges, nobody wants somebody who's a terrorist to have a gun. Myself included. But there has to be a process. And one of the reasons there has to be a process is, you know, Ted Kennedy was on the watch list. So was Cat Stevens. It was a mistake. But would you want to take away their constitutional rights over a mistake?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: But it's the cover from "The New York Daily News" that really caught our attention. Take a look. You can see the headline there. It sarcastically reads, "everything is awesome!"

With me now, CNN political commentator and columnist for "The Daily Beast," Sally Kohn. And we are also joined by CNN political commentator and national security editor for theblaze.com, Buck Sexton.

Thank you both for being here with me.

SALLY KOHN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.

BROWN: Sally, first to you. What's your response to that "Daily News" cover, the headline reading, "everything is awesome." Clearly, the publication is hitting back a bit against critics.

KOHN: Well, yes, I mean, look, you know, that is a politically motivated cover that is meant to misrepresent what the president actually said. I mean if you actually try, and I know it's hard in this day and age, but to listen to what the president actually said without our partisan blinders on, our government is taking the threat -- our government -- Republicans and Democrats are taking the threat of ISIS incredibly seriously and figuring out and taking steps to address the threat. I think, you know, this sort of -- again, it's sort of feeding this idea to the contrary, which is just not the case.

[09:35:20] BROWN: So, Buck, to you. Marco Rubio has been outspoken, saying the president have -- may have things -- made things worse after his speech. Do you think what the president said what he needed to say to the nation last night?

BUCK SEXTON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, I think President Obama was essentially doing a reset on the news cycle, not a reset on counterterrorism policy. Whether it's talking about Syria or we're talking about what's going on here with the defense of the homeland. It was mostly things that we had heard before, quite honestly, especially when talking about the war against the Islamic State, our efforts to defeat the Islamic State. And the issues that he raised that were new, which was essentially gun control, is a complete non- sequitur. It wouldn't have stopped the attack. It wouldn't have in any way stopped any attacks that he could -- that he could point to involving jihadist terrorism. They weren't on a watch list.

This notion that you can abrogate somebody's constitutional rights because they happen to be on a list, that as was just pointed out before, has far too many people on it and may people with no redress (ph) whatsoever and are on there for no good reason. So I think the president made things more difficult. I think the president, instead of using this as an opportunity to build some bipartisan consensus, which he needs to do, by the way, because the polls show him slipping when it comes to his handling of the Islamic State, putting gun control in there and then also giving the American people a sort of preening lecture on Islamafobia, that's not necessary and it wasn't helpful. BROWN: All right, Sally, jump in.

KOHN: It's completely necessary. It's completely necessary. First of all, this is a fascinating moment because we have Republican leaders, including presidential candidates, who are willing to take any number of steps to limit the constitutional rights and liberty of Muslims, including moderate Muslims who, by the way, one in two terrorist attacks since 9/11 in this country have been foiled by tips from moderate Muslims. This isn't just liberal preening. This is -- if you want to do something about terror, if you want to do something about the cancer of extremism within Islam, you need to support the alternative as opposed to just blanket attacks on all Muslims.

But, no, no, no, Republicans are willing to, you know, have a watch list, you know, say let's deport all Muslims, let's not let more Muslims into this country. They're willing to do all those things and not worry about civil rights and the Constitution. But God forbid we stop people from buying 6,000 rounds of ammunition. God forbid we stop people who have been put on a no fly list from purchasing deadly weapons. No, no, we can do -- we should do more to stop terrorism except reasonable restrictions on guns and ammunition that even the majority of gun owners support. Come on, guys. If we want to take steps, let's take steps.

BROWN: And, Buck, but -- and -- and to that point, officials involved with the watch list say, look, if you're on there in an error, you can, you can go to DHS, ask for your name to be removed. The majority of the people on that list are considered terrorists. There's reasonable suspicion that they're -- to put them on that list in the first place. Why should they be allowed to buy guns, Buck?

SEXTON: Well, if reasonable suspicious is now the new standard for abrogating somebody's constitutionally protected rights, we're living in a new country and one that I'm not particularly familiar with. The fact of the matter is that there has to be some sort of beforehand process where people can challenge their being placed on this list.

And I'll also point out that if these are really terrorists, they should not be allowed into the United States in the first place. I'm not hearing President Obama say that they should all immediately be deported and that's because there's a recognition that this would jam the courts up with people who shouldn't be on this list at all in the first place.

Look, when President Obama talks about his Syria policy, he's mentioning things that he's been talking about for four years. The difference is that we've heard it for four years and it has not been working. When President Obama talks about how the homeland is going to be secure and he says that ISIS is contained, and then we have an attack at least inspired by ISIS, that leads the American people to think that he doesn't have a particularly good handle on what's going on here and I think that's a fair conclusion to draw, which is the only reason he held that speech last night. There was no new policy offered up, other than gun control, which is a non-sequitur. His talk about the visa program, by the way --

KOHN: (INAUDIBLE)

SEXTON: Apparently he didn't read his own press releases because the visa program wasn't really at issue. She was on a fiance visa, not on some special visa waiver -- visa waiver program.

BROWN: He accidentally said visa waiver. The actual speech said visa program. So the White House has cleared that up. But you bring up a point that Rand Paul --

SEXTON: But still not a useful policy -- it's still not useful.

BROWN: So -- so we -- Rand Paul actually echoed what you said, that, look, you know, there should be some sort of due process for the people on these lists. What do you think, Sally? I mean is that a fair solution here?

KOHN: Look, this is a really fascinating moment because up until we talked about using the terror watch list, the no fly list, to restrict access to guns, to add an extra layer of scrutiny before people bought deadly weapons, we -- the Republicans were not out there barking about the terror watch list. In fact, if anything, they were complaining that President Obama wasn't putting enough people on it, wasn't being aggressive enough in terrorism. What's wrong we didn't -- that these people in California weren't on the terror watch list. We're not being expansive enough.

So, again, it is really intriguing to me that -- that the same people Buck is defending are willing to do any number of things to restrain the constitutional rights and liberty of anyone who is Muslim, anyone who might possibly believe any number of things that they want to try and tie and suggest that, oh, no, the problem is all of Islam or we can't know so we should be racially profiling people. These are things that are coming out from Republican presidential candidates and yet sensible policy that says, hey, if you're on this list, we can clear it up, we can -- you know, we're not -- nobody's being jailed, nobody's being deported. We're simply saying, you shouldn't be able to buy guns. And by the way, also, we should do things about the ability to amass thousands of rounds of ammunition --

[09:40:38] SEXTON: This -- this wouldn't have stopped -- no, this is going on too long. This would not have stopped the terrorist attack. (INAUDIBLE) --

KOHN: But it might stop the next one. And that's the issue. We don't -- we do not ask -- we do not engage in policy based on (INAUDIBLE) --

SEXTON: It would not have stopped the stuff (ph) that just happened. And in Paris you have people -- in Paris you have people -- in Paris you have people who were under -- who were already known to the authorities that are able to get -- are getting machine guns.

KOHN: Again.

BROWN: Clearly this is a --

SEXTON: This is in other places, very difficult -- very difficult to get weapons, to buy --

KOHN: Again, it's amazing that Republicans are bashing --

BROWN: This is an issue where people are very passionate on both sides.

Sally Kohn, Buck Sexton, we could talk about this for hours --

SEXTON: Oh, out of time.

BROWN: But, we have other news to also report at this hour. Thank you so much for coming on.

KOHN: Thanks, Pamela.

SEXTON: Thank you.

BROWN: Good to hear your perspective.

And still to come, a surprise announcement from Jimmy Carter. The good news that he shared in church this weekend. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:36] BROWN: A surprise announcement for Jimmy Carter's Sunday school class. The former president told them yesterday there are no signs of cancer in his latest MRI. He's been going through treatment for months now for cancer found in his liver and brain.

Let's bring in CNN's Nick Valencia for more on this. So Nick, I imagine this was a big surprise for his fellow church members.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely a stunning announcement, Pamela. He's been keeping up his busy schedule since announcing that he was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, that schedule including teaching Sunday school. He took the start of this Sunday school just yesterday to announce that he no longer has cancer. And for those lucky enough to be in attendance there at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, they burst into applause at the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I went to the doctors this week for the second time. The first time, I went for an MRI of my brain. The four places were still there, but they were responding to the treatment. And when I went this week, they didn't find any cancer at all. So I have good news.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Tremendous reaction there from the parishioners there at Maranatha Baptist Church. I did speak to church leaders shortly after that announcement was made, and they say that they have been praying for this day. But truth be told, they never thought it would come. They called it a miracle. Many people had feared the worst when Jimmy Carter announced he had cancer in August. A small mass was removed from his liver. But then doctors said that that melanoma had spread to his brain. They found four spots of melanoma about 2 millimeters in diameter. But now, Carter is saying this latest MRI scan just this week revealing that there's no new signs of cancer. And all those original spots of cancer are also gone. Pamela?

BROWN: And you heard him say that, clearly, it was responding to this new treatment he was on. What can you tell us about that? And I imagine this treatment will continue, right?

VALENCIA: Well, we reached out to doctors, especially those involved in his treatment, to try to figure out just how much this new experimental drug played a role. It's called pembrolizumab -- I'm sure Dr. Sanjay Gupta can tell us a lot more about it. But the FDA approved it back in 2014. It's specific for melanoma, which is the deadliest form of skin cancer. He took it intravenously. And now he's saying that he no longer has cancer. Of course, any cancer survivor can tell you these -- this announcement is good news but is a delicate situation. He's going to continue getting treatment, immunotherapy treatment, and continue to get his regular checkups to make sure that that cancer does not come back.

But excellent news for the former president.

BROWN: Yes, really remarkable. Nick Valencia, thank you so much.

VALENCIA: You bet. Thanks.

BROWN: And you're at the Carter Center in Atlanta. And also, take a look here. You're looking at live pictures out of Washington where Attorney General Loretta Lynch is about to make a major announcement related to Chicago. She's expected to lay out law enforcement action related to the city. We will take you live after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:53:00] BROWN: Court resumes in Baltimore this morning for the first of six officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray. Officer William Porter is charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct.

Last week jurors saw the police van Gray was transported in right here. William is the officer accused of not strapping Gray into a seatbelt. And Dr. Carol Allan is on the stand once again now for cross-examination. She testified Friday about Gray's cause of death.

Jean Casarez is right outside the courthouse with more on what we can expect to learn this week. Jean?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Pam. Well, Dr. Allan just started that cross-examination. But I do want to tell you, Juror Number Eight in Seat Number Eight was just dismissed this morning for a medical emergency. So one of the four alternates has been put in. It is a white male. That juror now becomes Juror in Seat Number Eight. So there are three alternates left instead of four. That was right before the cross-examination began.

Now, the direct examination of this associate medical examiner was on Friday. This is critical for the prosecution's case and for the defense case. But we're in the prosecution's case now. And she diagrammed the external and internal injuries. First of all, Freddie Gray on his head, externally, on his right side, there was a V- lacerated abrasion; there was a tear in the skin, v-shaped. On the left side, there was an abrasion. On the lower left side, externally, there was a hematoma, meaning there was blood right under the skin.

Internally, severe injuries to his spinal cord. We actually saw in a picture the spinal cord of Freddie Gray laid out. The had taken it out during autopsy. It was opened up. In the cervical area, the neck area, C-4 had broken off and had hooked over C-5 on the right side. On the left side, there was a fracture. The ligaments that are supposed to hold everything in place were ripped and torn. The nerves, the blood vessels going up to the brain, didn't have any stability. And the doctor said that, because of that, he would have had trouble breathing.

[09:55:03] So, now cross-examination on this. We also saw last week the videotaped statement of the defendant in this case, William Porter. It lasted an hour. His demeanor when he was interviewed in this would have been on April 17th. It was very -- he was very likable in the interview. Very down to earth. Just talking about what was happening. But the critical aspect was he saw Freddie Gray. He asked him if he needed a medic. He said yes. He lifted him up on the bench and, again, Gray said, help, help me.

Pamela?

BROWN: Just hearing about that spinal cord, I'm still stuck on that. So disturbing. Jean Casarez, thank you so much.

Coming up just minutes from now, Attorney General Loretta Lynch set to speak about the Chicago Police Department. We'll bring that to you live when the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)