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What Happens After Porter Mistrial; Outrage after Officer Not Charges in California Police Shooting. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 17, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:31:19] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Here we are one day after the breaking news we talked about, a mistrial in the Freddie Gray case. The big question today is this: What is next for that first Baltimore police officer to stand trial.

Defense lawyers for Officer William Porter and prosecutors did appear in court briefly this morning. This is what's not clear, whether or not the state will decide if they will retry the officer on manslaughter, because no new court date has been set. Porter is one of six officers facing charges after the 25-year-old Baltimore resident Freddie Gray broke his neck while in police custody. He died a week later.

Gray's family and attorney as well as Officer Porter say it's not over yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD SHIPLEY, FREDDIE GRAY'S STEPFATHER: We are hopeful that they will retry Officer Porter as soon as possible and that his next jury will reach a verdict.

WILLIAM "BILLY" MURPHY, GRAY FAMILY ATTORNEY: There will be the perception among some that this is a defeat for the prosecution and a win for the defense. No, it is not. This is no verdict. And the case will be tried again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Baltimore city councilman, Carl Stokes, joins me live from Baltimore.

Full transparency, he also launched a campaign to become the next mayor of Baltimore.

Mr. Stokes, welcome back.

CARL STOKES, (D), BALTIMORE CITY COUNCILMAN: Hi, Brooke. How are you?

BALDWIN: I'm doing well, thank you. Let me begin with one of the headlines. The fact that no new court

date has been set so it's not clear whether the prosecution has decided it will formally retry Officer Porter. Your reaction to that?

STOKES: My reaction is that obviously they have to figure out and determine, what are the chances that they will get the conviction with a retrial. I guess I'm not inside the courtroom, obviously, but they want to know what was the split. How many for conviction and how many for acquittal to determine what may have been in the minds of the jurors. So I guess they are going to figure out what are the odds in going forward for the retrial.

BALDWIN: Do you think it was the right call to try this in Baltimore?

STOKES: I'm sorry, say it one more time.

BALDWIN: Do you think it was the right call to try it in Baltimore given the fact we have a mistrial on trial number one?

STOKES: Yeah, I think they made a good call there. The next call is going to be on the driver, who by the way it seemed that part of the defense of Officer Porter was that it was the driver's fault. It wasn't my fault. I total them what to do. I told them. They didn't do it. So it seemed that part of his defense was to blame the driver. And the driver is up next. So it's going to be interesting because I would guess that the prosecution is going to bring Officer Porter as a star witness against Officer Goodson.

BALDWIN: So one of the questions, do they continue on with Officer Porter and go to Goodson, who is the driver that you just mentioned who drove the van where Freddie Gray sustained those injuries. The state's attorney has been criticized for, number one, bringing this first trial too fast, according to some, the fact that it was Officer Porter and perhaps not another and not the van driver who was tried first. Do you think she made a mistake?

STOKES: No, I don't think so. Actually, I don't know their strategy, but I don't know that they made a muscle take. I don't think they did. I won't try to second guess that, but I really believe that most of the city is surprised given the evidence or maybe lack of that there wouldn't be some verdict on some part of the charges that were given. I think that it was sort of in Baltimore people were sort of taken aback at some of the defense's arguments. For example, that Officer Porter did not handcuff Freddie Gray because no other officer does that, which seems to be an unethical at best argument, but most of the officers do handcuff prisoners when they put them into the truck in audit of the police procedures of the last 2013 showed that most did. Then there was the argument that the defense made that it didn't matter whether officer port r reported or took Freddie Gray to the hospital. He was going to die any way given his line of reasoning to present. And many people thought that the Officer Porter would be convicted of at least the charges of improper conduct and not really taking care of the prisoner and acting in a more humane way.

[14:36:20] BALDWIN: It is not non-insignificant that the officer defended himself or took the stand in this past trial. The six different police officers all facing charges, where are they now?

STOKES: I'm sorry, you went out for a moment. Repeat that, please.

BALDWIN: Where are the six police officers? They are all bonded out, but do you have any idea where they are at the moment as they are awaiting trial?

STOKES: I assume they are in their private residences. I'm sure they are going about their normal everyday lives, except that they are not on duty. They all have been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the trial.

BALDWIN: Final thought for you. I'm sure you read your "Baltimore Sun" this morning, but for our viewers, there was a scathing editorial about the city's police department after the mistrials. What the trial revealed with great clarity were the failings of the Baltimore Police Department. We're not sure whose depiction was worse. The prosecution's account of police who express an indifference to the lives of those they arrest or the defense's picture of a department so rife with incompetence their client's failures were unexceptional. Final question, do you agree this trial was an indictment on the police department?

STOKES: Absolutely, the police department is a tremendous mess. What I would hope is that many of the things that the police department are really bad at that they r were to fix them immediately between April and now. In other words, the fact that it is not demanded that every officer seat belt every prisoner put in the van. That the cameras in the van aren't working. And many other pieces that the police department can fix immediately between April and now. I think the police department is in a horrible, horrible mess on so many levels. And as the sun editorial said, one thing we know for sure, the verdict is in that the police department is guilty. That's for sure.

BALDWIN: Baltimore city councilman, Carl Stokes, thank you, sir.

STOKES: Thank you, Brooke. Have a great holiday.

BALDWIN: Thank you. Same to you.

Next, a police officer says his gun accidentally discharged when he shot a DUI suspect, which crashed his car here. Does dash cam video support that claim? We'll show you what happened during this encounter and why charges have not been filed. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:42:13] BALDWIN: Outrage in California over the response to a police shooting incident. Prosecutors in California say they will not charge an officer who fire d a man in a wrecked SUV.

The dash cam video is graphic.

Here's what we know. According to the D.A.'s report, Officer Patrick Feaster started following a 26-year-old after he sped out of a parking lot with his headlights off. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFC. PATRICK FEASTER, PARADISE, CALIFORNIA, POLICE DEPARTMENT: Roll over just east -- just east of (INAUDIBLE)

DISPATCHER: Copy. Roll over --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: His report states Thomas flipped his car. The wife was ejected. She died later. You see the officer pulling out his gun and down Thomas goes back through the window.

The D.A. statement says that this officer fired one shot. The report indicates Thomas was hit in his spine. It goes on to say that this officer didn't report the shooting for 11 minutes after the man who was in the car was taken from the scene. Officer Feaster says his gun accidentally discharged. The D.A.'s office called the shooting, quote, "possibly negligent but not criminal."

As for the driver, the police report indicates Thomas had a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit. He's still in the hospital. He could face vehicular manslaughter charges in the death of his wife.

Now this police officer is on paid administrative leave until the internal investigation is complete.

A lot of parts to walk through here. I have with me Charles Coleman Jr with me, former prosecutor and civil rights attorney; and Steve Rogers, retired lieutenant detective with Nutley, New Jersey, Police Department, a former member of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.

So great to see all of you.

My first question is from an officer perspective, he sees this car and appears to be erratically driving. The car flips. You walk upon this car. The instinct apparently is to pull the gun and shoot. Why?

DET. LT. STEVE ROGERS, RETIRED, NUTLEY, NEW JERSEY, POLICE DEPARTMENT & FORMER MEMBER FBI JOINT TERRORISM TASK FORCE: The instinct is to pull the gun but not shoot. He was justified in drawing his weapon. He didn't know what was coming out of that vehicle. But to shoot, you don't shoot people like that. When you look at the video, the guy has his hand in the air. There was no eminent threat of life to the officer or anyone else.

(CROSSTALK)

ROGERS: He says it was an accident, but -- we can't get in his mind, but I'm troubled over the fact that after the weapon was fired there was not immediately over the radio, which is procedure, shots fired, shots fired, send help.

BALDWIN: He only waited 11 minutes later.

ROGERS: 11 seconds later --

BALDWIN: Minutes.

ROGERS: I'm sorry, minutes. And that's a little troublesome. You can't prove intent, but the fact of the matter is that it shouldn't have come down that way. It shouldn't have come down that way.

BALDWIN: The district attorney says he will not face criminal charge, the gun accidentally discharged.

[14:45:13] CHARLES COLEMAN JR, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY & FORMER PROSECUTOR: Right. So there are two things you have to look at when you're talking about why this district attorney is not going to charge the officer involved. The first is intent. As we have just heard, a large part of it is you can't be in this officer's head and make a determination as to whether there was a woeful and intentional firing of that weapon. Now while it may seem egregious to the common eye, the way that California law is written requires that absent a death, that prosecutor would need to be able to establish that trigger was pulled willfully and intentionally by Officer Feaster. He can't make that out, which is why he's chosen not to prosecute in this case.

BALDWIN: If an officer and you're walking upon -- you see an erratic car and thinking it could be a drunk driver. This officer has been applauded by Mothers Against Drunk Driving for all the drunk-driving arrests he's made. How does that change how you perceive the situation upon which you're watching?

ROGERS: Brooke, I've been on many incidents like this in my career, my gun at time was drawn. People are getting out of their cars. You really don't know if they are drunk until after you test them. It could have been a mentally ill person. It could have been any number of things. You don't draw your gun to kill someone --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Why would you draw your gun period?

(CROSSTALK)

ROGERS: Well, to protect yourself. Yeah. You don't know what's coming out of that vehicle, so that's fine.

BALDWIN: OK.

ROGERS: But you have to have your weapon under your control. Had that individual had a weapon in his hand we wouldn't be sitting here today discussing this. The fact of the matter is on the face of what we see, I understand, and correct me if I'm wrong, that the officer radioed in that the guy wasn't cooperating after he shot him. That's a problem. I see the guy cooperating. I see the guy coming out of this vehicle. Then there was another issue that the guy was fleeing. That was another report.

BALDWIN: That was a concern according to the officer.

ROGERS: How do you know? The guy is coming out hands up and you could see that. That's not a fleeing felon.

BALDWIN: To you, back on the D.A. though, shock and confusion are the words that we're hearing here leading this officer to respond the way he did. Is that satisfactory?

COLEMAN: It's not. I do think that it really does --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: His wife has been flung out of this car. She dies.

COLEMAN: Right. It raises some interesting questions as to mind set. You're talking about shock and confusion being the mind set of the officer and what is taking place, but on the other hand, you're saying you're not able to prove intent. Both reflect his mind set. He's able to comment about one mind set with respect to shock and confusion, but to the woeful discharge of his weapon, we says we can't prove that beyond a reasonable doubt. We have nothing. We can't prosecute. Those things don't jive and reconcile with each other very well, which struck as being very odd to me when I listen to the prosecutor and read his report.

ROGERS: Brooke, you and I use one word. It will all boil down to training. I would be very interested to see what training procedures and what type of shooter training and what type of incidents in training that these officers go through. Training has a lot to do with this. Look, the officer, we got to take him at his word. I think the guy got frightened and the weapon fired, but --

BALDWIN: Why not report it for 11 minutes?

ROGERS: I was just going to say that. I've learned one thing. Tell the truth. If you foul up, you foul up, but always tell the truth.

COLEMAN: That's where discipline comes into the conversation. In order for a law enforcement to understand that these actions will not be tolerated -- and by actions, I'm referring specifically to what we see on the dash cam does not add up to what is told in these reports -- discipline has to come into effect. Officers know and law enforcement knows they have to tell the truth or be held accountable.

BALDWIN: We saw the video. Wanted to have the conversation again. No criminal charges filed.

Charles Coleman Jr and Steve Rogers, thank you both so much.

ROGERS: Thanks, Brooke.

[14:49:08] BALDWIN: Still ahead, he was considered too spoiled to go to jail. This young man who killed four people in a drunk-driving accident. Now the manhunt is on for the "affluenza" teen in Texas that disappeared after police issued a warrant for his arrest.

Plus, a major development involving the identify theft company, Lifelock, over what it failed to do for customers.

You're watching CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Tonight when the calendar rolls over to December 18th, "The Force Awakens."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: There are stories about what happened.

HARRISON FORD, ACTOR: It's true. They're all true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The "Star Wars" saga opens a new chapter at midnight here in the United States. Advanced ticket sales are galactic. According to the "Hollywood Reporter" sales have reached $100 million and still counting. We'll show you some pictures of the fans camping out and hanging out and lining up. Some have been there since the 5th of this month.

Not everyone is feeling the force. Like "CNN Digitals," Todd Leopold. He has a CNN.com article called, "Please Stop Forcing "Star Wars" On Me." To counter his Grinchness around the holidays here, I'm bringing in Van Jones, who usually joins us to talk politics but, today, getting real on "Star Wars."

Great to see both of you.

Van, let's pick on you first.

You are a friend and we were having dinner in Vegas and talking politics and you whispered to me, "You were excited about Friday." When you bought your movie ticket, tell everybody about that.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I bought it months ago. And I'm proud. Anybody that can watch that "Star Wars" trailer and not get the goose bumps needs to go to the hospital. "Star Wars," J.J. Abrams, new light sabers, new droids, are you kidding me?

BALDWIN: I feel you through the screen.

But, Todd, Todd, are you going to rain on his parade?

TODD LEOPOLD, CNN DIGITAL FEATURES WRITER/PRODUCER: I'm not going to rain on his parade. May the force be with him. I'm thankful he'll enjoy it. Me, I'm going to take a few weeks off and cash in when the crowds declined a little bit.

[14:55:12] JONES: Man. Listen, this is the biggest cinematic event possibly in the history of cinema. If you are not there tomorrow night, how are you going to explain that to your children? This is "Star Wars." "Star Wars."

LEOPOLD: It is "Star Wars" and it was a phenomenon back in 1987. The Internet has done a terrific job explaining it to everybody, including people who are more agnostic about "Star Wars."

BALDWIN: You guys keep going and then I'm going to jump in.

JONES: First of all, this is a huge deal. You and I were kids with the first one. My nephews were kids with the second set. My children watched the clone wars. Now, a whole different generation. This is a key -- this is the central metaphor for American mythology. This is the Greek gods "Star Wars." This is huge. You can see Yoda on five continents and people know what you're talking about. Harrison Ford as Han Solo, are you kidding me? This is unreal.

LEOPOLD: It's very true. It's incredible the way this one-time little B movie that was going to be dumped has become this incredible phenomenon. But all I can say in my defense, for better or worse, it didn't connect with me, or maybe I didn't connect with it in 1977 or 1983 and to this day --

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: Your lack of faith is disturbing.

(LAUGHTER)

LEOPOLD: You feel the force.

BALDWIN: Let me jump in. I'm hearing both of you.

I was born in '79, so I remember watching it as a kid. I remember fantasizing over having that village in my backyard.

(LAUGHTER)

That said, that second round of movies were kind of so-so. So I'm wondering, Van, if your expectations are a tad too high for this next attempt.

JONES: J.J. Abrams, forget it. This is going to be amazing. Have you seen the trailer? I got goose bumps through my suit just thinking about it. J.J. Abrams, "Star Wars," it's off the chart. You have not seen Harrison Ford as this guy for, what, 20 or 30 years. You see him on the screen, come on.

I'm concerned about you, brother. It didn't connect with you as a kid? I don't understand.

LEOPOLD: It just didn't.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: What movies do you like to see?

LEOPOLD: Me? I mentioned "2001, A Space Odyssey." Someone tweeted, "That's the most boring movie of all time." I can't argue with that.

When something hits you in the heart, it's hard to argue with it. It's really meaningful. The movies that connect with me, I love Mel Brooks comedies, Monty Python. You're talking about mainstream movies, they are all over the board. Whatever hits your sweet spot. I mentioned "Beatle Mania." That's the thing. I mean, you can play a Beatles song for me and I am taken away. I adore everything. "Star Wars" has never did it for me.

BALDWIN: You're entitled to that opinion.

(LAUGHTER)

We'll end with you and your goose bumps. I feel like I'm seeing a young Van Jones, a little boy on screen right now. Who gets to go with you? Are you taking your son?

JONES: I'm taking my sons and my wife. We're all going.

BALDWIN: Wow, family outing.

JONES: Family outing, and you don't want to see what I'm wearing. It will be an Instagramable moment.

BALDWIN: Oh, but I do. Oh, but I do.

(LAUGHTER)

I will be looking for that when that happens.

You guys, thank you both for much for having a little fun with me on this Thursday.

Todd Leopold and Van Jones, thank you.

LEOPOLD: Thanks, Brooke.

JONES: Love you, Todd. Take care, man.

LEOPOLD: Take care.

May the force be with you.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: How about this? This is what I'm excited about, another pop culture milestone at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. It took four nominations, four, but finally hip-hop legend NWA is being inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: This comes after the legendary hip-hop group hit the big screen this past summer "Straight Outta Compton." You have NWA, other inductees chosen by more than 800 members of the hall's voting committee. You're watching CNN. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Brooke

Baldwin.

Today is the day we expect to see the first criminal charges now filed in the deadliest terror attack here in the United States since 9/11, the San Bernardino shootings from 15 days ago.