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Interview with Ferguson Resident; Did Michael Brown Bum-rush Officer; Obama Meets with Holder over Ferguson as Missouri Governor, U.N. Secretary-General Call for Calm; More Unrest Tonight Predicted in Ferguson.

Aired August 18, 2014 - 14:30   ET

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


SHIRLEY DAVIS, FERGUSON, MISSOURI RESIDENT: And, you know, the thing that bothers me more than -- one of the things -- is they're trying to portray him as a person of viciousness. And he is not that. He is a teenager. And teenagers do sometimes do things that are inappropriate. If he stole one cigarette or 50 or a Cadillac, there is still no reason for this kind of action. And disproportionate.

Black youth are killed and nothing is done about it. This time, I'm hoping that America will open their eyes and see, here in Ferguson, disproportionate. We don't have the representatives that are of color. We have very, very few representatives in this area. And especially with the police department.

But there is -- if I may, there is one other thing I would like to say. If we have in Ferguson maybe 100 or 150 buildings -- businesses -- why is it that out of the 300 police officers that were convened on this march, why couldn't you -- the city of Ferguson place two officers in front of each building that they were concerned about and this looting would not have happened. You know what, I'm believing is they wanted to paint an ugly picture.

(CROSSTALK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: We don't know that, and we can't say that. To your point about not speculating, you and I are not members of this police force or different jurisdictions working this story.

DAVIS: That is true.

BALDWIN: But, you know, it's a difficult situation all the way around.

And, Shirley Davis, I'm glad we brought you on, to have your voice heard as a mother and grandmother in Ferguson, Missouri. Thank you so much for coming on.

DAVIS: Thank you very much. I appreciate you.

BALDWIN: You got it.

Much, much more in our breaking news here as we are trying to hear every single side of this story. We are now hearing what -- someone with knowledge from this police officer, happened nine days ago on that street. Did Michael Brown bum-rush the officer who shot him to death? That explosive new account, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. Just past the bottom of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

New information on the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown from nine days ago in Ferguson, Missouri. We have heard from multiple eye-witnesses in and around the scene as far as what they said they saw. And now we're getting -- could be second, could be more than that -- but there's another account, another side of the story from someone with knowledge of this investigation from the perspective of the officer, from the perspective of 28-year-old Darren Wilson.

And so according to this individual, who apparently called into this radio show, more or less said this officer was going down the street, knew about this strong-arm robbery and that Michael Brown and his friend began taunting the officer and raced toward him and shoved the officer, which is a much different story than what we have been hearing from eye-witnesses.

So let's walk through this version of events. Let's walk through what we also learned from this independent autopsy with that news that came out this morning in Ferguson with CNN's senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, Jeffrey Toobin.

So, first things first. And I swear, this is a fast-moving story, every day, as we keep up with each and every piece. The first question I had was, when you listened to Mr. Crump, representing this family, and multiple lawyers this morning, they are saying -- they are standing by this one autopsy that they have blown these professionals in to do. And they are saying, based upon X, Y and Z, this officer should absolutely be arrested. What would it take to arrest this officer?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: First thing you need to do is do a full-fledged investigation. Unfortunately, we are here operating on TV time. We want answers today, arrests today, everything resolved very quickly. That's not a responsible way to approach an investigation like this. This is obviously important evidence. Now we know how many shots were fired. But it was -- even by Michael Bodden, very distinguished forensic scientist's account, not a full autopsy. There are two other autopsies in the works. And there's lots of other evidence. There's ballistics evidence, eyewitness evidence. You don't want to make an arrest in this case until you have canvassed all of that evidence. And that's not to say that Darren Wilson shouldn't be arrested. Perhaps he should be. But he should be after a full investigation, not one piece of it.

BALDWIN: What do you make of this account? We have heard silence, basically, from the side of the police officer for days and days and days and working and hearing, you know, things being floated around. But now finally this is, what, not even a firsthand account. A second -- to your point -- maybe more than that.

TOOBIN: Third hand. Yes. It is certainly not reliable evidence that any prosecutor would use. This is an anonymous person calling into a radio station. It sounds like what a defense would be in this case.

BALDWIN: Perhaps foreshadowing.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. And certainly something prosecutors will want to take into consideration. It raises a lot of questions. What does it mean if approximate the officer is in a police car, and that the two -- Michael Brown and his friend attack -- how do you attack someone in a car? I mean, that's a little implausible to me. Why does he start -- he says -- according to this account, the gun goes off accidentally.

BALDWIN: Right.

TOOBIN: And then later he follows them outside.

BALDWIN: Outside the car.

TOOBIN: Outside the car. Michael Brown gives him the bum-rush, as he says in this. And he fires -- ultimately the fatal shots. It's one version of the way things may have happened. But it certainly raises a lot of questions, it doesn't settle them.

BALDWIN: All these different accounts. None of them are -- you can poke holes in a lot of different accounts in that story.

TOOBIN: All the more reason to weigh and get everything together and then decide whether there's a case to be made.

BALDWIN: Jeff Toobin, thank you so much.

TOOBIN: Okey-dokey.

BALDWIN: And ahead here, President Obama taking a hiatus from his vacation, meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder right now, about the situation in Ferguson, Missouri. Some of the president's critics say he has not talked enough about race. Has that been a mistake? What do you think? Send me a tweet @Brooke/CNN.

You're watching CNN's special breaking coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A major battle is raging right now in Iraq. And the terrorist army ISIS appears to be losing that battle. This is a fight for the Mosul Dam. We talked a lot about this. This is significant, because in theory, ISIS could blow up Mosul Dam and turn the major city of Mosul into a very deep lake. U.S. air strikes on positions near the dam hope to clear out is, might have even mined the dam. More than one million Iraqis sent fleeing by ISIS are in desperate straits. For information how you can help, go to CNN.com/impact. Impact lists organizations providing relief and support for displaced Iraqi children and families. And so if you go there, you will find all kinds of information, links to charities, helping thousands of Iraqis with medical supplies and humanitarian aid. Again, that is CNN.com/impact. Huge developments, as you've been watching here on CNN, quick-moving

out of Ferguson today, as we're learning the curfew that has been in place in that city for the past two nights, has actually just been lifted for this evening. Missouri's governor, Jay Nixon, is deploying National Guard troops there now.

And the U.N. secretary-general, a man who rarely comments on U.S. affairs, has issued a statement urging all law enforcement officials to, quote, "abide by United States and international standards in dealing with demonstrations." All of this follows a night of violent confrontations between police and protesters, demonstrations, spiraling out of control with gunfire, tear gas and Molotov cocktails.

So joining me now from the White House is Michelle Kosinski.

And we know, Michelle, the president is back in D.C. today, meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder. What do we know? What has come of that meeting?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We don't know if it's ended at this point. We're waiting for guidance from the White House. And we should say for some reason the president decided to come back from his vacation. We knew there were going to be some meetings. And this was added later.

So it's not as if he left his vacation specifically to deal with this issue. But the White House has wanted to make it clear, it is a priority, and a big priority, thus we see this meeting today with the attorney general. And it was presented as a briefing, basically. And the president has been getting repeated briefings from the attorney general on this issue on what's going on on the ground.

At the same time, we know the federal government has also become involved. First of all, now, asking for that federal autopsy to be done by a federal medical examiner. We know that FBI agents are on the ground, conducting interviews already. And that there is an investigation into what happened there at a federal level, basically to see whether civil rights were violated, similar to what we saw in terms of an investigation being opened after the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

So right now, whether we're going to see some movement or whether we'll have a time line waiting from the White House for some more detail -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: We'll watch and wait.

Michelle Kosinski, thank you very much, at the White House.

Community members in Ferguson and some officials are already predicting unrest in their city tonight the second the sun goes down. All of this as National Guard is moving in.

Also today, more on our breaking news. This new account of the officer's side of the story. We are just getting in that audio.

Back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: As the National Guard is deployed, we are told a curfew will not be in effect tonight in Ferguson so we are watching and waiting to see what that brings to this Missouri city. Overnight, what began as peaceful protests spiraled into chaos after two people were shot and injured. The highway patrol says those civilians were not shot by police. But is the news of those shootings spread, protesters threw Molotov cocktails at police. All of this despite a curfew. And Michael Brown's family asking for calm.

Just a short time ago, another call for peace from a place that has been the center of so much violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALIK SHABAZZ, ATTORNEY, BLACK LAWYERS FOR JUSTICE: Agents and people that are here to mess up the goodwill of these demonstrators are not allowed to take over this.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: You were not -- after dark, you're calling --

(CROSSTALK)

SHABAZZ: We're saying after dark, we need to come in. After we march, after we give our First Amendment demonstration, after we support the Brown and the Brown family and call for the arrest of Officer Darren Wilson and other demands, then we're going to bring everybody in that's legitimate, and the demonstrators, and bring them on in so that no one gets hurt or shot or gassed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Joining me now, George Howell, who is right outside the Ferguson Police Department.

And so, George, we heard this Brown family attorney say he was hoping the National Guard's presence would bring calm to the people of Ferguson. But then there have been suggestions that, you know, the optics of more shields and vests and whatnot from authorities will make it worse.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Brooke, we've gotten some clarification on exactly how the National Guard fits into this. We understand now that the National Guard will basically work to contain it and control to protect the police command center that is set up on West Florence Road. Police said they felt protesters were getting too close to the command center. We understand the National Guard will have a limited focus, only protecting that command center. And they will work under the direction of Captain Ronald Johnson, who is with the state trooper. So he still runs the show out here.

Some other important things have played out. Obviously, just an hour ago, my colleague, Don Lemon, ticked through the information about this person who called into a radio station to give her account, saying she understands Darren Wilson's account of what happened. And that has apparently been corroborated by a source close to the investigation, according to CNN reporting. That has played out. How are people going to respond to that?

And the other question is, that autopsy, the autopsy saying that Brown was shot at least six times, and that the bullets went into his body in a way that several different scenarios could have played out for this to happen. So it raises a lot of unanswered questions.

We're still, Brooke, waiting to hear from the police department, for them to tell us their account of what led up to this shooting. We haven't heard that yet. Again, we just hear these alleged facts from a person who called into a radio station, has been corroborated by a source close to the investigation. But it's all alleged. We're still waiting to hear what police have to say, as well.

BALDWIN: We keep emphasizing, there are a lot of different sides to the story. We have turned around some of that audio from that radio show, from this other account, and we'll have it at the top of the hour. So if you're just joining us, you have to stick around. That's coming up.

George Howell, I appreciate you very much, in Ferguson right now.

Just ahead, the man who represented George Zimmerman in court reacts to this new account we were just talking about, that this Ferguson police officer was, quote, unquote, "bum-rushed" by Michael Brown. Mark O'Mara says one thing about this investigation has him quite concerned. We'll ask what that is and why.

Also, as I mentioned, you will hear for the first time this audio of this woman calling into this radio station, telling the Ferguson police officer's side of the story. That's next.

You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Before we get into the breaking news here, the officer's side of the story, we have that audio, which we'll play in a moment. The National Guard is moving into Ferguson, Missouri. And some powerful protests overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(EXPLOSIONS)

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: Get off the street!

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: Get over here!

(SHOUTING)

(CHANTING) (EXPLOSIONS)

(CHANTING)

(EXPLOSIONS)

(SHOUTING)

(EXPLOSIONS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)