seeing of a cop choking a man after an arrest. waves of protesters criss-crossed the city, we with with them most of the night in what thankfully was not a repeat of ferguson, mostly peaceful. just anger at a system seen as broken. >> dozens of people were arrested, mostly for disrupting traffic and causing gridlock. attorney general eric holder is demanding a federal probe be launched into this case. garner's familiar sli speaking out, rejecting the officer's apology and vowing this is not the end. we'll talk with the speaker of the new york city council who is expressing her frustration and disappointment. our coverage begins with jason carroll, live in times square. jason? >> this is one of the places with where protesters gathered throughout the night. hundreds of protesters marched throughout the streets, to peacefully express their outrage. >> i can't breathe. i can't breathe. >> protesters poring into the

streets of new york last night, after a grand jury did not indict new york city police officer daniel pantaleo in the chokehold death of 43-year-old eric garner. >> it's a very painful day for so many new yorkers. >> arrests made throughout the night as outrage pulsed throughout the city streets for more than nine hours. >> black lives matter. >> most chanting garner's last words before dying on this staten island street. >> i can't breathe. i can't breathe. >> police, somehow in riot gear blocking intersections as protesters began shutting down some of the city's most iconic landmarks. stopping the flow of traffic into and out of the island of manhattan for hours. some lying down right in the middle of the road. the same inside grand central station. >> i can't breathe, i can't breathe. >> where other protesters staged

a massive die-in as evening rush hour hit its peak. police heavily guarding the rockefeller tree-lighting ceremony. as protesters tried to disrupt the show. the city's public outcry reaching a fever pitch nationwide. from los angeles. >> i am eric garner. >> to philadelphia. where protesters took to city hall during their tree-lighting ceremony holding up signs reading -- black lives matter. the demonstrations across the country disruptive, but peaceful, fulfilling garner's family's wish. >> yeah, we want you to rally, but rally in peace. >> no violence. >> officer pantaleo said in a statement, it is never my intention to harm anyone and i feel very bad about the death of mr. garner. but garner's wife says it's too

late. >> hell no. the time for remorse would have been when my husband was yelling to breathe. that would have been the time for him to show some type of remorse or some type of care for another human being's life. >> a lot of emotion there, police will be conducting their own internal investigation. the u.s. attorney will be conducting a civil rights investigation. as for the protests, alisyn, those will continue. >> okay. jason, thanks so much for that. president obama says the lack of an indictment speaks to larger issues between minorities and police officers. so what's his plan to bridge that gap? let's bring in senior white house correspondent jim acosta for reaction from the white house. what are they saying, jim? >> in a rapid response to the eric garner case, president obama promised changes to the criminal justice system after ferguson and now new york city the white house knows all too well patience is wearing thin. sensing a crisis that is

growing, president obama waited just a few hours to weigh in. after the decision was announced not to indict a new york city police officer in the chokehold death of eric garner. >> when anybody in this country is not being treated equally under the law, that's a problem. >> with emotions already raw across the country after the unrest in ferguson, the president tried to strike a balance. recognizing the important work of law enforcement, while insisting the justice system must change. >> i'm not interested in talk, i'm interested in action. and i am absolutely committed as president of the united states to making sure that we have a country in which everybody believes in the core principle that we are equal under the law. >> attorney general eric holder who will be visiting five more u.s. cities to meet with civil rights leaders on the issue says the justice department is investigating the garner case. >> all lives must be valued. all lives. >> adding more pressure on the

administration, the u.s. attorney overseeing the chokehold investigation also happens to be the woman tapped to replace holder, loretta lynch. now our prosecutors will conduct an independent, thorough, fair and expeditious investigation. >> on capitol hill, members of the congressional black caucus are insisting the president cannot tackle the problem alone. >> i do hope that the department of justice gives americans an opportunity to take this cancer and cut it out once and for all. >> shut it down! >> on the streets of the nation's capital, there was a different kind of gridlock as protesters snarled traffic to send a message. >> i'm sorry that travelers are inconvenienced, but it's inconvenient to get shot in the street. it's inconvenient to get choked on videotape. >> president obama says he wants to start rebuilding trust in minority communities, in law enforcement quickly.

so he's calling on the new 21st century policing task force which he launched on monday to issue recommendations within 90 days, alisyn, chris? >> jim acosta. thanks so much. we want to bring in the speaker of the new york city council melissa mark vivarito. what was your reaction when you heard the grand jury's decision. >> to be honest, angry and very much frustrated and exasperated. because we were seeing a sense of injustice that is being meted out in communities feeling that somehow justice is elusive. so we have to heal obviously as a city and we have to consistently demand reform, which many of us are doing. but the anger and the frustration is very valid. and we need to be able to express it in productive ways. >> i mean you say a sense of injustice, but this is the justice system. they went before a grand jury with 22 civilian witnesses, 38

interviews were conducted. the officer testified in front of the grand jury and he said, that he was holding on to mr. garner just to regain his balance. that was one thing he said. he said he was trying to make sure mr. garner was not injured by the other officers who were rushing into the situation and he wanted to prevent mr. garner, he says from biting them. and the grand jury believed him. >> the grand jury got it wrong and i think the grand jury's responsibility was just to determine whether there was probable cause and throw it over to a trial. i think at minimum there should have been a criminal trial to get the facts fully out there. the deliberations of this grand jury are not transparent, it is all secretive right now. we don't know what was presented to the grand jury. we don't know exactly what was said. by the prosecutor. that's a system that is broken, right, where there is no transparency. we need to seek that kind of change and demand that that sense of fairness in the process as well. so there is a lot of work that we need to get done. but it is wrong to be living in

a democracy where certain communities feel a sense of justice is not equal for them. >> so you've had that problem for a long time, speaker. and the question is now you have new opportunities to address it. what is the fix? one fix was you being present in staten island last night. ferguson saw a big vacuum of leadership. you were out there to let the people know they're not alone. those who want to protest the decision, now you get into a secretive and lack of transparency. that doesn't go to the grand jury system. because we use it well in a lot of ways. it goes when cops are involved and the prosecutors in those communities investigate their own cops. do you think that has to change? and if so, how do you change it? >> no, i believe that has to change. i think there is obviously a problem when you have individuals who are elected first of all and second of all, that have a very close relationship -- >> they make their cases off the same cops. >> exactly. so there's an issue there that has to be resolved. >> how do you change it? because that's a big issue. >> what i'm concerned about as

speaker of the city council and being the legislative body for the city of new york, how do we insure that reform is happening within the nypd in the way they are policing our communities. thanks to the mobilizations that have happened, consistently, i, as well as other council members under the last administration, we're asking for reform and changes. we've seen vast changes, we're not going to see the benefits of it overnight. it's very hard to legislate people's sentiments and feelings. if there is a bias within individuals, who are policing our streets, it's very hard to prove that there are greater systemic challenges. i think the president is speaking to it. eric holder speaking about it, there is bias within the system and we've got to work to uproot that. that is our task. and as legislators and elected officials, we need to show leadership on that front. >> why isn't this grand jury releasing the evidence and

releasing the testimony in the way that the ferguson grand jury did? >> the system here in new york is very different and that's the way, the system is set up here. my understanding is that the d.a. is asking for some aspect of releasing of information. not all of it. >> would that help? would that go a long way towards the transparency that you're talking about? >> i believe if people know exactly what was presented. >> but not how. >> it's important not to cut you off. speaker. >> you could see that. >> right. except you're still not in the room and we all know and i don't know why this doesn't come across clearly enough to people. the grand jury is a tool of the prosecutor. you can indict a ham sandwich because the prosecutor shapes testimony. influences, weighs and. because the groors, they're not set up to investigate this independently, that's not what this is supposed to be. if you have that system. what are the calls you're hearing? why wasn't there a special prosecutor. >> which is what we're asking for. but the doj -- >> it's not that easy in new

york. don't you need legislation in order for this to be a mechanism, every time. >> that is a broader conversation that we would have to get into. i'm not a lawyer, per se. obviously we're interested in the city of new york. those of us that are council members on the ground in our communities every day, and i represent a community that has high levels of interaction with the police. and this is a reality that i hear from my constituents every day. it's a real problem. when african-americans, when latinos, feel that there is a sense of two-tiered system. that's a very real, that's a reality. we have to face it. these kinds of incidents where we have a grand jury in the case of mr. garner, and in the case of michael brown -- where people feel that it's not fair. that is really a greater challenge that we have. you know, at the end of the day, eric garner's family does not have their father coming home at night. mrs. garner does not have her husband coming home and those parents don't have their child. there is a real, something really wrong when all of us were able to witness this individual, this man being killed in front

of our eyes. when you have eight to nine cops around who still cannot listen to his calls for help. there is something broken here and i think that at minimum that this case should have been taken to trial and that we should have been able to witness that in a fair and open way. justice was not served here yesterday. the city needs to heal and i and my colleagues are committed to making sure that new york city system, and nationally we have a system that is fair to all. >> speaker, thanks so much for coming to "new day." be sure to stay with us late they are morning. we will be speaking with eric garner's widow about the grand jury decision coming up in our 8:00 hour. we have other news to tell you about. we want to bring you up to date al qaeda video threatening to kill american hostage, luke somers. reports say u.s. special forces narrowly missed freeing somers in a rescue operation just last week. the question is will the u.s.

negotiate with these terrorists? pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins us now. we know we don't negotiate with terrorists, what's being done? >> the u.s. will tell you they're looking for mr. somers, al qaeda in yemen posted this video showing him for the first time. he was working as a photo journalist in yemen when he was kidnapped last year. let's listen just very briefly to some of what he said on the tape. >> my name is luke somers, i'm 33 years old, i was born in england but i carry american citizenship and have lived in america for most of my life. >> now, as you say, michaela, late last month u.s. special forces staged a raid inside yemen trying to free him. and other hostagesing he apparently had been moved a short time before the commandos got there. also on the tape an al qaeda operative makes that statement. threatening mr. somers with a

quote inevitable fate if their demands are not met within three days. of course we don't know when that three-day clock runs out. we don't know exactly when this tape was made. the u.s. policy by all accounts remains intact. they do not negotiate with terrorists. u.s. officials say they are still looking for him. michaela? >> barbara starr, thanks to you. more victims of sexual assault in the military are coming forward. now according to a new report from the pentagon, obtained by cnn, nearly 5% of active-duty women report being the victims of unwanted sexual contact in the last year. the number of incidents is actually believed to have gone down. but one in four women are now willing to report misconduct. that is up from one in ten just a few years ago. a member of the st. louis rams is defending his actions following the controversial hands up don't shoot gesture. some of he and his players did before sunday's game, jared cook says he has nothing but respect for police in the community. take a listen.

>> it was a perfect example of a peaceful protest. if anything, if anything should have been said about it by anybody, it should have been an example of a way to peacefully protest and peacefully get your point across without tearing up your neighborhood. >> the st. louis police officers association called the gesture tasteless and offensive. how about $2 for a gallon of gas? it's a reality in some parts of the country. in fact a gas station in oklahoma city had regular gas at under $2 a gallon on wednesday. parts of virginia, missouri, south carolina, texas and new mexico could see prices under $2 by the weekend. increased production and more fuel-efficient cars are contributing to the four-year low. the average nationwide remains $2.75 a gallon. it feels like the 1970s. it's been a long time since we've seen that price. >> i'm going to drive to oklahoma to get that price and

drive back. >> road trip. >> a lot of people feel like it's the 1970s in terms of what we're seeing with the police. we know that the officer in the nypd chokehold case will not face a judge. the question is will he keep his job? chokeholds are not allowed by the nypd. but it turns out not all chokes are the same in the eyes of the department. we interviewed the new york city police commissioner about this. you'll hear his explanation. and we're counting down as nasa gets set for a big launch. this could take us one day to mars we'll take you live to florida. in a race, it's about getting to the finish line. in life, it's how you get there that matters most. like when i found out i had a blood clot in my leg. my doctor said that it could travel to my

lungs and become an even bigger problem. so he talked to me about xarelto®. >>xarelto® is the first oral prescription blood thinner proven to treat and help prevent dvt and pe that doesn't require regular blood monitoring or changes to your diet. for a prior dvt i took warfarin, which required routine blood testing and dietary restrictions. not this time. while i was taking xarelto®, i still had to stop racing, but i didn't have to deal with that blood monitoring routine. >>don't stop taking xarelto®, rivaroxaban, unless your doctor tells you to. while taking xarelto®, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto® may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. xarelto® can cause serious bleeding, and in rare cases, may be fatal. get help right away if you develop unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. if you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto®, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any

conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. xarelto® is proven to reduce the risk of dvt and pe, with no regular blood monitoring and no known dietary restrictions. treatment with xarelto® was the right move for me. ask your doctor about xarelto® today. ♪ (holiday mhey! is playing) i guess we're going to need a new santa ♪(the music builds to a climax.) more people are coming to audi than ever before. see why now is the best time. audi will cover your first month's payment on select models at the season of audi sales event.

visit audioffers.com today. [do more than ever before with re-imagineit.uickbooks. make any place your place of business with it. get paid faster with it. run payroll with it. sync this stuff with that stuff with it. turn on only what you need with it. sample from our smorgasbord of apps with it. take in the big picture with it. see your finances in a whole new way with it. this is your business on intuit quickbooks. run with it.

it looks awful, but it is lawful. that's what nypd commissioner bill bratton had to say and his predictions about how the eric garner case would turn out back in august. he said some things that will be key in determining whether the officer involved keeps his job. turns out not all chokes are the same to the nypd. hear it for yourself. >> the eric garner case, what you referred to as the incident out in staten island. it looks bad on its face because the chokehold that seems to be being used is not allowed to be

used. so it's frustrating to hear for your critics that there's an investigation when the situation seems obvious. >> it seems to speak for itself. well, it does not. that's why we the impression it looks awful. but it's lawful. the role of the district attorney is to determine were any of the actions of the officers involved illegal. my role and responsibility is were any of the actions of the officers involved inappropriate. >> could they be illegal but appropriate? no. >> there's a potential possibility interestingly enough. >> they could be illegal, but appropriate? >> for example, many in the media have referred to the chokehold as illegal. >> yes. >> you can't find anywhere in the statutes of new york city chokehold. >> so where does that come from? >> it's a police term of art. it's a policy term. we have a prohibition against choke holds. it appears to be a chokehold as we understand it. was it? >> how could it not be?

based on what you've seen and i've seen? >> i've been around a long time in this business that what it appears to be sometimes may not be what it is. >> the garner incident grew out of a is stop for selling illegal cigarettes, the criticism su go after these petty things, you wind up targeting poor people, minority people all the time. you got a guy who was dead and all he was doing was selling illegal cigarettes. is that fair criticism? >> unfair criticism. we're focusing on behavior. if the behavior happens to be occurring in an african-american neighborhood, a latino neighborhood or a white neighborhood, we're going to take action. if we were ignoring it, it would be taking our heads off. >> is that true? that's for to you decide, tweet us and let us know. let's get perspective. cnn law enforcement analyst and former fbi assistant tom fuentes and former c.i.a. analyst danny

cevallos. you have problems with how the case was prosecuted or not prosecuted in the grand jury and you have problems with what's okay and not okay with police. tom, let's start with the police, new york has its own prohibition against chokeholds for various reasons. came out in the '90s, you know this. how when you see that will it not be interpreted as a chokehold by the cops? >> well, unfortunately, chris, he was choking him. and whether he meant to or not, i think is a different issue. and we don't know what all the testimony was, with all of the officers, in particularly pantaleo at the grand jury. but the particular hold you know, that's not a hold that was ever taught by the police and i was taught you know, a method years ago. when i was a police officer, and when i was an fbi agent, and it was basically to put pressure on both sides of the carotid artery to cut off blood flow to the brain, or reduce it until the person fainted. it supposedly did no permanent damage. the reason police departments banned it is because it was so

easy to miss apply it and put pressure directly on the throat and cut off the air. it was too easy to have an accident. so when you say a lawful hold. i think pantaleo's side of it is once they tried to take him into custody and he refused, it looks more like a horse collar tackle. he throws his arm around his neck and tries to bring hick down and in the process of holding him he does have his forearm across his throat and is choking him. >> tom it just seems like, what are we talking about here? he's choking the guy. he's choking him. the choke is not illegal, the grand jury obviously found it was justified in the circumstances, that's why they didn't indict. but he's choking the guy, danny, let me bring you on. how is that not a choke? he put his arm across him, he grabbed him he held. the guy went to the ground, he held on to him the whole time there. it's a choke. it's just a choke. the question is what do the police do about it? how is it not a choke? >> in the last few days, i'm

starting to question what exactly a chokehold is. because there are many definitions, chris, there's submission holds. >> are we playing with something to give a cop a break? >> you're asking, we should is take a step back. you're asking was there too much force? five police officers, however many officers, they apply pressure around the neck. some people think that's excessive force. >> the guy is screaming i can't breathe, i can't breathe. >> if you talk to law enforcement experts, they will to a man say if a person is saying i can't breathe, that means they can still breathe. but to a citizen, that sounds like good lord, if you can't breathe sometimes you can say i can't breathe. and it sounds a little harsh. so that is, that goes to the problem right there. which is -- when it comes to officer's safety if we tinker with it at all and restrict officers -- >> do you think that's why they found it justified because they thought the officers were at risk. >> watch the force continuum as trained officers, once you make

an arrest everything is ziped for officer safety if a person doesn't immediately comply, they can move right up the force continu continuum, that's the way they're trained. >> do you think this was a situation where they had to do everything they did to get this guy down? do you they think they needed to hold on to him? >> at that point they had because he wouldn't comply. what you're asking for police officers is once the determination is made that an individual, you're under arrest, well now we can debate it. we can have a constitutional debate on the sidewalk and you don't see how long that discussion lasts. the police don't immediately put hands on him until after they've been talking about it and four or five officers, including an african-american female sergeant who was on the scene, overseeing this whole operation. at a certain point they've got to touch him. that's just wait it goes. when you resist arrest physically resist, bad things can happen. >> understood. and that is a separate discussion about how you get to that point of why you're

resisting. >> but it's a big discussion and it's important. >> absolutely, tom, i'm with you and that's why we love having you on. now you get to the second piece and this will continue beyond today. the prosecutor use as grand jury as a tool, danny. that's why you get so many indictments, probable cause is a low bar. and they're shaping cases in that direction, that's the reality, true? >> yes. >> not here. >> listen people are up in arms because they say the prosecutor, wept into it with some subtle bias. he may not have presented it way the he should have if he wanted an indictment. but that's exactly the way our system is designed. prosecutors have and we have the word plenary, it means almost complete unfettered discretion to decide which cases to charge and which cases not to charge. >> and they put it to a grand jury. >> if you don't like the grand jury outcome i've got bad news for you, because the grand jury is probably the most democratic form of criminal prosecution in a completely undemocratic system that we have, which is criminal

prosecution. >> we'll continue this conversation, tom fuentes thank you as always. danny cevallos, the reason you don't put your defendant in front of a grand jury is because you're afraid of what the prosecutor is going to do to them. but when it's a cop, it's to their advantage, that's something that has people very confused. we're doing the interviews to keep the dialogue going, what do you think? tweet us or reach us on facebook. we're minutes away from nasa's next giant leap, orion could take us to the moon or mars, will the test flight go as planned? we're counting down to the launch. in this accident... because there was no accident. volvo's most advanced accident avoidance systems ever. the future of safety, from the company that has always brought you

the future of safety. give the gift of volvo this season and we'll give you your first month's payment on us. how couin jellyfish, protein impact life expectancy in the u.s., real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 70% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing.

i won this 55 inch tv for less than $30 on dealdash.com. visit dealdash.com for great deals. and start bidding today!

welcome back to "new day." all eyes are on cape canaveral this morning, you're looking live right now. in about 30 minutes, nasa is set to launch its newest spaceship orion for its first test flight. orion could pave the way for putting man back on the moon and in the future even on mars. cnn's elena machado is at the kennedy space center with more, what are you seeing? >> orion is sitting just behind me at the space launch complex 37 at the kennedy space center. even though it's windy here, we're being told that the launch

is still a go this morning. orion will spend four and a half hours in flight. orbit the earth twice and reach an altitude of up to 3600 miles from earth. to get an idea of how far that is, that's about 15 times higher than the international space station. now no one will be on board this flight. this is really a test flight to take a look at critical systems like the heat shield and also the parachutes that are supposed to slow down orion as it makes its way back to earth. and if everything goes as planned, orion is set to splash down in the pacific ocean at around 11:30 eastern. now we are waiting for an update on the weather conditions. there's going to be a weather briefing in just a few moments, so far, everything seems to be going on track. alisyn? >> we'll watch that live unless you tell us otherwise. other news to get to, let's go over to michaela. i like your pronunciation. it's very international. thanks so much. let's take a look at the

headlines, 33 minutes past the hour. three more women have come forward now with claims that they were sexually abused by bill cosby. the women were joined by attorney gloria allred who said cosby should consider waiving the statute of limitations. or set up a $100 million fund for the alleged victims. in the meantime, cosby's two shows scheduled this weekend in terrytown new york have been postponed. in the wake of nearly two dozen allegations of sex abuse. a defiant russian president vladimir putin defending his country's annexation of crimea. in his annual state of the nation address to russian parliament. he condemned western sanctions in response to russia's role in eastern ukraine saying they are harmful for all nations. put-a message for the russian people say they need to be more self-sufficient, because tough times are ahead. pope francis has fired the head of his private security detail. the vatican announcing that daniel anreg will no longer

serve as the leader of the swiss guard after the end of next month. no explanation was given for the decision, but it is widely believed the pope wasn't fond of the commander's iron-fisted approach. despite protests nearby over the grand jury's decision in new york, the rockefeller tree lighting ceremony went off. thousands packed the plaza to watch the 85-foot norway spruce get illuminated with 45,000 l.e.d. lights. the star-studded ceremony included mariah carey, tony bennett as well, getting people in the holiday spirit. hard to do when there's a little bit of rain in the air. >> rain and rage. >> and new york is so big, they can do both, they can have a tunnel shutdown and a massive tourist attraction the same night. >> a lot of the protesters, there were some arrests, most were trying to be heard in those areas, as posed to being disrupt i have been. that made a big difference, also. extreme weather doing major

damage. driving rain keeping drivers on their toes, the rain opened a sinkhole in the road. but all the rain, indra petersons is about to tell us, could be a good thing because of the drought condition that california is dealing with. is that true? >> it's a good thing, it's going to help the drought, they've had such a shortage of water, it will take more rain than this to recover. you never want this much rain in just one storm. many places in southern california, this is the biggest storm they've seen in nine months it looks like a little breather. here's the first storm pulling away, notice the big moisture source separated from the storm. there is another storm making its way in, most likely just affecting northern california through the weekend. either way, more rainfall expected to impact the region. everyone has been asking, it was so cold in november, is this what we're expecting as we go through december, no. take a look at november, all the cold air going down into the southeast. now as we look through the outlook for the next several weeks, notice how high the jet stream is it looks like everyone

is going to be above average or near average keeping the bitter cold air where it belongs, back in through canada. keep in mind if you're looking at the weekend forecast each day we'll be talking about a little bit more moisture spreading into the ohio valley, mid-atlantic and northeast. by tomorrow or saturday it will be the soggiest day of the week. right now, almost 70 degrees at cape canaveral. winds calm but expected to pick up throughout the day. i'm sure that's a discussion they're having through the day and visibility only about five miles. so something they'll be looking at closely. thanks so much. all right so a grisly murder, a mystery now and it's unfolding in abu dhabi. this surveillance video shows the suspect in the murder of an american teacher at a luxury mall. did the teacher ignore warnings about her safety? we'll tell you the story. ♪ turn around

♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing good around ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ [ female announcer ] fiber one. ♪ my baby drove up in a brand new cadillac. ♪ ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪ my baby drove up in a brand new cadillac. ♪ ♪ look here, daddy, i'm never coming back... ♪ discover the new spirit of cadillac and the best offers of the season. lease this 2015 standard collection ats for around $329 a month.

and i quit smoking with chantix. people who know me, they say 'i never thought you would quit.' but chantix helped me do it. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it gave me the power to overcome the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. some people had seizures while taking chantix. if you have any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix or history of seizures. don' take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or if you develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. i'm a non-smoker, that feels amazing. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you.

. we have news of an american being killed abroad just this past monday. a teacher stabbed to death in the bathroom of a high-end mall in abu dhabi. now investigators are trying to track dan her suspected killer seen on surveillance video before and after the crime. sending terrified shoppers running for safety.

becky anderson joining us live from abu dhabi live this morning. what do we know, becky? >> it's being dubbed the reem island ghost. the unknown suspect who brutally murdered an american teacher in a mall in the united arab emirates' capital city. authorities here are baffled by this attack. desperately trying to find out who killed this american woman. and why. we must warn you some of the images you are about to see are graphic. police in abu dhabi now on the hunt for this -- masked assailant. accused of fatally stabbing ibolya ryan, a 47-year-old american school teacher and mother of 11-year-old twins in the bathroom of this upscale mall. this cctv surveillance video captures the before and after. the suspect is seen entering the mall from an underground parking garage wearing an abaya, a

full-length black gown gloves and a veil that conceals the face. the clothing is traditionally worn by local women. but police haven't identified if the suspect is a woman or man. watch as the suspect talks to a security guard, then walks towards the women's rest room. but stops to remove what appears to be a newspaper. according to police, an argument breaks out inside. the reason, still unknown. ryan is stabbed with a kitchen knife six times before her availant is seen running for the elevator and fleeing from the parking garage 90 minutes later. ryan was take ton the hospital but later died of her injuries. police now asking for the public's help to track down this killer. as fears mount about whether or not this was a targeted attack. just a month ago, the u.s. embassy in the uae issued a warning to americans urging them

to be careful fog a recent anonymous posting on a jihadist website that encouraged attacks on teachers at american and other international schools in the middle east. >> u.s. embassy is working with the appropriate authorities to seek further information in this situation and shouldn't jump to any conclusions, we don't have all the facts here yet. >> officials now advising u.s. citizens in the region to take ex-practice ptra precautions. ryan's children are in the care of local police while they wait for their father, ryan's ex-husband, to arrive from abroad. violent crime in abu dhabi, i have to say, is very, very rare. and eye witnesses and residents alike expressing shock in the aftermath of this attack. chris, we are about to leave the bureau here for a press conference and a statement from the interior ministry here. we'll know more about perhaps who and why on this incident about 90 minutes from now. >> absolutely.

becky, we know how well you understand the region and it is known as being safe. there was a caution in effect for u.s. travelers going to abu dhabi. it is yet to be seen how there's a connection between what that threat might have been and what actually happened in this situation. but thank you for staying on it for us. becky, always good to have you on the show. all right so in the wake of the no indictment decisions in the eric garner and michael brown cases, understandably racial tensions are high. is president obama doing enough to lead on this issue? we will ask people on both sides of the aisle and let you decide.

okay, so racial tensions are rising over the michael brown and eric garner cases. many are going to look for leadership here. a big vacuum of it in ferguson. at the top of the food chain is president obama. what can he do to create positive change here? let's bring in paul begala, cnn political economic tator and democratic strategist and senior adviser to superpac usa action and kevin madden, a republican strategist. let's do this, gentlemen, let us

have agreement first. do we all agree that there is a need for change? yes? >> absolutely. >> do we all agree that it must come if our political leadership? yes? >> in part. it has to come from we the people. >> not just political leadership. paul is right. >> what is the role of political leadership here, kevin madden and is it getting done effectively? >> i think the president is taking a very measured approach. in some of the remarks he made when the president said this is not a black problem, it's not a white problem, this is an american problem. think if you take out whether or not he's an african-american or whether he's white, or take out whether he's a republican or democrat, that's a statement that so many americans would agree with. and so many americans i think would say at part of how we understand the problem and how we go about fixing it. so in that sense i think the president's measured approach while it may not please everybody might be the right

approach. >> paul, you're a democratic strategist. what would you have president obama do and say today? >> well today, you have to set the tone and you have to set the policy. i think he's trying to do that. the tone has to be an appeal to unity, to community. and barack obama's brand, if it stands for anything, it stands for unity. it's the reason we made him our president, we called to bring this country together. first time on the national scene saying there's no red states or blue states, there's only the united states. second part of setting the tone is hearing, listening to the people who are so frustrated, so heartbroken. a lot of pain out there he needs to listen to that and absorb it. then you have to set policy and that's where you have to get all the big brains in and talk about what do we need to do different and bet anywhere terms of policing perhaps in the use of grand juries and you've been discussing earlier with other guests, those types of things have to come, too.

these are not new complaints. you have a flash did the point because you have back-to-back cases and timing is important. these are not new issues. what do you think is the obstacle to change. >> well you're right, these are not new issues and i think one of the big challenges that the president has here is he has suffered from very high expectations, almost unrealistic expectations, when the president first came into office in early 2009, so many people believed that he was going to be able to improve race relations, as we know, many of the divisions are very deep-seated, no one person is going to solve them. i think that the president right now, what he has to do is he has to go back to being a unifier. i agree with paul, that he has used to have a unity brand. but one of the big problems is over the years that he's actually become very divisive. a divisive political figure. so this is one of those instances where he has to again be the president of everyone. i think he's trying to do that

and i think it's difficult, given the fact that he doesn't have as much political capital as he used to have. >> it is difficult, paul, because at times in the past president obama has stepped in it a little bit. i'm thinking of 2010 when he waded into the controversy in cambridge, massachusetts when henry louis gates was arrested by the cambridge police and president obama called that stupid. and then ended in a beer summit he sort of had to apologize to the police. he can't be seen as always siding against the police. >> that's a good point. especially on that case, you're right. i think it hurt him in the polls, but he spoke out. and an eminent professor at harvard arrested in his own home. falsely presumed to be breaking into his own home. the president is a friend of skip gates, now that he's been president for a long time he understands he's the leader of the executive branch.

there are ongoing investigations in ferg son and now in new york. he can't prejudice those, he can't go as far as some of his supporters might want him to go. because you don't want to prejudice a federal investigation. >> when you're out there with the protesters, they're not talking politics, but what they're asking for is almost exclusively political. you're getting to see how local leaders respond. and ferguson, we saw i would submit, a vacuum of leadership, a governor who seemed remote, a mayor who didn't seem to get it. you know and local officials who were largely absent. not all of them, but some. what did you see in this situation in new york? did they do better? look, i think at the heart of it is it's not just politicians, it's political leaders, community leaders, what we've seen with so many of the incidents, there are problems or frustrations or tensions at the local level. >> you had the mayor out front with his biracial family saying how this aks him as well. do you think this made a

positive impact? >> i'm a new yorker, i'm from yonkers, new york, you have a much more diverse police force, you have a lot of community policing. so many of the police are embedded in the communities that they are policing. that is also one important step to having a different situation than you may have had in ferguson. at the heart of it, chris is the dialogue between all local leaders, not just relying on local politicians to propose a bill, pass a bill and think all the problems are going to go away. >> i want to ask you about something that dr. ben carson. who is considered a potential candidate in 2016 said yesterday about ferguson, now this was before the grand jury decision came out here in staten island. this is what he said in terms of not setting up the conversation against the police, let me play this for you. >> i challenge people all the time. imagine living for 24 hours with no police. people would be walking into your house saying hey, i think i like that television, i'm taking

that. it would be total chaos. so the police are our friends. are they perfect in all cases? of course not. >> paul, does president obama need to reflect some of that sentiment? the police are our friends. >> yes, look he's the leader of the executive branch. i don't know how many cops he's got under his jurisdiction. dr. carson, eminent surgeon, if i ever need brain surgery, i would go to him. not much of a politician. nobody is saying we should do without cops. that's the kind of thing that frustrates people. there is legitimate pain, there's legitimate anger and politicians and dr. carson is one now, they need to listen to that and reflect that you saw on the graphic refer to mike huckabee. a really good guy, leading republican, he won the iowa caucuses a couple of years ago, he called mike brown a thug, which can only, i think increase the pain and the frustration and anger, and exactly politicians ought not do. they need to listen first. before they open their big

mouths. >> people make judgments in the absence of fact and transparency. one thing we've seen in both of these situations, guys, when you don't have a process that people can see and judge for themselves. that seems open and honest you're going to have trouble. that's something that require as political fix. >> paul, kevin, let's leave it there. we have a big story, let's get right to it. >> i'm determined to get justice for my husband. >> protests erupting in new york and across the country. >> the police here have shut off the henry hudson. >> the grand jury decides not to indict a white police officer. >> this was an arrest for an extremely minor crime. >> i can't breathe! i can't breathe! >> black lives matter, it's a phrase that should be self-evident. >> we see a man dying on video and there's no indictment. how frustrated do people feel. >> can you imagine if we didn't have this video what their story would be? >> the grand jury saw a lot more than what we have seen. >> it's time for to us make more

progress than what we have made. >> we are marching against wrong. >> we want you to rally, but rally in peace. good morning, everyone, welcome back to "new day." we have breaking news, i'm alisyn camerota with chris cuomo. if ferguson was a tipping point in this country, communities across america this morning say they feel like they are more on edge. a white new york city police officer was let off the hook after being caught on videotape choking an unarmed black man during an arrest. a grand jury's decision not to indict officer daniel pantaleo in eric garner's death yesterday. >> obviously the move sparked protests across the country. we're out in the thick of it last night here in new york. similar scenes played out across the nation. dozens of hands, people hauled off in handcuffs in new york. but no real violence or destruction, important to know attorney general eric holder is launching a probe into garner's death as he did with michael brown and the garner family is speaking out. before we get to our coverage of

what happened, we're also monitoring something else. nasa's test flight of the orion spacecraft. the launch is a few minutes away, we'll bring it to you when it happens, it will be in the corner of your screen so you can watch. our top story, jason carroll joins us live from times square with more of what happened overnight after the eric garner decision. this was a very different feel than ferguson last night, jason. there was a different tone and different tactics by the protesters. >> oh yeah. much different, we saw the protesters out here it they marched, they chanted, they held signs. they gathered throughout the city. to speak out for eric garner. >> i can't breathe, i can't breathe! >> protesters poring into the streets of new york last night after a grand jury did not indict new york city police officer daniel pantaleo, in the chokehold death of 43-year-old eric garner. >> it's a very painful day for

so many new yorkers. >> arrests made throughout the night as outrage pulsed throughout the city streets for more than nine hours. >> black lives matter! >> most chanting garner's last words -- >> i can't breathe -- >> before dying on this staten island street. police, some in riot gear, blocking intersections as protesters began shutting down the city's most iconic landmarks. stopping the flow of traffic into and out of the island of manhattan for hours. some lying down right in the middle of the road. the same inside grand central station. where other protesters staged a massive die-in, as evening rush hour hit its peak. police heavily guarding the rockefeller tree-lighting ceremony. >> three, two, one -- chap. [ cheers and applause ] >> as protesters tried to disrupt the show.

the city's public outcry reaching a fever pitch nationwide. >> ho ho, these cops have got to go. >> from los angeles to philadelphia. where protesters took to city hall during their tree-lighting ceremony, holding up signs reading "black lives matter." the demonstrations across the country disruptive, but peaceful, fulfilling garner's family's wish. >> yeah, we want you to rally, but rally in peace. >> no violence. that's all i ask. >> officer pantaleo said in a statement, it is never my intention to harm anyone and i feel very bad about the death of mr. garner. but garner's wife says, it's too late. >> hell no! the time for remorse would have been when my husband was yelling to breathe. that would have been the time for him to show some type of remorse. or some type of care for another human being's life.

>> new york city's mayor saying last night black lives matter. echoing what many demonstrators were saying here in new york city, not just in new york, but in ferguson as well. going forward, the nypd will be conducting its own investigation. protesters say they will not stop demonstrating. alisyn? >> jason, thanks so much. president obama calling the outrage over eric garner's death an american problem. and saying it's an issue that's been going on too long. let's bring in jim acosta for more on the reaction from the white house. what is the president suggesting, jim? >> good morning, alisyn. in a rapid response to the eric garner case, president obama is once again promising changes to the criminal justice system. but after ferguson and now new york city, the white house knows all too well patience is wearing thin. sensing a crisis that is growing, president obama waited just a few hours to weigh in. after the decision was announced not to indict a new york city police officer in the chokehold

death of eric garner. >> when anybody in this country is not being treated equally under the law, that's a problem. >> with emotions already raw across the country after the unrest in ferguson, the president tried to strike a balance. recognizing the important work of law enforcement while insisting the justice system must change. >> i'm not interested in talk, i'm interested in action and i am absolutely committed as president of the united states to making sure that we have a country in which everybody believes in the core principle that we are equal under the law. >> attorney general eric holder, who will be visiting five more u.s. cities to meet with civil rights leaders on the issue, says the justice department is investigating the garner case. >> all lives must be valued. all lives. >> adding more pressure on the administration, the u.s. attorney overseeing the chokehold investigation also happens to be the woman tapped to replace holder, loretta

lynch. >> our prosecutors will conduct an independent, thorough, fair and expeditious investigation. >> on capitol hill, members of the congressional black caucus are insisting the president cannot tackle the problem alone. >> i do hope that the department of justice gives americans an opportunity to take this cancer and cut it out once and for all. >> on the streets of the nation's capital, there was a different kind of gridlock as protesters snarled traffic to send a message. >> i'm sorry people over here are inconvenienced, but it's inconvenient to get shot in the street. it's inconvenient to get choked on videotape. it's inconvenient to have no justice. >> and the president says he wants to start rebuilding trust in law enforcement in minority communities, he's calling on his new 21st century policing task force, launched on monday to issue his recommendations within 90 days. alisyn and chris in. >> thank you very much. let's bring in congressman

hakeem jeffries, he's a member of the house judiciary committee and incoming whip of the congressional black caucus. let's take on the big issues, what's your reaction to the grand jury not deciding do indict. >> yogi berra once said, it's like deja vu all over again. we see a young, unarmed african-american male killed by a white police officer without justification and we see our broken criminal justice system fail at this point to deliver accountability and consequences for the excessive use of police force, it really is a stain and a blow to the credibility of our democracy. we are all entitled to equal protection under the law. but apparently, when it relates to an encounter between the police and an african-american gone wrong, that results in a death, that does not always apply. >> right, but congressman, you don't have a prosecutor saying i'm not going to charge, i don't think there's anything here, you have a grand jury, a democratic

body and what is decidedly a nondemocratic process, it's all the prosecutors show, looking at the evidence and saying, this was justifiable force under the circumstances, how much better can you hope for in terms of process? >> well that's an important point, chris. because it is the prosecutor's show. and it doesn't appear that this prosecutor at least based on what we know today, was interested in the grand jury turning out any type of indictment. this grand jury could have accused the officer of criminally negligent homicide. involuntary manslaughter. depraved indifference to human life. no one was asking for an indictment for intentional homicide. but the medical examiner in this instance did say this was a homicide resulting directly from the chokehold. that's why the grand jury's decision is inexplicable. >> a little bit of the explanation goes to how the grand jury was used by the

prosecutor. do you believe that local prosecutors should investigate and prosecute cases against their own police force? >> i think it's a serious problem when you have local prosecutors whoeverry day rely on law enforcement, the police department, to make their cases, they work in tandem. each and every day, throughout the entire year, to then be asked to turn around and aggressively prosecute a police officer accused of unlawfully using excessive force, the proof is in the outcome. time and again, whether it was in ferguson, staten island in this instance, in many cases throughout the history in new york city and american, we see this type of outcome. that's why it's important for the department of justice to step in with a civil rights investigation and broughter reform and whether these types of cases should be handled by independent special prosecutors so we can have some measure of fairness and a full and fair investigation. that hopefully results in a trial for everyone to be able to

see. find out what really happened. >> how do you deal with the facts on the other side or what you'll call the bad facts from your perspective here. this guy had a long rap sheet, he was approached by the officers, he was told to comply, he did not comply and he put the officers in a situation we know what happens when an officer tells you to comply and you don't comply. how should that factor in in terms of the understanding of what happened here and why? >> well this exchange was all caught on videotape. and certainly, eric garner initially with his statement, this ends today, was tired of the police harassment that he believed he had been subjected to. he was being approached by police officers concerned about him selling loose cigarettes. at worse, that is an administrative violation. it's not a capital offense that should have resulted in his death. and in the video, which clearly shows that at a certain point, he agreed to submit to what was taking place, he even put his hands up in the air.

chris, and at that point pantaleo continued to choke him, drag him to the ground and eric garner said 11 times on video -- "i can't breathe." 11 different instances, pantaleo didn't respond and the police officer who is were there did not respond. that's what's troubling. this exchange was caught on video. it was a living, breathing example of probable cause to indict. and yet, we still can get no justice in this particular instance. >> a do you do to tell the community, white and black, but who have concerns about the police, this is not about demonizing the police. is it? it's about finding a way to make the process more transparent and how we police each other. but you believe the police in the main are out there to do the right job, right? >> that's a great point, chris, no one appreciates the hard work of the police department in new york city and all across the america than communities of color. particularly those suffering from higher rates of certain forms of criminal activity. but we need a balance between effective law enforcement on the

one hand, and a healthy respect for the civil rights and civil liberties of communities of color on the other. and what we're see something that we have to get that balance correct. and we've got to use this moment in america, what more does america need to see than a video where someone is cloaked to death, killed as a result of the actions of a police officer and there's no indictment. we've got a problem, but hopefully we can use this moment, chris, to address did. and build the type of trust and respect between law enforcement and every single american that this countries deserves. >> congressman, i don't need to tell you this is your city, you represent new york. but it's hard to make change when everybody's tempers are hot and you know you can't forget this weeks and months from now when we're not in the crisis mode any more because that's when change has the best chance to take hold. we'll stay on the story and see what you're able to do on the federal level to help make things better. representative hakeem jeffries, thank you for being on "new

day." joining us next hour, we'll have the attorney for the garner family. their experience and what they think should happen next. a lot of news, michaela is next. breaking overnight, newly obtained video shows an al qaeda affiliate in yemen threatening to kill a british-born american hostage if the u.s. does not meet demands this week. luke somers pleads for his life on this recording. reports say u.s. special forces narrowly missed freeing somers in a rescue operation recently. our barbara starr has the latest. good morning, barbara. >> good morning, michaela. the tape from al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, al qaeda in yemen, one of the most dangerous al qaeda affiliates, luke somers was kidnapped by them late last year. he was working as a photographer inside yemen. let's listen to a little bit of what he had to say on the tape. >> my name is luke somors, i'm 33 years old. i was born in england, but i carry american citizenship and have lived in america for most

of my life. >> now, late last month u.s. special forces landed deep inside yemen and attempted a rescue where they believed he was being held along with other hostages, he was not rescued. he had been moved a short time earlier. on the tape mr. somers says he knows that he is in danger. he is concerned about his fate. and al qaeda operative then comes on the tape and says and threatens mr. somers if the united states does not meet al qaeda's demand, as this al qaeda operative says, within three days. we do not know of course, exactly what day this was filmed. we don't know what that exact three-day deadline is. the united states has of course is still looking for mr. somers. this has been a very quiet case. his family has asked for no publicity. but now this tape of film and his voice finally emerging. michaela? >> another terrible situation we've seen before. barbara, thank you so much. disturbing and concerning development here, the police officer who killed a 12-year-old

boy in cleveland had previously been deemed unfit for duty at another police department. officials in independence ohio were on the verge of firing officer timothy homen saying he was quote emotionally unstable and had an ability to perform basic functions during a weapons training exercise. tamir rice, the 12-year-old boy was killed after waving a fake gun at people in a youth park. a pentagon report obtained by cnn shows more reports of sexual abuse in the military but fewer actual incidents. 5% of active duty women report being the victims of unwanted sexual contact in the last year. that spike something attributed to more women being willing to report abuses in the system. some who did report abuse are said to have faced retaliation. if you happen to get a flu shot recently, don't be surprised if you still get sick. according to the center force disease control, the current virus has mutated. making this year's vaccine less effective. officials still recommend

getting the flu shot since it can still decrease the severity of the illness. currently the cdc says flu activity is low across the country. got to show you this heart-stopping video, a baby stroller with a toddler falling onto the train tracks in australia. the child's grandfather looks away briefly. the grandfather frantically jumps on to the tracks, he and some helpful bystanders lifted the child up. we're told that she is being treated at a hospital for facial injuries and we understand there were no trains in either direction expected for some time. so thank goodness that turned out okay. >> thanks so much. michaela. two grand jury decisions, one in ferguson last week and one in new york last night. another one sparking outrage across the country. does the grand jury system work for crimes involving police? plus, the launch of the orion spacecraft, it's just minutes away, when it happens, you will see it on your screen, we promise.

stay with us. introducing the citi ® double cash card. it earns you cash back now and cash back later. with 1% when you buy and 1% as you pay with two ways to earn on puchases, it makes a lot of other cards seem one-sided. there is no car because there was no accident. volvo's most advanced accident avoidance systems ever. the future of safety, from the company that has always brought you the future of safety. give the gift of volvo this season and we'll give you your first month's payment on us.

this is the first power plant in the country to combine solar and natural gas at the same location. during the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar. at night and when it's cloudy, we use more natural gas. this ensures we can produce clean electricity whenever our customers need it. ♪

come from all walks of life. if you have high blood sugar, ask your doctor about farxiga. it's a different kind of medicine that works by removing some sugar from your body. along with diet and exercise, farxiga helps lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. with one pill a day, farxiga helps lower your a1c. and, although it's not a weight-loss or blood-pressure drug, farxiga may help you lose weight and may even lower blood pressure when used with certain diabetes medicines. do not take if allergic to farxiga or its ingredients. symptoms of a serious allergic reaction include rash, swelling or difficulty breathing or swallowing. if you have any of these symptoms, stop taking farxiga and seek medical help right away. do not take farxiga if you have severe kidney problems, are on dialysis, or have bladder cancer. tell your doctor right away if you have blood or red color

in your urine or pain while you urinate. farxiga can cause serious side effects, including dehydration, genital yeast infections in women and men, low blood sugar,kidney problems, and increased bad cholesterol. common side effects include urinary tract infections, changes in urination, and runny nose. ♪do the walk of life ♪yeah, you do the walk of life need to lower your blood sugar? ask your doctor about farxiga and visit our website to learn how you may be able to get every month free. staten island grand jury decided not to indict the police officer in the choking death of eric garner. what did the police officer tell the grand jury to convince them that what they saw in this videotape was not a crime? let's analyze it with cnn's local analyst and criminal defense attorney danny cevallos and hln legal analyst and

criminal defense attorney joey jackson. let's talk about what the officer told the grand jury. we don't know exactly because it wasn't made public. the grand jury didn't release the testimony. however "the new york times" interviewed the officer's attorney. here's what he says the officer told them. he said the officer said he had to keep his arm around eric garner's neck to protect garner. he told the grand jury officer pantaleo continued to hold ton mr. garner as he struggled to regain his balance. he said wasn'ted to make sure mr. garner was not injured by the other officers rushing in as well as to prevent mr. garner from possibly biting one of them. danny, that doesn't look like what's happening in the videotape. but the grand jury believed that testimony. >> well remember, that's just what his attorney is characterizing the testimony is what it demonstrates is something that defense attorneys like joey and i have known for a long time is that police officers are exceedingly good at

testifying before any kind of jury. whether grand jury or petit jury. and you know, we know that they are able to sort of bolster their case, however, it is true that in new york, this is, selling loose cigarettes is a misdemeanor and police have the authority to initiate and arrest, if they believe a misdemeanor is being committed. from there, that's when we begin the force analysis. if somebody is resisting arrest, admittedly the new york police department does not have clear policies on resisting arrest and what is the measure, the appropriate force response. there is some problem there. however, if this officer was able to justify it to the grand jury, then that is probably why, because we don't know if we'll ever know what exactly he said, that's probably why the grand jury chose not to indict. >> joey, the grand jury got to hear from officer pantaleo, who represents eric garner to the grand jury? >> that's supposed to be the prosecutor because the victim is eric garner. and as a result, that's why you

have the prosecution presenting the evidence, presenting the information and in a in fact is part of the problem. just slowing it down for one moment, alisyn, it's fine that the officer testified in the grand jury, but we have a videotape and therefore, there's a videotape, notwithstanding whatever the officer says, that apparently depicts and shows what he said. so when you go to the question of who represents eric garner, it should be the prosecutor. and that has part of the community outraged in terms of the process. should there be a prosecutor presenting a case in front of a grand jury that involves police? who you work with every day, who you rely upon for your cases. who you're expecting to present cases in the future. should there not be some independent such that the community could trust the ultimate outcome of the case. >> and how can prosecutor represent eric garner, when eric garner was committing a misdemeanor that the police said that they needed to arrest him for? isn't that a conflict of interest for the prosecutor? >> well, prosecutors don't

exactly represent victims, they're not the attorneys for the victims, they're the attorneys for the people. >> whose voice did the grand jury get to hear representing the victim? >> well, the victim is no longer with us. >> that's the point. >> he cannot testify. but that's the best our system can do. until we can resurrect victims to testify before a grand jury we have do rely on the prosecutor. the complaint that you're making, it's a valid one, is that prosecutors come to the table with some preconceived ideas about a case. i said this last hour, that is the way our system is designed. we have given prosecutors almost complete discretion to decide what case to charge, and a case not to charge. the odd part here is for defense attorneys like joey and i we're usually in the position of saying you charged a case you shouldn't have. it's rare that we're arguing about a case that should have been charged, but was not. that's the discretion we give prosecutors, if you don't like the grand jury process, strangely enough it's the most democratic part of an undemocratic process. >> joey, another thing that officer pantaleo testified to,

according to his attorney, he had to keep his arm around eric garner's neck because he was pressed up against a plate glass store window. he was afraid he was going to go through the window. he had to keep it around his neck to bring eric garner to the ground. he makes a very compelling case, the officer when you even read it, it's very compelling and the grand jury believed him in person over what they saw with their eyes on the videotape. >> well apparently he did make a compelling case, alisyn. because the grand jury, no true billed it. they returned no indictment. butt larger question becomes, if you have a prosecutor who is controlling the order of witnesses, the flow of information, who testifies, who doesn't testify, the manner in which the case is presented -- should that be reexamined? it's all about i understand the grand jury is the process we have now. but that's what needs to be examined. should that in fact be? understand that the whole reason for the grand jury is to engender confidence, so you

don't have a prosecutor run amuck. so you have a check and balance on the prosecutor. and if that system does not appear to be working, and we're just talking about probable cause to believe that a crime was committed. and that this police officer committed it. that's the standard. 23 grand juries, a simple majority in new york, 12, which are needed to return an indictment. so alisyn, finally, even if the officer testifies his arm, they needed to grab him so he wouldn't go through a plate glass window, could it not be negligence inferred by the grand jury or come back and said he didn't do it intentionally, maybe he wasn't even recklessly or consciously regarding a rick. because he careless in doing that when someone saying i can't breathe. you have to look at the system and the process and as long as it engenders trust and respect in the community it's a valuable system. when it doesn't, it needs to be questioned, looked at and perhaps changed. >> it's engendering frustration and anger this morning. what's the answer to make this

whole process, the grand jury process more satisfying for people? >> people are demanding the process should be changed, it needs to be fixed. i'm not sure that's anything more than semantics, i don't know what we can change in the system. the grand jury system is provided for in our constitution. i've heard the idea bandied about. it's not a bad idea. as long as the system can handle. there are so many allegations of police brutality per year. if the system and we can fund independent prosecutors every time there's an allegation against the police, then bravo, let's do it. >> what's your idea, joey, quickly. >> the idea is when you have a police officer involved, whether it's a shooting, whether it's an accident, whether it's an injury, no mat weather it is, you have an independent person who presents that case. when you have the local prosecutor who is working with those police, who has cases in front of them from those police officers, that's not the appropriate body to be dealing with and presenting a case. my issue, alisyn is not so much the grand jury itself. it's the way in which it's controlled. i used to be a prosecutor.

you present the evidence to the grand jury in the manner that you want to present it. that's why you heard and keep hearing that a grand jury could indict a ham sandwich. because if a prosecutor wants an indictment, they're going to get one. should that be the system that we have? i don't think so. perhaps we should examine looking at changing it. >> we are examining that today, thanks so much for your expertise. we want to know what you all think. can you find me on twitter and join our "new day" conversation at facebook.com/newday. over to chris. it may not be have been the so-called bourbon summit, but president obama and income majority lieder mitch mcconnell spent time together on wednesday. what kind of time did they spend? we have clues and john king has them on "inside politics." of heroes and titans.to wl for respawn, building the best interactive entertainment begins with the cloud.

this is "titanfall," the first multi-player game built and run on microsoft azure. empowering gamers around the world to interact in ways they never thought possible. this cloud turns data into excitement. this is the microsoft cloud.

everyone has questions about money. you know, i think about money kind of a lot. -money's freedom. -money's always on my mind. credit cards. -mortgage. -debt. it's complicated. it's not easy. i'm not a good budgeter. unfortunately, i'm a spender. i would love to learn more about finances. so there's questions about the world that all of us have, especially about money and finance. the goal of khan academy and better money habits and the partnership we're doing with bank of america is to give people the tools they need to empower themselves.

there's much to do with politics this morning on several different big-story fronts, let's take to you the man who controls the circus. "inside politics," mr. john king. >> controls the circus. i'm not sure i want that job, but i guess i got it. >> you've got it. where's your hat? >> a lot to discuss "inside politics," we'll frame our conversation around two big meetings at the white house yesterday. with me to share their reporting and insights, jonathan martin of the "new york times" and lisa santa clara of bloomberg news. let's start with the president's meeting with mitch mcconnell. deliberately, a lot for these guys to talk about and a lot of business they could do. deliberately, both sides not telling us what happened

yesterday. mitch mcconnell telling our ted barrett when he came back to capitol hill from the meeting, we had a good conversation about a variety of issues, this was not the bourbon summit but i'm still hoping we will have it. lisa, they have to talk about, republicans want to change obamacare and republicans are upset about the president's immigration policy, taxes, spending, anything else. any idea what happened in the room? >> they're being really mum what happened in the room. but it's hard to see how much ground can be made here. i mean there are incentives on both sides, obama want to burnish his legacy. mcconnell has to show that republicans can actually govern. but policiwise, there's just not a lot of space to maneuver. maybe something happens on trade. maybe taxes, that feels a lot less likely. immigration certainly seems like a no go. i'm not sure given the background and all the built-up sort of personal stuff and political stuff over the past six, seven years, it just doesn't see how this, it's not clear how this becomes a very productive meeting.

>> senator mcconnell said that president obama has butt-kicked in the election. that was the lead-in for the meeting. which may have made things a little bit awkward. >> both of the politicians are sort of professionals and they have a sort of wink-and-nod quality about them, they get the game. probably did try to find some areas where they could get stuff done. it's in both of their interests to get stuff done. >> if they can just even create a better line of communication down the road. when things are ready to be done. if they at least develop a relationship. >> that speaks to the challenge. >> they have to get there. >> their third-ever one-on-one meeting. usually mcconnell has dealt with joe biden. obama and mcconnell don't have much of a relationship. >> and they have to get their individual caucuses in line. we saw a test case with the tax extenders this week. they could only extend them retroactively three weeks until january? maybe three weeks? it wasn't a good sign. that was because of democrats in the senate in part. >> because of democrats, now on

the republican side you have the anger bubbling over, boiling over about the president's immigration actions. >> and that's got bod mcconnell and boehner on short leash. into the discussion today, comes the "washington post," not known as a conservative editorial page by any means. the "washington post," the white house has been saying hey, the president did this but so did ronald reagan, so did george hw bush. the "washington post" says this is not a game of gotcha. facts matter, even in washington. and so dot numbers, under close scrutiny it's plain that the white house numbers are indefensible. care comparing it to george h.w. bush. the "washington post" is saying republicans should be ashamed for not debating immigration in the house of representatives. but how much does this help the republican case and how much is the "washington post" going to convince the at the time cruzs and the tea party guys in the house to say stand up more to this president. >> i don't think they need any

encouragement from the "washington post" to do that. certainly you'll see republicans up on capitol hill to say even the "washington post" kind of thing. you'll hear lots of that in the next few weeks. challenge for the republicans will be how do they push back against the immigration issue without making themselves the issue. that's what john bainor and mcconnell are worried about. >> mr. president, you don't have the authority and we're going on record saying you don't have the authority. knowing full well the house will pass it and it will die because the senate is controlled by democrats until january. then speaker boehner says we won't shut down the government, we'll get mad about this, but we're not going to -- listen to ted cruz. nancy pelosi's office calls him speaker cruz, he went across the capitol to meet with mostly tea party conservatives yesterday. listen to him after that meeting. >> doing what you promised doesn't mean as it so often does in washington, sending a really stern letter.

and having a meaningless show vote. why do you think people are so frustrated with washington? because they recognize there are a whole lot of politicians that say one thing at home and do something different here. every single one of us keep your promise. >> standing there with some of john boehner's conservative members, essentially saying mr. speaker, you're wrong. saying how much of this, how big of a problem is this? is this just a small vocal opposition, or is this a big problem? >> we're watching "fast and furious 17" we've seen this movie many times before. it has new residents now. everyone wants to see ha happens in january when the republicans are in control. what we're watching is a fight for control of the republican party. this is republican leadership trying to marshall control of their party and not just a dozen conservatives in the house or several dozen conservatives in the house. it's the outside groups, it's club for growth. it's heritage that drove the shutdown in 2013 and it's, everyone is sort of watching to

see whether boehner will able to pull this off and what it means for january. >> keep the genie in the bottle. >> they're going to try to pass all of the spending bills to fund the government through next year with the exception of the funding for the homeland security department. which is responsible for the order on the immigration issue. will president obama sign a bill which doesn't include funding for dhs and in the spring, when they talk about that issue. the same topic comes you, the hardliners like cruz out there who are pushing back and folks like baoehner who don't want to make this too much of an issue. hillary clinton was not on the president's schedule. they meet from time to time. i want to show you a "boston herald" front page. hillary clinton was at georgetown yesterday. a lot of empty seats up in the balcony. republicans trying to make a big deal out of this, saying hillary clinton lost her charm, she can't get students to come to her speech. the meeting with the president is something they do do

occasionally. it probably makes the vice president a bit upset. just swapping notes? >> this is an extremely delicate and a bit strange moment for hillary clinton. she's most likely running for president. but she's not doing it yet and probably not for a couple of weeks. but she's being treated like a presidential candidate. she has to find a way to deal with the presidential level coverage while doing very little. last week that meant there was a whole spate of stories about what she wasn't talking about, keystone, nsa reform. this week it meant there was a spate of stories about people not attending her event. it's a strange dynamic that she has to navigate. >> it will change in the new word when we get the final word. that's what we're going to call it until we get the word from hillary clinton, the interagunum period. >> that's multisyllabic. tensions are high between police departments and minorities.

one man who has experienced the vitriol firsthand is a st. louis police officer who happens to share a name with the office another killed michael brown. sergeant darren wilson joins us next to share his unique perspective.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

will thank you. , sir? ordering chinese food is a very predictable experience. i order b14. i get b14. no surprises. buying business internet, on the other hand, can be a roller coaster white knuckle thrill ride. you're promised one speed. but do you consistently get it? you do with comcast business. and often even more. it's reliable. just like kung pao fish. thank you, ping. reliably fast internet starts at $89.95 a month. comcast business. built for business.

we have a unique perspective for you when it comes to the cases we've been covering about potential excessive force, especially in ferguson. his name is sergeant darren r. wilson of the st. louis police, the r matters, he was initially misidentified as the police officer who shot and killed michael brown. he's the president of the ethical society of police, we have a sergeant with us, the r saved you and the fact that the officer was identified as white. but let me ask you this, sergeant, what was like to have your name out there, even briefly? >> it was interesting. the first few days surrounding it. my phone went off the hook. also the social media sites, we have an organization esop.com and a facebook page.

it got pretty busy with a lot of different comments. and inquiries, friend requests, different ones chiming in on the situation. >> did it teach you anything you weren't aware of before? >> as far as the name issue? not necessarily, no. >> but in terms of how people are and how they see the police actions? >> absolutely. and that's what i was dovetailing into next. you learn that a lot of people pay attention to police. police in general. and a lot of the issues. so to see that, that let us know, me know in our organization that there is a purpose for organizations like mine, and the ethical society of police, the national black police association as well to stay on top of these issues and continue to be that bridge, that gap between not only minority communities, although that's what we for the most part place emphasis on. but just communities overall. let them know there are varying perspectives on how we approach law enforcement.

>> ethical is an important and interesting word when it comes to policing. not just about getting away with what you do. it's about whether or not it's right and the best way to do it do you believe that ferg son and now here on staten island. with eric garner, do you think we saw ethical behavior by police officers in one or both of those cases? >> no, absolutely not. you, when you're talking about use of force, hey, that's a very sensitive issue. all in all. and law enforcement you have continuum. you have a force continuum. that's one of things we practice here. it appears in both cases that cycle was broken. it went from you know, you hear the term zero to 60. it appears in both cases that's what happened. now was that the officer's initial intent? that's something that i don't think any of us can say. however, we didn't see the continuum maintained from zero to one to two in chronological

or sequential order. it it seems like several of the in-betweens were skip over and we reached a climax immediately. >> do you think that cops were given a break by prosecutors when they investigate the cases. >> we've experienced some similar situations here. locally from my organizations perspective as well. it's sad to say that you see disparities in those courtesies discretions, i'll say discretions, on the way prosecutors approach law enforcement officers. >> in your favor? >> it depends on the personalities, we've seen in our organization, we've seen where it appears, we have a case here that we're watching as well, alongside the ferguson incident where it seems like the black officers aren't getting the same leverages or courtesies that white officers get. the same approaches from the prosecutors. it seems like the penalties and

the pchment the approaches are even stiffer when it comes to minority officers. >> are people right to feel that blacks are often the subject of fear of police officers? and are often treated with a different level of dignity than the white constituents of a community maybe? >> absolutely. >> you definitely see differences in policing. you see disparities in the way law enforcement aproefing the communities, especially the minorities communities. >> i know it is not easy for you, it's a balancing. you know, you're an african-american. but you're also a police officer. and you're going to have loyalties here that are going to get complicated. but we appreciate your candor on this, it's a conversation we need to have in a very open and honest way. thank you for having us. here's a story viewers need to see, the syrian city of kobani is under siege from isis, a cnn crew takes you inside one of the most dangerous places on earth. for a view from the front lines

that you will only see here. denver international is one of the busiest airports in the country. we operate just like a city, and that takes a lot of energy. we use natural gas throughout the airport - for heating the entire terminal, generating electricity on-site, and fueling hundreds of vehicles. we're very focused on reducing our environmental impact. and natural gas is a big part of that commitment.

just take a closer look. it works how you want to work. with a fidelity investment professional... or managing your investments on your own. helping you find new ways to plan for retirement. and save on taxes where you can. so you can invest in the life that you want today. tap into the full power of your fidelity greenline. call or come in today for a free one-on-one review.

i'm just looking over the company bills.up? is that what we pay for internet? yup. dsl is about 90 bucks a month. that's funny, for that price with comcast business, i think you get like 50 megabits. wow that's fast.

personally, i prefer a slow internet. there is something about the sweet meditative glow of a loading website. don't listen to the naysayer. switch to comcast business today and get 50 megabits per second for $89.95. comcast business. built for business. now to syria and a gripping cnn as we take you inside the deadly fight for the city of koba kobani. nick paton walsh and a female crew follow while they exchange fire with isis. >> reporter: it's remarkable after weeks of seeing the conflict from the hills opposite in turkey is to see the scale of the devastation inside. people still trying to live

there and some kurtish female fighters and their colleagues trying to hold the front line where isis are literally within feet. from inside kobani the day's ferocity gets nos rebite at night. a prize so small, but so valued, the violence seems to swallow it hole, grinding its streets down to the bone. we're heading to the front line where nightly, daily, isis hoped to advance, with media, a kurdish female fighter, also in air egalitarian world, this unit's commander. coalition air power did this, poushing isis back. they abandoned their dead as they retreat, the decaying smell haunts these front lines. some call it kobani grad after the city's sacrifice to make a point. little left here, but a bullwork

of kurdish defiants 20 meters from isis. they think they see something in the rubble. [ gunfire ] even after coalition support, desperately in need of better arms. this is the kind of exchanges that happen here hourly. isis literally meters to that side, shooting at this position that we've seen return fire as well.

this surely wasn't the death isis recruits were sold in their propaganda videos. mortars are often used, so we pull back. come on over against the wall. media is 22 and has been within five meters of isis. here, friends are made and lost. her best friend reban, died saving others. >> translator: there were very heavy clashes with isis. we were outnumbered and out of ammunition. she herself was injured, but she advanced to help save the other injured with her. isis surrounded her, because girls are very prized by them. she then blew herself up and killed a lot of them with her.

i was near her then, her last words to me were, "we will liberate our land with the last drop of blood in my body." >> reporter: the man brings tea. this is the polar opposite of isis' world view. they can't afford to stop the fight, even if that means there's little left to live on when they do. you know, the estimate we've been getting before going in was isis held about a third and we're on the retreat, it was clear inside from the position of that front line you saw, they probably have about half that city and that fight is in the balance every day and night, the gunfire we saw, the kurds troubles, running out of ammunition, winter is come in, they need food and fuel, they feel isolated. the coalition have technology in the skies above them to assist them but on the ground it is often young girls in their 20-something years holding that fight back with isis. alisyn? >> nic, we can't imagine a

better view of what's going on in kobani than what you've just given us. thanks for sharing that reporting. the we're going to be talking this morning about the nightmare for the family of eric garner as well. you know that the officer who choked him to death has not been indicted but what does that mean to them? what do they want to have happen going forward and how do they deal with the allegations that this is what happens when you resist the police. we have eric garner's family attorney coming up. i've had surgery, and yes, i have occasional constipation. that's why i take doctor recommended colace capsules. [ male announcer ] for certain medical conditions where straining should be avoided, colace softens the stool for effective relief from occasional constipation. go to colacecapsules.com for savings.

for effective relief from occasional constipation. how can in china,sumption impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 70% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing.

nineteen years ago, we thought, "wow, how is there no way to tell the good from the bad?" so we gave people the power of the review. and now angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. you can easily buy and schedule services from top-rated providers. conveniently stay up to date on progress. and effortlessly turn your photos into finished projects with our snapfix app. visit angieslist.com today. ♪

i found a better deal on prescriptions. we found lower co-pays... ...and a free wellness visit. new plan...same doctor. i'm happy. it's medicare open enrollment. have you compared plans yet? it's easy at medicare.gov. or you can call 1-800-medicare. medicare open enrollment. you'll never know unless you go. i did it. you can too. ♪

>> i can't breathe! i can't breathe! >> protesting erupting in new york and across the country. the grand jury decides not to indict a white police officer. sxwlt police shut off the henry hudson. >> this was an arrest for an extremely minor crime. >> i can't breathe. i can't breathe. >> we see a man dying on video and there's no indictment. how frustrated to people feel? >> i can't breathe. >> can you imagine if we didn't have that video what their story would be? >> this is an issue we've been dealing with too long. >> all lives must be valued, all

lives. >> yes, we want to you rally but rally in peace. i'm determined to get justice for my husband. >> good morning, welcome to "new day." it's thursday, december 4th, just about 8:00 in the east. chris cuomo and alisyn camerota here. the violence was largely absent but the anger has returned in full force after a white new york city cop was cleared in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man, the grand jury not to indict the officer caught on tape choking eric garner to death, and look, show the division. here are the paper this is morning. one city, two tabloids, two different takes on this. one says "it was not a crime." the other says -- >> "we can't breathe" which has become the rallying cry for the protesters just like hands up don't shoot was for ferguson. now they say we can't breathe representing eric garner's voice. it's reflected on social media, people tweeting us on facebook,

say when the police approach you, you must comply. that's half of the comments. >> this is new york city, one of the things that made it different were the protesters we're hearing from people on the street offering that perspective. >> with 83 arrests and demonstrations last night around the country, an outraged attorney general eric holder promises a thorough and independent probe into eric garner's death. garner's family is slamming the decision vowing that the fight in the case has just begun. before we get to our coverage we're monitoring nasa's test polite of the orion spacecraft. the launch has been delayed several times because of high winds. we'll bring it to you live when that does happen. back to our top story. we'll talk with garner's family to earn in a moment. our coverage xwinz with j agage carroll live in times square. >> reporter: they marched, chanted, some of the protesters saying the same thing eric garner's wife said, that they would fight until the end for

justice. >> i can't breathe! i can't breathe! >> reporter: protesters pouring into the streets of new york last night after a grand jury did not indict daniel pantaleo in the death of eric garner. >> i can't wreath. zblts aa painful day for new yorkers. >> reporter: arrests made throughout the night as outrage pulsed throughout the city streets for more than nine hours. >> black lives matter! >> reporter: most chanting garner's last words -- >> i can't breathe, i can't breathe -- >> reporter: before dying on this staten island street. >> i can't breathe. i can't breathe. >> i can't breathe. >> reporter: some police in riot gear blocking intersections as protesters began shutting down the city's iconic landmarks stopping the flow of traffic into and out of the island of

manhattan for hours, some lying down in the middle of the road and the same inside grand central station. >> i can't breathe. i can't breathe. >> reporter: other protesters staged a massive die-in as evening rush hour hit its peak. police heavily guarding the rockefeller tree lighting ceremony. >> three, two, one! [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: -- as protesters tried to disrupt the show. the city's public outcry reaching a fever pitch neighborhood wide. from los angeles -- >> i am eric garner. >> i am eric garner. >> reporter: to philadelphia. >> hands up. >> don't shoot. >> reporter: protesters took to city hall during their tree lighting ceremony holding up signs reading "black lives matter." the demonstrations across the country disrupted but peaceful, fulfilling garner's family wish. >> yes, we want to you rally but rally in peace. >> no violence. >> reporter: officer pantaleo

said in a statement "it is never my intention to harm anyone and i feel very bad about the death of mr. garner" but garner's wife says it's too late. >> hell no. the time for remorse would have been when my husband was yelling to breathe. that would have been the time for him to show some type of remorse or some type of care for another human being's life. >> reporter: new york city's mayor also rereesing a statement this morning saying this is not the end of the eric garner story, only the end of a chapter. alisyn? >> jason carroll, thank you. president obama says the grand youry decision shows the disconnect between the public and law enforcement. jim acosta at the white house. >> reporter: in a rapid response to the eric garner case president obama once again promised changes to the criminal justice system after ferguson

and new york city the white house knows all too well patience is wearing thin. sensing the crisis that is growing, president obama waited just a few hours to weigh in, after the decision was announced not to indict a new york city police officer in the chokehold death of eric garner. >> when anybody in this country is not being treated equally under the law, that's a problem. >> reporter: with emotions already raw across the country after the unrest in ferguson, the president tried to strike a balance, recognizing the important work of law enforcement while insisting the justice system must change. >> i'm not interested in talk. i'm interested in action, and i am absolutely committed as president of the united states to making sure that we have a country in which everybody believes in the core principle that we are equal under the law. >> reporter: attorney general eric holder who will be visiting five more cities to meet with civil rights leaders on the issue said the justice department is investigating the garner case. >> all lives must be valued.

all lives. >> reporter: adding more pressure on the administration, the u.s. attorney overseeing the chokehold investigation also happens to be the woman tapped to replace holder, loretta lynch. >> our prosecutors will conduct an independent, thorough, fair and expeditious investigation. >> reporter: on capitol hill, members of the congressional black caucus are insisting the president cannot tackle the problem alone. >> i do hope that the department of justice gives americans an opportunity to take this cancer and cut it out once and for all. >> reporter: on the streets of the nation's capital, there was a different gridlock as protesters snarled traffic to send a message. >> i'm sorry people here are inconvenienced, but it's inconvenient to get shot in the street. it's inconvenient to get choked on videotape. it's inconvenient to have no justice. >> reporter: and president obama says he wants to start

rebuilding trust in law enforcement in minority communities quickly, that's why he's calling on his new 21st century policing task force which was just launched on monday to issue its recommendations within 90 days. chris? >> jim, thank you very much. eric garner's widow just told nbc's "today" show how she felt the officer who choked her husband to death was not indicted. here it is. >> i started crying, because it's not fair. it's not fair. what do they not see? how could they possibly not indict? you know? i felt hopeless. i felt like there was not another corner to turn, like there was nothing left for me to fight for. >> let's bring in jonathan moore attorney for the garner family. thank you for joining us this morning. we get a little glimpse of the widow, a couple different times here in the last couple of days, but how is the family doing? because the only reality that's undebatable is the husband and

father is gone. >> they're struggling. it's been a difficult four months since he was killed and living with the uncertainty and then i think we expected that there would be some legal action going forward by the grand jury that would be positive. >> it was a surprise? >> it was a surprise, i think. i suppose we shouldn't be shocked about these things after the history of this, but it was still a surprise. i mean, i think the video is pretty strong in terms of showing really violent police conduct, as i think the "new york times" in the editorial section referred to it today as vicious policing. >> do you believe, and does the family believe, that officer pantaleo was trying to kill eric garner? >> oh, i don't know. i don't think that's the issue and that isn't the issue whether he had evil in his heart. he clearly was violating his own departmental regulations. he clearly was using excessive force. you have to understand, this whole thing was about a

suspected essentially administrative code violation of selling untacked cigarettes, not even seeing it, just suspecting it, and that's normally just a summonsable offense, you give somebody a ticket and they show up in court. i don't understand why they wanted to be so aggressive. it's that aggressive policing which is, he clearly was involved in that was what led to the actions here. >> is a possible explanation for that, though, whatever the underlying offense was, no matter how minor, trivial and unusually policed, once they say we're going to arrest you, and mr. garner says, no, essentially, i'm not going to let awe rest me you have a different dynamic with police no matter what the underlying offense is? is that true? >> it's true and not true. i don't think there was ever a clear direction in the video that we're going to arrest or you're under arrest. if you watch it closely you see mr. garner being frustrated because that had been a pattern

of him being -- >> arrested what, 31 times? >> some large amount of time for a guy just trying to make a living, and you can criticize the way he was making a living, that's fine, but he was a family man, married for 27 years, raised kids, had grandkids, this was how he made a living. >> the pushback is that don't fail to comply with police instructions and you don't get excessive force used on you. is that a fair analysis? >> no, that's not a fair analysis. the pushback is, if you raise an objection to what you believe to be unnecessary unlawful police conduct, you get a very aggressive response. >> right. >> he's saying this is not right. in fact his hands are up and he's saying really you got to not do this, and that's when pantaleo -- >> grabs him from behind. >> -- grabs him from behind and takes him down with a chokehold. >> the officer testified said he wanted to protect him, didn't

want him to bang into the window and hurt himself or other officers. do you buy that? >> i don't see in that video an officer being concerned about the safety of eric garner. what i see is a very aggressive takedown of somebody unnecessarily, and the maximum use of force. you see it in the way he was pressing his head against the ground. that was just unnecessary, and the failure to respond to the fact that he's saying, i can't breathe, i can't breathe. he's obviously a large man. he's obviously in no situation where he's trying to physically resist what's going on, he's not being aggressive, not swinging out. there's no reason for that level of force. >> what happens if the officer doesn't lose his job? the side bar is the nypd has its own prohibitions. it is not illegal to choke and the grand jury didn't find it illegal here but it is against police procedure. they don't allow chokes. do you think he was choking, do you think that's grounds for his dismiss dismissal? >> i think it's clearly a chokehold and there will be

administrative proceedings brought against the officer. >> ongoing now. >> that will begin today and there will probably if they can't reach a resolution be administrative trial where they'll try determine whether he violated the regulations, then it's up to commissioner bradley. >> what does the family want? >> i think the family wants justice. i don't think they want to see officer pantaleo continue as a police officer in new york city, given his history here. >> and the issue of why the grand jury decided what it did, the lack of transparency in the process, a prosecutor investigating their own police officers. does the family want that to change? >> well, we've called this case in the past and this case as well that there really should be an independent special prosecutor who handles these kinds of issues. >> what was the reaction you got? why was that denied? >> i don't know that it's actually at this, given the

current state of new york law that it's permitted but it's certainly been something people pushed for over and over in these cases and there's a good reason why, is that the prosecutor is so close and so connected and so intertwined with the police to make their cases that when they have to investigate their own, it becomes difficult. >> as in the ferguson situation, the idea that the prosecutor is going to use the grand jury as an impartial presenter of evidence, that's not how that tool is usually used. the prosecutor has a heavy hand in shaping it, which is why defense attorneys like yourself don't want your clients in front of a grand jury. seems to be different with cops. do you think that is the truth? >> well i think the truth is out there. it's clearly true. in ferguson, and apparently here as well, they used really the grand jury process to get to the ultimate question of guilt rather than whether there was reasonable cause or probable cause to believe any crime was committed from the level of simple assault to reckless

endangerment so up to the level of murder, and if the players were reversed i think you'd have an indictment within two days. >> if eric garner was defending from eric garner would have done to him? >> it would have been a serious crime with you thatbut it could through information. they didn't have to go through the grand jury process, but they did. i can understand that but if you look at one of the trouble things that i learned yesterday was that all the officers other than pantaleo were given immunity for their testimony. that concerned me, because this was not just the case looking at the conduct of one police officer. if you watch the video, you have several officers engaged with mr. garner on top of him, giving him the difficulty breathing, and -- >> homicide isn't just the

choke, it's about chest compression. >> the office of the medical examiner said the cause of death was a combination of neck compression and chest compression. >> that's another aspect we have to look at in temples of whether or not this was the fair result. jonathan moore thank you for bringing us the interview and extend our sympathies to the family. we look forward to continuing the conversation. we want to give you an update breaking news in the last hour, a woman has now been arrested in the brutal stabbing of that american teacher in abu dhabi. the suspect is a 30-year-old woman from the united arab emirates who also allegedly placed a bomb in front of a muslim-american doctor's home, that bomb however was defused in time. the victim of the stabbing has been identified as american ebolya ryan, she was killed in the bathroom of a mall. officials in the uae had warned american teachers about threats to their safety. 17 states now filing a federal lawsuit challenging the president's executive action on

immigration. the suit claims the president is violating the constitution. in the meantime the house is preparing a vote on a republican-backed bill to undo the president's action although it's likely to go in where in the senate. the bill is aimed at quieting house conservatives unhappy that the gop leaders backed away from a spending showdown over the issue. three more women have come forward with claims they were sexually abused by bill cosby. the women were joined by attorney gloria allred who said cosby should consider waiving the statute of limitations or set up a $100 million fund for the alleged victims. in the meantime cosby's two shows scheduled this weekend in tarrytown, new york, have been postponed in the wake of the nearly two dozen allegations of sex abuse. they are celebrating in philadelphia, the 76ers now have only the second worst start in nba history. they beat the timberwolves of minnesota last night for their first win in 18 games, a loss would have tied the nets start

years ago when they played in nearby new jersey. the bad news for the sixers they remain a scant 13 1/2 games out of first place. sort of like a moderated celebration. >> take success where you find it. >> yes. >> off the schneid. we have so much more of this deba debate. an officer caught on tape putting a chokehold on a man which led to his death, but he was cleared by the grand jury. why no indictment for eric garner's death? we'll have a debate with our experts. gas prices are plunging and that's good. how low will they go? we'll break it down and there's concern about what's driving prices down and could wind up coming back to haunt us. we'll tell you.

protesters took to the streets of new york and other cities last night after the grand jury decided not to indict the police officer in the choking death of eric garn arer. what evidence did the grand jury hear that the protesters have not heard? joining us is mo ivory, attorney and radio personality and daniel bongino, former nypd police officer and secret service agent and his brother services in the secret service. dan, i want to start with you. you were on the nypd. what do you think of the staten island grand jury coming back it no indictment? >> i think the lack of indictment surprised everyone, the families and some of the police officers in new york i spoke to as well. i think they expected an indictment to come down in the case, given the video evidence and accounts, but we don't know what happened inside the grand jury proceeding.

the officer's testimony may have been persuasive. >> we know a little bit of what happened. you're right it haebt' besn't b released. no transparency in testimony like in ferguson. here is what officer pantaleo told the grand jury, he continued to hold onto mr. garner as he struggled to regain his balance. he said he wanted to make sure that mr. garner was not injured by other officers rushing in, as well as to pro tent mr. garner from possibly biting one of them. mo? the grand jurors believed that defense. >> well, at least 12 of them did, you know, and so there were 23 grand jurors, so i really would be so curious to know what those conversations were about because that explanation to me sounds ludicrous. all of a sudden now you're worried about somebody biting, a man that five people had to jump on top of to bring to the

ground, now all of a sudden he's saying his mind switched and his concern was to make sure mr. garner wasn't hurt and to make sure that he didn't all of a sudden start biting other police officers? it doesn't even sound logical. >> dan, one of the other things that officer pantaleo apparently told the grand jury according to the jury part of the reason why he kept his arm around mr. garner's neck was he was up against a plate glass storefront window and he was afraid they'd come crashing through the window so he kept him to try to take him down to the ground. dan u you were an nypd officer. is that chokehold legit in were you trained to do that in a situation like the one they confronted eric garner? >> the nypd does not train any type of chokehold. it's important your audience understand there are three different kinds of chokeholds. you have a basic headlock, a restraint, school kids do it all

the time. then you have a tracheal choke which is absolutely banned, it's considered deadly force, where the bone of the arm is placed up against a wind pipe which can kill you quickly and third, importantly, you have a carotid choke. >> when you watch that video, which is this? >> that's why i brought it up. initially it looks like what elswhat he's trying to do, it looks like he's trying to take him down, and it looks like on the ground, if you watch the video, it turns into what looks to be some kind of carotid choke, maybe he did it out of panic, i don't know. i wasn't in his head but it doesn't look initially like it was anything other than a takedown attempt. >> go ahead, mo. >> alisyn, the problem is that we're talking about judgment here, right? if you look at that video, you can easily realize that this officer jumped on mr. garner's back, probably in his mind-set, enough is enough, let's take this guy in.

i'm jumping on his back. it's so obvious at that moment he went into sort of a combat mode and then everybody jumped in. okay, so let's suppose that in fact he was afraid or he was trying to, i do not think that mr. garner was resisting arrest but let's act as if the officers thought that. at the moment there were four or five people on top of him and he was saying he couldn't breathe, he's a large man, now down on the ground. everybody couldn't have eased up a little bit, given him some space to breathe, got up off of him? what was he going to be able to do laying flat on the ground to five or six or seven officers on the scene? >> and mo -- >> it's just so obsessive. >> mo you say you don't believe he was resisting arrest but the video says he was noncompliant, he said no, guys, come on, no. >> alisyn, there is a difference between conversation and frustration versus not resisting arrest. what eric garner was saying to that officer was, come on, guys, i'm tired of this. you come here, you harass me

every day. he had his hands up. there was nothing that he -- he wasn't fighting the officers, wasn't flailing, and the narrative that he was resisting arrest has continued to be built on, well if he had just gone with the officers -- he was trying to talk to the officer and say look, man, why are you doing this to me? i'm frustrated by you continuing to harass me, and he had his hands up. so i'm tired of that narrative that well this would have never happened to him if he had just complied with the officer. it would have never happened to him if that officer didn't jump on his back and smoosh his head into the ground to the point where he was asphyxiated. >> mo, we hear your frustration. we have to leave it there. dan, thanks so much for all of your expertise and helping us walk through that video. it's great to talk to both of you. >> thank you. >> thanks a lot. all right, another top story, gas now under $2 a story, gas now under $2 a gallon, it sounds

tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. i love myself as a non-smoker. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. (vo)rescued.ed. protected. given new hope. during the subaru "share the love" event, subaru owners feel it, too. because when you take home a new subaru, we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. we'll have given 50 million dollars over seven years. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

you can't breathe through your nose, suddenly, you're a mouth breather. a mouth breather! well, put on a breathe right strip and shut your mouth. cold medicines open your nose over time, but add a breathe right strip and pow, it opens your nose up to 38% more. so you can breathe and do the one thing you want to do, sleep. add breathe right to your cold medicine shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right. and look for the calming scent of new breathe right lavender, in the sleep aisle.

alookin' good! close it up! got it. ... and then, santa's helpers boarded the train, and off they went. and that's how we got it. wowww ... you guys must've been really good this year. the magic of the season is here, at the lexus december to remember sales event. this is the pursuit of perfection. creeping up on you... fight back with relief so smooth... ...it's fast. tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue ...and neutralizes stomach acid at the source. ♪ tum, tum tum tum... smoothies! only from tums.

don't settle for 4g lte coverage that's smaller or less reliable when only one network is america's largest

and most reliable 4g lte network: verizon. with xlte, our 4g lte bandwidth has doubled in over 400 cities. and now, save without settling. get 2 lines with 10gb of data for just $110... ...or 4 lines for just $140. and get a $150 bill credit for each smartphone you switch. only on verizon.

. >> staten island is very different than the other four. it is the smallest, it is the whitest, it is the most conservative, for example, it's the only member of congress who is a republican in new york city coming from staten island. many, many cops live in staten island.

it's a very different place. i don't think you can understand how this result came about without understanding the geographical context, the fact that it's staten island. >> another head scratcher for people, all of the officers weren't somehow called upon by the prosecutor for some action. they were exonerated i guess is the right word. >> they were given immunity. >> that's right. >> according to the attorney for officer pantaleo, the other officers had immunity, went in and gave testimony which ended up in him being sort of let off by the grand jury. >> that was that strategy? >> here's where we get into the weeds a little bit. under new york law, if you testify in the grand jury, you have immunity. nothing you say can be used against you. that's right' not right, i'm saying that wrong. >> it's either qualified or

unlimited, but -- >> anything that the defendant rf"kñ grand jury can used in the trial which is why you want to keep defendants out of it but if you have an immunity deal going into it, what the officers had, you don't have to worry about being prosecuted for what you say. >> to get those other officers in the grand jury, you had to give them immunity, but that meant that they had no risk and they could exonerate their friend when they went in there. >> bottom line is now in two cases, the grand jury process feels unsatisfying on some level to all the people we see protesting. mind you, there's lots of people on social media and new york city say he should have complied with the officers. we wouldn't have been in this situation had he just complied. there's another side to this. the grand jury process feels

it's not working the way people want it to. what is the answer? >> every few years something like this will come up. there are longstanding complaints about the grand jury process which is centuries old. this is going on for hundreds of years that the grand jury meets in secret, issues indictments and based on evidence nobody hears about. there are grand juries sitting in virtually every jurisdiction in the country right now and going to go about their business in the same way. it's only when a case like this comes up, people realize people get indicted and face prison sentences, serious consequences based on the decisions of men whose names we don't know. >> this idea he was resisting arrest. >> he was non-compliant. >> you know what? that is how virtually every arrest in every city takes place. people usually don't volunteer to be arrested. it's generally an unpleasant proce process. that was not resisting arrest and more importantly we do not

have the death penalty in this country for not volunteering to be arrested. that's why this is excessive. >> jeffrey toobin, errol, louis, thank you. how can eric garner's death be ruled a homicide and no one held accountable? sanjay gupta will break down the medical report for us. ork is america's largest and most reliable 4g lte network: verizon. with xlte, our 4g lte bandwidth has doubled in over 400 cities. and now, save without settling. get 2 lines with 10gb of data for just $110... ...or 4 lines for just $140. and get a $150 bill credit for each smartphone you switch. only on verizon.

♪ hi. i'm new ensure active clear protein drink. >>clear huh? i'm not juice or fancy water. i've got 8 grams of protein. new ensure active clear protein.

8 grams protein. zero fat. ensure. take life in.

two weeks later. look, credit karma-- are you talking to websites again? this website says "free credit scores." oh, credit karma! yeah it's actually free. look, you don't have to put in your credit card information. whew! credit karma. really. free. cause of death often comes to light in criminal

proceedings. eric garner's death has been ruled a homicide so what exactly killed him and should it have made a difference in whether he was charged, that officer. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta i appreciate you walking through this with me. first of all we know there was a combination of factors that are said to have killed eric garner. break down for us what exactly the medical examiner said. >> the language was pretty precise here, michaela, first of all. as you mentioned, cause of death homicide. i want to talk about that in a second. what they specifically said was the chokehold as well as compression on the chest and the fact that he was in prone position, meaning he was on his chest, belly on the ground, those three things in combination caused his death. now, all those three things if you start looking at them in the aggregate, they all sort of make it more difficult to breathe because the pressure on the chest, on the throat and obviously being on the ground that way, that's the case he's

clearly making. when it comes to homicide, they have to make a decision, medical examiners as to what categories is the cause of death. look at the list of categories we have to choose from, was it a natural death, accidental death, suicide, was it undetermined or was it homicide, as it was in this case. look, they didn't say undetermined, natural or accidental. they said it was homicide. that's very important and again we didn't see the whole autopsy report but that's how the medical examiner broke it down. >> we also know they brought attention to several factors that were contributing, the fact that he was a big man, he was heavy, suffered from asthma, there were some signs of cardiovascular disease, they talked about all of that but that makes me wonder if it were not for this altercation with police, was he sick enough that he would have dropped dead? >> right, that's exactly the right question, michaela. when you look at these types of reports on any kind of death,

they always have other what could be contributing factors. that's usually some indication of the person's medical history. i think your question is right. the way people look at this is would he still be alive did he not have obesity, did he not have asthma. the next question, would he be alive had he not been in a chokehold and pushed on the ground the way that he was, and the answer is yes. he would be alive. so he wasn't eminently going to die from any of those other things and coincidentally he died at the same time. those really are not that relevant. >> another thing i want some clarification on and a lot of people are making a lot about this is you hear him say repeatedly on this tape "i can't breathe, i can't breathe." we know he suffered from asthma as one of the other underlying conditions he had, he kept saying "i can't breathe, i can't breathe" and some are saying well, you can talk, so you could breathe. is there a discrepancy there or is that a point? >> look, part of this is just

pragmatic answer, part of this is a mechanical answer. pragmatically he was in distress. i can't breathe, maybe he was having increasing difficulty breathing. people having difficulty say i can't breathe. some of that is semantics but from a mechanical standpoint think of it like this, when you speak you're pushing air across your vocal chords, it makes a noise and you make it worse. air is coming from the chest out and that's how you see it. what's challenging in a situation like this, is being able to take breaths back in. so yes, you could push air out, speak, but getting the air bag back in would be challenging. that's a mechanical thing. i can't breathe, basically it's a sign that he's in distress and that's probably what was happening. >> in distress, you're making an organic, visceral sort of fight or flight response. you're not pragmatically thinking what would be the best answer? what would be the best course of action here. you're responding as your body

would. >> right, you don't say i'm having 80% difficulty breathing or 70%. you're saying i can't breathe. that's how people often respond so again i think some of that just semantics but there's no question someone who is saying that kind of thing, they're sort of trying to indicate, signal that i'm in some sort of distress here. >> he certainly was and we know that he later died and it's interesting that this we know that the grand jury had to consider all of these things. we wanted to walk through this with you from a medical standpoint. dr. sanjay gupta, always a pleasure. thank you so much for that. >> you got it, thank you. at the opposite spectrum we have the cnn heroes an all-star tribute set to air this sunday hosted by our own anderson cooper. he made sure to address a longstanding gripe from his new year's eve partner comedian kathy griffith. take a listen. >> you've been trying to get involved with heroes for a long time. >> first of all you have a lot of nerve even bringing up here

to me. >> why? >> talk about a wounded warrior, okay? i have been wanting to present at heroes forever because i think it's a truly amazing award show and i believe i confronted you new year's eve about it. >> all right. >> let's talk about heroes, it's an amazing show. >> amazing night. >> exactly. not only was i not even invited -- >> you were not invited? >> they told me they didn't trust me. >> do people not know you were volunteering and going to -- >> no, apparently over at cnn you're worried about potty mouths they actually said you can't come to the show or present, however, what if we showed you mopping up at at a soup kitchen. >> to make up for past wrongs i would very much like you to present at the cnn heroes. is that something you'd be willing to do? >> you trust me? >> i absolutely trust you. >> i'm excited to go. >> thank you, i'm glad you'll do that. >> sunday night, december 7th at

8:00 eastern. what does an apron have to do with car insurance? an apron is hard work. an apron is pride in what you do. an apron is not quitting until you've made something a little better. what does an apron have to do with car insurance? for us, everything.

(vo)rescued.ed. protected. given new hope. during the subaru "share the love" event, subaru owners feel it, too. because when you take home a new subaru, we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. we'll have given 50 million dollars over seven years. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

you can't breathe through your nose, suddenly, you're a mouth breather. a mouth breather! well, put on a breathe right strip and shut your mouth. cold medicines open your nose over time, but add a breathe right strip and pow, it opens your nose up to 38% more. so you can breathe and do the one thing you want to do, sleep. add breathe right to your cold medicine shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right. and look for the calming scent of new breathe right lavender, in the sleep aisle. welcome back. live picture from cape canaveral where the launch of the orion spacecraft continues to be

first it was a boat nearby we're told that delayed it, then winds, now a fuel and drain valve is causing some trouble, but assuming it does launch at some point, orion could eventually pave the way for putting man back on the moon and even in the future on mars. . >> the plan they say is 2021 when this craft will be ready to take men and bum. >> thank you. i appreciate that. >> we'll tell you how to get there. we'll get the directions. >> i know where i'm going. it's all right. how about a little good stuff, what do you think? this is man's quest to hand out fettucine to the masses, gone viral. matt in utah took advantage of a promotion at the olive garden, you heard of it, 100 bucks, all-you-can-eat pasta for seven weeks. he ordered it to take out instead and gave it to neighbors, friends, family,

anyone who needed it. >> i thought what have i done to deserve it this? he explained he was giving out random acts of pasta to neighbors, friends and even homeless people. >> random acts of pasta. that's right. he started giving it to the homeless, who better, right? that's when the value of what he was doing became clear. >> i didn't realize, you know, oh give them pasta. how does that make their day better? how often are these people just ignored. >> absolutely. and they're hungry. now a lot of you internet cynics out there think this matt and his video are some promotion for the olive garden. he tweets back, this breaks my part. it's not a pr stunt. i generally wanted to do something nice for people and the olive garden says that, to set things straight our only role was selling matt a pasta pass and fulfilling his order.

>> he's somehow taking advantage of the promotion. >> why not, let him do that. i'm okay with that. >> a couple bucks a day, small things. >> it's very cheap. you make a great point and olive garden seems to like this. >> the good stuff rolls on. a lot of news, let's get you to "the newsroom" with carol costello. she likes fettucine. >> you betcha. i'm going to have it tonight. have a great day. "newsroom" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com chokehold. r >>t >>r > i can't. i can't breathe. new york explodes after ajury shock per. >> this fight ain't over. it's just begun. >> a white nypd officer not indicted in the death of 43-year-old eric garner. >> i can't breathe. i can't wreath. >> his wife stunned. >> hell no. >> a city shak