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tv   Ronan Farrow Daily  MSNBC  December 4, 2014 10:00am-11:01am PST

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civil rights and the police after a grand jury decided to indict a new york city police officer in the death of eric garner. >> shame! protests like this playing out around the country overnight. this one that you're looking at right here in new york city. more than 80 people were arrested here in massive demonstrations. they marched with signs throughout midtown, staged a die-in inside grand central station at the height of rush hour and shut down traffic on the west side highway. despite those arrests, these protests have been described as mostly peaceful. just this past hour, the president commended that peaceful protesting. take a listen. >> before i came here, i had a chance to speak with mayor deblasio in new york and i commanded him for his words yesterday and for the way new yorkers have been engaging in peaceful protests and being constructive. he was just in the white house with us on monday as we started
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taking some concrete steps to strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and communities of color and i intend to take more steps with leaders like him in the months ahead. >> we'll take a closer look at those protests and at the new apology from the police officer who wasn't indicted in just a couple of minutes. and some disturbing news we're following overseas. an al qaeda affiliate threatening to kill an american hostage within three days if their demands aren't met by the u.s. government. the video released on youtube shows luke somers a british born but american photo journalist captured in yemen last year. just last month the operation mission to free yemen failed. over in abu dhabi the suspect of an american schoolteacher. the woman covered in black there is a national in her late 30s. she is now in custody. no name has been released. she is seen fleeing the maul
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bathroom. ryan was a kindergarten teacher. she moved to abu dhabi with her twin sons late last year. the state department says it's unclear if she was targeted because she is an american. we'll keep track of that for you. back here at home, major protests from fast food workers in 160 cities. they're expected today to be protesting for higher wages. workers in chicago hit the picket lines earlier this morning joining today's nationwide call for wages of at least $15 an hour. just yesterday, chicago aldermen voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 taking small increases each year. and a new age in space exploration will have to wait until tomorrow. today, nasa was forced to postpone the launch of the orion capsule until tomorrow morning after a succession of obstacles. first a boat in the launch area and then high winds and finally valves that weren't working right. the program's manager said last hour that scrubbing this was the
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right call. >> the team worked really hard, made a great attempt to get off today and in the end made the right choice based on the day that we had to not fly today. we will attempt tomorrow. >> orion is the new appaollapol capsule that nasa is developing to hopefully carry astronauts by 20 2021. an important step towards testing all of its equipment. the jury's grand decision not to indict a police officer in the death of garner. the officer cleared in the case, issued an apology. he said this, "i became a police officer to help people and to protect those who can't protect themselves. it is never my intention to harm anyone and i feel very bad about the death of mr. garner. my family and i include him and his family in our prayers." earlier on today, the widow of eric garner said apology not
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accepted. she talked about whether it made any difference. >> not at all. do you consider that an apology? >> no. the time to apologize or have any remorse, like i said yesterday, would have been when my husband was screaming he couldn't breathe. >> there's also an effort under way to release all the evidence considered by the grand jury in this case. msnbc trymaine lee joins me live from staten island. what will it take for all this evidence to be made public? >> first of all, had to be filed a request and a judge will determine whether or not that request will be granted or not. and, again, this is a very rare request. it's rarely ever filed and rarely ever granted. i think we saw some of that in the ferguson case. so the idea of, you know, once you are elise everything, at least the public can come to their own conclusion about how the grand jury came to their decision. because, as you know, all the surroundings and the goings on around the grand jury are very
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secret. but, again, i'm wondering if now we'll see a trend with these very high-profile cases. these highly controversial cases whether to get it out there so at least the people can sift through it and come to their own decision if there was real justice or not. >> trymaine, you're there. what is the mood there? how are people reacting? >> kind of the spillover effect from yesterday. while some say that they were shocked that a grand jury after witnessing and viewing that videotape could not come to a decision to indict the officer who killed eric garner, that there is a sense of disappointment and anger. that there's a realization that for many that, you know, maybe there are two systems at work here. one for some of america and, you know, another set of rules for places like this. but poor and work class communities of color. while there is anger and frustration and all the disappointment we've seen spilling across our air waves the last couple days. there is also the sense of where do we go from here? while some are kind of hopeless saying this looks like the system is working the way it is
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designed to work. let's use this as an opportunity to come together and push for new policy, especially here in new york city when you're looking at the broken window policy which focuses aggressive police tactics on minimal and low-level offenses. while there is all that mix of emotion and hurt there is also a sense that something else is afoot here that people are galvanizing and mobilizing for a cause. >> when you talk about how new yorkers are reacting, of course, they've also been reacting to the leadership there. here is some sound to bill deblasio talking about some of the issues you just mentioned last night. >> i was at the white house the other day and the president of the united states turped to me and he met dante a few months ago and he said that dante reminded him of what he looked like as a teenager. he said, i know you see this crisis through a very personal lens. good, young man, law-abiding young man who never would think to do anything wrong and yet
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because of a history that still hangs over us. the dangers he may face we literally have to train him as families have all over this city for decades. and how to take special care in any encounter he has with a police officers who are there to protect him. >> dante, of course, being his son who is black. do you think that leadership in new york has acquitted itself well in the eyes of the people you're talking to out there? >> i think it goes both ways. on one hand, people who even voted for bill deblasio are concerned that he tapped bill bratton as the new york commissioner. he was the architect of broken windows. on the other hand, when bill deblasio speaks from his unique position as a white man with essentially a black family and understanding what so many black families go through every day. that their young children. sometimes they never come back and a system that doesn't provide sufficient answers for many of these families.
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certainly, i spoke to eric garner's mother early this morning here at the scene where her son died and statements and words were very much appreciated that the sense that the mayor understands and, again, unlike in ferguson where we see local leadership and stumble, fumable and very opaque with the people and this is different when you have a mayor saying i understand and i have my own family and my own concerns for my own son and that goes a long way and that is playing out on staten island. >> we're hearing from civil rights groups that they will stage traditional marches going into early next year. what concrete steps do you think protesters are going to take next on the ground there in staten island. >> well, right now, again, while so many people are still kind of in a state of flux and trying to figure out what to do, organizers are already pulling together protests and demonstrati demonstrations. today later on at 5:30 in foley square, a big march under the umbrella, this stops today.
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we're echoing words that eric garner said right before he was killed. a bunch of organizations are coming together. so, they do have demand. they want an end to broken windows policing. they want an end to the police department essentially policing itself. so, you know, as they're trying to figure out what the next steps are, first it's mobilizing the people and that's what they're doing now. >> thank you so much for the update on that story. >> thanks for having me, ronan. we want you to weigh in on one of the big questions today. will the use of police body cameras a policy that many proposed in the wake of these stories about police actually make the difference that one would hope. weigh in on twitter using rfd yes. if you think police body cameras will work and no if you don't think they'll make the difference. obviously, in the wake of this eric garner decision, hey, having footage isn't going to be a panacea. look forward to hearing your results on that. we'll keep you updated on what you're saying throughout the show. civil rights leaders from 25
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organizations met this morning here in new york. they announced a plan of action moving forward to mobilize more accountability for police. that plan includes a social justice summit early next year and a march in washington next week. >> it will be around a specific and clear step by step what we want to see the justice department do. and what we want to achieve. >> the urgency of the moment is a reawakening about the cause of justice. in this nation. >> that was reverend al sharpton, the national action network. host of politics nation. we should disclose mark, who is here with me now. the president and ceo of the urban league there. aamong those calling for police reform, most aggressive. >> thanks for having me, ronan. >> this issic iactually the fir time you're doing interviews after all this played out. i want to get your take
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particularly on the grand jury facet of this. a prominent piece of so many of these cases of police accountability. is it every appropriate when what they're considering is justice for a police officer that there is often times so closely tied to. >> here's the thing, the state grand jury system and in the case of staten island and in the case of ferguson and these are state grand juries that work along with state elected prosecutors in staten island. the prosecutor is elected from staten island and richmond county and in ferguson the prosecutor is elected from st. louis county. this is an indication that the state grand jury seem to be unwilling or incapable of bringing charges against police officers, even where in the case of eric garner, there's a tape which makes it clear for the world to see that excessive force was used and eric garner is dead. so, this raises substantial
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questions about the state grand jury process. the second thing it does, it raises questions. and speaking as a lawyer, speaking as someone who was chairman of the city of new orleans criminal justice coordinating council while i was mayor. what you see here is these grand juries in the way in which these prosecutors managed these grand jury investigations by throwing documents up against the wall by putting in witnesses, many of whom didn't even see what occurred. and then apparently not making a recommendation for an indictment or any specific action deviated from what i would call standard operating procedures with respect to a grand jury. which is why we reiterated our call today for these federal investigations. by the department of justice civil rights division and local united states attorneys in the case of michael brown. in the case of eric garner to go forward. >> but, obviously, outside of these high-profile cases, the
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federal investigations out of doj aren't a systemic solution. you to have a state system and on that front, what is the solution? is it special prosecutors being appointed? >> it's interesting, someone shared with me last night that there are procedures in a number of states where a grand jury can be bypassed and a prosecutor can present evidence to a magistrate or a judge in the form of a preliminary investigation. a preliminary hearing, if you will. while i have not closely examined that, the truth of the matter is that this, there is a rightness, if you will, around cause for reform of the crimpinal justicrim crimpinal justice systems. when i look at my social media since the press event this morning, i've probably gotten messages around four or five other incidents around the nation that i hadn't heard of before where people were killed
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by a police officer and there was no justice and no accountability. this broader issue, it's really the american principle that no one is above the law. not even a law officer. not the president. not a member of congress. no one should stand above the law. everyone is held accountable and life is valued no matter whose life it is. >> can it just seems like there is a systemic problem where it's not anned aversarial system where you're asking prosecutors that have close ties to these police departments. they're, in essence, we heard it from prosecutors themselves, the head cop in many senses from an administrative standpoint as the ones who are issuing the instructions as grand juries. >> on a day-to-day basis a prosecutor and local police work hand in hand on public safety to carry out crime. the relationship is so close from a day-to-day basis that in many instances the prosecutor is conflicted.
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conflicted from them turning around, investigating their partner, if you will, and then having to make a decision to prosecute that partner. now, most prosecutors would say, but i can do it. the fact is that the track record seems to not abe good. and what we've seen in these most recent cases is certainly no indictments where indict, where certainly the standard of probable cause seems to be, seems to have been met. >> and we just want to let the audience know what you're seeing there is that there is a live press conference coming up. he will talk about the specific issues and focus on the cleveland case that we just saw breaking out. heart-breaking case. tamir rice. when you look at all these cases happening simultaneously, what change needs to happen at a federal level? >> here's the important thing. this morning those of us that convened, reverend sharpton, myself, the naacp, the national coalition of black civic
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participation, we made a call for 2015 to be a year for jobs and justice. and we think a wide range of changes that certainly can take place. the important thing is, for the justice department in many instances, it's better if they would take the investigations first. maybe not in all cases, but in many instances take the investigations first. and investigate because they have superior person power. they have superior resources. and they're not conflicted because they don't have the same working relationship with local police that local prosecutors have. so the dan zinger brim cadge ca and three cases i would cite. high-profile cases where after the state system failed, the federal system stepped in and secured, not only an indictment and a prosecution, but convictions. >> that's not we're seeing happ happen. we're seeing the justice
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department step in. eric holder is stepping up to the podium. thank you. let's listen it him right now. briefing the media on some of the changes to the cleveland police department that he is calling for after civil rights investigations launched last year. >> i had the honor of introducing the attorney general of the united states, eric holder. this is not the first time or the second time or the third time that i had had have introduced attorney holder. this attorney general has been to cleveland before and he has supported this city and its police force in many ways with his personal attention to the city's comprehensive anti-violence programs and federal agents on the street working side by side with police to fight violence and gun crime. with his leadership and his physical presence in this community. but attorney general holder has supported his efforts with more than leadership, he has put his money where his mouth is. supported efforts here in the city of cleveland with federal
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resources. under his leadership and that of mayor jackson, the atf worked side by side with cleveland police officers this summer to conduct operation gideon which took some of this community's most violent armed felons and over 100 firearms possessed by them off the streets. he also came here to chair a meeting of our comprehensive anti-violence programs, stance. hearing first hand from individuals like the chief of police and youth about efforts to end the cycle of violence here. and the department under attorney general holder's leadership has provided significant funding to this community's effort to fight crime. attorney general holder came here to announce his signature defending childhood initiative had selected cuyahoga county as a site and provided $2.5 million to help -- >> while they're introducing attorney general holder. i want to get your take, marc, what is different about the tamir race case. we were just talking about how this is a particularly heart
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breaking one. >> a 12-year-old boy with a toy pellet gun. a police officer and i saw a report this morning that the police officer and i don't know if you've seen this report who, in fact, shot the gun that killed tamir rice who probably should not have been hired. when you look at that, once again. technology and a phone camera give us a chance to see what happened. these police pulled up on this boy on to the park, off of the street. the actions of the police deviated from everything that police officers are taught. >> it suggests the systemic problem because the person that called in noted it was probably fake and noted he was probably a juvenile. when that -- it looks like holder is stepping up right now. we'll take a listen now.
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>> thank you, all, for being here today here. i am joined by the assistant attorney general for the justice department's civil rights division. as well as, obviously, our great u.s. attorney, steve dentalback. the mayor and the chief. good it have you here, as well. in recent days, millions of people throughout our nation have come together bound by grief and bound by anguish in the tragic deaths of michael brown and eric garner in new york city. now, as i announced last night, the united states department of justice is currently conducting an independent, thoroughfare and expeditious federal civil rights investigation into each of these incidents. as president obama and i have indicated, the time has come, we think, to do even more. the tragic loss of these and far too many other americans, including just last month the shooting death of 12-year-old
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tamir rice here in cleveland have really raised urgent national questions. and they have sparked an important conversation about the sense of trust that must exist between law enforcement and the communities that they serve and protect. earlier this week i traveled to atlanta to begin a series of interactions with law enforcement, civic community and the faith leaders. aimed at restoring trust, rebuilding, understanding and fostoring renewed cooperation between law enforcement and community members. today, we convene the second in that series of vital discussions with leaders here in cleveland with the intention of building a constructive and inclusive national conversation. and we kick off this conversation, i believe, with an important announcement regarding a significant step forward in our effort to ensure the highest standards of policing and to foster broad outreach and engagement between police officers and cleveland
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residents. after a thorough and independent review, the department of justice has completed its civil pattern of practice investigation into the cleveland division of police. now, that investigation spanned more than a year and a half. and it was launched in response to a series of troubling, high-profile use of force incidents, as well as by numerous public calls for a federal investigation by civic leaders, congresswoman marsha and by mayor jackson. since march of 2013, is the justice department is closely examined nearly 600 use of force incidents that occurred between 2010 and 2013. including the incidents involving the use of lethal and less than lethal force. we have determined that there is reasonable cause to believe that the cleveland division of public police engages in a pattern and practice of using excessive force and as a result of cyst temic deficiencies, including
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inadequate training and ineffective policies and inadequate engagement in the community. now, fortunately, today i can announce that the department of justice and the city of cleveland have come together. have come together to set in motion a process that will remedy these issues in a comprehensive and in a court enforceable manner. now, under mayor jackson's leadership, the city has acknowledged that the department's findings that raise issues of importance to people really throughout this community and, together, we have agreed to a statement of principles that will lead to a court enforceable consent decree, including an independent monitor to oversee the implementation of sustainable reforms, such as compliance based on objective measures and ensure that robust new policies and practices will result in more effective and constitutional policing. now, we recognize, of course, that this process will be both difficult and it will be complex.
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it will demand engagement and input from the brave law enforcement officers who served on the front lines. cleveland residents, civic leaders and other community stakeholders. it will require sustain and collaborative effort to a clear, concrete objectives to build trust, to close gaps and to forge stronger relationships. now, we understand that the progress we seek will not come overnight. but i'm confident that the city of cleveland and the united states department of justice will move forward together as committed partners. and this joint statement of principle and the eventual consent decree provide what i believe is a solid foundation for the meaningful steps forward so that we can enable all the residents of cleveland to have full confidence in the courageous public servants who work every day to keep them safe and that we can empower these dedicated women and men in blue to persist challenges and obtain
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the training and other resources they need in order to do the jobs safely and effectively and ultimately to become the outstanding world force that this great city deserves. now, this process continues today. with this important announcement and with the round table discussion that i will convene this afternoon. all of the leaders here who will be a part of that conversation understand that the accountability and legitimacy are essential for communities to trust their police departments. and for there to be genuine collaboration between police and the citizens that they serve. as the brother of a retired police officer and a very personal way how brave these personal servants are. it's for their sake that we must heal the breakdowns that we've seen. although these issues are complex and the problems longstanding, we have seen in city after city where we have engaged that meaningful change
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is -- >> we've just lost that feed of eric holder. but you heard the big announcement there. a year-long investigation of the cleveland police. an investigation that covered more than 600 incidents of use of force fighting systemic problems in that city and that police force. let's take a listen back at one of those core points that he made. >> this week president obama aannounced a series of constructive steps to help bolster the trust and the effectiveness of the policing of our communities. this includes convening a new task force to develop ways to reduce crime while building community trust. reforming how the federal government equips local law enforcement, particularly with regard to military-style equipment. and advancing the use of body worn cameras and promoting community policing initiatives. now, these are, to my mind, exactly the kind of pragmatic and inclusive actions that will
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bring the right people together to engage in constructive, national conversation. and they will compliment the reinvigorated police reform work that the justice department cops office, civil rights division and united states attorney office throughout the nation have been leading. over the last five fiscal years, our civil rights division has opened more than 20 investigations in police departments across the country. more than twice as many were open in the previous five fiscal years. we are currently enforcing agreements with law enforcement agencies, including eight consent decrees to correct unconstitutional police practices. we have seen many times over that this model can work. reform is under way in new orleans, seattle, albuquerque, portland, oregon, east haven, connecticut, puerto rico and warren, ohio. we are committed to moving
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together. we are committed to moving forward together. here in cleveland and throughout the nation to spark renewed engagement and renewed trust and renewed momentum to really translate coordinated action into meaningful results. now, we have a great deal of work to do but this announcement, i think, marks an important first step. i want to thank everyone who worked really so hard to make this announcement possible, including the dedicated men and women of the civil rights division special litigation section. our great u.s. attorney steve and the men and women of his office. the office of the northern district of ohio and the city of cleveland. your great mayor, mayor jackson and a wonderful police chief that you have here, as well. it is now my privilege to turn things over to the assistant general for the civil rights division who will provide additional details. >> joining me now is my colleague of "the cycle" covering a lot of these issues
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very closely. as we hear that update, partly, of course, spurred and the profile of this cleveland case spurred and elevated by the case of tamir rice. i just wanted to get an update from you on that case. what comes next in that? >> in that case, you have an internal review, which the police department has said they will do and will be pretty standard in this kind of case. but then there is an interaction here because as you just heard the attorney general say, he had breaking news you have been covering that there is going it be a monitor here that is court ordered, which means that it actually has some teeth outside of the authorities of this police department. and it's going to look at the training, at the practices and the internal reviews, which is to say both past and current reviews, including that case, and then in addition you have what would be separate now outside of the police department, a question of a d.a. investigation and a determination of whether there is evidence to move forward with any types of potential charges against those officers.
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very early yet to say anything about that investigation as we know from following the new york and ferguson cases. it can take months to go through that. that's what's going on in that case right now. >> and ari, i know so many are reacting with a feeling of heartbreak. hearing what the attorney general just said that they looked at a year of data. 600 incidents and found a pattern and practice in the words of the attorney general of using force inappropriately. heartbreaking because of course, tamir rice died right before they announced that. if only reforms could have happened earlier. thank you for helping us understand that. you can catch ari on "the cycle" at 3:00 p.m. every day. keep it right here. we have a press conference coming up. several happening in this hour, including, of course, one on sex assault in the military. you're not going to want to miz this one. we have a member of the house armed service committee to break down this announcement from hagel coming up later in the
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hour. also the eric garner videotape that isn't getting as much attention today as maybe it should. we break down why that is something you should be tracking. what happened after the officer specifically took him down. it may actually shed more light on the break down of trust between communities and the police, supposedly protecting them. we'll be right back.
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chokehold. it's all over tv today. but there is another video. and it isn't all over tv. it was taken just afterwards and it shows what police and ems workers did and didn't do as eric garner's body lay motionless on that sidewalk. >> ems is here. >> can't breathe. >> sir, it's ems. come on. we're going to help you. get you on the stretcher. all right. >> there was no administering of cpr and some say no urgency in
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their response. this second video is coming to light, again, today in the light of a new article by harry segel. it's the second eric garner video that made me cry. he writes the author of that video harry segel joins me now along with mark clackstone, director. harry, you write that garner was treated like a piece of meat. very moving piece. but what specifically should those responders have done that they did not do? >> well, you have this man who said, i can't breathe. who's on the ground. unresponsive. the police were there. they're holding him more or less to keep him in a position and at a certain point they take him. he's lying on his belly face down. they rotate him a bit so he can get a little more air. they don't clear his airway. when the two emts and two medical technicians show up, they don't clear his airway or do anything else. they very briefly check his pulse and say, okay. this guy isn't dead and then
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sort of ignore him and stroll away. then, when they lift him into gurney, this is a big man. he weighs almost 400 pounds. this is where the piece of meat image comes to me. as brutal as i've ever seen, they almost drop him off of it. have him six inches above and rolls to his side. one of them grabs his legs to come off and another is holding the back of his t-shirt to keep him from falling off. it just isn't how you want to see any human being treated and emts and police and people you sort of expect to protect handling it that way. >> and, marc, you were in the nypd for 20 years. when you look at this second video, does it show an unusual lack of compassion or just business as usual? >> it shows a lack of compassion. and i think, unfortunately, give on the climate that we're in, it's not even unusual any more. you know, i read mr. segel's piece. you know, a wonderful piece
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explains really some of the emotions that everyday citizens will have when examining or looking at some of the circumstances surrounding this particular case. there's one thing that issa reay important to note. a couple things. one is when they rolled him over as he was unconscious, obviously, unconscious and the question of whether he was breathing or not in spite of the statements that were made on the video. they emptied his pockets out and in addition to that, it should be important to note that there was a diverse group around mr. garner. so, when the conversation comes up about increasing diversity to changing these situations. we have to reexamine that. we had a diverse group. i saw what appeared to be, you know, white, black, latinos there. and most importantly, i saw female black sergeant, a supervisor in the midst of this entire group of individual professionally, well-trained police officers who hall had ha
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been trained on cpr. with their hands in their pockets wandering back and forth instead of, at the very least, impassionating grabbing mr. garner. what you saw there was just a group of individuals who were lacking compassion, concern for this man who lay die in the street. >> harry, some see this as a result of a policy push from commissioner bratton to investigate more aggressively these so-called "quality of life crimes." small things like selling loose cigarettes. of course, the basis for this incident. does commissioner bratton need to reassess that policy? >> no. he's not going deblasio has beer on this. they're trying to take policy off different ways. there's been a lot of talk about common sense and discretion, which is actually the watch word of this administration.
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but the fact is, if you want reform, you need to have the justice reforms and you need the crime numbers to stay down. the whole movement for it go away the minute it changes. that demands some aggression and under real pressure from the police unions and others. a reason bill de blasio brought him in and asked him to do that. bob mcmanus in the "post" column today made a very intelligent point near the end. he said, look, in 2013, 225,000 misdemeanor arrests. that number, in my opinion, was way too high. you have to go into the 500,000s to find something this terrible happening. so, to some extent. if you're going to have policing, the kind people want and people aren't constantly fearing getting robbed, you'll have a lot of interactions. apparently one of them will go wrong. >> harry segel, thank you for that piece and for your time
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today and marc, thank you to you, as well. really appreciate it. you're looking right here. i think we have a picture live at a briefing at the defense department from, of course, secretary chuck hagel. he is announcing, at this moment, that reports of military sexual assault are up by 8% over last year. that's according to the associated press and their preview of this event. perhaps an encouraging sign, in fact, that survivors are growing more confident in coming forward. joining me now is congressman jackie spear of california. she's a member of the house armed services committee and a vocal critic of sexual assault in the military. thank you so much, congresswoman spear. >> thank you for have the invitation. thank you. >> let's delve into the specifics of this in a moment. but, first, your general reaction to the pentagon coming forward with these new numbers. >> here's the good news and the bad news. the good news is we have confirmed that, in fact, the numbers of men and women in the military being sexually assaulted is astronomical.
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it is about 20,000 based on this third party study by the rand corporation. the number of confirmed complaints now is down. but the number of unrestricted reports is up. so, you could argue, in fact, that people still are afraid to come forward. probably the most disturbing figure is the fact that 62% of those who were queried said that they were subject to retaliation. we have a problem that is not being fixed, no matter how much attention you say we have been putting on this issue and the military has certainly said that. the numbers don't lie. the issue is still a real one. the amount of convictions, actually, are down. which, to me, suggests that we aren't taking these cases seriously enough. if you actually file a complaint, you should have that complaint taken through the
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entire process. and to a court-martial. what we find is that very few of these cases, less than 10%, actually, turn into convictions. >> congresswoman, take a listen to what senator gillibrand said on this just a couple minutes ago. >> needs to recognize that they promised zero tolerance for sexual assault for 25 years and today's report proves that what we have today is not zero tolerance, we have zero accountability. if any senator or congress member, if their daughter was in a military. if they had to accept this lack of justice for their son or daughter, they would never accept it. we should not be asking this of the men and women who serve in our military. >> she, of course, is among of a group of senators calling for another vote on the military's handling of sexual assault. but, that hasn't succeeded so far. her own legislation on this has failed in the past. what is it going to take for congress to act on comprehensive reform? >> well, the national defense authorization act is on the house floor right now.
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our amendment to have these cases taken out of the chain of command was not made in order by the republican rules committee. we are not going to stop. we will continue this fight and take it up again next year. a growing number of republicans joining with democrats that realize you cannot have persons that are not trained as lawyers making decisions as to whether or not to move forward with the court-martial or not. >> well, as you estutely narrated. the report is up 8% and most disturbing 62% of women reporting retaliation for coming forward with their stories in the military of sexual assault and maybe that will finally spur political action on this. congressman jackie spear of california. really appreciate you helping us understand. >> thank you for the invitation. we're also following news in the sexual assault allegations against bill cosby. an attorney for the women behind those allegations urging him to waive the statute of limitations so those claims can be investigated. tomorrow, we're going to hear from that attorney on this program. gloria allred will be with me as
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well as a new accuser of bill cosby, one you have not heard from yet. that is tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern. and up next, keep it right here. we're going to look at this. the social media world exploding last night as the grand jury decision came down on the eric garner case. some of the more interesting responses after this break. curling up in bed with a favorite book is nice. but i think women would rather curl up with their favorite man.
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there. they're going to be talking about retraining the police. we'll bring it to you live. a lot of reaction on social media spiking right now as protesters crowded the streets and highways in new york city. on signs and across the net. i can't breathe. the phrase took on a life of its own last night with over 200,000 tweets since that grand jury announcement. another angle to this story, #crimingwhilewhite. this was a big trend all day and first racial profiling. tweets using that hashtag exploded in the past 24 hours with over 220,000 uses. just one example, white privilege is being able to use a hashtag to admit to committing crimes and being applauded for bravery. the flip side to this is also trending. #alivewhileblack. with almost 200 tweets a minute at one point this morning. here's an example for you. a car wrecked into mine, face bleeding, the police and medical workers told me to stop crying
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and faking. #alivewhileblack. celebrities also chiming in on social media to react to the eric garner grand jury. she warned she was going to be talking about race issues on her twitter feed. starting out with a knock at her rival iggy azealia. she's referring to eric garner. she'd been ranting about that all day. she goes on to say black culture is cool, but black issues sure aren't, huh? ouch. before we go, let's take a look at our hash tag battle for today. we asked you if you thought the use of body cams would reduce the instances of police brutality. 49% of you thought it would make a difference, 51% said it wouldn't. our up close and personal view of the lighting of the rockefeller plaza tree. it's a video that's been three weeks in the making, and we'll take you right from the beginning all the way to the end, which, of course, had the
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that is a time lapse video from our very own windows looking out at the rockefeller plaza tree. taking over the last three weeks as the tree went up, got decorated, scaffolding going up and then down. if you weren't one of the millions watching the broadcast last night, here also is our special view of the lighting itself. yes, from the windows of the rfd offices on the second floor of 30 rock, wait for it, wait for it. and the tree is lit. okay then. in the midst of a tense evening in new york, a happy little moment of tradition. the tree would be up until early january. don't miss it. and that wraps up today's rf daily, thanks for joining me on a packed day. it's time for the reid report
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with my colleague joy reid. a lot to follow today. >> yes, there is a lot going on, ronan. thank you very much. coming up next on the "reid report." we've been watching mayor de blasio's press conference in new york city. we'll have the latest reaction live from staten islandment plus, the great lawrence o'donnell joins us to talk about the push to change his state's law regarding the use of deadly force. and i'll read between the lines on who exactly is policing the police and why it's all of our concern. that's next on the "reid report." the time to choose your medicare coverage begins october 15th and ends december 7th. so call to enroll in a plan that could give you
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good afternoon, we start in new york. in the aftermath to the grand jury's decision in the eric garner case. any minute now, bill de blasio will hold that press conference and talk about the steps the city is taking to respond to the choke hold death of eric garner. and we'll bring that to you live as it gets underway. protesters have taken to the streets bringing traffic to a stand still in manhattan and shutting down major highways and bridges. police confirm 83 people were arrested in new york overnight. the anger spilled on to the streets across the nation. massive protests were held in major cities, including oakland, atlanta, washington, d.c. and philadelphia. at a college summit in washington today, president obama spoke about the protests. >> and big challenges like these should galvanize our country. should unite us around an opportunity agenda that brings
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us together. rather than pulling us apart. we are at our best when we rise to what the moment demands. >> and civil rights leaders have announced a plan for march and summit and race for justice in washington later this month. >> it will be around a specific and clear step by step what we want to see the justice department do and what we want to achieve. >> the urgency of the moment is a re-awakening about the cause of justice in this nation. >> live outside the store where eric garner died. and what is the mood in staten island today? >> kind of spilling over from last night when word of the announcement kind of spread through this community. there's not so much shock as many people around the city and around the country have expressed in different ways. there's