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. >> reporter: michelle russell had seen the images on tv. an old blue chevy malibu riddled with bullets - the driver and passenger dead. hours later she learnt her brother tim was behind the wheel. and melissa williams was his passenger. >> i didn't understand how could this be. what happened. >> reporter: it began when police spotted russell and wilson homeless, driving in an area known for illegal drugs. when the officer tried to pull the 43-year-old over for a traffic violation, russell hit the gas. officers heard a noise coming from the vehicle that was similar to that of a gunshot. a high-speed chase ensued. [ siren ] [ siren ] for over 20 minutes dozens of vehicles trailed russell through cleveland. the chase ended when officers unleashed gun fire. police fired 137 shots. both russell and williams were unarmed. what was your reaction to seeing that those - those photos seeing that over 130 shots were fired into your brother's vehicle? >> i thought it was totally unnecessary. i mean granted he did not pull over for whatever reason - aga

now hearing from michelle russell as we just did. says she is very disappointed that the full story wasn't flushed out. do you share a similar sentiment? >> you know what first of all my heart goes out to her and her family. it's a troubling time. it's a challenging time in our city as well. i think more so than anything else in our community, we had many discussions and many talks. all of those things the focus hasn't been on the facts that happened this evening. we are trying to move forward and see what reforms we can put in place to make sure it doesn't happen again. the full story, i can't account for the media. >> how do you move forward? yesterday i talked to your colleague jack reagan. owe said this department doesn't know how to community police. where and how does this overhaul begin? what were some of the suggestions you heard on that listening tour? >> i'm a past assistant county prosecutor. when we talk about the police and you talk about reform you also have to look at the prosecutor's office as well. there has to be so

michele russell is timothy russell easies. >> now whatever reason they didn't pull over we don't know. but what i can say is that it does not they did not deserve to die for fleeing and eluding. that's not a death sentence. >> reporter: tensions in cleveland between police and the community had gotten so bad that the justice department had to be called in. late last year the doj found a large pattern of unreasonable and excessive use of force with over 600 cases from 2010 to 2013. >> demonstrators had remained peaceful for the most part and city officials hoped to keep it that way. court officials say part of the reason they announced the verdict on a holiday weekend was to minimize the potential for violent protests. >> axelrod: jericka, thank you. >> safos is with our cleveland station woai you have been in the protesters when the verdict was read this morning. what have you seen so far and what is the city expecting tonight? >> well, jim, from the moment that verdict was read obviously, many protesters expressing their displeasure at the judge's decision. they took to is streets ou

timothy's sister michelle russell is furious brelo was acquitted. >> it was horrible, everything, all that evidence that was available and they still walked. nothing happens to anybody. >> reporter: there is another controversial decision looming in this city, whether to charge an officer in the november, 24 teen shooting death of 12-year- old -- 2014 shooting death of 12-year-old tamir rice. in a recent interview tamir's mother said she's angry with how long her son's case has been under investigation. >> a 5-year-old child came up to me and said the police killed your son. it is an open and shut case. >> reporter: do you think criminal charges should be pursued in that case? >> no. absolutely not. >> reporter: steve lomas is president of the cleveland police patrolman's association. >> you look at that video and see a person pulling a gun out of their waistband while a cleveland police car is approaching him. what are those guys supposed to do? >> police officials and community leaders say they are preparing to worst if officer timothy loehmann who fired the shot is not charged. >>>

timothy's sister michelle russell is furious brilo was acquitted. >> you know, it was horrible. i mean, everything, all that evidence that was available. and they still walk, nothing happens to anybody. >> reporter: there is another controversial decision looming in this city. whether to charge an officer in the november 2014 shooting death of 12-year-old tamir rice. >> shots fired, male down. black male. >> reporter: in a recent interview, tamir's mother somalia rice says she's angry with how long her son's case has been under investigation. >> a five-year-old child came up to me and said, "the police killed your son." it is an open and shut case. >> do you think criminal charges should be pursued in that case. >> no, absolutely not. >> steve lomis is the president of the cleveland police patrolman's association. >> you look at that video and you see a five-foot-seven, 191 pound person pulling a gun out of their waistband while a cleveland police car is approaching him. what are those guys supposed to do? >> reporter: police officials and community leaders we spoke to say they

that chevy malibu vehicle which ended up being target practice -- that's the description that michelle russellothy russell, on that november 24th. and today the judge rendered a not guilty verdict for voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of those two unarmed people. we want to continue our conversation now about what next how the judge came about this decision the legal road ahead. back with me now, a very sizable panel. we may have to interrupt because about four minutes from now we understand the mayor of cleveland will be taking to the microphones. at least that's the schedule of events. walter madison, attorney general in cleveland, back with me now here on the set. a cnn law enforcement analyst cedric alexander also here with me on set. in cleveland, civil rights attorney avery friedman a usual face here -- no avery. i'm sorry. okay joey jackson in new york with us. will criminal defense attorney richard herman be with us? he's no longer with us. we've got three incredible minds with me now. walter madison, joey jackson and cedric alexander. let's talk about first this justice department

i sat down with michelle russell. russell's brother timothy is the person who led police on that high-speed chase involving police back in november 2012. she told me that she isn't buying officer brillo's claim of self defense. >> it seems that he was--like they had target practice that night. he was jumping on the car acting like rambo shooting three rounds. it makes no sense. somebody that is so afraid and so afraid for their life just don't react that way. you would be behind something trying to cover--make sure you don't get shot. >> and there is no jury involved in this trial. the verdict will be issued by the judge, which is expected to happen in the next couple of weeks. >> so the case led to a department of justice investigation into wrongdoing within the cleveland police department. where does the city stand now on reforms? >> well, tony, that doj report was released back in december, and there still hasn't been much progress. i do know that the doj and the city of cleveland that they're looking for an indepe

. >> joining me live now is michelle russell and her attorney. i have to ask you, your brother was killed in the shooting of november 2012. what are your thoughts about the verdict, were you surprised. >> no i was not surprised. i had pretty much figured out, figured that it would be - that he wouldn't be charged with manslaughter, but i did thing that he would be held accountable for something, i was not sure what but i thought the judge would render some-type of charge against officer briewell. >> in the past you thought more officers should have been held accountable. >> correct yes, i felt like he was not acting alone. there were other shooters officers there that i felt should have been indicted initially with him. >> so paul the u.s. department of justice announced that they'll look into the case. what does that tell you? >> well i think it tells me that the federal government is keeping a close lie on cleveland. they vetted the police department and came out with findings that there are deficiencies here they are putting the city and the p

. >> reporter: michelle russell had seen the images on tv, an old blue malibu had been riddled with bullets 30-year-old melissa williams was her brother's passenger. >> i didn't understand. what happened? >> it began when police spotted russell and williams, both homeless, driving in an area known for illegal drugs. when an officer tried to pull the 43-year-old over for a traffic violation, russell hit the gas. officers say they heard a noise coming from russell's vehicle that was similar to that of a gun shot. a high speed chase ensued. for over 20 minutes dozens of police cruisers trailed russell and williams through cleveland. the chase ended when officers unleashed a hail of gun fire. in all police fired 137 shots. both russell and williams were unarmed. >>> what was your reaction to seeing those photos, to seeing that over 130 shots were fired into your brother's vehicle? >> i just thought it was totally unnecessary. i mean, granted he didn't pull over for whatever reason. again we don't know, because he could have had a valid reason for not pulling over. but he did not deserve to be s

timothy's sister michele russell is furious brelo was acquitted. >> it was horrible.i mean, everything, all that evidence that was available and they still walked. nothing happens to anybody. >> reporter: there is another controversial decision looming in this city whether to charge an officer in the november 2014 shooting death of 12-year-old tamir rice. >> shots fired. male down. black male. >> reporter: in a recent interview tamir's mother said she's angry with how long her son's case has been under investigation. >> a 5-year-old child came up to me and said the police killed your son. it is an -- [indiscernible] >> reporter: do you think criminal charges should be pursued in that case? >> no. >> reporter: steve lomas is the president of the cleveland police patrolman's association. >> you look at that video and you see a 5'7", 191-pound person pulling a gun out of their waist band while a cleveland police car is approaching him. what are those guys supposed to do? >> police and community leaders say they are preparing for the worse if officer timothy lowman who fi

those are the words coming from michelle russell, just hours after learning that a cleveland cop hadin the killing of her brother. we will talk to her live and see how her family is attempting to move forward following the verdict. i've lived my whole life here in fairbanks, alaska. i love the outdoors, spending time with my family. i have a family history of prostate cancer. i had the test done and that was when i got the news. my wife and i looked at treatment options. cancer treatment centers of america kept coming up on the radar. so we flew to phoenix. greg progressed excellently. we proceeded to treat him with hormonal therapy, concurrent with intensity modulated radiation therapy to the prostate gland. go to cancercenter.com to learn more about our integrative therapies and how they're specifically designed to keep you strong mentally, physically and spiritually throughout your treatment. i feel great today, i'm healthy, i have never been in a happier place, i can't imagine being treated anyplace else. fighting cancer has given me opportunities to live. i think i chose extreme

joining me now is paul costello family attorney and timothy russell's sister michelle.r reaction when you heard the judge read the verdict. >> well honestly, we wernl surprised. we were disappointed. we were hoping for a guilty verdict on some count, if not want manslaughter, potentially the felonious assault. we were disappointed. >> i can imagine. michelle, i know that during the conference, the news conference yesterday you got to crying when your sister-in-law spoke about the kind of person your brother was. have you and your family even had time to digest any of this? >> yes, we're -- it's very difficult. we're trying to digest it. i was very upset by the verdict. i just felt that something should have been done. i never thought that he would be convicted of manslaughter, but i felt with this particular case all the evidence that had been presented, there was so much evidence to show that there was coercion, there was a cover-up and i just think that the judge really ignored a lot of that information. and he basically just focused on whether or not brelo's bullets

joining me now is the russell family's attorney his name is paul crystalo and timothy russell's sister. michelley? >> i'm doing okay. thank you for having us don. >> thank you for coming on. this was a case where the officer actually went to trial. we don't always see that. so what was your reaction when the verdict was read? >> i was very upset by the verdict. i felt that the judge in this particular case didn't -- i don't think that he looked at all of the evidence. i felt like he could have charged officer brillo with felonyious assault, but he chose to acquit him. i never felt he was going to be brought up on charges for manslaughter but i thought there was enough evidence to convict him of felonious assault. >> because they're not sure if the fatal shots came from the officer, therefore they couldn't convict him of that. what you said. so there were demonstrations michelle over the weekend, after the verdict was announced. what do you want those protesters to know? >> well i want them to know that we're going to continue to fight and we're going to continue to fight for justice. there's oth