Obama Discusses DOJ Report on Ferguson; Ferguson Police Chief Dodges Questions
PEREIRA: Many are calling for the resignation of Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson over that Justice Department report outlining rampant racism within his department. CNN's Sara Sidner caught up with him exclusively and asked him about it.</s>SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don't you think you should have known some of the things that came out? The racist e-mails, the numbers. Were you just trying to bilk people out of money instead of protecting them? Telling your department to just go ticket them?</s>TOM JACKSON, FERGUSON POLICE CHIEF: OK. Thank you. And I will be in touch. Get ahold of Jeff.</s>SIDNER: I've talked to -- I've talked to everyone. I've given you literally every opportunity. We've been talking for days and days and days. All we want is an answer from you.</s>JACKSON: I'm going to analyze the report and take action where necessary.</s>SIDNER: Does that mean you're going to stay around?</s>JACKSON: I'm going to take action where necessary. Thank you.</s>PEREIRA: Let's bring in Charlie Dooley. He was St. Louis County executive, the head of the county for 12 years. During the protests in Ferguson, he was active in trying to calm protesters while letting them have their voices heard. Mr. Dooley, a pleasure to have you here today. I want your reaction to what you heard Sara Sidner try to get out of the police chief there. He says -- Jackson says he'll take action where necessary. What do you hear in that? What does that mean to you?</s>CHARLIE DOOLEY, FORMER ST. LOUIS COUNTY EXECUTIVE: Well, first let me say good morning to you, Michaela. I'm glad to be here.</s>PEREIRA: Glad to have you.</s>DOOLEY: I'm somewhat disappointed. I know the police chief in Ferguson personally. I consider him a friend. I'm disappointed in his reaction to the report. The e-mails, very disappointing. It's not very encouraging at all. And the issue about him stepping down, I think that the decision should be his and the city council. And I think for the betterment of that community, something needs to change. And he's a part of the change that needs to take place.</s>PEREIRA: OK. As a friend, are you counseling him as such and telling him that you think that Ferguson needs a change?</s>DOOLEY: It's obvious if the e-mail -- I did not look at the e-mails personally myself. But the e-mails are true, it's very concerning to me that the city government endorse those type of activities. That is not the norm.</s>PEREIRA: So you have been quite vocal about the problems that African-Americans have faced in Ferguson. The Justice Department report likely not a surprise to you. But you were, I understand, surprised by the extent of how far the discrimination went in Ferguson.</s>DOOLEY: Yes, I was. The e-mails and the -- the vast amount of e- mails, the indication of making up city revenue with -- on the backs of other people, I think is very discouraging. There have been rumors of those situations. The Ferguson situation is not isolated. It's not rampant, but it's not isolated. And it's a symptom in our community that needs to be corrected.</s>PEREIRA: So sir, as a city executive, did you not feel heard? Did you voice your concerns during your tenure there about what was happening in Ferguson? Or were you deafened?</s>DOOLEY: Again, during my 11 years as county executive, there were concerns. Those things was brought to bear. Again, people think that a municipality is a creature of the county. It is not. It's a creature of the state, and the state rules in those types of situations. So there's very little power that the county government can do other than speak to those issues. And we did speak to those issues.</s>PEREIRA: And what kind of response did you get?</s>DOOLEY: It was a very negative response from the municipalities, from the municipal league itself. It's called meddling. I'm of the opinion -- in St. Louis County, they say there are 90 municipalities. The 90 municipalities is not the problem. It's the level of service and respect in those municipalities, is the issue.</s>PEREIRA: So you think that this -- Ferguson is just indicative of what's going on in other communities in your state?</s>DOOLEY: It's indicative of what goes on across America. Is it an isolated incident? No, it's not. Is it rampant? Probably not. It's about how do we treat one another? Again, it's about African- Americans, the Michael Brown case for example. I was encouraged that attorney general Holder launched those two investigations. But to come back and say that no wrong was done, that simply isn't true. That's not the spirit of the law.</s>PEREIRA: I want to ask you a quick question before we end up here. Some of the very people cited in that report from the Justice Department, are the very people that are now charged with having to be involved in fixing what is going on in Ferguson. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to some.</s>DOOLEY: That's -- that's the real problem right there, is not that the investigation wasn't proper. It's just who's doing it? Who's involved? Who's the authorities? And those individuals are concerned about defending themselves as opposed to trying to correct the situation. And that's a real problem. To not acknowledge that things went wrong; you can't fix it. And those individuals indicated that they're being defensive or it is the norm. Those e-mails are very damaging to the community. Does it speak to the whole community? No, it don't. But does it exist? Yes, it does. And when it does exist, we need to address it in a very aggressive way. But denying it or trying to defend it, that is wrong.</s>PEREIRA: Charlie Dooley is the former St. Louis County executive. We want to know what you think at home. Thank you so much for joining us, sir.</s>DOOLEY: Thank you.</s>PEREIRA: Is this going to be a wake-up call? Will other communities find themselves having these kind of conversations in their communities? Tweet us. Go to our Facebook page. Add your comments there -- Chris.</s>CUOMO: All right. It is the 50th anniversary of the historic march in Selma. Not marking the occasion? Any members of the Republican leadership in Congress. Why not? John King is going to talk about this on "Inside Politics."