Missouri Governor Declares State of Emergency
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news. A state of emergency. The governor of Missouri activating the National Guard, preparing for the worst. Michael Brown's family attorney reacts OUTFRONT. Plus the beheading of a third American hostage. This time the ISIS video holds new clues. And close friend of hostage Peter Kassig is OUTFRONT. And another woman accuses America's favorite television dad of rape, Bill Cosby, under fire tonight. Let's go OUTFRONT. Good evening, I'm Erin Burnett. Breaking news, a state of emergency in Ferguson, Missouri. The governor of the state of Missouri activating the National Guard tonight as a tense city awaits the grand jury's decision on whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson. That decision is expected any day at this time. Already hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the street today, in a very chilly day in Ferguson. And in St. Louis yesterday, protesters blocked a major intersection in a demonstration that marked 100 days since Michael Brown was killed. Nearby, dozens staged that dying that you see here, lying in the streets. Pretending to be shot by other demonstrators portraying police officers. We'll hear from an attorney for the Brown family in just a moment. But first, Sara Sidner begins our coverage OUTFRONT in Ferguson. And Sara, how is the town reacting to the governor's decision to activate the National Guard before the grand jury says anything?</s>SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it really depends who you talk to. But just about everyone believes that this must mean that the grand jury decision is going to be coming down, the announcement very, very soon. Some folks happy to hear what the governor is doing including the mayor of St. Louis. Some folks, most of the protesters saying it seem to be premature. And they're angry about because they don't want to be painted as violent.</s>SIDNER (voice-over): On a day protesters marched to the St. Louis County Prosecutor's Office Building, Missouri's governor declared a state of emergency in preparation for whatever may come when the grand jury releases its decision on whether or not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the killing of unarmed teen Michael Brown. The St. Louis mayor welcomed the decision.</s>MAYOR FRANCIS G. SLAY, ST. LOUIS: I agree with the governor's decision and this is why. First of all, we don't know what's going to happen or when it's going to happen, or what the reaction is going to be. I think we need to make sure that we are prepared for whatever may happen.</s>SIDNER: But the governor's actions have angered some protesters who say their demonstrations have been peaceful for weeks and his decision is premature. The decision comes after these images of Officer Darren Wilson were released this weekend. The surveillance tapes released to the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" show Wilson entering and leaving the Ferguson Police Station after the August 9th shooting. Though images aren't crystal clear, Wilson does not appear to have any major wounds to his face, as initially reportedly by a source speaking on behalf of Wilson to a local radio station. The police department later said Wilson had no major facial injuries but had slight swelling. Also released to the "Post-Dispatch" police radio traffic that details the final moments before and after the shooting of Brown. They reveal a better timeline. But sources say when Wilson initially told Brown to get out of the middle of the street, he did not know Brown was the suspect in a theft of cigars. But the audio seems to reveal moments later, he realizes Brown and his friend fit the description given by this dispatcher.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's with another male, he's got red Cardinals hat, white T-shirt, yellow socks and khaki shorts. He's walking up</s>SIDNER: Wilson is soon heard saying this, and going after Brown and his friend.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 21, put me on Canfield with two. And send me another car.</s>SIDNER: A confrontation then ensues at the car. Forensic evidence revealed in the autopsy later shows two shots were fired inside the car. Then more shots rang out, killing Brown. But you would never know that from the police radio traffic released by the department. All you can hear after the shooting is this. A woman wailing and another officer calling for back-up.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Frank 25.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get us several more units over here. There is going to be a problem.</s>SIDNER: Now we don't know why you cannot hear any audio of Wilson calling in. But there were shots fired. We do not have that information from the department yet. We also heard from the police chief over the weekend who made a statement about the potential of Wilson's returning to the force if indeed he is not indicted by the grand jury. There was a lot of talk here in this town. And basically what was said is there is still an internal investigation that has to happen at the department, along with the federal investigation. And of course the department would be worried about his safety as much as anything else -- Erin.</s>BURNETT: All right, Sara. Thank you so much. And OUTFRONT tonight the attorney for Michael Brown's family, Benjamin Crump. Good to have you with us, Mr. Crump. The governor of Missouri, as we just reported, activating the National Guard. The grand jury has not announced whether it will even charge Darren Wilson. Is the governor right to be afraid violence or is he way out of bounds here?</s>BENJAMIN CRUMP, BROWN FAMILY ATTORNEY: Well, Erin, Michael Brown's parents have asked that everybody who supports them, who are exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech, do so in a nonviolent, peaceful, constructive way. And they have confidence in the people of Ferguson. They're good people. And all the people coming out of town, we want to say, we want you to -- govern yourselves accordingly like the people of Ferguson. But also, law enforcement need to also not be aggressive because this is not just what the people in support of Michael Brown did. This was also inappropriate acts on behalf of the civil law enforcement as well.</s>BURNETT: And Mr. Crump, you're in the George Zimmerman case, of course, you faced off against Mark O'Mara. He was on the show last week and I just want to say -- share with you what he had to say. He said the criminal justice system is still the best in the world. Talking about the system here in the United States. People are going to complain no matter what happens. Had the prosecutor made the decision -- and he was talking about not going to the grand jury, there would have been a complaint that it didn't to go a grand jury. We have 12 people who came from the community, a cross section of the community, who have spent months and months on this. Do you agree with him that a grand jury was the right way to go?</s>CRUMP: I think this is best system in the world America has. No, I do not believe the grand jury was the best way to go. You have probable cause here, Erin. You had multiple eyewitnesses, you have forensic evidence. And remember, the grand jury is only the probable cause standard is far less than beyond a reasonable doubt. But this is the point, Erin. They say what this prosecutor is doing is so fair. This is the right thing to do. But if it's so fair, does that mean what he's done for the past 20 some odd years as prosecutor is unfair to everybody else? Because if it is fair for the police, then it should be fair for everybody else who has ever been charged with a crime. Why do they change the rules when it is our children dead on the ground?</s>BURNETT: If, though -- to your point. Since the burden of proof is lower, it's much easier for a grand jury to charge than it is for a jury to actually say guilty or innocent. Wouldn't it by definition be all right to go ahead with a grand jury, which after all, in most of the country at least, the standard -- I understand the prosecutor here did have a decision to make. He could have chosen the other way. But --</s>CRUMP: It's not appropriate to say that just because you're police, you get a grand jury. We're all Americans. The Fourteen Amendment applies to Michael Brown, Jr. just like it applies to Officer Darren Wilson. And it's due process. If there is probably cause for Michael Brown to be charged, then there should be due process for Darren Wilson to charge. There is no special thing because you're a police officer that you can use excessive force. And to the point of the grand jury being an easier burden, it's also a secret proceeding. If Ferguson stands for any proposition, it is that we have to do better with the community trust and the law enforcement and the prosecutors. There is no -- there is no trust there, Erin. No trust. So the best thing is to be transparent.</s>BURNETT: And in terms of transparency, though, I have to say one thing that shocked me about this is that it has seemed overly transparent in some ways. I mean, everything has leaked out here. Is that something that's good or something that frankly sort of disgusts you?</s>CRUMP: It disgusts me, Erin. And the reason it disgusts me because if we're to have this secret proceeding, we wouldn't have all these leaks. The hardest thing to do is to vet a leak. How do you respond to a leak. Obviously the person who leaked it leaked it for -- had ulterior motives. So now they have leaked something out. You can't defend it because it's anonymous. And you don't know -- it's so unfair to Michael Brown's parents. It's so unfair to his family to have to deal with this process after losing your child less than 100 days ago.</s>BURNETT: So one thing happened today, you know, a leak that just -- leak that just happened, it seemed to play to your side here. And I want to play the video again of Officer Wilson. This of course came from the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch." I know you've seen it. I want to show it again for our viewers. You see Wilson leaving the police station after the shooting. When you first saw this you released statement which in part said information was leaked from within the police department that Wilson was severely beaten and suffered an orbital socket blowout indicating Michael Brown somehow deserved to die. From the video that we just showed, it would appear the initial descriptions of his injuries were exaggerated. So I just say that to show there is something that leaked that would -- seem to support your view. But I remember the George Zimmerman video that was -- it's sort of the same way. He didn't appear to be injured. Then we got those stills and he did have blood all over his face and a swollen nose. Is it possible that the stills of Officer Wilson might look that way?</s>CRUMP: All I'll say is, that was not a leak, Erin. That was a freedom of information act that took, for whatever reason, 100 days and they gave it to the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch." I understand everybody requested it.</s>BURNETT: Yes.</s>CRUMP: So we don't know why it came out this time. So you, in the media, you can point that out. To your question about the eye injury. They suggested it was this horrible eye injury that he suffered. All I know is this video was taken two hours after he had been in the police department. He was on the scene for some time after Michael Brown was laying dead on the ground. If he was so horribly injured, wouldn't he have went to the hospital? How severe could the injury have been if he went to the police department and talked to his team for two hours and then they made a decision for him to go to the hospital? Michael Brown's family says the people have to judge that for themselves.</s>BURNETT: Which is a very fair point. And I do just want to know, of course, for the record, Mr. Crump, here at CNN we didn't report that orbital eye injury. Other media outlets, though, as you point out, did, but we didn't actually report that injury here. Thank you so much for your time, sir. I always appreciate talking to you. Thanks.</s>CRUMP: Thank you, Erin.</s>BURNETT: And OUTFRONT next, did Darren Wilson follow police procedure when he shot Michael Brown? You always hear about this, he was 30 feet away, 35 feet away. Well, what does that mean? It means something truly crucial. We have an investigation on that. Plus, a new ISIS video of another American hostage beheaded. But this one is very different and we'll show you exactly why. And the police shotgun range, and a fully stocked bar, and the governor of a state rumbling through and a tank to celebrate. That's next.