Baton Rouge Leaders Want Justice Department to Investigate, Officers Charged
BROWN: Well, some leaders in the Baton Rouge community have not only demanded that the Justice Department open an investigation, they wanted both officers involved to be charged.</s>MIKE MCCLANAHAN, PRESIDENT NAACP BATON ROUGE CHAPTER: I'm calling on anybody in the city with any backbone to go and arrest those two officers. If the system will work for anybody, it should work for them, too. Let a judge set their bond. Murder there shouldn't be a bond, period. Let those two officers be arrested and charged with capital murder. Let them hire lawyers. Let them try to weasel themselves out. Thank god for YouTube. Thank god for iPhones. Because without the iPhones, they might.</s>BROWN: And there are also demands for the police chief and the major to resign. Louisiana's governor says he plans to meet with the community and church leaders. He urged protesters to remain calm. And he did admit the graphic video was unsettling.</s>JOHN BEL EDWARDS, (D), LOUISIANA GOVERNOR: I have full confidence this matter will be investigated thoroughly, impartially and professionally. I will demand that that's the way it's conducted. I know the people of Louisiana will join me in doing so. And I will say based on the information that I have obtained from law enforcement, but certainly the footage that I observed of the video that was made available, I have very serious concerns. The video is disturbing, to say the least.</s>BROWN: Joining me now to discuss, civil rights attorney and former New York prosecutor, Charles Coleman Jr; and Steve Rogers, a retired police detective lieutenant in New Jersey. Thank you both for coming on. Charles, why do you think they were so quick to turn over this investigation?</s>CHARLES COLEMAN JR, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY & FORMER NEW YORK PROSECUTOR: I've had an opportunity to talk to a lot of folks. One of the things I've heard from repeatedly is there's a sincere lack of confidence with respect to police relationships with the community, particularly with the black community. So I think the governor as well as elected knew and understood to keep this investigation internal, when there's so much hurt and so much pain, so much difficulty and distrust between the community and law enforcement would not be a good thing. From what I'm heard, all the protests have been peaceful, but poignant, and they have been directed. If the governor wanted to keep that same tone, a peaceful protests, people not necessarily destroying property, or speaking out in respect to their anger and hate, what he needed to do was turn it over to an independent authority, and hopefully it's something that will be a remnant of justice for them.</s>BROWN: Steve, your response?</s>STEVE ROGERS, RETIRED NEW JERSEY POLICE DETECTIVE LIEUTENANT: Based on what we saw, obviously, it's very troubling. The key to this investigation is what we didn't see. What we didn't see was the right hand of the victim. These officers have to clearly articulate and prove their life was in imminent danger in order to take that deadly force. That's what we don't know. And as your guest just said, very, very justifiably and right, it will take an independent investigator who is unbiased, and there will never be allegations of bias when the FBI takes over, to get down to the bottom of it. But the use of deadly force is the last resort police officers take. We heard that one officer yelled "gun." If there was in fact a gun there, and that gun was touched by the victim, you may have a different scenario going on.</s>BROWN: And on that note --</s>COLEMAN: Pamela?</s>BROWN: Go ahead, Charles.</s>COLEMAN: Steve and I have been on before and we've had conversations about these issues. I think the point he brings up is very important, particularly in light of Louisiana. Louisiana is an open-carry state. It is not illegal for someone who otherwise legally would be in possession of a firearm to have a gun on them without a permit. That is totally within the bounds of the law --</s>BROWN: Except if you're on probation, right?</s>COLEMAN: Except if you're on probation. But here's the thing. The officers didn't know that. When they approached Mr. Sterling, they did not know that. We have no way of knowing that they know that. They were responding to an anonymous phone call. We haven't heard from the 911 call yet to know that it was specifically the person she was talking about. Yes, allegedly, the 911 call says he was outside of a store and he had pointed this weapon and threatened someone. In terms of what you just described, they had no way of knowing that this was the individual or that the individual was on probation. So I think that also makes it a little dicey, when you talk about, you know, whether he should or should not have had a firearm. And at the end of the day, again, like Steve said, they have to be imminent threat of danger to them or someone else that they were responding to. Based on what we have seen, thus far, they can't do that, which is what makes this so problematic.</s>BROWN: Steve, how critical doing think that 911 calls is in this investigation whether an anonymous callers that apparently a man was threatening this person with a gun. How important is that in determining the officers' mind-set during the confrontation?</s>ROGERS: Very important, because when you get a call of a person with a gun, the first thing you are thinking about is protecting yourself and someone else from becoming the victim of a shooting. But these police officers, when they arrived, it was hard to determine -- I didn't see their guns drawn, which amazed me. If he did and put his hands down, you see the officer tackling to the ground. It appeared that they had restrained him. But it's the right hand, the right arm we cannot see. If in fact, as my good friend just said, that individual grabbed the gun and in some way pointed it at the officers, then you have a whole different scenario. We don't know that. That's why it's important to have a full investigation and, may I add, that the police department be very, very transparent.</s>BROWN: And we know that the Justice Department is now investigating, so that is happening. Charles Coleman Jr, Steve Rogers, thank you very much. Do appreciate it.</s>ROGERS: You're welcome. Up next, we'll turn to politics. Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich leaving Trump Tower moments ago. This is as Senator Bob Corker says he's bowing out as a vice presidential candidate. And just into CNN, the Trump campaign revealing news fundraising numbers after the month of June after being criticized for a record slow start. Did they turn it around? We'll discuss, up next.