CNN "The Situation Room"- Transcript: Ferguson- Missouri

Interview

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REP. EMANUEL CLEAVER (D), MISSOURI: Sure.

KEILAR: The events in Ferguson last night, Tyrone Harris, who was shot by police, he's been charged today with multiple counts of assault on law enforcement, four counts, five counts of armed criminal action, one count of discharging or shooting a firearm at a motor vehicle.

Have you been briefed on what led up to this shooting last night?

CLEAVER: Well, yes. I think we first need to make sure that the viewers here on CNN understand that anybody who came to the demonstrations with a gun is a criminal.

And they don't deserve to be categorized with the young people who simply want to be else courts to the progress that is needed in Ferguson. Now, John Boehner, at the request of Congressman AL Green and myself, put on the floor a vote on body cameras. And the Congress of the United States -- this is amazing -- voted almost unanimously as a resolution saying that we believe in and support the use of body cameras.

And I think this is another instance where there would be few questions, although I don't think this is going to end up having a lot of questions, but there would be even fewer questions had we seen the officers and their cars equipped with cameras.

And I think, you know, there will be those who don't understand that, when I say cameras, it's protecting the police and the public. And this is an instance where it would probably protect the police, because it appears as if the police were responding justifiably.

But the young people who are out there, they have a -- they deserve a right to be out there and protest. But you can't shoot and think at the same time. And so the people who are shooters are, in fact, providing assistance to the people who like Ferguson as it was a year ago, which was like it was 25 years ago.

KEILAR: All right, Congressman Cleaver, stay with me. I have many more questions for you. We will talk about whether anything has really changed in Ferguson after a quick break.

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[18:18:58]

KEILAR: We're following breaking news.

It's a state of emergency ordered after gunfire erupted during a protest in Ferguson, Missouri, overnight, coming exactly a year after Michael Brown's death.

We're back now with Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver.

Congressman, President Obama told NPR that he feels a great urgency to get as much done as possible -- that's a quote -- before he leaves office on this issue of race relations. Do you think he's doing enough to address these issues?

CLEAVER: Absolutely.

In fact, my concern is that, as you know, as the media knows, each time President Obama delves into these issues, there are those who start out saying he is a Black Panther, he is for violence and so forth.

And, look, the issue of race relations is something that all of us can do and must do. The president, I think, can set a broad outline for what we need to be doing as a nation. And I think he's doing that. But the work really comes from us, with our neighbors and with our colleagues. And that's exactly what should happen.

[18:20:09] But let me just say, there's a lot to be done in Ferguson, a lot to be

done in this entire country on the issue of race. And maybe we have gotten to a point now where people will quit denying that we still have a race problem in the country.

KEILAR: Well, that's what I want to ask you about, because it seems like deja vu all over again. Has anything really changed here in the last year?

CLEAVER: Well, yes.

Look, we need more things to be done in Ferguson. But let's look at what's happened. The police chief has been removed. The state Supreme Court removed the municipal court judge and the administrator. The city manager has been removed, all of the top officials in the city except for the mayor.

And a lot of the protesters are angry that the mayor never stepped down. The city manager has been removed. We now have a new police chief. There are things that have been done. The Congressional Black Caucus conducted a political boot camp in Ferguson. And then three or four weeks later, we had two more individuals elected to the -- African-Americans elected to the city council.

So we're making progress. Remember, though, Ferguson a year ago was in 1955. And so now I think it's in about 1965. There are still problems there, but those problems cannot be addressed with guns. And I can't overemphasize the fact that those who are carrying guns and coming to a protest are coming for the purpose of disruption.

And they would like to see things as they have been. And I think we need to shun them and the police need to arrest them.

KEILAR: Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, thanks for so much talking with us. We really appreciate it.

CLEAVER: Good to be with you.

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