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New Day

Biggest Legal Stories To Watch In 2021; America's Racial Reckoning: What Will Change?; Yo-Yo Ma On The Healing Power Of Music. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired January 01, 2021 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[07:31:30]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to this special New Year's edition of NEW DAY. We have a lot to get to in this half-hour.

Crucial court cases to watch in this new year -- George Floyd's murder trial, and the Supreme Court taking up Obamacare. Floyd's death sparked a racial reckoning in America.

So what's next as we head into a Biden administration?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The coronavirus pandemic has taken a major toll on all of us. Yo-Yo-Ma joins us to talk about the healing power of music and has a special performance.

First, let's get a check of your headlines at the news desk.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and Happy New Year. I'm Alison Kosik in New York.

The world looking forward to a brighter 2021 and bidding a not-so-fond farewell to 2020.

In Times Square, the traditional ball drop came with a big difference. Police strongly urged people to stay away. So instead of wall-to-wall revelers, crowds were thin and socially distanced.

In Rome, Pope Francis was unable to lead traditional New Year's services due to lingering leg pain this morning. Instead, a cardinal conducted mass in St. Peter's Basilica on the 44th day of world peace, with Pope Francis delivering a prayer virtually, by himself, via video link.

Now let's head back to Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

CAMEROTA: The new year will bring several crucial legal cases that we need to keep an eye on. And joining us now to discuss the biggest legal stories of 2021, which is really quite a feat, John --

BERMAN: Yes. CAMEROTA: -- to know exactly what's going to happen in the new year. But somehow, CNN legal analyst Elie Honig does. Happy New Year, Elie.

ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Thanks, Alisyn. Happy New Year to you as well.

CAMEROTA: OK, so walk us through the top legal stories that you're looking out for.

HONIG: Well, number one is the trial of the police officers in the George Floyd murder case. Look, the stakes don't get any higher than this. The killing of George Floyd kicked off nationwide protests and really, a movement.

Now, this case will be tried to a jury in Minneapolis in March of this year. The big question, how will the jury administer justice?

What will they do with the lead defendant, Derek Chauvin? That's the police officer who put his knee into George Floyd's neck for eight minutes, 46 seconds.

Will they find him guilty on the top charge -- a murder charge of second-degree that carries a 40-year max, or maybe a lesser charge? There's a manslaughter charge that only carries a 10-year max? Or they might even find him not guilty. I will tell you, juries are inherently unpredictable.

And then, what will the jury do with the other three police officers? That's a trickier case for prosecutors to make. We will see what the jury does there.

Rest assured, the entire nation will be watching what happens up in Minneapolis.

BERMAN: No doubt.

Now let's talk about the Supreme Court, Elie. There is this long- awaited decision on Obamacare. The justices heard the case right after the election. The decision they reach could have big implications for the Biden administration.

What are you expecting? There were some hints in arguments.

HONIG: Yes, there were, John.

So this ruling could come down anytime between now and the end of the Supreme Court term in June.

I've listened to those oral arguments and the big question here is what's called severability, meaning now that the individual mandate has been essentially zeroed out, can the rest of the law -- can the rest of the ACA stand on its own? And when I listened to the oral arguments it's clear that the liberal justices want to uphold the ACA, but it also seemed to be pretty clear that at least Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh are in favor of severability. Are in favor of saving the rest of the ACA. [07:35:00]

So I think there's a fairly decent chance the Supreme Court comes out and upholds the remainder of the ACA. We could find that out at any time.

CAMEROTA: Hey, Elie, what about the investigation into The Trump Organization? What's next?

HONIG: Yes, so this investigation is rolling along. We've seen reporting on depositions and subpoenas. This is an investigation being run by state-level prosecutors -- the Manhattan district attorney, the New York attorney general.

Now, they're focusing on The Trump Organization. They're focusing on various types of fraud -- bank fraud, insurance fraud, tax fraud.

Two important wrinkles now. President Trump has been using the fact that he's president to try to slow this case down -- to try to say you can't subpoena me while I'm in office. Well, that's about to end.

The other thing to know, a presidential pardon has no bearing on these cases. These are state-level prosecutions. The president can issue pardons but he can't do anything to stop these cases from going forward.

BERMAN: So, Elie, what about the trial for Jeffrey Epstein's, I guess, friend --

CAMEROTA: Companion.

BERMAN: -- and alleged accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell? That's scheduled for this summer. What do we expect?

HONIG: Yes. So that trial will be happening in July here in New York City. So look, the big question is how did Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell do this? How did they run a massive interstate and international child sex trafficking ring, and importantly, who was involved? Names are going to be named.

We've heard so much about this case. There are civil suits, there are redactions, there are depositions happening behind closed doors.

Here's the thing about a criminal trial, though. There's no redactions. Names get named. We will know who exactly was culpable for helping Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell run this monstrous sex trafficking ring.

CAMEROTA: So, Elie, at the end of 2020, there were these two lawsuits filed against Facebook trying to basically break up the company. So what's next?

HONIG: Yes. Look, look for increased scrutiny from lawmakers, from prosecutors, and from the government in general aimed at social media companies. There was a big lawsuit filed by the federal government in various

states against Facebook aimed at Facebook's, what's called antitrust practices. Think of it basically as they're acting too much like a monopoly, in this case, in purchasing Instagram and WhatsApp. There also have been other lawsuits aimed at social media companies.

This is an issue that also tends to cross political party lines. There's interest from Republicans and Democrats alike. So I'd look for increased scrutiny, legal and political, aimed at social media companies.

BERMAN: All right. Finally, Alisyn tells me that recreational marijuana has been approved in a number of states.

CAMEROTA: Including New Jersey, which -- well, could have changed my youth.

BERMAN: Alisyn tells me that now New Jersey -- she may have said the words 'at last' -- has approved recreational marijuana use.

When will things change? When will residents be able to, you know, do this recreational stuff?

HONIG: So, I don't know. Maybe it would have changed Alisyn's life in New Jersey. It wouldn't have changed mine, let me just say that for the record.

Yes, look, the thing to know is four more states now have passed laws legalizing marijuana in some form or other. Some states it's medicinal only; other states, it's more broad and it's used as recreational usage.

But here's the thing. Don't run out if you're in one of these states and start doing things today. These new laws kick in on various timeframes. They don't all kick in on New Year's Day. Every state has to figure out how they're going to regulate this. So if you're interested in this, make sure you know what your state's laws do and do not allow.

CAMEROTA: Yes, New Jersey, don't start smoking pot now.

HONIG: Take it easy, New Jersey.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BERMAN: Words never said --

CAMEROTA: Word never said to me --

BERMAN: Or never obey, that's for sure.

CAMEROTA: That's exactly right.

Elie, thank you. Thanks so much. Great to see you. Happy New Year.

HONIG: Thanks. Happy New Year to both of you. CAMEROTA: OK.

The healing power of music, it's so important. It brings hope, it brings strength to millions of us who have suffered through this pandemic and just in our everyday lives. So we have a very special performance from the legendary Yo-Yo Ma when we come back.

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[07:43:05]

CAMEROTA: Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd -- they are only some of the victims of violence against black Americans in a year that first brought us a pandemic and then a reckoning with race.

George Floyd's killing by police galvanized a social justice movement worldwide after an officer pinned him to the ground for eight minutes and 46 seconds.

This summer, we sat down with his brother, Philonise Floyd. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Are you surprised by what has happened in this country over the past three weeks? I mean, this weekend, there were still active, big protests in many cities about your brother.

PHILONISE FLOYD, BROTHER OF GEORGE FLOYD: Well, he was a loved person by a lot of people. But everything that's going on, people are just tired. Enough is enough. We constantly see people dying every day -- black people dying.

We just want equal justice. We want the same justice as white America in black America. We all need to come together and be united as one.

CAMEROTA: So many people watched your testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee. Did you feel -- I mean, tell us what happened, sort of, behind the scenes. Did you feel that lawmakers were really listening? Did they tell you that they were going to take some specific action?

FLOYD: Well, I think the world was listening. When I was in there, I just was speaking from the heart and just letting them know how I felt about everything when it comes to policing.

And they need to get their jobs right. It hurt me to lose my brother but I don't want to see that happen to anybody else around the world. If they get their jobs right the first time, they'll never have to worry about it the second time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Joining us now is the author of the new book, "Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America," Michael Eric Dyson. He's a distinguished professor of African-American studies at Vanderbilt University. Happy New Year, professor. Great to see you.

[07:45:11]

MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, AUTHOR, "LONG TIME COMING: RECKONING WITH RACE IN AMERICA," PROFESSOR OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND DIASPORA STUDIES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY (via Cisco Webex): Happy New Year to you as well.

CAMEROTA: So what do you think has changed, if anything, since George Floyd's death?

DYSON: Well, there's certainly been a heightened awareness, a deepened consciousness, a broadened comprehension that the things that we speak about so readily in black communities. Policing that is out of control, the horrible disregard for black life, the trauma that we endure. The fear and terror that we feel in the face of a routine police stop that for anyone else would mean the issuing of a warning or a ticket but so often in black America means the ending of life over literally nothing. Over small things.

But the larger landscape that is illumined in these events is that we have deep and profound racial hostility -- anti-blackness stitched into the fabric of American society. A kind of racial intolerance that is deeply and profoundly amplified at the height of American politics and really, from the bully pulpit of the White House down to the streets.

And so, after George Floyd's death, what we also discovered is that because so many people were at home -- they were watching their screens -- COVID-19 had forced us inside -- we took a look socially and politically inside as well.

And when the George Floyd murder, death, killing occurred, many white brothers and sisters said we have no more excuses. He wasn't running, he wasn't being belligerent, he wasn't being pugnacious. He was literally lying prostrate on the ground and he was killed. That forced many white people to come to grips with their consciences and flooded the streets in the historic level of participation of Americans in social protests in this country.

Now the question is six months later, what have we achieved? Well, there's been a dying down.

But, you know, what I think about is this. That when many white Americans, for the first time -- some of them -- fell in love with black people by going into the streets, that was the first gesture of a reignited passion. Now we're down to the everyday level -- the kind of unsexy normal stuff we do. And in a love relationship, after you've sent flowers and candies and celebrated Valentine's Day, now you're talking about the toilet seat and the toothbrush.

So what we have to do now is focus on the everyday unsexy normal stuff that white brothers and sisters can do to make sure that racial reckoning happens. What's at your job? What do you do at home? How do you speak to your kids about race? And how do we come together as a nation to finally reckon with this original sin of Americans -- of American identity?

BERMAN: How do you expect that discussion will change in a Biden administration as opposed to a Trump administration?

DYSON: Well, first of all, he won't be Donald Trump, which means he won't be exacerbating tensions. He won't be fueling the flames of difference, and marginalization, and hostility, and intolerance. Just the tone -- just the very simpatico that he seems to have with people of color, especially black people, makes a difference.

But beyond that, representing the diversity of America in his choices for his cabinet and even more especially, embodying the will to have public policy that addresses wealth disparity, that addresses housing discrimination, that addresses disparities in education. Those nitty- gritty issues that have to be addressed if the rhetoric of race is to be translated into the performance of justice.

CAMEROTA: Professor, it is so helpful I think -- that metaphor that you use of the honeymoon period being over. I mean, it's hard to think of the summer of 2020 as a honeymoon period, but I get it. I hear what you're saying about that because now it's the nitty-gritty of marriage and how --

DYSON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: -- what are we going to do now?

And so do you see this as different than other uprisings at other times, other social justice movements, other demonstrations? Do you think that we're still at an inflection point?

DYSON: I think so and here's why. Similar to President-elect Biden saying specifically, explicitly, and unapologetically to black people you have had my back, now I will have yours, he set a benchmark. It was a bellwether, so to speak, of his willingness to be held accountable by articulating an idea that other people could then, in the future, cite.

The George Floyd protests, and Breonna Taylor, and Rayshard Brooks, and Jacob Blake -- what those represent is white America, in general, en masse, saying look, we want to reckon with this idea. We want you to hold us accountable. We want to speak about race in a different way.

[07:50:04]

And so in that sense, even though there have been other inflection points, there have been other uprisings and other rebellions, this seems to be different because it called into play a whole range of ideas, especially systemic racism, that hadn't been on the docket before.

It's more than putting a black box on social media. It's more than signing your name with Black Lives Matter. It's about translating that into practical measures of racial tolerance, racial justice, and the fight against anti-blackness that is so deeply rooted in this culture. I do believe that given what we saw bear six months ago that this sets

a standard for us to appeal to as we navigate the future.

BERMAN: Professor Michael Eric Dyson, we appreciate you being with us this morning. Happy New Year to you. Thanks for being part of this discussion with us over the last year. We look forward to more discussions like this in the months to come.

DYSON: Thank you so very much.

BERMAN: Early in the pandemic, world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma posted videos like this one on social media in the hope that music would give solace to those suffering all the loss and pain. These videos inspired his new album called "Songs of Comfort and Hope."

And, Yo-Yo Ma joins us now. Thank you so much for being with us. Happy New Year to you.

And as I was saying to Alisyn, one of the highlights of this last year was when you came on the show early on and really helped us, in a way, calm our nerves and heal when we were all suffering so much in the early stage of this pandemic. And I guess in some ways, it's not a surprise because what you know better than anyone about music is music does have that power to heal and almost give you a hug.

YO-YO MA, WORLD-RENOWNED CELLIST, NEW ALBUM, "SONGS OF COMFORT AND HOPE" (via Cisco Webex): It's true, John. I think from our conversation just before getting on the air, I think we have our public selves -- the selves that we present to others. We also have our private selves, our inner selves.

And I think music addresses both but addresses the inner side of our lives more so. And in that sense, to get a complete view, we do want to have both because then I feel the human sides of us -- humanity is better represented.

Not everything in the world can be measured and I think music actually attempts to deal with some of those things.

CAMEROTA: I agree, and it's also such a unifier. Everybody has an emotional reaction to music. It might be different kinds of music but everybody understands that it operates on you in a different way.

And so, what do you think this horrible past year of 2020 has done for musicians? Has it been -- and we've talked to some Broadway actors and everything who have lost their jobs. What's it been like for musicians?

MA: Well, I think it's been an incredible challenge. I think there are many musicians that are obviously not working and myself, more or less, included. And I think particularly, it's hard for people that play in groups because in order to perform live, most often they play in enclosed spaces.

CAMEROTA: And so, you are going to I think set 2021 off on the right note for us. You've generously offered to play us a song from your new album. So tell us which one you'll play.

MA: Well, I'd like to play this song, "Going Home," which actually comes from Dvorak's New World Symphony. And again, speaking of home, I think there's so many aspects of that. But when we hear an orchestra play it, the English horn usually plays the melody and you'll hear it on the cello. So here it goes.

Playing "Going Home."

[07:50:55]

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