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New Day

Mayor Melvin Carter is Interviewed about the Chauvin Trial; Massive Cargo Ship Partially Refloated; COVID Pandemic Around the World; NFL Players Stops Attempted Assault. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired March 29, 2021 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

JOHN AVLON, CNN ANCHOR: On Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes. Floyd's death launched a summer of protests and unrest and officials in the twin cities are on high alert as the trial gets underway today.

Joining me now, Mayor Melvin Carter of Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Mayor Carter, it's good to have you on NEW DAY.

What is the feeling in the streets of your city --

MAYOR MELVIN CARTER (D), SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA: Good morning. Thanks for having me on.

AVLON: It's good to have you, sir.

What's the feeling in the streets of your city this morning as the trial gets underway?

CARTER: I think there's a somber feeling and there's a feeling of anticipation. This trial, of course, brings us back through all of the trauma that we experienced last spring and throughout the summer. It brings us back through that horrific video of George Floyd's murder. It brings us back through the pain and the anguish that we all experienced as some of the peaceful protests were drowned out by people who came into our community to be destructive and further wreak havoc on our communities.

We're looking with baited breath to those jurors who were seated, to the attorneys responsible for the case, to the judge presiding with hopes that we get a strong statement from our criminal justice system that for a crime that bold, for a crime that blatant and committed on videotape that someone can be held accountable.

AVLON: For certain.

I wonder, how did -- did the death of George Floyd, how did what the protests and some of the riots in the aftermath impact you personally and as mayor?

CARTER: It was heartbreaking. And I think one of the most heart breaking pieces about the death of George Floyd is how historically unsurprising it is, about how significant a part of a long stated pattern that we've seen play out through cell phone videos over the last decade or so but that started far before them.

My grandfather and his grandfather could tell you about unarmed African-American men killed at the hands of law enforcement. And we have watched in particular again over the past decade and wondering with that rhetorical question, how bad does it have to be? How obvious does it have to be? How disgusting does it have to be for someone to be convicted, for someone to be held accountable, for someone to go to jail for one of these crimes?

Unfortunately, we've seen time after time again that we haven't been able to see any justice, we haven't been able to see an accountability and, you know, I think we're all looking, not just in Minnesota, not just in our African-American community, but I think the global community is looking to our court system to see if enough is enough yet.

AVLON: No question, the eyes in the world and the country were on Minnesota in the wake of that death and will be again as this trial unfolds.

And to your point, you know, between 2005 and 2019, only around a third of the officers who were indicted for manslaughter, for murder, were convicted. And that speaks to one of the challenges to the justice system that this trial, I think, symbolically represents.

But on a personal level, your father was one of the first African- American police officers on the Saint Paul Minnesota Police force as a result of a desegregating order. How does his experience and the experience of growing up in that household impact your approach to police reform as we go forward?

CARTER: It -- his experience and my experience seeing his experience, of course, shapes my opinions, you know. I grew up seeing him and I've shared before that I saw him and some of his fellow officers who came on with him after that desegregation order, we saw them as like super heroes. They -- they helped solve problems in our community that if you weren't an officer, you probably couldn't help solve and if you weren't from our community you probably wouldn't know existed in the first place. We saw them essentially as the rest of the world maybe got to grow up seeing "The Andy Griffith Show." You know, we watched some of those old TV shows about policing and we see officers who know the community they serve, who know when they encounter some young person in the middle of the night, who needs to go to jail and who needs a ride home to their mom and a stern talking to, who are intimately connected to community in those ways.

And that's what we seek to do. And so here in Saint Paul, we've started this work far before the murder of George Floyd, because we know that this is unsurprising. We know that we'll see another one of these videos somewhere in our country, unless we take a different route very soon. And that's why we've revised our use of force policies. We've completely rewritten the way our K-9 unit engages with our community. We've expanded our community engagements division. And, right now, we're working through a fairly large community task force to build alternative 911 responses so that when the more effective response is a social worker or mental health counsellor or emergency housing, we have a 911 system that's capable of doing all of those things.

[08:35:04]

AVLON: Mayor, I want to thank you for coming on NEW DAY. This is going to be a long trial. The eyes of the nation are going to be on your city and the city across the river and we wish you all well.

Thank you very much for joining us.

CARTER: Certainly is. Thank you much.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, John, so new this morning, a congressional delegation traveled to Atlanta to visit the sites of last month's deadly spa shootings. The lawmakers wanted to see for themselves the 27-mile and 45 minute journey the suspect took to the three spas that were attacked. They also met with two families of the victims and talked about how they consider the shootings a hate crime even though such charges have not been filed.

Also new this morning, the non-profit Tunnel to Towers Foundation, established to support the families of 9/11 first responders, says it will pay the mortgage of Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley killed in the mass shooting in Boulder last week. Talley was the first officer on the scene of the grocery store and the last of the gunman's ten victims. People lined the streets in Boulder as his body was taken to a funeral home. Officer Talley will be laid to rest tomorrow. He is survived by his wife and seven children.

Up next, progress overnight in the effort to free that huge cargo ship that's been blocking the Suez Canal for a week. We have a live report.

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[08:40:23]

CAMEROTA: OK, developing right now, authorities have temporarily suspended their efforts to free this massive container ship that is stuck in the Suez Canal as the window for high tide faded. The big development this morning was that the trip was partially refloated but what's happening now?

CNN's Ben Wedeman is live in Cairo with the latest developments.

Is it stuck again, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, what we're hearing are reports that high winds have forced the Ever Given back into position, straddling the Suez Canal, that it was before. It's not clear if the stern is, however, stuck in the bank of the canal as it was before, which was really the problem.

The days been a bit of a roller coaster of hopes and expectations. Just before the sun came up today, there was much jubilation when it appeared that the ship had been moved after intense dredging and many tugboats were pushing it aside.

But the work has been suspended for the moment. They're waiting for another high tide, which is in about three hours and 15 minutes. But if, of course, they're dealing with high winds and a ship that's no longer on a position that was coming towards horizontal with the bank of the canal. That's going to simply complicate things further.

And regardless of when this is resolved, and we are already getting indications from shipping companies of the complications they're running into. For instance, we heard from Mersk (ph), which is the world's biggest shipping company, who say they have three ships stuck in the canal, 30 ships are waiting in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, 15 have already been diverted around the horn of Africa, rather the -- southern Africa. And they're saying that it's going to take six days to basically unclog this traffic jam on both ends of the Suez Canal and that the disruption from this closure could be felt around the world for weeks.

John.

AVLON: That is just stunning. Talk about a bottleneck. Going around the horn of Africa because of this. Extraordinary.

Thank you, Ben Wedeman. That's extraordinary.

CAMEROTA: That's a detour. Wow.

AVLON: All right, French leaders are set to assess their coronavirus restrictions and to see if they need to impose new ones. Officials say the situation is worsening across the country with the governor admitting it's now critical.

CNN has reporters covering the pandemic around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jim Bittermann in France, where President Emanuel Macron told a Sunday newspaper that no decisions have been made about taking further action on COVID-19 restrictions, despite the fact that there are clear indications the situation is not improving. In fact, in an op-ed commentary in the same newspaper signed by 41 emergency care workers, the state of affairs was described as so dire that intensive care units will soon be over capacity and doctors will soon have to make potentially life and death decisions about who will get access to the ICUs and who will not. If the infection rate is not turned around, the best hope seems to lie with a stepped-up vaccination campaign the government is planning for this week.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London. England's stay-at-home orders will be lifted for the first time after months of lockdown. But these are only baby steps towards freedom. Starting today, up to two households or six people can meet outside and socialize. They can also meet in private gardens. And outdoor team sports can resume. But the prime minister says the country must remain cautious. The number of cases in Europe is rising and the variant threat is still a concern.

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN PRODUCER: I am Stefano Pozzebon in Bogota, Colombia. And the government of Mexico has revealed that a total death toll of COVID-19 is much higher than previously thought. According to a new report, more than 320,000 people died of the pandemic in Mexico, a much higher number to the 200,000 that was previously thought as of Saturday. The new death toll would put Mexico as the second country with the highest death toll in the world, overtaking Brazil, and just behind the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AVLON: All right, an NFL lineman in the right place at the right time stepping in to save a woman from a violent crime.

[08:40:02]

He's going to tell his story next on NEW DAY.

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CAMEROTA: Two men in Arizona are being honored for saving a retired school teacher from a sexual assault. Bystander named Murray Rogers and NFL player, seen here on your screen, Justin Herron, were in a public park when they witnessed the assault unfolding in broad daylight. They raced to save the victim and they held the suspect until police arrived.

And joining us now is Justin Herron, who, beyond being a good Samaritan, also happens to be a defensive lineman for the New England Patriots.

Justin, great to see you.

Wow, what a story. Can you just set the scene for us? I mean what were you doing in the park? And without being too graphic, what did you see happening?

JUSTIN HERRON, OFFENSIVE LINEMAN, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Oh, yes, no problem. I just want to say thank -- thank you for having me.

[08:50:00]

So it was, you know, it was a Saturday and usually on Saturday I tend to go to the gym and get another workout in. However, this Saturday, I was just a little sore from the -- from the work week, so I decided just to go on a simple walk in the park. Nothing -- nothing too exciting.

And I was probably around my fourth or fifth lap around a lake that has like -- it has a little trail. And this is about a mile. It's about a mile walk each lap.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

HERRON: So I did that. And as I was coming around on the last corner, or the last bend, I should say, I hear a woman screaming, help, help, you know, help, help, and it's really, really loud. And it just sounds different than any type of other help I've heard before. And I see -- I see the event happening. As I start walking towards the situation where I see the gentleman on top of a woman, I kind of start to notice that things are a little be more aggressive than they should be. And there was one moment in the -- in the -- in the incident where I just don't really want to get into too much detail about it. But there was one part in the incident where I knew that this was going to get very dangerous and very ugly very, very quickly.

So I just took off running and didn't even think about it. I just took off running and ran towards the perpetrator and the victim. And I was able to get there in time. I asked the gentleman what, you know, what is he doing? What are you doing? I run over to -- I run over to the two that are on the ground. I take him off -- take him off of her and I tell him to walk away and just sit on the ground and just wait for the cops to come. And I told the woman to call the cops as I sit there and watch -- make sure that he doesn't go anywhere. So it was --

CAMEROTA: I'm interested, Justin -- I mean, sorry to interrupt you, but I'm interested that he complied with you. That you told him, you go over there and you sit down and he did that.

HERRON: Yes. You know, everyone has been asking me like, why did he do it? And I have no idea why he did it. I'm glad that he did and I'm glad that he listened to me and I'm glad that we were able to catch him and make sure that he doesn't do anything like there again.

But, you know, it's very -- it's very weird that he did that. But I'm thankful that he did.

CAMEROTA: Well, yes, I mean that, obviously, changed the whole equation.

Do you think that he did that because you are 6'5" and how many -- and how many pounds?

HERRON: 310. I'm 310 pounds right now.

CAMEROTA: Do you think that influenced his decision to do what you said?

HERRON: Maybe. Maybe just a little bit.

CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh.

Now, about the victim, the 71-year-old woman is a school teacher.

HERRON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: What condition was she in when you found her?

HERRON: She -- she was very -- she was very shaken up. She -- it was -- she was just very, very stressed. And I have never been through extreme stress like that before, but I could -- but I've also seen a lot of individuals go through some form of extreme stress. Not like that, but some form of it. So I was able recognize that, OK, well, she's going through extreme stress right now.

So all I could do was just, in that moment, was just comfort her and tell her that everything is going to be OK. And I know that in the moment it might not seem like it, but as time goes on everything is going to be OK. So that -- so that's the type of condition she was in. She was just very, very stressed.

CAMEROTA: And if you hadn't had been there, if you hadn't have been going for that walk, what do you think would have happened?

HERRON: You know, I truly believe that if I was not there, someone else would have came at one point. I truly believe that. I think this situation just caught people off guard because it was just so randomness am so, what's the word -- it just didn't make a lot of sense. And I think people were shocked to see that happen and it takes people time to kind of process what they're thinking or processing what they're seeing. So, I do believe that someone else would have come for sure if I was not there.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I mean I don't know if the predator, who police have described the suspect as a, quote, violent predator, if he would have listened to other people like he did to you. But, I mean, it's amazing that you were able to interrupt this before it got worse.

[08:55:03]

And I know that the victim is so grateful and she has called you and the other gentleman who ran over her angels. And I know that that has meant a lot to you.

What do you want to say to her?

HERRON: I just want to say that -- I want to say to her that, you will always have me as a support, there for you as a support system. There will never be a time where you will be unable, like, you -- like where you won't be able to reach me. You will always be able to reach me. And that the communications that we have established and the relationship that we have established through a terrible incident is only going to make our relationship stronger and that I really want to progress further and I really want to stay friends and be able to support each other as we go through our lives and just be there for one another. And just tell her that I'm thankful that I was able to see her again. And I'm thankful that she's OK. And I'm thankful that I was there and I was able to help her and --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

HERRON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Well, Justin, she's thankful for you, as we all are. That's really beautiful.

Justin, thank you for your bravery. It's great to talk to you. We really appreciate it, Justin Herron. We will speak again.

HERRON: Oh, perfect. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you. Thank you for letting me be on here.

CAMEROTA: And CNN's coverage continues next.

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