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New Day
Millions of J&J Vaccines Ruined; Derek Chauvin Trial Continues; Documents in Trump Organization Criminal Investigation; Major League Baseball Opens Today. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired April 01, 2021 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:33:01]
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, listen to this. Millions and millions of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been ruined after workers at a Baltimore plant accidentally mixed up some of the ingredients.
Joining us now is Dr. Jeremy Faust. He's an emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an instructor at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Faust, this is such a shame. I mean 15 million doses. And that's a single-dose vaccine. So, in other words, 15 million Americans could have soon been vaccinated with the J&J thing if not for this lab screw up. I know these things happen but that seems like a large-scale screw up. And, I mean, again, in the scheme of millions of Americans who needed to be vaccinated, maybe this is a fraction, but how big of a setback is this?
DR. JEREMY FAUST, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL AND INSTRUCTOR, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: Well, it's a setback in terms of people's confidence. They hear headlines. They read this in the paper and they think, can I really trust what's going in my arm? And the answer is, yes, they can. The authorities caught this in time so that no single person was ever given a product that wasn't going to help them stay out of the hospital or die because of coronavirus.
So, yes, there's a confidence piece to this but there's also the other side, which is that we have three products, including Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer, all of which keep you out of the hospital, protect your lungs from COVID pneumonia and save lives.
So -- and it's a shame that it's going to be delayed a little bit, but it does, to me, underscore the approach we've had, which is to have several different options and not just one solitary rollout.
JOHN AVLON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, look, I mean, perfect's not on the menu but let's call it what it is, this is a massive operational mess-up with real world implications.
But I want to move to a new story about the variations we're seeing. So we've got some statistics that are beginning to measure how serious they are. This is from the New York City Department of Health. They wrote that in the week of March 15th to the 21st, variants now represent over 70 percent of the cases sequenced. The rapid increase in the proportion of cases due to these variants suggest they are more infectious than previously circulating variants.
[06:35:04]
That is a serious thing. And, anecdotally, are you seeing the impact of variants in your hospital, particularly with a younger cohort of patients than perhaps the senior citizens, who seem to be the people primarily hospitalized in recent ways?
FAUST: Yes, anecdotally, and also just in the data sets. We do see here and also around the country that the average age of the hospitalized COVID-19 patient has become lower and lower, which makes sense. The older population is -- largely are at least increasingly protected by the vaccines, which leaves younger people. It does take more infections for enough people to be hospitalized in the young age group to occur. They're -- if you -- if you infect 50 older people, some -- many of them will be in the hospital, but it might take hundreds or even 1,000, you know, actually just hundreds of patients and then you'll see dozens of younger adults in the hospital. And that's what you end up seeing is the infection hospitalization rate is high enough among young adults, but we are seeing that crop up. And that's the concern, right, these are very contagious variants and the people who don't have access to the vaccine are the younger adults, parents, people in the prime of their -- of their work lives. These have long-tail implications. And so we really are asking people to do the things that we have been saying for months and a year now, to -- to hold out for that vaccine.
CAMEROTA: Yes, understood.
Dr. Jeremy Faust, thank you very much for all the information.
So it was another very emotional day in court with the Derek Chauvin trial. We break down the key moments and what impact they could be having on the jury. That's next.
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[06:40:46]
AVLON: The murder trial of Derek Chauvin resume this morning following a day filled with emotional testimony and never-before-seen video of George Floyd's deadly encounter with police.
Joining us now with the key moments, CNN's legal analyst Elie Honig, a former federal and state prosecutor.
Elie, what stood out to you?
ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, John, Charles McMillian without question. I've seen a lot of witnesses testify. I will never forget that. I don't think the jury will forget that either. Charles McMillian was the 61-year-old man who witnessed what happened that day outside of Cup Foods. Now, at one point the prosecutors played for McMillian some of the police body camera footage of that deadly encounter that he had witnessed live 10 months before and his reaction was indelible.
Let's take a look at that moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE FLOYD: I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe, man.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop it right here, please.
Mr. McMillian, do you need a minute?
CHARLES MCMILLIAN, WITNESS: I can (INAUDIBLE) -- I feel helpless. I don't have a (INAUDIBLE) to understand him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HONIG: That moment will be seared in the minds of the jurors.
And we saw from Mr. McMillian the same thing we've seen from so many witnesses in this trial, that lingering sense of trauma, of helplessness, of self-doubt. We saw it also yesterday from the young cashier, Christopher Martin. Both of them said they wished there had be something more they could have done to help George Floyd.
CAMEROTA: Elie, we also got to hear for the first time Derek Chauvin's voice and his, I guess, justification on that body cam video where he said, you know, we have to control him, he's a sizable guy.
So what's the prosecution trying to do there?
HONIG: The prosecution's strategy there is to take the jury inside the mind of Derek Chauvin at the key moment in this trial.
Now, to set the stage, Derek Chauvin has just knelt on George Floyd's neck for nine and a half minutes. George Floyd's lifeless body had been taken away. And we got to hear what Derek Chauvin said at exactly that moment.
Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFFICER DEREK CHAUVIN: We got to control this guy because he's a sizeable guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, and I -- I (INAUDIBLE) he didn't get in the car (INAUDIBLE).
CHAUVIN: It looks like he's probably on something.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HONIG: Now, on the one hand, the jury has now heard Chauvin's defense. Prosecutors sometimes say don't do the defendant's defense for him. If he wants to say his defense, make him take the stand, you get to cross-examine him.
On the other hand, notice how calm, eerily dispassionate Chauvin is after he's just snuffed the life out of another human. And if I'm a prosecutor, I'm arguing that's intent. That shows you Derek Chauvin either utterly did not care what happened to George Floyd or else intended for him to be hurt.
AVLON: Elie, that was just one example. A lot of new body camera footage that we saw yesterday for the first time.
So what's the importance of that particular piece of evidence in this trial, the body cam footage?
HONIG: Yes, John, I've taught police departments on how to use body cameras. And I would always say, body cameras will protect good cops and they'll expose the bad ones. And the power of body cameras is it puts the jury directly in the police officer's shoes. It allows the jury to see almost exactly what the police officer saw and heard almost in real time.
Let's take a look at some of the most interesting, most important body camera footage we saw yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roll the window down.
GEORGE FLOYD: Man, I'm scared (INAUDIBLE), man. You guys are the reason -- you're the reason he's going to go off on me, man.
Oh, my God. I can't -- I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe, man. Mom, I love you. (INAUDIBLE), I love you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got (INAUDIBLE).
FLOYD: Tell me kids I love them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: OK.
HONIG: This will allow the jury to make the key decision in the case. In that situation that we just saw, was Derek Chauvin's conduct reasonable and necessary or was it excessive and hence criminal?
AVLON: All right, Elie Honig, thank you very much. Very helpful. We're going to have to leave it there for now.
HONIG: Thanks, John.
AVLON: We'll see you tomorrow. All right, New York prosecutors haves reportedly subpoenaed the personal bank records of the Trump Organization's long-time chief financial officer.
[06:45:01]
So what does this mean for former President Trump? That's next.
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CAMEROTA: We have an update now into the criminal investigation into the Trump Organization.
CNN has reviewed sworn depositions and interviews with former employees and found that former President Trump had repeatedly pushed responsibility for dubious financial filings onto his chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, but the documents also reveal that Trump himself was, in fact, deeply involved in his company's financial decisions.
CNN's Kara Scannell joins us now with her reporting.
What have you learned, Kara.
KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Alisyn, good morning.
I mean one thing to look at here is this 2007 deposition where former President Donald Trump is under oath and he's asking -- he's asked questions about how did he prepare his financial statement and come up with the values for his properties. And in this deposition Donald Trump says, under oath, that most of these decision ultimately came down to his chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg.
Here's what he said. Trump said, he shows me what he ultimately comes up with and I am not sure I ever said change this number or change that number.
[06:50:02]
He shows me. We'll talk about it. He'll do it.
And twice when Trump was asked specifically about the values ascribed to Trump Tower and a golf course, both times the former president said, Mr. Weisselberg did that one.
But the deposition also reveals that Donald Trump was very involved. He was asked point blank if he had inflated the value of his assets. Trump said, not beyond reason. He was asked, did he exaggerate. Trump said, everybody does. Who wouldn't.
And they asked him specifically about one of these properties, Seven Springs, it's the family estate in New York, just north of New York City, and in these documents, the financial statement, Trump had valued that property one year at $80 million, the next year at $150 million. So the lawyer asked Trump, what made up for that huge leap in value? And Trump said, that was based on his opinion. He was asked, did you consult any appraisers or any experts? And Trump said, no, it was his opinion.
So the big question here is, were these embellishments something that falls within the norms of New York real estate or did it cross the line into illegal activity. And prosecutors are going through millions of pages of documents, talking to multiple witnesses. One of the key people in this is clearly going to be Allen Weisselberg.
CAMEROTA: It's hard to see how a tens of millions of dollar discrepancy falls into just the normal run of business, but I'll leave that to the prosecutors.
What about Allen Weisselberg? Is he cooperating?
SCANNELL: Well, there is so much attention on Allen Weisselberg right now. Prosecutors are asking questions of witnesses about his sons. They've interviewed his former daughter-in-law multiple times. She told CNN that the focus of those questions was on gifts and compensation that they had received. And "The New York Times" reporting yesterday that the prosecutors have also subpoenaed Allen Weisselberg's personal bank records.
So, prosecutors here are really looking to see if they can find anything to apply leverage on Weisselberg in order to get him to cooperate.
Interesting, in a 2015 deposition, he was asked by a lawyer, you know, are you under the ultimate control of Donald Trump? And Weisselberg said, yes.
So, his lawyer has declined to comment to us but another person who is also talking to prosecutors is Michael Cohen, who was Trump's lawyer for 10 years. He testified before Congress, first raising this issue of whether Donald Trump inflated the value of his assets. And during that testimony, Cohen said that they basically reverse-engineered the numbers to get to the value that Donald Trump wanted. So he is someone that prosecutors have met with, you know, eight times. You know, Donald Trump has called him a liar.
And it's important to note that the Trump organization and the former president have not been accused of any wrongdoing. This is an ongoing investigation. It's a complicated investigation. And the Trump Organization did not comment for us, but they have previously said that they've complied with the law.
Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: Kara, thank you for breaking it down for us and simplifying it. Great reporting.
So the Texas Rangers will be the only major league team with no limit on fans on opening day. What President Biden says about that, next.
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[06:57:17] AVLON: It's opening day for Major League Baseball, one of the best days of the year. And there are going to be fans in the stands this time, but some stadiums are going to be more packed than others.
Coy Wire has more in the "Bleacher Report."
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Top of the morning to you, John.
Twenty-nine of the 30 teams are opening their home schedules at 50 percent capacity or lower. But the Texas Rangers announced plans for a full crowd, more than 40,000 fans, despite the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. The decision met with widespread criticism, including President Biden, who expressed his reservations with ESPN last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I think it's a mistake. They should listen to Dr. Fauci and the scientists and the experts. And -- but I think it's not responsible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: The Washington Nationals will be without five players for today's home opener against the Mets due to a positive COVID test. The unnamed player will be out for ten days. The other four are in quarantine and could be out for as many as seven if they're deemed to have been close context.
Finally, UConn's 19-year-old phenom Paige Bueckers becomes the first freshman ever to win the AP Women's Basketball Player of the Year. Bueckers helped lead the Huskies to their 15th consecutive Final Four, John. They will face Arizona tomorrow night with a trip to the national championship on the line.
AVLON: A freshman won Player of the Year? Incredible.
WIRE: Unreal. She's incredible indeed.
AVLON: Incredible.
All right, good to see you.
All right, NEW DAY continues right now.
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DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER: New video dominated testimony Wednesday, showing the initial moments of George Floyd's arrest.
OFFICER DEREK CHAUVIN: I had to control this guy because he's a sizable guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, and I thought -- I thought he didn't get in the car. (INAUDIBLE).
CHAUVIN: It looks like he's probably on something. CHARLES MCMILLIAN, WITNESS: I have had interaction with officers
myself and I understand once you get in the cuff, you can't win. You're done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New cases are climbing. The national daily average up a quarter in the last week.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even though kids don't get super sick, having them vaccinated is just going to be so helpful for us getting this virus under control.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are so close, so very close to getting back to the everyday activities, but we're not quite there yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
CAMEROTA: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY.
John Berman is off. John Avlon is here.
Great to have you here this morning.
AVLON: Good to be here.
CAMEROTA: We do begin with breaking news.
A child is among four people killed in a mass shooting at a Southern California office complex. Police say a fifth victim and the gunman were critically injured. The gunmen is in custody. There's no motive for the shooting that is known yet at this hour. But the epidemic of gun violence in America has claimed at least two dozen lives in just the last two weeks. We will go live to the scene with what we know.
[07:00:02]
AVLON: And more traumatic testimony from witnesses in the Derek Chauvin trial on the final moments of George Floyd's life.
