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More Witnesses in Chauvin Trial; Russian Military Buildup in Arctic; Federal Stimulus for Schools; Stanford Wins Women's NCAA Championship. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired April 05, 2021 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That was on duty that night as medical experts tried to save Georg Floyd's life.

Now, for his part, the chief has -- we've heard from him publically. Obviously Chauvin was fired. And so we expect, as a prosecution witness, he will continue this theme that we have heard from the law enforcement officers here, and that is that Chauvin was not acting as a police officer should for the medical expert's part, the doctor that was there on duty that night, according to the opening statements from the prosecution. This was a doctor who supervised taking blood samples from Floyd and obviously trying to -- trying to work on him and save him. That's going to be key because the defense's strategy here has been to focus on George Floyd, perhaps turn the tables saying it wasn't Chauvin's actions that resulted in his death but perhaps the idea that he was under the influence of drugs. And that may have contributed to his death.

So we expect prosecutors to have this doctor explain what happen and then we expect the defense, according to what we've seen in the past, to really go after that medical causation with the cause of death.

Again, the trial will get started here again just in a few hours. We will be covering it. We will, obviously, continue to bring you the very latest.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Josh Campbell, thank you so much for your reporting from Minneapolis. Appreciate it.

To understand the significance of what we're seeing and what we will see this week, we're joined by CNN legal analyst Elie Honig. He's a former state and federal prosecutor.

So, Elie, look, the police chief, testifying. This is not something you see every day in a trial like this. How significant?

ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Get ready. This is going to be a crucial make or break moment in this trial. And we have a good sense of what the chief is going to testify to because he gave a public statement last year, just a month or so after the murder. Here's what Chief Arradondo said. Mr. George Floyd's tragic death was

not due to a lack of training. The training was there. Chauvin knew what he was doing. The officers knew what was happening. One intentionally caused it and the others failed to prevent it. This was murder. It wasn't a lack of training.

John, there is no ambiguity about what he said here. This was murder. That's going to be an incredibly dramatic moment when a chief takes the stand to testify against one of his own former officers.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So, Elie, if you were prosecuting this case right now, how would you feel about your chances for a conviction after what we've heard the past week?

HONIG: At this point, as a prosecutor, I would be thrilled with how this case has come in. The evidence has been clear and compelling.

Now, one of the factors here is, we have so much evidence from the video footage, the body camera footage, the cell phone footage, the surveillance video. I've never seen a case with so much on video. And, as a result, there's really very little question about who did what to whom exactly when from all different angles.

On top of that, we've heard from a series of really credible, compelling witnesses.

Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Floyd was vocalizing his -- his sorryness (ph) and his pain and his distress that he was going through.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They got his knee on his neck, between his neck and back, holding him down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His knee was kneeling on his neck. There was two other officers holding him down as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three grown men is a lot of putting all their weight on somebody is too much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HONIG: The defense offered really very little resistance to these witnesses. They didn't cross-examine some of them and they made only really minor points to the others.

But let me say this, I've been in this position before. As the prosecutor, you feel good a few days in. Mark my words, the defense will push back hard this week.

BERMAN: Yes, you feel good before the defense actually gets in the game.

HONIG: Right. BERMAN: So what do you expect from the defense, Elie?

HONIG: Yes, so the first issue they're going to raise is this issue of police training. The prosecution's arguing that Chauvin's actions violated policy and training. The defense is going to take issue with that.

We heard on Friday, the last witness, Lieutenant Zimmerman, the most senior member of the police force, who said that Chauvin's actions were totally unnecessary and dangerous. But the defense gave us a hint in their opening of how they're going to push back.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC NELSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR DEREK CHAUVIN: You will learn that Derek Chauvin did exactly what he had been trained to do over the course of his 19-year career.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HONIG: So that will be the defense. But let me tell you, both from common sense and from my own experience working with police, it's going to be hard to understand how it could possibly be police training and policy to put a knee to someone's neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds. We'll see how they make that case today.

BERMAN: All right, Elie Honig, we will be watching very carefully, as will you. Thanks so much for being with us.

HONIG: Thank you.

BERMAN: So CNN has exclusive new images showing Russia's huge military buildup in the arctic. New details about a torpedo the Russians are developing that could cause what we're told are radioactive tsunamis in U.S. cities, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:50]

CAMEROTA: We have exclusive satellite images and details that reveal a massive Russian buildup in the arctic and that Russia's testing new weapons. Experts are particularly concerned about a stealth torpedo designed to get past coastal defenses.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has more in this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice over): It's a new frontier, expanding for all the wrong reasons with pushy neighbors rushing in. Russia is seeing the Arctic ice melt fast and filling the gap with a military buildup, some of it on Alaska's doorstep, not seen since the cold war. Key is a new generation of superweapons, like the Poseidon, 120 mile

an hour nuclear propelled stealth torpedo. It's designed, say Russian officials, to sneak past U.S. coastal defenses and detonate a warhead, causing a radioactive tsunami to hit the East Coast with contaminated water. Experts told CNN the weapon is, quote, very real. It will be tested in the summer near Norway, whose intelligence head said it's not only the ecological damage that could be bad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is in the testing phase. It's a strategic system and it's aimed at targets that has then an influence far beyond the region in which they test it currently.

[06:40:08]

WALSH: Some said Russian President Vladimir Putin was fantasizing when he revealed this and other new weapons, like the hypersonic Zircon missile in 2018. But continuing development and tests make them very real.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Russia is projecting an image as it's developing new technology. And this, of course, is destabilizing the strategic balance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are now starting to develop those capabilities that could reach the United States and its NATO allies.

WALSH: That's not all Russia is up to. CNN has obtained satellite images revealing the persistent buildup of Russian bases along its northern coastline, part of what a U.S. State Department official called a military challenge. Close to Alaska, at Provideniya and Wrangel Island, the two new radar stations with stationed in Anadyr a quick reaction alert force of bombers and jets. West in Kotelny, a thin strip of land has seen over seven years the slow growth of a large air strip. And in the Nagurskoye, in the northernmost point, is another base that's sprung up since 2015, one of several in the Arctic decorated in the colors of the Russian flag.

Nagurskoye and the nearby airfield of Rogachevo are both home to Mig 31 jets, recent arrivals. And further west at Olenya Guba, on the Kola peninsula, over the past four years experts believe a storage facility has slowly being built up for the Poseidon torpedo.

WALSH (on camera): Russia has had its eye on becoming the Arctic power for years and is now moving to make that happen. Yes, this is its coastline for sure, but U.S. officials have expressed concerns to me that this buildup is not just about protecting, it's also about projecting power across the ice even toward the North Pole.

WALSH (voice over): There are new resources to exploit under the ice, yes, but Russia released this video in January of the first time a freighter got through the ice in the east in the thick winter to sell a new trade route along its northern coast. It's a possible money maker for the Kremlin, cutting the current journey time from Asia to Europe through the Suez Canal nearly in half.

U.S. officials voiced concerns to CNN that Russia is already demanding ships use Russian crews and get permission to cross it. In response to Russia's buildup, the U.S. has sent B-1 bombers to fly out of and Marines to train in Norway. Who gets there first makes the rules, they say, in the rush for a place nobody should want to be conquerable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: Now, Alisyn, of course, we did reach out to the Russian foreign ministry for comment and to Russian experts too. We received no response to that. And Russia has always maintained that its goals there are economic and peaceful. Simply about developing their northern coastline. Remember, it is their coast. But it's a coastline. They've always been able to rely on the ice to act as a natural defensive for them and that ice is disappearing. So amongst all that talk there and military hardware of doomsday weapons like the Poseidon, frankly, for me, the most terrifying aspect is quite how fast that ice is disappearing.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Nick, what an incredible report and just incredible evidence that you've been able to show us. Thank you very much for that.

OK, developing this morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appearing in court for the start of his corruption trial. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The trial was delayed several times due to coronavirus restrictions and last month's general election which ended in another deadlock.

BERMAN: Dramatic developments next door in Jordan this morning, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. The government is accusing the former crown prince, Hamzah bin Hussein, the half-brother of Jordan's King Abdullah, of plotting to destabilize the country. Official say they intercepted communications with foreign entities about a plan that would undermine the country's stability and security. In a new audio recording, Hamzah says he's been forced into isolation and banned from communicating with the outside world.

So, how will schools use coronavirus relief money to get children safely back into the classroom? We're going to tell you what one Oklahoma school district is doing, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:27]

CAMEROTA: School kids have struggled this year through remote learning, but now schools are getting nearly $130 billion in coronavirus relief funds.

CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro reports on how one school district plans to make the stimulus work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EBONY JOHNSON, CHIEF LEARNING OFFICER, TULSA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: We've always wanted to make this happen, so let's make it happen. EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As another

challenging school year is coming to an end, educators across the country, like Tulsa Public Schools Chief Learning Officer Ebony Johnson, are dreaming about the future.

JOHNSON: We've been through so much as a country through the pandemic, and so to be able to get these dollars, it's exciting because we get to dream. So let's do.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Federal money is coming into districts within the next 60 days. Tulsa Superintendent Deborah Gist says it will help get schools back to where they were pre-pandemic and possibly make them better than they were.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (on camera): You have more tools available to you now than you have had maybe in a long time. So what does that mean?

DEBORAH GIST, SUPERINTENDENT, TULSA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: So for us, you know, in Oklahoma, we do not invest inadequately in public education. So this investment will allow us to not only to provide direct services to our children and families, but it's also going to help us grow and expand.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): The $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, approved by Congress last month, sets aside $129 billion for education. Those dollars flow from Washington across the country and end in states where they're dispersed to school districts like the one in Tulsa. District leaders divide it between all their schools.

[06:50:05]

So some of it will land here, at Monroe Demonstration Academy Middle School.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being able to now be back in person with the social distancing, with masks, with desk shields has been amazing to watch kids really just get back into the groove of things.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Tulsa leaders expect their school system to get around $128 million from the American Rescue Plan Act over the next three years. That money is earmarked to not only get classrooms open, but for summer enrichment programs, after school child care, even a graduation boot camp free to all students.

JOHNSON: Graduation is priority, and you still need one or two credits left to graduate, and we need to help you get there.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Back at Monroe, interim principal Rob Kaiser is excited about what this new money can do.

ROB KAISER, INTERIM PRINCIPAL, MONROE DEMONSTRATION ACADEMY MIDDLE SCHOOL: So every student will be able to -- to enroll in summer camp if they'd like.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (on camera): Do you get the feeling that students are excited about going to school all summer? KAISER: I do. I do. And I think its -- it's changing the narrative

behind what school is. This is going to be a time where kids are going to come in and we're going to get some academics done in the morning and then we're going to have some opportunities for kids to really explore their interests, be around their friends, to be kids.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice over): Nicholas Lopez (ph), an eighth grader, is looking forward to graduation and starting high school. He says the newly funded programs at Monroe can have a big impact on students like him.

NICHOLAS LOPEZ, EIGHTH GRADER, MONROE DEMONSTRATION ACADEMY MIDDLE SCHOOL: I hope it actually does go according to plan. I'd like it to happen. Like, it's going to get us back to the way we were before the pandemic. I don't know if I'm saying that right.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: School administrators are now poised to execute that plan.

GIST: It's our responsibility as educators at the student level to ensure that we are excellent stewards of these taxpayer dollars.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: And to insure this funding can make a lasting impact beyond the short term.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a teacher, right, so I'm -- I'm more on the front lines of this than understanding exactly how the budget is being lined out and, you know, knowing what dollars are going where. That stuff can't happen without the stimulus money. And we're really excited.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Evan McMorris-Santoro, CNN, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Our thanks to Evan for that.

OK, John, March Madness ends tonight and I think when you see my position in the CNN bracket challenge, you will reconsider my sports genius and everything you thought you knew about it.

BERMAN: I'm going to rethink everything about you. This changes everything.

CAMEROTA: Yes, because this will make you -- this -- it does. It really does change everything you thought you knew. So more about my closet sports knowledge and, of course, the national title game next in the "Bleacher Report."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:56:54]

BERMAN: All right, what a game this was. Stanford holds off Arizona to win the Women's College Basketball National Championship for the first time in 29 years.

Andy Scholes in the "Bleacher Report," live from Indianapolis, the site of tonight's men's title game.

And, Andy, man, last night's game, the Cardinals, they did it.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: They did. And what a journey this season has been for Stanford, John, you know, because the entire women's tournament was there in Texas and because of COVID protocols in their home state of California, Stanford spent a whopping 87 nights in hotels this season. But, in the end, it was all worth it for their team. Their game against Arizona last night just an absolute thriller.

Under three minutes to go, Haley Jones going to get the bucket, plus the foul. That puts Stanford up by four. Now, Arizona had a chance to win this game in the closing seconds. Five seconds left. Down by one. They get the ball to Aari McDonald but Stanford just all over her. Her shot, no good. Stanford wins 54-53. Tara VanDeveer, the winningest coach in women's college basketball history, now has her third national title, her first since 1992.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TARA VANDEVEER, STANFORD HEAD COACH: It was a very, very tough tournament. To play the three games in a week, you know, to deal with all the COVID stuff, I'm so proud of our team.

KIANA WILLIAMS, STANFORD GUARD: To win this for Tara and in the same year that she's become the all-time winningest coach, it just -- it just means everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right, the men, meanwhile, will crown a champion here in Indianapolis later on tonight. And it's the matchup all of college basketball has been waiting for, Gonzaga versus Baylor. They've been the best two teams all season long. And they were supposed to meet back in December, but that game was actually canceled due to COVID. So fitting they will now play with the national title on the line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK FEW, GONZAGA HEAD COACH: I think the way it turned out is probably the best scenario you could possibly imagine for college basketball in general, and even ex-sports, you know, in America.

SCOTT DREW, BAYLOR HEAD COACH: There's something about the first time you play and the excitement about that, trying to think how things will go and how they'll play out. I think this is -- this is perfect how it's worked out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right, to baseball. The Texas Rangers set to host their home opener today against the Blue Jays. They are allowing 100 percent capacity for the game, the first U.S. sports team to do so since the pandemic started. Tickets are still available, John. It will be interesting to see how many fans show up. We have not seen a full baseball stadium since the 2019 World Series between the Astros and the Nationals.

CAMEROTA: Andy, I don't feel like you're talking enough about my bracket position. I'm number two in all of CNN.

SCHOLES: OK.

CAMEROTA: I am right behind John King.

SCHOLES: Yes.

CAMEROTA: I've gotten to be number two.

SCHOLES: Second place behind John King.

CAMEROTA: Like, ahead of you --

SCHOLES: Only 1.2 decided you (ph). Yes.

BERMAN: Andy's not impressed.

SCHOLES: So I went a little bit too much with my heart there. So, I, you know, I picked Houston over Baylor, which turns out to be a massive mistake considering how that game went Saturday night. But that was where a lot of people failed, right?

[07:00:01]

I went to the University of Houston. I wanted to pick my team.

Alisyn, you're just -- next season, I tell you what, I'm coming to you. I'm going to come to you for advice on the bracket, helping me fill it.