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CDC: 68M in the U.S. Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19; FDA Will Evaluate Pfizer's Request to Allow COVID Vaccine for Kids Ages 12-15 as Quickly as Possible Amidst Growing Hot Spots in Michigan and Elsewhere; Medical Examiner: Drugs, Heart Disease Not "Direct Causes" of Floyd's Death; Evacuation Efforts Underway After Volcano Erupts Twice on Caribbean Island; Joe Musgrove Throws First No-Hitter in Padres History. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired April 10, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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


[06:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): "CNN SPECIAL REPORT: THE TRUTH ABOUT VACCINES," tonight at 9:00.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Cases and emergency room visits are up. We are seeing these increases in younger adults.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Our current seven-day average is now 3 million vaccinations per day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Scattered reports of COVID-19 infecting those who've been vaccinated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Witnesses clearly told the jury that Derek Chauvin used, quote, "excessive and deadly force." on George Floyd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Floyd's use of fentanyl did not cause the subdual or neck restraint.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): There's no evidence to suggest he would have died that night except for the interactions with law enforcement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): The House Ethics Committee announced it has launched an investigation into Congressman Gaetz for a laundry list of potential violations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): I'll bet that unless he's actually convicted and behind bars, this will be a badge of honor for him.

REP. MATT GAETZ, (R) FLORIDA: They aren't really coming for me. They're coming for you. I'm just in the way.

(END VIDEO TAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: New York City, beautiful at 6:00 a.m. Good morning to you. Thanks so much for being with us. Listen, the coronavirus vaccination race is in a critical stretch. You've got the variant-driven rises in cases, particularly in young people, and vaccine hesitancy. Those are among other hurdles that the U.S. is still facing.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. More than 80,000 new COVID cases were added just yesterday, the third day in a row that the U.S. has logged 75,000 new cases or more. Now, the often-cited model from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation forecasts more than 618,000 deaths by August 1st. That total jumps to more than 697,000 if fully vaccinated people return to pre-pandemic levels of mobility and it drops if people where masks.

BLACKWELL: So right now, you've got a little more than 20 percent of Americans fully vaccinated, nearly 60 percent of people 65 and older and more than 3 million people are getting a shot on average every day. We could soon see children as young as 12 have access to a vaccine too.

PAUL: Yes. The governor of Michigan says her state and other hot spots need the vaccines. They need them because they're surging right now, a change in strategy that the White House says it is not pursuing.

BLACKWELL: There is a lot to get to with CNN's Polo Sandoval. He joins us live from Detroit. Polo, you're in a mass vaccination site. Michigan is really seeing a rough climb right now.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Victor, as we heard from Michigan's governor, just put it yesterday, is that her state remains, in her -- in her words, unquestionably still a COVID hot spot throughout the country. Just consider alone the test positivity rate right now at about 18 percent. To put things into perspective, that is almost four times what we're seeing in February.

When you hear from Michigan state officials, they will tell you that all of these numbers will show that there is clearly broad community spread that's happening right here and it's really highlighting the need for younger people to get vaccinated.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Pfizer has requested to expand the emergency use authorization of the drug maker's COVID-19 vaccine to include people ages 12 to 15 in the U.S. The FDA will evaluate the request as quickly as possible, said the agency's acting commissioner, Janet Woodcock. The FDA currently allows the vaccines used in people 16 and up. The other two COVID-19 vaccines in the United States made by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are authorized for emergency use in people ages 18 and older.

CDC is aware of several incidents involving adverse reactions to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in four states, says the CDC.

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: And that's something that needs to be investigated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

WEN: People do just get blood clots and when you have millions of people who get the vaccine, some people are going to get blood clots. So important to investigate, but right now, I am not concerned for myself or for anybody else who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Johnson & Johnson also working closely with the FDA to resolve any manufacturing issues at the emergent facility in Baltimore.

JEFF ZIENTS, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: The company also expects the cadence of up to 8 million weekly doses in total across state and federal channels later in April. Importantly, Johnson & Johnson has also reiterated its commitment to provide at or near 100 million vaccine doses by the end of May.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Currently, more than one in four adults are now fully vaccinated in the U.S. Experts hope to get more Americans vaccinated quickly as lockdown fatigue takes its toll, just as more transmissible variants of the virus become dominant.

[06:05:07]

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONA INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I don't think that there needs to be concern about any shift or change in the efficacy of the vaccine.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): All 50 states have committed to opening vaccinations to all Americans 16 up by April 19th

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: As cases increase in the community, we expect that cases identified in schools will also increase. This is not necessarily indicative of school-based transmission.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Duke University, the latest of at least 16 colleges and universities to require all students to receive COVID-19 vaccines. As states including California and Vermont plan to fully reopen this summer, experts are warning that to truly declare victory against the variants, Americans need to get vaccinated and continue mitigation measures.

DR. VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: We still have high confidence that these vaccines are effective, but because they are not perfect is precisely why we are still urging people to be cautious. It's why we still have such an emphasis on getting the overall case numbers down which mean -- which we can only do by vaccinating and by making sure that people, until we have a critical mass vaccinated, are wearing masks, keeping distance, washing their hands, avoiding indoor gatherings.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

SANDOVAL: And because of this ongoing surge in the numbers here in Michigan, we saw state officials try to make a case for a surge in vaccination numbers here, at least in their supplies, especially when you consider that Michigan may account for about 3 percent of the U.S. population, but at the same time, it's also averaging about 11 percent of new COVID cases throughout the entire country.

So, as we heard from the governor, it would be clear that the amount of the vaccine that are being allotted here should be much higher, but so far, a member of Biden's COVID response team saying that that would not be fair to other states, Victor.

PAUL: All right. Polo Sandoval, we appreciate it, Polo. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Saju Mathew is with us now. He's a public health specialist and primary care physician in Atlanta. Doctor, good morning to you. Let me start here with Johnson & Johnson and the adverse reactions to some of those doses. Four states, Iowa, Colorado, North Carolina, Georgia, a couple of areas paused vaccinations, some have resumed now. CDC has acknowledged reports of vaccine recipients experiencing dizziness, lightheadedness, feeling faint, rapid breathing and sweating.

Normal side effects or is this something that people should be concerned about?

DR. SAJU MATHEW, PUBLIC HEALTH SPECIALIST AND PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN: Well, you know, good morning, Victor. Any time you have side effects to any vaccine, it's something we have to pay close attention to. If you look at how people get vaccinated in large numbers, as the numbers increase, you are going to find that people will have side effects.

The good news about most vaccines is the side effects are minor, maybe pain at the injection site, fever and chills, but when somebody passes out or feels dizzy, yes, that is a rare side effect and we just need to make sure that we have fluids, that patients can actually lay down until their blood pressure comes up, but overall, I'm not concerned. Again, as you start vaccinating more and more people, you are going to find some of these rare side effects.

PAUL: But with Johnson & Johnson, kind of with them pulling back on those vaccinations as we're seeing 3 million people a day vaccinated, if that number starts to dwindle, are you concerned about the amount of vaccinations that will be available to people?

MATHEW: Yes. Good morning, Christi. No, actually I don't because I think that we have enough supply of Moderna and Pfizer to actually vaccinate every American, including kids when it gets the emergency use authorization. And technically speaking, I hate to say and almost sound arrogant that we don't necessarily need the Johnson & Johnson or the AstraZeneca, but if there are more players in the field, obviously the better in terms of availability and vaccinating rapidly.

BLACKWELL: How long do you expect it will be until there will be the EUA emergency use authorization extended for the Pfizer vaccine potentially for those 12 to 15 year olds?

MATHEW: I think it's going to happen fairly quickly, and the good news is because we've already done the hard work in 30,000 to 40,000 people, the adult population. The EUA already has gone through with the FDA for Pfizer and Moderna and we can actually use what's called like a bridge trial, meaning we can look at the response in adults and make sure that we get that same antibody response in young kids. So, I think because the hard work has already been done, the EUA should be -- should go through fairly quickly for our kids 12 to 15.

PAUL: Now, I know that you have said the faces in ICUs are changing, they're younger people. Is that due to the variants that are out there? I mean, what is the assumption and what is the danger in that? How are they doing?

[06:10:02]

MATHEW: Yes. So, a couple reasons. Number one, at the beginning of the pandemic 12 months ago, we wanted to protect the high-risk vulnerable population. So obviously this would be people over 65 that can have severe effects and deaths and dying really from COVID, but now that we have more availability of the vaccines and we're protecting the elderly, you're actually finding that the demographics are changing.

It's now the younger people and in fact, in kids below the age of 18 in youth sports, Christi, people that are -- kids that are playing soccer, screaming, shouting, having victory parties with the team after, they come home and transmit the infection to adults and then these middle-aged parents are now presenting to the hospital.

So that's what I meant by the faces in the ICUs are changing. So, for our viewers that are listening to us, nobody is immune from COVID and our young people need to get vaccinated, including our kids, because this variant is way more transmissible and deadly.

BLACKWELL: So, you talked about the young people. Let me ask you about one older person specifically. That's Dr. Fauci who told "Business Insider" that he's still not going to restaurants or movie theaters despite being fully vaccinated more than two weeks out from that second shot. He says he won't go into a crowded place where people are not wearing masks. Now, we don't know -- he didn't really expound upon that. He's in his 80s.

What should we consider when we're fully vaccinated? I mean, the point was to get back to those places, right?

MATHEW: Right. I mean, I respect exactly how Dr. Fauci's trying to be, you know, careful. Yes, he is 80 and for patients that are older, the risk of getting the infection and actually dying and being hospitalized is much higher. So I respect what he's saying, but we need to give people an incentive, Victor, to get vaccinated. If you get vaccinated and we're telling people you just still have to stay at home and can't do much, what's the incentive? That's going to drive the vaccine hesitancy.

So really if you are vaccinated, you can hang out with other people that are vaccinated, now you can travel safely within the U.S., you don't have to get tested. You also don't need to be isolated if you come in close contact with somebody who has COVID as long as you don't have symptoms. So, I think it's important for us to be forthright and tell people, yes, you have to be safe, the pandemic is not over if you're fully vaccinated, but there's still a lot that you can do once you are at that stage.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And we know that the CDC is changing the guidance as more people are vaccinated and we get further out from those shots. Dr. Saju Mathew, thank you so much.

MATHEW: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: And be sure to join our own Sanjay Gupta on a journey to learn why some people are afraid of vaccines. New "CNN SPECIAL REPORT: THE TRUTH ABOUT VACCINES" is tonight at 9:00.

PAUL: So embattled Florida congressman Matt Gaetz is still defiant amid a sex trafficking investigation, calls for his resignation. What he said last night two Republican women about women and about the allegations.

BLACKWELL: Plus, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on George Floyd takes the stand in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin. You'll hear what he says ultimately contributed to Floyd's death.

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[06:15:00]

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BLACKWELL: Republican congressman Matt Gaetz is facing multiple investigations, but he's making it very clear that he is not resigning. Gaetz denied allegations of sex trafficking and prostitution last night. This was his first speech since the investigations started.

PAUL: Now, the House Ethics Committee is looking into Florida -- the Florida congressman after the Justice Department began their probe. So at least two of his staffers have quit thus far, one GOP colleague has called for his resignation. Here's CNN's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Congressman Matt Gaetz taking to the stage under a cloud of suspicion, promising he is built for battle and not going anywhere.

GAETZ: The smears against me range from distortions of my personal life to wild, and I mean wild, conspiracy theories. I won't be intimidated by a lying media.

KAYE (voice-over): Still, the accusations against Gaetz have at least one member of his own party calling for him to resign. Why does Rep Adam Kinzinger think he should go? The accusations are stacking up. "The Daily Beast" now reporting that Gaetz sent two late night Venmo transactions in May 2018 for $900 to his friend Joel Greenberg, a former Seminole County Florida tax collector and accused sex offender.

The next morning, according to the outlet, in an eight-minute span, Greenberg used the same app to send three young women money totaling the same amount.

JOSE PAGLIERY, POLITICAL INVESTIGATIONS REPORTER, THE DAILY BEAST: All of these women are extremely young.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Extremely young meaning what?

PAGLIERY: Well, one just turned 18 about six months before that happened.

KAYE (voice-over): CNN hasn't independently confirmed this report or what the money was used for. From the start, Gaetz has denied doing anything wrong.

GAETZ: It is a horrible allegation, and it is a lie.

KAYE (voice-over): And there's more. Separate from the allegations of sex crimes, "The New York Times" is also reporting investigators have been told of a conversation where Gaetz and a prominent Florida lobbyist discussed arranging a so-called sham candidate in a state Senate race last year to siphon votes from an ally's opponent. They cautioned that aspect of the inquiry was in its early stages.

All of this starting to hit closer to home for the congressman in an unavoidable way. A liberal political action committee has put up this billboard in the Florida panhandle which reads, "Matt Gaetz wants to date your child."

(END VIDEO TAPE)

KAYE: This event was put on by the group Women for America First. So, there were a lot of cheers, a lot of love for Matt Gaetz. This was friendly territory for him. The woman who runs this organization is a long-time supporter of Donald Trump and Matt Gaetz really tried to bring the crowd to his side even more so, making them feel as though it was all -- they were all in this together.

[06:20:10] He told the crowd, "When you see the leaks and the lies and the falsehoods and the smears and insiders forecasting my demise, they aren't really coming for me, they're coming for you." Gaetz told the crowd this was a week full of encouragement and plenty of donations. Randi Kaye, CNN, Doral, Florida.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's bring in now CNN political commentator Errol Louis, political anchor for "Spectrum News" and host of the "You Decide" podcast. Errol, good morning.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Victor.

BLACKWELL: So, let's play for everyone more of what Randi just mentions there, the "They're not coming for me, they're coming for you." Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAETZ: They lie about me because I tell the truth about them and I'm not going to stop. So, when you see the leaks and the lies and the falsehoods and the smears, when you see the anonymous sources and insiders forecasting my device, know this. They aren't really coming for me. They're coming for you. I'm just in the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Errol, he's obviously not the first politician to use this kind of shift. This, you know, to bring the crowd onto his side rarely holds up, though, and especially when the allegations are of this type.

LOUIS: Well, that's right. These are allegations that are not really just he said, she said. Much of this is documented electronically according to all of the reporting. I mean, we'll know all of this as the investigations play out, but the reality is either you set the Venmo, or you didn't. Either you sent the e-mail, or you didn't. Either your co-conspirator allegedly is testifying against you or he's not.

So that doesn't really hold up and then of course there's the other part of it, Victor. When he says they're coming after me because I'm in the way, well, those are the words of somebody perhaps who has done some real accomplishments legislatively, but what has Matt Gaetz done in his short time in Congress that would justify some grand conspiracy to try and get at him or chase him out of office unfairly?

And the answer is nothing at all. I mean, he's been a political combatant, he's been one of those most vocal pro-Trump supporters, but the politics have changed. You know, other than doing that, I'm not sure anybody would give Matt Gaetz the time of day, which is why he's always been engaged in these kind of publicity stunts which brought him a lot of attention. That, of course, is now backfiring, Victor.

BLACKWELL: So, let's talk about this new commission that President Biden has created to study expanding the Supreme Court. Gives them six months to study it and come up with a report. Just for context, here's what then candidate former Vice President Joe Biden said about what's called court packing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would not get into court packing. We add three justices. Next time around, we lose control, they add three justices. We begin to lose any credibility for the court has it all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So how do you receive this? Is this is just, you know, the campaign promise to study it, maybe placate some on the left of his party or do you think there's potentially a real shift happening here? LOUIS: No, well, it's exactly right. He has to honor this campaign pledge. There are a number of people, and not all of them are on the far left, who have said, look, we need to look at this, that if the Republicans who at the time controlled the Senate are going to change up the rules on us and ram through all of these not just the Supreme Court justices, but a whole range of other justices, we got to look at this whole question.

We've got to look at the filibuster question. We've got to look at what kind of a pipeline we have. We've got to look at when judges retire, perhaps there should be a retirement age. There are a lot of different questions out there. Joe Biden institutionalist hates the idea of making fundamental changes. In the clip that you just played, you know, he's making clear. He's like, listen, we can do fine under the system that we have now.

On the other hand, he has to honor that pledge. He has to let people know that he's taking it seriously. There's a possibility, I think a slim possibility, Victor, that they may find something in the course of looking at this over a few months that might shed new light on this and might change the administration's mind that something might be a ground swell of support from the democratic base.

So we should expect to see a lot of judicial activism, if you want to call it that. The groups that care about these questions are going to try and mobilize their supporters, flood the White House, put pressure on Congress and try and make this a real, live issue and try and change the President's mind.

BLACKWELL: Yes, but let's remember that the president nominates. It's those members of the Senate who confirm and if Joe Manchin, who comes up in every conversation about anything that has to get through the Senate, if he's not willing to go through legislation or vote for legislation without bipartisan support, it seems very unlikely that he's going to vote to add two justices to the Supreme Court.

[06:25:07] LOUIS: That's right. I mean, as you try and play it out, it's unclear where they're going to get the votes to try and make any kind of a fundamental change. On the other hand, there are a lot of -- there are a lot of different things that could be traded for Joe Manchin's vote. Joe Manchin says he's rigid, but if you go and talk to him about some other priorities for him like money for his state, for example, to take the easiest example, he may come around.

So this is all just kind of a chess move. This commission is a chess move. Joe Biden's doing it, I think, again, politically necessary, perhaps a little bit reluctantly and we'll see who makes the next move, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes. The return of earmarks. We'll see if that influences some senators. Errol Louis, thanks so much.

LOUIS: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Christi? PAUL: So a new report from the Capitol police inspector general exposes more failures ahead of the January 6th attack on the Capitol. According to the report, the Department of Homeland Security warned Capitol police two weeks before the attack that maps of the tunnels used by members of Congress were posted on a pro Donald Trump website.

Now, the report also suggests the Department's leadership failed to stay on top of routine housekeeping items. The summary shows shields were not stored at the correct temperature, rendering them ineffective, and some ammunition armory was also expired. The Capitol police inspector generals expected to testify on Capitol Hill next week.

BLACKWELL: Friday's witnesses, the testimony in the Derek Chauvin murder trial may prove to be the most important. The medical examiner who performed George Floyd's autopsy, he took the stand. Was what he said enough to convince the jury that Derek Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck was the cause of his death?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:00]

BLACKWELL: The second week of testimony in the Derek Chauvin murder trial wrapped with the medical examiner who performed George Floyd's autopsy, telling the jury that Floyd had underlying conditions, but it was ultimately his interactions with Chauvin that caused him to rule Floyd's death a homicide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW BAKER, MEDICAL EXAMINER, HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA: The other significant conditions are things that played a role in the death but didn't directly cause the death. So, for example, you know, Mr. Floyd's use of fentanyl did not cause the subdual or neck restraint. His heart disease did not cause the subdual or the neck restraint. In my opinion, the law enforcement subdual, restraint and the neck compression was just more than Mr. Floyd could take by virtue of that -- those heart conditions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Now, while Floyd's drug use and heart problems didn't change the medical examiner's ruling, the defense was able to get this admission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC NELSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: When, in your opinion, both the heart disease as well as the history of hypertension and the drug, the drugs that were in his system played a role in Mr. Floyd's death?

BAKER: In my opinion, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Now, still, the Floyd family is hopeful. They told CNN's Don Lemon last night they are positive justice will be served here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they're doing an excellent job, and I think we're going to get justice in this case. I'm 99.9 percent sure.

DON LEMON, CNN: That you're going to get justice?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, definitely --

LEMON: Yes --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So, Derek Chauvin's trial is expected to resume Monday morning. CNN is going to be back in court, bring you the testimony live as we have been doing all week. I want to talk to criminal defense attorney and CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson who has been watching with us. Joey, I know -- I want to get to that point that we were just hearing from medical examiner Andrew Baker. How do you balance those two assessments of heart disease and drugs did play a role in his death, but they weren't a direct cause of that death? What does that leave the jury with?

JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, great question, Christi, good morning to you. So, in having this discussion, it's very important to understand the rules of engagement. What am I referring to? I'm referring to the jury instructions that the judge will be instructing the jury on later at the conclusion of the trial when they go and deliberate. And what those jury instructions say is that you don't have to determine that the knee on the neck, the compression was the sole cause. You just have to determine that it was a substantial cause. And that's very important because what the defense is doing here very skillfully, I would add, is pointing to all of these other contributing factors. Like what?

Like 90 percent blockage of the arteries. Like issues with respect to hypertension. Like methamphetamine, like fentanyl. Like a number of things that were going on in George Floyd's body that really are contributing causes. And we saw that admission there. But at the end of the day, the jury has to conclude not that these were -- this was the sole cause, the kneeling on the neck, but that it was the substantial cause. And I think, Christi, in conclusion, what you have to do is you have to look at George Floyd in that cup food, an hour before at the store, the convenient store. And then you look at him an hour later and you say to yourself, but for that interaction with Chauvin, would he be dead? And I think the answer to that question to the jury is really where the balance of this trial lies with respect to convicting or finding not guilty.

PAUL: So, I mean, there's only one juror that you have to convince at the end of the day, that he is not responsible for this. But when you look at what you were just talking about, trying to balance these two different ways of looking at it, does that leave some space somewhere for a jury to convict on a lesser charge? Is that even optional?

[06:35:00]

JACKSON: So, it's a great question. And here's what you also -- right, we also have to discuss. When you talk about what you did, very -- you know, very wise to point out, you just need one and that leads to a mistrial. The further rules of engagement say that there's this standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. A very high standard in which you have to meet if you're a juror to conclude that, you know what? He's not guilty or he's guilty, OK? So, then you take that, and you add the issue of jurors not liking to convict police, right, historically, that's been the case. If police are indicted, they're not convicted. Generally, they're not even indicted.

So, you add all of that up and then you look at the charges to your question to what the jury has to look at. And you have to look at the first charge, top count carrying 40 years. Well, what does that say? It says well, if the jury concludes that there was an assault and as a result of Chauvin's assault on George Floyd, that there was the death, that gets you second degree murder. But what if the jury, Christi, says, no, I don't know if it was an assault, he was doing his job, he was detaining him and there was this crowd and the crowd was really kind of milling about, could have represented a danger, and I'm not sure it was an assault.

He could have gotten up, that is, George Floyd, out of this consciousness and really started struggling again. Let's talk about depravity, we've heard a lot of evidence with respect to laying in a prone position, that is face down and chest down and how it restricts breathing and how Chauvin should have put him up on his side. And he kept him there three minutes longer after he was dead. That's been the testimony. And so, the bottom line is, they could conclude that, that was an act of depravity. Just to deprave, thought it was inhumane. That gets you to the third-degree murder charge versus the second count carrying 25 years.

And then finally, to conclude this, the jury says, I don't think it was depravity, but we've heard a lot of evidence with respect to all of these rules and policies and regulations and procedures, and what you should and should not do. And how Chauvin was on notice, having been trained every year for 19 years on them. If the jury concludes he violated those and acted not reasonably, they could say he was negligent, that gets you the manslaughter charge which is the last count that carries ten years. So, the jury has a lot of thinking to do with respect to the options that they have before them.

PAUL: Not only do they have what they are hearing, but in this case, what is so unique is they have what they're seeing with that video and that's just something I guess we're going to have to wait and see how it goes. Joey, we appreciate so much your expertise as always, thank you for being with us all week long.

JACKSON: Thank you so much, Christi.

PAUL: Of course. BLACKWELL: Thousands of people evacuated from the island of Saint

Vincent in the Caribbean just hours before a massive volcanic eruption. We have new images coming in from the volcano.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: So, on the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent, a volcano erupted for the second time Friday. You see here, huge clouds of ash in the sky. Huge sections of the island have been evacuated. Thousands of people placed on commercial ships to neighboring islands.

PAUL: Now, I want you to listen to one of the witnesses who saw the eruption.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON HENRY, JOURNALIST WHO WITNESSED VOLCANIC ERUPTION: People looked up, and there is this huge plume of ash high in the sky. Silent, deadly, dreadful, ominous. And within minutes, you could just feel a change in the mood in the town.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: It's got to feel ominous, doesn't it? CNN's Patrick Oppmann has more on this from Havana.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Months after a volcano on the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent began threatening to erupt on Friday, it did just that. Early Friday morning, the La Soufriere volcano blew ash and rocked thousands of feet into the air and caused people who live in the vicinity of the volcano to have to evacuate. Luckily, the government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines had for days warned people that the volcano was going to explode at any moment and about 6,000 to 7,000 people in the vicinity of this volcano were warned that they needed to leave the area immediately.

The government sending empty cruise ships to carry people out of harm's way. And according to government, now, hundreds of people have taken to shelters and have evacuated the area. There was no immediate word on deaths or damage of two structures because right now people are just warned to stay away from this exploding volcano, as it sends thick plumes of ash into the sky. Another concern is that while these people are being evacuated, while residents are being evacuated and going into shelters, that could cause the spread of the coronavirus to pick up. And so, the government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has warned people that as they're being evacuated, as they go to shelters to try to maintain social distancing, to keep their masks on, to be aware, that of course, they're still in the middle of a pandemic on these islands.

It is not clear how long this volcano will continue to erupt for. It's been about 42 years since the last eruption. But as it continues to put smoke and ash into the sky, it's not safe yet to return.

[06:45:00] And people for the time being -- the government officials are telling

them to simply stay away while the eruption, this very dangerous seismic activity continues. Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

BLACKWELL: Patrick, thank you. So, listen, there is this fantastic new CNN original series. It's "THE PEOPLE VERSUS THE KLAN". This tells the story of Michael Donald, 19-year-old from Mobile, Alabama, he was killed by Klan members in 1981 and his mother Beulah Mae Donald who risked her life fighting for justice for her son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEULAH MAE DONALD, MOTHER OF MICHAEL DONALD: Living in Mobile was a quiet town. It's nothing but all trees. But after March, 1981, it was kind of like creepy to me to just look at the trees. The hurt is still there. The hurt my mom went through, I just visualized her face, and I go like, I'm not going to talk about it today. My mama, Beulah Mae Donald was a quiet woman, she was a good-hearted person, all the neighborhoods that we have lived in, everybody loved her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Watch this series. The CNN original series "THE PEOPLE VERSUS THE KLAN", it premieres Sunday at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

PAUL: We will be right back.

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[06:50:00]

PAUL: There's a crowded leaderboard at the Masters heading into the weekend.

BLACKWELL: Yes, but everyone is chasing one man, Justin Rose. Coy Wire is live from Augusta National for us this morning. Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Victor and Christi, here in the land of azaleas, it's still a rose that's stealing the show. England's Justin Rose saw a four-shot lead slip away early in the second round but rallied on the back nine to get to even par on the day, staying at 7 under for the tournament. He's holding on to a one-shot lead at the midway point. But the question remains, can the two-time Masters runner up sustain? This time around, he's battling a bad back recently, and the only other time he's led a major into the weekend, the Masters in 2004, he finished 22nd.

Rose's playing partner this afternoon may be the biggest surprise of them all, will Zalatoris ranked 2006th in the world 17 months ago, now he's in the top 50, showing no fear on the game's biggest stage for 24-year-old, had five birdies on the back nine yesterday including three straights to put him at one shot off the lead. He's embracing this pressure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WILL ZALATORIS, PLAYING IN FIRST MASTERS: I've wanted to be here my entire life, and you know, some people shy away from that, but, you know, I'm excited to be here. You know, I've wanted to be here forever. So, there's no reason to feel intimidated now. I mean, I've made it to here. And you know, obviously, you know, jobs not done by any means, but you know, I think, you know, standing on the first tee and you know, hearing your name called, that's something that every kid dream of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: To baseball now, Joe Musgrove pitching the first no hitter in Padres history. The 28-year-old who grew up just outside of San Diego was mowing down the Rangers, striking out 10, allowing just one man on base. The Padres have been playing since 1969. They were the only major league team to have never had a no-hitter, not anymore.

All right, now back to golf for difference makers. In 2019, the Drew Charter School in Atlanta made history despite other schools having better equipment and more money for their programs, they became the first all-black boys golf team to win the Georgia High School State title, with last season canceled, they're the defending champs looking to relive their incredible accomplishment when we caught up with them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After we found out we won, we were all really excited because you know, we were the first all-black coach and player team to win. And you know, it was two years ago, still very exciting to think about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I won the title, there was just so much emotion going on, it was just amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It says that no matter where you come from, no matter what type of equipment you have, no matter what you do, if you put your mind to it and if you work hard, you practice every day like you're supposed to, you put in the work, you put in the time, you can ultimately accomplish your goal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I came to the program, a lot of people didn't believe that we could win state championships. Some people didn't believe, some of these kids can go to college to play golf. We've done all of those things.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like I'm at peace playing golf, I'm in my own zone. Helps me to kind of tune out the rest of the world, and it was also a stress reliever for myself because, you know, school is stressful. Life is stressful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Life in 2020, we saw, you know, a lot of bad things happening to bad people. And it's important to think about where we all came from, and we're not just playing for ourselves and playing for our ancestors who couldn't play, who couldn't -- who really couldn't even touch a golf club or even come on a golf course. So, we're always carrying that in our minds, and we want everybody to know that's what we're thinking about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whether we're holding the championship or not, I think we've already won.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This year I want to repeat really bad. I can't describe how bad I want to repeat it, I really want to be on, I really want to win a game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you have faith in yourself and you work hard and you're committed, you'll be successful. The game of golf is just part of what happens in a bigger picture of life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:55:00]

WIRE: I was so motivated after talking to coach, inspired after talking with those young men. Best of luck to Drew Charter School, today's difference makers. And I want to personally thank a difference maker in my life, Victor Blackwell. You did not ask if you could leave us on weekends, but I guess we're going to have to let you do it. And for someone who admittedly does not know much about or maybe even care about sports, you have always given me and my team a platform, and we appreciate that. And you do that because you care about us. And that's why you're a great journalist, you care about your viewers, you work hard, and you care hard. Bald brother, I'm going to miss you and best wishing you all the best.

BLACKWELL: Coy, thank you so much, you and Papoon, I love the work you do so much. All right --

WIRE: Thank you --

BLACKWELL: There will be more, hopefully, no tears later, Coy, thanks so much, NEW DAY continues after a short break.

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