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Jeffrey Storms is Interviewed about Daunte Wright's Death; Pause on J&J Vaccine; Pandemic Worsens Teacher Shortage; William McRaven is Interviewed about Iran, Russia and Ukraine. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 13, 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]

JEFFREY STORMS, ATTORNEY FOR FAMILIES OF DAUNTE WRIGHT AND GEORGE FLOYD: Deployed thousands if not tens of thousands of times is an intentional act. A side arm feels different than a Taser. It looks different than a Taser. Requires different pressure in order to deploy it. So we're going to very much be looking into all of those intentional acts that it took for this officer to squeeze the trigger and kill their son.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I guess, you know, one follow-up to this is, what if it was an accident? What does that do for Daunte Wright this morning?

STORMS: Well, we're just not prepared to say that that was an accident.

BERMAN: Right.

STORMS: But to your point, even if it were an accident, that doesn't bring Daunte Wright back to life. And we certainly have to ask ourselves all those important questions about what led up to that discharge.

BERMAN: Officer Kim Potter, who we believe fired the weapon, what does the family want to see happen with her?

STORMS: Well, they want accountability. So, you know, we're going to hope that the justice system acts swiftly and acts as wholly, you know, as it can. And, you know, we would expect likely some announcements to come in that regard.

BERMAN: In terms of her job or in terms of possible charges?

STORMS: Well, I think we need to wait and see what happens, but I think that either of those two are very real possibilities.

BERMAN: You also represent the family of George Floyd. And yesterday we heard from George Floyd's brother, Philonise, whom we've spoken with here on NEW DAY who adored his brother. And that came out during this testimony yesterday. I just want to play a little bit of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILONISE FLOYD, GEORGE FLOYD'S BROTHER: He was a big mama's boy. I cry a lot, but George, he loved his mom. He will always just be on to her. And, you know, every mother loves all of her kids, but it was so unique how they were with each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: What did the jury -- why was that important for the jury to hear?

STORMS: Well, you know, in a murder case, it's an unusual case because you don't get to hear from the victim. The victim's gone. And so it's really important to hear who George was as a person because he's not there to tell the jury himself. And so that's such an important voice coming from his brother.

BERMAN: And I want to say also, the similarity in hearing that from Philonise Floyd and then hearing what we just heard from Daunte Wright's mother explain that Daunte Wright was a father, he was a son, he was a grandson and he was loved. It just -- these are human beings we're talking about here. And that's something that we have to remember.

STORMS: And that's a critical part of policing, right? We need to remember that, you know, individuals who law enforcement encounter, they're not intended to be the other, right? They're not just inanimate objects. They're real people. They're a part of our society. They're loved. And they're part of the society that these officers have promised to serve.

BERMAN: The defense in the George Floyd -- in the Derek Chauvin trial, the prosecution of Derek Chauvin, the defense will present its case probably beginning today. What do you expect from Derek Chauvin's defense?

STORMS: Well, I think what we've seen sprinkled throughout, right, they don't have a real theory in this case. I think that it's -- they're going to throw everything against the wall, character wise, and see what sticks. But I think we're going to see primarily a desperate attempt to blame George for what happened and to provide the jury with a bunch of junk and misleading science to try to convince them that they shouldn't believe their own eyes and the bevy of very credible experts that they saw already throughout this trial.

BERMAN: Look, there was the body cam for Daunte Wright. There was the bystander footage we've seen for George Floyd. What if this footage didn't exist?

STORMS: You know, our black communities have been telling us for decades before this type of footage did exist that what was happening to them was wrong and many times unlawful. And the video evidence has continued to show us that our black communities were telling us the truth. You know, a case like Daunte Wright's, you, without that video, you could have an officer say, oh, he reached for my gun and so, at that point, I needed to shoot him. Or for, you know, for George Floyd, you know, individuals who have been killed through prone restraint, asphyxiation, oftentimes that doesn't leave significant evidence at autopsy. So the video evidence is what allowed medical examiners to say, you know what, this wasn't some made-up nonsense of excited delirium or some instantaneous seizure or stroke, whatever it might be, this was a prolonged and deliberate restraint that resulted in asphyxiation.

[08:35:15]

BERMAN: Jeffrey Storms, thank you for being with us this morning. Please send our thoughts to the family.

STORMS: Thank you for having me. Will do.

BERMAN: We do have breaking news.

The CDC and the FDA now raising serious safety concerns involving Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccines. Big implications from this news. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Breaking news, significant news, the CDC and the FDA are calling for an immediate pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson's single dose coronavirus vaccine. This comes as six people who got that vaccine developed a rare blood-clotting disorder within about two weeks of vaccination. J&J stock is down more than 2 percent in pre- market trading on the news.

Our chief business correspondent Christine Romans is here.

Obviously, this is huge for J&J.

[08:40:00]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And we're watching to see how this shakes out in the overall market for investors because, Poppy, as you know, stock markets have been predicting and forecasting that vaccinations would be very fast, fast adoption, less hesitancy I think than what we've been seeing. And anything that could -- anything that could cause people to be more hesitant about vaccines or could slow mass vaccination in the United States is something that would be detrimental to the U.S. stock market.

Stock investors have been living in a different world for the past year, right? The S&P 500, the Dow, the Nasdaq are up 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent over the past year because they see into a post- COVID world and the key to that is vaccination. So this hiccup here for Johnson & Johnson is something that we're watching in terms of the broader market overall.

Vaccinations really are the answer. And there's no question here that economy to reopen, reopen safely is going to take millions and millions of people who feel safe to be vaccinated. Now, one reason why I think you're not seeing a bigger sell-off, Poppy

and John, is because there are two vaccines out there with, right now, that are far more widely available in the United States, right? The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, I think, is 7 million doses have been administered. There are tens of millions of other doses of these -- of Moderna and Pfizer. So that, John, is sort of where there's been a lot of energy and not a lot of complaint thus far in terms of side effects.

Also, it's six cases out of millions of doses. Six cases that have had these side effects. So watching closely to see if the market can shake through this.

John.

BERMAN: Christine Romans, thank you very much.

So a pre-existing shortage of teachers is getting worse in the United States. More teachers say they're now leaving the classroom because the stress of the pandemic forced them out.

CNN's Bianna Golodryga has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNETTE LANG, RETIRED TEACHER: Being a teacher isn't just teaching. It's part of who you are. I had no intention of going anywhere, at least for the next four or five years.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Sixty-one-year- old Annette Lang loved her job of 15 years as a teacher in New Jersey. Then, COVID-19 changed everything.

LANG: I had my first panic attack in 60 years of my life.

GOLODRYGA: Lang had reason to worry. Her husband has a pre-existing condition, making him more vulnerable if exposed. She also had concerns about the school building itself.

LANG: Windows in my building don't open. And we had concerns about the ventilation.

GOLODRYGA: She retired in December.

GOLODRYGA (on camera): Do you know of other teachers who made the same decision you did?

LANG: Yes, I do.

GOLODRYGA (voice over): Teacher retirements are up in several parts of the country. From Michigan, which has seen a 44 percent spike in midyear public school teacher retirements, to Minnesota, where teachers applying for retirement benefits this past fall increased by 35 percent. In New Jersey, the teacher shortage is so severe, officials are considering hiring teachers licensed in other states. LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND, PRESIDENT AND CEO, LEARNING POLICY INSTITUTE:

There's fear about the safety of coming back in person, particularly in places where the mitigation strategies have not been well used in schools and where things are opening up before getting rid of mask mandates and things like that sooner than everyone is vaccinated.

JAIME ACOSTA, RESIGNED FROM TEACHING DUE TO PANDEMIC: It was a very tough decision to make. I didn't feel safe. And I'm pretty sure I can speak for a lot of my colleagues, we did not feel safe going back into the classroom.

GOLODRYGA: That fear is why Jaime Acosta left his job last October after seven years as a teacher in Houston to work in a bakery.

ACOSTA: My mental state was kind of just slowly declining, and I said, if I don't leave now, I might never go back to the classroom.

GOLODRYGA: Fewer college students are pursuing careers in the classroom. In one survey, nearly 20 percent of respondents reported a significant drop in new undergraduate enrollment in teaching programs for fall of 2020, driving home just how crucial it is to retain teachers like Acosta.

ACOSTA: Every night I still think about teaching.

GOLODRYGA: Six months after leaving the field, Acosta says he wants to give teaching another shot.

ACOSTA: I really miss hearing the stories that kids would write.

GOLODRYGA: While her teaching days may be over, Lang never stops thinking about her students.

LANG: I miss the kids. I absolutely miss the kids. I didn't get a chance to say good-bye to them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Now, John, teacher attrition due to COVID is not a national trend that we're seeing just yet. We're seeing it in pockets of the country. But as you mentioned at the top, teacher attrition has been a trend overall that we have seen going back to 2015. And talking to these two teachers at least, what they're most concerned about in teachers returning to the classroom is how much things are going to change. The interactions they have with students, that personal level, personal connection they have is going to change and they worry that that may impact other teachers' decisions as well.

BERMAN: Oh, it's such an important job. Hopefully people will continue to want to do it.

Bianna Golodryga, thank you very much.

GOLODRYGA: Sure.

[08:45:00] BERMAN: An attack on an Iranian nuclear site threatens to undermine the Biden administration's hopes for a new nuclear deal. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Developing this morning, Iran's foreign minister says Israel made a very bad gamble by attacking an Iranian nuclear site saying it will strengthen Tehran's hand in negotiations to revive the nuclear deal with the United States. Israel has not officially claimed responsibility. The Biden administration says the U.S. was not involved.

Joining me now is retired Admiral William McRaven, the former head of U.S. special operations command and the author of the new book "The Hero Code: Lessons Learned from Lives Well Lived."

Admiral, I read the book over the weekend. It is wonderful. We're going to talk about that in just a second.

I want to start, though, with the world, because there are some hot, hot spots right now, including this attack on the Iranian nuclear plant.

You told our friend Jake Tapper yesterday, it was bad if the U.S. knew about it, bad if the U.S. didn't.

[08:50:04]

What do you mean?

WILLIAM MCRAVEN (RET.), FOUR-STAR ADMIRAL, U.S. NAVY: Yes, well, the fact of the matter is, you know, I don't think the timing could have come at a worse point in time. I mean here we are trying to renegotiate the JCPOA, the Iranian nuclear agreement, and if, in fact, the Israelis did it, it's a little troubling because, again, the world and certainly the Iranians will assume one of two things, either we were complicit, we knew this was going to happen, or -- or we were ignorant of it and I'm not sure which one is worse.

So the Israelis have put us in a tough spot. And, frankly, I'm not sure what they accomplished by it. I mean Natanz will be down for, you know, a week or so. I mean it was a shot across the bow, but it really doesn't -- I mean I don't think it helps the Israelis. It doesn't really roll back the Iranian program in Natanz. And it certainly puts us in a difficult spot and kind of complicates our negotiations in Vienna.

BERMAN: I want to ask you about another hot spot, and this is obviously the Russian border with Ukraine. Our Matthew Chance filed a terrific report yesterday where he was literally on the border with President Zelensky, running from trench to trench on the border, and he talked to the Ukraine leader about what Ukraine wants from the United States and expects from Russia.

Let's listen to a little bit of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Is there a chance that the Russians could be planning an invasion?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINE PRESIDENT: Of course. Of course. We know it. And beginning from 2014, we know that it can be -- it can be any way and -- each day it can be.

CHANCE: Yes.

ZELENSKY: So they are ready.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So Russia's put 50,000 troops on the Ukrainian border. Says it's a training exercise. President Zelensky says he wants Ukraine to get NATO membership.

What do you think needs to happen? What does the United States need to do?

MCRAVEN: Yes, well, this is going to be, I think, the first big foreign policy test for the Biden administration. And, you know, the fact of the matter is, the administration has come out and they've said that we fully support Ukraine. But in that great piece, and it was a fabulous piece, President Zelensky says, look, words are not enough. You know, the Ukrainians need additional weapons, they need additional money, they need additional support.

But I did think his proposal to accelerate Ukraine's entry into NATO was an interesting one. Now, it is also fraught with some problems because if they come into NATO, then Article 5 applies of the NATO charter, which means an attack on one is an attack on all.

But I think it is worth having this discussion because if Ukraine comes in, then we are obligated, under the NATO charter, to support them if the Russians invade.

BERMAN: You say interesting. Does interesting mean a good idea?

MCRAVEN: Yes, it's an idea that needs to be weighed. The fact of the matter is, today we don't have a lot of clarity in terms of our dealings with Russia or our dealings with China. And I think we need to have some strategic clarity. Strategic clarity would be a message to the Russians that says, look, we're going to bring Ukraine into NATO and you can't cross that line. So -- but, again, they're going to have to kind of work through this because it does have some pitfalls.

BERMAN: I want to talk to you about "The Hero Code," which is sort of a guide book for all of us, how we can all be heroes in our own life. And I have to say, I've read all of your books and they're all filled with individual stories of you being in these different places and I feel like sooner or later you're going to run out of stories that you can tell about yourself (INAUDIBLE). It's like you're (INAUDIBLE) in Forrest Gump and the irony here is there's a story about Forrest Gump in here in this book. That's not the one I want you to tell, though. I want you to talk to us about the importance of humility and the

lesson you learned in a chance meeting with Astronaut Charlie Duke.

MCRAVEN: Yes, you know, I talk about these noble qualities. You know, people ask me, what -- you know, what makes a hero? And I like, frankly, the textbook definition. It's those people we admire for their noble qualities. The courage, the humility, the perseverance. But in this particular story, I happen to be up in Dallas. I was doing an event at the Cooper Center. And I was sitting around the table with some great friends of mine from Dallas. But as I went around the table to introduce myself, I met this fellow and his wife at the far end. He introduced himself as Charlie, but I didn't catch his last name.

Well, we spent two hours at dinner that night talking. I found out he was in the Air Force, had been in the Air Force, but that was about the extent of it. All he wanted to do was talk about my family. He wanted to know about my son who was in the Air Force and my other children. He wanted to know about how long my wife and I had been married and where we met. He was so incredibly gracious.

As dinner ends, and I'm walking down the stairway, Roger Staubach (ph), the great quarterback from the Dallas Cowboys who happened to be there, comes up to me and says, I see you were talking to Charlie. I said, yes, yes, it was great. He said, wow, can you imagine that. I said, imagine what? I mean, imagine. I said, what are you talking about? He says, you know imagine walking on the moon. I said, Roger -- and then it occurred to me, Charlie was General Charles Duke, the youngest man ever to walk on the moon. And never once, in that, you know, hour or so of conversation did he happen to mention the little fact that he walked on the moon.

[08:55:05]

But it was about his humility. And this humility was kind of hard won. He had come back from the moon. He was a hero. His wife became a Christian and he followed in her footsteps. And, you know, the fact of the matter is, humility is good for all of us. I mean humility makes us appreciate the little things, makes us appreciate the fact that our differences in the world really aren't all that great and maybe that will help unite us.

BERMAN: You talked to him about flying. You asked him what he flew and he said, all kinds of things.

MCRAVEN: Yes.

BERMAN: Yes, like a rocket to the moon, for instance.

MCRAVEN: A little bit of this, little bit of that.

BERMAN: You might want to mention that next time.

Listen, the book is "The Hero Code." It talks about what we can all do to make the world a better place. And it's dedicated to people on the front lines fighting this pandemic.

Admiral Willie McRaven, as always, a pleasure to speak with you. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.

MCRAVEN: Thanks very much. Appreciate it.

HARLOW: What a great interview.

BERMAN: Can you imagine that, by the way, talking to an astronaut who walked on the moon and asking him, oh, what kind of things did you fly?

HARLOW: All sorts of stuff.

BERMAN: And he never even mentions it.

HARLOW: But, anyway, back to you.

BERMAN: Back to you.

HARLOW: I love that.

BERMAN: Listen, we do have important, breaking news. The FDA and CDC calling for a pause in the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. We're already seeing the impact around the country. Our breaking news coverage continues after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:00]