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Ex-Officer Charges in Daunte Wright's Death to Make First Court Appearance; Defense Witness Questions Cause of George Floyd's Death; Biden Administration to Impose Strict New Sanctions on Russia; Biden to Begin Withdrawing Troops from Afghanistan on May 1. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired April 15, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Former Police Officer Kim Potter has been charged with second-degree manslaughter.

[05:59:36]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The family of Daunte Wright will get to have their day in court.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An arrest is just step one, but we have to get a conviction. And you can't give up on that.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's time to end America's longest war. It's time for America's troops to come home.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSES CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Biden announcing he'll withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by September 11.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The threat from al Qaeda in Afghanistan is significantly degraded.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan is a grave mistake.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. it's Thursday, April 15, 6 a.m. here in New York. I'm John Berman along with Poppy Harlow.

Nice to see you again.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to be here.

BERMAN: The former Minnesota police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright makes her first court appearance today via Zoom. Kimberly Potter is charged with second-degree manslaughter. Last night she posted bail and was released from custody. For a fourth consecutive night, protesters gathered around the police station where she worked, calling for justice.

Just a few miles away, the defense in the Derek Chauvin murder trial could rest its case today. We'll find out for certain if Chauvin will take the stand and testify in his own defense.

On Wednesday, a pathologist blamed heart disease and drug use for George Floyd's death, not a lack of oxygen while pinned to the ground under Derek Chauvin's knee.

HARLOW: We are also following a significant number of foreign policy developments this morning. CNN has learned the Biden administration plans to announce strict new sanctions against Russia as soon as today. This is in response to the Kremlin's alleged election interference, the massive hacking of SolarWind.

But this comes after President Biden announced that he is ending America's longest war in Afghanistan after 20 years. This morning, we do have new reporting about the president's decision and the top officials that he overruled in making it.

But our coverage begins this morning in Minnesota with our colleague Adrienne Broaddus. She joins us again this morning in Brooklyn Center.

Good morning, Adrienne.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, good morning to you.

The crowd that gathered outside of the Brooklyn Center Police Department overnight was smaller, compared to what we've seen previously this week. The numbers were smaller, but the crowd was still mighty.

Members of law enforcement tell us about 24 people were arrested last night. Most of those arrests, likely a violation of curfew. About 24 people arrested. Law enforcement members say a majority of those arrested do not live here in Brooklyn Center. It's unclear whether they live in some of the surrounding suburbs of Minneapolis.

Those folks taking the street last night saying the second-degree manslaughter charge is a step in the right direction but not enough. Under Minnesota state law, if convicted, the former officer, Kim Potter, could spend up to ten years in prison. That charge also carry as $20,000 fine.

This all comes after Potter shot and killed Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. And Ben Crump, one of the attorneys for the Wright family says there needs to be accountability. Listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR DAUNTE WRIGHT'S FAMILY: There was an intent to use what I believe is excessive force in this situation. She's a training officer. She hopefully would be training those

officers to use de-escalation and not the most use of force that they could use. But that follows a pattern in America. We think Daunte Wright is yet another example of deadly consequences of how police over-police black people in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROADDUS: And on the day of the shooting, Potter was training a rookie officer.

Meanwhile, the jail she was booked into, Hennepin County jail, is about eight miles from the police department where she built most of her career. She bonded out of jail about six hours after she was taken into custody, and she will appear later today for her first court appearance via Zoom -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Again, just the proximity to where the Chauvin trial is happening right now and all of this in Minneapolis taking place in less than a year.

Thank you very much for your reporting from Minnesota, Adrienne.

Let's go to the Derek Chauvin trial now. The defense could rest its case later today. Attorneys for Chauvin spent the last two days doing all that they could to try to convince jurors that what killed George Floyd was not Officer Chauvin's knee pressed against his neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds.

Our Josh Campbell joins us live at the courthouse in Minneapolis. So maybe -- maybe they rest the case today and maybe Chauvin takes the stand, though likely not?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We're waiting to see. These defense attorneys continuing their efforts to try to refute some of that damning testimony that we heard from those medical experts called by the prosecution, who said that it was the actions of this former officer that led to George Floyd's death.

Now, yesterday an expert called by the defense refuted that notion, rolling out his own series of possible contributing factors to George Floyd's death, including heart disease, drug use, and perhaps most controversial, even the exhaust from an idling police car.

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[06:05:03]

CAMPBELL (voice-over): A medical expert testified for the former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin's defense, telling jurors George Floyd's death should not be classified as a homicide.

DR. DAVID FOWLER, DEFENSE WITNESS: I would fall back to undetermined in this particular case.

CAMPBELL: In making that analysis, Dr. David Fowler saying Floyd's health problems, not Chauvin kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes, are what likely killed him.

ERIC NELSON, CHAUVIN'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Did you form in your opinion, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, what you thought was the principle cause of Mr. Floyd's death?

FOWLER: Yes.

NELSON: And what is that?

FOWLER: Cardiac arrhythmia due to hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease during restraint.

CAMPBELL: The witness for the defense even testifying the exhaust from the police car was possibly to blame.

FOWLER: In the area close to an exhaust, you're going to have a much higher level of carbon monoxide than you would if you were three or four feet away.

CAMPBELL: Fowler presenting this claim to the court Tuesday, among a long list of contributing factors behind Floyd's death.

FOWLER: So you have a heart that's vulnerable, because it's too big. It demands lots of oxygen. There are certain drugs that are present in his system that may put him at risk of an arrhythmia.

CAMPBELL: In cross-examination, the prosecution pushing back.

JERRY BLACKWELL, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: You haven't seen any data or test results that showed Mr. Floyd had a single injury from carbon monoxide. Is that true?

FOWLER: That is correct, because it was never sent to the laboratory for a test.

BLACKWELL: I simply asked you whether -- I asked you whether it was true, sir. Yes or no?

FOWLER: It is true.

CAMPBELL: And challenging Fowler with their own argument, saying Floyd died from low oxygen due to officers pinning him to the ground.

BLACKWELL: If a person dies as a result of low oxygen, that person's also going to die, ultimately, of a fatal arrhythmia, right?

FOWLER: Correct. Every one of us in this room will have a fatal arrhythmia at some point.

BLACKWELL: Right. Because that's kind of how you go.

FOWLER: Yes.

CAMPBELL: Prosecutors also asking him whether officers should have helped Floyd when he went into cardiac arrest.

BLACKWELL: Are you critical of the fact that he wasn't given immediate emergency care when he went in cardiac arrest?

FOWLER: As a physician, I would agree.

CAMPBELL: The Floyd family attorney calling Fowler's testimony Wednesday a distraction by Chauvin's defense team.

CRUMP: The video is very clear. The only thing that George Floyd died from was from an overdose of excessive force.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMPBELL: Now, interestingly, we're learning that that same defense expert witness, Dr. Fowler, has also been named in a lawsuit in the state of Maryland. The family of Anton Black, a teenager who died after an encounter with law enforcement, allege in this lawsuit that this doctor and his medical examiner office covered up the cause of death. They say that they were stunned to learn that he was being called as a witness in this case of Derek Chauvin, because in their words, the cases are so eerily similar.

In the case of Anton Black, they say that he was held on the ground by police officers in the prone position for over six minutes. He died after that encounter.

Now, we talked to attorneys for Dr. Fowler, who would not comment, citing that ongoing litigation. It's unclear whether this new information will make its way into this courtroom, whether the judge will determine that this is relevant. We'll have to wait and see.

The trial is set to resume again this morning and we're also -- mentioned, as you said, Poppy, we could hear the defense wrap up their case as early as today.

HARLOW: Thank you very much. Josh Campbell in Minneapolis for us this morning.

Ahead, why did prosecutors choose to charge former Officer Potter with manslaughter instead of a murder charge? Should they have gone farther? We'll talk to the experts, next.

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[06:13:00]

BERMAN: Later today, former Police Officer Kimberly Potter will appear in court via Zoom for the first time. Potter posted bail last night after being arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright.

Body camera footage captured the moment Wright was shot, and we do want to warn you, this is disturbing video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY POTTER, FORMER BROOKLYN CENTER POLICE OFFICER: I'll Tase you. I'll Tase you. Taser, Taser, Taser. Ooh, I shot (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I just shot him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joining us now, CNN political commentator and attorney Bakari Sellers and CNN legal analyst and civil rights attorney Areva Martin.

Bakari, yesterday you told us this is exactly what would happen. You predicted this would be the charge. This is what second-degree manslaughter is in Minnesota. It applies when "a person causes death by culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another."

Is this the right charge, Bakari?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's the right charge. Will -- will this charge soothe the minds and hearts of people watching and all across the country who are just sick and tired of this? The answer is probably no.

But in the eyes of the law, is this the right charge? Yes.

I mean, the question still remains, and this is probably one of the larger questions that you'll have to get in a civil disposition. I don't anticipate her ever touching anybody's witness stand, but how the hell do you confuse your Taser with your gun? Twenty-six years of experience, how do you do that? That's the fundamental question that people have. The weight difference, the color difference, all of those things.

But with this charge, though, I don't think that you're going to get to the bottom of it during the criminal disposition of this case. So maybe Ben Crump and others can get to the bottom of it in the civil disposition of this case.

HARLOW: You know, to Bakari's excellent point, Areva, when Oscar Grant was killed back in 2009 when the officer said that, you know, basically thought it was a Taser -- it was a gun -- that officer ultimately was ultimately charged with the manslaughter charge, sentenced to two years in prison, only served 11 months.

So when you look at what is ahead in the case against Officer Potter and the fact that she had 26 years of experience and you would think would know the difference between the two, what does that all tell you?

AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, I think times are different now, Poppy, than when Oscar Grant was killed by those transit police in 2009 in Oakland, California. And although I think there is an argument that the second-degree manslaughter is the appropriate charge, I also think there's a compelling argument for increasing the charges in this case.

I don't think the third-degree murder, which is allowed under Minnesota law, is off the table. I think after a more thorough investigation, that the prosecution in this case may, indeed, consider more serious charges. So I don't think this is over by a long shot. I think this is just the beginning of the charges.

And when you look at the totality of the circumstances, the reason that this level of force was used in the first place, the way this officer inserted herself into the situation, that there may, indeed, be additional charges against her.

HARLOW: It's interesting, because a third-degree murder charge was added and ultimately accepted in the Chauvin case, as well, John.

MARTIN: Absolutely.

BERMAN: If we can talk about the Chauvin case here for a second, just on the most basic level, as someone who never did, you know, go to law school, Bakari, when I watch a trial like this and I see testimony for the prosecution that says one thing and testimony for the defense that says something completely different, I mean, it's like it's black and white. It's night and day --

HARLOW: Yes.

MARTIN: -- in terms of these expert witnesses. I'm always wondering, what -- what's the impact of that? What's a jury to make of that? How does a jury assess these different experts saying opposite things?

SELLERS: I mean, that happens all the time, John Berman, J.D. We'll get you -- we'll get you that law degree.

But, you know, I think that what you're seeing is a difference in resources, because the state of Minnesota, the county prosecutors, have so many more resources, and it's evident in the quality of the case they put on, the quality of the experts they have.

I mean, the defense's experts are -- are, you know, are giving a 180 picture, a night-and-day picture, but they're also pretty bad at it. And maybe it's because they don't have much to work with, because we've all seen this.

And I was -- I was wondering what creative experts they would have to posit a different cause of death for George Floyd. I mean, we've heard -- we've heard the drugs in his system. We've heard the bad heart. We've heard everything but Derek Chauvin in the prosecution's case when the defense was crossing people.

But yesterday, it just got slightly ridiculous, you know, car -- talking about carbon monoxide, et cetera. And so I just, you know, for the life of me, I can't understand why this case is going so bad. But I do believe that this case is going just bad enough that Derek Chauvin has to touch the witness stand or there's no way he can be found not guilty of any of these charges or found guilty of a lesser charge.

HARLOW: Well, that's interesting, Areva. It almost never happens. Would you put Chauvin on the stand?

MARTIN: Absolutely not. And I'd have to disagree with my esteemed co- counsel here. Putting Chauvin on the stand in this case would be a complete and absolute disaster for the defense team.

I think what this defense is doing is what we typically see in these cases, which is put the victim on trial. We've seen the demonization of George Floyd from the beginning of the defense's case. In fact, they started their case with that 2019 video of an incident that George Floyd had with police officers to make their point about his drug addiction. And that's what we heard yesterday from this medical expert, was a huge focus, overwhelming focus of his testimony was about Mr. Floyd's drug use.

So there's a subtle message that's being channeled to these jurors, which is George Floyd was a drug addict; and he didn't comply with police. And when you don't comply with complete [SIC] -- when you don't comply with the police, then what you get is what you're entitled to. So I think that is the message, and if this message resonates with one juror, then we could see a hung jury in this case and a mistrial.

HARLOW: It only takes one, as Bakari reminded us yesterday. Thank you, guys.

SELLERS: Thanks.

BERMAN: All right. The Biden administration expected to retaliate against Russia today in response to the widespread hacking campaign, the election interference, a whole slew of actions taken by Russia over the last year. There's new Russian response overnight, next.

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[06:24:08]

HARLOW: The Biden administration set to impose a wide range of sanctions against Russia. This is in retaliation for the SolarWind cyber-attack and the election interference in 2020. An announcement could come as soon as today.

Our Kylie Atwood has really critical reporting on it at the State Department. And what I think is most fascinating about your reporting, Kylie, is -- is why it took a while to get this to come.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Poppy. We're going to see a number of retaliatory actions. And as you said, I'm told that the White House actually asked the State Department for more robust options when they first came to them. So I want to lay out what we're expected to see here, because there are a number of actions the Biden administration is going to take.

Now, they are responding to Russia's malign actions on a number of fronts: both their SolarWinds hack, which impacted, according to the White House, nine U.S. government agencies and about 100 U.S. private companies; and also their interference in the 2020 presidential election.

So I want to go through what we're expecting today. First of all, the U.S. is going to be expelling up to ten Russian diplomats, essentially folks that they have determined are Russian spies. I'm told they're based in New York and D.C. They'll have 30 days to get out of the country.

Also sanctions against individuals who are in the intelligence and government agencies in Russia and were actually involved in that Russian SolarWinds hack intrusion that happened over the last year.

And then the third thing that we're expected to see is financial restrictions, going after efforts that are going to try and impact Russian sovereign debt.

So I think it's important here to also note that the national security adviser said that they would respond in ways that would be seen and unseen, so the things seen today may not be the full picture when it comes to the U.S. response.

Now, we haven't heard yet from the White House or the State Department since we had our reporting out last night, but I do want to read to you what a Russian official from the U.N. said in a tweet responding to our story last night.

Quote, "It -- if it's true and U.S. continues to promote its baseless accusations, it will get adequate response and deprive the world of maybe the last opportunity to avoid Great Powers' confrontation instead of solving acute problems. Not our choice!"

Of course, sort of a veiled threat there. But we should also note that President Biden also spoke on the phone this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He suggested that the two meet in a summit.

It's clear that this White House, even as they are doubling down on their promise to respond to Russia's malign actions, are also trying to keep open channels of communication with Russia.

Back to you.

BERMAN: Also notable, the shrug emoji. Shrug emoji diplomacy there from Russia. A little bit trite in some ways. We're going to have Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor, on next hour, who said that the U.S. would take actions seen and unseen. Maybe we'll get some explanation, Kylie, on some of the things we're not seeing.

Terrific reporting. Thank you very much for joining us this morning.

A hugely significant week in terms of diplomacy and military decisions. So President Biden taking action against Russia, also announcing the end of America's longest war, the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins us live from Kabul for the very latest and on the reaction from the country to this huge announcement from the White House.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, extraordinary. And important to remember, too, that while this war is likely ending for America, it will be continuing in different and possibly darker ways possibly for Afghans.

The Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, tweeted somewhat graciously, frankly, given how known he is to oppose the U.S. withdrawal here; said that he would help ensure a smooth transition and that he respected the U.S. decision to withdraw its troops.

But we are into a very complex few months here, because the Taliban, even before the speech, gave the U.S., again, 16 days to get out of the country, essentially adhering to the agreement signed by former President Donald Trump in Doha that said U.S. troops had to be out by May the 1st.

That's the day, in fact, they'll start leaving, according to President Biden's plan. And during that departure period, he made it clear that, if they are attacked or their partners are attacked -- that could include Afghan forces -- the U.S. will hit back.

So there's a possible window there that, if the Taliban decide to keep moving territory like we've seen in the past months, like they clearly have in their sights, there could be continued confrontation here.

What's clear, though, from hearing what Joe Biden had to say, he simply views this war as not having a military solution, as not having adequate answers as to the question of why they're sticking around. And you kept hearing it in the tone of his voice, knowing that 1 percent of Americans serve in this wear, and he has to have reason enough to keep more of them here.

The U.S. president surely will continue, possibly, in the air, possibly in other counterterrorism ways, but it's clear they're leaving regardless of conditions by September the 11th.

What the next few months hold for Afghans, though, possibly an emboldened Taliban. I think the U.S. hopes peace talks in Istanbul starting on Saturday a week. The Taliban has said they won't attend those. They've talked big in the past and still actually quietly wanted peace, as well.

But it is a completely new era for Afghanistan with the U.S. presence, I think, genuinely felt now, despite similar announcements in the past, as something that's imminently going to come to an end. Afghans here in Kabul having to take responsibility, perhaps, for a bit more of their future, and the Taliban possibly seeing a window of opportunity here -- John.

BERMAN: Nick Paton Walsh for us in Kabul. Nick, thank you so much.

To Nick's point, this was President Biden's decision, a decision he made over the advice of some of his key military advisers. What does that tell us about his leadership in the United States? What does that tell us about how he intends to use his position around the world? What does it tell us about Joe Biden? Someone who knows him incredibly well joins us next.

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