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Police Chief: Chauvin 'Absolutely' Violated Policy Restraining George Floyd; CDC: Variants Fueling Surge in Cases Across U.S. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired April 06, 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 MALE: The current Minneapolis police chief takes the stand in the trial of Derek Chauvin, his former officer.

[05:59:44]

CHIEF MEDARIA ARRADONDO, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE: I vehemently disagree that was the appropriate use of force for that situation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says it's not part of the training or the policies. It is extremely damaging to the defense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Health experts worry the increase of COVID-19 variants puts the country on the cusp of a surge in cases.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: Cases are increasing nationally, and we are seeing this occur predominantly in younger adults.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Baylor completes college basketball's greatest rebound and rebuild with a championship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Texas, we've got a national championship, too! The state deserves it!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK. So, I don't know where Jim Sciutto came from to win the CNN bracket.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

CAMEROTA: I thought that I was winning.

BERMAN: So to bring people up to speed here, Baylor won the college national basketball championship.

CAMEROTA: I'm sorry. That's the news.

BERMAN: It was Baylor who won. OK, Baylor won.

CAMEROTA: Baylor won.

BERMAN: Gonzaga lost.

CAMEROTA: Baylor Bulldogs.

BERMAN: As a result, Alisyn Camerota did not win the CNN March Madness pool.

CAMEROTA: How did this happen With this vast sports knowledge, I can't believe that somebody leapfrogged over my bracket position.

BERMAN: Jim Sciutto won. He will not be coming in for the next week and a half. He'll be basking in his victory.

CAMEROTA: In his big glory.

BERMAN: Drinking champagne for beating you. So congratulations to Jim Sciutto. Also, I guess, incidentally Baylor, as well.

CAMEROTA: There you go. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, April 6, 6 a.m. here in New York.

This morning, in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, the judge will decide whether jurors will hear from George Floyd's friend, this man you see here, who was with them when they were confronted by police.

Another round of the prosecution's witnesses are expected to take the stand today after another damaging day for Chauvin's defense. The Minneapolis police chief testifying against Chauvin says that the restraint that Chauvin used on Floyd, kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes, violated the police department's policy. It was not a trained tactic.

BERMAN: Nearly 80,000 new cases of coronavirus reported overnight as there are new concerns with variants spreading across the nation.

But even with that, I want you to look at the Rangers' home opener in Texas last night. Packed. No restrictions. A lot of folks in there. You know, we saw some masks but not universal by any means. I mean, a lot of people you can see in this picture not wearing masks.

The governor of Texas refused to throw out the first pitch, not because of coronavirus. It had nothing to do with that. It had everything to do with Major League Baseball's decision to move the all-star game out of Georgia due to voting restrictions. Governor Abbott apparently didn't like that. So more on all that ahead.

We begin, though, with the Chauvin trial. CNN's Josh Campbell live at the courthouse in Minneapolis with what we can expect -- Josh.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning to you. Prosecutors continued to build their murder case in the trial of former Officer Derek Chauvin.

Now, yesterday the focus in court was on how Minneapolis Police officers are trained, how they're taught to use force. Also, the requirement that officers render aid to anyone in distress, including suspects in their custody.

Yesterday's testimony is part of ongoing pattern that we've seen. Some of the most damning testimony in this trial is coming from Derek Chauvin's own former colleagues.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARRADONDO: Once Mr. Floyd had stopped resisting and certainly once he was in distress and trying to verbalize that, that should have stopped.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo testified Monday that he believed former Officer Derek Chauvin did use excessive force when arresting George Floyd last May.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the officer supposed to do to a person in crisis?

ARRADONDO: It's an attempt to deescalate that -- that situation.

CAMPBELL: Arradondo, who fired Chauvin and the three other officers involved the day after Floyd's death, says that Chauvin violated the department's neck restraint policy and that Floyd's alleged crime did not require that amount of force.

ARRADONDO: To continue to apply that level of force to a person proned-out, handcuffed behind their back, that that in no way, shape or form is anything that is by policy, is not part of our training, and it is certainly not part of our ethics or our values.

CAMPBELL: The police chief agreed during cross-examination by Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, that force is sometimes necessary to deescalate a situation, and handcuffed suspects can inflict harm. Nelson quoted the reasonable use of force standard defined in a 1989 Supreme Court decision.

ERIC NELSON, DEREK CHAUVIN'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation. Right?

ARRADONDO: Yes.

CAMPBELL: MPD inspector Katie Blackwell was in charge of police training last May and testified Chauvin was taught defensive tactics and proper use of force. Her response to seeing Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck?

[06:06:09]

KATIE BLACKWELL, INSPECTOR, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: I don't know what kind of improvised (ph) position that is. So that's not what we train. CAMPBELL: The emergency room doctor who treated Floyd, Dr. Bradford

Langenfeld, testified that he believed Floyd's cardiac arrest was likely due to a lack of oxygen or hypoxia.

DR. BRADFORD WANKHEDE LANGENFELD, ER DOCTOR WHO TREATED FLOYD: Any amount of time that a patient spends in cardiac arrest without immediate CPR, markedly decreases the chance of a good outcome.

CAMPBELL: Langenfeld tried to revive Floyd for about 30 minutes before pronouncing him dead.

The prosecution argues that the hypoxia was a result of Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes. The defense argues it was caused by Floyd's drug use.

NELSON: Certain drugs can cause hypoxia, agreed?

LANGENFELD: Yes.

NELSON: Specifically fentanyl.

LANGENFELD: That's correct.

NELSON: How about methamphetamine?

LANGENFELD: It can.

NELSON: Combination of the two?

LANGENFELD: Yes.

CAMPBELL: In response, the prosecution dismissed the defense's claims.

JERRY BLACKWELL, PROSECUTOR: Did they say to you, for purposes of caring or giving treatment to Mr. Floyd, that they felt he had suffered a drug overdose?

LANGENFELD: Not in the information they gave, no.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMPBELL: Now, it's worth pointing out an autopsy said that drug use was a serious condition, but the cause of death was listed as heart failure during that restraint.

Now, speaking of that autopsy, one witness we are still waiting to hear from that will be so key, the county medical examiner. Of course, so much in this case focuses on that cause of death.

Prosecutors are trying to say that it was the actions of this officer holding George Floyd down for over nine minutes on the pavement. For their part, the defense has been trying to show that it's actually George Floyd's fault, that he was perhaps under the influence on that day; and that it was that drug use, not the actions of this police officer.

Obviously, we'll continue to watch that questioning, which will be so key as so much centers on the cause of his death -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Josh, thank you very much for all of the reporting.

Joining us now, CNN political commentator and attorney Bakari Sellers. Also with us, retired LAPD police sergeant, Cheryl Dorsey. She's the author of the book "Black and Blue." Great to have both of you.

Sergeant Dorsey, I want to start with you. What were you struck by listening to Chief Arradondo describe policy and describe the kind of ethos of the police department?

CHERYL DORSEY, RETIRED LAPD POLICE SERGEANT: Well, what struck me is, No. 1, he said it. And that was great. It needed to be said, particularly from -- from someone in his position.

But it's a little too late. It would have been nice -- after all, Derek Chauvin had 18 personnel complaints -- had the police chief maybe had him ride the desk or saddle him to the kit room instead of allowing him to be out in patrol.

And so now they're still in damage control mode, and they're doing what they have to do to appease the public and the family of George Floyd. After all, the city did pay out $27 million to the family.

BERMAN: Counselor, Bakari Sellers, the fact of this testimony, the fact of so much testimony from police, it's really unusual. It is really unusual in this type of situation. Explain that and explain the likely impact on the jury.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, it's unheard of in my experience. Well, my experience isn't as vast as some other members of the bar. I can say that much. But you very rarely, if ever, see law enforcement officer after officer after officer testify against one of their own.

And these are every rank, including the chief, coming out and testifying and not only saying that he violated policy but distancing themselves from him. This is -- it's like he was thrown out of the blue wall. Derek Chauvin was just tossed over the blue wall and left to fend for himself.

And so this is going to be very powerful, because law enforcement officers get the benefit of the doubt times ten in cases like this. And so, the prosecutors have to separate Derek Chauvin from what law enforcement officers are known to do, traditionally do, and what they do under the law, because they get a lot of rope.

In this case, though, there is going to be a lot of distance between the law enforcement community and Derek Chauvin, and that distance is being driven by other law enforcement officers. And it's pretty refreshing to see.

CAMEROTA: But Bakari, one more question about the court case. I mean, when you hear the police chief and the person who's in charge of training say this violates department policy, it is completely outside the realm of our training, what more -- I mean, isn't that sort of case closed? Doesn't that just sort of destroy the defense case from where you sit as an attorney?

SELLERS: No. In fact, it's far from it. Now, that helps build the case. I think yesterday was the strongest day that the prosecution has had, no doubt about it.

However, there still is a major argument about cause of death. Now, to those of us sitting on this panel, we would say that the knee on the back of George Floyd's neck was the cause of death.

[06:10:10]

However, the criminal defense attorney is going to sit there and make that as murky as possible and say that drugs had a large role to play and that -- but for the fact that he had fentanyl and methamphetamines in his system, George Floyd would be alive today.

Now, I'm not sure that that's going to fly, because I would articulate that, but for the fact there was a knee in the back of his neck, he would be alive today, but that is going to be the argument that the criminal defense attorney is going to try to make.

And look, Alisyn, you and I and John aren't in that jury room right now. Those are wild cards, as Laura Coates always says, and it only takes one of them to be steadfast in their belief that George Floyd somehow killed himself or contributed to his own death.

BERMAN: Sergeant Dorsey, if I can go back for a second to your area of expertise, you know, obviously, serving in the police for so long, Bakari said that Derek Chauvin has been tossed over the blue wall by his fellow members of the force and his superior officers. What does it take for something like that to happen? What's the significance of that moment?

DORSEY: Violation of policy. Listen, when we see misconduct and we don't do anything to intervene, when we don't stop misconduct, then we acquiesce misconduct, and that means we're committing it ourselves.

And so everyone that took the stand -- the sergeant, the lieutenant, the commander, and ultimately, the police chief -- raised their hands and swore under the penalty of perjury to tell the truth about their training and what officers are expected to do when they encounter citizens. And so they did that.

This is not anything unique and unusual. It's just that we're seeing it, for the very first time, play out live on television.

CAMEROTA: And Sergeant Dorsey, what did you think about the person talking -- I mean, the woman who trains the police, in terms of use of force, to say that's an improvised move. I mean, is that, in your experience, knee on the neck, would somebody use that? Is that something that he came up with?

DORSEY: It's certainly something that he came up with, and the commander described it properly by saying it was something that was improvised. There is a technique that we use when we approach a felony prone

suspect who's laying down on the ground from the head. You put your knee between the shoulder blade, only long enough to put handcuffs on. And then once the handcuffs go on, then you get up off that person, and that should happen fairly quickly.

It didn't in this case. It lasted for over nine minutes, and she attested to that.

BERMAN: Bakari, you've been talking about, in a way, how the prosecution is trying to set up this case and block, in some ways, all the defense outs that they're going to try when they get to present their case. And you talk about the importance of the drug use, the fentanyl and maybe the methamphetamine.

And you used the phrase -- and I want you to explain a little bit more -- "but for." But for the presence of the knee on the neck. What's the importance of that? And why will the prosecution lean into that?

SELLERS: I mean, the prosecution's going to lean into the fact, because they have to show that the knee in the neck was a substantial factor in the death of George Floyd. I mean, now, there can be multiple causes of death. However, this knee has to be the substantial cause of death of George Floyd.

And so, you know, when you use words like "but for," the prosecution is going to say, Look, there was a knee in his neck. He did have -- and I can literally hear the closing argument right now in my head. Derek Chauvin did have his knee in his neck. He did use improper training. Blah blah blah blah blah. The list goes on and on and on. But, George Floyd had drugs in his system, and but for those drugs, George Floyd would still be alive today. That's going to be the argument that the jury is going to take back in the room with them.

He's also going to try to throw up things like, you know, Derek Chauvin was, you know, kind of fearful, because there was a crowd. We all know that to be B.S.

But still those -- those arguments are not going to be central to the main argument, which is about cause of death. And that is going to be the crux of the criminal defense argument moving forward.

This is still a long way to go. It's not like the prosecution gets to make their case, and we go home. The criminal defense attorney is going to have a week or so to put forth his case. And it's going to be interesting to see with whether or not he's able to do that successfully and whether or not Derek Chauvin testifies.

CAMEROTA: Uh-huh. Bakari Sellers, Sergeant Dorsey, thank you both very much for all of your experience that you're sharing with us.

OK, meanwhile, thousands of fans packing a stadium at last night's Texas Rangers home opener. It was the largest sports gathering in the U.S. since the pandemic began. We bring you the details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALENSKY: Cases are increasing nationally, and we are seeing this occur predominantly in younger adults. This is why you've heard me so clearly share my concern. We know that these increases are due in part to more highly transmissible variants, which we are very closely monitoring.

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BERMAN: The director of the CDC warning that highly-contagious coronavirus variants fueling the surge in cases.

Overnight, Michigan reported a new large spike in cases. Cases are four times higher than they were in Michigan last month. Look at that spike.

Joining us now is CNN contributor Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. He's Detroit's former health commissioner.

Dr. El-Sayed, you just wrote an op-ed in "The Washington Post" about this about Michigan. What we're seeing there and why. And basically your thesis is, get ready, America.

DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's right, John, unfortunately. I hate to say it, but this is not a single issue, single cause spike in Michigan. What we're seeing is a confluence of a number of bad things that are, unfortunately, happening everywhere. We just have them first here in Michigan.

B.1.1.7 is on the rise. We've had the highest per capita rate of B.1.1.7 cases in the country for some time now, but B.1.1.7 is everywhere.

We've got early reopening, aggressive reopening: more eat-in dining, more athletics, more gyms reopening. And all of those things together are sending the message to folks that, well, COVID is over. But it's clearly not. And that's happening almost everywhere.

And then you have the fact that right now, vaccines are on the way. People are getting vaccines. And that's amazing. But, we only have about 25 percent coverage, and in order to really get a handle on this pandemic, we all know that we need to get in the 70s. And that's not going to happen for some time, even at this pace. And that's happening everywhere.

CAMEROTA: If we put up -- if we put up the graph of Michigan, it tells the story, the green. It just looks like a sort of wave, a tsunami and then another one coming.

BERMAN: I just want to keep watching you paint the -- paint the graphics there.

CAMEROTA: I mean, look at that, Doctor.

And also, I mean, in addition to the complicating factors in Michigan, I read in your op-ed that you say that there's more vaccine hesitancy in Michigan. What's that about?

EL-SAYED: Yes. I think it's a function of our demographics. We have a highly rural population, and then we have a city that has been traumatized by decades of structural racism.

And we know that conservatives, often driven by the former president, are hesitant about this vaccine. And we know that -- that people of color have often been hesitant, given the history of exploitation.

But given our demographics in Michigan and the fact that we are a state that includes large concentrations of both of these groups, it follows that we might have higher vaccine hesitancy.

That being said, we're seeing the numbers go down, particularly among African-American residents of the state, and that's really good news.

But in order to get there, all of us have to do our part. And we've got to be focused a lot more on that moment when the supply outstrips the demand. And the issue with getting people vaccinated is that people don't want to get vaccinated, not that they can't get one. And that's got to be a real prime focus now, because that's coming any day now.

BERMAN: I want to put up a picture of the Rangers game yesterday in Texas. This was 38,000 people watching the Rangers home opener. No restrictions, as far as we can tell, inside the stadium there. People packed. And we see a few people with masks. But you know, thousands and thousands of people unmasked.

And as a doctor, an epidemiologist when you look at this, Doc, what do you think?

EL-SAYED: I just -- it really worries me. Look, I get it. I am sick and tired of not being able to do the things that I love doing. I'm sick and tired of not being able to be out and among people. I mean, those are the joys of life. I get it, particularly now a year in.

But let's hold on just a little bit longer. Vaccines are on the way, but they're not quite here yet. And I'm willing to guess that most of the people in that park yesterday were probably not vaccinated.

So let's do the right thing. Let's not get ourselves in a position where every state ends up looking like Michigan, and we are back in mass lockdown, because we're seeing kids and young adults getting hospitalized and potentially dying. We don't want to get there. We don't have to get there.

And if we can hold on just a bit longer, perhaps we can get to a point where we can do that kind of thing safely, soon. It's coming.

CAMEROTA: Dr. El-Sayed, I think that when the history of this pandemic is written, one of the astounding things will be how precious little we knew throughout this whole year. You know, how -- how little we knew when it hit and what we thought we were doing to be safe and how the guidelines changed. I mean, I was just reminding John, he used to go home from work everyday -- BERMAN: Why are you saying this is me?

CAMEROTA: Because I think that this is really a mark of how serious --

BERMAN: We all were.

CAMEROTA: -- you took it. John would go home and take off all his clothes and wash them immediately.

BERMAN: I'm uncomfortable with you talking about me taking off my clothes.

CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, I think we want ratings.

BERMAN: All right.

CAMEROTA: We want ratings, people. And so -- and I understand, that's -- we would be like, is it in our hair? Maybe we should wash our hair every day. We have to clean surfaces constantly. Everybody was always, you know, with disinfectant surfaces.

And now there's this new guidelines from the director of the CDC about surfaces. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALENSKY: Disinfection is only recommended in indoor settings, schools and homes, where there has been a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 within the last 24 hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Totally different than what we thought a year ago.

EL-SAYED: That's right. Early on in the pandemic we were struggling to make sense of how this virus was spread. And so I remember pulling in my groceries and putting them in this sort of no-go zone before they got wiped down and, you know, wiped down every banana before I ate it.

Thankfully, you know, what -- what Director Walensky is telling us is kind of what we know now, is that this is spread via the air. That's why masks are so critical. But it's good that the CDC has formally changed their recommendations on this.

I'll also add something to what you said, Alisyn. It's not just how little we knew. It's how little we learned what we actually knew. We contrast with what we saw at Texas at the Rangers game yesterday. And what kills me is that, yes, you know, we know now that we can't -- we don't have to wipe down every piece of groceries. That's great.

[06:25:05]

But, we also know that this is spread via aerosols. And if you get a lot of people in a close-range space and some are positive, it's going to spread. But it's not like we're learning that lesson. And so my hope is that we can just learn the lessons and follow the

science and get ourselves out of this thing, and then we'll look back and say, wow, wasn't it funny that we had to wipe down every banana for a while?

BERMAN: Meanwhile, I have, like, three crates of disinfectant wipes that I can give you. Whatever you need.

CAMEROTA: I'm done with wiping down cardboard, too. Done.

BERMAN: All right. Dr. El-Sayed, thank you very much.

EL-SAYED: Thank you.

BERMAN: So Congressman Matt Gaetz digging in, refusing to resign in the face of this Justice Department probe for potential sex trafficking. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Texas Governor Greg Abbott declining an invitation to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Texas Rangers home opener after Major League Baseball took a stand against Georgia's new voting law. Governor Abbott writes, quote, "It is it's shameful."