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At This Hour
Supreme Court Agrees to Take Up Major Second Amendment Case; India Breaks Record for Single Day of COVID Cases Five Days in a Row; Brown Family Attorneys Holds Briefing on Body Cam Footage. Aired 11:30a-12p ET
Aired April 26, 2021 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:30:02]
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Jessica Schneider is joining me right now with more on this. Jessica, what case are they taking up? What are they looking at?
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate. This is a case out of New York, and it involves New York's law that strictly limits who can carry guns in public. It requires anyone applying for license to carry those concealed weapons in public, to actually show what they call an actual or articulable need to carry the guns.
And, in fact, several other states actually have similar laws here. But the two men who actually brought this lawsuit out of New York, they say they gave good reasons that they needed a license and they were still denied, they say. One of them requested a license for self- defense after a string of robberies in his neighborhood. Another man showed he had participated in safety training courses, but both were still denied.
Now, the lower court upheld the New York's strict stance on issuing this license. But when this case comes before the Supreme Court, it could mean a different fate here because of the court's 6-3 conservative majority and the fact that the justices, several of them, had been quite outspoken in recent years about the Second Amendment.
It was Justice Clarence Thomas recently who said that he believed the court now considered the Second Amendment, Kate, a disfavored right. We saw Justice Brett Kavanaugh say recently that the court should take up the issue soon after the court rejected a bunch of Second Amendment cases in the past year or so.
And, of course, all eyes will be on the newest justice, Amy Coney Barrett, she wrote an extensive opinion when she was on the seventh circuit that seemed to favor this expansive view of the Second Amendment.
So the last big decision we saw from the court was 2008, and that is where the late Justice Anton Scalia, he wrote from the majority and it established this individual right to keep guns at home for self- defense. That was in the home capacity, this case dealing in the public.
But even then, Kate, Justice Scalia said that the Second Amendment right is not limited and this court will -- sorry, he said that the Second Amendment right is not unlimited and this case will look at whether states can stop these law abiding citizens from carrying guns outside home for self-defense.
So it will be a big case, especially as you mentioned, Kate, the fact that gun rights, it's now the forefront of the public discussion. We could see Congress take some action on this. So it will be a lot to watch as this really newly configured court that is now solidly 6-3 will take up the Second Amendment decision first time really more than a decade. Kate?
BOLDUAN: Yes. Jessica, thank you so much for laying it out.
Coming up, a full blown crisis is playing out before our eyes in India right now, hit by a devastating wave of COVID. Thousands are dying every single day. As it spirals out of control, there are now new calls for the United States to step in and help.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:35:00]
BOLDUAN: The situation in India seems to be out of control at this point. The country has fast become the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. Today, India broke another world record for new infections, more than 350,000 new infections in a single day. That was the fifth straight day of breaking that record.
The scenes out of India are just as heartbreaking as the numbers we just told you. Hospitals are overwhelmed and overloaded. ICU beds and oxygen have simply run out, as the desperate need outpaces all supplies. Several of India's major cities are reporting far bigger numbers of cremations and burials as well under COVID protocols than what are currently reflected in the official COVID-19 death totals. So there is more bad news to come, it sounds like.
Joining me right now for more on this is Dr. Eric Topol, he is the director and founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institution. It's good to see you again, Dr. Topol.
How do you describe what you're seeing and hearing out of India right now? What is the important lesson for Americans in this?
DR. ERIC TOPOL, CARDIOLOGIST AND PROFESSOR OF MOLECULAR MEDICINE, SCRIPPS RESEARCH: Right. Well, great to be with you, Kate. The situation is a desperate one. I mean, it's the worst catastrophe we've seen throughout the pandemic because of the size, the population. it is underreported. So that is 350,000 new cases you've mentioned is -- you know, it's much larger than that.
So the good thing is we're starting to see the U.S. mobilize to help and that means, not just with respect to supplies, like oxygen and drugs like dexamethasone, but, moreover, the vaccine supplies that are needed. It's also important note, not just within India, Kate, but it's a major supplier for the world for vaccines. So, the rippling effects are profound.
BOLDUAN: That's a great point. You mentioned the Biden administration. They have said that they are working to send help to India, sending PPE, raw materials to help vaccine production. I want to play for you what the White House COVID-19 adviser, Andy Slavitt, said about another big question, which is sending over actual vaccines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY SLAVITT, SENIOR ADVISER TO WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE TEAM: When we made decisions on what we're going to do with additional vaccines, about exporting, we'll announce them.
[11:40:01]
I'm not going to announce anything here. But we are in constant communication. We're evaluating all these options.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: So they're not there or not announcing it at least yet. But do you think the United States should be sending vaccine doses overseas?
TOPOL: Yes. So, I mean, I think we have a lot. We know we have large numbers of AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson we'll never use. We have ordered in for many others. So this is a big issue, because other countries besides India and Brazil have been in desperate need. And I think it's high time that we help with the release of these vaccines.
BOLDUAN: Vaccine diplomacy, a new term that everyone needs to start, I guess, becoming a little more familiar with. One big question, kind of bigger question with all of this is why is this happening in certain places we're looking at.
One part of this, we see what is happening in India fits into something of a bigger trend. You have populous leaders with a track record -- with track records of downplaying the COVID-19 threat, kind of throughout, presiding over some of the world's worst outbreaks. India is an example. Brazil is an example. Mexico is an example. President Trump here in the United States is an example. What do you think of that?
TOPOL: Well, it's a theme, no question or common thread throughout those countries. And even though we talked about just now, Kate, the idea of vaccines, what we really need, of course, are lockdowns in these places, especially in India, which is starting to take hold.
But the other thing that happens when you see such broad spread is the concern about variant. And there has been, I think, an illusion that some of this problem in India is related to the so-called double mutant, which actually isn't just two mutations but rather much more than that. But there is really not good data to support that. And I think we should allay those concerns at that this is related to a variant but rather what you're talking about, which is having the right policies in place.
BOLDUAN: Look, what you're getting at is kind of the more immediate question and concern, right? Vaccines, more vaccines, of course, will be helpful there. They're in a current and immediate crisis at this very moment. I mean, when things have spiraled out of control in the way that they have, just take India as an example, how do they stop it? How do they turn the corner?
TOPOL: Right. Well, that's the essential thing we've learned from Israel and the U.K. You can use vaccines to get out of this sort of situation, this crisis. But you also have to have lockdowns in place because it takes because takes a couple of few weeks at the minimum for the vaccine effect to start to take hold.
So it's really a combination of what we had before, the earlier ways that is only lockdown, and the tool we have today which is essential. But there is that lag of time that has to be taken into account.
BOLDUAN: Dr. Topol, it's good to see you. Thank you very much.
We're going to jump back over to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where I'm told the family and attorneys for Andrew Brown's family are speaking right now.
BEN CRUMP, BROWN FAMILY ATTORNEY: It is time for transparency and accountability to take place today, today. It is time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open the door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brothers and sisters --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want? CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I say, what do you want, you say, justice.
REPORTER: Justice.
CRUMP: Hold on one second. We're going to use you in a minute, brother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.
CRUMP: I'm attorney Ben Crump and along with Attorney Harry Daniels and Attorney Bakari Sellers. We have the honor of representing the family of Andrew Brown.
It's so important you all that we not let them to sweep this under the rug because, apparently, before you all showed up, they just wanted to sweep it under the rug, as they have done other brothers and sisters who have been unjustifiably killed by the people who are supposed to protect and serve us.
It's so very important that we have transparency, because if we don't transparency, we can never get to accountability. And if we never get to accountability, we can never get to healing and trust. And so if we want to heal this community, if we want to heal this family, then Sheriff Wooten, then you need to be transparent.
What is it on this video that is so damning that you would risk your career and risk losing your job so the people can't see the video?
[11:45:05]
What is it? That is the question we have to ask ourselves.
And when we think about what just happened in Minneapolis, where Derek Chauvin being held criminally liable, guilty, guilty, guilty for killing George Floyd, is that the reason they're trying to hide the video?
CROWD: Yes.
CRUMP: Because they don't want accountability? And it's still shocking to Attorney Sellers and Attorney Daniels and I, and I'm sure you are, why they keep killing so many unarmed black people who are running away from them, not posing a threat, not posing any violence. Don't we have a right to due process? Why do the police get to be the judge, jury and the executioner?
So what we're here for in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where all Americans watching today and all the world will be watching tomorrow is to say, Sheriff Wooten, you don't need to say no more, just show the video.
CROWD: Show the video.
CRUMP: Attorney Bakari Sellers?
BAKARI SELLERS, BROWN FAMILY ATTORNEY: Hey, how are you doing?
SELLERS: All right. I wish we were somewhere else. I wish Ben Crump wasn't so famous. I wish we had a week where black folk weren't just dying at the hands of law enforcement.
You know, I say often not only in this country can you have the trial of Derek Chauvin be interrupted by the death of Daunte Wright, being interrupted by the death of Adam Toledo, be interrupted by the death of Ma'khia Bryant and now we find ourselves here in Elizabeth City. And so I'm tired.
But not very often in my legal career do I get the eyes of all of you all. And you know what else I'm tired of doing, I'm tired of breathing and crying, I'm tired of seeing the videos, then we protest, then we have a funeral, then we have another shooting, we grieve, we cry, we protest.
And so what I want you all to do today is a little bit different. I want us to destroy the system that keeps putting us in situations like this. That means I want us to make sure that in the state of North Carolina, they can no longer hide videos from individuals who need to see it.
That means I want each and every one of you all to take out your phones right now and I want you to Google the number of the Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin. I want you to call them and ask them why they have not signed on to the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. I want you to make sure that every United States senator, Democrat and Republican, passes legislation so we don't have to be in positions like this. You know, it's good to protest but I'm tired of that. I'm tired of it being cyclical because I stand next to a young man who joins another club of black people who will not be able to grow up with their father. And so I'm asking you to do something a little bit different today. They want us to go out in the streets and they want us to get mad and they want us to chant and march because they know, in 17 days, we got to go back home, and it's going to happen all over again.
It does not make sense that North Carolina state legislature can hide videos like this when all we know is that sunshine is the best disinfectant. And so I just want to see the video this morning. You all got me off my schedule. The sheriff told me at 11:30 I could see the video, and it's past that. And I'd like to stay on a regiment. So I ask you all to just be patient a little bit more because the truth is going to come forth.
But while we are out here, I need you to get on the phones. And I want you to go ahead and call Joe and Kyrsten. I want you to call every Republican senator or Democratic senator and make sure that they're passing policy so that these families don't have to be here like this. I'm standing with the Gwen Carr behind me. I never thought I would be doing that. The mother of Eric Garner is here. Only in black communities do we have mothers of people who lost their children due to gun violence. No other community has a club like that. But we do.
And so today, I ask you all to think a little bit differently about how we're going to break this cycle. We're going to destroy this system and we're going to reimagine what it should be so we don't have no more deaths like this.
[11:50:00]
And the first step, Mr. Sheriff, is simply to do one thing. Show us the video.
CRUMP: And we want to have the family address you all until after they see the video. And it is troubling. It's very troubling that we have to go through this just to achieve simple justice. I can't imagine how what many of these Roland Martin (ph) and us have been through, the fact that the taxpayers have paid all this money for the police to be retrofitted with body camera video, and then the time when it's most critically needed, they won't show it to the public. Why do the taxpayers pay the money?
And so Bakari is saying, federally, we also should be acting here in North Carolina to say, it shouldn't be a judge to have to sign for us to see a video that we've already paid our tax dollars to see the video. That's asinine.
So what we have to do is continue to be strategic. We have to literally vote the people in office who are going to say, we want our children to be able to live out the fulfillment of their destiny that God has for them and not to be shot in the back. I mean, the most cowardly thing in the world you can do is shoot somebody in the back.
They don't shoot white men in the back but it's almost like a cliche where people in the black community, whether Jacob Blake in Kenosha, where it's Laquan McDonald in Chicago, whether it's Walter Scott in South Carolina, whether it's Terrence Crutcher in Oklahoma, I mean, they shoot us in the back as if the most dangerous thing in the world to a police officer is a black man running away.
They don't shoot these mass murderers, these young white men who are confirmed mass murderers. I mean, when you think about the Parkland School shooting, I mean, they took him alive after he shot up the whole school. You think about the young man who went and shot up the people in the Asian spa in Atlanta, they took him alive.
And then, my Lord, not too far from here in Bakari's home state, this young white boy named Dylann Roof went and shot up the whole church and, literally, they chased him across state lines into North Carolina, and they not only took him alive but they took him to Burger King to get a burger and a fry.
But Andrew Brown, they shoot him in the back. And we're going to see the video to know what they're trying to hide from all you all, because the truth can't hide forever and a lie cannot live forever.
SELLERS: I gave you all an assignment, so I wanted to follow through. I need everybody take their phones out. I know you all feel me, but take it out. We're going to do something good. I've got Joe Manchin's number right here. It's 202-224-3954.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One more time.
SELLERS: 202-224-3954. Call his office and tell him we're tired of black folk dying. And then Kyrsten Sinema's number is 202 --
CRUMP: Say the number one more time for Joe Manchin.
SELLERS: 202-224-3954. And Kyrsten Sinema is 202-224-4521. And just call the office and tell them how you feel.
Let me turn it over to Harry. Harry has an update for you.
HARRY DANIELS, BROWN FAMILY ATTORNEY: All right. So let me be clear. We had this thing set up, when I say we, the family, the attorneys, the county attorney, Mike Cox. 11:30 was the time. It was on the 24th. The only issue we had, like I said before, who was going to see the video. We cleared that issue, cleared it, per statute we cleared it.
10:29 this morning, an hour before the viewing, I get an email. Harry, I'm getting ready to do a press release. Have you all seen a press release from him? Harry, ready to do a press release that the video is having some redactions performed. It will not be ready at 11:30. We are working on it as hard as we can, but it takes time, this intent to have it done by today.
They had 24 hours -- 48 hours, and it still ain't done. They didn't see this video since Wednesday, April the 21st, to make that decision to do the redactions. Show us the tape so that the family should not have to be suffering any redactions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do they have to do redactions?
DANIELS: They should see the video raw, raw.
[11:55:02]
I was told by the district attorney -- I was told by the district attorney that the family would get to see the raw footage, not the redacted version. These county administrators are walking back the promises they have made. Show the tape. If you ain't got nothing to hide, show the tape.
CRUMP: You all know us very profound. I bet you if that video shows Andrew doing something wrong, they will have no problem showing that video.
DANIELS: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
CRUMP: But it only seems to be when the video has the police doing something wrong, then they got to redact it, then they don't want to show it. We have to always, when we get a chance to speak truth to power, so we can't do it alone. We need all of you all speaking truth to power for our children. Because the other thing that is profound, this is Khalil. Khalil is the son of Andrew Brown Jr.
Now you all may have noticed that they released a warrant saying all kind of things about Andrew Brown. But they want to redact the face of the police officers that killed Andrew Brown. Now, Andrew Brown didn't kill nobody. The police killed Andrew Brown. But we're going to protect them and not show their face and not say their names so we can see what their rap sheet is because all they want to do is assassinate the character of his father.
And we want to say, no, no, we want to know what was the character of the killers. Say his name.
CROWD: Andrew Brown.
DANIELS: Say his name.
CROWD: Andrew Brown.
DANIELS: Say his name.
CROWD: Andrew Brown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say his name.
CROWD: Andrew Brown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say his name.
CRUMP: I told you we're going to need you.
CROWD: Andrew Brown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say his name. CROWD: Andrew Brown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say his name.
CROWD: Andrew Brown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I say what do you want, you say video. What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I say what do you want, you say justice. What do you want?
CROWD: Justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
CROWD: Justice.
KEITH RIVERS, PRESIDENT, PASQUOTANK COUNTY NAACP: Greetings. I am Keith Rivers, President of the Pasquotank County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, as well as the third vice president of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP. And we will continue to demand justice. We will continue to march. We will continue to have peaceful protests. We will continue to stand for the Brown family and this community.
It is almost disgraceful that it has taken the presence of the media to get a notice from the sheriff's department to release the video. And now, we're understanding that you don't want to release the video in its entirety, you don't want to be transparent but you want to say that -- ask the community to trust you. Well, we can't trust you if you're not transparent.
We have to heal. We have to grow. Sheriff Wooten, do the right thing. The D.A., do the right thing. We will continue. And let it be known that this community has now -- the city has declared a state of emergency, and it has been through peaceful protests, peaceful protests. That is a reflection of this community, the people that are elected to office. We elected the sheriff. We elected the district attorney. We elected you. Do not fail this community. Do not fail this community.
To all of the protesters, to all of the community out here, let the entire United States of America hear you. What do we want?
CROWD: Justice.
RIVERS: What do we want?
CROWD: Justice.
RIVERS: When do we want it now?
CROWD: Now.
RIVERS: Who do we want it for?
CROWD: Andrew Brown.
RIVERS: Who do we want it for?
CROWD: Andrew Brown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amen.
CRUMP: Thank you, Mr. President. We have the daughter -- one of the children of Andrew Brown here. And if you ever want to know what we're fighting for, you just look at that little angel.
Right now, we are going to have somebody address you who is part of that fraternity that nobody wants to be part of, as Bakari and Harry talked about.
[12:00:05]
She was with the family of George Floyd.
