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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Police Chief, Officer Who Shot & Killed Daunte Wright Both Resign; Prosecution Rests, Defense Calls First Witnesses in Murder Trial; CDC, FDA Recommend Pause of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine. Aired 4- 4:30p ET
Aired April 13, 2021 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:12]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.
Major developments in our national lead this afternoon as we continue to watch former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin stand trial for the murder of George Floyd. Just ten miles down the road, both the Brooklyn Center police officer who shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright on Sunday and her boss, the chief of police, both of them have resigned.
Officer Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force grabbed her handgun instead of her Taser apparently by mistake and shot Wright dead as he attempted to flee from police. The now former police chief called it an accident. The county prosecutor says he hopes to have a charging decision on former Officer Potter by tomorrow.
The mayor of Brooklyn Center saying this afternoon he hopes the resignations will bring calm to the community after a second night of protests, some of which turned violent. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades. And as CNN's Miguel Marquez reports, despite the resignations today, officials fear more even violence tonight as the nation grapples with yet another unnecessary death of a black man at the hands of law enforcement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATIE WRIGHT, MOTHER OF DAUNTE WRIGHT: I never imagined this is what was going to happen. I just thought maybe he was being arrested.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another day, another American family, African-American, fed up with the unequal treatment all around now reeling at the death of a son, brother and father, Daunte Wright dead at the hands of police.
WRIGHT: She pointed the known towards the driver's seat and my son was laying there unresponsive. That was the last time that I've seen my son.
MARQUEZ: Daunte Wright only 20 years old, father to Daunte Wright Jr., his partner says Daunte was a great dad.
CHYNA WHITAKER, MOTHER OF DAUNTE WRIGHT'S SON: It's not fair that his son can't have his dad in his life.
MARQUEZ: The fallout from the death of Daunte Wright still reverberating, the chief of Brooklyn Center police and the officer who fired the fatal shot Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force, have both resigned.
MAYOR MIKE ELLIOTT, BROOKLYN CENTER, MINNESOTA: I'm hoping that this will help bring some calm to -- to the community although, you know, I think ultimately people want justice. They want full accountability under the law and so that's what we're going to continue to work for.
MARQUEZ: Many residents here angry, demanding change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No more just because they are black, because they are brown! No more! I'm sick and I'm tired, and it's people like you!
MARQUEZ: The police chief said Potter thought she pulled her Taser but instead held her service weapon and fired a single shot into Daunte Wright at point blank range.
OFFICER: I'll tase you. Taser! Taser! Taser!
Oh, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
MARQUEZ: Law enforcement officials say he was pulled over for expired tags but Wright's mother disputes that saying Wright told her he had been pulled over from air fresheners hanging from the rear view mirror.
The killing comes at a sensitive time for Minneapolis as the murder trial of Derek Chauvin has been televised daily with a strong prosecution case and video of the former Minneapolis cop's behavior as he kept his knee on the neck of George Floyd for 9 minutes and 29 seconds last summer.
Many residents here incensed by the repeated deaths, use of force and everyday dealings with some police officers. Last night, frustration boiled over into the streets as protesters challenged police at the Brooklyn Center station in northwestern Minneapolis, taunting them and some throwing objects and shooting fireworks at officers in full riot gear. Police resorted to tear gas, pepper balls and flash bang grenades to clear the protesters. Protesters demanding deeper changes to the police force and policing.
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MARQUEZ (on camera): So this is actually Hennepin County where all of this happened and the D.A. here kicked it over to Washington County, the district attorney says there he hopes possibly to have a charging decision by as early as tomorrow. The mayor of Brooklyn Center is asking the state's attorney general to pick up the case much like it did in the Derek Chauvin case.
And I spoke to one of Mr. Wright's brothers today. He says that he loves him. He misses him, and he wants the world to know that they lost a really special guy in Daunte Wright's death -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Miguel Marquez, thank you so much.
Now down the road in Minneapolis, the prosecution rest its case today in the murder trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. Today, we heard from the defense's first witnesses. Their testimony explored George Floyd's previous arrest in 2019, his demeanor in the minutes before this deadly encounter with police and a use of force expert who said that Chauvin's actions were justified as CNN's Omar Jimenez reports.
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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The beginning of the defense's case for former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin offered jurors the first expert witness to definitively defend Chauvin's actions.
BARRY BRODD, EXPERT WITNESS ON USE OF FORCE: I felt that Derek Chauvin was justified, was acting with objective reasonableness following Minneapolis Police Department policy and current standards of law enforcement and in his interactions with Mr. Floyd.
JIMENEZ: The use of force saying the officers could have used more force.
BRODD: It's easy to sit and judge on an officer's conduct. It's more of a challenge to, again, put yourself in the officer's shoes.
JIMENEZ: The defense also took jurors back to May 25th, 2020 with police body camera video.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He still won't get in the car.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just sit down, dude.
ERIC NELSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: How would you describe Mr. Floyd's behavior while inside of the Cup Foods?
SHAWANDA HILL, FRIEND OF GEORGE FLOYD: Happy, normal, talking, alert.
JIMENEZ: Shawanda Hill was a friend of George Floyd's who was in the car with him in the moments leading to his confrontation with police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is he to you guys?
JIMENEZ: Minutes later, Hill tried to see what was happening?
HILL: They are still fighting him. Oh, man. What is he doing?
JIMENEZ: But some of testimony Tuesday went into George Floyd's past.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put them up on the dash. JIMENEZ: Including a portion of a 2019 arrest which the judge allowed
because he ruled it was similar to the May 2020 confrontation, a confrontation by police followed by a rapid ingestion of drugs.
NELSON: Somebody told you that he had taken a pill at the time that the offices were apprehending him?
MICHELLE MONSENG, FORMER PARAMEDIC: Correct.
JIMENEZ: The paramedic who responded that day was called to the stand.
NELSON: Do you recall what his blood pressure was?
MONSENG: Yes, sir. It's 216 over 160.
NELSON: Did you ultimately make recommendations to transport Mr. Floyd to the hospital?
MONSENG: Based on that and other issues.
JIMENEZ: The prosecutors drew a critical bottom line in their cross- examination?
ERIN ELDRIDGE, MINNESOTA ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: He didn't have a stroke while you were with him?
MONSENG: No.
ELDRIDGE: He was never given Narcan, correct?
MONSENG: Correct.
ELDRIDGE: He didn't stop breathing?
MONSENG: No.
ELDRIDGE: His heart didn't stop?
MONSENG: No.
ELDRIDGE: He didn't go into cardiac arrest?
MONSENG: No.
ELDRIDGE: He didn't go into a coma?
MONSENG: No.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JIMENEZ (on camera): Now during the cross-examination of that use of force expert, prosecutors had to push him just to admit this was a use of force but then they also asked about the concept of in your custody, in your care for police officers where the expert acknowledged he knew about. So prosecutors pushed it further to this idea of situational awareness which the defense has talked a lot about, specifically for the crowd.
But prosecutors asked if that include the medical condition of the suspect, especially if the suspect loses the ability to breathe, loses consciousness and loses a pulse to which the expert responded yes.
Prosecutors clearly trying to cut into his earlier testimony from today arguing that Chauvin's actions were objectionably reasonable -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Omar Jimenez in Minneapolis, thank you so much.
The federal government is recommending that states temporarily stop using the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine. What you need to know, especially if you've already gotten the J&J shot.
Plus, he may have insulting nicknames for some of his Republican colleagues but John Boehner still voted for Trump in 2020. The former speaker will join us live to discuss his new book. That's next.
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TAPPER: We're back with our health lead now.
The Biden administration recommending a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine in the United States. The CDC and FDA this morning suggested this move out of an abundance of caution, they said.
The recommendation is in response to six, six reported cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot, six cases, all among women between the ages of 18 and 48. Though we should note, this is six cases can out of a total 6.8 million people in the U.S. who have received the single dose vaccine. It's unclear, so far, if the blood clot is definitively linked to the vaccine.
Today, the FDA said the pause could last a matter of days while it investigates as CNN's Alexandra Field reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I think this is an unusual occurrence.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a setback that won't set everyone back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really originally wanted the Johnson & Johnson so I didn't have to come back for the second one, but it is what it is.
FIELD: But it could critically damage confidence among people who are less certain.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think people with vaccine hesitancy are probably looking for things to validate their hesitancy.
FIELD: Federal vaccination sites across the country have stopped administering Johnson & Johnson shots along with CVS and Walgreens pharmacies and a growing number of states.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I took the J&J. A lot of my staff did. If and when it's safe to return to giving the J&J, we'll do that.
FIELD: In many places, people scheduled for the J&J shots already being offered other vaccines.
DENISE FAIR, CHIEF PUBLIC HEALHT OFFICER OF THE DETROIT HEALTH DEPARTMENT: For those Detroiters who were scheduled for a J&J shot, we're going to replace them with either Moderna or Pfizer.
FIELD: All of this after a recommendation was issued to pause the use of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine following reports of a rare and severe type of blood clot reported in six of more than 7.2 million people in the U.S. who have been given the shot. All six cases occurring among women between the ages of 18 and 48, within six to 13 days after injection and including one death.
Health experts expected a small number of complications. This type of clot wasn't among them.
DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT GRADY HEALTH SYSTEM: I think people don't need to freak out. I'll be going on in my life but I would be very in tune to my body and if I develop shortness of breath, if I develop leg pain, I develop a headache and I'm within two to three weeks of having had a Johnson & Johnson vaccine, I would immediately contact my health care provider.
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FIELD: The CDC and FDA say the pause will allow for a review of the new data. It will also provide time to notify health care providers about how to identify this type of clot and how to treat it.
FAUCI: It's going to be more like days to weeks rather than weeks to months.
FIELD: Health officials are urging people to stay confident in the safety and efficacy of vaccines, stressing there are no similar concerns with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
FAUCI: You're talking about tens and tenses and tens of millions of people who receive vaccine with no adverse effect. This is a really rare event if you look at what we know so far.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD (on camera): And, Jake, here in the Javits Center in New York City, people who showed up today expecting to get a Johnson & Johnson vaccine were offered a Pfizer shot instead. And statewide, the governor is saying the pause for J&J shouldn't affect vaccine appointments. They have enough of the Pfizer and Moderna supplies.
Add to that, the fact that this state and so many others were expecting was supposed to have a decreased supply of J&J this week because of a manufacturing problem for Johnson & Johnson. However, states that do still have doses of Johnson & Johnson are being instructed by the CDC to put those aside and label "do not use for now" at least -- Jake.
TAPPER: For now. Alexandra Field, thanks so much.
Let's bring in CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
So, Sanjay, what we have are six cases out of almost 7 million. We should note that one of the six individuals died, but given this literally 1 in a million statistic, is it possible that the FDA and CDC are overreacting? Could there be more COVID deaths as a result of this decision if fewer people ultimately end up getting vaccines?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a really good question. Ultimately because this is a third vaccine and there's plenty of the other vaccines, I think that's going to be less of a concern. If this was the only vaccine out there, I think, you know, in some ways this would be a tougher call but the way the system is set up is to basically have a very low bar for finding something that sort of qualifies as a safety signal.
I think the comparison is correct. I can say show if we have this graphic. Basically, the numbers overall. So you have six people out of, you know 7 million, but 1 in a million developing these blood clotting problems. If you compare that to the likelihood of death, and this is the same age group, Jake, 18 to 49-year-olds, the risk of death is closer to 1,800 in a million.
So clearly getting the vaccine no matter how you look at it the is going to be much better overall for preventing death versus, you know, getting COVID. So -- but I think that the signal -- finding the safety signals is of such high priority that it gives people reassurance that they are finding 1 in a million type safety concerns.
TAPPER: What does it mean for vaccine hesitancy for all of the vaccines? Will it set the nation back on that?
GUPTA: Yeah. I think -- what I keep saying is this should give you some confidence that the vaccines like Moderna and Pfizer are getting tens of millions of doses have not had these 1 in a million safety concerns. So hopefully that actually builds your confidence at least around those two.
But I'm not so naive as to think, Jake, that even with a one in a million with the J&J concern, that it may fuel some vaccine hesitancy. We saw that with AstraZeneca in Europe. I mean, there's some surveys in France, for example, that only 20 percent of people are willing to take the AstraZeneca vaccine. So there will be some vaccine hesitancy I think as a result of this towards the J&J vaccine.
But hopefully, we keep talking about it and it doesn't translate to just vaccines overall.
TAPPER: And the White House insists that this will not significantly affect their efforts to vaccine Americans given the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. But this, of course, is a valuable vaccine, the J&J vaccine, only one shot, easier to transport.
If it is taken off the market entirely, and that has not happened, but if that were to happen, how significant would that be?
GUPTA: Well, I -- we did the math on this and you know, we do have -- Pfizer and Moderna are obviously two-dose vaccines but there are 600 million of those doses have been purchased and that's more than enough to certainly vaccinate all adults and some of the kids as well as they actually hopefully get authorization for younger and younger kids, they will buy more of those doses of vaccines. So I don't think the supply thing is really going to be an issue here in the United States. These vaccines, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, are probably going to have more of an impact, possibly a negative one around the world. I mean, the AstraZeneca one in particular because it would be, you know, surged into all different locations.
But here in the United States, I think we're still going to be in good shape just looking at the numbers.
Virologist Angela Rasmussen today tweeted about the risk of blood clots. She said, quote: For perspective, here are some numbers, 1 in a million for J&J vaccine, 1 in 3,000 for oral contraceptives, 1 in 5 for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
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And she writes, as someone who got the J&J vaccine eight days ago, and who took oral contraceptives for 20 years, I'll take those odds.
What do you make of that?
GUPTA: Yeah. I mean, you know, she's drawing these comparisons, and I think -- I think they are fair comparisons. One thing I will say is this type of blood clot, and I think we have an image of what's happening in the brain here. I think, you know, as a neurosurgeon myself, this is something that I think we have to by -- pay attention to.
This type of blood clot is a very unusual situation. You see that in red there, the blue is all the veins that drain blood away from the vein. If you can't drain the blood away from the brain, the brain starts to swell, get headaches, blurred visions, seizures. Those are the sorts of things you'll look for.
But I think is also interesting and, you know, Alexandra mentioned this in her piece, is that you think clot and what most clinicians would do is give blood thinners, you know, break up the clot. In fact, this is an unusual sort of blood clot. This is sort of blood clot where you're both at a risk of developing a blood clot inside the blood vessel. But you're also at risk of having bleeding, so you don't necessarily want to give blood thinkers. My point is, this is not your routine clot which is also I think why
these medical investigators, their antennas are raise on this. They wanted to send a message to clinicians but don't just give a blood thinner. You've got to be more thoughtful if you see this sort of thing, here's the best way to treat it. So, they want to get that information out to docs.
TAPPER: But very, very, very rare. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.
GUPTA: Very rare.
TAPPER: He's called fellow Republicans knuckleheads, political terrorists, crazies. Don't forget, he's still a Republican. Former House Speaker John Boehner joins us live on his new book and the future of the GOP. That's next. Stay with us.
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TAPPER: In our national lead is a rollicking sometimes scathing, chockfull of expletives memoir, one that rebukes many officials in today's Democratic and Republican Party but the Republican insults are the interesting ones because it's written by none other than the GOP former House Speaker John Boehner. He left office five and a half years ago, but he says the, quote, knucklehead right he fought with as speaker now threatens the county.
His new book "On the House: A Washington Memoir", comes as Republicans find themselves at something of a crossroads. Well, are they to continue to follow former President Trump and his conspiracy theories and the dangerous lie about the 2020 election or to pursue the path of Romney, Reagan, Ryan and our next guest, former Speaker John Boehner, Republican of Ohio?
Congratulations. It is a -- it is a very enjoyable read.
JOHN BOEHNER, FORMER GOP HOUSE SPEAKER: Well, Jake, thanks. I enjoyed putting it together.
TAPPER: So, let me ask you because I know you have some writing in here about Afghanistan in Iraq and about a visit to Afghanistan. President Biden we learned today is setting a deadline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, September 11th, 2021, 20 years after the 9/11 attack.
"The Washington Post" reports this is not going to be a conditions- based withdrawal because the Biden according to an aide thinks that requiring conditions be met will keep the troops there in perpetuity.
I know we have yet to learn a lot of details about this, but what's your initial reaction?
BOEHNER: Well, this is a very difficult situation and it has been for 20 years. And, you know, Joe Biden is the new president. We've been on these discussions on and off with the Taliban for years, and frankly, I don't disagree with the president's position. I think it's time -- it's time to go.
The idea that we had 20 years ago of imposing a Western-style government, you know, in a country in a world that didn't recognize anything like what we did has been almost impossible to implement. Hindsight is 2020 but I think we've lost enough soldiers and spent enough of our treasure trying to help the Afghanis. It's time for them to help themselves
TAPPER: Let's talk about your book. You're critical of Democrats, but you save some of your most barbed insults for the Republicans who in your words are not interested in governing. You called Ted Cruz Lucifer in the flesh; Jim Jordan a political terrorist; Sarah Palin, quote, one of the chief crazies; Michelle Bachmann, a, quote, lunatic.
And Ted Cruz responded. He says he wears your, quote, drunken, bloviated scorn proudly. Trump adviser Jason Miller called you a swamp creature and asked, was he drinking when he made the statement? Sean Hannity said, quote, John Boehner will go down in history as one of the worst Republican speakers in history.
I wanted to give you an opportunity to respond to any of those returning fire.
BOEHNER: Well, listen, they are all entitled to their opinion and they can say whatever they want to say. But during my five years as speaker of the House and trying to govern, trying to get the majority party to do the right things for the country, you know, even though I had the people on the far right, if it wasn't 100 percent, it wasn't good enough.
If it was my idea, it wasn't good enough. I was the quote, establishment. And I spent most of my career beating up on the establishment. I know what the establishment was or is, but I was the speaker of the House, so I was the establishment. And I had to put up with some of these characters non-stop.
TAPPER: Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, he's been trying to push back against a lot of the same forces in your party. He said, quote -- about you -- I wish he had been saying this stuff earlier. But given January 6th, the whole stolen election lie, the fact that many in the party are still kind of embracing it. I think Boehner is an important voice to have out there.
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