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Timberlake Arraigned and Released; L.A. School District Bans Cell Phones; Juneteenth Special Airs on CNN. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 19, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jail and appeared in that arraignment the next morning. And he was released about this time yesterday.

What he told police, all we know so far is that he said, I had one martini, as you said, and I followed my friends home. So, that's all were getting from Justin Timberlake. But this is - this is just a little bit of sort of drama to come for the pop star who is in the midst of a world tour. He's set to perform in Chicago this weekend. He's supposed to come back here to New York, perform at Madison Square Garden next week. But he does have a next court date for this one count of DWI, and that is on July 26th. And, John, on that date he'll be in Poland for another concert.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Huh. All right, Brynn Gingras, out in Sag Harbor. Brynn, thanks so much.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, talk a little bit more about this, CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson joins us now to break down what happens next for the pop star.

So, what happens next? We see he's got a court date. He's got a performance in Poland. Does he need to be there? If he doesn't show up, what happens?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: A whole bunch. Sara, great to see you. We love you.

So, look, here's the reality. The reality is, is that he stands accused, right?

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: This is a criminal complaint. It is a misdemeanor. That means a crime punishable by up to a year. I have every reason to believe that this will resolve itself in a non-criminal way. So, in terms of your concerts, yes, you have to be in court on a day certain.

There's also a scenario where you can ask for another date, right? Adjournments are quite common for people who are maybe not doing concerts, but who have other engagements. It happens all the time with permission of the court.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about the sobriety test because defense attorneys like you have always said not to take them. But once you take those tests, how damning is it? Because they'll look at those numbers and go off that, correct?

JACKSON: Yes.

SIDNER: It doesn't even matter, like, you know, did you smell alcohol, which they said they did. You know, wasn't able to sort of - I think they said unsteady afoot. I've never heard that before but, obviously, he wasn't dancing. He was unable to sort of stand up straight according to the officers.

But the test, how important is that?

JACKSON: So, first the lead-in and then the test, Sara, right? The lead-in is, how were you driving previously. We've heard some indications that he blew a stop sign. People who are sober blow stop signs every day.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: We've heard an indication he was in another lane. People do that as well. The real issue was, was he driving in any reckless way. If he was, how reckless was it? Was he speeding in any way? Was he weaving in and out of traffic? Was he overtaking any other vehicles? So that's important because it gives you context with respect to the condition of the driver.

To your point, in terms of field sobriety, right, generally there are body cams and sometimes they'll do them inside a facility. And those body cams are outcome determinative. Why? Because you could see what happens. What do they do, Sara? They say, hey, you know what, we want you to touch your nose.

SIDNER: Touch your nose, right.

JACKSON: So, you'll touch your nose here. You'll touch your nose there. We now want you to stand on one leg. You'll stand on one leg. We want you to hold it for ten seconds. You'll do that. We want you to walk. We want you to walk ten steps forward and ten steps back. So, all of that is assessed to determine motor coordination. If we get to visually see it, we'll have an indication as to whether or not there's any exaggeration or whether or not he was acting in accordance with someone who could presumably be drunk.

SIDNER: It is interesting because he has said, I only had one martini. And this is an excuse we've actually heard a lot in the past where people said, it was just one beer. But if that sobriety test shows something else.

JACKSON: Right. Right. Because - and that's the issue. And -

SIDNER: It doesn't matter what you're saying, right?

JACKSON: It doesn't.

And, you know what, Sara, I've never seen a complaint - a police complaint, meaning a criminal complaint that's been delineated where it says anything other than watery, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: Odor of alcohol emanating from the breadth. And so the issue is whether or not - because, remember this, you can have watery, bloodshot eyes and be tired.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: You can have odor of alcohol on your breath and just have had a drink, right?

SIDNER: And not be drunk enough.

JACKSON: Correct.

SIDNER: According to the law.

JACKSON: And that's why I think those field sobriety tests and any video which establishes his condition, his comportment, his demeanor, his composure, that's going to be critical with regard to how this is done.

But I will end where I began, and that is, I think this will resolve itself in a non-criminal way. There's no reason to believe that he wouldn't pay a fine, potentially be involved in a program, et cetera, and otherwise be (INAUDIBLE).

SIDNER: I was going to ask you how you think this will be resolved.

JACKSON: Yes.

SIDNER: You think it will happen quickly? Obviously, he's got - there are thousands of fans waiting for him to show up. What do you think?

JACKSON: So, yes, you know, it's our - he'll be able to travel freely about the cabin, so to speak. This is not something, right, that he'll be in jail or anything over.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: And the reality is, is that, no, he shouldn't be treated more favorably, but he shouldn't be treated any more harshly.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: The reality is, is that when you refuse, it's harsh to begin with. The law coerces you into taking the test. Why? Because they'll say, if you don't take it, we're going to use it as guilt against you to demonstrate if you were sober, why wouldn't you blow into a tube? So that's what they do to yet you. And they read you those warnings and say you understand so we could use this against you in court. You understand your license is going to be revoked, suspended, regardless of whether you're found guilty or not. But the essence of it is, is that I think that will resolve itself in a way, no one hurt, no one injured, all good, n No one should ever drink and drive ever. But at the end of the day, you know what, it will resolve itself in an appropriate, lawful fashion.

[09:35:04]

SIDNER: There is a reason Mothers Against Drunk Driving have put this forward again and again, that you can kill someone.

JACKSON: Yes.

SIDNER: You can hurt someone. So, this is an offense that people should take very seriously.

JACKSON: Without question.

SIDNER: Thank you so much.

JACKSON: Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: Joey Jackson, appreciate it. Good to see you.

JACKSON: Always.

SIDNER: All right, a U.S. soldier arrested in Russia has just been sentenced. The crimes he is alleged to have committed and how long that sentence is.

Plus, one of the biggest school districts in the United States votes to ban cellphones. Students can't have the phones on while they're in class. Reaction from a parent and a teacher coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:28]

BERMAN: The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest in the country, has voted to ban students from using cell phones during the school day starting next year. The goal, they say, is the curb the negative mental health impacts of cell phone use. And, frankly, to get the kids to pay attention in class.

With us now is Jessica Quindel, high school math teacher and parent in the Los Angeles Unified School District and a supporter of this measure, why?

JESSICA QUINDEL, PARENT, LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: Well, I have been an education for 20 years. But this was my first year back in the classroom after I had left Berkley High School in 2010. And the major difference was the addiction to smartphones in my classroom. And student's attention is all over the place. Even when a strict cell phone policy, trying to manage cell phones is like running a non-stop marathons.

So, I was so grateful and elated and so were many of our teachers at our school that the district is taking a stance and helping with the physical barriers because it's too hard. Even adults have trouble - we have trouble managing our cell phones and being able to focus on learning and connecting with others during the school day.

BERMAN: How are you going to enforce this?

QUINDEL: Well, it's not up to me alone. But I think simply the - by the mere fact that the district is taking a stance will help us because I was part of a group of teachers that Venice High School who - we created a phone free focus group. We did the research. We rolled out a school wide phone-free policy on March 1st, but there is just not enough of a culture in the district and in our society to be able to enforce it easily. It takes energy, staff. Having the physical barriers, which is in this resolution, will help us. And researcher and author Jonathan Haidt, in the anxious generation, he says that's really the only answer to high schools especially having that physical barrier.

So, I'm a teacher. I'm a parent. I'm excited for this. But really enforcement has to be figured out as a collaborative process between, you know, teachers, administrators, parents, students. And their needs to be education. A lot of families, students, even stuff, we don't know all the dangers of cell phones.

Like the surgeon general is educating us. There's so many people out there educating us. It's like cigarettes. You know, cigarette use went way down when the education campaigns went up.

BERMAN: We just had Jonathan Haidt on yesterday talking about the very thing that you are discussing right now. Interesting that you're holding his book up.

And look, I have to say, I'm not only the (INAUDIBLE) president, I'm also a member. I mean I have teenage boys, one of whom goes to a high school where they do ban cell phones. And I do have to say, I've been surprised that the kids don't mind it as much as you might think. Normally you take something away from a kid, they'll fight you no matter what. In this case, I've been a little surprised they've been willing to accept it. What are you seeing among your kids and your students?

QUINDEL: Yes, most of my students have no problems accepting it. In fact, one of my students - I teach an introduction to data science class. We did appreciations at the end of the year. And one of the students shared that what he appreciated most about the class was my strict phone policy. This was a senior who started high school online in Covid and he said, you know, I really hadn't gotten to know many of my classmates or even really learn as well as I could because I was constantly on my phone. I'm glad you made me. Ms. Quindel, thank you for making us put our phones away. I got to meet people in my class. I got to know people.

Students will resist. They're not used to it. My kids didn't like eating vegetables. I had to get them to eat their vegetables before eating dessert. You know, they need to know why. They need to understand so that education piece is there. But many students are grateful in the end for the ability to focus on learning, focused on their classmates. And really, at the end of the day, we're seeing it helps mental health, physical well-being. They're more likely to run around. All of that research is there. It's a matter of getting the students to understand the data and the science - research, which is why I love teaching data science so we can - we looked at all that research in our class.

BERMAN: I've got to say, I wish I had you as a teacher. You sound like a great teacher.

Are you hearing any pushback at all from parents on this?

QUINDEL: You know, it's funny because we rolled out the policy at our high school as a school-wide policy March 1st. I had a classroom phone-free policy from day one. And when I had parent conferences in February, right before we rolled it out, even some of the parents of the students who I had the most difficulty with getting them off their phone because there wasn't a - it appeared to be an addiction, they said, thank you. I'm glad you're doing this. My kids need this. I didn't hear a lot of pushback.

You do hear the parents talking about the emergencies. Well, how I've solved that as a parent myself is, my students don't - my kids, they are 12 and 13, and they don't have a smartphone.

[09:45:07]

They have those watches that are - they allow you to communicate, but there's no internet. It has a timer. It has a watch. But it's just for communication and just for the people, you know, that we put on there. So, it's a way of kind of getting the benefits of the technology, but not having all of the downside.

BERMAN: Yes.

QUINDEL: Social media, it's dangerous for young people, you know.

BERMAN: Yes.

QUINDEL: And so there is that pushback from parents. But again, I think that education piece is key and a collaborative process where parents and families are involved in figuring out, how do we enforce this at our school?

BERMAN: Yes. Yes, a lot of people can get behind the spirit of this. The specifics of it are something that can be worked out. It is manageable. Jessica Quindel, thanks so much for coming on. Really appreciate your time this morning.

QUINDEL: Thank you.

BERMAN: And new this morning, a U.S. soldier has been sentenced to almost four years in a Russian penal colony. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:35]

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, Nintendo is releasing a new version of a classic '80s video game, Zelda. And the twist is that now, for the first time, people can officially play as Zelda, I am reliably told the fans will know what that means. The game has recorded more than 140 million sales since its first release in 1986.

This morning, 24 people have been charged for allegedly taking part in a scheme to launder more than $50 million of drug money. The arrests are part of a major effort to crack down on a Chinese criminal money laundering ring operating out of Los Angeles. The ring is said to be connected to Mexico's drug cartels. A senior DEA official said the agency has seen an uptick in Chinese money laundering in the U.S. over the last year.

A U.S. soldier has been sentenced to nearly four years in a Russian penal colony. State media reports a Russian court found Staff Sergeant Gordon Black guilty on charges of theft and threatening murder. Sergeant Black's lawyer says he will appeal the sentence.

And then tonight CNN will host its star-studded Juneteenth celebration. This marks the day union troops notified enslaved people in Texas that they were free. That's more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth also honors the struggles and triumphs that came long after that day.

CNN's Victor Blackwell spoke with the godmother of soul, Patti LaBelle, on how she managed to perform even in the worst of conditions. And Victor Blackwell joins us now.

So, you get to sit down with the best people, Victor.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: It was a dream.

So, the great thing about this special is that we get the music, right? Pattis has this iconic voice. John sings. Smoky sings. But we also speak with them on the issues of freedom and legacy and progress. And part of the special focuses in on the early days of Patti LaBelle, with the Bluebelles, and the progress she's seen.

Here's part of that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, when you tell these stories, and you think back to the early '60s and you were touring with The Bluebelles, considering the social differences, the cultural differences, do you think of those times fondly still?

PATTI LABELLE, SINGER: Oh, I have to. That's my life.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

LABELLE: That's how it started, you know, doing things when we were doing them and not being honored and not being treated well.

BLACKWELL: How did you continue to sing through it, to perform through it, even at sometimes when you weren't treated the best.

LABELLE: You sing. That's your job. And I'm going to sing no matter what. If you treat me well, if you treat me not so well, that's what I do. And I will continue through bad times because we have to keep - keep on moving on and never stop. Never let anything that somebody did to you that made you feel less than a penny bother your craft. And that's what we do, we sing. And we've had some moments that would make some other people maybe stay home, but it just kept pushing us up. The worse we were treated, the higher we went.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Amazing.

Patti LaBelle. I'm so jealous. Patti has also embraced her LGBTQ plus fans. But she talked to you a little bit about how they shaped her career.

BLACKWELL: Yes, I told Ms. Patti, you loved us before we were an acronym, right? She has loved LGBTQ long before the letters were put together. And she said that she loved her gay fans and she says she has always called herself the original drag queen. And with the nails and the hair and the makeup and the costumes. And she says because she's on stage and she says if her eyelash comes off, she'll take it off and hand it to the crowd. If she has a run, she'll tell everybody he has a run. That she feels that she's comfortable being herself on stage. And that might have inspired some of her fans to be themselves. And it is this call and response of authenticity and genuineness between her and her LGBTQ plus.

SIDNER: I remember, John and Victor, I remember her saying that wigs are - hair is nothing but an accessory. I remember that. I don't know why that has stuck in my head all these years, but she had the greatest wigs in the history of wigs, I swear, on stage.

BLACKWELL: That '80s hair. I mean, huge Patti LaBelle iconic hair.

SIDNER: Yes. Yes.

BLACKWELL: You see some of it in the special.

BERMAN: Don't go knocking knees (ph).

What else can we expect tonight, Victor?

BLACKWELL: You know, it's really a clarion call.

[09:55:01]

As we - we celebrate the history and the progress, this is a moment to say, all right now what is next? We hear from John Legend on the issue of ending mass incarceration and reducing recidivism. Smokey Robinson talks about voting and voting rights. You heard part of my conversation with Patti LaBelle.

Also, Miss Opal Lee is on this special, the grandmother of Juneteenth, who worked for many years to make this a national, federal holiday. And she talks about starting where you are. She describes herself as just a little old lady in tennis shoes to get attention to this holiday. But she says, start where you are. You can make progress without having a national platform.

SIDNER: It is a beautiful thing. I know they're doing a museum as well for her as well.

But, Victor, you got to sit down with Patti LaBelle. I'm just jealous. Thank you so much. I appreciate you bringing it to us.

BLACKWELL: It was fantastic.

SIDNER: That's so awesome. I see you smiling from ear to ear.

BERMAN: He didn't - he can't even fake it. He can't even fake how much he liked it.

SIDNER: No. No, he is -

BLACKWELL: It's a great job. Real good.

SIDNER: Look at all those pearly whites. I love it. Thank you, Victor.

And don't forget to tune in to the CNN special event, "Juneteenth: Celebrating Freedom and Legacy." You can watch it, of course, right here on CNN.

Hey, you can stream it too on MAX tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

BERMAN: And Victor does such a great job. It's such a terrific story to tell as well.

SIDNER: It's true.

BERMAN: Thank you all for joining us. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL with John Berman, Sara Sidner, and Kate Bolduan. Love that name. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Jim Acosta is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)