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City Of Louisville Reaches $12 Million Settlement With Breonna Taylor's Family; Healthy 14-Year-Old Contracted COVID-19 And Now Suffering From Myocarditis; Rob Harris, Los Angeles Police Protective League Union Director, Discusses Ambush Shooting Of Two Sheriff's Deputies In Los Angeles & L.A. Sheriff Challenging LeBron James To Double Reward For Finding Shooter. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired September 15, 2020 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR FAMILY OF BREONNA TAYLOR: Especially the activists who came and was on the ground here in Louisville, saying we won't let Breonna Taylor's life be swept under the rug. And thank god.

With what has happened today, Mayor Fischer, not just with the historical amount but equally important with the reform that Attorney Baker and Attorney O'Connell spoke of, it sets a precedence for other black women, that their lives won't be marginalized and they will be valued.

Lives like Sandra Bland. Lives like Pamela Turner in Baytown, Texas. Lives like 7-year-old Ayana Stanley in Detroit who was also killed as a result of a dangerous no-knock warrant.

Because we have to speak truth to power when we get an opportunity. And these dangerous no-knock warrants are disproportionately executed against black people in America.

And so I'm very happy that the metro council also stood united with Tamika Palmer to pass Breonna's Law, to abolish these dangerous no- knock warrants, because it was foreseeable who was most being put in danger with these no-knock warrants.

And so I want to point out very significantly what happened in Louisville here today.

Representing George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Pamela Turner in Baytown, Texas, right outside of Houston, Terrence Crutcher in Oklahoma, Botham Jones, Joseph Richardson in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and so many other names of black people who have been killed by police in America.

While most of America is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, we at black America are not only dealing with that pandemic but the 1619 pandemic. The pandemic that started 401 years ago when the first enslaved Africans came to America.

And from that day to this one, we have been dealing with systematic racism and oppression that have killed us inside and outside the courtroom.

So it is worth noting that in all those other cities, there has not been the responsive, comprehensive and systematic reform that has occurred in Louisville, Kentucky.

Tamika Palmer, in the name of Breonna Taylor. In the name of Breonna Taylor.

But regardless of this landmark step on the journey to justice, we still are demanding that Kentucky attorney general, Daniel Cameron, bring charges immediately against the police officers that murdered Breonna Taylor. Immediately. This week.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

The Senate leadership has done a significant step today. But now it is on Daniel Cameron and the attorney general of Kentucky's office to bring charges.

And at the very minimum, Lonita, second-degree manslaughter charges. Because we want justice for Breonna Taylor, not just partial justice.

Breonna Taylor is a light to help heal what's happening in America.

And for all those young people, those celebrities, athletes but, most importantly, the people who are on the ground, the people who are the activists and protesters who are saying enough is enough.

We see that there are two justice systems in America. One for black America and one for white America.

[14:35:02]

In Louisville, Kentucky, we took significant steps today in the name of Breonna Taylor of trying to correct this broken criminal justice system.

And we do it in three phases. In the civil rights phase with this civil lawsuit, which is the only thing that Lonita and I can control. We can't control the criminal prosecution.

The mayor's office in the city leadership all took a significant step in making sure that the civil rights of Breonna Taylor was recognized. And now we also need our legislative partners to help transform the protests into policy.

We need Breonna's Law not just in Louisville, not just in the state of Kentucky, but all throughout the United States of America, because her life matters.

And, lastly, we need the criminal justice system, Daniel Cameron, to do its part, to give the full constitutional guarantees of all citizen, a daughter of Louisville, Kentucky, Breonna Taylor.

And I would ask in complete in the healing, Mr. Mayor and City Attorney O'Connell, that all those young people who were courageous enough, like Tamika Palmer, and so many of your own in Louisville, the unknown John Lewises of the world, who are creating good trouble here in Louisville.

I would employ you, since Tamika calls me the black America's attorney general -- and I don't know if the attorney general of the United States is going to employ you to do it.

But I would employ you to drop the charges against the nonviolent protesters who was exercising their First Amendment rights because they said Breonna Taylor's life mattered.

These young people should not have criminal records because they were on the right side of history.

You all took a significant step, and we want you all to be on the right side of history with us completely. Drop those charges in Breonna Taylor's name.

Let's do justice in Breonna Taylor's name. Let's do justice with love in our hearts, because that is emblematic of Breonna Taylor who, Tamika says, is the best version of her.

Say her name. Breonna Taylor.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: A big day in Louisville. Breonna Taylor, for the wrongful death of Breonna Taylor, $12 million the city is agreeing to pay her family, the estate of Breonna Taylor. Certainly not going to bring back the life of this 26-year-old.

Let's listen back in.

TAMIKA PALMER, MOTHER OF BREONNA TAYLOR: As significant as today is, it's only the beginning of getting full justice for Breonna. We must not lose focus on what the real job is. And with that being said, it's time to move forward with the criminal charges, because she deserves that and much more.

Her beautiful spirit and personality are working through all of us on the ground. So, please, continue to say her name. Breonna Taylor.

KEILAR: That was Tamika Palmer, Breonna Taylor's mother, with brief remarks on what is an historic day in Louisville. And $12 million the city is paying her estate for her wrongful death.

We heard her family and attorneys for the family talking about police reforms that have been put in place.

But they want more. Because there are a number of questions about how this all went down. Why was this police unit even at her house? The way that they entered.

There's Breonna's Law, which has enacted there in Louisville for abolishing no-knock warrants.

But then there's no body cam footage, right? Even though one of the officers involved in this shooting have been

fired, there are no charges. Even though that officer was fired for what appeared to be gross negligence when it came to firing his weapon into her apartment through shaded windows and a door.

[14:40:06]

So the story of Breonna Taylor's life and death, it's not over today, even with this historic announcement. And we will continue to cover it as there are new developments.

We also have breaking news on coronavirus and when it may have first entered the United States. Researchers believe they found evidence it may have been circulating as early as late December.

Elizabeth Cohen joining me live.

That's a big difference, about a month from the current timeline from the CDC.

DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The first case of coronavirus was announced on January 21st. It was a case in Washington State, and that's when people thought it started.

Now we're seeing that UCLA has looked at millions and millions of patient records at three hospitals and more than 150 clinics, and they found that actually there was this uptick in things like cough and other kinds of symptoMs.

It's very hard. It was flu season. No one is saying that all of it was COVID-19, but they compared it to prior years, and they said, wow, at the very tail end of 2019 and January and February of 2020, there was more cases, symptoms than there were in prior years.

Perhaps since COVID was here before we thought, this is not the first study to show this. Others looking at various other kinds of data have found the same thing -- Brianna?

KEILAR: Do they have any idea where these cases -- obviously, if there's an uptick, they can tell. Can they isolate where this uptick occurred or any other details about this?

COHEN: No. When they look at this data, all they see is, wow, these kinds of symptoms, things like cough and fever, we were seeing more of it at the end of 2019, beginning of 2020 than in prior years. Maybe it was COVID. They don't know where that came from.

But we know that, you know, pre-COVID it's hard to remember now. But pre-COVID, there was so much international travel. It's not exactly unlikely that there were travelers from China coming into the U.S., bringing the virus with them way before anybody thought.

KEILAR: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, big news there. Thank you for walking us through that.

My next guest was a healthy teenager and a football player until he was sidelined by the coronavirus. The virus forcing him into the ICU for days.

And 14-year-old Jayden Key Parrish is home with his family. He is far from healed, though.

His mother says the teen, who had no pre-existing conditions before the virus, is now suffering from the heart condition Myocarditis.

He and his mom, Ashley White, are joining me now.

Thank you so much to both of you.

Key, you are looking healthy. It's great to talk to you.

Tell us a little bit about how you're feeling right now.

JAYDEN "KEY" PARRISH, CONTRACTED CORONAVIRUS AT AGE 14: I feel great to be home, to actually be out of the hospital. It's great being here.

I appreciate everybody that has prayed and helped and helped me to overcome this stage of life. I just hope to heal.

KEILAR: We know your community was very invested in your recovery.

Ashley, tell us about how this all started. You knew something was wrong but were struggling for answers is this.

ASHLEY WHITE, MOTHER OF JAYDEN KEY PARRISH: He came home one evening from conditioning for football and he mentioned that he didn't feel like himself, that he just didn't feel like key.

And I asked him, have you felt like that all day, and he said no, just began to feel that way. And so immediately, I said let's see if you have a fever, and he did have a low-grade fever at that moment and continued throughout the night.

KEILAR: And so eventually, I know that fever got a little higher.

You started to see increases in symptoms, but as you ended up eventually going through this process, there were multiple negative tests in addition to one positive one.

WHITE: It is. When we made our first trip to the emergency room, they would not do a COVID test on him because they said they don't do testing for outpatient. You have to actually be admitted to get the test.

And when I realized that they wouldn't do the test, I went online to the DPH and scheduled for him to have a COVID test that following Monday. So we did that test that morning with the local health department, and that test was negative.

And we repeated a test that afternoon with his pediatrician. That test was negative as well.

The following day, we did a test when we went back to the emergency room. They did a rapid test. That was negative. When they transported him to the children's hospital, immediately when

we got there, they told us the one that was taken a couple of hours ago was negative but they were still going to do a test.

[14:45:09]

They performed a COVID test on him that night about midnight, and it was rapid. And when they came back into the room, they said now we can proceed. We know what we need to do. The test is definitely positive.

KEILAR: And so, Key, you now have Myocarditis, right? You have a heart condition. You're 14 years old. How is this going to impact you and your family as you're looking, eventually, to get back to normal life with football and school?

PARRISH: I really don't know. Nut, I mean, it's hard. It's a long process. I just have to bear with it and hope to recover.

KEILAR: Key, thank you so much for being with us. It is wonderful to see you healthy.

Ashley, thank you so much for talking to us about your ordeal. We really appreciate it.

WHITE: OK, thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: There's video of the moments that followed that horrific ambush shooting of two L.A. sheriff's deputies that's been released now.

What it captures is heroism. During the shock and chaos, one of the deputies jumps in to help save her partner's life.

A warning that these images are disturbing as we take a moment to watch this whole video.

(VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: It's an incredible moment of bravery. The two deputies, each of them shot four to five times, according to officials, had exited their patrol car to take cover there behind that pillar.

The deputy patching up her partner, bleeding herself from a gunshot wound to her face, still managing to help her partner who was struggling to stand up, and bleeding heavily, applying a tourniquet.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says that that deputy is a 31-year-old mother and credits her for saving her 24-year-old partner's life.

While they're starting what will be, no doubt, a long road to recovery, a massive manhunt is under way for the shooter.

I want to bring in Rob Harris, the director for the Los Angeles Police Protective League Union, which represents the LAPD, which is separate from the sheriff's office.

Rob, you're there in southern California, in Los Angeles. This has shaken the nation, this cold-blooded shooting.

How is the law enforcement community in Los Angeles responding to this?

ROB HARRIS, DIRECTOR, LOS ANGELES POLICE PROTECTIVE LEAGUE UNION: I think they're shaken as well. Seeing that video and the vile actions of that attacker on those officers just reminds us how dangerous this job is.

You are absolutely correct in highlighting the courage, the bravery and the resolve of those officers, the courage under fire to get out, to seek cover, to render aid to each other was nothing short of awe inspiring.

And now, you know, we've got to take that same resolve those deputies demonstrated and see if we can find the individual that perpetrated this attack.

KEILAR: There's this massive manhunt that is under way. But, of course, this kind of violent attack is terrifying. What are your officers telling you about what they're going through, following this ambush?

HARRIS: You know, we are just reminding them that, look, it is no secret that law enforcement across this country are facing some incredibly difficult times.

Most agencies to include the L.A. county sheriff's and LAPD are understaffed and overworked.

We've been impressing upon our officers to stay professional, stay vigilant. Protect one another as we, the unions, try to continue moving forward with reforms that build and retain trust with our communities and improve outcomes.

KEILAR: I do want to ask you about something that the L.A. county sheriff has said. He has challenged L.A. Lakers star, Lebron James, to double this reward for finding this shooter. It's $175,000 reward.

He has challenged him to double that reward and to take ownership for his, for Lebron James' rhetoric.

Do you agree with that call, placing that responsibility on Lebron James?

HARRIS: You know, look, if Lebron James wants to willingly write a check, I think that would be a good thing. I think writing a check, for an athlete, is the easy thing to do.

A difficult thing to do, which was highlighted at that live press event for Breonna Taylor, was actually doing the hard work of sitting down at a table and having reasonable discussions, to find solutions that retain trust between the communities that we serve and the law enforcement officers.

[14:50:06]

So the Los Angeles Police Protective League has taken that leadership role in its entirety. We've unveiled a national reform plan we would like to be implemented. It can be seen at investinpolicing.com.

And so we have things to do. And what I would like to see is leaders begin to do the hard work of finding real solutions and having some real dialogue about it.

KEILAR: What do you think Lebron James has done, then? And it seems like, and correct me if I'm wrong here, but are you placing some responsibility on him or see his rhetoric that has contributed to an environment where this has happened?

HARRIS: What I see is some of the most professional law enforcement officers in the country with my officers at the Los Angeles Police Department.

And what I'm focused on as a leader that represents them is trying to move forward in a way that creates real tangible solutions. That builds trust.

What an athlete chooses to do is up to them as an individual.

Like I said, writing a check is an easy thing. The difficult thing is to sit down and have the reasonable conversations about what type of reforms do we want to see and what do we want to see our police officers respond to and not respond to.

Where are we getting the investment so officers have better training in de-escalation techniques and tactics and improve LAPD reference for life and a duty to intercede.

So these are the difficult conversations that need to be had.

What an athlete chooses to do is up to that individual athlete.

KEILAR: Rob Harris, thank you very much. I really appreciate you being on.

HARRIS: Thank you very much.

KEILAR: We have much more ahead on our breaking news. Hurricane Sally headed for the gulf coast in what is being called a life-threatening event. We're going to take you there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: All this week, in a special series called "CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE," CNN is bringing you inspiring stories ever people making a difference.

And today, we travel to Kentucky where two men are using the power of music to fight back against opioid addiction. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG NASELROAD, DIRECTOR, APPALACHIAN SCHOOL OF LUTHIERY: There's a lot of beauty in southeastern Kentucky. We have a saying around here that every hollow is a home to someone's weary soul.

Troublesome Creek got its name for the most obvious of reasons. It tears out bridges and roads when it gets really, really angry.

It is a good metaphor for the downturn of the coal industry taking away all of the good jobs and of course the opioid epidemic.

I am a master luthierian. Luthiery is the art of stringed instrument making. It is considered by many to be the birthplace of the mountain dulcimer. When I started the school in 2012 and then came Earl.

EARL MOORE, INSPIRED CULTURE OF RECOVERY PROGRAM: When I did my first Oxycontin, I thought it would ease the pain. The pain from failure, the not believing in myself, I was in jail for nine months. I've been through five different drug treatment facilities.

I had a love for woodwork. I knew I have a lot for guitars.

[14:55:02]

NASELROAD: He said, I need you to teach me how to make guitars. And I said well that is no problem. That is what we do.

He said, no, you don't understand. I need to come and do this.

MOORE: I was probably headed for death that time. How many more chances do you get in life?

NASELROAD: There was some discussion about the wisdom of bringing people and addiction into our studios.

MOORE: He's like, we're going to give you a chance. Don't let us down.

What was supposed to be a one-year artisan residence turned into a six-year relationship. I've built over 70 instruments at this point.

Art releases something deep inside of you, you don't know you have. In woodworking, I was able to see the flaws and turn them into features and I'm still sober eight years later.

NASELROAD: We actually took our experience with Earl and using that as a spring line, the staff at Appalachian Artisan Center created the Culture of Recovery Program designed to host people in recovery in our studios, our blacksmith, pottery and lutherie studios.

We don't do the difficult work that the recovery centers do. We don't take people in who need to go through detox. They do that. And heroically.

What we do is we accept people in our studios when they've phased into a place where that is useful to them. ANTHONY CARTER, STUDENT, CULTURE OF RECOVERY PROGRAM: I've never

really completed anything before in my life. And it is turned out to be a pretty nice piece of artwork.

JUDGE KIMBERLY CHILDERS, KENTUCKY CIRCUIT COURT: With my drug clients that participate in the program, the recidivism rate is very low. I would consider it to be 10 percent or less.

They're learning skills and patience and building relationships and they're going to have a finished product in their hand.

NASELROAD: Troublesome Creek String Instrument Company is an extension of our school that allows us to bring people from the recovery community into full-time employment.

MOORE: My life today is bigger than I ever dreamed imaginable. I went back and got a master's degree in network security. From an addict to director of information technology.

So today I get to work with addicts. It is amazing to see people's lives change.

Doug believed in me. He was able to show me a lot of things that I couldn't see in myself. I feel like God put Doug in this town.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And we'll be sharing these inspirational stories all week. And you can watch the "CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE" one hour special this Saturday at 10:00 p.m.

At this hour, the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. has surpassed 6.5 million. American deaths nearing 195,000.

And a short time ago, Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, blasted the U.S. government's crisis response saying to "Stat News," quote, "You know, this has been a mismanaged situation every step of the. It's shocking, it's unbelievable, the fact that we would be among the worst in the world."

Gates on another news outlet discussing how the FDA made mistakes about the plasma therapy to treat coronavirus, saying the agency has lost credibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL GATES, MICROSOFT FOUNDER & FORMER CEO: Any suggestion that, you know, a politician, you know, helped create the vaccine or it is faster because of a politician is a very dangerous thing.

We saw with the completely bungled plasma statements that when you start pressuring people to say optimistic things, they go completely off the rails. So the FDA lost a lot of credibility there.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: Multiple health experts have questioned if there has been enough research on plasma to allow for an emergency authorization for use for COVID.

All of this as a new survey shows people around the world trust President Trump less than the leaders of Russia and China because of the way that he's responded to the pandemic.

This Pew survey of people in 13 allied countries also found favorability toward the U.S., U.K. And Japan and Australia are the lowest in at least two decades.

We're also following the unprecedented wildfires that are just devouring the west coast. There are now 36 people dead across California, Oregon and Washington State. There are nearly two dozen who are still missing in Oregon.

But forecasters say there may be some better weather on the horizon. Maybe cooler temperatures and some much-needed rain.

And our special coverage will continue with Brooke Baldwin.

[15:00:01]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Brianna, thank you so much.

Hi, there. You're watching CNN on this Tuesday. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for being with me.

Let's get right into the break news. The gulf coast is bracing for a direct hit from Hurricane Sally --