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Demands Grow for A.G. to Release Grand Jury Info in Breonna Taylor Case; Marilyn Mosby, (D), Baltimore State's Attorney, Discusses the Breonna Taylor Case; Trump Accuses Bloomberg of a "Criminal Act" for Helping Pay Fines for Ex-Felons So They Can Vote; Dr. Fauci Responds to Trump's Threat to Override FDA on Vaccine Timeline. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired September 24, 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]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Demands are now growing for Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to release the grand jury transcript in the Breonna Taylor case.

Kentucky's governor saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): Well, the challenge here is that the facts and the evidence have not been shared with the public.

I trust the people of Kentucky with the truth, that they need to be able to see the truth, read the evidence, look over what a grand jury may have seen or the investigators or attorney general looked at.

So, I've asked the attorney general, at this point, given that they've announced they're not pursuing charges, at least in one direction, to post it all online. It's been done in other places.

And let people read it and process it and then to be able to ask the tough questions that we, as elected officials, have to be able to answer.

But then, we don't have that vacuum, that vacuum where sometimes there's a lack of information and our frustrations and emotions can fill it up.

Everybody deserves the facts and to see the evidence themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Detective Brett Hankison, the officer who was fired over the shooting that was at Breonna Taylor's apartment, was indicted on three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.

But those charges were related to the shots that went into a neighboring apartment, not into Taylor's. Marilyn Mosby is state's attorney for the city of Baltimore. She

famously filed criminal charges against six Baltimore police officers involved in the 2015 deadly arrest of Freddie Gray.

Thank you so much for being with us.

I want to ask you, when you filed charges against the Baltimore officers, you didn't wait for a grand jury. You moved very quickly.

What questions do you have about how things have been conducted in Louisville as far as what the grand jury decided and how the attorney general has proceeded.

MARILYN MOSBY, (D), BALTIMORE STATE ATTORNEY: So, the one thing I can say -- and thank you for having me -- is, you know, Brianna Taylor is yet another example of what injustice looks like for black people in this country.

We have two systems for black and white America. And time and time again, it's draining. It's exhausting. But we see how it invokes itself in different ways.

So, you have an innocent 26-year-old aspiring nurse shot by police numerous times and killed in her apartment after just getting out of bed.

What I've said numerous times on this show and others is that you can never underestimate the power of the local prosecutor.

The local prosecutors who apply one standard of justice, understanding and recognizing that when you decide you are going to prosecute police, it comes with being mocked, ridiculed, harassed, potentially sued.

So you have to have a level of courageousness in our to do it.

But what we can't lose sight of is the fact that the prosecutor controls what happens in the grand jury, right?

So, when we look at what you've already identified, the police being found that they have committed no illegality, other than the bullets that were missed and endangered neighbors, but not those that actually lodged and killed Brianna Taylor, it becomes problematic.

KEILAR: And it is up to the A.G. to present evidence and to present the grand jury with what they consider, right?

So, did he present them with counts to consider that had to do with the other apartment? Did he present them with counts that had to the do with Breonna Taylor's death and the shots that she suffered and the one that took her life?

What questions do you have about that in terms of what the attorney general offered?

MOSBY: And, Brianna, you're absolutely right. You hit the nail on the head.

As is always the case, right? The grand jury -- (INAUDIBLE) --

KEILAR: All right. Let's try to reestablish that, if we can.

Do we have a shot of this? No?

All right, we're going to try to get that back up because we definitely want to hear Marilyn Mosby's answer to that question. So we'll bring that back to you when we can.

[14:34:14]

Next, Michael Bloomberg is raising millions of dollars to pay off court fines in Florida so that former felons have a chance to vote. President Trump claims what Bloomberg is doing is a felony. We're going to fact-check that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: President Trump today going after billionaire, Michael Bloomberg, for helping ex-felons in Florida state. The state voted in 2018 to restore voting rights to ex-felons, with an asterisk, they have to pay court fines first.

Bloomberg has raised more than $60 million to pay off those fines for more than 30,000 black and Latino Americans, allowing them to cast their ballots.

Florida's Republican attorney general is now questioning a federal investigation into Bloomberg's efforts for, quote, "potential violations of election laws."

And the president calling it a criminal act on FOX radio this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): It's totally illegal what he did. I guess it's a felony.

He's actually giving money to people. He's paying people to vote. He's actually saying, here's money, now you go ahead and vote for only Democrats, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

TRUMP: You vote for Democrats -- or vote against Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I want to bring in CNN election law analyst, Jonathan Diaz. He's representing three former inmates in a federal lawsuit to get these financial obligations removed as a requirement for voting.

You tell us, is there anything illegal about Bloomberg's efforts to pay outstanding debts of people with felony convictions so they can become eligible to vote?

JONATHAN DIAZ, CNN ELECTION LAW ANALYST: So, in a word, no.

What Mayor Bloomberg is doing, along with many other folks, including Lebron James, is raising funds to help these former felons donate -- not donate, excuse me --pay off their outstanding legal costs associated with their convictions because Florida says they have to do in order to become eligible to vote.

[14:40:07]

Nobody is being paid to vote. No one is being paid to register.

All that Mayor Bloomberg is doing is enabling these people to become eligible to register and vote if they choose to do so.

KEILAR: What kinds of fines are they facing? What are the numbers these former inmates are facing?

DIAZ: It depends on the charges and it depends on when it took place.

The Florida criminal justice system imposes hundreds if not thousands of dollars in mandatory court costs and fees on every criminal defendant, regardless of what crime they were convicted of and their level of culpability in that crime.

And that's on top of whatever fines and restitution are imposed as part of their sentence.

So at a minimum, it can be in the hundreds of dollars. But in many cases, it can be up to the tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And for most of these folks, that's just an insurmountable financial cost that they still owe to the state. Nobody is saying they shouldn't have to pay.

But for those unable who are to pay and whose right to vote is being conditioned on their payment of these fines, it really is preventing them from accessing the ballot just because they can't afford it.

KEILAR: How are you anticipating, Jonathan, that the FBI and Florida's Department of Law Enforcement may respond to the attorney general's request for a Bloomberg investigation?

DIAZ: I don't know that I can predict what the FBI or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will do.

I will say that, as of yesterday afternoon, when that release went out from the Florida attorney general's office, the FBI hadn't received a copy of that letter.

To me, what that letter represents is an attempt by the Florida attorney general, consistent with the position of Florida's government, to intimidate voters and donors out of participating in the democratic process. Let's not forget that Florida has spent the better part of a year

telling a federal court that these legal debts are criminal penalties. They have nothing to do with voting.

But then, as soon as someone turns around and offers to pay them, then it's vote buying. And Florida can't have it both ways. Either it's charging people to vote, which is a violation of the Constitution, or it's not.

And there's nothing wrong with Mayor Bloomberg or anyone else helping these people with felony convictions pay off their outstanding costs so they can become eligible voters.

KEILAR: Jonathan Diaz, thank you so much.

DIAZ: Thank you.

KEILAR: Moments ago, Dr. Anthony Fauci responded to the president's suggestion that he may override the FDA's guidelines on the timeline for approving a COVID vaccine. You'll hear his interview with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:25]

KEILAR: The president has said that he may override the approval process for a vaccine.

Moments ago, CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, asking the nation's leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, all about this. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The FDA says they want to wait for two months, which seems very reasonable.

But the president, as I learned just yesterday, has the authority to not necessarily approve those particular guidelines.

That seems like a real injection of politics into this process. Is it not?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The issue is that the scientists and the FDA have put this forth as what they're proposal for the criteria for EUA.

Under normal circumstances, that decision is theirs. The secretary approves it. And that's it.

Something that comes from without that is not scientific consideration would be troublesome. I have to tell you.

But remember, there is some degree of flexibility. The 60-day proposal that they put forth was based on what you just said, accurately, that modeling most of the issues you're worried about are going to occur in that period of time.

The thing that could modify that and modify it within the scientific realm of being scientifically justifiable is that if the vaccine is so overwhelmingly effective that you would say the risk benefit of having adverse events override the benefit of getting a 98 percent effective vaccine earlier rather than waiting 60 days.

That's something that even we, scientists, would say, you know, we should take a look at that. You might want to shorten that.

But to get rid of completely any further waiting for safety, I think most scientists would say, no, you really have got to be careful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is joining us now.

Elizabeth, put this in perspective for us.

DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, when we listen to Dr. Fauci -- and it can get a little bit confusing on this particular note, so let's talk about this.

What Sanjay and Dr. Fauci were talking about is this proposal we're expecting to hear from the FDA that says to the pharmaceutical companies that are making these vaccines, hey, you know what, guys, even if you have data that shows your vaccine works, we want you to hold off for two months.

Because in that two-month time, more people will be enrolled in your study and will get the first shot and the second shot and we can see if there are any safety concerns.

[14:50:07]

So even if it's looking effective, we want you to wait two months to make sure that it is safe.

What I heard Dr. Fauci saying to Sanjay just now, basically, he's in support of that. He thinks it's a good idea.

But he did leave himself one caveat, Brianna. What he said was, let's say some early data shows this is a fantastic vaccine, 98 percent effective.

In that case, do you want to wait two months? That's two more months of people dying from COVID. Do you want to wait those two months? That's a legitimate question.

However, the chances that there's going to be a vaccine, where study data shows it's 98 percent effective, and that that's going to come out in the next month or two is very, very small.

I have yet to speak to a scientist who thinks that that is actually going to happen. It might be a good vaccine, but 98 percent, nobody is expecting

anything quite that high, quite that soon.

But as far as safety goes, you can't put a vaccine out there that isn't safe.

I will note that the two front-runners in the vaccine race, their vaccine platform, the technology of the vaccine, is brand new. There has never been a vaccine on the market in the United States that uses this particular type of vaccine technology.

So there's some concerns here. We haven't given this to millions upon millions of people. Let's make sure that it really is safe -- Brianna?

KEILAR: All right. Elizabeth, thank you for that.

Still ahead, President Trump's niece, Mary, who just wrote a best- selling tell-all book about the him, is suing the president and his siblings for fraud.

But first, an unintended consequence of the pandemic, more Americans are growing their own food. And one nonprofit in Milwaukee is helping them in this week's "IMPACT YOUR WORLD."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVONDIA WILDER, NEW GARDENER: We were in the quarantine and hard to get to a store. We didn't feel safe going out. That really helped in the decision-making of growing in your backyard.

I first heard about Victory Gardens when they had a seed giveaway. At the beginning of the season, they gave away these big bags that you can go and sift your own compost.

Picking the greens and seeing the tomatoes sprout knowing that I started literally from nothing.

Started with my son shifting compost and now we're growing okra and kale and lettuce. We did that.

CHRISTINE KUHN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VICTORY GARDEN INITIATIVE: Victory Garden Initiative is a nonprofit based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Anywhere you can put a garden, we will build one and provide education, seeds, compost, all the resources that we can, as well as mentorship.

We've had many more families reach out to us this year than in previous years. And we've now built over 5,000 garden beds across Milwaukee.

WILDER: I'm already contemplating on next year. I feel like it's brought our family closer together. It's empowered us. Financially, we're not going back and forth to stores any more.

And it's therapeutic. For me, it's like you're watching life happen. (END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:58:06]

KEILAR: The president is now being sued by a member of his own family. His niece, Mary Trump, who wrote a best-selling book slamming her uncle, is now suing him and his two siblings for fraud.

Claiming that they forced her to sign a settlement agreement that deprived her of tens of millions of dollars from the real estate empire built by the president's father, Fred Sr.

In the suit, Mary Trump says, fraud not just the family business, it was a way of life.

Moments ago, the White House responded, saying, quote, "The only fraud committed there was Mary Trump recording one of her relatives. She has really discredited herself."

And a quick programming note. The CNN film about the life of civil rights icon, John Lewis, will be airing this weekend. The words of the late congressman are timeless.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN LEWIS, FORMER CONGRESSMAN: Let us not forget that we are involved in a serious social revolution where it is a political project that will make it unnecessary to march on Washington.

Where it's a political party making it unnecessary to march in the streets of Birmingham.

Though we have to be patient and wait, we must not give up.

If we do not get legislation out of this Congress, we will march through the south, through the streets of Jackson, through the streets of Danbury, through the streets of Cambridge --

(APPLAUSE)

LEWIS: -- through the streets of Birmingham.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

LEWIS: But we will march with the spirit of love and with the spirit of dignity that we have shown here today.

We must say, wake up, America, wake up, for we cannot stop and we will not be deterred.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: You can watch that documentary Sunday night at 9:00 Eastern, "JOHN LEWIS, GOOD TROUBLE."

And our special coverage continues now with Kate Bolduan.

[15:00:04]