Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Joe and Jill Biden Visit Ginsburg Casket; Senate Commits to Peaceful Transfer of Power; Live Coverage as Breonna Taylor Family Lawyer Ben Crump Responds to Grand Jury Determinations. Aired 10:30- 11a ET

Aired September 25, 2020 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: But one more thing I wanted to say is before that hearse arrived at the Capitol, it drove by the Supreme Court and paused in front of it for one last time. And across the street, I could see four of her clerks. And they'd been up all night -- former clerks -- guarding the casket.

And I had spoken to one of them a lot about her feelings about reproductive rights, and it reminded me that when Ginsburg gave speeches to college kids --

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Ariane, just one moment as you're telling that story.

We just saw the former vice president -- of course, Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden; his wife, Dr Jill Biden, given the honor -- I suppose you could say there -- of the final pair to say goodbye and pay their respects to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

So sorry to interrupt you, Ariane.

DE VOGUE: No, I was just going to say that when she would talk to these audiences of young women -- and she'd be so happy to see how many females were in the graduating law school classes, so different -- she would say, as far as Roe v. Wade, she saw that these restrictions were coming to the court and she would say her biggest concern was that they would hurt poor women, that they would have --

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Yes.

DE VOGUE: -- such an effect that way, and so she would charge the members of the graduating classes -- the women -- to think about that down the road. And she would -- that's what she would tell those audiences.

SCIUTTO: Well, Ariane de Vogue, Jeffrey Toobin, thanks so much.

And you know, Poppy, we get to cover a lot of news on this broadcast. But just simply as Americans, we witnessed the end of an era today --

HARLOW: Yes. SCIUTTO: -- in this moment. It's a privilege too, but it's also a sad

moment for this country.

HARLOW: Yes, and may we remember her words and her advice, Jim, in the weeks ahead, that you can disagree without being disagreeable. I think we could all do that more -- Congress, Washington -- in the next few weeks, to honor her legacy.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:36:42]

HARLOW: Well, you're looking at live pictures right now out of Louisville, Kentucky. That is because at any moment, the family of Breonna Taylor will speak for the first time publicly since a grand jury earlier this week decided not to charge any of the three officers directly with her death. They're going to be joined by their attorneys. We are on the ground, we'll bring you that live as soon as it begins.

SCIUTTO: Yes, we'll be watching that closely.

Another story we're following closely, the White House is disputing what the FBI director, Chris Wray, testified under oath to lawmakers yesterday, that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the United States. Again, the director of the FBI.

This as President Trump and other members of administration, not committing to a peaceful transfer of power, or doing so only as long as it's decided -- it seems, they say -- by November 3rd, and if they deem it to be free and fair.

HARLOW: Right, if they deem it to be free and fair, right? That's an important point, Jim.

Let's bring in our Manu Raju and our John Harwood. Good morning to you both. John, let's begin with you. What are the standards for a free and fair election? Because it's not just what one person feels about how the election has gone. And also talk to us about how the open seat on the Supreme Court factors into all of this.

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the standard for a free election -- and fair election in this country is the kind of election we've had for a long time. You know, one of the things that we sometimes forget in all this partisan wrangling is that some of the most dedicated, the least partisan, the most effective public servants we have are local elections officials who are dedicated to a fair and accurate count.

The system's not perfect, there are a lot of inconsistencies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, there are flaws in how all ballots get processed -- we certainly saw that in 2000, and certainly there are issues with voting methods of all kinds. But we've had very good elections in this country. And what the president is trying to do, he is looking at an election

that he in track to lose -- don't know if he will, but Joe Biden's had a very stable and consistent lead nationally and in key battleground states, and the president is trying to create doubt about it and create a pretext for challenging it, either in court or in the streets or whatever. He's -- his talk is very loose, so you don't know exactly what he's meaning.

But we -- we know that the reason he's raising these questions, the reason they're criticizing Chris Wray, the FBI director, is because Chris Wray's telling the truth, that we do not have widespread election fraud in this country, we haven't, and there's no reason to expect we will this year.

SCIUTTO: Manu, the Senate passed a resolution by unanimous consent -- in other words, no objections -- reaffirming the commitment -- I'm quoting here -- "to the orderly and peaceful transfer of power." Tell us why lawmakers -- Democrat and Republican -- felt the need to do that, and the significance and legal power of that resolution.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it has no significance legally, or it's not binding on anything. It's really just sending a message. And the messages that the Republicans wanted to send was that there will be a peaceful transition of power.

[10:40:02]

They knew that the president's comments were indefensible given how this -- this is a bedrock of democracy, a peaceful transition. When one party loses, when one president loses, that there will be a new president coming in. There's no other way to argue around that, so Republicans were somewhat quick to come out and make that case.

But one thing that, in talking to a number of Republicans yesterday, was that the words that they did not utter from their mouths was "Donald Trump." They would not really criticize him, his name. They would not necessarily say that he should come out and say that there will be an orderly and peaceful transition of power, they would just simply say there will be an orderly and peaceful transition of power.

So again, once again, the president saying something, Republicans distancing themselves from it, not pushing back on the president but that resolution does speak to the fact that Republicans knew that what the president said is something they couldn't defend, and that's why they let it pass pretty quickly.

HARLOW: Do you think, Manu, that this is why -- part of why, the expectation of something like this -- we've seen Democrats sort of a seemingly concerted effort by Democrats to urge people to vote early, but also vote in person? I mean, I thought (INAUDIBLE) tweet on that not long ago was notable. It just seems like there has been a shift in their words and their suggestions to people.

RAJU: Yes, it's been actually surprising to hear how -- the alarm coming from the top Democratic leaders. Just a couple weeks ago, Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, they put out an all-hands letter to their Democratic colleagues to tell them to implore their own constituents to get out and vote early, warning about potential -- in their view, that the president may take steps to disenfranchise voters. And their belief that he would somehow rig the election to help him.

So they're saying the best way to combat that is for a major turnout, people to vote early, no questions asked at all. So that's been the increasing message from the Democratic leaders. We'll see if voters listen to them, though.

HARLOW: Thank --

HARWOOD: And, guys, one --

HARLOW: -- yes.

HARWOOD: -- one key state to watch in all this is Florida. Florida's a state that processes its absentee ballots early. They get counted on Election Night, so Florida has reasonably rapid counting of elections. If Joe Biden wins Florida, there's very little path for the president. So the quick counting in that state may be one of the keys to Election Night.

HARLOW: Good point. Thank you, John Harwood. Thanks, Many. We appreciate it very, very much.

[10:42:39]

We are waiting -- as we said -- for this press conference, the first time you'll hear publicly from the family of Breonna Taylor since a grand jury decided not to charge any of the three officers directly with her death. We'll take you there, live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well right now, daily coronavirus cases are climbing in 23 states across the country. We are just in the first week of fall.

SCIUTTO: And listen to this, the CDC now projects more than 20,000 more Americans will die from coronavirus in the next three weeks, about a thousand a day. The death rate per day had dropped, it's now tweaking up again above 1,000.

This, as we learn new details about the AstraZeneca vaccine trial that has been put on hold, one of several trials under way. CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and CNN's Lucy Kafanov with us now.

Elizabeth, what is your new reporting on the AstraZeneca vaccine?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim, as you noted, this trial has been on hold for more than two weeks. There's been great -- this started with great promise, but now we're in this hold that has gone on for more than two weeks.

Our reporting based on documents from the folks who are running the trials, is that there have been various accounts of what's happened, of the illnesses suffered by study subjects after they received the vaccine. let's take a look at what our reporting shows.

There was a pause in the trial back in July, that was the first pause --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Elizabeth, my apologies, we have to jump to this press conference with the family of Breonna Taylor, I apologize. Here is their attorney Benjamin Crump.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR BREONNA TAYLOR FAMILY: -- the honor of representing and fighting for respect, dignity and justice for Breonna Taylor and her family.

(APPLAUSE)

We have present with us, her mother Tamika Palmer, her sister Juniyah, her aunt Bianca Austin. We also have who I call the queen of the movement for Breonna, Tamika Mallory and Until Freedom. We also have the Breonna Square (ph) activists who are present with us today.

(APPLAUSE)

And Attorneys Baker, Aguiar and I know without a shadow of a doubt, without the activist community saying her name, there is no way we would have gotten this far with, all over the world, people saying Breonna Taylor's name. Say her name.

[10:50:18]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breonna Taylor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breonna Taylor.

CRUMP: Also, we are joined by a man who did an incredible thing this morning. Jacob Blake Jr.'s father, Jacob Blake Sr., traveled from Kenosha, Wisconsin to be here with Tamika Palmer, Breonna's mother.

(APPLAUSE)

And so we also have state Representative Charles Booker and State Representative Attica who are -- Attica Scott, who are present with us today.

(APPLAUSE)

Fresh out of jail for standing for Breonna Taylor.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, that's the transformational leadership we need in America, as we head into this November 2nd election that matters so much for so many reasons. But for this moment in particular, this moment matters for Breonna

Taylor. So if you were marching for Breonna Taylor, if you were exercising your First Amendment rights for Breonna Taylor, if you were protesting for Breonna Taylor, if you signed a petition for Breonna Taylor, we need you to go sign a ballot and vote on November 2nd (sic) for Breonna Taylor.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: November 3rd.

CRUMP: November 3rd. I'm thinking, early voting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's all right --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's fine, yes, sir.

CRUMP: You know, obviously, Tamika Palmer and her entire family -- her father is here from Michigan. Yes, give him a round of applause.

(APPLAUSE)

Breonna Taylor's entire family is heartbroken, devastated and outraged -- and confused and bewildered, just like all of us, as to what the Kentucky attorney general, Daniel Cameron, presented to the grand jury.

Did he present any evidence on Breonna Taylor's behalf? Or did he make a unilateral decision to put his thumb on the scales of justice to help try to exonerate and justify the killing of Breonna Taylor by these police officers? And in doing so, make sure that Breonna Taylor's family never got their day in court, never got their chance for due process and in essence, denied them justice.

That's why we are standing here today, united in solidarity, declaring and demanding that he release the transcripts of the grand jury proceedings so we can know if there was anybody giving a voice to Breonna Taylor.

Because with these results from this grand jury, Tamika Mallory, you know, wanton endangerment for the white neighbor's apartment that lived next to her? But no wanton endangerment for the bullet tray (ph) that went into the apartment of the black neighbors above her apartment? And no wanton endangerment for the bullets that went actually into Breonna Taylor's apartment?

And not even (ph) no wanton murder charges for the bullets that mutilated Breonna Taylor's body.

Mr. Blake, it underscores what we have been saying all along. There seems to be two justice systems in America, one for black America and one for white America. And this has been emphasized by this grand jury proceeding into the killing of Breonna Taylor.

[10:55:07]

You know, Sam Aguilar, it's kind of ironic when you think about the message that is being sent from this grand jury ruling. It's like they charged the police for missing shooting bullets into black bodies, but not charging the police for shooting bullets into black bodies. Where'd (ph) that (ph) happen at?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE; In Kentucky, in Louisville.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

CRUMP: And we question what evidence did Kentucky attorney general send to the grand jury. Did he tell them about the probable cause affidavit that had a lot on that affidavit, which was the basis for which the judge signed this no-knock warrant in the first place to allow them to be at Breonna's apartment and bust open her door?

Because if he didn't send that, my (INAUDIBLE), well what did he argue on Breonna's behalf? Did he tell them about the 12 neighbors that Sam Aguilar's office interviewed and recorded that lived in close proximity of Breonna's apartment that all said they did not hear the police knock and announce their presence? Did he let them testify before the grand jury?

Did he allow the one neighbor who they keep proclaiming that heard the police knock and announce testify before the grand jury, even though Tamika -- and I understand on two previous occasions, he declared that he did not hear the police knock and announce?

So is this the only person out of her apartment complex that he allowed to testify before the grand jury? That doesn't seem fair, that doesn't seem like you're fighting for Breonna, that doesn't seem like you're putting forth evidence for justice for Breonna.

Did he let the cops who shot over 30 rounds of bullets in Breonna's apartment -- one from outside the apartment shooting recklessly and blindly, and the others who shot bullets into her body? Did he allow them to testify before the grand jury?

Did he allow Breonna's boyfriend, Kenny Walker, to testify before the grand jury? Did he talk about them sending the ambulance away before they executed this no-knock warrant, violating their own policies and procedures, knowing that these no-knock warrants are dangerous?

And it was foreseeable that somebody could be injured, a citizen or police or a third party innocent bystander like Breonna Taylor, who lived in that apartment, who had every right to legally be in that apartment, who did not have a gun, was only clothed in her nightclothes and had every right to live and breathe in her apartment?

Did he present that to the grand jury?

Well, if he didn't present these things to the grand jury, what kind of sham grand jury proceeding was this? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sham.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kangaroo court.

CRUMP: It follows a pattern. It follows a pattern, Bianca, of the blatant disrespect and marginalization of black people, but especially black women in America who have been killed by police.

(APPLAUSE)

Because part of Breonna's legacy will always be, just like Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, raise America's consciousness level and attention to Black Lives Matter, Breonna's legacy will be that black women's life matters too.

(APPLAUSE)

[11:00:00]