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Markle, Prince Harry Accuse Royals Of Racism Over Son's Skin Concerns; Judge Abruptly Dismisses Jury On Day 1 Of Floyd Death Trial; RNC Chair Suggests CNN Ignoring Story It Put Spotlight On; Jeff Zayach, Executive Director, Boulder County Public Health, Discusses Up To 800 At Street Party With Few Masks, No Social Distancing. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired March 08, 2021 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:30:38]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: In Oprah's interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, race is front and center. The couple leveled charges of racism at the palace, including, quote, "several conversations" with an unnamed family member who was concerned about the skin color of their unborn child.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: In those months when I was pregnant, all around the same time, so we had in tandem the conversation of he won't be given security, not going to be given a title.
And also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born.
OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: There's a conversation -- hold -- hold up right now.
MARKLE: There's -- there's several conversations.
WINFREY: There's a conversation with you --
MARKLE: With Harry.
WINFREY: -- about how dark your baby's going to be?
MARKLE: Potentially, and what that would mean or look like.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: In an interview this morning, Oprah said Prince Harry wanted to clarify who was not part of those discussions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WINFREY: He did not share the identity with me. But he wanted to make sure that I knew, and if I had an opportunity to share it, that it was not his grandmother, nor his grandfather that were a part of those conversations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Mara Schiavocampo is with us. She is a journalist and host of the podcast, "Run Tell This."
Mara, you and I were texting last night, as we were both watching this. For me, this was the moment of interview. So jaw-dropping. It's clear now Harry is saying that the queen and Prince Philip basically, this wasn't them.
But I wonder what you think of this moment overall.
MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO, JOURNALIST & HOST, "RUN TELL THIS" PODCAST: Yes. This, Brianna, was one of the most shocking moments in television interview history, hands down, period.
I think for a lot of black Americans watching, it was also a really painful reminder of a time where there were these colorism tests for access to higher society.
This is part of American history. There were times where people had to pass blue blood tests. Was your skin light enough to see that your blood was blue in your veins.
There were paper bag tests. People hold a paper bag up to your skin. If you were lighter than the paper bag, you gained entry into certain aspects of society.
It's a throwback to a very ugly time in American people for a lot of people.
And it shows you what the palace was really thinking about.
They could have used Meghan Markle and her son as an amazing bridge to so many parts of the world to embrace diversity, to increase the palace' popularity, and to bring them into a new space of diversity and inclusion, and they were thinking how dark the baby was going to be.
KEILAR: It was really interesting to hear Harry talking about this, to talk about how he didn't actually see racism until he was seeing it through Meghan Markle's eyes.
And I'm sure, as the parent of a child who would be biracial, and then said it was immediate, just being confronted with this?
SCHIAVOCAMPO: Yes. Something a lot of partners, white partners and interracial couples, interracial relationships, go through.
My white father talked about this. This is a realization a lot of white people have when they realize that they're going to have black babies.
And something that was clear with Harry is that he's very, very concerned about history repeating itself. But he said something very, very telling. He's a quick study. He said he was concerned about history repeating itself, but even more dangerously when you add in the issue of race.
Think about how bad he felt things must have been in the U.K. that they came to the United States to escape racism. So that gives you an insight into how deeply he feared for the safety of his child.
KEILAR: It came through loud and clear.
Mara, thank you so, so much for being with us today.
SCHIAVOCAMPO: Thank you, Brianna.
KEILAR: Next, hear why the judge dismissed the jury on day one of the trial of the former officer accused in George Floyd's death. We take you live to Minneapolis as court is about to come back from recess.
[14:34:45]
Plus, we'll roll the tape on certain politicians who like to cite the media's reporting on a story, then lie when they try to claim the media doesn't cover said story.
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KEILAR: Moments ago, court was called back from recess in the trial of the former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd.
Floyd's death last May sparked a worldwide movement after video captured Derek Chauvin with his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes.
As of now, Chauvin is charged with second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty.
But earlier, the judge sent potential jurors home as the court deals with whether a charge of third-degree murder should be reinstated.
CNN's Omar Jimenez is outside of the courthouse.
Omar, what is this added charge prosecutors are pursuing?
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, we had a feeling this charge would be an issue when it came time for jury selection.
This is a third-degree murder charge. You mentioned the two Derek Chauvin is already facing, a second-degree unintentional and a second- degree manslaughter.
This third-degree murder charge was what prosecutors initially wanted when they filed this criminal complaint. But the judge in this case, Peter Cahill, dropped that third-degree murder charge back in October.
[14:40:06] Well, this past Friday, an appeals court here in -- for the Minneapolis area ruled that the district court here should reconsider reinstating this motion. That happened Friday when we were expecting the jury selection process to happen here on Monday.
Of course, before the jury selection process happened, they were going through motions here in court.
And what they decided was that they could not move forward, or they at least wanted to hear from the appeals court on whether they could move forward with jury selection before this third-degree murder charge reinstatement was settled.
That's where we are, really, at the moment. And that's why, earlier today, Judge Peter Cahill sent the jurors, prospective jurors home. They wanted to hammer this out. That's why we've seen a recess until a few moments ago where, hopefully, we'll get some answers.
But the prosecutors have filed this motion. We're kind of in a waiting game to see whether the jury selection process will be affected as this third-degree murder charge is figured out.
KEILAR: This is a trial that a lot of people are watching. And we're watching it with you.
Omar Jimenez, thank you.
Ronna McDaniel, the head of the RNC, is making a claim emptier than Joey and Chandler's apartment after it was robbed.
Upset that Joe Biden hasn't held a solo news conference yet, which, fact-check, he hasn't, she tweeted, "It's day 47 and still no Joe Biden press conference. CNN, where's your outrage at never being able to ask Joe Biden a question?"
That tweet floated to the top of her Twitter feed and she pinned it there so it's the first you see on her page. But it's not true.
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BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": It's been more than a month now and there has been no solo press conference by the president.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: There have been some observations that the president has yet to have a -- a news conference.
KEILAR: Today is President Biden's 43rd day in office and he still has not held his first formal solo news conference.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: He has not done a news conference just yet.
STELTER: President Biden has been under pressure for not holding a press conference. We brought this up, rather, last week.
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KEILAR: When the White House press secretary was pressed on this again today by the press corps, here's what she said.
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JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He has done about over 40 Q&As since he took office. But in terms of a former press conference, which I understand there's a big focus on, yes, we will have one before the end of the month.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: His aides are sure to point out that he has taken reporters' questions at events, including a primetime CNN town hall.
But CNN was one of the first news outlets to spotlight that Biden has not yet had a solo presser on TV and online that has been done.
Our chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter, raised the question in February and he headlined his popular "RELIABLE SOURCES" media newsletter with it last week. Tippy top placement of that story.
CNN Kevin Liptak went so far as to analyze archived documents at the American Presidency Project at U.C., Santa Barbara, and reported that Biden trailed many of his predecessors when it came to having this first event.
So Ronna McDaniel clearly didn't let facts get in the way of her claims and appears to just be following the lead of her favorite truth-challenged television shows.
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TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Forty-two days into administration, and still no solo press conference from Joe Biden. That is the longest stretch of silence from any new president in at least a century.
So by refusing to speak directly to the media, Joe Biden is attacking our most cherished Democratic norms.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Refusing to speak directly to the media. So should we take from that that he doesn't consider his own network to be the media?
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So do you think three weeks or so we'll be at the point with a million vaccines per day, but it seems like --
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No. I think we'll get there before that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, what did you talk to Vladimir Putin about? BIDEN: You.
(LAUGHTER)
BIDEN: He sends his best.
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KEILAR: After CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" media newsletter put the spotlight on Biden's lack of solo press conferences, FOX did segment after segment on it. In fact, they led some of their shows last week with it.
But this is a tradition on Planet Trump and the FOX moon that orbits it. Accuse the media or even a specific media outlet of ignoring the story, even if they broke it. Then use the very reporting of the media they criticized to feed the outrage cycle.
Case in point, former Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz claiming "The Times" hasn't covered the sexual harassment allegations against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
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JASON CHAFFETZ, (R), FORMER UTAH CONGRESSMAN: We'll see what the media does. They've been very tepid in doing this. Only "The New York Post" and a handful of others have actually covered this with the seriousness that it takes. "The New York Times" and other big media outlets have been far behind.
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KEILAR: Problem for Chaffetz is that "The "Times" has had some of the most significant reporting on this. His claim was so ridiculous that even a FOX host called him on it.
UNIDENTIFIED FOX NEWS HOST: But "The Times" broke the most recent story about the victim Charlotte Bennett, the second woman. They broke that story. We wouldn't even be talking about it if it wasn't for "The New York Times" reporting.
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[14:45:09]
KEILAR: So it's worth remembering that, as Chaffetz is lecturing about sexual harassment, he dropped his endorsement of Donald Trump back in 2016 after the "Access Hollywood" tape dropped.
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CHAFFETZ: I'm out. I can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president. It is some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments that you can possibly imagine.
And my wife and I, we have a 15-year-old daughter. If I can't look her in the eye and tell her these things, I can't endorse this person. So I'm out of the endorsement.
And that apology? That was no apology. That was an apology for getting caught.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And 19 days later, Chaffetz apparently found a way to look his daughter in the eye because he announced that he would be voting for Trump.
It's hypocritical. But then, so it's relying on the work of the media, that it does, the work the media does, and then lob partisan attacks, and then attacked the media that did that did that very reporting lined, and then lie about whether the media covered the story.
Next, hundreds of people show up to a street party in Colorado without masks or social distancing, and then attack the police who tried to break it up.
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[14:50:49]
KEILAR: In Boulder, Colorado, as many as 800 people gathered for a rowdy street party just blocks from the University of Colorado campus.
When police showed up to break up this crowd, they were met with bricks and rocks being thrown at them, injuring three officers, damaging vehicles.
There were few masks visible in the crowd, as you can see. There wasn't any social distancing.
Jeff Zayach joins us now.
Thanks so much for being with us.
And I'm sure you look at this video, like a public health nightmare to look at it. What was your reaction when you saw the pictures?
JEFF ZAYACH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BOULDER COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH: Thank you, Brianna, and thanks for having me.
That video was extremely disturbing. To see videos of an illegal gathering that are like that, where we see literally no masking, no social distancing. And what's even more disturbing is obviously the personal violence against police and against people's property.
It was clearly really disturbing, and especially now at a time when we've done so well in Boulder County to drop our cases, our hospitalizations and our deaths. We don't want to see a reversal of that.
So it was a pretty challenging thing for us to have to watch.
KEILAR: You're right. It's terrible all the damage that is done and the injuries, and to police officers. But then this is done in the middle of a pandemic.
Maybe it's because it's in a pandemic and folks are longing to gather together. But here, obviously, things got out of hand.
Your department is advising anyone who is there to get a COVID test, is that right?
ZAYACH: That is correct. Because when we have gatherings that are that large, it's very difficult to identify all the people that were there.
And the best thing that people can do is get tested, get tested within five to seven days. There's ample free testing available for people.
So that is what we're advising people to do, as well as to self- quarantine and monitor their symptoMs.
KEILAR: Should we take anything away from this, the gathering? I mean, certainly, this was an unusually large gathering.
But when it comes to colleges, over the course of the pandemic, many have pointed to colleges and said that young people are not behaving appropriately.
I think, you know -- you know I'm familiar personally with a lot who are, but you look at that video and there are many who are not.
ZAYACH: Yes. I think there's a couple of key things.
The first one is we're talking at, you know, the most numbers that we're seeing are between 200 and 800. So compared to the entire university population, that's about .02 percent.
That's assuming that all those -- those folks were college kids. So what I don't want to do is lump all college kids into this.
But these college kids do need to change behaviors. And we know that. It's critically important, especially now.
We know that people have COVID fatigue. We've seen it. It's been consistent in the last several months especially.
And we're getting very close to the light at the end of the tunnel. We know more vaccines are coming. Vaccines are being distributed now.
What we need people to do is just hold with us for a few more months until we get more vaccines out there. And it's going to drop our numbers and we'll be back more towards normal than right now.
KEILAR: Does it speak to the need of vaccinating young people ahead of priority for what they are right now?
ZAYACH: Well, I think the way we're vaccinating people now makes most sense. And that's because we know that the populations that are being vaccinated are most at risk.
They are the ones who are going to show up in our hospitals. They are the ones who are going to end up deceased. So we are taking the right approach.
We know -- even if we have -- we do expect increasing cases. And we do expect cases from this event. But we know that we've got our most significantly at-risk vaccinated. And that means, for us, less hospitalizations and less deaths moving forward.
Obviously, we want all people to get vaccinated. But we know that's going to take a little bit of time.
KEILAR: Yes.
Jeff Zayach, thanks so much for being with us.
[14:55:00]
Still ahead, new CDC guidelines on what people who are vaccinated can do safely.
Plus, Congress advances what's being called the largest cash infusion to Americans in modern history. Hear what is in the COVID relief bill and also what's not in it.
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