Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Floyd Family Event; Aired 9:30-10a ET.

Aired March 29, 2021 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to be blind if you didn't see it. A blind man heard a man being tortured to death.

Thank you all.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, FLOYD FAMILY ATTORNEY: Now Brandon Williams, his nephew, who was like a son to him.

BRANDON WILLIAMS, GEORGE FLOYD'S NEPHEW: Every time we come to Minnesota, and we've been here a few times since the horrific day on May 25th. It's never easy. But I think I can speak for us all when I say that this trip was a lot easier. We came here for one thing and one thing only. We came to get justice and nothing less. We came to get justice.

When you think about May 25th, and seeing my uncle laying on the ground, not resisting arrest, calling for his mother, with a knee on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, and never, ever did no one think to render aid, to say, hey, maybe this guy is telling the truth, he really can't breathe.

So as being said, if this trial is hard, we got to justice systems in America, one for white America and one for black America. And we can't have that.

So, I think today is definitely the starting point. This change is long overdue in this country. This can go all the way back to Rodney King. As my uncle said, a blind man can see this. A blind man can see that that was murder. Despite anything that they said about my uncle, that was murder.

So either they weren't trained and qualified to do their job or they intended on taking his life. Either way, we need justice. And I think throughout this whole trial that's one word that you'll hear me and my family say a lot, justice.

Somebody needs to be held accountable. You mean to tell me if he didn't encounter Derek Chauvin that day that he would have still died? Anybody out here standing here today believe that, it's still a problem in America. A problem that needs to be addressed and addressed today.

You know, we can't get George Floyd back, but what we can do is make sure that no family feels this pain and suffering that we feel. His daughter won't have a father in her life. His brothers won't have a big brother to love and protect them the way that he did. Somebody needs to be held accountable. And we're going to demand that.

Thank you all.

CRUMP: And the last brother you will hear from hails from New York, that's Terrence Floyd.

TERRENCE FLOYD, BROTHER OF GEORGE FLOYD: Peace, everybody. Peace.

Like my brother -- like my family said, this is a very trying and hard time for us. You know, but thank you, everyone, for your prayers, your love, your support. It really strengthen us.

And this is -- it's different because all the cases we saw before, I can name two, like I said, I'm from New York, so I name Sean Bell (ph), actually lived around the corner from where he got shot. And I was actually asleep. And I heard the gunshots. And when I woke up in the morning, everybody was saying what had happened around the corner.

You know, and I got -- I have friends -- I have friends that I went to school with Sean Bell. You know, so, to see that, no justice in that, in that situation, it made me furious.

Then you've got -- then you came to -- in New York you came with Eric Garner and we watched that. Even more furious. But it's just, it hit different right now because we're on the other side of the fence. You know, that was my -- that was my brother. And it just -- it just feels very different to just sit there and watch the video.

And I've watched it numerous times. And some people say, why you doing (INAUDIBLE).

I was watching the video not to -- not to discuss myself or get myself furious. That was the last time I could hear his voice, you know? So I watched it.

[09:35:00]

I watched it. I watched it. And every time I watched it, it seemed like it just got me -- it made me a little -- it made me stronger because I knew, yes, they -- they -- they murdered him, but we still Floyd strong. And we still here. So we going to hold it down for him. You know what I'm saying? And they say trust the system. They want us to trust the system. Well, this is your chance to show us that we can trust you.

Thank you.

CRUMP: Absolutely.

Thank you, Terrence. And to all his family, his sister Bridget and his daughter Gianna and

everybody, his sister, Natalia, his sister Zsa Zsa and the whole Floyd family, thank you all for being dignified and graceful in your fight for justice.

You know, America, this is the opportunity. This is the opportunity.

Last night, our national civil rights leader, a person who's been with the family since the beginning, Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Action Network, held a prayer vigil, Justin Miller (ph), because they understood that we needed to pray for this family. But also, we needed to pray for America because this is a similar moment, a landmark moment, in American history.

And so we need to pray that America can live up to its high ideals. We need to pray that America can continue to be the beacon of hope and justice for all the world to marvel because the whole world is watching. And America, we so desperately want to believe that marginalized people of color were getting the same constitutional rights as all other American citizens enjoyed.

But, historically, we have not seen that America. That has not been our reality. So, George Floyd galvanized cities all across America and all across the world when that video, that video of torture, was viewed millions and millions of times.

So, America, this is the moment. This is the moment to show the rest of the world that you are the standard bearer when it comes to liberty and justice for all. The whole world is watching. The whole world is watching. The whole world is watching.

And so it's befittingly and appropriate that we will have our civil rights leader today for America, my mentor, one of our co-counsels, even though he's not a lawyer, the man who answers the bill all the way from Sean Bell and Rodney King, Attorney Romanucci, all the way up to Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake Jr., Anthony McClain, Andre Hill.

I mean and I'm just talking about black people who were killed by police in 2020. I ain't talking about Trayvon and Mike Brown and, you know, Sandra Bland and Alton Sterling. I'm just -- even here in 2020, think about how many hashtags were created during the COVID-19 pandemic when everything was shut down in America, it seems like (INAUDIBLE), except the personal bias and police brutality.

So, that's why we need his moral leadership now more than ever.

The Reverend Al Sharpton.

REV. AL SHARPTON, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: Thank you, Attorney Crump.

Let me say that last May, when this nation and world witnessed a lynching by me of George Floyd. We are here to see the case of a man that used his knee to lynch a man and then blame the man for the lynching. [09:40:12]

First of all, what was George Floyd being even approached for by police that would warrant you using the force that you used? What was the reason that he was apprehended in the way he was apprehended? And why is the attempt being made by the defense to talk about what was the stimulants that may have been in George Floyd, what would be the stimulant that would make a man hold his knee on a man's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds?

I have asked people around the world to join us today at 8:46, in a few minutes, the family and attorneys and I are going to take a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds. When I did the eulogy here in Minneapolis of George Floyd and we had people stand that long, people tweeted all over the world, after three minutes they were tired.

What kind of venom, what kind of hatred do you have that would make you keep pressing down that long while a man is begging for his life, while a man is asking for his mother? At what point does your humanity kick in? At what point does the letter of the law kick in? At what point do you say, wait a minute, the guidelines kick in?

This was not eight second. This was not a flash of anger. It became intentional and deliberate. And justice must be intentional and deliberate in this courthouse. So just like we came last year to be with this family, we told them we'd be here to the end, and we will be in and out until the end and we want it to end for justice.

But make no mistake about it, Chauvin is in the courtroom but America is on trial. America is on trial to see if we have gotten to the place where we can hold police accountable if they break the law. The law is for everybody. Policemen are not above the law. Policemen are subject to the law. And that's what's going on in this courtroom. And that's why we're here.

The other thing that we are dealing with is that there is a law that has already passed the House of Representatives, called the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. It is now headed into the Senate. We are asking the Senate to pass that law so that the federal law can be there to prevent George Floyds have happening again.

We stand with this family in the shadows of this courthouse to say, there's a jury in here and there's a jury in the U.S. Senate. And the U.S. Senate need to make federal law in the name of George Floyd that would deal with all of this, that would supersede these state laws that give escape routes to policemen.

I was in the room in Houston, Texas, where then candidate Joe Biden met with this family and promised that if he became president he would fight for justice. He has supported this bill. Mr. President, Madam Vice President, Majority Leader Schumer, they're going in this courtroom, having faith in a system that has been broken for Eric Garner, whose mother's here. That's been broken for (INAUDIBLE), whose family's here. That's been broken for others. We will stand up with dignity with this family. We need the Senate to stand up for dignity with the people in this country. Make no mistake about it, there were videos before and you didn't give

us justice. There was a video of Rodney King and it went to state court to let those police become acquitted. There was a video with Eric Garner, never got to court. You have the opportunity to make it right this time and make it right for the country.

You will never be able to bring this family's brother back. You will never fill that hole. But you can, in his name, stop this from continuing to happen over and over again.

[09:45:04]

And let me say to all of those that have marched down through the last several months, many with us, many are on their own, white, black, old, young, doesn't matter, the intergenerational, interracial communities that have marched is the reason we are in this courtroom. It was the reason that there is even a shout at justice. And we thank them for marching.

We at 8:46?

CRUMP: Thirty-six.

SHARPTON: So we've got 30 second. Let us prepare to take a knee. And we will --

CRUMP: Tell them why we're doing it again, Rev, why we're taking a knee.

SHARPTON: We're taking a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds. And we want you to think (INAUDIBLE) during that time why Chauvin didn't, in that time, get his knee up.

Move -- move that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Let's go. That's the best we're going to do. OK.

SHARPTON: One minute.

Isn't that something. That's why I wanted to do it. I wanted you to see.

CRUMP: Yes, sir. (INAUDIBLE).

SHARPTON: We ain't even halfway there.

Two minutes. Two minutes.

You're tired already. Think about this. We ain't even halfway there and you're ready to get up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, sir.

SHARPTON: Aint' it something.

Three minutes.

[09:50:15]

(INAUDIBLE) knee (INAUDIBLE).

Chauvin then switched knees.

That's right.

That's right.

CRUMP: Just imagine.

SHARPTON: Four minutes! Four minutes!

That's right. I don't know how you do it.

CRUMP: And remember when Colin Kaepernick kneeled, America got outraged. But Colin didn't kill nobody.

SHARPTON: That's right.

Five minutes! Five minutes!

Six minutes! Six minutes!

CRUMP: Anybody who don't believe this is murder get down here for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Just like you said, Rev, how can this not be intentional?

SHARPTON: It had to be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It had to be.

SHARPTON: You had to make up your mind, did you want to stay here (INAUDIBLE).

Seven minutes!

CRUMP: Exactly. Got in his bed (ph).

My Lord.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can her George say, you can get through this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George is holding us up right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me and Rev, we (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the problem is getting up.

CRUMP: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I've got two people to (INAUDIBLE). SHARPTON: Eight minutes! Eight minutes!

CRUMP: Eight minutes! Eight minutes!

SHARPTON: All right. And I'm going to tell everybody (INAUDIBLE).

[09:55:19]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We going to count down.

SHARPTON: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

SHARPTON: No justice!

CROWD: No peace!

SHARPTON: No justice!

CROWD: No peace!

SHARPTON: No justice!

CROWD: No peace!

SHARPTON: No justice!

CROWD: No peace!

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A moving moment there outside the courthouse in Minneapolis. The Floyd family attorneys, members of George Floyd's family, his brothers, a nephew as well as the Reverend Al Sharpton there marking the final minutes of George Floyd's life with Officer Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck. Ben Crump, the Floyd family attorney, called this trial a four week journey to justice. And he repeatedly called that video in which we witnessed Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck a torture video.

I'm joined now by Laura Coates, CNN legal analyst, as well as Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey. She's a retired LAPD Police sergeant.

Many questions for you, Laura Coates, but first here.

Ben Crump described this as a case, a murder case that is not hard. Your view? Is he right?

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, when you look at the eight minutes and 46 second, it's difficult to have heard Reverend Al Sharpton actually mark each minute and not have your stomach and your heart sink each time knowing the duration of what was called the torture video.

When you're talking about a criminal prosecution, you can never take for granted the fact that you've got jurors, you've got the idea of wild cards, you have the idea of people, although they are supposed to bring in a clean slate, an open mind, Jim, they often can bring in biases, preconceived notions, or they may be extending a benefit of the doubt that normally they wouldn't have to do so. And when a former officer is the defendant and the history of America, nothing is a forgone conclusion.

However, you do have Minnesota law that is quite favorable based on the fact that's we know in this case and what we've seen. We see the idea of a second-degree murder, which is the idea of an underlying felony, that being the asphyxiation by the knee, combined with somebody who was acting with disregard to human life.

And, remember, in Minnesota, Jim, you don't have to be the only cause of death. It had to be the substantial causal connection. And certainly the death is based on the asphyxiation. Even -- whoever they bring in, if that was even a part of it, if it was substantial, that would be enough.

SCIUTTO: That's a very important point. Doesn't have to be the only cause of death, but a contributing factor.

Sergeant Dorsey, you served for many years as a police officer. The state, the prosecutors will have to prove that the force Chauvin used was unreasonable under the circumstances. Officers allowed to use force to protect the officer, for instance, from what he perceives to be death or great bodily harm. Based on your experience here, I know you're not a prosecuting or a defense attorney, is that standard met?

CHERYL DORSEY, RETIRED LAPD POLICE SERGEANT: Well, listen, here -- here's the deal. Officers are allowed to use only that force necessary to overcome resistance, right? And what everyone needs to understand and remember, George Floyd was in handcuffs. And we are taught and trained that once the handcuffs go on, any force that's being exerted by the officers stops. It's over. And so there's no real reason to sit on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds but for to punish him for whatever crime Chauvin had decided George was guilty of on that day.

SCIUTTO: Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey, Laura Coates, please, stand by. Many more questions for you. I'm sure the viewers share some of these questions. We are witnessing a moment in this country's history, the start of a trial, trial of a man accused of George Floyd's murder.

Please stay with us. We'll be back after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)