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U.S. Hits Record Of Over Four Million Vaccine Doses Given; Netherlands Studying Way To Bring Back Live Events; Atlanta Mayor Fears Boycott Over New Voting Law; Georgia Governor Lashes Out After MLB Pulls All-Star Game; U.S. Capitol Attacker Believed He Was Being Targeted; George Floyd Murder Trial Resumes Monday; Taiwan Train Derailment Victims' Families Struggle With Loss; Ancient Pharaohs Relocated To New Home. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired April 04, 2021 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes, thanks for your company. Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, it's the kind of milestone Americans of waited to for a year to see. But it comes with a reminder as a new holiday begins.
Playing hardball: a warning from Atlanta's mayor and defiance from Georgia's governor amid concerns of fallout from the state's new voting law.
Plus, Egypt's ancient royal mummies parade through the streets of Cairo, making their way to their new home.
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HOLMES: Coronavirus vaccinations in the U.S. reaching new heights, boosting hopes that an end to the pandemic could be within. Reach the U.S. on Saturday recording more than 4 million doses given, a new daily record. That brings the seven-day daily vaccination average above 3 million mark for the first time ever.
More than 161 million doses have been administered so far in the U.S. But that progress does not mean the threat is over. Several states are seeing some worrying numbers of new infections. Michigan among the worst, seeing its highest day of infections in nearly four months.
And experts worry that that might be a sign of what is to come. Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke with CNN earlier. He says now is not the time for people to let their guards down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF COVID-19 MEDICAL ADVISER: What we are seeing after that big peak we had around the Christmas holidays and New Year's, when it started to come down, it plateaued at a disturbingly high number of cases per day.
And one of the concerns that we have is, when you plateau and start inching up, as we are doing, as you mentioned just a moment ago, in a few of the states and, in fact, in several of the states, there is the danger of having a resurgence and another big surge up.
Just yesterday, we had over 60,000 new cases in a day. That's disturbing. That's what happened in Europe. And what is happening in Europe, for the most part, is going through another disturbing surge. So the point she was making is that we are not out of the woods yet, so don't declare prematurely victory because we are not there yet. That's the sobering news.
The good news is what you mentioned just a moment ago. We are getting 3 million to 4 million, now today it was 4 million doses a day. So it's kind of like a race between getting people vaccinated.
And the more people on a daily basis you get vaccinated, the better chance you have of blunting or preventing that surge that we are all concerned about. So it's sobering news mixed with good news and it's going to be really a race between those two.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, pandemic era travel records keep getting broken ahead of the holiday weekend. More than 1.5 million people passed through U.S. airports on Friday. People across the country venturing outside more and more amid the boosting vaccinations. Evan McMorris- Santoro was in Times Square earlier, where people are once again packing the streets.
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EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Times Square on a Saturday. And frankly, it looks like Times Square on a Saturday. It's actually pretty crazy. Because not that long ago, this place was pretty desolate, because people were staying inside, they weren't doing things, they weren't coming out.
Now as you can see, people feel like they're safe to come out. We are seeing this crowd has been here all day long. There are a couple reasons for that. One is the weather is very nice, two the, vaccinations are going very well here in New York.
We got a report today 10 millions of doses of the vaccine have been administered in New York since the vaccination program began. According to the governor's office, one in five New Yorkers is now fully vaccinated.
That number will go up pretty soon, because starting on Tuesday, anyone over the age of 16 can sign up to get a vaccine. Obviously, that is good news. But some of these crowds that we're seeing, it's not necessarily recommended yet.
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MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Dr. Anthony Fauci was on CNN earlier today. talking about the vaccine, what it means and what it can mean for the future. Let's listen to that. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: I can't give you a day or a week but I can tell you, as we get more data showing that it's going to be extremely unlikely that people are going to transmit it, you're going to see recommendations that people are not going to have to wear masks.
They're not there yet but they're getting there. Same thing with the travel, saying that now that you can travel, that you don't have to get tested before and after, except if your destination demands it.
You don't have to get quarantined when you come back from a situation. So more and more you are going to start seeing the advantages of getting vaccinated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So Dr. Fauci saying they're getting a vaccine; signing up the best thing you can do to help keep this virus in check and get back to normal life. We are seeing in New York though other signs of normalcy.
I'm down here in Times Square in the theater district, because, earlier today, two Broadway stars, Savion Glover and Nathan Lane, did a quick event for about 100 people, frontline workers and Broadway people.
Just showing the first time we've seen people inside a Broadway theater since March 12th, 2020, when Broadway closed. It's not open yet and won't be until September but the sign that people could go into a theater, sit down and enjoy that, just a big, big sign in New York that maybe normalcy is around the corner, if people keep getting those vaccines and sticking by the rules.
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HOLMES: Evan McMorris-Santoro reporting there.
Now other parts of the world meanwhile are seeing worrying spikes in infections even as vaccine rollouts gain some momentum. It's a mixed bag in Europe, as you can see right there, with both upward and downward trends and much of the continent holding steady.
The U.K. reporting just 10 deaths on Saturday. That is the lowest daily death toll since last September.
Lots of young people in Belgium, though, clearly have lockdown fatigue. Hundreds were gathering at a Brussels park on Friday, until police dispersed them. Belgium entering its third lockdown last weekend.
Millions of Christians around the world celebrating Easter under COVID restrictions and that includes Pope Francis. Easter services at the Vatican downscaled for the second year in a row. The pontiff will be celebrating mass and delivering his "Urbi et Orbi" blessing in the coming hours. Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher with more from Rome.
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DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Italy is officially entering three days of a national lockdown on Saturday for the Easter weekend. That means that Italians cannot leave their cities of residence.
Even family gatherings in private homes must be kept to a limited number of people and there is a 10 o'clock curfew. Lockdown measures affecting the Vatican as well. Pope Francis holding his Good Friday commemoration to a virtually empty St. Peter's Square.
That's an event that's normally held at the Colosseum in front of thousands of people but the Vatican is also scaling backed or events to comply with COVID restrictions. Easter Sunday mass Pope Francis will say inside St. Peter's Basilica in front of a number amount of people.
The pope also paid a surprise visit to the Vatican's vaccination center. Pope Francis has offered to vaccinate 1,200 homeless people around the Vatican with the Pfizer vaccine. Italy, meanwhile, will begin to use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine mid-April. That vaccine only requires one dose.
So it might go some way to speed up Italy's vaccination program. Italy right now is vaccinating about 250,000 people a day. The prime minister Mario Draghi saying that his goal is to get back to 500,000 people a day and have all Italian adults vaccinated by the end of the summer -- Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.
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HOLMES: Now most people miss special things from their pre pandemic lives. For some that might be cheering on a favorite team, for others it could be dancing at a music festival. The Netherlands is conducting experiments on how to safely bring back live events. And other countries like the U.S. could end up following similar protocols. Zain Asher with the story.
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ZAIN ASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A win for Orange. Special night for some fans in the Netherlands back in the stadium again, for a World Cup qualifying match between the Dutch national team and Latvia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very excited. It's a good occasion to dress up again and to be able to share it with so many people, with my friends. We always watch the games together.
ASHER (voice-over): The match is one of several experiments organized by the Dutch government and sports and entertainment groups to research how to safely hold live events.
[00:10:00] ASHER (voice-over): Only 5,000 spectators were allowed to attend the match. Each had to test negative before it and get tested afterwards.
Inside the venue, participants were divided into sections. Some told to wear masks and social distance and others given more freedoms. Research is hoping to gain insight into how transmissions occur.
The group leading the study, Field Lab Events, has not yet published any conclusive results but so far says the data looks promising for the return of live events.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The big difference is that people over here have obviously far more contact but they are pretested, whereas at home and with visitors, you have last contact but are with people who are not tested. In the end, what our hypothesis for this research was that the risk you run at home is identical to the risk you run here.
ASHER (voice-over): Other trials have revived more prepandemic fun.
Remember dancing at festivals?
1,500 people did just that at this outdoor concert using the same protocols as the football match.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course, I miss this, who didn't right?
ASHER (voice-over): What happens in a party indoors?
That, too, was studied when 1,300 people danced to tunes run by live deejays in Amsterdam's biggest musical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to let go, we need to socialize, it's very important for people for our mental health.
ASHER (voice-over): The data of these trials is set to help officials decide when to lift COVID restrictions. Although the government extended all COVID restrictions until April 20th.
A Dutch tour company is helping to fill the void, offering a test holiday to Greece for 187 people, to stay on the island of Rhodes at a resort under the conditions they don't leave the location and quarantine when they return.
So far, 25,000 people have applied for it. The lucky few will be chosen by criteria set by the Dutch government. The rest will have to wait like everyone else for the slow return to normal -- Zain Asher, CNN, New York.
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HOLMES: And we are following reports of several arrests in Jordan during a security sweep. Also the former crown prince says in a video statement that he has been put in isolation and his communications are being cut off.
Prince Hamzah bin Hussein is the oldest son of the late King Hussein and he is the half-brother of King Abdullah. He says in the video that he is not part of any conspiracy but that the kingdom has become corrupt. Here is some more of his statement.
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PRINCE HAMZA BIN HUSSEIN, KING ABDULLAH'S HALF-BROTHER: I had a visit from the chief of the general staff of the Jordanian armed forces this morning, in which he informed me that I was not allowed to go out, to communicate with people or to meet with them, because it's in the meetings that I have been present in or on social media relating to visits that I've made, there has been criticism of the government or the king.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now the army is denying that the prince is being detained. Officials say security investigations are continuing and results will be disclosed with full transparency.
Now fallout from the passage of restrictive new voting laws in the U.S. state of Georgia. When we come back, Georgia leaders weigh in on the financial consequences the state is already facing.
Also, Major League Baseball's decision to take a stand for voting rights shocked a lot of people. We will talk about that and a lot more, with a "USA Today" sports columnist, coming up next.
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
Atlanta's mayor is warning that Georgia's economy will keep paying the steep price for the state's restrictive new voting law. Keisha Lance Bottoms is unhappy that Major League Baseball decided to pull its All- Star game out of her city. But she says, that's probably just the beginning of the fallout if the law is not changed or repealed.
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MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), ATLANTA, GA: I can't say that I like it but I certainly understand it. And it is, really, probably, the first of many boycotts of our state to come. And the consequences of this bill are significant.
Just as the legislatures and the governor made the decision -- the legislators and the governor made the decision to go forward with this bill, people are making decisions not to come to our state.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Leaders of Atlanta based companies, like Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines, have criticized the law, too. U.S. President Joe Biden, calling it Jim Crow in the 21st century. But the Republican governor, who signed the law, says opponents are spreading falsehoods about what it really does.
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GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): Georgians and all Americans should know, what this decision means. It means, cancel culture and partisan activists, are coming for your business. Major League Baseball, Coca-Cola and Delta, may be scared of Stacey Abrams, Joe Biden and the Left but I am not. I want to be clear. I will not be backing down from this fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN's Natasha Chen now, with more on governor Kemp's reaction.
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NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On Saturday, governor Kemp doubled down on this voting law, saying Major League Baseball caved to cancel culture, bending to the Left. He said President Joe Biden and Stacey Abrams, have been lying to the American people about this law.
I asked whether lies about the 2020 election had anything to do with the urgency and timeline of passing this bill into law.
Is the timing of this based on your belief that there was some fraud in recent elections in Georgia?
KEMP: I've realized, people have all kinds of difference of opinions and beliefs about the 2020 election.
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KEMP: But make no mistake, there were issues that happened on the election, like they do in every election.
CHEN (voice-over): Kemp also said MLB should have come to him with specific complaints about the bill and that he would welcome questions about the specifics.
So we did ask him about things like banning mobile voting centers, banning the automatic mailing of absentee ballot applications, specifying the number of dropboxes and location.
He chalked up a lot of that to improved election security. Of course, now you have pro athletes and politicians, like former president Barack Obama, chiming in, saying, they support MLB's decision here.
Whether you support or oppose it, it is local businesses who are really going to hurt from potential lost revenue. Cobb County, where we are located here, estimates that there's more than $100 million potentially lost because of MLB relocating this All-Star game. MLB has said that it will continue to invest in local organizations in
Atlanta as part of All-Star legacy projects as originally planned -- Natasha Chen, CNN, Cobb County, Georgia.
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HOLMES: Joining me now, from Phoenix, Arizona, is Bob Nightengale. He is a Major League Baseball sports columnist for "USA Today."
Good to see you, Bob. This decision has become a big political issue.
In your view, was it a good decision by Major League Baseball?
BOB NIGHTENGALE, SPORTS COLUMNIST, "USA TODAY": I think it's the only decision they had to make, Michael. In the sense, there is a lot of pressure from sponsors, corporate sponsors, whether they will pull out their advertising for the season, whether the players are going to boycott and everything else.
I think that this is going to be a big headache, like throwing the All-Star game away, because we don't want to players to answer questions about it for the next three months and we don't want to get our sponsors upset as well.
HOLMES: Yes. Baseball, historically, I think it is fair to say, has been more reluctant than other major sports, like basketball or football, to weigh in on social issues, generally speaking, and has a wider fan base.
So in that regard, with that context, is it a bold decision?
NIGHTENGALE: Very much so, Michael. This might be the most bold decision since they integrated the sport back in 1947 with Jackie Robinson. You are absolutely right, baseball usually sits back and waits for other sports and other people to take action. They stepped forward themselves.
The All-Star game is just 3 months away, we will see now what the NFL says, OK, no more Super Bowls there and the NCAA says no more Final Four and on and on. So this is the first time that baseball has, really, been the forefront leader in this since back in 1947, with Jackie Robinson.
HOLMES: To that point, how effective are these moves by major sports?
The NFL, memorably, moved the 1993 Super Bowl out of Arizona when voters refused to recognize Martin Luther King Day as a state holiday. The NBA, moving the All-Star game out of Charlotte over legislation that discriminated against transgender people.
Those actions did lead to change in those two places. You are a sportsman, not a politician.
But your read on whether this will likely to be effective?
NIGHTENGALE: I think it will because I think this is just the first step. If you have corporate sponsors pulling out and you have different corporations saying, we won't have our national conventions there, it adds up to a lot of money.
I think baseball, has told, here in Georgia, you change the, laws or you make some modifications, we will come right back there. They have the All-Star game in Los Angeles in 2022, the All-Star game in Philadelphia in 2026, (INAUDIBLE) 50th anniversary of the country.
Otherwise, it's wide open. So as soon as they make those changes, I think baseball comes right back with the All-Star game there.
HOLMES: It's interesting. I think it's only 8 percent or 9 percent of major league ballplayers are African American, which are the people that will be most disadvantaged by these changes to the laws.
Are players on the same issue in baseball from what you have been able to assess?
Would there have been, perhaps, individual player boycotts of the All- Star game if MLB hadn't done this?
NIGHTENGALE: We don't know. Obviously, it's a very conservative sport. You hear from a lot of Republican players, a lot of Republican voters, that sort of thing. They never consulted with Major League Baseball's Players Association. Rod Manfred made this decision, he didn't take a vote with the players and he certain didn't make a vote with the owners, saying that they were going to do this.
He talked to Tory Clark, the executive director of the Players Association, talked to a lot of people -- owners, players, former players, corporate sponsors -- before making a decision. But this was his decision and his decision alone.
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HOLMES: It's worth noting, Republicans claiming cancel culture, Donald Trump, sort of engaged in precisely that, by calling for a boycott of baseball.
Where does that sort of stuff stop?
NIGHTENGALE: Who knows?
Right now, you have small crowds anyway because of the pandemic. Only the -- in Texas have they had 100 percent capacity on opening day. Everything else is restricted. I don't think it will have any effect at all on attendance. We will see what happens.
We will see where people are. Obviously, they'll raise themselves and they issued a statement yesterday, lashing back at baseball. It's quite rare for a club to take individual action and lash out like it did.
HOLMES: Just in terms of the momentous nature of what Major League Baseball has done in the historical context, can you see that becoming something that may happen more often? NIGHTENGALE: It may. They get a lot of support. The NBA came out, the NBA players said we support what you've done, LeBron James saying we stand with you, MLB, former president Barack Obama, he came out in a tweet to congratulate Major League Baseball.
So it was viewed as a very popular move and they may start doing more of this stuff. I think, Michael, they've been talking about Black Lives Matter, different things, starting, what is happening this past year, given the last sport to respond to the George Floyd killing.
So I think they said it's up to us to make a stand here. This is the first time ever, a big event, a dual event, has been canceled within a calendar year. There's only three months before the All-Star game.
HOLMES: Good point. Bob, with the "USA Today," a pleasure talking to, you thank you.
NIGHTENGALE: Thank you, Michael.
HOLMES: An epic 3 point shot at the buzzer has set the stage for the biggest night in men's college basketball. Check this out.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Not a bad ending, is it?
Jalen Suggs of Gonzaga banking it in off the glass at the end of overtime, sealing the win over UCLA, 93 to 90. Gonzaga will take on Baylor in Monday night's final. Baylor, beating Houston 78-59, in Saturday's first game. It wasn't even close.
If Gonzaga wins, they will be the first undefeated champion since Indiana in 1976. Both teams in the final playing for their first championship.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, deadly attacks on the U.S. Capitol have pushed the Capitol Police force to its limit. How the union is pushing back this weekend with the demand for Congress.
Plus, testimony resumes Monday, in the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin. We look at the traumatizing impact of this case after this.
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HOLMES: And welcome back to our viewers here, in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
The U.S. Capitol Police Officers Union is calling on Congress to hires hundreds more officers to help secure the Capitol. This comes after a knife wielding man rammed his car into two officers on Friday, killing one and wounding the other.
And it happened in -- as Washington is still grappling, of course, with the events of the January 6th insurrection. In a statement, on Saturday, the Capitol Police union chairman said, the short staffed force could face more shortages, as officers retire.
Officer William Evans, an 18 year veteran and father of two, was killed in the attack. The officer who was injured has now been released from the hospital. Now during the attack, law enforcement shot and killed the suspect identified as 25 year old Noah Green.
And now, a lot of disturbing information is coming to light about Green's thinking, his state of mind and his behavior leading up to the assault. Pete Muntean reports, from Washington.
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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Investigators are, just now, digging into the past of 25 year old Noah Green. And what may have inspired him to carry out the attack on the Capitol here, on Friday.
What's so interesting are his social media posts. We have discovered an Instagram account that appeared to have had belonged to Green, where he made a trio of disturbing posts leading up to that attack.
One of the posts says, quote, "I have suffered multiple home break- ins, food poisonings, unauthorized operations and mind control."
Another post, a meme, the image of the leader of the nation of Islam. The text around it says, "The U.S. government is the enemy of Black people."
A third post describes, quote, "terrible afflictions by the CIA and FBI."
Now Green went to Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. Not all that far away from here. We are told he played football there and some of his fellow football players tell us they saw similar posts like the ones I just described on his Facebook account, some, as recently as only a couple weeks ago, on March 17th.
One of his fellow football players said, quote, "He was going through some stuff, for sure."
Security here, only getting tighter. In fact, you can see the high fence that is around the Capitol perimeter. That one up, not long after the January 6th attack. But now, there are new, concrete barriers behind it. Nothing here being taken to chance -- Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.
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HOLMES: Testimony resumes, Monday, in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin. Video of Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, is, of course, seared into the minds of millions around the world.
The prosecution says, that use of force proved deadly. CNN's Josh Campbell looks at the trial, so far.
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JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST (voice-over): The family of George Floyd, kneeling, in protest Monday, just hours before testimony would begin in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer, accused of murdering their loved one.
Prosecutors opened with a video that sparked a worldwide movement, capturing Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck, which they say, killed him.
JERRY BLACKWELL, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: You can believe your eyes that it's a homicide. It's murder.
[00:35:00]
CAMPBELL (voice-over): Chauvin's attorney argued the video doesn't tell the whole story, that Floyd died of an underlying heart condition and:
ERIC NELSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The ingestion of methamphetamine and fentanyl and the adrenaline flowing through his body.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): New video from the scene and emotional testimony seem to drive the prosecution's case like from Charles McMillian the man, heard on body camera video, pleading with Floyd to give in to police.
CHARLES MCMILLIAN, WITNESS: I feel helpless. I don't have a mama, either. And I understand him.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): Also, heard for the first time since the beginning of the trial, Chauvin, himself, on police body camera footage, as he defends his treatment of Floyd to McMillian.
DEREK CHAUVIN, FORMER POLICE OFFICER: Got to control this guy because he's a sizeable guy.
(CROSSTALK)
CHAUVIN: And it looks like he's probably on something.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): Arguably, the strongest testimony for the prosecution came from members of the Minneapolis Police Department. Sergeant David Ploeger, now retired, was a supervising officer on duty. He was asked if Chauvin followed police protocol?
STEVE SCHLEICHER, PROSECUTOR: Do you have an opinion, as to when the restraint of Mr. Floyd should have ended, in this encounter?
SGT. DAVID PLOEGER, RETIRED MINNEAPOLIS POLICE OFFICER: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: What is it?
PLOEGER: When Mr. Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended their restraint.
SCHLEICHER: And that was after he was handcuffed and on the ground and no longer resistant?
PLOEGER: Correct.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): The jury, also, heard from 35 year police veteran Richard Zimmerman, who testified it was totally unnecessary for Chauvin to kneel on Floyd's neck after he had been handcuffed, calling it deadly use of force.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once you handcuff somebody, that does affect the amount of force that you should consider using?
LT. RICHARD ZIMMERMAN, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How so?
ZIMMERMAN: Once a person is cuffed, the threat level goes down.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): Chauvin's attorney attempted to undermine Zimmerman's credibility, arguing that Zimmerman is a detective, not a patrol officer.
NELSON: And it would not be within your normal role of -- or job duties to do such a use of force analysis, right?
ZIMMERMAN: That's correct.
CAMPBELL (voice-over): During the week of testimony, a common emotion emerged from some of the eyewitnesses: remorse. Christopher Martin was the cashier who suspected Floyd handed him a fake $20 bill, an interaction that initiated the police response. The teenager was asked what he now feels about the encounter.
CHRISTOPHER MARTIN, CASHIER: Disbelief and guilt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why guilt?
MARTIN: If I would have just not took the bill, this could have been avoided.
CAMPBELL: Now one thing we have noticed from inside the courtroom is that this jury has been paying very close attention to the witnesses, to the exhibits, taking copious notes; no doubt, aware of the gravity of this case and the decision that, ultimately, awaits them as they will, eventually, render a verdict in this trial that's being watched around the world -- Josh Campbell, CNN, Minneapolis.
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HOLMES: Now that video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck sparked a global response last year. Now during Chauvin's trial, that scene is being shown repeatedly and from more angles. Civil rights attorney Cornell William Brooks tells CNN that, for many, this trial is traumatizing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CORNELL WILLIAM BROOKS, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: This week of testimony was extraordinarily difficult.
Why?
Because African Americans have been told over and over again, if you just comply, you won't be killed by the police. And what we saw, in the testimony and heard in the testimony of witness, after witness, after witness, is that George Floyd was pinned to the ground with his hands cuffed behind him, with the officer's knee on his neck.
He, involuntarily, complied. He posed no risk. So though, he involuntarily complied, he, yet, died. The witnesses in the crowd, the bystanders in the crowd, they morally begged Derek Chauvin not to kill George Floyd. They morally begged but they did not, physically, intervene. They, too, complied. And yet, George Floyd died, was murdered.
And they are, yet, racially traumatized, as are all of us. Please, note this. This trial took place between the observance of Passover and the Christian observance of Easter.
So when Derek Chauvin used his knee to pin George Floyd's neck onto the pavement in Minneapolis, Derek Chauvin, also, used his knee to pin George Floyd's neck on the pages of the Jewish Torah, on the pages of the Christian Bible, both of which declare, "Thou shall not kill."
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BROOKS: So this week, for millions of Americans, has been extraordinarily traumatizing and triggering because we've had to see the video yet again and again, listen to these witnesses tell us what we already know, which -- that which common sense and compassion, yet, declared that we are eyewitnesses to a murder, to a murder, a flesh and blood, taking of life. And so, yes, this has been an extraordinarily difficult week.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now testimony this week has been emotional, at times, difficult to hear and relive. For resources on how to protect your mental health during the trial, visit cnn.com/impact.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has a tough Monday ahead of him. He's been ordered to attend the opening session of the evidentiary phase of his corruption trial. Even as he tries to form the next government and stay in power. CNN's Hadas Gold is in Jerusalem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to be doing, Monday morning. Visiting the head of state. Trying to convince the president to give him the mandate to form a governing coalition.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): Any other government that is formed, that is not a right wing government, will be an unstable, left wing government, that will be formed against a clear and absolute ideology of the majority.
GOLD (voice-over): Instead, he will be back here at the Jerusalem district court for the start of the evidentiary phase of his corruption trial. But the two are intimately linked. And if his Likud Party colleagues achieve success at the president's residence in Netanyahu's absence, that could help with his potential success in court, says the head of the Israeli Democracy Institute, Yohanan Plesner.
YOHANAN PLESNER, ISRAELI DEMOCRACY INSTITUTE: The past two years, the legal clock and the political clock are completely intertwined. Nothing that happens in Israeli politics can be, really, understood, without understanding the timeline of Netanyahu's trial.
Netanyahu's key motivation is to dodge the legal process. Or to try and, somehow, overcome it.
GOLD (voice-over): Netanyahu faces charges in three, separate cases. In case 4,000, Netanyahu faces the most serious charge, of bribery, as well as fraud and breach of trust.
Prosecutors say Netanyahu advanced hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of regulatory reforms for a multimillionaire business man in exchange for favorable coverage in the businessman's Walla! news website.
In case 2,000, prosecutors say the prime minister sought favorable coverage from the publisher of one of Israel's largest newspapers in exchange for limiting the circulation of the paper's main rival.
And in case 1,000, prosecutors say Netanyahu received gifts, such as cigars and champagne, from overseas businessmen, something a public servant should not do.
NETANYAHU: They created a crime that doesn't exist in the rulebooks of the United States.
GOLD (voice-over): Netanyahu denies all the charges and has said he wants the case to run its course.
NETANYAHU: Basically, a fake witch hunt with fake charges with blackmailing witnesses. Unbelievable. Erasing documents. Creating new crimes. This is ridiculous. I mean, the whole thing is just collapsing.
GOLD (voice-over): In the political arena, Netanyahu faces what many analysts say is an insurmountable task, trying to cobble together a 61 seat majority coalition, either by trying to convince members who had defected from his Likud Party to return or by getting a small Islamist party to sit alongside extreme right wing and religious parties.
The opposition parties are having similar problems as they fight amongst themselves about who should lead a potential hodgepodge coalition. But Netanyahu presses on. Israel's longest serving prime minister hoping to keep his streak going and keep himself out of jail -- Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.
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HOLMES: Coming up, on CNN NEWSROOM, struggling with loss. After Taiwan's deadly train derailment, families of the victims gather to mourn their loved ones. Their stories, when we come back.
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HOLMES: The latest, now, on that passenger train derailment in eastern Taiwan, on Friday, killing at least 50 people, injuring dozens more. On Saturday, rescue teams started removing the wreckage from the crash site.
Authorities think a truck working on a nearby construction site caused the accident by sliding down onto the tracks. Prosecutors have sought an arrest warrant for the manager of that site. Meanwhile, families of the victims are struggling to come to terms with their new reality. CNN's Paula Newton has that.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The solemn chants inside the hall in eastern Taiwan are echoing the grief of dozens of families gathered near the site of the country's worst rail disaster in decades.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm full of regret. Raising my kid to where he is now. He graduated from college and recently passed an exam for a good company. He was on his way back for tomb sweeping day but ended up like this.
NEWTON (voice-over): Mr. Lu's (ph) son is among the dozens who lost their lives in the crash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): A lot of people who died from the crash had standing tickets. My son seemed to have one, too. Standing ticket passengers usually focus on playing on their cellphones.
When the accident happened, they wouldn't have been able to react to what was happening. And would, immediately, have been heavily crushed. NEWTON (voice-over): The express train with nearly 500 people onboard,
derailed in a tunnel after a parked railway maintenance vehicle slipped down an embankment and onto the tracks, causing the unthinkable for so many families.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): During the crash, they were all thrown away out of their seats and thrown in the front. After that, Sister Chung Hu-mei (ph) woke up. After waking up, she saw that her husband was not breathing and had no heartbeat, beside her. And her son was not breathing and had no heartbeat, either.
She could not find her daughter. When she yelled, she found her daughter was under the iron sheets. She put her effort to move those pieces, one by one. But her daughter's voice became quieter and quieter. And then, there was no response.
NEWTON (voice-over): Some of the passengers did survive. But for their families, the news of the crash and the uncertainty of knowing who made it out alive was almost as horrifying.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Well, it's like this. My daughter was lucky. Cabin three had not entered into the tunnel. If cabin three entered into the tunnel, then it would have been very dangerous.
They took a long time to come out because it was so serious. The rescue team couldn't find a way to rescue them. That's why they took a long time. It took around two hours.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It was horrible.
NEWTON (voice-over): Relatives of those who died held an emotional prayer ceremony near the crash site, shaded under a canopy of black umbrellas. Many openly wept as others called the names of their loved ones -- Paula Newton, CNN.
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HOLMES: You've been watching CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.
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HOLMES: A 21-gun salute in Egypt's capital on Saturday to welcome new residents to the area, 22 ancient Egyptian mummies, 18 kings and four queens, moving from the country's museum in Tahrir to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in al-Fusta (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Well, you just saw a glimpse of the lavish parade held for the ancient pharoahs. Now here's all the pomp and circumstance.
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HOLMES (voice-over): A royal procession through Cairo.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Some of the great kings and queens of Egypt who reigned more than 3,000 years ago still know how to draw a crowd. The land has changed; so, too, the people but these mummies are timeless; 18 kings and four queens embodying the ancient allure of Egypt, when it was once one of the great seats of power in the world.
SAIMA IKRAM, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: It is poignant moment to think of so many of Egypt's royalty going through the streets of this modern capital. In fact, they're going back to an ancient capital for a start.
HOLMES (voice-over): The theatrical 5-kilometer journey, lined with lights, chariots and costumed actors, could be watched live and was shown along with singers and an orchestra worthy of an epic soundtrack.
The mummies were transported on vehicles that looked like barges from the Egyptian Museum to their final resting place at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, where they were received by the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Seti I and Ramses the Great were some of the best-known of the mummies, which were encased in special capsules filled with nitrogen and lined with soft material to protect them from any damage along the way.
Organizers hope the multimillion-dollar display, called The Pharaohs' Golden Parade, is a reminder to tourists of the many treasures waiting for them in Egypt. The countries' tourism industry crumbled because of coronavirus, the number of visitors dropping to 3.5 million last year from more than 13 million the year before.
ZAHI HAWASS, EGYPTOLOGIST: The message is very important, we're going to tell the people through the parade of the mummies that Egypt is safe. We need people to come back.
HOLMES (voice-over): A throwback to the country's past, to help revive its modern economy and a chance for Egypt's eternal kings and queens to bask in glory once again.
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HOLMES: Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram. I'll have more CNN NEWSROOM after
the break.