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Idaho Lieutenant Governor Goes Rogue after Governor Leaves State; New Footage Shows Minneapolis Police Talking About Hunting Protesters; . Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 07, 2021 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:08]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: It's an enormous risk to take. That's why the law was written this way. Ariane de Vogue, thanks so much for breaking it down. Erica?

ERICA HILL, CNN NEWSROOM: A public feud playing out among Idaho's two top leaders. Now, the governor is calling this a political stunt. It is fascinating and we're going to bring you the very latest on this story, next.

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[10:35:00]

SCIUTTO: This is quite a political story. So, this week, ten Republican governors traveled to the southern border to talk about President Biden and the ongoing immigration surge there. Among them was the Idaho governor, Brad Little. But while he was away, his lieutenant governor was taking some liberties with her power. Governor Little now accusing his second in command, a fellow Republican, by the way, Janice McGeachin, of attempting to order the state and National Guard to the Mexico border.

HILL: McGeachin, who is running for governor herself next year, also attempted to broaden Little's executive order banning so-called vaccine passports.

Joining us now is Troy Oppie, he is a Reporter and Host at Boise State Public Radio. It's good to have you with us. So, McGeachin is claiming, in this case, she really just inquired about sending the Guard. The Guard sending back a rather interesting response. On that one issue, what are you hearing, would that even be possible?

TROY OPPIE, REPORTER AND HOST, BOISE STATE PUBLIC RADIO: Well, the Guard responded by reminding to the lieutenant governor, McGeachin, that they are not a law enforcement agency and no call for emergency support had been put out by the states of Texas or Arizona. That information came through the Associated Press shortly after she did it.

And McGeachin has tweeted a day after she did this, reminding people, no, I didn't order the Guard or deploy the Guard, but I asked for information. Certainly, when she knows the governor is going to be leaving the state and she's going to be acting governor to request that information, it's a loaded question, right? And so that's what she did.

SCIUTTO: So, Troy, the politics of this are pretty clear, because they're both Republicans. But McGeachin appears to be trying to outtrump the sitting governor by doing this, right? And I just wonder, how do voters in Idaho respond to this? Do they support this kind of effort?

OPPIE: There are those here that support her. There is a wide swath of the state legislature that is like-minded from all parts of the state, really. And you see some of this divide between Republicans playing out on school boards and at other more localized politics across the state.

They come from two very separate wings of the Republican Party. Brad Little is old school, moderate Republican. His family has generations of ranching ties to this state. He was lieutenant governor prior to winning the governor election in 2018. McGeachin is from Idaho Falls. She's a businesswoman. She and her husband own several businesses, a restaurant and bar and automotive supply business, among others. And she in the state house for ten years before becoming more involved in party politics. She was the vice chair of the Trump campaign here in 2016.

And so that divide plays out all across the state and it will certainly be interesting to see what happens come the Republican primary next May.

HILL: Yes, that's for sure. And in Idaho, of course, for folks who aren't familiar, governor and lieutenant governor, they're running for those offices separately, in case people are wondering how they're not working together so publicly.

When you talk about the support that McGeachin has, is it the support for her policies or is it the support for, you know, we have, you know, more than one occasion where the governor has left the state and she is, for obvious reasons, then she's in charge, and then makes these quick moves to exert power? Is it the support for those power moves or is it the support for the platform, I guess, I should say?

OPPIE: I think it's a little bit of both. She did this previously in May. The governor went out of state on business to a conference and, very quickly, it seemed like McGeachin had an executive order at the ready, very quickly issued that it was repealed by the governor 24 hours later when he returned. He was shocked. He used the word, tyranny, to describe the lieutenant governor's actions at that point in May.

And there was support for her action. In fact, she fundraised off that action several days after it was overturned. But there's also support for those policies. People here have pushed back strongly in some ways on mask mandates and pushed back as well on the vaccination mandates. SCIUTTO: Well, that's the pattern, right? Do something extreme and then fundraise off it, whether it's successful or not. Troy Oppie, thanks so much for joining us.

OPPIE: You're welcome.

SCIUTTO: Well, police officers in Minnesota are caught on camera talking about hunting, hunting protesters days after George Floyd's death. You'll hear that newly released body cam video, next.

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[10:40:00]

HILL: Shocking new body camera video reveals how some police officers responded to protesters in Minneapolis following the murder of George Floyd.

SCIUTTO: CNN has reviewed more than two hours of footage from multiple officers, some of whom discussed hunting people as they protested, as the people protested George Floyd's death in May of 2020.

CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is with us now. And, Adrienne, tell us what this video shows us.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this video was captured on May 30th, five days after George Floyd was killed.

[10:45:00]

Court documents reveal this unit was traveling down Lake Street clearing out protesters who were out beyond that 8:00 P.M. curfew with nonlethal rounds.

Here's what a commander at the Minneapolis Police Department said following during a debrief. Listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight was a busy night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight it was just nice to hear, we're going to go find some more people, instead of chasing people around. We're going to -- you guys are out hunting people now, it's just a nice change of tempo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, agreed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (BLEEP) these people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. We're rolling down Lake Street, the first (BLEEP) we see, we're just handling them with 40's.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that a good copy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are we doing with these people?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: West.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are we doing with people on Lake Street?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooting them with 40's.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROADDUS: Those officers used 40 millimeter nonlethal rounds.

Meanwhile, this body cam video that we just showed you is a clip from two hours worth of body camera video that was released by an attorney representing Jaleel Stallings. Stallings was acquitted on all charges for firing a gun at Minneapolis police officers after he fired at them first with those nonlethal rounds. The attorney representing Stallings said he wanted to release this body camera video because it contradicts what law enforcement initially said.

Meanwhile, CNN has reached out to the Minneapolis Police as well as the police union for comment. We have not received a response. Jim and Erica?

SCIUTTO: Remarkable video. Adrienne Broaddus, thanks so much for following.

We should note this. Right now, the Dow is up more than 500 points, you see it there, on the breaking news the lawmakers have reached a deal to raise the debt ceiling.

HILL: Also, news for parents today, breaking earlier this morning, Pfizer applying for emergency use authorization of its COVID vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta will weigh on just what that could mean, when your kids may be able to get their first shot. He's got that for us at the top of the hour.

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[10:50:00]

HILL: The new CNN original series, Diana, takes a close look at the many ways the princess of Wales was a trailblazer in celebrity activism.

Here is Max Foster with a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Diana's sons unveiling a statue they commissioned in memory of her for the garden they used to enjoy together as a young family at Kensington Palace. She's portrayed by them here surrounded by other children and in the later years of life as she gains confidence in her role as an ambassador for humanitarian for causes. The way she engaged with them was nothing short of revolutionary and it reinvented what we now know as celebrity activism. Take this image from 1997 where she's seen shaking hands without gloves with a man dying of AIDS, at a time when many incorrectly believed the disease could be transmitted by casual contact.

DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES: HIV does not make people dangerous, so you can shake their hands and give them a hug.

FOSTER: Two years later, she did it again during a visit to Indonesia, where she shook hands with leprosy patients to dispel the myth that illness could be spread by touch.

May Lloyd worked with the princess on leprosy awareness.

MAY LLOYD, THE LEPROSY MISSION: She spoke to people and touched them and not afraid to get down in the dirt and kneel next to someone or speak to someone or sit next to them. She was always on the lookout to help the person who needed the most help at the time.

FOSTER: Even in her final year of life, 1997, Diana risked everything, to walk through a field in Angola littered with active land mines. The man guiding her was Paul Heslop of the Halo Trust.

PAUL HESLOP, U.N. MINE CLEARANCE CHIEF: The first time I went in, I was pretty nervous and I didn't have 2 billion people watching me on T.V.

FOSTER: But she wanted to do it?

HESLOP: She wanted to do it.

FOSTER: Heslop says the publicity that came from that visit was instrumental in creating the momentum for an international treaty to ban landmines signed later that year, though Diana never lived to see it.

DIANA: I'm not a political figure. I'm a humanitarian figure, and always have been and always will be.

FOSTER: The media was Diana's biggest curse as well as her greatest asset. By drawing cameras and attention to causes that really needed it, she was able to change perceptions like nobody else living at the time.

[10:55:00]

Celebrities have been following in her footsteps ever since.

Max Foster, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Diana premieres Sunday at 9:00 P.M. right here on CNN.

SCIUTTO: It looks really good, I have to say. Well, thanks so much to all of you for joining us today. A lot of news today. I'm sure there will be more tomorrow. I'm Jim Sciutto.

HILL: I think we can bet on that. I'm Erica Hill.

Stay with us. At This Hour with Kate Bolduan starts after this quick break.

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