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Houston Police Investigating Astroworld Music Festival Tragedy; Appeals Court Temporarily Blocks Biden's Vaccine Mandate For Big Companies; Key Trump Admin Witness Stonewalls January 6 Committee; Parts Of Europe Struggle With COVID Surge; Congress Passes $1.2 Trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill; Republican Victory In Virginia Deals Blow To Democrats And Joe Biden. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired November 06, 2021 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:35]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Saturday.

We begin with tragedy in Texas. Two teenagers are among the eight people killed in a sudden and massive human stampede at a music festival in Houston. Many more are injured after fans rushed the stage during a performance by rapper Travis Scott at the Astroworld Music Festival in Houston.

Video from that sold-out event shows the moment Travis Scott pauses and then he looks on in confusion as an ambulance moves into the packed crowd of about 50,000 fans. Witnesses described the crush of people squeezing against them leaving them with nowhere to go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK JOHNSON, ASTROWORLD CONCERTGOER: It was going on for over two hours. And it just got worse and worse. Everyone is like, you just can't breathe. You just feel like, feel like there's a weight on you.

ANGEL RODRIGUEZ, ASTROWORLD CONCERTGOER: It was so hard to move your arms and like it was so hard to breathe that I was like, I was pushing whoever in front of me just like to breathe. Just to breathe.

MADELINE ESKINS, ICU NURSE, ATTENDED ASTROWORLD FESTIVAL: I just remember looking up and passing out. And then I was in and out for a little while. I didn't see anything. But I kind of feel what was going on. Someone pulled me over a fence. And I was sat in a chair and then I passed out again. And when I woke up, I was in a different area in a chair with a water bottle on my lap.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The Houston mayor says there are still plenty of unanswered questions tonight and calls it an active investigation.

CNN's Rosa Flores has the very latest for us -- Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Pamela, the situation and the investigation has really escalated here in Houston because of the account of a security officer that was at the scene who says that he felt a prick in his neck. Then he was treated with Narcan and then he was revived. This is according to the Houston police chief.

Now according to the chief, he wasn't the only one that was treated with Narcan. The chief says that now the narcotics and homicide divisions are part of this investigation which started off with them simply looking at what was causing a mass of people compressing towards the stage. Well, now, the narcotics division and the homicide division are involved in this investigation and officials are calling for answers.

Now we're also learning the ages of the individuals who have died. There's eight people who have died. The ages are between 14 and 27. We don't know the age of one individual. The number of people that were transported to the hospital has increased from 23 to 25. There are 13 people who are still hospitalized, and five of them are children.

Now I have talked to eyewitnesses, people who were there who say that it was very difficult to breathe during this time. Now according to authorities, at about 9:15 is when the crowd started compressing towards the stage. By 9:38, authorities say that this turned into a mass casualty event. Well, the individuals that I talked to who were at the scene say that depending on how tall you were is how much oxygen you were able to get.

So when you think about the children who were transported to the hospital, just think about that. The individuals I talked to say it was very difficult breathing. The individuals who were taller, so the adults, had an easier time breathing because they were able to gasp for air.

So a lot of questions still remain in this case. Authorities here say that a thorough investigation will be conducted because the families here, the families of the individuals who have died need answers -- Pamela.

BROWN: Understandably. And just to think that depending on your height you could then breathe or not breathe.

Thanks to Rosa. I'm joined now by Paul Wertheimer. He is a crowd safety expert. Also the founder and president of Crowd Management Strategies. Also, Anthony Barksdale, CNN law enforcement analyst and former acting Baltimore police commissioner.

Nice to see you both. I mean, this is just awful. Paul, I want to start with you. You have started crowd crushes for decades. Some call you the marshal of the mosh pit. From your experience, how does something like this happen?

[19:05:03]

PAUL WERTHEIMER, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, CROWD MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES: Well, this is a classic rock and roll tragedy that was preventable. I'm sorry to say it but it was. One of the most dangerous areas at concerts is in front of the stage because that's where the artist is. People want to be close to the artist. If you don't manage the crowd,

manage the density, manage the people, you end up with crowd crush disasters like this where people die from asphyxiation or from heart attacks due to extraordinary pressure on the crowd.

So this was a preventable situation. Should have been identified in the risk assessment planning for this event and in the emergency plan. And in fact, if I might add, the fire marshal of Houston adopted the National Fire Protection Safety Code, Life Safety Code 101 2012. In that code, there is a specific section that addresses this exact situation that occurred, the festival seating standing room crowd crush, and leaves and addresses certain steps to take to prevent it.

BROWN: And we heard from the officials there on the ground that the capacity could have been more than 200,000. But they limited it. They capped it at 50,000 based on the ticket sales and everything. But all of that is under investigation as well.

Anthony, I want to bring you in. Astroworld organizers cancelled today's concerts. Earlier on CNN the mayor of Houston, you had the mayor of Houston saying that in the last 30 years nothing like this has happened in the city. From your experience, what will investigators be looking at?

ANTHONY BARKSDALE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You have a lot to look at. First of all, you have to look at what was the plan. What was the clear structure of command, the chain of command. Where would a resource be staged? Do we have medics in the right place? How can a mobile vehicle move through such a crowd? Sometimes in Baltimore, we would put medics on bikes or on foot to get to victims faster within a crowd type of situation.

The spiking, what we're hearing now is that there is a possibility of spiking where someone may have injected people with a needle. We've heard of that in the United Kingdom. They are having episodes of this over there. So do we have that type of crime going on in America now? So we have to look at that angle.

There is a lot of work to be done here and it requires those who threw this event to look at themselves. The police, the security, the medics, everyone to examine where did this go wrong. And I agree with Paul, this is absolutely a preventable type of disaster.

BROWN: Paul, you mentioned --

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Go ahead.

WERTHEIMER: Let me step back and reinforce some of the things that were just said. The fact is, though, you start with the risk assessment for the event. What are the things that could go wrong and how are you going to mitigate or prevent them before you decide if you're going to do the event? And one of those things that would have come up is crowd crushing and crowd surge. Look. There's a lot of investigation that has to be done. But the drug

part likely subterfuge. This was a failure to manage the crowd in an overcrowded situation in front of the stage that fails to meet national standards, including the National Fire Protection Association standard for festival seating, and running those events properly which says, reduce the capacity, have specially trained crowd managers, and number one, do a life safety evaluation.

So we need to know if the city of Houston did a life safety evaluation for that address that would have also dealt with festival seating, standing room environments. The victim, the people who died, they're the victims of this disaster. They're the people put into a crowd environment beyond their control. Who manages the crowd? Not 16-year- old Sussie, not 18-year-old Johnny. It's the people who organized the event.

The artists, the facility operator, the promoter, and the people who approve it. We also need to see the crowd management plan, the permit and the emergency plan, and see who was involved in those aspect. That's where you're going to find what went wrong and why it went wrong.

BROWN: It's just so, so awful. But Anthony, Paul, thanks for helping us understand what they're now investigating and what you view as what could have been preventable in this case, which is just heartbreaking when you think eight people died including a 14-year-old and 16-year- old.

[19:10:13]

Thank you both. We appreciate it.

WERTHEIMER: My pleasure. Thank you.

BARKSDALE: Thank you.

BROWN: We're also following breaking news out of New Orleans this evening. That is where a federal appeals court, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has put a temporary halt to President Biden's vaccine mandate for larger companies, certain healthcare workers and federal contractors. 27 states have already filed lawsuits to challenge that mandate.

And now I want to bring in CNN legal analyst Jennifer Rodgers. She joins us now to break it down.

So, Jennifer, given the legal challenges, what is your reaction to this?

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Pam, in the first place, the Fifth Circuit has issued a stay which is really of no moment because the rule wasn't supposed to take effect until January anyway. So really what it means is the Fifth Circuit is going to evaluate this after briefing an argument. And the question is, will they actually strike down this rule? If they do so, they have to do it on either statutory or a constitutional basis. Their order today said that they had concerns about both.

But honestly, I really don't see any problem here unless they can identify specific statutory failure like the process was problematic which the Department of Labor said is not the case. I certainly don't see any constitutional issues here. So either the Fifth Circuit will reverse itself in this stay and find there was no problem or if necessary it would go to the Supreme Court.

BROWN: The government argues that this is about workplace safety over which the government has broad powers. What do you think? Do you foresee the mandate being overturned on constitutional grounds?

RODGERS: Definitely not on constitutional grounds. I mean, the government does have a broad ability to pass rules to ensure the public safety and to ensure workplace safety. The pandemic continues to kill over 1,000 people a day. The vast majority of whom are unvaccinated. So there's no question there is a rational basis for this rule.

Then the question becomes, does it unconstitutionally discriminate against protected classes of people? And that's not the case either. You know, there's no issue about race or gender or ethnicity here. Everyone who works at one of these larger companies is subject to it and people who work at large companies are not a protected class under the Constitution. So I don't foresee any constitutional problems whatsoever.

BROWN: OK. Jennifer Rodgers, thanks for joining us tonight.

And still to come, a concertgoer caught in the deadly crash at Astroworld describes all hell breaking loose as rapper Travis Scott took the stage. We're going to hear from more eyewitnesses later in the hour.

Also ahead, hear Chris Christie's tough talk to Republicans on the realities of the 2020 race. He says it's about moving on. But are enough people in his party listening?

Plus, Attorney General Merrick Garland stuck between a rock and a hard place over potential criminal charges against Trump insider Steve Bannon. I'll ask former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen what's causing the delay.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:17:24]

BROWN: Now to a new headache for the January 6th Committee. It has 20 subpoenas signed and ready to go. But enforcing the ones that it sent so far is already proving to be a big legal struggle.

Jeffrey Clark is a former Trump administration Justice Department official who the committee says is a key witness. But Clark has now refused to answer any questions and promises he won't until a court compels him to.

Here with me now, CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen. He served as counsel to House Democrats during former President Trump's first impeachment.

Norm, nice to see you. So there's no legal basis here for Clark's claim, right?

NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Pamela, thanks for having me back. That's exactly right. There is absolutely no basis for him to refuse to answer questions. He got a lawful subpoena just like anybody else in the United States. If they receive a subpoena, they have to appear and answer questions. He claims he is asserting executive privilege and other privileges.

But, Pamela, we only have one executive in the United States. The one who decides whether or not there is a privilege, whether information is confidential and questions have to be answered or not is the current president, Joe Biden. So -- and Biden has said that through his Justice Department, that there is no privilege as to Clark. Clark must answer.

BROWN: The bottom line, though, is, as we know, Steve Bannon has been fighting this and DOJ is now looking at the situation. DOJ has not done anything, though. As far as we know nothing has come out of that. Are you surprised that at this point we don't have anything from DOJ about whether they're going to prosecute Bannon for not complying with the subpoena?

EISEN: Pamela, I'm not surprised. It's only been a couple of weeks. You know, this is a momentous decision and I think that there's a certain amount of process that DOJ needs to maintain. It's not unusual to have a delay of a couple weeks. I do believe it's a clear case.

I believe the DOJ will act. I think when it will be put in their sails, when the judges, she signaled -- Judge Chutkan who last week heard Donald Trump's executive privilege claims, and essentially pronounced them as a bunch of hoo-ha. I think that will put some wind in DOJ sails. But no, a two-week delay in a case of this kind is not unusual.

[19:20:02]

BROWN: So what do you do now? What does the committee do now in terms of getting Clark to talk? And do you expect other former Trump administration officials to do the same thing as Clark and just hey, we're going to wait for all of these to be settled in court?

EISEN: So far to the best of our knowledge, the only two individuals who have taken this defiant stance against the committee are Steve Bannon, the subject of the criminal contempt investigation by DOJ that I believe will result in charges, and now Clark. The others are negotiating.

And Pamela, remember, the committee has interviewed, according to its vice chair, Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, over 150 people. They're going full speed ahead. I do think that we'll see that next batch of subpoenas. There have been just shy of 20 so far. Another 20 waiting to go. I think we'll see those including building on what they've heard from

that first 150 people. Undoubtedly, some responding to subpoenas, some volunteering, and we know they've talked on other Trump administration officials including Clark's colleagues at the Trump DOJ who resisted his efforts to support President Trump in baseless attacks on the election. So the committee will continue full steam ahead. And so far they're making good progress.

BROWN: As you pointed out, they are working at a furious pace from the reporting that is out there. Who do you anticipate them to bring in next and what will they try to learn?

EISEN: Well, the evidence that has been coming to light has suggested that the vice president, his lawyers and his colleagues have come under -- came under intense pressure to do the wrong thing, to violate the law, and to overturn legitimate choices of the American people in the election of 2020.

So I expect that those and the vice president's -- former Vice President Pence's circle will be included in this next batch and others who have indicated to have information by those 150 formal and informal interviews so far.

These court cases are moving quickly and I think we're going to see action out of DOJ against Bannon as they complete their deliberations as well.

BROWN: All right. We'll be waiting to see what happens on that front. Norm Eisen, thank you.

EISEN: Thanks, Pamela, great to be back.

BROWN: A, quote, "death trap." How people who were caught up in the deadly Houston concert stampede describes surviving the chaos.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:27:24]

BROWN: Back now to the tragedy in Houston. The mayor there says there are still plenty of unanswered questions after a massive and deadly human stampede at the Astroworld Music Festival last night. A 14 and 16-year-old are among eight people killed.

Many more are injured after fans rushed the stage during a performance by rapper Travis Scott at the Astroworld Music Festival in Houston. Witnesses describe the crush of people squeezing against other audience members, leaving them with nowhere to go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLY NASSER, ATTENDED ASTROWORLD FESTIVAL: People are getting trampled. They're losing their balance and then tripping over the people on the floor. And people were dying left and right. It heated up about 15 minutes after Travis came on the stage and it progressively got worse. There was shoving. But they couldn't accommodate all the people that were there. It was too small. It was a death trap basically.

I've seen kids pass out before but everyone usually always helped out. But in this time, people were basically fighting for their life. I was trying to pick kids up that were getting stomped on. And I picked some kid up and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. And I checked his pulse, I knew he was dead, and then I checked the people around, and I decided to leave him there. There was nothing I could do.

ESKINS: As time went on, it just kept getting more crowded and more crowded and more crowded. But then he started a countdown about 30 minutes before he performed. He started a timer on the big screen and all of a sudden people just compressed up against each other and were pushing forward and backward. And as the timer got closer to coming down to zero, it just, it got worse and worse.

I've always been towards the front, towards the concerts. And yes, it gets tight but I've never ever been feeling like I'm going to pass out. I never saw people collapsing. I definitely never saw anybody die. If my boyfriend would not have gotten me out of there, I think that I would have been part of the statistic yesterday.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The Houston police chief also said today a security officer at the event had to be revived with Narcan. According to the police chief, the officer was reaching out to restrain or grab a citizen and she felt a prick in her neck -- in his neck. Houston Police are investigating this incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The pandemic is not yet behind us. But within this week's announcements, vaccines for kids, more adults getting vaccinated, potential treatment for those who get sick, we're accelerating our path out of this pandemic.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

[19:30:00]

BROWN: Our path out of this pandemic, like kids on a long road trip, we all want to know, are we there yet? Well, the best GPS we have to find out, its data.

So let's take a look at that. This week, the U.S. marked 750,000 deaths due to COVID, and we're still losing more than 1,000 people a day, but we have more tools than ever to save lives.

Look at this here, 40 states now have fully vaccinated more than half of the residents, 70 percent of adults are now fully vaccinated. Pfizer's vaccine is now authorized for kids five to 11 years old, and more than 22 million people have now gotten a booster shot.

But as we know, this is a global pandemic. And winter is coming.

Check out these headlines out of Germany, France, Austria, and a warning the nations face a quote "second pandemic winter." You can see here how Europe compares to other regions in the world. The W.H.O. this week said the pace of COVID transmission right now in Europe is of quote, "grave concern."

But let's take a deeper look here at the seven-day average of new cases. Germany has roughly 66 percent of its population fully vaccinated. Compare that to Italy, with roughly 72 percent fully vaccinated. Its case count is well below Germany's.

Italy's Health Ministry credits its vaccination or get tested mandate. Portugal has seen an even smaller COVID count, around 87 percent of their population is fully vaccinated. The average of cases is higher here in the United States, and although hospitalizations are down nationwide, data from Colorado shows an uptick.

So how close are we really to the so-called end of COVID in the U.S.?

Former F.D.A. chief and Pfizer board member, Dr. Scott Gottlieb argues, closer than ever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER F.D.A. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER FOR MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS: The end of the pandemic, at least as it relates to the United States is in sight right now, given all the tools we have to combat this disease. Now, we still have to get through this delta wave. Unfortunately, we're not going to be able vaccinate our way out of it. These therapeutics are coming too late to really affect that wave of infection.

But once we get through this delta wave of infection over the course of the next two months, I think that this therapeutic and the other innovations that we've seen coming to market really mark the end of the pandemic for the United States, and we need to think about how we put that, you know, victory side on the side of the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well, today, President Biden is also touting a major step forward for his agenda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think it is an exaggeration to suggest that we took a monumental step forward as a nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: What does this mean for the trillions more investments Democrats still want to make? Ron Brownstein and former Congressman Charlie Dent are standing by to discuss up next. You won't want to miss this discussion. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:30]

BROWN: Well, tonight, a major victory for the White House and the congressional Democrats who struggled to unite behind President Biden's domestic agenda. With bipartisan support, the House passed his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. The President now just have to sign it into law.

All right, joining me to discuss, CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein and former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent, always love having you both on together.

Ron, let's start with you tonight. President Biden says he expects the first shovel ready projects to begin in just two to three months. Will brick and mortar improvements win votes for Democrats in midterms a year from now?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the history is that it's really hard to translate legislative success in your first year into political success in your second year for our President. I mean, Ronald Reagan passed the Reagan tax cuts in 1981, the Republicans lost 26 seats in the House in 1982.

Lyndon Johnson had the Great Society Congress in 1965, probably the most productive since the depression with Medicare, Medicaid, and the Voting Rights Act, and they lost about 45 seats in 1966. Of course, Obama passed the Affordable Care Act in 2009, and lost seats in 2010.

But it does not mean that this is without value for them, because I think failure to pass it would expose them to even greater risk. And the history is that if they can pass this, obviously, they did pass this and they can -- if they can supplement it with the broader economic agenda that he still has on the table and which looks now like it is finally cleared for landing, it is highly likely that could help them in time by 2004.

The question is, how long does it take voters to feel this one year, maybe a little narrow? Three years? That's plenty of time.

BROWN: So I want to go to you, Congressman, just to get your take on it. Now on the outside, it is interesting, because as you know, there was so much back and forth over the infrastructure bill, it finally passed in the House. Now, there is, you know, we're all looking toward the spending bill, what's going to happen on that front?

I was speaking to a Democrat earlier in the show who said, look, this dysfunction is normal. This is how the sausage is made and this is just part of the deal. This isn't necessarily dysfunction within the Democratic Party. How do you see it?

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I do think there's some real divisions within the House Democratic Caucus. It's clear. I mean, look, this Infrastructure Bill is a good thing, but it should have passed two months ago. They should have had this done in August. They could have been selling it for two months and I agree with Ron,

this legislative success will not necessarily translate into political success in the midterm because these midterms usually are driven by the party of the President.

[19:40:10]

DENT: It is the President's approval rating, which has been sinking that has -- that really impacted the races the other day in Virginia and New Jersey. And I suspect, they are still going to run into headwinds. The social services spending bill, the Build Back Better, I think still has many problems. They may pass a bill out of the House over the next few weeks, but it is not clear what the Senate will accept. The Senate will drive the agenda.

And frankly, Pamela, I think the bigger issue for Democrats right now is what's on voters' minds? They're worried about rising prices, supply shortages. There are a lot of issues that are really -- you know, the Afghanistan failure is also still front of mind for many people.

These are the challenges that Democrats are facing, and it seems to me that their Build Back Better legislation is still too big, and it is not being sold well, and I think that will represent problems for them going forward.

BROWN: Let's talk about those recent gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia. Ron. Republicans won the governor's race in Virginia. That is a state that Joe Biden won by 10 percentage points. Notably, Glenn Youngkin also kept some distance from Trump.

I sat down with some white suburban moms who voted for Trump in 2016 and against him in 2020. And said -- voted against Trump in 2020. That said, part of the appeal -- of Youngkin's appeal was that he focused on education. That is not something normally Republicans focus on.

Listen to what one mom told me about her warning to Youngkin about Trump joining him at events.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAUNDRA DAVIS, VIRGINIA VOTER: I told him if you bring Donald Trump over in Virginia, I'm not helping you. You're done. There is no way that I can get on camera or the radio and support that.

SHAWNA YASHAR, VIRGINIA VOTER: But he heard us parents talk to him at these events.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. He joined us every time.

YASHAR: He met with us and that's when he changed his focus. But that's really telling, too, that he heard us, and listened, so that made me realize he --

BROWN: So you were sold at that point.

YASHAR: Yes, absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And just to clarify, three of the four voted for Biden, and then they voted for Youngkin. And then on the flip side, Ron, in Arizona's race for governor, you have Kerri Lake and bracing Trump's endorsement as a key part of her identity. Is Trump still a kingmaker? Or now a spoiler? How do you view it?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, the answer is probably some of both. I mean, first of all, Pam, the history is pretty clear that in our modern polarized era, it is easier for candidates to win in states that usually vote the other way for Governor than it is for Senator or the House.

I mean, there are Republican governors in Maryland and Massachusetts and Vermont, and there are Democratic governors in Kentucky and Louisiana, and states that the other side -- that their party could never carry any presidential election, and I think the governor races are somewhat insulated from the intense partisan and ideological polarization at the national level, because they do turn on different issues.

So in that sense, I think that Trump is going to be more relevant in 2022, both in terms of influencing Republican primaries potentially, but also with Democrats, I think having a better opportunity to tie Republicans to him.

Having said that, Virginia, like New Jersey kind of captures the normal problem that the President's party faces in midterm elections. I mean, all but three midterm elections since the Civil War, the President's party has lost seats in the House and the reason they usually do is because their voters feel less urgency about turning out than the side that's locked out of the White House, and is just furious about everything that's going on.

And all of those problems are compounded when the President's approval rating declines.

And I agree with Charlie Dent that in 2022, the key for Democrats is conditions on the ground improving in people's lives. The programs that they're passing, I think can have an effect by 2024, but midterms are really about the here and now.

And I think, above all, the share of the country who thinks that Biden has a handle on the problems of the economy and COVID and the border and crime. That's what has to go up for Democrats to have a relatively successful midterm in 2022.

BROWN: And Congressman, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie delivered a stern and sobering warning to fellow Republicans that the 2020 election is over and it is essential to focus on the future. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: We can no longer talk about the past and the past elections no matter -- no matter where you stand on that issue. No matter where you stand. It is over.

And every minute that we spend talking about 2020, while we're wasting time doing that, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer are laying ruin to this country. We better focus on that and take our eyes off the rearview mirror and start looking through the windshield again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:45:05]

BROWN: Christie defended his credentials as a Trump supporter, but notably backed away from Trump's endless crowing of the big lie. So what do you think about that, Congressman?

DENT: Well, I think that Chris Christie is correct in that Republicans need to focus on the future and make the midterm about the party in power and Democrats and Joe Biden. The challenge, of course, is how destructive will Donald Trump be in the upcoming primaries?

Donald Trump is the one who was talking about the past. And he still has a megaphone, notwithstanding the fact that he's been kicked off of social media. But Christie is absolutely right. And this election the other day, just last week, you know, it was not about -- it was not about Donald Trump, it was about Joe Biden and the Democrats.

And I suspect the midterm will be the same, unless Donald Trump injects himself in unhelpful ways. You know, especially in those Senate races, where if Republicans nominate candidates who are too Trumpy, they will have problems in swing states and certainly in swing districts. That's what I think we learned from Glenn Youngkin.

You know, he figured out a way to stiff arm Donald Trump after the primary and he did it very effectively winning back many suburban voters, particularly women, educated -- college educated women. So, there is a bit of a template there for many Republican candidates.

BROWN: All right, Charlie Dent and Rob Brownstein, thank you so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

DENT: Thanks, Pamela.

BROWN: Well, an emotional day in the courtroom during the murder trial for three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. We break down opening arguments in the case, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:51:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WANDA COOPER-JONES, MOTHER OF AHMAUD ARBERY: I'm doing okay. Many times over the last couple -- last 18 months, I questioned what happened to Ahmaud in the last minutes of his life? I often avoided the video, but today I decided it was time to see the video to kill my curiosities.

It is very heartbreaking, but I've got past that part.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: An emotional start to the trial of three men charged with the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. He is the 25-year-old black man who was out for a jog in Brunswick, Georgia, when he was chased down, shot and killed.

The trial is moving forward despite the Judge saying there appears to be intentional discrimination with 11 white people and just one black person on the jury. All three men on trial, Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and their neighbor, William Bryan, Jr. have all pleaded not guilty to charges of malice and felony murder.

The prosecution opened their case outlining how the men carried out a quote "attack" on Arbery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA DUNIKOSKI, PROSECUTOR: All three of these defendants did everything they did based on assumptions, not on facts, not in evidence -- on assumptions -- and they make decisions in their driveways based on those assumptions that took a young man's life, and that is why we are here.

How do you know this was an attack on Mr. Arbery? It was Greg McMichael who said it perfectly, Mr. Aubrey was trapped like a rat. That's what he told the police. Trapped like a rat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: That defense, in their opening argument argued that this case is about quote, "duty and responsibility" painting the defendants as trying to protect their neighborhood fearful of break-ins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB RUBIN, ATTORNEY FOR TRAVIS MCMICHAEL: It's tragic that Ahmaud Arbery lost his life, but at that point, Travis McMichael is acting in self-defense. He did not want to encounter Ahmaud Arbery physically. He was only trying to stop him for the police.

FRANK HOGUE, ATTORNEY FOR GREGORY MCMICHAEL The why it happened is what this case is about. This case turns on intent, beliefs, knowledge, reasons for those beliefs, whether they were true or not, whether there are good reasons to believe them.

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BROWN: The jury also saw graphic body camera video from the first witness call to the stand, Glynn County Police Officer, William Duggan. Reporters inside say Arbery's mother wept as the video was shown.

Arbery's family and the family's attorney spoke after the Court adjourned.

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LEE MERRITT, ARBERY FAMILY ATTORNEY: His only crime was being black, and the defendants cloaked in their whiteness decided that that was enough, and somehow today, they presented themselves as the victim. It is as sickening as the crime scene that we witnessed today.

It is an affront to this family, and we are hoping that the jury can see past.

MARCUS ARBERY, SR., FATHER OF AHMAUD ARBERY: We just want justice. And I pray to God the jury to see that these men were wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The trial resumes on Monday morning.

And still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, a star NFL quarterback and the message of support that came just in time to boost the spirit of a boy battling cancer.

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BROWN: Well, a dose of inspiration this past week from a 10-year-old who beat brain cancer and then met his hero.

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NOAH REEB, BEAT BRAIN CANCER: Whenever I was going through a rough time, I'd think, oh if Tom Brady thinks I can beat brain cancer, I can beat brain cancer.

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BROWN: That is Noah Reeb. You probably saw him on national TV when Tom Brady came over to him and gave him a hat. Noah spent the game holding up a sign "Tom Brady helped me beat cancer."

And this week, Noah shared a little more behind his story. The quarterback sent him a video telling him to hang tough in the middle of one of his fiercest battles with cancer and hang tough, he did. Noah is now in remission.

I'm Pamela Brown, and I'll see you again tomorrow night.

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