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Defense Attorney Attempts to Apologize After Saying "We Don't Want Any More Black Pastors Coming in Here"; Thousands Stranded in Dire Conditions at Belarus-Poland Border; Soon, Court Hearing That Could End Britney Spears' Conservatorship. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired November 12, 2021 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:32:38]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: The attorney for one of the men charged with killing black jogger, Ahmaud Arbery, is apologizing for an objection he made in open court that, at best, could be viewed as racially insensitive and, at worst, just flat-out racist.

Here's attorney, Kevin Gough, objecting yesterday to having black pastors join Arbery's family in court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN GOUGH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We don't want any more black pastors coming in, or other -- Jesse Jackson or whoever was in here earlier this week -- sitting with the victim's family trying to influence the jury in the case.

If we're going to start a precedent, starting yesterday, we're going to bring high-profile members of the African-American community into the courtroom to sit with the family during the trial to prejudice the jury.

I believe that's intimidating and it's an attempt to pressure -- could be, consciously or unconsciously, an attempt to pressure or influence the jury.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: CNN national correspondent, Ryan Young, is covering this trial in Brunswick, Georgia.

Ryan, Gough tried to clarify his remarks today. What are we hearing from him now?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he did try to clarify. And, Ana, just for the record here, Reverend Jesse Jackson hasn't been here. And also the jury was not in court when this happened.

But I can tell you, when this happened yesterday, we all sort of looked at each other almost not believing what was going on.

When you watched the other attorneys at the table, they also were unaware he was going to make the statement.

And now you really see the fallout from this because it has been picking up steam. There's more talk of more protests next week.

And even some of the attorneys who are sitting next to him are trying to distance themselves away from this.

Take a listen to the man himself trying to apologize for what happened yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOUGH: If my statements yesterday were overly broad, I will follow up with a more specific motion on Monday putting that and those concerns in the proper content.

And my apologies to anyone who might have been offended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: You can imagine, there's three people sitting up there. Each have their own defense attorney.

And one of the other attorneys stepped out during lunch -- and we were all shocked by this as well. He said he had no idea that that statement was going to be made.

And then he offered this statement to us about that statement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED DEFENSE ATTORNEY: There's been a lot of reporting on a statement made by Kevin Gough yesterday in court about not wanting no more black pastors. That statement was totally asinine, ridiculous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:35:01]

YOUNG: So you can see all of this sort of playing out. Right now, I'm watching the screen. One of the GBI investigators is actually up there talking.

Remember, the GBI got brought in, the state investigative body, to look at this case. It took some 74 days to get these men charged. So that part is moving forward.

One of the officers who was investigating in that neighborhood as well was on the stand.

But today, honestly, a lot of the talk has been about the words that happened outside of when the jury was in the courtroom.

But one of the things that did come out today is the fact that there were some other sort of robberies that went on in that neighborhood, and they actually involved someone who wasn't black. So that's a part of the conversation that's ongoing as well.

A lot of twists and turns here. A lot of statements being made outside of court -- Ana?

CABRERA: Wow. Ryan Young, thank you.

I'm joined now by Reverend Jamal Bryant, senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. He is working with other black pastors to support the Arbery family.

Thank you so much for being with us, Reverend.

What was your initial reaction when you heard those comments by that defense attorney, Kevin Gough?

REV. JAMAL BRYANT, SENIOR PASTOR, NEW BIRTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: I was completely dumbfounded and felt as if I was in a time machine. No way was I hearing that level of ignorance in 2021. It felt like 1901. And yet, here we are.

CABRERA: He tried to apologize. Apologize -- I use that word loosely here for his comments.

Because let me, again, read you what he said.

"I will let the court know that if my statements yesterday were overly broad, I will follow up with a more specific motion on Monday, putting those concerns in the proper context. And my apologies to anyone who might have inadvertently been offended."

Reverend, did that statement make things better or worse in your opinion?

BRYANT: No, they were not overly broad. They were very specific. He didn't say pastors. That would have been broad. Specifically black pastors.

Which really yields to the historic significance of the strength of the black church and black clergy. And that's why black clergy from around the nation are really outraged and mobilized to stand with the family in prayer.

Reverend Sharpton, when he came, did not come in protest but stood in a priestly presence.

CABRERA: Apparently, this defense attorney still has concerns. He says in this statement that he plans to file a motion on this.

Do you think he would be concerned if there were white pastors in the courtroom? Why is he concerned at all?

BRYANT: Well, we saw where the extent of his concern is during the jury selection, where he all but put out every African-American who could sit in that jury but one.

Here was a pastor, Reverend Sharpton, standing in Christ-like compassion to comforts the family. Not with placards or with a bullhorn but quiet presence.

That's why this coming Thursday, pastors from around Georgia and around the country are coming to pray with the family and to stand with them as a wall of intercession.

CABRERA: How important do you think your presence in the courtroom with the family is?

BRYANT: I think it's critical for the family.

What we have to note is that he didn't even realize Reverend Sharpton was in the room. And then misspoke. Reverend Jackson was not in the room, nor has he been in Brunswick.

It was not until after he left the courtroom and heard from others or from television that he gave redress.

If it was that much of an intimidation factor, he would have felt it while Reverend Sharpton was in the room.

CABRERA: Reverend Jamal Bryant, I really appreciate your voice. Thank you for being on the show and sharing your perspective with us. I appreciate it.

BRYANT: Thank you for having me.

[13:38:54]

CABRERA: In a CNN exclusive, we're on the Belarus/Poland border where thousands of migrants, children included, are stuck in what is being described as "catastrophic conditions," next.

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[13:43:42]

CABRERA: In Central Europe a full-blown humanitarian crisis is unfolding between Belarus and Poland.

Polish officials are being pressured to admit a mass influx of refugees who describe inhumane conditions, including beatings and days without food and water, as they wait behind barbed wire fences.

CNN's Matthew Chance is at one camp there.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a feat in itself getting to Belarus. I mean, you know, there's only a handful of television crews that have been permitted access at this extraordinary moment to come to the country.

And as far as I'm aware, I would have been assured by the Belarusian officials, we're the only international crew that have been allowed to come to this migrant camp on the border of Belarus and Poland.

don't know whether -- I'm sitting on my cell phone, so I don't know if you can get a sense of the sort of depth of the camp.

There are 2,000 people that have come here from various parts of the world, mainly, the Middle East, Iraq, Kurdistan and Iraq, other places in the Arab world as well, a lot of people from Kurdistan.

At least 200, I'm told, are children, some of them just babes in arms.

[13:44:55]

We see a lot of people here. If I can spin around here, Look, chopping wood, getting ready to make fires, to get them through the very cold nights here on the border.

About 600 of them are women. The other 1,200 are said to be young men.

I'm going to flip the camera around so I can show you some interesting scenes there. A better look there at the sort of scenes playing out, unfolding here on the border between Belarus and Poland.

If you just allow me to sort of walk you down here, we can actually see the razor fence -- don't want me to show your face -- the razor fence that's been erected by the Polish side.

To try to prevent the migrants that have flooded into Belarus from moving across into Poland, which is, of course, a member of the European Union.

There you can see I think the actual Polish police and border forces who are standing there on guard all the way down this razor wire barrier to prevent migrants from breaking through.

You get a sense of how long this camp is as it stretches down into the distance, into the forest out of sight.

Here's an interesting scene for you. Somebody I came across earlier.

They say a lot of the migrants are from Iraq and Kurdistan. They're building these makeshift shelters because the temperatures, as you can imagine, in this part of the world in the winter are dropping down.

Let me drop inside. They've built a polythene shelter.

Hi, how are you? How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fine.

CHANCE: Where are you from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kurdistan.

CHANCE: From Iraq.

From Kurdistan.

Excellent.

Thank you. Good luck.

All right. So just a little sense of the scenes we're witnessing here.

I should tell you that, you know, both sides blame each other for this crisis.

The Western countries, including the United States, the European Union and Poland said that Belarus is using these refugees as propaganda.

It's encouraging them to come in, and essentially directing them, forcing them towards this border to put pressure on the European Union and to punish it perhaps for some of the support that the E.U. has given to Belarusian dissidents.

And the sanctions that it's put on Belarus for its various crackdowns on its own opposition figures here in the country.

What the Belarusians say, though, as well as some international aid agencies, I have to say, is that the Pols are not doing everything they can either to protect the rights of migrants and, in some ways, not living up to their obligations under international law.

But clearly, it is a very difficult situation.

I've got some news for you from the migrant services. There's 2,000 people in this camp at the moment. By the end of the week, there could be as many as 5,000.

And there are thousands more, according to Belarusian officials, who are on their way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Such a heartbreaking situation.

CNN's Matthew Chance at a refugee camp along the border of Belarus and Poland.

Back in the U.S., it's a big day for Britney Spears. She could be released from her conservatorship in just a matter of hours. The pop star's biggest court hearing yet starting soon.

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[13:52:40]

CABRERA: Happening soon, a hearing that could once and for all free Britney.

Here is CNN's Chloe Melas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING) CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER (voice-over): Britney Spears' 13-year conservatorship may finally come to an and.

(SINGING)

MELAS: Today, a Los Angeles County superior court judge is expected to rule on the singer's request to end the court-ordered arrangement once and for all.

The hearing comes just weeks after the singer's father, Jamie Spears, was suspended as the conservator of her $60 million estate, a role he's held since 2008.

The singer's attorney, Mathew Rosengart, called the suspension a proud moment for Britney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATHEW ROSENGART, BRITNEY SPEARS' ATTORNEY: It's been a lot of hard work. It's been intense. I'm proud. Britney's proud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MELAS: This last year has been filled with court hearings with the battle for Britney's freedom reaching a tipping point in July when the singer publicly pleaded with Judge Brenda Penny for her conservatorship to end.

She made bombshell claims. She's been given lithium against her will.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: She said she's not allowed to remove her IUD contraceptive from her own body, even though she wants to have another child.

MELAS: And she said she wanted to charge her father with conservatorship abuse.

Her father has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. And a lawyer for Jamie Spears said, in a statement at the time to CNN, that he, quote, "loves his daughter unwaveringly."

(CHANTING)

MELAS: But even if Spears' request to end the conservatorship is granted, the battle between her and her father is far from over.

The Grammy Award winner's attorney stating in a 110-page petition last month that he plans to depose her father over potentially mishandling her finances.

As well as seeking discovery related to a "New York Times" report that he allegedly placed recording devices it his daughter's bedroom without her consent.

CNN has not been able to independently verify those claims.

An attorney for Jamie Spears has denied the allegations.

But on one front, Jamie Spears appears to be changing his tune. Just last week, he filed a report stating that he is no longer seeking the $2 million payout from his daughter to cover his legal and management fees.

Stating that, quote, "He sees no reason why the conservatorship should continue." And that, quote, "Jamie does not make this request subject to a demand for release and for compensation. It is unconditional."

[13:55:07]

The singer is expected to appear virtually. And spoke out about the importance of this court decision in an since-deleted Instagram post on Monday, writing, quote, "This week is going to be very interesting for me. I haven't prayed for something more in my life."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Chloe Melas reporting there. We'll be watching.

Thanks to all of you for joining us today. A reminder, you can always join me on Twitter, @AnaCabrera. I'll see you back here on Monday. Have a great weekend.

The news continues next with Alisyn and Victor.

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