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Jury Deliberations Begin In Kim Potter Murder Trial; U.S. Experts Warn Of "Grim Beginning" To 2022 As Dual Variants Spread; Millions Traveling For Holidays Amid Sharp Rise In Cases; Chinese Tennis Star Peng Shuai Denies Making Sexual Assault Claim; Pentagon Devises Plan Targeting Extremism Within Military. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired December 20, 2021 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:35:03]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: The manslaughter trial of former Minnesota police officer, Kim Potter, is now in the hands of the jury. Potter shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright in April. She claims she mistook her gun for her taser.
CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is outside of the courthouse in Minneapolis.
So, Adrienne, attorneys made closing arguments today. What did they say?
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, they said a lot and now this case is in the hands of the jury.
Let's tell you about the jury first. It is six men, six women. Three out of 12 are people of color, almost reflective of Hennepin County. Hennepin County, the population here about 80 percent white.
Those jury members are now trying to decide whether or not Kim Potter is guilty of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter.
The prosecution making its case, arguing that Daunte Wright died at the hands of a highly trained officer. Focusing on her years, decades of experience. She was certified to use the taser that she said she intended to pull back in 2002.
Listen in to some of what the prosecution said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIN ELDRIDGE, HENNEPIN COUNTY ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This was a colossal screwup. A blunder of epic proportions.
Accidents can still be crimes, if they occur as the result of recklessness or culpable negligence. You're not going to find the word accident or mistake or error anywhere in your jury instructions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROADDUS: She told members of jury they will not see that it was a mistake or error anywhere in their jury instructions.
By contrast, Defense Attorney Earl Gray told members of the jury this was a mistake. And he challenged them, when their back deliberating, to think about this question, he said -- and I'm paraphrasing here -- how could Potter act recklessly if she doesn't know she had a gun in her hand.
Listen in.
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EARL GRAY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: A second later, she shot him. Tragically. But she didn't know she had a gun either. And then he said, you shot me. And being alone, what does he do? Does he say help me out? And he takes off. And you see the video. He goes like a jet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROADDUS: The defense arguing Wright's actions led to his death.
Meanwhile, members of jury will deliberate until 6:00 p.m. tonight unless they reach a verdict before that time. They will also be sequestered.
And in the deliberation room, they have a laptop -- it does not have Internet access. But they could replay those videos, the body camera videos at will.
Also, in the deliberating room with members of jury, the Glock that killed Daunte Wright. It is not loaded. The ammunition was removed. And they also have the taser Potter intended to pull that day.
This is an opportunity, as they're deliberating, to look and feel the difference of the two weapons -- Victor?
BLACKWELL: Fascinating there.
Adrienne Broaddus, in Minneapolis for us, thank you.
Health experts warn a grim winter of coronavirus is ahead, but that is not stopping millions of people already traveling for the holidays. We're live at one of the busiest airports in the country.
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[14:43:14]
BLACKWELL: Health experts are warning that the coronavirus case surge could lead to a grim beginning to 2022 as health officials try to get more Americans to get vaccinated and boosted.
The Delta variant is still driving the vast majority of cases. But the more contagious Omicron variant continues to spread. It is in at least 45 states now.
New COVID infections in the U.S. are up 10 percent from a week ago. Nearly 80 percent of ICU beds are full.
And Dr. Anthony Fauci warns that Omicron is just getting started. He said testing and vaccination are imperative.
And we're just getting this into CNN. The CDC has now added eight more destinations to its highest-risk category for travel, including Spain.
So let's head to the airport now.
Millions of Americans are traveling, despite the rise in new COVID infections. TSA screened more than two million people at U.S. airports for the fourth day in a row on Sunday.
CNN aviation correspondent, Pete Muntean, is live at Reagan National Airport.
Pete, talk us through the stats and how are things running?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: You know, Victor, so many people are facing the dreaded go- or no-go discussion and many people are going.
If you look at the TSA numbers, 2.1 million people screened at airports across the country just yesterday. That is the fourth straight day of numbers higher than two million.
Not seeing a stretch like this since after Thanksgiving. In fact, the Friday number, the highest number since the Monday after Thanksgiving.
Clearly, so many people feel confident about traveling right now. Just look at the long lines at airports yesterday from Atlanta to Boston, to L.A.
Dr. Fauci said really just to weigh the risks right now. If your vaccinated and boosted, this may be OK. But you have to think about how quickly the Omicron variant is spreading. And also the Delta variant is still out there.
[14:45:07]
Here is what he said.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Clearly, when you travel, there's always a risk of increased infection. That just goes with respiratory illnesses.
But if people need to travel and want to travel for the obvious family reasons during this holiday season, if you're vaccinated and you're boosted, and you take care when you go into congregate settings like airports to make sure you continually wear your mask, you should be OK.
But we are going to see breakthrough infections, Chuck. There's no doubt about that. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MUNTEAN: AAA anticipates 190 million people will travel 50 miles or more between December 23rd and January 3rd. The TSA just updated its projection saying that 30 million people in total will fly between today and January 3rd.
One of the busiest days will be Thursday. We'll see if the "up" in cases will cause the numbers to go down.
Airlines say, as the Omicron variant started to make headlines, cancellations did go up a little bit. But not all that much -- Victor?
BLACKWELL: All right. Pete Muntean, at Reagan National, thank you.
We're just getting this into CNN. Pentagon officials say they now have a plan to target extremism within the military. We have details of that plan next.
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[14:50:52]
BLACKWELL: Chinese tennis star, Peng Shuai, now says she did not accuse a retired Communist Party leader of sexually assaulting her, responding to a Chinese-language newspaper in Singapore on Sunday.
She disappeared from public view for several weeks after posting her initial allegations on social media in November.
And her disappearance prompted fears for her safety and led the Women's Tennis Association to pull out of upcoming tournaments in China.
Now Peng insists it's all a misunderstanding.
CNN's Will Ripley joins me now from Hong Kong.
Suddenly, this was all a mistake. How are people reacting to this interview? It sounds like, in line with some of the videos that have been released, people don't buy that this is authentic.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, former tennis great, Chris Everett, tweeted just, you know, it's unsettling to watch Peng Shuai in this supposedly candid interview.
Because it is shot with a phone. It's technically international media. It's her first international interview since the explosive allegation on November 2nd that she was sexually assaulted by a retired Communist leader who just so happened to be the former face of the Beijing 2022 Olympics.
Of course, the IOC has been trying to bolster the Chinese government's narrative that everything is fine, that Peng Shuai is fine.
And now Peng Shuai essentially echoing exactly what Chinese media has been saying, what the videos have been showing, even though they were widely perceived as staged.
This time, this reporter from Singapore, working for a newspaper that is about as close to Chinese state media that you can get without being Chinese media and they have a very pro-Beijing editorial stance.
They're allowed to be sold in the mainland. It's the only overseas Chinese paper you can buy in the mainland.
And this reporter starts asking Peng questions. And Peng Shuai says she's not being monitored. She's free. She's been free all along. She's at home in Beijing.
And she talked about her actual Weibo post that was deleted in minutes, and basically tried to convince the reporter that even though she said she was sexually assaulted in the post, she's now claiming that's not what she meant to write.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PENG SHUAI, CHINESE TENNIS CHAMPION (through translation): I want to emphasize one thing that is very important, that I have never spoken or written about anyone sexually assaulting me. This point is very important to emphasize clearly.
In terms of the Weibo post, first of all, it's my personal privacy. There possibly has been a lot of misunderstanding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY: The Women's Tennis Association not convinced.
Let me read you a portion of the statement, saying, "These appearances do not alleviate or address the WTA's significant concerns about her wellbeing and ability to communicate without censorship or coercion."
"We remain steadfast in our call for a full, fair and transparent investigation without censorship into her allegation of sexual assault, which is the issue that gave rise to our initial concern."
Victor, we know that when people are detained in China, sometimes are coerced or trained or coached. A lot of people wondering if that's what happened to Peng Shuai.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Will Ripley, thank you.
[14:54:48]
Well, COVID is surging again in parts of the country, an especially unfortunate scenario just days before the holidays. It's putting big events like New York City's New Year's Eve celebration in limbo. We'll talk about that ahead.
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[14:58:57] BLACKWELL: All right, this just into CNN. The Pentagon just announced new guidance to help it identify and then weed out extremism within the U.S. military.
The new rules do not prohibit membership in an extremist organization but they make it harder to participate in them.
CNN's Barbara Starr is following this from the Pentagon.
It doesn't prohibit membership. What's the plan here?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, as we are just several days away from the one year marking the January 6th riots at the capitol, the Pentagon today taking that step it's been looking at for the last year, essentially, on how to get a handle on extremism.
They say they had about 100 cases this past year.
So what are they doing? What they are saying is they're really trying to sharpen up the definitions, the rules, the regulations, the policy.
What it means is servicemembers still have some freedom of speech, but freedom of action is a different thing.
[14:59:53]
It heavily restricts any active participation in extremist groups without naming extremist groups that they cannot join because that might be an inhibitor against their free speech and their freedom of action.
Here's how the Pentagon press secretary explains some of it.
