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San Francisco Voters Oust 3 School Board Members in Recall Vote; Mayor London Breed (D-San Francisco) Discusses the Ouster of 3 Board Members; Ex-Officer Charged with Violating George Floyd's Civil Rights Testifies in Own Defense; Gunmaker to Pay $73 Million to Families of Sandy Hook Shooting Victims; AZ Bill Would Require Schools to Teach NRA-Developed Gun Safety Program to 6th-9th Grade Students. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired February 16, 2022 - 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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[14:30:30]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Three school board members in San Francisco were removed from their positions in a special election.

Frustrated parents believed that the board prioritized projects like renaming dozens of public schools over getting kids safely back into the classrooms during the pandemic.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Listen to this. More than 70 percent of voters in one of the country's most liberal cities supported this recall of these progressive board members.

Nick Watt joins us now.

Nick, explain what happened here.

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot.

(LAUGHTER)

WATT: As you say, this is a very blue city. And these school board members were comprehensively kicked out of office.

Now, there were quite a few local issues at play here.

But I spoke to one of the people who organized this. He started a year ago. And he told me that what made him do this is seeing his son really struggling on Zoom school.

The schools in San Francisco were closed for over a year. And in February of last year, this man said the school board didn't have any plans to reopen the schools. They weren't even trying or thinking about it.

They had to raise about 50,000 signatures. They raised about 80,000 on each board member.

And one of the main things they were saying during this whole campaign was, listen, while these classrooms were closed, the school board is instead concentrating on trying to rename 44 schools named for people we no longer wish to lionize, among them, Abraham Lincoln and Dianne Feinstein.

So that was a central plank for sure.

So we're looking at this and seeing, OK, does this mean anti-COVID- restriction protests are now going to be very common in blue cities as well as in red states?

This was, many say, a grass-roots, parent-driven initiative.

Let's hear some reaction from parents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw a lot of kids struggling doing school from home. And I saw the school board prioritize renaming schools over getting kids back into school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They should have been focused on reopening schools like most districts were thinking about and doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Now, the board members rebut that by saying, listen, this whole renaming thing has been going on since 2017.

And also saying we should get credit for the low COVID case numbers we saw in San Francisco, which we were a part of that.

So that's their rebuttal.

The other issue here is, is this a bellwether as we go into the midterms? Are we seeing true-blue San Francisco pulling back a little from the kind of progressive edge? We don't really know.

But what is going to be interesting is San Francisco's very progressive D.A. is also up for a recall. That vote comes June 7th -- Guys?

CAMEROTA: You weren't kidding, Nick. There's a lot in that story.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much for breaking all of that down for us. BLACKWELL: Now in October of 2020, the San Francisco Mayor London

Breed said the school board should focus on reopening public schools and not renaming them.

She wrote this:

"In the midst of this once-in-a-century challenge, to hear that the district is focusing energy and resources on renaming schools, schools that they haven't even opened, is offensive."

"The fact that our kids aren't in school is what's driving inequity in our city, not the name of the school."

And the mayor joins us now.

Mayor London Breed, thank you so much for your time.

MAYOR LONDON BREED (D-SAN FRANCISCO): Of course.

BLACKWELL: Let's start here. You backed the recall. What's your reaction now to the projected outcome?

BREED: Well, my reaction is that the people of San Francisco have spoken and sent a loud and clear message that we want the school district to focus on their fundamental responsibility.

That is educating our children. That has to be the priority.

It's not to say that other things, like school renamings, and other things that are important to the district can't happen.

But unfortunately, the failure to educate our kids properly throughout this pandemic is, I think, what many parents were frustrated over.

And seeing their children go from these you know, talkative, robust personalities to, all of a sudden, you know, quiet and uncomfortable and just different, has been really a breaking point for a lot of families in San Francisco.

BLACKWELL: I went back and read several statements from your office over the year-plus that this was going on during the pandemic.

[14:34:59:]

And I was struck by just how strong the condemnation was. You called it offensive personally. Offensive to the students. Offensive to the parents as well.

BREED: Well, I grew up in San Francisco. I went to public schools.

And in fact, my elementary school was named when I went there and there was a whole process and it was changed to Rosa Parks.

And Rosa Parks came to our school for the renaming. There was a process associated with it. But the difference here is we were in the midst of a global pandemic. Kids were struggling. And we weren't spending the type of time and resources on helping address the challenges that our children were facing.

That's why it was so offensive. Because we're talking about renaming a school that doesn't even have a child in it.

And that's where our focus should have been with what is happening to these kids who are not in the classroom. The kindergartners, the first grades, the teenagers.

We saw so much despair and so many challenges with our children. And we should have been in a better situation, better prepared, focusing on a plan.

Where there were mistakes made, we should have made adjustments and we didn't do that.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you -- let me ask you about potential implications. This is an intro-party quarrel.

You have a Democratic mayor backing the recall of -- it's an all- Democratic board. Three members now off of it in a heavily Democratic city. So we can take the red v. blue narrative and set it to the side.

What are the potential implications for the party, at large, as they're considering maybe similar efforts as in big cities, crime is rising, inflation is high, gas prices are high?

What's the message you think to the Democrats across the country?

BREED: Well, I think, ultimately, this was not about a message to Democrats or Republicans. This is about --

BLACKWELL: But is there one?

BREED: I think that, ultimately, the message is that we need to continue to make sure that, of course, the values that we hold dear as Democrats are implemented in ways that are going to be effective for the people that we're here to serve.

And that's what matters to me the most. I know that's what matters to many in San Francisco the most.

As far as I'm concerned, as it relates to our school board, this was not about that. This was about the failure of the school board to support our children throughout this pandemic in these educational institutions.

BLACKWELL: So you now have to fill these three seats until there's the next election and San Franciscans can choose for themselves.

What will be the criteria you're looking to pick from if this was an example of a board not aligned with the priorities of the people they represent? What will you be looking for as you fill these seats?

BREED: Of course, I'm going to be asking the hard questions.

I've been talking to parents all over San Francisco and they have expressed not only their frustrations and experiences, but the desire to see the school district focus on specific things.

We have a potential budget -- we have a budget deficit. We want to focus on finances and making sure that the resources that are available in the school district go to the kids and we make some changes there.

The learning loss is significant, mental health challenges. We're going to be hiring a new superintendent.

I think there are just a lot of things that I'm going to be looking for. A lot of in-depth questions I'm going to be asking to a number of candidates.

Because I want to take the message of what these parents care about the most and make sure that the person -- the people that I am able to appoint are going to be focused on the things that matter to our children, matter to making a difference.

What are their plans? What are the things they care about? How are they going to make changes? How would they make decisions?

BLACKWELL: All right, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, thank you so much for being with us.

BREED: Thank you.

[14:39:01]

CAMEROTA: One of the three officers at the scene of George Floyd's murder was on the witness stand testifying in his own defense. We have new details from court, next.

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CAMEROTA: A second former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd taking the stand today. J. Alexander Kueng now being questioned.

He and two other officers are accused of violating Floyd's civil rights by failing to give Floyd medical aid as Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds.

BLACKWELL: A defense attorney representing another of the former officers rested their case today.

CNN's Adrienne Broaddus joins us now.

So, Adrienne, tell us more about what happened in court. ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Court started with dismissal of

another juror, Victor and Alisyn. The juror was an alternate and dismissed due to a stomach illness.

But quickly after that, court continued with the cross-examination of Tao Thao.

And for those who aren't familiar, Tao Thao took the stand in his own defense starting yesterday.

He told members of the jury, that day, he was responsible for crowd control, referring to himself as a human traffic cone.

He also told the jury he believed George Floyd was on drugs.

And he testified saying he radioed for EMS and requested that they would arrive quickly.

[14:45:04]

Thao's defense attorney also showed still images from Thao's training. And some of those images showcase a person on the ground in handcuffs. They're also restrained by an officer in that training photo with the knee on the neck.

When Thao was asked why a knee would be used in the exercises, he responded, in part, saying, quote, "to prevent them from rolling around or getting up."

He also revealed he never saw the other officers perform CPR on George Floyd, which was an indication to him there was a pulse.

He also said he thought the other officers were caring for Floyd.

Take a look at this exchange between the prosecuting attorney and Thao during the cross-examination.

At one point, Leann Bell says to Thao, "In the first six minutes of restraint, did you tell Officer Chauvin to get off of Mr. Floyd at any point?" He says, "I did not."

Bell says, "You could have walked over to your partner and tapped him on the shoulder to stop." And Thao says, "I think I would trust a 19- year veteran to figure it out."

That veteran he's referring to is Derek Chauvin -- Victor and Alisyn?

BLACKWELL: Adrienne Broaddus, with the latest for us, thank you so much.

CAMEROTA: There's this controversial bail in bill in Arizona that will require middle schoolers and high schoolers to get gun safety training developed by the NRA. We have details, next.

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[14:51:17]

CAMEROTA: A bill requiring a gun safety course for all Arizona school kids are working its way through the Arizona state legislature.

The course would reportedly teach 6th through 8th graders about the safety of handling a firearm. It would not teach students how to fire a gun.

Two more important details. This course would be developed by the NRA.

And an amendment proposed by Democrats to require parental approval was voted down by the Republican majority.

There's been a historic settlement in the Sandy Hook school shooting Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. The gunmaker, Remmington will have to pay the families of nine victim $73 million.

This ends the years-long battle for accountability after 20 children and six adults were massacred by a lone gunman armed with a Remmington assault-style rifle.

Let's bring in Nicole Hockley. She's the mother of Dylan Hockley, who was killed in the mass shooting.

She's the co-founder of Sandy Hook Promise, a charity dedicated to protecting children from gun violence.

Nicole, great to see you.

NICOLE HOCKLEY, MOTHER OF STUDENT KILLED AT SANDY HOOK & CO-FOUNDER, SANDY HOOK PROMISE: Thank you for having me.

CAMEROTA: Nicole, how did you do this? How did you and the other families win this historic settlement?

I think so many of us thought gun manufacturers were immune from lawsuits because of the federal law that shields them from accountability.

How did you do this?

HOCKLEY: At this time, the gun manufacturing industry is very much shielded. Our brilliant lawyers found a way to dim that armor by looking at Connecticut practices around marketing.

That's what the lawsuit was about. Their reckless and irresponsible marketing practice to target violence-prone young men and build on their insecurities and basically says that the only way they could become a man was to have an A.R.-15.

And that is how we won this settlement with the insurance companies for Remmington.

The greatest win of this is the fact we will now have access to the internal documents. And we can share that story of a gun manufacturer that lost its way and then help more gun manufacturers become accountable with responsible marketing practices.

CAMEROTA: We have an example of just what you're talking about in terms of their advertising that was targeted at young men.

Here is one of them. "Consider your man card reissued."

It shows, obviously, one of their -- I think that's an A.R.-15.

From what we're learning from internal documents, we're learning about how they came up with this advertising.

What will that change? How will that help?

HOCKLEY: Well, I think it will change -- in any advertising -- my background is in marketing as well. When you have to advertise to someone, you're building on psychological insights to create an interest and a desire for a product.

However, to do so in a way that encourages violence, such as one of their other headlines, you know, "forcing the opposition to bow down" or saying, "you need this to be a certain powerful figure or a leader," that is inappropriate when thinking about today's youth.

I'm really hoping. as we share more information and insight into how they developed these programs, why they were really focused on profit, and that was the core driver for these advertisements, that will create regulation in how they can market, where they can market, and who they can market to.

CAMEROTA: Nicole, was this a Connecticut-specific loophole or will this be able to be applied around the country?

HOCKLEY: This is a Connecticut specific loophole. I believe New York is looking at it as well. I believe there will be other loopholes in other states.

It doesn't help at a federal level right now because they still have the shield.

However, this provides a way in for other plaintiffs to approach how they might want to sue a gun manufacturer if their firearm has been used in mass shooting or tragedy.

[14:55:07]

CAMEROTA: Nicle, I only have a few seconds left. But that story I just read before this about the Arizona state legislature that's going to mandate gun safety for all 6th through 12th graders.

But it's created -- this is a program created by the NRA, which carries all sorts of baggage for many people.

Do you oppose the idea of gun safety instruction for school kids? HOCKLEY: I don't oppose the idea of gun safety instruction. I do

oppose it being taught in schools. I think that's parent's responsibility. At the end of the day, this is the parent's problem.

If the adult is not safely storing their firearm so a child can come across it, that's the adult's problem.

Why are we burdening children with this when we should be teaching other things in school that are more organic to their needs as young children.

So I don't think this is appropriate. I think it should be taught in the home.

I'd rather see legislation that focuses on safe storage and putting the onus on, the responsibility on adults where it should be.

CAMEROTA: Nicole Hockley, thank you very much. Great to see you. Thank you for all of the information.

HOCKLEY: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: President Biden has rejected former President Trump's executive privilege claims as Trump tries to keep more White House visitors logs from January 6th investigators. What happens next?

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