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Trump Says He Expects To Be Arrested Tuesday, Calls For Protests; Arrest Warrant Issued For Putin Over Alleged War Crimes; House Finance Committee To Hold SVB Hearing On March 29; How Silicon Valley Startups Navigated Massive Bank Meltdown; Gershun Freeman's Family Deamands Action After Deadly Jail Beating; Seven VA Deputies, Three Hospital Staffers Charged In Death Of Man In Custody; Protests In Israel Over Netanyahu's Judicial Overhaul. Aired 1-2p ET
Aired March 18, 2023 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:00:57]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right. Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. And we continue to follow major new developments involving former President Donald J. Trump. Trump now saying he expects to be arrested on Tuesday and is calling for protests. He made the announcement today in a social media post lashing out at the Manhattan District Attorney's office which has invited him to testify before a grand jury.
The arrest would be part of their investigation into alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. And in the post, Trump called for protests over his pending arrest to "take our nation back." This development comes as sources tell CNN that law enforcement agencies in New York are also now preparing for the possible indictment of Trump.
CNN's Polo Sandoval is outside the Manhattan criminal courthouse for us. And CNN Senior Crime and Justice Reporter Katelyn Polantz is in Washington. Caitlin, to you first. What do we know about the possible arrest at the former president has been posting on social media about?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Fredricka, he's saying he expects to be arrested on Tuesday, but he doesn't know. Donald Trump is saying that. But his team in a statement following that Truth Social post of his says that they have not been notified by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, that there would be an indictment on the arrest of Donald Trump that he would need to be turning himself in.
What we know right now about this grand jury investigation is that it continues, it has been ongoing for months. But Fredricka that it is nearing the end. The reason we know that is because Donald Trump as the target of this investigation was invited to testify in front of the grand jury sitting in Manhattan that has been looking at possible financial crimes, especially rated -- related to those hush money. That hush money payments that his lawyer made to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Trump decided he wasn't going to testify to that grand jury. And we have learned this morning. There is another witness that is expected to testify on Monday. So, they're nearing the end. But the grand juries work is not done here. And the answer of when an indictment could come and what the charges exactly would be when the grand jury is asked to potentially approve the unprecedented indictment of the former president of the United States. We just don't have the answer to that right now. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right. Katelyn Polantz, thanks so much. On to you now. Polo Sandoval there outside the Manhattan courthouse. So, what can you tell us about whether there are indeed preparations and to what extent by law enforcement about anything, like what the President says could happen? Former President.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, here in lower Manhattan, no visible preparations but it certainly speaks to what we're seeing behind the scenes, according to what we're hearing from law enforcement officials to tell our colleague, John Miller, that there are those behind-the-scenes preparations that are ongoing, anticipating any potential outcome. Of course, whatever you consider a scenario where you have the former president being indicted and criminally charged, and even having to present himself in a state court here in lower Manhattan, that certainly raises some concerns about potential security about some of the facilities involved here.
And that is why law enforcement officials previous to these discussions are telling our colleagues that they're certainly preparing for the potential -- where you see maybe some supporters of the former president showing up responding to his most recent call for protests. And with that, we'll certainly come concerns about any potential counter protests as well. So, there's that element.
Separate to that is also just orchestrating what is typically supposed to be a routine process that would be all but routine whenever it involves Donald Trump and that would include Secret Service agents working with the Manhattan district attorney to make sure that the former president can arrive here to lower Manhattan can be in and out and be processed for any potential charges.
So again, a lot of ifs here, but what we do know for sure is that there is certainly a concern among local state and federal law enforcement officials here in Manhattan about what potential charges could mean in one of those situations, Fred.
[13:05:09]
WHITFIELD: All right. Polo Sandoval, Katelyn Polantz, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. All right. Joining me right now to talk more about all this. Michael Zeldin. He is a former federal prosecutor and Robert Mueller's former special assistant at the Department of Justice. Michael, good to see you. So great. Hello, a spokesperson for Trump says they have not heard from the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
So, what do you make of the former president releasing a statement like this saying that he would be arrested on Tuesday?
MICHAEL ZELDIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, I think one, that's probably going to be followed by a fundraising letter. And two, I think that it probably is just, you know, a political stunt to get people riled up maybe perhaps to pressure the Manhattan District Attorney's office to reconsider the viability or the sensibility of bringing charges against him.
WHITFIELD: Hmm. And -- OK. And then if it were to happen, meaning there would be an indictment, there would be an arrest involving a former president, how would that work? How would it play out? Would it mean that if the President were in Florida, he would have to travel on his own? Would there be an -- or would there be an escort to a New York? Would there be, you know, mug shots?
I mean, what would happen because it would be the former president of the United States?
ZELDIN: Well, he's still a former president. So, he would travel with the normal detail that protects former presidents. He come in the ordinary course of travel that former presidents undertake. And he would show up the courthouse and I don't know whether -- depending on whether it's a felony or misdemeanor, whether he'd be fingerprinted and photographed, but he would enter into the courthouse and do whatever the court asks him enter a plea of not guilty, if that's what this is or just making an initial appearance, and then he'd be on his way.
WHITFIELD: And then customarily, you know, would, would someone who has been asked to testify to Grand Jury, you know, he refused to do so in the case of this former president. What a district attorney's office give a heads up to his attorney or to him in some way that an arrest or eminent?
ZELDIN: You know, in the ordinary course, I'm not sure that that would be the case, depending on what they felt about the potential defendant. Whether it was a risk of flight and all that stuff. But in the president's -- former president's case, I think it would be appropriate for them to give notice and let him make the preparation so that there isn't a spectacle of his appearance as minimal -- as minimizing of the shenanigans that might follow this is in the D.A.'s best interests, as well as the former presidents.
WHITFIELD: And then, the former president actually singled out, you know, the Manhattan District Attorney, Bragg in his social media post. That kind of, you know, threatening language, right, can't serve well for the former President or anybody in his circle. How might he and his attorneys now tried to handle that, on top of the fact that the former president would say, encourage people to protest?
ZELDIN: Well, those are complicated -- those are complicated questions. With respect to protests, you know, if the President is going to say, be there be wild and, you know, the police of New York have to be prepared. So, there isn't another, you know, sort of mini- January 6 with respect to the former president singling out Bragg for his ire. You know, I think that Bragg says that, you know, what to be expected with this former president.
And I think it's just going to be sort of like water off his back and, you know, sort of goes with the territory. So, I'm not sure that that's going to make much of a difference. An ordinary defendant tends not to try to upset prosecutors before they've even been charged. That's just really generally not thought to be a smart strategy.
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: OK. And this would be in relation to the hush money, you know, payments to Stormy Daniels. But then that kind of language coming from the President, that kind of behavior, you know, encouraging protests, et cetera. How might that impact the ongoing investigations involving January 6 where there is interest or curiosities still about the former president's role in all of that?
ZELDIN: Well, I think that they're separate cases except that to your point, when he -- if he says he'll be there, be wild again in New York, then one -- sorry, Susan Collins, he hasn't learned any lessons and two, it was --
WALLACE: Yes. The echoing.
[13:10:00]
ZELDIN: Right. It's a -- it's a pattern of practice with him and, you know, I think that -- hoping that he will change his stripes at this point in his life is fanciful thinking. But all this said, Fred, I have to say that I'm not convinced that this is a very good case to bring the business records, misstatement of payments, misdemeanor with a possible felony for campaign finance. I'm not sure if I were Bragg, I would bring this case. I'm very, you know, sort of skeptical of his propriety.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, we shall see. I would all unfold or maybe not, right? All right, Michael Zeldin.
ZELDIN: Stay tuned is the right answer.
WALLACE: Stay tuned. Dot, dot, dot. All right. Michael Zeldin. Thank you so much.
ZELDIN: See you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Take care. Still to come. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for war crimes. But what will its practical implications be? We'll discuss that.
Plus, the troubles keep coming for first republic bank now Moody's has downgraded its credit ratings despite that $30 billion industry rescue. Details straight ahead.
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[13:15:22] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. The International Criminal Court stunned the world this week when it issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The court is accusing Putin and Russia's Children's Rights Commissioner of creating a scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia. Ukrainian officials tell CNN that at least 16,000 children have been forcibly deported to Russia.
The ICC president said contents of warrants are routinely kept secret to protect the victims. But in this case, an exception was made.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE PIOTR HOFMANSKI, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT: Nevertheless, the judges of the chamber in dealing with this case decided to make the existence of the world's public in the interest of justice and to prevent the commission of future crimes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The Kremlin calls the warrant outrageous and unacceptable. With us now is Federico Borello. He is the executive director at Center at the Center for Civilians in Conflict and he is in The Hague where the ICC is located. Federico, good to see you. So, your reaction to this warrant.
FEDERICO BORELLO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CENTER AT THE CENTER FOR CIVILIANS IN CONFLICT: This is an incredibly important moment. First and foremost, for Ukrainian civilians and those civilians who for more than a year now have been living under this war of aggression. And they've been witnessing murder, rape, looting. And finally, there is an independent international court that has concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes have been committed and have been ordered at the top of the Russian state.
WHITFIELD: So, sometimes it takes years to issue a warrant and prosecute. In this case, do you -- especially with the war ongoing, do you believe that there was particular brevity here? Has this come particularly fast in your view?
BORELLO: This has come fast. I mean, the prosecutors start investigated about a year ago. But the peculiarity of this crime is that this is something that is publicly admitted by Russia. There is a decree signed by President Putin himself. And they've been touting this program, as they call it, on humanitarian grounds. So, they have been admitting to this crime. And there is plenty of evidence that has been gathered by Yale University, by Human Rights Watch, by the United Nations that this has been happening.
And that is possibly why the court decided to start its cases with this specific case in Ukraine.
WHITFIELD: With that admission, then does that make it easier to prosecute?
BORELLO: It makes it easier to prove to the court -- at this point, the prosecutor needed to prove to the court that there are reasonable grounds to believe that these crimes have been committed by these persons. And that definitely made it easier. Obviously, the problem with then prosecuting and bringing the case to trial is that the court needs to have custody of the suspects. And that is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
WHITFIELD: All right. So, now listen to American President Biden's reaction to this news of an arrest warrant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's justified but the question is, it's not recognized internationally by us either, but I think it makes a very strong point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So, President Biden's comments, you know, bringing up a fundamental issue, neither the U.S. nor Russia have joined the court. So, how might that affect things?
BORELLO: It will not -- it may affect this case in the sense that the ICC does not have a police force to arrest suspects and depends on the cooperation of states. And since Russia is not a state, a member state of the ICC, you obviously will not turn over it suspects to the ICC. And that makes -- will make it very difficult unless the suspects travel to countries that have ratified the ICC status to -- statute to apprehend the suspects.
In terms of the U.S. The U.S. has for 20 years obstructed this International Justice and International Criminal Court. At times even threatened its officials of arrest and prosecution because of the fear that the court may at one point arrest and prosecute U.S. citizens accused of war crimes. And that definitely has weakened the international justice system and international criminal court.
[13:20:09]
And we're hoping that now with this case, the U.S., like other states would cooperate more with the court to bring the perpetrators of these terrible crimes and other crimes to justice.
WHITFIELD: And you just mentioned you don't say that Russia would ever turn Putin over. Do you think ultimately, he will face justice in this court in any way?
BORELLO: Well, first and foremost, his work just got much smaller. He is the leader of a major world power. And now it's -- he's going to have to think twice every time he travels abroad. There are 123 states who have ratified the Rome Statute, and they have the obligation to arrest suspects when they enter their territory. President Putin is scheduled to travel to South Africa in August for the BRICS meeting. The Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
It's going to be very difficult for South Africa to host President Putin in its territory and therefore this will contribute to isolating him. As to facing justice, obviously, today, it's unlikely, but justice has a long memory. And, you know, as an example, Ratko Mladic, who was the commander of the Bosnian Serb Forces was arrested 16 years after having an arrest warrant issued against him.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Right. All right. Federico Borello, we'll leave it right there. Thank you so much.
BORELLO: Thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: All right. Jitters across the banking industry as two banks collapse and a third is struggling. What U.S. officials are doing to shore up confidence in the banking sector.
Plus, how customers of the collapse Silicon Valley Bank are getting access to their money. That's next.
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[13:26:08]
WHITFIELD: Former President Donald Trump making a declaration today on a social media post that he expects to be arrested on Tuesday and is calling for protests. Multiple people tell CNN the timing on a potential indictment involving his alleged hush money payment to an adult film star remains unclear. And sources say Trump has been pushing his team to get his base riled up, believing an indictment helps him politically as he makes another run for the White House 2024.
For more on these developments, let's bring in CNN Kristen Holmes. Kristen, good to see you. So, what more are you learning about what has been going on behind the scenes in the world of Trump?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka. So, while they are saying that they have not get -- yet gotten any sort of formal notification from the Manhattan District Attorney's office around this potential indictment, Trump's team is very much anticipating this and preparing for this. They have been huddled down at Mar-a-Lago planning for various scenarios. Whether that is getting Trump to New York or preparing for a remote hearing where he stays at Mar-a-Lago.
Now, some of his legal advisors have said that, that he should ask for remote hearing citing security concerns. But it's unclear whether or not Trump is going to do that, because he has also mentioned wanting to deliver remarks outside of the courthouse. And when it comes to Trump, one of the most important things that we have learned over the last several years is Trump cares about messaging.
And that's another thing that his team is working on. I've learned from a source that Trump is considering hiring a T.V.-friendly lawyer to do the communications around this. And on top of that, they are expanding their staff to focus solely on messaging just around this issue. WHITFIELD: OK. And then, you know, speaking of campaign 2024, some of Trump's challengers and potential challengers are out there on the campaign trail. How might this development potentially impact their races?
HOLMES: Well, Fredricka, about one second ago, I just got a blast saying that former Vice President Mike Pence who as we know is considering a presidential run was speaking to Breitbart Saturday news on Sirius X.M. Radio and said that these reeks of political prosecution, and he brought up the "Russia hoax." Now this gives you a little bit of an idea of how these candidates might deal with this.
All of these potential 2024 hopefuls are having to thread a thin needle anyway. They are having to go between a base who still supports former President Donald Trump but also distinguished themselves and try to obtain their own voters. This is going to be no different. We know that there is a large group of Republicans who believes that Department of Justice that that these -- all of these investigations into former President Trump are politicized.
And so, they're going to have to learn how to really walk a fine line to appeal to that side, but also distinguish themselves and we'll have to see how it is that they react to this news.
WHITFIELD: All right. Pretty complex and complicated. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much.
All right. The House Financial Services Committee announced that it will meet with financial regulators later on this month after a U.S. bank collapse sparked a banking sector meltdown. The meeting scheduled for March 29th will assess why and how both signature and Silicon Valley banks failed. It comes as President Biden is urging Congress to act and expand the FDIC 's ability to hold banks accountable.
Plus, the embattled regional bank First Republic had its credit rating downgraded Friday by Moody's credit rating firm just one day after the bank landed a $30 billion lifeline in a big bank megadeal. Moody's says while news of the rescue is positive, the bank has an uphill climb to retain profitability. Still the uncertainty on Wall Street continues with markets ending the week down as investors fear the worst is not over.
[13:30:06]
I want to dig deeper now on the impact this might be having on startups with Will Glaser, the founder and CEO for the Silicon Valley startup, Grabango.
Will, good to see you.
So your company counts on Silicon Valley Bank for venture debt lines, which includes a provisions that forbids it from doing much banking with other institutions. What's happening now with your assets?
WILL GLASER, FOUNDER & CEO, GRABANGO: That's exactly right.
So, it's great to be with you.
Our funds are almost entirely with Silicon Valley Bank. We're depositors there and we do a variety of banking activities with them.
WHITFIELD: Were you able to get money out before regulators took over the bank?
GLASER: It was a busy few days. Thursday, on the 9th, as you know, there was a simultaneous bank run and precipitous drop in stock value. Nasdaq halted trading on Thursday and the FDIC took over Friday.
We did not participate in the bank run. We did try to get money out to make payroll the following week. That's a minority of our funds.
A bank run is an unfortunate event. It's a classic business dilemma problem where many people acting in the short-term best interest of their own companies precipitated the exactly thing they were fearful of that caused the bank run.
WHITFIELD: Did you have a heads up? Did you know what was about to happen to Silicon Valley Bank?
GLASER: Yes, Silicon Valley is a surprisingly small community of individuals that are very well connected. So when anything happens, the rumor mill explodes instantly.
We were flooded with emails and texts and phone calls from friends and coworkers and other institutions that sort of let us know very much before anyone else a bank run was happening.
Then every institution, including Grabango, had to make a decision if we were going to participate or not.
WHITFIELD: Were you able to meet payroll?
GLASER: You know, we did not get money out on Thursday or Friday despite trying to. Then it was a bit of a scramble over the weekend. I was on the phone with investors to try to get a bridge loan to establish enough liquidity to make our payroll commitments on Monday.
We had a number of alternatives lined up. Happily, we didn't need any of them because Yellen and Powell, acting together, opened the bank on Monday morning and guaranteed liquidity for everybody.
So we had enough in place we did not need to put it into action. It was the right action.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. So now what for you?
GLASER: Ironically, if you think about it, two weeks ago, I was very comfortable with my funds in Silicon Valley Bank. Saturday, I was worried I was going to miss payroll.
By mid-day Monday, I was comfortable staying with Silicon Valley Bank indefinitely, because, today, they're among the most safe place to keep your money because they're FDIC insured up to no limit. There's no safer bank in the country than Silicon Valley Bank as I
talk to you today on Saturday.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.
So are other colleagues of yours as confident as you?
GLASER: There's a range, as there always are. There's a range. There are some who are leaving the bank for good.
I think the most common thing our people are maintaining a majority deposit at Silicon Valley Bank and having a secondary deposit somewhere else to diversity assets a little bit.
I think many would return to Silicon Valley Bank if the organization is reconstituted in some form similar to what it was.
It was a very effective institution. It was a great partner for venture capitalists and startups like us. I'm very hopeful they survive as an organization with new management.
WHITFIELD: You are a Silicon Valley insider, an original cofounder of Pandora. Do you think the tech industry will lose the trust that it has on small regional banks?
GLASER: I don't think so. I think Silicon Valley is an unusual set of businesses.
So there's mantras around here that you want to fail quickly and pivot rapidly. Conventional wisdom doesn't live for very long. So larger banks with larger deposit bases are a little slower to react.
One of the unique advantages Silicon Valley Bank had is they we matched in the community. So they had relationships with me and many other founders and investors in venture capital funds.
So they could figure out through social connections what was working, what wasn't working.
They use that, not insider knowledge, but more sophisticated social knowledge to make decisions about what startups to work with and which ones not to work with.
Knowing which startup is going to succeed and which is going to fail is impossible. Most starts fail, as you know.
[13:35:04]
But the world expert in deciding which startups succeed and fail are the venture capitalists. They're very smart people whose profession is to make those decisions.
Maintaining those connections, Silicon Valley Bank was able to start which startups, like Grabango, to work with and which not to work with. So they have an advantage in being able to work with this Silicon Valley community. WHITFIELD: Even with what you see as those damages, is more regulation
needed?
GLASER: It's not my area of expertise. But as an individual depositor, I love the FDIC. I'm insured for up to $250,000, which makes me feel comfortable putting my money in any bank anywhere.
As a corporate depositor, I need a higher limit. What I would love to happen is the folks in Washington figure out a way to make me, as a depositor, secure through the appropriate combination of regulations and backstops.
Because that will allow the banking system to flourish and provide the liquidity that makes America a very effective place to start a business because of the way we've (INAUDIBLE).
WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it there for now. All the best to you.
Will Glaser, thank you so much.
GLASER: Thanks. Enjoyed the conversation.
WHITFIELD: Thank you.
We'll be right back.
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[13:40:26]
WHITFIELD: A family in Memphis is now pleading for justice months after their son died while in police custody.
A warning, a lot of what you're about to see is very disturbing.
Video surveillance taken on October 5th from inside the Shelby County jail shows Gershun Freeman lunging out of his cell and then getting into a violent encounter with correctional officers.
Officers beat him in multiple locations inside the jail over the course of five minutes. An autopsy says Freeman died by homicide.
Now his family is demanding that those involved be held accountable.
The incident sparking new outrage in Memphis, Tennessee, the same city that Tyre Nichols was killed in January while in police custody. Five officers were charged in that case.
Well, today, speaking at the National Action Network in New York, civil rights attorney, Benjamin Crump, called on the Shelby County sheriff to live up to that precedent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN CRUMP, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: I don't care whether the officer is black or white. The Tyre Nichols blueprint is the precedent now.
(CHEERING)
CRUMP: And when they kill us and they unjustifiably brutalize us and it's on video, we expect, in 20 days, when it's white officers, that you arrest and charge them with murder in the same way that you did these black police officers. We can't have two forms of justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Isabel Rosales is with me now.
Isabel, what more do we know about what's next or how this is being dissected and evaluated?
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We've seen the video. Really a bloody brawl, extensive, spanning across multiple floors of the jail between corrections officers and Gershun Freeman.
By the end of that five-minute interaction between the corrections officers and Freeman, Freeman was dead at that point.
Now his family is demanding accountability from these officers and made contact with Freeman. Also they want answers and jail reform.
We're going to show you portions of the overall 13-minute video that was edited and handed to us by the Nashville district attorney. This is from inside the Shelby County jail back in October of 2022, when this happened.
That video starts with corrections officers opening the jail cell right there to hand him dinner. Right there, you see him lunging. And then, immediately, this is a brutal fight, a beatdown against Freeman.
You see more officers beginning to notice what's going on and they join in. In total, over 10 officers in that fight. You see Freeman there clinging onto their feet. Running away.
In the midst of all of this, he actually gets away from the officers, going up this escalator and going into the secondary floor of this jail, where they chase him.
We see shortly thereafter, after they catch up to him, Freeman swinging at this officer right here, and then hitting him back, getting him down onto the floor, tackling him there, beating him again.
We've seen incidents of them using what appears to be pepper spray on him. Then they put him on his stomach, handcuff him. Are there a couple of minutes on his back.
At some point, he becomes limp and unresponsive and collapses. Medical personnel are brought in. They try CPR. That fails and he dies.
According to an autopsy that we obtained from our CNN affiliate, WHBQ, a 19-page autopsy found that the cause of death, it notes here, was actually cardiovascular disease made worse due to a physical altercation.
It also found, that report, that probable psychotic disorder likely was a contributing condition to his cause of death.
It classified his death as a homicide. Importantly, it also notes, quote, "It is not meant to definitively indicate criminal intent."
We saw a press conference yesterday, led by civil rights attorney, Ben Crump, the family attorneys. The family, the parents of Freeman and also Tyre Nichols there in support.
They say Shelby County jail lacks serious mental health resources for the inmates there. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[13:44:52]
JAKE BROWN, ATTORNEY: Mr. Freeman ran out and he was subjected to a gauntlet of punches, kicks. He was stricken with implements ranging from handcuffs to jail keys. He was hit with canisters of a chemical irritant in addition to being sprayed with chemical irritant.
It was not the way that our community, the people we put in place to watch over the detainees in the jail should allow things to operate.
KIMBERLY FREEMAN, GERSHUN FREEMAN'S MOTHER: They go home every night to their family. Whereas, for me and my granddaughter, we have to see my son, her father, in a box. We want answers. Bring those people to the (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROSALES: We did hear back from the Shelby County sheriff's office, who claim all protocols were followed, that the district attorney's office was notified, also the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
The sheriff saying, quote, "It is unfortunate this case is being tried in the media before the review is complete" - Fred?
WHITFIELD: All right, very troubling.
Isabel Rosales, thank you so much.
All right, 10 people have now been charged in the death of Irvo Otieno, a Virginia man who died in custody while at a state mental health facility. The additional charges following the state's viewing of the video of Otieno's death.
The prosecutor telling CNN that the video shows three hospital staffers at one point watching with their hands in their pockets while he was allegedly being smothered to death.
The three guards, along with these seven deputies, are all facing murder charges.
Here now is CNN's Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New details on what the video shows of the final moments of 28-yawr-old Irvo Otieno, who died in custody on March 6th when he was brought to a mental health facility in Virginia.
The video, not yet public. But the county prosecutor in southern Virginia telling CNN why she has charged seven Henrico deputies with second-degree murder as well as three security guards at the central state hospital.
ANN CABELL BASKERVILL, DINWIDDIE COUNTY COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY: He goes to the ground. One by one, there end up being 10n people on top of him, all of whom are applying pressure visibly, putting their back into it, leaning down.
TODD (on camera): Is he resisting? Is he combative at all in those moments?
BASKERVILL: No, not at all. He's not moving. He's lifeless.
TODD (voice-over): Another disturbing detail.
BASKERVILL: There are hospital staff that come in and out of the room as if there's nothing taking place, nothing. No one tries to help.
TODD: It began with a burglary call. On March 3rd, police showed up at Otieno's house with what a neighbor says was a disproportionate amount of officers.
BRADLEY MCNAMARA, NEIGHBOR OF IRVO OTIENO: He was very agitated, confused. Heightened state, you know, mental sensibility and everything.
TODD: But his mother calmed him down, this neighbor tells CNN, and he never posed a threat to the officers.
MCNAMARA: Irvo was treated like somebody that was going through a mental health crisis. He was treated like a criminal from the beginning.
TODD: But at the hospital, police say he became, quote, "physically assaultive" and was arrested and jailed.
In jail, the prosecutor says, video shows he was pepper sprayed while handcuffed and naked alone in his cell.
BASKERVILL: Five or six deputies at the jail tackle him. He's then on the ground. He's on the ground underneath them for several minutes there and blows are sustained at the jail.
TODD: He was then taken to the mental health facility, where authorities say he became combative and where he died.
A defense attorney for one of the charged deputies, who has not been able to see the video, tells CNN:
CALEB KERSHNER, ATTORNEY FOR DEPUTY RANDY BOYER: My client would describe him as violently noncompliant, being regularly violent.
He had no idea or had reason to believe in any way based upon his vantage and what he was doing that this man was in any danger of his life.
TODD (on camera): Another attorney representing Deputy Bradley Disse tells CNN there's been a rush to judgment in this case and his client looks forward to being vindicated.
We've reached out to the Henrico Sheriff's Department, to the Henrico police and the to the Central State Hospital for a response to the very latest allegations. We have not heard back.
Brian Todd, CNN, Henrico County, Virginia.
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[13:49:07]
WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, widespread protests in Israel as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushes ahead with his proposal to overhaul the country's Supreme Court.
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WHITFIELD: Happening right now, large protests in Israel over Prime Minister Netanyahu's plans to overhaul the country's judicial system, despite months of unrest and a dire warning from the country's president.
On Thursday, Israeli police arrested five people for painting a red line and a slogan along roads in Jerusalem that led to the country's Supreme Court. The slogan written in Hebrew, Arabic and English read, "Drawing the line."
Journalist Elliott Gotkine joining me now from Tel Aviv.
Elliot, what are you all seeing today?
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Fredricka, as surely as night follows day, the past 11 weeks in Israel have meant protests on a Saturday evening.
And as you say, they are protesting in the thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, against the government's radical judicial overhaul. This overhaul would result in pretty much all checks and balances on the government of the day being removed.
Now, the government, the most right-wing in Israel's history and the most religiously conservative in Israel's history, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says all it's doing is restoring the correct balance between the judiciary and the government.
It says that things have gotten out of kilter, the Supreme Court had too much power. It is simply redressing the balance.
[13:55:00]
But these people on the streets are concerned about the impact this will have on their freedoms, on Israel as a liberal Jewish democracy, on the economy.
We see seeing, for example, the Shekel weakening against the dollar, where most currencies have been strengthening against the U.S. dollar. Tech companies have been saying they're not going to invest in Israel while this judicial reform goes live.
But also concerned about their rights to protest, their freedom of expression, press and the like being infringed. And they say the only reason it is going ahead is to get Prime Minister Netanyahu off of his ongoing corruption trial.
We heard from President Herzog earlier in the week. The presidency here is just a ceremonial role. He presented what he called a Peoples' Framework for Judicial Compromise, giving the government some of what it wanted but not all. The government rejected it - Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right, Elliott Gotkine, thank you so much.
Next hour, March Madness is in full effect. We'll show you the stunning upset that toppled a number-one seed school.
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