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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Former Officer Chauvin Convicted of Murdering George Floyd; President Biden Calls for Accountability for Bad Officers; Columbus Officer Fatally Shoots Teenage Girl Holding Knife; Corporate America Reacts to Chauvin Verdict. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired April 21, 2021 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Laura Jarrett. It's Wednesday, April 21st, 4:00 a.m. here in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE PETER CAHILL, HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA DISTRICT COURT: We the jury in the above entitled matter count 1 unintentional second degree murder while committing a felony, find the defendant guilty. Count 2, third degree murder, perpetrating an eminently dangerous act, find the defendant guilty. Count 3, second degree manslaughter, culpable negligence creating an unreasonable risk, find the defendant guilty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Derek Chauvin guilty on all charges. The former Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd with a knee to the neck handcuffed and led away after a jury of his peers deliberated for just ten hours. But as Chauvin disappears behind bars, what's next for America? Well, that's a much harder question.

ROMANS: Collective relief over the verdict, understandable and expected. But this is one conviction. That's a measure of accountability denied to so many others. An in justice not lost on Minnesota's Attorney General.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEITH ELLISON, MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL: This verdict reminds us how hard it is to make enduring change.

Here we are in 2021, still addressing the same problem. Since Dr. Clark testified, we have seen Rodney King, Abner Louima, Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Laquan McDonald, Stephon Clark, Atatiana Jefferson, Anton Black, Breonna Taylor, and now Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo. This has to end. We need true justice. That's not one case. That is a social transformation that says that nobody's beneath the law and no one is above it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: This is the front page of today's Minneapolis "Star Tribune," a giant headline there, convicted. CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is live for us this morning in Minneapolis. Adrienne, you have worked and lived in that city for so many years. You've been covering this now for weeks. Just tell us, what is the mood like there? I imagine it's relief more than elation. We obviously see people in the streets screaming out, but what did it feel like?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's quiet here this morning, and yesterday I can say there was a collective exhale, and that headline you just showed in the local paper, the "Star Tribune," big bold font, convicted, that's a headline many Minnesotans were hopeful for, but some thought they would not see. And here we are.

I spoke with the former NAACP President Leslie Redmond and she told me she was able to exhale yesterday, but the work continues. The work starts again today. And earlier in the night or morning, however you want to call it, I spoke with members of George Floyd's family. They call him Perry. Listen in to what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROADDUS: As believers, how do you forgive Derek Chauvin?

PARIS STEVENS, COUSIN OF GEORGE FLOYD: Well, that's what has been instilled in us always. I mean, I've been raised in the church and I know for me to make it into heaven, you have to forgive people. We don't have to forget because none of us will ever forget.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

STEVENS: But you have to come to a place where you can forgive. And it may not be today or tomorrow because it takes time, because we're all still hurt. Today was the only day that we saw Chauvin kind of look surprised, like, oh, I did do something wrong. You know? There was some sort of emotion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROADDUS (on camera): And I also want to underscore, they talked about that teen, Darnella Frazier, the 17-year-old, saying perhaps without her cell phone video, we wouldn't be here today. I remember that night we learned George Floyd died.

[04:05:00]

At the time obviously, I didn't know his name, but Minneapolis Police told us in a news conference overnight and in a news release that a man had died in police custody. And I remember trading messages with Darnella on social media and she pleaded, please, do not let the media cover this up. Don't let the police cover this up. They are not telling you the truth. And she posted her video. And despite what that news release said, we now know what happened -- Guys. JARRETT: Yes, but for her amazing strength in that moment, you know,

we would not be here. All right, Adrienne, thank you so much for all your reporting.

ROMANS: All right. Let's bring in retired L.A.P.D. Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey, author of the book "Black and Blue." She joins us from Los Angeles. And Sergeant, so nice to see you this morning. You know, I'm struck by what Adrienne was talking about, sort of the news release on the night of George Floyd's death. It essentially said there was a medical event in a police interaction. We know now it was much, much more than just that, and now we've seen the conviction here on three counts of this police officer. Is this finally accountability?

SGT. CHERYL DORSEY, RETIRED LAPD SERGEANT: Listen, this is just a day. It's not a new day. We have so many other families that are waiting in the wings for justice and accountability, and but for the video we would not be here. We know now that Derek Chauvin is a demonstrated and proven liar. He tried to minimize and mitigate this behavior to his supervisor. The police chief even was given false information. And it wasn't until he was shown the actual video that he realized he needed to call the mayor and tell him, get better get your checkbook out, Chauvin is at it again.

JARRETT: Sergeant Dorsey, explain what that does to trust, right. So the police report says one thing, but then as in so many of these cases, the video shows something dramatically different and sometimes there is a lag, you know, in between those times. How is anyone supposed to trust the system when you see that happen so many times?

DORSEY: It's very difficult to trust the system. And listen, this is not anything new. Our communities have been dealing with this kind of foolishness for decades where we know that there was malfeasance. We know there was misconduct. And it's foo-foo'd away. It's minimized and mitigated by police chiefs. And so now, they have to acknowledge and admit something that we all saw, and even in that there was subterfuge and distraction about did we really see what we saw.

ROMANS: Sergeant, what should police departments be doing right now moving forward? We know Derek Chauvin violated his own training and policy. What's needed right now in your view? Will policing, day to day policing change because police officers see the consequence here of what happened?

DORSEY: I don't believe so because, listen, just a couple days ago the officer who shot Jacob Blake in the back seven times was just given his job. So I don't know that anybody has learned anything from this instance. There's so much more to be done. Police chiefs need to admit that they have errant officers in their ranks. They need to pluck them out, get them out of patrol. If you can't get them off the job. And then we'll start to see some accountability from police departments and maybe this will give officers pause.

JARRETT: President Biden weighed in, of course, last night. I want you to listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Most men and women who wear the badge serve their communities honorably. But those few who fail to meet that standard must be held accountable, and they were today. One was. No one should be above the law. And today's verdict sends that message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Do you agree with that, sergeant? Does it send a message? It kind of sounds like you're more skeptical.

DORSEY: Well listen, we know there are errant officers. And I don't know what the few is. Certainly, the FBI told us in a report years ago that several KKK had infiltrated these 18,000 police departments across the United States, and we've seen them in action. And so, unless and until we get them out of the ranks, unless and until there's psychological evaluations to make sure officers aren't out there in the field with biases, we're going to continue to experience this.

ROMANS: What are you hearing, sergeant, in law enforcement circles about how your -- how people feel about this, how law enforcement people feel about this verdict?

DORSEY: Well, I'm sure that there are certainly two camps. Folks who look like me are in somewhat of a celebratory mood. After all, a man did lose his life and he is not returning to his family. But there is an acknowledgment at least for the first time publicly that an officer did something that was contrary to his training and that he's to be held accountable.

[04:10:00]

We've yet to see what's going to happen with sentencing. I understand as a first offender he's not going to get the maximum. But whatever he gets, Derek Chauvin should be commiserate with the crimes that he's convicted of.

JARRETT: All right, Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey thank you so much. We appreciate you getting up extra early for us.

DORSEY: Thank you.

JARRETT: All right, new overnight, just as the Chauvin verdict is handed down, police shot and killed a teenage girl in Columbus, Ohio. What the video shows, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: 14 minutes past the hour. Now to breaking news. A teenage girl shot and killed by a Columbus, Ohio, police officer. As authorities claim she tried to attack two others with a knife. The girl has been identified by her mom and child services as Ma'khia Bryant. You may find this bodycam video disturbing. Police responded to the scene yesterday afternoon. Watch as the first officer to arrive approaches a group in the driveway of a home. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get up. Get up. Hey. What's going on, what's going on? Hey, hey. Get down, get down. Get down. Get down.

(BLEEP)

(SCREAMING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: OK, so we can only see this from obviously one angle. But in the slowed down video, you can see a girl move toward another girl there in the pink with what appears to be a knife. Here is the city's mayor on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ANDREW GINTHER, COLUMBUS, OHIO: Not just the mayor, I'm a father. The city of Columbus lost a 15-year-old girl today. We know based on this footage the officer took action to protect another young girl in our community. The family is grieving tonight, and this young 15-year-old girl will never be coming home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: The officer involved in the shooting will be taken off the streets while the bureau of criminal investigation and the Ohio Attorney General's office takes over the case. A lot more to come on that for sure.

All right. The Derek Chauvin verdict was seen and heard around the world, but there was much you couldn't see happening inside the courtroom. The jury showed no noticeable reaction to the verdict being read by the judge, and they remained still as they were asked to confirm their votes.

CNN's Josh Campbell was inside the courtroom as the verdicts were read, and he reports from Minneapolis for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As one of two reporters who were inside that courtroom here Tuesday in Minneapolis, whenever the verdict was read in the trial of former officer Derek Chauvin, I can tell you that the tension in the room was simply palpable.

Chauvin sat at the defense desk with his attorney waiting for the judge to read that verdict. For their part, the prosecution appeared somewhat filled with anxiety and anxious as they sat there, eyes darting around the courtroom, fidgeting, waiting again for that verdict to be read.

But I can tell you one of the most emotional moments that occurred in the courtroom was from someone who you could not see on screen, that was Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd who sat in the back of the courtroom. He spent almost the entire hearing in prayer, looking up briefly to look at Derek Chauvin, but as the verdict was read, guilty, guilty, guilty, he sat in prayer, his hands shaking uncontrollably. Afterwards he stepped outside the courtroom and received a phone call from President Biden and Vice President Harris.

Biden telling the Floyd family that he was proud of them for serving as such champions for racial justice, saying his administration will be working to enact real policing reform. I asked Floyd afterwards what it was like being in the courtroom and what he was praying for. He said, he was praying for a guilty verdict. He said as an African- American, we rarely get justice.

Finally, who can forget that moment as an officer approached Derek Chauvin, he asked him, Mr. Chauvin, please place your hands behind your back. The handcuff went on the left hand, the handcuff went on the right hand, and Chauvin was taken out. The very criminal justice system where Derek Chauvin used to work prosecuting him and convicting him for murder.

Josh Campbell, CNN, Minneapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Josh, thank you for that.

Corporate America navigating the upside and downside of speaking up on sensitive topics. What companies are saying about the Derek Chauvin verdict.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: From watch your tone to now megaphone. From climate change, voting rights, civil rights, the Derek Chauvin verdict is the latest example of companies speaking up in this new era of purpose in the boardroom.

The Business Roundtable said, quote, to ensure true justice and healing our country needs to take steps to address its long history of racial inequity in law enforcement.

Several companies and business leaders issued statements after the verdict including Twitter, Starbucks, Wells Fargo, General Motors, CEO Mary Barra, Tim Cook and the major sports leagues. Businesses are facing pressure from their customers, from employees and investors to take a stand or at least not stand back.

Still, taking a stand is not without risk. Companies face pushback from other sides, from the left for not speaking up, or the right for speaking too much. Some companies are reconsidering political donations given events like the January insurrection. But they are letting their stance on social issues do the talking instead.

JARRETT: I think the real question is what do they do besides a strongly worded statement. ROMANS: That's right. What next.

JARRETT: What does it actually look like? This has been nearly a year since he was killed. And what real change has happened? I think that's the harder question.

ROMANS: And I think it is important to remember that companies pay the bills, right. They pay the paychecks. If you got inequity in terms of pay, it's important for companies to look inward and recognize that. Couple of things they can do. Not ask if there's been -- if you've been convicted of a crime when you apply for a job. Not ask what your former salary used to be. These are ways you keep disparities, generational disparities really in pay and income. These are some things companies can do.

JARRETT: Yes, there are some low-hanging fruit there to take care of.

[04:25:00]

All right. Three guilty verdicts, but a loved one still lost a family member. The family of George Floyd can now sleep, at least eventually.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILONISE FLOYD, GEORGE FLOYD'S BROTHER: All right, it was just so much of a relief, just constant nights of me just being up constantly getting three and four hours of sleep. But today I won't get that time to sleep, because I'm going to stay up and celebrate because to me this is a day of celebration. I'm happy, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JARRETT: Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is 29 minutes past the hour here in New York.

It took a Minneapolis jury ten hours to convict Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd. Making real change in American policing, that will take a lot longer.