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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Former Officer Seeks New Trial After Pics Emerge of Juror at March; Judge: Barr DOJ Misled Her About Advice on Prosecuting Trump; White House Tells States Unordered Vaccine Will Be Redistributed; Rep. Liz Cheney's Support Cratering Among House Republicans. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired May 05, 2021 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:26]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Derek Chauvin's attorney wants a new trial, claiming jury misconduct. But will this last ditch effort change anything?

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Could Donald Trump be back on social media today? A big announcement this morning from Facebook.

ROMANS: And an out of control Chinese rocket is plunging back to Earth. Now, the Pentagon eyeballing where and when it could hit.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: Hey, Christine.

ROMANS: Hi.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. It's Wednesday, May 5th. It's 5:00 a.m. here in New York.

And we begin this morning with a new effort to overturn the guilty verdict against former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin. His legal team is requesting a new trial claiming juror misconduct, a series of wrong decisions made by the judge, among many other things.

His lawyer isn't challenging the video of Chauvin's knee on George Floyd's neck for over nine minutes, instead he's focused on, quote, the publicity of the proceedings, of course, tuned to the fact that the case provoked a much broader conversation about policing and racism in America.

ROMANS: Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, is making a wide range of claims, trying for a second chance in court here, just hours after new details emerged about one of the jurors, Brandon Mitchell.

CNN's Adrienne Broaddus reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE0 ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This motion is broad, but it doesn't outline specifics. He does cite in the motion a number of factors. Take a look for yourself. Some of the factors include but aren't limited to the interests of justice, abuse of discretion that deprived the defendant of a fair trial and jury misconduct. Errors of law at trial and a verdict that is contrary to law.

Nelson also goes on to write the publicity here was so pervasive and so prejudicial before and during this trial that it amounted to a structural defect in the proceedings.

Nelson also talks about the court abusing its discretion and not granting a change of venue. He also talks a great deal about jury misconduct but does not name any of the jurors.

This all happened on a day when juror 52 who spoke with CNN last week, was criticized for wearing a Black Lives Matter hat and a t-shirt with the message get your knee off our necks and that shirt also has an image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Mitchell told the "Star Tribune" his uncle posted that photo to Facebook following the march on Washington last summer commemorating Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech. Keep in mind legally, Nelson had 15 days after the verdict to file a motion for a new trial. The deadline for that was today -- Laura and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Adrienne Broaddus, thank you for that.

Laura, I want to ask about this juror here. One of the questions in the juror question was, quote, did you or someone close to you participate in any of the demonstrations or marches against police brutality that took place in Minneapolis after George Floyd's death?

Now, Mitchell told the "Star Tribune" he answered no. Is that a problem that he did attend a march and he was wearing that gear, but it wasn't in Minneapolis.

JARRETT: Right.

ROMANS: Technically, that was exactly what he said on the questionnaire.

JARRETT: He answered no but it wasn't in Minneapolis, it was in Washington, D.C. It was about a march about Black Lives Matter which of course encompasses way more cases than just George Floyd. The knee on the neck t-shirt, yes, that happened to George Floyd, it also happened to a whole lot of other black people.

I think this is not a leg to stand on. He was actually pretty forthcoming in this questionnaire, as a lot of jurors were. I mean, frankly, I thought it was interesting just how forthcoming some of the jurors were in voir dire talking about how they had negative feelings against Derek Chauvin.

ROMANS: So, is all of this grounds for appeal and what does it mean for the trials of the other three officers here?

JARRETT: Right. So the defense team will certainly use this among other things, they will throw the kitchen sink at a motion for appeal, as they're supposed to do, right? That's the whole point of having a vigorous defense, but the standard in Minnesota is really high to overturn a jury verdict. Abuse of discretion is not granted very often. I don't see this going very far.

As for the other three officers, I don't see this affecting anything. They're going to get a new jury. They're going to have a whole new fresh set of eyes on this. It may impact how the prosecutors offer certain evidence and it may affect how their defense team responds to it, but I think that's a whole new case.

[05:05:01]

ROMANS: All right.

JARRETT: All right.

Now to this, a federal judge ordering a secret memo released saying she was misled by Bill Barr's Justice Department. Judge Amy Berman Jackson says DOJ lawyers were, quote, disingenuous about advice they got on whether to charge President Trump with obstruction of justice in the Robert Mueller Russia probe. The judge now says she believes Barr and his advisers, they already decided that they wouldn't charge the president before they got that written advice, largely in a redacted memo in 2019.

ROMANS: The journal wants that memo released. She says it contained less legal advice on charging Trump but instead strategic advice on how to spin Barr's decision afterwards. Judge Jackson writes: The fact Trump would not be prosecuted was a given.

JARRETT: Federal prosecutors want an outside lawyer to go through the evidence seized in the FBI raid of Rudy Giuliani's home and office. They say appointing what's called a special master would protect the unusually sensitive attorney/client privilege issues surrounding President Trump's former lawyer. Giuliani's attorney has said he will pursue a court challenge to protect potential privilege issues.

Meanwhile, "The New York Times" reports Giuliani's advisers have been pressing Trump to pay up, to pay Giuliani's legal bills. Trump was a $250 million war chest while Giuliani faces this escalating federal probe and defamation suits.

ROMANS: All right. To the push for vaccines, use it or lose it. The White House telling governors vaccine doses they leave on the table will be redistributed to states with higher demand. In recent weeks, several states have not ordered their full allocation of vaccine as demand falls across the country.

JARRETT: Now, the White House is shifting vaccination strategy in its drive to reopen the country by the Fourth of July. And after previously setting measured vaccine goals, the administration is now raising its own bar. It wants the number of fully vaccinated Americans increased by 50 percent within two months.

The latest now from our chief White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and Laura.

With vaccinations slowing nationwide, the president is setting a new goal for how many Americans he wants to see vaccinated by that July 4th timeline. He says 160 million Americans he wants to see with at least two shots of that vaccine by then, of course, just one shot if it's J&J, but he is also hoping 70 percent of Americans will have had at least one shot and be partially vaccinated by that July 4th date, that goal that he has set previously for getting the country looking a little bit more back to normal.

But, of course, they know this is going to be a pretty tough challenge ahead of them because, right now, the U.S. stands at 105 million Americans fully vaccinated. So, they've got that road to go to get to 160.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look at the folks in your community who have gotten vaccinated and are getting back to living their lives, their full lives. Look at the grandparents, united with their grandchildren, friends getting together again.

This is your choice. It's life and death. I hope everyone knows within themselves it makes the choice that is going to help them and their loved ones be safe.

COLLINS: The way they say they're going to do this is changing their strategy, moving away from those mass vaccination sites to smaller more localized settings, maybe in rural areas where people just haven't gotten the vaccine because it's not as accessible to them, but also reaching out to those groups, 20 year olds, 30 year olds, saying just because the risk is low to you that's no reason not to get a vaccine that's safe and effective and that could help potentially someone else.

So, President Biden and his aides are acknowledging this is a new phase of their COVID-19 response.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

To business now, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen walking back these comments she made about interest rates as the economy recovers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET YELLEN, TREASURY SECRETARY: It may be that interest rates will have to rise somewhat to make sure that our economy doesn't overheat even though the additional spending is relatively small relative to the size of the economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right. It's the Fed, of course, that raises interest rates and Yellen who served as Fed chair later said she wasn't predicting or recommending higher rates. Of course, she respects the central bank's independence.

Now, the economy is making a come back, investors have been worried about higher prices and the need for the Fed to step in and raise interest rates to stop the economy from overheating. The Fed chief Jerome Powell has repeatedly said higher prices may be temporary and he vowed not to get in the way of recovery. In fact, the Central Bank left interest rates at near zero last month and said higher rates were unlikely this year.

But you can see, there's a lot of sensitivity to the idea of raising interest rates or tapering the stimulus in this economy right now, because a lot of people on Main Street have not felt the recovery yet and the Fed does not want to get in the way of that too soon.

JARRETT: Yeah, she's got to walk a tough line there.

ROMANS: Yeah.

JARRETT: All right. Still ahead, choosing truth over Trump has big consequences for Congresswoman Liz Cheney.

[05:10:03]

Another top Republican just coming out in favor of a leadership change.

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ROMANS: All right. As far as hot mic moments go this one -- this one was brutal. Quote, Liz is gone. It's just a question of how and when.

House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy describing Congresswoman Liz Cheney's tenure as third ranking Republican, trashing a fellow Republican because she's choosing the truth over former President Trump.

Here is a moment with a Fox News anchor.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MINORITY LEADER: I think she's got real problems. I've had it with -- I've had it with her. You know, I've lost confidence. Well, someone just has to bring a motion, but I assume that will probably take place.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

JARRETT: Now, that audio has been edited and doesn't include the anchor's questions to him.

[05:15:04]

But, look, the message is clear and it's resonating today.

Punchbowl News reports Steve Scalise, the number two Republican in House, also in favor of a leadership change.

But this morning, you can count the conservative "Wall Street Journal" editorial board against the change. Quote: She may be ousted because she is daring to tell the truth to GOP voters and at personal political risk. Republicans will look foolish or worse to swing voters if they refight 2020 in 2022.

CNN's Daniella Diaz is live on Capitol Hill with more on all of this.

Daniella, it feels like this has escalated in an ugly way over just the last 24 hours. What are you hearing on Capitol Hill?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Laura, it seems absolutely almost certain that Cheney will lose her leadership position and it is likely to happen even as soon as next week, which is the next time that the GOP conference will meet is next Wednesday.

But, look, Cheney has very little support right now within the conference. The members who backed her last time during the first vote for her leadership after her vote to impeach Donald Trump are not supporting her this time around. This includes, of course, as you said, Scalise and House Minority Leader Levin McCarthy who defended her behind closed doors but now said on Fox News yesterday that she is not carrying out the message of the party which is her primary job as the GOP conference chair.

But all of this is happening because Congresswoman Liz Cheney is telling the truth about what happened in the 2020 election. She does not set -- is not saying the message as many Republicans are that the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump and she has blasted her colleagues in the Senate for voting to overturn the election results on January 6th.

And she's not backing down. She has said she's going to stay in her leadership position until this vote happens. Look, members are now starting to line up behind Congresswoman Elise Stefanik who is from New York and a Trump ally. She is now making calls to replace Cheney in her leadership position and members are starting to line up behind her to replace Congresswoman Liz Cheney.

But the bottom line here is that Republicans feel that Congresswoman Liz Cheney is distracting from their message to win back the majority in 2022 which is why they want to see her replaced as the number three House Republican -- Laura.

JARRETT: Yeah, you can't help but note here that Congresswoman Cheney is something of an endangered species right now but Republicans seem perfectly fine with Matt Gaetz despite all of his legal troubles, nary a word from them about that.

Daniella, thank you. Appreciate it. ROMANS: A real fight for the traditional center right core of the

Republican Party.

All right. Seventeen minutes past the hour. The Yankees and Astros met for the first time since Houston's sign stealing scandal. The chants, the boos, the sweet revenge, next.

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[05:22:24]

JARRETT: All right. The Yankees welcomed the Astros back to New York for the first time since that infamous sign stealing scandal.

Andy Scholes has this morning's "Bleacher Report."

Hi, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, good morning, Laura.

You know, fans have been booing the Astros at every stop so far this season and no fan base has been wanting to boo them more than the Yankees. The Astros beat the Yankees in the 2017 ALCS, the year the Astros were found to have cheated, the Astros bet them again in the 2019 ALCS, and Houston making their first trip to Yankee Stadium since that sign stealing scandal last night.

Yeah, the crowd nearly 11,000 fans let the Astros have it all game long, the players that were key parts of the 2017 team. Yankees fan fanned posters, even a blow of the trash can with that fan there, kind of struggle to get it all the way, inflated.

This was the play of the game that decided t score tied at 3, bottom of the 6th. Alex Bregman throws the ball away, two runs come in to score. Then another run comes in to score, as Martin Maldonado couldn't handle that throw. Yankees fans just loving it as they go on to win 7-3.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON BOONE, NEW YORK YANKEES MANAGER: It felt like a playoff atmosphere. I mean, amazing 10,000, 12,000 fans whatever that were in there. You know, the energy that was created, it -- we haven't seen that since, you know, 2019.

GIANCARLO STANTON, NEW YORK YANKEES OUTFIELDER: That was intense, you know, I wouldn't want to be on the other side of that.

DUSTY BAKER, HOUSTON ASTROS MANAGER: It sounded like a packed house tonight even though it wasn't and, you know, we kind of accept it -- I mean, we kind of expected that, you know, reception and so we will probably get more of the same tomorrow and the next day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. To the NBA, Milwaukee Bucks with an impressive win over the Nets. Milwaukee blew a 10-point lead the second half, trailed by six with ten minutes remaining, but then reigning league MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and company responded on a big way, going on an 18-1 run to seal the come back win. Giannis 36 in the game. The Bucks clinched a fifth straight playoff appearance.

All right. Warriors star Steph Curry was shooting lights out last night in New Orleans until the lights at the arena actually went out with four minutes left in the third quarter. So Steph had 35 points before the outage. He had just two the rest of the game. The pelicans coming back to beat Golden State 108-103.

All right. Finally, the Chargers saving their best draft picks for last.

[05:25:03]

The team teaming up with three southern California animal shelters to hold a virtual doggie draft to help dozens of furry free agents find a new home. Every pup gets their own rookie card too with little bios, and stats like 40-yard dash.

And, Christine, if you want more information on all these furry friends, you can go to chargers.com/dogdraft. It shows all the ones that are available for selecting, also more information on how you can adopt a dog.

ROMANS: What a great idea. Chargers.com/dogdraft.

All right. Thanks, Andy.

All right. It's the end of an era in light night television. Conan O'Brien will be ending his TBS show "Conan" on June 24th, ending a nearly 30-year run in late night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "CONAN": Some of you have probably wondering why am I doing this? Why end things here at TBS? And I tell you, because a very old Buddhist monk once told me that to pick something up, you must first put something down.

Yeah. I will be honest with you, he was drunk out of his skull and very belligerent and I maintain you can pick up two things if you use both hands, he just got mad and started swinging at me. So I ended the conversation and took his advice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So, putting one down to pick up something else. After the show ends, O'Brien will host a weekly variety series for HBO Max. That's the streaming service for CNN's parent company, Warner Media.

JARRETT: Well, that's something to look forward to.

So, what about the guy who almost single-handedly made late night TV? Sunday, "THE STORY OF LATE NIGHT" is all about the king of the craft, Johnny Carson. An all new episode of the brand CNN original series Sunday night at 9:00.

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