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Laura Coates Live

Trump And Harris Battle On Abortion; GA Family Speaks Out On Death Tied To Abortion Ban; Tropical Storm Helene Set To Strike Florida As Major Hurricane; Harris Calls For Ending Filibuster For Abortion Rights; Aurora, Colorado Mayor Speaks Out; Missouri Man Executed Despite Efforts To Stop It. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired September 24, 2024 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Tonight, a CNN exclusive. The family of Amber Thurman speaking out about her death inside of a Georgia hospital. Democrats blaming on the state's abortion ban and now propelling her story to the front of the presidential race. All the while, Donald Trump and Republicans say women won't even have to worry about abortion. Family's response to that tonight on "Laura Coates Live."

It's the issue that got Nikki Haley asking tonight, are you trying to lose the election? I'm talking about abortion. The issue has become Donald Trump's Achilles heel. And new polling suggests tonight that it's costing him some votes, as he and Republicans up and down the ballot struggle to land on a message to defend the fallout from the end of Roe vs. Wade. Case in point, the GOP Senate candidate in Ohio said this at a town hall last week in newly uncovered audio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE MORENO, REPUBLIAN OHIO SENATE CANDIDATE (voice-over): There's a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, "listen, abortion is it. If I can't have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else." Okay, a little crazy by the way, but -- especially for women that are like past 50 -- I'm thinking to myself, I don't think that's an issue for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Well, Moreno's campaign claims it was all tongue-in-cheek. A jab at how Democrats say the only issue that matters to women is abortion. Now, of course, women are not a monolith. Of course, our interests are wide and varied and far-reaching. But you have to be a fool to think that it doesn't matter to women, including those above the age of 50.

This new CNN poll showing women breaking towards Harris, who has been hammering Trump day after day on, you guessed it, abortion rights. Now, it's not a small margin. She's ahead with women by 10 points. Harris is trying to seize the momentum. She's now vowing to even use the nuclear option in the Senate and get rid of the barrier blocking the passage of a bill that could codify abortion rights. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe. And get us to the point where we, 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Talk about a risky move. Even Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, her former colleague in the Senate, stay and mum about this right now. But it's a move that Harris is banking on to get voters who do care about reproductive rights to the polls.

And you know what? It could pay off. In the post-Roe v. Wade world of the United States, many women are worried about their health, even their very survival. They're seeing what happened to Amber Thurman and Candi Miller in Georgia, and they are wondering if the same thing could happen to them.

Now, their stories were first reported by ProPublica, which linked their deaths to the state's strict abortion law. For 28-year-old Amber Thurman, ProPublica reports that she found out that she was pregnant with twins after Georgia's six-week abortion ban went into effect. She tried to get an abortion in North Carolina, a four-hour away drive, scheduling a day off work and leaving at 4:00 in the morning to get to the clinic. But she hit traffic, and she missed the appointment.

The clinic could not hold her spot open because it was overwhelmed by women from other states that also had abortion bans that were seeking abortion-related services. But an employee offered her an approved abortion pill regimen, and Amber took it. And days later, she suffered a rare complication. Amber's body did not expel all the fetal tissue. So, she went to the hospital in Georgia to get a procedure that could actually help her. The ProPublica says that Amber waited for more than 20 hours until a decision was made to operate. Twenty hours in pain, wondering what would happen to her six-year-old son. Amber died during that surgery.

I want to bring in Amber Nicole Thurman's mother, Shanette Williams, and Amber's sisters, CJ and Andrika Thurman, along with attorney for Amber Thurman's family, Ben Crump. I want to thank you all for being here.

The entire world, let alone this country, is absolutely devastated, Ms. Shanette, to hear what has happened to your daughter. I mean, the state's Maternal Mortality Review Committee found there was, and these are their words, a good chance that Amber's death was preventable.

[23:05:03]

According to them, this could have been prevented. I cannot imagine what this feels like for you. SHANETTE WILLIAMS, AMBER THURMAN'S MOTHER: Laura, after August the 19th, this is my reality.

COATES: Hmm.

WILLIAMS: I wouldn't have ever imagined walking into the hospital and this being my result. When I got there, she was repeatedly telling me how much pain she was in.

COATES: Hmm.

WILLIAMS: And I would reassure her that you're going to have -- that you're here, they're going to help you. Don't worry, you're going to get the help that you need. We're in the best hands, you're at the hospital. And she kept telling me, no, Ma, you don't understand, I am in pain, it is too much pain. She began to cry. As a mother, I reassured her she was okay, she was Okay. As her mom, I handed her over to the people I trusted.

COATES: Hmm.

WILLIAMS: The people that were supposed to take care of my baby.

COATES: Just hearing you say what every mother would think, go to the hospital, they will help you, trying to reassure, trying to calm her down, it's just so painful and heartbreaking to understand that -- CJ, I'll bring you into this as well -- that is ProPublica reports. That very hospital, it took more than 20 hours to begin truly treating her and performing a surgery to try to get that toxic tissue out of her body. Has anyone given explanation for why it took 20 hours?

CJAUNA WILLIAMS, AMBER THURMAN'S SISTER: No, we haven't gotten any explanation. And it's very sad that we're just finding out how she really passed. Before my sister went into surgery, she FaceTime me. And my sister was very bright, very light skinned. When she FaceTime me, my sister was literally "blue." She had blue patches all over her face.

And Amber, she just looked at me. I asked her, I say, Amber, are you dehydrated? Do you need water? Like, are they taking care of you? She was just like, no, I just -- I just passed out again. She was throwing up, she was passing out at the hospital, she hit her head. You know, she had all kind of bruises and -- you know what I mean? All over her face.

COATES: Oh, my God.

C. WILLIAMS: And before she went into surgery, she literally stared at me for about seven seconds, and I stared at her. And I think that my sister knew that she wasn't going to make it out of surgery. She knew that was going to be the last time that we were ever able to see her, that I would ever be able to see her again. And that face, that stare, it haunts me every day to know that my sister was in so much pain for so long.

COATES: For you to see that and to see her face in that way -- I'm the youngest sister of three girls. And looking at you all reminds me of my own family and trying to imagine what that would have been like to be on a FaceTime, to be in her presence, to be where I would think I would be safe and she could get help.

I mean, Andrika, this is agonizing, I know, for your family. And to know not only is it agonizing privately but here, this is Amber's story, your family's now journey front and center in now a presidential election, what has your reality been like in these moments?

ANDRIKA THURMAN, AMBER THURMAN'S SISTER: You know, ever since we found out, I'm having a hard time understanding how they could let my sister suffer for 20 hours.

COATES: Hmm.

THURMAN: My sister was in pain the entire 20 hours. She was in pain and she was still updating us, letting us know what's going on, what she's doing, you know, while she's in pain.

[23:10:00]

And she did call before she went into surgery, and she was blue. She was -- she was so blue she could hardly talk, and she just stared at me. She stared at me as if she knew this was going to be her last time seeing me. She didn't say a word, I didn't say a word, we just stared at each other, and that is all I have left of my sister, the images of her laying there blue, and then seeing her lifeless on a bed. I can't do anything about it. Those are my last images and it haunts me. When I close my eyes, it haunts me. As I'm driving in my car, it haunts me. It just haunts me. That was my little sister.

COATES: Mom -- mom, I mentioned that -- I can't begin to imagine what it is you're feeling between your daughter's -- holding your daughter's funeral program and --

S. WILLIAMS: The fact --

COATES: Ahh.

S. WILLIAMS: -- the fact that I was actually with her on August the 19th and I released her. We were in the elevator. At 1:59 p.m., she was giving me instructions about the pain. She went from talking about the pain to, mom, you're going to have to take care of my son. You're going to have to. And I just interrupted her and I told her, no, they're going to help you.

She began to cry. My baby was extremely strong. When she cried, I wiped the tears and I said, I'll be right here waiting when you come out of that operating room, I will not leave, I'm right here. She looked up at me after she had me FaceTime them, and she said, I know you'll be here.

And sitting between them, hearing what they've been going through, what it has been like for them, I shut down 24 months in a dark room because the only thing I felt was what more could I have done? What could I -- what did I miss? What did I miss? I'm her mom. I was supposed to know. But I handed her off.

COATES: Don't do that to yourself. I mean, I -- you can't blame yourself. I know that you are expressing that. But you know that this was not your doing. You know that in your heart.

S. WILLIAMS: And, you know, for -- to find out with the world, to find out with the world, it's like the wound that wasn't healed opened wider. And now, it's not a private matter.

COATES: Hmm.

S. WILLIAMS: The world has to see my hurt.

COATES: When you hear Ms. Shannette and CJ and Adrika, you hear the politics coming into a conversation that is deeply personal, that is deeply private, that is deeply painful. You hear people like the former president, Donald Trump, saying that if he were president, women will be happy and free and will no longer be thinking about abortion. This is a quote. You hear a Republican Senate candidate in Ohio saying that abortion is not an issue for women over 50. Why should they care? What goes through your mind, Ms. Shannette, when you hear comments like that?

S. WILLIAMS: How cruel, how pathetic. If we allow one person to have that much control, to have control over women's rights, then we're helping him. We've helped him. And this is the outcome.

COATES: Mr. Crump, let me bring you in here because you represent this family. And blood is boiling all across this country, hearts are breaking, minds blown by this as a reality for this family, and God knows if there are others who are similarly situated. You represent this family.

[23:15:00]

What are the next steps for them?

BEN CRUMP, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: It is about exploring every possible legal avenue to get them some measure of justice. But not just for Amber, for her son, but also for all the other women out there that may be in similar situations. These laws are so vague and ambiguous that doctors may have another Amber in a state like Alabama or Louisiana. How cruel to have patients on the bed that you can save, but you are worried about these laws because they don't give clear instructions on what doctors can do and not do? We have to address these Draconian laws once and for all.

COATES: It just brings tears to my eyes to think about, just in reading, what happened, that in the summary report that they provided, they discussed at least twice the possibility of getting her the help much sooner. And here it was, 20 hours. CJ, Andrika, your mother had a chance to speak to Vice President Harris. I wonder what that meant to your family, to have her hear your story.

C. WILLIAMS: It was -- it was -- it was a very heartfelt moment to be able to speak with her. She cared, she listened, and it just -- you know, it just touched my heart for her to be so genuine with us and allow us the chance to express how we felt about our sister.

COATES: You know, the world has come to know your sister, your daughter, through these unbelievably tragic circumstances. But I just wonder, if you could leave me, Shanette, with something that people don't know about your daughter. What do you want them to know about your baby?

S. WILLIAMS: She was very strong. She was family-oriented. She absolutely loved her son. She would have given him the world. Everything she did, she did it for her son. She had dreams. She had aspiration. On August the 22nd, I received a phone call that she was accepted into nursing school. Her whole being was to be of service to others. She actually worked for the Heart Association and so many people that she touched and helped. And because of these laws, my baby, their sister, only had 28 years on this earth and never was able and will be able to fulfill the life that she had dreamed of.

COATES: CJ, Andrika, Ms. Shanette, I want to thank you all for sharing this journey. I know to even say it's hard is an understatement of a lifetime. But to even know Amber in the small way we have, thank you.

S. WILLIAMS: Thank you.

C. WILLIAMS: Thank you.

THURMAN: Thank you.

COATES: I want to also mention that the Thurman family has launched a GoFundMe page to support Amber's son.

Much more on all of this ahead with my panel, plus the fallout over Kamala Harris's vow to end the filibuster. And breaking tonight, Florida beginning evacuation orders as Tropical Storm Helene nears hurricane status. Chad Myers is live with the brand-new track and advisory just in from the National Hurricane Center, next.

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[23:20:00]

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COATES: Breaking tonight, a brand-new forecast just in for a strengthening storm in the Atlantic. Expect it to hit Florida as the most powerful storm to make landfall in the United States in over a year. Helene is expected to come ashore on Thursday night. Let's go straight to meteorologist Chad Myers. Chad, what is the latest from the advisory?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST AND SEVERE WEATHER EXPERT: Well, we're still 60 miles per hour. Hurricane Hunter aircraft are flying through it right now, so we do know that that's an accurate number. But what is updated at the 11:00 advisory is that landfall will be 120. Now, that's still plus or minus a little bit, but that old number was 115, so this is now forecast to be a stronger storm than even as it was at 5:00 advisory today. Upper 80s is the water temperature. Moving even into the middle 80s, and this storm will intensify. We have to watch the cone because very big cities are on the right side of that cone. Smaller areas, smaller communities are in the middle of the cone, but this still will be a significant storm for the Florida-Georgia border, across Valdosta, and bringing down trees and power lines all the way across parts of Georgia as well.

[23:25:00]

Hurricane warnings obviously already in effect. But it's the storm surge. Ten to 15 feet of saltwater will push into these marshes here up into even towards St. Mark's and the areas here that do have communities involved.

By the time we work our way into Thursday overnight, we start to get the tropical storm force winds across parts of Southern Florida. And then yes, those are the hurricane force winds there in red. We do expect that happening probably sometime around 6:00. Thursday night, the first hurricane force wind will happen, but then 110 mile per hour winds all the way across the coast, even the potential for a tornado or two as the storm makes landfall.

And then it bumps up against the front that's already here, and we will make significant flooding across the southeast. These areas here, Laura, in purple, that's 10 inches or more in a wide swath. That's going to make significant flash flooding.

COATES: Chad Myers, we're watching. Thank you so much.

Back to politics now, and six weeks now until Election Day, the fight over abortion continuing to play a very significant role. Joining me now, national politics reporter for "The Wall Street Journal," Sabrina Siddiqui, also CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton, and Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha. Glad to have you all here.

Look, we were all listening. My heart still is racing from hearing from Amber Thurman's family about what happened to her at that hospital. Many of these conversations are all foreseeable about the risk of what it would mean to have an abortion ban. And politicians are very aware of this, Sabrina. When you hear stories like this contextualized for us politically, how this is playing out?

SABRINA SIDDIQUI, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, first and foremost, I think Amber Thurman's death really lays bare the consequences of these incredibly restrictive abortion laws that we have seen proliferate across the country since the reversal of Roe v. Wade, right?

We've heard many stories of women being turned away from emergency rooms or being denied life-saving care in hospitals because doctors are struggling to interpret these laws. And I think it's not surprising that the more people hear about the impact of these laws, especially on women, the more salient of an issue this becomes for voters and for the American electorate. It's not just an issue for women. I've talked to many moderate and suburban voters who also include men who think about what if this was my daughter, what if this was my wife, or what if this was my sister. So, I think that it's part of why you've seen in the 2022 midterms and potentially now in the upcoming November election abortion continuously ranking in the top three issues for voters at the polls.

COATES: That's why it's kind of odd thinking about, well, men and women, and how much of an issue this is. You have the Senate candidate Bernie Moreno saying that women's focus on abortion as if it's a singular issue is a little bit crazy, and that it's not an issue really for women over 50. Nikki Haley then comes back to say, are you trying to lose the election? Are you trying to do so? Then there's Trump saying, I'll be your protector. This is not really an articulable strategy, Shermichael.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I mean, look, this isn't a good issue for Republicans. We have two years-worth of electoral data that suggests that we just don't do well on this issue. I don't think most voters want the government to utilize compulsory force to dictate what they can or cannot do with their bodies. I'm a conservative, I have very disparate views on this particular issue, but I'm very, very cautious about utilizing government to be restrictive in this form.

With that said, the recent CNN poll that came out had some interesting data. Trump is ahead of Vice President Harris about four or five points, with white women in particular. I thought that was fascinating. Also, in terms of who do you believe support issues that best align with your views, Donald Trump is ahead of the vice president on that front as well.

So, this suggests some very interesting strengths for the former president if he can stick to other issues such as the economy and immigration and stay away from the reproductive issues.

COATES: What's behind those polls?

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR FOR BERNIE SANDERS'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS: Look, there's something -- I'm going to go back to this interview. I thought it was an excellent interview. I think that story needs to be told as an ad maker. And as somebody who tries to get voters to believe stories, there's nothing better than that. And I don't mean that for like, oh my God, we can get a political win out of this horrific story. It's emotion, it's real.

When you were talking to those women, you could see your emotion of interviewing them. That's what real people will see because it's a real issue. When you talk to those men out there, it's because they're thinking about their daughters, they're thinking about their mamas, they're thinking about women in their life who lost something. So that's the reason I'm working over 20 congressional races.

And in every one of these races, there is some kind former fashion of an ad being run, mainly by Democrats using the issue again, because it's working, because it's emotional. And every time you talk about those things about what folks have said today, whether it's Bernie Moreno or Donald Trump, as an old hairy legged man, I'm like, have you ever met a woman? You don't say that if you want to get the woman's vote, like they can see through that every day and twice on Sunday.

COATES: Well, what about the idea of a filibuster being used? I mean, that's pretty significant. You hear -- well, you don't hear Senator Chuck Schumer saying anything about this at the moment in time. But this is a view that Harris has had for quite some time. But now we're in an election year. And, of course, Sinema and Manchin do not support this notion.

[23:30:00]

They're also not running for reelection again, Sabrina.

SIDDIQUI: I mean, as you pointed out, what you saw with Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema is they opposed filibuster rules change for voting rights, and I do think that it's more of a debate that happens here in Washington --

COATES: Hmm.

SIDDIQUI: -- where Republicans will say, well, be careful because right now it's your issue. But then, you know, if Republicans are in the majority of Republican president, then they might try and leverage the filibuster for their own priorities.

But I think the reality is there is a lot of frustration with American voters that there are a lot of initiatives, including access to abortion, that the majority of the public supports. And they're tired of hearing that they can't get past a 60-vote threshold in the Senate. That's not good enough for them. You've seen that on issues like gun violence, you see it on issues like abortion access.

In fact, with a lot of these issues, when you put them on the ballot at the state level, even in conservative states, you've seen voters take steps to protect abortion access. So, I think that there could be a lot of debate over filibuster here. I don't actually know how many voters truly care about the rules and the kind of part of it.

COATES: It's very wonky.

SIDDIQUI: Yeah, it's very wonky.

SINGLETON: I mean, it is, but Senator Tester, who's in a very tight battle, he's probably going to lose that Senate seat. He came out today and said, look, he doesn't support this. I think there are some moderate Democrats in the Senate who would be a big concern about this to run in tight races. Republicans are likely going to regain control of the Senate. But I'm certain if you're Chuck Schumer, you want to protect some of those vulnerable Democrats, and this certainly doesn't help.

COATES: Is that as certain as Shermichael is talking about, the Republicans getting the Senate?

ROCHA: It's going to be very close. But there's one thing that we should say again --

(LAUGHTER)

-- that Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin --

COATES: I heard it, too, Shermichael. I heard it, too.

(LAUGHTER)

ROCHA: -- pay attention. There is one thing for sure that none of us is lying about, which is Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin ain't in the Senate no more for a reason, because they couldn't get reelected with the current policies that they have. That's why they're not seeking re-election. American people, back to these ads (ph), they just won't get something done. And to your point, they know that this 60th threshold, whether it's wonky or not, is something standing in the way of getting something done in the Senate, and that's what the American people say.

COATES: Is it surprising to you just how close this is? I mean, we're what? Forty-two days away, six weeks away. But -- I mean, this could be how it remains until actually Election Day.

ROCHA: What we're not talking about is that in 2020, the Democrats couldn't run a ground operation. It has always been something we had over the Republicans. There are 33 Democratic offices in Pennsylvania. Donald Trump has three. Ground will get you one or two points. And when it's this close, it's no more about these undecided voters. It's about getting out who you know is going to vote for you and new people, and I think that's where the Democrats have a little bit of an edge.

COATES: You agree, Sabrina?

SIDDIQUI: It wasn't close just about two months ago when President Biden was still at the top of the ticket.

(LAUGHTER)

So, if anything, I think Democrats feel like for the first time in a long time, they have a real fighting chance here. We're always expecting to be close. We've seen that the margins have been tens of thousands of votes in a handful of battleground states and that's just the dynamic that we're in this country right now.

COATES: Biden on the ticket, oh, thousand years ago.

(LAUGHTER)

Thank you so much, everyone. Donald Trump escalating his claims of a violent gang takeover in Aurora, Colorado, now claiming they'll be overrunning the entire state. But what does the city's mayor have to say about it? Well ask him. He's up next.

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[23:35:00]

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COATES: Former President Donald Trump railing against immigrants again today. He is claiming without evidence that the state of Colorado is about to be overrun by illegal immigrants. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Aurora, Colorado -- you saw that? -- where Venezuelan gangs are taking over real estate. They become real estate developers. How nice. No, they're taking over real estate. And they have weapons that even our military has to see. Who's giving them these weapons? But Aurora is a mess. They're going to take over a lot more than Aurora. They're going to go through Colorado, take over the whole damn state by the time they finish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Now, this, of course, is complete conjecture, and it's also not true. But you might be asking, how do we even get here? Well, it all started with the real estate management company denying requests to fix up their buildings in Aurora, Colorado. The reason? They claimed that Venezuelan gangs had taken them over. That claim was then repeated by the mayor and a city council member.

Then this video went viral, showing armed men in an Aurora apartment complex. Now CNN has not been able to corroborate the video. But Donald Trump and right-wing media, they have seized on it. And when the mayor tried to walk the narrative back, the narrative had already taken hold, and a strong one at that.

Now, I want to bring in the mayor of Aurora, Colorado, Mike Coffman. Mayor Coffman, thank you for joining me this evening. Many people remember seeing this video and everything that transpired after that. I do wonder, Mayor Coffman, what is your message to the former president about the claims that he is making about your city?

MAYOR MIKE COFFMAN, AURORA, COLORADO: You know, it's only was a chilling video but, you know, we've used our law enforcement assets to descend on that. And the problem doesn't exist in the two apartment complexes that are -- that would have been reference, but it was limited to a very small part of our city. We are the 51st largest city in America, and to have the narrative that the entire city is overrun by Venezuelan gangs through the entire state is just -- is simply not true.

COATES: I mean, there is talk now that he is intending to visit your city, Donald Trump, I mean, and in the next, I guess, two weeks or so. Have you heard any more about that? Do you want him to come, see what's happening in Aurora for himself?

COFFMAN: You know, I --

(LAUGHTER) We haven't heard. The campaign has not reached out to our city and if they are going to come. There's quite a bit of coordination that -- that's required from a -- from a law enforcement, from a security perspective. But I've certainly -- I'd lean into it. I want the president to come here.

[23:39:55]

I want to show the president this city and show him that we're not, in fact, to some gang-infested --

(LAUGHTER)

-- city, that we're a safe city, we're a large city. And I think that the narrative is hurting us.

COATES: How is that narrative hurting your community?

COFFMAN: Well, I think I've gotten calls from -- I mean, it just -- it just gone viral nationally. I've certainly got calls from business leaders like the board of directors from the Gaylord convention and resort. We have a Gaylord hotel here. In fact, it's the largest hotel convention center in the state of Colorado, in the city of Aurora. To have the board of directors, a representative from the board of directors call me and say, hey, is this stuff true? Fortunately, I was able to dispel it. He was convinced that it wasn't true after my conversation.

But, you know, I'm concerned as the mayor in a city that is dynamic in terms of its economy and growing that having a narrative out there that's false isn't helpful.

COATES: Do you have any regrets about the way you initially spoke about the migrant problem in Aurora?

COFFMAN: No, because I think that's the way it was portrayed to me by the law enforcement. But the notion that we're just going to sit on our hands and not do anything about it and this is just going to be static between that point in time and the election is not going to happen. Of course, law enforcement leaned into it. We made a lot of arrests. There is no -- this was -- this was limited to two apartment complexes and there is no control of either complex by any Venezuelan gang or criminal elements, certainly at this time.

COATES: Mayor, if Trump were to visit, certainly, the attention that would come and the talk about the coordination, but what do you hope would be the outcome of a visit from the former president? Are there resources that you think you need in your community that are not otherwise available?

COFFMAN: No, I mean, I think it's an opportunity. It's an opportunity to show the president -- the former president this city, to show that it's a diverse city, it's a dynamic city, and it is not gang-infested. And so, he would -- you know, his statement, I think, to the worst of the effect that he may -- he may come to the city but not be able to exit the city, I mean, it's -- I think that is not true. COATES: Hmm.

COFFMAN: And my hope is that he would then express that -- an accurate view of our city.

COATES: You have since visited the building complex that people are familiar from that video, and you've spoken with the people who are living there. Mayor, what have they told you about their current living situation?

COFFMAN: Well, it's pretty bad, unfortunately. There's an out-of-state landlord, quite frankly, some slumlord that owns several properties in our city, and two of this right now are problematic. One, we closed due to habitability concerns, then there are two that he doesn't have -- he has kind of walked away from, I think, is the best way to put it. He needs to -- needs to take responsibility for his properties, needs to put his property managers back. We certainly offered security with those property managers. He has declined it.

And so, unfortunately, if he doesn't come back in and take over these properties or the lender takes over these properties, unfortunately, we're are going to have to close them.

COATES: Mayor Mike Coffman, thank you so much for joining. I know there's a big spotlight on your city. Let it be for the right reasons in the future. Thank you for joining us.

COFFMAN: Thanks for having me.

COATES: Well, there's heartbreak and there's outrage tonight. This after the state of Missouri has executed Marcellus Williams, a man who said that he was innocent and whose murder conviction was even questioned by the local prosecutor who just tried everything to spare his life. That prosecutor, Wesley Bell, is here with me next.

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COATES: Tonight, a Missouri man has been executed by the state. But a deeply unsettling question remains. Was Marcellus Williams innocent? He was accused of killing Felicia Gayle in 1998. But a reexamination of evidence raised questions about whether he actually did it. After years of investigations and hearings, Missouri Governor Mike Parson stepped in this year and ordered the execution to move forward. Now, that was despite prosecutors, Williams's family, and even the family of Gayle pleading to spare Williams's life. Now, that did not happen.

And tonight, a last-ditch appeal to the Supreme court was rejected with the 663-vote falling along ideological lines. A devout practicing Muslim, Williams's last words were, "All praise be to Allah in every situation." The man's last meal, chicken wings and tater tots. And at 7.01 p.m. Eastern time tonight, Marcellus Williams was given the lethal injection of the sedative pentobarbital. And nine minutes later, he was pronounced dead.

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DAVID LEE, ASSOCIATED PRESS: At one point, he appeared to wiggle his feet, which were underneath a white sheet that's pulled up to his neck, moved his head slightly. Then I could see his chest heaved about a half dozen times. I didn't see any movement after that.

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COATES: The death penalty, ladies and gentlemen. Neither family spoke after the execution. But many people in the public did. Nearly 100 people protesting outside of the correctional facility even today. But the governor through a spokesperson, well, they defended the execution.

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TREVOR FOLEY, DIRECTOR, MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: No juror nor judge has ever found Williams's innocence claim to be credible. Two decades of judicial proceedings and more than 15 judicial hearings upheld his guilty conviction. Thus, the execution, the order of execution has been carried out.

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COATES: With me now, St. Louis prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell, who is also running for Congress. Wesley Bell, you and I have spoken in the past when there was a chance that they would stay the execution, a fancy way of saying to continue for time to investigate the possibility that he was, in fact, innocent. What is your reaction tonight knowing that did not happen and he is now dead?

WESLEY BELL, ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: Justice -- the interests of justice were not served. And as a prosecutor, as you know, as a former prosecutor, our job is not to get convictions, it's not to collect stats, it's to bring justice.

And for us, for the folks that -- in my office, Lathrop GPM, Matthew Jacober, Alana McMullin, Teresa Hurla, my office, the Conviction Incident Review Unit led by Jessica Hathaway, we're talking about folks who invested blood, sweat, and now tears to spare his life, because it was the right thing to do. When there's -- if there's the shadow of the doubt with respect to innocence or the integrity of a conviction --

COATES: Hmm.

BELL: -- at the very least, that individual should not be executed. And it is -- to say disappointing would be an understatement. There were several opportunities on the timeline, if you will. Obviously, this case predated me --

COATES: Right. BELL: -- originally. And so, there's -- you know, 20 plus years ago. But throughout the appellate process and now, once we have had an opportunity, there have been opportunities for decisions to be made, that would have -- should have resulted in Mr. Williams's life being spared. And the system failed. It failed all of us.

COATES: You have to wonder why there was such a vested interest in the speed of this. After this was a murder from decades ago at this point in time. Now that this was underway, why do you think there was the haste to do so, given your office said no, the victim's families said no, he was not asking to be released, he wanted time to investigate further and was even willing to plead guilty to lesser charges, which I might add, there were people who said, well, hold on, that must mean that he's probably guilty? What's your response to that?

BELL: What he was willing to agree to was called an Alford plea, as you know, which he is not pleading guilty to the charges. He's acknowledging that there's enough evidence to convict him. But that was --that was really for us to be able to buy time to be able to investigate his claims of innocence because the execution date was set. If the execution date was stayed or just pushed back a few months to give us more time to investigate this matter, we may have been able to determine whether or not he was, in fact, innocent or not. But as you know, it's not just about innocence, it's also about the integrity of the conviction.

COATES: Right.

BELL: And there are serious, legitimate concerns about this conviction. And at the very least, he shouldn't be executed. That's what we're asking. This was not a dichotomy between execution or release. This was execution or life in prison without the possibility of parole. And then his team, they would have time to vet his claims of innocence.

But now, we're looking at a family who had to relive this again. Felicia Gayle's family had to relive this all over again. And as the prosecutor, I can't look them in the eye and say the right person was punished because we don't know.

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COATES: That's the scariest aspect of this and also very difficult to maintain faith in a system that prosecutors, you and I know, how impactful and how much we can control certain aspects of it, and to know that you are fighting to understand the integrity of the conviction. And that's done.

BELL: We have to. Our job, we have to recommend folks go to jail sometime. That's part of our job. But it's also part of our job to make certain there's safeguards to ensure that we get it right, even if that means 20 years later. And so even though this case predated me, it was -- our offices still had an obligation to do everything that we could to make certain that justice was served. And we fought. I'm -- it's tough. It's tough. COATES: It is very emotional to think about what happened at 7 p.m. tonight. Wesley Bell, thank you so much. And thank you all for watching. "Anderson Cooper 360" is next.

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