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Body Camera Footage Leaked of Police Beating and Tasing Black Man Who Subsequently Died in Louisiana in 2019; Louisiana State Police Description of Incident Leading to Death of Black Man Does Not Match Body Camera Footage; Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) is Interviewed About the January 6 Commission and NY Prosecutors Investigating Trump Org. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 20, 2021 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Experience in so many places. Thank you so much.

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "THE CHICAGO SUN-TIME": Thank you, John.

NEW DAY continues right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar alongside Joe Biden. On this NEW DAY, disturbing video surfacing of a black man's last moments alive in police custody. Why it proves police tried to lie about what happened to him.

Plus, the Republican revolt in the House. Will GOP senators buck their party and vote for a January 6th commission?

BERMAN: A key figure in the Trump Organization under pressure. Could Trump's money man flip on the former president?

And the homeowner seen pointing a rifle at protesters last summer is now running for Senate. Should voters support a guy facing felony charges?

KEILAR: A very good morning to viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Thursday, May 20th. And there are disturbing new revelations about the death of a black man in police custody two years ago. A lawyer for the family of Ronald Greene says they were initially told that he crashed his car while being pursued by Louisiana state troopers in 2019.

BERMAN: Now body camera footage has emerged, and it shows Greene being tased, kicked, and dragged by the officers before his death. The case is now the subject of a federal civil rights investigation. CNN's Ryan Young joins us live now to explain exactly the timeline of what happened and what we were told about what happened, Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, let's also not forget that this video was leaked. It was not officially released, and so we've never seen the full tape so far. And if you think about it, the family has been in limbo for the last two years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm your brother. I'm scared!

YOUNG: Terrifying pleas from Ronald Greene after a high-speed chase led to a deadly confrontation with Louisiana State Police just outside the city of Monroe in May of 2019.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get up here!

YOUNG: In bodycam video obtained by the Associated Press, troopers can be seen repeatedly punching Greene after dragging him out of his vehicle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taser, taser, taser.

YOUNG: Troopers tased Greene multiple times while he's face down on the ground as they attempt to handcuff him. Another trooper can be seen kicking Greene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got blood all over me. I hope this guy ain't got f- AIDS.

YOUNG: The Associated Press released three segments of the original video, which it says is 46 seconds long. Only two of the video clips have audio. CNN has neither reviewed or obtained the original video, and it's unclear what occurred before or in between the video clips. The video is being seen by the public for the first time, but the incident took place two years ago.

The body cam footage is shocking considering the way the encounter was described in the Louisiana State Police initial state report in 2019, which says troopers attempted to pull Greene over for an unspecified traffic violation that ended when Greene crashed his vehicle. The report also says, quote, "Greene was taken into custody after resisting arrest and a struggled with troopers." Greene died on the way to the hospital, the report said.

At no time on the video can troopers be seen trying to render any medical aid to Greene who, according to the Associated Press, was face down and moaning for more than nine minutes. CNN has reached out to the attorneys for the officers for comment. Lee Merritt is an attorney for the Greene family and spoke to CNN.

LEE MERRITT, ATTORNEY FOR THE GREENE FAMILY: It's not only what you're seeing but the sounds that go with it. You can hear him screaming and writhing in pain. As he says, I'm your brother. Please stop. I'm sorry. I was just scared.

YOUNG: The Department of Justice is investigating the incident, and in a statement to CNN, the Louisiana State Police says "The premature public release of investigative files and video evidence in this case was not authorized and was not obtained through official sources. LSP is confident in the judicial system and fair review of this incident and continues to offer our full cooperation. Unauthorized release of evidence undermines the investigative process and compromised the fair and impartial outcome for the Greene family, LSP employees, and the community. We are unable to provide any further information at this time."

Greene's mother tells NBC she thinks the Louisiana State Police murdered her son.

MONA HARDIN, MOTHER OF RONALD GREENE: They beat him with the purpose of letting him just die.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

YOUNG (on camera): John, when you think about this, it's so very difficult watching this video over and over. One of the things about it, though, is Greene was left pretty much face down. And we know from watching the George Floyd case that officers should flip people over so that the person can, obviously, be able to breathe. That did not happen in this case. Lee Merritt is hoping that more of this video would come out. That way the public can see what actually happened.

[08:05:00]

BERMAN: Ryan Young, thank you very much for this.

Joining us now is Detroit Interim Police Chief James Craig and former Philadelphia police commissioner Charles Ramsey, a CNN law enforcement analyst. Chief Craig, let me ask you this. There are two issues here. Number one, the treatment that Ronald Greene experienced there, but number two, what the police said about what happened, the fact that they said there was a struggle, but they certainly didn't say tased. They didn't say there was blood flying everywhere, so much that they commented on it. And then they merely said he died in the car afterwards, as if it just miraculously happened in a vacuum. The omission here of the details seem glaring, yes?

INTERIM CHIEF JAMES CRAIG, DETROIT POLICE: Absolutely, John. This is deeply troubling, and certainly my prayers go out to the Greene family. But you point out the two big issues. One, we know just looking at the video, this was an example of what defines excessive use of force. And then on top of that, the inaccurate report, and on top of that, they indicate that the officer was at some point suspended. He returned to work. So what's the status of the internal investigation?

Let's face it. This is yet another big setback for our profession. We're in a crisis right now, and this does nothing. And then the fact that there are statements being made about premature release of this information, I guess these folks haven't been paying attention on what's going on around the country. This is about maintaining public trust, and you're not going to maintain public trust when you withhold significant information. So this is bad. And here we are, yet another incident.

KEILAR: It is hard, Commissioner Ramsey, to look at this Louisiana State Police statement where they're emphasizing that this is an unauthorized release. In a way it's like, thank God that we can see something here which is the contrast between the truth and what is represented by the police in the report in this case. We saw this in the case of George Floyd. That police report did not describe what happened to George Floyd at all.

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, there's no question about it. First of all, apparently the officials down in Louisiana are completely out of touch. I couldn't agree more with Chief Craig on that issue. But there are a lot of troubling parts of this. The tasing of the individual for an extended period of time, the fact that he was laying in a prone position face down for such an extended period of time. And you can see from that, even though there was no extra body weight applied to him during the majority of that period of time, it's still very hard to breathe when you're laying on your chest with your arms behind your back.

And you couple that with the fact that his heart rate was probably elevated and he was excited because of all the things going on, that clearly is something that should not have happened. He tried to roll over at one point and one of the troopers actually prevented him from rolling over. And then the dragging later in the tape, you can see one trooper actually dragging him by his ankles.

This is, without question, excessive force. My understanding is the ruling of the medical examiner was accidental, but she was not told that there was that kind of physical contact with police. So this is a very troubling case on a lot of different levels, and that tape should have been released a long time ago. It kind of reminds me a little bit with the Laquan McDonald, the length of time it took to release the tape, the lying in the initial reports by the officers. All these things, that's part of a cover-up. It's really no more complicated than that.

BERMAN: Again, what we see and what they said just don't line up, Chief Craig. And this again puts a spotlight on the issue in terms of reporting, among other things, and I think public belief after incidents like this about just taking at face value when police say, dot, dot, dot. Well, if police say in the case of Ronald Greene, he just happened to die in the car afterwards, but they don't tell us about everything that happened before that, how can we be just believing blindly what police say?

CRAIG: Well, we certainly don't want to paint an entire profession with a broad brush. This had happened in Detroit and this was this type of cover-up, that police officer would not be employed, regardless of what happens with any potential criminal charges. And I agree with Chuck. There are a lot of issues here. And while it was ruled an accidental death, what's mindboggling for me, this man was dragged. There had to be contusions. He was beaten, he was choked. Did the medical examiner take those issues into account, or was she just blind to the fact that this was all as a result of an accident? It's difficult. The cover-up runs deep. That's my two cents.

[08:10:03]

KEILAR: You look at that video, the disregard for human life here is just indisputable. Chief Craig, Commissioner Ramsey, thank you to both of you.

RAMSEY: Thank you.

CRAIG: Thank you so much.

KEILAR: Thirty-five House Republicans voted against whitewashing the insurrection. Next, how many GOP senators will say yes to a commission investigation?

BERMAN: Plus, what secrets does the CFO of the Trump Organization hold? His possible role in a now criminal investigation. And the new Senate Republican candidate in Missouri, his biggest claim to fame might be breaking the law.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: The choice now facing Senate Republicans is this, truth or Trump. After the House approved a commission to investigate the January 6th Capitol attack, a vote in the Senate could come as soon as next week. Thirty-five House Republicans joined the yeas rebuking Leader Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy worked hard. He was working the phones behind the scenes against this bill -- 175 Republicans voted against the commission. Now getting Republican senators to buck leadership and join Democrats in the Senate might be impossible because Mitch McConnell has come out and said he is a no vote.

Joining us now, CNN senior political analyst John Avlon. With where things stand in the Senate.

[08:15:00]

Let's start with the guys we think -- I guess the ones who stated they are definitely no, even though we know it's much more than just these guys.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, look, the folks who said they are definitely no. McConnell is the key bellwether, of course. It's still significant to see some folks go against what they have said recently.

For example, Mike Rounds. Just the other day, Mike Rounds of South Dakota said, look, it's clear there was an insurrection. We're not going to sweep this under the rug. Now, he's holding up a corner of the rug and has a broom in the other hand.

You know, McConnell is motivated by pure politics. Look, could this impact the 2022 midterms negatively? That's what's driving this. But he's going to be using all his power to reinforce McCarthy's message. A lot of folks have been swayed today. But it's still a jump ball move.

BERMAN: Yeah, McConnell was, yeah, I'm looking at it. Rounds was a probably. Now they're definite nos. That's what's really interesting here. Who were the ones likely yeses?

AVLON: Some of the usual suspects here as well, right? I mean, a lot of the folks who voted to impeach and convict President Trump. Lisa Murkowski, Bill Cassidy, Pat Toomey, Mitt Romney, Lindsey Graham, unexpected to addition this. But here's a South Carolina windsock factor here. So, I wouldn't put too much stock into it.

BERMAN: Again, I don't know if he's a likely yes. And then the ones who have said they are concerned about it.

AVLON: Yes, and look, we've got a caveat that this is still a jump ball moment that, you know, we haven't been able to talk to all the senators but the House leadership and McConnell really weighed in and said, look, don't vote for this. It's bad for us politically. They made the case it was duplicative.

And they also made a lot of arguments refuted by John Katko, the Republican of New York who co-authored the bill and really blistered and directly addressed these. Among the concerns that put people like Susan Collins on the real question list is this. Will there be the power for the Republican deputy, you know, in effect on the commission, which is split 5-5 to hire staff?

Katko says yes. It's all in consultation together. The Republican leadership is saying, that's not a factor. So, some of these may be addressable questions either by real facts, rather than partisan spin, or by adjusting the bill accordingly.

But this is where you'll see, can they get to ten? If they don't, the reason that matters is, will this be the first filibuster of this era? Will Republicans try to filibuster a bipartisan investigation into January 6th? That's a real mark.

BERMAN: Yes. And again, if you are holding out hope for Rick Scott or Chuck Grassley here --

AVLON: I wouldn't hold your breath.

BERMAN: You haven't been listening to what they are saying. Talk to me about Greg Pence, a brother, a congressman from Indiana now in his own right, the brother of the former vice president. The one that they wanted to hang during the insurrection.

AVLON: Yeah. This is kind of everything you need to know about the state of play right now. His brother was -- had an angry mob shouting to hang him and he said, you know, let's vote against this independent bipartisan commission. He said, you know, Nancy Pelosi is acting like a hanging judge getting ahead of the law.

This is not just something as cowardly and destructive and divisive as party over country. This case, it's party over family and that shows you how twisted the mindset is right now in Washington.

BERMAN: Take my brother, please, says Congressman Greg Pence.

Thanks so much, John.

Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: To (ph) brother, more like it there. My goodness.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: I want to bring in Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier of California. She serves on the House Intelligence Committee and also the House Armed Services Committee.

Congresswoman, thank you for being with us this morning.

You know the signs right now in the Senate not so good when it comes to getting a commission moved forward for Congress here. This would be a commission, to be clear, that is not made up of members of Congress but outside folks, and it would be split even between Democrats and Republicans picking those people.

Yesterday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told CNN that if that doesn't happen, he's backing a House-only effort. He said we're going to pursue this one way or the other.

Do you support that?

REP. JACKIE SPEIER (D-CA): I support getting to the truth. And we have got to be clear-eyed about this. This was an insurrection. This was a bloody, deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol. Our democracy was hanging on a thread.

And to somehow call it a Capitol tour when 140 police officers were injured, 81 of them, Capitol Police, one lost his eye, one lost his finger, one is dead today, one committed suicide. One had a heart attack.

I mean, this is not something that can be swept under the rug. Now be careful what they wish for in the Senate. I would love to have Majority Leader Schumer actually have this go to a full-fledged filibuster.

Let's talk about what went on. I think the American people have to be reminded that we were so vulnerable that there could have been, literally, a coup.

I was in that gallery. I was fearing for my life. And for anyone to somehow suggest that this was -- you know, just some accidental happening or that people were being fair. It boggles my mind and should boggle American people's mind.

KEILAR: But you're saying you want to get to the truth. So, I'm taking that and correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm taking that to mean that if there is no bipartisan, bicameral commission, then you're looking at a House Select Committee investigation for instance. But just to be clear, we're talking about two incredibly different things here.

The one right now pushed forward, written by a Republican congressman, Congressman Katko, is, you know, this is, by all appearances, kind of not -- nonpartisan, right? Or it's very equal in terms of the removal with the folks who would be on the commission from Congress. This is something that would be like the 9/11 Commission.

The other thing we're talking about is members of Congress, maybe probably more Democrats than Republicans. It would be seen as political. And it's hard to see how you actually keep it nonpolitical.

So, how is that really what the American people deserve?

SPEIER: Well, you know, more importantly, they deserve the truth. And to somehow suggest that there's not going to be truth coming out of a Select Committee created in the House, don't forget the Republicans had over 33 Benghazi hearings and, you know, this was not in our country. This was, you know, in Benghazi.

We have -- we have domestic terrorism in this country right now. We have got to get to the bottom of it. We've got to find out where it starts, where they are coalescing, and how do we prevent this kind of activity. We're concerned about terrorism around the world. We've got it right here.

So if there's a presidential commission created, I am for that, too. But we're not going to play politics with the fact that people have lost their lives. Law enforcement officers lost their lives and there was almost a mass killing in the Capitol on January 6th.

KEILAR: Congresswoman, if you could stay with us. We have other news that I want to get your take on. I'm going to send it to John.

BERMAN: Well, hello, there.

So, new overnight, CNN was the first to report that the New York attorney general's office has opened a criminal tax investigation into the Trump organization's chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg.

Now, people familiar with the investigation say it was opened a few months ago by the New York Attorney General Letitia James. It comes just after the New York attorney general announced that that office is joining the Manhattan district attorney's office in a criminal probe into the Trump Organization.

Joining us now, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig.

Elie, Allen Weisselberg, here he is. You know, bigger than -- larger than life in front of us here. Explain us to exactly who he is, where he fits in Trump world and what they're now investigating surrounding him.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah, John, if prosecutors manage to flip Allen Weisselberg, and they certainly are trying now, he could hold the keys to the kingdom. This is a financial case. He's the longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization.

And let me show you why that's so important. For all the gilded towers and Trump towers, really at its heart, the Trump Organization is a small family-run operation. We know who the key players are. Donald Trump, of course, is the owner. His sons Don Junior and Eric are executive vice presidents, Ivanka Trump, his daughter, was an executive VP before she went to work for the White House.

The one person who has inner circle access who is not a Trump is Allen Weisselberg. He's the chief financial officer. He's been there for decades. So if they flip him, he can really break this case open.

And especially important when we look at what are the potential allegations here? The core of the investigation that we're seeing relate to finances. Did the Trump Organization falsely inflate or deflate the value of some of their real estate holdings, including these four that we see on the board? The theory is, when they applied for a bank loan, they would inflate the value to get bigger bank loans. And when it came tax time, what would they do, deflate the value so you pay less tax.

Think about how Allen Weisselberg, if he flipped, could blow the lid right off that.

BERMAN: What are they looking at, though, specifically in terms of Weisselberg right now? They're closing in on him or they're investigating -- we don't know how close they are to anything. They're investigating him for tax reasons. What exactly?

HONIG: So, when you are a prosecutor and you want to flip somebody, you're going to need leverage, right? They're not going to flip. Allen Weisselberg is not going to flip out of the goodness of his heart.

What they are trying to get is a tax charge. The idea is he was paid income by the Trump organization but disguised to pay tuition for his children. He should have to pay taxes on that. And if he didn't, they could have tax problem.

Now, Cy Vance is the Manhattan D.A. He's been on this case since 2018. It started with the hush money payments.

[08:25:00]

Remember that. Now it's expanded.

Letitia James, the state attorney general, of course, has announced this week that she is joining the criminal piece of this investigation. So they are joining forces and bringing even more resources to bear.

What's their evidence? There's a lot we don't. Prosecutors know more than we do but we know some important things.

Michael Cohen -- Michael Cohen has been talking to these prosecutors many, many times. We know that because he likes to tell the public about it. He's been in many times to speak with the D.A. and the A.G.

You don't bring in someone as many times as they've brought in Michael Cohen unless you plan to bank on them.

BERMAN: No, but you also need corroboration to anything Michael Cohen says. HONIG: Yes, you certainly do. They deposed Eric Trump. We don't know

exactly what the topic was. I assume they're seeing whether his testimony lines up with other things.

The tax returns. We talk about corroboration. They fought -- prosecutors fought all the way to the Supreme Court. They have Trump's tax returns now. You measure those against Michael Cohen's testimony.

BERMAN: Very quickly, based on what we know about what they are looking at with Weisselberg, do you think it would be enough to get him to flip, the guy who's that loyal?

HONIG: So, tax charges in New York state can be from a misdemeanor, which would not be enough to make anyone flip, up to 25 years, which, if they can get the numbers up there, that could cause someone to flip, John.

BERMAN: Elie Honig, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Brianna?

KEILAR: All right. Let's talk to Congresswoman Jackie Speier about this.

What is your reaction, Congresswoman, to this -- it's really broadening. It's getting more serious. The New York AG in this criminal investigation of the Trump Org.

SPEIER: I think it's quite serious. Not only can the Trump Organization be held criminally liable with heavy financial repercussions to that, but they could pierce the corporate veil which is a legal term and show that this was really Trump who was pulling all the strings.

Allen Weisselberg, I was always surprised that the president did not pardon Allen Weisselberg. And that could be reason enough for him to want to flip.

Michael Cohen found out the hard way that Donald Trump was not his buddy. And I think he also made it very clear that there was a lot of abuse going on. All you have to do is look at Donald Trump's track record, the foundation, Trump University. They're all frauds.

And if, in fact, they establish tax fraud, there's no statute of limitations on that. So this is serious. And it should be serious.

KEILAR: Separately, I want to ask you about a move by the Biden administration, which has done something that actually Russia loves. They are waiving sanctions against the Russian-owned company that is building a Russia to Germany natural gas pipeline, and they are foregoing sanctions against that company's CEO.

This is a decision that was made with U.S./German relations in mind, not U.S./Russian relations, but it's certainly a victory for Vladimir Putin. What do you say to this? SPEIER: Well, I think, as you point out, it's more about Germany than

it is about Russia. They need the energy. And this is probably a negotiating tool that the president is using to make sure that Germany is -- continues to be part of the E.U., continues to be both a neighbor and ally.

But there's many other people that can be sanctioned within the Russian sphere. And I hope we continue to hold them accountable because their behavior has been truly painful.

And the recent pipeline incident that is -- that appears to be coming from Russian insiders would suggest that -- I don't believe that anything goes on in Russia without Putin's fingerprints all over it. So whether these were third party actors or not, they had to have had the blessings of Vladimir Putin.

KEILAR: You believe they did? You believe that Vladimir Putin ultimately is behind the colonial pipeline hacking?

SPEIER: I believe that nothing happens in Russia without his approval. And if it does happen and he's unpleased with it, there are ramifications. You get poisoned, among others.

KEILAR: Congresswoman Jackie Speier, thank you.

SPEIER: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Next, you probably remember that guy who pointed a rifle at protesters walking by his House. Well, he is now facing felony charges. And the GOP thinks he'd make a good senator.

BERMAN: Plus, the congressman who compared capitol rioters to tourists. A picture that proves he should know better.

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