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New Day
Spears Asks Court to end Conservatorship; Legal Aspects of Spears' Case; David Rochester Shares his COVID Story. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired June 24, 2021 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:30:00]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Michael Waltz, who is a -- was a -- is a Green Beret, is retired. But on Gaetz's part, after this hearing, he tweeted, taking specific aim at Milley. And he said, quote, with generals like this, it's no wonder we fought considerably more wars than we have won.
A note that Gaetz himself has never served in the military.
What is your response to that tweet?
REP. CHRISSY HOULAHAN (D-PA): Again, I'm incredibly disappointed by many of the members of the body of Congress who use their bully pulpit, their platform, their very precious time to antagonize the people of America and to disparage those who wear the uniform on their behalf to allow them to have the opportunity to speak in that way and in that tone.
KEILAR: Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, thank you so much for being with us this morning.
HOULAHAN: You're welcome. Have a good day.
KEILAR: All right, you as well.
We're keeping our eye on Miami right now. There are operations underway in Miami Beach, there's an apartment building that has partially collapsed. This is an awful scene, as you can see here. We are live on the scene, next.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, Britney Spears pleading with a judge to remove the conservatorship she has been under for nearly 13 years. What she says about her father and his alleged control of her body and finances.
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[06:35:24]
BERMAN: All right, you're looking at pictures right now of the building collapse overnight in Surfside, Florida. This is a condo building with about 100 units inside. It collapsed at about 2:00 a.m. So, obviously, the fear this morning is there could have been people trapped inside. This is -- oh my goodness.
KEILAR: And I think the most troubling thing is that when you look at this from above, which we have been able to do online, where the rubble has fallen is where the building was. At first there was a thought that perhaps it wasn't that much of the building. It does seem to be that it is a considerable portion of the building that would have encompassed certainly multiple parts of units. So we're not just talking about one side of a building going down. We're talking about a substantial portion of this building going down.
And right now you have hundreds of rescue crew members that are trying to see if there are survivors, if there are people that they can pull out of the rubble.
BERMAN: Obviously, we're waiting for information from the scene. We do expect some kind of news conference, although they're feverishly working there right now, so it may be some time.
How does that happen? How does a building like that just collapse? One of the questions they'll be facing this morning.
In the meantime, the stunning statement from Britney Spears about the 13-year legal arrangement with her father. Spears pleaded with a judge to end the conservatorship which she calls abusive.
CNN's Stephanie Elam is live in Los Angeles.
And, Stephanie, a lot of us have been following this story for some time. Even people following it closely were just stunned by the passion and the detail that Britney Spears provided.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Because she hasn't actually publicly spoken about the conservatorship before, John. She saved all of that ire for yesterday in court and she wanted everyone to hear what she's been dealing with. She called it demoralizing and embarrassing. And most of her ire directed at her father.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRITNEY SPEARS, MUSICIAN (singing): Hit me baby one more time.
ELAM (voice over): Britney Spears is angry. She wants her life back and she wants the world to know it. Speaking remotely to a Los Angeles County courtroom, the pop singer saying her wish and dream is for the conservatorship to end, a legal arrangement she's been living with for nearly 13 years.
In the status hearing, Spears expressing frustration over the lack of control of her own life, saying, quote, I'm traumatized. I'm not happy. I can't sleep. I'm so angry it's insane. Even adding she wants to marry and have another child, both major life moments she says the current conservatorship doesn't allow.
Her father's only response to the artist's stinging criticisms was that he loves and misses her. The trouble for Britney Spears began in 2007. Her girl next door image
unraveling in front of the paparazzi who were always chasing her, capturing her every move, especially the uncomfortable moments in the singer's personal life.
The following year, multiple health and psychiatric issues landed Spears in the hospital in January. Her father, Jamie Spears, filed a petition with the Los Angeles County superior court that February to place her under a temporary probate conservatorship. Jamie Spears and attorney Andrew Wallet becoming permanent co-conservators of Britney's estimated $60 million estate in October 2008. Her father getting control of her medical care, something Spears spoke emotionally about, saying, quote, I want to be able to get married and have a baby. I was told I can't get married. I have an IUD inside me but this so-called team won't let me go to the doctor to remove it because they don't want me to have any more children. This conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good.
LISA MACCARLEY, CONSERVATORSHIP ATTORNEY: Usually most conservatorships in probate court are for the elderly, people that have -- have exhibited memory deficits or judgment deficits that are pervasive and most likely going to endure for the rest of their lives.
ELAM: But through all this, Britney Spears kept working, while under this conservatorship, releasing several albums, two that went platinum.
SPEARS: What's up Vegas!
ELAM: Holding down her "Pieces of Me" Las Vegas residency, reportedly earning her $30 million and serving as a judge on "The X Factor."
Attorney Andrew Wallet resigned in the spring of 2019, leaving Spears' father in control of just about every aspect of Britney's life. But last summer, Britney pushed back in legal documents her court- appointed lawyer stating, Britney is, quote, strongly opposed to having her father as conservator and requested that Jamie be removed.
Instead, a judge in November added Bessemer Trust, a private wealth and investment management firm, as a co-conservator to oversee her estate.
[06:40:06]
Now Spears wants to pick her own lawyer and, as she said in court, quote, I just want my life back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELAM: And one of the really impactful things that Britney Spears said in court was about her father. She said, he loved to control, to hurt his own daughter and 100,000 percent he loved it. After she spoke her mind for the whole world to hear, she then said through her lawyer that she now believes that the proceedings should be sealed.
John and Brianna. BERMAN: Stephanie Elam, like I said, this was stunning to hear, had never heard anything like this from her and now the questions are, what will it mean for all of this? Thank you so much for your reporting here.
How hard will it be for Spears to get out of this conservatorship? We're going to ask a lawyer next.
KEILAR: And coming up, never before seen body camera footage from the Capitol riot and brand new reaction from the family of fallen Officer Brian Sicknick.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know his last moments on earth were, you know, experiencing all of this, it's just horrible. It's heartbreaking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[06:45:10]
BERMAN: Speaking publicly for the first time in a court hearing regarding her court-ordered conservatorship, Britney Spears pleaded with a judge to take her concerns seriously, saying she is traumatized by the arrangement, before calling it, quote, abusive.
Joining us now, Troy Martin, attorney at Lurie Zepeda Law Firm, specializing in trusts, estates and probates.
Thanks so much for being with us.
You say you were astounded by what you heard. I think fans were stunned that she said it and stunned hearing her story. But you, as a lawyer, were astounded because if what she says is true, what does that mean legally?
TROY L. MARTIN, TRUSTS, ESTATES AND PROBATE ATTORNEY: Well, first of all, she leveled some very serious allegations against the team that is handling her. And those allegations require a very serious response.
A conservator generally does not have the power to involuntary confine somebody in psychiatric treatment, to force them to take drugs such as lithium, or to interfere with their reproductive rights. And if those things are really going on, it certainly would require the removal and replacement of the conservators at the least.
KEILAR: She made -- when it comes to that, I do want to play the bit about the lithium, but she was making the point that if she didn't do as they wanted, you know, whether it was rehearsing for an upcoming performance or just being, quote/unquote, cooperative, that she would be punished. She said that about the lithium, if we can just listen to that.
BERMAN: It's --
KEILAR: Or, sorry, if we can actually see that full screen.
She said, he immediately, the next day, put me on lithium out of nowhere. This was after she had really bowed out of a series of performances. He took me off my normal meds I've been on for five years, and lithium is a very, very strong and completely different medication compared to what I was -- you can't hear that part or understand that part. Then she says, you can go mentally impaired if you take too much, if you stay on it longer than five months. She said she felt drunk. She couldn't even take up for herself. She said she couldn't even have a conversation with her mom or dad. She told him she was scared and her doctor had her with six different nurses with this new medication coming to stay at her home.
What do you think of this stunning allegation, especially that it was used in a way as a punishment?
MARTIN: That sort of thing should not be happening. In a conservatorship, the conservators have a duty to provide the conservatee with as much autonomy and -- to control their own lives as possible. Britney is obviously a very capable person to be able to tour, to record new albums, to be on live television and it appears that this conservatorship, if her allegations are true, is entirely too controlling and they're not giving her the power that they should be giving her.
BERMAN: Look, I don't know if Britney Spears knew that the nature of these specific allegations, as you say, go against what you believe to be generally allowed in conservatorships, control over her body, not , you know, not wanting to have an IUD, wanting to get married, not wanting to be on lithium. But if you look at what she said, the totality, line by line, she blows up what generally is known to be the nature of most conservatorships there.
What recourse does she have? She said she wasn't even aware she could petition the judge or how to petition the judge to end it.
MARTIN: I find it absolutely amazing that nobody along the lines has ever described to her that her rights, that she has the power to terminate the conservatorship, or at least petition the court to terminate it. Her court-appointed attorney has a duty, just like any attorney has to any client, to advise them of all of their legal options. And if she is saying to the court investigator that I want this to end, the court investigator should be telling her to talk to her court-appointed lawyer to make sure that her rights are being respected.
KEILAR: Troy, she said over and over, I am someone who -- look at me, I'm -- I've been working, I've been paying for a tour or all of these performances, employing people, and that seemed to not match up with someone who would need a conservatorship, in her view. Is that something that the court will really take into consideration?
MARTIN: I think it's a part of what the court would consider. But one thing that makes this conservatorship completely unique is the amount of celebrity that she has and how that impacts the decision making of the court. One of the things the court is going to take into account is that she is in a business where there is no shortage of people who are just eager and waiting to take advantage of her.
[06:50:07]
And, in my mind, that kind of raises the bar for her to establish that she'll be able to function and thrive in this environment.
BERMAN: Troy Martin, we appreciate you laying out the legal issues here because it's clear not only is that the personal relationship with her father, the perhaps alleged betrayal there, but there are questions about if the system has let her down over time. So, thank you so much for being with us this morning.
MARTIN: It's my pleasure. Thank you.
BERMAN: So, a father of two is back home with his family after fighting coronavirus for six months. How -- and he was in a coma for, what, like 50 days.
KEILAR: Yes.
BERMAN: He joins us next to talk about his emotional homecoming.
KEILAR: Plus, a major breakthrough on infrastructure ahead of a critical 24 hours for President Biden's agenda, but will progressive Democrats get on board?
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard. It's hard to imagine how this could happen. I've lived in Miami Beach. I was born here. And buildings just don't fall down.
(INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never. Never. And, I mean, it's -- it's -- it's the most shocking thing that I think we've seen ever.
[06:55:02]
Ever.
(INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like an earthquake. That's -- that's what it does look like.
(INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry? Yes, the building has been cleared. Yes. And, by the way, those -- those fire guys that went up in that building, not knowing whether it was going to collapse, we need to give those guys a medal because I wouldn't have gone near that building. I mean it was just frightening. And those guys deserve some real attention, whoever they -- whoever they are.
(INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I believe, you know, they've got engineers that are going through the building now. I think the fire department has engineers. And there are guys -- there's search and rescue up in -- yes, I can hear you.
(INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: All right, SPD was on his hat, so I'm assuming that is Surfside PD there from north of Miami. But he was saying, as we're looking at this building collapse, which is a significant part of this building, which is right there along Collins Avenue in Surfside, Florida, he said it's hard to imagine that this happened. Buildings don't just fall down. And he said this is the most shocking thing that they've ever seen.
BERMAN: The most shocking thing he has seen ever.
One bit of information is the remaining part of the building that was standing, they have cleared. They've been able to go in and clear the people out of it from the part of the building still standing. We don't have or didn't hear information about if there is anyone still trapped in that rubble or a status of the search and rescue operation that we believe is still underway, nor did we hear, in his mind, any explanation for how this building collapsed.
Simply stunning to see these pictures this morning now that the light is coming up. A hundred units in this building. To get a sense of how many people might have been inside, 100 units in the building. We don't know how many people or how many of them were occupied at 2:00 a.m., when it collapsed.
KEILAR: Yes, we don't.
We're going to keep an eye on this because, obviously, this is a story that's developing and we are waiting to get more information on possible casualties in a significant chunk of this building that is just gone.
Meanwhile, this morning, a Massachusetts man, who spent six months in the hospital battling coronavirus, is back home with his family. That is the good news. David Rochester was put in a medically induced coma for 56 days. He had several near death experiences, which made his reunion with his fiance and his two kids ahead of Father's Day all the more emotional. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID ROCHESTER, BATTLED COVID FOR SIX MONTHS IN HOSPITAL: It's been a long six months, but we are reunited. I cried like a baby. Ava's sleeping right now. I would have her over here, but when she seen me, she's like, who the heck are you? And when she seen me crying, she laughed. We had a good time, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Um-hum.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And David Rochester is with us now, in pretty good spirits in the video.
David, it is wonderful to see you.
Tell us how you're -- how you're feeling.
DAVID ROCHESTER, BATTLED COVID FOR SIX MONTHS IN HOSPITAL: Well, definitely I feel relieved that the worst part of this journey is over and I'm finally back with my kids and my family.
KEILAR: But what are you dealing --
ROCHESTER: It's been --
KEILAR: What are you dealing with right now, David? Because, obviously, we can see that you have supplemental oxygen. What is the road ahead looking like for you?
ROCHESTER: As the days go on, and the weeks, my lungs are still trying to rebuild themselves. I still need to re-learn how to walk, re-use my right arm. A lot of it was damaged in the coma.
BERMAN: What was it like for you to wake up from 50-plus days in a coma?
ROCHESTER: Honestly, it felt like I closed my eyes for a second, the moment they woke up, I didn't believe 56 days had passed.
BERMAN: I can't imagine what that's like. And you've documented everything you went through, really from the beginning, from even before the coma. I think we have a YouTube video of you right around Christmas, if we can play that for a second here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROCHESTER: I'm currently in the hospital with double pneumonia. So we will have to do the Christmas special after I get better, so look forward to that. I love you all so much. Thank you. Santa -- Santa's still coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Santa's still coming. What do you remember about making that video?
ROCHESTER: I don't remember anything about that video. I didn't believe I made it.
[07:00:01]
KEILAR: Do you -- is there a period of time that you completely forgot, David? How much time would you say, even obviously aside from the coma?
