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Officer Shares Vulgar, Threatening Voicemail From Trump Supporter; Officer: Rioter Told Me "You Will Die On Your Knees"; Mother Regrets Not Getting Vaccine After Losing Son To COVID. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired July 28, 2021 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:32:20]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're back now with Officer Michael Fanone, who testified yesterday at yesterday's House Select Committee looking into the January 6th insurrection. And Officer, while this testimony was going on, at 10:27 a.m. you just told us, someone left you a voicemail.

And we're going to play it for people so they can hear the kinds of things that you were enduring right now and I want people to know this is unedited, right? I mean this voicemail we're not editing it, it's vulgar, it's offensive, it's threatening but it's real. So let's listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, this is for Michael Fanone, Metropolitan Police officer. You're on trial right now, lying and not. You want an Emmy? An Oscar? What are you trying to go for here? You're so full of shit, you little faggot fucker. You're a little pussy, man. I could slap you up the side of your head with a backhand and knock you out, you little faggot.

You're a punk faggot. You're a lying fuck. How about all that scummy Black fucking scum for two years destroying our cities and burning them and stealing all that shit out of the stores and everything? How about that? And assaulting cops and killing people? How about that, you fucker?

That was shit on the goddamn Capitol. I wish they would have killed all you scumbags, because you people are scum. They stole the election from Trump and you know that, you scumbag. And fucking, too bad they didn't beat the shit out of you more. You're a piece of shit. You're a little fag, you fucking scumbag.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BERMAN: I don't know what to say. I mean, that's, I don't know what to say was, you know, you were tazed, you suffered a heart attack, right? OFFICER MICHAEL FANONE, DC METROPOLITAN POLICE, TESTIFIED AT TUESDAY'S HEARING: Right.

BERMAN: I mean, you put your life on the line. And you did have it -- you did have a shit beaten out of you, you know, basically, right there. And this guy is calling and threatening you while you're telling the world what you went through.

FANONE: Yes, again, I mean, the facts are the facts of what happened to me, the injuries that I sustained. I mean you don't have to take my word for it. You can watch the video. You know, I'm not a crisis actor. I'm a 20-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department here in Washington D.C. I've served with distinction.

And, you know, that day was as traumatic as it looked when you watch it, whether on my body worn camera footage or, you know, on other videos. But again, I think that rhetoric being utilized by our lawmakers and then also the entertainment media hosts is leading people to a separate set of facts in which they operate off of. And in that, you know, Bizarro World, I'm a crisis actor. And the things that happened to me, you know, you don't -- you shouldn't believe your eyes or your ears.

[08:35:29]

But I remember my, you know, my first response, I told Don Lemon last night, when I thought about it was, you know, I thought, this is what happens when you tell the truth in Trump's America. I thought about all the other public servants whose service to this country in the military had been disparaged and besmirched by Trump and his supporters, simply because they told the truth.

I think about, you know, the doctors who fought to get accurate information out about a pandemic that we were experiencing, and how they were disparaged by the former president and his supporters simply for trying to save American lives. And I realized like, well, you know, I'm in good company.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Historically, the Republican Party has had a tradition of supporting police officers. It has prided itself on being about law and order. And you called it in Trump's America. Well, this is now Trump's Republican Party. Does it still hold the mantle of supporting police officers in your view?

FANONE: I mean, I would challenge all police officers not to take anyone's word for whether or not they support law enforcement officers. In fact, any American that's passionate about any cause should challenge their representatives to do things and not just save them. I believe that many in the Republican Party, not all but many have chosen Donald Trump, not only above, the law enforcement officers that fought that day, but they've chosen Donald Trump above their country. And in doing so, it's my humble opinion that they betray their oath.

BERMAN: Don't go anywhere. Because it strikes me, you raise a subject that I think is so important. It's so insidious, what is happening here, which is that your reality, your experience that we can all see, is being denied. You're being told you don't exist, in what you went through, didn't exist. And that's something, that's something beyond politics right now. That's a kind of psychological warfare. And I want to talk about that when we come back.

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[08:42:11]

KEILAR: We're back now with one of the officers who testified yesterday in the first hearing of the Select Committee to investigate the January 6th attack, Officer Michael Fanone who is with us. And Mike, I think one of the things that we have noticed talking with you over the months since the insurrection is just how forever changed your life was by those moments that we have all seen on camera.

Can you tell us about, you know, what it is meant for you the struggles and the challenges that you're still overcoming?

FANONE: Well, I mean, it did change me considerably. I mean, it changed my entire thought process. You know, how I see things in our country, the state of our country? What qualities that I will forever look for in elected officials before I cast my vote.

But, you know, it's also taught me quite a bit about myself. I've was recommended early on that I read this book, buddy of mine recommended to me and one of the things that it says in the first chapter is a book on trauma is, you know, trauma reconciled can be, you know, a great gift. And it's still a work in progress. But that's proven very true for me.

BERMAN: You know, I mentioned the fact that the people are in the midst of this really insidious gas lighting where they're telling you it didn't happen. What you say happened didn't happen. What we see happened didn't happen. Yet, it did. And we all saw it. And you're still dealing with the physical consequences of that talk to us about the physical journey that you've been taking.

FANONE: Yes, I mean, the post January 6th experience for me as someone who fought that day to defend a Capitol has been, I would say, as traumatic as the actual day itself. Again, I think part of the healing, you know, process for anyone that experienced an event like that is the validation that, you know, that day occurred, that the events that we experienced, that being all the officers that were there that day and not just the officers but, you know, the countless staff members, you know, employees of the Capitol Complex that were there that day, it's caused considerable trauma in all of their lives.

I've spoken to hundreds of them. And to have it denied, how do you start the healing process when, you know, people won't even recognize it, that the day existed.

[08:45:19]

BERMAN: You're seeing it twice weekly visits with the neuropsychologist speech therapy. Tell us about all that. FANONE: So the physical injuries or the -- what I sustained that day, I guess that -- those injuries subsided within, you know, several months after the attack, the cognitive issues I still experienced today. I have problems with word search, focus, and concentration. That's definitely improving. But we're it not for the medical treatment, I couldn't even imagine where I would be. I mean, if I hadn't had access to mental health treatment and the therapy I'd be dead.

KEILAR: The National Police Unions, if I'm not mistaken, haven't come out in support of the police who weathered what they did like you on January 6th. What do you think of that? Is that important to have that backing?

FANONE: It is for me, I don't know why hell else I paid my dues. I've been a member of the Fraternal Order of Police since I became a police officer. You know, after January 6th, neither myself nor any other officer that I spoke to that experienced that day ever had any outreach from the National Fraternal Order of Police, zero.

It wasn't until after the six-month marker that I contacted the National FOP and spoke with the president, Patrick Yoes. And I'll be honest with you, I wasn't particularly impressed with that conversation. I was extremely disappointed.

KEILAR: How did that go?

FANONE: Well, I expressed my displeasure in the fact that neither I nor any of my coworkers, at least the ones I've spoken to had heard anything from the FOP. And when I searched their social media accounts, I found that they had only posted one singular statement on January 6th, in which they called upon the President to put an end to the insurrection, although they used other language. I think they call it a riot. I asked Patrick Yoes, if he felt like that message was received. And he said, yes, it was.

Well, OK. I don't know how to just -- I don't even know what to say to that, to be honest with you. But I also asked him if he would denounce the 21 House Republicans that voted against the Gold Medal Bill to honor those law enforcement officers.

I asked him to publicly denounce statements, both by the former president and other lawmakers, which mischaracterize or lie about the events of that day. Some that I found specifically offensive were the former president's remarks that it was a low fest between law enforcement and the insurrectionists. That's just a lie.

I asked him to denounce Representative Paul Gosar's mischaracterization of a on duty police officer who used deadly force in the shooting death of Ashli Babbitt, someone who was participating in an insurrection of the Capitol and whom the Department of Justice had cleared. And Paul Gosar had call that individual, a executioner, who was laying and wait.

The FOP regularly defends officers who were involved in serious use of force incidents asking for the investigation to play out. Well, in this case, the investigation did play out and that officer was justified. And finally I asked him to publicly denounce any active duty or retired law enforcement officer that participated in an insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th, and in doing so, betrayed their oath of honor.

I've received no commitment as to any of those things, none whatsoever. In fact, he offered me only access to the National FOPs wellness program. And I told him if I had waited six months to get mental health treatment, I'd be dead.

[08:50:12]

BERMAN: Officer Michael Fanone, we're glad you didn't wait. And we're glad you're getting the help you need. We're glad that you're speaking out and telling the truth, reminding the world of what happened, what we all know happened despite what others choose to say. So thank you.

FANONE: Thank you.

KEILAR: Thanks for being with us this morning.

Next, a mother will share her story of regret after COVID handed her family a devastating loss.

BERMAN: And President Biden planning a big announcement on vaccines will prove to be a game changer.

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KEILAR: An Alabama mother is changing her mind about the COVID vaccine after losing her son to the virus. And now she hopes that her story will urge Americans to get vaccinated now, Christy Carpenter and her 28 -- her 28-year-old son Curt and daughter Cayla, they all were diagnosed with COVID in March. Curt was hospitalized for 50 days before he passed away in May.

And joining me now is Christy Carpenter as well as her daughter, Cayla. Look, to both you I am so sorry for what your family has lost in this. And I just hope Christy that you can talk to us a little bit about, you know, catching COVID before you were able to get a vaccine and how that played out for you guys.

CHRISTY CARPENTER, SON DIED OF COVID BEFORE HE WAS VACCINATED: Thank you for having us. The vaccine, they had just started giving to like medical providers and staff, hospitals, frontline workers, and we both do work at a hospital, but we're not considered frontline workers. So it was coming up on us being able to get the vaccine, but not quite yet.

My son was not eligible for the vaccine yet. But we did have our concerns, just because looking from the outside, it was just developed to us so quickly not realizing that something's been in the works for years. So we were concerned about taking it. We weren't totally against it. But we were just afraid of, you know, what couldn't be in the vaccine. So we hesitated. And the next thing you know, we were diagnosed with COVID. KEILAR: And Cayla, there are a lot of people where you are who are hesitant. In Alabama, only 34 percent of people are fully vaccinated. So take us through how your mind changed on the vaccine.

CAYLA CARPENTER, BROTHER DIED OF COVID BEFORE HE WAS VACCINATED: Working in the hospital. I work with patients that are about my age. And we were seeing a lot of COVID in those patients as well. And so, a lot of us, our age, we weren't eligible to get it at all at that point, because we're considered the healthier group of people.

[08:55:17]

So watching my brother for 50 days, you know, on a ventilator, and mama -- me and myself having to call the ambulance for them to come pick him up, because his OT was so low really made me realize, hey, just because I wasn't that sick this time around, doesn't mean that this new variant won't get me, so the vaccine -- sorry.

KEILAR: Did you feel like it -- no, did you feel like it could have been you, you know, watching your brother go through that?

CAYLA CARPENTER: Absolutely. I do. I mean, I don't think it really pertains to age this. This virus is getting every age group. It's not really picking and choosing at this point.

KEILAR: You know, Christy, tell us a little bit about how you're doing emotionally and also physically? I mean, we see that you're on supplemental oxygen. You have some of these long haul symptoms, but tell us all around how you're doing?

CHRISTY CARPENTER: I'm not stronger than I was. It took a while. COVID really, really, as they say, takes the wind out of you, literally. But I'm doing OK. I do pulmonary therapy, three mornings a week. And that's helping a lot. And I'm real close to being able to come off the oxygen now.

KEILAR: That is very good news. And, you know, Christy, I know you're here talking to people, because of this loss that you've suffered and that you don't want other people to suffer. You know, what do you miss about your son the most?

CHRISTY CARPENTER: Gosh, you're going to make me cry. Just his infectious laugh, I mean, he would laugh from his toes. He could be so funny. You know, there were times because he was autistic. There were times that he just sometimes didn't get it. And then there were other times that he got it probably better than we did and can be so funny. He was really good at, like, almost like you'd say, like doing voiceovers. He could sound like certain people, or certain, you know, things.

I mean, he just, if he was really passionate about something, he would debate you to no end, you know, but he was just -- he was so sweet and loving, and just really caring.

KEILAR: Christy and Cayla, I'm so sorry that that is now missing from your life. But I really appreciate you lending your voices to talk with us today. Thank you.

CHRISTY CARPENTER: Thank you.

CAYLA CARPENTER: Thank you.

KEILAR: We're back in a moment.

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