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Former Officer Derek Chauvin's Sixth Day Of Trial; Police Chief Testifies Derek Chauvin Violated Use Of Force Policy During George Floyd Arrest; CDC: Variants, Cases Among Young People Tied To Fourth Straight Week Of Increases In New COVID-19 Infections; Rep. Gaetz Denies Sex With 17-Year-Old Girl In Defiant New Op-Ed, Says He Is "Absolutely Not Resigning"; Satellite Images Show Large Russian Military Buildup In The Arctic. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired April 05, 2021 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: One Capitol police officer was killed just on Friday, another right around January 6th. The union says they are staffed below the authorized level and the shortage has only been exacerbated by the January 6th insurrection. Our coverage on CNN continues right now. I'll see you tomorrow.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST (on camera): Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. The second week of the Derek Chauvin murder trial is now under way. We just heard from perhaps the highest profile witness yet, the Minneapolis police chief, Medaria Arradondo, who fired the officer, Chauvin, soon after George Floyd's death.
During several hours of testimony, the chief told the court that Chauvin absolutely violated his department's neck restraint policy during the arrest and said Chauvin's use of force was not part of the training. We also heard very important analysis from the emergency room physician who actually treated Floyd at the hospital.
The doctor refuted claims from the defense team that Floyd died of a drug overdose instead agreeing with the prosecution that he was most likely killed by a lack of oxygen. We're going to go back to the trial right now. On the stand right now is Commander Katie Blackwell of the Minneapolis Police Department. She's being questioned by the prosecution. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN LIVE VIDEO)
STEVE SCHLEICHER, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: -- and Minneapolis Police Departmental policy, is that right?
KATIE BLACKWELL, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Correct.
SCHLEICHER: For in service, whereas the academy they're going to go through the same, you know, some of the same concepts and materials, but in a more extended way.
BLACKWELL: Yes. SCHLEICHER: Now, you've also mentioned field training program and in
order to have the field training program work, you have field training officers, is that right?
BLACKWELL: Correct.
SCHLEICHER: And sometimes -- I'm sorry, the field training officers need to be aware of what the people in pre-service are doing as far as what they are learning in defensive tactics, is that right?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: And so, is it true that sometimes field training officers will receive instruction in defensive tactics, for example, just the same as someone in pre-service training.
BLACKWELL: Correct.
SCHLEICHER: And what is the purpose of making sure that the field training officers are aware of what the training is in pre-service?
BLACKWELL: So there's consistency of how we grade and how we evaluate, recruit officers on the street.
SCHLEICHER: And was the defendant a field training officer?
BLACKWELL: He was.
SCHLEICHER: Do you know how long he was a field training officer?
BLACKWELL: I do not know off the top of my head.
SCHLEICHER: Did you select him as a field training officer.
BLACKWELL: I did.
SCHLEICHER: Now, you've mentioned a variety of different courses that are taken and training that's provided at the work force center. Is it important to keep records of that training?
BLACKWELL: It's very important.
SCHLEICHER: And why is that?
BLACKWELL: Because Minnesota POST board which is our Peace Officer Standards and Training requires us to complete so much training each year. Part of that is the 48 hours of continuing education over the course of three years, and with that training has to be annual use of force, weapons qualifications, mental health crises, procedural justice.
So a third of that training, 16 hours roughly out of that 48 hours has to be in compliance with the Minnesota POST board. And so keeping those records are, you know, critical to make sure we can -- when we bring them to POST board, they can do an audit on them. SCHLEICHER: And you rely on the records in order to in fact make these
reporting to the POST boards that you have qualified officers on your staff, is that right?
BLACKWELL: Correct.
SCHLEICHER: And they are kept in the ordinary course of your business I guess in the police department?
BLACKWELL: They are.
SCHLEICHER: This time I would like to show the witness only exhibit 203 for identification. All right, inspector. Can you take a look at exhibit 203 and I'll ask you to rotate through some of the pages so the witness can examine. Are you familiar with these records?
BLACKWELL: I am.
SCHLEICHER: How are you familiar with them?
BLACKWELL: So these are training records that we track in our workforce director system. We maintain these records. Each officer has to sign in at training usually in the morning and the afternoon.
[17:05:02]
And then our civilian coordinator will upload these into the officer's file so we can keep track of the training or if somebody didn't make the training, who needs to make it up, and that's in-service training and any additional training that they had on duty.
SCHLEICHER: I would like to go to the back page to show the last page of the witness. You see that this particular workforce record goes back to 2003. Why is that?
BLACKWELL: That's when the workforce director started, I believe.
SCHLEICHER: Prior to that. There is some different system.
BLACKWELL: Just paper.
SCHLEICHER: Paper system. And how long are those records retained?
BLACKWELL: So -- in workforce director or in our --
SCHLEICHER: How long does MPD retain the training records pre- workforce director?
BLACKWELL: So the city retains records for seven years. So once we have them, we'll keep this in our workforce director and some training syllabuses and itineraries are put on M (ph) drive. Paper copies are generally archived at some point. They are brought down to a central location within the city.
SCHLEICHER: But for seven years.
BLACKWELL: Correct.
SCHLEICHER: Okay. So these are the records that we have available for this particular individual going back to 2003, is that right?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: Okay. I'm sorry. Is exhibit 203 the defendant's training records? Exhibit 203, is this the defendant's --
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: -- the training record of the defendant?
BLACKWELL: Yes, it is.
SCHLEICHER: I'll offer exhibit 203.
PETER CAHILL, JUDGE, HENNEPIN COUNTY: Any objections?
UNKNOWN: No objections.
UNKNOWN: 203 is received.
SCHLEICHER: Permission to publish? And so I would like to just, if you could scroll up and highlight this thirst record entry here.
You can see these records are organized in a way that just generally labels the course and it gives various dates and then there's a start date and an end date for the participant. Is that right?
BLACKWELL: Correct.
SCHLEICHER: And then a total number of continuing education credits that are logs, is that right?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: Okay. I want to back up through these records and bring it out again. If you can slide down, please.
All right. So, just for example, we can take a look at what's labeled here in the 2019 annual training, that section there.
All right. And so you see with these records it's listed as a 2019 annual in-service training and it refers to a phase three. What is the annual in-service training?
BLACKWELL: So, our annual in-service training usually consists of three phases of training. The first phase will have two days of in- service training for officers. So, approximately 14 to 16 hours from January to roughly April. And then phase two will roll into our shotgun qualifications, our medical training, depending on the curriculum that year and that's usually kind of the beginning of the summer months and end of the summer months.
And then phase three is our fall in-service training and the same thing. It's usually two days of different curriculum that we have to -- that were mandated to do or maybe the chief wants us to do or that we're trying to do professional development courses.
SCHLEICHER: And so regardless of the specific trainer, and if an individual from MPD is taking phase three 2019 annual in-service training, should they be learning the same thing on that particular day as anyone else in MPD taking phase three training?
BLACKWELL: Yes, they should.
SCHLEICHER: If you can zoom out again, go down to 2018 FTO. Next page.
Okay. Here you see what's marked as a 2018 FTO training program. FTO is Field Training Officer, correct?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: And so, is this a train the trainer program?
BLACKWELL: Yes, from the FTO coordinator and myself as the FTO lieutenant at the time, put on a training. We brought in a variety of different instructors to teach at that class.
SCHLEICHER: And what is taught at FTO training?
[17:10:00]
BLACKWELL: So that was almost a 40-hour course and we taught -- it was a primary emphasis on leadership, the critical decision-making model, effective -- it's a recruit observation performance evaluation report really. So the FTO are taught the FTO manual and then they are giving tips on adults, training adult learner.
And we do some scenarios in there where they debrief using the critical decision-making model. They had defensive tactics. They had a component of human resources that came in to explain what the do's of their jobs are as a field training officer.
It's basically we were trying to make sure that they understood what the recruits are being taught because they are going to evaluate them out there and they are the closest thing to a supervisor that that young recruit officer has.
SCHLEICHER: And if I understand your -- understood your prior testimony, defensive tactics and use of force is something that's trained every year during the regular in-service, is that right?
BLACKWELL: Correct.
SCHLEICHER: So for example in 2018, the defendant would have been instructed in defensive tactics and proper use of force at least twice, right? Once during this 2018 FTO training program and once during the regular in-service?
BLACKWELL: Correct. SCHLEICHER: And if we can, I'd like to at this time just to the
witness display exhibit 275. At exhibit 275, does that appear to be a handwritten record, like a sign-in roster for a particular course?
BLACKWELL: It is.
SCHLEICHER: That particular course includes patrol ops and there is a parentheses (ph) and it's taught in the academy and defensive tactics as taught in the academy, is that right?
BLACKWELL: Correct.
SCHLEICHER: In the second name on this list, does that appear to be the name of the defendant?
BLACKWELL: It is.
SCHLEICHER: It is so. Does exhibit 275 indicate that the defendant did receive on November 30, 2018 a block of defensive tactics training as taught in the academy?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: Offer exhibit 275.
CAHILL: Any objection?
UNKNOWN: No objection.
UNKNOWN: 275 is received.
SCHLEICHER: Permission to publish.
CAHILL: Go ahead.
SCHLEICHER: And if you could highlight this portion. And you can see the number of training hours here is eight, is that right?
BLACKWELL: Correct.
SCHLEICHER: And so that would have been between, divided between patrols ops and defensive tactics as taught in the academy.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: And again, the purpose if so that the person can be an effective field training officer and know what the trainee is or the cadets and recruits are being taught in pre-service. Is that right?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: If we could go back then to 203. We shall go to the second page, page 207 where it says 2018. This one. If you could highlight that, please. It's up for me.
CAHILL: Did it just quit? SCHLEICHER: Oh, it did. I'm sorry. Permission to publish. Can you
highlight that section, please? And just to define some terms here. You see it says 2018 shotgun and CIT training, is that right?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: So, a seven-hour block.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: Correct? And CIT, what does that stand for?
BLACKWELL: That is Crisis Intervention Training, so, de-escalation and mental health awareness.
SCHLEICHER: You also see there's a training indicated for procedural justice and Narcan Training in 2018, correct?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: And on the Crisis Intervention Training, this one is a fairly short Crisis Intervention Training block, is that right?
BLACKWELL: Correct. They switched days so one group would go to qualify with shotguns and the other group would be in CIT and they would flip-flop after lunch.
SCHLEICHER: But the original Crisis Intervention Training block or model that's taught to MPD officers is much longer than seven hours or even splitting seven hours, is that right?
[17:15:05]
BLACKWELL: Yes. Its 40 hours and this is just a refresher.
SCHLEICHER: Okay. And so then if you could move to the next page, please. And highlight that portion. The one above it too where it starts at CIT 2016. All right. And so here you see on the defendant's training records it indicates multiple eight-hour blocks of instruction occurring in November of 2016. Is that right?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: Is that -- does that show where the defendant attended paid Crisis Intervention Training in 2016, the approximate 40-hour course?
BLACKWELL: It does.
SCHLEICHER: In addition to -- if you can take that down, please. In addition to the defensive tactics and use of force training, does in- service training require regular medical or kind of combat life saver training?
BLACKWELL: Yes, we generally do a medical component.
SCHLEICHER: Can you just please describe what that training entails?
BLACKWELL: Sure. So, our medical support team consists of a full-time trainer and they have part-time trainers that are certified EMTs or paramedics. They are also police officers. So they will perform -- they will conduct CPR training, Narcan, tourniquet, chest seals, and just life-saving measures that cover positional asphyxia.
Sometimes they cover excited delirium, opioids, things that relate to our job when we respond to a call so they can better assess the situation when they get there and be able to render first aid.
SCHLEICHER: You mentioned the term positional asphyxia. You're familiar with what that is?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: So what's your understanding of positional asphyxia?
BLACKWELL: So, positional asphyxia is if you're in a position where you're not able to adequately breathe, something is interfering with your airway.
SCHLEICHER: And if an individual is in a prone handcuffed position for example, face down, that could inhibit their ability to breathe?
BLACKWLL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: And cause positional asphyxia?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: And what are officers trained to do or supposed to do to prevent positional asphyxia?
BLACKWELL: They are supposed to put them on the side recovery position which is they're going from prone and just putting them on their side or upright position.
SCHLEICHER: How soon are they supposed to do that prior to or after getting the person under control in the prone position?
BLACKWELL: As soon as possible.
SCHLEICHER: How long have you known about the potential dangers of positional asphyxia?
BLACKWELL: We were taught positional asphyxia all the way back to my academy.
SCHLEICHER: At the Minneapolis Police Department.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: And the dangers of positional asphyxia known throughout the department as least as long as you've been employed there?
BLACKWELL: Correct.
SCHLEICHER: And your employment overlaps with the defendants, is that correct?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: Is part of the medical training do you -- in addition to the actual how-to of providing emergency medical care, are officers taught their obligations to provide and render emergency assistance when the circumstances arise?
BLCAKWELL: Yes. In policy as well as training.
SCHLEICHER: You're familiar with the Minneapolis critical decision- making model.
BLACKWELL: I am.
SCHLEICHER: And that model, you've seen the circle -- we've all seen the circle now a few times. That model is infused throughout different portions of the training materials at MPD. Is that right?
BLACKWELL: It is.
SCHLEICHER: Why is that?
BLACKWELL: We wanted to ensure the officers -- a lot of experienced officers understand that critical decision-making model, the more experience you have, the more you can walk through it, but we found it critical that recruits learn it early on, it was helping them connect the dots better with information they are receiving on the scene and working through that wheel (ph), constantly reassessing and then using the pillars of procedural justice in the middle.
And so we wanted to be consistent with our field training officer program to debrief them, the recruits, and then -- and our in-service so that officers out there could constantly reassess situation when they are on a scene.
SCHLEICHER: You said that the critical decision-making model was used to reassess people going through the FTO process.
[17:19:58]
BLACKWELL: Yes, sir. In that Field Training Officer program, we had scenarios where we had the field training officer debrief at that time, use community service officers as -- or players. So we have them debrief using them after a scenario.
SCHLEICHER: So, going through the steps of taking an information, assessing risk, assessing threats, reassessing, evaluating goals, and then relating that to the pillars of procedural justice, that's something that any field training officer would be required to do with the people that they are evaluating. Is that correct?
BLACKWELL: Correct. SCHLEICHER: In your defensive tactics training, you are not only
showing or having officers learn, you know, sort of the nuts and bolts of defensive tactics, but also the rules of engagement, is that right?
BLACKWELL: Correct.
SCHLEICHER: And those are contained in the Minneapolis Police Departmental policies, is that right?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: And the rules are the rule they apply to everyone, they apply to you.
BLACKWWELL: Yes.
SCHLEICHER: They apply to recruits. They apply to cadets. They apply to people on field training and experienced officers as well, is that right?
BLACKWELL: Correct.
SCHLEICHER: All right. I would like to show you what's been received as exhibit 17. And I ask you, officer, as you look at exhibit 17, is this a trained technique that's by the Minneapolis Police Department when you were overseeing the training event?
BLACKWELL: It is not.
SCHLEICHER: And why not?
BLACKWELL: Well, use of force according to policy has to be, you know, consistent with MPD training and what we train, our neck restraints, the conscious and unconscious neck restraint. So, for policy, a neck restraint is compressing one or both sides of the neck using an arm or a leg, but what we train is using one arm or two arms to do a neck restraint.
SCHLEICHER: And how does this differ?
BLACKWELL: I don't know what kind of improvised position that is, so that's not what we train.
SCHLEICHER: All right. You can take that down. Thank you. I have no further questions.
(END LIVE VIDEO)
BLITZER: All right. We're waiting. They took a little break. The defense is about to cross-examine, we're told. Let's see if the defense does cross-examine. Eric Nelson, the defense attorney for Derek Chauvin. They are having a little conference right now.
We've just been listening to Inspector Katie Blackwell of the Minneapolis Police Department. She was the commander of the training division. She just made some significant statements suggesting that there has been -- there was no training at all for Chauvin or any of the other Minneapolis Police Department officers to keep a knee on the neck of someone who is under questioning or a suspect along those lines.
That was very significant. Sara Sidner is out in Minneapolis. She is working the story for us. It was a significant point that the defense attorney, Eric Nelson, presumably during his cross-examination is going follow up on.
SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. He's been doing this over and over again where he keeps mentioning that there is a policy in place that even if it wasn't trained, even if they didn't do It physically, that it was in the handbook that you are hearing from witness after witness that that is simply not how they were trained to keep their knee on someone's neck especially if they're in what's known as the prone position.
And that is the position where you're lying on your stomach. They know that that can cause asphyxia, positional asphyxia as they called it. And so, you hear that over and over again. But I do want to quickly if we can get to the chief because we heard also from him similar or the same kind of testimony.
And he is the prosecution's 21st witness, by the way, to give you just an idea of just how many people are testifying. And so far, we have heard from several officers, something you don't see every day.
[17:24:50]
And the chief was very clear that he learned of what happened to George Floyd and his officers' actions in particular actually from a community member who called him up and said have you seen this video of them killing George Floyd talking about the officers?
Now, he had not known that earlier. He had not heard that earlier from his own officers. He heard that from a bystander at around midnight and then he eventually saw that bystander video. He had initially seen the surveillance video which is very high up.
He could only see the backs of the officers so he didn't think much of it because he couldn't see what they were doing and certainly couldn't hear what they were doing. There was no audio on the surveillance video.
But when he saw the bystander video, that was significant and he made very clear that what he saw his officers doing, particularly what he saw former Officer Derek Chauvin doing, he was an officer of course, at the time, the most senior officer on the scene then, was absolutely not in concert with the training for the use of force and that move putting a knee on someone's neck.
BLITZER: You know. And I think they are about to resume. There we see the defense attorney, Eric Nelson. He's back at his desk right there. The cross-examination, we anticipate should begin. Maybe it's going to begin right now. He obviously just stood up. Let's listen.
(BEGIN LIVE VIDEO)
ERIC NELSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR DEREK CHAUVIN: Just want to -- a few follow-up questions in terms of any in-service. You see when we look at the exhibit, you see 2020 defensive tactics in-service, and it's worth eight hours of time, agreed?
BLACKWELL: Correct.
NELSON: Now, in that course of that eight hours, officers may go through multiple trainings during that eight-hour time, right?
BLACKWELL: Correct. They rotate through things.
NELSON: I'm sorry.
BLACKWELL: They can rotate through different --
NELSON: Right. So, one -- within that eight-hour time frame, they may get a class or an hour long class on say the human factors of force or they may get an hour-long course on handcuffing techniques. It varies within each of those eight hour time frames, right?
BLACKWELL: Correct.
NELSON: Now, have you maintained a list that shows 2020, these are the classes that occurred during those eight hours?
BLACKWELL: We have.
NELSON: Okay. And have you provided that list to -- in response to the search warrant that was executed at the police department?
BLACKWELL: Yes.
NELSON: Okay. Now, in terms of the defensive training tactics or any of these continuing education classes, there are other officers that actually train these classes and multiple officers may appear during that eight-hour time, multiple trainers, right?
BLACKWELL: Yes. We have part-time trainers.
NELSON: So there would be maybe one person will teach the, again, the human factors of force, someone else may train on crisis intervention, and there will be multiple instructors, right?
BLACKWELL: Correct.
NELSON: But a lot of the instructors will use materials from past instructors or they will take combinations of things and they will just represent it in a slightly different format, right?
BLACKWELL: At times, yes.
NELSON: And I just, for the record, I want to ask you. You were served or the Minneapolis Police Department was served with a search warrant requesting all of the training materials for the four involved officers in this case, right?
BLACKWELL: Correct.
NELSON: And so this would be materials that were from -- some materials that were from the police academy, some materials that were from in-service, just a variety of different records, right?
BLACKWELL: Correct.
NELSON: Some 30,000 pages perhaps?
BLACKWELL: Thousands, yeah.
NELSON: Okay. I have no further questions.
CAHILL: Any redirect?
SCHLEICHER: No, your honor.
CAHILL: Thank you. Thank you, inspector. You may -- you are excused.
BLACKWELL: Thank you.
CAHILL: Members of the jury, we're going to take our break for the day. We have a hearing we have to do at 8:30, but I'm still hoping that we can get started by 9:15. So, same arrangement as today. Thank you. Just a reminder, don't talk to anybody about the case. Don't read any media. Appreciate your patience. Thank you.
(END LIVE VIDEO)
BLITZER: All right. This day is now concluded. There's the judge, Judge Peter Cahill announcing they will resume testimony tomorrow morning. Sara Sidner, we were just talking about this inspector Katie Blackwell. She oversees -- she used to oversee the training division.
She was the commander of the training division and she made it clear that from her perspective, there's no training for a police officer to put his knee down on the neck of someone who is a suspect.
SIDNER: And this is significant because, again, as you mentioned she was the commander in charge of training the officers.
[17:29:54]
And she said that, you know, every officer goes through a similar training and she says it's been like that in her mind since she started at the department. They talked about this phase 3 training. But she, is course, is not the only officer.
And what makes her significant at this point is that she is the third officer, high-ranking officer who has testified that the actions of Chauvin, not saying his name yet in this case, but that the actions of former Officer Chauvin were not in conjunction with the way in which they were trained. In other words, he had violated policy. But if you want to hear it more clearly, all you have to do is listen to his ultimate boss, and that is Chief Medaria Arradondo.
He took the stand. He was very clear. He knew the policy almost encyclopedic. He could recite much of the policy. And then he started reading some of it as they put that up as exhibits, the prosecution. And he was very clear that what he saw that day was absolutely, it was wrong and not in concert with the policies of the department in which his officers were trained.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF MEDARIA ARRADONDO, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE CHIEF WHO FIRED DEREK CHAUVIN: Once there was no longer any resistance, and clearly, with Mr. Floyd was no longer responsive and even motionless, to continue to apply that level of force to a person prone doubt, handcuffed behind their back. That that in no way shape or form is anything that is by policy, it is not part of our training, and it is certainly not part of our ethics or values.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: He could not be more clear on that point. And I do want to remind you of what he said almost a year ago when he was live with us on CNN, he talks about the officers involved, talking about them being complicit even if they weren't, the Officer, Derek Chauvin, who was on the neck of George Floyd. So he has been consistent and what he has said, over this past almost 11 months now, and he has been very clear that he was disturbed by what he saw.
I think you could tell that when he talked about that night, and that he didn't really learn exactly what it happened, that his officers were involved in something like this, even though he saw the surveillance video of Floyd being taken away in the ambulance, but that he learned from a community member who called him and then a bystander video about exactly the kind of force that was being used that night on May 25th, 2020. He spelled that out in court as well. And it seemed to be stunning testimony.
And we do want to be very clear, this is the prosecution's case. It is their job, not the defense's, it is their job to prove that former Officer Derek Chauvin is guilty of a crime. He faces secondary manslaughter, second degree murder and third degree murder. He can be convicted of one of those, or none of those, or one or two of those, or all of them. That's how it works here in Minnesota.
But the defense is trying to refute all this saying he died of illicit drug use and his medical condition. We have not yet seen the defense's case and we know that you are innocent in a court of law until proven guilty, Wolf.
BLITZER: That's an important point obviously. Elliot Williams is with us, our CNN Legal Analyst, former federal prosecutor as well. Elliot, the Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, he said, and I'm quoting him now, he said he was absolutely in agreement that Chauvin violated policy by putting his knee on Floyd's neck. So how big of a potential game changer is testimony like that from a witness? He's -- for three years, he's been the chief of the Minneapolis Police Department. ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's pretty game changing insofar as police chief, Wolf, very rarely testify in any event, let alone, against a former member of their police force. But, you know, bigger picture, it all comes down to the credibility of witnesses. Cases are won and lost on this question of whether the jury believes what they see and Chief Arradondo presented today as an eminently credible witness.
Number one, having been a police -- or police officer since 1989, and a member of the community, but also if you've listened to him closely, he uses the language of police reform when he speaks, talking about trauma and meeting the community where they are.
Many different types of jurors could resonate -- this testimony would resonate with people, you know, in the sort of more pro-police camp or more pro-defense camp. That's a little reductive way to put it, but he's just someone that's just hard to disbelieve. And whether the defense -- you know, whether folks agree with him or disagree with him, the simple fact is, he's just easy to believe and trust.
[17:35:01]
And so it was pretty profound and significant big testimony. But just as Sara said, it's the prosecution's case and it's still early.
BLITZER: Captain Ron Johnson is with us as well. He's a former member of the Missouri Highway Patrol. You know, Captain Johnson, the police chief also spoke about what he described as the duty of care that even if someone is a suspect, a serious suspect, there's still an obligation to provide care. That didn't happen to those nine minutes and 29 seconds that Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd's neck, did it?
RON JOHNSON, FORMER CAPTAIN, MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL: No, it did not. And chief was very clear that she talked about expectations. And so, you know, I applaud the chief but I applaud all the officers that have come before him in the dispatcher.
They have been professional, but they've spoken with great integrity. And he said that, you know, he talked about the officer need to go home. But then he also talked about the citizens (ph) need to go home and coincide with Charles Mcmillian said last week in his testimony.
BLITZER: You're absolutely right. All right, everybody stand by. We're going to have a lot more on this historic case that's unfolding right now in Minneapolis. But also coming up, we're checking other major developments today, including the U.S. now vaccinating Americans five times faster than the global average isn't enough, though, to hold off yet another surge.
And later, Congressman Matt Gaetz is shoring up his legal team amid a growing sex trafficking investigation, but says in a defiant new op-ed that he's not resigning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:40:22]
BLITZER: We're going to have much more coming up on today's important developments in the Derek Chauvin trial, including testimony from the Minneapolis Police Chief, that's coming up. But there's other important news you need to know. We're getting some striking new data right now on the accelerating pace of the U.S. COVID vaccinations.
Let's go to CNN's Nick Watt, he's joining us from Los Angeles right now. He's got all the like breaking (ph) developments on the pandemic. So what does this data show now?
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, CNN analysis shows that the U.S. is vaccinating its population at about five times the global average rate. That is great news. But there are right now two different schools of thought on just how bad it's going to get before we're done.
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WATT (voice-over): Nearly 40,000 kids in America have lost a parent to COVID-19, according to a new model. Charles Torres from Texas left three kids under six.
CHARLES TORRES, DIED FROM COVID-11: Take care of you're mother. I love you. I love you so much.
WATT (voice-over): The country is vaccinating away out of all this over the weekend. Average shots and arms topped 3 million a day for the first time, nearly a quarter of American adults are now fully vaccinated.
DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: I think that there's enough immunity in the population that you're not going to see a true fourth wave of infection.
WATT (voice-over): Others say, brace for some serious short-term pain.
DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIR. CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE & POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: We really are in a category five hurricane status. We will see in the next two weeks the highest number of cases reported globally since the end of the pandemic.
WATT (voice-over): Average new case counts already up over 16 percent these past two weeks.
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: Cases are increasing nationally and we are seeing this occur predominantly in younger adults. We know that these increases are due in part to more highly transmissible variants.
WATT (VOICE-OVER): COVID fatigue is rising.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are just probably like just tired of being at home.
WATT (voice-over): Sunday, more than 1.5 million people pass through America's airports, more than 10 times the total when travel bottomed out a year ago.
DR. MEGAN RANNEY, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY: Most adult Americans have not yet been vaccinated and none of our kids have. And so what we're doing with this travel is mixing folks across the country, potentially making those variants spread faster, and putting that end which is in sight a little further out of reach.
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WATT: Now, you heard the CDC Director there saying that it's predominantly young adults making up these new case numbers. Michigan case in point, back in the fall surge, it was mainly the 70 plus demographic getting admitted to the hospital. Now, it's the 50 somethings getting hit harder, and hospital numbers are rising for those in their 40s, 30s even 20s. Wolf?
BLITZER: That's so worrisome. Nick Watt in L.A., thank you very much.
Joining us now, Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist. She's also a CNN Medical Analyst. Dr. Gounder, thanks for joining us. As you heard this average of what, 3 million coronavirus vaccines in the U.S. every day, is that enough you think to fight off what summer fearing could be a fourth surge of cases? Some experts are warning about that seriously.
DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Wolf, I think that the rate at which we're vaccinating will certainly help, especially among the most elderly, the -- those highest risk for severe complications. But there is a hitch here, which is that we are seeing this B117 variant that was first identified in the U.K., spreading rapidly across the country.
It's the dominant strain in many parts of the country. It's what's driving this surge, for example, in Michigan. And that strain is more virulent, which means it causes more severe disease, including in younger adults. And what we're seeing in Michigan are 30, 40 and 50- year-olds who are being hospitalized with severe COVID as a result.
BLITZER: Yes, Michigan is having a really, really tough time. As these variants spread, Dr. Gounder, do you think the U.S. should consider delaying second doses of coronavirus vaccine simply to allow more people to get a shot more quickly? Dr. Fauci, as you know, he says that would put us in what he describes as in a tenuous zone. What do you think?
GOUNDER: I agree with Dr. Fauci on this one. Some countries have opted to delay the second dose, the U.K., Canada, Germany, but we know a couple things for sure. You're much better protected against hospitalization after two doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine and your antibody levels. So that's part of your immune system that fights off infection.
[17:45:07]
Those are much higher, much higher after two doses of vaccine than one. And so, you really don't want to be thinking of the immune system as an on or off, it's really a continuum spectrum of responses and you want to be as high on that scale of one to 10 as possible here.
BLITZER: Yes, and we certainly do. All right, Dr. Gounder, thanks as usual.
Coming up, as investigators probe allegations of a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, Congressman Matt Gaetz is now firing back at calls for his resignation in a defiant new op-ed.
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[17:50:05]
BLITZER: Congressman Matt Gaetz is defiant tonight denying any wrongdoing and insisting that he won't step down amid a federal investigation into whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17- year-old girl. Let's get an update from our Senior Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid, she's working the story for us. Paula, these are very serious allegations against Gaetz, but he says he's not going anywhere.
PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: And that's right, Wolf. Today, Congressman Gaetz published an op-ed where he tried to frame the ongoing federal criminal investigation as another political witch hunt. He also denied the allegations of prostitution, including sleeping with an underage girl, writing, "First, I have never, ever paid for sex. And second, I, as an adult man, have not slept with a 17-year-old".
Now CNN has learned the Justice Department is investigating Gaetz over allegations involving sex trafficking and prostitution, including involving a miner. And interestingly, this investigation began in the final months of the Trump administration. But he Gaetz tried to spin his conduct as a lifestyle choice saying, "My lifestyle of yesteryear may be different from how I live now, but it was not and is not illegal".
Now one thing though Gaetz did not address in this op-ed are the separate allegations first reported by CNN that he was showing nude pictures of women he allegedly slept with, two other lawmakers when he was on or near the floor of the house. Now that conduct is not under criminal investigation, but it's another in a series of these escalating scandals surrounding the lawmaker.
BLITZER: Is there anybody, Paula, anybody publicly defending Congressman Gaetz other than himself?
REID: Well, not many people coming out to defend him. But today, a former Gaetz staffer held a press conference in Florida, where he revealed that FBI agents contacted him last week, shortly after the news broke that the Florida Republican was under federal investigation.
That staffer Nathan Nelson is Gaetz's former director of Military Affairs. And he said, two FBI agents questioned him at his house after they allegedly heard from the media that he might know something about Gaetz's alleged criminal conduct. They also allegedly question Nelson about whether he may have resigned because he knew about this alleged conduct. Nelson denied having any knowledge of any illegal activities and said his departure from Gaetz's office had nothing to do with any federal investigation.
Now CNN has learned that Gaetz continues to build his legal team. His lead attorney has added another attorney who has experience in white collar crimes. Now it's not clear when the second attorney was added, but it suggests that they may be preparing to defend against financial transactions in addition to any alleged specific sexual encounters. Wolf?
BLITZER: All right, Paula, thanks very much. Paula Reid working the story for us. Appreciate it.
Also tonight, there's new evidence that the global climate crisis is getting the Russian military an upper hand in the Arctic. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is joining us right now, his exclusive new information. Nick, tell us what you're learning.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Wolf, the most important thing here is the ice is melting up in the Arctic faster than anybody frankly had thought, that should be the one thing you remember here that's most concerning. The second thing is what Russia is now doing to fill that void.
Yes, a lot of this northern Arctic area is their coastline. But U.S. officials are concerned that the flood now it seems of military hardware and also high tech new weapons Russia says it's building, well that could be getting Moscow a bit of influence across the whole North Pole.
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WALSH (voice-over): It's a new frontier, expanding for all the wrong reasons with pushy neighbors rushing in. Russia is seeing the Arctic ice melt fast and filling the gap with the military buildup, some of it on Alaska's doorstep not seen since the Cold War.
Key (ph) is a new generation of super weapons, like the Poseidon, a 120- mile an hour nuclear propelled stealth torpedo. It's designed, say Russian official, to sneak past U.S. coastal defenses and detonate a warhead, causing a radioactive tsunami to hit the east coast with contaminated water.
Experts told CNN the weapon is, quote, very real. It'll be tested in the summer near Norway, whose intelligence had said it's not only the ecological damage that could be bad.
VICE ADMIRAL NILS ANDREAS STENSONES, NORWEGIAN INTELLIGENCE CHIEF: It is in the testing phase. It's a strategic system and it's aimed at targets and has an influence far beyond the region in which they tested currently.
WALSH (voice-over): Some said Russian President Vladimir Putin was fantasizing when he revealed this and other new weapons like the hypersonic Zircon missile in 2018, but continuing development and tests make them very real.
NEIL MELVIN, DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES, RUSI: Russia is projecting an image that it's developing new technology. And this, of course, is destabilizing the strategic balance.
[17:55:06]
HEATHER CONLEY, SVP FOR EUROPE, EURASIA & THE ARCTIC, CSIS: They are now starting to develop those capabilities that could reach the United States and its NATO allies.
WALSH (voice-over): That is not all Russia is up to. CNN has obtained satellite images revealing the persistent buildup of Russian bases along its northern coastline, part of what the U.S. State Department officials called a military challenge.
Close to Alaska, Provideniya and Wrangel Island, are two new radar stations with stationed in Anadyr (ph), a quick reaction alert force of bombers and jets. West in Kotelny, a thin strip of land has seen over seven years the slow growth of a large air strip.
And in the Nagurskoye in the northernmost point is another base that sprung up since 2015, one of several in the Arctic, decorated in the colors of the Russian flag.
Nagurskoye and the nearby airfield of Rogachevo are both home to make Mig-31 jets, recent arrivals. And further west, at Olenya Guba, on the Kola Peninsula, over the past four years, experts believe a storage facility has slowly been built up with the Poseidon torpedo.
(on-camera): Russia has had its eye on being the Arctic power for years and is now moving to make that happen. Yes, this is its coastline, for sure, but U.S. officials have expressed concerns to me that this buildup is not just about protecting, it is also about projecting power across the ice, even towards the North Pole.
(voice-over): There are new resources to exploit under the ice, yes, but Russia released this video in January, of the first time a freighter got through the ice in the east in the thick winter to sell a new trade route along its northern coast. It's a possible money maker for the Kremlin, cutting the current journey time from Asia to Europe through the Suez Canal nearly in half.
U.S. officials voiced concern to CNN that Russia is already demanding ships use Russian crews and get permission to cross it.
In response to Russia's build up, the U.S. has sent B1 bombers to fly out of and marines to train in Norway. Who gets there first, makes the rules, they say, in the rush for a place nobody should want to be conquerable.
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WALSH: Now, Wolf, I should make it clear, we reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry and indeed a handful of Russian experts asking for comment on this and we got no response. But what is key to remember here is the Russia says that there always been economic and peaceful in their goals in the Arctic, and a lot of this is indeed their coastline.
Importantly, though, this is changing so fast, leaving a lot of insecurity coupled with that the new weaponry and the feeling or perhaps all of the Arctic neighbors feel they need to move in and establish some kind of control and that has many experts concerned about miscalculation or escalation in the months and years ahead, Wolf.
BLITZER: Excellent reporting. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you very, very much.
Just ahead, we're going to have much more on the Derek Chauvin murder trial today, including damning new testimony from the Minneapolis police chief.
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BLITZER: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following damning new testimony in the Derrick shoved in a murder trial that wrapped up for the day just a little while ago. The Minneapolis police chief testifying against this former officer telling jurors that Chauvin absolutely violated department policy during the arrest of George Floyd.
