something better on the other side of this. chris cuomo, those are certainly words to lean on ten days into this. let's go to chris right now. chris? thank you very much. i am chris cuomo. welcome to prime time. i want to take you back to atlanta because this is a day where people are trying to remember george floyd, but this situation is getting very tense. there is a curfew in atlanta that is just starting, just a few second ago, and i can't tell from this crowd how expansive it is but there's a lot of police presence there. nick valencia is on the ground. he will tell us the state of play. >> reporter: they've been in an intense standoff with police in the last 15 minutes. a lot of people here including journalists are saying it has that same energy as friday night. let me show you the riot gear and armed officers, a lot of police presence here and this is

different, chris is that the police seem to be a number as a lot of the protesters standing around. he has taken a knee with demonstrators, he's tried to create a dialogue. it was last night when we didn't see any pepper balls or tear gas deployed. because according to this lieutenant with the atlanta police department there has been progress in the dialogue with the demonstrators. they are quick to point out people have come in from out-of-state. >> point about the out-of-state and antagonist. that lieutenant see if you can go over there and hear what he's saying to them. see if we can get any dialogue between the two sides. don't hurt yourself climbing over that thing but if you can get there.

>> you see, chris, this is somebody who was here yesterday. in fact, this woman laid down and was asked to move by police was nearly arrested by police and is not moving again today. they're trying to reason with her and it seems surrounding her and other demonstrators, other citizen journalists and there we go, that situation was resolved. okay, so we're actually in between the police and the demonstrators. so far they have not advanced the position. thank you very much. we were told that they would use tear gas if necessary. and i want to tell you why things are different tonight. there was an unexpected visit from atlanta's mayor keisha lance bottoms and she was met with mixed reactions. a lot of boos, not having a standing dialogue with the demonstrators. what they want is police reform. they are here not just because of george floyd. the leaders of these organizations -- the leaders of

these demonstrators although they are fractured two of them told me they are fighting 400 years of injustice. it's not just about one man. you see here, though, there's a crowd -- sorry about the language here, guys. this is crowd. it's a live situation. >> don't worry about it, nick. go ahead. >> reporter: trying to best between law enforcement and citizens to settle this peacefully. we're now 2 minutes into the curfew. so far there's still demonstrators in the streets. i'm just going to step away and let this play out in front of me, chris. >> i will see everybody tomorrow. please let's go home safely. >> reporter: lieutenant matthew you hear him. >> let's hear what the message is and let's hear what the response is. >> black lives matter doesn't stop at 9:00 p.m. >> why aren't you leaving? why won't you obey the curfew? >> black lives matter does not

stop at 9:00 p.m. >> well, thank you very much. >> you will go to jail. it's on you to decide each and every one of you as individuals. so you can go or you can stay. >> negotiations are still ongoing, chris. they're playing outright in front of us here. >> and the man in the georgia t-shirt is -- did he organize this, is he with a particular group or is he just speaking to the lieutenant? >> reporter: he's just speaking to the lieutenant right now. we did speak with two others who say they've been here from the beginning and are part of the demonstrators, the organization that led this. but, you know, it's a hodgepodge of groups that have come together here. we've seen anti-fascists. on friday night we saw people who supported president trump out here. proud boys it looked like to me judging from their tattoos. these are local residents mixed

in with people who admitted to us, one person went as far as kentucky to come out here. we asked him about the violence. he says he thinks it's the only way. right before this curfew got under way we did speak to the demonstrators in the standoff and they said they had no intention of leaving. >> i want to hear what he's saying to them. let's hear what the negotiation is. >> reporter: sure, sure, sure. >> we're going to continue fighting. >> we are peaceful and you know that.

>> all right, so nick -- >> reporter: it's kind of hard to make out, chris. i'm sorry. >> no, listen. we get the state of play. >> reporter: there's a demonstrat demonstrator next to us who wants to voice his opinion. go ahead. what's going on here? >> so right now we have one of the protesters he wants to be arrested peacefully, peacefully at that but he wants to stand up against the curfew right now and we just have the officer trying to get him to leave in peace because there is no reason to be arrested just to go against the curfew. >> reporter: you took some exception when there was a person from out of town. you wanted me to mention he was white, why? >> yes, i didn't know he was white. he came all the way from kentucky and said that he thinks the violence is necessary.

his race is white and it's been proven there are many people that are instigating that are not for the cause but just if filtrating. >> reporter: what are you for? >> i'm for the cause. i'm a georgia resident and citizen since i was a kid. i'm here for the love of humanity and for the love of having everybody have equal treatment regardless of their skin color and regardless of where they're from. >> reporter: thank you so much. your name? >> daniel gonzalez. >> all right, nick. >> reporter: yes, chris. go ahead. >> all right, so, nick, we get it. the curfew creates a very complicated point of teng. people say, no, it's not complicated, it's trait forward, this is what it is, this is the law. but it is an interesting point of contrast because the protesters are saying so you only enforce the law and insist on justice when it works for you. and what i liked about this at least on one level is the

protesters have a right under law to voice their opinion in the way they want. they can be angry, they can blame, they can shame, they can yell. you know, when people say peaceful, they mean passive. that's always been my point. no one wants to see vihns. as soon as we start touching each other in a way against the will we make a mockery, everybody knows that. peaceful is a code word for passive, for a lot of people who wants things to stay the way they are. and this is tough. police have to do the job and enforce the curfew. how they do it matters. and you heard the lieutenant saying i don't want to do it this way, let's try to make this good for everybody which is going to be hard. these are difficult times. >> reporter: as you're speaking they're going to give another announcement -- they are giving another announcement over those speakers saying you're in violation of curfew. we're being told to move out of the way here. it seems as though law enforcement might advance. >> stake out a position that is

good for you to cover but not to be in the way. stay in touch with the control room. if there is movement that we need to show come right back to me, okay? >> reporter: just a quick thought before i wrap up, chris. i know mayor keisha lance bottoms was asked directly today by the demonstrators to lift this curfew. it was a point of contention and seems to still be right now while the curfew is in effect. >> nick, be safe. give us an angle where we can see this. we'll keep the picture up and monitor here as well. i do think it's important, though. we have a very, very important guest that we have on the show tonight. there are a lot of steps in this struggle, okay? and i will cover the memorials today. we're watching the officers move forward now in a straight line. let's just watch and make sure it's done the right way, okay? this is tough to do without anybody being upset.

yeah, mike, you can follow them and find out what's going on. nick, go ahead. as long as you're not becoming somebody they need to clear you keep going. now, on the backside of this we see what appears to be national guard members, all right? one of the interesting things about them is they are not train today do what they're doing right now. they are not police. they are not trained in policing and arresting and dealing with crowd control, and that's why governors are very slow to use them in situations like this. their presence makes a huge statement, no question about it. it's an amazing show of force but force can be met with force

in these kinds of points of tension. what you saw from that atlanta police lieutenant is an acquired skill. how do you speak to people who are angry and angry with good reason? and negotiate things that wind up becoming some type of accommodation of equal and opposite forces. and that's why the police are out in front. yeah, sneak around the side there, mike. good. >> reporter: there appears to be only about a dozen or so demonstrators and we're looking at what appears to be one person being detained here. at least one person being detained so far.

>> i don't know if he's being t detained. they want to talk to him. let's hear them talk. >> reporter: they pulled him aside and they asked him to keep walking. >> right, he was not detained. >> reporter: they're being pushed further into downtown, more so towards the restaurants that are still closed, hotels some of them still open. and what we saw here over the course of the last few nights we're not seeing the deflployme of tear gas or heavy use of force to clear these demonstrators. in fact, earlier today they did have barricades they filled with water -- >> i hear you. and nick, while you're talking if you guys can sneak around that corner, go around the corner and let's just see what's happening around that corner if you can get there. >> reporter: sure, sure, sure. you got it. here we go. wants to see around the corner.

>> all right, so those people seem to have been moved along. and look, it's great there is no tear gas. there are no flash bangs, there is no force, there are no detentions. those are sometimes a necessary consequence of people voicing protests, but i know it makes for provocative television but it's something that doesn't help anybody. so they're going to continue their march. nick, good. i appreciate it. stay monitoring the situation. let me know if it change. great job of giving me a sense of the scene. appreciate it. now, i want to get to this witness tonight because we have a very specific amount of time. the struggle to get to a better place has to begin with justice in the floyd case. i know it's not the only case. i know there are many. i know this is about a pattern of behavior over many years, but floyd, his death was so obnoxious and so disgusting on so many levels and we got to see it and the time and the

callusness th callusness that it is a legitimate flash point. as the case is being made prospective on everything for why this happened and how it did that is going to be the key to the officers defense i guarantee you that. even with videotape you will hear the argument that the officers were nut perceiving it the way it seems so obvious to so many people. maurice lester hall is an account the likes of which we've not gotten to hear yet. he was a friend of george floyd. he was also in the passenger seat with him in the suv that police approached on that memorial day. he knows exactly what happened in those last minutes of floyd's life because he was there. mr. hall is here for his first tv interview with his attorney ashley mcfarlen. i'm sorry to keep you waiting. i'm sorry what you've gone through to get to this point.

we could show people in realtime what was happening there. counselor, thank you for being with us tonight. sir, if you could just please give me your perspective on what happened when the police approached that car in terms of what they were asking for and what they were offered up by you and your friend, mr. floyd. >> may 25th, memorial day mr. floyd and i was approached by two officers. one had took the side of my car door and asked for my i.d., which later i heard a loud distraction of a sound coming from mr. floyd's direction of another officer sounding like he was trying to break the window of floyd's side of the driver side of his suv truck. and at that moment it startled

mr. floyd, myself and maybe even the officer because he then ran from my side to the other side of the vehicle after his partner was on my brother's side i believe using a use of force. >> well, help me understand the situation. the officers came up to both sides of the vehicle asking for i.d. what happened on george's side of the vehicle that made the officers run over there. do you remember? >> i do. i remember hearing the object of a blunt force, some large object, whatever the officer had in his hand. again, i'm turnt because i'm taking care of the officer on my side. i can only hear this. and once i hear this loud distraction of this officer trying to break george's window then he's demanding things and i

can hear george asking him what did he want him to do. >> so he's asking him -- so george wasn't saying get away from it car, leave me alone, i'm not going to get out, nothing like that? >> no, not at all. no, in fact he only said what do you want me -- the officer started first of all by bluntly banging on the window. once he done that then i can see mr. george putting his hands above the steering wheel of the vehicle. and once he did that then i witnessed the officer reaching in and grabbing mr. floyd's hands. >> now, when they grabbed george's hands and put them behind his back in the videotape it seemed like it took a long time to get him out of the car. what was happening during that time? >> he was asking them questions. they asked him let me see your hands, george showed them his

hands over the steering wheel. and when he did that, the officer reached in and grab his hands. now, keep in mind he did startle them like he was trying to break the window. opened the door and he demanded -- what i believe the energy was set wrong by the police when they approached him because they approached with, like, an energy where it startled mr. floyd. that's what i believe. and he was just trying to diffuse the situation as best, as humbly as he could. the man asked him what did he want him to do, and then the cop said put your hands up, show me your hands. floyd showed his hands, put his hands in the air as a sign of here go my hands, i'm not moving in the vehicle, i'm not trying to flee or -- >> george was saying things like that? george was saying things like i'm good, i'm not going to do anything, here it is? he was speaking that way? >> by action. by showing here's my hands over the steering wheel.

when he shows his hands and puts them over the steering wheel the cop reached in and grabbed his arms. when he grabbed his arms floyd asked the cop why are you grabbing me with a use of force, why are you doing this? he's a big fellah, now he's a cop. one officer is touching george's hands while george is still sitting in the peaceful form he's in his vehicle and the cop is -- it seems as if he was trying to pull him out or something. i can't really -- >> did you hear them telling george to get out of the car? >> no. i just -- i witnessed and remember the officer then from my side taking off to his partner's side. now it's two cops on george's side. >> did you hear -- they start shouting gun, or the reporting was that they thought someone may have a gun and that's why there was an urgency. did anybody in the vehicle have a weapon?

>> no. they didn't find a weapon, they detained the car so -- i mean, if there was a weapon involved i'm sure it would have came out. >> thank you, ashley. and the reason i'm asking, counselor, and obviously it's an obvious question because the idea of did they ask george do you have a gun and he didn't answer or is there anything you remember that gave an officer any reason to believe that there was a weapon? >> no, sir. at this point once they reached for mr. george floyd's hands it took the whole situation into a turmoil it didn't have to be. all george was doing was just trying to stay humble and be as relaxed as possible. and once they dragged him out the vehicle and he stood up the cop that was on his side, those two cops -- i don't know, they was intimidated maybe. i don't know what they were thinking at the time, but george in his peacefulest form, he

retreated to his knees saying, hey, man, in so many words i've been hurt, please officer. in other words, like why are y'all detaining -- using such force right now with me? i mean, here i am -- >> so we don't see george fighting in the video. we see the officers taking him out. it's a little bit of a tussle in the car to get him out. that's why i'm asking you those questions how it went. then we see him sitting on the ground by the store where you guys were, and there's time passing and they're talking. what was that about? do you remember? >> they had me detained at that time on the other side, as you said. i could see and witness across the street and hearing him talking. and i witnessed other cops still

down and like to me i could see them taunting him. >> you're talking about before you crossed the street. >> i don't know how much of it you digested at this point, but one of the questions here, counselor, is why it took so long. you know what i mean? whatever they were doing in the store, whatever they felt the call was about and the stop was about, the job was to arrest these guys if they think they have probable cause and take them away, but this took such a long time that it never made sense and that's why i'm asking this, counselor. my point is once they pulled him out of the car they could have put you in a cruiser and taken you away if they thought they had probable cause for arrest but they didn't. >> they corralled me and then they was only focused on george, mr. george. he's on the ground. >> and chris, from what mr. hall has told me from the beginning as he set the stage mr. floyd was shocked when they came to

his car. so he was trying to gather what was happening, trying to figure out what was going on, what did they want. he continued to tell them that he was not resisting, doing what they wanted him to do and trying to figure out what it was about. you saw within seconds, really, of approaching the car they put him in handcuffs. and then led him across. you know, my client will tell you he said, you know, i've been hurt before, please, what is this about? >> counselor, we're showing you right now just so you understand three moments in. let's look at the moment one they approach the vehicle. moment two they have george floyd up against the wall. he's sitting on the ground against the wall, which i believe is part of the store where they were. your client was on the other side of the street. >> that's right. >> and why did they sit him down there, mo? and what were they asking him? what was the point of having him

on the ground and talking to him there? do you remember? >> i do not. i thought they was still fighting and tussling with him, the only reason he was on the ground. >> yeah, but he was sitting there and then they pick him up and they start taking him to an suv and he falls on the ground, they then kind of have him and he's back on the ground again. what was going on? >> i witness them -- at this point you're speaking of he's very well handcuffed when they put him in the cruiser car and then they pull him back out. but i have to shift down at this point to see from my angle, and from that angle i can see him, like they was taunting him, like they was -- it looked like they was -- >> we're showing them move, george, from the mercedes suv over the wall. and now he's on the ground

sitting, it's a flash shot so we don't know how he got down there. now we see him pull him up by his arms which are obviously handcuffed behind his back. and george is obviously complaining about what's going on. they're looking at his cuffs because he's complaining about it reasonably, right? i mean obviously he's been cuffed a while, didn't want to be cuffed, didn't feel good. why did he from your perspective what happened in that cruiser and wii he had to wind up face down on the ground the way he was with the officer on his throat, how did you understand it in the moment of what was going on and why? >> at this point i can remember seeing mr. george feet from the cruiser 320. so i can see his feet and remembered seeing the officers riding his back and -- from what i gathered -- one of them said that they thought he was kicking

or maybe was too large for the back of the car so he might have -- i don't know what they thought, actually, but -- >> he recalls he was standing across the street. all he saw was his friend on the ground pleading for his life, begging and crying out for his life. >> and we understand, counselor, from your perspective from what you've been told why -- so they sit him in the cruiser or the suv, then they tick him back out which is one of the things that doesn't make any sense here and then he's on the ground. >> that's right. and my client doesn't know why they did that. all he saw is he was on the ground and he saw from across the street his legs kicking, he could hear him pleading and he saw the officers on top of mr. floyd. >> and how long did it continue to go on, mo? >> a good ten minutes. and me knowing mr. floyd i'm always knowing that he's always trying to be as humble as he can

because he know -- he gets, you know, big guy status. he gets extra attention good or bad. but he knows how to conduct himself, you know, just like the media and everyone knows he's known as a gentle giant, bottom line. so even dealing with law enforcement that he has no control of he still tries to, you know, come in his humblest form, and that's what i remember witnessing. i've seen it before and it turned out not like such with him losing his life. >> and, you know, chris, my client will tell you when he saw and he was experiencing this he didn't even know that mr. floyd was dead at that point. he thought that once he was getting on the gurney and going in the ambulance that they were going maybe to get him some treatment or maybe he was too big for the patrol car so this was another way to take him in. he didn't find out that mr. floyd had passed and was killed until the next day on social media like everybody else. >> maurice, when he was on the

ground and row heard him screaming near the end give us a sense of what that was like to hear it and to see what you could. where was your head and your heart when you were watching that? >> behind mr. floyd and i was just feeling helpless because i was being detained by another precinct officer to say not so active as far as movement, which was protocol. and after seeing the video the next day like my lawyer said and knowing from that angle of the video that was released it's horrific. it's a horrific act. >> you think the officers knew george was suffering and struggling the way he was? >> the guy that was on his neck for that long i really believe from that -- watching the video

he looked down and studied and knew from my personal belief. >> chris, any human being with eyes and ears knew he was suffering. >> i saw my brother take his last breath. the world saw him take his life breath. he was dead before he left the scene. >> did you hear the officers saying anything to one another about what they were doing to floyd or how george floyd seemed to be doing? >> no. because after they got him on the gurney and he was shuffled out of there of course they was asking the question what are they going to do with myself and the passenger, and they was like are they good and asked a few questions, let everyone go and cleaning the scene up like protocol. you know how they do. >> they let you go? >> yes, they released us. >> while they were on george, and counselor, help me if you

feel i'm confusing context. i know your angle wasn't great. i know you were dealing with the fact you couldn't help him anyway because you were detained, but were the officers talking to each other or expressing any kind of interest in george's condition while the officer was on his neck? did you hear any conversation from them about any kind of concern? >> chris, he was across the street. >> too far away. >> it was a lot of commotion, i sirens were starting to come. but he could hear george. >> george pleading saying, oh, they're going to kill me. i can hear him screaming. i can hear him pleading for his life and asking and begging to just breathe. he just wanted to breathe. he just wanted air and i just -- i can remember hearing him squirming and crying out like

the world hearing him. >> you heard george say i think they're going to kill me, they're trying to kill me. >> not think. he said they're going to kill me. i heard him saying it. i can't breathe. >> if you can, counselor, maurice, let me take a commercial. i don't want your only perspective on george to be how he died. i want to hear about why you loved him, why he was your friend and what you know about him that people need to know about him to understand why your telling of the story and people who know him about how he would have been with the police is something they should listen to and understand. so i'll take a quick break, i promise. i don't want to drag this out for you. i know you don't want to talk about this and it's hard. but i appreciate it. but people need to understand who he was. we've got so much bias to strip away from people so they can see it for what it was. so counselor, are we good with that? >> yes, thank you, chris. >> thank you.

we'll take a quick break. we'll be right back. this is perspective we have not heard and right now this case is coming ever closer it's one that we need. please, stay with us.

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nice! on any budget, with free shipping. wayfair. way more than furniture. all right, we were in the middle of an interview, a perspective we had not gotten yet on the george floyd situation. we've shown you the video, but we now have a friend of george floyd's who was in the car, all right? mr. marries haurice hall who's right now with counselor. thank you for waiting over the break. i just want it to be clear to people the stop that resulted in the death of george floyd also resulted in no arrest for you and the other person who was in the car. you were let go at the end of all this, right? >> and chris, i want to

interrupt for one second because i think this is an important point. oftentimes and most times, you know, i don't allow my clients to talk to the media, right, for various reasons. this is a different case. the only reason that we have the pressure that we have right now is because of the public seeing what happened and the public reacting and making sure that ju justice is being carried out. i want to make sure -- we didn't get into a lot of the facts here tonight because i want to preserve my client's testimony for trial, as a potential witness in trial. but i think it's important for the public to know that mr. floyd did not resist. that is clear without a doubt. so i want to be careful of how much we talk about on your show, and i respect you a lot. but that was the point of doing

this is to make sure that the public knew that he did not resist. >> understood. >> and much of the rest of the facts we'd like to preserve -- we'd like to preserve for court. >> understood. agreed to and understood and accepted, counsel. i was just trying to highlight the fact that a man is dead and people were actually let go at the end of it so the idea of suggesting, well, it had to be something bad is at a minimum a weak argument. now, the man you knew as your friend, mo, tell me why or tell me what people need to understand about george, big strong george, maybe could scare police officers because of how big he was. what did you need to know about george and what did george know about himself that led him to handle himself the way he did? >> george is a very wise guy. he knows his strength.

he knows his capability. he knows his heart. he knows where he comes from. he's a leader. he's very wise. he has a aura, an energy about himself. he knows how to be seen but not like he's trying to be seen. he's very professional, in other words. >> and you know, chris, he described him to me like this. he said, you know, george was an adder to your life. he said some people subtract, some people divide. but he added to everyone's life he came in contact with, and he certainly left a huge impression on my client. >> what do you want people to know about him? when they hear the name george floyd, and obviously, you know, he has touched a nerve in this country and in fact around the

world. what do you want them to know about the man who's not with us anymore? i know you're still talking about him in the present tense because all of this is still in shock and feel for you on that level. what should they know? >> big george floyd, the gentle giant, my king, my panther. >> i'm very sorry for your loss, and i hope that as counsel is relaying that his death comes to mean so much more than just the circumstances of the same, that it gets to a better place and a recognition if only because of how graphic this was and i'm sorry you had to live through it, sir. but maurice lester hall, thank you so much for giving us the truth and your perspective of what happened. and ashley mcfarlen, thank you for clarifying the issues. i wish you good luck going forward. >> thank you, chris.

>> all right, god bless, maurice. thank you very much. all right, so, look, you can't beat the perspective of somebody who's in the car, okay. and i have no problem with them improving testimony. it's fine. it's not unusual. it's a balance of what you say publicly and what you don't say especially before trial. counsel is being cautious and i understand why. but the man was in the car, he wound up being let go and the entire time he heard his friend wondering why it was happening this way. and you do have to open mindedly recognize this. why did it take so long? george floyd was a big guy. he wasn't shaq, okay? the idea he can't fit in a car doesn't make sense. he was in a car. he was a mid-sized mercedes suv, okay? why against the wall? why back up, why on the ground, why in the cruiser, why back on the ground? why so much time?

this is what has to be answered in this prosecution. that is what fairness under the law demands. because for something so extreme to happen for so long i don't know what your background is and it doesn't really matter, nobody is trained to put their knee on someone's throat. it is an inherently deadly thing to do. not talking about on the tape of the neck. not talking about on the back of the neck. i'm talking about on the throat, okay? i have most of a lifetime learning this stuff. you won't find a cop who told you he was trained to do that. why do it? why that long? why nobody saying anything about it? it is a horrible mystery, and that interview is very helpful in just cementing our idea it didn't make sense to him either. now, before floyd was killed we were taking apart the murder

case of ahmad arbery in georgia. it's not just one thing, okay? the pandemic, what happened with arbery, on your screen, what happened with floyd on video. we have more information to share with you about the ahmad arbery case. details are emerging. all three suspects are ordered to stand trial. ahmad's mother has been listening to the interview, and she's here along with an arbery family attorney. i want to shift your attention to that because it's the same issues. i know they're not police. makes the case harder on those defendants. but what they heard in court today was so direct to what it's all about. i want her reaction and yours as well. next. okay, so let's talk home and auto bundle.

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a georgia investigator gave

details in court today about how ahmad arbery was targeted that confirmed that the situation is as ugy laz it is imagined to have been, that he was pursued, that he was run-down and murdered. then as he lay dying his accused killer reportedly spewed hate that takes this directly to what it was most feared to be about. even the investigator winced when he had to repeat the words. ahmad's mother wanda cooper, is with us tonight along with family attorney lee meritt. i know you both understand the need for perspective in that floyd case from somebody who was there because so many people want to see these things in a light that just doesn't stand up to the truth. and for you, ms. cooper, i'm so

sorry for your loss and to have to talk to you about this but it matters for people to understand. what you learned in court today about what ahmad had to deal with and how it was and the words that came out of one of the men that reflected what was in his heart in that moment, what did that mean to you? >> it was very heart breaking. i often imagine the last minutes of my son's life. i didn't imagine it would be that harsh. but to learn that that statement was made in the last seconds of his life it -- again, it was very heart breaking. >> is this a situation whereas a mother you wanted to know what happened or do you wish you had never heard? >> i wanted to know. i think knowing what happened would give me a little sense of

closure of what actually happened. >> the words used by one of the killers, to know it was said in the moment about your son right after nay had to realize what had happened, what they had done, what's the significance to you in that moment? >> at this point i'm really speechless because it's -- i mean it's hard to know he had to go through that after he ran. he actually ran for his life. when he couldn't run anymore, he had to fight. and then after he fought, he was

killed. very hard to know that he endured that. >> the third man, the man who gave us the video, gave the world the video that wound up making this real for people, his lawyer says he was just doing what any patriotic citizen would do. he was helping a neighbor. he saw a man he didn't recognize running down the street, a vehicle with people he did recognize pursuing them. so he went to help and see. what is your take on what this situation was about? >> i think that mr. bryant played a major part. he just wasn't riding along and minding his own business. his part was the video man. and he played that part very well. >> what happened with george floyd, what happened with ahmaud arbery, different circumstances, different places. these men were not -- no matter

what they thought, they were not police officers. they were not acting under any color of authority. what is your hope that these cases come to mean for this country? >> i'm hoping that the death of my son, also of mr. floyd, the deaths will implement change. we need change. so, no other african-american male will lose their life in such a manner. >> now, last time i sevebe inte you, ms. cooper, i cut it because i'm not going to bathe you in the misery you have to live with the rest of your life. i'm sensitive to that now too. i'm not going to repeat what we learned. in fact, anybody in this audience out of third grade knows exactly what kind of words were used and how they described your son, and it doesn't bear

repeating. lee, what does bear a little bit of context from your legal perspective is the early narrative of, he was just jogging, we followed him, he wouldn't stop, so we got out of the car and he jumped the the guy with the gun so we had to defend ourself. that's not what the gbi found. they found this was much more intensal and ahmaud had to deal with a lot more including a vehicle attack during this. what was clarified according to the gbi's perspective? >> well, exactly what you said. but there was a level of coordination. and i will just say from a human perspective, sitting next to ahmaud's mother, wanda, during -- as this testimony came forward, it was very difficult. and i like to think that i can be pretty composed. but as i saw her begin to be impacted by those words, i began to break down. and, you know, i understand how hard that was for her to get

through. but the -- what we learned from the testimony that went forward, this was an intentional act by men who were motivated by hate. we heard the n-word used repeatedly. but every interaction they had with ahmaud seemed to be based on a fear of his black skin. and we just heard it over and over and over again as they walked through the narrative. and it seemed like the defense was leaning into that as a defense, that ahmaud was a menacing black man, even as he ran away. >> and that there is reason to believe that he was hit by one of the vehicles, yes? >> we didn't pick up testimony that he was hit by a vehicle. he was ran off the road into a ditch by mr. roddie. so, in order to avoid being struck by the vehicle, ahmaud went into a ditch so the car wouldn't dip down into it. but that didn't end the pursuit. this was an ongoing aggressive pursuit.

>> that's it. that's the point of clarification. lee, thank you. there's much more to be told. we will not let the case go away. that's one of the mistakes we're making in this country. we have to stay on these cases and figure out what difference they make on your communities because the difference on your lives will be forever and we have to honor that as well. ms. cooper, i'm sorry to put you in these hard situations but i hope it makes a difference in peoples' lives. god bless you and the family. i wish you well. counselor, you too. >> thank you. >> wanda cooper, lee merritt. all right. here's a tip: get half-off the amazing iphone 11 on at&t, america's fastest network for iphones. second tip: you can put googly eyes on your stuff to keep yourself company. uh for example, that's heraldo. he's my best friend. oh, sorry nancy, i forgot you were there. get the amazing iphone 11 for half-off on at&t, america's fastest network for iphones.

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all right. let me bring in my man, d. lemon. "cnn tonight" is obviously going to pick up the coverage. i tell you, we had a different show planned. but you cannot match in the law let alone the in just humanity a set of eyeballs and ears that are there at the scene that are part of the situation and who know the people involved. >> yeah. >> very powerful account by

maurice, george floyd's friend. and by the way, helpful of counsel also to help shape his recollections. but it just breaks your heart that the more you learn, the more you realize that it was not motivated by anything but the wrong things. >> right. >> and it just breaks your heart. >> and they're admitting that in the courtroom and even unwittingly. can i say -- i just want to say something. it has been -- what has it been -- are you all right? >> yeah. >> we've been working non-stop since march since the coronavirus, then we have this. everybody's so tense and emotional and upset. have you found that? >> oh, absolutely. look, we've never lived through anything like this. and i know we seem to say that a lot to each other. this has been a weird, weird bunch of years. but within the context acutely here, covid