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tv   Anderson Cooper 360  CNN  April 6, 2021 5:00pm-6:00pm PDT

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>> reporter: a small taste but the couple hours drive from moscow and that was broken up and they declined the woman you heard from that report, she was spear heading that doctor's protest demanding access to navalny but also, i was picked off. my camera man was picked up and a couple other journalists were put on the police van and driven to the police station and we had our documents checked and processed and set free and allowed to continue with our work, but it just under lines how little patience they have with protests to alexei navalny's conditions and coverage of the protests, as well. erin. >> amazing. thank you so much for that fantastic report and we're glad you're back with us. thanks to all of you for watching. anderson starts now.
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good evening. ahead tonight a revealing and surprising look how the derrek chauvin trial is being seen by people watching at cub foods, the corner store outside which george floyd died with chauvin's knee on his neck. the trial itself, more expert testimony on the use of that knee today and though there were inconsistencies at times, the thrust appeared damaging to the defense. some came out under cross-examination and chauvin's instructor saying quote, we tell officers to stay away from the neck when possible. details now from cnn's josh campbell. >> reporter: one by one veteran members of the minneapolis police department took the stand. >> thank you. >> reporter: each part of the department's training force. today's testimony added to the chorous of police department witnesses who said derek chauvin's knee on the neck was not part of their training. >> would bit appropriate and within training to hold a
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subject with the prone position with a knee on the neck and a knee on the back for an ex end theed period of time after the subject stopped offering any resistance? >> no, sir. >> or has lost their pulse? >> no, sir. >> if you don't have a pulse on a person, you'll immediately start cpr. >> reporter: the defense pushed back with this image. >> this is a specific kind of photograph that demonstrates the placement of a knee as it applies to prone handcuffing, correct? >> correct. >> reporter: the witnesses emphasized a focus on minimal force and prompt medical care. >> how soon should the person be put into the side recovery position? >> i would say sooner, the better. >> reporter: the defense asserted rules can be fluid. >> there is no strict application of every single rule, agreed, or every single technique? >> that is correct. >> have you had people say i can't breathe? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: at times, the witnesses contradicted each other. >> have you ever been trained or trained others to say that if a
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person can talk, they can breathe? >> it's been said, yes. >> and you train officers if a person can talk, that means they can breathe? >> no, sir. just because they're speaking doesn't mean they're breathing adequately. >> i can't breathe. >> reporter: and in a trial defined by numerous graphic videos of george floyd's final moments. >> you would describe sometimes that the public doesn't understand that police actions can look really bad. >> that's correct, sir, yes. >> right, and but they still may be lawful even if they look bad, right? >> yes, sir. >> here we are now in the shadows of a courthouse praying for justice. >> reporter: during the trial's lunch break, george floyd's family joined the reverend al sharpton at the courthouse. >> after we get the verdict and we get this conviction, we'll be able to breathe. >> josh campbell joins us. some of the conflicting testimony, what was the sense of
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how today went for the defense? >> reporter: well, we've heard over a week of damming testimony against derek chauvin mainly from his fellow officers but today was arguably the best day yet for the defense. they were able to elicit somely information. you had one officer admitting a suspect would say they are in medical distress or couldn't breath and turned out not to be the case. we're aware of the gut wrenching video of chauvin on george floyd but of course, in the u.s. criminal justice system, all the defense has to do is raise doubt in the mind of one juror to threaten the prosecution's case. >> appreciate it. joining us is jeffrey sterns, an attorney for the floyd family. i'm wondering what stood out to you from the testimony you heard today? >> you know, anderson, from the lead in, a lot of people are talking about whether or not the defense has scored some points today and sure, we heard testimony that sometimes there
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are unruly crowds. sometimes there might be a need to put on -- or a need to put a knee on someone's neck, however, what's critical to keep in mind, this is not the hypothetical murder trial of george floyd. this is the actual murder trial, and every person who has testified in this case has testified that what derek chauvin did was wrong and in actuality had no place in policing. >> clearly, the defense which we saw yesterday was also when they talked to the physician who attended to mr. floyd in the e.r., they tried to bring up other possible causes for his death or for asphyxia. they talked about drug use. they are clearly trying to just raise some form of doubt about
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that it's absolutely clear what killed him. that it's absolutely clear what occurred. >> well, absolutely. they're trying to misdirect the jury every which way they possibly can with red herring and hypothetical after hypothetical but the prosecution will have to really focus in on what was actually found here. you know, the e.r. doctor saying his leading theory was asphyxia, that the individuals on zeking what happened to george floyd was consistent with asphyxiation and not this red herring of a drug overdose. >> the defense showed derek chauvin's knee on george floyd's neck saying he followed protocol to arrest him. that doesn't seem to follow what the testimony of many of the actual people who teach this said. >> yeah, absolutely. what the defense wants to do
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here is point to a split moment in time saying isn't it okay he did this? you say for a transitional period of time, maybe you can put a knee on a subject's neck, that is not consistent withholding your knee on that subject's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, long after they've sensed breathing. >> jeffrey storms, appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> thank you. joining us is laura coats and criminal defense attorney jose baez and charles ramsey, former top cop in philadelphia in the district of colombia. laura, we heard that at times conflicting testimony from police officers and josh campbell's report a few minutes ago. should prosecutors feel confident or concerned tonight? >> they should feel confident. i mean, it's undoubtedly the truth that of course, at times the defense will land a punch or
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two. the question for the jury is can it actually deal a blow? i don't think they dealt the blow they need to because it's undisputed of course an officer can use reasonable force to subdue or restrain a non-compliant suspect. that of course, is the truth. the question is whether they crossed a line, whether derek chauvin crossed a line away from the reasonable use of force to excessive force on ward to criminal assault. again, after there is no longer any conceivable perceived threat, if you maintain the use and application of deadly force against the training, against what the imploring pleas have been from the bystanders, against a question from one of your own men on the scenes, if you do that in a way that defies logic, training, common sense and humanity, the fact that you could have at one point used reasonable force does not essentially immunize you from
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lighty for the duration of the 9 minutes and 29 seconds. you can say hey, they can use some type of restraint but can you keep doing it and kept tasing somebody if they were already on the ground? could you have kept applying deadly force? they haven't been able to answer that question. >> jose, what do you make of their case so far? >> well, i think they're putting together a pretty strong case. so the question is are they invoking enough emotion to carry the day? i think this is a highly emotional case. it's going to be won lost on emotion. even for the prosecution, they can carry this in that way as can the defense but i certainly don't see it in that way right now. >> chief ramsey, you know, we continue to hear from police officials and experts who say what this officer derek chauvin did was excessive force. the defense has been able to get some concessions from prosecution witnesses whether it's the level of distraction posed by onlookers or other
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people saying i can't breathe, the amount of time a neck restraint takes to render someone unconscious, would you be surprised if the jury wasn't entirely clear on some of this? >> well, i wouldn't be surprised. i think they did a pretty descent job of mudding the waters on a couple of issues. i go back to that one photograph of the handcuffing technique with the officer showing his knee on the neck but they overlook one important point and that is floyd, george floyd was already handcuffed and handcuffed before he came in contact with chauvin. the defense constantly raises these things but it doesn't fit what took place in this case and that's really what is important. so it goes back and forth. i thought probably the most effective thing in favor of the defense that i saw today was that photograph they showed of
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heroin and fentanyl and a few grams of fentanyl saying that's a lethal dose. i think that's something that i'm a very visual person and you argue whether or not drugs were the reason for mr. floyd to past away, that's an argument but they left out the fact people build tolerance for drugs over time so what would kill me may not kill you if you're a regular drug users. the prosecution doesn't have this all wrapped up. they have a lot of work to do. >> jose, what do you make about the question of the defense so f far? >> i hear and see points being scored but you don't win the case on scoring a few points with a old college try. you have to carry the day and carry it consistently throughout a case if you want to win a high stakes criminal trial, especially one as complex as this, you need to have
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consistent themes and you have to be able to carry the entire day, not just score a point here or there with a photograph with a good cross on one witness. it is difficult thing to do to win a criminal trail. everyone says all you have to do is create reasonable doubt. that's really not that simple as people say it is. otherwise, prosecutors would lose 90% of the time as oppose to win 90% of the time. >> it's interesting you talk about creating themes and consistent themes. from a defense standpoint in this trial, would a consistent theme then be it was drugs that, you know, were a factor or the factor in mr. floyd's death and, you know, other questions about, you know, the crowd involvement? i mean, are those the kind of themes you're talking about? >> i think relations of this
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case in the context of yes, there is this but you would want to point out how he wasn't following lawful orders whether they were by his choice or his inability to do so that is the arguable point here. but the reality is you need to be able to show, listen, this officer was doing everything consistent with his training. it's just that this specific individual was not cooperating. therefore put himself in a position of danger and parol, therefore that's where we are in the gray area. as it relates to the police and procedures and prosecution, they're all going to fall in line because of the political hot potato we're sitting in and the reality is everyone is full away our of the protests, of the issues going on and there is no way in the world that the minnesota police department is not going to fall in line with the prosecutors in this case, and that's something that you need to hear from the defense that this is perhaps -- their
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all consistent and in sync because they have to be and that has to -- that drum has to be beaten over and over and over again so that it's in the very front of everyone's minds as these jurors are deliberating in the case. >> laura, i saw you shaking your head. >> i'm shaking my head because i understand my colleague's notion what they have to say in the defense but let's not mistake these officers or all of these multiple law enforcement witnesses are simply fall income line because they must cave to the pressure of associate owe political agenda. what i'm hearing is very objective reliance of detail surrounding the training that's been universally taught and universally applied. i know there is room to be nimble and we expect the police officers to adapt particularly for things training cannot contemplate. this is not the men in black here where you have an alien life force that presents a new novel approach to what you have to do to use force.
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you're talking about every single aspect having been contemplated and dealt with, some being the prone suspicion, handcuffed and under the influence and no longer conscious. when it comes to the prosecutor's angle, two questions, what did they know and what duty did they owe? they knew because they knew he was not breathing, did not have a pulse and they knew they owed him a duty of care. they with held the duty of care. they did not provide the aid necessary and go back to the opening statement from mr. blackwell, somebody in your custody is owed a duty of care. they had no idea from toxicology reports that are only thought of and created after the fact, autopsy reports after the fact, what they knew in the moment is that somebody was under obvious physical duress likely because of the activity of one of their officers, and what they chose to
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do based on that knowledge was not to perform a duty of care and so that's going to be top of mind for the jurors not at all the notions of whether the minneapolis police department is suddenly conspireing together to concoct some tale to get at a boys from the people and hennepin county and final point, in the voir dire selection, they were asked a lot of questions about their thoughts on justice and the police and black lives matter and interacts with police officers in the community so we know clearly about these jurors, what we anticipate their ability to be impartial based on those things are. we'll think about the psychology of all of those things but discussion to fall in line, i'm not buying that. >> we got to leave it there -- >> i'm not saying that's what is occurring here. i'm saying that's specifically what needs to be done to be able to win this case. i don't see it being done -- >> i understand. >> but certainly those things happen in trials everyday across the country and you have to be
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able to show it as a defense lawyer and to put up a defense so people can see that this say human system and it is to be operated by humans that are completely imperfect. >> jose baez, laura coats, charles ramsey, thank you. how this is being seen on the corner where george floyd died. what people at cup foods are seeing as they gather to which what the trial. breaking news on matt gaetz, reporting that will not do anything to lift the cloud of allegations he's under. details ahead.
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>> reporter: few are watching the trial more closely than the folks in the neighborhood where george floyd took his last breaths. >> everybody that comes in, takes a look at the trial. >> reporter: inside cup foods, the place where floyd allegedly paid for cigarettes with a counter fit $20 bill, every day the television is set to the trial of the former officer accused of killing him. >> this is the training that you had received? >> it's sad. it's so sad and really sad to watch it in the raw. >> reporter: minneapolis resident tracy came in for breakfast with her dog adore. she reveals what everyone around here already knows, the strongest of emotions are just under the surface here. one scratch, this time in the form of a question and sorrow flows out. how hard is it to watch this trial? >> it's mind boggling how
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somebody is here to serve and protect and everyone runs behind him. >> reporter: she says she can't look away even though it hurts to watch. the store owners say they have received both love and hate. especially after their former cashier testified he was the one who took the alleged fake bill from floyd. >> the policy was that if you took a counter fit bill, you're asked to pay for it out of your money or your paycheck. >> reporter: christopher martin a teenager tried reckfying it with floyd. that didn't work and police were called. martin now regrets that. >> if i would have just not taken the bill, this could have been avoided the. >> reporter: the store owner says the store has received dozens of fake bills over time. >> when employees do take counter fit bills, part of our training is we tell them they will be responsible to pay for it as a detoour rent.
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we never made an employee pay for a counter fit. >> reporter: many are sending support for christopher martin and phone calls from all over the country. >> i just felt i would make a call to you to see if there was something we could do. >> reporter: we happen to be there during one of the calls. >> done a wonderful job and this is what we need to do. >> reporter: outside the cup foods store, there is not just a memorial to george floyd anymore but it more of a community center. there is community gatherings that happen at the former gas station and a community garden all of the people help plant and take care of. on any given day, jay webb a former professional basketball player is in the square planting hope and beauty. >> we can unify the ugly situation. >> reporter: feet away, floyd took his last breath last year and in march this year, another man's body laid dying outside the store, he was shot and
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killed by a resident. neighbors, business owners and activists are battling back violence and arguing over the barriers that have closed off the streets to traffic to the square for nearly a year now. but there is still love and light being shared here. >> this is our response. do your worst and we'll do our best. this is his. this is his. every direction, peace and love. >> sara sidner joins us now. have people talked to you about how they will react if they don't agree with the verdict? >> reporter: yes, i'm not sure any of us want to see some of the things that have been said to me. there are many people who are terrified about what is going to happen in their neighborhoods, the destruction they're worried about and there are people telling me in their view from what they saw, their points,
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looking at and listings to the officers so far, they're telling me if indeed derek chauvin is not convicted in someway in this case, that this place is going to and i'll use their term blow. anderson? >> sara sidner, appreciate it. breaking news, new reporting on matt gaetz and his pardon. one of the correspondents that broke the story joins us. is mealtime a struggle? introducing ore-ida potato pay.
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breaking news to report involving the federal probe of congressman matt gaetz. "the new york times" has a report on gatetz' efforts to hed off that investigation. maggie haberman joins us by phone. what have you learned about the attempt to get a pardon? >> so anderson, the way it's been described to us by multiple people familiar with what took place is gaetz did two things, publicly on fox news and he tweeted it, he said that the former president should pardon really everybody. i think he mentioned a thanksgiving turkey. talked about because in his words, the liberal crowd was going to come after the president. there was also a private conversation that he had with white house officials about a blanket pardon he wanted one for himself and suggesting one for
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allies for congress, not sure specifically who. white house officials thought it was bizarre and knocked it down pretty quickly. remember, this was not -- what we're told is white house officials did not know specifics about what gaetz was under investigation for at that point. we don't know how much gaetz knew but at that point it was clear that his friend, this tax collector in florida himself was under investigation related to issues regarding young girls or young women. so all of this paints a picture of somebody who sought a blanket pardon sensibly because he thought he would be targeted buz because of the former president but allies of the former president looking back on it questioning whether this was an effort to protect himself because he knew what was going on. he's denied wrongdoing. >> so you're not -- you don't know if he for sure knew there this was investigation but he
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was aware according to your reporting that this person he was linked to, the tax collector was under some form of investigation? >> correct. >> and so the white house, they didn't take this seriously at the time? >> the officials in the white house who learned of it thought it was very strange. they were perplexed by it and didn't want to go ahead with it and thought it would set a bad precedent and died fairly quickly. now president trump, then president trump was aware of this request. it's not clear whether he had a specific conversation with gaetz directly but it was not something that the former president pushed for for gaetz either. >> what does gaetz' office says this to? >> they acknowledged he talked publicly about receiving a parten and said he was not doing so because he was under investigation for this latest issue and, you know, we will
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learn more as we go, but at minimum, it is of note that he was seeking this blanket pardon at a time when an associate of his was in legal trouble. >> maggie haberman, fascinating reporting, thank you. >> thank you. >> there is more reporting how gaetz and his legal career. congressman gaetz is fundraising off federal charges? >> the media of publishes lies and dragging political attacks and asks for money to help him find back and despite the federal sex crimes investigation and the separate, he shared pictures of nude women with other lawmakers while on the floor of the house. we're also learning that gaetz with an event put on by women for america first at a trump resort on friday. >> so this associate of congressman gaetz, county official in central florida
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named joel greenburg facing charges including sex trafficking of a minor, he pleaded not guilty. he'll be in court on thursday. do we know anything about how that might impact gaetz? >> he's central to this. greenburg is gaetz' long term friend and ally. it part of a larger inquiry into sex trafficking that resulted in greenburg being indicted. the tax collector in seminole county, florida was charged with a li crimes including id theft and sex trafficking and looking whether greenburg and gates sought out women online and exchanged gifts or money for sex. greenburg and gaetz were recorded by security cameras entering the tax collector's office and rifling through confiscated driver's licenses. gaetz denied wrongdoing and greenburg pleaded not guilty.
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greenburg's case is back in court for a hearing on new charges alleging that he embezzled more than $400,000 and used the money to buy cruy cryp currency and sports memorabilia. the charges against him, anderson are adding up and there is now increasing pressure and those are big things we'll be watching for from orlando for the rest of the week. >> all right. appreciate it. thanks. perspective from former u.s. legal attorney. i want to get your reaction to what we learned from maggie haberman. does it change anything for you, the idea of him seeking blanket pardon? >> it's another crazy story. we were up late on the last day of trump's presidency trying to see. we were thinking about his family members and himself and didn't know this was something maybe on the table. what i think is really a
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dangerous sign for matt gaetz, couple things. one is as the reporting judge suggested, you have this individual mr. greenburg in florida who has the charges keep mounding against him and he's facing more and more jail time as additional counts are brought to bear against him, the easiest way for him to avoid jail time as we've seen in other cases, as well, is for him to flip and who to flip on who -- who better to flip on with federal prosecutors than a sitting member of congress? so that's bad because all the incentives are in favor of him cooperating. there is perhaps audio recordings. we know there is surveillance footage. he can fill in the gaps and connect the dots with bad behavior on the part of matt gaetz but not yet proven and the second thing i would say is a lot of this reporting suggestions to the extent there was some interest on the part of people who knew matt gaetz and his bad conduct , alleged bad conduct were in the position to remain silent. they are no longer remaining silent. it's not a coincidence these
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stories are leaking out about matt gaetz showing videos of nude women on the floor of the house and he might have sought this pardon. it seems like the flood gates have happened with respect to a lot of third party witnesses who might have direct everyday of pad conduct and illegal conduct on the part of matt gaetz. not a good sign for him. >> does it further highlight why it a priority for the justice department to investigate and prosecute. it's not political but they swore to uphold the prosecution. >> there are two sides to that. there is always an incredibly important priority on prosecuting people who have taken an oath to protect the public and to serve the public. people in high office. there is also a need to be very careful and thorough and cautious because duly elected people deserve their day in court and presumption of innocence like everyone else. at the sat time you want to make
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sure corrupt politicians are held to account but also because they occupy a particularly special place in the government having been elected, you want to make sure you cross every t and dot every i. >> is there something you're going to be particularly looking at if, you know, if he was to make some sort of a deal, would that be revealed in court on thursday? >> it's possible. a trial date has been set. it's not too far off, as i understand it. what sometimes will happen with somebody in his posture, the prosecutors could signal that they need more time. they could signal that there is a plea because you have to plead guilty before you're signed up as a cooperator. any shift what's about to happen in the coming weeks to months could be a sign that he's being very seriously considered and maybe being signed up as a cooperator, which i'll say for the second time would be very, very bad news for matt gaetz.
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>> also, i mean, if this was done -- if mr. greenburg or whomever was finding people online and making arrangements with them through websites and the like and then there were payments being made, you know, through online payment systems or whatever, that's a pretty easy trail to follow. >> the report again emphasizing reporting and the great scoops from maggie haberman and colleagues and others looks like matt gaetz is not the most careful human ever to have lived in america or served in congress. he looks like he left a trail. there is already surveillance footage referenced before with respect to looking at the confiscated i.d.s at an office in florida. he probably has dtelephone call. he probably has toll records to corroborate what a collaborating witness might say with respect to meetings and elicit
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activities, sexual or otherwise by matt gaetz. so to the extent they can get a live witness to say these are the things that happened and i did with matt gaetz and corroborating electronic evidence to support that, i'll say for the third time, it's very bad for matt gaetz. >> appreciate it. thanks very much. >> thanks. ramped up more today against companies criticizing those new georgia voting laws that democrats say will limit voting rights. both gop senate leader mitch mcconnell and the former president had to say, that when we continue. ffect. as carla thinks about retirement, she'll wonder, "what if i could retire sooner?" and so she'll get some advice from fidelity, and fidelity will help her explore some different scenarios, like saving more every month. ♪ and that has carla feeling so confident that she can enjoy her dream... right now. that's the planning effect, from fidelity.
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senate republican leader mitch mcconnell ramped up criticism for the second straight day of businesses taking positions against the georgia voting law which democrats say will restrict voting rights in the state. he again assailed major league baseball for removing the all-star game out of atlanta in protest to the law who he said was quote irritating the he recollects -- hell out republican fans and made a reference to delta and coca-cola. >> republicans buy stock and fly on planes and drink coca-cola, too. so what i'm saying here is i think this is quite stupid to jump in the middle of a highly
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controversial issue particularly when they have their facts wrong. >> keeping them honest, mcconnell hasn't always felt that way. in 2012 he said all corporations quote should be free to express themselves on the issues of the day. again, quoting i mean who is afraid here? let's all have a conversation he said about the future of the country. meanwhile, the former president has weighed in, as well, in a statement over the weekend he called for a boycott of delta and coke among others but in a phone interview with a conservative cable news network he dissected some fire at mcconnell who harshly criticized him for his role in the january 6th riots. >> frankly, republican conservatives ever got their act together, which they should, if we had real leadership instead of mitch mcconnell and the group and real leadership, what you'd be doing is something much different. they would be boycotting these companies and those companies would be coming. that's what liberals do. they boycott anybody that speaks
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out they boycott them. they cancel them and boycott them. we have more people than they do. >> a lot to sort through. joining me now is abby phillips and anchor of inside politics sunday and paul. abby, what does it say this issue of the georgia voting law pushed republican leader slip to attack corporate america because they have traditionally been go pr p allies? >> it seems to be a canary in the coal mine if you're a republican. for so long corporations spoke out about taxes and regulations but now that they're talking about issues that are related to democracy, it's a huge problem on the republican side. i think there is real questions, though, about the truth and he said there are, you know, former president trump as well suggesting there are more, you know, republicans who would boycott these companies than people on the other side.
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i think if that were the case, i mean, these companies would be doing what is right for their bottom line. it seems to indicate the numbers are perhaps not in their favor and there is concern why they are pushing back and pushing back hard. >> president biden weighed in on this today. i want to play this for our viewers. >> it is reassuring to see that for profit operations in businesses are speaking up about how these new jim crow laws are just to who we are. >> the president chose to label these measures as jim crow laws. >> yeah, and well,est ehe's got good argument. he has a loyal following. abby is right. corporations care about the bottom line. there are over 3,000 counties in
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america. donald trump carried 2,562 of them. vastcounties. joe biden carried 509 the but they account for 71% of the american economy. these companies know what they are doing and they are following the bottom line and consumers, the notion mitch mcconnell or donald trump is corporate is hilarious. open secrets.org says mcconnell himself took $4.3 million in corporate money in the last five years so he should give the money back. if he boycotts, boycott the money and give it back. >> abby, to that point, mcconnell made clear he wants the money and says of course they should give money but he's long been an advocate for corporations to allegedly have a voice in politics as they point out saying in 2012 corporations should be free to ex stpress
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themselves. it seems remarkably hypocritical. >> yeah, many of us remember the citizens united decision which allows corporations to basically give unlimited money to certain political organizations. that's something that republicans like mitch mcconnell fully support to this day. they want republicans not only -- or they want corporations not only to give them money but to use that money as a form of speech. so this is about the issue that is at hand here, not so much about whether corporations have a right to actually speak up in the public sphere but mitch mcconnell is defending bills predicated on a fundamental lie, which is that there was fraud in the last election. he was on the senate floor denouncing that lie, you know, during the impeachment proceedings and after the january 6th riot so there is a real question about whether there is backsliding going on here among some republicans who
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are willing to denounce the big lie but also willing to support bills that actually are born out of that very same lie. >> in fact, paul, you know, mcconnell is using the term big refer to the portrayal of the voting law as opposed to what it was originally for, which is the lie of the former president's about the election. >> yeah, and george orwell is spinning so fast in his grave right now that you could play a record on him. it's really pathetic. the problem mcconnell has is, these calls for boycotts from him, it's only one dreyer but both coca-cola and delta's stock closed up today. president trump, in the south carolina primary, february 2019, he called for a boycott for apple because he didn't like how apple was handling a terrorism case with one of their phones. today apple's share closed at
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$126. i don't think these corporate ceos have anything to worry about in terms of mitch mcconnell or donald trump authorizing boycotts against them. if mcconnell wants to, he should back empowering people more, how about it, mitch, why don't you support the for the people act? >> the former president is something of a diet coke fan, didn't he have somebody who would bring in the diet coke, wasn't that the person's job? >> he had a diet coke button. >> he may call for a boycott but i don't know that he's going to follow it himself. >> he had a diet coke on his desk while he was calling for a boycott on coca-cola. >> of course he did. coming up, a new report about the mental and
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neurological impact of those infected with covid.
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president biden announced this afternoon he's moving up his deadline for every state to make all american adults eligible for covid vaccine to april 19, less than two weeks away. still he urged americans to remain vigilant. he said the country must remain on what he called a war footing to defeat the virus. michael osterholm is director of infectious disease and policy at the university of minnesota. he advised president biden's transition team. professor, it could take months for all adults to receive the vaccine despite the president moving up the deadline. what does it mean for the race against the virus we're in? >> we have a real challenge right now, because even if we were able to get the vaccines that have been promised out, it doesn't mean we'll have enough
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to really slow down the virus in a meaningful way. for example, if you look at two states that are leading the country right now in terms of new cases, both michigan and minnesota, we actually have very high levels of vaccinations relative to the rest of the country and we're still seeing this rapid increase in cases. >> why is that? >> not enough people are vaccinated. if you look, we still probably have 45 to 50% of our populations throughout much of the united states that haven't been vaccinated nor have they previously had infection and developed immunity. so we've got a ways to go. it's great news these vaccines are coming, i just wish we had three or four months before this b.1.1.7 variant surge started to occur. >> what percentage of the population would have to be vaccinated in order to actually make a difference? >> well, no one actually knows a real number. but i can tell you it's going to be very high. this particular virus is highly infectious. as we've now seen from the work
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done in europe, it's anywhere from 50 to 100% more infectious than the previous strains of the coronaviruses we've been dealing with. so this is going to take a lot of people to be immune before we're going to see it slow down its transmission. >> a new study published in the journal "lancet psychiatry" found as many as one in three people infected with covid-19 have had long term symptoms. i've talked to people who had what they thought were mild cases, and they have what they call covid brain fog. how worried are you about the lasting impacts of this? >> this is a huge challenge. it used to be called long haulers. we've always known that people who spend a significant amount of time in an intensive care unit on a ventilator, weeks to months, will have ongoing health
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problems, weeks to months, after they come out. what we haven't seen is mild patients who should recover and in some cases they recover completely and then they develop this long term chronic problem, as you called it, the brain fog, severe challenges in terms of their heart and lungs. we don't know much about this at all. this is a real concern. it's going to be, i'm afraid, one of the legacy issues of this pandemic. >> there's data today suggesting that after two doses of moderna's vaccine the immune response could stay robust for at least two months. last week, pfizer showed efficacy was at least 90% for at least two months. i know you're an advocate to giving a single dose of moderna or pfizer vaccine rather than waiting to give it to two people, do you still think that's a good idea? >> i think it's a critical idea. we'll see this play out around
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the country, what's happening in michigan and minnesota, because of the number of people we have vaccinated and those we don't. every day the media reports on 3 million more people being vaccinated, almost half of those are people who are just getting a second dose, not a first dose. >> appreciate your expertise, thank you so much. the news continues. we'll hand it over to chris for "cuomo prime time." >> you don't have to look far to find somebody who has long haul symptoms, you work with one, brother. we have to call the whole class of it untreated, because they don't even what this is, they don't know if my mental acuity is because of age or this is the way i was before or the fog, people have heart issues, soft tissue issues. there's only a handful of centers around the country that are even studying it because we're in crisis. i believe that long hauler, whatever you want to call it, is actually going to be the story a year from now and ahead of that, because that