should we take the our morning break at this time? >> yes, your honor. >> all right. we're going to break until 11:15. we're in recess. [no audio] >> and this trial of derek chauvin in the death of george floyd has taken -- [audio difficulty] in about 15 minutes or so, about 12:15, we'll resume our live coverage as soon as the court proceedings continue here on c-span2. and a quick reminder that if you missed any of today's coverage, we'll show it again in its

entirety tonight starting at 8 eastern here on c-span2. >> we'll get to your thoughts in a minute. let's begin, though, with the minnesota special assistant attorney general jerry blackwell in these opening statements a making the case against derek chauvin yesterday. >> because you will learn that on may 25th of 2020, mr. derek chauvin betrayed his badge when he used excessive and unreasonable force upon the body of mr. george floyd. that he put his knees upon his neck and his back, grinding and

crushing him until the very breath, no, ladies and gentlemen, until the very life was squeezed out of him. you will learn that he was well aware that mr. floyd was unarmed, that mr. floyd had not threatened anyone, that mr. floyd was in handcuffs, he was completely in the control of the police, he was defenseless. you will learn what happened in that 9 minutes and 29 seconds, the most important numbers you will hear in this trial, 9:29, what happened in those 9 minutes and 29 seconds when mr. derek chauvin was applying this excessive force to the body of mr. george floyd. >> it was the minnesota special assistant attorney general blackwell making the case against derek chauvin. now, the attorney for derek

chauvin also addressed the death of george floyd in his opening statement. here's what he had to say. >> the evidence will show then that dr. andrew baker of the hen pinn county -- hennepin county medical examiner's office conducted the only autopsy of mr. floyd. and you will hear of several interviews that dr. baker had with law enforcement where he discusses the cause and manner of death and what that actually means according to what he saw present in mr. floyd's body. .. >> the dr. phil none of what are referred to as the telltale

signs of a 60 a share in your there were no bruises to mr. floyd's h neck either on his skn or after peeling his skin back to the muscles beneath. there was no hemorrhaging. there was no evidence that mr. floyd's airflow was restricted, and he did not determine to be a positional or mechanical asphyxiation death. >> that was from day one of the trial for derek chauvin in the death of george floyd. the world was watching yesterday as the judge allowed cameras to broadcast the proceedings. we will continue our coverage here on c-span with an 8 p.m. timeslot, eastern time you will be able to watch the entire trial evidence c-span two. jerry in detroit, michigan. did you watch yesterday and what were you thinking as you watched?

>> first of all, arata, good morning and greetings yet again from motown. what i thought when i was especially listening to the defense, there are shades of i think the eric garner trial, the eric garner case in your in which they attempted to try to blame mr. garners health issues for hisis death rather than the chokehold on mr. garner. i think thern same is happening here in this case involving george floyd here at a think what you're going to be hearing from white races especially on the republican line is a lot of victim blaming because they always blame the victim for their death rather than the officers action. they will try to excuse that in many cases. i i think i would like to elaborate if i could, if i may.

white racists tend to always blame the victim in these police deaths for theirat own deaths in many ways. and i think as i said that's what you're going to be hearing from a lot of racist white people on the republican line, and i'm sure they will be trashing before that because what they're trying to claim is that derek chauvin didn't kill george floyd. george floyd killed george floyd, as if he wanted to die. i mean that's what is the difference here. you will hear a lot of victim blaming and i thank you for letting us. >> eugene robinson in his opinion piece in the "washington post" it echoes what you are saying. derek chauvin is on trial notic george floyd. he says legalisms the site for a moment and think about that. how could anyone treat a fellow human being with such little regard for his life? after he stopped moving, stopped

breathing. floyd post noted anyone let alone to the heavy armed police officers who surrounded him. to keep an inert man m.o.a. to make a point to the bystanders, black and white who witnessed the whole thing. he goes on to write eric nelson predictably used his opening statement to try to make floyd the defendant and onlookers his accomplices. several times he highlighted floyd's physical size which should come to no surprise here throughout u.s. history the idea of a black man as superhuman in their strength and subhuman and how they use it has been used to justify our restraint, our incarceration, our lynchings. doug in fairfax south dakota. good morning. go ahead. >> good morning, greta. [inaudible] the adrenaline flowing it ticked

me off come in other words. through my life i've worked hard and when i was young i played hard so i sat in jail before and i also have sat in church some and i feel i have learned what is right and what is wrong. what these two cops showed in figure did was wrong. absurd and deserve to be called pigs in blue. i need to spin, need to spend some time the hind bars to figure out it was wrong. also i think if i was there and seeing this i would have stepped in and ended up in jail again. this was over 20 box. also, people in texas, let your water run so when it gets real cold, running water dustup -- >> okay. joint in virginia. welcome to the conversation. >> yes. i don't see how they could say george floyd died from drugs in his system when his windpipe was being constricted.

>> that was your reaction as you watched yesterday, joy? >> yes. >> and we continue to watch? >> yes. >> as you're watching what's going through your mind? how are you feeling? >> well, i am kind of conflicted because god put all of us here together of different races for a reason, and we seem to be failing the test, especially when the police were put here to protect us. but as of late the police have been killing so many of us. >> and why are you conflicted, joy? >> i really couldn't say. >> all right. we are getting your thoughts on the derek chauvin trial. you're on the phone lines.

if you live in the eastern or so the part of the country, 202-748-8000. out in a pacific 202-748-8001. remember you can text us as well join the conversation with your first name city and state or send us a tweet with @cspanwj or go to facebook.com/c-span as well. we're going to air the court proceedings every day here on our c-span networks, on c-span2, on c-span2 is where you'll be able to watch it every night at 8 p.m. eastern time as well as our website c-span.org. anthony in sierra vista, arizona. anthony. >> greta, one question i would like to know is when that law enforcement or even in the first responder comes up on the scene, they very rarely turn off their

vehicles. and if you look at the position of the deceased head, it is toward the rear of the vehicle where the exhaust system is. so there doesn't have to be any particular marks or choking. if you've been around any diesel vehicle, , even when you turn it off, there still a residual evidence of a diesel or even an automotive shop. so when you turn your vehicle off, that area is still going to be smelling and distributing out of the exhaust system those fumes. so that's one important question, whereas the defense will say his neck didn't show any signs of choking. well, people died just from the smell of exhaust or secondhand smoke. so that's an important question.

i am pretty sure even though the vehicle moved and maybe the parking break wasn't on, my question is was the vehicle running? >> okay, anthony. did you watch yesterday all day? >> not all day, greta. but the most important thing i did was just make sure that i didn't get totally consumed by, in other words, everybody needs to take a break. attention span is somewhere between 25 and 35 minutes, and the and the judge was very good with the breaks. so i just think it just sits or watch it on and on, it's just not even going to be able to function the next day. >> why do you think -- what is watching this trial doing to

you? >> well, 550,000 deaths in the pandemic, a new resurgence of some states like michigan up 60%, or 600%. i mean, that's how confusing it can get. and then we have people losing their homes. we have people who own homes and can't even get the rent money from it because so many different issues. so you've got -- >> but anthony, i asked about the trial. >> right, but that's why i'm saying, if i'm sitting there watching the trial constantly, you know, waiting for the judge to break them, my whole day is being controlled by the trial. >> got it, got it. bob in missouri. hi, bob.

>> good morning. >> good morning. >> i think this is all about police disrespect myself. eric garner. he thought the police. he would be alive, same deal. all you had to do was get in the police car. he would be alive today. police disrespect is what, i'm tired of police from doing their jobs. >> okay. new york next, dan. hi, dan. >> yes good morning. it's unfortunate to see another person die, and it does look like the police probably pushed it too far again. we have seen enough of that over the last two decades alone just to make the average person turn

away and not want to see any of it. i'll tell you the truth come c-span. you could do much better than the tabloid tv thing everyday with this trial. go down to the border every day and show people what's going on there because our country is being invaded. take your kids up to washington, d.c. -- cameras and see with these people are doing along with wall street to destroy this country. look at the debt we have. our children haven't been in the school for almost, well, it will be two years this fall if they don't get them back again. they are not taking their cats all kinds of things that really mattered. now this man that died, died because of drugs and because the cops having to do with a bad situation. and guess what? it all starts at the border. if we can send our military around the world to bomb people into patrol their cities we sure as hell can send down to the border and stop this. maybe not 100% but enough to avoid the george floyd the next time. thank you. >> dan from new york. the minnesota special assistant attorney general mr. blackwell

addressed the issue of drugs found in george floyd's death. here's what he had to say. >> you also learned, ladies and gentlemen, that george floyd struggled with an opioid addiction. he struggled with it for years. you will learn that he did not die from a drug overdose. he did not die from an opioid overdose. why? because you can look at video footage and you will see he was absolutely nothing like a person who would die from an opioid overdose. you will learn opioids are tranquilizers, and when a person dies from an opioid overdose, what do they look like? first and foremost asleep, in a stupor and they never come to again. and they simply pass away. opioid overdose. they are not screaming for their lives. they are not calling on their mothers. they are not begging and pleading please, please i can't breathe. that's not what opioid overdose looks like. now you will learn that mr.

floyd had 11 milligrams of fentanyl in his system when he died and they say that's a fatal amount. well, what you have to learn something about tolerance. so for a person who has never been exposed to opioids or fentanyl, that may be a lethal level but for others who have been struggling with the four years, they have different tolerance level. >> from yesterdays trial the opening day of the trial for derek chauvin and the death of george floyd. your thoughts on it this morning. garrett in texas. >> yes. i would first like to make a comment about the gentleman who talked about the border. having lived by the border most of my life of various countries, there was a great president said that mr. gorbachev, please take down that wall, and we don't want to go in the direction and that's all i will say about that. >> okay. >> this situation is a travesty.

whether or not george floyd was on opioids, whether his skin is blue, black, green, purple or yellow makes no difference. my mama taught me that skin didn't matter. i was a midshipman in the united states naval academy in 1972. i was in the class of 72. in 1968 a great leader, a man who said, let's just say he followed a president who said ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. that's what drove me into the navy. now, fred coffee came to me was on my very first leave and told me that martin luther king had been assassinated. he asked me if we had a gun in the house. i said i didn't know. i'm sitting in the hospital

right now with cancer and it doesn't really matter but i'm talking you to let you know that i witnessed things that day that i changed my life. as fred and i took off with my little brothers blank gun and he asked me to sit on the outside of his station wagon and drive through the key bridge that are so familiar with, riding my bicycle over as a boy and sitting on the lincoln monument and we drove by the white house. we turn on pennsylvania avenue carrying loads of grocery from grocery stores and basically part at the episcopalian church and i was numb. i couldn't even get up. i was a midshipman. i had seen everything you could see physically that summer. i have been to boot camp. i've been to great lakes boot camp and by golly i had never seen anything like it. i studied that situation.

i found out the slumlords were causing people to run into buildings and take tvs and come out on fire. i fired my blank gun at a black lady and to this day i have dreams that i killed her. i was just trying to warn her not to go, i did want to see another burning body come out of a building. and by golly, there is no reason for any policeman, my nephew, stephen williams is a lieutenant over the terrible situation in arlington, texas, and he struggles every day. he just offered to retire and give my brother, bill williams, who went four for four at southwestern georgetown texas and then joined the marines and is now needing a liver transplant. when he turned 78 he can't get one but his son was willing to give it half of his liver.

i have just been saved by a new procedure called -- for prostate cancer. by golly, people put it up to we are not read, we are not blue, we are purple. we are all pancreatic cancer people. we have cancer in this country and if we don't come back and the americans like ollie north told us to be when he was being challenged, this nation has no hope. the constitution is hanging by a thread in the name of jesus christ, amen. >> jeffrey in parkersburg, west virginia. jeffrey, you are next. >> yes, ma'am. thanks for taking my call. i'm a little nervous first-time caller longtime listener and watcher. as a black man it's just so troubling because at the time when that happened last year i didn't have cable at the time said didn't really see it until yesterday and i kept hearing them say eight minutes 46 seconds, obviously nine minutes 29 seconds but just to see the

smirk on the officers face when he had his knee on his neck and the bystanders just asking can you, you're killing him, he can't breathe, and just watch the trial i'm going to watch it all the way through and it's just always seems like sometimes the officers just get off. i believe 99% of police officers are good officers, but that 1% just taints it for everybody. it -- i just cried yesterday when i just watched how the officer had his knee on his neck and he is begging for his mother, i can't breathe, i'm sorry. it's just troubling. i just don't know what to do, but every time these things come up here we go again. is he going to get off? it seems like they always get off with the benefit of the doubt. that's all i have to say.

>> jeffrey. the attorney for derek chauvin address the videos and asked the jurors to not only look at that now famous video of george floyd death but also the other evidence. here's what he had to say. >> they have interviewed over 50 members of the minneapolis police department including the officers who responded to the scene after mr. floyd was brought to the hospital. they interviewed members of the minneapolis police department command staff. they interviewed officers who oversee training and policymaking decisions within the minneapolis police department. they have interviewed nearly 200 civilian witnesses in this case. some of these witnesses saw the entire incident. some who saw a portion of the incident, many who saw nothing.

and some who had some piece of information to give to the officers, and others who have nothing. these agents interviewed the numerous medical personnel who interviewed -- excuse me, who attended to mr. floyd, and they interviewed the numerous firefighters and paramedics who responded. agents executed approximately a dozen search words in this case to gather information. and in the end you will hear a term throughout i believe this case called the bates stamp number. the bates stamp system is a way for lawyers to keep track of the case, to make sure that we are working on the same set of documents, the same set of evidence. to preserve the integrity of the investigation. you will learn that we are approaching 50,000 bates stamped items. so this case is clearly more than about nine minutes and 29 seconds.

>> from yesterday's first day of the trial for derek chauvin and the death of george floyd and that continues today it's underway at 10 a.m. eastern time. we will continue with our coverage. our website c-span.org for more details and you can you can watch it at 8 p.m. eastern -- >> only one opinion this should never have been tried in minneapolis or even minnesota. jurors are threatened and the defense is horrible. just what a fair trial without those in courtrooms feeling threatened and no cameras should have been allowed. that was the judge who decided to allow cameras. he cited the pandemic and the national interest in this case as the reason why he allowed cameras in the courtroom. this is being broadcast around the world as people watch the proceedings. a little bit about that judge. long from the associated press,

long before republican governor tim pawlenty put judge cahill on the bench he wasn't influential player in hennepin county course as a trusted confidant of senator amy klobuchar who is not the states senior u.s. senator. he became a judge in 2007 the same yeshiva sworn into the u.s. senate. his connections to big names begin a difference minnesota working as a clerk to michael kola chose been a top criminal defense attorney for decades. that was the minneapolis "star tribune." kansas city, missouri, as you learn about or maybe watch the first day of this trial what has been your reaction? >> my heart hurts so bad. i'm a first time caller. i did watch the video, and i believe she was the second witness on the stand, the young lady.

her video, what i saw when the cops came to the scene they were putting on her gloves. they're putting their gloves on like they were ready for whatever is going to go down. so yes, my heart hurt. if i'd been there that day, they would've -- i've never had a confrontation with a cop, never. always respected them. but that day i would've gone to jail. they would've handcuffed me and took me to jail because i would've made a bigger stink then just get off of him. i witnessed him dying. >> kansas city, missouri. here's renate in newport news with this text. as a black woman i'm disgusted but us apprise the defense to try the real victim. george floyd wasn't sent my launch of what he didn't deserve to be killed in cold blood by mr. chauvin who broke the loss he swore to uphold. he tried to tribalized this case wouldn't if the roles and races were r