building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. welcome to a daily program called getting answers. we ask experts your questions every day to get answers in real time. today, we will share my interview with the san francisco mayor, and her reaction after the guilty verdict yesterday for derek. and policy changes as a result. first, joining us today is michael. is known for having defended johannes, but also a lot of expense in police misconduct cases. thanks for joining us. >> thank you very much for having me. thank you. >> you have defended many officers accused of wrongdoing. do you agree with the jury's finding that derek chauvin was

guilty of murder? >> yes, i agree with that. i have watched that video. when i saw it, i thought that was wrong. i think my police officer client could look at it and thought it was wrong. i have discussed it with virtually many police officers we represent. i don't think any of the officers that i know liked what they saw. >> you bring up the video. many people think had it not been for the witnesses video that showed just how long he made floyd to suffer and ignored his and other people's pleas for mercy, the verdict may have been very different. do you think that is the case? >> the video is a key piece of evidence. there is no doubt about it. when you hear the testimony of the bystanders, it is very credible independent bystanders who are watching what is happening and professionals, paramedics, off-duty, they are seeing mr. floyd struggling to breathe, struggling to move.

and they don't like what they see. clearly, i think, the police officer should have recognized that and he should have reassessed what he was doing very quickly. i think that that was a key piece of evidence, but there was other evidence as well. >> prosecution police has gone up in the past year since the floyd killing. many members of the public think that is a much needed thing. what is your view on that? >> when officers crossed the line, they should be held accountable. i have never said that and i never will. i'm a former police officer. i have seen many cases charged since the floyd better that, frankly, shouldn't be charged, wouldn't be charged, except that we find, now, district attorney's finding it politically expedient to their

careers to charge police officers. it is fashionable. they get votes as a result of it. to some extent, they have carried this way too far. >> are you putting in that bucket the case of vladimir, who you represent, actually, i should say that is that motorist who was killed by andrew hall, the officer, that you represent from danville, and , you know, he was cleared, he continued to serve. but then, last month, he killed a mentally ill homeless black man. there are some who said had those child's been filed earlier, after the first death, it wouldn't have happened. what you say that? >> first of all, the original matter that involved in was investigated. it was determined that the officer had acted appropriately. that's why he has been working. there was no determination, except by the families lawyer,

who is financially interested in the result, to say that he should have been filed on then. he wasn't because he didn't deserve it. he didn't deserve it yesterday. or today. i am quite confident that when the evidence is presented in that case, he will be exonerated. he will be represented in connection with the charges by my very capable partner. >> i will point out that in the initial statement, please also, and the da also charged chose not to pursue and pointed out that he appeared to be under the influence and all sorts of things. then, things progressed differently in that case, of course. i do want to ask you, why did your client go immediately to his firearm in the confrontation with the motorist and didn't try de-escalation techniques, for example? >> the danville police had tried numerous attempts at de- escalation.

they had tried to stop him several times. he had stopped. they thought that he was going to surrender. he continued on this path. of driving. and endangering other motorists and police officers alike. he was showing no signs of giving up. when the officer fired his weapon, he felt not only was his life in imminent danger by virtue of his car approaching him, but he felt his sergeants life was in danger as well because he saw his sergeant and believed his sergeant was in the path of the car. under those very split-second circumstances, you have to make a tough decision. a miserable decision that police officers don't want to make. but sometimes, they have to. and he made that decision. it was the right decision. despite the second-guessing that has gone on after the fact. >> so, i will take it that 99% of the officers that you work

directly with do not want encounters to end up deadly. what did he tell you in terms of what they think they need to avoid those situations? as part of the defunding police talk and the big cities moving toward taking away some of the response abilities for officers, and perhaps going to mental health or other resources, tell me what is it that you think will be beneficial for all. >> sure. i think more training, certainly, to the officers themselves, in tactics involving de-escalation and, particularly, in connection with individuals who are in emotional crises. a lot of these cases, these are cases where individuals are in an emotional crisis. the officers, rather than defunding, they should be getting more funding to get them professionalized training there and, or, specialized individuals that work closely with the police to work in

those situations so we don't have to repeat this terrible pattern of seeing the officers try to use minimal amounts of force that don't work after commands fail, then they go into maybe a taser that doesn't work, and they end up using their firearms. i see this callous times throughout california. in cases handled by my lawyers. i hate it. the police hate it. i think there are reasons that should be dealt with. it involves more and better trading of the police. that requires funding, not defunding. >> you had argued better training when you defended the former bar police officer johannes. who, of course, shot and killed oscar on the station platform in 2009. that, also caught on video. he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and served less than two years. i'm asking do you think the consequences would be more severe today? >> i don't know. they might be because the public's perception of police

has probably changed somewhat from that year until today. we did that trial in 2011. it might have changed. the arguments would remain the same. he went through six hours of training with his tent trick taser. six hours in a classroom. he fire that taser and paper targets. there was no stress inoculation training using a taser. that whole phenomenon known as mistaken firearms has played out in 15 separate cases where officers announce their intention to tase and then shot the person that they fully intended to tase. how did that happen? we know how it happened. it happened because of performance failures because of training failures. we know it, we need to correct it. >> your client wrote an apology during the deliberations.

chauvin has not apologized. d: him to apologize. >> i think he should have apologized early on. you know, i can't believe he was callous enough not to think that the taking of a life under any circumstances, is a horrible thing for the family of that person and that the officer doesn't have, perhaps, some reason to acknowledge that what he did, whether he or she believes it's to be justified, still, resulted in the loss of life that is a tragedy. i don't care what the circumstances are. it is a tragedy. >> quickly, what is he doing now , now that he has served his time? >> he is gainfully employed. he is doing sales work and, you know, enjoying himself and has children and he is enjoying being a father and enjoying being away from law enforcement i might add. he understands that, although

he didn't want it at the time, that that is not a profession where, you know, he would want to be today, of course. >> our society has long been asked to trust its officers. the grant shooting certainly raised skepticism about that trust and police. the floyd case, certainly, you can say, obliterated that trust. how do you go about rebuilding that? how do you restore it? >> i think it takes the police themselves to work on restoring faith in that process and so, i think the police need to do it and i think a lot of police agencies and police unions in california are taking a very affirmative stance, recognizing that, saying it, and practicing it. but, they need a sincere, legitimate effort to do that from the public as well. they can't do it alone. when they invite the public to join them to do it, they want

to be able to communicate in a calm, deliberative fashion with others, and they want others to communicate with them in the same way. not with invective, not with profanity, not with threats. that gets us nowhere. so, there is a lot to be done. i think the police recognize that. >> michael rains, thank you so much for your time. we will take a short break on the air. want it was when she started forgetting things. i didn't know how much mom was struggling. i love caring for him. but i can't do it alone anymore. home care with an entire support team. with thekey, mom won't have to move.

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because we are out of time. i do hope to coheinr tiia > sure thank you. an hour after hour after was found guilty on three charges, including second- degree involuntary murder, i had the chance to talk with the

san francisco mayor. she was supposed to be live yesterday on the show, but abc news was in a special report. we want to show a conversation with you. my first question was how is she feeling. >> it felt like a weight had been lifted and, also, very emotional. almost unbelievable that i was hearing what i was hearing because, in light of the fact that we have seen these tragedies play themselves out all over this country for so long, one of the first times i really felt there was accountability and there was justice. so, it is still, i am still trying to process it all. it is, i'm sure, been tough for a lot of people, especially george floyd's family, as well as some any of the other families who have lost their sons and daughters to law

enforcement. but, it is definitely a relief and a step in the right direction for this country. >> i can see this very, very emotional and personal for you too. >> yeah. i'm still processing it. i'm still wrapping my head around it. and i am hopeful that what we have seen happen here today is a wake-up call for us as a country to get it right. there should not be one more person. not one more black men who dies at the hands of law enforcement in this country. it is sadly been a pattern and it is time for real change. it is why i am proud of the work that we are trying to do here in san francisco to change

that in terms of how we even respond to emergency calls in this city. not every call requires a police response. number one. number two, we have to make sure that when we go through our policies and procedures in our process and are hiring new officers, that they are not the kinds of people who think that doing something like this is ever okay. so, lots of work to do, not just here in san francisco, but throughout this country. i think that we got it right, finally, and it is time to continue down this path. >> our goals about investing in the communities, right, investing in communities so that they thrive. another legacy of the george floyd case. is that cities are starting to think about that and do something. >> one of the things that i am proud of is our crisis response team. so, when a 911 call comes in for someone who is mentally

ill or someone who is struggling with some sort of mental health breakdown, usually, people call 911 and the police come. but the police are not necessarily equipped to handle situations that may not involve violence, but involve some level of challenges. we have a paramedic, we have a clinician, and someone who might have even gone through a similar situation in their lives. this response team has responded to over, since november, 100 calls. in many cases, this has led to getting people help rather than arresting people or, it could have potentially turned out a lot worse. the difference is how we respond to these calls, who response to those calls and that they have an understanding of those situations so that they don't lead to deadly consequences. >> what about programs investing in youth? i know you have really focused on that this past year. >> first of all, opportunities

for all provides a paid internship for all high school students in san francisco. that was important to me as a kid who wanted an opportunity when i was going up to make money to take care of myself because we didn't have much money. we were looking at a number of guaranteed income programs. we did it for artists, we did it for expecting mothers. we, we, we are doing things that can invest in the community so that money is not a barrier to success. we have to look at is the data. we see that african-americans are almost 40% of the homeless population. highest number of the kids who are dropping out of our public school system. those who end up in the criminal justice system, but less than 6% of the population. the reason why i felt it was important to divert $120 million from our law enforcement agencies directly to the african-american community had everything to do with addressing those

disparities with the kinds of investment that are going to change the outcomes of people who are especially african- american in this city so that we don't continue down this path. >> based on the policing reform that has already happened in the city and the additional steps taken in the city and within the department, are you confident that something, like what happened there, could never happen here in san francisco? >> i am hopeful that with everything we are trying to do that it does not happen here in san francisco. so, our use of force policies have changed considerably. for example, when obama was president, he put out 272 recommendations to the department of justice. and we have been implementing many of those recommendations, including changes to our use of force policies. so that the kinds of things that have occurred in that particular situation can't happen here.

and our goal is to make sure that we do everything to prevent that with the changes in our policies, but also making sure that we have officers who work in our department who are not, who are taking that training and also taking their life experiences and the things that they need to do to do a good job for the people of san francisco, and using those things to serve and protect, which prevents harm against residents of our city. >> look, your city is one of the most diverse in the country. if not the world. what would you say to people at this time, at the conclusion of this very emotional trial? >> i would say it is, it was an emotional trial, but especially for the family, it has been an emotional time for so many people in the city and in this country because of this pandemic and our inability to come together like we are normally used to to see family and friends. the fact is it is a challenging

time, but i know we will get through this and it is important , for my perspective, to just put out that positive energy, that hope, and look forward to the future because change is clearly coming. this is something that, and i think that it is still a shock to me because this is something that i never thought would ever happen in my lifetime. and look at where we are. someone who is a police officer being held accountable for murder. we are moving in the right direction, but we want to prevent these things from happening in the first place. it is time for us to continue to fight and to stay helpful because a better future is really within our hands. >> san francisco mayor on the shoving verdict. coming up next, how clean is the air in your county?

hair quality is not talked about a lot but it is a crucial part of the world and we have an update on air quality around the bay area. that is because the state of the air report card is out ahead of earth day tomorrow. joining us to talk more about this is william, director of clean air advocacy for the american lung association in california. thanks for joining us. >> thank you for having me. appreciate it. >> what is the state of air report and what is its goal? >> sure. the american lung association, every year, for the last 22 years has issued our annual state of the airport. really, it is sort of a snapshot of local air conditions across the country. we look at both ozone pollution, which you can think of as summertime smog, our cortical pollution which is something that we usually associate with wood-burning or wildfires. what we try to do is try to educate the public on local conditions and show progress and the challenges we still

have to face. >> you measure man-made and natural pollutants and saw what was in the air. let's go ahead and focusing on the bay area. zooming in to see how our local counties fair. we have a map for that for you. alameda and santa clara county. they got f's. san mateo, ac. san francisco and marin, both got b's. okay. let's explain that a little bit. why would alameda and santa clara get f's? what does it take to get an f? what does that mean? what are the factors? >> it is a great question. it really shows the variation in pollution around major manner metropolitan area. history, we look at air quality monitoring what we push from the usc a monitors for each county. each county will have different levels of pollution. that is really what we are looking to grade. as you noted, some counties have f grades for ozone and some have passing grades. that really just speaks to the amount of unhealthy air days in each county. >> san francisco got a b. what

enabled the better air in those counties? is it just that they are close to the coast? >> oftentimes, that is the case. we see coastal breezes help move pollution inland, but unfortunately, the pollution goes somewhere. it doesn't just appear. people moreland are impacted by the pollution generated by the cars, the trucks, the ports. and that pollution moves inland through the breezes. >> was there any improvement in their quality, you know, as you look at the past year, when people hunker down, the pandemic , you know, the lockdown, stay at home. >> our report doesn't cover 2020 yet. it is 2017 through 2019. that is the data set. we know that, you know, with less driving, likely, we would have seen a reduction in pollution from passenger vehicles. at the same time, we know how much more commerce came through the ports

additional types of pollution. trucking, ships, those kind of things. then we have to be aware of as well. >> okay. only because we are out of time and we do know that long-term exposure to port there is not good for your health. what can we do as individuals to help in like 15 seconds? >> pay attention to the local air district. they do a good job of letting us know what the current conditions are. take protections to limit yourself to exposure outside. >> those quick. we have more to talk about over on facebook live when we take a short break on the air. don't go away. i do want to let folks know they can find out more at lung.org.

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thanks so much for joining us on this interactive show. getting answers. we talked about police reform today, specifically here in the bay area.

we heard from the san francisco mayor about that topic. and heard reaction to the derek showed an guilty verdict. the full interview is tonight, the justice department announcing a sweeping investigation of the minneapolis police. just 24 hours after derek chauvin was found guilty on all charges in the death of george floyd. tonight, the new image of the former officer, chauvin behind bars, isolated from the general population. being watched by surveillance cameras, corrections officers making rounds at least every 30 minutes. chauvin facing decades in prison when he's sentenced in weeks. and tonight, attorney general merrick garland now launching a broad investigation into the practices of the minneapolis police department. alex perez and pierre thomas standing by tonight. in other news, as the chauvin verdict was able to br- armed with a knife, unfolding in columbus, ohio.

tonight, authorities q