tv ABC7 News Getting Answers ABC June 25, 2021 3:00pm-3:32pm PDT
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building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc7 news. hi, everyone. i am dion lynn, and welcome to our 3 p.m. show, "getting answers," and what we do is we are asking experts your questions every day at this time to get you answers in real time. coming up, this is the last weekend of pride, and we will talk about the celebration and some exciting initiatives lunging in san francisco. also, we'll speak with the ucsf doctor behind a new breast cancer study and learn who is most at risk. first, we begin with the sentencing of former minneapolis police officer, derek chauvin, for the murder of george floyd. certainly many of you tuned in for the sentencing today.
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it was broadcast across the nation. truly, an emotional day in that courtroom. this all started with video of george floyd's daughter talking about what she missed about her father, which included dinners every night and how he who would brush his teeth alongside next to her. we do want to take a moment and start with video of floyd's daughter speaking about what she missed about her father. oh, we do not have that. we do have sound from reverend al sharpton and attorney ben crump. afterword, reacting to that sentencing. let's take a listen. >> dear god, we come to the same spot we bowed at the beginning of the trial, asking you to give this family strength and give them grace, and you brought us now to the end of this particular proceeding. they will say it is more time
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than any time in history, but we will say that history has been long under serving its citizens. and we honorably thank you for giving this family the strength to stand where other families did not even get a court date. >> yes. >> we remember eric garner, michael brown, we remember jacob blake, who is still with us. we remember tamir rice on his birthday. 19 years old, would have been today. we remember breonna taylor. they never got a court date. we did get a court date, conviction, and some time. some will say that his progress. >> you have been listening to reverend al sharpton, talking about today's historic sentencing of derek chauvin and really seeing that solitary from members of the community there. joining us to talk about the sentencing is attorney paul henderson.
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paul, thank you so much for being here. let's get to it right away. any surprises with this sentence, because we knew the range for 2nd degree murder would be rude between 15, possibly up to 40 years. 22 1/2 is smack dab in the middle. >> smack dab in the middle, and i think there was probably an expect tatian from certainly a lot of communities in a lot of advocates on behalf of victims that the sentence was going to be even bigger than that. we knew that the judge had accepted the departure argument from the prosecution that would allow him to go beyond 12 1/2 years, and i think people were expecting more, more time, especially in contemplation of what this sentence means, which is basically, with the time he's going to serve, about 15 years, which seems like a rather light sentence in contemplation of the bigger scale of things.
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certainly, we've got a lot to look at and look through with the sentencing that the judge released, but i would say, personally and looking at this, that we have had a measurement of accountability, but we haven't had a full measurement of justice for this case in particular. >> that is a word that keeps coming up, is accountability in all this. can you give us an idea of the overall scope because police being sentenced in these types of incidents does not happen very often, where a guilty verdict comes in, and there are years served. can you elaborate a little bit more? >> sure, and you can look at some of the things that have been novel about this case. it's not very often we have accountability at this level. let's keep in mind, there are three separate tracks of the credibility.
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to a civil community like with the lawsuit you saw with attorney crump. there is criminal accountability, which is the trial we saw of derek chauvin. then there's administrative accountability. those are some of the things where you see accountability from civilian oversight agencies, like the one right here in san francisco or from elected officials doing policy or responses to define accountability for law enforcement agencies. but in this tract, the criminal track we are talking about, there aren't a lot of cases where we see criminal charges coming from law enforcement, and in this case where we have seen not just charges, but seeing the chief of police come out to testify in that jurisdiction about the bad behavior and the transgressions to try to redefine what police, not just what they are supposed to do, but what they are not supposed to do as well. i think that was really important, and i was looking for more of that. i was waiting to hear some of the statements from the communities, some of the statements from family, some of the statements today, i was waiting to hear a statement
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from law enforcement to double down in effect or say and be very clear and specific that this is behavior that we don't agree with. this is behavior that should be sentenced. this is behavior that should be exposed to set an example for other agencies and other individuals as to what can happen when you don't follow the law, when you move outside of what training is supposed to be, and i think that is what we're talking about here, and that is the shortfall that i feel is missing and isn't reflected in this sentence that was given out today. >> i think that is a sentiment that has been eckert certainly on social media, from what i've seen as i have scrolled through the feed. you mentioned very briefly family in your response, and there were some surprise moments today, like we heard from derek chauvin's mother. what i found so fascinating is that she stood by her son adamantly. she did not address the floyd
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family at all. do you think that that played a role in perhaps not the court in itself, but maybe the court of public opinion in this case? >> idea. i do. i remember feeling as i was listening to the emotional testimony, and i use this word intentionally. feeling haunted by his daughter talking about never being able to brush her teeth again with her father. what i thought was interesting in hearing from the folks that were speaking around this situation, right? and we saw people who spoke on behalf of of george floyd and, quite frankly and i will get to that in a moment, we heard people talking in behalf of derek chauvin as well he did not give much testimony either, but one of the things that stood out to me was the
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conversation from the brother of george floyd, talking about him being given a life sentence, and comparing that to the mother of derek chauvin, who was talking about trying to remind the judge she was being sentenced as well because of her relationship with him as the mother. what i felt should have been stressed and what i wanted to hear was a return to the issue of this is accountability for derek chauvin. i wanted to hear more from him. i wanted to be re-reminded that this was about his intentional behavior because he's convicted of murder, and that conviction requires see answer and a mental state of mind that was intentional. so i wanted a reminder of that. i wanted to talk about that, and i wanted to hear a little bit about that, not about the effects on his mother and being reminded of the effects from the victim, from my perspective, see the effects on not just george floyd and his family, but the effects of what this sentence means and what this case has met to broad communities that are concerned about justice reforms, about police reforms, about police accountability.
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all of that is weighted as we watch this singular sentence today, which began as a reminder is about accountability for this one officer in that one incident. that does not speak to the broader conversations we're having in this nation about reform and accountability because we don't have institutionalized policies still yet to make sure that this kind of behavior and this type of incident isn't going to happen, and we see it happening again and again and again. >> paul, we only have about a minute or so left, but i want to get to something that i felt was very interesting coming from the judge at the end of all this. really stressing that emotion would not play a role in the sentencing. why is that, for those who are not familiar with a lot. why didn't that not play a role, because we heard from so many family members on george floyd's side here. >> well, i think the judge was talking about making his record, about making sure that his sentence was appropriate, and one of the things you see,
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and from time to time you will see the conversation drift back into the legal standards. i thought it was interesting that he said just before the sentencing that he denied the motion for a new trial, and i think he was speaking to those legal requirements when he said that this was not just about sympathy or empathy. i will say there was an expectation to have some sympathy and empathy from derek chauvin, and we did not hear that. he barely gave a statement, and i thought this was really interesting. most of the time when he was speaking, he was not even looking directly at the judge and or the audience, and his attorney was giving his statements, practically speaking for him, talking about how derek chauvin was feeling, and so we did not get a broad presentation of empathy and or sympathy today, even if we were expecting it. even if the judge wanted to rely on that to make his decision about the sentencing,
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he was not given the platform in order to that. chauvin and his attorney said it was because of the other pending issues he was restricted from speaking because, keep in mind, we still have federal, federal charges that are pending that carry up to a life sentence independent of what happened here today, and i think that's really important too. so we have to look at the bigger picture and overly an analysis of the legal standards to understand what's happening today and what's going to happen in the future as it relates not just to this case but future reforms and future accountability measures for police. >> so much more to discuss. i'm really glad you mentioned what's goes forward because this certainly is not over yet. you touched upon some really important items from today. i do want to remind everyone to weigh in on what your reaction to this verdict was at our facebook page, facebook page.com/ abc7news.
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attorney paul henderson, thank you so much for taking the time. we're looking ahead to the final weekend of pride and some pretty major initiatives happ after my car accident, i wondered what my case was worth. so i called the barnes firm. when that car hit my motorcycle, insurance wasn't fair. so i called the barnes firm.
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happy pride to you as well. >> i remember seeing the both of you last night at the academy, a lgbtq social club for divas and drinks. this event was meant to celebrate lgbtq women, and i was so honored to introduce mayor london breed at this event. starting with you, jennifer, what did last night's event mean for the community, because for so many this was really the first gathering because the pandemic began, and people were breathing a sigh of relief just to be together again. >> i think the mayor herself and claire farley with the transgender initiatives of the
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city were in enjoining the adventures to be out in fresh air, masks off , celebrating the reopening of california, pride, summer. it's really a great time for all of us relief to a certain degree, but of course remembering those suffering so much from the covid-19 pandemic. last night's event was important for us, but also to have a good women's event for pride. it was the largest event for women of this pride season locally, so we are very proud of that, and people showed up and had a great time. and thank you to you, dion, for making it special and introducing the mayor. >> betty, i had a chance to meet patrick harney, the creator of the triangle on top of twin peaks yesterday, and we have been covering that for years here at abc7. what are some other things to check out and events that are in store for the pipeline looking ahead to this weekend? >> i'd love to tell you about
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several, and tomorrow is one of my favorites. in fact, it has been since the first year it started in 1999, that is the pride brunch. gary virginia and donna sachet, two leaders in our community, started the pride brunch back in, again, 1999 as a benefit, fundraiser for the organization now known as prc, and prc is a service providing organization. they provide all sorts of assistance to those in need from the lgbtq community as well as beyond. so, this pride brunch is an opportunity for us to meet the marshall, the grand marshals of the pride parade during years we had the parade . this year, we don't have a parade, but we have marshals. we always enjoy meeting them at the pride brunch. that is one i very much look forward too. that is tomorrow, in fact, and it will be a virtual event this year, and you can still become part of that by going to
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prcsf.com/pride2021 one dion. should i keep going on? >> why do we circle back to you because i want to get to everything we are going to talk about. jen, the mayor spoke about city funds being allocated to the lgbtq community, along with some exciting initiatives. can you touch upon any of those coming up? >> absolutely, the one that struck so many of us was allocated in the budget, $12 million i believe it is, for the new sf lgbtq museum, and a lot of people have been waiting funding for the new museum. of course, there is a museum already, and the hard-working people keep it going, including our own colonist, dr. bill lipsky. but there are so many treasure that can fit in this small space and can be properly displayed so everybody can appreciate them in their glory
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and really enjoy learning about the lgbtq community and its history. for example, they just unveiled the rainbow flag that long- lost, was thought to not exist, the original one, so they found this. i believe it's over 40 years old, and that's displayed so that will be one of the treasures patrick harney of the pink triangle actually did the last major interview with gilbert baker that ran in "the san francisco bay times." so many treasures. their collection of materials is going to be there. it is just overwhelming, really, the treasures that will be available for the public at last at this new museum, so we definitely await news about the location about the design and that kind of thing. with the funding earmarks, we're hopeful now this long- held dream will actually become a reality. >> something that can be
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celebrated all year long, not just this pride month. betty, we only have a minute left. can you give me another great event you want to share with the public? >> yes, again, tomorrow, tomorrow evening, there will be the lesbian and gay freedom band. there are actually 13 13 bands from throughout the united states. it will air virtually at 4:00 and 7:00, and you can go to loud andproud.com. >> we run out of time, but to betty sullivan and jen viegas, publishers of "the san francisco bay times, and so we thank you for joining us . happy pride. take it home for this weekend. moving on next. the doctor behind a new breast cancer study joined us to talk about that and who is being disproportionately impacted by breast cancer. your questions in for the doctor right now at facebook.com/
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one of the most important things women need to do. there is more information on who's being disproportionately impacted. joining us now to talk about that and details about something called the wisdom study is ucf surgeon and breast cancer oncology specialist, dr. laura esserman. thank you for joining us. i love your background . very color and rich in depth. >> thank you for having me. >> how our current screenings being conducted, and how are you in particular differently? >> one of the things i think people need to be aware of is that, over the last 10 years, we learned a lot about breast cancer . we don't think of it as one disease. it is many diseases, and we also learned breast cancer risk
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is really different for each person, and yes, we are still screening the way we did 30 years ago, where is one-size- fits-all. the controversy is either everyone should start at 40 or start at 50, and everyone should have annual or biannual. i mean, every other year. we actually think it is time to test a new approach, a new model , and that is to think about screening depending on somebody's risk. if you are at lower risk, then it's probably fine to start every year, every other year at 50, whereas if you happen to be one of those people who are higher risk, you should start sooner, and he should start screening more often . one of the things we are bringing in is all the genes you inherit , a very small group of people are at very high risk because they have one of the few mutations that increase your risk for breast cancer. but everybody else has a set of genes
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genic, meaning risk. these are different based on your background. your ethnicity, and we can use these to really start to hone in on what people need. >> so it's not so much one-size- fits-all, but really taking a look at your medical history and those risk factors, which brings me to the next question. how do you make sure that those who are at higher risk are getting screened and doing it the right way? >> that's an excellent question, and if you look across the country, our screening rates are about 65% of the population . you have to ask yourself is that the right 65%? what about those 35% of people who are never screened? so we advocate a different approach. we think everybody should have a comprehensive risk assessment, and then let's really try and focus on the people, especially at high risk, to make sure we do a better job of screening them more frequently. and importantly, for people who are at risk for more aggressive breast cancers, our current
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ways of screening are probably not as good as they should be, and this allows us to hone in and think about doing things differently going forward, so this is why we actually started this study called the wisdom study. every woman aged 40 to 75 is eligible to participate. they can just go to wisdomstudy.org and help us find a better future, test the new model, new ways of doing screening so that together, we can make the future better for all women and make sure we don't miss the people at highest risk. >> doctor, we have 45 seconds left. real quick, why is it that african-american women are so affected disproportionately? >> so in fact, african-american women get fewer cancers, but they get a kind of cancer that's more aggressive, and this cancer is often something that grows quickly, and we can miss it sometimes in our typical screening. if we could identify those women at highest risk, we could screen the more frequently and get them in and make surerereree
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they are being taken care of in the right way, and this is why we especially want african- american women and latino women to participate in this study, so we can keep making it better for them and more tailored and more specific. >> okay. once again, as we head to break, the website people can go to, to learn more. >> wisdomstudy.org. it's really easy. you just sign-up. follow the directions. you can sign up to be assigned to either the annual or our personalized risk, or you can choose. but if you are 40 to 74 and you don't have breast cancer, you
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thank you, all, so much for joining us on this interactive sh tonight, a special edition of "world news tonight". the race against time, right here behind me, to find any possible survivors of the catastrophic collapse right here in surfside, florida. tonight, new reporting from the scene. at least four people dead. authorities today here revealing 159 people are still unaccounted for. search and rescue teams carefully climbing through the debris, looking for any signs of life beneath 12 stories' worth of rubble. heavy equipment moving in. searchers forming a human chain, removing debris by hand. the rescue effort here slow and methodical, with sonar and dogs helping to sift through the wreckage. at times calling for an all stop here for total silence, to listen for any signs of life.
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heavy rain complicating the search adding to the extreme risk for rescuers crawling under the debris. and after the country saw those images of the boy pulled from the rubble alive, tonight, authorities identifying the first victim, the boy's mother. she did not survive. the agonizing wait for families desperate to hear news of missing loved ones. my interview tonight with the family holding out hope for teir grandmother who is 92. and tonight, questions about how this could have happened. a 40-year-old building withstanding decades of hurricane-force winds. how did it suddenly come down? tonight, what we've learned about the history of the building. team coverage right here on the ground. the other major news this friday night. former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin sentenced to 22 and-a-half years in prison for the murder of george floyd. powerful, emotional statements from floyd's family, including his daughter, gianna. what she says in the video played in that courtroom. derek chauvin listening. and chauvin's mother pleading for her so
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