. >> i want to bring in charles f. coleman., a civil rights attorney and former new york prosecutor. thank you so much for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> so we heard closing arguments monday from the defense and prosecution, and now the jury is preparing to start a second day of deliberations. how might they have been impacted, do you think, by those closing arguments, and which side appeared stronger? >> i think the prosecution did what he needed to do in terms of rebutting some of the defense and their theory of the case in terms of what they were trying to argue around self-defense. i think they did a good job of walking the jury through the judge's charges, what each of the defendants are going to be charged with, and they should feel very good about the position that they're in. the defense, on the other hand, did what they could with what they had, which wasn't much, quite frankly. what i found to be notable on that side was that the attorney for william bryan began to point the finger at the other defendants

. >> i want to bring in charles f. coleman jr. now.e is a civil rights attorney and former new york prosecutor. thank you so much for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> so we heard closing arguments monday from the defense and prosecution, and now the jury is preparing to start a second day of deliberations. how might they have been impacted, do you think, by those closing arguments, and which side appeared stronger? >> well, i think the prosecution did what it needed to do in terms of rebutting some of the defense and their theory of the case in terms of what they were trying to argue around self-defense. i think they did a really good job of walking the jury through the judge's charges, what each of the defendants are going to be charged with, and they should feel ultimately good about the position they're in. the defense, on the othernd han did what they could with what they had. what i found to be notable on that side is the attorney for william bryant began to point the figurer at the other defendants, which ultimately is

joining me now, civil rights attorney charles f. colemanocratic senator from alabama, doug jones. thank you both for joining me tonight. it has been quite a day and a verdict that has really, around the nation, around the globe at this point in time. charles, let me begin with you here. as you know, these three men are awaiting sentencing for murder tonight, and they could very well be in jail for the rest of their lives. are you breathing a sigh of relief tonight? what is your reaction to this verdict? >> well, laura, i like many people across the country am breathing a sigh of relief, and i do think that the jury got it right, and i'm glad that they did. at the same time that i'm doing that, i'm also concerned because i need us to understand that the verdict in this case, what we saw happen in this case, does not necessarily affirm that we are where we need to be. in fact, i think that it tells us that we have so much further to go. the fact that there were so many of us who held our breaths and waited with great anxiety going into today

becomes concerned about the environment and is potentially willing to grant a mistrial. >> charles f. colemana former prosecutor in brooklyn, new york, district attorney's office. mr. coleman, it's a real pleasure to have you with us tonight as this jury gets the case tomorrow. the spotlight's going to be all the more intense. it's really helpful to have your clarity tonight. thank you. >> thanks, rachel. >> all right. we'll be right back. stay with us. it's the ultimate sleep number event on the sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to relieve pressure points. and its temperature balancing so you both sleep just right. save 50% on the new sleep number 360® limited edition smart bed. plus, free premium delivery when you add a base. ends monday. >>> the letter says, quote, this is no ordinary moment in the course of our democracy. it is a moment of great peril and risk. though disputes over the legitimacy of america's elections have been growing for two decades, they have taken a catastrophic turn since the 2020 election. republican state legislatures i

becomes concerned about the environment and is potentially willing to grant a mistrial. >> charles f. colemansecutor in brooklyn, new york district attorney's office. mr. coleman, it's a real pleasure to have you with us tonight as this jury gets the case tomorrow. the spotlight's going to be all the more intense. it's really helpful to have your clarity tonight. thank you. >> thanks, rachel. >> all right. we'll be right back. stay with us. ith us feel stuck and need a loan? move to sofi and feel what it's like to get your money right. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ move to a sofi personal loan. earn $10 just for viewing your rate — and get your money right. ♪ are you tired of clean clothes that just don't smell clean? and get your money right. what if your clothes could stay fresh for weeks? now they can. downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters keep your laundry smelling fresh waaaay longer than detergent alone. pour a cap of downy unstopables into your washing machine before each load. and enjoy fresher smelling laundry. if you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash sc

>> so joining me now, cnn senior legal analyst elie honig and civil rights attorney charles f. coleman jr. it's so good to see both of you, gentlemen. thank you so much. elie, let's start with you. kyle rittenhouse is a free man. we heard from his defense attorney mark richards tonight. watch this. >> does he think he did anything wrong? >> legally, no. >> morally? >> he wishes he didn't have to do it. >> you've been saying the prosecution had a very high bar. why did they fall short? >> it's such an interesting answer we heard there. he hesitated, the lawyer, and he said, legally, no. and i think the lesson there is our jury system does not measure right and wrong. it measures legal or illegal. it measures law and facts, and the law is really such an important factor here, don. it is really difficult to convict anyone. you have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. we all know that. that's by design. self-defense makes it even harder for prosecutors and wisconsin law is particularly favorable to self-defense because the prosecutor has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was no

want to turn to people that maybe do enjoy the festive occasions, charles f. coleman junior a civil right the attorneyo'mara. i'm glad you're both here. thank you for being here to help us understand better what is at stake here. to pick up where elliott left off, this idea of race being really the big elephant in the room and not just a silent one here, it wasn't brought out the same way it was talked about in the court of public opinion. mark, we've heard really jaw dropping things in this trial from the defense. they spoke to the defense attorneys who still, still see nothing wrong with his push to keep black pastors out of the courtroom. listen to this. >> i'm here representing rodney bryant and i'm going to defend my client to the best of my ability and i don't care whether the people in the cheap seats like it or not. >> all right. your reaction, mark, from the cheap seats. >> i'm so astounded and troubled and worried by all of the presentation particularly from this one attorney from the shocking comment to the jackson comment to reverend jackson to black pasto

>> joining me now cnn legal analyst elle honing and charles f. coleman, jr. so good to see both of you, gentlemen. kyle rittenhouse is a free man. we heard from his defense attorney mark richards tonight. watch this. >> does he think he did anything wrong? >> legally, no. >> morally? >> he wishes he didn't have to do it. >> you've been saying the prosecution had a very high bar. why'd they fall short? >> such an interesting answer. he hesitated the lawyer, and he said legally, no. and i think the lesson is there is our jury system does not measure right and wrong. it measures legal or illegal. it measures law and facts. and the law is really such an important factor here, don. it is really difficult to convict anyone. you have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. we all know that. that's by design. self-defense makes if even harder for prosecutors, and wisconsin law is particularly favorable to self-defense because as you discussed with chris earlier, the prosecutor has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was not legitimate self-defense. so if the ju

. >>> joining us is charles f. coleman, a civil rights attorney, former new york prosecutor and trial attorney. good to have you with us this morning. on friday, the judge agreed with the request from the prosecutors that the jury can be given instructions on provocation. how much do you think that figures into the closing arguments today we'll hear from the prosecution? >> good morning. i think that's going to be a huge part of what the prosecution tries to drive home during its submission. we are like ly going to see the prosecution hammer home the narrative around trying to prove or establish rittenhouse went there and these encounters he pulled the trigger, he did so because he was the one who was the aggressor, because he was the one who wanted to end off the story of him leaving his home, crossing state lines with an assault rifle being the hero. he was looking for the trouble he had not not been able to get into for the entire night before this incident occurred. that is going to ultimate ly pu the jury in a positio

. >> joining me now alexis hogue, assistant professor of law and charles f. coleman jr.ormer new york prosecutor. professor, is the defense counsel right? would any attorney do what he did, try to get black pastors thrown out of the courtroom? >> i think we're in the cheap seats. >> we're commenting from the cheap seats. there are model rules of professional conduct that say you cannot engage in racial discrimination. and so this idea that somehow he is zealously representing his atlanta by saying black pastors shouldn't be in the courtroom is not any credence that i adhere to as a defense attorney. and i wholeheartedly do not agree with that. what chris mentioned last night about this idea of a public right trials, and this is part of the anglo american tradition of a judicial system need to be public. there is a fundamental problem. black pastors have a right to be inside of a courtroom. . >> your view? >> well, what we have been talking about was completely confirmed with his antics. he is not concerned with anything other than trying to speak to that jury. but it is

. >> joining me now is civil rights attorney, former new york prosecutor charles f. coleman jr. charles, i want to talk to you about what we're going to see today in the rebuttal, but, first, i have to ask you about what we heard from that defense attorney there, the long dirty toenails, because i know for you, it was evocative of some very specific and painful imagery. >> absolutely right. what we saw was racism used as a legal strategy. what we saw in that moment was george mcmichael's attorney deciding to evoke images of a runaway slave and how she chose to characterize ahmaud arbery in that moment. and for the life of me, i can't understand why that may be, but the only answer i have is that when you're an attorney, you're trying cases, you have to know your audience. so something about that venue, something about that forum, something about that jury has given her the inkling that she may be able to trigger something latent, some sense of bigotry or racism somewhere in that courtroom that is going to be to her client's advantage, but what i saw in that moment, like so many o

assistant professor of law alexis hogue and civil rights attorney and former new york prosecutor charles f. coleman jr. i want to start with the professor. one of the defendants on the stand, travis mcmichael, describing the moment that shots were fired there. his justification for self-defense. what's the defense trying to do here and do you think it worked? >> the defense has a massive hill to climb here. you can't have it both ways. you can't be an individual who claims to be trained in de-escalation tactics and law enforcement, the constitutional limitations of force, and then go out hunting actively a black man jogging down the street. and what you heard in mcmichaels testimony were racial stereotypes. you have a person jogging in the street and you have this presumption of criminality, this presumption of dangerousness. some of the language he used to described he was like a running back ready to bolt, that he was focused on me. and i want us to take a moment to think about what it is that was going through ahmaud's mind as he was running. you are by yourself in a largely white neighborhood a

joining me now is charles f. coleman jr. first, let's just get this out of the way. it's friday. . >> right >> why is it that oftentimes people say, well, juries like to come back with a verdict on from i? . >> well, john, the answer for that is very simple. no one wants to come back to court on monday. the idea is if we can come to some sort of agreement or consensus before friday, we don't have this hanging over our heads over the weekend and have this process begin again on monday. we can use the end of business on friday deadline. >> a juror asked to take the instructions home overnight. the judge said yes. this is unusual. >> it is unusual. usually you will not have a judge that will allow a juror or juries to take things like instructions outside the courthouse. because one of the reasons you have that is you want to make sure that members of the merge are not having outside conversations with other people about the case. that's one thing you see judges instruct juries on literally ever single recess. every day you instruct them not to have conversations with a

want to turn to people that maybe do enjoy the festive occasions, charles f. coleman junior a civil rights attorney and mark o'mara. i'm glad you're both here. thank you for being here to help us understand better what is at stake here. to pick up where elliott left off, this idea of race being really the big elephant in the room and not just a silent one here, it wasn't brought out the same way it was talked about in the court of public opinion. mark, we've heard really jaw dropping things in this trial from the defense. they spoke to the defense attorneys who still, still see nothing wrong with his push to keep black pastors out of the courtroom. listen to this. >> i'm here representing roddie bryan and i'm going to defend my client to the best of my ability and i don't care whether the people in the cheap seats like it or not. >> all right. your reaction, mark, from the cheap seats. >> i'm so astounded and troubled and worried by all of the presentation particularly from this one attorney from the shocking comment to the jackson comment to reverend jackson to black

. >> charles f. coleman junior, mr.as this jury gets the case tomorrow just the spotlight is gonna be all the more intense it's helpful to have your clarity. thank you. >> we will be right back, stay with us. , stay with us. it's another day. and anything could happen. it could be the day you welcome 1,200 guests and all their devices. or it could be the day there's a cyberthreat. only comcast business' secure network solutions give you the power of sd-wan and advanced security integrated on our activecore platform so you can control your network from anywhere, anytime. it's network management redefined. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities. ♪ ♪ ♪ downy's been taking you back, since way back. with freshness and softness you never forget. feel the difference with downy. qunol is the number one cardiologist recommended form of coq10. qunol has 3 times better absorption than regular coq10. the brand i trust is qunol. just getting by. it's an ongoi