i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. we are one week into the trial of former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin charged for killing george floyd. 19 witnesses were called at the trial and eyewitnesses at the scene. we watched testimony from george floyd's girlfriend. bystanders and witnesses describe the even that unfolded in fronted of them. we heard from a paramedic who thought floyd was dead when he arrived at the scene. we heard from derek chauvin's supervisor to whom chauvin didn't initially report he knelt on george floyd's neck and the longest serving minneapolis police department officer who testified that chauvin's force was unnecessary. chauvin has plead the not guilty to second-degree unintentional murder and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. with the first week down what are the takeaways? joining me to discuss is joey jackson, criminal defense attorney and form er new york state prosecutor and james gillian a special agent who, by the way, is in the dissertation phase at st.

few people know that better than my guest michael smerconish.ant to start with macro and then go to micro about the census. mccarthy is moving farther and farther away from the reality of where he was and what he said about january 6th, and i think it's instructive. on the 6th and shortly thereafter, the reporting was mccarthy had been -- you remember, we did it together -- had been on with trump. he was pissed at trump. they were exchanging angry language about the need to get help. here is the new version as of yesterday from the biggest republican in the house. >> i was the first person to contact president trump when the riots were going on. he didn't see it. he ended the call saying he would put something out to stop this. that's what he did, he put a video out later. >> that is not just a cleanup job, but it is almost gross negligence in this situation, is it not? >> you remember that we had no witnesses during the impeachment process, and the impeachment trial came to a grinding halt because there was the prospect of calling one witness.

i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia.he trial of former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin charged in connection with the death of george floyd. the prosecution continues to make its case in a week filled with potentially devastating testimony, including minneapolis police chief

listen, i was watching, chris, and michael smerconish was on and he made a point that i thought was prettyrofound. eight people died from the fedex shooting. six people got blood clot from the johnson & johnson vaccine in the middle of the pandemic. it is crazy when you think about it that way. you have eight people died and no one wants to do anything. when six people died from the vaccine and they're like oh, got halted. what gives here? >> today is the 58th anniversary of martin luther king's letter from birmingham jail. that's the anniversary of the letter he penned and one of the things he said injustice anywhere, injustice every place. one of the other things that's is not quoted which goes to the point of why we are not getting anything done. using immoral means to obtain moral ends is wrong. using moral means to preserve immoral, what's happening today, the use of and i have to say again, the gop i am not going to cast on any blame on all. it is the gop who continues to use a tradition of the filibuster or the tradition of the way things enacted in order to preserve. it is the allo

i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. yale school of management senior associate dean jeffrey sonnenfield had a gathering with american business leaders recently. the focus was the debate about voter rights playing out in several states most notably in georgia and soon to be in texas. he invited 129 ceos and 90 calls in and represented diverse interest and the biggest names in business. according to "the new york times" the zoom call began with statements from ken shanall and ken frazier of merck asking people to sign statements opposing restrictive voting laws. the outcome was a two-page ad that ran wednesday in the "new york post" and apple and facebook and ibm, lyft, paypal, peloton, target are among those who signed. warren buffett signed individually and so is did samuel j. jackson and amy schumer. a slew of well-known law firms also lent their support. there were major interests that didn't sign, walmart, j.p. morgan chase and coca-cola among them. a letter was sent to the ceos the company is not in the business of

i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia.minneapolis police officer derek chauvin charged for killing george floyd. 19 witnesses were called at the trial and eyewitnesses at the scene. we watched testimony from george floyd's girlfriend. bystanders and witnesses describe the even that unfolded in fronted of them. we heard from a paramedic who thought floyd was dead when he arrived at the scene. we heard from derek chauvin's supervisor to whom chauvin didn't initially report he knelt on g

i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. we are two weeks into the trial of former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin charged in connection with the death of george floyd. the prosecution continues to make its case in a week filled with potentially devastating testimony, including minneapolis police chief arradondo. he joined the chorus of law enforcement voices testifying against chauvin but the case could come down to causation. others weighed in including doctors. the latter testifying that floyd died from a low level of oxygen, saying that even a healthy person subjected to what floyd was subjected to would have died. that is not exactly the same as what the jurors heard from the hennepin county chief medical examiner. on the stand he said floyd's underlying medical conditions and any drugs he had in his system could be contributing factors in his death but not the direct cause. which he maintains is, quote, cardiopulmonary arrest compl complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression. while ch

cnn political commentator michael smerconish says the results may not be what they first appear. >> theine tonight is one of shift toward the south, the south tends to be red, the take away seems to be this is to the benefit of the republican party, but when we get the demographic information as to what populations are growing, my hunch is that you're going to see growth among folks who are black, latino and young. so maybe in the short term there is advantage for republicans but in the longer term that demographic shift there will be more folks in the south than there will be in the rust belt but they tend to be democratic voters. so where this heads in the long term i think is much different than where it goes in the very short term. >> lawmakers in the u.s. congress are negotiating a police reform bill this week, but the legislation which passed the house now faces an uncertain future in the senate. cnn's manu raju has the details. >> reporter: minneapolis, louisville, brooklyn center, columbus, elizabeth city, as deadly confrontations with police continue to mount, so is the pressur

michael smerconish knows the law, he knows the story. e's the one who told me, you should take a look at bob kent. i think there's something for him to say. smerconish, you were right. i find him credible on these points because he would have to be crazy to put these things in writing and come on tv and say the same and do the dance with the feds if he was trying to extort thesis people. >> i think it was a phenomenal interview. and i think that your cross-examination did viewers a service. and actually did kent a service, because to put him through the paces is to let people really draw determination of their own in terms of whether they find him credible. here's what i think might be going on. kent is caught up in a search for robert levinson. he has reason to believe that the former fbi agent has not passed, as the trump administration apparently told the family, but he's alive and being held captive in iran. as he's working on that, gaetz gets himself into trouble. the two have nothing to do with one another. but kent sees opportunity

i have van jones and i have michael smerconish. now, these two men are mentors to me in different ways. michael has got a great mind for understanding the simple and the complex. he did it today on his show about how, you know, never stopping the vaccine because they have had less than one in a million deaths. shutting it down, studying it, you've got to be safe. you've got eight people dead at the fedex factory and they don't even take a breath about what to do. and van is the manifestation of hope in america. he believes. he believes. and i need them both because i don't share their sentiments on either. so we'll start with the head and go to the heart. michael, the logic is clear and obvious. eight people die at the fedex, not even a yawn. they had to argue with me to include it in the top of the show tonight because i said where is it? where is anybody talking about it? but the vaccine, seven out of 7 million, shut it down. we've got to think of a better way. how do you explain it? >> i thought your commentary was brilliant and

i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia.ciate dean jeffrey sonnenfield had a gathering with american business leaders recently. the focus was the debate about voter rights playing out in several states most notably in georgia and soon to be in texas. he invited 129 ceos and 90 calls in and represented diverse interest and the biggest names in business. according to "the new york times" the zoom call beganit

stays on the schedule whether i'm here or not, and you will have an upgrade in the form of michael smerconishight" with the big star d. lemon right now. >> that is definitely an upgrade. anything would be an upgrade. >> true. >> why are you indoctrinating kisha's baby already? we don't want that. >> why? >> kisha is a good woman. her husband's a good man. what are you indoctrinating with that cuomo prime time" -- >> if we were to give that kid a cnn tonight onesie, it is telling this kid that you cannot be great, that you must aspire for something less than greatness. by giving the cuomo prime time" onesie, the kid knows anything's possible. the sky's the limit. >> no, that's right.

i was watching, chris, and michael smerconish was on and he made a point that i thought was pretty --ty profound. he said eight people died today from the fedex shooting. six people got blood clots from the j&j vaccine and we -- we shut it down, in the middle of a p pandemic. i mean, it's crazy, when you think about it. when you think about it that way. you know, we have eight people die, no one wants to do anything about gun violence. we have eight people die, 10 people die, 12 people die. we have six people die from a vaccine and they're like, got to halt it. what gives here? >> well, you know, speaking of being aware of history, don, today is the 58th anniversary of martin luther king's letter from birmingham jail. it's the anniversary today of that letter he penned and one of the things he said was injustice anywhere -- injustice anyplace is a justice -- injustice everyplace. and one of the things that is not often quoted that he said which goes, i think, to this point of why we are not getting anything done. which he said, using immoral means to attain moral ends is wrong. but as

stays on the schedule whether i'm here or not, and you will have an upgrade in the form of michael smerconish, all right? time for the big show. "cnn tonight" with the big star d. lemon right now. >> that is definitely an upgrade. anything would be an upgrade. >> true. >> why are you indoctrinating kisha's baby already? we don't want that. >> why? >> kisha is a good woman. her husband's a good man. what are you indoctrinating with that cuomo prime time" -- >> if we were to give that kid a cnn tonight onesie, it is telling this kid that you cannot be great, that you must aspire for something less than greatness. by giving the cuomo prime time" onesie, the kid knows anything's possible. the sky's the limit. >> no, that's right. anything is possible. look, we've had some flukes that over the past four, five years. >> don't make me laugh. it makes my toupee move. >> yeah, you got that toupee cut a little short. listen, though. all seriousness. >> yes, sir. >> you just had -- is it pag lee otty on? >> pagliery. >> sorry. >> daily beast. >> yes. that is some bombshell. that is some scoop that he go

and you will have an upgrade, in the form of michael smerconish. all right. lemon, right now. >> that is definitely an upgrade. anything would be an upgrade. >> true. >> why are you indoctrinating kisha's baby, already? she is a good woman, her husband is a good man. it's a great family. what are you indoctrinating them with that "cuomo prime time" for? >> here is the thing. if we were to give that kid a "cnn tonight" onesie if one existed because no one would make one. it is telling this kid, that you cannot be great, that you must aspire for something less than greatness. by -- by giving a "cuomo prime time" onesie, the kid knows anything is possible. sky's the limit. >> that's right. anything is possible. look. we have had some flukes over the past four or five years. >> don't make me laugh. >> you got that pay cut a little short. listen, though. all seriousness. >> yes, sir. >> daily beast. >> sorry. sorry. yes. that is -- that is some bombshell. that is some scoop that he got. and if this proves to be true, trouble, trouble, trouble. 17. hmm. >> well, lo