0 18-year-old man. and we've also seen protesters. but not a lot. a number of people who are there with signs, who were perhaps hoping for a different outcome here. but the jurors, they looked at the law, they looked at jury instructions, they reviewed several pieces of evidence as they were deliberating over the course of four days, 25 hours. not guilty on all charges. the end of the kyle rittenhouse trial. the news continues right now with alisyn camerota. hello, everyone, i'm alisyn camerota. welcome to "newsroom." victor is off. we do have breaking news. minutes ago a jury acquitted kyle rittenhouse on all counts. rittenhouse was 17 years old when he fatally shot two men and wounded a third with an ar-15 style rifle that he brought to racial justice protests in august of 2020. he was charged with homicide and reckless endangerment. he could have gotten a life sentence but will walk free today. rittenhouse took the stand during trial, testifying that he acted in self-defense. the jury deliberated for roughly 25 hours. >> the first count of the information, joseph rosenbaum, we the jury find the defendant not guilty. as to the second count of the information, bridget mcginnis, we the jury find the defendant kyle rittenhouse not guilty. as to the third count of the information unknown male, we the jury find the defendant kyle rittenhouse not guilty. as to the fourth count of the information, anthony huber, we the jury find the defendant kyle rittenhouse not guilty. as to the fifth count of the information, gaige grosskreutz, we the jury find the defendant kyle rittenhouse not guilty. >> members of the jury, these are your unanimous verdicts? is there anyone who does not agree with the verdicts as read? we wish the jury polled? >> yeah. okay. >> we have a team of the reporters on ground in kenosha. first let's go to sara sidner oust outside of the courthouse. you were inside of the courtroom for the verdict and we just watched the video of kyle rittenhouse collapsing behind the desk. so describe that moment that the verdicts were read. >> reporter: for each of the verdicts, you could see him starting to choke up. you could see his neck moving. you could see his head bobbing a bit and when the final verdict was read all of them were not guilty. he did collapse there in a show of emotion. as you might imagine, this is a person who is years old and was facing you know life imprisonm for some of these charges. we also know that behind him you would see his family and i noticed his mom, she -- there was an audible gasp from her in the first not guilty and as this went along her hands, her head fell into her hands where she appeared to be crying and relief after this. and as you know, this means that kyle rittenhouse is now a free man at 18 years old. he could go about his life. he could not be tried again for these crimes in this case. from what happened in august, you're seeing then again one ever his attorneys just helping him up. he is obviously -- this is been extremely stressful for everyone involved in this. not only obviously kyle rittenhouse, but the families of those who were shot by kyle rittenhouse. two of whom were killed, one of the people shot took the stand and was a key witness in this case. i do want to read you something that we just received, our producer jason received this from the family of john -- of mr. huber. and as you know, huber, anthony huber was one of the people, the second person shot and killed that night in august by kyle rittenhouse coming at him with his skateboard and making contact hitting kyle rittenhouse. the mother and father of anthony huber said this and i'm going to read it to you so that it is accurate. they said we're heartbroken and angry that kyle rittenhouse was acquitted in his criminal trial for the murder of our son anthony huber. there was no justice today for anthony or for mr. rittenhouse's other victims, josen rosenbaum and gaige grosskreutz. he was shot but did not die. his bicep was blown off and he did take the stand in this case. we should also mention that the mother and father of mr. huber, anthony huber, were not in the courtroom watching all of this and they explained why, they could not take the emotional toll from sitting in trial however members of anthony huber's family were there. his aunt for example was in court watching all of this the machinations of this court and waiting for the jury's discussion. but you hear there from a family who felt that their son was trying to do something valiant and they feel like justice was not served here. you'll hear the complete opposite from kyle rittenhouse, his family and his attorneys who feel that kyle rittenhouse as the jury also decided was innocent of all of these shootings and did so in self-defense. i do want to talk to you a little bit about some of the things that we learned in this case while the trial was going on. that was not public knowledge or whats not widely known publicly. one of things that we learned is that there is this drone video, a high resolution drone video that many folks had not seen including the prosecution and the defense until five days into this trial. and that high resolution drone video was taken by a civilian who had not i guess handed it over, they could not find him. both the defense and prosecution looked for him before the trial. could not find him. it ended up getting into the hands of the prosecution by someone from the civilian who had taken this drone video and that was very clear. you could see what was happening in the first shooting that night where kyle rittenhouse shot and killed joseph rosenbaum. now we also learned that the ar-15 style rifle that rittenhouse carried that day in the streets was legal for him to possess. the judge saying that it has h to be a certain measurement for it to be illegal for him to be hold of and that was dropped right before the jury went to start deliberating in this case. the prosecution's comments on that, they didn't seem to know that the measurements made a huge difference here. but indeed the judge decided that is exactly what was the case and so that was never adjudicated by this jury. the judge dropped that. we also learned that kyle rittenhouse's father and other family members lived here in kenosha and he was here in kenosha the night before he went out into the street. there has been a lot of politicians an there have been a lot of folks on social media saying that he came over with his gun, crossing state lines with that gun. that is not the case. we learned that in this trial. that indeed the gun was actually here in kenosha at the family of a friend's house who bought that rifle for him and that he ended up with it that night. not taking it across state lines to come to the protest. but taking it from his friends' family home. we do know that in this case that there are high emotions everywhere. that politics has played in this with the right and left going at it over what they think should happen. and we're seeing that play out on the steps of the courthouse as well. >> yeah, sarah, thank you for all of that. stand by for us. obviously we'll dock back to you because there is a lot happening outside of the courthouse right now. we want to go to shimon prokupecz, also following this trial every day for us. and i understand that you talked to the defense attorneys this morning and were they confident, were they anxious, how were they feeling after almost 25 hours of deliberation? >> reporter: i think there certainly was some anxiety from them. because they for both of them, the two defense attorneys, they've never waited this long for a verdict. they've been attorneys for a long time. mark richards an attorney for 30 years, this is the longest he's had to wait for a verdict. they thought they put on a strong defense, having rittenhouse testify. that was a big moment in this case. i was in there for some of the that testimony. the jurors at one point felt some sort of sense there was some compassion for him. his testimony was clearly effective. the other thing certainly, you know, for them this morning, they can't understand what was taking so long. they thought maybe there was one or two holdouts. they were very interested about what happened here yesterday with that juror who wanted to take the notes home -- the jury instructions, that she wanted to take those home. they were worry that might work against them but it may in the end have helped them because maybe this was the one holdout or something. so maybe we'll find out, maybe not. but this morning for them, they were going about their business. we saw kyle rittenhouse into the courtroom. he's not in jail. he's been out and able to move a little bit around the courthouse. he has security around him. so we got to see him today. they were certainly some anxiety but they were confident and they put on a really good case. and when you look at this case, and the way that the prosecution presented it, they have problems with the beginning from some of the witnesses who, remember, somehow were better for the defense. these were prosecution witnesses but once they took the stand, certainly they sounded and they gave this sense of such chaos on the night of the shooting because it wasn't just about the moment when kyle rittenhouse fired his weapon, it was always about the lead up to that and the events that were going on. and really the video painted such a picture. such a chaos, such a scary scene in some ways for some of the jurors. they didn't amazing job bringing the jurors back from that night. they're from the community and they remember it and that is something that they did very, very well and clearly the jurors here believed it. and they understood it and so they clearly now have made their decision and so it is an acquittal on all counts. we do think we'll be hearing from one of the defense attorneys at sp point. he would talk to the media. prosecutors, we don't expect to hear from them but we do expect to hear from the defense team and that should happen hopefully sometime later tonight. >> it is also possible we'll hear from some of the jurors, the judge there at the end gave them basically permission or reminded them that they have permission to speak if they wanted to. to the media. i think that was his message to them. >> reporter: right. >> stand by if you would. we want to go adrianne broadous, live in kenosha. you were in the thick of the emotions right after the verdicts were read. so tell us what is happening on the ground? >> reporter: you know, it's peaceful and calmed down from the moment that you witnessed earlier. listen, today is november 19th, it is a day of relief for some and for others in this community it is a day of sadness. behind us on the steps of the courthouse you have a few supporters. folks who have been here throughout the past two weeks in support of kyle rittenhouse. you also have other folks who told me just moments ago that in their eyes justice was not serviced today, including the uncle of jacob blake, justin. now is who jacob blake. we have to take a step back and look at why we are here. what led to this moment. that night in august, there were protests if kenosha, folks were out protesting what they called police brutality after jacob blake was shot multiple times in the back by kenosha police. last year in january, on january 5th, jacob blake's uncle justin was here. that was the day that the officer who shot his nephew was killed of all wrongdoing and when he heard the verdict he said today, november 19th, was worse than that day in january. he described it as layering a cake and he said the layers on the cake get thicker and thicker and he said it is hard to bear. but he encouraged everyone to remain peaceful and go home and rest and pull their bootstraps because they have work to do and when he talks about work, he's not only talking about the work that he believes needs to happen here in kenosha but work around the country, referencing to what is playing out in georgia where the three men are on trial for the killing of ahmaud arbery. but today was a disappointing day for the family of jacob blake and their thoughts and prayers and hearts are really with the deceased family, the two men who kyle rittenhouse shot and killed. >> stand by for us. thank y thank you very much. we want go back to sara sidner. we remember the summer when after jacob blake was shot certainly after george floyd was shot and the protesters, the grass root protests of people who felt that there were so many injustices basically and they took to the streets. and so how -- was that back drop present through all of this? >> reporter: absolutely. absolutely. it is present here outside of the court, as i mentioned jacob blake's uncle who is just walking behind me was here every single day in support of those who were shot and killed or shot and injured by kyle rittenhouse. there were folks who would show up who, as you just heard adrianne say, who were here in support of kyle rittenhouse. the racial undertones are here. there are black folks here in town who will tell you that they believe that he was going to get off and that it is all, you know, set and ready because he happened to be a young white child of 17 at the time. and there are folks here who believed that he would be found guilty because of his color and because he had a large ar-style gun and they're upset about the second amendment. there are so many thingsly that play into this in the minds of folks who are out here. but i will say this. many of the folks who were out here on the steps were not l list -- listening to the trial every day and they were not in the courtroom every day listening to all of the details. they were outside. sometimes listening, sometimes arguing, sometimes coming up with their own ideas of what has happened and that also has played out on social media as it has played out in every single case in every single political you know argument that we have seen ever since twitter and facebook and all of the rest have existed. and so you are seeing this play out in america online and in a very different way than it played out inside of the court where you are watching every detail and learning every detail of what happened and watching all of the video which i have watched over and over and over again. some of the new video, the drone video was very important, and some of the video that we've all seen of people chasing after mr. rittenhouse. but there are still very raw emotions here. because there is a lot of talk about if he happened to be black, what would this be, how would this havended. and those discussions are going to be going on in america for time in memory um and that is not something that this court was trying to concern itself with. it was trying to get the jury to see things very plainly with the evidence that was in front of them. and they did so. they looked at it. we know that they were diligent because they spent 25 hours every single day for five, six hours a day, looking at this video trying to discern what the truth was here and trying to make a -- come up with a verdict they felt was just. of course people not everyone is going to feel this is just. there are two people who are dead and there is one person who was terribly injured in all of this. one thing that we learned that night in august when the shooting happened is that a lot of folks had guns. someone fired before mr. rittenhouse fired, there is someone who had a gun that was not permitted at the time. there were a lot of folks who were armed. and what we also learned is that having the gun strapped across their chest and there were quite a few people that came to kenosha or that were in kenosha. it actually ended up causing instead of them saying this is defense and it cause the consternation and arguments where there were folks that were no pun intended triggered by the fact there were these large war-looking weapons out in the street. but it is legal to carry here in kenosha and in wisconsin. and people have been doing so, but this has also called into the light, the fight over the second amendment as well. and so there are a lot of different political angles here. there is a racial back drop here that is playing out. but it has, i want to reiterate, it has remained calm. throughout this two and a half weeks of the trial and now the jury, deliberation and verdict, it has remained calm. there have been a couple of scuffles and arguments, there have been some detentions. and there so-- have been a coup of problems but a couple. it has been cordial and i saw people arguing and agreeing on a few points even though they were on opposite sides of the spectrum. so there is discussion that is going to be have h about this for years i assume to come. >> sarah, you make such great points. obviously there is strong feelings and there is emotions but that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the law and whether or not a conviction is warranted and you listened to the evidence as the jury did and this is what they have come up with. shimon prokupecz is also standing by for us. shimon, tell us what you're seeing and the points you want to make? >> reporter: so, we're getting some information regarding the jury. and just sort of some color there. there are pool reporter who just put this out who was obviously in the courtroom saying that the juror, some jurors looked fatigued in the jury box as the verdicts were read. some with their hands on their chins or rubbing their eyes. others appeared ill at ease, shifting in their chairs or folding arms across their chest. so this is just some color. this jury, it is been incredible to watch them. specifically during the deliberations. a few times that we got to see them, because they did deliberate for quite sometime. when you think about the 24, 25 plus hours that they were deliberating, we didn't hear much from them. they didn't ask for much. i know there was one day where they have several questions about the video. and video seemed to be -- this is the main thing of this case. this video. but it was the drone video that they asked for that the judge cleared the courtroom for and played for 45 minutes. the prosecution really thought this was going to be sort of like their smoking gun, like this video would help them. and the defense was worried about it. that is why they wanted it thrown out. they were worried that this video was going to prove for the prosecution that kyle rittenhouse was the instigator, that provocation charge. so they were worried about that video. the jurors did not have a lot of questions other than that one day c concerning the video and then for the most part they just worked. they kind of quietly worked. did their jobs. last thing they did today was order lunch and then within an hour after that wed getting indications that somethings with going on and that there was in verdict. obviously there were a lot of key points in this case. the other thing is on the prosecution side, when their witness, one of the witnesses testified, grosskreutz, who had a weapon, that seemed to really shift the case for the prosecution. once the defense got him to admit that he pointed his gun, he had a gun on him that night, a handgun, he had his gun on him that night and that he pointed it at one point towards kyle rittenhouse, it was pointed at him, and then rittenhouse, that is when he opened fire. you could start to sense that things were shifting in this case almost immediately after that. because even when the prosecution tried to rehabilitate him and did a redirect examination and were asking him about that, he admitted that he had the gun. and then the other issue was that the defense made a big issue is that he who had a handgun, did not have a license, a concealed license to carry a weapon. he was never charged. so there were all of these problems with the different witnesses that the prosecution brought into the case from, you know, the main person that was shot here was the first person that was shot, he was a problem for the prosecution because the defense did such a job of showing all of the chaos that night and the video certainly helped them point that out. >> shimon prokupecz, thank you very much. our thanks to sarah and adrianne as well. we'll check back with them. joining us now, to deal with all of the breaking news, we have our cnn senior legal analyst laura coates anz elie honig and allen turk heimer and eric gust is a trial attorney. to bring everybody up to speed again. kyle rittenhouse found not guilty on all five counts including the lesser included ones that were added. so, eli, surprise? >> it is not a surprise. because in our criminal justice system it is designed to be difficult to convict any person. that is why we have the standard beyond a reasonable doubt. it is even more difficult when there is a self-defense claim and it is even more difficult on top of that in the state of wisconsin which has a self-defense law. that is particularly favorable to a defendant. i think ultimately there were two key pieces of evidence in this case. one, this was a videotaped case. virtually all of the relevant conduct happened on videotape. and this was a split-second freeze-frame type of case. how close was rosenbaum to kyle rittenhouse when he fired and when you're in that close of a case it is hard to prove reasonable doubt. and when kyle rittenhouse took the stand, the prosecution did not make enough of a dent in kyle rittenhouse. they scored some points here and there but they did not fundamentally undermine his testimony and sara sidner said it perfectly, there is a back drop here, there is a political and racial back drop and we take the decisions away from a back drop and put them in a box and get a just verdict. >> do you believe the videotape was the most compelling part of this for the jurors? >> i think kyle rittenhouse's testimony was most compelling because the jury instructions were really centered around that term reasonable. defining the word "reasonable" and the jury instructions required this jury to look through the lens and perspective of kyle rittenhouse not monday morning quarterback, not the jurors or the court of public opinion in hindsight, what would he reasonably and what did he reasonably believe about the possibility of a leethal threat or harm and grave bodily harm, not just dying but grave bodily harm and then the prosecution has to disprove that it wasn't reasonable to feel that way. now on closing the prosecution did a good job of trying to connect the tissue, connect the dots but the closing was admittedly stronger than the theme of their case. they decided and talked about him as a active shooter and the idea of him being an active shooter and who was entitled to self-defense was the victims in this case. and that which he was seeing and experiencing as what the defense painted as a chaotic scene, the jurors taken from the actual community with a memory of the perceived chaos, that is what they were up against. it was a very hard case from the beginning. and eli is right, the threshold in wisconsin is not that he had to prove that he was completely reasonable beyond a reasonable doubt, no, the prosecution had the burden to disprove that he actually was not reasonable or was thinking he was reasonable in this case. and so with all of that combined, it is not surprising that they were -- that an acquittal happened. but it came down to that jury instruction about looking through the eyes of kyle rittenhouse and also finally there is also the notion about provocation. remember, he was nott entitled o self-defense if he provoked around hi belief was not reasonable and he failed to exhaust all reasonable means of escape that he knew about. they tried so show that he was not reasonable and this presence alone was provocative in wisconsin where gun owner shich is not equated with criminal activity, they could not show that he failed to escape. they showed him running, the defense pointed at that and combined to leave this acquittal. i hate to vilify prosecutors. they did what they could with the facts of the case but the deck was stacked against them not the least of which the judge in many way had their hands tied behind their backs. >> i just want to let everyone know that we've just learned thought defense attorney for kyle rittenhouse will hold a news conference soon. so we'll bring that you live. but we want to go out to shimon on the ground first. so shimon, what are you hearing? >> reporter: so the governor, governor here governor evers released a statement just moments ago and obviously urging for peace and calm. but i'll read some of what he is saying. he's saying that no vrtd verdict will bring back the lives of rosenbaum or huber or heal ganl grosskreutz or the trauma experienced by jacob blake and his family. no ruling today changes our reality in wisconsin that we have work to do toward equity, accountability and justice, the communities across our state are demanding and deserve. so he's urging calm and making sure that there is no trouble here. remember, the governor ordered up the national guard 500 troops just in case. they're on stand-by outside of kenosha and if they're needed they'll be brought in. but outside of court here, it is been calm. people have been voicing feelings. some people in favor of kyle rittenhouse, and obviously many of the people who are supporters of jacob blake. you can't separate the two. this case and jacob blake. and you see what the governor here with this statement, he also said, i want to read something about kenosha. he said kenosha is strong and resilient and working every day together toward healing this case and resulting national spotlight on the kenosha community. having spent some time here from when this all first happened and sarah as well, you know, we've gotten to know a lot of people in this community. and this is taken a tremendous toll on this community. there are a lot of small shops here, there is a lot of stores so they were bracing for this and ready for this given what happened previously. but most of them have been very supportive of the process and wanted this to play out and wanting this to work out and they supported whatever was going to happen, was going to happen. so for this community, it is important that things kind of continue the way they are. peaceful and there is no trouble. certainly in the police and the governor are ready and they're hoping, obviously, that there is no trouble. and as you could see for now outside and i think it is important to point this out because there was a lot of heated moments on the steps of this courthouse. you could walk into the courthouse every morning and there were people on both sides. but they were there. they stood there and they argued with each other and they voiced their opinions. no one really fought. there were small incidents but nothing major and you're seeing that as you could see in the video there. that people standing around with signs. really just talking with each other and arguing at times. but they were mostly peaceful and so the governor urging people to remain calm but reminding people that there is a lot more work that needs to be done. >> i'm glad you pointed that out. that is important to highlight, that there can be very tense and heated emotions but it doesn't have to devolve into violence. so i'm so glad that you're pointing out. >> reporter: can i just make one other point. >> yeah. >> reporter: i think it is important to point out because having been here for last three weeks an covering this trial, the way that the court staff here has conducted themselves in terms of the people and the media, it is been a very open courthouse. they've allowed us in, obviously we were able to have cameras inside of court and what an important process that is. they've been very welcoming to people in the community. obviously families on all sides. and i think that is very, very important to note because we don't get eyes into courtrooms all across the country like we need to. and so having this ability to do this here, how important it was and how important it was for this courthouse and this team here to do it and i think people should recognize that. whatever side you're on here, the fact that we were able to see this all play out is really, really important. >> i think that is an excellent point also. because the reaction might have been worse had people not had transparency into exactly how the trial unfolded. >> reporter: that is right. >> stick around if you would. we want to go back to sarah because i know more reaction is pouring in. sarah, including from, if you could hear me, from high-profile renowned attorney ben crump for george floyd. >> he was also involved here in kenosha and on the ground for the family of jacob blake who was shot by a police officer and injured shot in the back several times. he has just made a statement on this case. and here is what he had to say. and i'm going to -- excuse me while i read this because it is -- i want to make sure it is accurate. he said that if you needed yet another example of the two justice systems at work in america, look no further than the delayed arrest and spectacle of a trial and acquittal of kyle rittenhouse. rittenhouse a self-declared white nationalist which is not true crossed state lines and unlawfully possessed an ar-15 and those details in court said he did not bring that across state lines. that ar-15 style weapon was inside of a home here in kenosha that his bought that ar-15 for kyle rittenhouse because he was too young to purchase a weapon because he was 17 at the time. but that was being held here in kenosha. now when he left after the shootings, he then got into -- there was some trouble there. but the truth of the matter is this is part of the issue that happens, is that there is a line, that everyone kind of sticks to, and this is been a very difficult time, i think for those that are watching the trial, because everyone is in their corners in this particular case. but clearly, you know, benjamin crump has been here with the family who feels, the jacob blake family who feels there was injustice in that case and to see an acquittal, he feelslike there is injustice for kyle rittenhouse in in case and for the community in this case. we have to be clear about the facts and what came out in trial, what the prosecution, you know, put forward to this jury and what the defense put forward to this jury. and so as you see some of the comments coming down, a lot of the -- there were several politicians who made comments about kyle rittenhouse and what his background was and what he was doing here and why he was here and we learned that his father lived here and he was working in the area in the night before this shooting happened. that being said, there were a lot of folks here who are parsing out a lot of this and they feel had the races been reverse this could be a very different verdict. but that is what they feel and that is not the facts that that we know for sure. what we know for sure is that the jury spent three and a half days looking over every single day for hours the evidence that was in front of them. the evidence that was allowed into this case. the evidence that the prosecution put forward and the evidence that the defense put forward and they came up with a verdict. and in this country, when a jury comes up with a verdict, that is generally the final word if someone is acquitted because you cannot try someone twice. there is no double jeopardy in this country. and so at this point, kyle rittenhouse will walk out of this court and has a free person. that is basically the case here. and it has been calm so far with a little bit of arguing on the court steps but so far calm. >> stand by. this is kyle rittenhouse's defense attorney speaking. >> gross misunderstatement and kyle is not here. he's on his way home. he wants to get on with his life. he has a huge sense of relief for what the jury did to him today. he wishes none of this would have ever happened. but as he said when he testified, he did not start this and we're thankful in more ways than one that the jury finally got to hear the true story and when i say the media, i'm talking about social media and things like that, the story that came out from the beginning was not the true story. and that was something that we had to work to overcome in court. and we think we did that. >> you said that he were both at times doubtful and confident, the length of the deliberation time, is it still more confidence or instilling a little bit of -- >> no, doubt. i never predict how long a jury will be out. but it was a longest jury deliberation i've ever been a part of it. i had an 18 hour and a 17 hour in one was a federal and one was a state case. it was torture. and this might sound like a small thing but the judge wanted us to be within ten minutes, obviously my office isn't within ten minutes so we have are to sit in the room on the third floor and it was hell. >> what about the decision to put kyle on the stand, was that a close call for you do you think that made the difference in the case? >> you want the truth? >> yes. >> had to put on him. it wasn't a close call. at certain points we wondered whether we would put him on. we had a mock jury and we did two different jurors, one with him testifying and one without him testifying and it was substantially better when he testified. and i mean to a marked degree. and that sealed it. but in wisconsin if you don't put a client on the stand, you're going to lose, period. >> what do you see as the crucial moment here? >> there were a lot. i mean, i think -- i think it is at the beginning. but when attorney bginger gave his opening statement that kyle chased rosenbaum down, i don't know where that came from to this day. that was ridiculous. and that gave me something to really show and argue to a jury that this isn't fair, it's not a game and i think that was huge. cory, my co-council and i stress the word co-council, he was not a second chair, was incredible. we fought over who got to cross-examine gaige grosskreutz and he would be and he did a better job than i would have. >> this is a racial justice and second amendment and self-defense. what does kyle and his team want this verdict to be remembered for, this case to be remembered for? >> you know, when i took this case, i was hired by the two first lawyers, i'm not going to use their names, they wanted to use kyle for a cause and something that i think was inappropriate. and i don't represent causes, i represent clients. and the only thing that ended up mattering to me was whether he was found not guilty or not. >> is that what kyle wants? >> i believe that is what he wanted. and i told him when i first met him, when he was in custody, that if he was looking for somebody who go off an a cruisade, i wasn't his lawyer. >> martin, throughout the week you said, when i caught you in between court -- >> i never talked to you. >> that you were nervous and you didn't know what the heck was going on in that jury room. looking back on of that time waiting nearly 27 hours to -- this afternoon, you could walk me through sort of those emotions? >> i expected we kind of picked amongst ourselves, our wives and our friends, my associates in the building, and i had tuesday at 4:30. so i was way wrong. nobody had it goes past thursday. and there was talk today about whether they were going to deliberate on saturday. i've never seen a jury and i don't mean this as a slight to them, but they didn't have a lot of questions, we had no information that they ever fought. they were just working through the issues. and you know, so it didn't -- it was the time that made me nervous. there wasn't any information coming out. >> they submitted five questions over that whole time and never asked to rewatch the videos beyond those five questions. was that concerning or puzzling for you? >> you know, i was afraid of a compromise. i know it is been recorded that we asked for lesser included. we objected to all lesser includeds. kyle was questioned on lesser included but that wasn't our wish or kyle's wish. and we as time went on were afraid there could be some horse trading in the jury room. and that is what really concerned us. >> mark, you've been visibly frustrated with prosecution multiple times. >> no. >> how would you characterize -- >> i was a prosecutor, cory was a prosecutor and i never went after somebody like they did. and when they put on the con deary brothers knowing that they were lying, that is a problem. this is thisn't, as i said in my closing argument, it is not a game. and you're playing with a 18-year-old kid's life and they were willing to put those guys on, detective howard and detective rammy an had both interviewed them and in their police reports said we know you're lying. i can't ask that question when they're on the witness stand of the detective because one witness can't comment on the another. so, they put him on. they knew they were lying. and that is garbage. and i'm thankful we're never going to have have litigate the issue regarding the drone video. but they kept saying we stipulated to it. we let it in. we agreed to let it in. because we saw the quality we were given and the jury couldn't see anything. and then they're saying, well this first lawyer had it, because it was on tucker carlson. john pierce never had that video. we've talked to fox news, we've talked to tucker carlson's show. the video that was on tucker carlson's show started right when rosenbaum threw the bag. it did not start with the part that they showed at the beginning. it is a huge difference. that is what they built their whole case on. with that garbage photo. and, you know, maybe -- you don't expect everything in a trial, ever. and that program that they used and the expert from the crime lab specifically says on the company's blog, artificial intelligence enhancements are not to be used for forensic evidence. and they did it. and our research after it, it would have been the subject of a huge motion. we don't have to do it. >> and you said going into this trial you didn't want this to be -- [ inaudible question ]. >> you know, i didn't know that it says -- i mean, there is -- i personally don't like people carrying ar-15s around. you know, there were so much anger and so much fear in kenosha on august 25th that people did arm themselves. and you know we knew from the beginning that if you read that statute correctly, i know everybody thought i was crazy, but if you read the statute correctly, he was legal in having that firearm. and once the evidence came in, the judge threw the charge. they through the curfew. and those were things that the state wanted to kind of hang their hat on. so they could argue he couldn't be there, he couldn't own the gun. >> what was the first thing that kyle rittenhouse told you after the verdict was read -- >> thank you. >> mark, the surviving victim, grosskreutz, watching kyle testify, as he looked like a kid who got caught doing something wrong -- what does kyle want the families of the two men killed to know about how this played out because he talked about like he had -- clearly there was -- >> if mr. grosskreutz and the other people had let kyle go to the police, there would only be one individual dead. they referred to him as i talked about it as an active shooter. anybody could look up the definition of a active shooter from the fbi, law enforcement. he didn't meet it. but the way the words are so charged, that is what they used. they wanted to paint him as that. i wish nobody died. i wish i never met kyle rittenhouse and i don't mean that because he was a bad client, i just mean because then this wouldn't have happened. >> whether or not he feels he had to do it, is he remorseful or feel bad for those families? >> i think he does. we've talked about it. there has been so much talk about whether the tears were genuine. all i can say is when we prepared kyle, and we worked on this testimony, there were things we couldn't talk about in my office because it got to emotional and he couldn't handle it. he's in counseling for ptsd. so he doesn't sleep at night. remorse i think manifests itself some other ways. i don't think he could walk out here and say that because of the situation. but i know kyle rittenhouse and i know what he feels. >> mark, along those lines, where does he go from here? >> i -- has to get on with his life the best he can. i think eventually some anonymity will come back to it. i don't think he'll continue to live in this area. i think it is too dangerous. he's had 24 hour security since this happened. we're thankful that the judge protected his address. everybody in this case and when i say that i mean prosecution, defense, to me it is scary how many death threats we've had. i was answering my phone on the way back from court in kenosha, my office isn't that far, after the third death threat, i quit answering the phone. >> mark, what do you say to the people who may still think that he had no business being in kenosha at the time, what do you say to the people who are -- >> he had as much business being there as any of the demonstrators or the rioters. that is all i can say. i mean, there is going to be people who will never agree with that statement. but you know, if we all would just mind our own business a little bit i think we'd all be better off. and it is a hard lesson to learn. but -- >> couldn't that have been said about kyle? >> it could be. he was asked to be there. he wanted to help the community. and that is the narrative that the state went with. he shouldn't have been there. he was asked to be there by nick and dominic. and the cannery brothers want security. and, you know, i'm not trying to blame anyone. i wish he had never been separated from ryan ballch and we wouldn't be here. >> does he regret coming here no kenosha? >> i don't believe he does. i believe -- i mean, if he had to do it all over again and you said same thing is going to happen and you're going to life is going to be put in a living hell for a year and you're not going to know if you're a free man, whe would say i wouldn't g. but we can't undo time. >> mark, the president was just asked about the verdict and he said i stand by what the jury has to say -- >> i -- and i'm not laughing at president biden. what i'm laughing at is a friend of mine who is a lawyer said, he goes, and him and i had done a big case together seven, eight years ago and he said do you think this rittenhouse is going to be bigger than that case and i said, you know, i do. and he said, why do you say that and i said, i've never had a kiss and i don't think i ever will where within two days or three days of one another the president and the presidential candidate comment on it. and both of them had such different beliefs. president biden said some things that i think are so incorrect and hun true. he's not a white supremacist. i'm glad that he respects the jury verdict. and if the government had any information regarding his cell phone or anything that he had been to any of those websites, or been on online doing that kind of stuff, it would have been introduced in evidence. it wasn't. we were the individuals who released his cell phone which couldn't be cracked by the fbi because we had nothing to hide. >> i got her late. you could reiterate or go over his reaction immediately. >> no, i'm not doing reruns. >> do you plan to represent him in a civil action. >> i'm a criminal defense attorney. i don't do civil stuff. >> you could talk about what is the one thing that you learned if you have to say the biggest takeaway from this case that you learned. >> every case is different and every case has surprises. you know, i learned i could wait 24 hours for a verdict. >> what about the $2 million bond? >> i expect there will be a fight over that. you know, john pierce is the person who posted the bond. all of that money was raised on behalf of kyle. lynn wood say they're entitled to it. and when i use round numbers but there was half a million dollars that came from wendy rittenhouse from money that she had raised. so there is going to be a fight over that. and i'm just thankful that there will be a fight over that. because if he lost, it wouldn't have mattered. >> what do you say to the -- the first responders? >> he wants to be a nurse. >> what is your biggest take away from the 25-plus hour jury deliberation. what do you think that says? >> i need to be more patient. >> now that he has been -- could you book back and point to a pivotal moment that was successful for you that that you think created this outcome? >> getting rid of the first two lawyers. and that might be a smart-alicky comment but i mean that. and i got my best friend cory to join who i trust. and to be able to work with somebody who you don't have to check their work. you don't worry about what they're going to be doing. you give them a project and it is done as good or better as you would do yourself. it is priceless. >> there has been a lot of commentary on the prosecutors performance in this case. what would you say being up there with him every day in. >> i think -- you must have gotten here a little charader.