Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Brooke Baldwin 20200603

Justice, policy, and then legislation. So we thank the nypd for having this conversation and open dialogue. The memorial for george floyd will be tomorrow in cat em plasma. Terrance floyd will be present and other family members will be present. And were calling for those individuals that wan to loot and those who dont want to disrespect the name of george floyd, dont do it in the name of george floyd. Youre disrespecting his legacy. If you want to chat peacefully, you can do so. But dont do it in the name of george floyd. We have an issue in new york city which is a good thing in terms of having a relationship and bridging the gap in this hostile environment. And im thankful for now we could have a voice and turn something negative into a conversation that could lead to positive. The bible says in the book of isaiah 1 17, to teach the oppressors to be a voice for the voiceless and to be able to seek justice for the widows and that is what were going to continue to do as we go forward and the fight for justice. And to uphold the legacy of george floyd. At this time youll hear from the commissioner of the new York City Police department dermot shay. Reverend, thank you. So ill be brief in my comments. I came here today with my friend and with my coworker, first Deputy Commissioner ben tucken, two highest ranking members in new York City Police department to make a statement first and foremost on behalf of the entire new York City Police department. The nations largest Police Department. That we stand with the floyd family. We condemn what took place in minneapolis. And i think its much larger than Law Enforcement condemning it. Any human being with a conscience feels the same way. So my heart goes out to then fire floyd family. I think it is an entire difficult period. It is not the first. Please lord it is the last. But it should be a wakeup call for this entire country. For justice, to look in the mirror, to Work Together about what we can do together. I think there is no better place to have this conversation. I honestly dont remember who reached out to who. It has been a long week. But i spoke to reverend mccaul earlier this week, i think we have a common friend. We sat down this week and began a discussion, a dialogue which i hope is one of many. Which gets us to a place where we want to go. And here we stand in a holy building and i dont think there is any better place. When i walked in here, i saw said hello to some of my officers that are outside and one of them who i did not know, it is her last day, 20 years serving new york city, she on the side there, shes not but im embarrass her, and shes a person of faith. Who is an ordained minister. And it is one of the many beautiful stories of this city and the Police Department and we need more of them and we need more of them together. That is how i truly believe we will get to where we want to be. I think men and women of this Police Department, im extremely proud of. We make mistakes and Law Enforcement across this country makes mistakes. We blood, we bleed. We have biases that i think all of us need to continue to see each other, continue to hear each other. Continue to Work Together. And i truly hope this is a beginning of a dialogue that will bring peace as much as possible to the floyd family, but to new york city and this country as a whole. And ref vand i want to publicly thank you for extending the branch and having this conversation today. All right, so you just heard from the new York Police Commissioner and prior to that that was reverend ken mccaul speaking about really reacting to the news. And as im hearing the singing, these are live pictures in minneapolis at the scene of George Floyds where he was killed. Let me just pause for a moment. [ singing ] to all of my wifes sisters and bothers it is a beautiful thing. Let me quote the reverend there. He just said in reaction to the elevated charge and the incoming charges that were moving in a direction of justice but we must keep the conversation going. What are we talking about . If you are just joining us let me back up three steps. Were waiting to hear from the Minnesota Attorney general Keith Ellison about the killing and death of george floyd. Officials have finished the review of the charges and will announce the charges any moment now. Were standing by for that. When we got the news, Amy Klobuchar put out a tweet that all four officers involved in floyds death will face charges. She wrote that. The minnesota a. G. Will be elevating the charge against Derek Chauvin from thirddegree to seconddegree murder and the other three officers, now former officers, will be charged as well. And this comes after an incredibly emotional moment to just even today George Floyds son speaking out for the very first time from the exact spot where his father died. In case you missed it, i want you to watch this. Every night with my family, without my father, and no man wants to live out their fathers and we want for what is going on right now. And then standing next to mr. Floyds son was the family Attorney Ben Crump passionately pleading for justice and for this moment to be the change that this country so desperately needs. America needed to be listening when george floyd said i cant breathe because when he cant breathe, none of us could breathe. And so this is a Tipping Point. This is a Tipping Point. This moment is a Tipping Point to change america and see if america truly believes in the words of thomas jefferson, that we hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equally, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights that among of them are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In america that means black people too. All of this happening as we entering into day nine of the planned protests. Charges for the other officers is really among the top demands from the Peaceful Protesters across the country. So there is that. I have two reporters standing by. First correspondent omar jimenez is live in minneapolis and Josh Campbell is in st. Paul. Josh, you have your own sources and were hearing about potential charges involving the other former three officers. What do we expect to hear from the a. G. . Brooke, just Major Developments today. Reporting just hours ago from our Law Enforcement sources that there was a decision reached by the Attorney Generals Office regarding the fate of all four officers involved in this incident. Now recall one of the officers, Derek Chauvin. Who has been charged with thirddegree murder based on that incident involving george floyd. That was a video of chauvins knee on floyds neck and charged with thirddegree murder. And since that time the case has transferred to the Attorney Generals Office and the a. G. s office is now in charge and we have been waiting to hear whether additional charges would be brought against the other three officers that were involved in that incident. Now were waiting for official confirmation from the Attorney Generals Office that is the case. We did see a tweet from minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar indicating that all of the officers will be charged. She indicated that one of the officers, Derek Chauvin, who had been charmed with thirddegree murder, that charge would be elevated to seconddegree murder. The first indication that were seeing officially that is the case, weve been monitoring the minnesota courts website and it looks as though minutes ago the charge for Derek Chauvin was listed and elevated to seconddegree murder. So Court Records now appearing to confirm that. How about that. That piece of information that senator klobuchar have tweeted out but what we havent heard from officials is what will happen to the other three and what charges those might be as senator klobuchar has indicated but we expect to hear from the attorney general Keith Ellison shortly. Were at state capital complex in st. Paul to get Additional Information on what will happen with those officers an what the charges might be. I think were thinking it is aiding and abetting seconddegree murder. Were awaiting that. Josh, thank you. And omar jimenez, i wanted to stop and listen to that singing. Youre surrounding by Community Members in minneapolis. How are folks responding to this major piece of news involving these officers . Reporter well, brooke, when the news first came down there were audible cheers and dancing from people here at this site, which has essentially become the ground zero for what happened to george floyd a little bit over a week ago today. The cheers were so loud that we thought it was some sort of v l celebrity behind us based on the crowd and we appeared they were in a dance school and some dancing in joy. This is the step, as we await confirmation later this afternoon. This is the step that many people in the community wanted to see. They didnt want to see officer Derek Chauvin charged, seen in the cell phone video but of the other officers as well. Were getting reaction from the family of george floyd that visited this site today and the family attorney tweeting out that this is a bittersweet moment for the family. Obviously because they would rather have george floyd in their lives. But they also feel this is a first step to justice and crump applauds attorney general Keith Ellison for taking this step as he said. But again were waiting for that official confirmation in a presser expected later this afternoon. Also today we had Governor Tim Walz stop by the site and wanted to pay respects and feel as visually as he could some of the pain that the communities here in minneapolis have felt. So he visited the ground zero site for the first time today and we spoke to him as he came by and he told us basically we only have one chance at really to get this right. And that is in regards to trying to make sure that people in this community and the protesters that have so passionately come out over the course of the past week and a half or so, feel they get the justice they deserve in this case, brooke. Omar, thank you. Gentlemen, i appreciate both of you. Lets analyze on all things legal. With me legal analyst and former prosecutor elie honig and elliott williams. So elie honig, first to you, you wrote this week that you thought the thirddegree murder charge was too light and it was seconddegree murder which was more warranted. What do you make of Keith Ellison elevating the charge . Yeah, brooke. I think a seconddegree murder charge is aggressive but i think it is righteous and justice and necessary. As we could just see in omars live shot. Here is the difference. A thirddegree murder charge carries a maximum sentence 25 years. You dont have to show the person intentionally killed but they acted with depraved indifference to human life. Seconddegree is harder to make, you have to show intention to kill and my argument would be and you get that in those eight minutes. Eight minutes is an eternity for a grown man to have his entire body weight pinned on the neck of somebody who is handcuffed and when the man is yelling i cant breathe and dont kill me you cross over that line and i think a seconddegree charge is the right thing here. And also as i heard ben crump lawyer for the family saying earlier, in terms for intent, when you hear the other officers that realized he doesnt have a pulse and turn him over and Derek Chauvin said no. Elliott williams, what do you make of this move . It is tricky, because what we want as a hungry public that wants justice and peace and wan wants healing and what prosecutors can successfully demonstrate to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt may be two Different Things and we were texting this morning about the statute and my concern is that this language of intent to effect the death of but without premeditation, that is the language in the minnesota statute, it will require, proven beyond a reasonable doubt, that he knew he was killing somebody and still proceeded and went along with it. Again that 8 1 2 minutes is telling. But again, it is what can you get 12 people to agree to unanimously and that is challenging. Inte intent is hard to prove. This is proven through statements of other people and through the defendant himself. That morning he woke up and said i want to kill somebody or on the scene he said i want to kill somebody. In the absence of that, it may just be tough to prove to a jury. So, again, we as a public really want healing. And we really want to see a certain outcome here. But it was just under not a disagreement with elliott but just more caution it is not am dunk. Is what im hearing you say. Elly, back over to you. Lets focus in on the three other former officers. What charge could they be facing . Yeah, i so i think well see aiding and abetting called accomplice liability. Ment law lines up with basic human logic. I think you would teach your children is if somebody is doing something bad and you help them or encourage them or egg them on and you are just as guilty and the law says the same thing so i think well see aiding and abetting charges against all three of those Police Officers based on senator klobuchars tweet. Let me stay with you. Because to the point of elliott in my head in terms of a high bar in proving intent. In addition to the video, what conversations will prosecutor have with the either three former officers to also help their case . So i think the video is going to be the key exhibit. You want to hear what was being said by george floyd for the bystandering and the people taking that cell phone video are saying you are going to kill him. He cant breathe. And one thing that is important for our viewers to understand, when you bring a seconddegree murder charge, lesser includes charged, we call them in the law, theyre still in play. So it is not all or nothing. In other words this jury could say we dont find seconddegree murder, but we do find thirddegree murder. So there is that safety net. Even if the top charge is not proved. I got you. And then, elliott williams, what do you think the message that Keith Ellison is sending by elevating this charge from third to seconddegree murder and the message sending to the community. I heard omar at the scene hearing people jumps and cheering and i hear your caution this is just the charge but how much do you think that might have factors into the a. G. s decision . Well, number one, the very appointment of Keith Ellison and elevating this to the attorney general itself is an act of showing the public how seriously the governor and the authorities in the state take this case. And ought to take this case. It is out of the hands of the prosecutor. So certainly elevating the charges is itself significant as well. And just to add on to whattely had said a moment ago, those individuals, if charged as accompliced, could be charged as if they were the one that pulled the trigger. So if it is a 25 year maximum on the a thirddegree murder charge, they could all get the 25 year potentially. And the guy in the getaway car is just as guilty as the triggerman. Let me ask you to stand by. Were going to pivot back to Josh Campbell. He is our correspondent standing by in st. Paul who is getting more information on the incoming charges. What do you now . Reporter as of this point the indication was from u. S. Senator Amy Klobuchar tweeting about charges for the three officers. I can now tell you that based on our review of Court Records just posted, all three officers that were seen on that video have now been charged. Were talking about Jay Alexander kueng, thomas lane and tou thao have been charged with aiding and abetting seconddegree murder. Now based also on those Court Documents we see that the fourth officer who had previously been charged with thirddegree murder, were talking about Derek Chauvin, Court Records indicate that his charge has been elevated to seconddegree murder. So we can confirm that according to Court Records here from the state of minnesota, all four officers, brooke, that we involved in this incident involving the death of george floyd have been charged by authorities. Josh campbell, thank you so much for that. And elliott and lie, let me sit on that for a second. George floyd died, was killed, a week ago monday. And here we are on a wednesday and you now have all four officers, right, they were immediately fired and people in this country were calling for justice. And they wanted these officers charged and now you have that lead officer Derek Chauvin charged with seconddegree murder and you have the other three officers as you called it to both of you aiding and abetting seconddegree murder, so elie honig, i cant underscore how significant this day is. Yeah, brooke, and i give credit to the Minnesota Attorney general. Every move that hes made is going to be under an intense microscope rightly so. And people understand to bring murder charges and aiding and abetting charges in a week and a half is good work. That is solid work. And it sounds like the a. G. Has his facts in order and he better because the stakes on this trial is going to be through the roof. Elliott, here is my next question, because i could only imagine folks in this country, we talk about swift justice and elie, in over a week this is pretty swift, but what is next procedurally. So all of these officers are now charged. What is next . Well, again, under the constitution theyre entitled to a speedy trial and so presumably there will be a trial in the very near future. Part of the delay may have been trying to establish whether they could have gotten any of the other officers to cooperate at almost as cooperating witnesses against the primary charge. We could get to a trial and some of them may plead and well see. All of this shows big picture to pull the camera back and taking this out of criminal justice for a moment is the power of the cell phone video. And frankly think of how many other George Floyds there might have been across the United States who that there have been. That there have been across the United States. Pardon me. That there have been across the United States where there were not four officers charged because there wasnt a bystander. To some extent this is a testament to the value of body cameras for police and a testament to 2020 and the power of the cell phone video and the ability to record actions. And just the ability and the need to see what happens and how policing takes place. And so that is i think the big takeaway, is the fact that were even talking about this is remarkable given some of the ills that plague our nation with respect to police. Such a smart point. Elliott and elie honig, stand by. Let me bring in the voice of the naacp, derek johnson. Mr. Johnson, a pleasure, sir. Youve heard us discussing the news, all four of the officers charged, the first of whom whose charge is now elevated to seconddegree murder. Your reaction . I think this is a good day. First, for all of the people who had to witness an individual, a human, a man be murdered in broad daylight by officers. With individuals standing by pleading with him as he pled for his life. But it is also a good day because the community was victimized a second time by a District Attorney who refused to bring the charges. It is unfortunate that this District Attorney, one person, held not only that city hostage, it held the nation hostage because of his refusal to brick the charges that were so obvious to everyone who viewed that video. 8 46, the man laid there and pled for his life and that District Attorney could not bring himself to bring the charges that we are now thankful that the state attorney general had the courage to do what is right. Justice will probably get served now. Derek johnson, please, sir, do me a favor, stand by. Forgive me. But i do have George Floyds son standing by. Along with a family Attorney Ben Crump. So our correspondent sara sidner is with the two of them and pass along my condolences and the floor is yours. Reporter so first and foremost, we want to say that we are sorry for all that you have been through in this. Quincy mason, Benjamin Crump here, the lead attorney for the floyd family. Quincy, i know you want to speak and say your piece so im going to let you do that right now. A lot of people want to hear from you. Nobody is going to know george floyd better than his own son. Im here with my family. We demand justice. My father shouldnt have been killed like this. We want justice. Reporter plain and simple. Justice. Benjamin, let me ask you about and i see you holding quincy there. It is very emotional. It is very emotional for quincy and all of this children. And all of his family. I mean, to have all of this thrust upon you, to witness this tragic killing of his father and i dont want to get into the details because i dont want to put him there any further emotional agony than hes already been through but it was a horrific death on top of losing your father. Reporter i cant imagine. And really we are so deeply troubled and sorry for what you have been through. Benjamin, there are new details now coming out about the three officers and Derek Chauvin, the person with his knee down on mr. Floyds neck. He is being charged now in Court Documents with seconddegree murder and im sorry you have to keep hearing that over and over and over again. Hes been charged with seconddegree murder. So they have lifted the charge, made it higher. And they have now, as i understand it from our Josh Campbell, charged the other three officers in this case. Tell me what you are hearing and what you think about the charges that have now been made out on these four officers here. Well, the family has maintained that all four of the officers should be arrested for this horrific killing of quincys father. The charges against the officers, we believe, should be aiding and abetting charge to the murder. Or it should be a felony murder of some type. Because we know if you corroborate or participate in the commission of a crime, then you can be held accountable for that crime as well. They do it to minorities all of the time. And so we want equal justice in america. And officer chauvin, we believe it should be firstdegree murder. Were relieved that they have been upgraded to seconddegree murder. But the attorney general has informed the family that the investigation is ongoing and if there is evidence to support a firstdegree murder conviction, they will charge it. And so the family is relieved that attorney general Keith Ellison, who has a track record for championing civil rights has moved expeditiously in arresting the officers before we memorialize george floyd tomorrow here in minneapolis, minnesota. Reporter when you look at that video, when you stand with the family, when you hear from the family, and i know you dont want me to ask you a question so ill ask it to you, ben, what did you see when you saw that video . Over and over again, what did you see in your mind . Is this based on race . Is this based on policing gone wrong . What did you see . Well, i saw, i believe, what everybody in the world saw. A man being tortured to death while he asks for them to take the knee off the neck because i cant breathe. He even called for his momma. And when you think about the natural order of things, mothers are the people protecting you when you first come in this world. And for him to call for her was more than just symbolic, it was an outward expression of complete and utter desperation from a dying man and im not going to go further because i dont want quincy to have to endure this. But it was torture. So the minnesota governor was right to look at Human Rights Violations by the minneapolis Police Department for probably other reasons in the last ten years but predominantly for that video that we all saw, sara, that we cannot unsee. Im sorry, sweetie, ill stop. But we know that George Floyds mother had passed away so that was a moment for him, like you said, just of desperation and everybody heard it there. Can i ask you, just who your daddy was. Just in a good man. Reporter if you doesnt want to, it is okay. You could say no. There is no pressure here. If you could talk about it, you can. Thank you both. Thank you, quincy, thank you so much for talking to us. You heard there Benjamin Crump saying this is torture. And for his son to have to stand here and talk about his fathers death, thank you. I know this is really hard. I do. I do. I know this hurts. To for his son to listen to this and the family has been very clear that they really are thankful for the support, but they are a peaceful family and a prayerful family and that george floyd with never have wanted any of the madness that has happened. But they want justice. They want peace on one hand and justice on the other. And right now it appears that theyre starting to get some of the things theyve been asking for in the form of legal charges against these four officers. People have been waiting here fore for days to see other three officers charged because the sentiment in the streets is and the sentiment from the family is if this had been reversed and the people who were officers had been civilians doing this, everybody would have been charged. No waiting. No questioning. Now, they would have been taken to jail, charges would have been meeted out. Whether or not that goes forward in the Justice System that is another thing but a lot of people see this as special treatment for the police who were supposed to be protecting and serving. And so you see the emotion here. Because a lot of folks see this as look at how they treat us compared to how they are treated. We want to be treated the same way with the same level of respect. And that is not what people are seeing. So that is why youre seeing such unrest and unhappiness. But for the last several days thats nothing but peaceful and people are trying to figure out what to do next not only for the family but to heal this community and that is hard work. And this family has been prayerful and asking for peace for days now. And theyre hoping that it will continue to stay that way here in minneapolis. I hear you. Amen to that. But there is a much bigger issue at play with regard to this Justice System in this country and the generations of violence and black and brown americans facing it for too long and so sara, i appreciate you. I want to continue this conversation with derek johnson, the president of the naacp. And derek, just on the point we just lost him. Well work on getting him. Because i really want to have a conversation with him about is before we heard from Benjamin Crump and George Floyds son was about how he was i think it was almost a cautious optimism with regards to charge, the elevated charge with the Police Officer Derek Chauvin and he said it will lead to justice, probably. Quick break. Im brooke baldwin, youre watching cnn. So much to discuss. Dont move. We hope you find these Digital Solutions helpful to bank from almost anywhere. Deposit a check with your phone or tablet. Check balances, pay bills, and more. Send money to people you know and trust with zelle. Explore all you can do with our Digital Tools from almost anywhere. Pnc bank. From almost anywhere. They are compelled to step to the front lines. And into the unknown. For all of us. Mortgage rates have now fallen to all time lows. Ca. Thats good news for veterans with va loans. Thats me. By using your va streamline refi benefit, one call to newday usa can save you 2,000 a year. Thats me. Theres no income verification, no appraisal, and no out of pocket costs. Thats me. Put your va home loan benefits to good use. Call my team at newday usa. Welcome back to the breaking news. Im brooke baldwin. Here is the deal. We have just learned that regarding the death of george floyd, all four officers now have been charged, three of whom charged with aiding abetting and seconddegree murder and that thirst officer Derek Chauvin who was the first to be arrested and forgive me, i should say former officers, they have long been fired, the Derek Chauvins charge has been upgraded from thirddegree to seconddegree. In the wings van jones and derek johnson, president of the naacp, before we heard from mr. Crump and mr. Floyds son was you were reacting to the news of the charges and there was a word that you said, you said essentially and correct me, that it will probably lead to justice or probable justice and i wanted to focus in on what you mean by that and the words of Benjamin Crump, all of the world is watching, change is going to come. This moment is a Tipping Point. How do you feel about that . That is a true statement. The problem with our Justice System is when you have a local District Attorney who see themselves more aligned with Law Enforcement and Police Unions than he will see himself aligned with justice and the communities hes supposed to serve. This District Attorney held that city, held that county, held this nation hostage because he could not find it within himself to look at the books and determine that these officers sitting on this mans back for 8 46 was illegal and they should be held accountable. Finally we have someone that is not beholden to a police union or see themselves as a part of the blue wall and as opposed to seeing themself as the vehicle by which crimes against the state can be redressed and people can be held accountable irrespective of whether they are a Police Officer or a young lady walking down the street. They all should be seeing equally and justice should be applied equally. The only problem we have in this system is the concept of the politics that combine all of this. A Justice System is supposed to be blind. This isnt blind. This has been asinine for us to watch a murder in the middle of the street, broad daylight. And these men have been able to walk free for all of this time. What do you want to see next, final question. Officers are charged. Immediately, what is next. Officers are charged and now we need to move forward with a system of justice to give them the due process but yet the family, the hope and belief that their father, their brother, their family members life of is that of value and that value is something treated equally in our system of justice. In my opinion all four of them were guilty when i finished watching that video, 8 46 where they set on this mans neck. Set on his back. Was not resisting arrest. He was pleading for his life. I cannot breathe. Calling for his mother who is deceased. A grown man pleading for his life and they sat there with malicious disregard for human life. They should not see daylight and in my opinion for the rest of their life. Derek johnson, i appreciate you and all of the work there at the naacp. Thank you. Van jones, my colleague, my friend, let me bring you in. And as i do, i want to let everyone know the right side of the screen, this mass group of people, this is what is happening right now at this huge intersection in los angeles as people are gathering peacefully in the wake of the news. So van jones, what say you . Well, its an incredible feeling. Every step in this process is going to be hard. This is running a marathon through mud. Every step is going to be hard. But every step is a victory. It is a victory. It was a victory when the governor of the state said, you know what, i think we need to have a higher review of this. It was a victory when Keith Ellison took it under his own advisement. He drove all of us nuts because we wanted to know what he was going to do, they wanted him to go faster and know what is going to happen but it was a victory when he uses ethical judgment decisionmaking to come to a conclusion that he could live with and a victory when it was announced. So we have a whole a marathon through mud here. But i believe were going to get to a good outcome. Because, first of all, i would say i just heard from my son i was just going to ask you about your boys. Yes. Right. They love you and you know very well these are just good kids. He wrote a letter to the principal of his school that he shared with me after he sent it. And he was talking about how he was afraid now every time his little brother goes outside to play that his little brother might become a hashtag. You have a full generation, this is not just one more case, you have a whole generation of young people, black, white and otherwise who are looking at america through the lens of this case. This is a year for them where theyve seen a coronavirus, theyve seen curfews, quarantines, theyve seen the economy go down. They dont know what to think. But what theyre focused on is, is it okay for a Police Officer to strangle a man to death in front of other officers and get away with it. And if this generation if the answer to that question is that is okay, that means that the lawlessness in the Police Department that is spilled out into lawlessness now in the streets becomes normalize d and you have a whole generation of people not respecting and not just poor kids, or black kids, this is a whole generation. This is shaken ayeration. So were now taking a step forward, my belief is that different because all of the old excuses dont apply. Well he was talking back, he was running and he didnt listen and why did he do this and didnt comply. How you could second guess. Eight minutes is long enough, six minutes is long enough. Four minutes is long enough when somebody said they cant breathe to let them have a gasp of air. So if this case comes back, we are approve, we prove cops could do this and cops dont have to take any steps, then were in a different country. A Police Officer is a good Police Officer when he stands up to bad actors in the community and bad actors in the department. You do not get to be a good officer im from a Law Enforcement family. My father was a cop in the military. My favorite uncle just retired from Memphis Police force, you dont get to be a good cop just by going after bad actors in the community. You have to stand up to bad actors on the force and when someone is trying to kill someone or doing something that might lead to their death you cant stand by. That will change Law Enforcement. That will change Law Enforcement. But this is a long slug. But today is a victory. A victory on the way to victory. And i hear you on the victory and i hear you on the hope. I guess i also and youve lived this. I have not. But the fear that is so profound and so deep within black, brown americans that to have these four officers, and again this is just the beginning as you said of this marathon, i talk to so many folks who worry about the next generation and their own kids. You talk about your son and his younger brother. The fear needs to go away but in order for the fear to go away this is going to take much more than four Police Officers being charged. It is true. Its true. But here is the good thing. Is there is a pathway out of this. Now, there is a pathway forward. It is three steps and only three steps. Justice in this case, which means all four officers have to be arrested, charged, convicted and in jail. That is justice. That is one leg. The other leg, while everybody is completely aware this there is a big problem in Law Enforcement, lets get together, republican, democrat, and pass a bipartisan bill this year. It could be done this year. You could ban the chokehold this year. You could raise the standards for training this year. You could make it easier to sue Police Departments because now were so out of whack you cant sue them. You cant do that. And you could take concrete step this is year and show that the country can work to solve the problem. And lastly, youre going to have to surge some Economic Relief to these communities that have been battered economically by the protests, by some of the arson and property destruction, a lot of the businesses dont have insurance. Lets surge economic support into the communities and now youre on a pathway back toward holding this and toward healing. And you have 20, 30, 40, probably 50 million white americans that would agree with everything i just said and be happy to see it in both parties and people that always know that racism was a big issue but number 17 on their list. Right now it is number one on a lot of peoples list. And yet other people who said racism wasnt real and they say it is real. We have to do something. So this is a moment. Just in the case, Bipartisan Legislation and Economic Relief to the communities and you could turn a breakdown into a breakthrough. Im tired of crying about it. Im tired of on the phone last night with black parents until dam near 10 30 in the 6yearold, how do they talk to their 8yearold, should you be on social media. Were having to manage so much, every time one of these cases happens, its like an atomic bomb drops on our Kitchen Table and we have to deal with it over and over again and it impacts these kids. So this has to stop. It has to stop. You cant continue. Look, im in l. A. Right now. 1992, rodney king, a videotaped Police Beating that wound up being handled terribly and this city almost burned down. Were on a pathway right now, brooke, to five or ten American Cities on summer at the end of this summer if we get one more videotape, another videotape, and we get nothing done. How long are people supposed to deal with this pain and nobody is going to do anything about it . Im telling you right now, there is a pathway to justice. Its Bipartisan Legislation, its Economic Relief, and we move forward to a better place. I am hanging on your every word, my friend. Just bless you, thank you so much for coming on, for sharing this moment with me and the rest of the world. Van jones, i appreciate you. I appreciate you too, brooke, well stay together. Thank you for your heart. Thank you for your heart. With me now, kim ellison and minneapolis city councilman steve fletcher. Kim, lets get straight to your reaction to these charges facing these now former officers. Amazing. About time. It needed to happen. So, yes. Steve, to you, same question. Absolutely, this was and i think when people on gathered on tuesday to grieve and mourn on the first night of demonstrations, this was the demand, this is what everybody wanted to see, this is what people thought justice looked like. People are now demanding much, much more than that but this was the initial demand and im glad at least that call for justice has been heard. We had you all booked on the show to also talk about why each of you is making news today. Kim, to you, on just the School District in minneapolis, you said your decision to end the contract with the Minneapolis Police obviously coming into various schools, School Resource officers keeping the kids safe, you said cutting the contract, it comes down to values. Tell me what you mean by that and why you decided to do this. We understand, the Minneapolis School board understands the budget to be a moral document. You spend money on things you value. And we have done a lot of research, searching ourselves in terms of what do we value and what to teach our children in schools. And what the minneapolis Police Department by their actions shows do not align with our values. We said, no more, we cannot spend money on the minneapolis Police Department. So im hearing you, you would rather not have those School Resource officers than have members of the minneapolis Police Department in your schools. Thats how bad it is. Thats how bad it is. And this isnt any statement about the School Resource officers, we have amazing officers working in our schools with our staff and students. But to spend money, to give money to the minneapolis Police Department, is just something that we could not do. Its a strong statement. Steve, to you, i know that as a member of city council, you have tried in the past to make changes to mpd and now youre officially calling to disband the mpd. And i was reading your entire twitter, you know, string of tweets, and you tweeted you want to start fresh with a Community Doctor oriented, nonviolent Public Safety and outreach capacity, your words. Tell me why and how you even think this is possible. Well, you know, i think that we have seen that what were doing is not working. It is not keeping people safe. It is not something that we can defend any longer. And everybody in the community who has a choice, so the minneapolis Public Schools got to vote to end their contract with us, so has the i heard the minneapolis park board is working on a similar resolution. I think that, you know, everybody who has a chance to distance themselves right now is doing that. My constituents are asking me to do the same. The people who dont have a choice except through their elected representatives on the council, would also like to not be funding and interacting with the minneapolis Police Department based on what weve seen, which has been horrifying to all of us and really misaligned with our values. The other piece of it, im so mindful of this profound moment on our air a couple of nights ago where a correspondent was basically connecting the minneapolis chief of police with the floyd family in conversation over tv. I would be remiss not to point out, this police chief, not only agreeing that justice should be served with regard to this family and these former Police Officers, but in deference, removing his cap to speak to this family, to me spoke volumes. Just one minute left with you, steve, are they all bad apples . You know, the department is ungovernable. Chief arradondo is a leader we all had very high hopes in and that i imagined could play a role in envisioning the next version of Public Safety. But he has clearly not been able to make the culture change happen that we were hoping for and investing in. Steve fletcher, kim ellison, i appreciate both of you very much, using your voices. Nice to have you both here. And i just want to thank all of you who have been listening and watching on this huge news day. Im brooke baldwin. Well be back here tomorrow. Meantime lets go to washington. The lead with jake tapper starts right now. This is cnn breaking news. And welcome to the lead, i am jake tapper and we begin with breaking news right now. We are waiting for an Important Press conference from the Minnesota Attorney general Keith Ellison. Ellison is expected to announce new charges for all four of the officers who were involved in the killing of george floyd last week, george floyd of course an unarmed black man. Court records just filed say the officer visible in the videos kneeling on floyds neck, Derek Chauvin, that hes been charged with seconddegree murder, an elevation of fridays charge of third degree murder. The charge of manslaughter remains. And crucially, three other officers involved on the scene have now also been charged with aiding and abetting seconddegree murder and manslaughter. Lets go to cnns Josh Campbell who is live for us in st. Paul, minnesota, where this press conference is going to take place in just minutes. Josh, these new charges are reflected in Court Documents. Reporter thats right, jake, we heard just hours ago from our Law Enforcement sources that there had been a Major Development here in this investigation into the death of george floyd. And what we were awaiting was some type of official confirmation. What we were told is that the state Attorney Generals Office which had assumed leadership of this case from county prosecutors days ago, that they had been reviewing the evidence, sifting through all the available video and other eyewitness statements in this case to determine whether or not additional charges would be brought against the Police Officers depicted in those videos. We can now report, as you mentioned, that based on Court Records all of the officers involved in that incident that resulted in the death of george floyd have been charged by authorities. Three of the officers, j. Alexander kueng, thomas lane, and tou thao, have been charged with aiding and abetting Second Degree murder and manslaughter. The fourth officer, Derek Chauvin, his case has now been elevated to seconddegree murder. He is currently in custody. Arrest warrants have been issued for the other three, according to Court Records. Were awaiting attorney general Keith Ellison to address the nation, inteedeed the world. People around the world have been awaiting this decision whether or not additional charges would be brought. Ive been out reporting, talking to protesters, talking to members of the community who wanted to see some type of justice. We were told by our Law Enforcement sources that they were taking this slowly, methodically, trying to do it the right way. We are now at that moment, jake, when we expect to hear from the attorney general about his investigation and what comes next for these charged officers, jake. All right, Josh Campbell, thanks so much. Stand by, well go back to that room when Minnesota Attorney general Keith Ellison comes to the podium. Cnns omar jimenez is in minneapolis for us, at the site of floyds killing. The site has been turned into a memorial. Omar, tell us what the mood is like, where you are, and your best assessment about whether or not these charges will do a lot to quell a lot of the anger that weve seen, understandable anger from protesters. Reporter well, jake, based on people ive spoken to here, its a good first step, but there is still a level of skepticism because while the charges have been announced here, they want to see things through to a conviction. As we know looking at previous cases, it oftentimes is difficult to get a full conviction on a Police Officer despite how clear people may feel the evidence actually is. I can tell you when the news officially came down, starting off, i should say, from a tweet from senator Amy Klobuchar, there were audible reactions in the crowd behind me, people cheering, people dancing, people excited, because this was at the very least the direction of developments that people here wanted things to go. And earlier today, we heard and saw the family and the family attorney at this site make their own remarks, saying they fully expected to see charges against these officers before the Memorial Service for george floyd set to begin tomorrow in minneapolis. Governor tim walz stopped by the site and we spoke to him about the stakes of this moment, the stakes his state is currently in. He says were only going to get one shot at getting this right. It seems at least for the moment theyre trying to treat this as such, jake. All right, owe hair hmar jim minneapolis. Cnns miguel marquez, youve been in the middle of a lot of these protests in minnesota all week. Based on your conversations with the demonstrators, the activists, how do you think theyll react to this announcement . Do you agree with omar jimenezs assessment that they see this as a positive first step but they want to see this all the way through and want more changes . Reporter they want more changes, as simple as that. There were enormous protesters here in st. Paul, thousands and thousands of people showing up at the state capital yesterday. There were protests across the state, certainly in minneapolis. Those protesters will be pleased, absolutely happy to hear these charges have now been brought. But they will want more. Specifically, they do want the county attorney, mike freeman, the Hennepin County attorney, who initially had this case and then turned it over to the attorney general, they want him to