0 under way. after he designated the pulse nightclub where 49 people were killed in a mass shooting back in 2016 and let's listen tine the president right now because he's talking about the condo collapse in florida. >> and i promise you the administration, the congress will do everything possible to be of assistance now and after this occurs. after they decide exactly what the stay of play is. i am glad to welcome everyone here to the, to the white house here and in person virtually. survivors and family members, victims and the pathbreaking leaders like senator baldwin, just over five years ago the pulse nightclub, a place of acceptance and joy became a place of unspeakable pain and loss. and we'll never fully recover but we'll remember. and we have to, what we're going to do is with the members of congress here did and enshrine in law as a consequence of that law and a literal monument to the loss that occurred there and determination that we're going to deal with this every single, solitary day and make sure that we're not in a position to see this happen again. behind me you see on either board there the 49 lives lost. family members, parents, veterans, young, black, asian, latino, all fellow americans and in their memory and for the countless others scarred is why i sign this today. let me say how much i appreciate it. i mean this sincerely. the commitment of the members of the house and senate to make sure that we don't forget that this isn't forgotten. there is a tradition when the bill is signed that the president gives a siping pen to each of the people who had something to do with the law or the decision being made in the first place. i promise you i have all the pens put together and i couldn't figure out how to sign them all. but don't leave without the pen. all right. all right. >> thank you, mr. president. >> may no president ever have to sign another monument like this. thank you. one last thing, as i said to the survivors and those who lost folks a little earlier in private. you know, what the congress has done means a great deal. and it's important. but it's really hard. it brings back everything as if it happened yesterday. and every time there's a memorial service for our son, you are flattered, you feel good about it, you think it's wonderful the recognition, but it's tough. as if it happened yesterday. it happened the day before it happened the moment. i want to thank the folks that are here and the folks who are survivors on zoom with us. i want to thank them for their courage. i really mean it. for their courage. but i promise you, none of the members of congress in here and our children will not let up until we deal with equity across the board. thank you so much. you have to come back and get your pens. >> we have been watching president biden there sign a bill that turns the pulse nightclub into a national memorial. the president was surrounded by florida delegation and advocates. we're following developments from the scene of the terrible condo collapse in florida. at this hour four confirmed dead and 159 people are still unaccounted for. there's a massive rescue operation that's under way with first responders conducting a dangerous and desperate search for anybody who could still be alive under the rubble. also new details today about structural concerns with that building dating back years. we'll start this hour with news out of minneapolis where now we're just about 30 minutes away from the start of the sentencing hearing for derek chauvin. the former police officer faces up to 40 years in prissen for the murder of george floyd. we're expecting to hear from members of mr. floyd's family as well as potentially, potentially from chauvin himself. joining us now shaquille brewster in minneapolis and also with us former chief defender mary and the president and ceo of the national urban league mark morielan. you covered the start of the trial from top to bottom. what should we expect to see in about 20 minutes from now when this sentencing hearing gets under way and do we know who will deliver these impact statements? >> we don't know that for certain, geoff. we did get earlier today on msnbc hallie was interviewing benjamin crump and asked if george floyd's daughter would give one of those statements and the family attorney said it was possible but wouldn't go beyond that. we don't know who will give the victim impact statements. we do know it is usually the first thing that will happen during a sentencing hearing. we then know we'll hear from the prosecution. they're arguing for derek chauvin to serve 30 years in prison. we'll then hear from the defense. they're arguing for time served and probation saying that derek chauvin is 45 years old and he would be a threat in prison and saying he was the product of a bad system and then we know the sentencing guidelines which suggests that someone like derek chauvin for this second degree murder charged with typically face between 10 1/2 to 15 years in prison. so, there's a lot of discretion here over what will exactly happen. we don't know what that number will ultimately be. but we do plan to get a sense of that after those statements from the defense and prosecution and we'll hear the judge, judge cahill explain his sentence and then deliver that sentence and that's all coming up as you mentioned in about a half hour. >> mary, i mean, you know the county as the former chief public defender. you know this judge. based on what you know about the case and the people involved and the defense memo that was submitted in this case, what kind of sentence are we looking at, do you think, for chauvin? >> one of the things that judges look for is whether a person takes any accountability, responsibility for their actions or show insight into what they may have done differently. they're also looking for expressions of remorse or empathy or even an i'm sorry. but we didn't get that at all. in fact, in that defense memo, the defense says that chauvin was a product of a broken system. they say he was simply doing his job. if he knew he was committing a crime, he wouldn't have done it. he was just following his training and experience. and he also wrote that this death was relatively quick, which was really interesting because judge cahill gave us some insight what he is thinking about when he wrote the memo four aggravaing factors. he said this was particularly cruel give on the fact that george floyd was begging for his life. it must have been terrifying. it took a long time. he also talked in his memo about the fact that chauvin abused his position of trust as a police officer. so, the audience for that defense memo clearly wasn't judge cahill and i think that chauvin lost his opportunity to maybe have judge cahill take that into consideration and give him a lesser sentence, which is not going to be probation or less than the guidelines and i do believe he will be depart upward. >> mary, a question about what we're going to hear today. the victim impact statements. chauvin himself is allowed to speak, although that appears unlikely. do the statements themselves actually aifect the sentencing or will judge cahill walk into the courtroom knowing the sentence he is going to give derek chauvin? >> judge cahill knows what he will give derek chauvin. the impact statements will have an impact on judge cahill as they will on all of us. this is an opportunity for george floyd's loved ones to uctaabout how this meant and how this has affected them. the fact that george floyd was murdered by a police officer in the way he was murdered. so, this is a particularly emotional part of the sentencing. it could be hard to listen to judge cahill and i'm sure it will have an effect on him. i think he already knows what his sentence will be. >> mark, it's great to have you with us. civil rights groups made the case that derek chauvin's conviction on all counts back in april marked a turning point of sorts in police accountability. what then significance does his sentencing hold? >> his sentencing holds great significance because the conviction is only the first step in ensuring that he is held accountable. only the first step in demonstrating and sending a message to other law enforcement personnel that there are consequences for violating people's constitutional rights, engaging in misconduct and engaging in brutality. i also think his sentence because this case is put, if you will, the entire justice system on trial in the court of public opinion. a life has been taken. even a sentence of 30 years for a life taken in my estimation is not enough. it was a heinous murder. it was a brutal murder. it was a murder of no remorse. and even at this moment, chauvin is refusing to accept, take any responsibility but to, quote, blame it on the system for what he did. so, i think from the perspective of the civil rights community and the national urban league, we want to see a significant upward departure from the guidelines because that's the only way justice can be complete and the family can have true closure in this matter. >> on that point about policing, has the national urban league seen a marked or discernible change in the way police conduct themselves following the chauvin verdict? >> it's difficult to measure, geoff. what is clear is that there have been continued killings of unarmed african-american men that the rate of unconstitutional acts does not seem to be significantly dissipating. what has changed is that there is now movement in many communities because of public pressure, because of public outcry to change policing. to reenvision it and reimagine it. and key, i think, is going to be whether the congress, particularly the republican caucus, shows the leadership and the courage to embrace a strong george floyd justice and policing bill. we've been intimately involved in those discussions and conversations and they continue. but that bill is not symbolic. we do not need a symbolic gesture for politicians to show up at a signing ceremony. we need something that begins to demonstrate that there's going to be accountability and if you will, for the relationship between police and communities. >> marc and mary, my thanks to the both of you. shaq, you'll stay with us and come back in about 20 minutes when this hearing gets under way. for now we'll head to south florida because we're expecting to hear from miami-dade police as soon as the death toll has risen to four in the beach front condo tower. and the number of people unaccounted for stands at 159. we should note that unaccounted for does not necessarily mean they're all missing. but as the days go on and they haven't checked in to confirm they're safe, a gut wrenching reality is setting in for the crews digging through the rubble. let's bring in ali velshi at the scene in surfside, florida. ali, is this dangerous such and rescue operation, it's really been complicated by the weather today, as i understand it. high winds and there was rain earlier today. what's the latest from officials there? >> in fact, a downpour probably 15 minutes ago. really quite a bit. technically the rain doesn't stop them, by the way, for searching. but the lightning does. there was lightning last night. this was a big thunderstorm that rolled through. this is south florida, it happens quite a bit. moments from now we're expecting a press conference and i'm keeping an eye on it over there from miami-dade police. the scene is back there about two blocks. that is where the building it. can't see it from here because back here you see city officials heading towards the press conference which we can take in just a moment. they're all gathering there and police officials there. and the governor ron dedesantis turning the corner. i may stop talking when that happens as we get that. we may be getting a new death toll. we know four people have been found dead. 35 or so rescued. 159, you're right to point out, have been unaccounted for. that does not mean 159 people trapped in that building. it means 159 people are thought to maybe have been in there and have not been able to be located by their families or have not checked in. a family reunification center a couple blocks away where families are waiting for any news. but we have not seen either -- >> i'm going to hop in here, friend. >> let's listen in. >> there you go, governor desantis. >> particularly by our first responders. they are searching nonstop and they are searching and trying to save people's lives. so, we thank them for what they're doing. those operations, of course, are ongoing. we have a lot of support. there's going to be more support that comes in with our federal partners and we're grateful for that. we also thank everybody who has been involved in helping the people that have been displaced. fortunately, a lot of people got out of that building. they don't have a home any more. so the efforts of the community have really been fantastic. i know there's a couple charities that we've been telling people about. they've been getting a lot of support. we are also fortunate to get a support from fema to provide individual assistance to people who have been impacted. we typically would not probably hit the threshold. of course, you can waive that and the biden administration waive that minimum threshold and stepping up to the plate. was able to speak to the fema director last night. she's been great. wants to be helpful and then i just spoke about an hour ago with president biden and he reiterated his administration's full support. they're all in and so we really appreciate having the support of the president and the people of florida really appreciate the president and his administration stepping up to help people who are in need. we're fortunate about these relief efforts on the private sector. i just spoke with one of our great companies here in florida, lennar homes and their ceo stewart miller. they're doing $1 million for the relief efforts. and we have people from all across the country that are donating money to be able to help for both, we have the one at and then you also have the one here for the surfside relief fund. both of those are great. we're going to be supporting both of them with some of our stuff and i would urge people to help out with that. we are working very closely with mayor cava in addition to working with the federal government. as needs arise the state is here to help and the federal government. we feel like we have all hands on deck to be able to assist with the search and rescue mission. and that, obviously, help people who have been displaced and then help the families who still have loved ones who are unaccounted for. i mean, when tragedy strikes, it's a very difficult thing in any circumstances but speaking with a lot of these family members when they're unaccounted for, it's a really, really difficult thing because they just don't know. i know first responders are working around the clock to get all those answers and to save as many lives as they can. but this has been a really, really difficult thing. so, i just thank the community for really coming together both here in surfside and miami-dade and really florida and throughout the country. we really appreciate that. i've also been talking with mayor cava, we both agree. we need a definitive explanation for how this could have happened. and that's an explanation that needs to be an accurate explanation. it's an explanation that, you know, we don't want to get wrong, obviously. but at the same time, i do think it's important that it's timely because you have a lot of family here. you have families that lost loved ones in this building collapse. they have a right to know. you have other folks who were able to get out safely, but then lost their homes. when we were walking out one of the things that they were cleaning up were all the family photos that would be strewn around. so they have a right to know, as well. then a lot of other people throughout this community and really throughout florida who want to know how can a building just collapse like that? i think it's a really important thing and so we've said whatever the local efforts are under way with that, the state will support whatever we can to do this right but also to do it timely so that we get the answers to the families and then we get the answer to the people of florida. so, they have our support for that. and when i spoke with the president he indicated if we need support on that investigatory end, they would send help, as well. thanks to everybody who stepped up. we have a lot of heroes in our midst here over the last day and a half. god bless them and also just thank people who sent their thoughts and prayers and have made donations. i think that when you see something like this, it really is a unique type of tragedy to have in the middle of the night, half a building just collapse like that. and it's tough. it's been gut wrenching for an lawful out of people. but i tell you nobody is quitting here. and we are going to stand by those families and we're going to stand by everyone that has been displaced. you can guarantee that. mayor. >> thank you. >> thank you, governor. >> thank you so much. thank you, governor. thank you to our chairman, our commissioners. to our local elected. this has been an extraordinary day and a half and i want to start by saying that our hearts are with our first responders who have been going in desperately seeking people, motivated to find them, hopeful that they will find them and confident that their efforts will pay off. and to the families who are suffering and waiting and wondering for wanting news of their loved ones, our hearts are with you. we are going to work as hard as we possibly can. leave no stone unturned and you can see the activity. these first responders are going in through tunnels. they're working from the top. they're working from the bottom. it has to be done very, very carefully. they can't dislodge pieces of debris that could injure them in the process. they can't dislodge debris that could possibly make it more difficult to continue the search. so, we are fully, fully behind them as they do this daring and brave work and we are making sure that they are safe so that they can continue these efforts. i want to say, as well, that these are the best first responders in the world. these are the ones that are sent to trouble spots. they've been to 9/11, they've been to haiti. they've been wherever there is a disaster and they are bringing that expertise to bear right here for our residents, for our visitors in surfside. so, while we continue to do everything we can locally and with the support of all of these jurisdictions, we are so grateful that fema has come to our side. we have this extraordinary decision by president biden to move those dollars and that support forward expeditiously. waiving the minimum amount that has to be generated before the support will kick in. and with the emergency declaration by our governor, we're able to move forward. so, this is very, very important. it's important to our search and rescue efforts. it's important to our debris removal and it's critical for the families who are going to need help in the long term as they recover. so, i think you all know the numbers have not changed since the morning. we have 127 people that are accounted for. 159 that have been identified as possibly being on the site unaccounted for. and we have four, sadly, who we have lost and we will be burying. so, we are now providing briefings to the waiting families every four hours. and the family reunification center. they are getting detailed descriptions of the operation so they can really understand what's at stake and how critical it is that we proceed cautiously and that they have patience. we're very grateful to everyone who has contributed, lennar corporation, that's extraordinary. we've set up a fund that has already generated $100,000 from donations and we welcome that support. [ speaking foreign language ] [ speaking foreign language ] >> and now the chairman of the commission. >> good afternoon. i want to thank foremost god for giving us the ability to do what we are doing and for everything that is working out for us. besides that, i want to start out with our president and say thank you to him. and his whole team and everything that is evolved in the federal side including our senators have called in and been here and, of course, our congressional people. i want to thank publicly, governor, thank you. >> we have been listening to an update from the governor of florida as well the mayor of miami-dade about the state, local and federal response to that horrific condo collapse in south florida. joining me now is craig who is the administrator of fema during the obama administration and before that was the director of the florida division of emergency management. it's great to have you with us. i want to ask you this because you've led the aftermath of all kinds of disasters both natural and man made. this condo collapse is unprecedented. how to investigators, first responders plot out and execute a response to something that just has this sort of, i mean, the scale of the destruction is just unfathomable. >> unfortunately the team was built to respond to earthquakes where you have structural failures. both of these teams were teams that we supported and deployed them to haiti to do rescues there. so, part of the whole idea of how the urban search and rescue teams was for structural collapses and built for earthquakes. but the reality has been they have been deployed more in the u.s. for, unfortunately, this situation and the oklahoma city bombing, 9/11 where you have these structural collapses very, very difficult rescues. and, again, we're still trying to figure out what happened here. but, it doesn't appear to be a terrorist attack, but, you know, they're ready to go. all these teams were trained and equipped to be deployed. because this happened where we have two of our 28 teams are actually based in this area. one with miami-dade county and one with the city of miami. they were right on the scene. >> craig, great to have your expertise on this afternoon. we're following more breaking news this afternoon. the trump organization is expected to be charged by the manhattan district attorney's office as soon as next week. joining me is nbc tom winter. tom, what more do you know about these charges? >> geoff, it is expected by the time we arrive at friday of next week, the trump organization will have faced criminal charges. we don't know what specific day next week, but we do know the case is believed to have centered around tax evasion. now, according to trump's attorney who is representing the trump organization, he says that yesterday they met with prosecutors, that's trump's attorneys as well as prosecutors for the manhattan district attorney's office and tried to persuade them not to file these charges. they said that it looks like they're going to come down with charges against the company and that is, quote, completely outrageous. he says i've been practicing for over 50 years and i've never seen a case like this where they would indict or charge an individual or a company on tax evasion for using a company car or company apartment and then tie it to the company that he is working for without any evidence that what he did benefited the company. that he there is believed to be the chief financial organization. geoff, as you remember it was several months ago i interviewed his former daughter-in-law, jennifer weisselberg talking about an apartment that was being probed by manhattan district attorney cy vance. unclear if that will specifically be in the charges, but this appear to center around allen weisselberg conduct. legal observers have expected weisselberg to be charged first in this case but the manhattan district attorney is skipping that and charging the company itself criminally. so, we'll have to see how this all bears out. a week from now it is expected, geoff, as i said, that the trump organization will be criminally charged. >> nbc tom winter, thanks for that reporting. breaking news out of minneapolis this afternoon where any minute a sentencing hearing will begin for derek chauvin. he faces up to 40 years in prissen for the murder of george floyd. joining us now former u.s. attorney and former senior fbi official chuck rosenberg and new york law school professor and retired nypd detective. chuck, we'll start with you because a significant gap between what the defense and the prosecution are asking for in terms of sentencing. how does the defense team present a request that is in the best interest of their client while also managing to still preserve their credibility? i'm asking this question because chavin's team is basically asking for probation. >> that's a great question, geoff. i don't think requesting probation in a case like this is at all credible. what we don't know is why he's doing. why the defense attorney is doing it. maybe his client is insisting upon it. i'm reasonably confident that it will not be a sentence probation. minnesota uses sentencing guidelines so that like defendants who commit like crimes are treated in like manner in different parts of the state and the sentencing guidelines here for second degree murder, somebody with no prior criminal record is about 12 to 15 years. i think the judge will depart upwards. i'm not sure that he'll get the full 40 years statutory maximum, geoff, but a significant session. it's not going to be probation. you're quite right. not a credible ask. why the defense attorney is doing that. it's hard for me to believe that he really thinks the judge is going to give him what he's hoping for. he won't. >> we should tell our audience we're looking at a live shot of the seal in the courtroom and when the sentencing gets under way you'll see judge cahill walk into the courtroom. what is the risk and reward matrix for chauvin speaking today during his sentencing? >> another good question, right. so what he has to calculate is whether or not the judge is going to credit what he says at this point and adjust the sentence downward if he expresses remorse or apologizes to the floyd family. things i don't expect him to do, geoff. number one, he did not testify at his own trial in his own defense. there were good reasons for that, of course. the cross-examination of him would have been brutal and, number two, judges -- >> chuck, forgive me. i have to cut you off as we dip into the proceedings. >> counsel, appearances beginning with the state. >> good afternoon. assistant attorney general on behalf of the state. >> jerry blackwell from the state of minnesota. >> good afternoon on behalf of the state of minnesota. >> attorney general on behalf of the state of minnesota. >> for the defense. >> eric nelson and amy voss appearing on behalf of mr. chauvin. >> thank you. we are still, for all those attending, under somewhat modified covid restrictions so we're asking that everyone keep their masks on unless they are speaking. i'll ask for people who are speaking to come up to the lectern and use the microphone and remove your masks so we can hear you clearly and also to maintain the distances that we have set out in the courtroom. with that we'll proceed first with the state. mr. blackwell, you may proceed with victim input. >> your honor, we have four victim impact statements. we will with a 7-year-old daughter of george floyd, gianna floyd, who will present hers by video. >> what do you miss most about your daddy? >> well, i ask about him all the time. >> what do you miss most about him all the time? >> well, i ask about him all the time. and that's kind of it. >> yeah. well, when you ask about him, what are you asking about? >> well i was asking how did my dad get hurt. >> do you wish that he was still here with us? >> yeah. but he is. >> through his spirit? >> yes. >> yes. and when you see your daddy again one day, what do you want to do when you see him? >> i want to play with him. >> what kind of games do you want to play with him? >> i want to play with him, have fun and go on a plane ride. and that's it. >> yeah. >> we used to have every single night before we went to bed. my daddy always used to help me brush my teeth. >> oh. do you miss him helping brush your teeth? >> yes. >> how do you hope that the world remembers him? >> well, they help him because those mean people did something to him. >> if you could say anything to your daddy right now, what would it be? >> it could be i miss you and i love you. >> all right. thank you, gianna. i really appreciate you answering questions today. >> next we'll hear from the nephew of george floyd, brandon williams. mr. williams. >> brandon williams. b-r-a-n-d-o-n. w-i-l-l-i-a-m-s. >> thank you, you may proceed. >> on monday, may 25th, was murdered by derek chauvin in the abuse of hate and power. he killed george and not only killed george but lack of human life as he did so. you saw it, i saw it and millions of people across this country and the globe witnessed the act of hate. a year and one month later, i stand here before you tasked with the duty of expressing how george's death has impacted me personally and the rest of our family. as i rack my brain and thought about what i could say today, i came to this conclusion. it is humanly impossible for me to stand here and convey and articulate the right words that would capture all that we are feeling and what we have felt over this period, so, please bear with me as i attempt the impossible. the sudden murder of george has forever traumatized us. you may see us cry, but the full extent of the pain and trauma will never be seen with the naked eye. the heartbreaking hurt goes far beyond any number of tears we could ever cry. words cannot express the pain, anguish and suffering that our family and friends have endured since george's murder. it is truly unimaginable. but not as nearly as unimaginable as the defendant's decision to take the life of a human being with no regard for the effect it will have on others. although chauvin will be sentenced today, he will have the luxury of seeing his family, talking to them and get to spend time with him upon release. these are all memories that gianna was robbed of when chauvin made the decision to kill her father. there will be no birthday parties or celebrations. the laughter, guidance, hugs and sense of security in those opportunities to simply say i love you are forever gone. they say time heals all, and while gianna believes that saying, given these unfathomable circumstances. before i conclude, i must highlight a few things. george's murder and this trial and everything in between has been tragic and devastating. our family is forever broken. and one thing we cannot get back is george floyd. it is the request of my family that the maximum penalty for the crime for which the defendant be convicted be imposed. on behalf of my family, friends and supporters, i sincere my gratitude for allowing this expression. thank you. >> thank you. >> your honor, just for the record, this wonderful lady standing here is victim advocate. >> yes, thank you, judge. >> so, she will next hear from the brother of george floyd, mr. terrence floyd. >> mr. floyd, if you could state your full name spelling each of your names. >> yes. terrence floyd. t-e-r-r-e-n-c-e. floyd. f-l-o-y-d. >> go ahead. >> i'm here representing my brother. i'm from new york. on may 25th, 2020, my brother was murdered, everyone knows, by derek chauvin. the facts of this case were proven beyond a reasonable doubt and three guilty verdicts have been rendered. the situation has really affected me and my family. any family member that has went through this, we are part of a fraternity of families and it's not one of those, you know, fraterniies that you enjoy. i just -- i actually talked to a few people and i wanted to know from the man himself why. what were you thinking? what was going through your head? when you had your knee on my brother's neck. why when you knew that he posed no threat any more, yet he was handcuffed, why didn't you at least get up. why did you stay there? a month before my brother was murdered, i was on the phone with him and we had a long conversation. and as i looked at the video of my niece, the last conversation me and my brother had was he wanted to have play dates. he wanted to plan playdates with gianna and my daughter and we started setting it up. that can't happen. and after, my daughter is still young, but i still have to explain to her because this is history. this is a case everybody knows about. so, she's going to find out and i'm going to have to explain that to her. and i think that's, to me, even harder than just standing here. that i have to talk to my daughter and tell her about her niece, her uncle, her situation. that is basically reliving it over again years down the line. i'm here on behalf of my family, me -- sorry. >> take your time. >> on behalf of me and my family, we seek the maximum penalty. we don't want to see no more slaps on the wrists. we've been through that already. and in my community and my culture, we've been through that already. smack on the wrist. no, no, no. because if it was us, if the roles were reverse, there wouldn't be no case. it would have been open and shut. we would have been in jail for murdering somebody. so we ask for that same penalty for derek chauvin. thank you. >> thank you, sir. >> your honor, the final victim impact statement will come from george floyd's brother, philonise floyd. >> sir, if you can begin by giving us your full name and -- >> h-i-l-o-n-i-s-e. last name, floyd. f-l-o-y-d. >> you may proceed. >> one year ago, may 25th, my brother, george, was murdered by derek chauvin and his co-defendants in broad daylight with a knee to his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. i was a trucker and immediately my life changed forever. i began to speak to the world for george for united nations, canada, japan and so many other countries. every day i have beg for justice to serve, reliving the execution of george while others pleaded for officer chauvin to simply just allow george to take a breath. i haven't had a real nice sleep because of the nightmares i constantly have hearing my brother beg and plead for his life over and over again. even saying they're going to kill me. please, officer. screaming for our mom. i have had to sit through each day of officer derek chauvin's trial and watch the video of george dying for hours. over and over again. for an entire year, i had to relive george being tortured to death every hour of the day, only taking naps and not knowing what a good night sleep is any more. i have been lifting my voice tirelessly every day so that george's death will not be in vain. honorable judge peter cahill, i thank you for allowing me to share this today. george's life matter. my family and i and most of all, my niece, gianna, my niece, gianna, she needs closure. i'm asking that you please find it suitable to give officer chauvin the maximum sentence possible. charges that he has been found guilty for. my family and i have been given a life sentence. we will never be able to get george back. daddy daughter's first love and he will never be able to walk gianna down the aisle at her wedding and attend the magical moments of her life like a daddy/daughter dance, sweet 16 party. seeing her out for prom, graduations and she will never be able to have any personal memories with her father. with a smirk on his face, officer chauvin used excessive force and acted against his training. chauvin had no regard for human life, george's life. i stand before you today asking you to please help us find closure by giving chauvin the maximum sentence possible. making sure he does his time consecutively without parole, probation or getting out early for good behavior. thank you. >> thank you, sir. >> mr. frank. >> thank you, your honor. here today, of course, for sentencing gives us an opportunity to speak about, you know, other matters that i think are involved in sentencing and where we are in the criminal justice system. in the processing of this case. as a member of an elected office representing the people of the state of minnesota, as well as people of the local community, i want to say a couple things. and first of all i want to really thank some of the police officers in the minneapolis police department who under great pressure, great stress, some extent to their occupations what they devoted their life to. stuck to their oath and their commitment as police officers to speak openly and honestly about policing and the training that is given and received by police officers. those officers didn't hide behind the wall. they came forward and told this court and those jurors what they knew about training and respons i think they deserve recognition and credit for that. i would also like to thank members of the bureau of criminal apprehension. those agents get called n great sacrifice to their personal lives whenever things happen. they go. they did that here. and under really extraordinary circumstances completed a thorough investigation. conducting interviews is hard enough. but conducting them in the atmosphere of this city following the murder of george floyd was even more difficult. and they did so above and beyond the call of duty. i want to thank them for doing that on behalf of the whole prosecution staff. i want to thank the family, the loved ones, friends of george floyd. they have been through so much more than families involved in murder cases. he's right. it is a fraternity you don't want to be part of. but they've been through so much more because of the pandemic and because of security, safety precaution that's we've had to take. they have been through a lot. at a time when they try to grieve like everybody does the loss of someone, they are going through so much more. and i want to thank them, all of them, the family had, the court saw testimony the family. they're trying to deal with loss but in a public way and under very trying circumstances through no fault of their own. so i thank them. they have all been models of grace and understanding. and it's really remarkable, quite frankly. i think i'll come back to them, again, in a little bit. had your honor, we have a sentencing brief. i want to incorporate that. i guess i would incorporate my comments today into that memo. but i think there are things that i want to bring out today in my arguments. for hundreds of years, the court had discretion in sentencing. it was the trial court's decision. what a sentence should be. the recognition that the trial court sat through a trial, watched the evidence. and saw how it affected people. informed of the court's discretion. the legislature passed the guidelines, legitimate attempt to try to even out sentences, they defined a certain presumptive sentence as we all know for typical crimes. but they did not remove discretion for judges. they recognized that nobody is better suited to decide whether this is the typical case represented by the guidelines presumptive sentence or reasons why this is worse than that. and it gave -- the guideline still gives this court discretion when there are aggravating factors. to give a more serious sentence than the guidelines presumption calls for. we're asking you to do that today. as this court found, there are four aggravating factors that we have identified that go beyond a list of just what those factors are. we have not just done our found work and found a list. court made good findings, detailed findings about those factors and we think that justify a greatly increased sentence. this is not the typical second degree unintentional murder. the supreme court in our state said that and very recently even one aggravating factor is sufficient to go twice the top of the range. here we have four. the first one that the court found is an abuse of position of trust and authority. when mr. chauvin was acting as a police officer, he had the trust and authority. that's true. we trust police officers. we trust them when we need help. we call them when we need help. we trust they're going to take care of the problems that they are assigned to deal with. right? we trust them. we also give them great authority. we give them great power. we give them power to use force that individuals would be prosecuted for using. right? we give them authority to arrest, to detain. and with great power, of course, comes great responsibility. they're given substantial training. this court saw all of that through the trial in general and in specific to mr. chauvin and the other three officers. they're given training and the use of force, proportional use of force. the force used has to be warranted by the threat. they're given training on deescalation. police officers with called in when people have not having their best day. when people may be affected by drug abuse, any number of issues. they're just having a bad day and they're trained for that and should be. they're taught how to deescalation a situation. they're taught medical intervention. they're taught to provide medical attention to people who need it. being a police officer is a difficult job. we ask a lot of them. it's a profession. there is no doubt about it. but we give them a substantial amount of training and most officers do it right. this case was not about police officers, all police officers. it wasn't about policing. this case was about derek chauvin disregarding all that training he received and assaulting mr. floyd until he suffocated to death. one of the things that you heard, your honor, and the jurors heard that can really encapsulate a big -- a very important issue here. seven words. in your custody is in your care. and it's a he real simple mantra. it's a real easy thing to remember. if it you're going to take custody of somebody, you have to provide care. you have to do it in a caring way. you can't simply disregard their care. mr. chauvin abused his position of trust and authority as a police officer by doing just that. just disregarding all the training. it was an abuse of that. what did he decide to do? it was to iner if people's state of mind by conduct and statements. what was derek chauvin's end game here? what was the plan? seems apparent the plan was hold him down until we can dump him in an ambulance and no longer have him be our problem. that's is it. he held mr. floyd down as mr. floyd begged for his life. he had the other officers help in that regard. rather than doing a simple thing of putting him on his side, he said, yeah. he was dismissive to that duty of care. we trust they will use their authority reasonably and this was a particularly egregious abuse of that force. again, parra phrasing the court's findings. the typical second-degree murder does not include, does not involve that extent of abuse. of a dearly held position of abuse -- position of authority and trust by the community and by individuals of the community. your honor found that mr. floyd was treated by -- by mr. chauvin with particular cruelty. we know that -- we saw that mr. floyd did not want to be in the backseat. that's it. that's the rub. it was the need to get him in that backseat no matter what. once he was pulled out of the backseat, he was find. went down on the ground. not fighting, not punching. and he was placed initially on his side. he is already handcuffed. he is placed on his side in the recovery position. like he should be. he is trying to
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