Transcripts For MSNBC Deadline White House 20240711

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People who have been thrust into the spotlight simply because they happened to be at the scene and witnessed something that made them stop in their tracks. Among those witnesses, a young woman, darnella, who took the now imfamous video, and a 9yearold. The defense asked her no questions. Prosecutors also put stunning video film by within once, alongside surveillance footage, to give jurors a more complete look at the scene. And this morning, donald williams, a mixed martial artist seen on tape trying to get police to stop restraining george flowed, took the stand. The defense it questioned whether he had the experience with which to judge chauvins action. Williams fought back tears as prosecutors played the 911 call he made, and he laid out in stark terms why he made the call. I called the police on the police. Why did you do that . Because i believe i witnessed a murder. He believed he witnessed a murder. Well go live on the ground to minneapolis, but first lets bring in chuck rosenberg, senior fbi official now, lucky for us, an msnbc contributor, and reverend al sharpton. Rev, really hard to watch these young witnesses muster the courage to testify in the first place, to be retraumatized, and then in most cases to be subjected to cross examination. You said the right word, traumatized. I gave the eulogy, after the service in the chapeler her mother brought her to us. This young lady was traumatizeds and. We lost the rev, these are perils of live television. Chuck, ive watched you enough to know that your feed is relatively stability this afternoon. Youve been cover the with the prosecution seeking to establish. Take us through that. Sure. Another peril of live television, you get me rather than reverend sharpton. I apologize to your viewers for that. What the prosecution needs to do, nicolle, is Build A Case Brick By brick this is not a 30minute Television Crime drama. You have to prove jurisdiction, that this thing hand in hennepin county, you have to have witnesses that authenticate documents. You have to authenticate videos, by calling the people who took the videos. None of this is glamorous, to some of it like me, it is interesting. I spent my life doing this, but the really important stuff is still to come. Proving the cause of death, proves the intent of officer chauvin to kill, to murder mr. Floyd, and convince a jury of that by reasonable doubt. What were seeing is preliminary to the stuff thats going to determine in the end, guilt or innocence. The rev is back with us. I want you to pick up your thread on these traumatized young people. This young lady that did the original film. I talked to her after the funeral. People forget these were minors watching this that were part of this, that just saw something they considered wrong, and began video taping it. Its a testament also to lives that many of us live in the black community where you right away say, well, that dont look right, so im going to film it. The other thing that i think was very telling is when the defense went after mr. Williams, saying he didnt understand police procedures, hes not a policeman. The question is whether or not chauvin understood police procedures. He was doing what he felt was right, and he reported the police to the police. So to act like they wasnt an expert i thought was ridiculous. The real question is, as the defense keeps trying to build this case, nicolle, that, well, mr. Floyd may have had drugs in his system, and this, that and the other, none of that was known by chauvin if it was true. Chauvin has to prove, then, that this was not his intent to harm him. I think hes right, the prosecution has to take issue with that, because the real question is, if he was so much on drugs, then why didnt he become immune to the pain . Why didnt he say, i dont care what you do . The man was begs for his life. The man was saying im going to die. The man was saying, i love my children, where is my mama . This was not a man acting like he was on something that couldnt hurt him. He was acting in a human reactive way, and mr. Chauvin did not know if he was under any intoxicants or not, so why did you at any point intentionally keep inflicting harm . My argument im not a lawyer and not as schooled as chuck is, but my argument is once the argument became intent, is that not a criminal act . Chuck, i want to ask you about two things that the witnesses have testified to. One is, it seems that theres a lot of questions about whether the crowd threatened the Police Officers. Derek chauvins hands were in his pockets. My hands in my pockets, im not afraid of anything if my hands are shoved in my pockets. If theyre trying to establish that Derek Chauvin was afraid of the crowd, why were his hands in his pockets . Noil, thats one really important point. The other point is the witnesses are being called for a number of reasons, but one of the reasons theyre calling a bunch of minors is to show this proud was not a mob, it wasnt rioting. It was men and women, young and old, black and white, who Saw A Man Dying in front of them, better stated, Saw A Man Being killed in front of them. They were rightfully upset. They were right to be pulling out their cameras and recording this. It was so disturbing. It wasnt a mob. It wasnt a riot. To the extent that the defense is saying that the officers felt threatened, they were distracted, they couldnt do anything else but focus on the crowd, i think this all belie that is notion. Chuck, rev, were going to dip back into the courtroom. Lets watch together. Hes not moving. Youre a bum, bro. Youre a bum,s bro. Tell me what his pulse is right now. Bro, he has not moved, not one time. Go back no, no, no. Thats cool, go back in the store, bro. Go back in the store. Hes not [ muted ]. You dont to help me out, bro. [ muted ] he was just moving when i walked up here. Do you have a pulse . Ive been watching this the whole time. Im trying to help you guys. Does he have a pulse . He doesnt have a pulse [ muted ]. Youre a bum, bro. Youre a bum. First thing you want to grab is your mayes, because youre scared, bro. What are you doing . Hes dying. [ muted ]. Hes still on him. Are you serious . [ muted ]. He better not touch me like that, i swear. Why are you still on him . Hes not doing nothing to you all. Youre going to let him keep it like that . [ muted ]. Are you going to help us . Youre going to sit there with your knee youre a real man, bro. Listen, im a [ muted ]. Doing com prelgss if he needs that. You guys are on another level. [ muted ]. Thats not very professional. Dont touch him. Dont touch me. Dont touch me, bro. Dont touch me, bro. Hes dead, man. Dont touch me, bro. Hey, you know that, bro. What is his badge number . You know thats bog gus, right, bro . Then, your honor, we would publish to the jury exhibit 25. May 25, 2020. What is your emergency . Hello. Im on The Block Of 38th and chicago, and i literally watched Police Officers not take a pulse and not do anything to save a man. I am a First Responder myself. I literally have it on video camera. I just happened to be on a walk, so this [ muted ] i. Do you want to speak to a supervisor . Im reporting this, im not [ muted ] you need to talk to a supervisor right now, or somebody needs to get in contact with me later on. Maam, let me get you a supervisor, hang on one second. Announcer may 25, 2020. Thank you, your honor. We would call Genevieve Hansen to the stand. Stand behind the chair. Okay. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony youre about to give will be the truth and nothing but the truth . Yes. Have a seat. I think to hear you more clearly, i would ask that you remove your matching. Lets begin by you giving your full name, spelling each of your names. Genevieve hansen. Ms. Hansen, whats your current occupation. What do you do . Im a firefighter for minneapolis. That explains the uniform ear wearing today. Correct, sir. How long have been a firefighters for the city of minneapolis . About two years now. And so not a question i often like to ask women, but how old have you . 27. Theres a reason we ask that. The jury will figure that out later. Okay. So about two years youve been a firefighter. Can you describe for the jurors, you know, what you had to do to become a firefighter for the city of minneapolis . I theres a hiring process. Once youre hired, we go through an emt training. I am certified for the state and a national license. Then you go forward with firefighter licenses. Thats a fourmonth academy. So tell us well, even before starting as a firefighter, did you have to learn some first aid type it wasnt necessary to go on the job, but i had gone through an emt program already, so ive got through the course twice. When did you first go through the emt program . I think it was sometime in 2017. What was that program . How long was that . Its called Pathways Academy, and it was a summer. It was just the majority of the summer, i went to a fire station and did my course. So that do you remember how long that was. Was that formonths, did you see . Maybe about that. It wasnt every day. It depends on which one you so what kinds of things did you do during your work there . The Pathways Academy is longer than your typical emt training, because it really wants to give a chance to people to pass it. Its quite a difficult test. So we did a lot of handson training and book work. So what kind of books . What are you learning in that . Probably more than you need to know about the anatomy, different bones, the way your heart works, Down To Basic lifesaving things that we need to know for my job or if you wanted to move forward with paramedics. I cant go on. So you have some classroom . Correct. Do you remember how long that Classroom Instruction was . I did. I think it was like an eighthour day, something. More handson training . That was throughout the day. I mean, we did homework. So how long was the program all together . Probably about three months or so. I can check. So then after the you have a day of classroom, what do you spend the rest of the time doing . Studying. Okay. Yeah. So for then, theres some we did quite a few ridealongs as well. With paramedics and with fire. So this Pathways Academy, affiliated with the Fire Department . I believe its through the city of minneapolis, just for trying to to reach out to city youth within the city. So is this a way of helping you get a job as a firefighters . Yes. So during that time, youre doing some ridealongs, working with the Fire Department . I actually had a Cardiac Arrest on my first ridealong. That was before you were even hired. Yes, before i was a firefighter, before i was an emt. After pathways did you have to take a test of some kind . Yes, thats when i got my national registry, yes. Describe if you would, describe for the jury what that test is like. How long is it . Yeah. You go through a handson portion and a written portion. Just to demonstrate that youre prepared for any lifesaving measures that you need to take, or splinting or, you know, it covers all of that, and then the test is scenariobased, like what what should the first things you need to look at, what are the most important things you need to address to have the best outcome for the patient. So is it wring or both. You mean the written part its fill in the blank. Right. So its some like written part. Is there also showing that you know how to do certain procedures . Right. When you say both, its a written test as well as hands on . Separate days, yes. So you took that test at the end of the Pathways Academy program . Yes. And at the end of or in the middle of my academy for the Fire Department. Okay. Did you pass . Yes. So then you obtained a certification . Umhmm. Is that yes . Yes, sir. What is the certification for . What does that mean you are . I can theres a range of things i can do. For our role, a lot of times its to assist the medics, or we get there before the medics, so we can start any basic wound bandaging, up to starting compressions for full working cpr right away. Does it also involve assessing a patient to determine whats needed . Correct. Thats the first thing we would do. So youre certified as an emt, and for the record, what does it stand for . Emergency medical technician. You got a National Certification for that . Yeah, and a state. How does it work to get a national and state . I believe its separate testing. We have continuous hours of education for both. And so since your certification youve had to continue taking classes to maintain the certification . Yes, the Fire Department does continuing educational year round. So when you finished Pathways Academy, had you already, hired by the Fire Department, or did that come after . That came about a year after i started the process. Once you got hired, is that when you obtained the State Certification, then . I think i had both all along. The pathways is why i have both. So as part of this certification, you are able to do what we think of as cpr . Right. Explain to the jurors what cpr is, when we use that term. So if we find no pulse, i would ask for medical, you know, calling 911, i would want an aed on scene. If i had my med bag, i would also be giving breaths, but if i didnt, im just right at 100 compressions a minute. So cpr is the process of trying to resuscitate something . Yeah, were looking to regain a heart rhythm. And heart rhythm is another way of saying a pulse. Correct. You can tell i have not been through the training you have. You know more about this than i do. Im trying to fill in the terms. Yeah. Incidentally before Pathways Academy, did you receive training before that . I did red cross, i was babysitting. I was a lifeguard. Lets make sure we dont talk over each other. It makes it hard to have a good record. Got it. The Court Reporter has to take down everything were saying, so we each wait to answer, wait for the question to be done. Ill try to be better about that, too. So when you start working for the Fire Department, you know, explain if you would for the jury, when you go in for your shift, who are your coworkers not who they are, but how many people are at a fire station during a shift and how are they divided up . It depends on if youre at a single house or a double house, meaning is there just an engine there, or is there an engine and a ladder . On the engine we have three to four, and on the truck we ride four. So maybe eight in a house and if theres a chief there or not, were all emts. And so as a firefighter, you had separate training. Umhmm. Very different jobs. In your two years as a firefighter, have you gone to fires . Yeah, quite a few for somebody with as much time as i have. And have you had to enter buildings that are on fire . Yes. And provide i guess rescue for people who are in a building thats on fire . Yes, i have pulled victims out of the buildings. When you do that as a unit of four or however many other firefighters are there, you all Work Together on those types of calls. Correct. When youre in your work as a firefighter, you know, the Title Afternoonly makes us think that you fight fighters. Umhmm. But you do more than that. Umhmm. You have to say yes or no. Right. Sorry. Yes, we were we dont often get a fire. I would say i mean, ive heard quite a few people give like a 90 medical for the calls. It also depends on which station and which part of the city youre serves. So, you know whatever the specific number is, the great majority of the cases are not fire . Right. In those medical calls that youve been a since you started working as a firefighter in minneapolis, have there been times when you have had to provide resuscitation to someone who was pulseless . Many times. Have there been times when youve been on a call and youve had to assess a patients condition and what they might need . Many times. The majority of the time we arrive before the paramedics, just based on how many Fire Stations there are in the city. Thats why we respond. You talked about working at the fire station. Is your shift a regular 9 to 5 job . Personally my shifts are 48 hours. So theres also the option of working 24 hours at a time, but im at the fire station for 48 hours, and calls in the middle of the night. Then you get a weekend or something . I have four days off, then, after that. In your experience, how many, like, times per shift would you say you have a medical call involves an unconscious or pulseless person . It really defense on which station youre at. Im at a particularly busy station, so it could be anywhere from, you know for pulseless, im in an area where theres a lot of overdosing, so anywhere from one to five times in a 24hour period. So dealing with a person who has does not have a pulse is fairly common . Yeah. Correct. I want to draw your attention to may 25th of 2020, so at that point you had been working at a firefighter for a little over a year. Umhmm. Is that yes . Yes, sir. Were you in the area of cup foods that day . Yes. Were you working that day . No. Without telling us where you live, do you live in the area . Yes. I live within Walking Distance of that area. On that day in the early evening, you know, just what are you doing that you found yourself in that area . I was just going for a walk. I believe i worked the day before, so a lot of times youre just kind of tired. I just wanted to sort of have a peaceful day. So i went on a walk. I sat in a Little Community garden on 38th for a while, and just thought it would be getting dark soon, so i decided to take chicago home rather than go through neighborhood streets. Were you on foot on in your car . I was on foot. So you approached cup foods on chicago . Yes, sir. And well, as you were approaching that area, did something caught your attention . Umhmm. Its not uncommon to see lights and think my coworkers are there. So from a distance i figured, you know, it could have been anything, but i figured that fire was there. So i started walking that direction, and as i got closer, there was a woman across the Street Screaming that they were killing him. So thats when i was alerted to the situation, it wasnt a basic medical call. At some point did you walk to the area where this woman was . Yes, i actually asked her what was going on . From there, did you notice some police cars in the area . Umhmm. Yes . Yes, sir. Then did you walk over to the area where the police car was . I walked in a big circle around the scene, just to start to have an idea of what was actually going on. And so you approached this police car where the incident was taking place . Yeah, i came from behind the officers. And im going to show you exhibit 1 on the screen. It should come up on the screen in front of you. Okay. Yes, your honor, this has been admitted already. Do you recognize this as the Enter Section of 38th and chicago . Yes. Youll notice in front of you, there would be a stylus like this. Yes. You can actually draw on the screen with that. Okay. I would ask you to draw on there for the jury your approach to this area, and where you went until you went over by the squad car. Okay. So the garden was on this side of the street. Im not sure if i walked across or straight, but the woman that i first asked what was going on was just about here, so i made my way around, and i believe i came all the way around this way, and i was watching what was going on here, and then i made my way around. Just for the benefit of the record, youre drawing you were going westbound on 38th, then crossed over to the dragon wok side of 38th. Thats where you crossed chicago, and then crossed 38th to near the speedway show, and then crossed over to the cup foods side of chicago. Yes, sir. Your honor, can you erase it all in one fell swoop . And then, so when you corrosioned from the Speedway Side of the store well, let me do it this way. No, ill back up. Why did you bother to walk from the Speedway Side of the stored to the cup foods side of the store . Because i was concerned to see a handcuffed man who was not moving with officers with their whole body weight on his back, and a crowd that was stressed out. So we have previously admitted exhibit 11, and this is a video taken from a camera across the street, and im going to show you a shortened version of except 11, all right . Umhmm. Is that yes . Yes. All right. For the record, we are starting this at 8 25 20, approximately. So do you see that video on the screen . Yes. All right. Does it look like the area we are talking about where you went and approached this scene that you described . Yes. Im going to pause it right here. Yes. Looking at this, do you see this person im circling here . Thats myself. And if everybody was seeing you approach from down here, correct . You came this way . Correct. You came from the bottom of the screen to this area, and you seem to be holding something in your hand, do you recall what you recall holding . I didnt have anything but my phone, i believe or my keys. So what id like to do is let this run, to show where you were during this incident. All right . So just keeping an eye on where you are okay. And how you remained at the scene. All right . Okay. Now, if we can was it right here, its at 8 26 29. We saw the camera moved a bit, correct . Yes. For a moment you were just offscreen. Up until that point you had essentially remained on the sidewalk, correct . Correct. At that point, how far from the curb did you go while you were on the screen . I dont remember. You didnt leave the area . No. At that moment you go back up to the sidewalk, do you remember why . Because the officer controlling the scene was requesting that we stay on the sidewalk demanding we stay on the sidewalk. If you could, just take the stylus and circle the officer who you are saying deup and downed you stay on the sidewalk. For the record, your honor, the witness is drawing a circle around officer tau. When he asked to you go back up on the sidewalk, you does . Yes, sir. At some point you started a Video Reporting with so we have already dealt with that, but a some point you started recording, correct . Correct. Im going to ask that the video be paused at 8 25 36. The video shows that the ambulance has left with mr. Floyd and youre Still Standing there on the sidewalk. Correct. After you first arrived, went up on the sidewalk, there was just that one time that you left the sidewalk and went out into the street, correct . Correct. When you are first walked up, and told the jury about coming around and crossing chicago, approaching. When you first walked up, did you observe the ives that were on top of the individual on the ground . Yes. Did you know any of those officers or recognize any of them . Once i was all the way around, i recognized chauvins face. Where did you recognize it from . It was a call probably the day before i believe it was the shift i had just worked. Did you know him at all . No, sir. Did you talk to him on the previous call . No, sir, i just noticed him. I had observed him on the previous call. Did you know his name at that point in time . No, sir. What did you see about the officers there in relation to the body on the ground . Um i noticed leaning the officers were leaning over his body. It must have it appeared to be the majority of their weight on mr. Floyd. So how many officers did you see over mr. Floyd . In my memory, for whatever reason, i remember seeing four on his body, and we know now that that was three. When you first walked up, you came around from that side, but then you had to go around to the other side of the squad car, correct . Correct. When you saw that positions of those officers, did that concern you . Absolutely. Why . Hi wasnt moving, and he was cuffed. Thats three grown men is a lot of putting their weight on somebody. Its too much. Did you notice where this officer you now know to be mr. Chauvin, where he was putting his weight on mr. Floyd . His neck. Incidentally, did you know the person laying on the ground, prone on the ground who was handcuffed . No, sir. You subsequently have learned his identity . Correct. And that individual on the ground under the officers, could you tell if he was moving at all . He was not moving. His face was the first thing that concerned me is his face was, like, smushed into the ground. Swollen, appearing swollen to me. At that point are you acting a bit as Genevieve Hansen, emt . I identified myself right away. I noticed he needed medical attention. It didnt take me long to realize that he was had an altered level of consciousness. In our training, thats the first time that somebody needs medical attention. So my attention moved from mr. Floyd to how can i gain access to this patient and give him medical attention, or direct the officers. I didnt pay much attention to george floyd after that. When you first got there, saw mr. Floyd on the ground, you mentioned about seeing his face, correct . Correct. Incidentally, i think in a subsequent interview, you talked about mr. Floyds face facing toward the speedway, correct . Correct. Which is just what my memory did. But we know thats not right. As you sit here today, do you remember seeing his face when you were around to the Squad Car Side of him . Yes, sir. In terms of his face, when youre first there, our even the rest of him, what is it that you saw that made you concerned about his medical needs . Um, i was really concerned about i thought his face looked puffy and swollen, which would happen if you are put ago grown mans weight on someones neck. I noticed some fluid coming from what looked like George Floyds body, and in a lot of cases we see a Patient Release their bladder when they die. I cant tell you exactly where the fluid was coming from, but thats where my mind went. He wasnt moving. He would you say being restrained, but he wasnt moving. When you first arrived, was he vocalizing at all . Was he speaking at all . I dont remember. Earlier you used the term altered consciousness. Yes. What did you mean by that . When were assessing on a level of consciousness on a call, we will often first try to just talk to the patient and see if they responsibility. If we dont get a response, well obvious kind of tap them on the shoulder or apply kind o tap them on the shoulder or apply sort of painful stimuli and often i would do a sternal rub or, you know, press their fingernails very hard, and if they respond to that, we know that, you know, we can assess their level of consciousness based on that. When somebodys laying on your or, you know, leaning into your neck, thats painful stimuli. So so i could tell that. Tell what . That he had an altered level of consciousness to the point that he wasnt responding to painful stimuli. You mentioned that mr. Chauvin had a knee on mr. Floyds neck. Correct. Did you see where his other leg was . I dont remember anymore, but i think i may have said something about it in previous did you think it was on mr. Floyds back . I dont know. Okay. And in that moment, when you first arrived and observed what you could about mr. Floyd, what did you think you needed to do . I had already assessed that he had an altered level of consciousness. What i needed to know is whether or not he had pulse anymore. And you know, let me back up just a little bit here, but did you try and assess, you know, how much weight mr. Chauvin was putting on george floyd . I mean, i didnt try to. I recognized that it was an issue right away because he seemed very comfortable. Whos he . Chauvin. Officer chauvin. Okay. Seemed very comfortable with the majority of his weight balanced on top of mr. Floyds neck. In my memory, he had his hand in his pocket, he looked so comfortable. And if his hasnt wasnt actually in his pocket, would that change anything that you assessed at the time . I suppose not. He was comfortable in the position that he was in. So if his hand, instead of being in his pocket, was simply resting on his thigh, would that change any of your assessment . He wasnt distributing the weight on a car, on the pavement. When you first approached, you said you identified yourself as a firefighter. Correct. To whom did you identify yourself . To officer tao controlling the scene. I spoke loudly enough that i would think that the other three officers would have been able to hear me throughout the event. And we know you werent well, let me ask it this way. How did officer tao respond . He said something along the lines of, if you really are a minneapolis firefighter, you would know better than to get involved. What did you think of that . First, i was worried that he wasnt going to believe me, and not let me help. And i also thats not right. I mean, thats exactly what i should have done. There was no medical assistance on scene, and i got there and i could have given medical assistance. Thats exactly what i should have done. So, based on your training and experience and what you had seen, what did you want to do for this person on the ground . Had they let me into the scene, i already had decided what his level of consciousness was, so i would have requested additional help. I would have wanted someone to call 911 for the paramedics and fire to come. I would have asked someone to run to the gas station and look for an aed. And i would have checked his i would have checked his airway. I would have been worried about his Spinal Cord Injury because he had so much weight on his neck. I would have opened his airway to check if there were any obstructions. And i would have checked for a pulse. And when i didnt find a pulse, if that was the case, i would have started compressions, and i didnt have my bag so i would have continued compressions. We dont do we dont give mouthtomouth anymore, so i would have continued compressions at a rate of 100 a minute until help arrived. And by compressions, what do you mean . I would have put my hands hands on his chest. Chest compressions . Yes. And whats approximate on it of doing Chest Compressions . Pumping the blood for somebody thats not doing that themselves, trying to get a pulse back. And were you able to do that, any of those steps . No, sir. Why werent you able to do any of that . Because the officers didnt let me in to the scene. I also offered, in my memory, i offered to kind of walk them through it or told them, if he doesnt have a pulse, you need to start compressions, and that wasnt done either. And so well, are these things that you wanted to do . It was its what i would have done for anybody. And when you couldnt do that, how did that make you feel . Totally distressed. Were you frustrated . Yes. Ms. Hansen, as i told you, we can take our time, so just feel free to take a minute. If you need a drink of water, go ahead. Okay. While you were there, were there other people around you on the sidewalk . Yes. And were they saying things to the officers as well . Yes. And do you remember what kinds of things they were saying . No, i was pretty focused on trying to get the officers to let me help. And how were you doing that, trying to get the officers to focus on you and get help . I think in my memory, i tried different tactics of calm reasoning. I tried to be assertive. I was desperate. Did you also at some point start raising your voice . Yes, sir. And maybe used some foul language even . Yes, sir. Why . Because i was desperate to help, and i wasnt getting what i needed to do wasnt gaining access. And at some point, the voices of the other people around you, did you feel that sort of interfered with getting the officers attention . Yes. So, as youre doing that, were you able to pay more attention or aim more attention to mr. Floyd and his condition . I wasnt. I wasnt really able to. I knew he needed help, so at that point, it was just getting in there. When you asked the officers to take his pulse, did you ever see them doing that . No. Okay. When you were over on the sidewalk at officer taos direction, were you able to see the other two officers on mr. Floyd . From my memory, just kind of their heads. So, if at some point they may have checked a pulse, you may not have seen that. Correct. During this time, did you make any note, observations or notations or notes about mr. Floyds characteristics of his breathing . That was a terrible question. Do you want me to start over . Okay. During the incident, when you were there, did you make some observations of so, the characteristics of mr. Floyds breathing that concerned you . I dont remember anymore. Okay. What is meant by the term Agonal Breathing or breath . Agonal gasps, we see in patients that are dying or pretty much dead. Its just kind of the bodys forgive. I dont quite know but its a sign of death. And have you seen that in other calls when you have been working . Yes. And did you see something similar in mr. Floyd . I dont remember anymore, but i dont know. Okay. So, during that time period, he did not regain consciousness that you saw . No. And you stayed with him or im sorry, you were there the entire time until he was loaded into the ambulance, correct . Correct. And at some point, you made well, i guess the question is this. You didnt pay close attention to mr. Floyd at some point because you knew he was unconscious. Needing medical attention. There was no question. All right. And based on that, you focused more on trying to get the officers to allow you to help. Correct. And at some point, did you start Video Recording . Yeah. The interaction. Yes. And with your phone, i assume . Yes. And why did you do that . It was im not sure why i chose to do it. It was an instinct. And so you did record it . Yes, sir. And based on that, well, i guess ill just ask it this way. At some point after the incident, you were interviewed by Law Enforcement officers . They the correct. Yes. And you made that video available to them, correct . Correct. All right. And why did you think it was important to record that . Because memories of witnesses are never going to be as good as a video. And so you wanted to have it to preserve. It wasnt conscious, but im sure thats why anybody takes a video. Yeah. And sorry, bear with me a second while i try to read my own handwriting. After recording that video, you stopped recording at some point, correct . I dont remember. Okay. Well, obviously, you did stop at some point. Well, yeah. And eventually the ambulance took mr. Floyd away. Right. And then earlier, i said wed come back to that moment in the previous video, in exhibit 11, when you were the ambulance left and you were Still Standing on the sidewalk. Uhhuh. Yes . Yes. And we saw you just standing there. Whats going through your mind as youre standing there . I im not sure. I think i probably was in disbelief. And you were in shock . Yes. And whats and at some point, then, did you also make a 911 call . Yes. And it had to be sort of distressing was the word you had used before when you were there and you were trying to help and you couldnt, did you have a feeling of helplessness . Absolutely. Were you upset about that . Yes. Did you feel that, you know, whatever the end result, you could have tried to help . Objection. Sustained. Well, why did you feel helpless . Because theres a man being killed and i would have had i had access to a call similar to that, i would have been able to provide medical attention to the best of my abilities, and this human was denied that. Right. And so from that point, you know, we saw you standing there on the sidewalk, just sort of standing still. Uhhuh. Yes. And from there, did you stay in the area for a little while . Yes. And at some point, you made a 911 call. Yes. Why at that point did you call 911 . I think it all settled in that i wish i would have done that immediately because it may it was ridiculous that 17 fire station 17 was as close as it was and that they hadnt been there. I should have called 911 immediately, but i didnt, and when things calmed down, i realized that i wanted them to know what was going on. I wanted to basically report it. And so you made that call, correct . Correct. And a little bit more than a minute long. At some point, they wanted to transfer you to a supervisor, correct . Correct. I asked for that. But then the call ends. Okay. Do you remember why the call ended at that point . I dont know exactly, but there was kind of a lot going on. I was still worried about the witnesses on scene, particularly because they were people of color and black men and i was worried about their safety, and there were officers still on scene, but also, fire came, and it may have been that i ended the call because my coworkers were there and i could tell them what was going on. So, tell us about that. So, at some point, when youre there at the scene still, did a fire truck come . Yes. And theyre coming to respond to the call. Theyre coming to respond to the call, and they went into cup foods to actually look for a victim. Which is unique for that there to be that much miscommunication. So, let me ask you just a little different question. So, when they came, those firefighters, did you know them . I knew two of them. And how many total came . Four. Driver two firefighters and a captain. So the two that you knew, how did you know them . Work. So they knew who you were . Yes. So, you knew that members of the Fire Department knew you were on scene as well. Yes. But off duty, of course. Yes. And so you had a conversation with them while they were there at cup foods . We. And you also had some conversations with other people who had stuck around afterwards . Yes, and the two the driver and the other firefighter that werent in the ambulance came back and i spoke to both of them. I have no further questions, your honor. Your honor, i have you may. Let me just stand were watching the testimony of Genevieve Hansen and what she saw on the scene, about Police Officers, including Derek Chauvin, refusing her offers for assistance. We are waiting now for crossexamination of hansen by the defense. Paul butler is watching along with us. Paul butler, your thoughts . Incredibly powerful testimony, Firefighter Hansen says she wanted to help mr. Floyd, and officer thao wouldnt let her. He said, if you were really a firefighter, you would know better than to get involved. It means that First Responders dont testify against each other but today we heard this firefighters distrust and traumatized by what shes seen, call 9 11, identify herself, says she literally watched the Police Officers not take a pulse. Shes wearing her firefighters uniform. Shes talking about sternal rub, painful stimuli, medic talk, nicole, reinforces she knows what shes talking about. This is a medic testifying under oath that it was clear that mr. Floyd was in dire condition and these officers would not help or let her help. After a day no, go ahead, paul. I was just going to say, after a day with testimony this powerful, nicole, the judge usually gives the jury an instruction we should all keep in mind. Youre only hearing the prosecutions case. We havent heard from the defense. This is just one side, but very powerful. Lets listen in to the crossexamination from Derek Chauvins Defense Attorney. Followup questions for you. Thank you for being here with us today. You testified that you have been a firefighter now for two years, approximately . Correct. And i see youre wearing your uniform today. Correct. And that would be, like, your dress uniform or your class a uniform. Correct. Thats common to wear when you testify in court. Correct. Fair to say that you were not wearing your class a or any uniform on may 25th, 2020correct. I was off duty. Okay. Being a firefighter is a stressful job. Correct. You testified about your experience as an emt. We didnt talk much about your Firefighter Training. So you said you went through a fourmonth academy, correct . Correct. And in that academy, i assume you learned, like, the basics of fire, right . Correct. Like, different types of back drafts and instructions. Right. How to approach a fire, how to, you know, where to aim the hose, i guess. Yes, but fire is fire. Right. So, sometimes youre probably going to come from the top down or the bottom up, right . Yeah, different elements. Right and you learned about, like, going into a burning building, right . Right. Being safe, being cautious. Right. Again, part of what you have to learn is how to deal with the stress of being a firefighter. Correct. Do they do you, in either in the academy or in your continuing training, do you have trainings that focus on how to deal with the physical reaction to stress . We do go over that in our training throughout the continuing ed. Also, i think youre suited or not for the job. Sure. Takes a certain type of person to do the job. Right. But breathing becomes important, right . Right. If you put on an oxygen tank, a mask, youve got to know how to breathe properly. Controlling your breathing, right. And sometimes you may go into a situation thats not totally on fire and you may not have your mask on and youre running upstairs to get to save someones life, again, controlling your breathing. Right. And you learn about have you ever heard the term Tunnel Vision as a part of Fire Training . Not necessarily as a part of Firefighter Training but i know what Tunnel Vision is. So when youre stressed, you kind of focus on a particular thing. Right. Right . And it kind of changes your peripheral vision and you become hyperfocused. Right. So youre familiar with that and you may have experienced that in the context of your fire fighting. Yes. And obviously, and unfortunately, im assuming that sometimes youre not able to save everyone, right . Correct. And theres a level of trauma that comes with that, right . Sometimes. Right. Depending on the circumstances. Correct. You also testified that you have both a national and State Certification as an emt, right . Correct. That stands for emergency medical technician. Correct. Thats basic First Responder stuff, right . Medical training for First Responders. I believe that theres more basic i mean, i think a Police Officers are not emergency medical technicians. But then its not as high as, like, a paramedic. Correct. So a paramedic has even more training than an emt. Yes. And obviously, maybe the cpr you learned to become a lifeguard was less intensive than what it took to become an emt, right . I took it much more seriously because i was practicing it and using it but its the same. Yeah. But in your emt training, you also learn, like, tourniquets and splinting and all of these sort of assessment and emergency first responsive care. Yep. Okay. And you testified that you because youve only been a firefighter for two years, youve been in several burning buildings. Correct. Now, have you ever been in a burning building or outside lets say youre outside. Let me ask you a hypothetical question. Youre outside of a burning building and you are spraying the hose on the fire. Has anyone ever tried to come up to you and say, youre doing it wrong . No. Do you think that has anyone ever stopped to film you when youre fighting a fire . Yes. So you see someone, youre fighting the fire. Yep. And someone starts to film you, does that im sorry, your honor. Im not consciously. Its just normal conversation. We get it. We all started talking at one time. Its unusual but im sorry and ill try to slow down too. So, youre fighting a fire, right, and you may notice a Citizen Filming what youre doing. Correct. And that would not necessarily interfere with your ability to fight a fire, right . No. Have you ever had a citizen start to yell at you while youre fighting a fire . No. Do you think it would make your job fighting the fire harder if someone started yelling at you and telling you that you were doing it wrong . Im very confident in the training that i have been given so i would not be concerned about somebody that was not trained. I would continue the fight the fire the way i would. Right, but do you think it would be distracting . No. What if there were 12 people yelling at you and telling you that you were doing it wrong . I think a burning structure in a city where there are buildings and homes and People Living on either side is much more concerning than 20 people trying to tell me to do something different. Right. But you wouldnt be distracted by that at all . No. What if they started calling you names . Like i said, i know my job and i would be confident in doing my job and theres nothing anybody could say that would distract me. Okay. So, what if they started to physically threaten you . Ill repeat myself because im confident in my job and what i do and what needs to be done and my training so i would continue to do that. What is staging . What does it mean when a Fire Department stages at an incident . Its always different, but we can stage to wait for someone to assess whats exactly going on, how we need to tackle that particular call. Okay. So, lets assume theres a call and the police are on scene at the call. And they are you sorry to interrupt. Are you talking about a medical call . We stage for different things. Sure. Lets leave it as a medical call. Okay. And theres some trouble at the scene. Do you just come right in, into that emergency call, or does fire stage until police clear the scene . We stage and wait for police to give code four. Code four means all clear. Safe, yep. Right. So, in a situation where there is trouble and the police are dealing with that trouble, and they know they need a medical personnel to come into the scene, medical wont come into the scene until it is called code four, right . Correct. All right. And you said in your experience you have been on numerous calls throughout the two years youve been a firefighter, right . Correct. And would you agree that a fair number of those may have been calls that started out as call where the Police Responded first . Correct. So, its usually the police that are there first, they do some assessment, and they will call for medical. Correct. Have you ever been called to a scene where the police didnt call you . Meaning, the police were present and they werent the ones that called you. Can you repeat the question . Sure. Its a little confusing. Police go to a scene, right . And whatevers happening at the scene, and they just dont ever call for medical, even though theres a medical situation. Well, i wouldnt know because that means i wasnt called to it. Precisely, right . So, if you go to a scene, its because youre responding to a call, right . Correct. And the reason that you are there is because the police call you. If the police are on scene first. Right. If the police are on the scene first. And so, in a situation where you see someone having a medical emergency, wouldnt it be reasonable to assume that the police have already called for medical . It would also be reasonable to assume that if the patient was cuffed im going to say, objection, nonresponsive. Wait for the question and then answer the question that is asked. Its a yes or no question, maam. Is it reasonable to assume that if a patient is having a medical emergency and the police are present that they have called for ems . Your question is not clear because you dont know my job. So i cant answer. Sure. So lets take this scene. May 25, 2020, you walk upon a scene, you see someone having a medical emergency, right . You did not call 911 to get the medics there, right . Right. Would it have been reasonable to assume that medics had already been called based on what you saw when you first arrived . Yes. And in fact, paramedics did respond, right . You saw the ambulance come up. Yes. Thats not their normal Response Time. Okay. And so you noticed there was some abnormal Response Time for medics. Right. And i also noticed that that is precisely the kind of call that fire would respond to and station 17 is just a couple blocks away. Okay. So, do officers on scene decide, do we call for medic or fire . I dont believe so. I believe thats dispatch. They call for medical. So, if police call dispatch and they say, ems, we need ems, code three, its dispatch who decides, do we send medics or fire . Well, it would be medic there would be fire with medics, not just fire ever. I dont know the answer to that. Fair enough. But ultimately, medics did arrive, right . Yeah, eventually. And you have no frame of reference of when Police Called paramedics, do you . No, but i know how long it takes for medics to get to calls typically and i know how long it takes to drive three blocks in an emergency fire vehicle. But that presumes that the fire vehicle was not on another call, right . It would have been a different station that was we would the nearest two other stations would have been able to respond to that call in three minutes. So if you first walked on scene at 8 26. 29, that was what we just saw. Okay. 8 26. 29. Okay. And paramedics and paramedics had been called at 8 21, thats an abnormal Response Time based on your experience. What time did you say i arrived . 8 26. 29. And the medics arrived at what time . The medics were called at 8 21. Code three. I dont believe that. But again, you would have no frame of reference, right . I mean, youve not seen any police reports, youve not looked at the cads, youve not heard the 9 11 calls, you didnt listen to dispatch that night, did you . That night, no. But thats totally abnormal and fire would have been added to that call because we go to calls like that all the time. Right. And so, it was abnormal, it would be completely and totally abnormal in your experience for it to take that long to get to the scene. Absolutely. All right. And are you familiar with the term load and go . Yes. And i believe you had a conversation with the bca agents shortly after this incident and you described what you observed as far as the paramedics doing was whats called a load and go. Correct. And that is essentially, as i understand it, paramedics arrive, something is amiss at the scene, so we put him into the ambulance and we move the ambulance to another a safe location to address the need. And thats what you observed here, right . Correct. And its because there were quite a few people and those people were all fairly upset, right . Correct. And so, in your mind, as a paramedic with the experience emt. I apologize. As an emt, youve done load and goes before . Weve done load and goes, yes. Right. And so, the reason that the medics did not commence at least as far as you understood, commence Resuscitative Efforts for mr. Floyd was because they were doing a load and go, get him away. I want to object to that. Overruled. Thats what you told the agents, right . I dont remember exactly what i told the agents, but that would it looked like a load and go to me. Okay. Now, in terms of your, again, personal experience, or excuse me, on that day, you were the paramedics drove off and then at some other point, a couple minutes later is when the truck the fire truck arrives, right . Right. And thats how i knew there was something wrong when requesting medical assistance. Okay. Because the Fire Department showed up at cup foods and the ambulance had already left and gone to another location. No, more because the fire whether it was 17 or a different station, would have been able to respond to that call much sooner than medics were. All right. So, in a i mean, you kind of formed that opinion on that day that there were some miscommunications between medics and fire and police. Right, which, i mean, not to the fault of medics or fire. If we get a call, we go. So it was it was police and dispatch that that miscommunication would have come in. Okay. And again, that five or sixminute delay is just unheard of in your experience. Yes. Not by medics but by fire, specifically. Are you trained as an emt in the use of nacan . Yes, sir. And can you explain what narcan generally is. Its an opioid reversal medication. We give it intranasally, but a lot of people on the street have injectable form. Kind of like an epipen almost, right . Yeah, kind of. You testified that the fire house that you work at, you deal with a lot of overdose calls. Correct. And so youve had a lot of experience dealing with people who are overdosing. Correct. From opiates or from other controlled substances. Correct. And you have seen you have seen or dealt with many people who come out of an opiate overdose because of narcan . Correct. If i didnt have narcan, though, we still get will monitor a pulse and give compressions as necessary. Ive never not had narcan, but i would be able to give medical attention to somebody that had overdosed on an opioid and lost their pulse. Okay. So let me ask you, is it Fire Department policy, when you are going to a call of an overdose that police are also dispatched to that call . I believe so, yeah. And that is because when people are revived from that, they often become combative, right . Not often. Im sorry. Overruled. Not often. But it happens. Ive seen it happen. Now, im going to just kind of talk to you a little bit about your testimony about may 25, 2020. You were out for a walk because it was your day off, right . Uhhuh. Is that a yes . Yes. Sorry. You were out for a walk, and youre walking down youre walking westbound on 38th street and you see the lights and you said its not uncommon to see lights there . In my neighborhood. Not on my corner, but in my neighborhood. Okay. Or in the city. Right. Okay. And as you walked what would be the southeast corner of 38th and chicago, you talked to you heard a woman say yelling that theyre killing him, right . Right. And so, you did this kind of circle loop to visualize and see what was going on. Yes. And at the point that you came on scene, mr. Floyd was already on the ground, right . Correct. And mr. Floyd, you saw what you what your memory told you was four Police Officers on him, right . Correct. But you now know that it was three, right . Yes. And i think you made some reference about why you videotaped because our memories are fallible. Correct. And again, a stressful situation can impact your memory, right . Absolutely. Thats why were lucky it was videotaped. Right. Its also fair to say that once you kind of came, you first talked to officer thao and you said that you identified yourself as a minneapolis firefighter, right . Correct. And officer thao asked you to step on to the curb and you did that. Correct. And you would agree that when you first arrived on scene, your own personal, just talking about you personally, your own personal demeanor was much more calm. Correct. And as you were there, between 8 26 and 8 30, so in about those four minutes, you would agree that your own demeanor got louder and more frustrated and upset . Frustrated, im not sure is the word i would use. Angry . More desperate. You called the officers a bitch, right . Yep. I got quite angry after mr. Floyd was loaded into the ambulance and there was no point in trying to reason with them anymore because they had just killed somebody. So, in terms of the in terms of the time that you were there, you have no idea what those officer were doing on the side of the car, right . The officers that i couldnt see from my Vantage Point . You dont know what they were doing . I couldnt see the two Junior Officers except for maybe like their shoulders. And so its fair to say you dont know what they were doing . Correct. You dont know what they were talking about . The two of them . No. And there was, again, you described a fairly large crowd, 10, 12 people that were all in that general area, and several people were yelling, right . Right. And some people were yelling louder than others, right . Right. And some a lot of people were saying things like, get off of him, right . Right. And a lot of people you yourself were saying, i want to know what his pulse is. Yes. Right . And some some people were swearing . Absolutely. And would you describe other peoples demeanors as upset or angry . Its i dont know if youve seen anybody be killed but its upsetting. I was just going to object, your honor. Argumentative and you may proceed. Im going to just ask you to answer my questions as i ask them to you, okay . You also talked about how when you first approached, you saw the complete and total body weight of all three officers on mr. Floyd. I never said all three officers. Their body weight was on him. The two in the back, their full body weight was seeming to be on him but thats not something that would all right. But you testified that okay, yes. The body weight yes. My question was on him . Answer his questions, if you would. Thank you. So, just to be clear, so the record is clear. You testified yes. Let me finish my question. Finish your question. You testified that when you first arrived, you observed the weight of all three officers on mr. Floyd, yes or no . Yes. But again, once you were ushered or commanded or directed, whatever term you want to use, to the curb, you, again, as far as the other two officers, you were not watching who had their weight where or when . Correct. I could not see the other two officers. I could see them and they were not talking much. Lot of people were yelling. Right. And again, you were not paying attention to what they were saying . Here and there. Okay. So do you remember what the officers were talking about . Oh, the officers, no, i have no they werent talking. All right. You also testified that as you were observing mr. Chauvin on george floyd, that you formed the opinion that mr. Chauvins hand was in his pocket . Correct. And you described him as comfortable. Correct. You also testified that you observed what you thought to be fluid coming from mr. Floyds body and you assigned that or you believed that to be urine. I considered that it was. And took that as a sign that he do you recall telling the agents that it was his urine . I dont recall. And you said that you testified that your focus became really sort of zoomed in on trying to get the attention of the officers, right . Not the attention so much as trying to reason with them and gain access to give medical attention. Okay. And you testified that you believe that the other voices, the voices of other people interfered with you getting their attention . I was worried about it. But i know that thao could hear me talking because he was responding to me directly. Now, in terms of your the statement that you gave, you were interviewed by agents lund, matthew lund, and agent james ryerson. Do you recall those names . No. Do you dispute me if im no. And would you dispute me if i told you that that interview took place on May 28 Of 2020 . No. And before coming into court, did you have an opportunity to review your statement at all . I had the opportunity to, but i didnt. Okay. You never read the transcript of your statement . I chose not to. Okay. I just want to just ask you a few questions. You said that officer thao at some point said, if youre really a firefighter, you should know better. Correct. Have you been to other scenes where people are trying to interfere with Police Officers doing their jobs . No, not really. Not that i can recall. Do you remember telling the agents that you believed that officer chauvin had his hands in his pocket . Vaguely remember saying that. Do you recall telling the agents that you were pretty certain the fluid was coming from mr. Floyds body and thats what made you think he was dead . Im sure i said that. Pretty sure. Do you recall describing the crowd as a heavy crowd . No, i dont recall. Would it refresh your recollection to review the transcript of your statement . I dont want to. Okay. Would you dispute me if i told you that you told the agents, it was a heavy crowd . No, i guess not. Do you recall after paramedics took mr. Floyd and then you had a conversation with the firefighters that arrived, how you described the physical appearance of mr. Floyd . I dont recall. Do you recall telling them that he your honor, im going to object. I dont want argument. Whats your grounds . Crossexamination. Sustained. You may impeach if you wish. All right. I know you dont want to look at your transcript, but may i approach the witness . You may. Ms. Hansen page 11. Im just going to ask you to read the underlined portion. Were covering live ongoing Trial Testimony here. This is the crossexamination of Genevieve Hansen, an emt who arrived on the scene. Shes being cross examined by Derek Chauvins Defense Attorney, one of them, eric nelson. Lets listen. Overruled. Yeah, i appeared to with three grown men on top of somebody, it appeared that he was small and frail. Okay. But i know that theres no question. I was finishing my answer. Please witness remain. What youve been watching is the testimony and then crossexamination by Derek Chauvins Defense Attorneys of Genevieve Hansen, shes an emt who arrived on the scene. She testified, quote, there was a man being killed. Clearly growing frustrated with attempts to undermine her credibility and her testimony from chauvins Defense Attorneys. We have a moment here to talk about some of what weve seen. Your reaction . So, on crossexamination, they were trying to establish that the police were already seeking medical treatment for mr. Floyd so they didnt need the firefighters help, and we heard in the defense Opening Statement that the police made two calls for medical assistance. But Firefighter Hansen said the medics took an abnormal amount of time to get there. Nicole, heres the problem with the way is defense is trying to discredit this testimony. If someone is suffering from an acute medical emergency, and an ambulance is called, but a medical professional shows up first, youre not going to turn down the saying you already called an ambulance. Jurors are supposed to use their common sense to evaluate the evidence. This testimony is establishing the kind of by chauvin for the conviction for thirddegree murder. So i want to tell our viewers what just happened here. The judge seemingly reprimanded Genevieve Hansen, a trained emt who was on the scene, assessed that george floyd was in dire medical condition, of course, shes right, he was. And we saw a line of questioning that made her justifiably defensive there. It appears that before she was excused and asked to return tomorrow morning at 9 30, the judge had some words with her. I want to bring into our conversation, chuck brewster, who is in minneapolis for us. Shaq . Reporter hi there, nicole, im looking at notes from the courtroom and what just happened. It looks like the judge just sort of reprimanded the witness there, saying that the counsel has a right to ask the question. Your job is to answer. When the Court Counsel is asking you a question, you dont volunteer extra information. I think one thing that i noticed, as youre watching through todays proceedings, these are regular people. I mean, this is a firefighter who was off duty who went down and was going on a walk and encountered this situation. We talked about mr. Williams from earlier today, who went fishing earlier in the day that george floyd was killed and was at cup foods getting a soda. And the rules that you have in a courtroom, how questions are asked, the tone and what things are said, there are specific rules that you can tell some of these witnesses are getting frustrated by, and that is the case with this witness right here. I think before this instance, though, you saw some really powerful testimony. She had some really bold points that she was making and she was a firefighter. She has been trained on how to resuscitate people and how to provide cpr, on how to give aid to people who need help. And what she saw at the scene that day was a man, in her words, a man who needed help, a man who needed medical attention, and she went up and she pleaded with the officers. She pleaded with them to allow her to do cpr. She told them and demanded that she that they check George Floyds pulse, and she grew upset. She grew desperate was her word as she watched that happen and i think that desperation that you saw in the video, as she was yelling at the officers and trying to talk to the officers, i think some of that was rubbing off in the courtroom today as she was being challenged by the Defense Attorney. So, it seems like and it looks like, by my notes, that the court is that she is dismissed and theyll go back to questioning tomorrow. I want to double check that before i say that for sure. But it seemed like that was the last thing that the judge said and it looks like were in a little bit of a break right now. Shaq, thats my understanding as well. I want to bring eddie glaude into this conversation. Shaq just cut right to it, as he always does, and said, these are human beings. Well, those of us who are human beings who live on planet earth have all had the experience of being on an airplane, in an airport, happened to me friday, where someone has a medical emergency and someone will run around and say, are there any doctors . Is anyone a doctor . And if someone is medical distress, an offduty doctor is sometimes sought out. Sometimes they make the difference between life and death, especially at 35,000 feet or in a crowded airport. So, obviously, a Defense Attorney as a job to do and obviously a judge has order to keep in the courtroom, but jurors are human beings who heard that a trained medic was denied access to a man who we all know now was dying. Yes, nicole, imagine in your hypothetical that the persons who were attending to the person whos having an emergency say, no, we already called the medic, you dont need to tend to the person. Well wait until they come. I mean, that doesnt make any sense. It just defies common sense in so many ways. This has been hard to watch. Its been hard to watch as person whos not a lawyer, who doesnt understand the way the court works but testimony, the testimony of the nineyearold. I understand the Defense Lawyers have to do their job. But what were hearing over and over again are ordinary people, people that have skill sets in some ways calling 911 because we have heard different people calling 911. Before that, you had you know, theyre calling 911. You had the dispatcher calling the sergeant. All of this stuff is happening because people are seeing and noticing something that wasnt right about what they saw. Pick up on that point for me, paul, though. It seems like the prosecution is engaged in story telling. I watch this not as a lawyer but as a heart broken american. Theyre telling a story of a whole lot of people who saw something and said something. What they saw was a man being killed. Thats what they said when they called 911. To try to persuade jurors that they shouldnt believe what they are seeing with their own eyes. The star witness remains the videotape. The prosecutors will show it as often as the judge allows. It is just devastating. But today also extraordinary testimonying from that brave, teenage girl who made the video. She said mr. Floyd reminded her of her brother and father and that he could have been any black man. That may be the first time that race has been specifically invoked in the trial. I want to bring you in on this and take the days testimony in its totality because what we have heard from Witnesses Today is unwilling witnesses to horror that we have all gathered together on this program and other networks and every network, to be honest, to discuss. The variables here seem twofold. It went on for 9 minutes and 20 seconds. How did those things play into the mood on the ground . You know, this is definitely something people are watching. We talked about the trauma that the floyd family has been feeling as they have been watching this tape over and over again, watching different angles of the death of their loved one. Were talking about the trauma that the witnesses are describing. I believe there was only one witness today that did not shed tears or have their voice crack. Most of the witnesses are emotional as theyre doing this. Thats also something that extends to the community here in minneapolis as theyre watching this trial and looking at the courthouse downtown, dealing with regular protests as they deal with us and the Media Presence thats here. Thats something that on the day before the trial i talked to someone who said im concerned about this because of the trauma that will resurface with this, that our community went through a lot back in may, back in june with the protests, with the riots that they saw and they feared this was going to resurface that pain again. As i hear the testimony, as i hear these regular people, these people going to get a snack from the grocery store, someone who was going to get an auxiliary code and stumbled upon an outrageous moment. What will they think hearing their neighbors responding and talking about this and sharing their experience in court today. You all invoked the term regular citizens of minneapolis going about their day. Lets listen to one witness who testified this morning. When i look at george floyd, i look at i look at my dad. I look at my brothers. I look at my cousins, my uncles because they are all black. I have a black father. I have a black brother. I have black friends. And i look at that. And i look at how that could have been one of them. There has been nights i stayed up apologizing and and apologizing to george floyd for not doing more. Rev, this seems to be the emotional life blood of whats happened today. The witnesses, the bystanders, ordinary americans going about their day, some of them just going to get a snack feel guilt and remorse that they didnt do more. Yet, thats not what we have seen and heard from anyone, including Derek Chauvin as of yet. I think thats the striking thing from todays testimony, is that ordinary people, whether it was this young lady that was taking out her niece or it was the firefighter, they felt they could have and should have done more. And chauvin and his defense team are acting like he did nothing that was wrong by not trying to do anything. And, in fact, they tried to say that he was intimidated by a crowd that never approached him, never threatened him and was only pleading with him to do more like these other sit sevens did. And i do not know how a jury is going to look at it. But i think the nation is looking at, what are you talking about. Everybody wanted to help. All these people were doing, even williams who cursed you out, was saying, do something man. The man is dying. And you are the only one on the scene, you and the other officers that didnt want to do more to help the man . I dont think that will do well for them, whether or not it will impact the jury well see. But i dont see how anyone could hear these testimonies today and not say why didnt the police have the same spirit that i need to do something to help this guy. And, rev, to that point, i mean, the testimony of a trained emt, Genevieve Hansen that we have been listening to and then the crossexamination, the crossexamination seems to be going at her motive. Why did she want to help . She wasnt in uniform. Why are you wearing that . Who cares what shes wearing. She was a Trained Medical professional who thought she saw someone dying. Do you understand the defenses strategy of trying to knock out her testimony . I do. I think the strategy is that he has no way of explaining this, so hes reaching for straws. I think there is no narrative that makes sense. So when the facts dont support you, you smear the witness. You smear the victims because the facts make no sense. How do you make sense out of any of this . To play a tape and show people saying, man, hes dying. Man, do something. And the other officer chooses to block their view and say, im scared. If you were so scared, why was he blocking their view and mocking them . But theyre trying to tell you something that youre not looking at. Theyre pointing at this when theyre showing you something else. And i think that they have no real legal strategy. Their hope is to try on a technicality of the law. In my opinion it is to get one or two jurors to say ill give you the benefit of the doubt and hang the jury. But so far were not hearing a defense that is cohesive and in many ways coherent. Im curious with police. Is there an outpouring of support for Derek Chauvin . You know, thats something you havent heard much of. Definitely when you look at the police chief, he is someone who the prosecution has signalled that will come testify in this trial and say that Derek Chauvin used excessive force. There is another sergeant that will be a witness from the prosecution in this trial who will come up and speak to the force that was used. And according to the prosecution in their Opening Statements will Say Something to the effect of the force should have been stopped after a certain point, after george floyd was no longer resisting arrest. So at least from those ranks, it looks like we have a situation. And we havent gotten to that point yet. This was a preview from the Opening Statements. But high ranking members of the Minneapolis Police department will be participating in this trial of their fired police officer. You have the protests that are happening here. You dont really get a everyone knows how tense this is and how tense the city is right now. I havent heard much beyond much from the rank and file, i should say about how they feel about this trial and what theyre seeing take place inside that courtroom. Would you expect Derek Chauvin to testify . Its his decision. He and the lawyers, his Defense Attorneys will decide after the prosecution rests its case, nicole. I think its unlikely if he testifies, a, he has to expose himself to a bunch of questions about his many prior complaints about his conduct as a police officer. He doesnt want to go there. And he also would have to come across to the jury as likable and authentic. And so far the jurors keep focussing, at least in the jury selection, they remember that look on his face as he put his knee on mr. Floyds neck. And he would have to somehow get that image out of their mind. So i think what they probably will do is say that under the constitution we dont have to prove a thing. Its the government that has the heavy burden of proof. And the reverend is right. They are throwing mud hoping that something sticks because all the Defense Needs is one juror to have reasonable doubt, and they get a hung jury, which will result in a mistrial. Paul butler, Shaq Brewster and the reverend al sharpton, thank you so much. The beat with ari melber starts right now. Hi, nicole. We begin as well with breaking news. This is day two in the murder trial for the officer who killed george floyd. It just wrapped up. If you have been watching msnbc, you saw it. The story w

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