Raised from third degree to Second Degree murder. In a moment ill talk with attorney general ellison. Also president obama adding his voice to the debate in a virtual town hall. And tonight well talk with Kareem Abduljabbar. Hes both a basketball and civil rights legend. There is other breaking news on the military response to the demonstrations. A stunning rebuke from james mattis, the president s First Defense secretary and a retired marine corps fourstar general. General mattis not only slams the president s photo op at st. Johns episcopal church, but his entire approach to the military and governing. The president he says is the first in his lifetime who, quote, does not try to unite the American People, does not even pretend to try. Let me just repeat that. The man hand picked by the president to be his First Defense secretary, a man who spent his life in service to this country and to this countrys constitution, now says that the president of the United States does not even pretend to try to unite this country. There is a lot to get to tonight, but lets start with cnns Miguel Marques in minneapolis. Miguel, im wondering how the news of the new charges has been received by protesters there today. Reporter with a sense of relief and uncertainty. I do want to show you sort of this spot where mr. Floyd breathed his last breath. Theyve added its become sort of celebratory. This mural has gone up and its really, really striking. This is the spot where mr. Floyd was on the ground, where that knee was to his neck with officer chauvin sitting there, sort of as blase as though he were standing in line at the bank, for eight minutes and 46 seconds. People are relieved by the charges today because i dont think a lot of them believe that there would be charges or increased charge for officer chauvin, and then charges for the other three officers. They are glad to see it come so quickly. They are uncertain about those charges as they dont really know that they are going to see convictions in the end. You look at freddy gray, you look at so many other cases where there were not convictions, and this is an audience these are people who are accustomed to being let down. It does feel different, though, because everybody across this city and as we are seeing across the country are coming out. All ages, all races, coming out wanting equality. That videotape is so unmistakable in its its evilness, the sense that someone was dying in front of them. And not only was the officer who had his knee to his neck just so calm about it, but the other officers, says the attorney general, stood around, made sure that nobody, witnesses, others who were around here, nobody could get to him, nobody could see exactly what they were doing. So while people are happy here tonight, they are waiting. They are waiting to see if there will be convictions. What have demonstrations been like today . What are they anticipating tonight . Obviously theres a lot of people in america who are sitting at home watching this. They see what happens late at night, what has happened in some cities. They see looting going on, people stealing things, and yet you see the images today and that we have seen day after day of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people likely all told, going into the streets day after day after day, overwhelmingly peaceful. It is an extraordinary sight to see city after city, just this turnout in the midst of a pandemic, no less, in the midst i mean, you know, people know about social distancing. They know the dangers. And yet they are saying, this is more important than my personal health. Reporter well, certainly the anger has driven people out as well and to disregard some of those social distancing rules. But there have been silent protests today in st. Paul. There is a protest going on in minneapolis right now where people are gathering, maybe 500 strong or so. But this area has really become the epicenter, and it is a place of sadness and profound sort of reflection, but its also a place thats become a bit of a celebration. There is food. There is water. There are tents set up everywhere where everybody is offering barbecue and any sort of household needs you might have. You can even register to vote down here, so its become a place that has brought not just this community. The people who live directly here, but people from across the city, across the state are coming here to take in this spot and try to figure out to kneel, to pray, the governor has been here, the police chief has been here, the family of mr. Floyd has been here. Try to figure out and meditate and think about where the act that happened here takes us next. Anderson . And thats something former president obama spoke about today and well play some of that, miguel. Thank you. Now more from Keith Ellison, minnesotas attorney general. He spoke earlier today, quote, tremendous sense of weight he feels at this moment. Attorney general ellison, what made you decide to upgrade the charges to Second Degree murder against exofficer chauvin . Well, we evaluated all the incoming evidence. We evaluated, you know, a lot of material. There is a range of it. Medical reports, medical examiner reports, videotape, all kinds of information that we felt that the proper charge would be Second Degree murder, and that it would be proper to charge the other three with aiding and abetting in that. As you know, the family of mr. Floyd, his attorney had wanted first degree murder charges. That would have required that officer chauvin that it was premeditated there was premeditation. Right. I assume you found no evidence of premeditation. Not as of this time, no. The investigation is ongoing. If we find evidence which would support that charge, we would charge it. Im committed to holding, you know, the defendants accountable at the highest ethical charge, meaning that the charges have to be supported by the facts, have to be supported by the law. But if its there, we would charge it. We would not hesitate if we found the information to support it. The other three officers, what should they have done in this circumstance . I know one officer ive read the criminal complaint. One officer raised concerns about, about mr. Floyd, asked if i guess asked chauvin if he should be turned on his side, and chauvin said words to the effect of, no, hes staying right where he is. Well, our theory of the case, they continue to sit on his body, which affected his ability to move forward. We consider that aiding. The fact that they never rendered aid. It was a departmental policy to do so and to intervene. They had a responsibility to intervene, to give aid. And they didnt do so. And so and then they affirmatively assisted in the assault which resulted ultimately in the death of mr. Floyd. Is it i mean, i find it just so stunning that not only did mr. Chauvin sit with his knee on mr. Floyds neck for more than eight minutes, but that more than two minutes and 47 seconds, almost three minutes of that time was after he was nonresponsive and after they knew he did not have a pulse or could not find a pulse. I mean, if any of the officers had at least at that point tried to assist mr. Floyd and the fact that nobody tried to assist mr. Floyd after they knew he didnt have a pulse is just inexplicable to me. I think many people around the world make that same observation. You have also pointed out how difficult it is to convict a Police Officer. I believe in minnesota its only happened once. And i know the prosecutor that is appointed to this was the prosecutor who was able to get that conviction. I heard you say earlier. Can you just talk about why it is so difficult . Because obviously for any criminal justice reform, accountability is essential. And just moving forward for the future, its good to know why its so hard to convict police. Well, i mean, werent we all raised to believe that if you have a problem, the people you should call is the police . Juries tend to resolve doubts in favor of the police. Where there is a credibility dispute, they have a tendency to believe the police. There are many times when that credibility is not deserved or warranted in individual cases, and so that is one of the issues. The other is that, you know, there are many kind of immunities, sort of the police are legally authorized to use force in circumstances beyond that of ordinary citizens. All these things kind of conspire. In some cases around the country, police have a cozy relationship with people who hold political and economic power. So they look out for them. And so the net effect is that its very difficult to hold a Police Accountable even when there is a violation of law. You look at the walter scott case. Have you what have you told the family in this case about the chances of getting a conviction . Well, you know what i do . I dont really lay odds on that. What i say is that we are going to prepare, we are going to organize, we are going to make sure we put on the best case we possibly can. We are going to check every link in the prosecutorial chain to make sure its tight. And then at the end of the day its really in the hands of the jury. And so and we believe that people are fair. If we can help the jury understand whats really happening here, what their duties and obligations are, were confident we will get that conviction. Attorney general ellison i appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you, sir. More now on making these four cases, joining us cnn legal analyst and former federal prosecutor gloria coats, also gloria brown marshall, john j. Justice here in new york. Author of race, law in american society. 1607 to present. First, your reaction to what the attorney general did today, the charges now as they stand. Well, two things. First, in minnesota many people dont realize the third degree murder charge was not going to be able to stand regardless. That would require you to have both an intent the intent unintentional act of killing, but also to act with a depraved indifference. Meaning that you intended or didnt intend is all very waffly language. In reality in minnesota, you cannot think about third degree murder without thinking about the quintessential examples of, say, shooting into a crowded space, or driving down the wrong side of the highway. Those are types of crimes that are contemplated when you intend to harm maybe someone, but no one in particular. And third degree murder charges in minnesota, if you only are focusing on one particular target, you cannot actually charge that. So it was probably an error to do so in the first place by the county attorney. Under minnesota law it has two different ways to get to it, anderson. Either intentional, which does not require premeditation or unintentional which we are seeing charged here based on a felony or attempt to commit a felony. What were seeing the felony being is the underlying cause of assaulting mr. George floyd close to death, causing great bodily harm, in fact death. I think this is the right charge to make here. The accomplice liability is also commensurate with what we actually are seeing here. And it was necessary and one that could potentially go up higher to premeditated but what we see right now, hes made the right call. Professor brown marshall, weve seen whats in the criminal complaint. There is a lot we dont know about the interaction. Something happened in a Police Vehicle because mr. Floyd was in the back seat of a Police Vehicle for a while before being brought back outside and put on the ground and killed. I assume that will come out in the trial and who knows which way that will move any potential jury. But im wondering what you make of what we saw today of the new charges. I was concerned about Minnesota Attorney general ellisons kind of neutral stance. He seemed more a politician than the kind of advocate i would want to zealously defend the rights of mr. Floyd. I mean, my concern is that hes bringing in the prosecutor who is not trusted within the black community, and someone who has, yes, has won conviction of an officer, but that was a black officer who accidentally shot a white woman. And so the problem with the prosecutor has been one thats been under the microscope of a black community of what has been seen as oppression of black people in that county. Im concerned about this cozy relationship between ellison and freeman. Laura, is there anything that can be done about that . I mean, at this point, obviously i mean, ellison said about how difficult it is to get a conviction. And as professor was just saying, the fact that the only Police Officer who was convicted was black. Well, the county attorney was wrong to draw some sort of parallel in a racially tone deaf way to suggest the facts in that case were analogous to what were seeing here or the racial dynamic would have zero impact on a new jury looking at new sets of facts with a black victim and white officers. And some who are officers of color. But remember that Keith Ellison is not new to the people of minnesota. He is the first africanamerican elected statewide in minnesota. He served in congress for more than 12 years. He is somebody who also represented indigent defendants in the criminal justice system. And frankly, a lot of people are talking right now about many attorney generals would actually look at a power grab and say, i want to be the face of this and i want to do the entire prosecution and ignore the Institutional Knowledge and pipeline of otherwise seasoned career attorneys. He himself said today, look, i have done these cases, but on the other side. So i think part of his stance is based on the acknowledgment that it is entirely appropriate to rely on people in the office who have experience. However, she is right when she says, professor, the idea of there being healthy skepticism largely around the Hennepin County attorney for his failure to charge the officers in the jamar clark case, and also because past is prologue and people are well aware even when cases are charged, justice is a multitiered system when it comes to the flow charts of officerinvolved shootings. Arrests, firing, arrests, indictments, the trial, the conviction, a sentence. Each of these steps have to be met and will be met with skepticism until really people have full confidence in the criminal justice system. Professor brown marshall, the new criminal complaint says one of the officers was ready to employ different restraint but the other officers involved chose not to use it. Do the different accounts of the officers come into play . I mean, is it possible they could flip on each other . I think its necessary. I think that also was part of the motivation to support the higher charge, a more serious charge. I think also the relationship between george floyd and Derek Chauvin at that bar where they both worked is going to play into this. Its going to take people coming out and speaking. And the last thing i just want to add is this necessary part of what an officer was supposed to do. Officer lane pulled a weapon when george floyd was sitting in the car. That was in the initial charging report. So we see that these and the fact as you pointed out, there was no resuscitation at all. Even the ambulance, when it arrived, did an attempt to resuscitate. I mean, the system failed george floyd on every level. But then w. B. Dubois said the system was never meant to protect us in the first place and thats what were seeing here. The system failing after 400 years of failure. Gloria brown marshall, laura coats, thank you. Appreciate it. Coming up next retired marine corps general mattis. The First Defense secretary breaking his silence, weighing in on how he believes the president is failing the country at this moment. This is an Extraordinary Development to have the former defense secretary, the mad dog mattis as the president used to love calling him. Talking about how the president s dividing and miss using the Nations Armed forces. Retired army four star wesley clark joibz us to talk about that. Later Kareem Abduljabbar, what he sees in what were all watching unfold. Hi. Uh, can you tell me how to get to i70, please . Ookay, are you ah, yes. Thank you. Switch to progressive and you can save hundreds. You know, like the sign says. Can leave you holding your breath. But Bristol Myers squibb is working to change things. By researching new kinds of medicines that could help you live longer. Including options that are chemofree. Because were committed to bringing new hope into lung cancer care. Theres breaking news tonight that raises all kinds of uncomfortable questions about what country we are living in and what it might become. Dont take that from me. Thats from president trumps former secretary of Defense Marine fourstar general, a man who dedicated his life to protecting, serving the constitution and the country. I say this about mattis because its inevitable the president will soon directly or indirectly through minions smear general mattis. Very possibly his current defense secretary as well. A lot of people wonder why general mattis lasted so long with this president or how he lasted so long, and why he never spoke up publicly. Well, he has certainly spoken up now and its impossible to overstate the intensity and the stunning nature of this rebuke. Writing the atlantic about the president s crowd clearing and erratic walk in order to pose with the bible, a book hes unlikely read, and say nothing of substance while standing and preening in front of st. Johns episcopal church, mattis wrote, i have watched this weeks unfolding events angry and appalled. I swore an oath to support and defend the constitution. Never did i dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional Rights of their fellow citizens, much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander in chief with military leadership standing alongside. He goes on to liken this moment to the one 76 years ago this week as troops, including some from the unit stationed outside washington right now, prepared for dday. Some were expected to be returning home tonight, but now the Washington Post is reporting that theyre not. Elements of th