Victims of police abuse have filed several class action lawsuits against police across
the nation for violating their constitutional rights. RT's Brigida Santos joins me now to
talk about this. Brigida, actually there are lawsuits flying both ways. And I think it's
interesting. Some of these folks that believe that, you know, they've gotten away with burning
down a building or whatever, they're, they were on camera and the police now are pursuing
them. They're finding them on eBay. They're, they're searching for them on eBay. They're
going after them with film footage. So it's, it's this thing's going to pick up. How many
class action lawsuits are there so far and what are the crimes that the plaintiffs are
seeking justice for, I suppose? Well, people who accused police of brutalizing
them during the George Floyd protests have filed or are preparing to file class action
lawsuits against law enforcement in the cities of Richmond, Los Angeles, Denver, Portland,
New York, Philadelphia, Oakland, Phoenix, and more. Now plaintiffs are suing entire
cities, police chiefs, and even individual officers for reportedly violating their first,
fourth and 14th amendment rights. Photos and videos obtained during the protests reveal
systemic human rights violations and excessive use of force, including beatings, pepper spraying,
tear gassing, firing rubber bullets and trapping. Okay. So what you're going to see in the defense
what's, it's already lining itself up. These folks believe that the best way to handle
these cases is to go after the people that they're trying to say, did something wrong.
They're actually searching on eBay to see if somebody, if there was any kind of looting
going on. Was an item, did it show up on eBay, trace that back to the person who has possession
of it. They're taking film footage of people that were actually planted in the protest
to take films so the police could now follow these folks, find them. And I think what you're
going to see based on what I'm seeing very early on, early on, is this vengeance that's
taken place from the police department to, to try to push back on this very thing you're
talking about. In response to widespread state sanctioned police violence, Colorado, they
passed a comprehensive police reform bill. What are some of the highlights of that bill,
Brigida? Senate Bill 217 has now passed in the Colorado
general assembly. Now the comprehensive reforms include requiring every officer in the state
with a few exceptions to wear body cameras and activate them when responding to calls.
Police who break the law could face criminal liability. It also bans choke holds and under
the new law officers are required to intervene to stop other offers, officers from using
excessive force, or they could face misdemeanor or criminal charges themselves. Officers who
are convicted of inappropriate use of force will permanently lose board certification
and be listed in a public database. But some of these reforms are a bigger deal than others
because police abuse is often captured on body cameras and we don't see justice for
those crimes. For example, choke holds are banned in New York, but that didn't stop officer
Daniel Pantaleo from killing Eric Garner with an illegal choke-hold. So for me, the biggest
police reform in Colorado is the state's decision to remove the qualified immunity defense for
law enforcement officers. This is going to allow victims of police abuse to file civil
rights cases against officers in court. And Colorado is now the first state in the country
to stop shielding police from nearly all accountability in misconduct and murder cases, and hopefully
other States follow suit. Brigida, let me tell you about another interesting
development. Right before the Supreme Court right now, there's a coup, there's a case
it's called, it's called McKesson V Doe. And, and, and so what the case is about is to go,
to go after the people who organized or had any part of organizing the protest, where
there was loss of life or where there was property damage. For example, they're using
that the, the whole idea is to use that to go after these very people who were saying,
hey, you've, you violated our constitutional rights. And they're saying the people who
organized it are going to be responsible for personal injury cases, death cases, property
damage. And they are, this case, my prediction is that it is going to be affirmed by the
Supreme Court. So that's a whole new development. But let me close with this. I got about 30
seconds. Not all States are tackling police brutality as the same way in Colorado. What's
happening in New York? Well, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the
civilian complaint review board is holding video hearings for police misconduct investigations,
but police unions are urging NYPD officers not to show up for those video hearings. Arguing
that board members should not be allowed or board members shouldn't be allowed to work
remotely if officers have to physically go to work during the pandemic. So basically
police unions are using the pandemic as an excuse to postpone investigations and the
police department says that it's not going to discipline officers who skip those video
hearings. And some of the officers that are being summoned include one that was seen on
camera during the George Floyd protests, allegedly flashing a white supremacist hand sign.
Brigida, thank you for joining me. Obviously, this story is going to be lot more parts to
this story out there on both sides. It's going to be push, push and push back. Thank you
for joining me. As November creeps closer, president Trump's
independence day address, and Joe Biden's ongoing search for a running mate, they become
big news. Let me begin with this. I've got Dave, I've got David Lamb with me, probably
the foremost expert in this area. And I thank you for joining me. Okay.
Glad to do it. Let's, let's begin with the notion of approval
rating. If I'm talking to you as the, as an expert in that area, what is the significance
of approval rating as it relates to this particular, this game?
The number to remember with approval ratings is 40%, below 40% is, is a cemetery. Above
it the, the options are much better. Gallup recently published their approval ratings.
Trump's approval rating is at 38% as we speak, in early May it topped off at 49%. A couple
of interesting notes about this. You remember the concept of Reagan Democrats, right?
Yes. So Democrats that would cross the aisle believed
in what Reagan was talking about and signed on. In those 38%, 91% approval rating among
the GOP 2% among Democrats, the lowest in the history of the Gallup poll.
Okay. Okay. So let's talk about, my memory was is that, that HW Bush had this problem.
He did. He lost.
He did. Jimmy Carter had this problem. He lost.
Right. But there's also this notion that, that you
hear talked about is at the same time of where we are in this election cycle, Obama had a
less than 40%. Is that, is that accurate? That is, Obama was right at 40%. And that's
the silver lining for the Trump supporters, because from summer to fall, Obama had a 6%
bump, which got him closer to 50% by the time the election took place. So if Trump is able
to, to pivot in some way and pull that approval rating out, by the way he handles the Coronavirus,
maybe with the, what happens with the economy, how he handles all of the protest and the
tearing down of the monuments, all of that, there are opportunities. But at 38%, like
you said, HW Bush, Jimmy Carter, both lost. The last president Harry Truman in 1948 had
a 40% approval rating. That's how far back you've got to go to find an incumbent that
gets reelected. Wow. Okay. So this is, this is a big number.
Watch the approval rating. It's key.
If, if, if you can have, if the turd blossom Karl Rove can raise that approval rating for
Bush above 40%, he at least is still in the game. Is that your?
That's the magic number. Okay. Let me ask you about the Mount Rushmore
speech. I don't get this. It was so divisive. I mean, you had the New York Times, it's racist,
it's divisive. You know, this is the worst thing that could possibly happen. The media
was just like, you know, their hair was on fire, hysterical about this. What, what, what
does the right say about it? What, what is his core, what is, is his core say about it?
The whole, some of the phrasing that the president used in that speech was a culture war, and
this issue typifies it. The left thought, like you said, that the New York Times some
of what they said about how far left and, and, and radical, how, how scary the speech
was. The right love that speech. In fact. Now, when you say the right, was that just
his core. His core.
But was it beyond that? No.
Okay. It was not. But his core.
His core is 40%. 40% and it was red meat for his core. But
again, is Trump having to still rally that base to make sure to shore that base up as
he heads toward November. Okay. Well, again, the question is, can he
do it? And as he's looking at this, you know, you have to, you have to wonder, because you
do have Biden. Is he still in the cellar? He he's, he comes out every now and then.
He's done some fundraising lately that has done some.
But it's working for him. It is.
I mean, let's call it what it is. He's in the cellar. He's, he's avoiding any kind of
real controversy. They're not letting him talk, which is a really good idea, but it's
working. That's the main thing. But as we, as we approach this election, I saw that Trump
had raised a bill, is it, is a billion dollars? It's nearly a billion dollars, it is.
So does, can a billion dollars move these favorables that you just talked about? Is
there a way to do that? Or can you move favorables by attacking the other side? Tell me what
you think. Well, I think with that bill, that billion
dollars that has been raised between Trump and the RNC and $250 million cash on hand,
you're seeing some signs as to what they're going to do with that, because that's a considerable
advantage. The Biden team is not even releasing how much cash they have on hand. I don't know,
but I would say that's a bad sign for the Biden camp if they don't want anybody to know
what they have in the bank. But what has happened, the Trump campaign has committed a hundred
million dollars in ads for Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, as well
as Wisconsin. So key States, States that he won, but also that's where he's committing
money to. Okay. So now we've got, if you look at it
right now, it doesn't look like a race. I mean, it really just doesn't look like a race
and you're, and you're saying the only thing that changes that if he can get above 40%.
Right. If the billion dollars that he has can be
used by Karl Rove the turd blossom to somehow raise the favorable. I don't know how you
raise favorables though with attack, with attack ads. You see what I mean? And it seems
to me that that's why that money is, is in the, why he has that money right now. So right
now you got Biden who has to make a really important decision and that's who is his VP.
I really liked Tammy Duckworth. What a great VP.
The Senator from Illinois. I mean, you'd understand that, okay, if he
doesn't make it through the first term, Tammy Duckworth would be there. I really like this,
this woman. Let's talk about it. She's a Senator from Illinois, a former army
Lieutenant Colonel. She's a pilot yourself, Pap, an army helicopter pilot. She's a double
amputee and a purple heart recipient. So the resume is very impressive. And the reason
she stands out for the Biden camp, one of the things that with that billion dollars
that the Biden camp knows that Trump's going to do is attack them. How, how do you go about
attacking someone who has, who has that sort of resume? So that's what makes Tammy Duckworth
so, so attractive to Biden and his team. And so the call, your call would be out of
everybody he's considering that's the one that moves the numbers?
That, that is certainly the one that diffuses, because really at this point, if the numbers
are anywhere close to accurate, Biden has around a 10, 10 point lead. At this point,
you're just protecting the lead. That's all you want to you're, you're kind of playing
defense. So this choice of Duckworth really kind of takes some ammunition away from Trump
and the Trump campaign and their efforts to, to call the Biden, Biden camp and the Biden
presidency, a far left wing, radical, takeover. Right. It takes all that away.
It takes it off the table. Yeah, and I think that's brilliant. Of course
the Democrats advisers have never done the brilliant thing. They'll end up with somebody
that's, it's an incestuous process. You know, who's been around the longest? You know, who's
who has been part of this committee and that committee? Who's raised money? That's how
they think. This woman can make the difference. She can make it happen.
Yeah. David, thank you for joining me, okay. Thank you.