members of the family, they are going to be speaking out. we will be standing by for live coverage of what they have to say. and we also, we just got a statement in from the former president barack obama. i think we can put it up on the screen. there it is. this is the former president barack obama. today a jury did the right thing, but true justice requires much more. michelle and i send our prayers to the floyd family and we stand with all those who are committed to guaranteeing every american the full measure of justice that george and so many others have been denied. that statement from the former president of the united states, barack obama. ben crump, the lead attorney for the floyd family has also put out a statement, saying that the vice president kamala harris has called the floyd family. i think we have a clip. watch this.

>> hello? >> feeling better now. nothing is going to make it all better, but at least now there's some justice. >> right. >> you know, i think we're going to start to change now. >> yes. >> yes. >> we have to change it now. >> yes. >> it's incredible. you're an incredible family. i wish i was there to put my arms around you. we've been talking every second of this, the vice president and all of us. just we're all so relieved -- on all three. and it's really important. i'm anxious to see you guys, i really am. we're going to let a lot more done. we're going to do a lot. we're going to stay at it until

we get it done. >> hopefully this is the momentum for the george floyd justice and policing act to get passed to have you sign. >> you got it, pal. and a lot more. not just that. a lot more. >> thank you, mr. president. >> this is the first shot at dealing with genuine systemic racism. there are people who feel as strongly as i do. the vice president, she wants to say something. >> okay. >> i'm so thankful to the entire family, your courage, your commitment, your strength has been -- this is a day of justice in america. your family are real leaders at this moment when we needed you. in george's name and memory, we are going to make sure his legacy is intact and that history will look back at this moment and know this is an inflection moment. you have sacrificed so much,

your family, but we really do believe that with your leadership and the president that we have in the white house that we're going to make something good of this. okay? >> thank you. >> you better all get ready, because when we do it -- [ inaudible ] [ laughter ] >> we're going to hold you to that, president biden. >> i guarantee it. >> thank you, mr. president. >> my wife jill is with me too. >> thank you. >> we're thinking about you. [ inaudible ]

>> like i said, you're going to change the world. >> going to change the world. >> thank god. >> you tell her what i said, remind her. when she's president -- [ inaudible ] >> she's coming to see you, mr. president. [ laughter ] >> thank you. >> all right. thank you, mr. president. god bless you. >> god bless you all. >> thank you, mr. president. >> there you have it. these are live pictures now coming in from ben crump and the other representatives of the floyd family. you see them there. we just heard from the president, the vice president and the first lady. they called ben crump to express their relief and their pleasure at these guilty verdicts. let's listen in. >> say his name! >> george floyd! >> say his name! >> george floyd! >> say his name!

>> george floyd! >> say his name! >> george floyd! >> say his name! >> george floyd! >> say his name! >> george floyd! >> say his name! >> george floyd! >> say his name! >> george floyd! >> before we say anything, we're going to have a prayer. when we first came to minneapolis and we went to the site, when ben crump called, we remembered how eric garner said "i can't breathe" 11 times. his mother came with us to the site. the family came in and this family has stood together for the last 11 months, watching this video go over and over and over again. this family stood with pain,

suffering and not knowing what the future held, because so many families went and got nothing. they thanked god when they got the indictment, which would not have happened had not the attorney general keith ellison took this case. >> yes. >> yes. [ applause ] >> and keith ellison fought and put together a team that made this possible. and this is the first time in the history of this state that a white police officer has been conv convicted, convicted of a murder. this is the first time in a long array of fights that we've seen three counts, guilty on all three. we don't find pleasure in this. >> no. >> we don't celebrate a man going to jail.

we would have rather george be alive. >> amen! >> but we celebrate that we, because young people, white and black, some castigated, many that are here tonight, marched and kept marching and kept going. many of them looked down on, but they kept marching and wouldn't let this die. and this is an assurance to them that if we don't give up, that we can win some rounds, but the war and the fight is not over. just gotwo days from now, we're going to have to deal with the funeral of daunte wright in this same county, the same area. we still have cases to fight, but this gives us the energy to fight on. and we are determined that we're going to fight until we make federal law, the george floyd justice in policing act must be law.

we want to thank all that were involved, especially the attorney general and the governor and others. we want to thank president biden, who the first time he came out of his house during the campaign, he flew to houston and met with the family and attorney crump and i. and he sat there and i will never forget, he said to george's daughter that i heard you say your father is going to change the world. well, we can now tell george's daughter she was right. her father has began the changing of the world for real. but before we do anything, we first want to pray and thank god, because somehow god made a way. he had mercy. we believe in a god that can even get through the cracks of the jury room and bring

conscience and bring truth. and that jury, we want to thank them for letting god give them the strength. wherever they are tonight, we want them to know we broke down in tears when we heard the verdict. we had to hold each other and hug in tears, because too many nights we've cried, many of us for decades, spent nights in jail, but today we can wipe our tears away and fight on for another day. there's sunlight. we're going to keep going until we bring it for the eric garners and the breonna taylors, whose boyfriend is here tonight, kenney walker, shawn bell, so many that did not get this night. this night is for them. let us pray. let's lock arms and pray like we kinfolks. >> come on, brandon.

where's philones? come on. you and rodney come up front. you know you hiding now. [ laughter ] >> brother chris, get next to the attorney general there. let's pray. dear god, we thank you for giving us the strength to stand together. sometimes we would question each other, sometimes we say this is just going to be a waste of time. but somehow you touch us in the midnight hours and teach us to hold on, and that if we would be faithful over a few things, you'd give us the victory over many. we thank you because we know it was not any doing of ours, but your loving kindness and your tender mercy that made tonight possible. bless those that worked, that made this prosecution something

they couldn't deny. bless those policemen that got on the stand and testified against another policeman. bless the jury that listened to the evidence and didn't listen to those that may criticize them for doing this. bless the prosecutor keith ellison and his staff that did their job, even though they didn't know what the outcome would be. bless ben crump in a special way, that worked tirelessly, that jumped on planes and left his family to make sure that justice would rain down. thank you for all of the civil and human rights leaders that stood up. we thank you for the nameless grandmas and grandpas that would get on their knees and ask you to give us a verictory this tim. lord, as we give you the thanks and give you the praise, let george know that his name is going down in history.

they may have put their knee on his neck, but he will now be a figure that we will take the knees off our necks now and we give you the praise. thank you and, god, we give you the glory. these blessings we ask in your name. amen. >> amen! >> amen. [ applause ] >> we couldn't have did it without you. >> let me say that i want to bring on now a man who has symbolized the fight for justice. he didn't seek the role, but he rose to the occasion. america for many years didn't have someone to stand for us. the last four years, we didn't have an attorney general's office that would even hear our cry. but we had been raised to believe that god always has a ram in the bush. >> yes.

>> and god has a way of taking the most humble of people and raising them up. we had an attorney general in black america that has represented these cases with the acumen and skill of one that was raised in the south, but came to claim this nation in a new direction. i bring you the attorney general for black america, ben crump. [ applause ] >> i love him. >> thank you, reverend al sharpton, not only for your mentorship, not only for being a great civil rights leader, but for being a moral authority, especially making sure no matter what happened that we always maintained the moral high ground, knowing that we were on the right side of history as we fought for justice for george perry floyd jr. say his name! >> george floyd!

>> i am a member of a great teateam of very talented attorneys. i'm going to acknowledge them. yeah. we got the omegas and the kappas, reverend jackson. i want to acknowledge these great group of lawyers and then the family members. two or three of the lawyers will address you. and then at that time we will hear from the family members before we take any of your questions. i want to acknowledge a great lawyer from chicago, illinois, one of the best i've ever had the chance to work with, attorney tony romanucci. i want to recognize my partner

on the front line, one of the best lawyers, ben odom. he hails from atlanta, georgia. attorney chris stewart. his law partner, attorney justice miller. attorney madelyn simmons. a great minnesota lawyer, attorney jeff storms. raise your hand, jeff! attorney michelle guaido. anybody else? we have attorney scott masterson, who's not present. i said michelle. we got michelle. all right. and just a great group of lawyers. i want to let you know who we have present here with the family here in minneapolis for this historic day. we have george floyd's brothers. we have philones floyd, we have

rodney floyd, we have brandon williams, who's george floyd's nephew, but was more like a son to him. they called him woo back in the third ward. >> woo, woo, woo, woo! [ laughter ] >> we have philones' wife. we have his sisters who are not with us, but we should absolutely acknowledge bridget floyd, who hails from north carolina, his sisters latonya and zaza who hail from houston, texas. we have sharita mcgee, tira mcgee and tara brown. we have the mother of his daughter. we have roxy washington and we

have gianna. and so i'll make some brief remarks and then we're going to have attorney stewart. oh. >> angela, cousin paris and uncle vince. all right. any more floyd family? i know it's a big crew. the man he came to minneapolis with. i'll make some brief remarks and then we're going to have attorney stewart and ramanucci make some brief remarks. we're going to hear from the family. we're going to try to leave here today knowing that america is a better country.

ame america, let's pause for a moment to proclaim this historical moment not just for the legacy of george floyd, but for the legacy of america, the legacy of trying to make america for all americans so that george floyd's victory and america's quest for equal justice under the law would be intertwined. america, let's frame this moment as a moment where we finally are getting close to living up to our declaration of independence,

that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equally, that they're endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, amongst them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. america, that means all of us. that means black people. that means hispanic people. that means native people. that means asian people. that means all of us, america. we frame this moment for all of us, not just for george floyd. this is a victory for those who champion humanity over inhumanity, those who champion justice over injustice, those who champion morals over immorality. america, let's lean into this moment and let's make sure,

reverend al, that this moment will be documented for our children yet unborn as they continue on the journey to justice, knowing that the blood of george floyd will give them a trail to find a way to a better america, a more just america, a more just america where breonna taylor gets an opportunity to sleep in peace at night without the police busting in her front door, a more just america where ahmaud arbery gets to run free and not be lynched for jogging while black, a more just america where jacob blake and anthony mclean and walter scott and laquan mcdonald and all these

other black men, terrence crutcher, who was shot in the back while running away like daunte wright was just a week ago, because for some reason, black men running away from the police is more dangerous than young white men who commit mass murders and walk towards the police with an assault weapon, like kyle rittenhouse in kenosha, wisconsin. america, let this be the pressprt theprecedent, the precedent where we live up to the high ideals and the promises where we say liberty and justice for all. those sunkissed children are included in all, those children who overcame slavery, the middle

passage, the dread scott decision, ferguson, jim crow and his much smarter, wiser son jim crow jr., esquire. let this be the precedence where we overcome systemic racism and oppression and that we are a better people and we will leave our children a better world, a better world for us all. at this time, we will hear from a great lawyer, because nobody does this alone. it's always a team effort. we have the lawyers, the preachers, the civil rights leaders, the education leaders, the activists. let's give a big round of applause for the activists!

[ applause ] >> yeah, that's right. >> the people who stayed in the streets. >> that's right. >> the people who came nationally, but more importantly, the people who were here locally, who were standing up for george floyd at 38th and chicago avenue, day in and day o out. reverend jackson, people follow your example. donna williams. donna supposed to be here. [ applause ] >> so we love you, donna. without further ado, my brother attorney chris stewart. tony, you coming up? >> come on. >> we all right.

>> the first thing that happened when we heard the verdict is that we all teared up and embraced. so don't confuse these tears thinking that they are sorrow, because those were the tears that happened to african-americans when they're pulled over constantly on the side of the road and know they can't get help. those are the tears of the victims that we've seen time and time again be shot in the back, choked over loose cigarettes or killed for no reason, and justice never comes. those are the tears that someone will weep tomorrow when they are taken advantage of in an interaction with law enforcement. but today the tears are pure joy. >> yes. >> pure joy and pure shock, because days like this don't happen. the whole world should not have

to rally to get justice for one man, but that's what happened. >> amen. >> this wasn't a city case. this wasn't one family's case. this was the entire world's case. and justice finally came. but it shouldn't have to be so hard to attain this level of justice in cases like this when we can see with our own eyes the only difference is the color of his skin. that's the change we all want. that's outrageous. yes, law enforcement have a dangerous job. they carry a spear and a sword and a shield. all too often african-americans only get the spear or the sword. we need more of the shield. this is not the case of every officer. my life was saved by two law enforcement officers years ago. we will not throw every cop under the bus, but we will put more cops in jail when they kill someone just because they're

black. changes starting with the george floyd and justice in policing act, a beautifully-written bill that will help protect the community and solve policing. the main question is, will we let politics divide us? because that's what happens. republican or democrat, you're going to stick to your side. unify and get this bill passed and save people so you don't have to board up your own cities for situations like this. if not, we'll see you next time when it's time to vote. you've seen what's happened across this country. we shouldn't have to be so happy when we finally get one, but we are in celebration for gianna, for roxy who has stood strong this entire time, for the brothers and sisters, for the activists like tamika and everyone else, for this entire group. it wouldn't have happened

without everybody out there. let this be a changing point for america in policing in a positive way and let's unify. thank you, my brother. >> love you, man. >> attorney tony ramanucci from chicago, illinois. >> good afternoon. as ben said, my name is tony ramanucci. i'm smiling today not for myself, but really for the entire country and the world watching. i know that on behalf of the family and for everyone that's here today that we stand here before you feeling a tremendous amount of joy and eternal hope. for me, 36 years ago i was a young public defender in cook county. reverend jackson, i know you know that place very well. that's where i was introduced to the marginalization of black and

brown people. for now, this is the 36th year i've seen it come through. i really feel that this country has turned a corner, but i'm going to tell you it was a tough corner to turn. and it couldn't have been done -- i'm going to reach out to you all, the press, for spreading the message, for the strength and wisdom of ben crump. to you, reverend al sharpton, reverend jackson, the attorneys chris, justin, madelyn, jeff, michelle, nicolette, ian, all the teams in all the cities in this country, the attorney general and the magnificent prosecution team. they did it, right? >> they did. >> they tied up every loose -- they tied up every loose thread for that jury. they let them follow it right through. they showed them how to prosecute and how to convict,

and we are so grateful. but make no mistake, we are not done. the george floyd policing and reform act must pass the senate. >> yes. >> we now know that today police can and will be held accountable for needless death. this death never should have happened. george should have been alive somewhere with his daughter gianna playing on a playground. from now on, everyone's on notice that police will be held accountable, but we will be held accountable too. this whole country should be held accountable, but police especially. i am so thankful to all of you. i am hopeful for a greater america, for a great, great vote of confidence. i will tell you that speaker pelosi called us not once today, but twice. our speaker is a great leader. she is somebody that wants to

see this through. we have a great president who wants to see this through. we have one little hiccup in between. let's get this past the senate. let's get justice in america once and for all and forever. one last comment. i met a young lady yesterday. her name was lamaya. she said one thing to me that i promised her that i would repeat today. lamaya is not part of the floyd family, but she is part of the wright family. and she said one thing and i promised her i would say it today. we are all god's children. >> yes. >> thank you lamaya. [ applause ] >> thank you, tony. i know speaker pelosi called. we need to acknowledge when we were over at the courthouse as we were leaving, i got one of those calls. we stopped everything, and it

was chris and philones and roxy, all of us, justin, walking up. we stopped mid sentence because president biden called to talk about what a moment this was for america and how we have to use this moment to build on. so we want to acknowledge president biden acknowledging that we are all a better america today. isn't that what he said? okay. okay. we got so many good staff people to think. jim mcgovern, michelle, adna, roma, all the people working supporting our lawyers, silky, everybody. we can't be in minneapolis and not have a representative, whether jeff and michelle want to come up and say a word. our great minnesota cocounsellor

jeff storm. michelle. >> i just briefly want to say i love this city, i love this state. and no longer can we be known for these massively infamous failures in civil rights. we owe our children and our community more from this moment further, from this conviction now, we have to be leaders in this country on civil rights. and everyone standing up here will work tirelessly until that happens. and i challenge everybody else in minnesota to make that same effort. thank you. [ applause ] >> everybody, take a step back. let's try to make the podium --

just everybody take a step back. we're going to have the family. we're going to have the family come up. okay. okay. we're going to have the family come and try to greet you all. you got to back up too. the camera's trying to get the podium. yeah, so. right now we're going to bring up a man who, when i first met him, tony, i remember all he could do was cry, because he was heartbroken. he was heartbroken, because remember, so many times it's a case to us.

t tamika is a cause. my son is a hashtag. for them, this was flesh and blood. they slept in the bed with george. i mean, the stories that they tell, you know this was a close family. he tells those stories, reverend al, how he used to pe pee on george. [ laughter ] >> y'all, he has become so dignified and articulate and expressing not just the fight for justice for his family, not just the fight for justice for black america, but he really has become so articulate in saying we have to fight for all americans. mr. philones floyd. [ applause ] >> yeah.

>> hey. my nephew is calling me baby al. jessie calling me steve harvey. but man, i feel relieved today that i finally have the opportunity for hopefully getting some sleep. a lot of days that i prayed and i hoped and i was speaking everything into existence. i said, i have faith that he will be convicted. [ applause ] >> it's been a long journey. and it's been less than a year. the person that comes to my mind is 1955. to me, he was the first george floyd. that was emmett till. >> yeah. >> wow.

>> i did on cnn with debra watts. she just brought him back to life. people forgot about him, but he was the first george floyd. but today you have the cameras all around the world to see and show what happened to my brother. it was a motion picture. the world seen his life being extinguished. and i could do nothing but watch, especially in that courtroom over and over and over again as my brother was murdered. times, they getting harder every day. ten miles away from here, mr. wright, daunte wright, he should still be here. we ought to always understand

that we have to march. we will have to do this for life. we have to protest, because it seems like this is a neverending cycle. >> yeah. >> reverend al always told me, we got to keep fighting. i'm going to put up a fight every day, because i'm not just fighting for george anymore. i'm fighting for everybody around this world. i get calls. i get dms, people from brazil, from ghana, from germany. everybody, london, italy, they're all saying the same thing. we won't be able to breathe until you're able to breathe. today, we are able to breathe again. [ applause ] >> ms. garner, i told you we would get justice. we're still, we're going to fight for you too. we're going to fight for

everybody. thank you all so much for just giving us this time, because we're here and we're not going anywhere. and i want to thank all the protesters, all the attorneys who stepped up, all the activists who stepped up and many who think they're not activists but advocates. thank you all. >> amen. >> because justice for george means freedom for all. >> all right. >> that's it. [ applause ] >> terrence floyd. we will have terrence floyd, george's brother from new york city. >> reverend floyd. >> i'm not going to preach today, man. >> you're not going to preach today? >> i'm not going to preach. oh man, so many emotions right now, but i'm very thankful and

grateful, grateful for the people in this world, for the support, the prayers, the love that was shown whether you sent it by social media or whether you sent it e-mails or however. we just appreciate the love, appreciate the team, the crump law team. i call him unc. i call him unc. we built a bond and relationship through this whole journey. i appreciate him. he would call me. i'm all the way in new york. he'd call me and check up on me and ask if i'm all right, because i'm the only one up there. everybody else is down south. he never thought it robbery to check up on me and i'm grateful for that. i'm grateful for reverend sharpton. he's been fighting a long time. >> a long time. >> long time.

man, reverend jesse jackson. >> thank you. >> it's a lot of history here. >> yes, it is. >> history is here. this is monumental. [ applause ] >> reverend jesse jackson, al sharpton, they lived to see this. >> wow. >> their fight wasn't in vain. it just didn't happen when they did it, but it happened now. and they're here to see it and be proud of it. it goes back to when he did that prayer service. my family is a family that will not back down from prayer. >> yes. >> and i believe because of prayer, we got the verdict we

wanted. >> amen. >> amen. >> we got on our knees. some of us stood up, but we asked the right person, we asked the right one. we said, god, we need justice, we need it now. and he answered. oh man, i'm just grateful. i'm grateful that my grandmother, my mother, my aunt, they got to see this history made. i'm even grateful -- my brother's not here, and i'm grateful and i'm proud of him. i will salute him at every -- every day of my life, i will salute him, because he showed me how to be strong. he showed me how to be respectful. he showed me how to speak my

mind. i'm going to miss him, but now i know he's in history. what a day to be a floyd, man. [ applause ] >> thank you. >> thank you, terrence. now we will hear from george's baby brother rodney floyd. >> you know what, i'm going to say this first. i would like to thank all the advocates, the activists. i'd like to thank the people that stayed in these streets marching night and day, people of portland stayed in the streets with 83 days, i think. i may be wrong, but thankful for everybody that stayed out there making a statement with us in our dark days, dark nights. we had them. we got so many messages from

social media sites. we can't read them all, but thank you for each and every one. so many people at grocery stores who walked in. we heard from elders. i believe in respecting the elders. i hear them walk up in the grocery store, stop me. i'm in a hat and a mask and they say looking at the side of your face, let me talk to you, i know who you are. we stop and hold a great conversation, telling me what they experienced as a child, what they saw and what they need for change. and they say we are here for you. this is everywhere i go, my brother go, we all go. thank you people for the love in the stlreets. i'm thanking everyone. we couldn't have did this. this is a victory for all of us. there's no color boundary on this. this is everyone who's been held down, pinned down. you know what, people? we stand together in unity. i would like to thank our team, ben crump, tony romanucci. the witnesses, donna williams.

i would like to thank the jury. thank god almighty. thank you. my brother, george, he's smiling. his beautiful daughter is here gianna. baby, you're so beautiful, so smart. roxy, you have my heart baby. thank you for holding gianna, keeping her strong. i know how hard it is. i'd like to thank everybody what helped out, thank this jury for having the hearts and minds. we know this video was an open-and-shut case. and what the jury had to say, guilty as charged. i'd like to thank them. i'd like to thank, again, everybody, the press and all. for george, this fight is not over. we're going to stand here together. we're going to try to get the george floyd act passed. the act has to be passed, people. it has to be. we're going to keep pressure on

the senate, everybody. thank you all for coming. george, i know that he love all y'all. thank you all. [ applause ] >> all right, rodney. next, we're going to have a man who him and george used to text each other all the time. congresswoman sheila jackson lee always talked about cutie homes, houston texas. i think y'all call him woo. we're going to hear from brandon williams, was like a son to george. [ applause ] >> woo. >> it's a very mother-in-law day for me. i'm overwhelmed with joy, but i do want to start off by saying thank you.

thank you to all you guys, advocating, protesting in the middle of a and, putting your lives and safety on the line. we appreciate that. especially to our legal team, ben, tony, justin, chris, justin back here. definitely, definitely thank you to keith ellison and his team. [ applause ] >> i think they did an amazing job from start to finish. all of the evidence, all of the witnesses, everything proved exactly what we saw in that video. but yet, often times this system fails us as black men and women in america. everything pointed to a guilty verdict. in some cases, i got my friend

kenny walker back here. we don't even get charges. so today is a pivotal moment for america. it's something this country has needed for a long time now. hopefully today is the start of this. when i say a pivotal moment, we need change in this broken system. it was built to oppress us. it was built against us. of oftentimes we see people who are supposed to protect and serve, supposed to protect and serve. they do the total opposite. on the first day of trial, rev sharpton we had a press conference and we kneeled for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. when i got up and it was my turn to speak, i said that every time

i come out here, it's hard, because this is the exact place where they took somebody from me that i love and i absolutely dislike coming here. but i also said this time it was easy. we came for one thing and one thing only. that was justice for george floyd. and today that's what we got. [ applause ] >> so this time it wasn't hard at all. it wasn't hard at all. i'm big on faith and prayer. >> yes. >> i had a lot of faith, but i was also optimistic. we need police reform bad. >> yes. >> these guys are able to wear a badge and go out in the field, which means that they're qualified and trained to do

their job at a high level. but when you shoot and kill a man that's running away from you that doesn't pose a threat, either you're not qualified and undertrained, or it's a choice and you want to kill black men and women. it's either one or the other. i think today keith ellison and his team proved that just because you are the law, you're not above the law. >> yeah! >> we need each and every officer to be held accountable. until then, it's still scary to be a black man or woman in america encountering police. so when i say today is a pivotal moment, it's a time for america to take the turn in the right direction and right a lot of wrongs so we don't keep adding to these names, so little girls and boys like gianna are not

growing up fatherless, so their family don't feel the pain we feel. it was a lot of sleepless nights. no family should go through that. hopefully our country will turn the right direction today. this day in history proves that it was a turning point. thank you. we'll hear from a few other men. he talked about kenny walker, chriss as we talk about all the brothers, we can never forget they're killing black women as well. we got to remember breonna taylor, we got to remember tatiana johnson and tamika

mallory. may 13th, we are having a march for black women in baytown, texas, because when you were outraged when george floyd killed by the police, you should be equally outraged how they killed pam turner, an unarmed black woman landed down on her back that he shot her in the face, chest and in the stomach. justice for george floyd means freedom for us all. we are fighting for pam turner. we'll bring up people coming from the harris county area. cousin of george floyd. >> well, first of all, let me just say that my cousin and wu

have covered everything. i don't have much to say. i want to echo the sentiment that when we started the journey, we were committed to do a couple of things. one thing to ensure that justice was served and we'll be here visible and present and actively v involved. we rely on this and of other areas of our live and we prayed to god and we expected our prayers not to come back void and he delivered today. we are eternally grateful for everyone from the press to the activists and the attorneys and prosecution team, everyone, we have so many people that we want to thank that i just really feel like we are going to leave somebody out. i hope you would charge it to my head and not my heart. we sincerely appreciate everything that everybody has

done. we thank you. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> wow. >> i am really overwhelmed with emotions and i am just grateful for this day. it has been a journey for sure. and this victory for george floyd today is a victory for many. when we started this journey, like my sister said, we are committed to making sure that we know we'll never get george back. that's the sad part. we are fighting and we'll continue to fight because we all individually are involved and we had that conversation that if we could have been there with george on that day, there probably would have been more than one dead. but, we could not be there. we can't bring him back but we can save lives. we want the actual reform that's

going to not only give us the change we want but make sure not another family has to suffer what we suffered. thank you all, my sister kind of touched on everything. we have an amazing team here who have helped us along this journey and grateful for everyone who has supported us along the way. we are forever grateful to you. we love you all. thank you. >> thank you. tera. >> so we are going to hear from two more cousins and then we are going to hear from last the family, roxy and gianna are going to come and reverend jackson and others can address. at this time we are going to have angela paris come, cousin of george floyd.

>> hello, image la harrelson, i am actually george floyd's aunt and this is the cousin here. >> this has been a hard role not just for me but the family, before everybody. i want to especially thank the minneapolis community for holding it down at the george floyd square. chanel austin, and jeanette rupert, maya washington, these are leaders that held it down. they kept that place sacred for everyone to go there to express their condolences and so we appreciate that. and this verdict is a verdict that's well needed and it is overdue. i want to say to the people around the world that that's listening, it was a darkness. on pay 25th was a very, very dark day. there is a lot of pain and a lot of hatred.

but, i want to say at the same time that i got a chance to witness something. i got a chance to witness the love that i saw around the world that was poured to the family. i don't know if i will ever see that again in my lifetime but i am glad that i got to see the love that you have shown me and my family and everyone because you have touched us. i want to say thank you and i am so glad about this day. thank you. [ applause ] >> all right, we are going to continue to monitor the family there speaking so powerfully, so emotionally. a historic day here in the united states of america. the jury deliberated two days, ten hour, second-degree unintentional murder, guilty. and third-degree murder, guilty.

second-degree man slaughter, guilty. we saw chauvin handcuffed and he's going to jail. but now he's going to jail, don lemon, i want to get your reaction for the powerful statements we have heard from so many right now, all believing that potentially our country has had a major moment a pivot potentially in the history of racism in our country. >> as i said earlier it was an inflection point and actually they repeated that earlier from steve. we are in an inflection point. i stop taking notes a the beginning. i stopped for a while to watch what was happening to be able to observe it and absorb it, not only as a journalist but as a personal of color in this

country. i won't begin to speak for my colleagues but i know how they feel. we sit here and sometimes we get a little bit too digndignified. for van as a black man when he sees flashing lights behind him or for chief ramsey who has had to work as a law enforcement officer for so many years and suffered injustices as well and for me, the emotional and how emotional it was covering this trial the entire time and getting criticized for just the personal aspect of it not only from the public but from the highest office of the land. the last time we spent this much time covering this trial was

being gasted from the former president. before i stop taking notes, i will tell you the most important thing i thought was said by congre keith ellison that says this is more than justice, tit is accountability. this is what jury blackwell says, this sends a message to the floyd family that his life mattered. the third thing, this helps us further along the road to a better humanity. let's hope those words stick with us. >> we are standing by, don, to hear from the president of the united states, joe biden. he's getting ready to speak. a very dramatic moment for them,

a dramatic moment for the entire country. the former police officer is a convicted murderer, he's in jail right now, our special coverage will continue of course throughout the night. e erin burnett "out front" picks it up right now. ♪ good evening, i am erin burnett, our breaking news coverage continues. the george floyd's family sp speaking. i want to get to sara sidner. she's joined by george floyd's brother, philonise, sara, please take it away. >> reporter: philonise, you have been here in