PPE Profiteers; Two Men Jailed in Death of Jogger
ALLEN: Welcome back. I'm Natalie Allen. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Two White House staffers have tested positive for the coronavirus during the past two days. Katie Miller, who is married to Stephen Miller, is press secretary for the vice president. She tested positive on Friday one day after one of President Trump's personal valets also tested positive. And a source tells CNN that personal assistant to Ivanka Trump has tested positive but the staffer has been working remotely and has not had any contact with the president's daughter in weeks. As coronavirus cases have risen in the U.S., many states have desperately tried to get protective gear for their medical workers and they have paid out tens of millions of dollars for it. But as CNN's Drew Griffin explains, that has quickly become fertile ground for profiteers.</s>DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While coronavirus was overwhelming hospitals, governors across the country were in a mad scramble to find supplies and a lot of people were making a lot of money.</s>GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): I can't tell you how many orders we placed with vendors who were acting basically is brokers who just started businesses in the middle of this pandemic because they saw an opportunity.</s>GRIFFIN: From New York to California to Louisiana, hundreds of millions of dollars in ventilators, masks and other personal protective equipment were ordered, but some of it never showed up. After stalled deals, the governors of both California and Maryland say they are looking into deals with Blue Flame Medical, a pop-up medical supply company started by two Republican operatives.</s>GOV. LARRY HOGAN (R-MD): Unfortunately, across the country, there have been some cases of fraud. It is unconscionable that anyone would try to exploit this pandemic for profit or for personal gain.</s>GRIFFIN: An attorney speaking on behalf of Blue Flame told CNN the company fully intends to honor the contract for a million-and-a-half masks and 110 ventilators to Maryland and says that the Chinese government interfered with its ability to fulfill the shipment. In Louisiana, at the height of New Orleans' pandemic crisis, $7 million of PPE supplies never showed, the third-party supplier now being charged with defrauding the VA. Former federal prosecutor Elie Honig says, a crisis with billions of dollars being spent quickly is the perfect environment for wide-scale fraud.</s>ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Any time there's opportunity, any time there's a pot of money, dishonest people will have their hands in it, even in times of emergency. For some people, there's just no bottom.</s>GRIFFIN: Adding to the issue, the lack of federal leadership on supplies that forced states to fend for themselves, scouring the Internet or relying upon unknown suppliers. Case in point, New York state.</s>A. CUOMO: Competition among states. There were competition among private entities to get this equipment. The federal government was trying to buy it.</s>GRIFFIN: The one that's received the most attention is a deal for 1,400 ventilators from a Silicon Valley engineer. The state paid $69 million, but the ventilators never arrived. A spokesman from Governor Cuomo's office said: "HHS referred us directly, confirming they were vetted and approved by the federal government themselves." The engineer behind the failed deal did not return CNN's calls. And though most of the money has been returned, $10 million is still under negotiation.</s>A. CUOMO: As a nation, we can't go through this again.</s>GRIFFIN: To fight fraud and better their bargaining position, new York and six other Northeast states have now joined together to stabilize the supply chain and combat the fraud that is also spreading like the virus itself.</s>GOV. GINA RAIMONDO (D-RI): In an ideal world, you would have had the federal government stepping up earlier. That's not happening. So, governors are getting it done.</s>GRIFFIN: The fact is the federal government and a group of volunteers organized by Jared Kushner were behind the referral for the failed New York ventilator deal according to "The New York Times," so it is not just about getting federal help, it is about getting experienced federal help. States say that is not happening so they are going it alone -- Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.</s>ALLEN: Now we turn to a case that is captivating this country.</s>ALLEN: To the state of Georgia now right here where two white men accused of killing a black jogger outside Brunswick, that is on the Georgia coast, are in jail now without bond. This video obtained by CNN shows 64-year-old Gregory McMichael and his 34-year-old son, Travis, being arrested by authorities Thursday afternoon. Martin Savidge is South Georgia with the latest.</s>MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Gregory and Travis McMichael, the father and son arrested in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, had their first appearance in court today done by video link from the county jail. It was a pretty simple affair. Their rights were read to them, the charges were also read against them. And it was also said that there was no bond at this particular time. They were done individually and each one took less than two minutes. And they really didn't have anything to say other than to acknowledge when their names were called. Outside of that very same courthouse earlier in the day had been a huge protest. In fact, one of the largest that has taken place in this tragedy. Many of the attempts to try to have protests before had, of course, been limited due to the pandemic and the limitations put on crowd gatherings. But today there were hundreds of people and it was a very mixed crowd that represented the diverse nature of the Brunswick community. This had been planned before the arrests and no one was saying that this was the time to celebrate. In fact, they said this is just the first step. And there is still a great deal of frustration. Many are still deeply troubled by the fact that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation can come in and, in less than two days of looking at the evidence, determine that an arrest is warranted on the charge of murder; whereas the local authorities spent over two months investigating and did nothing. There is also a frustration about the potential for a third person that may have been involved and whether or not they will be brought to justice. That person is William Bryant. He is the person taking the video. Interestingly enough the fact that, of course, without that video, many people believe we wouldn't be where we are today with the arrest. But at the same time in police reports, he has been depicted as either a witness or a participant. And so it was asked of the GBI what is his status, could he be arrested. The head of the GBI said at this time their investigation continues and there is the possibility of more arrests -- Martin Savidge, CNN, Glynn County, Georgia.</s>ALLEN: Arbery and he father spoke with Chris Cuomo Friday night and he said his son was good hearted and that the circumstances of his death amount to a lynching.</s>MARCUS ARBERY, AHMAUD'S FATHER: I just want people to know that he was a very good young man and he loved people and I just want people to remember him as a good hearted young man and he was the type of young man if he had one dollar and you needed that one dollar, he would give it to you. That is just how good his heart was. And I done see him work the whole week 40 hours and if you needed his whole check, he gave it to me. And I told my son, don't work and give your whole check-up, you know. But that is just how good a heart he was. Everybody loved him. If you know him, you could see he was a very amenable, good young man. And to see him just get left like that by a racial mob like that, that is just devastating to our family.</s>CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: These are heavy words for you to use. Why do you see it as a lynching by a racial mob?</s>ARBERY: When you come at a young man, you jump on the back of a pickup truck with a pop shotgun and a .357 Magnum in a pickup truck like front of racial mobid (ph), and you follow him like he was an animal and gun him down like he was an animal, he's trying to -- and all he's doing is running. And he tried to avoid you all and he just tried to stay out of you all way. You all just kept on pursuing him and blocking him in with that truck and he didn't have no chance. All he did is just try to defend himself. He had no win. Three men with guns, an unarmed black African American man, didn't give him no chance because of the color of his skin. That just -- that just -- I'm a recall for racedness (ph), hatreds and that's no place in this Brunswick for that. That is just</s>ARBERY: I just want them to get a life sentence. We just don't believe in killing. I just want them to suffer that how my family is suffering. I want them to see my son's face every day they do time. I want them to see his face. I just want them to just suffer hard because I just don't believe in no death, you know what I'm saying? I just want you to stay locked up so these mad monks (ph) don't get out here and kill nobody again.</s>ALLEN: Well, Ahmaud Arbery was honored all over the world Friday, which would have been his 26th birthday. People ran 2.23 miles to symbolize the day he was killed, February 23rd. They documented their runs and then posted to social media, using #IRunWithMaud, his nickname. His high school football coach organized the event. He posted his own message Friday.</s>JASON VAUGHN, AHMAUD'S HIGH SCHOOL COACH: Maud, I'm standing in the same spot the last time I seen you take a run. I will not get tired until we get justice, until your family finds peace. I want you to know this morning, Maud, that you got a whole community behind you. #IRunWithMaud."</s>ALLEN: We'll be right back.