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Pro-Gun Rally Ends Peacefully Despite Fears of Extremist Violence; Auschwitz-Birkenau Liberated 75 Years Ago; More Fired in Puerto Rico over Misplaced Aid. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired January 20, 2020 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:32:57]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Two Honolulu police officers were shot and killed responding to a domestic violence call in Hawaii. Authorities say Jerry Hanel opened fire as officers approached the home. Officers Tiffany Enriquez and Kaulike Kalama were killed. The Honolulu police chief says the families and police department are devastated.
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SUSAN BALLARD, CHIEF, HONOLULU POLICE DEPARTMENT: They left in the morning alive. And they get - you know, they come to the hospital and find out that their loved ones are no longer around. So very emotional, very emotional.
I'm sorry?
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BALLARD: I did. They were like my kids.
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KEILAR: Now, following the shooting, police say the gunman started a fire in the home that spread, destroying seven homes. The suspect and two women remain unaccounted for.
A security guard is being credited today for saving the lives of numerous people gathered outside a bar in Kansas City after an unidentified man opened fire on a line of people, killing one and wounding as many as 15 others. Police say a security guard returned fire, killing the shooter.
They still don't know why the man opened fire on this line in front of this bar. People had gathered there to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs win, getting them into the Super Bowl for the first time in 50 years.
And today, in Richmond, Virginia, gun owners and gun rights activists demonstrated at the capitol against a new gun measure in the state. Officials set up a gun-free perimeter around the building as police spent the weekend looking into threats of violence from some white supremacist groups.
All of this has echoes of the tragic violence that broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia, during protests in 2017.
Let's go to CNN's Sara Sidner. She's there on the ground in Richmond.
Sara, what's this gun bill about that sparked all of this protest in the first place?
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are actually several measures that have passed through the committee that talk about restricting gun rights. One of which is you can only buy one gun a month.
There are others saying that localities, local governments can restrict people carrying guns if they have like a permitted demonstration or permitted event.
[13:35:05]
And there are a few others that have been discussed, red flag laws, for example, that if someone is considered a danger to themselves or are a danger to others, their gun can be confiscated. That has been discussed but not passed through the committees.
But all of this talk about gun legislation has brought out tens of thousands of people. There are so many people out on the streets. They have dispersed as the police came and said, OK, the rally time is over. People peacefully left.
You're seeing the remnants of the security apparatus that was in place. We're literally standing on the other side of the fence from where the capitol is. Those who were going into the capitol had to go in without their weapons, which greatly angered folks because this was a Second Amendment rights rally.
Those that were out here, some were armed to the teeth to try show the fact that they can have their guns, that it is their right to be able to display the Second Amendment in any way they please.
We did talk to a gentleman from Richmond, who was also African- American, saying he was trying to send a message to not only folks here, who he said welcomed him, but to other black folks in the country to know your rights and to stand up for them.
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REGGIE BOWLES, GUN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I came out here to show support for Lobby Day. The governor is actually trying to pass a lot of laws that restrict and remove a lot of firearms from individuals who have never committed a crime, i.e., myself.
The weapon that I came out here with today will actually be banned under the new proposed law he's trying to pass. So I wanted to come out here and show him that I can come out here, act reasonable, have a conversation and dialogue.
If I was standing in front of the governor, I would tell him that responsibility I've been owning weapons like this for well over 10 years. And it's not fair to disarm somebody who has no criminal history, no ill intent. I feel like you can't legislate ill-minded people.
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SIDNER: He was talking about a law that was discussed as to whether or not they're going to try to ban, for example, assault rifles.
We also spoke with Scott Jenkins, who is a county sheriff, and he was clear in what he said. He said, look, if I think these laws that are passed by this legislation are unconstitutional, I'm not going to enforce them.
There are very, very strong feelings about some of the laws being discussed and some of the laws passed through committee already -- Brianna?
KEILAR: Sara, thank you so much. I really appreciate that report.
There are visitors turning out to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, visiting the King Memorial in Washington as one of those ways. Just a look at how his memory is being honor today. Next.
Plus, this month also marks 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz where nearly a million Jews were murdered. And survivors are vowing to never let future generations forget the horror that happened there.
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KEILAR: It's the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz, the largest of the Nazi death camps in World War II. Nearly one million Jews were murdered there. And survivors are determined to bear witness to those horrors, sharing their stories in the hopes that future generations never forget what happened there.
We want to warn you this report contains graphic images, but it's a very important one.
Here's CNN's Melissa Bell.
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ZIGI SHIPPER, AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU SURVIVOR: The screaming at night was just unbelievable. We still didn't understand why they didn't kill us and be finished. Why did we have to suffer so much?
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Zigi Shipper was only 14 when he arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau in the summer of 1944. Now 90, he spends most of his time speaking about what he saw. Like the moment the doors of his cattle train opened onto the camp.
Some went straight to the gas chambers. For the others, the suffering was just beginning.
SHIPPER: The guards came over to them and asked them, just put their baby down. She wouldn't do it. So they tried to rip that baby out of her arms. And if they didn't succeed, they shot the woman and sometimes the baby as well.
Why kill babies? Why don't you give them enough food? I asked the children, when I speak, I asked the grown-ups. Tell me something, have we learned? And everybody says no.
BELL: But these pictures had shocked the world, 75 years ago. They were captured by Red Army soldiers as they liberated Poles, Russians, Romas, homosexuals, and Jews. Ninety percent of the 1.1 million people who died in the camp were Jewish.
(on camera): It is both the scale and the depth of human suffering here that are really hard to fathom. However, what happened behind these fences is still within living memory, but only just.
With Auschwitz marking the 75th anniversary of its liberation, and with the recent rise in anti-Semitic attacks both in the United States and in locations here in Europe, the question is whether collective memory can ever last longer than a single lifetime.
[13:45:09]
(voice-over): These schoolkids are being shown around by Ginette Kolinka, a 94-year-old French survivor of Birkenau.
Isn't it difficult to come back, asks one student.
No, she replies. My feelings never made it out of here.
NOLWENN JOURDAIN, STUDENT: Hearing it from people that have lived it, that were, like, this was a living hell. They were tortured. You really have to be tolerant and accept people as they are because nobody deserves this.
BELL: It is that message of broader tolerance that drives Zigi to speak as often as he can about what he saw.
SHIPPER: I said, whatever you do, don't hate. Hate is the worst thing you can do. Never mind what nationality they are, what religion. To me, everybody is the same. We are just human beings.
BELL: And yet, anti-Semitism in the United States is at near-historic levels, according to the Anti-Defamation League. And worldwide, anti- Semitic attacks rose by 13 percent in 2018, according to Tel Aviv University.
SHIPPER: It's not for me that I'm worried. For my children, for my grandchildren, for my great-grandchildren. But, you know, we mustn't give up. You've got to think it'll change. You've got to. But we need the people to do something about it. And that's why we speak. We must not forget.
BELL: Melissa Bell, CNN, Auschwitz-Birkenau.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: As we mark the Martin Luther King Jr holiday, these are a picture of the Martin Luther King memorial in Washington earlier today. The Memorial Foundation, which built the memorial, held a wreathing-laying ceremony there this morning.
And in San Antonio, Texas, thousands showed up for the 33rd annual Martin Luther King march. Locals leaders calling it one of the largest marches in the country and urging its residents to stand together in equality and inclusion.
In Dallas, some fourth and fifth graders honored the civil icon by competing in a speech contest that answers the question, what would MLK's vision be for 2020.
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COLIN HARRIS, COMPETITION WINNER: Dr. King's vision for society would have been for us to move forward and allow people to live their lives despite their racial backgrounds. In order to meet that vision, we would have to listen to one another, have compassion for each other.
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KEILAR: That is fifth grader, Colin Harris. He won the competition. And afterward, he explained that it all boils down to love.
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HARRIS: What I meant by moving forward was to stop worrying about differences of people and move on to a better society where love comes first instead of hate.
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KEILAR: There were more than a hundred Dallas students from 16 different schools who took part in that competition.
There's outrage in Puerto Rico after a warehouse full of emergency supplies believed to be there since Hurricane Maria hit the island two years ago discovered there. You can see in these pictures. This island is still reeling from a historic earthquake and thousands of aftershocks.
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KEILAR: Puerto Rico's governor has fired two more officials after angry residents discovered a stash of untouched emergency supplies in a warehouse that they believe were from Hurricane Maria, which means they've been sitting there for more than two years. I want to bring in CNN's Rafael Romo in Puerto Rico.
Rafael, you have been speaking to officials there and they are trying to pin down the facts on all of this, right?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Brianna. There has been a lot of speculation flying around as to what happened at this warehouse behind me, whether this was a case of corruption and mismanagement or a big misunderstanding.
I have had an opportunity to talk to the man in charge now after what happened over the weekend and I asked him specifically what happened here, and this was his answer.
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ROMO: Do you know for a fact there was mismanagement or corruption here in this warehouse?
ADJUTANT GEN. JOSE J. REYES, COMMANDING OFFICER, PUERTO RICO NATIONAL GUARD: I would be speculating if I answered that question. Certainly I received a directive to assume control of all of the response efforts from the state. And that's what we call incident commander, and that's what I am securing since yesterday morning. I tasked my units to come here and conduct a full inventory.
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ROMO: Brianna, the question on whether the emergency aid here in this warehouse goes all the way back to Hurricane Maria, he said they are building an inventory right now and they don't have the answer yet.
There's an investigation and it's supposed to be completed within 48 hours. So until then, they won't be able to say much more than that.
Brianna, back to you.
KEILAR: You see the pictures, Rafael, it just water for days, basically.
Rafael, thank you for that report from Puerto Rico.
[13:54:49]
We have more of our breaking news this hour. The president and his legal team releasing their trial brief, laying out their defense to Senators, blasting the process as a charade. We will have more on their arguments and how Democrats are responding.
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KEILAR: Prince Harry is still on the job, meeting today with African leaders at a U.K.-sponsored event in London. This comes just a day after the prince took time to explain why he and his wife, Meghan, will be giving up their royal titles and will no longer represent the queen in any official capacity. In his speech, Prince Harry placed blame on the media, calling it a powerful force.
[14:00:03]
That is it for me.
Our coverage now continues with Dana Bash on "NEWSROOM" right now.
