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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Officers Severely Hurt in Three Cities Overnight; Trump Orders Up Photo Op at Church Near White House; Biden Visits Delaware Black Church, Talks with Community Leaders; George Floyd's Brother Pleads for End to Violent Protests; Hennepin Co. Medical Examiner Says Manner of Death is Homicide; Stocks Finish Higher; Air Travel Slowly Starts to Bounce Back; Facebook Employees Stage Virtual Walkout Over CEO's Inaction on Trump Posts; Police and Protesters Come Together. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired June 02, 2020 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Nic, thank you so much, good to see you as always.
EARLY START continues right now.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
JARRETT: Good morning, this is EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It's 30 minutes past the hour this Tuesday morning. And breaking overnight, violence turning against members of law enforcement in at least three major cities with anger boiling over after the death of George Floyd. In St. Louis at least four officers have been shot while deploying tear gas and flash bangs. The department says about 200 people started looting downtown throwing fireworks at officers and pouring gas on officers before the shots were fires.
JARRETT: All of the officers were taken to the hospital. They are expected to survive.
Also, a New York City police sergeant was the victim of a violent hit and run. There are reports of an officer shot in Las Vegas as well. We will bring you more details as we get them.
CHURCH: But here we have a nation in dire need of healing and it gets what it needed least -- a photo op. Peaceful protestors exercising their First Amendment rights fired on with rubber bullets and tear gas by police, cleared away like garbage for a photo op. All of it under the watchful eye of the United States Attorney General, the Secretary of Defense and the national security advisor. And what was it all for? So the President could stand in front of a boarded-up church and hold up the bible as a political prop. The church's bishop was furious.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BISHOP MARIANN EDGAR BUDDE, EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF WASHINGTON: The President just used a bible and a sacred text of the Judeo-Christian tradition and one of the churches of my diocese without permission as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and everything that our churches stand for. I am outraged. The President did not pray when he came to St. John's nor as you just articulated that he acknowledges the agony of our country right now and in particular that of the people of color in our nation. I just can't believe what my eyes have seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: A source tells CNN the President orchestrated this entire stunt because he was angered by a reporting over the weekend about him being hold up in the White House bunker during earlier protests. Trump called himself an ally to all peaceful protestors. At the same time he had peaceful protesters ejected so that he could have his reality TV moment.
CHURCH: The move endangered those protesters, endangered Secret Service agents there to protect him and it endangered the rule of law the president is sworn to uphold. And it happened moments after Trump announced he is planning to deploy the military to enforce order within the United States. A declaration that made Pentagon officials uneasy. Here's chief political correspondent Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Demonstrations at Lafayette Park across from the White House peaceful until this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And all of a sudden, they're eyeball to eyeball.
BASH: Law enforcement in riot gear approach a barrier. Protesters on the other side hands up in the air chanting, don't shoot. But that's exactly what they did. Shooting tear gas and rubber bullets. These horrifying sounds heard in the White House Rose Garden where the President starts to speak.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am your President of law and order and an ally of all peaceful protestors.
BASH: The real time split screen tells a different story. Peaceful protestors forcibly moved. A photojournalist hit with a police shield while trying to report and capture the scene. The President mostly side stepped the frustration and despair triggered by George Floyd's death at the knee of a white police officer, instead condemning violence in cities across the country.
TRUMP: These are acts of domestic terror. The destruction of innocent life and the spilling of innocent blood is an offense to humanity and a crime against god. America needs creation not destruction.
BASH: And a warning to governors and mayors where protests are erupting, not coincidentally largely run by Democrats. TRUMP: If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are
necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.
BASH: Then the reason peaceful protestors were forcibly moved became more clear, to make way for the President to stage a photo op.
TRUMP: Now I'm going to pay my respects to a very, very special place. Thank you very much.
[04:35:00]
BASH: A walk across the street for the cameras, aides in tow, through Lafayette Park. Destination, historic St. John's church, where presidents have prayed since James Madison. But this President did not come to pray. A fire damaged part of it the night before. A useful back drop.
TRUMP: We have a great country.
BASH: He didn't use many words. But they weren't necessary. The image, holding up a bible in front of that church is what he wanted to convey, inviting up staff, all white, perhaps not part of the script he intended but a stark visual, nonetheless.
(on camera): One of the reasons the President was so eager to get out of the White House for that photo op was because he was angry about reports that he was holed up in a White House bunker during protests on Friday night. CNN's Kevin Liptak reports that he was afraid that it made him look weak and was looking for a way to counter that. Also as for the protests, the White House insists that the reason that law enforcement pushed them back at the time that they did was to expand the perimeter near the White House ahead of a D.C. curfew.
Dana Bash, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JARRETT: Dana, thank you so much.
Joe Biden was also at church on Monday. The former Vice President went to a black church in Wilmington, Delaware, to meet with community leaders. His first in person events since the pandemic was part listening session, part campaign speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He just hides. Don't go away. And when you have somebody in power who breathes oxygen and the hate on the rise, everybody is frightened, and everybody's angry and the first thing we have to do is bring people together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Meantime, former president Barack Obama on Monday said the way to protest were seeing across the country represent a genuine frustration over police misconduct. He went on to write that choice isn't between protests and politics. You can have both but specific demands on criminal justice are needed right now to bring about real change once the protests come to an end.
ROMANS: All right, businesses have been suffering for months because of the coronavirus. Many were beginning to reopen and now they're facing a new threat. Small business owners say stores have been damaged and merchandise has been looted. After months of closing or operating at limited capacity, damage from the protests could be the last straw for some of them. Now the major retailers like Target, Walmart and Apple have closed stores again while Amazon has adjusted routes or scaled back delivery in some cities to protect those workers. Still many small business owners have expressed solidarity with the protesters even as they try to make sense with the financial loss and figure out a path toward reopening.
JARRETT: All right, still ahead two autopsies of the same man. Two different causes of death but the same result. What does it all mean for the investigation into George Floyd's killing? CNN is live in Minneapolis.
[04:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: An emotional moment in Minneapolis. George Floyd's brother, Terence Floyd, visiting the site where his brother was killed. And he had a simple message for the violent agitators. Stop.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRENCE FLOYD, BROTHER OF GEORGE FLOYD: I understand you're are upset, but like it was already said I doubt you're all half as upset as I am. So if I'm not over here well enough. If not over here blowing up stuff. If I'm not over here messing up my community, then what are y'all doing? What are y'all doing? Y'all doing nothing because that's not going to bring my brother back at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: It was really a powerful moment yesterday in their Minneapolis. Experts hired by the Floyd family and the Hennepin County medical examiner have both concluded George Floyd's death was a homicide but they don't agree on everything. Let's go live to Minneapolis and bring in our Josh Campbell. Josh, walk us through this. They both say that it was homicide but they have different reasons for getting there. Tell us about it.
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. And this is obviously a sensitive topic when you're getting into forensics and obviously, we're focusing on the death of Mr. Floyd. But this is important for the potential prosecution of these officers. Now just days ago there was a preliminary report that was released by the medical examiner's office that did not indicate asphyxiation or loss of oxygen as the cause of death. Now that conflicted with an independent autopsy that was done by the
family of Mr. Floyd. Those results released yesterday saying that they did, indeed, find asphyxiation. Also the medical examiner's office releasing a report last night saying that the cause of death was homicide. Now the reason why the distinction is so important is because if you're the defendant and you're trying to, you know, obviously provide a robust defense, they might say that well, there were pre-existing conditions that then led to some kind of heart issue rather than the loss of oxygen.
Whereas, the prosecutors will be looking to say that you know, no, this was the result of the knee on the neck that then caused Mr. Floyd to lose oxygen. We're still waiting for the final report from the medical examiner's office. There's no timetable on when that will come. But that will provide more robust details into what actually transpired here in Minneapolis.
[04:45:02]
ROMANS: We know he died at the hands of police. How exactly still remains to be seen. We know that police and National Guard have shown a really heavy presence in the past few days. Were also hearing authorities are now tracking down people involved in fueling all of the violence there in Minneapolis. What more can you tell us about that?
CAMPBELL: Yes, so here in Minneapolis we saw the heavy police presence that were engaging with violent protesters as they clashed in different areas. What we hadn't seen until recently was what was going on behind the scenes, the investigation into some of these agitators. Federal authorities announcing yesterday that they have arrested one of these outside agitators.
An Illinois man who came here to Minneapolis. Now the alleged on the criminal complaint that there was a Facebook video that showed this perpetrator, a 28-year-old man handing out explosive devices to other rioters to then lob at police. In one of these videos on Facebook the suspect is seen handing the device to someone who then throws it. An audible explosion is heard and the suspect tells him, good shot, my boy -- depicting this violent clash between law enforcement officers and violent protesters.
We're told that there are other investigations like this that are underway right now and it has led to this destruction like we see behind us. Some of these burned out buildings in and around this area. Again we saw what was happening before our eyes. We saw the confrontation. We saw people lighting these buildings on fire. We're starting now to get some insight into investigators about what was happening behind the scenes as they go after these people who are allegedly responsible for this.
ROMANS: All right, Josh Campbell, great reporting. Thank you for all the great work you're doing there in Minneapolis. We'll talk soon.
JARRETT: Well in Denver protests were mostly peaceful as thousands of demonstrators marched to the state capitol for the fifth straight night despite a curfew there. Large crowds assembled across Lincoln Street into the Civic Center Park. Earlier in the day a showing of solidarity. Denver's police chief marching arm in arm with protesters joined by several other officers. We'll be right back.
[04:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: A quick look at markets around the world here on this Tuesday morning. You can see green arrows, advances around the world here especially big gains in Frankfurt and Paris. On Wall Street, looking at futures. You can see U.S. futures are also pointing a little bit higher. The Dow is solidly above 25,000. Stocks closed higher Monday even though plenty of things for investors to be concerned about here. We'll have the jobs report later this week that will show just utter devastation in the American job market. But the Dow finished up 92 points. The S&P and Nasdaq also closed higher.
The economic damage from the pandemic has been widespread. 40 million people out of work. Small businesses shuttered for weeks. A new report from the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO estimates it could take nearly a decade for the American economy to fully recover from the coronavirus.
Air travel though nowhere near where it was before the pandemic but it is beginning to bounce back. The TSA said the number of people going through airport security checkpoints nearly doubled during May. Now airlines are preparing for more passengers with temperature checks at departure dates. They are now flying more planes. Still the pandemic has hit this industry hard and many airlines warn they will need to lay off employees in October when federal funds run out.
Some Facebook employees staged a virtual walkout Monday to protest the CEO Mark Zuckerberg's in action on a series of posts from President Trump. A spokesperson for Facebook said, we encourage employees to speak openly when they disagree with leadership as we face difficult decisions around content ahead, will continue seeking their honest feedback. Managers at Facebook were told not to retaliate against staff who protest.
JARRETT: All right, coronavirus cases are spiking in California right now. The state has seen an 11 percent increase over just five days and on Sunday California registered a single day high with over 3,700 cases. Figures like that only highlight the risk to thousands of protesters who are packed into a confined space potentially spreading the disease to one another.
Despite tensions in communities across the country right now, we are seeing police and protesters trying to find common ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF TERENCE MONAHAN, NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT: We don't get a police officer who will be here that thinks Minnesota was justified. We stand with you on that, but this is our city. Our city. Do not hurt people who are from this city. You come here, to your city. (END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: That's NYPD Chief Terence Monahan speaking to protesters and then kneeling with them in Atlanta with chants of taking a knee in the background. A group of officers in riot gear did just that.
ROMANS: And a highway patrolman making a connection with the demonstrators stepping out of formation to give the woman a hug.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a moment her pain.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had a wonderful opportunity to show that love wins.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: In Lexington, Kentucky, activists and officers looked nothing like adversaries. Instead of chants there were cheers over a few lighthearted games of rock, paper, scissors.
In Louisiana, a young protestor overcome by emotion when he was comforted by a Shreveport officer who stepped in to show his report.
JARRETT: You know, Christine, it's just amazing, you think about everything that Colin Kaepernick went through to taking a knee, and now he was treated. And now to see all of his officers doing it, it's just remarkable.
ROMANS: It is. It really is and we hope to have more images like that tomorrow.
Thank you for joining us this Tuesday morning. I'm Christine Romans.
JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is "NEW DAY." It is Tuesday, June 2nd, 6:00 here in New York. And breaking overnight, it's been a violent past few hours on the streets of cities across America.
In St. Louis, four police officers have been shot during protests. None of their injuries are thought to be life threatening at this hour, but in New York City a police officer is in serious condition after being intentionally run over in the Bronx. We're also following reports of two police involved shootings in Las Vegas with one shot officer shot there.
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