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New Day Saturday

Today: Memorial Services For George Floyd In North Carolina; Police Tactics Face Scrutiny As Demonstrator Demand Justice; Minneapolis Votes To Ban Chokehold, Vows "Systemic Change"; Trump Touts Jobs Report As Protests, Unrest Sweep The Country; White House Builds Wall Of Fencing As Peaceful Protests Continue In DC; CNN Projects Joe Biden Secures Democratic Nomination For President; House Democrats Introduce National Police Reform Bill; Twenty-Two States Report Increase In New Cases As Reopening Accelerates. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired June 06, 2020 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was disturbed little bit to see the President basically hanging a mission accomplished banner when there's so much more work to be done.

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[08:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Beautiful shot of downtown Atlanta. You see Centennial Park there. Good morning to you. Top of the hour. It's day 12th now of protests across the country. There's a large demonstration expected in Washington as police tactics during these protests, these demonstrations are being scrutinized.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, officials there have already put up fencing and barricades. That's what you're seeing there outside the White House. There's a secret service spokesperson who said in a statement, some streets around that area are going to stay closed until June 10th.

BLACKWELL: Also in a few hours, there's a public viewing and a private service for George Floyd. This one is in North Carolina. And his death is what sparked this renewed focus on racial injustice.

PAUL: And overnight, there are calls for change that could be heard across the nation, much of the focus, obviously, on police brutality here in America, but these are also protests that are going on around the world.

BLACKWELL: And some parts of the law enforcement culture are in question. Over the last several days, you've seen the videos likely on social media, here on air, of course, of police firing tear gas and rubber bullets at nonviolent protesters. And there's an investigation right now after a 75-year-old man was shoved to the ground. Our reporters, correspondents standing by, covering all the angles of the story.

PAUL: Want to begin this morning in New York, CNN's Polo Sandoval has been looking at the latest and breaking it all down for us. Polo, good morning to you.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. There many more protests that are scheduled today, including large ones in certain parts of the country here. What we have from activists, they are certainly calling into question that some of these heavy handed tactics that we have seen - many of them caught on camera. These activists believing that it is the reaction to this ongoing call for police reform.

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SANDOVAL (voice-over): The end to an emotional and difficult week across the country marked by an 11th consecutive night of demonstrations in cities large and small. Call for justice expanded on Friday to include incidents of suspected police brutality from Buffalo, New York to Washington State.

A video emerged of a March incident, Manuel Ellis died after being physically restrained by Tacoma police. His attorney says Ellis can be heard yelling, "I can't breathe" on Tacoma police dispatcher audio from the night of his encounter with police and death on March the 3rd.

This response from Washington Governor Jay Inslee. "Today, I committed to Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards that the State of Washington will conduct an independent review of the investigation and any charging decisions related to the death of Manuel Ellis."

Ellis's family calling for the firing of the officers involved. It's the same demand being made by activists in Atlanta, where video shot on May 29th appears to show an officer body slam a young woman, breaking her collarbone.

AMBER JACKSON, SAYS ATLANTA POLICE SLAMMED HER TO GROUND: I removed the barricade and I get back in the car and all of a sudden, I just see hands out on my window, trying to snatch me out, snatches me out and pretty much slams me down. We weren't a part of any of the (bleep) looting or anything. We were peacefully protesting. (bleep) And once that didn't, you know, wasn't (bleep) there, we pretty much, you know, was headed home.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): The officer involved in that incident has been placed on administrative assignment while Atlanta PD conducts an investigation. The Minneapolis City Council on Friday, pending the final OK from a judge, approved an agreement barring police from using neck restraints and chokeholds.

Four former police officers charged in George Floyd's killing are in jail. A large crowd of protesters headed for Lafayette Park in Washington DC last night. The words "Black Lives Matter," now emblazoned in yellow paint, this message on a street leading straight to the White House. Curfews were lifted or allowed to expire in many cities. But in New York, that restriction remains in place through the weekend.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): The curfews are designed to let the police be in a position where they can stop the looting, and that has been a serious problem in many cities.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): With demonstrations likely to carry on through the weekend, Manhattan's District Attorney vowing to not prosecute protesters arrested for so called lesser offenses, including unlawful assembly or disorderly conduct. The policy won't apply to suspected vandalism and looters.

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SANDOVAL: Already we have seen police departments across the country, a handful of them, take action against police officers for their actions that they took against protesters. In fact, here in New York City, two officers already on unpaid leave at this hour because of their alleged behavior here, Victor, Christi.

[08:05:00]

But these are cases that have been caught on camera. I think as we see this next wave of protests today, you're likely hear from many of the crowd trying to call attention on those cases that perhaps were not caught on camera.

BLACKWELL: Polo Sandoval in New York of us. Polo, thank you. Today is the second day of memorials for George Floyd. This one's happening in North Carolina at the state where he was born.

PAUL: Yes seen as Dan Gallegos is live there for us in Raeford, North Carolina. Diane, thank you so much. Tell us what is expected there today.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So George Floyd was actually born about 20 minutes from here in Raeford. He was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina. This is where a lot of his family still lives today. And that's the point of the memorial service today. They want it to be about family. They want it to be about George, not about what his death has meant to the rest of the country.

Now, look, it's going to happen in this building right here behind me and looking through those windows there. They're going to have George Floyd's body. They are going to have a two-hour public viewing period where anybody can come and pay their respects to George Floyd.

Again, he still has quite a bit of family in the North Carolina area. His sister lives here in Raeford, she described George as almost a father figure to her. And the point of the private family memorial that's going to take place at 3:00 o'clock this afternoon, is to celebrate his life but also his faith.

His family has described George as a man of God, a man who cherished his religious values. And so, while in Minnesota, we saw celebrities, we saw this large one memorial service. It was carried live on television around the world. This is going to be a lot smaller. This is strictly meant for family and close friends. You're not going to see any celebrities here.

This is going to be family pastors, family church members who can talk about George and how they knew him intimately, and that's the word that the Sheriff who's tried to set this up for the family here.

Look, Raeford is a town of fewer than 5,000 people. They are expecting a lot of visitors for that public viewing, but the sheriff keeps using the word "intimate." He says this is meant to be about George, and when the rest of the world can watch and pay attention to it. But this is for the family, Victor and Christi, this is for them to have their personal moments saying goodbye to George Floyd.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it's hard enough, but to do it on this stage. Those additional variables make it even harder.

GALLAGHER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Dianne Gallagher for us in Raeford. Thank you so much.

PAUL: And then in Minneapolis where George Floyd was killed, city council members voted to ban the use of chokeholds by police. That order still needs to be approved by a judge before it's an act, though.

BLACKWELL: Let's go now to CNN's Josh Campbell in Minneapolis with the latest. Josh, tell us about these reforms.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor and Christi, we know that there are at least three investigations underway right now into Minneapolis police officers related to that incident. That encounter with George Floyd that resulted in his death. There's the state criminal investigation. There was an FBI civil rights investigation, and there was a Department of Human Rights investigation.

But the City of Minneapolis wants to see reform immediately. They don't want to wait for the results of these investigations. Yesterday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called an emergency meeting of the city council. And in that meeting, they voted on a new series of reforms, a temporary restraining order against the police department.

And let me tell you about some of the reforms. First of all, we're talking about a ban on chokeholds by police officers. Obviously, in that video that we saw dramatic footage where an officer had his knee on George Floyd's neck, that caused widespread cries for that type of technique to be banned. That will be part of this order. It's banned in any situation.

They also included a provision that requires the duty to report. Regardless of rank, any police officer, if they see another officer using a banned technique, they have to report it.

Third, and this is so important, a duty to intervene. Regardless of rank, according to this order, if a police officer sees someone on the force using a neck restraint, they have to intervene both physically and verbally. They can't just call out to someone. They have to go physically try to stop that from taking place. And if they don't, they will be disciplined just as severely as the person using the technique.

Now, there's also a new provision on crowd control techniques, the use of dispersants, rubber bullets, tear gas, things like that. Those now have to be approved by the Chief of Police. They're not going to be pushed down that authority into the department.

And then finally, this Department of Civil Rights will be randomly auditing body camera footage for police officers to ensure sure that there is cooperation and adherence to this new order. As you mentioned, it still has to be approved by a judge. We're waiting for that to take effect. Christi, Victor?

PAUL: All right. Just Campbell. Thank you so much for the breakdown. Appreciated.

BLACKWELL: Let's go to White House now. CNN's Sarah Westwood is there.

[08:10:00]

PAUL: Yes. So, Sarah, talk to us about the President, this declaration he made of victory, obviously, for the jobs report that came out. But also, I think confusing a lot of people when he talks about a victory over the unrest in this country right now.

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Victor and Christi. President Trump, yesterday, taking a victory lap on the economy, but also on coronavirus, and to a certain extent, on the protests themselves. He was touting the jobs numbers, the encouraging jobs numbers that we did see yesterday, saying that those were a sign that the U.S. is currently in the greatest recovery in American history. Those are his words.

And of course, in doing so, he risks creating something of a mission accomplished moment for himself, declaring victory over economic hardships that continue to affect millions of people and over a pandemic that continues to ravage this country as it starts to reopen.

And the President is also facing scrutiny of his decision to invoke George Floyd's name, while talking about a response to the protests in about these jobs numbers. I want you to take a listen to that moment from yesterday.

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TRUMP: Hopefully, George is looking down right now and saying this a great thing that's happening for our country. This is a great day for him. It's a great day for everybody.

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WESTWOOD: And those comments drew criticism widely also from his likely rival 2020, Joe Biden, who said that it was despicable of the President to invoke George Floyd's name during that appearance in the Rose Garden. Biden also expressed concerns far more grave than President Trump about the jobs numbers that we saw yesterday. And of course, President Trump did little yesterday in his Rose Garden appearance to address systemic racism. In fact, he dodged questions about what his administration's plan was to address the concerns about police brutality, about systemic racism that are animating the protests that we've seen across the country.

We are expecting an even perhaps a larger protest than we've seen so far in the nation's capital today. The President plans to spend the weekend here at the White House behind the fortified and expanded security perimeter that we've seen Secret Service put up around the White House.

The President was originally scheduled to go to Bedminster, his golf property in New Jersey this weekend. But sources tell CNN that aides advised the President against taking that trip amid this unrest that the optics just would not look good right now, Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the last golf trip didn't go over very well. Sarah Westwood, thank you so much. So you brought up Joe Biden and big development in the 2020 presidential race. The former vice president now has enough delegates to secure the Democratic national - the Democratic presidential nomination, I should say.

PAUL: Results from recent primaries allowed him to secure the necessary 1,991 delegates to claim the nomination at the party's convention that happens in August. The former vice president released a statement, we're going to read part of it to you here.

It says, "it was an honor to compete alongside one of the most talented groups of candidates the Democratic Party has ever fielded and I'm proud to say that we are going into this general election, a United Party. I'm going to spend every day between now and November 3rd fighting to earn the votes of Americans all across this great country, so that together, we can win the battle for the soul of this nation and make sure that as we rebuild our economy everyone comes along."

The NFL is changing its stance on taking a knee, the league is apologizing to players, and says it wants to be a part of the solution. Some say, however, they still missed the mark on one element in particular,

BLACKWELL: Plus, racism, police brutality, there are protests going on around the world as this conversation is expanding. We're going to take you live to this demonstration in London for look at some of the protests there and around the world.

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[08:15:00]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What would it take--

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: --for one of us to be murdered about police brutality?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if I was George Floyd?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I was George Floyd?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if I was George Floyd?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I was George Floyd?

If I was George Floyd?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: That's just some of more than a dozen football stars who called up the NFL via this powerful video that was released Thursday. They say they wanted the league to stand with them, starting with the words "Black Lives Matter."

BLACKWELL: So yesterday, about 24 hours after that message, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had a message of his own.

Let's bring in Carolyn. Oh, Carolyn Manno, four years since Colin Kaepernick first took a knee during the anthem ahead of the game. No mention of Kaepernick in this response, though, from Goodell.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: That's an important point, Victor. Good morning to you both. This is the most direct apology, I will say that, from the league to this point. He promises to act and to listen, which is what those NFL players are calling for in that video that went viral. But he admitted as well that it is has taken him entirely too long to get to this point.

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ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: We the National Football League condemn racism and the systematic oppression of black people. We the National Football League admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the National Football League, believe "Black Lives Matter."

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MANNO: Victor, you hit the nail on the head. Colin Kaepernick's name not mentioned by Goodell in that video. The quarterback started this movement to kneel during the end of them back in 2016. He has not played in the league since that time. Former NFL wide receiver Donte Stallworth telling Don Lemon that this conversation must include his name.

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DONTE STALLWORTH, FORMER NFL PLAYER: Roger Goodell should have mentioned Colin Kaepernick's name. Colin Kaepernick by name, and they haven't done that. And I think that is the thing that a lot of people still don't trust the NFL's words, because their actions have shown and proven otherwise. It's a decent first step, but those first steps now need to be followed through with action with concrete action.

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MANNO: Goodell's statement running counter to the latest tweets from President Trump on this. Trump sent a tweet aimed at Saints' quarterback Drew Brees, who apologized for his widely criticized comments about disrespecting the American flag.

[08:20:00]

Brees then issuing a second apology directed at the President saying in part, "We must stop talking about the flag and shift our attention to the real issues of systemic racial injustice, economic oppression, police brutality, and judicial and prison reform."

And to that end, Michael Jordan and his iconic Jordan sneaker brand are committing $100 million over the next 10 years to organizations dedicated to ensuring racial equality. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is pledging half a million dollars to a fundraising effort aimed at improving lives in Atlanta's black community.

The Jacksonville Jaguars also led a unified march on Friday from the top of the organization on down, Christi and Victor, a peaceful protest. And we're hearing that the Denver Broncos are planning to do the same thing this afternoon. So these are unprecedented steps that we did not see four years ago.

However, there are many players and those within the league that feel that until Colin Kaepernick is part of this conversation there will be no resolution in this.

PAUL: All right, Carolyn, we appreciate it so much. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Carolyn. All right. Live pictures now for you. This is London, protest there as well today. We're going to take a look at what's happening here. And we're going to take a tour of the protests around the world. Stay with us for that.

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[08:25:00]

PAUL: We have seen this morning solidarity protests all over the world, in many cases, despite rules that are in place because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

BLACKWELL: Today protesters in Sydney cheered when they found out a ban on their protest was overturned. The rallies there and in other Australian cities are in support of Black Lives Matter movement and to demand an end to deaths of Aboriginal people in custody.

PAUL: New rallies are expected today in France as well. There's outrage there that's been reignited over 2016 police killing with parallels to what happened with George Floyd.

(VIDEO PLAYING) PAUL: We know protests are already starting up in London right now. Percussion, you hear that giving a soundtrack to the crowd that's rallying near Parliament this morning. Check out these aerial shots of the protesters as well. And it gives you a good scope of how packed Parliament Square is at the moment.

BLACKWELL: Gosh, thousands of people there. CNN's Nic Robertson is there live as well. A lot more people than we spoke - when we spoke last hour. What are you hearing there from the speakers, from the organizers?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Victor, absolutely a lot more people. Earlier I think we were talking about how socially distance the crowd was. It's gone to completely the opposite direction. Parliament Square now, and if you're able to look at it from the shots we can give you here, rising the camera up above the crowd or if you've got helicopter shots you can look at, Parliament Square is completely full.

The police have closed down roads around here. The roads around Parliament Square are full. What we're hearing from people here is that they are energized by the protests that they've seen around the world - be it in Australia, be it in Stockholm, be it in France, be it in New Zealand, be it in the Philippines, Kenya where there have been protests. They're feeling energized.

Young black men that I've talked to here are saying - are telling me that they are coming out now to add their voice, because they haven't felt they've been able to in the past, but they really feel that this is a moment - a moment of opportunity, a moment to be heard.

I talked to other people here come to support, come to say that they feel that racism is such an issue here in the U.K. That this isn't just the United States, that it is around the world. And you really get the sense that this is a growing movement. And a body of people - mass body of people who feel the same thing.

Racism is an issue. George Floyd has been - his murder has been a catalyst. Black Lives Matter. We saw people here earlier, taking a knee. There is - this is a very peaceful protest. It is very crowded, I have to say that, and there has been sort of something of a bit of a carnival atmosphere earlier before as well, where there was a band playing and people enjoy that music. The message, though, very, very clear, black lives matter.

BLACKWELL: Nic Robertson there in London. Thank you, Nic.

PAUL: House Democrats have introduced a police reform bill that would, among other things, set national policing standards. The measure is named for George Floyd. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas is with us now. Congresswoman, thank you so much for taking time to be with us this morning.

I'm sure you've been watching all of these protests. I wanted to ask you, as I understand it, it's the George Floyd Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act of 2020. This is a resurrection of sorts from a 2015 bill that - similar that had you had tried to pass earlier in 2015 with representative John Conyers. What do you think has changed at this point that might give you some hope about this bill?

REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D-TX): Well, it's an inspiration. It's not a resurrection. It is an inspiration for a moment, as you have indicated, such as this. If it had been passed at the time that it was first introduced, with the complete reorienting of policing, we would have saved lives.

This legislation very firmly indicates that police should not be warriors when they're dealing with the civilian population. They should actually be guardians. We've been at the brunt of their warrior mentality versus their guardian mentality.

And as has been evidence with African-Americans, being a 13 percent of the population, the United States, the killing of black men have been more than 50 percent by law enforcement across the nation. And, of course, people of color have been impacted as well. So I think what we have now is a sheer outrage, the pain, the wonderment as to why we have gotten to this point.

[08:30:00]

We want to find a solution, there are going to be many solutions. This is a front end solution. They will have to be many responses as it relates to those who already evidence or participate in misconduct, who will have to be judged, who will have to be tried and who will have to be punished. But we cannot continue in society when we have no restraints on police misconduct, and that's what this bill does do and intends to do.

PAUL: So we talked with former police officer who is also African- American. Joe Ested earlier this morning and I asked him why some of these questionable police tactics we have seen that are not supported are still used. Here's what he had to say to me about that.

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JOE ESTED, FORMER RICHMOND, VIRGINIA POLICE OFFICER: We have policy says that we don't choke. We have Officer Loehmann with Tamir Rice. The training, that approach is inaccurate. Officer Salamoni with Alton Sterling, no accountability for any of these officers, but the tax payers will pay because they're not following policy. They're not following procedures. They're not following protocol.

PAUL: So who is to blame for that, then? If - I mean, because, they're doing it out in the field, but surely somebody higher up is allowing it and how do we change it? How do we change it?

ESTED: Yes, we change it with accountability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So Congresswoman, he went on to say that police administers - administrators, rather, are very much aware of the "excessive officers," who they are, how they operate, and that nothing is done. How will this bill change that?

JACKSON LEE: Well, policies are not enough. This will be a federal law that requires and insist that all police departments be accredited, most people would be stunned. You're mostly certified to do many things from healthcare to practicing law to teaching.

But as an officer, you don't necessarily have to be certified. And there are 18,000 police departments that are not accredited. Therefore, they don't focus in on training that indicates how do you do traffic stops or pedestrian stops. Or how do you not do lethal force or excessive force. Or how do you not deescalate, escalate the circumstances.

So this has an accreditation formula and format that all of these particular police departments need to be accredited and it ties to their money. That's the lifeblood of policing, is funding. It ties to their money. In addition, it has a civilian review board scheme, if you will, and a data collection scheme that everyone - every department must submit all of the violations of their police officers, and they'll be penalized if they do not do that.

We look forward to this bill being an anchor bill as we move forward for different legislation that deals with what I'm very strong on is every single police department must have body cams, and you must use it. That has been, besides the video, that a 17-year-old, young innocent girl had for the life of George Floyd as his life was draining out on the streets of Minneapolis.

We would not have known of the cruelty and the brutality of that death. His family would have been wondering and I'm sure the report would have said he resisted arrest. Or this tragedy of the students pulled out of the cars, one of them with a broken arm in Atlanta. And of course, all the other deaths that we've had, some that have been able to go to court have been those that have had video. So body cams.

The legislation that'll be moving forward on preventing chokeholds. This will be the anchor that goes on the front end. Why are you even doing this, insisting that police chiefs in cities require their police departments to hire individuals with some level of educational training? Some have to have none. Some age limit at the front and the back. So what I think will happen is, it'll be a wakeup call.

PAUL: Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, we appreciate you taking time for us this morning. Thank you so much, Congresswoman.

JACKSON LEE: Thank you for having me.

BLACKWELL: There's a new survey from the CDC that shows that millions of Americans are taking unsafe actions to prevent coronavirus. Apparently, it includes using bleach on food, some people even gargled with it.

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[08:35:00] BLACKWELL: The U.S. economy added 2.5 million jobs in May, the biggest game on record. Some analysts were surprised - most were surprised. On Friday, President Trump touted those numbers invoking the memory of George Floyd as he did so.

PAUL: What the President did not mention is that unemployment continues to be pretty dismal among minority communities, specifically or that a misclassification error made the unemployment rate look even better than it was.

CNN Cristina Alesci explains the wage gap between black and white Americans could actually be getting worse.

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CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Trump glossed over the racial disparity in the jobs number, but make no mistake about it, economic disparities persist in this country between white and black Americans. This is something that Dr. Martin Luther King talked about extensively. And the problem has only gotten worse.

[08:40:00]

Take, for example, the wealth gap in this country between non-Hispanic black households, and the typical non-Hispanic white household. That divide is wider today than it was at the beginning of the century. And just to give you more context on that.

The typical black household has only been able to accumulate a 10th of the wealth as the typical white household. Part of that has to do with the income gap with the typical black family or Household only being able to generate a little less than 60 percent than their white counterparts.

Now the administration will point to the fact that the unemployment rate between these two groups, that difference has narrowed over the years. But that doesn't help much if those jobs aren't paying people enough to keep them out of poverty. And if you look at the poverty rates, you'll see that it's almost 21 percent for blacks, while it's 8 percent for whites.

Another big issue right now in terms of economic disparities is the fact that black workers are also 60 percent less likely to have health insurance, according to the left leaning Economic Policy Institute, and the Coronavirus. Once again, experts are saying that all of these in justices and inequities are contributing to a higher death rate for black Americans versus that for white Americans.

And we can't separate any of this data from what's happening in the streets every day. Of course, the undercurrent of racial disparities and economic issues is really driving a lot of the anger and the frustration that we're seeing and hearing every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Cristina, thanks. New concerns this morning about a spike in Coronavirus cases.

PAUL: Yes, the death toll in the country is 109,000. 109,000 people have died. Nearly, 1.9 million people have been infected.

BLACKWELL: So look at this graphic. It's a map. It shows 22 states reporting an increase in new cases over the past week. Florida where theme park, Universal, Orlando, opened to the public yesterday for the first time in almost three months.

In California cases are on the rise. Their new guidelines may allow schools, gyms, bars to reopen next Friday. And then on the other side of the country, New York City, despite hitting major milestone, the former epicenter of the pandemic in this country will begin reopening in two days on Monday. Officials say the city subways will be safe with extensive cleaning and all passengers are required to wear face masks

BLACKWELL: There is also this new survey that shows third of respondents - a third of Americans have engaged in some risky behaviors in an effort to prevent COVID-19 that includes gargling with bleach.

PAUL: Now, the CDC conducted this survey last month after President Trump's widely panned a briefing in which he pondered the use of disinfectants to treat the virus. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs, and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Yes, don't do any of that. The survey also found that some people that put bleach on their food, inhaled it, even wash their body with it - other cleaning products too, and some disinfectants. Again, don't do any of that.

As the race to develop an effective vaccine accelerates the World Health Organization says that it is intimately involved in that effort.

PAUL: That according to a top federal government vaccine official, and it comes despite President Trump announcing last month that he was terminating the U.S. relationship with the who, CNN's Elizabeth Cohen takes a look at where we stand with vaccine development.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There's a race on to get a vaccine for COVID-19, and scientists are working faster than they ever have before. It's really quite unprecedented. Let's take a look at some of the progress thus far. There are 133 teams worldwide that are developing a vaccine. 10 are in human clinical trials, meaning they're actually trying them out in humans. 123 are at preclinical stages, meaning they're working with animals or they're working in the lab.

Let's take a look at where these 10 teams are that are in clinical trials. There are three in the USA Moderna, Inovio and Novavax. There's one that's in the U.S. and Germany, Pfizer and BioNTech, one in the United Kingdom and that's AstraZeneca, which is teaming up with the University of Oxford and there are five in China.

[08:45:00]

It's unclear which of these is going to finish first. And more importantly, it's unclear which of these are going to work. We know that some of them won't work, that's why we have so many shots on goal, so to speak.

Let's take a listen to a talk from Anthony Fauci at the US National Institutes of Health had to say about this.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It means at risk for the investment. So we're going to start manufacturing doses of the vaccines way before we even know that the vaccine works. We may know whether it's effective, efficacious or not, by maybe November, December, which means that by that time, we hopefully would have close to 100 million doses.

COHEN: By manufacturing while they're doing research, what that means is that if a vaccine works, then there should be a supply of doses ready to go immediately. It also means that if some vaccines don't work, that they will have been produced basically for nothing. But it's been decided that that is worth it in order to try to have enough vaccine for the entire world as soon as possible.

Now there's progress being made not just on vaccines, but also in treatments of various kinds. There's some news out this week about Famotidine. Many people know Famotidine, even if they don't know it by that name. In some places it's sold under the brand name, Pepcid. It's a very common heartburn remedy. And there's been some thought that this might actually help against Coronavirus.

hat researchers found and what they published in a medical journal this week is that 10 patients who took it when they were home sick with COVID did find some relief. Now, that doesn't mean that the drug did it. It may have been that they just naturally were going to get better anyways, which of course, most COVID patients do, especially if they're at home.

But it could be that the Famotidine played a role. So now they're going to plan a large clinical trial where half of the patients will be getting Famotidine, half of the patients will be getting a placebo and we'll see who does better. Back to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PAUL: All right, Elizabeth, thank you so much. I know we all know here that it's hard to talk about some of these things that are happening in our world with kids, hard to explain with them. Well, there's a special CNN Sesame Street Townhall coming up, about fighting racism, about the recent protests we've been seeing.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the host Erica Hill is with us next. Stay with us.

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[08:50:00]

BLACKWELL: CNN and Sesame Street are refocusing the second Town Hall now. In today's show we'll talk to kids about racism and the recent protests happening across the country.

PAUL: Yes, it's also going to explain how kids can embrace diversity, how they can be more understanding. This is a special hosted by CNN, Erica Hill and Van Jones. It airs in just about an hour at 10:00 am Eastern. And Erica is with us now.

So Erica, I mean, I know it's - anybody who's either a parent or a caregiver, it is hard to have these conversations with kids because you don't always know exactly what they can absorb and what they can. What's what kind of questions were you hearing from kids?

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: You know, we found and Sanjay I noticed this in the first town hall and I think Van and I definitely see it with this one as well. Kids ask the best questions. Sometimes they're the simplest questions, but also the most difficult to answer, the ones that require the most thought.

But kids want and need answers and they need information. And we know as parents, sometimes you give kids a little bit and then you wait to see where they want to take that and you follow their lead. And what's great is, I mean, the questions that we received, they run the gamut. And they came from all over the country. They came from all over the world, from parents from children.

And I think what this reminds us is, yes, this is a tough conversation to have. But sometimes - in fact, almost every time the most important conversations are the ones that are the most difficult. And I think it's a conversation that, maybe a lot of white parents, to be honest, have avoided for a long time. Where we thought we were doing it well.

You know, I thought I was doing it pretty well and talking to my kids about our responsibility in the community, and recognizing and celebrating diversity and differences. Now these are the things that make us as a community stronger.

And I talked to them about white privilege. But I've realized I've missed the mark in a lot of areas too, and we have so much learning and growing to do, and I think this is a perfect place to start, especially if you don't know how to start that conversation.

Listen, the Muppets and the monsters, and our friends on Sesame Street, which is such a special place and holds a special place in so many of our hearts, they do this so well and they are such great guides as we start these conversations.

BLACKWELL: Yes, they've introduced some difficult topics over decades now to children. And it's after watching the first one, this is going to be a great opportunity for families to watch it together and start those conversations, answer some questions. Erica Hill. Thanks so much.

PAUL: Thanks, Erica.

HILL: Thanks guys.

PAUL: We know these are hard times for all of us, including, as we said, these children who just may not know how to process all of it. So if you have kids and you care for them, what are you telling them as these events unfold?

Do you find these conversations are uncomfortable? We want to hear from you. Tweet me @Christi_Paul or find me on Instagram @christiepaultv. We're going to share some of your questions on tomorrow's show.

And thank you so much for being with us. We always appreciate the fact that we get up at 1:00 o'clock in the morning and we get to see you through the screen.

BLACKWELL: Yes, little earlier than 1:00 today, because show starts at 5:00.

PAUL: Yes, I know.

BLACKWELL: All right. We'll be back here tomorrow at 5:00 am. SMERCONISH is next.

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