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U.S. House Democrats To Propose Police Reforms; Thousands Of Protesters Fill Hollywood Boulevard; White House Considering A Plan For Trump To Address Nation; Colin Powell Criticizes Trump For Handling Of Unrest; New Zealand Says It Has Zero Active Cases Of COVID-19; Tropical Storm Cristobal Makes Landfall In Louisiana; Experts: Implicit Bias Affects How Minorities are Treated; Demonstrations Spreading to More Cities Worldwide; A Portrait of Courage; Stock Markets in Asia Mostly Mixed. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 08, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. Thanks for your company. Nearly two weeks of protests against racism and police brutality in the United States are starting to focus on specific demands for change.
What do you think there, where thousands of people marching in Washington, Sunday, chanting George Floyd's name and also I can't breathe? Demonstrators in Los Angeles calling for police reforms and for the police department to be defunded, funds redirected elsewhere. U.S. House Democrats are actually proposing reform legislation, Monday, to end racial profiling, the excessive use of force, and qualified immunity for police officers.
Meanwhile, in stark contrast to the shutdowns for the coronavirus pandemic, anti-racism protesters have been jamming the streets in cities around the world. Activists in Rome taking a knee for eight minutes in memory of George Floyd. And the former officer who put his knee on Floyd's neck is expected to make a court appearance in the hours ahead. Derek Chauvin charged with second degree murder. We'll have a report from Lucy Kafanov in Los Angeles, where massive marches took place all-weekend long. But first, CNN's Pete Muntean has the latest from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This group in front of the White House is thin but it doesn't make their message any less pointed. These are the protesters left in the newly-coined Black Lives Matter Plaza. At times, this group has been quite loud. And we know from our crew on the White House lawn, that their chance could be heard from the White House, and that President Trump was home on Sunday. I just want to show you a bit more of a quiet and somber moment from earlier on Sunday, where protesters marched down from Dupont Circle in the heart of Washington DC, about eight-tenths of a mile, laid down in the middle of the street, put their arms behind their backs and chanted softly, I can't breathe for eight minutes in honor of George Floyd.
We know this is not the only group that has been marching here today. A group of evangelicals marched down Pennsylvania Avenue. With them, Utah Senator Mitt Romney, maybe the highest-ranking member of the GOP to join this Black Lives Matter movement. And here's what he had to say.
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): A way to end violence and brutality and to make sure that people understand that black lives matter. This group also marched two miles from here to the U.S. Capitol. The United States Senate is in session on Monday; the House is meeting remotely and protesters I've been talking to say meaningful reform also needs to come from lawmakers. Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN REPORTER: This is quintessential Hollywood. We're on Hollywood Boulevard and Highlands. We're walking on the Hall of Fame. Behind me or behind our cameraman, I should say, is the theater where the Oscars are held, and this I would say is probably the largest crowd we've seen so far. Thousands of people taking to the streets in support of George Floyd to protest police brutality and the killing of Black Americans at the hands of the police. We just heard from Melina Abdullah, she's the cofounder of the Black Lives Matter Foundation organization. She just spoke; a lot of folks have been taken to the microphone. And now we're on the move yet again. This has been -- you can see -- I mean, you can see from the pictures, it's a diverse crowd, all colors, all ages. Everyone marching here with different signs.
You know, there's been some efforts by the police and by state and city authorities to deescalate tensions. One of those is to remove the National Guard. There's going to be some units left until June 10th, but the bulk of the force has been taken off the streets. The other is we no longer see the riot police in full gear on the streets. The mayor also said that he will be looking to cut about $100 to 150 million from the LAPD, the Los Angeles Police budget, but that is not enough. That doesn't go far enough for this crowd. A lot of the chants here, a lot of the protests have been directed at the local district attorney, at the mayor.
They want to see a systemic change. They want to see bigger changes, and they want to stop -- you know, they don't want to have any more reasons to come out to the street. They don't want to see any more innocent Americans lose their lives at the hands of the police.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:05:13]
HOLMES: Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, nine members of the City Council have committed to start defunding and dismantling the police department. Protesters this weekend carried signs and banners urging the government to take action. On that, the council president in Minneapolis says she's looking to move funding to community-based strategies, and there is no intent not to have a police department, at least not in the short-term. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was booed by protesters over the weekend, after telling crowds he was not in favor of defunding police.
Turning our attention to the White House now, where the response to the national unrest has seemed woefully inadequate, at best, because President Trump may finally make some attempt though, to unite the country with an address to the nation. It's possible. CNN's Kristen Holmes with that.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The big question is what is the messaging going to be moving forward? Now, we first got wind of this speech early on Sunday, when Secretary Ben Carson was interviewed by Jake Tapper, and was really pressed on President Trump's response to the killing of George Floyd, in particular, to the President's re- tweeting of a post that attacked Floyd's character. Listen to what Carson had to say.
BEN CARSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT: I believe you're going to be hearing from the President this week on this topic in some detail. And I would -- I would ask you maybe to reserve judgment until after that time. What will help the nation heal is if we will engage in dialogue together. Let's not make the solution, be a Democrat solution or a Republican solution; let's make it be an American solution.
K. HOLMES: Now, since then, a senior administration official has confirmed that this speech is being battered around to both my colleague Sarah Westwood and I, but the big caveat here is the same one that we talk about all the time with this administration, which is it ultimately comes down to President Trump and the message that he wants to send. And it's unclear still, if that message is one of unity, if he wants to talk about the tensions that we saw over the weekend. You know, a source that is close to the President, close to the White House, told me that the President actually came out of this weekend feeling bullish. He was really lifted up by those job numbers that we saw on Friday. And he was also very happy with how peaceful the protests were.
He believes, according to this source, that that is a direct correlation to his message of law and order because he was dominating the streets with all of those law enforcement officers that that's why these protests were peaceful. So, you're going to hear him talking about that, as well as this message we heard from protesters on defunding the police. As we saw all day on Sunday, President Trump continues to try to link that to Joe Biden, and many officials close to the President, believe that this is a good idea. They believe this will help them get moderate voters who might not want to go that far. Reporting from the White House, Kristen Holmes, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Mr. Trump lashed out at former Secretary of State Colin Powell
on Twitter after Powell criticized the President's handling all the nationwide protests. General Powell also said he is voting Joe Biden come November. He is the latest former military official to criticize Donald Trump. Here's some of what he said on Sunday on "STATE OF THE UNION" with CNN's Jake Tapper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. COLIN POWELL (RET.), FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We have a Constitution, and we have to follow the Constitution. And the President's drifted away from it. The one word I have to use with respect to what he's been doing for the last couple years is a word I would never have used before. I never would have used with any of the four presidents I've worked for. He lies, he lies about things, and he gets away with it because people will not hold him accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And Colin Powell also had this message for the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: All we have to do now is reach out to the whole people. Watch these demonstrations, watch these protests. And rather than curse them, embrace them to see what it is we have to do to get out of this situation that we find ourselves in now. We're America, we're Americans, we can do this. We have the ability to do it. And we ought to do it. Make America not just great, but strong and great for all Americans, not just a couple.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Jasmyne Cannick is a political strategist. She joins us now from Los Angeles. Great to see you. I mean, these protests have been remarkable and global. But I guess the challenge is not allowing that momentum to fade, not allowing, you know, George Floyd to be another name on a list until the next incident. How do you do that? What is the endgame?
JASMYNE CANNICK, POLITICAL STRATEGIST (via Skype): Right. So the endgame is that in America, we have only got any real change around human and civil right through two methods, either a court ruling or legislation. And so, I think the challenge is going to be, for all the people who are concerned about police brutality and police killings, that how do you change the law, right?
[01:10:12]
How do you get an independent prosecutor so Bonnie isn't investigating Clyde, which means the D.A.'s office that depends on the police and the sheriff's aren't investigating these situations? In California, the only way we can get an independent prosecutor is to go through state law. And so, it'll be interesting to see if these groups can work on getting independent prosecutors as well as getting rid of qualified immunity, which is the law that -- was not really a lot but it's not a thing that judges go by that basically police officers can't be sued in civil rights.
HOLMES: Right. You know, one thing that is interesting and I didn't know this until the other day is there are nearly 18,000 police agencies in the country, which kind of makes uniform reform difficult. You know, I think that, you know, as you said, Bonnie cannot be charged with investigating Clyde. You would like to see an independent prosecutor's office. What would that look like?
CANNICK: Well, we need an independent prosecutor's office in every single state. And what that looks like is that you have an independent prosecutor that's appointed, but not one that's appointed by any elected official who takes police union money, or anyone who is influenced by police unions, because that is really who the people who want to see change around law enforcement and criminal justice reform are fighting, they are fighting the police unions, who have a stranglehold on elected officials from coast to coast with their money at all levels of government. And so, when you -- when we talk about having an independent prosecutor, you have to make sure that that person is not being influenced by the police union, or being influenced by anyone who is employed by the police union, and that can be accomplished in each and every state in this country. And that is exactly what we need.
HOLMES: The officer now charged over George Floyd's death, the former officer Chauvin, I mean, he had 17 prior complaints against him, received I think two official reprimands, one verbal. I mean, do you find yourself wondering why he was even on the force? And you know, how often does that scenario play out, or an officer just leaves and goes to a different force, which is pretty easy to do?
CANNICK: Now, if that is common, that is not surprising. That happens a lot, particularly here in Los Angeles with the LAPD and the sheriff's department. And the reason why they are allowed to have that many instances of misconduct and complaints and keep their jobs is because of the police union. So, we're going back to the police union. The police union advocate for their members. Out of all the labor unions in America, they're the only union that has the optics of fighting to keep their members out in prison and jail. And their money successfully does that for them.
And so, again, you know, looking at the end game, you know, we have to strategize on how we get around police unions. And sometimes that means carrying a ballot measure, sometimes that means working with lawmakers who aren't getting police union money, and getting laws passed to create these independent prosecutors opposite in each state. And I'm also very interested in what Cory Booker is doing in DC, around getting rid of qualified immunity.
HOLMES: Getting laws passed, as you know, that require -- that means public pressure. And, you know, you seem to have that momentum at the moment. It was interesting, there was a 2014 poll taken after the death of Michael Brown and Eric Gardner. And it said that 43 percent of people said that the killings were the sign of a broader problem, 43 percent. Today, 74 percent. A lot of people feel this time is different, do you agree? CANNICK: You know, I've seen what happened before. Everyone, you know, gets sad and they're in the streets. But I never really see that translate into legislation. I haven't seen that translate into a sustainable change that affects generations to come. We do this wash, rinse, and repeat cycle thing, right? So, next week, there'll be a new video, a new dead black body, new outrage and new anger. And as a strategist, I'm always trying to figure out, how do we make the type of change that means future generations do not have to put up with this anymore, do not have to deal with it? And I think that's going to be the challenge on not just Black Lives Matter and supporters, their allies, everyone. It's how do we move forward? Because, you know, complaining has never been a strategy. It has never been one. We have to move forward with legislation.
HOLMES: Yes. Well, hopefully, the momentum keeps up, as you say, and that George Floyd doesn't become just another one on the list. Jasmyne Cannick in Los Angeles, I really appreciate your time. Thanks so much.
CANNICK: Thanks for having me.
HOLMES: The daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. is speaking out about racism in the United States. Bernice King is the CEO of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Now, she spoke to CNN earlier about how America got to this breaking point and what the nation must do to heal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNICE KING, CEO, KING CENTER FOR NONVIOLENT SOCIAL CHANGE: People are fed up. We've been experiencing these injustices for years now. And there's just an accumulation. And I think, with COVID-19 slowing people down and now being brought into the reality of our world and reexamining our world, you know, we have people now, you know, erupting in these protests, and I'm happy about it. These are revolutionary times. Like my father said in his time, revolutionary times mean that systems and people will be changed. So, I'm encouraged by what we're seeing all around the world.
I think there has to be a lot of antiracism work amongst the white committee. Working through some of the things that are in people's heart in terms of implicit explicit biases, participating in helping to dismantle some of the systemic issues of -- in different corporations across America, different establishments, organizations and just all across America, we got to change the equity. From the boardroom down to supply and diversity to the executive suites. There's in the churches, the same thing has to happen. It has to be a thorough work. We have to change the way we do law enforcement. I'm encouraged by what's happening in Minneapolis and the president of the city council calling for a transformative new model of public safety instead of just policing. And, you know, we got to organize as my father said our strength into some healing power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, the Coronavirus pandemic continues to claim lives all around the world. Some areas are starting to see improvement, though, but others, especially the most vulnerable are reporting record numbers of cases. Also, when we come back, we are tracking Tropical Storm Cristobal, which is lashing the U.S. Gulf Coast with heavy rain. We'll have that more after the break.
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[01:20:00]
HOLMES: Landmarks across New York, including One World Trade Center were lit blue and gold on Sunday night in honor of flattening the COVID-19 curve. New York celebrating a downturn in tests, hospitalizations and deaths connected to the pandemic. The infection rate might be falling in New York, but it is still rising in many other parts of the world. According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 7 million cases have now been confirmed globally. Many of those infections now coming in from Latin American countries, most notably Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Chile.
On Sunday, all four of them reporting a record number of new deaths and cases. But in Europe, the situation continues to improve. Italy's deadly -- daily death toll has fallen once again to just 53 people. Spain confirming one new death for the third straight day. And in the U.K. the government is imposing new travel restrictions to keep the infection rate down. Starting today, visitors will have to self- isolate for at least 14 days upon arriving, but British Airways, EasyJet and Ryanair, all urging officials to get rid of the rules saying it will further devastate tourism.
Meanwhile, New Zealand reporting zero active Coronavirus cases anywhere in the country for the first time since late February. Quite an achievement. The country has been praised for its early action and strict measures to battle the virus. In the last hour, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the easing of all domestic restrictions. To fill us in, CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins us from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Kristie. Quite a day for New Zealand, they've gotten a lot of high marks and deservedly so.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, this is quite an achievement and a remarkable moment for New Zealand. This nation of 5 million people as the country says that they have zero active cases of the Coronavirus, the first time since the virus first appeared in New Zealand back in February the 28th earlier this year. And this also follows 17 consecutive days of zero local new infections. As a result, New Zealand is lowering its pandemic restrictions to a level one alert that will be effective as of midnight tonight. The details are revealed in the press conference helmed by the Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern in the last hour and a half. Here's more about what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: New Zealanders did something remarkable in our fight to beat COVID-19. We united in unprecedented ways to crush the virus. Our lockdown was in place 26 days after our first case. Today, there are no active cases in New Zealand. We have tested almost 40,000 people for COVID-19 in the past 17 days and none have tested positive. We had no one in hospital for COVID-19 for 12 days. It's been 40 days since the last case of community transmission. 22 days since that person finished the self- isolation. And so today, I can announce that cabinet has agreed we will now move to level one, to get our economy fully open again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: So, New Zealand will now move to a level one alert as of midnight tonight. What does that mean? Well, first, it means the end of enforced social distancing. Workplaces in New Zealand will reopen, schools will reopen. Previously, there was a ban on social gatherings of 100 more people. That ban is no longer in place. That being said, there is still a ban on overseas international travelers from entering the country. In fact, during that press conference, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it's because of those strict controls at the border, that's why the New Zealand government can relax the pandemic restrictions and even carry out these measures. That being said, there are exemptions.
[01:25:02]
Some international overseas travelers are allowed into the country granted permission by the New Zealand government if they demonstrate that they can benefit the New Zealand economy. In fact, CNN has learned that James Cameron, the Hollywood film director and his crew from the United States have been granted permission to enter New Zealand and continue their work there after 14 days of quarantine and self-isolation to work on the sequel to the Avatar movie. Back to you.
HOLMES: Yes, good to see you, Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout there in Hong Kong. Now, tropical storm Cristobal has made landfall in Louisiana. It's drenching the Gulf Coast with heavy rain. There is a danger of flash flooding even further inland. For more on this, I'm joined by CNN Meteorologist Karen Maginnis. What do we say it's a lot of rain, isn't it?
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: It's a tremendous amount of rainfall for something that didn't look very impressive on the satellite imagery, but we can see on the enhanced satellite imagery that, yes, there's still a lot of deep convection wrapped around. What is the core is kind of a diffused core to the system. It's going to be weakening further but it did make landfall right around 7:00 p.m. local time. This was in coastal sections of Louisiana in the vicinity of Grand Isle, but its impact was felt hundreds of miles away. Even all the way over along the eastern edge of the Florida Panhandle. We have some staggering reports of six and 10 inches of rainfall. No doubt, I think when this is all added up, we will see even more amounts higher than that.
Now what can we expect? Well, this will continue to make its way towards the north. It lies just to the north of New Orleans about 20 miles or so. And in all, we are now looking at about 8-1/2 million people that are under tropical storm warnings. That goes from Morgan City, Louisiana, all the way over towards the Pensacola region. Now, this is a low-lying area, very prone to flooding. So, some of these coastal highways, some of the coastal roads, they are underwater. Some have been underwater for most of the afternoon and evening.
In an area from Jacksonville to Tallahassee to Panama City to Pensacola all the way over to New Orleans, this is where we've seen some of the heaviest precipitation over the last 24 hours. Also, power outages. We knew that this was going to happen, not tremendous winds, but some of the higher wind gusts around 60 miles an hour, but Louisiana, Mississippi, typically, we're looking at between 2,000 and 3,000 without power, but Alabama had at last report, more than 10,000 people without power.
All right. So, as this moves across the Lower Mississippi River Valley, we're looking at places like Jackson, Mississippi might expect four to eight inches of rainfall. In Little Rock, two to five, but Little Rock has high potential for flooding, as well. Memphis could expect two to four inches. This will move all the way from Missouri, eventually as a remnant low, and in the vicinity of the Great Lakes region. Michael, back to you.
HOLMES: All right. Good to see you, Karen. Thanks for that. Karen Maginnis there. Now, changing society by changing the way we think. How unconscious biases affect the way minorities are treated in America, and what experts believe we can do to change that. We'll have that when we come back.
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[01:31:56]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. You are watching CNN newsroom.
Now nine members of the Minneapolis city council say they plan to defund and dismantle the city's police department following the police killing of George Floyd. The council president says there is enough support to make that move veto-proof. The plan is to shift police funding towards community-based programs.
After nearly two weeks of demonstrations, major cities are lifting curfews. Several groups of protesters marching through midtown Manhattan on Sunday. And New York's mayor announcing he will shift an unspecified amount of police funding to youth and social services.
There is a growing belief that many of these racial injustices we have seen in the U.S. have stemmed from unconscious biases people have about other ethnicities.
CNN's Tom Foreman explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Back up from that terrible moment when Ahmaud Arbery was chased down and shot to death jogging in Georgia. Note the claims of innocence by lawyers for the accused father and son. And then think about the third accused man -- William Bryan whose lawyer also says he is innocent. That he was on his porch, saw two men in a truck he recognized chasing someone he did not and followed them, taking video of the incident.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He does, with all due respect, what any patriotic American citizen would have done under the same circumstances.
FOREMAN: Now, listen to another take.
JANE ELLIOTT, ACTIVIST: If Arbery had he been white, that man you are talking about would have been out there to find out why they were chasing him.
FOREMAN: That is Jane Elliott. She is an educator and activist who has done a lot of work on the subject of unconscious, or as researchers often call it, implicit bias.
And so is activist and attorney Christopher Bridges.
CHRISTOPHER BRIDGES, DIRECTOR, IMPLICIT BIAS NETWORK FOR EQUAL JUSTICE SOCIETY: Implicit bias is not a way of calling people racist. It is a way of acknowledging that everybody has biases. Very much have been earned or conditioned upon us in this society and functions without our conscious awareness.
FOREMAN: An example, a black boy and girl, and a white girl and boy are busy at the table. Teachers are asked to assess their nearly identical behaviors and time and again, the black boy is identified as a challenge.
Why? Researchers say it is because our whole society is steeped in the idea that kids like him are troubled.
BRIDGES: It's unavoidable to have implicit bias. The problem is implicit bias has actually impact different groups way worse than some of the other biases or general biases we may have.
FOREMAN: Take those ingrained attitudes into adult life and you get even among folks who do not think they are racist -- a bird-watcher asking a woman to leash your dog, only to be met with fury and a call to police.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is an African-American man. I am in Central Park. He is recording me. He is threatening myself and my dog.
FOREMAN: A woman campaigning from door to door for public office, only to have the police called on her as well.
[01:35:00]
SHEILA STUBBS, WISCONSIN STATE ASSEMBLY: It was awful. Because I felt so degraded. I felt so humiliated.
FOREMAN: And when police arrived, studies have shown they are much more likely to act with violence if they encounter an African-American man, even unarmed. So much so, a study last year found the average black man has about a one in 1,000 chance of being killed by police over his lifetime. More than double the risks to a white man. ELLIOTT: They are more likely to kill a black person than a white
person because they have been taught for 500 years, that white people are superior to all others.
FOREMAN: Defenders say statistics show African-Americans commit crimes at a higher rate. But skeptics ask, how can we trust those stats if implicit bias is constantly steering everyone to look for crimes involving black people?
Remember, in the Arbery case, a suspect initially said they saw him poking around a house under construction and an investigator says the accused shooter said he had a gut feeling that Mr. Arbery may have been responsible for thefts. Even though a security camera caught white people looking around the same building.
BRIDGES: In America, implicit bias even implicit racial biases incredibly and (INAUDIBLE) impact a lot of the ways in which African- Americans and people of color live and experience their daily lives.
FOREMAN: The fatal police shooting this year of Breonna Taylor, unarmed, in her own apartment is Kentucky is boiling with allegations of bias. And the lieutenant governor is calling for implicit bias education in schools hoping what is learned can be unlearned. Experts are hopeful.
ELLIOTT: Absolutely. Anything you create you can destroy. We can destroy racism.
FOREMAN: These types of biases can affect our views of all sorts of things -- about age and religion and where you are from, even maybe what you wear. But right now, the big debate is how do we grapple with the sort of gray thinking when it comes down to black and white?
Tom Foreman, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Calls for racial justice have been taking place around the world this weekend. In southwest England, protesters in the city of Bristol pulled down the statue of a 17th century slave trader. Pulled it down with ropes and rolled it along the street and then dumped it in the river.
And activists in South Korea marched through the streets of Seoul on Saturday holding signs that read "black lives matter" and "enough is enough".
CNN is covering these protests all over the world.
Shasta Darlington is in Sao Paulo, Brazil but we start with our man in Italy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ben Wedeman in Rome's Piazza del Popolo where thousands of people have come out to express their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement in the United States. This is the largest demonstration I've seen in Piazza del Popolo for quite some time.
Earlier, one of the people making a speech listed all of those victims of police brutality in the United States. And this is just one of several such demonstrations being held in Italy. And of course, across Europe as well, where there has been a massive outpouring of solidarity with the Black Lives Movement in the United States.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thousands of people took to the streets across Brazil on Sunday. Different social movements joined forces to protest against racism and against President Jair Bolsonaro. The biggest march is in Rio-Brasilia Sao Paulo. They held up signs with the names of George Floyd and several black Brazilians killed by police. They also accused Bolsonaro of trying to undermine democratic institutions during the coronavirus outbreak.
Supporters of Bolsonaro staged smaller similar rallies in Sao Paulo and Brasilia. There were no big clashes and the president himself did not participate in the rallies. But he did greet supporters outside the presidential residence and warned again against the social isolation measures he opposes saying that a wave of unemployment is coming.
Shasta Darlington, CNN -- Sao Paulo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Coming up next, a portrait of courage. This woman's dad taught her that no matter the threat, always look them in the eyes so they have to acknowledge you're human. Boy, was that put to the test this week. We will have her story when we come back.
[01:39:38]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: You are looking at a portrait of courage. An African-American woman standing up straight, looking an angry white man right in the eye. She was there to peacefully protest alongside others. He didn't want them there and he did not mince his words.
Now, this all played out in the small town of White Fish, Montana on Wednesday night, part of the wave of protests that have swept across America after the death of George Floyd. This one got ugly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
CROWD: Peaceful. Peaceful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
CROWD: Peaceful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
CROWD: Peaceful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
I said (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
CROWD: Peaceful. Peaceful. Peaceful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes. The protesters there yelling "peaceful", over and over again as that man continued his tirade. Police eventually did come. They escorted him away. He has actually since been charged with disorderly conduct and set to appear in court on June 17th.
Now, as for that women who refused to back down -- that awesome photograph there. She stood so very calmly, so very coolly. Her name is Samantha Francine. And she joins me now from White Fish, Montana.
Incredible image. It must have been quite a day. Give us the context, first of all, how this man to the best of your knowledge, was so enraged.
SAMANTHA FRANCINE, ACTIVIST: You know, in small town Montana, people don't realize that racism still exists. There is a lot of ignorance here. So we've had a lot of people angry about what we were doing. He was not the first one to come up to us and let us know that they weren't happy about it.
But when he approached, he was already -- he was looking for a fight. He had been driving around Baker Avenue, yelling at us prior to that moment. And then when he showed up, he was just looking for a fight.
[01:44:50]
HOLMES: You know, the thing -- I think one of the most remarkable thing is the crowd response. All of you there -- just peaceful, peaceful. Time after time. It is remarkable. What has been the reaction that you have experienced in the aftermath of this?
FRANCINE: It's been quite -- it's been a lot of love. All of those protesters out there were (INAUDIBLE). Grace Johnson, who took the photo, you know -- such a sweet, young lady. All the other ones around her. they were, you know -- that was the (INAUDIBLE) their first time doing anything like that. And they really did step up to the challenge.
And it was really cool to see the (INAUDIBLE) -- it was unbelievable. And since then, the video and the photo being out, there has been so much love that I have received from around the world. And if you had told me that this would be happening to me now, a week ago, I would've told you, you were wrong.
So it has been quite a beautiful experience. It's been very intense. I have no malice in my heart towards that man.
Yesterday, my friend Marcella (ph) called and I brought his (INAUDIBLE) just to let her know that we -- that she is not him as well. And that we wanted her to feel loved too, so --
HOLMES: Yes. I had heard that. And again, it speaks to your character and the character of your friend who took a gift basket to his wife after he did that to you.
Tell me, what is going through your mind in that photograph? You do not give an inch. You are just looking that man right in the eye. And when you watch the whole video, he is screaming in your face hateful things.
What is going through your mind? Why did you hold your gaze? Tell us about that.
FRANCINE: So, like I posted on Facebook, in that moment not much went through my head, except the words from my father who passed away 16 years ago and told my brothers and all his children -- like I said it's a predominantly white town. My father was white. And he just raised us to always, no matter what, no matter who the threat is, no matter what the threat that you look them in the eye so that they know that you are human.
And in that moment when that man was screaming in my face, I don't think I felt fear. I still haven't quite processed all and everything else that's been happening. But in that moment, I felt those words that my father spoke to me from so many things and I saw fear in his eyes.
And I knew he wasn't going to hurt me. I knew that he was just upset and uncomfortable. So I stood my ground and it got captured in such a beautiful way. It's a proud moment.
HOLMES: I think you're being very generous. His way of expressing being uncomfortable was to shout and scream into people's faces from an inch away. It was a very aggressive video when you see it all.
I mean there was one poster on a Reddit thread on this incident and I don't know what you have read, but I wanted to read it back to, because it says this. Quote, "He is towering over her, trying to use the power of his height, size, gender, and race to intimidate. She is standing there with the confident resolve of someone who has been through it all, yet here she is, and now she has more backup than ever before."
I wondered what you thought of that summary. I mean it was quite a lovely line to read.
FRANCINE: Yes, I have gone through so much in my life. I've experienced so much over the last 27 years. And in that moment, everything it makes -- so much over the last 27 years. In that moment, everything that I have gone through made sense. Every person that has yelled at me like that. Every person that has hurt my feelings (INAUDIBLE) and embarrassed me.
In that moment, and I was threatened (ph) by so many awesome people. In that moment there was such an incredible energy. I just knew what to do.
HOLMES: I think you are an extraordinary young woman. And well done. You and everyone who is there that day as well. All they said was the word "peaceful" over and over again.
Samantha Francine -- great to meet you. Thank you so much.
FRANCINE: Thank you.
HOLMES: CNN has reached out to the man charged with disorderly conduct for that performance. We have not yet heard back. We will be back after the break.
[01:49:05]
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
Right now stocks in Asia, mostly mixed following news that the U.S. added 2.5 million jobs when the market was expecting a sharp drop -- a lot of green arrows there.
Let us bring in John Defterios in Abu Dhabi. You know, that jobs report had errors in it, but still a surprise Friday. Is that what is driving the markets?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: It is still sustaining the rallies that we have in Asia, but not the enthusiasm we had earlier in the trading day -- Michael. That was a swing of 10 million jobs because we expected a drop of 10 million lost jobs. And we went above two millions.
You said there were some aberrations with people filing and still suggesting they were affiliated with the same company even though they had been laid off even temporarily. It is not clear yet. So it's not the sharp V-shaped recovery.
We bring up those Asian markets, it is mainly Tokyo still enjoying the rally. Hong Kong was higher but it's turned negative and you see both Hong Kong and Shanghai and Seoul here -- all three in a very tight trading range.
U.S. futures have been holding on to the gains. This would be eight days straight of gains. And people are starting to get concerned about the valuations we are seeing in the Asian and European markets and also on Wall Street.
We see gains in the oil market as well -- Michael. We had some news over the weekend here with Saudi Arabia and Russia and the so-called OPEC Plus deciding to roll over their cuts for another month. They're taking about 10 percent just under that off global supplies because of COVID-19.
But this is a tricky game as well because you don't want to overreact if the price rises too high, and we're around $43 a barrel for the international benchmark. That would encourage the U.S. production to come back on stream.
Remember the crash we had at the end of March and April. They're trying to stabilize the market above $40, perhaps 50, but they don't want to see this sharp snap back in the U.S. wells coming back on stream.
[01:54:55]
HOLMES: Yes. because there is that other wildcard when it comes to oil, isn't it? And that is Cristobal, the big storm. That is going to have the industry nervous and preparing, one imagines.
DEFTERIOS: That is very true. Because of past experience and the damage we've seen, particularly offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. This is now a tropical depression. But it doesn't mean that the oil and gas industry did not have to do to basically batten down the hatches.
According to the U.S. government, the environmental and safety division, they shuttered about a third both offshore and offshore -- and onshore, rather, where they had 188 rigs offshore that they decided to close at least temporarily.
You always have to be ready for this kind of shock to the market right now. They have taken off about 700,000 barrels from the market. It's not a huge move, but it was a precautionary measure -- Michael. And it seems right now, there is no threat to the industry because of Cristobal.
HOLMES: All right. John -- good to see you my friend. Thanks so much for that. John Defterios there in Abu Dhabi.
DEFTERIOS: Thanks.
HOLMES: Well, former U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to graduates of the class of 2020 during a virtual commencement celebration acknowledging the ongoing protests in America and telling the graduates they can create a new normal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You don't have to accept the world as it is. You can make it into the world as it should be and could be. You can create a new normal. One that is fairer and gives everybody opportunity and treats everyone equally and builds bridges between people instead of dividing them. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: On that note, thanks for spending the hour with us.
I'm Michael Holmes. This has been CNN NEWSROOM.
Don't go anywhere though. We'll have more CNN NEWSROOM after the break.
[01:56:43]
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