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Police Reform Bill on its Way to Capitol Hill; Systemic Racism a Stain from the Past; Youth's Voice a Megaphone of the Future; Tropical Storm Cristobal Brings Heavy Rain; OPEC Agrees to Extend Cut; Growing Calls to Defund Police Departments; New Zealand's Preemptive Action Paid Off; Incoming Travelers Compelled to Self-Quarantine in U.K. New York's COVID Cases Slowing Down. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 08, 2020 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN newsroom. I'm Natalie Allen. Just ahead here.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We committed to dismantling policing as we know it, in the city of Minneapolis, and to rebuild with our community, a new model of public safety that actually keeps our communities safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: In the place where it all began, Minneapolis lawmakers pledged to defund and dismantle its police department in the wake of George Floyd's killing at the hands of one of its officers. This, as calls for change get louder in the United States enters its 13th day of nationwide protests over racism and police brutality.

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WILLIAM BARR, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think there is racism in the United States still, but I don't think that the law enforcement system is systemically racist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: The attorney general there, despite his words, members of the Trump administration continued to defend the actions of law enforcement, denying the presence of deep-rooted racism. Tell that to people out on the streets because calls for change from coast to coast and many places in between continue as protesters across the U.S. turned out for a 13th day to speak out against racism and police brutality.

In Los Angeles, protesters peacefully packed the streets as demonstrators again demanded justice the death of George Floyd. A similar call on the other side of the country, this is New Jersey

where hundreds of protesters took a knee in his memory. And in Billings, Montana, crowds weren't deterred by heavy rain and continue to march and let their voices be heard, chanting, I can't breathe. These are just some of the many protests held on Sunday.

Our correspondents are fanned out across the country. First, to New York City here.

BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Greetings from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where a massive protest of about 4 to 5,000 people is just breaking up in a community known for the strong Hasidic Jewish population here. A very diverse, again, very peaceful crowd, but listen to police scanners.

All throughout the day where the word orderly was repeated again and again and again. Thankfully, and as a result of several days of really peaceful nonviolent protest, Mayor de Blasio lifted the curfew in New York City a day early. One hundred days after the first coronavirus case was confirmed, the first phase of reopening.

America's biggest city is underway, about 400,000 people are expected to go back to work and it will be interesting to see what that does to the momentum of these protests as people slowly get back to work.

The cries for police reform seem to be having some effect after defending NYPD for a week and a half both the governor and the mayor now are behind police reform bills, including Bill de Blasio's pledge to, for the first time, take money away from NYPD, part of the defund the police movement that seems to be sweeping the country.

They get about $6 billion a year, which is more than the money spent on youth development, health services, homelessness combined. And people argue that if you take some of the money from NYPD and give it to social programs it might alleviate all this anger and pressure that's been building up over generations.

It's not that long ago when stop-and-frisk was the rule of the day here in New York City. And when it showed a disproportionate of young black men were being stopped, Michael Bloomberg had to apologize for that policy when he ran for president. And so, this is another shift.

But standing in the way of that progress is the police union. Here and in other cities hugely powerful, they are to protect their own the thin blue line that they see. And what's interesting a University of Chicago study a few years back found that when a department unionizes, citizen's complaints go up by almost 30 percent.

So, that will be a political loggerhead going forward. But as far as the righteous anger that's fueled so many families, so many different people from all walks of life to take to the streets after two weeks, another peaceful night, and for that, everyone is thankful.

I'm Bill Weir, CNN, Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Los Angeles a car caravan rally. They drove from Compton to Ls Angeles Police Department headquarters, and they the point clear.

[03:05:03]

If you look at the sign right here, no justice, no peace. We demand justice for George Floyd, for Breonna Taylor, and all victims of police brutality. Now one of the points that the organizers of this rally made is that not only do they want to stop police violence, but they also said that by allowing it to be a car rally, black lives matter this reads, some older people who otherwise couldn't march 10 walk miles, were able to participate.

Let's hear from the organizer.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to stop police terrorism. You know, we're not here to say that we want the cops to kneel with us. We want to stop police terrorism. Because this is nothing new. We want people that are watching to know that protesting is great, marching is great, but it's not enough. We have to organize every day year-round.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And there you have it, a symphony of car horn right in front of LAPD headquarters in Los Angeles, we counted hundreds and hundreds of cars that made that 10- mile track from Compton as part of this protest.

Reporting in Los Angeles, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you.

ALLEN: Now we turn to Washington, the National Guard starting to withdraw from the capitol on President Donald Trump's orders. Some 5,000 troops had been patrolling the capital with the majority called in from other states. Mr. Trump didn't specify if he meant all National Guard forces would be withdrawn, or just the out of state troops. The National Guard has also started to leave cities in California.

Our Pete Muntean reports on the peaceful protest in the U.S. capital over the weekend.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This group in from the White House is thin, but it doesn't make their message any less poignant. 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 chants 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 march down from Dupont Circle in the heart of Washington, D.A. about a tenths of a mile, laid 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 these black lives matter movement, and here is what he had to say.

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SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): A way to end violence and brutality, and make sure that people understand that black lives matter.

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MUNTEAN: This group also marched two miles from here to the U.S. capital, the United States Senate is in session on Monday, the House is meeting remotely, and protesters that I've been talking to say meaningful reform also needs to come from lawmakers.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

ALLEN: And as we mentioned amid the nationwide protests, calls by some to defund America's police department. Now, a majority of the Minneapolis City Council is pledging to do just that in their city following the death of George Floyd.

Our Josh Campbell is there.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: With calls from some groups across the nation for defunding of police agencies, the city council here in Minneapolis, of course the epicenter of the latest controversy following the death of George Floyd after that encounter with police officers, city council here signaling their intention to move forward with reforms that would dismantles the city's police department and replace it with a new model for public safety.

I spoke with Lisa Bender, the city council's president who said that she now has a nine-person veto proof majority that's required to move forward with certain reforms. She told me that the police department in its current form is not effectively serving the public.

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LISA BENDER, PRESIDENT, MINNEAPOLIS CITY COUNCIL: I just stood with a total of nine members of the Minneapolis City Council, and we committed to dismantling policing as we know it in the city of Minneapolis and to rebuild with our community a new model of public safety that actually keeps our communities safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now it's worth pointing out that the city council president does not appear to be on the same page as the city's mayor. Just over the weekend, Mayor Jacob Frey was in a rally here in Minneapolis and was asked point-blank by the crowd whether he would agree to defund the police. He told him that no, he would not agree to that. that leading to large boos from the crowd as he left that rally.

Now it's also worth noting that the mayor is not alone. We talked to the head of the Congressional Black Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, Karen Bass, who said that she's not in favor of disbanding the police, but wants instead to move certain amounts of funding to ways that would better help the community.

[03:09:56]

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REP. KAREN BASS (D-CA): So, you know what I think is really needed? And I think that part of the movement around defunding, is really about how we spend resources in our country. And I think far more resources need to be spent in communities to address a number of problems.

Now I don't believe that we should disband police departments, but I do think that in cities, in states, we need to look at how we are spending the resources and invest more in our communities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now as the debate over policing reform continues the former officer at the center of the current controversy, Derek Chauvin, he will have his first appearance before a judge by video link to the courtroom behind me. Now we know that at least two of the officers that were involved in that incident, their attorneys are pointing to Chauvin and his seniority, saying that he is largely responsible for Floyd's death. We will wait and see what Chauvin's defense strategy will be.

Josh Campbell, CNN, Minneapolis.

ALLEN: Some Trump administration officials insist systemic racism is not a problem for American law enforcement. At least three have said as much in the past of couple of weeks. And here's U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr on Sunday.

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BARR: I think there is racism in the United States still, but I don't think that the law enforcement system is systemically racist. I understand the distrust however of the African-American community given the history in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Trump administration official Ben Carson said President Trump is thinking about giving a speech on race and national unity. No final decision has been made about it, but many Republicans have been worried about how the president has handled the protest.

Here's Kristen Holmes with that.

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 retweeting of a post that attacked Floyd's character. Listen what Carson had to say.

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BEN CARSON, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT: I believe you are going to be hearing from the president this week on this topic in some detail. I would ask you maybe to reserve judgment until after that time.

What will help the nation heal is if we will engage in dialog together. Let's not make this solution be a Democrat solution or a Republican solution. Let's make it be an American solution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now since then a senior administration official has confirmed that this speech is being battered around to both my colleagues Sarah Westwood and I, but the big caveat here is the same one that we talked 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 direct correlation to his message of law in order. Because he was dominating the streets with all of those law enforcement officers that that's why these protests were peaceful.

So, you are 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 continued to try to link that to Joe Biden. And many officials close to the president believes that this is a good idea. They 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.

ALLEN: New York Times opinion editor James Bennett has resigned amid outrage over an opinion piece that backs Trump's threat for using military force to quell violent protests across the United States.

The op- ed was written by Republican Senator Tom Cotton and received strong criticism from dozens of New York Times employees, who said it put its black staff members in danger.

The paper also said the article did not meet its editorial standards. President Trump reacted on Twitter calling Senator Cotton's op-ed excellent, and the New York Times fake news as he has often -- as he often does.

Coming up here, New Zealand says it is coronavirus free. We'll hear from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern about that.

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ALLEN: Land marks across New York State were lit up in blue and gold on Sunday, celebrating a slowdown in tests, hospitalizations, and deaths, linked to the coronavirus. What you are seeing right here one World Trade Center stood out in the New York City skyline. that's a positive symbol, isn't it?

The slowdown in those figures makes it possible for New York to enter phase one of reopening, it is a big step for the state that has seen far and away the most coronavirus deaths. More than twice in New Jersey, which is second on the list.

But the U.S., as a whole is still closing in on two million cases and experts worry the protests could fuel the spread.

It is a very different story far from New York City. In New Zealand, the country says it has no active COVID-19 cases for the first time since the virus arrived. New Zealand is among a handful of countries that have emerged from the pandemic, this thanks largely to a lockdown enforced early in the outbreak. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced the easing of all domestic restrictions.

Let's bring in now CNN's Kristie Lu Stout, she is in Hong Kong. This is quite a moment for New Zealand, Kristie.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. It's a remarkable moment and it's a moment to celebrate. As New Zealand, this nation of five million people reports no active cases of the coronavirus since COVID- 19 first appeared within its borders in February the 28th.

[03:20:09]

This also follows 17 consecutive days of zero local infections. As a result, the country is lowering its pandemic restrictions and they will be lowered as of midnight tonight.

This was all announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in a speech in a press event that took place a few hours ago. And during that even, she gave credit to the people of New Zealand, crediting for their sacrifices all along, and saying this, quote, "we united in unprecedented ways to crash the virus."

Again, New Zealand will move to a level one alert, that will be effective as of midnight. So, what does that mean? It will mean that it will be the end of enforced social distancing.

In New Zealand, workplaces will reopen, schools will reopen, social gatherings will be allowed. Previously there was a ban on social gatherings of over 100 people, that ban is no longer in place. However, there will continue to be a ban on overseas international

visitors from traveling into the country. In fact, in that press conference earlier today, Prime Minister Ardern said it's because of that ban, and because of strict border controls that New Zealand is in this position where it could relax its pandemic restrictions.

However, interestingly, there are some exemptions. You know, some international overseas visitors and business people are able to enter the country and to work inside the country if they demonstrate that they can benefit or somehow give an advantage to the New Zealand economy.

In fact, CNN has learned that the acclaimed film director, James Cameron and his crew have been given permission by the New Zealand government to work inside New Zealand to work on the sequel to the "Avatar" film franchise. Natalie?

ALLEN: How about that one? And you know, as you say, schools will reopen, I'm just imagining all of the parents in the United States who've been going a little crazy, saying, we hope we get there --

LU STOUT: That's right.

ALLEN: -- at some point.

LU STOUT: Absolutely.

ALLEN: Thank you, Kristie. Thanks so much.

Well, starting today, travelers to enter the United Kingdom will be required to self-isolate for at least 14 days. The U.K. is the most traveled to international destination for Americans after Canada and Mexico.

Let's go now to Heathrow airport in London where CNN's Anna Stewart is live for us. Tell us more about these restrictions.

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Morning, Natalie. Well, just as many airports across Europe were actually beginning to lift their quarantine measures, here in the U.K., they are just beginning. So, passengers arriving into the U.K. from this morning, and we have a few flights landing early in the morning, they will now have to quarantine themselves for two weeks, 14 days.

And the way the process works, is they go online, they fill in a form with their contact details and the address where they are going to be for the next few weeks and it will be enforced. So, we're not quite sure how strictly. It appears, possibly, not that strictly, it's day one, but police will be able to go to those addresses over the next two weeks and do spot checks on those passengers to check that they are there.

However, there are plenty of loopholes for this quarantine. People are allowed to travel, for instance, from here, from the airport to their homes via public transport. They can leave their homes to go to the shops for food, for medicine. So, there are plenty of reasons of course why people might not be in

their homes, and this is one of many, many bits of criticism that are being throwned, lobbed at the government today regarding the 14-day quarantine. Natalie?

ALLEN: All right. We'll wait and see how this is imposed and followed. Anna Stewart for us. Thank you so much, Anna. Good to see you.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says it's too soon to know what impact, if any, widespread protests are having on the pandemic and government response to it.

I want to talk about that now with Dr. Raj Kalsi, joining me from Chicago. Good to see you. Thanks for coming on, doctor.

RAJ KALSI, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: Thank you, Natalie. Thanks for having me on again.

ALLEN: Sure thing. The world is grappling with this pandemic while we now have protests in support all over the world of George Floyd and black lives matter. There is concern for the protesters massing together. But first, I wanted to get your thoughts on the data.

In the U.S. data indicates the number of deaths and hospitalizations from COVID has been steadily moving lower. What's your reaction to that?

KALSI: I believe it because I see it in my own experience in the different hospitals I work at. In particular, one major institution, we're seeing 50 percent less COVID patients, not only coming in but being hospitalized.

But, Natalie, we are getting really good at treating COVID patients. Initially, back in March, these patients may be coming in with very low oxygen levels, and because we didn't know much about it, we would ventilate them and it turns out that ventilating them early on is a bad thing and actually may have cause some deaths.

[03:24:51]

So, it's great that science is moving forward as we predicted months ago, and you and I discussed months ago, and we are learning. So, I do see this trend going down as a good thing. And also, from an epidemiology standpoint, I think the less aggressive a viral strain of COVID is being favored.

ALLEN: Well, that is all good news, and you're right. You know, the frontline workers like yourself have figured out more about how to treat this horrendous virus. We don't even want to think about what happened right when it broke out, and the folks that we've lost, that tried to do that early on.

Well, we mentioned New York City is starting its first phase of reopening today. The numbers are down in that city as well. What will be important for people and establishments now to make sure there is not complacency?

KALSI: It's a great question. The thing is, this is all just a great big experiment, isn't it, Natalie? I mean, we really are just moving forward in something that's uncharted and nothing we have ever seen really before in this modern time.

We can compare this to many other pandemics from before, but the modern time is really unique. So, we have to look for people to commit to at least some minimal PPE, like a cloth mask or any type of mask, and some distancing. And also, good hygiene, as we have implemented in my own family, we made an agreement that we before shower before and after any meeting.

And things as simple as that, and hand hygiene that can really make a huge difference in decreasing what we call morbidity, meaning people who get sick, and mortality, meaning people who died from this virus.

ALLEN: Washing hands, wearing masks, it's not even that difficult, is it?

KALSI: It isn't.

ALLEN: Also, the protests around the world. You see a lot of people wearing masks. And they are trying to stay safe, and they are outside. So, there is hope that perhaps there won't be an uptick in cases as these rallies, these clusters continue to happen, en masse, around the world. What do you think?

KALSI: I think it's fortuitous that these protests, which are very well deserved, those who want to speak their voices. I think it's fortuitous that this is happening in June versus March. Because I think if it happened in March, we would have seen exponential deaths and increases in cases.

And speaking to the fact that we think we are seeing the less aggressive virus being favored and less people getting COVID. I think that bodes well for these protesters. And we may not even see an uptick in COVID cases. And look at all of these people that are protesting in general. They tend to be younger. A lot of them are wearing masks, it is also outdoors. There is some contact here and there, but I hope that in general, it's not a huge uptick.

ALLEN: Same here, you know, we should know in a matter of days as well, it's been almost two weeks that people have been on the streets.

We always appreciate you coming on, Dr. Raj Kalsi. We wish you the best. We know you are still working on this. Thank you.

KALSI: Thank you, Natalie.

ALLEN: Around the world protesters are saying their movement is much more than a hash tag. We'll show you how the world is pushing back against a legacy of racial injustice and that moment right there is very emblematic of it. We'll tell you about it, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [03:30:00]

ALLEN: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom.

Congressional Democrats are set to introduce a sweeping police reform bill on Capitol Hill Monday as U.S. President Trump host a roundtable with law enforcement.

CNN has learned that the Democrat's bill would make it easier to sue police for bad behavior, establish a national misconduct registry so that fired officers can't just go and get a job elsewhere, and it would also ban chokeholds.

There is a growing belief that many of these racial injustices we've seen in the U.S. have stem from unconscious biases people have about other ethnicities.

More about this from CNN's Tom Foreman.

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's innocent, that he was on his porch, saw two men in a truck he recognized, chasing someone he did not, and follow them, taking video of the incident.

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KEVIN GOUGH, WILLIAM BRYAN'S ATTORNEY: He does, with all due respect, what any patriotic American citizen would do under the same circumstances.

FOREMAN: Now listen to another take.

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JANE ELLIOTT, ACTIVIST: If Arbery had been white, that man you are talking about would have been out there to find out why where they were chasing him.

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FOREMAN: that's Jane Elliott, she's an educator and activist who has done a lot of work on the subject of unconscious, or as the researchers often call it, implicit bias. And so as activist and attorney Christopher Bridges.

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CHRISTOPHER BRIDGES, DIRECTOR, IMPLICIT BIAS NETWORK FOR EQUAL JUSTICE SOCIETY: Implicit bias is not a way of calling people racist, it's a way of acknowledging that everybody has biases that very much have been earned or conditioned upon us to lift the (Inaudible), and function without our conscious awareness. (END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: An example, a black boy and girl, and a white girl and boy are busy at a 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's because our whole society is steeped in the idea that kids like him are troubled.

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BRIDGES: It's unavoidable to have implicit bias. The problem is, implicit biases actually different groups way worse than some of the other biases or general biases who may have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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 her dog, only to be met with fury and a call to police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is an African-American man, I'm in Central Park, he is recording me, and threatening myself and my dog.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: A woman campaigning door-to-door for public office only to have the police called on her too.

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SHELIA STUBBS, MEMBER, WISCONSIN STATE ASSEMBLY: It is awful. Because I felt so degraded. I felt so humiliated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: And when police arrive, studies have shown they are much more likely to act of violence if they encounter an African-American man, even unarmed.

[03:35:01]

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 risk to a white man.

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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.

(END VIDEO CLIP) 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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIDGES: In America, implicit biases and put the racial biases were incredibly and disparity impact a lot of the ways in which African- Americans and other people of color live and experience their daily lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: The fatal police shooting this year of Breonna Taylor, unarmed, in her own apartment in 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELLIOTT: Absolutely. Anything you've created, you can destroy. We could destroy racism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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 this sort of great thinking when it comes down to black and white?

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

ALLEN: These protests over racial injustice and police brutality of course are spreading to more cities outside of the U.S.

CNN's Max Foster has some of the international reaction he is reporting from London for us.

MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: Tens of thousands again taking to Europe streets. Bigger and noisier than last weekend. Protesters gathering around the U.S. embassy in London peaceful and upbeat as the same chants goes global.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROWD CHANTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP) FOSTER: Sparked by protest in the United States demonstrators have come together across the continent to call for change. The killing of George Floyd is sparking a global movement against racism. Here in London, eight minutes of silence as protesters kneel in tribute to Floyd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this is the best turnout. It's nice to see we've seen more police action on that where yesterday where horses are running through, gas canisters were thrown. I think it's a lot better I must say. As you go to that police officer there, he's interacting with everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not a trend, this is not a hash tag, we're not here for a fashion. We're here to change something. Racism cannot be tolerated in our culture, in our society. We need to change this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The way that the media is trying to portray it is that people have bene angry, people are fighting, there is stuff going on that the media makes it looks like we're the ones doing the wrong. We're not doing the wrong. We're peaceful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: While the British government has urge members of the public not to demonstrate, the U.K. health secretary expressed his concerns over the lack of social distancing and potential spread of coronavirus. Protesters have come out in full force but many of them wearing masks to limit the spread of the deadly virus.

Protesters sort of upbeat, tone really to the protests in London today. And void by the fact that more protesters spreading around the U.K. from here in London.

A striking scene in the city of Bristol where protesters pulled down a statue of a 17th century slave trader, Edward Colston. And in the evening in London the focus shifted to the capital's political district Westminster, where at times tensions boiled over as they had done the night before. A sense of fervor, which is spread not only across the U.K. but all over the globe.

Max Foster, CNN, London.

ALLEN: One of the organizers of the black lives matter protest there in London is 18-year-old Aima who prefers not to reveal her last name, and she joins me now live. Good morning to you, Aima. And I have to say you organized quite a rally outside the U.S. embassy there, it was massive. What do you think about the response, the turnout, how are you feeling about that?

AIMA, CO-ORGANIZER, BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTS IN LONDON: Yes. Hello, thank you. About the response and turn out, I did not expect that. I cannot (Inaudible) at all. I think someone said over 15,000 gay people there. And I was in utter shock when I arrived and there were so many people there. [03:40:03]

I think the response has been insane. Yes, they are at the march. There were multiple people of different races, genders, ages, and I think what I realized is that so many people have been affected by this, so many people's family members and friends have been affected by this, and so many people have the same points. People just want change.

ALLEN: Well, I was set to ask you before we talk more about what people were saying out there at this rally, and what you hope to come from it, how did you do it? You are 18, have you planned anything like this before?

AIMA: Yes. No. I haven't planned anything like this before. I am 18, and I think that our generation is really like, changing the world. It all started when I messaged my co-organizer Tasha (Ph), and I told her that I wanted to change something.

I saw the video of George Floyd, and I saw how the cop knelt on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, and I was just so disgusted by everything. And I then realized that there are similarities between the way the U.S. police and the U.K. police treat black people. I was furious about that.

So, I spoke to Tasha and we put out a hash tag, BLM, all of a sudden it blew up, and then from then on it just took over really.

ALLEN: It certainly did. One of the people they're interviewed by CNN as we just heard before you came on said, this is not a trend, it's not a hashtag, this isn't a fashion statement, we are here to change something. Do you get a sense that this will turn into a movement to cement real change regarding racism?

AIMA: I completely agree with that statement. I think that this is going to change everything. Because our generation is protesting. Previous generations have protested. But right now, I think that we all understand that we cannot stop protesting until there is change.

ALLEN: How -- how important is it too, Aima, that non-blacks are joining in these protests around the world?

AIMA: Yes. I really think that it's so important that people who are not black join us. Because that shows that it's not only black people who can see this, it is other people. that we -- if there are more people joining us, that means the message is going to spread further. We need non-black people to join in solidarity with us to help us spread this movement further and further.

ALLEN: So, the question is, are the leaders in the U.K. listening? What do you want to hear from people who can invoke change with racist practices and policies?

AIMA: Yes. I think that the leaders in the U.K. haven't really responded. Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London did talk, I think it was a few days ago which I really did appreciate. But I feel like Boris Johnson, the other M.P.s should speak more about this. We need these discussions happening in parliament, we need everything to change.

I don't think that -- I think now they may realize that they do need to speak about this more, but I just want more training for police, I just want more discussion about racism in the U.K. Yes.

ALLEN: Well, you're on your way and you're inspiring your generation. We know you're starting university soon. We're looking forward to seeing what you do with your life and what you end up studying. Thank you so much, Aima. And tell Tasha, great job.

AIMA: Thank you. I will.

ALLEN: You take care.

AIMA: You, too.

ALLEN: Next here, tropical storm Cristobal has made landfall in the U.S. The storm is flashing the gulf coast with heavy rain. Louisiana will find out where it's headed.

[03:5:00]

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ALLEN: As tropical storm Cristobal makes its way north, waterspouts and possible tornadoes were spotted in parts of coastal Alabama, as you can see from this incredible video here. Cristobal made landfall in the state of Louisiana Sunday right next door to Alabama. The state and surrounding areas are at risk now of flash flooding as the storm continues to dump heavy rain.

Let's get more on the threat from our meteorologist Karen Maginnis who joins me now. Karen, hello.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Natalie, this has really been a really amazing tropical storm. Cristobal has never looked classic in any way, it had most of the deep tropical moisture along the eastern edge of the system and now the northern edges also wrapping a lot of tropical moisture there.

When I take a look at this enhanced satellite imagery, I'm looking at some of these areas to the north of Louisiana right along the Mississippi-Louisiana, border into Alabama across the Panhandle as expecting and seeing tremendous amounts of rainfall.

What we've seen over the last 24 hours very heavy rainfall in the vicinity between Jacksonville and Tallahassee, Panama City towards Mobile, Alabama into Biloxi, Mississippi. Surprisingly, New Orleans, even though it's low-lying hasn't seen the bulk of the precipitation although the storm surge has been fairly tremendous across this region.

Generally speaking, we have seen a heavy surf, we've seen a dangerous and deadly rip tide across this region as well. Some of the surfers -- some of the surf has been breaking it between 9 and 12 feet. The storm surge that's that wall of water that gets pushed inland. that has been significant across this region, as well from Morgan City all the way over towards Biloxi between one and four feet.

Now this will continue in about eight and a half million people currently under tropical storm warnings, as well as watches. We'll stay on top of it. Right now, it's supporting, Natalie, of winds of about 40 miles per hour moving to the north. Back to you.

ALLEN: The third named storm of the hurricane season with the many weeks to go yet. Karen, thanks so much.

Next here, business news for you. How Asian markets are reacting to the unexpected drop in U.S. unemployment amid the coronavirus pandemic. We'll have a live report.

[03:50:00]

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ALLEN: We're following two big stories impacting oil and gas production. In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, energy producers shut down about a third of production ahead of tropical storm Cristobal, which we were just discussing. that move may be paying off as the storm makes its way into the U.S. southeast right now.

Also, OPEC and its oil producing allies agreed over the weekend to extend a production cut through the end of July.

CNN's John Defterios is with me now from Abu Dhabi following these stories. First of all, the hurricane season, John, always a tricky time for the oil and gas industry. Talk with us about that first.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, there is some relief. This was downgraded, Natalie, to a tropical depression. There is always a worry in the oil and gas industry and we have to confront mother nature because there's been a disaster in the past particularly with major storms around Louisiana and the refining facilities there.

But right now, let's hope for the best and prepared for the worst. You said take off a third of production. that amounts to about 200 wells offshore, about 700,000 barrels a day. The U.S. produces about 11 million.

But the headline, clearly, over the weekend in terms of the oil market was the OPEC plus agreement. Saudi Arabia and Russia are agreeing with the others to roll it over for one more month here. They don't want to overdo it, though, that's why they extended it just a month and not two or three.

Because if the price goes too high, and it's doubled since the end of April, you can see the U.S. shale production coming back on which led to this crash that we saw earlier in April when prices went negative in the United States.

[03:55:02]

ALLEN: Another topic for you, John. Asian markets are also higher following a U.S. report showing an unexpected jump in employment. What's the latest?

DEFTERIOS: Well, what a swing. Friday, Natalie.

ALLEN: I know.

DEFTERIOS: We were expecting a drop of eight million jobs and we got better than 2.5 million. Something I've never seen before. There were some aberrations in the report, but not enough to override the theme that jobs are being re-added in the United States.

The stand out Asia market was Tokyo. The others have lost most of their gains. There is a belief that Japan can bounce back faster than expect as well. And U.S. futures were up a quarter to a third of 1 percent. Again, we're at near flat, but Friday we saw a gain of better than 3 percent for the Dow Industrials and 2.5 percent for the S&P 500.

And whether it's markets in Asia, Europe or the United States, there's a real concern at this stage that the valuations, the price earnings ratio for the stocks are way ahead of the real economy.

We see a snap back, but it's not a radical snap back and we have to be concerned about consumer spending in the second half of the year and how fast people get rehired, Natalie.

ALLEN: We hope they continue to be rehired. Wouldn't it be nice to see another great report like the one we just saw in another month? Thanks so much. Always good to have you. John Defterios for us in Abu Dhabi.

DEFTERIOS: Thanks, Natalie.

ALLEN: And thank you for watching, everyone. I'm Natalie Allen. Please follow me on Twitter or Instagram and please stay with me for another hour of CNN Newsroom.

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