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Thousands Mourn George Floyd at Houston Memorial; Minneapolis City Council Votes to Dismantle Police Department; New York City Enters First Phase of Reopening; WHO: Asymptomatic COVID-19 Spread Deemed "Rare"; North Korea Ends Communication with South Korea; U.S. Prosecutors Seek Interview with Prince Andrew over Epstein Link; Trump Paying a Price for Response to Protests; U.K. Becomes the New 'Sick Man of Europe'; Doctors Return to Cuba after Helping Fight Virus in Italy; Cigarette Smuggling Booming in South Africa; George Floyd's Death Sparks Global Demonstrations. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired June 09, 2020 - 00:00   ET

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


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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.

Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, as protests in the U.S. over the death of George Floyd enter a third week, the focus shifts to police tactics and training and funding.

But not for President Trump, who has praised law enforcement officers as great people.

So just how does the coronavirus spread?

The latest information from the World Health Organization has confounded many experts and brought into question a raft of preventative measures.

Pedophile, the police and the prince: a nasty rift over just what exactly Prince Andrew is willing to do to help in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

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VAUSE: It's been two weeks since George Floyd died in police custody Minneapolis, Minnesota, two weeks of protests across the U.S. and around the world, calling for justice and police reform.

In New York, a large crowd of demonstrators chanted "Black Lives Matter" and "Defund the police" as they marched to the mayor's residence.

In Washington, about 2 dozen Democratic lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, knelt for more than 8 minutes, a tribute to George Floyd. That's how long former officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck.

Chauvin appeared in a Minneapolis court via video leak, a judge set his bail at $1.25 million.

Los Angeles County is the latest to ban chokeholds by police. The governor has ordered an end to training police in using a chokehold.

George Floyd will be laid to rest in his hometown of Houston, Texas. Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects already on Monday. CNN's Sara Sidner has details.

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SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A somber homecoming for George Floyd in Houston, where the hearse carrying his casket arrived at the Floyd family church this morning for a public memorial attended by thousands.

Jennifer Edwards and her son live in Houston.

JENNIFER EDWARDS, HOUSTON RESIDENT: It's all about solidarity at this point. I feel like that could have been my son that's in there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of scary, like, not being able to, Well, go outside and go places and not feel safe.

SIDNER: Presumptive Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden met privately today with the Floyd family. The family will have their final private service here tomorrow.

In Minneapolis, the first court appearance for fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is the officer that held his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, until Floyd died.

The judge set bail at up to $1.25 million. Over the weekend, from coast to coast, huge protests continued calling for racial justice and police reforms, including defunding police departments. In Minneapolis, the City Council approved a plan to start the process of dismantling the police department and rebuild a new model of public safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our commitment is to end our city's toxic relationship with the Minneapolis Police Department, to end policing as we know it.

SIDNER: But the mayor is not on board.

MAYOR JACOB FREY (D-MN), MINNEAPOLIS: I am for massive structural and transformational reform to an entire system that has not for generations worked for black and brown people. We have failed them. And we need to entirely reshape the system.

Am I for entirely abolishing the police department? No, I'm not.

SIDNER: Leaders across the country are already looking for new ways to repurpose some funds from law enforcement to other areas, like in New York City.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY), NEW YORK CITY: We're going to be able to take money out of that police force, put it into youth programs and still, of course, keep New Yorkers safe. But this is preventative. This is proactive.

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SIDNER (voice-over): And, in Washington, D.C., where activists painted "Defund the police" near the Black Lives Matter street mural, the mayor said, what's been submitted for police funding in her budget is what's needed. She avoided directly answering whether the addition to the mural would be removed.

MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D-DC): We recognize it as expression. And especially right now, acknowledging and affirming expression is important to this discussion that we have to have as a community.

SIDNER: Among the mourners, the family of Botham Jean, the family of Eric Garner, the family of Michael Brown, the family of Ahmaud Arbery, all here in solidarity with the Floyd family -- Sara Sidner, CNN, Houston, Texas.

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VAUSE: So what does it mean to defund the police?

Well, it can actually refer to dismantling the actual police force or just reducing their budgets and redirecting the money to social programs that focus on the causes of crimes, especially disadvantaged communities, programs that focus on mental health, domestic violence and homelessness.

But President Trump is not on board.

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TRUMP: There will not be defunding, there will not be dismantling of our police and they're not going to be in a disbanding of our police. Sometimes you see some horrible things like we witnessed recently but 99, I say 99.9 but let's go with 99 percent of them are great people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It could be. But Donald Trump is at odds with the thousands of protesters that are on the streets right now. Many moderate Democrats are trying to empathize with protesters and their anger but not embrace the "defund the police" slogan, that includes Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

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JOE BIDEN, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, I don't support defunding the police. I support conditioning federal aid to police, based on whether or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honorable-ness and in fact are able to demonstrate that they can protect the community and everyone in the community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: There are calls for change around the world. Hundreds marched in Western France as the interior minister announced police reforms. That includes a ban on chokeholds and enforcing more use of body cameras.

Police walked alongside thousands of protesters in the English city of Cheltenham, holding up signs that read "Black Lives Matter." That came a day after anti-racism demonstrators in Bristol took down a statue of a slave trader and threw it in the harbor.

The British prime minister Boris Johnson said he could not support those that desecrate public monuments but on Twitter said that the government has to do more in the aftermath of George Floyd's death.

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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: In this country and around the world, his dying words, "I can't breathe," have awakened and anger and a widespread, incontrovertible, undeniable feeling of injustice, a feeling that people from black and minority ethnic groups do face discrimination in education, employment and the application of criminal law.

We who lead, who govern, simply cannot ignore those feelings because in too many cases, I'm afraid, they will be founded on a cold reality.

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VAUSE: Now to the other crisis that we are following. The World Health Organization says now is not the time for any country to take its foot off the pedal in the battle against COVID-19.

The WHO says 136,000 cases were reported on Sunday, the most in a single day so far. Globally, Johns Hopkins says coronavirus cases now top 7 million. More than 400,000 people have died.

Still, a new study suggests those numbers could be a lot worse, noting that lockdowns, travel restrictions, social distancing may have prevented at least 500 million infections across six countries and that includes China, Italy and the United States.

In Europe, the U.K. has begun 14-day quarantine for those entering from abroad and some parts of Spain are headed for the final phase of the government's de-escalation plan, as the country reported no new coronavirus deaths on Sunday.

The U.S. is approaching 200 million cases and, while some areas are seeing spikes, New York City, which has seen more coronavirus deaths than all but six countries, is taking its first cautious steps toward reopening. We have details now from CNN's Nick Watt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One hundred days since New York State's first case the Big Apple is back. Well, they're now allowing more retail, manufacturing and construction with some strict parameters.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY), NEW YORK CITY: It is the day that we start to liberate ourselves from this disease the day we move forward. Phase 1, the restart begins today in New York City.

WATT (voice-over): Let's not forget the terrible toll on this city. Nearly 22,000 deaths so far and black and Latinx New Yorkers dying at twice the rate of white residents. And it's not over.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): We're not out of the woods, but we are on the other side certainly.

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WATT (voice-over): The governor rode the subway to his daily briefing this morning. The message, it's safe.

CUOMO (voice-over): We are continuing our decline. The rest of the country is still spiking.

WATT (voice-over): Florida has added more than 1,000 new cases a day for five straight days. Texas, another early reopener, now adding an average of over 1,500 cases a day. That's up 50 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Abbott has had an inadequate and weak response that has been based more on politics than on science. He opened up the state too early.

WATT (voice-over): Bucks County, Pennsylvania, announced 33 new cases Saturday, 11 of them tied to one person who they say has been partying down to the Jersey Shore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of a coming together of a perfect storm, if you will. We had the Memorial Day weekend, a lot of folks were being very lax and relaxed about proportions. And we've been having a backdrop of states reopening. Plus, all the protesters in these mass gatherings.

WATT (voice-over): Protests sparked by George Floyd's death might be spreading this virus around the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to catch it. I don't think anyone wants to catch it. But when it comes to issues of social justice, that takes precedent, I feel like. COVID-19 is going to be here for a little bit. Hopefully we'll get a vaccine.

WATT (voice-over): The White House has a vaccine program.

TRUMP: It's called Operation Warp Speed.

WATT (voice-over): But today, two prominent professors say they're scared it might move too fast. "Given how this president has behaved, this incredibly dangerous

scenario is not far-fetched," they wrote in a "New York Times" op-ed.

"In a desperate search for a political boost, he could release a coronavirus vaccine before it had been thoroughly tested and shown to be safe and effective."

The big question, did lockdown work?

Well, researchers from UC Berkeley say absolutely. They estimate that just the first few weeks of lockdown here in the U.S. might have prevented 60 million infections. But the price we are paying for that, the U.S. is now officially in a recession, as it has been since February -- Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.

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VAUSE: U.S. stocks rising again on Monday, after Friday's jobs report shows a surprise drop in the unemployment rate. Nasdaq closed at an all-time high, the first of Wall Street's (INAUDIBLE) recover from the market crash. The numbers suggest there's growing optimism for a swift rebound.

But the U.S. unemployment rate is over 13 percent and that came on the same day economists officially declared that the U.S. is in recession.

North Korea will cut off all communications with South Korea. They are pamphlets being sent on the border at the start of this international incident.

Also, U.S. prosecutors would like to question Britain's Prince Andrew about his friend, the late Jeffrey Epstein. And they may be going over his head with that request.

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VAUSE: On Monday during the World Health Organization's regular press briefing, they had the health emergency program they had this new nugget about how the coronavirus spreads or doesn't spread.

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MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, WHO: It is still appears to be rare that an asymptomatic individual actually transmits onward. What we really want to be focused on are -- is following the symptomatic cases. If we followed all of the symptomatic cases, because we know that this is a respiratory pathogen, it passes from an individual through infectious droplet.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Just (INAUDIBLE) because that first part seems to be a pretty big deal. In case you missed it and you're not too sure what she said, I'm going to play it again because it's important.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERKHOVE: It still appears to be rare that an asymptomatic individual actually transmits onward.

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VAUSE: So everything we've been told so far, about social distancing because people could be infected and wear a mask because you could be contagious, well, it turns out that maybe not such a big deal after all. Dr. Neha Nanda is an infectious disease specialist in Los Angeles and joins us right now.

Thank you for being with us, Doctor. Good to see you. I think most people understand here, that this new virus and we're learning as we go. But this seems to be a big deal on how everyone assesses their own risk when they go out if the risk of asymptomatic transfer is very rare.

DR. NEHA NANDA, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MEDICAL SCHOOL: So at this time, it is difficult to say what percentage of people actually are asymptomatic, depending on the study that you're looking at.

Depending on the study, it could be anywhere from 10 percent to 50 percent. There's some studies saying more than that.

The second piece, that you are alluding to is what is the risk of transmissibility. I think there is more to come on that. The WHO, just this morning or I think yesterday, said that the risk of transmission from asymptomatic people seems to be low or almost nonexistent.

I think at this time, what I would say is that there is more to come on that because we have seen that happening in studies in Southeast Asia and experiences that people have shared.

VAUSE: I guess there's a lot of confusion and it confirms the fact that there's a lot we don't know. But we know that the New York City is starting to reopen, 100 days after its first case and the mayor had this message.

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MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY), NEW YORK CITY: This is a triumph phenomenon (ph) for New Yorkers, who fought back against this disease. This was the epicenter. And folks did the hard work. They sheltered in place. They did the social distancing, the face coverings and got us to this stage.

So my message, John (ph), is stick to it. Come back to work but remember to stick to those smart rules that got us this far.

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VAUSE: But again, because of the confusion, stick with what?

Wearing a mask, not wearing a mask, keeping social distancing. (INAUDIBLE) said there should be a much higher emphasis on testing and tracing.

So what is your advice?

NANDA: OK. I think this is a great question. And I have to emphasize here, the nonpharmaceutical interventions, like the mayor mentioned, the physical distancing and masking, are really the cornerstone. And there is not one tool that will get us through.

It will be a combination of these. So that is physical distancing, then masking and along with that, testing and quick isolation. In fact, there was a recent study that was done -- and this is based on a mathematical models -- one of the most recent models that was share in a scientific (INAUDIBLE) was that physical distancing alone can reduce your R nought to less than one, basically emphasizing how strong that level can be.

VAUSE: Even so and this is a very contagious virus it seems, because worldwide number of new cases continues to rise. Each day we saw 100,000 new cases of 9 of the past 10 days, more than 130,000 new cases reported on Sunday.

So when it surges in one part of the world, chances are it will appear in another as well, right?

NANDA: So also when we talk about numbers increasing, keep in mind, as the testing capacity increases, that is a big confounder. So it's very challenging to say when the number of tests increase, the number of new cases and incidences increases, does that mean the disease is progressing?

Or you've given more access to testing?

To tell you the truth, at this time there is no one metric that can tell us whether we are moving in the right direction or not. It's a combination of all metrics. That's what will help us decide that.

VAUSE: One last question here.

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VAUSE: There's a report that U.S. hospitals have about three months to resupply and get ready for a possible second peak, round 2. "The New York Times" reporting 60 big hospital chains have received billions of dollars of government bailout money are sitting tens of billions in cash reserves that are meant to help them weather the storm.

At least 36 hospitals have furloughed or reduced the pay of employees as they try to save money through the pandemic. So aside from what they do with the federal cash, if they are laying

off health care workers now, how ready will they be for round 2 of the coronavirus?

It seems they'll be further behind than they were when it first broke out.

NANDA: I will tell you is that in the U.S., in different parts, and I can speak really for California and specifically L.A., we are prepared for a surge. It didn't quite happen here and now we are in a situation where we are financially strapped. It is impacting our human resources.

If there is going to be another surge, will there be another surge?

We don't know that. But I think there will be more job creation. At that time we do have to get those resources back, though I suspect that, perhaps, if there is going to be another surge and another peak, it wouldn't be as high as it was because our belief is that, with time, the height of the peak will reduce because of our social distancing -- physical distancing and other nonpharmaceutical interventions.

VAUSE: OK, thank you so much, Doctor, appreciate the advice and your insight. Thank you.

NANDA: Thank you, John.

VAUSE: North Korea state media has announced an end to communication with South Korea. The first step in what has been called a total break in all contact. Paula Hancocks joins us now.

The North Koreans are upset are upset over some pamphlets and some insults to Kim Jong-un.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. Yes, this is because there have been some defector groups in South Korea sending over these propaganda balloons. These are mass hot air balloons, that they send over with leaflets that are condemning the North Korean regime. Sometimes they send money in them to those along the border area in North Korea.

It is a surefire way to anger North Korea every time. And they are furious about these propaganda leaflets. They have been calling on the South Korean authorities to try to stop these leaflets. But South Korea had said that there is the issue of freedom of speech, although they have been trying to deter these groups from doing so.

So what we have now is the communications between North and South Korea have been cut off. There are a number of different communication lines; there is a military line, that will not be in use from today and there was a phone call from the defense ministry here to the North Koreans this morning. The phone call went unanswered.

Similar thing with the liaison office, which was set up only in 2018 when relations were far better. That appears to have been cut off as well. As far as North Korea is concerned, they're saying that this is just the first step in trying to cut relations further -- John.

VAUSE: So what about this hotline, between Pyongyang and Seoul, with that being cut off, what is the direct implications of that?

HANCOCKS: Well, it effectively means that North and South Korea are not talking at all at this point. We heard from the unification ministry just this morning. And in that briefing they were saying that it's important to keep these lines of communication open because essentially it is the main way that the 2 sides are communicating with each other.

There is also a hotline that was opened between the 2 leaders, President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un in 2018, although no one has ever admitted whether it's been used between the 2 leaders but that's been cut off as well.

It's not the first time that North Korea has done this, they've done a number of times before and to try to secure more concessions from South Korea. One potential reason could be that, in just in a few days, June 12th will the two year anniversary of Kim Jong-un meeting the U.S. president, Donald Trump in Singapore.

Clearly relations are not going well between North Korea and the U.S. as well so that could be another reason for North Korea doing this, showing their public frustrations.

VAUSE: Paula, thank you, live for us in Seoul. For months now, U.S. prosecutors have been pushing to speak with Prince Andrew about his friendship with the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. While the prince and his lawyers say have offered to speak with them on their terms, U.S. prosecutors say those terms are unacceptable.

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VAUSE: Max Foster has details.

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MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: Our source has said the U.S. federal prosecutors have requested the cooperation from the U.K. government in their ongoing investigation into Epstein's alleged crimes and his associates.

The U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, would not confirm or provide any more detail on that. But Prince Andrew's lawyers have come back to us, saying that any pursuit of application for mutual legal assistance would be disappointing.

They said in a statement that the Justice Department had told them that the duke is not a target of their criminal investigations into Epstein and Prince Andrew has on at least 3 occasions this year offered his assistance as a witness.

Prince Andrew's team criticized what they called as a breach of confidentiality. They suggested that this is more about publicity for the Department of Justice. Epstein died in August 2019, while awaiting trial on federal charges that he sexually abused underage girls and he ran a sex trafficking ring.

Prosecutors are continuing to pursue investigations of the people who they thought Epstein helped him carry out his alleged crimes.

Prince Andrew is under pressure to answer questions about his relationship with Epstein but specifically about allegations made by one of Epstein's accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who alleges that she was forced into sexual encounters with the prince while she was underage.

In a 2015 federal court finding, Giuffre alleged that Epstein forced her to have sex with several men, including Prince Andrew in 2001. All of those men have denied the allegations.

In November, BBC interviews Prince Andrew and he said he never met Giuffre but later he did add that he was willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations if required.

Prince Andrew's team, though, provided zero cooperation, according to U.S. attorney Jeffrey Berman in Manhattan in January. And then two months later, Berman added that Prince Andrew had completely shut the door on voluntarily cooperating.

But Prince Andrew's team, on Monday, refuted that. They said that these statements were inaccurate and they should never have been made -- Max Foster, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, up next, it seems President Trump is paying a political price for being out of step with the protesters marching across America.

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: White House officials standing by last week's decision to use force to clear peaceful protesters from a Washington park so the president could hold a photo park so the president could hold a photo up. Now comes the political price, it seems.

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CNN's chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, explains.

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Still on the defensive over his response to protest against police brutality across the U.S., President Trump met with law enforcement officials to hammer home a simple message.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- less crime. And there's a reason for less crime, that's because we have great law enforcement. I'm very proud of them.

ACOSTA: One week after the Trump administration gassed and pummeled protesters at Lafayette Park, minutes before the president's photo-op outside St. John's Episcopal Church, White House officials are still offering no apologies.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There's no regrets on the part of this White House, and we stand by those actions.

ACOSTA: Aides to the president are already sounding cool to new legislation from House Democrats aimed at reforming police practices, saying some proposed measures are non-starters, while declining to weigh in on controversial tactics like chokeholds on suspects.

MCENANY: The president, again, hasn't reviewed this piece of legislation. The president is looking at what's a state issue, what's a federal issue right now. He's currently reviewing proposals, actually, on this very topic about police reform, so I'll leave it to him and not get ahead of him.

ACOSTA: Democrats say it's high time to end the kind of police brutality that led to the death of George Floyd.

REP. JIM CLYBURN (D-SC): It's a long time, 8 minutes and 46 seconds. That's a long time to be on one knee. But for 244 years, there were plenty of knees on the necks of blacks who came to this country.

ACOSTA: Yet, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany had no problem laying out where the president stands on professional athletes taking a knee at football games, in protest of unjust policing. Last week, the National Football League admitted it was wrong not to listen to players' concerns.

MCENANY: The president is very much against kneeling in general. The president has made clear for years that kneeling, as tied to our national anthem, that it does not respect our military men and women across this country.

ACOSTA: The president's political advisers are seizing on a proposal from the so-called Defund the Police movement that would draw resources away from law enforcement agencies.

MCENANY: That remains defunding police departments. It's not getting rid of them entirely. No, he does not agree with that. And the rest of America does not agree with that.

ACOSTA: A spokesman for Mr. Trump's Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden says the candidate does not believe that police should be defunded.

A new CNN poll finds the president's approval numbers are in freefall, down seven percentage points in the last month, as high-profile Republicans flock to Biden.

GEN. COLIN POWELL, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We have a Constitution. And we have to follow that Constitution, and the president has drifted away from it.

ACOSTA: Utah GOP Senator Mitt Romney actually marched with the demonstrators, and uttered the words "Black lives matter."

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): And to make that people understand that black lives matter.

ACOSTA: Contrast that with the president, who has walled himself off from the protesters, dodging questions from reporters for days --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, why was (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

ACOSTA: -- as more top administration officials refused to say there is systemic racism in law enforcement, despite mounting episodes of violent police behavior.

BILL BARR, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think there's 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.

ACOSTA (on camera): And aids to the president are dodging questions about the steel fencing that has now wrapped around the White House, saying those decisions are made by law enforcement and not inside the West Wing. The president again refused to take questions from reporters today. It's been more than a week since he has taken questions from reporters at any length.

Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Segun Oduolowu is a social commentator and host of the syndicated news magazine, TV show, "The List." He joins us now from Phoenix. It's been a while. Good to see you.

SEGUN ODUOLOWU, HOST, "THE LIST TV": Hey, John, how's it going?

VAUSE: It's good. Glad to see you.

OK. We spent a lot of time on air a few years ago, talking about Colin Kaepernick and the NFL. Over the weekend, what do you know? Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER GOODELL, NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So Roger Goodell, apparently, now wants to be on the right side of history. Can you be on the right side of history, four years after the event? How different would the world look today if Kaepernick's protests had been embraced back then?

ODUOLOWU: Well, John, it's the ultimate bait and switch. When you tell me as the commissioner of a league that is 70 percent black that black lives matter, you're just covering your bottom line in more ways than one.

If black lives matter now, how come when Colin was kneeling in peaceful protest, they didn't seem to matter then, when owner Jerry Jones was saying that anyone wearing a Dallas Cowboy uniform wasn't going to kneel, and the president of the United States led rallies, telling people not to kneel and that, you know, Colin Kaepernick should be fired and this was an affront to the flag.

It's all just a bait and switch. The kneeling has never been about the flag or patriotism. In fact, the kneeling came because Colin actually asked a former Green Beret what would be a way to show respect for the flag but still kneel or still show that you wanted to make a protest.

And the idea of protest is not to make the people you're protesting feel comfortable. That's why you're protesting.

So it's all just a bait and switch. The NFL really is not to be trusted, because some of its most prominent athletes, the Super Bowl winner, in Patrick Mahomes, visible players like Ezekiel Elliott and Odell Beckham Jr. were part of this video.

So when the most visible football players are basically telling you, you need to say this, please don't -- you know, miss me with all of your sanctimonious, this is what we really feel. Because this is because your players are telling you, if you don't do something, you might not have a league anymore.

VAUSE: You know, when tens of thousands of people are on the streets, and they're protesting police brutality, would it be a good idea for the police to avoid engaging in blatant acts of police brutality? I mean, this would seem to be a no-brainer.

But you know, it's happened across the country. And even if, you know, those police departments, which are doing the right things now, what are the guarantees that they will keep doing that when no one is watching?

ODUOLOWU: And this is the thing. If -- we all owe Steve Jobs a tremendous debt of gratitude, because these cellphones that have cameras are basically the evening factor in why we're getting to see all of this brutality.

You saw the officers in Buffalo who pushed a 75-year-old man to the ground. The original report said that he tripped, but because there was video, those officers have now -- are now being -- are under review.

If the police want us to trust them, then by all means, be trustworthy. What everyone is now seeing, without any type of varnish or any smokescreen, are police teargassing American citizens. You're seeing them beating them with clubs. Peaceful protests are turning into riots, because the police are actually going after American citizens. What happened to protect and serve? That is their mandate.

And no, I don't think all police are bad. I do not believe that. But, like Chris Rock said, there are some professions where you cannot have bad apples.

And so there needs to be more review. Partners of these police that are acting in bad faith need to start speeding up.

And what transpired in Louisville, to me, is the biggest and most -- most concrete way reform can happen. The mayor of Louisville fired the police chief because of a shooting where the police did not activate their body cameras. That's how we can have some accountability.

Start at the top. If the officers are doing things in bad faith, then punish their superiors, because if a police chief knows he's going to lose his ability or her ability to feed their family because of their bad actors or bad apples in their bushel of police officers --

VAUSE: Yes.

ODUOLOWU: -- maybe they will hold them more accountable.

VAUSE: OK. I've got a couple things to get to. So we're running out of time, but when the protests first started, there was some looting and violence. Critics and others said, you know, the unrest was kind of a way of demonizing the demonstrations. How does this help them?

I want to play this. This is the host of "The Daily Show," Trevor Noah. He had this take. It's really interesting. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREVOR NOAH, HOST, COMEDY CENTRAL'S "THE DAILY SHOW": And a lot of people say, Well, what good does this do? Yes. But what good doesn't it do? That's the question people don't ask the other way around. What good does it do to loot Target? What -- but how does it help you to loot Target? Yes, but how does it help you to not loot Target? Answer that question.

Because the only reason you didn't loot Target before is because you were upholding society's contract. There is no contract if law and people in power don't uphold their end of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: In other words, what's the point of living by the rules if the police and the justice system are not?

ODUOLOWU: Well, first and foremost, we have to look at the rules, and if the contract is broken, then the rules are null and void. And like Trevor Noah, as someone who is a child of immigrants and is seeing America, in real time, go through what some of these third-world countries have gone through, you cannot legislate and say you are about democracy and law and order, and then the people that enforce that law and order unfairly target one group of society.

If the numbers are to believe, one in 1,000 black men can expect to die at the hands of police. So if that is the case, if they are killing us at an unreasonable rate -- we're only 14 percent of the population -- then the contract is null and void.

[00:40:03]

I don't advocate looting but, come on, if Target and all these companies want to say they're for the black community, your board of governors, how many minorities are on that? How many minorities are on all of these companies that are now saying black lives matter? The contract is null and void when it does not apply to everyone, and it hasn't apply to everyone for, if I check my watch, about 500 years now. So let's see some real change.

VAUSE: One of the -- one of the stories we covered a few years ago, two African-American men, waiting for a friend at Starbucks, denied access to the bathroom, asked to leave because they hadn't ordered. The manager then threatened to call the police. Let's go back in time. Here it is. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Why do white people call the police when they have some kind of issue to deal with with black people?

ODUOLOWU: You're a white guy, and you're asking the black guy. What are you guys doing?

VAUSE: Because I don't know, because I wouldn't call the police.

ODUOLOWU: I think you're asking a question that runs through black people's minds every day. What about us are you so afraid of?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: We know why now why people call the police, because here's the infamous Amy Cooper. Again, watch this.

ODUOLOWU: Oh my goodness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY COOPER, CALLED THE POLICE ON A BIRD WATCHER: I'm going to call the cops.

CHRISTIAN COOPER, BIRD WATCHER: Please call the cops. Please call the cops.

A. COOPER: I'm going to tell them there's an African-American man threatening my life.

C. COOPER: Please tell them whatever you like. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: White people call the police because they know the police are there to protect them and are a threat to black people. How does that change?

ODUOLOWU: Because what Amy Cooper did in that moment was to not only display white privilege in all of its ugliness, but she weaponized this man's color against him.

She basically said, I will call the cops. I will make up a story, and I will have them do my dirty work for me, because that's what they do.

In that micro -- in that little moment right there, she said everything that black people have been telling you for a long time, that it is an unfair system that -- that targets our skin color more often than anybody else's. And it's so ugly.

That tape needed to happen, I think, for white people to really see what it is that we've been talking about for centuries.

VAUSE: Yes. It's institutionalized racism, and it's been exposed. And that's part of all of this we're going through right now.

Segun, thank you. It's good to see you.

ODUOLOWU: Thanks, John. Hopefully, we will talk again under better circumstances and not always dance like this.

VAUSE: I look forward to it. Thank you.

Well, with the highest coronavirus death toll in all of Europe, questions are now being asked if the U.K. had a quicker response to the pandemic, would it have made much of a difference?

Also South Africa has banned cigarettes to stop the spread of coronavirus. We'll see how smugglers are getting around the law and making a huge profit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:44:47]

VAUSE: Well, the U.K. was slow to prepare for the coronavirus, and according to Johns Hopkins University, it has the second highest death toll in the world.

An official announcement is expected in the next few hours that more than 50,000 people have now died.

CNN's Nic Robertson looks back at opportunities missed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I've today left hospital after a week in which the NHS has saved my life. NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): It's

April 12.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10,612 have tragically died.

ROBERTSON: The U.K. on its way to becoming the sick man of Europe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty thousand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forty thousand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 40,261.

ROBERTSON (on camera): It was here, St. Thomas Hospital, where the NHS saved Johnson's life, but how did it come to this? The U.K., with the highest COVID-19 death toll so far across the whole of Europe? Germany, France, Italy Spain, who were all weeks ahead in their coronavirus experience?

Johnson told the nation the country was ready.

JOHNSON: Very well-prepared.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): But neither he nor the country were.

JOHNSON: I was in at hospital the other night, where I think there were actually a few coronavirus patients, and I shook hands with everybody.

ROBERTSON: Europe was shutting down all major sporting events but not the U.K.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not a major way to tackle this epidemic.

ROBERTSON: The government also appeared to have another agenda they would later deny.

PATRICK VALLANCE, U.K. CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR: Build up some degree of her immunity, as well, so that more people are immune to this disease.

ROBERTSON (on camera): It's about now the government begins to realize mistakes are being made. A scientific study based in part on Italy's COVID-19 experience, predicts as many as a quarter of a million people could die. Johnson's response is slow.

JOHNSON: We need people need to start working from home.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The death toll is 71. Then another 4 days, another half step.

JOHNSON: We are telling pubs, bars, restaurants, clubs to close.

ROBERTSON: Finally, after a further three days.

JOHNSON: You must stay at home. ROBERTSON: But the die has been cast. I infections over those vital

three weeks rocketed. By March 27, the death toll, 1,091. Government experts are still underestimating what's coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we can keep that below 20,000 we will have done very well.

ROBERTSON: But it won't, the U.K. is late to the international scramble for PPE, test equipment and ventilators. Hundreds of healthcare workers would die. Untested elderly were sent from hospitals to care homes, where outbreaks ran rampant. And the controversies kept coming.

DOMINIC CUMMINGS, CHIEF ADVISOR TO BORIS JOHNSON: We agreed that we should go for a short drive to see if I could drive carefully.

ROBERTSON: Johnson's chief advisor flouting lockdown guidelines.

JOHNSON: Anyone who can't work from home should be actively encouraged to go to work.

ROBERTSON: And when the P.M. began easing the lockdown, it backfired, parodied by a popular comedian.

MATT LUCAS, ACTOR COMEDIAN: If you can work from home, go to work. Don't go to work. Go outside. Don't go outside.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Faith in the government's ability to handle COVID-19, the very thing that it needs to keep infections down, is badly eroded.

So how did the U.K. become the sick man of Europe? That's something everyone here is going to want accountability on. For now, though, they'll settle for a healthy nation.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, they traveled from the Caribbean to Italy during the worst of the outbreak, and now doctors from Cuba are heading home. And they were greeted with cheers and applause as they arrived at the airport. Well-wishers lined the streets of Havana as the doctors head into quarantine.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann was there for the homecoming.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cuban healthcare workers returning from fighting the coronavirus in Italy are receiving a hero's welcome upon arrival back here in Havana. There they are. They are 52 doctors, nurses, and organizers who, since late March, were in Italy, one of the hardest hit regions, fighting the coronavirus, and now have returned home. And they're being cheered on as they drive through the streets of

Havana. And they're heading to an isolation center where they will spend the next two weeks they will spend in quarantine, to make sure they did not bring the virus back home with them.

This is one of what is called a medical brigade in Cuba. Cuba says now they have 27 of these brigades around the world, helping to fight the coronavirus.

This program is not without controversy, though, because the U.S. government says that these doctors are not paid enough, that they're used as propaganda by the Cuban government, and that the Cuban government should, essentially, stop this kind of program.

The people we have talked to here say that, as the world confronts a common problem for this pandemic, that it's time to band together, and that Cuba will send help to anywhere it is needed.

People here have another reason to celebrate right now, which is that Cuba, as of Monday, has now gone nine days without a reported death from the coronavirus.

[00:50:07]

And the island's government says they are finally getting a sense that things are under control and are beginning to think about reopening this island that has basically been cut off for more than two months from the outside world.

The question is, the challenge is, how to do that without exposing people to further danger.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, in South Africa a government ban on cigarettes, to try and slow the spread of the pandemic, has been a windfall -- yes -- for cigarette smuggling.

CNN's David McKenzie has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Heavily-armed South African soldiers, their mission to curb the spread of COVID-19 --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You and your friends, let me catch you.

MCKENZIE: -- is becoming more and more about this.

(on camera): But there seems to be, also, a lot of smuggling going on here, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They smuggle cigarette, illegal cigarettes.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Racing along the dusty banks of the Limpopo, the border with Zimbabwe, hunting for cigarettes.

As soon as South Africa's COVID-19 lockdown measures included a ban on cigarette sales, the illegal trade from the north took off.

(on camera): Have people stopped smoking?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People have not stopped smoking. It's like wanting to tell someone to stop eating. Because you see someone is a smoker, you cannot stop them from smoking.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): This Zimbabwean smuggler agreed to speak to us if we hid his identity. He says army patrols and 25 miles of brand-new border fence isn't stopping the now blooming trade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're getting much better than before COVID came.

MCKENZIE: So your profits are up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The profits are up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the widest (ph) selling area.

MCKENZIE: And smokers in Johannesburg are willing to pay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What can I say? If people need cigarettes, I must help them (ph).

MCKENZIE: On several street corners, we find cigarettes in minutes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's this from?

MCKENZIE: Prices are up fourfold, but now not even a single cent is going to the state.

The government continues to stand behind its decision, saying it's about the health of its citizens.

(via phone): Why continue with the ban if cigarettes are still being smoked and no money is going to the state?

NKOSAZANA DLAMINI ZUMA, MINISTER OF COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE: About the cigarettes, I think it's important that where there is crime, crime is attended to.

MCKENZIE (on camera): Do you feel bad about what you did or you don't?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it's not good. But in terms of making money, I know it's bad. But in terms of making money, I use that money to support my children.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): The cigarette ban seems to have done little to keep people healthy, but it is pushing many to break the law.

David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: You're watching CNN. Still to come here, what started on the streets of Minneapolis spread first across the United and now around the world. All united by one common cause.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: From California to Sydney, anti-racism demonstrations are gripping the world in the wake of George Floyd's death. Protestors are raising their voices to stand in solidarity of each other, while highlighting the systemic racism in their own countries. Here's a look at the movement sweeping the globe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRAPHIC: Los Angeles, California

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: White supremacy, no more.

[00:55:01]

K.C. COLEMAN, FORMER POLICE OFFICER: I am protesting today, because I'm a biracial woman. I have faced racism in my life. As an ex-police officer, I've faced racism. And now it's time for a change.

(CHANTING)

COLEMAN: I experience racism on a daily basis. If I go into a certain store, I'm looked at. I'm automatically assumed of someone who's going to shoplift. It's an everyday life being a black American in America.

GRAPHIC: London

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your foot off my neck! Get your foot off my neck!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came because it's necessary, and I have to take a stand. I have to stand along with my brothers and my sisters for change.

We want change!

As a black man, it feels like your skin is a weapon. It feels like, for some reason, they feel like you're a threat. And you don't understand why.

(CHANTING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black lives matter!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black lives matter!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black lives matter!

GRAPHIC: Pretoria, South Africa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everywhere, black men, you will find yourself serving and serving black people. Start serving them with the respect. Start serving them with dignity. It starts with you.

JULIUS MELEMA, ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS: The Americans were with us during difficult times, the anti-apartheid movement in the USA, led by our own black Americans. And when they are going through such a difficult period, it is important that we, too, pay solidarity with them.

GRAPHIC: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We have our own George Floyds, too. We need to pay attention to this. For every brother who's been killed by the police because of violence from the Brazilian police, a piece of us goes when someone dies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do we want?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Justice!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Justice!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Justice!

COLEMAN: We are finally united as one, so change is definitely coming, and I'm feeling extremely positive about the change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, K-Pop megagroup BTS and is fan-based charity have donated more than $2 million to the Black Lives Matter movement. It seems BTS started off with $1 million, and the fans followed with a hashtag, #matchamillion. In just one day, donations totaled $800,000. By day two, fans had raised more than a million to be used for bailing out protestors out of jail, as well as helping black-led advocacy groups fighting racism, as well as injustice.

This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. I'll be right back with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END