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New Day

Senate to Unveil Police Reform Bill; Trump Pushes forward with Rally; Beijing Cancels Flights; Coronavirus Pandemic Update from Around the World; North Korea Resumes Military Exercises; NBA Lays out Plans to Restart. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 17, 2020 - 06:30   ET

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


[06:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Sorry, complete -- speak, Chief Ramsey. I didn't want to cut you off.

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: No, go ahead. I -- please. Go ahead.

SCIUTTO: Well, Toluse, I was just going to ask about the president's involvement here because you have legislation attempting to work its way through the legislative process. You've got a Republican proposal, you've got a Democratic proposal. And the president signed an executive order yesterday. Normally you might have a president involved in helping negotiate that legislation. What was the point of the EO yesterday and the announcement, et cetera?

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, just what you saw on --

RAMSEY: Well, (INAUDIBLE).

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Go ahead, Toluse.

OLORUNNIPA: Yes, the president wanted to have his own -- his own, essentially, his own legislation. It's not legislation, but he wanted to be able to have something that he takes complete ownership over. He wanted to not have to deal with the messy, thorny process of law making in which he might not get everything he wants. He wanted to go only so far in terms of the types of proposals that he is willing to embrace and he wanted to be surrounded by, you know, law enforcement and continue to show his support for law enforcement. And by doing it by -- by executive order, he could sort of take control over the process, even though the executive order does not have a lot of enforcement behind it, does not have the power of law and, in many cases, it's essentially just a president offering recommendations and offering things that he wants to happen. But the president, obviously, wanted to have this big spectacle. He didn't want to have to wait for the Congress to come up with a law. He wanted to be able to put forward an executive order, declare victory and move on. And that's essentially what he's doing.

CAMEROTA: Well, Toluse, put that aside for a second. What are the chances that now that we know what Senator Tim Scott's plan is and now that the Democrats last week released their plan, what are the chances now that there's going to be some come ground and they're going to be able to meld these into real action?

OLORUNNIPA: Yes, the two sides are relatively far apart, but in many cases the things that are in Senator Scott's bill are things that are all supported by Democrats, it's just that the Democrats believe that Senator Scott's bill doesn't go nearly far enough. It's about encouraging and having studies and offering commissions and tying some funding to various best practices, while the Democrats want much more sort of hard line actions to show that they are making a change and making a specific thing that will actually lead to a positive outcome.

There are some major sticking points, including on things like qualified immunity and how far to go when it comes to banning choke holds. So I do think that there's enough common ground that if they wanted to come up with a solution, they could. But right now, this is a little bit of a thorny issue. And especially if President Trump decides to get involved and draw red lines, then it could be hard for them to come up with a solution, especially since we're so close to an election. Some of the parties involved might just say it's better to just wait for November and see what happens after that.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Yes. And that wouldn't be the first time that happened.

Chief Ramsey, you have a phenomenon now in a number of police departments, in a number of communities, where you have police officers who were resigning in numbers in the midst of this.

RAMSEY: Right.

SCIUTTO: And I wonder, if you were still commanding the police departments in Philadelphia or New York, how would you explain to your officers that this is not targeting police officers in general. It is targeting certain bad behaviors that lead to bad and sometimes deadly outcomes. How would you get that message across?

RAMSEY: Well, I mean, listen, obviously you'd be, you know, visiting roll calls and so forth, but that's a hard sell because, unfortunately, there's really not a whole lot of balances taking place in terms of the reporting, in terms of the demonstrators. And don't get me wrong, we need demonstrations. I mean there needs to be police reform. But in the -- I think one of the consequences of what's going on right now, police are being demonized to a large extent. That's the good cops that really are looking at this saying, you know, why am I bothering? Why am I doing this? So I think we need to find that balance and encourage the good police officers to continue doing what they do, but also help work to -- to get rid of those officers that should not be police officers. So we need to find a little better balance because right now morale is really, you know, weighed down, and understandably so.

CAMEROTA: Chief, we hear you. I mean, and that's a really unfortunate by-product of all of this. Obviously, I mean I know that you're saying that you blame the reporting in part, and I hear you. I mean, you know, we report on the extremes. We report on the things that are outside the norm. We report on the deadly encounters. Not all of -- I mean on NEW DAY we also report on, you know, at the end of our show, "The Good Stuff" and good things that police do all the time. But I understand why that's being eclipsed right now by these deadly encounters.

RAMSEY: Yes.

CAMEROTA: And so what's the answer?

RAMSEY: Well, I mean, just -- wherever you can find balance, find a balance. St. Cloud, Minnesota, the other day, a police officer was shot by an 18-year-old black youth.

[06:35:02]

The kid was not injured. In Philadelphia, last August, five police officers shot by an individual who was taken into custody without injury. I mean there's been a lot of examples out there where police have used a tremendous amount of restraint. And all I'm saying is, if there's balance there, then maybe we can start to get that message across to the men and women because right now, every time you turn on the television, all you're seeing are the bad shootings, the use of force, and so forth. Not that that's not important. It is important and it's flat-out wrong.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

RAMSEY: But, without balance, it does affect moral and you're going to get some of these young cops that will say, listen, I can find some other line of work. I don't need this. And that's unfortunate.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And we don't want that.

CAMEROTA: Chief Ramsey, Toluse, thank you very much.

RAMSEY: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Thanks to both of you.

Beijing is going back into lockdown as the outbreak in the Chinese capital widens there. It's concerning because it shows that even when you think you have this behind you, you may not. We'll have a live report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: A Tulsa County judge has rejected a lawsuit attempting to block President Trump from holding a rally there this weekend.

[06:40:04]

On Monday, Vice President Mike Pence falsely claimed that cases in Oklahoma are declining. But the facts show the number of cases, new cases in that state, going up. In fact, they have been increasing since May.

CNN's Martin Savidge is live in Tulsa with more.

What's the latest, Martin?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

Yes, well, at the very least, this lawsuit was hoping that they could delay or maybe even cancel the rally, but they wanted at least the management of the VOK (ph) facility here to adhere to the minimalist of safety requirements, such as social distancing or requiring masks. That's not going to happen. The Trump campaign says they will be taking people's temperatures, they will be giving out masks and they will be giving out hand sanitizer, but they won't require any of that. We already know how the president feels about masks and many of his fans are likely to follow his lead.

Here's the president talking about the event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, Oklahoma has done very well. I just spoke to the governor. He's very excited about it, Governor Stitt, who's done a terrific job. Mike, I think you can maybe speak to this. He's done a great job. Oklahoma's at a very low number. They've done really fantastic work. They have a new --, a pretty new, magnificent arena. As you probably have heard, we have a 22,000 seat arena, but I think we're going to also take the convention hall next door and that's going to hold 40,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Here's the concern. Oklahoma was doing relatively OK, but not anymore. If you look at the latest numbers, the graph that looks like an escalator rising all the way to the top, Tulsa County, which encompasses Tulsa here, had its biggest rise on Monday, 89 new cases since they've been keeping track. They've gone from 155 cases to, I believe, 532 in the span of a week. So they've got a real spike going on here, just as you've got 60,000 plus people coming in for this rally, many who will be in close quarters.

So the department of health for the state of Oklahoma is saying, if you're coming to this rally, get tested before you come to make sure you don't bring the virus. Two, get tests as soon as you get back home so you don't spread it unknowingly. And if you've got any of those health concerns, don't come at all. If you're over 65, don't come at all. They are very concerned this could be a super spreader event, as they refer to it in the medical community here. Even the mayor, who's a Republican, says he will not be attending.

Jim

SCIUTTO: And we should note, that venue has canceled every other event through July to prevent just this kind of thing. Not for the president.

Martin Savidge, thanks very much.

Developing right now, Beijing is canceling a majority of flights into and out of the country, as the outbreak in the Chinese capital widens.

CNN's Anna Coren is live in Hong Kong with details.

And, you know, Anna, you know, China had, we thought, had the worst of this behind it. It had begun to open up. Now it's going the other way. Tell us why?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's deja vu, Jim, for many people in Beijing. I mean China's gone for more than 50 days without any reported cases and now they have this outbreak. And there are fears that this could prompt a second wave.

One hundred and thirty-seven cases, 31 new case today. And they're all stemming from this food market, wholesale food market in the south of Beijing that provides something like 80 percent of the capital city's fresh produce. Tens of thousands of people frequent that market on a daily basis. That has now been shut down. But authorities, obviously, conducting mass testing across the city, contact tracing for the more than 200,000 people they think visited the market in the -- in the past two weeks.

Beijing itself is now on the soft lockdown, which basically means that no one can really get out of the city. The only way that you can leave is by coming from a low-risk area and having a negative test for the last seven days. So, you know, authorities, obviously, scrambling. They do not want to see a repeat of what happened earlier this year in Wuhan. Obviously, you know, by allowing millions of people to leave Wuhan before the lockdown, that caused the spread of the pandemic right across the world. So the CCP, the communist party, working desperately to contain this outbreak so that it doesn't become a second wave.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Anna Coren, thank you very much.

We're following other international stories, including Mexico struggling with tourism as it reopens. CNN has reporters across the globe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matt Rivers in Mexico, where there are two things happening right now. One, we are in the worst days of this outbreak so far, but, two, the economy here is beginning to gradually reopen.

[06:45:00]

And in some places, that means tourism, like on the Yucatan peninsula. That's where there's famous resort towns, like Cancun and Playa del Carmen. And in those places, some resorts have already reopened. Now, the U.S./Mexico land border remains closed to all non-essential

travel, but Americans can still fly to Mexico and go to those resorts. And the government here says it is safe for them to do so. The American government, however, disagrees. The ambassador here in Mexico City, on Tuesday, urged Americans to not take vacation in Mexico right now, saying that community transmission rates are still far too high.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Alex Thomas in Manchester, where, after three months, England's globally popular Premiere League is back. Covid-19 meant it was called off back in March. On Friday the 13th, no less, and it's been a real horror show for EPL officials since then. Faced with losing hundreds of millions of dollars of TV money, they had to wait until June before the U.K. government gave permission for the season to resume with 92 games still to play, including reigning champions Manchester City against Arsenal here on Wednesday night. If City lose, Liverpool can take their title with a win on Sunday.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matthew Chance.

And Russia's president is being protected from coronavirus by a special disinfection tunnel his visitors must pass through. Footage on state media shows people being sprayed from all sides with what's described as a fine cloud of disinfectant that covers clothes and exposed upper body flesh. Well, there's no indication of how effective the Russian-made device is, but it underlines the extraordinary measures being taken to shield the leader of a country with more than half a million coronavirus cases.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Really interesting and thanks to all of our correspondents.

So tensions are escalating on the Korean peninsula. What will the North do next? We have a live report for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:54]

SCIUTTO: You'll want to watch this story because it's becoming deeply concerning. North Korea has announced it is sending soldiers to the South Korean border and resuming military exercises. State television in North Korea aired this new video. This is of the liaison office. This is an office meant for diplomacy between North and South, which North Korea blew up, literally, as you're seeing there, just in the last day.

CNN's Ivan Watson joins us now with more.

These are concerning steps taking place between North and South Korea. And, of course, marking that President Trump's three years of diplomacy really haven't netted much.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, and I think a lot of analysts are describing this destruction of this liaison office as a symbolic, you know, explosion -- exploding of this period of very high-stakes and high-powered diplomacy between North and South Korea and, by extension, possibly, North Korea and the U.S.

So, North Korea has been voicing its frustration with South Korea for months. The pretext for this action was anger at South Korea activists who float balloons full of anti-North Korea propaganda over the Demilitarized Zone. And then they took this step. They have announced that they have a number of other potential measures on the table, such as sending troops to different areas along the Demilitarized Zone, sending artillery units to some of these areas as well.

And now Pyongyang and Seoul have engaged in a war of words. The South Korean president, his office put out a statement saying, quote, this harms the trust that the two Korean leaders have built in its roots and we clearly warn that we will no longer endure North Korea's senseless comments and actions like this.

The unification minister, that's a cabinet-level official in the South Korean government, has offered to resign now that this has kind of gone so quickly downhill. A governor of the province along the Demilitarized Zone has prohibited anymore balloons being launched across the border.

The key question here is, it really looks, I think many analysts say, like North Korea wants Washington's attention, President Trump's attention, and, ultimately, just want sanctions off the table. We'll see if President Trump pays attention to this.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes, and there are other ways they've gotten or tried to get attention in the past, including missile tests and nuclear tests. We'll be watching closely.

Ivan Watson in Hong Kong.

So, back here in the U.S., what can NBA players expect when they resume play next month inside the league's bubble at Disney World? Details in the "Bleacher Report," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:57:57]

CAMEROTA: The NBA laying out its plans for restarting the season.

Andy Scholes has more in our "Bleacher Report."

Hi, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. So the NBA, they spent a lot of time putting together these health and safety protocols for the bubble in Orlando. We obtained a copy. It's more than a hundred pages long. So when the players arrive to Orlando, they have to self-isolate in their rooms for 48 hours and have to have two negative Covid-19 tests before leaving those rooms just to make sure that no one in the bubble has the virus. Everyone's going to be tested regularly. If a player tests positive, they will be moved to isolation housing and contact tracing will be done. They're using three hotels at Disney to house the team. Now, each hotel is going to have a player's lounge, but there's plenty of rules. No doubles in ping-pong is allowed due to social distancing. And after playing cards, the deck is going to be thrown away.

Now, people on campus can use all the pools, trails, and golf courses there. Mask usage is required when indoors except for while eating. And once games start, players, referees, and bench players and coaches who sit in the first row of seating will not be required to wear masks during games.

Now, in the meantime, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says he understands why some players feel uneasy about playing the games in the midst of the current social climate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM SILVER, COMMISSIONER, NBA: Some people may decide, and it may not just be because of reasons around social unrest, for health reasons, family reasons, that, again, this is -- this is a choice they may make, that they would rather not be in Orlando, Florida, for that. But for the people who do choose to go, I would say, look, the platform that this league has, it's an enormous, global platform.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes, and, Alisyn, the NBA also sent out a memo saying they're working on a plan to utilize that enormous platform for sustained action for issues regarding social justice. And if players don't want to go to this bubble, Alisyn, they've got to let the league know over the next week.

CAMEROTA: OK, Andy, thank you very much.

SCHOLES: All right.

CAMEROTA: And NEW DAY continues right now.

[07:00:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Florida's governor defiant in the face of climbing case counts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not shutting down. We're going to continue to protect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's certainly.

END