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Don Lemon Tonight

John Bolton Spills The Beans On Trump; Coronavirus Cases Rising Exponentially In 10 States; President Trump Claims Coronavirus Is 'Dying Out' As Multiple States Show Record Hospitalizations And Daily New Case Averages; Sources: Atlanta Police Call In Sick In Protest Against Charges Brought Against Officers; Arizona Reports Record One- Day Rise In New Infections. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired June 17, 2020 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.

Eleven p.m. here on the East Coast. And we have new developments in the death of Rayshard Brooks, the 27-year-old black man shot in the back by police.

The district attorney in Atlanta announcing 11 charges against the former officer who fired the shots including a felony murder charge that could bring the death penalty.

And breaking news, here's what sources are saying in Atlanta. That police officers are calling out sick tonight in protest of the charges.

Also, tonight, coronavirus cases on the rise in 21 states. Ten of those states seeing their highest seven-day average of new cases per day since the pandemic began. So why is President Trump saying this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If you look, the numbers are very miniscule compared to what it was. It's dying out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: This is a lie. Unfortunately, this pandemic has killed over 117,000 people in this country. And it is far from over.

And more breaking news to tell you about, damning new allegations against President Trump from his former national security adviser John Bolton.

CNN obtaining a copy of Bolton's new book where he claims that Trump during a meeting with China's President Xi Jinping, quote, "Stunningly turned the conversation to the coming U.S. presidential election, alluding to China's economic capability to effect the ongoing campaigns. Pleading with Xi to ensure he'd win."

So, we've got a lot to talk about. Dana Bash is here. She is CNN's chief political correspondent. Fareed Zakaria here as well. The host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS. Good evening.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening.

LEMON: Fareed, the President of the United States pleading for help from the president of China for help with his re-election. I mean, it's unprecedented. It's, I mean, it's odd and sickening, I guess you could say. What's your reaction to this?

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN ANCHOR: It's unprecedented. It's also in character. I mean, what Bolton says in the book is that he could not recall a single foreign policy decision that President Trump made that was not motivated by his personal re-election prospects.

In other words, he was routinely subordinating American interests in favor of his personal interests. Now, the reason you're right, Don, that the China bit is particularly stunning, and that is the word John Bolton uses, because this is the single most important relationship that the United States has.

I mean, it's one thing if you're trying to do some kind of deal in Turkey with the, you know, the authoritarian leader of Turkey, President Erdogan, which it turns out he was, but that, you know, you could argue at least it's maybe not central to American foreign policy.

The relationship with China is the central relationship that is going to determine the peace of the world for the next 20, 30, 50 years. And on that issue Donald Trump is basically trying to get himself into a situation where he owes the president of China for his re-election.

LEMON: Wow. Well, Dana Bash, the president weighed in on Bolton's book tonight on Fox News. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: In terms of Bolton, he broke the law. He was a washed-up guy. I gave him a chance. He couldn't get Senate confirmed so I gave him a non-Senate confirmed position where I could just put him there, see how he worked, and I wasn't very enamored.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I -- Dana, it sounds similar to everyone who leaves the administration or has a negative thing to say about the president, either they were washed up, a loser. I'm surprised he didn't say he didn't know John Bolton, but how --

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: He barely knew him.

LEMON: Yes. How's the rest of the administration responding? What do you think of what the president said?

BASH: It's very in character, just as Fareed said, that the content of John Bolton's book appears in character of what the president has done and how the president generally behaves.

The details, obviously, some of the details like, for example, not just the allegation that the president explicitly asked President Xi for help for his re-election, but also seemed to, according to Bolton recollection, encourage the notion of a concentration camp in China.

And, you know, I've covered presidents and, you know, it is pretty standard for them to at least in private, even if they don't do it very aggressively in public, to really press the Chinese on human rights.

And according to Bolton, not only did he not press the Chinese leader, he co-signed with the notion of something so horrible as a concentration camp for people in his country.

[23:05:05]

So, look, I mean, these are the kinds of stories that are going to be cat nip for the president's opponents. They are, you know, it's more eye rolling for his supporters about the establishment and John Bolton certainly is a conservative who has been in the establishment of that wing of the party for a long time. Them out to get him.

And the open question that we don't know answer to, and we haven't for so many of these issues, is how is it going to affect the people who could be swayed in the middle in November.

LEMON: I mean, John Bolton, a conservative's conservative, right? This isn't the first time that Trump suggested China should get

involved in our elections. October, 2019. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: By the way, likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens. Because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with -- with Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, Fareed just said this. It sounds like Trump's political interests, Dana, always top priority.

BASH: It is. It is. And, look, I mean, this matches with, maybe to a much lesser degree, but it certainly is fitting with this pattern when the pandemic hit.

I had people telling me that he was telling them that the pandemic was bad because it was hurtful to his re-election campaign. Because it would hurt the economy. That is the way Donald Trump sees -- sees the world and particularly these days sees his presidency.

And you do have somebody like John Bolton who was willing to write it down and willing to do it in a book, you know, I'm sure that we're going to get to this in a second, but the big open question is, even though maybe there were legal roadblocks, which are debatable, for him to have gone before Congress, why didn't he take some of this information while it was still before Congress and have a press conference?

LEMON: Yes.

BASH: Or do the kind of thing that he's doing in this book, even to a little degree, and that is why you're definitely seeing attacks on him from people in both parties.

LEMON: You know how we get the e-mail alerts on our phones, if you're from CNN, every time there is a -- like, every -- I don't know, today there were a bunch of them. The Trump administration is doing this to stop -- the Trump administration is -- I mean, they're doing their darndest to sell a whole lot of books, Fareed, for John Bolton.

ZAKARIA: Well, that's true. But again, Don. But it's worth pointing out what they're trying to do is to get -- essentially to get something censored in advanced. It's what's called in the law prior restraint.

LEMON: But, Fareed, it's out.

ZAKARIA: This -- so basically that was the effort. The idea if they were to win, the idea the book would be pulp. Now, of course, it isn't going to happen. The Supreme Court has never upheld a prior restraint, but it tells you again just how -- how dangerous the way that Trump regards these things is.

That his personal interests, Trump's American foreign policy, American interests, the American legal tradition, you know, all these things that are -- that are meant to uphold and sustain American democracy or pursue America's foreign policy, these are just obstacles if Donald Trump, you know, if the issue in any way conflicts with his personal interests.

And let's be clear about one thing, Don. His principal defense in that Hannity interview that you mentioned is that John Bolton broke the law. The argument is that he broke the law by revealing confidential information. In other words, Donald Trump is telling us John Bolton is telling the truth.

LEMON: Right.

ZAKARIA: He shouldn't be telling the truth because it's confidential.

LEMON: That's why I said he's selling a lot of books.

ZAKARIA: But Donald Trump -- is that John Bolton is telling the truth.

LEMON: Yes. Yes, interesting. I mean, Dana, you brought this up. Let's talk about this because there are -- the criticism of John Bolton, right, digging in a little deeper, is that he's not brave. By doing it this way, that he's cowardly. He didn't testify. He did it this way. And many people will say, why not do it when you're there, right?

When you're in power or at least right when you end to talk about -- to tell why you did it.

BASH: Yes, he's very harsh on the House Democrats who led the impeachment inquiry, saying that they didn't get it. That they should not have limited the probe to Ukraine. That there was a lot more there that they should have expanded, like China, what we were talking about, even Turkey.

LEMON: Couldn't he have offered them that advice then? I'm just saying.

BASH: No, that's a good question. Now, you know, people close to John Bolton at the time were saying privately that the House Democrats didn't understand, you know, the game.

[23:10:03]

What I mean by that is that Bolton's deputy tried to take this matter to court. In order to a lot -- to get a green light to testify before the House. And Adam Schiff decided not to pursue the matter in the courts because he thought that that would be time consuming. And that was how -- that was the gateway through which Bolton saw his ability to do this under oath, and the House Democrats didn't take it.

LEMON: Wow.

BASH: That is why he is critical of them. They, Adam Schiff in particular tonight tweeted that John Bolton is an author but not a patriot, meaning, you know, this isn't a game.

LEMON: Yes.

BASH: And he should have found a way to do it at a time where it was before the United States Congress.

LEMON: Dana Bash, Fareed Zakaria. Thank you very much. Make sure you watch Fareed Zakaria GPS Sundays 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. here on CNN. You can -- Dana Bash is always on. So, thank you both. I appreciate it.

John Bolton reportedly describing intelligence briefings as a waste of time because the president spoke more than he listened. I'm going to ask someone who briefed a president about what he thinks about this. And the othe rmajor allegations from Bolton's book.

The former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, next.

[23:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK. So, the former national security adviser John Bolton is claiming that President Trump asked the president of China to help him get re-elected. It's one of many stunning allegations from Bolton's new book. Let's discuss. James Clapper is the former Director for National

Intelligence. He joins me now. Director, thank you. I appreciate you joining. If this allegation is true, did President Trump put this country's national security at risk for his own personal political gain?

JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it would appear so. Where you're inviting a foreign government, particularly a competitor, an adversary, to involve itself in our -- our -- our election.

So, one thing I think this foretells is the Chinese, who have gone to school on the Rusisans anyway, for what the Rusisans did in 2016, the Chinese are going to involve themselves, I believe, in our election 2020 to grind their own axes.

So, yes, it's kind of amazing. And also, couldn't help but think of July 2016 when President Trump exhorted the Rusisans to go find the missing 30,000 e-mails of Hillary Clinton. It's the same sort of thing.

LEMON: Let me tell you what the current national intelligence director John Ratcliffe is saying. He responded to the book, Bolton's book, tonight by saying he is obligated to defend the intelligence community from unauthorized disclosures.

But in order to claim that this book is classified, doesn't the government need to admit the allegations are true?

CLAPPER: Well, not necessarily. I mean, it certainly has that connotation. But, you know, the president is the ultimate classifier and de-classifier. So, if he declares, which is unprecedented, by the way. If he declares that his conversations are all classified then I guess that's an issue.

Now, there apparently was an extended period of publication review, which, you know, anyone who writes a book about their experience in the government has to do. And I think, frankly, trains left the station because the book has been distributed. You know, it's all over the place about what's in it.

So I think -- and, you know, as far as the DNI is concerned, I guess if he can make the case that somehow intelligence information was compromised, I think that would be, you know, his -- his turf, but I rather doubt there is a genuine compromise of classified information.

Mr. Bolton is very experienced in the government and he knows what the rules are and he knows what's genuinely classified and what's not.

LEMON: Well, you know, he spoke to ABC News tonight. He -- this is what he said about Trump's relationship with Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR OF THE UNITED STATES: I think Putin thinks he can play him like a fiddle. I think Putin is smart, tough. I think he sees that he's not faced with a serious adversary here. I don't think he's worried about Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Is he right?

CLAPPER: He is. And I said as much some time ago. I said I think with you that Putin's behavior with the president is to treat him like an asset. That's not to say he is an asset, but that is the manner in which Putin behaves, and I think he clearly feels he has the upper hand over -- over President Trump.

LEMON: OK. So, this is according to Bolton's book. That Trump didn't know that Britain was a nuclear power and asked if Finland was a part of Rusisa. I mean, OK, again, if true, how troubling is that kind of ignorance coming from the President of the United States?

CLAPPER: Well, it's -- it's devastating. I mean, I just -- you can't get over it. Just basics like that.

LEMON: I'm kind of not surprised, though. I would not be surprised.

CLAPPER: No, I mean -- and, you know, that's kind of how I ration the book, you know? It's authoritative, it's compelling, it's stunning, but it's not surprising.

LEMON: Yes. I want to read -- this is a quote from, another quote from Bolton's book and he writes, "one highlight came when Xi said he wanted to work with Trump for six more years, and Trump replied that people were saying that the two-term constitutional limit on presidents should be repealed for him. I was aware of no such chatter, knowing Xi was effectively president for life in China. Trump was trying to compete with him.

[23:20:01]

Later in the dinner, Xi said the U.S. had too many elections because he didn't want to switch away from Trump, who nodded approvingly."

OK. What kind of message does that send to the rest of the world?

CLAPPER: Well, it is kind of startling pronouncement about, you know, the rule of law in this country. You know, the limit is two terms for a president to serve. That's it. And apparently, that's not a big concern of his and he's, you know, kind of seeking spiritual, if not substantive support for the leader of a foreign adversary to help him serve more than two terms.

LEMON: Director Clapper, always appreciate it. Think we got just in time, got you in because your signal is fading fast. Have a good night. We'll see you soon.

I want to quickly share that tomorrow I'm launching a new podcast it's called "Silence is Not an Option." And I'm hoping that it's going to be a chance for us to have a dialogue about America's racial divide. Arrive at some concrete steps that we can all take to end racism at a practical personal level. And you can hear -- listen for free, I should say, on cnn.com or your

favorite podcast app. The first episode drops tomorrow. "Silence is Not an Option." I hope that you'll join me.

And next, coronavirus cases surging in the states that opened too soon and without enough precautions in place. Well, we're going to tell you where cases are on the rise and what needs to be done to stop the uptick.

[23:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The coronavirus surging across parts of the United States as the Trump administration ignores the pandemic, tries to mislead the public. President Trump tonight claiming the virus is dying out. That's not what the facts show.

CNN's Athena Jones now.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Despite the message coming from the White House and its allies, the COVID crisis in the U.S. has not abated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZEKE EMANUEL, FORMER OBAMA WHITE HOUSE HEALTH POLICY ADVISER: It does seem that the administration wants to move beyond coronavirus. But the virus isn't going to cooperate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: In fact, new coronavirus cases are surging to record levels in several states that reopened swiftly and experts say too soon or without sufficient precautions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI KHAN, FORMER DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS AT CDC: We've not changed the basic biology of the disease. The virus is out there, 95 percent of Americans continue to be susceptible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Reported infections now falling in 21 states in holding steady in 8 but rising in 21 states with 10 seeing a more than 50 percent jump in new cases including South Carolina, Alabama and West Virginia. Florida, Arizona, and Texas have set records for new cases in recent days with hospitalizations hitting new highs in Texas, North Carolina and Arizona. Raising concerns for health care providers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIA STRANGE, VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNITY BENEFIT, TUCSON MEDICAL CENTER: This week we did hit our capacity in our COVID designated ICU unit, and so we have been participating in that surge line to transfer patients who we believe will need ICU care within 24 hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And as the debate over masks rages on, American airlines asking a passenger to deplane from a flight from New York to Dallas after he refused to wear a mask. In Montgomery, Alabama, a push for masks in the hardest-hit city in the state coming up short.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM RUDOLPH MCGLOTHAN, NEPHROLOGIST, JACKSON HOSPITAL: But until you actually mandate, because people won't -- don't believe the hype. We won't be able to stop it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: The city council failing to pass an ordnance requiring them. Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott urging people to take precautions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): COVID-19 hasn't suddenly magically left the State of Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: This as mayors of Texas' biggest cities call on Abbott to allow them to require face covering. And with cases on the rise in Oklahoma, a judge has blocked an effort to stop President Trump's planned Saturday rally, which health officials worry could be a super spreader event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me be clear, anyone planning to attend a large- scale gathering will face an increased risk of becoming infected with COVID-19.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Athena Jones, CNN, New York.

LEMON: Athena, thank you very much. I appreciate that. I want to bring in now Dr. Jonathan Reiner, director of the Cardiac Catheterization Program at George Washington University Hospital and former Vice President Dick Cheney's cardiologist. Good evening, doctor. When you hear --

(CROSSTALK)

JONATHAN REINER, DIRECTOR OF CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION PROGRAM, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: Hi, Don.

LEMON: -- the president say the virus is dying out, what goes through your mind? REINER: Well, he's either, you know, misinformed, he's misinforming

the public intentionally. So, the truth is this. You know, the virus came to the United States in January and really came to the coast. It went to the West Coast first from China, and infected a person in the state of Washington. And then it burned through the nursing homes in -- in -- on the west coast.

And then it came to the east coast from a different route, from Italy. So, the virus really set up in this country in an asymmetric way. So, there were many parts of this country were hit very hard in March and April and May, where as other parts of the country had very little cases.

Now those other parts of the country, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Oklahoma, which weren't hit hard early, now with opening now virus has entered those states. So, what we're seeing is not embers, as the president has said, we're just seeing the virus now seep into parts of the country which had very little virus before.

[23:30:05]

So this is just the evolution of basically the asymmetric spread of the virus through the country, very much the first wave of this.

LEMON: Yeah. I just want to put up what you said earlier. I think a visual helps. You mentioned a number of them, but 10 states are seeing their highest seven-day averages of new cases per day since the pandemic began and hospitalizations are up in multiple states.

And then there is this misleading claim from the White House that we're only seeing an increase because of more testing. That's a damaging narrative, correct?

REINER: Yeah, and it's incorrect. So, for instance, in Oklahoma, testing is actually down a bit in Oklahoma, but COVID-19 hospitalizations are up. The other way to evaluate that is to look at the percent of tests that are done which are positive, and they're up as well.

In places like Arizona, they're really sky high. So, we know that the consequences of infection, not just a positive test, consequences of infection are up in parts of the country, and that's really undeniable. But the good news is that the experience in parts of the east, places like Illinois and Pennsylvania and New York, show that with social distancing and with masks, we can put the virus down.

You know, cases are way down in places like New York and that's what we need to do in other parts of the country. We know how to do it. We just have to have the will to do it. We have to have the public will and we have to have the political will to show the public what to do.

LEMON: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slamming the White House over its pandemic messaging. Let's play it.

REINER: Mm-hmm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY PELOSI, SPEAKER OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: For the president to have this ego trip that he wants to take to Tulsa to have a mass rally of people coming together, endangering their own health and the people that they go home to. For the vice president of the United States to talk about -- to go visiting places without a mask is a bad example to the public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: One administration official is telling CNN, doctor, that the White House is in denial, that that denial could have massive consequences.

REINER: They're not in denial. They're misdirecting the attention of the public. They're trying to get the public to look -- to look elsewhere. You know, I wonder if -- would the president go to Tulsa if the -- if he had any personal danger of acquiring the virus? If he wasn't going to be in a protective bubble, which he will be, would he, you know, dare, you know, enter a place where virus is rising?

You know, this is the same person that when a staff member at the White House tested positive, the president took an unproven drug for two weeks to try and prevent acquiring the virus. I think not. I think he wouldn't. But yet he's willing to risk the lives of thousands and thousands of people just for this photo-op. It's obvious and it's -- and it's -- it's incredibly distressing.

LEMON: Yeah. It's interesting how the -- how your leaders have an effect on perception, reality as well. I have some friends who had -- who were living in Miami. They came back to New York, and they were surprised by the number of people wearing masks. They couldn't hug anyone or shake hands or have dinner because they had been in an environment -- they said they didn't even have a mask in Miami, which is interesting to me.

I'm sure some folks there do, many folks do, but they said they didn't, and they were surprised to see so many people on the street with masks and that they couldn't really get close to people. It was just kind of unnerving to them.

REINER: You know who you never see on the street without a mask? A doctor or a nurse.

LEMON: Right.

REINER: Because those are the people who get it.

LEMON: Yeah. Thank you, doctor. Appreciate it. The officers involved in the killing of Rayshard Brooks charged today, and sources tell CNN that some Atlanta police officers are calling out sick tonight in protest. Stay with us. We'll tell you about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So here's our breaking news tonight here on CNN. Sources saying that some police officers are calling out sick, not responding to calls hours after a former police officer was charged with felony murder in the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks.

Let's bring in CNN's Ryan Young with the very latest for us on the ground in Atlanta. Ryan, good evening to you. You have new reporting tonight about --

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening.

LEMON: -- why officers are not responding to calls. What's going on?

YOUNG: Yeah, absolutely. First, there's a lot to get in here. I didn't turn the light on our camera because we're just outside of a protest where officers pretty much told them, please disperse within the next five to 10 minutes.

What I want to show you, Don, as you look off in the distance here, you can see about 75 people who are gathering around a truck that actually has lasers on it, who are trying to challenge the police officers. If you look back this direction, you can see some of the officers in tactical gear with nonlethal weapons on the stand by already wearing their gas mask, and then there is another group of officers who are standing in the distance.

This is also pretty interesting for the fact that this is one of the precincts where we're been told that some officers have decided to call out.

[23:40:00]

YOUNG: And this is the zone three policing, which is in the Grant Park area. If you know Atlanta at all, there is a zoo near here, so this is a very affluent neighborhood. But these folks have shown up in the neighborhood to have their voices heard.

I can tell you something that we learned earlier through all the sources that we had a chance to talk to. More than 12 officers have called to say that when the officers found out about these charges to the two other officers, some of them turned their keys in, went home. Some called out sick. Some just sat in their cars as calls started to come in. There were more than 70 calls pending at some point throughout the city.

This has been very interesting because a lot of the officers have supported Mayor Bottoms for quite some time, especially with them getting a raise coming July 1st. But this was sort of the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of what they've seen over the last month.

You had six officers who were fired in the city for arresting two college students. And then you had these two officers, one fired, one put on administrative duty. A lot of officers feel that was a good shoot, but they also wanted to see what the GBI investigation would turn out. In fact, Mayor Bottoms talked to Chris Cuomo a few hours ago. Take a listen to some of the things she had to say about this call-out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), ATLANTA, GEORGIA: There's a lot happening in our city, and our police officers are receiving the brunt of it, quite frankly. But what I will say is this. My administration had a great working relationship with our officers. In fact, our officers were given a historic pay raise by our administration so that we could have the best to choose from on our force.

And so what I would say is, in the same way our administration's made that commitment to our officers, we expect that our officers will keep their commitment to our communities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Don, the thing that everyone's worried about is tomorrow because I'm told there could be a larger action by the police department. Now, there has also been a call for mutual aid, but from what we're hearing, there are some agencies around the city who do not want to do mutual aid with the city of Atlanta in this current climate. So you see these folks in the corner here and you see the officers waiting on standby. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

LEMON: Ryan Young at the scene. Ryan, thank you very much. Appreciate that. I want to bring in now Mike Muse. He's the host of "The Mike Muse Show" and the founder of Vote Quadrant. Mike, good evening to you. Thank you. I have been wanting to get you on because this is right up your alley.

You have this Vote Quadrant, a plan to stop police killings of black people I want to talk to you about. But I just want to get your -- what do you think about the news today, this former officer in Atlanta facing charges including felony murder and aggravated assault, after fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks? What's your reaction to that?

MIKE MUSE, FOUNDER OF VOTE QUADRANT, HOST OF "THE MIKE MUSE SHOW": Well, one, Don, thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure talking to you. I've been interested in having a conversation with you for a very long time. Thank you for your advocacy and how you bring issues to the forefront. My immediate reaction was how swiftly these charges were handed down to this former officer.

I can tell you, as a black man who over years have watched police brutality and police misconduct and to see so many hashtags of black people being murdered at the hands of the police, and then the complete exasperation and frustration when you see nothing being done, when you see district attorneys who don't fight with vigor to find an indictment with the grand jury, when you see district attorneys in the courtroom not fighting vigorously on behalf of the black individuals who have lost their lives, there is this devaluing that you feel, Don. And so to see this black prosecutor in Atlanta being backed with the authenticity of a mayor, Mayor Keisha Bottoms, working together to ensure the residents of Atlanta that justice will be served and that, Don, our lives do matter, I can tell you how powerful that was to see and to witness.

We are not where we want to be, but we're a lot further along knowing that we have Mayor Keisha Bottoms and a district attorney on our side with that.

LEMON: So let's talk about the Republicans unveiling a police reform bill that would discourage but not ban tactics like chokehold, no- knock warrants. Democrats are looking for a more sweeping version of reforms. After weeks of nationwide protests, what do you think of this bill? Does it fall short? What do you think of it?

MUSE: The bill falls extremely short, Don. What is it saying is this are a series of recommendations. When you make a recommendation without forcing legislation through, that strictly bans chokeholds, and then it's just optics.

When you don't force legislation but instead you suggest that these police officers who have committed murder just get put into a database, Don, that doesn't solve the issue, because what that does is it allows the prerogative of another police chief, another police commissioner in another city, who may not see the value of a black life, who may not see the value of a marginalized community member and accept that individual into their city, into their municipality and say you are welcomed here.

[23:45:05]

MUSE: We've already seen that, Don, with the police union in Florida when they encouraged on a Facebook posting the officers in Atlanta who had to resign and got terminated by the mayor due to their handling of two collegiate students.

We saw it happening already with the officers standing by in Buffalo with the police union where the police union recommended they come down to Florida and that they would have a home with that police union.

So these recommendations without legislation, without forcibly banned, Don, is just a Band-Aid on the situation and further it vindicates the narrative of what's on the street, that the federal government just does not care about black life.

LEMON: Let's talk about this -- this -- your Vote Quadrant, which is your plan to stop police killings of black people. I know that you're passionate about this. You say that voting strategically is the key to fighting police brutality. And you've come up with this system called Vote Quadrant. So let's talk about it. Tell me about it.

MUSE: Yeah, Don. For me, it is a strategic solution and strategic voting. It was inspired after the Ahmaud Arbery passing, and I just couldn't see another murder of another black man. And I kept hearing this narrative to be a solution of this voting.

I thought to myself, Don, the reason why these police officers feel so comfortable at pulling that trigger is they've never been held accountable for their actions.

And for me what's going to allow them to be held accountable is when they see themselves going to a grand jury, when they see indictments being drawn up against them, when they see themselves being dragged into a courtroom, and then ultimately they see themselves being found guilty and sentenced to "X" amount of years to life for the result of the murder that they did.

That ultimately will get them to think twice about pulling the trigger, Don, and maybe they'll revert back to their police training. And so with that, I created a system because, Don, if you say vote for a senator --

LEMON: Mm-hmm.

MUSE: -- a senator can't convene a grand jury. When you say vote for a House representative, a House representative can't conduct a trial, but the (INAUDIBLE) I can as a mayor, the police chief, the DA, and the judge.

LEMON: And we will leave on that. Mike, thank you so much. Get to Vote Quadrant. Mike Muse's Vote Quadrant, a plan to stop police killings of black people. Appreciate you joining us. Thanks.

MUSE: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: America is growing increasing divided on wearing masks despite the clear science showing that they are keys to preventing the spread of coronavirus. Next is Tucson mayor, who has been fighting to make masks mandatory.

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[23:50:00]

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LEMON: So, Arizona is seeing a spike in coronavirus cases. State health officials are reporting a record one-day rise in cases on Tuesday and their second highest today. It's one of 21 states seeing an increase in cases across the country.

Let's discuss now with Mayor of Tucson, Regina Romero. Thank you, mayor. Appreciate you joining.

MAYOR REGINA ROMERO (D), TUCSON, ARIZONA: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me, Don.

LEMON: So, listen, I carry this around. I don't know if you can see, but this is my mask. It's got, you know, lemons on it. Someone made it for me. But I carry it around all the time and wear it. And, you know, if I leave home and I forget it, I have to go back home and get it. You're going to make mask wearing mandatory in public in Tucson. What led you to that decision?

ROMERO: The numbers the science -- the information that we are seeing, happening in the past two weeks, the rates of COVID-19 cases and the rise of those cases not just in Arizona but here in Tucson, in Pima County where Tucson is. Just yesterday, as you said, in one day, we saw almost 2,400 cases statewide. And so, in the last 20 days, we have been rising in cases, a thousand per day.

LEMON: Wow.

ROMERO: And so, unfortunately, Governor Ducey, when he signed his executive order in early March, he pre-empted cities, towns and counties throughout the state of doing anything that would go beyond what he declared in his executive order.

LEMON: Right.

ROMERO: And mandating face masks was out of the question for the governor, and so it was out of the question for cities and towns throughout Arizona.

And one of the reasons that we were concerned, at least we -- I was concerned, as mayor of the city of Tucson, that a couple of years back, Republicans in the state legislature passed a bill called 1487 where, if we dare do a law that doesn't conform to state laws, according to Republicans, then they could come after our state-shared revenue.

LEMON: Wow.

ROMERO: And for the city of Tucson, it's $125 million. So it really paralyzes cities and towns and counties throughout Arizona when there is a pandemic happening.

LEMON: So let me ask you, then. So, you know, you went back and forth with the governor, Doug Ducey, because you wanted to impose your own requirements. So you're going to do it now. How are you going to enforce it?

[23:54:55]

ROMERO: We are happy that Governor Ducey finally today really untied the hands of mayors throughout the state to make our own -- only for the face masks, though -- to make our own emergency proclamations to make face masks mandatory.

We are going to do an educational campaign and really try to work with our community, with businesses, with everyone that we can in the community to educate everyone.

LEMON: OK.

ROMERO: And so PSA is in. But if we do see people that are blatantly disregarding the health of others, then we do want to be able to have some teeth into our emergency proclamation.

LEMON: OK. We have to leave it there, mayor. We're out of time. Thank you.

ROMERO: No problem.

LEMON: We'll check back in. Thank you for coming on CNN. Good luck and be safe. Thanks so much.

ROMERO: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: Absolutely. Thank you for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

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