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Don Lemon Tonight

Top Police Speaks to Don on Policing in America; Daunte Wright Laid to Rest as U.S. Grapples with Fatal Police Shootings; Deadly Police Shooting Renew Debate Over Race and Use Of Force; Don Interviews Mayor Melvin Carter (D-ST. PAUL, MN); Protesters Call for Release of Bodycam Video After Black Man was Fatally Shot by Deputies; Stacey Abrams Fires Back at Sen. John Kennedy Over Georgia Voting Law; Texas Students Hold Slave Auction of Black Classmates on Social Media; President Biden Sets Ambitious Goal to Cut U.S. Carbon Emissions 50 Percent by 2030. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired April 22, 2021 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Chief Maddrey, what happened? So, in the Daunte Wright situation, it was initially described by police as an accident? Is using a gun instead of a taser and understandable accident under pressure? Or is that a situation that something that a veteran officer should be able to manage better?

JEFFREY MADDREY, CHIEF, NYPD COMMUNITY AFFAIRS BUREAU: Don, you know, I saw the video of that situation, and it escalated quickly, it was a very rapidly moving situation, where it looked, like at, first it was going to be an arrest, a compliant arrest, and then things changed. And I heard the officer yelling, yelling taser, taser, but she drew her gun. I really can't speak to what happened with her.

I mean, there is a big difference between a taser, and a gun, I mean, two distinct weapons. It was just a tough situation out there. And the officer found herself in a tough situation and it had tragic results. So, you know, Minnesota did want an investigation, it was an active investigation, and the district attorney out there is going to -- as follow through with it.

But, you know, it really falls back on training. We have to make sure officers continually train with their service, weapon with their taser, and you know, sometimes, we try to put them in a high intensity situation, when you're out there, in the street, it takes a different turn. Because it's for real out there, and the officers want to be safe.

LEMON: Yes. So, I want to ask you, Chief Scott, what do you think is going to help this? What's going to help?

SCOTT: Well, Don, first of all, we have to, really, appreciate, and move forward, with what history has taught us. And you know, a lot of the discussion is around policy, accountability, and rightfully so. Because those things need to happen, and they have to be done correctly. Use of force policies and things like that. I know we spend a lot of effort in our police commission, and a lot of

our advocacy, and activist groups, we have, what I think, is an outstanding use of force policy. Because there was community input. But I want to say too, Don, we have to connect all this and look at this through the lens of history. You know, a history of how we got here. A history of race, and bias and all of these things, both explicit and implicit in our country.

I would submit, and I know we try to do that here in San Francisco. When we make these policies, we have to look at them through those lenses. Because we can't forget about our history. We are spending a lot of time and effort here in San Francisco to bring history to the present. So, in forms of our thinking and our policy.

And you know, I started off this conversation with humanity. And the reason that I did is because that we had a training session with our command staff, and we brought in Lisa McNair, who her sister Denise, was, you know, killed in the 63 Baptist Church bombing. To have her talk about, hate, forgiveness, reconciliation, and really speak to us about how the criminal justice system failed her family, for so many years, until Bill Baxley and I can't remember the Senator's name -- Doug Jones -- prosecuted those individuals who had killed those four little girl's.

And those -- that history, still lives with a lot of people who were impacted up. You know, the families and my parents, my uncles, and aunts who lived through these moments, we can't forget that history and we have to inform our policy with that history.

We also brought in Laura King, Rodney King's daughter. And I got to tell you, guys, that to sit next to Laura King and watched -- we w watched a video, L.A. 92. Before we did that, and when we talked about humanity. We had her talked about her dad, as a dad. As a father. And we saw family pictures that I had never seen before.

So, before we showed the videos about the 1991 incident, let's look at Rodney King, as a human being and now let's hear from her daughter, who is impacted from this event for the rest of her life. And it brought it to a different place for us in a very powerful.

LEMON: I did a documentary on Rodney King. I think it was one of the last people to do an interview with him, so I understand what you're saying, with him and his family. So, I have to ask you, Chief Acevedo, what can be done? What should be done? What do you think?

ART ACEVEDO, HOUSTON POLICE CHIEF: Well, a lot more, I mean, for me, it starts with accountability. You know, we can learn the history, we can teach the policy, we can have laws, but if we don't hold people to the laws, the policy, and the tactics, you know, cops will feel like they don't have to follow, so I think we have to hold people accountable.

[23:05:12]

And lastly, I think we've got to go -- not just passed reform, but you know, President Biden needs to step up. He needs to step up, and do what he promised to do, which is put together that commission. We've got to have a commission in the 21st century, with practitioner, with social scientists, with mental health professionals, or the (inaudible) professionals with educators, to reimagine policing. To reimagine the criminal justice system, to reimagine public health, mental health, education, economic opportunity, our society, in the ills of society.

Our failures of policing are the most visible, but the underlying causes go well beyond, well beyond, policing, until we get that commission, and weave in our country, admit that the sins of the past, into the present, we'll never move into a better future.

LEMON: Chief Maddrey, the largest police force in the country. Biggest city in the country. Can you give us some advice, and offer us some advice on how, what we do in this moment? Because, you know, people are -- it's tough right now. Very simply, it is tough for the community, it's tough for the country, and it's tough for policing. I'm not sure -- I've been saying we're at an inflection point when it comes to policing in this country, but what advice do you have? What do you say?

MADDREY: I mean, Don, you know, Chief Acevedo and Chief Scott, the hit on key points when you talk about the history, when you talk about accountability. And again, a 21st century reforms, all important things. But remember, I'm the chief community affairs here in a police department, and with is always about building relationships.

Even in the biggest city with the most people, and the most police officers. We have to take a deeper (inaudible) that can get into our communities and work closer with them. Understand what they need from us. How do we celebrate the values of each community? We have so many different distinct communities in here.

And all of our police officers have to know to work closely with those communities, to make sure what come back another level that will increase public safety. And the more and more I go out to the community and talk to people, the more I realize that we all want the same thing. We all want that increased public safety, and it's going to start us building relationships, and have those very difficult talks.

Earlier today, I was out in the 114 precincts. And we had the people's police academy, a training where it was community centered, community based where members from the community sat down with the officers for three days -- three days -- really taking a deep dive on what's going on in the community and how we can learn from each other and how we can build better relationships, again, to increase public safety. So, we really have to get out there and work closely with the community to address a lot of the issues.

LEMON: Chief Maddrey, Chief Scott, Chief Acevedo, I'm so thank you. And we need to continue these conversations. You guys are -- I think you really helped the viewer, and I'm just grateful that you're here having these conversations and we're grateful to have folks in law enforcement like you. Thanks so much.

MADDREY: Thanks, Don.

SCOTT: Thank you, Don. Good night.

LEMON: Thank you.

ACEVEDO: Thank you, Don. Good night.

LEMON: Thank you. Have a good night, gentlemen.

So, this is CNN tonight. It's just a little bit past the top of the hour. So, that's what we need to be doing right now is having these conversations. Everything is not so cut and dry. There's nuance, there's a lot, a lot of lot of things that we can do, and the one thing we need to do is to be open and try to unify and not divisive.

We need to listen to each other. We need to have the tough conversations. We have to stop categorizing things. Either you're for it or against it. You're for the cops, you're against the cops. You're for the community, you're against the community. These conversations are not constructive and not helpful when you put them in that lens. It's not constructive at all when people go to their corners and they try to put everything, every police shooting in the same basket. It's not.

And when you try to put -- and when you don't understand the needs of the community as, as the chiefs were just saying. So let's be constructive in our conversations and not divisive in our conversations and offer each other grace in our conversations and be open to learning, everyone, police officers, the communities, everyone because we're not going to fix it if we're talking past each other.

So let's continue our conversation now. Senior legal analyst Laura Coates and Mayor Melvin Carter of St. Paul, Minnesota, thank you both for joining tonight. So, mayor, you say the most disturbing experiences that you've had with law enforcement have been in Minnesota. Tell me about that.

[23:10:07]

MAYOR MELVIN CARTER (D-MN), ST. PAUL: Thanks for having me on. Sure, just growing up in St. Paul in Minnesota and then going to college in Florida, you know, obviously driving Georgia and Alabama and New Orleans and all over that kind of deep south, as a young person I was pulled over quite frequently. I drove a 1984 Monte Carlo with whitewall tires. It was amazing in ways only a 17-year-old boy can really appreciate and got pulled over and over and over and over.

My father, I was really intrigued about the conversations with the police officers who was talking just before because my father was one of the first African American police officers. And so, the plates would run back to my father who at the time was in internal affairs, by the way, and of course, people would say, well, you know, I'll tell you what, we're going to let you go this time.

But having those experiences over and over again foster, I think in me both you know, having the experience of growing up in a police house praying every night for the safety of our St. Paul police officers, seeing those African American officers who came on the force of my father.

But then all of the sudden driving through our community and needing officers who would follow me for eight blocks and pull me over to come up with a reason to pull me over, pulled over for all those reasons that we're discussing, those pre-textual stops and those types of things, it's jarring the two entirely different worlds that we live in.

LEMON: Laura, you're also from Minnesota. George Floyd, Daunte Wright, Philando Castile, Jamar Clark. Why do so many black men keep dying at the hands of police in the Minneapolis area? Listen, maybe we're seeing it there. Listen, we know it's not just Minneapolis, but why do you think we're seeing it so much there?

LAURA COATES, CNN INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ANALYST: Not only did I grow up there, I grew up with the mayor in St. Paul, Minnesota as well. I know him quite well. And the idea of this happening in a place like Minnesota is very disorienting for people, because people often have the presumption that the ideas of systemic racism and all the things that come along with it or below the Mason-Dixon Line, and you realize, of course, that happens all across this country.

What we're seeing right now in Minnesota, unfortunately is not only confined there, it's illustrative in so many places. One of the reasons why there was such a visceral reaction to the killing of George Floyd was because of how illustrious it was to so many other instances across this country.

And you can talk about the lives of McLain and Ahmaud Arbery, who was not killed in the hands of police officers, but it resonates just the same. The idea of Rayshard Brooks and Breonna Taylor, and there's so many different concerns here. I'm not even addressing the younger people like Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice, all these instances about people wondering about the humanity extended or denied to people of color in this country.

And so, what we're seeing I think is so jarring is the frequency not by which the idea that it has never happened before, but the idea that there is a microscope on it now. And as I say, antiseptic, light is the best antiseptic, and I certainly hope it moves the needle forward to that, where we actually hear about this any longer, because it's not happening, not because the camera is turned away.

LEMON: Yes. And mayor, that's why you see with the passion and the emotional realm in what happened in Ohio, because what people see another black life lost. And listen, there are nuances, and it needs to be investigated. But because of what Laura just said, that you see so many black lives lost at the hands of police officers, that's why people are so passionate around it regardless of what the circumstances of the shootings are.

CARTER: That's right, and we see on the opposite bookend, we see dangerous events that happen where there is a white 62-year-old man or a white woman or a white someone else who has something that dangerous and they survive the encounter. And the question is, why aren't they dead, they should have survived that encounter, it should have been deescalated. The question is when will we learn how to deescalate in our neighborhood as well?

LEMON: Yes. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Laura. I appreciate the conversation. I really do. Let's continue.

CARTER: Thank you very much.

LEMON: So, I want to turn to Elizabeth City, North Carolina now. Where protesters are demanding answers after another black man was killed at the hands of police. Officials say deputies were trying to execute an arrest warrant on 40-year-old Andrew Brown Jr. over a felony drug charges. But until they released the body camera footage. There are questions about how this interaction turn deadly. Here's how witness describe the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEMETRA WILLIAMS, WITNESS TO SHOOTING: I heard one shot and ran down here. By the time I got here, they were standing behind his car. He was trying to get away. They stood behind him, I couldn't tell you who shot him, I couldn't do that, but one of the officers or maybe a couple shot him because, it was 14 shell cases right here.

UNKNOWN: Do you know how many deputies were here?

[23:15:00]

WILLIAMS: Oh my God. Behind him? Well, I want to say, it was about four or five.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, joining me now is Darius Horton, he sits on the city council in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Harry Daniels, the attorney for Andrew Brown Jr.'s family and Keith Rivers, the president of the Pasquotank County in NAACP. Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate all of you joining tonight.

So, Harry, we just heard Brown's neighbor said that deputies were shooting at the car he was driving. What more can you tell us about exactly what happened yesterday, because we don't have that video, right that would illustrate what happened. So, tell me what happened.

HARRY DANIELS, ATTORNEY FOR ANDREW BROWN JR.'S FAMILY: That's correct, Don. That's one of the issues we're having here in Elizabeth City. To my understanding that the deputies were serving a warrant. Mr. Brown was not home at the time, but he rolled up during the execution of that warrant. Some exchange took place, a verbal exchange and he tried to flee.

At that time, my understanding, what's been said by the witnesses and other sources, that gunfire was started, and they shot Mr. Brown, striking and killing him.

LEMON: So, his family says that he was unarmed, and police are claiming -- are they claiming he had a gun?

DANIELS: No, they're not claiming he had a gun. We actually had the opportunity to speak with the district attorney. There's been no confirmation he had a gun. Anybody (inaudible) had a gun, the family position that he is a type of person who would not carry a gun. There's no evidence that he had a gun at the time, no information of gun being located or found at the scene, so no.

LEMON: Harry, the sheriff's department said that the deputies were trying to serve a warrant on Andrew Brown Jr. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DEPUTY DANIEL FOGG, PASQUOTANK COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Some people want to know why our local resident SWAT Team and deputies from another agency (inaudible) had a search warrant and an arrest warrant. This is an arrest warrant for felony drug charges. Mr. Brown was a convicted felon with a history of resisting arrest. Our training and our policy indicate on the first circumstances, there's been high risk of danger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Harry, did he have a history of violence or resisting arrest?

DANIELS: No, Don. So here's the thing. It's amazing how they are bringing out his past and trying to discuss his past and trying to justify actions that they took. But what should be noted is that the lack of transparency that they are having and the execution of Mr. Brown. We're not talking executing a warrant but an execution with what the witnesses are stating and what is being stated by other sources around the state.

So, they want to talk about his history and his felony past. We have not learned any history or felony past, but we do know that to my understanding -- what we do know, what was learned and has yet to be confirmed by local authorities, that he was, in fact, shot and killed, unarmed based on the witness accounts at this time.

LEMON: Councilman Horton, does this sound like a situation where the SWAT Team is necessary?

DARIUS HORTON, CITY COUNCIL, ELIZABETH CITY, NORTH CAROLINA: Well, to be honest with you, at this point the problem that we're having is that they have not really released enough information for us to even accurately answer that question. To come forth now and begin to talk about this individual's past without bringing the information of this current incident is a traumatic problem, in my opinion.

And my stance is that we need accountability, because we need accountability. Accountability caused liability, and that's what we're looking for at this time is accountability with no --

LEMON: Keith, I want to ask -- I'm sorry, go on. Sorry, I thought you were done. We have a delay. HORTON: So, we don't need to talk about this individual's past, we

need to talk about this incident. This is the reason why we're here. This is why we're coming together, why people are protesting not his past, but this current reality, this current situation.

DANIELS: I mean, Don, you see it over and over again. That's what happens when an unarmed black man is killed in America. The first thing authorities want to talk about, he had a criminal record. That doesn't justify killing someone who is unarmed when they're trying to flee. That's the narrative that you hear over and over again to try to preface their (inaudible) -- try to justify acts.

But what needs to come out is the video of objective evidence that would show it was either justified or unjustified. We don't have it here. So the only thing we can take is what eyewitnesses are saying, the character of Mr. Brown and that's we are standing by until we see otherwise.

LEMON: Keith, you've been sitting by patient and I want to put up the video because you've been out marching with protesters. There you are earlier in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, out with those protesters. What are the concerns tonight? What are you hearing?

[23:20:00]

KEITH RIVERS, PRESIDENT, PASQUOTANK COUNTY NAACP: You know, we're going from just outrage and frustration, Frustration, Don, just being a major part of the protests in the community. You know, as we continue to talk about transparency, as they seem to be very transparent about trying to paint a picture of the character of Mr. Brown. Instead, you know, the sheriff's department could be very transparent with the community by coming out and addressing the community.

You know, the sheriff is not just an officer of the law, but he is also an elected official, and he has an obligation to the community that elected him to his position. So why not come out and be transparent and have dialogue with the community? If you notice throughout the protests, they continue to ask, where is Sheriff Wooten? Where is Sheriff Wooten? And if he could come out -- this helps to calm -- and I'm so proud, Don, I just want to say I am so proud of my community for over the last two days, the protests have been peaceful.

The city police department, under the leadership of Chief Buffalo, they have been outstanding and ensuring the safety of the citizens. And the community has been peaceful in their protests. They have been peaceful. And that's what this is about. So, we continue to ask, where is Sheriff Wooten? When are you going to exercise and come out? When are you going to talk to us, so that we can move forward with transparency? So, we can continue to build trust. So that we can hold people accountable when that time comes. So that we can have justice.

LEMON: Gentlemen, thank you. I appreciate it. We'll continue to follow this story. Please come back. I appreciate the conversation. Thanks so much. RIVERS: Thank you, Don.

DANIELS: Thank you.

HORTON: Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you. As America's reckoning with race and policing, the assault on voting rights is continuing all across the country. Stacey Abrams schooled one Republican Senator on that. She is here to talk about it. She's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:25:00]

LEMON: Trump's big lie about fraud in the 2020 election has spawned hundreds of bills across the country that would limit access to voting, especially in black and brown communities. During a Senate hearing on voting rights this week, Republican Senator John Kennedy pressing Stacey Abrams on her opposition to Georgia's controversial new election law, well, he got more than he bargained for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): You're against the Georgia bill, I gather, is that right?

STACEY ABRAMS (D-GA), FOUNDER, FAIR FIGHT ACTION: I'm against certain provisions of it, yes.

KENNEDY: I think you've called it a racist bill. Am I right?

ABRAMS: I think there are provisions of it that are racist, yes.

KENNEDY: OK. Tell me specifically, just give me a list of the provisions that you object to.

ABRAMS: I object to the provisions that remove access to the right to vote, that shorten the federal runoff period from nine weeks to four weeks, that restrict the time a voter can request or return an absentee ballot application --

KENNEDY: Slow down for me, because our audio is not real good here.

ABRAMS: Certainly.

KENNEDY: Could you start over for me?

ABRAMS: Certainly.

KENNEDY: Thank you.

ABRAMS: It shortens the federal runoff period from nine weeks to four weeks.

KENNEDY: OK. ABRAMS: It restricts the time a voter can request and return an

absentee ballot application.

KENNEDY: Right.

ABRAMS: It requires the voter flag of photo identification or some other form of identification that they're willing to surrender in order to participate in the absentee ballot process.

KENNEDY: What else?

ABRAMS: It eliminates over 300 hours of drop box availability.

KENNEDY: OK. What else?

ABRAMS: It bans nearly all out-of-precinct votes.

KENNEDY: Bans what? I'm sorry.

ABRAMS: It bans nearly all out-of-precinct votes.

KENNEDY: OK.

ABRAMS: Meaning you get to a precinct and you're in line for four hours, and you get to the end of the line and you're not there between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m., and you have to start all over again.

KENNEDY: OK, what else? Is that everything?

BROWN: No, it's not. It restricts the hours of operation because it is now under the guise of setting a standardize timeline that makes it optional for counties that may be -- may not want to see expanded access to the right to vote. They can now limit their hours. Instead of those hours being from 7:00 to 7:00, they're now from 9:00 to 5:00 which may have an effect on voters who cannot vote during business hours during early voting. It limits the --

KENNEDY: OK. I get the idea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON(on camera): Stacey Abrams is here with me now to discuss. She is the founder of fair fight action. Stacey, thank you so much. You really took Senator Kennedy to school there. You have called the new wave of restricting voting bills Jim Crow in a suit and tie. So, what did you think his line of questioning was about? What did you think of it?

ABRAMS: I try to approach every question as an attempt to gain new and good information. But I think his intent likely was to demonstrate that we had no cause and that our language was hyperbolic. But what I hope I demonstrated is that we are indeed talking about severe restrictions on access to the right to vote that are directly targeted at the behaviors that led people of color to having an outsized impact on elections in Georgia and around the country.

And that any attempt to limit those behaviors because of how they were used and because of who used them is indeed a redux of Jim Crow, because that's how Jim Crow worked when it came to voting rights.

[23:29:58]

LEMON: Yes. I should have said this, as we say, he wasn't ready and he got an earful there. So, look, this week, there's a report from Nevada's Republican secretary of state. It found no evidence to support the GOP's claim of widespread election fraud there. It is another blow to that big lie, the big Trump lie. But are other claims about fraud just a fig leaf to justify voting restrictions?

ABRAMS: Absolutely. This is about their -- and let's be clear. This is about republican cowardice. They could either put forward an ideology and a set of plans that would benefit more voters and thereby encourage more voters to support their candidates, or they can restrict access to the right to vote, targeting those who are least likely to support them.

And in this case, that means communities of color. And that is what Jim Crow attempted to do, that is what cowards do, and this is a lazy way to win elections.

LEMON: Let's talk about some other things going on. Daunte Wright's funeral was just two days after Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd. What has it been like for you seeing these incidents of police violence still happening almost every day around the country?

ABRAMS: As an absolute, it is a tragedy and it is an affront to who we intend to be as a nation. It is a moment of accountability that we see in the Derek Chauvin trial that gets eradicated hours later.

And sadly, what I think we have to contend with, and this goes back to the underlying reason that I fight so hard for voting rights, is that if we want more justice, if we want more accountability, if we want change, then we have to have a voice in determining who gets to decide who is in charge.

That's what voting is. Voting isn't just about casting a ballot. It is about creating the change you want to see by electing leaders and representatives, who speak aloud your dreams. And if we can't have a voice, then our dreams are often shattered and unfortunately our lives are in danger.

LEMON: Yeah. I asked you about these incidents and voting rights, right? Because I want to know, do you -- do you think policing -- police reform and voting rights, do you think they're the (INAUDIBLE) of the modern struggle for civil rights?

ABRAMS: I think they absolutely are. And in fact, one of the things that we're doing now, because we want people to see these connected dots, we're asking people to tell their voting stories at myvotingstory.com, because one of our opportunities is to link up what happens when we live our everyday lives, when you can -- are confronted by police brutality or simply by the negligence of a system that does not see you as valuable.

When we have to have conversations about who is murdered in the streets as a 16-year-old, regardless of what Ma'Khia Bryant may have been doing, there is no justification for taking her life without attempting some form of intervention. And we are watching this happen again and again.

In fact, I think it was NPR that pointed out that from the moment of the Chauvin trial starting until the day of the verdict, someone died in police custody every single day. That is a tragedy that should not happen in a democratized society. But we can only change that if we change how voting happens and who gets to participate in our elections.

LEMON: The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, signing a controversial pro-law enforcement, law supposedly meant to crack down on riots, and Oklahoma passing a law that can protect drivers who run over protesters. Are these an assault on another key right under the First Amendment to protest?

ABRAMS: It not only is an assault, it is a statement. We are being told by the GOP in its current form that they do not intend to hear from us, they do not intend to protect us, and they do not intend to allow us to protest their failure to serve us.

And by treating Americans in this way, by saying that our value as citizens is diminished simply because of what we want and who we are, they are telling us what we need to know about their intentions as leaders. And my hope is that we don't allow their partisanship to diminish our citizenship.

LEMON: Stacey Abrams, always a pleasure. Thank you.

ABRAMS: Thank you so much.

LEMON: A small town in Texas grappling with racism after students at a school in Aledo started a slave auction of classmates in a Snapchat group. Now, other residents are coming forward with more shocking experiences.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Tonight, a predominantly white town in North Texas and its school district confronting open racism after a group of ninth graders, apparently thinking it was funny, held a so-called slave auction of some of their Black classmates on Snapchat. You heard it correctly, a slave auction. Ed Lavandera has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CHRIS JOHNSON, ALEDO 9TH GRADE STUDENT: I'm one of the young men who were targeted in the slave trade Snapchat group.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chris Johnson is a ninth grader in the town of Aledo, Texas west of Fort Worth. He and a fellow Black classmate were the targets of a racist social media post that brought him to this moment, speaking to the town's school board.

JOHNSON: It was not a game. I've lived here my whole life and know most of the kids and parents here.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): In March, a group of students at Aledo's ninth grade campus started a slave auction of classmates in a private Snapchat group. A screen grab of the auction became public. Under the racist titles for the group chat, one bid $100 on one student and another offered $1 on Chris, would be better if his hair wasn't so bad.

At first, the Aledo school district described the chat as cyberbullying with racially-charge language, which angered many residents who wondered why it wasn't immediately called out as racist.

[23:40:04]

TEJ CLARK, ALEDO PARENT: We have to get comfortable with having uncomfortable conversations.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The school district ultimately called it racism and said the students were disciplined, but for privacy reasons won't detail the punishment.

JOHNSON: The only apology I may accept is changed behavior, when we make the changes needed to ensure all of us feel fairly treated and safe.

(APPLAUSE)

EDDIE BURNETT, PRESIDENT, PARKER COUNTY NAACP: It is dehumanization.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Eddie Burnett is the president of the local NAACP chapter and says this moment needs to be a wake-up call for this small town.

BURNETT: I'm not saying that they are teaching racism here, but there is obviously an environment where that flourishes.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): A few weeks after the Snapchat auction, this flyer announcing a great sale of slaves appeared at a couple of Aledo campuses. The school district said police are reviewing security footage to see who distributed the fliers.

FORREST COLLINS, ALEDO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT TRUSTEE: That's disgusting. That's absolutely disgusting.

LAVANDERA: There are about 7,000 students in the Aledo school district, and that student population is about 78 percent white. Some residents have told us there is a history here of avoiding difficult conversations about racial issues and that's why they're worried these moments will be swept under the rug.

We've heard from a number of people who told us, look, CNN coming in to Aledo to tell the story that we're just causing more problems than we're solving here. What's your reaction to that?

BURNETT: No, no, you're revealing more problems and that's a problem for the people who told you that. I think, again, that the one chance we have to correct this situation is to shine some light on it.

UNKNOWN: It's time to fix stupid and not let this happen anymore.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): This is also prompting other residents to share their experiences.

MARIE, PARENT: What started off as a friendly game of cops and robbers quickly turned south when several kids tackled my eight-year-old to the ground. As he lay with his face pressed into the cement, he pleaded with them to get off of him. He told them he couldn't breathe. He laid there hopeless, hoping somebody would step in. As he struggled to break free, one of the children said, hey, put your knee on his neck.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): These moments reveal how a racial divide can exist beneath the surface of a small town like countless others in America.

JOHNSON: If you think that this has affected you and your job, just imagine how this is actually -- how we actually feel.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Chris Johnson is a young man urging his hometown not to look away no matter how painful this moment might feel.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Aledo, Texas.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LEMON: Ed, thank you so much. Ed's report is showing how far we still have to go. What we can do to stop this kind of hate from spreading in our schools. That's next.

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[23:45:00]

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LEMON: A group of ninth graders in Aledo, Texas holding a so-called slave auction of Black classmates on Snapchat. Some of America's children desensitized to racism.

I want to bring in now Peniel Joseph, professor of history at the University of Texas in Austin. He is the author of "The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr." Peniel, thank you. Listen, I have -- my police chief is on for a long

time. So, I hope you don't mind. We have a condensed segment today. So, thank you so much. Clearly, this country is still grappling with the original sin of slavery. Do schools need to take a more active role in teaching anti-racism?

PENIEL JOSEPH, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AT UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUTHOR: Absolutely. I think it is both anti-racism, Don, but also just the history of racial slavery. I'm heartbroken over two aspects of this story. One, the denial of the school district initially that this was racism and that this kind of hurt occurred. But two, also the fact that pedagogically, we're just not teaching the most important facet of American history to all of our children, Don, irrespective of race.

So, the national controversy that we've had over 1619 Project versus 1776 Commission, all of this is connected to racial slavery. We've got to teach that history to our children. And for Black children, they have to understand, it is not a history that we should be ashamed of. It is a history where our work and labor actually built up the United States of America, and in the process we saved democracy.

The only reason we aren't driving democracy in America is because of Black people and Black people's role in challenging and transforming this nation every step of the way.

LEMON: Right on, Peniel. Right on! Why is it so difficult for people to call it what it is, racism?

JOSEPH: I think that's a legacy of the system of racial slavery and the caste system and the Jim Crow system where we deny, deny, deny. We deny sexism in this country, we deny poverty, we deny homophobia and transphobia, and we also deny racism, but especially anti-Black racism. Anti-Black racism is the organizing principle of the America's racial caste system.

So, unless we can just tell the truth -- we all talk about in this country we want truth, justice, and reconciliation.

[23:50:00]

JOSEPH: We can't get the reconciliation without the justice, and we can't get the justice unless we get to truth. So, we are so used to denying what occurred. We can never actually get to the bottom of these problems.

But, again, I stress, these kids, these Black kids, I'd love to speak to them and tell them they have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Black women like Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman, Black men like Frederick Douglass and Robert Smalls, actually saved American democracy.

We would not be here tonight without the Black people who not just survived during racial slavery, but thrived, at times, and transformed all these institutions that are still imperfect, but they've given us a chance to have a future for the entire country.

LEMON: Peniel, thank you. I always appreciate your perspective. We will have you back. Thank you so much. We'll be right back.

JOSEPH: Thank you, Don.

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[23:55:00]

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LEMON: President Biden setting an ambitious goal on earth day, pledging to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half or more by 2030. And tomorrow night, we will be asking his administration all about that during a CNN town hall on climate crisis. Senior administration officials will answer questions about how President Biden plans to remake U.S. climate policy. That's tomorrow night, 10:00, only here on CNN. And this show picks up right after that at 11:00 p.m.

Thank you for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

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