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Don Lemon Tonight

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Compares Mask Mandates To Holocaust; Anti-Semitic Attacks On The Rise In The U.S.; Intel Raises Questions On COVID Origins; Belarus Accused Of State-Sponsored Hijacking; Louisiana State Police Say Senior Officer At 2019 Ronald Greene Scene Did Not Initially Report His Camera Footage; NBA Legend Turned Away From Restaurant, Claims Racism; May 25th Marks One Year Since George Floyd's Death Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired May 24, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST (on camera): Top House Republicans silent tonight on Marjorie Taylor Greene's appalling comments comparing mask mandates to the holocaust. That coming amidst a surge of anti-Semitic attacks across the country.

Plus, Intel that several researchers in Wuhan were so sick in November 2019 they had to be hospitalized raising questions about how the pandemic began.

And we are going to get the latest on the country facing global condemnation after what is being called a state sponsor hijacking of a commercial plane.

I want to bring in now CNN White House correspondent John Harwood and former Republican Congressman, Charlie Dent. Gentlemen, lots to get to. Good evening. Let's start with Charlie. State Republicans planning to filibuster the January 6th commission built, Charlie.

Meanwhile Marjorie Taylor Greene comparing mask mandates to the slaughter of 6 million Jews. I've already played her appalling comments and I don't want to do it again. How do you explain the deafening silence from all about a few a handful of Republicans?

FMR. REP. CHARLIE DENT (R-PA), CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR (on camera): Well, now is the time, Don, for them to speak up. I mean, this was offensive, ignorant, outrageous, and frankly, unsurprising given the source. This is when we were talking about Jewish space lasers. Look, it is long past time that they finally condemn her.

I said when she was nominate last August, that the GOP at that time, Kevin McCarthy should have said she would not be welcome into the House Republican conference and she would not be seated on committees, and that they would work to defeat her in the primary in 2022. They should have done it then. Now they have time. They can do it now. They can throw her out of conference once and for all. And I saw your previous segment, Don, too with Jonathan Swan where

Marjorie Taylor Greene's image ratings were supposedly were higher among GOP voters than Liz Cheney and Mitch McConnell. Which is beyond depressing. It is horrifying. Peter Meijer spoke up very eloquently yesterday on one of the Sunday shows about Taylor Greene and condemned her. We need to hear from the rest of them. More than 200 of them.

LEMON: Yes. John, is the GOP strategy heading into 2022, let vile comments slide and push off the truth tellers, is that their strategy?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Their strategy, Don, is to avoid anything that risks the chances of winning the House in 2022. History says they have got a very good chance of doing that. The wind ought to be at their back.

But one question they have, is will that Trump base, the older white blue collar, evangelical voters that Donald Trump did so well in arousing, will they turn out when he is not on the ballot? They lost in 2018. They lost the House, they lost the two Senate races in January.

A lot of those voters believe and like the crazy stuff that Marjorie Taylor Greene and people like her say. So Republican leaders are not going to risk alienating them by criticizing her. And they're certainly not going to criticize Donald Trump.

LEMON: He's talked about evangelicals, John, and why would Christians condone, you know, even if they're doing it, I don't know, if they're not implicitly doing it, why would they condone that sort of behavior and language from someone like Greene or from what's his name?

Gates, or the lies that come out of Donald Trump's mouth? I know I've been asking you that question for the past four years. But I don't really get it. Especially if you're an evangelical Christian. Are not you supposed to believe in values and the lord?

HARWOOD: Well, because, Don, the particular Christians that we're talking about, as I said, older, blue collar, rural whites, are people who feel embattled, endangered in the country. They're people who feel that they face more discrimination against them than African-Americans do.

[23:05:00]

They think that they see the Democrats have won the popular votes seven of the last eight times. They feel their power is slipping away within the culture. Their power slipping away politically, economically, and so they're going to go to great lengths to try to hold on to that power.

That's why a majority of the Republicans in January told the American enterprise institute, the American way of life, the traditional way of life is so endangered that we may need to use force to protect it. That's the mindset of those people are in and Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks to that. LEMON: I wonder if the next question on the polling survey when they

say, who faces more discrimination, you or black people, if the next question should be, now would you trade places with a black person? Would you be black? I wonder what that answer would be. Charlie, I owe you one, Charlie. I got to run, I have to get to the next guest. Thank you both very much, I appreciate it.

I want to bring in now CNN's Donie O'Sullivan. Donie, good evening to you. Good to see you, my friend. You say Marjorie Taylor Greene's disgusting comments comparing mask mandates of the holocaust fit the mold of what you're seeing from the far-right online. Talk to me about that.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER (on camera): Yes, Don. These comments don't come out of the blue. We know Marjorie Taylor Greene knows her way around some of these dark internet forums because of course, she was a prominent peddler of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

And what we've seen really since the early lockdown last year, we've seen a lot of rhetoric but really opting in the past few months around vaccines, comparing the Democrats to Nazis, and specifically both Fauci and Biden to Hitler.

Imagery, anything to do with vaccines, lockdowns, masks, it is all being compared to Nazism. And one thing, Don, which I found striking is in Taylor Greene's defense of her comments, she said, she believed that any rational Jewish person would agree with her comments about the holocaust.

So, we have a woman here who in 2018 claimed not that long ago, claimed that it was Jewish space lasers that were responsible for California wildfires. She is now claiming to speak for rational Jewish people.

LEMON: Yes. There are so many places to go with that, but I won't. Is this Nazi and holocaust type of rhetoric flourishing because of the proliferation of hate? Or because of ignorance and lack of education, some sort of strategy to incite violence? All the above? Like, why? What is going on here?

O'SULLIVAN: Well, I think what you're seeing here is something that Donald Trump was really good at. Which was bastardizing and coopting the meaning of you know, words and phrases. I mean, if you look, you remember back in January 6th, there was literally a guy who walked through Capitol, an insurrectionist, wearing a Camp Auschwitz sweater.

There were actual neo-Nazis, people with Nazis sympathies there and even Greene herself. You know, there has been in her past she has shared anti-Semitic and extreme anti-Muslim commentary. If you start calling everybody a Nazi, if you start calling Democrats Nazis, it sort of takes away, it blunts really the intention at least is to blunt the meaning of that phrase that eventually becomes, well, we're all just calling each other Nazis here.

I will just say, Don, finally, you know, a few weeks ago I was down in the villages in Florida, outside Greene and Gaetz' events. And there were Democrats and Republicans at either side of the street shouting at each other. One group was calling the other group pedophiles. The other group was calling each other communists.

So, really you can sort of see the level of national discourse here is really sort of spewing from the internet into the real world. And it is not a great thing to witness.

LEMON: It is also sad. I mean, I'm laughing because it is laughable. Not that it's funny, it's just too ridiculous. Thank you, Donie.

O'SULLIVAN: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Good to see you.

So this is something that, look, I don't understand it. I don't really - o don't get hate. I know that it exists. I see it all the time. I witness it. I'm you know, sometimes the target of it. Often the target of it but I don't get it.

This anti-Semitic attacks that are on the rise in this country, lies and conspiracy theory spreading online, fueling violence in the real world. This is real. CNN's Nick Watt has the story. And I have to warn you, some of what you're about to see is really, really disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Boca Raton, Florida. Hitler was right, scrolled on the side of a van as it passes a pro-Israel rally. In one week while this was happening in the Middle East, the anti-defamation league found more than 17,000 tweets with variations on that horrific phrase. Hitler was right.

JONATHAN GREENBLATT, CEO AND NATIONAL DIRECTOR, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: In the past again, you have a conflict and at least maybe you see vandalism at a synagogue. We've seen sort of a blitzkrieg of anti- Jewish acts across the country.

[23:10:02]

WATT: Fueled he says in part by online bile and conspiracy mongering.

GREENBLATT: Guess what, those unhinged conspiratorial claims lead to real world consequences against American Jews.

UNKNOWN: I had (inaudible), he is so much chasing me from behind before I could even react. I was just surrounded by a crowd of people.

WATT: He was wearing a Kippah, a cap.

UNKNOWN: People are being attacked for looking visibly Jewish.

WATT: Daylight, Times Square. Crossroads of the world. Joseph Borgan (ph) was surrounded by a crowd, he said shouted filthy Jew and --

UNKNOWN: I was literally fell to the ground, protecting my head, protecting my face, doing what I could to ensure, you know, honestly my main thought was to survive at that point.

WATT: The man seen hitting Borgan with a crutch has now been charged with a hate crime. Prosecutors says, while in the cells, the man said he has no problem doing this again.

UNKNOWN: The NYPD is now out in force.

WATT: After this apparently anti-Semitic assault outside the Los Angeles sushi restaurant, one man was arrested. LAPD requested his bail be enhanced due to the crime being motivated by hate.

UNKNOWN: Somebody in one of the car driving by started throwing glass, bottles, or glass cups at the table.

WATT: The words dirty Jew were heard, cars stopped, men got out and --

UNKNOWN: Started running toward the tables and asking indiscriminately who is Jewish?

WATT: Passions run high. That's OK. That's human. What is not OK is to take that out on innocent people, on groups of folks who are dining because of who they are.

In London, four men were arrested after anti-Semitic slogans were shouted from a pro-Palestinian convoy a week ago.

One of the things that was always amazing to Jews in Western Europe, is that United States Jews could be visibly Jewish.

I am now having American Jews tell me this that they're afraid to walk outside wearing a kippah or to wear a Jewish star necklace, or just to be visibly identifiable as Jewish. Like that's chilling.

WATT: Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Oh, Nick, thank you so much for that report. Let's bring in now Michael G. Masters, he is the national director and CEO of the Secure Community Network that coordinates security for Jewish institutions across the country. Michael, thanks for joining. An important conversation. So glad that you're here. So, let's start. New York is increasing police patrols at synagogues, schools, other Jewish facilities. Is this an acknowledgement that the threat level is even higher than usual?

MICHAEL G. MASTERS, NATIONAL DIRECTOR/CEO, SECURE COMMUNITY NETWORK (on camera): Well, I think that as we saw in the reporting, we are seeing those increases at the current time. Not nearly in hate speech post online or the vandalisation of buildings but assaults on members of the Jewish community. As we saw, a man walking down the street. Friends enjoying a meal in L.A. A family leaving the synagogue.

So, that heightened presence is an indicator that, you know, we're working very closely with state, local and federal law enforcement all the time. That increased police presence that increased vigilance by the community I think is an indicator.

We have to remember before COVID-19, we had four deadly attacks on the Jewish community in under 14 months starting with Pittsburgh. And unfortunately, as we're seeing things reopen, as the conflict in the Middle East has occurred, we're seeing those numbers go up to even higher than they were before. Which was historic.

LEMON: The anti-defamation league says that during the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas, there was a surge in anti-Semitism on social media. What connection are you seeing between online activity and anti-Semitic attacks in the U.S.?

MASTERS: It's a great point. As we've all seen that astronomical increase in anti-Semitism online platforms. And one thing I want to stress, it is not just in the dark deep recesses of the web. It is not in Four Chan and GAB exclusively. We're seeing this on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, our kids are being exposed to it. Those historic anti-Semitic tropes praises for Hitler, calls for renewed holocaust.

As we see that spike in online anti-Semitism, we see a clear upward trend in calls for violence against members of the Jewish community. And those calls unfortunately result in people acting on them. So we're seeing that spike in anti-Semitic activity which is resulting in those bottles being thrown, those fireworks being tossed, those assaults occurring to Jewish people around the country.

LEMON: Michael, look. I know you don't want to get political but I have got to ask you about this. When you see lawmakers making comments like what we saw from Marjorie Taylor Greene, you know, about masks and comparing it to the holocaust. And realize that people hear that and they believe it. What impact does that have?

[23:15:05]

MASTERS: I think you know, the comment that any rational Jewish person didn't like what happened in Nazi Germany may be the understatement of the decade. Six million members of our community. But not just our community. 400,000 Americans gave their lives.

And I say that as a law enforcement professional and member of the United States Marine Corps. You know, we lost 75 million people around the world to that conflict. So I don't think we should minimize it in any way.

And what we see across the board is often a normalization of activity. We saw in it Charlottesville. We saw people marching in polo shirts and khaki pants shouting, Jews will not replace us. So I think that we have to be very conscious, that normalization of statements like that, equating events where people's lives are lost, taken where genocide occurs, to other activity.

That is politics and we don't need slogans right now. We need solutions to deal with the violence that's occurring on our streets and in our communities.

LEMON: Very well said. Michael, thank you so much. I appreciate you joining us here.

MASTERS: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: U.S. Intel finding that several researchers in Wuhan were sick enough to be hospitalized in November 2019. What were they sick with? And what does that tell us about the origins of the pandemic? A live report from China, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE: I think that we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we find out to the best of our ability exactly what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[23:20:00]

LEMON: CNN confirming tonight that U.S. Intel found several researchers at China's Wuhan lab became ill enough in November of 2019 that they had to be hospitalized. If they were sick with COVID that would mean that their infections happened weeks before China reported its first case on November 8th.

CNN's David Culver is live for us in Shanghai. David, good evening to you. Thanks for joining. You know, this report raises so many critical questions about the origins of this pandemic. What else can you tell us?

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It is really disturbing, Don, to think not only that these research who worked within the Wuhan Institute of Virology, that high level lab within the city in which this outbreak was first detected were sickened, but also now through this Intel, the severity of their illnesses. Just how sick they were?

Suggesting that they had to go to the hospital. So we don't know exactly what they had. And part of that could be because just going back to that time, November of 2019, we didn't have the testing for COVID-19. And the Chinese likely did not have the testing at that time.

However, what it does do is it challenges the timeline and the narrative that had come out from Chinese officials here suggesting that the virus really didn't start until December of 2019 in Wuhan, and spread not from a lab but rather in the Huanan seafood market.

That was, if you remember, the initial ground zero, if you will, which we visited several times, that the Chinese officials decided to closed, wiped clean and really put a lot of focus on.

This lab origin theory now getting a lot of credence from U.S. officials, to the Intel, but not just with the U.S. Don, it also, is involving U.K. officials and European leaders who likewise are suggesting that this is a possible origin that needs to be further investigated.

LEMON: The former, David, the former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, pointing out that there is a lot of circumstantial evidence that the virus may have originated in the lab. And you visited Wuhan, to the lab in question. Take us behind the scenes. What was that like?

CULVER: Going to Wuhan is always an interesting experience. I mean, I've gone now three times since the outbreak. And what we saw the most recent time we went, which was January of this year, one year after the outbreak was really widespread in its reporting and one year since the lockdown, is that we were followed closely and even as we drove by here, as you're seeing the Wuhan institute of virology, we had people following us in vehicles, likely, government officials.

Not interfering with our reporting but certainly wanting to know what we were doing. And as you look at the Wuhan Institute of Virology which is really the center point and the heavy focus for this possible origin theory, you notice it is well fortified. There is a lot of security.

I was trying to go out of our vehicle and knock on the door to get in is simply not possible. And we made several requests, Don, to speak to the researchers there, to speak to the Director, to get access ourselves. That has been denied repeatedly.

LEMON: All right. David Culver, keep up the great reporting. Thank you very much. We appreciate you joining us from Shanghai this evening.

CULVER: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: A plane flies from one democracy to another only to be forcibly diverted by a dictator and passengers dragged off. Plus a former NBA star turned away by an upscale restaurant and he said it was racism. I'm going to speak with Dominique Wilkins straight ahead.

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[23:25:00]

LEMON: So, imagine you're sitting on a plane, maybe heading to visit family or maybe you are on your way to a vacation that you've been planning when suddenly your flight is forced to land in a foreign country where intelligence personnel board your plane and grab a passenger and his girlfriend and throwing them in prison. That's what happened in Belarus this weekend in what is being internationally condemn does an allege state sponsored hijacking.

Ryanair flight making its way from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania was forced to land in Belarus, supposedly because of a security threat. But when the plane landed, Belarusian opposition activist, Roman Protasevich was taken off the plane, place in custody. Now, European leader say that E.U. Airlines say, the E.U. airlines won't fly over Belarus until he is set free.

So, joining me now to discuss all of this, to explain what it all means is CNN's Richard Quest, our business editor at large, and Max Boot, our columnist for the Washington Post. Good evening to both of you gentlemen.

Richard, let's start with you, because tonight, the president of the United States is condemning Belarus calling the diversion and arrest a direct affront to international norms. Have we seen anything like this before?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR (on camera): No, is the short answer. And that's why in an editorial tomorrow morning, the New York Times is going to say that the president of Belarus has gone too far this time. I'm sure somebody can dredge up some incident and there have been certainly times when civil aviation has been felled and risked, but this naked, open, blatant, brazen, one is running out of adjectives to describe.

[23:30:00]

QUEST: This is the equivalent of flying from Boston down to -- down to, say, Miami in terms of distance and nature of flight, holiday flight, and then being diverted for no good reason to a dictatorship country where you're then told, the passengers, oh by the way, three other passengers didn't fly on when the plane left Minsk.

They are believed to be Belarusian KGB, secret service, that have followed Roman down in -- down in Greece. So this is a nasty, squalid, potentially exceptionally dangerous situation, which, Don, is why tonight the E.U. has maintained the strong measures that it has had, but it won't be enough.

LEMON: Max, you have a column out in Washington Post, where you write about how this is just the latest sign that autocrats are feeling empowered to break with international norms. Tell me about that.

MAX BOOT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: This is a very dangerous trend, Don, which we've seen going on for a number of years and in some ways, recalling the 1930s, where now these dictatorships all over the world feel empowered to break international law with impunity.

You've had Russia, which has invaded Georgia. Next, Crimea invaded Ukraine. You've had China, which is an aggressor in the South China Sea. You have Russia carrying out operations in Western Europe to kill Russian defectors and dissidents. You have Iran being responsible for missile and rocket attacks on Saudi Arabia.

The examples, Don, go on and on, which we are basically seeing, I think, as a breakdown of international law and order. I'll tell you how this petty, two-bit dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, who feels like he can get away with something like this, this blatant act of air piracy, because he sees all these other dictators getting away with even greater attacks on their neighbors and on the rule of law.

LEMON: Richard, let's lean into this a little bit more. You heard what Max just said, talking about numerous countries with dictatorships here. There is a push for airlines to avoid flying over Belarus now. Should people be afraid of this happening now, especially if there are no real consequences? QUEST: That is the point, Don. Look, is it going to happen again? No. Is it going to sort of do I need to be concerned getting on a plane tomorrow? No. But future safety will only be guaranteed by the measures taken now. That's why the U.S. Transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, said today in a statement tonight, he said there must be an immediate international transparent and credible investigation of this incident.

So the E.U. is putting on sanctions on the Belarusian officials. They are stopping the over-flight to Belarus. They are stopping Belarusian airline from flying to the E.U. or from flying over.

But as long as Belarus gets support from Russia and Russia has already said this was a jolly wish (ph) by Lukashenko and well done on him for coming up with this way, and I'm not paraphrasing far from what they said, as long as Russia is prepared to condone their henchmen upstart, Lukashenko, then you are in real trouble.

LEMON: Max, the man they detained is a journalist, a journalist who covered the police violence at a recent protest against Belarus's longtime leader. Then there is a video released on pro-government social media where he appears to confess to organizing riots through their -- though their concerns are that this might have been forced, that it was some sort of a hostage video, right? How dire are his prospects?

BOOT: I mean, they're pretty dire. I mean, it has been widely reported that Mr. Protasevich, before he was taken off the airplane, was saying that's a legitimate concern because a lot of people do die in Lukashenko's presence just as they die in Putin's presence.

I mean, this video is really, Don, it is really chilling. It is like something out of the Stalin show trials of the 1930s where he is confessing these imaginary crimes and he seems to have bruises on his face. You can just imagine what is happening to this poor guy in Lukashenko's grasp.

I mean, we have to make clear that Lukashenko is going to suffer dire consequences for this behavior, going beyond what he said today. I mean, there has to be punishing economic sanctions in the U.S. and E.U.

We also need to support the democracy movement, the civil society movement in Belarus because they need to get rid of this guy who had been in power for 27 years and it is becoming more and more abusive.

LEMON: Yeah. Max, Richard, that's all we have time for. Thank you very much. I appreciate both of you, gentlemen, joining us.

They said it was their dress code. He said it was racism. NBA legend Dominique Wilkins talks to me about being turned away from an Atlanta restaurant next.

[23:35:03]

LEMON: And ahead, the killing that shocked the world. One year ago tomorrow, George Floyd was killed in police custody.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This is new tonight. A senior officer present at the 2019 Ronald Greene police chase scene did not initially report his camera footage in the evidence submitted to the district attorney.

[23:40:00]

LEMON: That is according to a spokesperson for the Louisiana State Police. Lieutenant John Cleary's body camera and dash cameras were among nine videos released by police late last week after some clips of body cam footage from the incident were obtained by the Associated Press.

The video shows the moments leading up to Greene's death. Some showing him being tased, kicked, and dragged by officers. Remember, the initial police report, crash report, made no mention of troopers using force. And Greene's family say that they were told by police that he died in a car accident. We're going to stay on top of the investigation. We're going to keep you updated on everything we learned about what happened that night. So stay tuned.

Now, I want to turn to the former NBA player and basketball hall of famer who says that he was turned away from a restaurant because of the color of his skin. Dominique Wilkins, current a vice president for the NBA team the Atlanta Hawks, said he was turned away from a restaurant in Atlanta over the weekend, adding that he has never before faced prejudice when dining out.

Dominique Wilkins joins me now. Thank you, sir. Good to see you. How are you doing? It has been a while.

DOMINIQUE WILKINS, NBA PLAYER AND BASKETBALL HALL OF FAMER: Yes, it's been a while, man. It is good to see you, Don.

LEMON: Yeah.

WILKINS: It's been a long time.

LEMON: I know.

(CROSSTALK)

WILKINS: Yeah.

LEMON: Yeah.

WILKINS: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, man. Unfortunately, we got to, you know, come and talk about something like this. It was very unfortunate that I had to experience that with a friend of mine.

LEMON: Let me explain the story before you go into that. So, at first, the restaurant told you no tables were available. This is what you said. Then you said that you were not dressed -- they said that you were not dressed fashionably enough. OK. Now, so, tell me what happened.

WILKINS: Well, first of all, we were going into the restaurant and when we went through the door, there were two or three people at the front. And they kind of looked us up and down and sized us up. It was really eerie kind of strange.

I said, you know, we like to sit down outside and have a lunch. They looked at me up and down again. They said we don't have any reservations available. I'm looking outside, it's lunch time, 1:00, and there are a ton of tables outside that's empty. And so, you know, we can't agree with them. We would love to sit. This doesn't make sense.

I mean, I'm dressed better than most of the guys that were in there. I had a nice polo shirt, long cargo black pants with nice sneakers. Now, to the left of me, there were three white guys coming in with shorts, t-shirts, and sneakers. And they said, give me a minute, we'll seat you in a second.

And I said, well, this doesn't make sense, you got all these tables and you can't sit -- we don't have anything available. And he said, you know, we're trying to keep a level of elegance in our restaurant, so we can't seat you at all.

And so I left and my girlfriend went back and said, you know, Mr. Wilkins (ph), what is -- what is your criteria of dress code because he was dressed better than most people in here. So, he was not in cargo --sweat pants or whatever you want to call it. It is clear, clear act of discrimination.

LEMON: Mm-hmm.

WILKINS: And so I was just blown away that they turned me away. They were very, very nasty.

LEMON: You're Dominique Wilkins. You're Dominique Wilkins. You're a legend in Atlanta. I mean, I hate this but it's true. And I think that any restaurant in the Atlanta area, I'm just being honest, should know who the hell Dominique Wilkins is. I'm sorry. That's the truth. And --

WILKINS: But you know what, Don? It shouldn't happen to anybody.

LEMON: You're right.

WILKINS: You know.

LEMON: I get that. It shouldn't happen to anybody. But still, that was on the staff of probably young people who don't know their you know what from a you know what. The restaurant initially released a statement that focuses on dress code. Here's what it says.

It says, to protect our restaurant's culture, we installed a minimum standard in our business casual attire dress code which includes jeans and sneakers but prohibits basketball caps -- baseball caps, excuse me, and athletic clothing, including sweat pants and tops. Though the definition of casual is ever evolving, we strive to maintain our policy requirements daily but it isn't a perfect system.

So dress codes at restaurants, I mean, it can be tricky. Sometimes, it can be arbitrary, right, because they can be enforced inconsistently for different people. So again, this shouldn't happen to anyone. I know you, you know, it didn't matter that you're Dominique Wilkins. I think it is but it shouldn't happen to anyone. What did you think of this first response?

WILKINS: First of all, I thought it was just -- it wasn't a type of response that I thought was efficient because I think they lied a lot in that statement. Now, they released a recent statement earlier today, you know, basically apologizing for what happened.

LEMON: Mm-hmm.

WILKINS: And now they want to make a lot of changes. But the reason why I said this, you know, I felt like it was racism, because I'm seeing two or three white guys in shorts, t-shirts and sneakers, and you're not turning them away.

LEMON: Mm-hmm.

WILKINS: And so it felt like back when I was in high school when I had to (inaudible) because I made a decision to further my education, you know, at the University of Georgia.

[23:45:02]

WILKINS: Even though it is not the same, it felt the same. And so it was very, very nasty. My friend went back and asked them, you know, why did you guys do that? They said, you know, Mr. Wilkins just want to know. They said we can't seat him.

LEMON: Mm-hmm.

WILKINS: I mean, I just never been -- you know, the thing is discrimination has many different disguises, you know. In this case, the disguise is through a dress code, you know. And so -- I'm not the only case or the only person who had this type of thing happened. This has been a trend.

Hopefully, I'm just hoping that they learn from this and that they can get some diversity and equality, this type of training to guard against this. You know, what we do as far as, you know, people dealing with sensory needs, people who are dealing with inclusion.

LEMON: Mm-hmm.

WILKINS: It has to be addressed and we address those things right now. These are the things that we do and it is just mind-boggling to me that in this day and world, we still have to deal with this type of stuff.

LEMON: Well, listen. I'm sorry that happened to you. I respect you and love you a lot. I do miss seeing you in Atlanta. What I do miss is the great seats that we used to have when we were turner down there. (LAUGHTER)

LEMON: You get to watch the Hawks. But Listen, thank you. I appreciate that. I got to tell this in full transparency. I know some of the folks who own Le Bilboquet, and they should do better. And I think that they will do better after this. I think that you're going to make that change happen.

They are an upscale restaurant. There is one here, there is one in Palm Beach, there is one in Atlanta, what have you, but they can do better, and I think they will do better. And I thank you for bringing light to this and I'm sorry this happened to you. Thanks for joining us, OK?

WILKINS: Appreciate it, man. Good to talk to you, Don.

LEMON: You as well. You as well. One year since George Floyd's death rocked this country, but has any progress been made since? W. Kamau Bell weighs in. He is next.

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[23:50:00]

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LEMON: Tomorrow marks one year since George Floyd was killed in police custody. Shocking video is sparking a racial reckoning. Thousands of Americans and people around the world are taking to the streets to demand racial justice and reforms in policing.

Joining me now to discuss is W. Kamau Bell, host of CNN's "United Shades of America." Kamau, good to see you.

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST: Good to see you.

LEMON: As we know, the officer who killed George Floyd is convicted. But a year later, how much has changed? What do you think?

BELL: Well, I mean, you know, we've had that conversation ever since Derek Chauvin was found guilty of those three charges. Nothing has changed. You know, I mean, I think I feel good for George Floyd's family that they got justice, but the ultimate justice would be that he wouldn't be dead in the first place.

But we also know Black men, many other Black people, other people of color have been killed around this country since that verdict. Not even since George Floyd was killed but since that verdict. So, nothing has changed.

LEMON: I want to put this poll up. It's from Axios. Nearly seven in 10 Black Americans say police treatment has gotten worse in the past year. That says a lot.

BELL: Yeah. I mean, I think that's what tells you nothing has changed because the perception is the reality. And, you know, as a Black person walking through the streets, if you see a police officer and the first thought that comes to your head is George Floyd or some other Black person you know who's been killed, that doesn't put you in an even playing field with the police officers. Even if you don't have an interaction, it raises your blood pressure.

LEMON: Yeah. And you look at what's happening in Louisiana and other places where you all of a sudden see this video coming out of police officers abusing people.

BELL: Let's be clear. All those -- think about all the videos that we couldn't see because they weren't on video. I mean, we have to remember that. We are seeing -- it seems like it's a lot. There is a lot we aren't even seeing.

LEMON (on camera): Yeah. In his address to Congress back in April, President Biden asked to have George Floyd -- the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed by the anniversary of George Floyd's death. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We need to work together to find a consensus. But let's get it done next month by the first anniversary of George Floyd's death.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: The country supports this reform. And congress should act, should act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Well, that is tomorrow. The bill is stalled. It's important we get this reformed on a national level. So, how important is that versus what local police departments or governments want to do?

BELL: I mean, of course, we want that to pass. But I think the problem is we have to have -- last summer, there was a lot of pressure from the people to change things. But once the pressure goes away, the want for the political will to change goes away.

And as we know, America has a short memory. It forgets things very easily. And so we -- I mean, we can't even remember January 7th -- January 6th at this point -- I can't even remember what day it is -- January 6th at this point. We have a -- we have a problem holding a lot of things in our head.

And so a lot of people want to think that things are changed because it was a year ago, we're having an anniversary, but nothing has changed. It really comes down to local police departments really stepping up and changing the way they interact with the public.

LEMON: Yeah. You got a restaurant in Atlanta that won't let Dominique Wilkins.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Come on, man.

BELL: And he still looks like Dominique Wilkins. He looks like he could dunk right now.

LEMON: Can we talk about "Unites Shades?" You talk about the military in your next episode. And you say -- let's see -- you talk about looking at issues in justice, active duty troops in dead space.

[23:55:02]

LEMON: Ted Cruz put a tweet saying military has been emasculated. What do you think about that?

(LAUGHTER)

BELL: That says -- it's a lot coming from a guy who I don't think ever served a day in the military. So, I mean, we have this disconnect where we are supposed to support our troops and we are supposed to thank our troops for their service and yet even that tweet from Ted Cruz, he is telling the military, they don't know what they're doing, we're not respecting our troops, we are not supporting our troops.

So we have a lot of Republicans mostly talking about what the military should and shouldn't do, who have never served a day in the military, and don't know what they're talking about.

LEMON: Doesn't know his way around the military, but he knows his way around Cancun!

BELL: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Thanks, W, I appreciate it. Be sure to tune in. An all-new episode of "United Shades of America" with W. Kamau Bell, airs Sunday night at 10:00 p.m., only here on CNN.

Thanks for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

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