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Fired Atlanta Police Officer Who Killed Rayshard Brooks Facing 11 Charges, Including Felony Murder; China Reports 24 New Locally Transmitted Cases; New Bolton Book Loaded With Bombshells Against Trump; 10 U.S. States Hit Case Records as Mask Debate Heats Up; Premier League Teams Show Support for Black Lives Matter as Games Resume; China, India Agree to 'Cool Down' after Deadly Border Clash; JD.com's Sales Viewed as Barometer of Chinese Economy. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired June 18, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. Coming up on "CNN Newsroom." Justice in high speed, just days after the police shooting of an African-American man in Atlanta, the former officer who pulled the trigger, facing felony murder and 10 other charges.
Flights canceled, neighborhoods lockdown, and schools are shut with Beijing ramping up the response to new outbreaks of the coronavirus outbreaks. And the calls are coming from inside the House, at least from someone who was inside the White House. The stunning revelations about presidential incompetence, corruption, and ignorance from Trump's former National Security Adviser.
It is difficult to remember time when American justice moved as quickly. Just days after an African-American man was shot and killed by police. The officer who pulled the trigger is facing 11 charges, including felony, murder, and possibly the death penalty. And lawyers to the other police officer at the scene say he's been cooperating with investigators.
The Fulton County District Attorney announced the charges against Garrett Rolfe, saying he didn't just kill Rayshard Brooks, he also failed to give timely first aid. And that Rolfe even kicked Brooks as he struggled for his life. Something growth lawyer denies. The other officer though at the same, he's also facing charges.
And one reason for the swift action by prosecutors, well the three weeks of nationwide protests against police brutality. And in Atlanta, they were marching again just hours after the charges were announced. CNN's Victor Blackwell has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL HOWARD FULTON DISTRICT ATTORNEY: These are the 11 charges against Officer Rolfe. The first charge is felony murder. This is a death that is -- as a result of a underlying felony. And in this case, the underlying felony is aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. And the possible sentences for a felony murder conviction would be life, life without parole or the death penalty.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A felony murder charge and 10 other charges for former Atlanta Police Officer Garrett Rolfe who shot and killed 27-year old Rayshard Brooks after a scuffle outside of Wendy's restaurant on Friday night. Included in those charges are multiple aggravated assault charges.
The other officer at the scene, Devin Brosnan also charged with aggravated assault and two other charges of violating police rules. But the twist announced by Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, Brosnan is now a cooperating witness and will testify against former Officer Rolfe.
HOWARD: Within a matter of days, he plans to make a statement regarding the culpability of Officer Rolfe, but he indicated that he is not psychologically willing to give that statement today.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): During the explanation of those charges, Howard repeatedly said Mr. Brooks was not a threat.
HOWARD: We've concluded at the time Mr. Brooks was shot, that he did not pose an immediate threat of deaths.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): It started with a 911 call.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does he appear to have any weapons from where you can see him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no. I think he's intoxicated.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): Police were called to a Wendy's restaurant after the caller said a car was blocking the drive-thru lane. Brooks was found by police seemingly asleep at the wheel. Police body camera video shows the 20-minute interaction between Brooks and the two officers to be calm. The officers conduct a sobriety test on the 27- year old.
RAYSHARD BROOKS, BLACK MAN KILLED BY POLICE: I know I know you just draw your gun (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please stop.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): Brooks failed the breathalyzer test. And as Rolfe began to arrest him, the struggle began. Brooks resisted arrest all three fell to the ground. But Brooks got away taking the other officer's taser with him.
A chase ensued and Brooks turned back towards the officer pointing the taser. That's when Rolfe shot Brooks in the back. He was hit twice according to the medical examiner.
Disciplinary records, so Rolfe received a written reprimand for a use of force complaint in 2016 with several more citizen complaints. But no action was taken on those. Officer Brosnan has two firearm discharges on his record including Friday night shooting.
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[00:05:07]
BLACKWELL: The district attorney says that Officer Brosnan is cooperating with the investigation and potentially would testify against ex-officer Rolfe. But in a statement, Officer Brosnan's attorney says that the officer has not agreed to testify, has not agreed to plead guilty and has not agreed to be a state's witness. We also heard from the attorney for ex-officer Garrett Rolfe who says the shooting was justified.
In Atlanta, Victor Blackwell, CNN.
VAUSE: Gloria Browne-Marshall is a constitutional law professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She is author of "Race, Law and American Society". She joins us now from New York. Professor, thanks for being with us.
GLORIA BROWNE-MARSHALL, AUTHOR, "THE VOTING RIGHTS WAR": Thank you.
VAUSE: You know, the case against the former Atlanta police officer seems to be moving incredibly quickly. But then besides what multiple eyewitness accounts, prosecutors have the entire incident recorded on eight videos, claimed two police body cameras from the police, two police car dash cameras. There's the surveillance camera from inside the Wendy's. And there's three cellphone videos from onlookers as well.
So is it the evidence which has the case moving so quickly? Or is it the current public demand for justice?
BROWNE-MARSHALL: I think it's both. And on top of that, I think this is what would happen if this was a civilian who did the same thing to another civilian. So basically, they're treating police officers as they should, under the evidence with the speed that they would use with a civilian who committed such an act.
VAUSE: Yes. And on that video, what we're looking at is that once Mr. Brooks has been shot, you see one of the officers, he's kicking the body. I would like you to listen to the family lawyer for the Brooks family. He has more on that. Here he is.
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JUSTIN MILLER, BROOKS FAMILY ATTORNEY: We don't kick people when they're down. What you saw, and what we all saw, is one officer standing on a man who was dying, standing on top of him. And then the other officer literally kicking him while he was on the ground dying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Talk of a very sort of vial nature of the act itself. Legally, what does this do for the prosecution case? How can it actually be used by the prosecutors? And what does it reveal about the defendant? BROWNE-MARSHALL: Well, what it reveals about the defendant is not just that he behaved inappropriately, they all did. Those who participated and those who sat back and did nothing, they did not render aid to a dying person. That is basic. Not only is it basic human nature, supposedly, but it's also what officers are trained to do to protect and to serve.
And it also, I think, supports the charges in the speed of the charges, that this was done with such hatred that, you know, even if the person was dying, that was not satisfactory to these officers that they wanted him to die and that's why murder charges would be appropriate.
VAUSE: And that's -- we'll look at that two minutes of summing seconds, a gap there between the shooting and the taking of the pulse. Is there a case we've made that maybe that two minutes life could have been saved?
BROWNE-MARSHALL: Yes. I mean, very similar to the case of George Floyd, where they check his pulse and find one. And Officer Chauvin stayed on George Floyd's neck just to make sure that he would be dead at the end. And then no aid was rendered. And so we have a situation in which this is something that happens on a regular basis.
And you see the arrogance. People are filming this, and these officers still don't care because the prosecutors rarely do what this prosecutor is doing, which is go full force and make sure that they are arrested and treated like a civilian would be treated under similar circumstances.
VAUSE: There's also the issue of imminent threat to the police officers thinking about that Rayshard Brooks was running away. He grabbed one of the officer's tasers. Listen to this.
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HOWARD: The city of Atlanta says you cannot even fire a taser at someone who's running away. So you certainly can't fire a gun, a hand gun at someone who is running away. We have also concluded that Rolfe was aware that the taser in Brooks's possession, that it was fired twice. And once it's fired twice, it presented no danger to him or to any other persons?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That was a day, speaking day. So it would seem that the argument that the police so often making these other cases that they felt that they were under threat, that life was in danger. That's going to be a tough argument to make.
BROWNE-MARSHALL: Well, it's been tough in other cases too. The police departments across this country, kill about 1,000 people a year, and you only have maybe 10 to 12 cases that are brought. And in those cases, it's rare to get a police officer convicted.
[00:10:01] Because one what is considered the standard is reasonable behavior under the circumstances, but it's a dual standard. What's reasonable treatment by police officers for a black person is not the same treatment that a white person would receive. These white officers would never kill a drunk white person. This is unheard of.
But this is the type of reasonable treatment that they believe that a black person should receive. So we can't be guaranteed. In the case of George Floyd, this case or any of these cases that these officers will actually be convicted.
VAUSE: I want to play some sound because we also heard from the cousin of Rayshard Brooks also on Wednesday. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GYMACO BROOKS, RAYSHARD BROOKS' COUSIN: Life shouldn't be this complicated. Life shouldn't be where we have to feel some type of way if we see a police or somebody of a different color, who you'll have to bear and we go ahead and say, don't shoot. And if we can say we love you enough, we got to apologize to him for not telling him that we loved him that much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I think it's really important right now to know that we're talking about someone who lost a life. You know, two little girls won't have a dad now as they go up because he was shot in the back, running away from place. You know, this is about a life that's been lost. I think sometimes we forget that in all of these arguments.
BROWNE-MARSHALL: Well, it's not actually a life that's lost, it's the life that's been taken.
VAUSE: Yes.
BROWNE-MARSHALL: And we unfairly use the word tragedy. Tragedy really means that a person played a role. And these instances of murder, a life is stolen, stolen by police officers, government employees who have been given guns in order to protect and serve the general public, that taxpayers who pay their salaries. We actually pay to have their guns on in their hands. We pay for them to take the lessons to use those guns.
And so these lives are stolen by police officers with impunity in a history in this country that goes back hundreds of years of law enforcement being able to steal these lives and most prosecutors allowing them to do it. So we'll see whether or not there'll be a difference in this case.
VAUSE: Professor Browne-Marshall, we're out of time, but thank you. It's a good point to end on. Thank you for that.
BROWNE-MARSHALL: Thank you.
VAUSE: Chinese officials have reported 24 new cases of the coronavirus in the northern part of the country. Most are in Beijing where a new cluster of the virus emerge last week. The city is now ramping up testing and imposing tighter restrictions.
CNN's Anna Coren is live, she's out in Hong Kong. So Anna, when we're looking at a situation here about the source of, you know, of this latest wave or cluster of coronavirus, we know it's linked to a wet market, but do they know where it came from before that?
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, really good question, John. There was much speculation that it did come from imported salmon from Europe and that was doing the rounds and run-of-the-mill in Beijing. Health officials had to come out earlier in the week and put a stop to that saying that there's no evidence that it has come from European imports of salmon. But you're absolutely right, it's from this shim fatty food, wholesale market that distributes 80 percent of Beijing's fresh produce.
You mentioned 24 new cases, 21 of them in Beijing, the three others outside of the capital city, two of them directly related to the shim fatty wet market. There is one, however, where they do not know the source. That is in Tianjin city, it's a city of a population of 15 million people. It's about 100 kilometers outside of Beijing.
And this 22 year old man has had no travel history in the last 14 days. He hasn't come into contact with any confirmed or suspected cases. And alarmingly he's a dishwasher in a hotel, restaurant. The question is how did he get it and who has he come into contact with since contracting coronavirus. I mean this is why authorities in Beijing scrambling to contain this latest outbreak.
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COREN (voice-over): There have now been more than 8 million coronavirus cases recorded around the world since images like these started coming out of China. But this video wasn't taken six months ago. It's happening now in the capital, Beijing. People try to remain calm as a group together for mass screenings.
Schools are closed again after only reopening earlier this month. Grocery store workers dress in full PPE. Over 150 new cases in less than a week, plunging half the city back into lockdown, just as people here were beginning to plan for life after coronavirus.
DR. SHOSHANA UNGERLEIDER, INTERNAL MEDICINE PHYSICIAN, CROSSOVER HEALTH: The serious measures that Beijing is taking now to contact trace and shut down markets and residential areas are the right things to do in an effort to contain the spread.
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COREN (voice-over): The new outbreak is thought to stem from the city's major food market. Officials say they have tracked down and tested hundreds of thousands of people that had shopped the shim fatty market in the two weeks leading up to its forced closure. The dangerous possibility is that the people they met may have already traveled far and wide. Cases linked to the outbreak have being found as far away as Sichuan Province, about 2,000 kilometers southwest of Beijing. One video allegedly shows lines of buses being moved in to take people from the shim fatty market off to get tested. China's calling this a soft lockdown, but the rules are strictly enforced.
State media reports over 1,200 flights out of Beijing have now been canceled. No risk taken by passengers that did get planes on Wednesday. Many here at the airport, fee getting caught at ground zero again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I'm leaving now because the outbreak is a bit serious and I'm afraid of being infected. So I want to escape back to home soon.
COREN (voice-over): After almost two months without a case being registered, many in Beijing hopes they'd seen this for the last time. Now they're praying this is just a ripple and not a second wave.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Now, John, as you saw in the piece, Beijing under lockdown, obviously they're trying to restrict the travel out of the capital city. Authorities do not want to repeat of what happened earlier this year in Wuhan where millions of people fled the city before that lockdown was put in place spreading coronavirus around the world, John.
VAUSE: Anna, thank you. Anna Coren live for us in Hong Kong.
Well, despite thousands of new cases being reported across Latin America every day, some countries in the region are already starting to reopen. Matt Rivers reports now from Mexico City.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Mexico since June 1st, we've seen the number of newly confirmed cases of this virus rise by more than 70 percent, newly confirmed deaths rise by nearly 90 percent. But despite that, Mexico's government is moving forward with plans to reopen parts of its economy and we are seeing that here in Mexico City without question the hardest hit part of this country. Just this week, some 340,000 workers in the manufacturing industries here are allowed to go back to work and the city government is also contemplating as soon as next week, allowing people to return to places like restaurants and malls under limited capacities.
Meanwhile, in Brazil, another day, another very high newly confirmed case count, roughly 32,000 additional cases confirmed by Brazil's health ministry on Wednesday that pushes the overall total there to more than 950,000 which means that we could pass the 1 million case mark in that country as soon as the next few days. Also consider that with these 32,000 additional cases reported today, that is the fifth time in the last nine days that Brazil has reported. More than 30,000 newly confirmed cases in a single day.
And finally in the country of Honduras, it was Tuesday night during a presidential address that President Hernandez announced that he has tested positive for the coronavirus after starting to feel ill over the weekend. He was diagnosed on Tuesday. He says that his symptoms are mild, that he is working still in his capacity as President from isolation. He also told his people that his wife and two aids tested positive as well.
Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.
VAUSE: Well, so we got more confirmation than revelation. The explosive new claims from President Trump's former National Security Adviser John Bolton. The White House and Justice Department are trying to stop the publication of the damning teller book.
Plus, after more than three months, England's top Football League has returned to action with a slightly different look and a powerful statement about race and inequality.
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VAUSE: Welcome back everybody. Explosive new claims about President Trump from one of his top former aides. In his new book, the former National Security Adviser John Bolton says Donald Trump asked China's President for help to win re-election. Bolton writes about a Trump meeting with President Xi.
Trump said approvingly that there was great hostility to China among the Democrats. Trump then suddenly turned the conversation to the coming U.S. presidential election. Alluding to China's economic capability and pleading with Xi to ensure he'd win. He stressed the importance of farmers and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome.
I would print Trump's exact words he writes but the government's publication review process has decided otherwise. Bolton also claims President Trump told President Xi to move ahead with detainment camps with China's leader (ph) Muslims. And purely by coincidence on Wednesday, Donald Trump signed a bill which sanctions China for treatment of Muslim leaders.
Donald Trump called John Bolton a liar as he broke the law by publishing classified information. The Justice Department is trying to stop the book from being published.
Joining me now from all CNN Intelligence and Security Analyst Bob Baer and CNN Senior Legal Analyst, Ron Brownstein. Good to have you both with us. Ron, first to you. The revelations here about Trump, it all seem to confirm as opposed to reveal. But what seems absolutely stunning is that anyone who has been in public service for as long as John Bolton would sit on this information throughout an impeachment hearing and a trial and only going public when the book was about to hit the market.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean, you got a trifecta here of indefensible behavior. First, John Bolton himself who had first-hand knowledge of the offenses at the heart of the impeachment inquiry, and not only first-hand knowledge of those direct questions, but also evidence that they were part of a pattern of behavior by the President and chose not to share that with the country at that moment.
Second, the Senate Republicans who all but too voted not to hear from John Bolton. It increasingly, I think, in retrospect is even more clear that they did that precisely because they knew that this was something like this was the portrait that was awaiting them. And you have people like Martha McSally and Cory Gardner and Joni Ernst and Thom Tillis, we're going to be before the voters this November, who chose affirmatively not to hear the kind of revelations in his book.
And then finally, you know, the President himself, who behaves in this, you know, reading this kind of like the classic bully, I mean, he's extorting Ukraine, but he is exhorting Xi in China. You know, kind of almost pleading with him for help in reelection and, you know, in a kind of very craving way, giving the blessing to the creation of concentration camps. You know, we say we can't be shocked anymore after 3.5 years of Donald Trump, but even so, this is a pretty shocking day.
VAUSE: And I want you to listen to John Bolton, Bob as well, speaking to ABC News now, he's a former National Security Adviser. A very frank and honest assessment of the Trump-Putin relationship. Here it is.
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JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: 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)
VAUSE: So Bob, pervading the intelligence community that probably rings true, but something which he said publicly a long time ago.
ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Absolutely. I mean, you look at this through Putin's eyes, to XI's eyes, the rest of the world and they see weakness. They see a man that would sell his country out. And truly this is borderline trees and if not trees in itself. And you have to look at what China has done since this. It's -- I mean, it's moved on Hong Kong, it's moved on the Indian border, the South China Sea.
This is frankly the weakest President I've ever seen that I've ever experienced in my lifetime when it comes to foreign policy. And it's all because it's self-serving because he's desperate to get reelected, and he's looking for foreign help and violates our election laws. It's just stunning these revelations.
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VAUSE: Like Bolton's role in all this, so -- I mean, how disloyal to the country has Bolton be? BAER: He should have stepped right up but, you know, who wants to go before Congress, a partisan Congress but he should have stepped up, he should have said his piece. And would we have had an impeachment gotten this guy out? I don't know. But clearly he's -- who knows what he's done by the way with Putin that Bolton doesn't know about at Helsinki. We don't know what he promised Russia. It's quite extraordinary.
VAUSE: It is extraordinary. And Bolton accuses the Democrats of impeachment malpractice, saying there was a lot more than just the scandal of the Ukrainian security assistance. He writes, "At risk of being swallowed by the Ukraine fantasy conspiracy theories, the whole affair was bad policy, questionable legally and unacceptable as presidential behavior". He follows up with this big headline, "I'm hard pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that was not driven by re-election calculations".
So Ron, you know, if Bolton had testified during the House hearing or the Senate trial, would the vote have been any different because Republicans were determined to quit no matter what.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I think they were determined to quit no matter what. But still Bolton, you know, blaming impeachment malpractice on the Democrats after refusing to come forward with it. You know, the joke they tell the lawyers joke about the kid who kills their parents and then asked for -- throws themselves on the mercy of the court because they're an orphan. I mean, that's sort of like the level that Bolton is acting here where he had information that was very powerful, and chose not -- and chose -- and will forever be remembered for choosing not to share it with the country when it could have had the most impact.
No, it would not have changed many, perhaps any votes in the House. Who knows if all of those Republican senators who voted to acquit the President would have felt coming comfortable doing so with firsthand direct corroborating testimony of the offenses of which he was accused. But I, you know, every time something like this comes out, I go back to what I think will be one of the defining quotes of the Trump era from Susan Collins, Senator Susan Collins after the impeachment, after he was acquitted. And she said he has learned a big lesson.
And in fact, he has learned a lesson as you see it here. He believes there is nothing he cannot do there. There is no boundary he can cross that would cause his party to break from him or constrain him in any way. And I think this is going to be a huge burden for those Senate Republicans to carry into November.
VAUSE: Really huge details about, you know, Trump trying to get election help from China. There was that phone call with Chinese leader and President Trump suddenly turned this is part of the book, turn the conversation to the upcoming presidential election pleading with Xi to ensure that he would win. So, Bob, right now you had the Secretary of State meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Hawaii, how much dirt do the Chinese have on this administration? BAER: They've got a lot. They've got so much pressure on this President. They can do any -- I mean, they're just frankly ignoring us. I mean, we rolled over on Hong Kong. The Chinese essentially took it back and we have done nothing.
Pompeo, the Chinese know, he can't commit the President. The President will change his mind. He's got no, you know, our diplomacy, our foreign intelligence and the rest of the government, the civil service. It's an utter catastrophe. If half of what Bolton says is accurate.
VAUSE: Very quickly, I want to when I go to a tweet for the lead managers of the impeachment investigation, Adams Swift, he tweeted this out, "Bolton stuff were asked to testify before the House to Trump's abuses and did. They had a lot to lose and showed real courage. When Bolton was asked, he refused and said he'd sue if subpoenaed. Instead, he saved it for a book. Bolton maybe an author but he is no patriot".
So Bob, just you. When you look at the damage, which has Bolton done -- which Bolton has done to this country, what's your final assessment?
BEAR: Well I tell you, when I was in this position, when I was in the government, I went right to Congress when I saw something wrong. And that's what a civil servant government paid employees supposed to do. And he failed in his duties, his sworn duties to the Constitution, and to the American people. He failed.
VAUSE: OK, good point.
Bob Baer and Ron Brownstein, thank you so much. Appreciate being with us.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: Thanks.
Well, the U.S. President is about to hit the campaign trail once again in the midst of a pandemic. Experts say his attitude is making it harder to fight the coronavirus, potentially costing lives damaging the economy even further. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be with us, he has a lot to say ahead.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: With many U.S. states seeing record numbers of new cases of the coronavirus each day, some officials want face masks to be mandatory, citing research that says it's the best way to keep the virus from spreading. But they are getting pushback, a lot of pushback.
[00:32:20]
CNN's Athena Jones reports.
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ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite the message coming from the White House and its allies, the COVID crisis in the U.S. has not abated.
DR. ZEKE EMANUEL, FORMER OBAMA WHITE HOUSE HEALTH POLICY ADVISOR: It does seem that the administration wants to move beyond coronavirus, but the virus isn't going to cooperate.
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.
DR. ALI KHAN, FORMER DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS, CDC: We've not changed the basic biology of the disease. The virus is out there. Ninety-five percent of Americans continue to be susceptible.
JONES: Reported infections now falling in 21 states and holding steady in eight 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 meeting new highs in Texas, North Carolina and Arizona, raising concerns for healthcare providers.
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.
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.
DR. KIM RUDOLPH MCGLOTHAN, JACKSON HOSPITAL: But until you actually mandate, because people won't -- don't believe the hype, we won't be able to stop it.
JONES: The city council failing to pass an ordinance requiring them. Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott urging people to take precautions.
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): COVID-19 hasn't suddenly magically left the state of Texas.
JONES: This as the mayors of Texas's 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. DR. BRUCE DART, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TULSA HEALTH DEPARTMENT: Let me be
clear: anyone planning to attend a large-scale gathering will face an increased risk of becoming infected with COVID-19.
JONES: Athena Jones, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: CNN chief medial correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with me now.
Sanjay, it's good to see you, but it seems it's a case of damn the torpedoes now from the president. He's determined to hold that campaign rally in Tulsa. Over the weekend, he did a round of interviews on Wednesday for the local television stations today and repeatedly talked about the numbers falling to a miniscule level, adding that the virus is dying out. The virus is not dying out. That's not the case, especially in Oklahoma.
[00:35:03]
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, it's simply not true. I mean, I think this is -- this is wishful thinking.
We keep hearing about this notion of you're going to have a wave, right? You know, this peak and it's going to come down to very, very small numbers. That has happened in countries around the world, Italy, for example, which is a country that we looked to because they had a similar sort of pattern as the United States.
But the United States, we've fallen to this pretty tragic plateau, John, you know, of several hundred deaths still a day. We have more people dying every day, still, than other countries have had through this entire pandemic.
So it's not going down. It's sort of shifted. You know, the northeast, the coastal cities like Seattle, the cities in California, because they are coastal, because they have large international airports. They had some of the first cases.
But now we're seeing these significant, you know, upticks in several places around the country. There's 10 states that are having their highest levels ever throughout this pandemic. They're happening right now. Arizona, which is one-third the size of New York, is probably going to surpass New York in terms of hospitalizations.
So it's by no means dying out. And I think it's dangerous to suggest that it is because people then are not doing anything about it.
VAUSE: Just take a look at the lines of people now waiting for the president, for that rally in Tulsa. They're already lining up. They're excited, obviously, for this MAGA rally. Not a lot of people there wearing masks. The president, the vice president usually don't wear masks in public.
Also, California on Wednesday, there was a pro-mask rally. It was interrupted by an anti-mask rally. How do you explain why so many people are so energized and opposed to wearing face masks?
GUPTA: I'm baffled a bit by this. You know, like you, John, I've had the privilege of being able to travel around the world and see different cultures and things like this.
For whatever reason, here in the United States, mask wearing has become very politicized. It's become a freedom issue, which is ridiculous, because the only way to sort of get back to some sort of normalcy, aside from a vaccine or some very effective therapeutic, is to slow the spread of the virus.
And masks, we know, can be very effective. John, I want you to look at these numbers really quick. I think a question that often comes up is, let's say I have the virus, and you're within six feet of me, and we're talking. What's the likelihood I would spread the virus to you, that I would transmit it to you?
According to this one study out of "Lancet," they said it's about 17.4 percent. You know, there's going to be lots of studies, but it gives you a ballpark idea.
What if you wear a mask? Three point one percent. It drops nearly six- fold by wearing a mask. It's a very simple thing to do and makes a huge difference in terms of slowing the spread.
VAUSE: And that's good, because I want to get to my next question, which is we're now hearing from the Federal Aviation Administration about whether or not it's should be mandatory for passengers to wear masks on commercial airlines. This is what the head of the FAA told Congress on Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN DICKSON, ADMINISTRATOR, FEDERAL AVIATION AUTHORITY: Secretary Chao and the Department of Transportation have been clear that air passengers should wear face coverings to protect themselves and those around them, and that we expect the traveling public to follow air crew directions and airline public health policies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But they're not making it mandatory.
GUPTA: Right.
VAUSE: This is some question of authority. Who gets to make the call? Is it the CDC? Is it the FAA? But given how risky air travel is, that just doesn't seem to be a very responsible call.
GUPTA: Yes, it's interesting, because they say it is clear, but it is not clear, because it is a recommendation, not a requirement. I mean, when you take off on an airplane, you are required to wear your seatbelt. You are required to not smoke.
There are things that they can do on airlines that are required, but they're hedging on this. So what you end up having is all these sort of patchwork, all these airlines sort of having their own recommendations.
A lot of airlines are stepping up, but they don't have the teeth to actually do anything significant about it. They can say, Look, you know, it's going to jeopardize your future flights with our airline. We may put you on a no-fly list, these kinds of things.
But you're starting to see a lot of friction, even within airlines between passengers. Passengers get on the plane, say, "I have some sort of illness. The guy next to me is not wearing a mask. What can I do? What is within my right to do?"
And right now, there's not much.
So, you know, the FAA under the Department of Transportation has not really stepped up to handle this in a way that they could. It is within their authority, but they're not doing it.
VAUSE: Last word, perhaps, to the radio shock jock, Howard Stern. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD STERN, RADIO SHOCK JOCK: Just listen to this exchange. It's great. I mean, this is what we're dealing with.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm asking this member to put on a mask, because that is our company policy. It's either wear the mask --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm not doing it because I woke up in a free country.
STERN: "I woke up in a free country. I don't have to wear a mask." People can't even fundamentally figure out how our country works on the simply level. Freedom doesn't mean you get to do whatever the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you want.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, what that highlights to me, I think, is that the only way that they'll have everyone in this country wearing a mask is simply by enforcement measures.
GUPTA: Yes. I -- I think you're probably right. I mean, I think culturally, there is too much friction right now. I think even if you remind people, as you well know, John, that when you're wearing a mask, you're not -- you're not doing it, necessarily, to protect yourself. It may give you some protection. But the primary purpose is to protect those around you.
I mean, you know, people think that they're being, you know -- I'm willing to take the risk. Well, you're not the one taking the risk. You're taking the risk on behalf of people around you.
So, you know, how do you know if the person around you is -- is receiving chemotherapy or has some sort of pre-existing illness, or is vulnerable for some reason or is going to go home to a vulnerable child?
I have a colleague the the hospital that I work with that goes home to take care of his daughter every night, who is a cancer patient. If he contracts the virus, he's potentially going to jeopardize her health. We're all in this together.
It's really -- it's disappointing, I think, in some ways, John, that people are refusing to do this, even though it's to benefit the people around them and sometimes the people they love.
VAUSE: It requires a selfless act from all of us, which is why we may be in serious trouble, Sanjay. Good to see you, though. Thank you.
GUPTA: Yes. Thanks, John.
VAUSE: After three months on hold, the pandemic is just a season, for the English Premier League has officially restarted. The first two games reflected our new world, with players pausing to remember victims of the pandemic and showing their support for the global Black Lives Matter movement.
CNN's Alex Thomas reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT: Suspended by coronavirus and resuming with another major global issue front and center.
(voice-over): Wearing Black Lives Matter on the backs of their shirts instead of their names, every player took a knee just after kick-off of both of Wednesday's two English Premier League games.
(on camera): Even the coaches and referees joined in the tributes to the movement for greater racial equality. An unprecedented gesture during unprecedented times. And a very memorable way for this globally popular sporting competition to resume, more than three months after COVID-19 brought a halt to the action.
PEP GUARDIOLA, MANAGER, MANCHESTER CITY: We should say that white people is apologizing, sorry. The way we treat the black people in the last 400 years, for centuries. So I feel ashamed, what we have done for these marvelous black people around the world. It's not a problem about the USA and the United States of America. What happened to Mr. Floyd, I think it's -- the problem with racism is in everywhere.
THOMAS (voice-over): Fittingly, it was Raheem Sterling, a vocal critic of racism in football, who scored the opening goal, as Manchester City, the reigning Premier League champions, comfortably beat Arsenal, something for Sterling's many fans to cheer, although not in the stadium behind me, which had no fans in it because of the coronavirus.
(on camera): Although no spectators did not mean no excitement, as we found out in Wednesday's opening fixture (ph), a nil-nil draw between Aston Villa and Sheffield United. Interestingly, the goal line technology system failed to spot the ball
across the line at one stage. The company that runs it, Hawk-Eye, apologizing and admitting it was an error, saying that for the first time in more than 9,000 games, too many of its cameras didn't get a clear view.
Later, City's win here over Arsenal means that Liverpool now have to wait until Wednesday at the earliest, next week, to clinch the title.
Alex Thomas, CNN, Manchester.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A deadly border clash between two nuclear neighbors. Up next, new details about what happened along India and China's disputed border in the Himalayas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The U.S. secretary of state has met with his Chinese counterpart for nearly seven hours on Wednesday in Hawaii. There was much to talk about since they last met. China's handling of the coronavirus, for starters. Then there's Beijing's new security law for Hong Kong, not to forget treatment of Uyghur Muslims. North Korea's nuclear program, apparently, on the agenda, and finally, their ongoing trade war. That's why it went for seven hours.
Meanwhile, after a deadly clash on their disputed border, both China and India have agreed to step back and let the situation go down.
In a phone call on Wednesday, China's foreign minister urged his Indian counterpart to, quote, "stop all provocative actions," but India's prime minister says they were not the instigators.
We'll head now to CNN's Vedika Sud in New Delhi.
So Vedika, both sides seem they want to step back from the brink here. What are Indian officials saying this morning?
VEDIKA SUD, CNN PRODUCER: Well, yes, but that has happened in the past, ever since (UNINTELLIGIBLE), there have been military and diplomatic level talks that have been taking place repeatedly.
But strong words emerging from the Indian government, but both the prime minister as well as the external affairs minister, who did have a conversation on the telephone with the Chinese counterpart.
What's extremely interesting is the statement that he's made where he says that this was a premeditated action on behalf of the Chinese that has led to the loss of lives. Even the external affairs ministers asked the Chinese counterpart to reassess what actions had been taken.
There is this statement also coming out that there will be talks that will continue, obviously, on the military and diplomatic front. The prime minister broke his silence over this here in India, as well, when he said that the lives of the 20 Indian soldiers will not go in vain.
Now we'll really watch and see what happens over the next few weeks. Yes, negotiations are on. Will there be an understanding to go back to what they decided on the sixth of June, when top military heads met and decided to move away from the buffer zone, which remains to be a contentious area on the line of actual control between the two countries. Will India step forward and take steps against China, economically or otherwise? Those are some questions we will be seeking answers to over the next few days while talks are on.
VAUSE: You said that the prime minister said the deaths of the Indian soldiers will not -- they will not die in vain. So what sort of pressure is Modi under to respond with force?
SUD: Well, yes, domestically, a lot of pressure, because you have political parties questioning him, asking him what exactly happened at the line of actual control?
Tomorrow, there will be -- which is Friday -- there will be an all- party meeting, where he will speak with representatives from the different parties on this issue.
Also, there have been protests here in India and different parts of the country. The anti-China sentiment has been rising. Different political groups have been protesting in different areas. You have veterans, as well. There are a lot of voices that are demanding retaliation for the death of 20 soldiers.
Also, a lot of people are now asking others to shun Chinese goods and products, to completely boycott these products, as far as Indians are concerned here.
VAUSE: Vedika, thank you. Vedika Sud there, live for us in New Delhi.
Well, JD.com debuts on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Coming up, why analysts think it's part of a growing trend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:50:48]
VAUSE: Well, two iconic food products are being rebranded to move away from racial stereotypes. Quaker's [SIC] Oats is getting rid of Aunt Jemima brand and logo on its syrup and pancake mix. And the rice company says it's going to evolve the Uncle Ben's rice brand.
Both are rooted in racist tropes. Aunt -- "Old Aunt Jemima" was a minstrel song that white actors would perform wearing blackface.
Uncle Ben evokes servitude. Even the terms "aunt" and "uncle" have racial undertones. They were used on southern plantations for older slaves.
Other iconic American brands are also rethinking their products and marketing strategies. Johnson and Johnson says it's making Band-Aid bandages in a range of skin tones, including brown and black. Land O Lakes butter removed the controversial Native American woman from their packaging. The company says the change was meant to better reflect its culture.
And last month Crayola released new packs of colors with 24 new colors representing more than 40 different skin tones.
Well, Chinese ecommerce company JD.com is now trading on the Hong Kong stock market. The company is already listed in the U.S., and analysts predict more U.S.-listed Chinese companies will make that journey back to Hong Kong as tensions between the U.S. and China continue to rise.
CNN's Sherisse Pham has more on this from Hong Kong. It's all about that decoupling between China and the United States.
SHERISSE PHAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It could be a sign of decoupling. It also could be a sign that JD just wants to raise a little bit more money in a stock exchange --
VAUSE: Could be that.
PHAM: -- that is a little bit closer to home. They're going to raise about 3.9 billion dollars in the secondary listing.
And their shares are on the rise this morning. They've been trading for about three hours, and they are up about four percent, 3.8 percent is the last I saw. As you mentioned with Chinese companies facing these risks in the United States.
Now, this Hong Kong debut is also happening today on June 18, which is a big day for JD.com. It's an annual sales blitz that they hold. And this year it is being closely watched to see how Chinese shoppers are behaving on the back end of the pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHAM (voice-over): For JD.com June is a big month. For close to three weeks, the online shopping company runs an annual sales blitz that pulls in billions of dollars. It's called 618 or June 18, which is the day JD was founded.
This year, it's being closely watched to see how Chinese shoppers behave as the country recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
(on camera): This year's 618 is really being looked at as something of a barometer for China's economy. Tell us, what are you seeing so far?
LING CHENKAI, VICE PRESIDENT, JD RETAIL: This June 18 is very special. Just as you imagine that we just got recovery from the virus, so that this moment is pretty important. And this is the first nationwide sales event during the recovery of the virus.
But we do see a very good, strong momentum. There is a pretty good bump during this period of revenge consumption. And we saw all the categories, for example, electronic categories, fresh, medical, 3Cs, beauty are all just rebounding very well. PHAM (voice-over): That rebound was hard-earned. At the height of the
COVID-19 outbreak in China, large parts of the country were on lockdown. Many turned to online shopping for groceries and daily goods.
And analysts say JD was in the best position to meet demand. Because unlike rivals Alibaba and Pinduoduo, JD controls its entire logistics and delivery network.
DAVID DAI, SENIOR ANALYST, BERNSTEIN: If you just look at the COVID-19 period, then without a doubt that JD is the biggest winner of the pandemic among the three platforms because of the advantages that they have in the logistics network.
PHAM: Advantages like these autonomous delivery robots. JD used them in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.
(on camera): What were the lessons that you learned from this crisis? This was one of the biggest crises that any of us have faced in our generation. And I'm sure it was the same for your company, as well.
[00:55:05]
CHENKAI: During this epidemic, this is a double-edged sword, right? For some category, it really, during the pandemic period, it really helped us to grow. For example, the medical category, the fresh produce and also daily necessities.
For some of the category, they got severely impacted, for example, home appliances, those big-ticket items.
PHAM (voice-over): JD says sales across all categories have seen a bump during 618. That's because many Chinese are still wary of shopping in markets and retail stores.
And just like the SARS outbreak in 2003, JD says COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on e-commerce in China.
CHENKAI: The SARS helped the e-commerce boom in China and people started to buy standard products on the e-commerce platform. But this pandemic -- pandemic helped the consumers to use e-commerce to purchase non-standard products. I think one of the big changes is a lot of consumers, they're starting to purchased fresh produce, daily necessities. That penetration previously is relatively low, but after this pandemic we saw a really -- bump in penetration.
PHAM (on camera): Do you think that habit is going to stick around?
CHENKAI: Based on the current momentum, we see a lot of people still stick to the -- to the platform after the pandemic.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHAM: Now John, one thing that we're going to be looking for later this afternoon is the final sales number of this big promotion, 618. If the momentum that Ling Chenkai talked about in the package there keeps up throughout the whole period, it will be somewhere north of $30 billion.
No, we did also ask him about the U.S.-China tensions and what that could mean for JD's business. And he said, Look, we're a company. We don't want to talk about the political situation. But I will say, quote, "We hope there could be an open and equal environment for global business players."
VAUSE: That's a nice statement to finish on. All friendly here.
PHAM: Certainly.
VAUSE: Thanks. Good to see you. Sherisse Pham there in Hong Kong.
Good to see you. Hope you'll stay with us for another hour. I'm John Vause. After the break, a lot more CNN NEWSROOM when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Hello and welcome to our viewers who are everywhere around the world. Thank you for joining us. I'm John Vause. Coming up this hour on CNN NEWSROOM.
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