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U.S. Deaths Near 120,000 As More States Report Higher Case Count; Democrats Call For Investigation Into Firing Of U.S. Attorney; Judge Denies Trump Administration's Attempt To Block Release Of Bolton's Book; Tulsa County Reports New Daily High For Coronavirus Cases One Day After Trump Campaign Rally; One Killed, 11 Wounded In Minneapolis Shooting; Police Say, U.K. Stabbing Spree Was An Act Of Terror. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired June 21, 2020 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:17]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin this hour with the U.S. approaching another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic. The total number of deaths is closing in on 120,000 people, that's more Americans than Americans who died in all of World War 1.

And that number is only expected to rise. 23 states are now reporting higher new case counts than the week before. In Florida alone officials are reporting more than 3,000 cases in the last 24 hours.

And as we watch the case numbers climb, President Trump had this to say at his rally last night in Tulsa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Here's the bad part. When you test -- when you do testing to that extent, you're going to find more people, you're going to find more cases. So I said to my people, slow the testing down, please.

They test and they test. We had tests of people don't know what's going on. We've got tests. We have another one over here. The young man's 10 years old. He's got the sniffles. He'll recover in about 15 minutes. That's a case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Those comments coming after learning that six of his own campaign staffers tested positive with the coronavirus. The campaign rally was attended by thousands of people, packing into that tight area of an arena, most with no masks which doctors say could create a super spreader event. And there have been some estimates of the number of people that did in fact crowd that arena.

Let's start our coverage at the White House. CNN's Kristen Holmes joining us now.

So Kristen -- the President's team says his calls for slower testing was a joke but the President also trying to respond to another -- a number of things including the number of people and the criticism that he is receiving about his rally.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. A lot of stuff coming out of last night's rally which was expected. This was his first rally really since coronavirus hit and the first time out of the house getting to speak directly to his base in those big numbers.

I'm going to start with as you mentioned the administration officials now essentially saying that President Trump was joking. And one thing to note is that these officials have used this before as a defense when President Trump says something that is deemed controversial.

However, this time it's really raising a lot of eyebrows, particularly given the fact, as you mentioned, we have almost reached that 120,000 death mark from coronavirus.

However it appears that these officials are doubling down on this. Last night, one administration official told us that he was obviously kidding and today Jake Tapper asked Peter Navarro, the White House trade adviser, about these comments. And here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE TRADE ADVISER: You know, it was tongue in cheek. Come on now. Come on now. That was tongue in cheek. Please.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: I don't know that it was -- I don't know that it was tongue in cheek at all.

NAVARRO I know it was tongue in cheek.

TAPPER: He has said -- these things for months.

NAVARRO: That's news for you. Tongue in cheek. Ok?

TAPPER: He has said similar things for months.

NAVARRO: We've got over --

TAPPER: But he has said similar things for months. That --

NAVARRO: -- these 30 million --

TAPPER: Go ahead.

NAVARRO: -- people unemployed and we've seen over 100,000 people die because of the China Wuhan virus. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So clearly here these comments getting a lot of criticism from his adversaries who have said this for months that President Trump cares more about his appearance meaning fewer coronavirus cases than he does about the American public meaning getting more tests out there.

And it's not surprising that we have learned that Democrats, Joe Biden, these super PACs are all racing to get these comments on the air waves. They believe these are incredibly important. They want to be campaigning on these comments but you know, it's really interesting to note that he would say this at all, particularly given that the administration, one of the biggest criticisms worldwide -- governors, American people have had with the administration's response to coronavirus has been lack of testing.

WHITFIELD: Right. And of course, you get tested and you find out you are positive, the likelihood that you will get some treatment before it's too late. So it seems rather insulting to a lot of people who have been sick or people who have died to encourage less testing.

So Kristen -- let's also talk about the President's forecast of his rally. The real, you know, kickoff of his re-election campaign -- that tens of thousands would show up only to find out some estimates put the numbers much smaller.

HOLMES: Yes, that's right. And remember, President Trump is somebody who always talks about crowd size. That is why this is an issue and it was far smaller than expected.

[14:04:57]

HOLMES: Remember, when we were hearing about this originally they were saying that a million people had registered. That there were going to be, as you said, tens of thousands, so many people that they wouldn't be able to fill that Bank of Oklahoma Center which fits 20,000 people and they have to have an overflow.

Well, it became clear to the campaign and to that advance team that overflow was not going to be filled so they scrapped that entire part of it before President Trump even landed in Tulsa so that he wouldn't be speaking essentially to an empty area.

But here's what we have in terms of estimates. We know that the Tulsa Fire Department marshal is saying that there are about 6,200 people there. So 6,200 people inside of that arena. That's just a fraction there.

Now the campaign is pushing back. They say that 12,000 people went through the metal detectors. So that figure is just wrong. And they're saying the reason why there weren't more people was because the media scared off people talking about protests and talking about COVID.

And I will say I'm from Tulsa. I spoke to several people. There was a lot of fear about coronavirus but as you mentioned in the intro to this 6,000 people is still a lot of people to not be wearing masks and to be all crowded together in an arena.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kristen Holmes at the White House. Thanks so much.

All right. Despite the U.S. nearing another grim milestone of coronavirus deaths, New York City, the former epicenter of the virus is set to begin phase two of reopening tomorrow and that includes nonessential businesses like hair salons, retail, repair services.

CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro joining me right now.

So Evan -- as cases do climb in other parts of the country, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York Says his state is right on track. What is happening?

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right -- Fred.

As you mentioned, the national story is one of continuing pandemic and maybe rising cases and rising deaths. But here in New York, the Governor, Andrew Cuomo is telling a totally different story.

On Friday he said that this state has gone the full 180 from worst to first in the nation when it comes to dealing with this pandemic and that has led to things like this phase two reopening that's coming on Monday in which outdoor dining like at the place behind me here in the meat packing district of Manhattan, will be available to people to come and seat and eat, something they haven't be able to do in a long time here in New York City.

And other businesses like hair salons, as you mentioned. Things that were sort of unimaginable just a couple of months ago are going to be once again possible to do in New York City and the governor is saying that's thanks to the efforts of New York to control this pandemic -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then, you know, Evan -- what about contact tracing? I remember, the governor, you know touting how important that was going to be, how many resources are going to be poured into that. How recruitment, you know, of people to be involved in tracing would happen. How has it been going?

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Well, last week the mayor's office in New York announced that there are 3,000 contact tracers and they were currently tracking around 4,000 cases. Now, the big deal with contract tracers is the same story that we have had throughout this pandemic. It's that a lot of it has to do with personal responsibility.

In order for this to work, people are going to have to respond to contact tracers when they call them and then give the contact traces the information that they need.

Right now, the city and the state are touting some successes with contact tracers but in order for that to work, you're going to have to see people really be prepared to work with those people and tell the story of the pandemic so those tracers can find people and try to control the spread if it does pop back up again -- Fred. WHITFIELD: All right. Evan McMorris-Santoro -- thanks so much. We'll

check back with you.

All right. Joining me now to discuss is Dr. Esther Choo, an emergency room physician and associate professor at the Oregon Health and Science University. Doctor -- good to see you.

So as, you know, the U.S. nears this very grim number of 120,000 deaths, what is your reaction to the President's suggestion, you know, to slowing down testing even though, you know, his people are saying he was joking? He was being sarcastic. It was all in jest.

DR. ESTHER CHOO, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: Yes. I'm trying to find the humor in that statement. I mean testing is the lynch pin of an effective public health response to COVID-19 and the single biggest failure of the United States response to this pandemic. And like you say as we reach this just staggering number of deaths it is -- it is just, it is hard to find the humor there.

WHITFIELD: And let's talk about Florida. You know, it's reporting more than 3,000 new cases today. The governor there says the cases are, I'm quoting now, "shifting in a radical direction" end quote, toward populations in their 20s and 30s.

So given that, those age groups are more likely to recover. I mean that's what he and others have been saying. So how concerned are you about that message?

[14:09:52]

DR. CHOO: Yes. I mean still concerning. I mean it's true that people who are younger and healthier are more likely to have mild disease and so they're the ones who are going to go out, continue daily activities and spread disease to groups that are more vulnerable.

So it's still a concern. It's -- you know, it's not like, well, we are ok if they get the disease. What will happen is that we will continue to get rapid spread of disease and then we will see, even in that group, we will see as cases rise people who get serious illness and are hospitalized.

And so, you know, we have concern for the vulnerable populations who will get spillover effects and we're concerned that even in young people, as cases rise, we'll start to see the rarer, harsh complications. And of course, it is just so much harder to see when kids and when young people get sick with COVID.

WHITFIELD: And this morning, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro had this to say about how the virus originated. Listen

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAVARRO: Of course we're --

(CROSSTALK) NAVARRO: You prepare for what can possibly happen. I'm not saying it's going to happen but, of course, you prepare. And I'll tell you what. We're a lot more prepared under this president than we were when China foisted this on us to begin with.

And let's not forget that -- Jake. China created this pandemic. They hid the virus, they created that virus and they sent over hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens here to spread that around and around the world. Whether they did that on purpose, that's an open question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: What do you think about Navarro's comments?

DR. CHOO: I don't even know what to say. I mean we know that this virus spread rapidly around the country. It came here from many different places.

The idea that this was a deliberate thing, when this -- I mean, it is -- to pick apart the things in that allegation is just ridiculous. I'll just say that somebody who's central to the federal government's response and is part of our administration speaking about the virus in that way, it just clearly is meant to breed xenophobia and racism and hate. And it is really shocking language.

And I've seen how he on TV persistently calls it the Chinese virus rather than by its scientific name. Completely inappropriate and just really hurts our efforts towards this virus.

WHITFIELD: Even the President during the rally, you know, giving it a name, just on calling it "kung flu".

DR. CHOO: Again, very un-funny and just overtly racist and just not the language and the approach that we should be taking.

I mean this is a scientific issue, you know. We don't need to be -- we don't need to politicize this or make this laden with hate and with a certain -- I mean this isn't about one country versus another. This is a global issue and we need to be speaking about this in scientific language and really applying a neutral language to all of this.

I don't see how this helps. I don't see how it's funny. And it certainly is not what we should be hearing from our highest leadership.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Esther Choo -- thank you so much. Appreciate it.

DR. CHOO: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, Tik Tok users troll Trump? How they may have managed to trick the President's campaign into thinking they would have a much bigger rally crowd in Tulsa than they did.

Plus Democrats erupt in fury, demanding an investigation into President Trump's firing of a powerful U.S. attorney in New York.

And NASCAR hosts a big race next hour, after banning the confederate flag. We'll take you there live.

[14:13:44]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Democrats are now demanding investigations into the firing of a powerful federal prosecutor who was investigating people close to the President. Last night, the President fired Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. The firing after Berman refused to step down when the U.S. Attorney General William Barr announced that he would be resigning Friday night. And today Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR CHUCK SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Nixon had the Saturday night massacre. And now President Trump and AG Barr have the botched Friday night massacre.

Any investigation must examine the roles of President Trump, Attorney General Barr and anyone else who was involved. The bottom line is we need an answer to two simple questions. What did the President know and when did he know it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Melissa Murray is a professor of law at NYU School of Law. Ryan Lizza is the chief political correspondent for "Politico" and a CNN political analyst. Good to see both of you.

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. So Melissa, let me begin with you. You know, can the President fire this U.S. Attorney without cause? Can his firing take place indirectly by way of the, you know, Attorney General giving him word, you know? Or, are these investigations into the firing, could it lead to other legal problems for the President or even the AG?

MELISSA MURRAY, LAW PROFESSOR, NYU SCHOOL OF LAW: As a general matter anyone whom the President appoints can be removed at the President's will with or without cause. I think what is the problem here is that U.S. Attorney Berman was actually appointed under unusual circumstances. He was appointed first by Jeff Sessions as an interim U.S. attorney.

When his appointment lapsed after 120 days, the judges of the Southern District actually appointed him U.S. Attorney. So it wasn't the ordinary, nomination process by which someone is confirmed by the Senate.

And so that led to questions about whether AG Barr could be the one to remove him. It seems that the President can remove him. The question was why did the President want Attorney General Barr to do the work here?

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Does he have to have a reason?

[14:19:56]

MURRAY: Well, he doesn't necessarily have to have a reason but the fact that Berman was conducting serious investigations of some of Trump's associates including Rudy Giuliani suggests that there may be more at work here than simply being mildly displeased with the way Berman conducted the job but rather this was to stop and hamstring those investigations before they could gather steam.

WHITFIELD: But that's no assurance that those investigations won't continue, right?

MURRAY: Certainly not now that the deputy U.S. attorney under Berman, Audrey Strauss, will be taking over for him. I think part of this move was to try and install a different U.S. attorney, one who would be more amenable to the leaving aside of these investigations but it seems like Audrey Strauss is someone's who's going to (INAUDIBLE) to this course and continue with these investigations.

WHITFIELD: So Ryan -- you know, since the impeachment trial ended, the President has been, you know, purging critics -- inspector generals who are investigating his administration.

Could the President, you know, pay a political price particularly for this firing?

LIZZA: He could. I mean I think most Democrats on the Hill will -- they will launch investigations. But since we are fairly close to the election I think most Democrats will say that that's what will -- the voters will decide this question, right?

(CROSSTALK)

LIZZA: Yes, final swing. I don't think there's a huge appetite to go through impeachment again especially when the Senate remains in Republican hands and -- talking about this potentially -- the argument would be some kind of obstruction of justice right?

That even though it was legal to fire this person, if it is found that the President did it for some kind of corrupt reason because he was protecting an ally or possibly even himself that that, you know, would arguably be impeachable. Certainly Nixon was impeached for that, and the part of the impeachment drawn (ph) up.

But like I said, I don't think that given the makeup of Congress and how close we are to the election this will be a case that Democrats bring to the American people not to the floor of the House.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Ultimately.

LIZZA: But there will be investigations to sort of uncover some of the underlying facts.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Ultimately it just may be up to the American people with the election just five months away.

Ok. So Melissa -- let's now talk about John Bolton, the former national security adviser's book out on Tuesday and a federal judge by the end of last week, you know, ruled that the Trump administration cannot block Bolton's book from being distributed, published, et cetera. He has made some very critical allegations against the President including this accusation that he reiterated in an ABC interview that the President may have obstructed justice. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The President said to Erdogan at one point, look, those prosecutors in New York are Obama people. Wait until I get my people in and then we'll take care of this.

And I thought to myself -- and I'm a Department of Justice alumnist (ph) myself -- I've never heard any president say anything like that. Ever.

I tell you it did feel like obstruction of justice to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Melissa -- again, with just five months away, you know, is it a moot issue. Is it obstruction of justice? If so, what do you do with it? And, you know, the President is still contending that if there is classified information, classified conversation then Bolton will pay ultimately.

MURRAY: Well, the judge in the District of Columbia district who issued that ruling on Saturday basically said that there's no way to unring this bell. The book has been distributed. It's being reviewed. Lots of people are hearing what's in the book right now, so you can't actually limit the distribution of it right now.

But it's clear that there may be penalties that Bolton will pay for not abiding by his obligation to complete the pre-publication review process which could include discouragement (ph) of profits or alternatively even criminal liability if he has disclosed classified information.

But Bolton's point is that the pre-publication review that he didn't complete is only because the administration doesn't want him to complete it because they don't want this book out here. And the reason they don't this book out here is because it's an incredibly unflattering portrait of the President and one that comes, as Ryan says, so close to a new election cycle.

WHITFIELD: So when you say didn't complete it, like Bolton had said that he sent the manuscript or, you know, notes to the White House and then the White House is saying he didn't wait for a response and then he went on to the publisher. Are you saying instead it's not an issue of him, you know, getting tired of waiting but that the White House may have withheld even giving him, you know, a stamp of approval and so he had no recourse but to just go on to his publisher? MURRAY: Well, this is the question. So Bolton says that he furnished

the manuscript for review. He entered into the pre-publication review with good faith. And the administration gave signals that he had completed it but then they sort of stopped and refused to absolutely sign off on the process.

He argues that they're essentially pre-publication review as a form of censorship to keep this incredibly unflattering portrait of the President out of the public eye.

[14:24:55]

MURRAY: If that's the case, that raises larger questions. There may still be liability for Ambassador Bolton whether civilly or criminally, but at least one of the things that will come out of this is whether the pre-publication review process has to seriously considered as something that can be used instrumentally against those who want to blow the whistle, for example, on the President.

WHITFIELD: We'll leave it there. Thank you so much -- Melissa Murray, Ryan Lizza. Appreciate it.

LIZZA: Thanks -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. And this just in to the CNN NEWSROOM.

Tulsa, Oklahoma has just released the number of new coronavirus cases a day after President Trump's campaign rally in that city.

Plus, did Tik Tok users fool the White House? How they may have managed to trick the Trump campaign into thinking they would have a much bigger rally crowd in Tulsa than they actually did.

[14:30:42]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

Tulsa County, Oklahoma is reporting another record high for new daily coronavirus cases just one day after President Trump held his first rally in months in that city. Cases in the area now spiking after President Trump told his supporters just last night that he wanted coronavirus testing slowed down.

CNN's Martin Savidge joining me now from Tulsa, what more can you tell us about this spike?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. Just about every day that we have been here in Tulsa, there has been a new record for 24- hour increases in coronavirus. The latest now is 143 new cases in Tulsa County.

And then if you take a look at the state, the very day that the president came in to do this rally, Oklahoma rolled over the 10,000 number, and as of today it's 10,515. So it only verifies what health officials have been saying, that there is a definite spike going on in Tulsa and that it was completely the wrong time to have any sort of large gathering, like a rally, to be held in this city. Fred?

WHITFIELD: But they're not necessarily making the correlation that the spike is directly impacted because of the rally, because many experts, doctors will say it takes a few days before people might test positive after exposure.

So let me ask you too, martin, about what CNN is learning about Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump and how upset apparently they are with Trump Campaign Manager Brad Parscale about his predictions of a much larger crowd than the one that actually turned out for the rally in Tulsa.

SAVIDGE: Right. Well, the numbers originally have been huge. I mean, of course, they talked about a million people online that had taken an interest, the city had talked about 100,000 showing. 20,000 were supposed to fill the BOK Center, none of that happened. The question is why.

The fire marshal is actually reporting today that there were only 6,200 people inside of the BOK Center. The Trump campaign was pushing back. They say it was actually double that number that they saw. However, we should point out, the fire marshal is counting bodies in the building whereas the campaign seems to have counting those who may have gone through the metal detector.

What we will never know is really how many people may have been put off by the real numbers of increasing coronavirus and not comfortable with being in the close confines of that building. And then there is the other aspect that the campaign itself, by saying how many people were going to be here might have actually frightened others off when they heard 100,000 people at downtown Tulsa, they're not used to that kind of crowd.

There could have been many who felt that that was too large a crowd for them to want to navigate so they simply stayed home to watch it on T.V. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Yes. Bottom line, when you look at the pictures of the arena and there were a lot of empty blue seats, perhaps underscoring that 6,200 number. All right, Martin Savidge, thank you so much.

The Trump campaign is dismissing the possibility that a social media campaign -- see, see the crowd right there or this size there in the arena, well, there's a lot of disputing now, that campaign saying that there were some exaggeration or perhaps they were confused about the expectations.

This after the president bragged on Twitter about having received a million ticket requests but many of those who requested tickets may have been trolling the president after a video went viral on the social media platform, TikTok, encouraging people to register for the event online with no intention of ever showing up. The woman who appears to be responsible for the social media campaign spoke this morning to our Brian Stelter about that effort.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: How much of an impact do you think this online prank actually had in Tulsa yesterday?

MARY JO LAUPP, STARTED TIKTOK CAMPAIGN AGAINST TRUMP RALLY: I honestly can't tell you because this isn't -- the social media systems are generationally. So when I shared the video, let's say, my video shared 700 times, but each of those people would have people sharing their copies of it, so that's 700 more people I never saw. So it's impossible to tell for sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Donie O'Sullivan joins me now from New York. So, Donie, what more can you tell us about this?

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER: Yes. Well, first thing we should point out here, Fred, is that, as the Trump campaign itself said, there wasn't a cap on the number of people that could request tickets here. So it wasn't as if these TikTokers were blocking real Trump supporters from going to the rally in some way. So the fact that the Trump campaign was unable to fill this 20,000 capacity arena isn't the TikTokers fault.

But what we did see all week was the campaign, even the president himself boasting about the amount of people that have requested tickets, they said a million people. And it's very likely now that that number was inflated in part due to this TikTok campaign.

[14:35:03]

What was going on all week was this massive push for mostly young people and using TikTok and some other social media platforms to register for the event and not go, even including some K-pop, South Korean music fans who are really among the most organized people on the internet.

Brad Parscale, the Trump campaign manager, said in a statement today, however, that leftist and online trolls doing a victory lap, thinking that they somehow impacted rally attendance don't know what they're talking about or how our rallies work. Registering for rally means you RSVP'd with a cell phone number we constantly weed out bogus numbers. These ticket requests never factored into our thinking.

But if they did really weed out all of this, that does beg the question, where were these real 1 million people? And I think that's something that the Trump campaign is grappling with today.

WHITFIELD: All right. Donie O'sullivan, thank you so much.

All right, next, chaos in Minneapolis as a gunman goes on a rampage, shooting a dozen people and at least one person who died. So what happened? That story, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:40:00]

WHITFIELD: A shooting in Minneapolis overnight left one person dead and 11 others injured just three miles from where George Floyd was killed. The shooting took place in the same area where there was looting and destruction during protests over Floyd's death, though police say there is no indication that this incident was in any way related to his killing or the protests.

CNN's Josh Campbell has more.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: A violent night here in Minneapolis after gun erupted southwest of downtown. You can see what transpired. Some of these local businesses have their windows shot out during an exchange of gunfire.

Now, these same businesses were just repaired after some of the violent looting that we saw here in Minneapolis in the wake of the death of George Floyd. These business owners will now have to start again in getting the businesses back up and running.

Now, what happened is, across the street, police tell us that 12 people were injured after gun fire erupted, one person is deceased. We talked to eyewitnesses here. Here is what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At that moment, everybody kind of like dropped to the ground and were kind of like scrambling to come inside because outside is where the shooting was. So inside would have been theoretically a lot safer to be. And then everyone inside was just kind of like scrambling and running. And so as soon as shots were starting to fire, I dropped down and then I made my way inside and then started directing the traffic inside. (INAUDIBLE), exit is this way, exit is this way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, one of those witnesses worked at this restaurant across the street here. He said that the shooting happened just out in front. After it happened, he came out, he actually saw two groups of people firing at each other.

Now, once the gunfire stopped, he said that his team went on the street and actually collected shell casings from three different types of weapons. Again, that shooting resulting in 12 injuries, one person deceased. Police say they have not yet arrested anyone. They don't have anyone in custody but that investigation continues. Just a very violent and indeed deadly night here in the twin cities.

Josh Campbell, CNN, Minneapolis.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, terror in London, police say a man went on a stabbing spree there, killing at least three people. What's behind that attack, a live report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:45:00]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

I want to take you live now to Talladega Speedway, Super Speedway, where in about an hour or so, the green flag will drop but the spotlight is on another flag that is no longer allowed at NASCAR events, we're talking about the confederate flag.

CNN's Andy Scholes is at Talladega for us. So, Andy, give us an idea of what this is going to mean for fans and will most people be complying?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, I'll tell you what, I talked to a NASCAR official a little while ago, and they said if some fans did try to enter the race with any kind of confederate flag shirt or hat, they would be stopped and told to remove that and go change before they are allowed in.

And we walked around the grounds, we walked around the parking lots, where the fans were, watched them enter, I didn't see much confederate flag items on people or the image on people, I should say. I saw one person wearing a hat. But there was a plane flying around overhead before the storms rolled. It had the confederate flag with the words, Defund NASCAR.

And then across the street from the track, there were some gift shops. We went over there and we talked to the owners for those gift shops, they are selling confederate flag memorabilia. Those owners told me they have been selling even more confederate flag items since NASCAR decided to ban the flag. And those owners told me that they will continue to come to these NASCAR events and sell confederate flag items outside of it.

We also spoke to a lot of the fans out here at Talladega Super Speedway to get their thoughts on the confederate flag ban.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm all for the confederate flag. I mean, I'm not against it. But I come to Talladega to watch the checkered flag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't let it affect me. I came here for the racing and this event. But I'm happy that they did do that. It's just progress and moving on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really didn't have a problem with them, the flag. It's just I feel like they're taking people's rights away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm living the American dream. I'm Mexican and I'm selling Trump and confederate paraphernalia. And the American dream is you can come -- anybody can come here and make a dollar, and that's what I'm doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SCHOLES: Now, this is the first big sporting event here in the U.S., allowing a good number of fans since the coronavirus outbreak. The speedway here, Fredricka, holds over 100,000 fans. They're letting in just 5,000 here today. There are protocols in place. All the fans here in attendance having to wear a mask in order to enter, they're encouraging social distancing and all the fans I talked to, Fredricka, said they feel safe to a sporting event and they are thrilled to be able to come watch live sports again.

WHITFIELD: All right. Andy Scholes, thank you so much.

[14:50:00]

All right, after months of being trapped at home, many children finally getting back on the playing field but the experience is going to look a little different. CNN's Bianna Golodryga reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: As states begin to reopen, youth sports are coming off the sidelines with baseball and softball resuming in Iowa. Youth football leagues in Indiana returning for on-field practices. In Texas and Florida, all youth sports have been given the green light, but it won't look like it used to.

KEVIN MCCARTHY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DOWNTOWN UNITED SOCCER CLUB: This is the first time anybody from dusk is standing on this new resurfaced field.

GOLODRYGA: Kevin McCarthy oversees nearly 5,000 players and 50 coaches as the Executive Director of New York's Coed Downtown United Soccer Club. The U.S. Soccer Federation is recommending a phased restart with individual and small group training.

MCCARTHY: We have virtual training scenarios, which we're in the midst of.

GOLODRYGA: For months, kids have attempted to do everything from lacrosse, gymnastics, football, even soccer virtually. But those online Zoom sessions are taking a toll on some players.

What have been some of the most struggling parts?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Want to be with the teammates, they want to score goals, they want to run around.

GOLDRYGA: Bob Westbrook says he has been forced to cancel international and domestic tournaments for the 1,000 players registered at the A5 Volleyball Club in Atlanta. He says technology can't replace team building and bonding.

BOB WESTBROOK, DIRECTOR, A5 VOLLEYBALL: For athletes and people that play the game, or this game or any game, it's like a black hole. It's a void in your life that you can't find an outlet from.

GOLODRYGA: Youth sports in the U.S. generates more than $19.2 billion each year, billions more than the NFL and more than double the revenue of the NBA. Just three months into COVID-19 shutdowns, sports clubs nationwide have seen $8.5 billion wiped out.

MCCARTHY: I'm concerned that we will not have enough players to continue to employ all the coaches if this lasts longer and longer.

WESTBROOK: We are getting ready to pass out several hundred thousand dollars in refunds, so we think we're going to make it, right? But there will be a lot of clubs that will not.

GOLODRYGA: As games resume, goner are the days of high fives, replaced now by regular temperature checks.

WESTBROOK: And then we only have four athletes and a coach at a time on the floor together.

GOLODRYGA: Little League Baseball will likely have Xs painted six feet apart in the gravel. Each player issued their own bat and helmet and dugouts likely closed for the season.

MCCARTHY: There're no hugs or high fives, not having players touch the cones, washing balls, bibs, training at different distances.

GOLODRYGA: But it's still a highly anticipated goal that can't come soon enough.

MCCARTHY: When I walk here and see hundreds of players training together again, I think I might get down on my knees and be thankful.

GOLODRYGA: Bianna Golodryga, CNN, New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[14:55:00]

WHITFIELD: Police say a stabbing spree in the English town of Reading was an act of terror. Six people were attacked in the town center, three people died and three others were seriously injured. Police say they do have a suspect in custody.

Nic Robertson is following developments from London. Nic, what have you learned?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, a security source says that the man who's been detained by the police is a 25- year-old Libyan national, Khairi Saadallah is his name. They're currently investigating his background.

It took them some time to come to the conclusion that this was a case of terrorism. They say that the reason it took time to come to that conclusion was because they were looking at certain mental health issues but they have reached the conclusion. It's an active and ongoing investigation.

An eyewitness says that the attacker came into the park behind me, shouted something that was unintelligible and rushed at a group of people sitting on the grass, stabbed some of them in the neck, stabbed some of them under the arms. And then the witness said when the attacker came towards him then he ran away, the witness ran away.

The police are not giving any details, any further details about the suspect that they have at the moment but we are beginning to get details now of some of the victims, and one of those victims was a teacher at a nearby high school. He was a head of the history and governance and politics department there and is described as a nice man, a gentleman, someone who is inspirational for his students, somebody who is very clearly going to be missed.

The prime minister here, Boris Johnson, has given us perhaps an early indication, is what -- saying it in so many words, but perhaps an early indication, that there were clues about this attack that were missed. Of course, this comes after several other attacks in the U.K. over the past year or so where terror suspects known to the government have perpetrated attacks, the government has tightened its laws. This is what the prime minister said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: If there are lessons to be learned, if there are changes that need to be made to our legal system to stop such events happening again, we won't hesitate to take that action, as we have before, you will recall, over the automatic early release of the terrorist offenders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:00:07]