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Trump's Return To The Campaign Trail Goes From Bad To Worse; Firing Of Powerful New York Prosecutor Appears To Be Latest Move To Protect Trump; Brazil Reports One-Million-Plus Infections; Spain Ending COVID-19 State Of Emergency; One Dead, 11 Injured In Minneapolis Shooting; More Atlanta Police Calling Out Sick; Deadly Park Stabbing Declared "Terrorist Incident" By U.K. Police. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired June 21, 2020 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Not quite meeting expectations: President Trump promised a packed rally and thousands in an overflow area in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He didn't get either.
On stage, the president made a controversial claim, saying he asked for less coronavirus testing. The White House is playing it down. The Democrats, seizing on it.
Also this hour, a top attorney is out after a power struggle with the White House.
Welcome to our viewers, here, in the United States and all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
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ALLEN: It is 5:00 am here in Atlanta, Georgia. We appreciate you joining us.
U.S. president Donald Trump's return to the campaign trail did not match the pre-event hype. But the smaller-than-expected crowd at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, didn't stop him from attacking protesters, Joe Biden, the media and COVID testing.
The Trump campaign said almost 1 million people had asked for tickets for the rally. A second speech outdoors was cancelled when only dozens showed up. But inside the arena, many seats in the upper deck were empty as Mr. Trump painted the protests outside as violent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The Left is trying to do everything they can to stop us. Every hour of every day, including even violence and mayhem, they will do anything they can to stop us.
Look what happened tonight. Look at what happened tonight. Law enforcement said, sir, they can't be outside. It's too dangerous. We had a bunch of maniacs come and sort of attack our city. The mayor and the governor did a great job. But they were very violent people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Well, despite what the president is alleging there, the Tulsa police tweeted out that the protests were largely peaceful, although they did use crowd dispersants at one point later in the evening.
Back inside, Mr. Trump used a racist term to describe COVID-19. He also said he made this stunning call on COVID testing, which a pro- Biden super PAC is now trying to use in a campaign ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You know, testing is a double-edged sword. We've tested now 25 million people. It's probably 20 million people more than anybody else, Germany's done a lot. South Korea's that a lot. They call me they said the job you're doing.
Here's the bad part. When you test stuff -- 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: COVID-19 has killed almost 120,000 people in the United States, which remains the world's worst-hit country. An administration official says the president's comments about slowing down testing were a joke. CNN's Abby Phillip has more on the rally from Tulsa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Plans for a blockbuster campaign rally, a campaign kickoff of sorts for President Trump, did not go exactly the way he planned.
The campaign had been saying for days that they expected tens of thousands of people to be here at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, not just inside the arena but also outside. They planned for about 40,000 people in the overflow section. They planned on having an entire agenda for them, including for President Trump and the vice president to prepare remarks at a stage they had set up.
But as the evening wore on, there were so few people here that eventually they canceled those plans. There were just a few dozen people standing outside, most of them being urged to go inside by campaign advisers.
Now inside that arena, it was mostly full and a large rally by any standard. But the 19,000-seat arena was not completely full as President Trump had hoped for.
Instead, it seems like many people decided to stay home or perhaps even stay outside. The campaign said they blamed protesters, saying protesters scared away some rally attendees, also blaming the media. [05:05:00]
PHILLIP: Saying that the media has been talking so much about the risks of attending a rally during a coronavirus pandemic that many people, including families, chose not to come to the event.
We should note that we had reporters all around the arena, including where we are here.
And we saw many people coming into this event freely. There have been protesters throughout the city but none of a significant size that they would have stopped tens of thousands of people from coming into this rally -- Abby Phillip, CNN, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Now let's take a look at what was going on outside the arena, after the rally. CNN's Gary Tuchman was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the overflow area outside of the BOK arena. People now streaming out of the arena. It's far more crowded here now than it was during the speech. And the idea was for it to be very crowded during the speech.
The idea was for President Trump to speak on that stage before he went inside the arena, before thousands of people standing on the street. But because the stadium wasn't full, this ended up not being full. And the decision was made to cancel President Trump's speech outdoors.
There was a big screen TV behind me that was on during the speech but there were only about 15 or 20 people there watching the speech.
We can tell you one thing is people did not think that the rally should be held, a lot of people, including the health director here in Tulsa County, because COVID-19 rates are at their highest in this county since this all began.
But it did take place. So that's a victory for the Trump campaign but it's not a victory because they thought there would be a huge turnout. They talked about 1 million people coming and it turned out they couldn't even fill up a 19,100-seat arena.
But it was held. People were checked for their temperatures, they were offered masks. Most people didn't wear the masks. President Trump didn't have a mask, either, but he didn't have to stand around five or six hours around lots of people -- this is Gary Tuchman, CNN, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Let's go back to that shocking comment Mr. Trump made on the stage, where he said he told his people to slow down coronavirus testing. If it was meant as a joke, as the White House claimed, health experts aren't seeing the humor. CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked Dr. Sanjay Gupta for his reaction.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You can't think of a better metaphor for burying your head in the sand on this.
"I told people to stop doing colonoscopies, they're finding too much colon cancer."
I mean, it's just a level of ignorance that I -- I'm dumbfounded by, five months into this now. The idea that we're still not doing enough testing and "I told them to slow down testing."
It's the only thing we really have, Wolf. Testing and masks. There is no super effective medicine. Obviously, there's not a vaccine. And yet, countries around the world, you know, there are death counts in the hundreds, not the hundreds or hundreds of thousands like we have in the United States.
Why?
Because they tested. They tested early. They did enough testing and they were able to isolate people and stop the transmission of this virus. To suggest, now, that "I told them to slow down testing."
First of all, who did he tell to slow down testing?
Is this the Coronavirus Task Force that was told to slow down testing?
I mean, this is obviously something we're going to want to dig into a little bit. But this is suggesting a complicity in the worst public health travesty of our lifetime.
I mean, it's criminal, from a public health perspective, to say that was the right answer, that was the directive given to people around the country, to slow down testing.
We needed to increase testing. We've done 25 million tests, so far, in this country. We should be doing 5 million a day. We've done 25 million in, what, 4.5 months. We should be doing 5 million a day; now 20 million a day, by the middle of July, according to the Harvard roadmap to global health.
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ALLEN: Natasha Lindstaedt is a professor of government at the University of Essex and a frequent guest on our program. She joins me from Colchester in southeastern England.
Glad to have you.
The president was met with a smaller crowd then his aides had promised but it was a large crowd. It was a big arena. Let's talk about his performance, Natasha, what you thought of his speech. At some point he called himself the champion of minorities and
pointing the fingers straight at Joe Biden for what he said was Biden's abysmal record in supporting black Americans. That was one aspect.
NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Right. I do not think he can really say that he supports minorities. This would've been a great opportunity to talk about Juneteenth and what it represents.
Instead he decided to spend 10 to 15 minutes rambling on about how he went down or was walking down a ramp and he did nothing to really reach out to all Americans.
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LINDSTAEDT: It makes me wonder, does he not realize that he is the president of the United States and not just the president to this increasingly shrinking group of his adoring fans?
At one point, as you mentioned, he referred to the coronavirus as kung flu. I don't know how he's going to attract Asian Americans with these types of comments. He spends most of his time spewing out lies or falsehoods or inaccurate accounts.
What would appeal to the independent voter if they were hearing this rambling speech?
What in there would resonate with them?
I also want to point out the way he refers to the Democrats as this unhinged less left-wing mob. That doesn't focus on reaching across the aisle and trying to unite people.
ALLEN: And the rally comes in a time when his poll numbers are dropping, so one would think it would be good to unveil a strategy for why he deserves a second term.
Did he do anything like that?
LINDSTAEDT: No, there was no strategy. It was he was just trying to attack the Left, trying to attack protesters. He did focus a little bit on the monuments because that is something that played well to the crowd. But it is more like a stand up comedy routine. It is recycling the same old comments over and over again and talking about things that are basically untrue and that could be easily fact checked.
But he did not really offer much. And it is interesting that he did this going to a state that he won by 35 points and he could not even fill up the stadium. It was about two-thirds full. This was all about him.
It was not about campaign strategy. He is going to a place where he thinks he's going to get a lot of adoration, which he needs, because his ego feeds off of this. And he was not even able to accomplish that. ALLEN: Do you think Republicans in Congress will be disappointed or
perhaps what they want to hear for him beyond the type of things that you just shared?
LINDSTAEDT: They are probably hoping that he will start talking about policy instead of getting distracted, just trying to get these, the base to support him, because they know, if we even look back to 2016, he did not win with a majority of votes in the popular vote. He will have to reach across to the middle a little bit to gain more support.
They are going to be concerned that this is going to affect their tickets as well, those that are running for Senate, Congress, they're going to be affected by the fact that he represents the Republican Party. He is the Republican Party.
They made this deal with him. And he is completely unable to talk about policies in ways that might connect with independents and other Republican voters that are not in his base.
ALLEN: Let's talk about the issue that so many Americans are involved in right now. During a speech he bashed protesters who support Black Lives Matter and police reform.
Will this hurt him or help him with his supporters, if he continues to ignore an issue when these galvanized Americans are still in the streets.
LINDSTAEDT: We are seeing with the poll numbers that on average all the polls show that he has a 55 percent disapproval rate, which is incredibly high at a time when he is going to need those numbers to change.
So he is only speaking to this space that is not that large, not large enough for him to win the election. The other problem is that he has activated the Democrats and people who, in the past, may not have gone out to vote. Would have voted Democrat but did not want to vote.
We see him on the left side, the progressive side, people very active, more likely to vote than ever and he is doing nothing to unite people. That is going to be a problem.
ALLEN: Natasha Lindstaedt, we always appreciate your insights.
LINDSTAEDT: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: The top federal prosecutor in New York, who has investigated some of the president's close associates, now says he is stepping down. Geoffrey Berman's resignation came a day after saying he would not resign.
Attorney general William Barr asked the U.S. president to fire him, which he says the president did. But curiously, the president says it was Barr's decision and that he wasn't involved. Evan McMorris-Santoro unravels this power struggle for us. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEOFFREY BERMAN, U.S. ATTORNEY, SDNY: I'm just here to do my job.
EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Saturday morning, Geoffrey Berman walked into his Manhattan office, vowing to keep working as one of America's highest profile federal prosecutors.
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MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): By late afternoon, he was replaced by presidential order. In between the dramatic battle between Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William Barr, the U.S. attorney general.
Berman refused to step down Friday after Barr issued a surprise statement, announcing Berman had resigned, a move Berman said never happened.
On Saturday afternoon, Barr sent a letter to Berman, saying that because he refused to step down, the president had fired him and replaced him with an assistant U.S. attorney.
Berman is an experienced federal prosecutor and former defense attorney. He's also an active Republican. He donated $5,400 to President Trump's campaign in 2016, worked on the president's transition team and was a former law partner of Trump lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
Berman was appointed to the influential position of U.S. attorney in 2018, after his predecessor, Preet Bharara, was fired after he refused to resign. The same thing has now happened to Berman.
After initial concerns over his past associations with Trump, Berman continued the Southern District's tradition of independence.
BERMAN: Politics does not enter into our decision-making on charging a case. We bring a case when the case is ready to be brought.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): The office has overseen prosecutions of high profile figures in Trump's orbit, including his former lawyer, Michael Cohen; Representative Chris Collins and two associates of Giuliani.
Friday night, Berman said, "Our investigations will move forward without delay or interruption."
All this comes as the Trump administration is actually removing government employees who have investigated and prosecuted Trump officials. Independents counsels have been removed by federal agencies. Federal prosecutors have alleged meddling from Barr in cases against Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and campaign adviser, Roger Stone.
Trump has been considering removing Berman since at least the middle of 2018, two sources tell CNN. And now Berman is out of a job. Trump fired him but told reporters the ouster was Barr's call.
TRUMP: That's his department, not my department. But we have a very capable attorney general, so that's really up to him. I'm not involved.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Now that he's gone, what happens next is anyone's guess -- Evan McMorris-Santoro, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: The now former U.S. attorney, Geoffrey Berman said, in a subsequent statement Saturday, that he would leave his office, effective immediately. That was, as you saw, after attorney general William Barr sent him a letter saying that president Donald Trump had removed him.
A U.S. federal judge has ruled that former U.S. national security advisor John Bolton can publish his contentious White House memoir, against the wishes of the Trump administration.
But the ruling says the book, entitled "The Room Where It Happened," does contain classified information. And Bolton could be held criminally liable. That had President Trump claiming victory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We had a very good decision in the John Bolton book case. The judge was very powerful in his statements on classified information and very powerful also in the fact that the country will get the money, any money he makes.
I hope a lot of books sell, I probably don't hope that. But whatever he makes, he's going to be giving back. In my opinion, based on the ruling. He's going to be giving back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Bolton has suggested the White House retroactively classified details in the book improperly. The book, set to be released this Tuesday.
President Trump's rally may have been smaller than expected. But health officials are still worried. Ahead, why experts fear it could become a superspreader event regarding coronavirus.
Plus, we'll take you to Spain as it reopens most of its E.U. borders and lifts its state of emergency.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) ALLEN: President Trump's rally in Tulsa Saturday has many health
experts worried it could be a superspreader event, even though the crowds didn't quite live up to Mr. Trump's pre-rally hype. Most of those who attended were not wearing masks. Those near the stage were tightly packed.
Just hours before the rally, the Trump campaign confirmed that six staffers had tested positive for the coronavirus.
According to Johns Hopkins University, there are more than 8.7 million confirmed cases of coronavirus globally. And now, Brazil joins the U.S. as the only countries with more than 1 million cases. Over the past week, the South American nation has reported more than 217,000 new infections, as its death toll nears 50,000.
India has crossed its own milestone, with more than 400,000 infections. The country broke its daily case record for the fourth day in a row. India now has the fourth highest number of cases in the world.
Sunday could prove to be a monumental day for Spain. They're bringing tourism back. The one-time hotspot for coronavirus, is reopening its borders to other E.U. states, with one notable exception being Portugal. This coincides with the country lifting its state of emergency.
For more, I am joined by journalist Al Goodman in Madrid. He's standing by at the airport which, for the first time in many months, could start to be busy today.
Al, what's going on?
AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Natalie. Well, we've already seen flights arrived from Brussels, from Milan, from Amsterdam, from Paris. And we are expecting a flight from London in the next days -- next few hours here at the airport. The passengers are coming through the door.
It's still a small number of flights, compared to what would be normal, about 10 percent of the normal flights here. But this reopening has to do with trying to have the people move around because the state of emergency has been lifted in Spain.
So Spaniards can now move around the country. You have a lot of people from Madrid going down to the Mediterranean coast this day.
[05:25:00]
GOODMAN: And the government here announcing late Saturday, that the Britons could come in, the foreign minister saying out of respect for the Britons who have second homes here. There is a tourism underlying reason here for all this opening up here and in other parts of Europe as the tourism sector in Spain, 12 percent of the economy, 2.6 million jobs, has been basically shuttered for three months.
So they are trying to see what they can salvage out of this. Now there are still some restrictions in public. In Spain, people 6 years and older have to wear a mask if they are out in public, if they can't social distance.
And behind these doors, as passengers arrive from abroad here to Spain, they have to leave information how the authorities can contact them in case there is an outbreak, so they can contact trace them. There is temperature checks. If there's anything wrong, they're going to bring in medical authorities.
All of this, after three months with more than 28,000 deaths here in Spain, one of the hardest-hit countries by the coronavirus, as you said. They are trying to see if this new normal, which is what the government says, is going to work -- Natalie.
ALLEN: All right. We hope it does work. Thanks so much. Al Goodman for us, watching that in Madrid.
Voters in Serbia head to the polls right now to choose a new parliament. It is the first national election in Europe since the coronavirus lockdown started three months ago.
Now with Serbia's lockdown rules lifted, polling stations have masks and hand sanitizers. But turnout is expected to be lower, as some voters fear being infected. Some opposition parties are also boycotting the vote. They say the election will not be free or fair, due to the president's firm grip over the media.
Atlanta investigators issue an arrest warrant in connection with the fire where Rayshard Brooks was killed last week. We'll have more on that. Also, who investigators are looking for.
Plus, as antiracism demonstrators call for an overhaul of U.S. policing, some officers are pushing back. We'll have their view, just ahead.
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ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers, here, in the United States and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, live, from Atlanta.
Our top story, President Trump's first campaign rally in more than 100 days drew controversy and a smaller-than-expected crowd. Many seats in the arena, there, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were empty. And an outdoor event was cancelled, after only a few dozen people showed up. Mr. Trump's team blames protesters.
But the real reason may have been coronavirus. The president downplayed the disease and, astonishingly, said he wanted to slow down testing, so fewer cases would be reported. An administration official says he was only joking. Another tragedy has hit the city of Minneapolis. Police there say a
shooting overnight has left one man dead and at least 11 people injured. They are expected to survive. Details, right now, are sketchy.
Minneapolis, of course, is where George Floyd died. It has been the epicenter of nationwide protests over police brutality. It is not clear if this shooting is related to that. We will have more on this developing story, as information comes in.
Atlanta, Georgia's, interim police chief is reassuring residents police are responding to emergency calls. But, he says, the force has been stretched because of demonstrations and unrest. He also spoke about why there's been an uptick in police not going to work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RODNEY BRYANT, INTERIM CHIEF, APD: The explanation for calling out sick vary and include officers questioning their training, officers being challenged and attacked and unease about officers seeing their colleagues criminally charged so quickly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Atlanta fire investigators have issued an arrest warrant in the case of that Wendy's restaurant that burned last Saturday. This was where Rayshard Brooks had his deadly encounter with a police officer.
They say that this woman, here, Natalie White, is wanted for first degree arson. In bodycam video, Brooks is heard telling officers that White is his girlfriend. Investigators say more suspects could be involved.
And we will a hear from Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, when she appears on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper in the coming hours. That's at 9:00 am, here, on the East Coast of the United States. That's 2:00 in the afternoon, in London.
Police officers across the U.S. are pushing back against growing calls for reform. Protesters nationwide are demanding changes in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Some are calling for police departments to be defunded, meaning their funding redirected to social programs.
The scrutiny is not sitting well with many officers. CNN's Jason Carroll has more about it.
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JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A former Atlanta police officer now charged with felony murder in the shooting of Rayshard Brooks. If convicted, that officer could face the death penalty.
The possibility sending shock waves across police departments nationwide, already dealing with low morale in the wake of protests and calls for reform. Darren Porcher is a retired New York City police lieutenant who says that many officers feel as if they are on trial.
DARREN PORCHERS, FORMER POLICE OFFICER: They feel as if they are not wanted or not needed. Nor are they being accepted.
That morale is one reason why officers are resigning and in some cases joining together to speak out.
In Louisville, Kentucky, police demonstrated over what they say is little support from city leaders and lack of respect for the community. This after a police monument there was defaced.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With fallen officers names on it, it was vandalized due to the stand down order. That is a slap in the face to every former, current and fallen officer and their families. My son's name is on that wall.
CARROLL (voice-over): In south Florida, 10 officers resigned from the department's SWAT unit over safety concerns.
The final straw?
Officers unhappy after commanders took a knee with activists during a demonstration.
[05:35:00]
CARROLL (voice-over): Officers in a statement saying they have been minimally equipped, under trained and oftentimes restrained by the politicization of our tactics.
In Minneapolis, the epicenter for calls for change, at least 7 officers resigned from the department in the wake of protests over George Floyd's death and in Buffalo, 57 officers standing by their decision to resign from the force's emergency response team following a suspension of 2 officers who appeared to shove an elderly protester to the ground.
PORCHER: I think this is a time for a poignant discourse between community leaders, elected officials and police executives.
CARROLL (voice-over): In New York City, change has already begun. The nation's largest police force is disbanding its plainclothes anticrime unit. The unit is credited with getting illegal guns off the street but has also come under scrutiny after a number of civilian complaints alleging abuse of power.
The officers will be reassigned within the department, the city's chief of patrol supports the decision but also says good officers need the public support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's not forget there are police officers who are human beings. They have the same stressors that we all have, the general public has.
CARROLL: Other than a national standard for how police should operate going forward, those we spoke to say what needs to happen going forward is for police departments and the communities they serve to get together and talk about what is the best way to move forward. Those that we spoke to say that is not happening right now -- Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Cheryl Dorsey joins me now. She is a retired sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department and author of the book "Black and Blue."
We're happy to have you, Ms. Dorsey. Thanks for coming on. That report there showed the comprehensive issues that we are seeing among many police departments, as their tactics are being questioned. They're giving pushback in some areas.
Morale has been challenged. Let's talk about Atlanta in particular right now, because at least nine officers have resigned since June here, according to the interim police chief, and others have called out sick.
What is the message?
CHERYL DORSEY, RETIRED LAPD SERGEANT: The message is that they want to be able to kill black folks with impunity.
Did these officers just find out in the last few weeks that they were somehow undertrained and weren't getting the proper tools that they need to be effective in their job?
So everybody who wants to be the police shouldn't be the police. And if they are calling in sick because they don't -- they don't have the ability to shove a 75-year-old man down and crack his head or sit on the neck of another man, George Floyd, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, if -- if that's something that doesn't sit well with them, then, this is not the job for these police officers. And so I say good riddance.
ALLEN: Well, many police officers are angry over how quickly the prosecutor here in Atlanta charged the two officers in the death of Mr. Brooks. And they're unhappy with questions about their training and the criticism of their actions. I would assume you don't think that they have a point here.
DORSEY: Of course, they're unhappy because, listen, for so long, they have been able to just run willy-nilly through neighborhoods, be proactive, put people in the system without just cause. Great deference was given to what they said.
And when they did say something, "I feared for my safety, he scared me, I didn't know if the person had a gun," none of which we're seeing is true in so many instances, we see officers lie, again and again.
And so, now, those shenanigans are not working and they're bothered.
So I have really little sympathy for them. If this were any other occupation -- imagine if you were involved in vehicular manslaughter every day.
Wouldn't DMV take your driver's license?
How, then, can you be a police officer, certified through POST, Peace Officers Standards and Training and kill folks, have 18 personnel complaints in the case of Chauvin, over a dozen in the case of Garrett Rolfe and still be certified to carry a gun?
It makes no sense to me.
ALLEN: Where are you hearing -- where are you hearing a police department that is saying, all right, you know, here's what the deal is. Here's where we need to go. And we're going to look at that and make things happen.
Are you -- are you hearing that, from some corners?
DORSEY: I don't hear anything that's really going to be effective. We heard the NYPD commissioner say that he's taken 600 plainclothes officers and he is putting them in a uniform.
And, somehow, that's supposed to make a difference?
I've heard police department chiefs and sheriffs and commissioners talk about everything, except holding errant police officers accountable. And when you have officers jumping ship, when you have 57 officers leaving a unit.
[05:40:00]
DORSEY: When you have seven officers resigning from Minneapolis Police Department because Chauvin was charged, that speaks volumes to the culture.
And it's systemic. It's top-down. When you have a police chief saying that the murder of George Floyd was not a problem for him or when you have a major, Travis Hart, over on the Tulsa Police Department, saying more black folks should be shot, you understand that the problem is top-down, it's systemic, it's institutionalized racism.
And it's going to take a long time to fix this, unless and until police chiefs are willing to hold officers accountable.
Where are the good chiefs?
Everybody wants to know where are the good officers to tell on the bad officers, where are the good chiefs to hold the bad officers accountable?
ALLEN: What did you witness inside the police department all your years of service?
DORSEY: I witnessed a little bit of everything. I certainly worked with the majority of officers who were there for the right reason, doing the right thing.
But I also worked with some knuckleheads. I worked with an officer who had animus in the black community and LAPD knew about him when I was assigned to central traffic division. They let him live to offend again.
He racked up personnel complaints, much like Derek Chauvin did, until finally, he shot and killed a black man, John Daniels, and then, finally, finally, LAPD was willing to do something.
And so, we see time and time again, police departments look the other way, coddle and shelter. Qualified immunity allows this to happen, until it makes national news. And then and only then, when the department can no longer look the other way, they clutch their pearls, they act surprised and, then, they fire the officer.
ALLEN: Let's look beyond the police departments. House Democrats, Senate Republicans, are on a collision course over policing reform at the federal level despite a bipartisan consensus that action is necessary, amid these protests and the civil unrest that we're seeing.
What would you like to see, at the national level, versus the local level?
And are you concerned the job won't get done because of the divisions that we're seeing on this topic?
DORSEY: I don't -- I'm concerned the job won't get done. And what I -- what I am seeing at the national level is really going to have little influence on the local.
But I will just say this because this president pretends he's done so much for black folks, when, in actuality, he's done nothing. His executive order is evidence of that. He asks for things that are already in existence, a national database. Listen. Chauvin and Rolfe were already on a database, locally. They knew who they were.
They had collected numerous complaints. And so, having a database with a list of officers' names means nothing. This president talks about getting officers certified. We already are. POST. We already are certified.
They talk about banning a chokehold. And then, when we see an officer use a chokehold like Daniel Pantaleo, the NYPD told us, oh, that wasn't a chokehold. That was an upper body seatbelt restraint.
So how is any of that going to stop officers, day to day, who work patrol, from continuing to do those things that are causing great harm in my community?
ALLEN: Always appreciate your input and your expertise, as you served for a very long time. Cheryl Dorsey for us, thank you so much, Ms. Dorsey.
DORSEY: Thank you.
ALLEN: A deadly stabbing attack in the United Kingdom has authorities searching for a motive. Police raided a building a short time ago looking for answers. We'll tell you about it, next. CNN is on the scene. Coming up.
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ALLEN: British police are investigating a knife attack Saturday. A man stabbed and killed three people and wounded three others, at a park in Reading, England. Police say they arrested a 25-year-old local man at the scene on suspicion of murder. They say they don't believe anyone else was involved.
Armed police also raided a block of apartments nearby, as they searched for a motive for this violent attack. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is in Reading, England for us.
No motive, so far. We haven't heard about any of the victims, any relationship of the suspect to the victims.
What do we know, at this point, Salma?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: Hello, Natalie. Well, what we do know is that police have launched a murder investigation into this horrific attack. They say that, at this time, this incident is not being seen as terrorism related.
But the police said, in a statement, that they will remain open minded as to the motive behind the attacks. And they also said they are working with counterterrorism police on this investigation.
Now that 25-year-old, man who was arrested yesterday on suspicion of murder, the police have yet to reveal his identity to the public. But we did speak to an eyewitness, who was in the park, just behind me here where this horrible scene played out.
He said people were laying in the sun. They were enjoying a picnic. And that's when he heard a man starting to shout. That man began to approach groups of people. He said that he was stabbing people in the neck and under the arms, truly terrible scenes playing out.
People started to flee, of course, and the attacker also started to run. Now we understand from police that attacker was arrested on the scene yesterday.
Now shortly after that incident, here, in the park, we did see counterterrorism police at a building nearby, an apartment block, just a short drive from here. They were combing through that building for hours, late into the night.
They had evacuated some residents who were standing outside. Unclear, yet, what they found inside that building.
We have also heard from prime minister Boris Johnson. He took to Twitter yesterday. Let me just read you what he said.
"My thoughts are with all of those affected by the appalling incident in Reading and my thanks to the emergency services on the scene."
So this very quiet town of Reading is going to be waking up to terrible news today. Three people have lost their lives. Others, still recovering in hospital. And much of the city center around me is still cordoned off -- Natalie.
ALLEN: A horrific crime and we know you'll continue to follow it for us. Salma, thank you.
Restaurants all over the world are struggling from the coronavirus pandemic but one diner in New York is thriving by turning the clock back with an American classic. We'll have that story next.
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ALLEN: How did a diner that struggled during the pandemic lockdown suddenly become one of the go-to destinations in Queens, New York?
The answer: drive-in movies.
What's not to like?
CNN's Bill Weir took in the show.
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BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You've heard the slogan always open?
Well, the Bel Aire Diner in Queens hasn't locked their doors in 22 years.
WEIR: What was it like to realize that you had to shut down?
KALERGIS DELLAPORTAS, BEL AIRE: Oh, man. It was scary, depressing. You know, we've been continuously open, 24/7, for 22 years.
WEIR (voice-over): When pandemic dropped business 70 percent and they were forced to lay off 20-year employees, it looked like that iron streak would end until a flash of inspiration from the past.
WEIR: So what are you looking for?
A blue Honda in the third row?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blue Honda, third row.
WEIR: I should have brought my roller blades.
Oh, look, there's two milkshakes going that way. WEIR (voice-over): Welcome to New York City's first-ever pandemic
drive-in theater. At 32 bucks a car, patrons get films like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." And after ordering online, they get masked carhops.
WEIR: Have you ever been to a drive-in movie before?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it's my first time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I've never been to one.
WEIR: Welcome to the pinnacle of entertainment in 1955. Now back in my day, to go to a drive-in movie, we snuck people in the trunk so we didn't have to pay full price.
Do you have anybody in your trunk?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do not. Tip for next time.
WEIR (voice-over): To maximize sales, they have two seatings or parkings, starting with dueling pianos or stand-up comedy.
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ROBYN SCHALL, COMEDIAN: Believe it or not, this is -- this is not the weirdest thing I've done in a parking lot.
WEIR: Very funny set.
SCHALL: Thank you. It feels so good to be doing standup live.
WEIR: I bet.
SCHALL: I'm on like such a high.
WEIR: Even though you can't hear laughter?
SCHALL: I can see the laughter. I could feel it. It was a vibe. It was a vibe. And they like would flash their lights.
WEIR (voice-over): Tickets sell out in minutes. There are even scalpers on Instagram.
DELLAPORTAS: I would have never, ever imagined like drive in and now we become like Ticketmaster. I made a joke like we're The Beatles now. You know, we sell out in five minutes.
WEIR (voice-over): Between this and a government loan, they have hired back almost all the staff. But equally important is how they have again become a hub of human connection, as neighbors, cut off for months, can finally share something in person.
DELLAPORTAS: Next-door neighbors ended up in the same parking spaces and, yet, hadn't seen each other in seven weeks. Just like, oh, my God. So like, really upbeat. People thank us constantly. It's an awesome feeling. WEIR (voice-over): As the last few hundred drive-ins left in the U.S.
experience a renaissance, the Bel Aire may be inspiration for other struggling restaurants willing to turn an empty lot into profit and a much-needed taste of better days -- Bill Weir, CNN, Queens, New York.
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ALLEN: I'm down for that.
Well, a heavenly spectacle has just ended for people across much of the world. They were treated to an annular eclipse of the sun that carved a path across most of Africa, Asia and southern Europe.
What made this eclipse special was its so-called ring of fire, since it wasn't a total eclipse. The edges of the sun could be seen around the moon, forming the ring.
Pretty cool. Thank you so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I invite you to follow me on Twitter or Instagram. I'm Natalie Allen. Stay with us. "NEW DAY" is just ahead.
