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Trump to Hold Events in Arizona Despite COVID-19 Outbreak; White House Prepares for 2nd Wave Though First Not Over; Beijing Increases Screening Capacity to Almost a Million Daily; Poll Reveals Racial Divide in U.K.; Nurse Only One Fighting COVID-19 in Peruvian Village; NASCAR Back on Track for First Time Since Confederate Flag Ban. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired June 22, 2020 - 00:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States, and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes.

[00:00:29]

And ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, coronavirus cases in Arizona are skyrocketing. That is not stopping Donald Trump, though, from making it the site of, yes, his next rally. We'll have the latest for you.

Just about 24 hours before the release of his explosive tell-all book, John Bolton speaking out. Hear his chilling warning for America.

And startling new statistics about racism in the U.K. A CNN exclusive report.

Welcome everyone. U.S. President Donald Trump and his staff have spent the last day doing damage control after the president's campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, failed to meet expectations. They had anticipated a much larger crowd, 100,000 or so, but the Tulsa fire marshal says only about 6,000 people showed up.

Campaign officials dispute that. They claim the real number was almost twice as much. Still, much lower than the location's seating capacity of 19,000, and the claims that many thousands more would wait outside.

A source telling CNN the president is very upset about the turnout. His campaign staff say supporters were likely scared off by the media and protesters outside the event. But they deny the rally was impacted by, quote, "online trolls" on the app TikTok.

Before the event, TikTok users had encouraged people to register for the rally and then not show up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERCEDES SCHLAPP, TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISOR: They were concerned. There were factors involved. Like, they were concerned about the protesters who were coming in. There were protesters who blocked the mags (ph). And so we saw that have an impact in terms of people coming to the rally.

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Protesters did not stop people from coming to that rally. The fact is --

SCHLAPP: Oh, absolutely they did.

WALLACE: -- people didn't show up.

SCHLAPP: I'm telling you, there were people -- I'm telling you, there were people and families that didn't want -- couldn't bring their children because of concerns of the protesters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, in the days ahead, the president will be holding another event, as we, said in Arizona, one of several states where the number of coronavirus infections is rising. On CNN, the mayor of Phoenix, urging caution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KATE GALLEGO (D), PHOENIX: What I am very concerned about is we are actually seeing the fastest rate of growth among our young people in the community, and here it is, a rally specifically focused on that demographic. I would ask the president to talk to his advisory council, the coronavirus advisory team, about whether it makes sense to come to a community that has seen a third of our COVID-19 cases in the last week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, for more on what the president has planned in Arizona, CNN's Ryan Nobles reports from Phoenix.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After the disappointing showing at his rally in Tulsa over the weekend, President Trump is turning his focus west. He's going to come here to Arizona on Tuesday. He's got two big events planned on that day.

First, he's going to head to the southern border and talk about the wall that that he has worked on over the course of his administration and the progress that's being made there.

Then, he's going to come here to Phoenix that night and speak to a group of young Trump supporters, Students for Trump. And there's already some controversy associated with this visit. That's because, here, in Phoenix, the city council and the mayor have instituted a mask order that requires everyone inside a building less than six feet away from someone to wear a mask.

And the mayor of Phoenix telling CNN that she hopes that everyone that goes to that rally is wearing a mask, and that includes President Trump. Now President Trump, up until this point, has rarely been seen in a

mask, and he's also made a point about how wearing masks is not all that important in terms of battling the coronavirus.

Now, the mayor did tell CNN that she does not expect the city to cite President Trump, but she hopes that he leads by example.

Of course, the mask story only part of this narrative. We will also see just how enthusiastic this crowd is. And if they're able to bring in the big numbers that they were hoping in Tulsa to this rally here in Phoenix.

We should point out, it's not a campaign rally. It's put on by a third party group, but still, a group with enthusiastic support for President Trump and will be an important part of his reelection message.

Ryan Nobles, CNN, Phoenix.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Let's talk more with -- by CNN's Jessica Levinson in Los Angeles. She's a professor of law at Loyola University.

[00:05:05]

Good to see you, Professor. When we -- when we postmortem this rally, you've got to ask that, given the obvious health risk to those who went, what was the point? The president didn't say anything he hasn't said before. The usual litany of grievances and bragging, a lot of which was untrue. No effort to racially heal. So what was the point?

JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: I think the point was to show that the president is back. The point was to show don't worry about this global pandemic. I'm the president of the United States. I'm going to have a huge rally. Our country is doing just fine, business as usual.

And the point was so that he could get, you know, out of the, quote unquote, "bunker." The point was so that he could get into the place where he really shines, which is with his base in a large space, where he's basically just free-versing, where he's talking about things that upset him. Note -- sorry, go ahead.

HOLMES: No, I was going to say, because that's a good point. Because the content, demonizing cities again, going after science, attacking immigrants, going after NFL players, flag burning. I mean, what he's doing is doubling down on trying to attract more of his base.

He seems to have given up on widening that base, but, of course, the risk is you try to turn out more of the core supporters. You can also turn out more people who dislike that message. Did -- did the rally help or hurt him?

LEVINSON: I don't think the rally helped him a lot. Now, the danger is that we're all in our own echo chamber. So for people who don't support President Trump, you know, the hashtag is Twitter failure 00 or excuse me, #rallyfailure.

And so for other people, they might be thinking, well, a lot of people would have gone to this rally, but it was the fake media, and they kept people away, and they talked about protesters.

So I think, like everything else related to President Trump, it probably just incentivized each base.

But your point is exactly right for the election, which is, I don't think President Trump is going for the swing voters. He's not going for the people who could vote for Biden or might vote for him. He's going to excite his base. He's going to make sure that they come, they show up, and they bring their friends. This is not about trying to get independence.

HOLMES: Yes, exactly. And it's a matter of how much further he can grow that -- that core.

I wanted to ask you, too, about the comment that he made, you know, on testing. You know, he said, I said to my people, slow the testing down, please.

I mean, the White House says he was joking, but let's leave aside how appropriate it is to joke about such a thing. He's more than once said a downside of testing is that it finds more cases. I mean, he is numbers obsessed on this, and not in a good way. I mean, he doesn't want fewer cases; he just wants fewer cases known about.

I mean, how does that look politically, aside from the health risk?

LEVINSON: So normally, in a year that is not 2020, I would say, this looks terrible. This is a political disaster. How can you have the president of the United States, not once, not twice, but at least three times, openly admitting it would be good if we stopped testing, because then our numbers would look better. Not, it would be good if we do something about the global pandemic, just it would be good if it looks like it's getting better.

In this particular year, where everything seems like it's upside-down, it's really hard to say, politically, whether or not this will hurt him. I think his base is so strongly with him, that they'll say, well, we know -- they'll forgive basically everything.

For everyone else, they're saying, this is basic science. What on earth can you possibly be thinking? Smaller testing just means we know less.

HOLMES: I wanted you to put your law professor hat back on and talk about the removal of the Southern District of New York attorney Geoffrey Berman. And it's important to note, there's still no formal reason for his removal.

But speak to the optics of the president and the attorney general trying to remove a man heading investigations into matters related to the president and his allies. I'm wondering if you see a pattern of obstruction when you -- when you look at this and other past incidents of alleged interference?

LEVINSON: Well, I think, in the question, which has to lay out the facts, we essentially have the answer. Right? Which is that the president is trying to remove somebody who has -- is heading in office, who has tried and convicted his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen; who is looking into other associates of his, who, frankly, has been a thorn in his side.

And so sometimes, what things look like are exactly what they are. Abd un this case, what do we have? The president of the United States, working hand in glove with the attorney general, who's been enormously loyal and effective for this president, trying to get rid of the U.S. attorney who's extremely dogged in his investigations of the president and the president's associates. Sometimes we don't have to look for a hidden meaning.

[00:10:10]

HOLMES: Yes, I mean, "The Washington Post" just published a withering editorial about the attorney general and -- and the Justice Department.

You know, it's interesting. I was talking to Ron Brownstein last night, and he said something that was interesting. He said whenever the president breaks a window, Republicans in Congress just sweep up the glass.

I mean, is this, along with the John Bolton allegations, more examples that, particularly post-impeachment, this is a president who feels there are no boundaries he can't cross, because Republicans in Congress haven't held him to account? What do you make of how they've dealt with the president's behaviors?

LEVINSON: Yes, so what I make of it is just that I've been looking at what everybody else has been looking at, and Republicans in Congress have been enormously consistent in their either support of the president or silence at his wrongdoing.

And I think this has been one of the things that's most surprising to people about this administration, which, is people think, in a way, President Trump is exactly who he advertised himself to be when he was candidate Trump. But it's the Republicans in Congress, in the Senate, who have not said, at any point, OK, I think that we've gone too far here. Or, this has just transgressed so many norms that we're having an existential crisis that faces our country.

I have not heard, except for a few people here and there -- we had heard Mitt, Senator Mitt Romney, former Senator Jeff Flake -- but we can name them on one hand, the people who have said, I'm not comfortable with this. The Republican Party is the party of President Trump. There's no doubt about it.

HOLMES: Yes. It's going to be interesting, whether you know, the outside of Trump shaking things up from 2016 is going to translate to 2020.

Jessica Levinson, thanks so much. Good to see you, Professor. Thank you.

LEVINSON: It's great to be back. Good to see you.

HOLMES: Good to see you, too.

Well, in less than 24 hours, the explosive tell-all book by former Trump national security adviser John Bolton will be released to the public. In the book, Bolton details many of the things that troubled him during his time in the Trump administration, including Mr. Trump's dealings with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, as well as asking foreign leaders for help with reelection.

In an interview with ABC News, Bolton was asked how history will remember Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: I hope that it will remember him as a one-term president who didn't plunge the country irretrievably into a downward spiral we can't recall from.

We can get over one term. Two terms, I'm more troubled about.

The decisions are made in a very scattershot fashion, especially in the potentially mortal field of national security policy. This is a danger for the republic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, Mr. Trump, of course, has called Bolton's book, quote, "pure fiction" and "a compilation of lies and made-up stories intended to make me look bad."

The White House is making plans for a second wave of the coronavirus, even though the first wave hasn't ended. When we come back, nearly half the country seeing a rise in cases.

And, with cases from a recent cluster still coming in, Beijing increasing its testing capacity to try to slow down the uptick. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:17:20]

HOLMES: Welcome back. The White House is preparing for the possibility of a second wave of the coronavirus in a few months from now, even though the first wave isn't done, it should be noted. Medical and scientific experts do say that the first wave is still ongoing. Cases, in fact, rising in a number of states.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro says a second wave is not definite, but it's better to be prepared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE TRADE ADVISOR: We are filling the stockpile in anticipation of a possible problem in the fall. We're doing everything we can beneath the surface, working as hard as we possibly can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, last week, Vice President Mike Pence played down the threat of a second wave, accusing the news media of inciting panic.

Dr. Shoshanna Ungerleider is an internal medicine physician at Crossover Health in San Francisco.

Great to see you again, Doctor. It's been a minute. Let's start with that comment by the president on coronavirus testing at the campaign rally. Let's -- let's play that for folks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: According to the White House, joking, but leaving aside how inappropriate that would be to joke about, he has said more than once that the downside of testing is finding more cases. You know, it seems that he wants fewer cases known, not fewer cases. How dangerous is that message?

DR. SHOSHANNA UNGERLEIDER, INTERNAL MEDICINE PHYSICIAN, CROSSOVER HEALTH IN SAN FRANCISCO: Wow, Michael, you know, President Trump's comments about slowing testing are like saying, Gosh, I'm getting too many speeding tickets, so I'm going to stop looking at the speedometer. Right?

So any effort to restrict or slow down testing will mean more Americans will lose their lives. Right?

Nationwide in the U.S., we've see a 15 percent increase in cases over the last two weeks. Seven states have hit their single-day case records just on Saturday. ICUs in places like Alabama have been at or near capacity for weeks now.

This topic of testing is really important. More testing does, in fact, turn up more cases. However, Michael, if widespread testing was the entire reason for the rise in cases, you'd expect to see the proportion of positive tests go down, or at the very least, remain steady. We're not seeing that. Hospital admissions would have been declining, or flattened if this was just from more testing.

So instead, that figure is rising across the U.S. This -- this has nothing to do with more testing and everything to do with behavior. It's incredibly dangerous to talk about reducing, testing. We need to talk to people about following the guidelines, wearing masks, avoiding crowds, staying home if possible and washing their hands.

HOLMES: Yes. And if it's a joke, it's not a very funny one.

Also, he's wrong on testing numbers again. The U.S. has not tested more people per capita than any other country as he keeps saying. Not even close.

And other countries, you know, the important thing is they've not only tested more per capita, many of them tested earlier, which helped with the identify, isolate and trace aspect, which keeps infection spread down. Speak to the importance of that, that test, isolate and trace.

UNGERLEIDER: Well, you know, as you pointed out, many of the countries recognize that early on, because they listen to scientists that that was incredibly important. Now that we have widespread community spreads in many locales across the U.S., it's a challenge to deploy those resources.

We did not have the public health -- public health infrastructure ready to go as we should have, given that we knew that this was coming. Of course, testing was not where it needed to be. Contact tracing, similarly. And then the isolation just isn't even happening. And so we're a long way, frankly, from where we need to be. And -- and I'm very concerned about it.

HOLMES: One of the other things that I think is worrying a lot of medical professionals, you know, that Donald Trump has long demonstrated -- let's call it a disdain for science and advice of experts, especially if it conflicts with his political goals.

Tony Fauci, just last week lamenting his lack of -- the lack of belief in science among a segment of the population. I mean, how dangerous is that disdain when it's being pushed by the top and spreading in the community for science and fact?

UNGERLEIDER: Michael, the anti-science sentiment that we're seeing across the country is extremely distressing and dangerous. For example, the fact that so many Americans refuse to wear a mask, because they don't feel like it is unacceptable.

This has been backed up by this administration's disdain for science, as you put it, and an evidence-based public health response that has put us all in this position.

Nowhere in the world have we seen so many people die of COVID than in the U.S. And what's more, this administration is now just urging Americans to forget about coronavirus, and frankly, many thousands more will die because of it.

HOLMES: Yes. Yes, I mean, when you look at the numbers, it's not just because U.S. has a bigger population. It's 4 percent of the world's population. It has 25 percent of the cases and deaths.

I mean, and to that point, there are still 20, 25,000 new cases a day. Hundreds of deaths. I'm just wondering if you get the sense that the administration, by painting a rosier picture of what's happening out there, is that those numbers are OK? That that's tolerable somehow, you know, two jumbo jets, as Sanjay Gupta puts it, two jumbo jets of people dying every day is acceptable?

UNGERLEIDER: You know, Michael, their death seems to be apathy about the numbers of people who have become sick and then have died of COVID.

And to put this into perspective, you know, the average indoor stadium in the U.S. holds about 19,000 people. So that's nearly six and a half stadiums full of people who have died of COVID in this country.

I think unless that you've been personally affected, it seems as though many Americans either don't believe that this is serious, or they don't care enough to change their behavior.

And again, you know, to me, as a physician, this is unacceptable. Our behavior every second of every day matters. You know, nurses and doctors have been wearing masks to keep our patients safe in the hospitals for 100 years. We know it reduces the spread of germs.

So from all of us, we beg you out there, regardless of what your friends are doing, you know, wear a mask if you need to leave home. Wash your hands, keep your distance from others. We all have the power here to save lives.

HOLMES: Great advice. And yes, far from going away, this thing seems to be growing. Doctor Shoshanna Ungerleider, thank you so much. Good to see you again.

UNGERLEIDER: Thank you.

HOLMES: Well, Beijing can now screen almost one million people every day for the virus, speaking of testing. The increased capacity coming at an important time. The city still reporting new cases in an outbreak that was linked to a food market.

The city now has more than 120 testing facilities to process almost 230,000 samples every day. Out of 18 new cases reported on Sunday, half were in Beijing.

Steven Jiang joins me now with more from Beijing.

I mean, you know, compared to the numbers in the U.S., it's still a small number there in Beijing. But, you know, the U.S. brags about 25 million tests since the pandemic began. China's got a capability of a million a day. That's -- that's a sign of how seriously they're taking this, right?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: That's right, Michael. But, you know, Donald Trump obviously doesn't have the near absolute power Xi Jinping holds, and -- although he probably would like to. And also they don't have the kind of top-down power structure that China has here.

Now, you know, one thing you mentioned and officials here have been touting is how quickly and forceful they have been responding to this latest outbreak in Beijing. That's why they say they have been able to contain this quickly.

And the newest case number you mentioned on Sunday, only nine new cases. That's the single digit case number they haven't seen for a while, because they have been -- the number had been in the twenties and thirties for about a week since this latest cluster emerged.

But still, with that increased capacity you mentioned, they are now testing more people here, including people working in key industries, food and beverage, but also all of the city's package couriers, and the food delivery people. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of people here.

But when you think about it, these -- they have had about 230 cases in the past 10 or 11 days. But this is a city of more than 20 million residents. So it's still a very tiny fraction of people.

But that has already prompted them to impose that soft lockdown over the entire city and also strict lockdowns over dozens of neighborhoods here. That is how seriously they're taking this.

But now, of course, this is still being felt across the city, across industries. As you mentioned, PepsiCo, the U.S. multinational, is now being affected after eight workers in one of their plants tested positive. So they had to shut down that production line, making potato chips. But I guess, Michael, it remains to be seen if that's going to make Chinese consumers give up their junk food -- Michael.

HOLMES: Indeed. Good to see you, Steven. Thanks for that. Steven Jiang in Beijing for us.

We'll take a quick break. When we come back, the Black Lives Matter movement has in many ways forced overdue conversations on racial inequality. Well, now, an exclusive CNN poll takes a look at just how deep those divisions go in a country whose history is rooted in decades of the slave trade and colonialism. We'll have that and more after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:51]

HOLMES: And welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

The Black Lives Matter movement has sparked an outcry for racial justice, not just here in the U.S., but truly around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Silence is violence! Silence is violence! Silence is violence!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Silence is violence! Silence is violence! Silence is violence!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Silence is violence! Silence is violence! Silence is violence!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Hundreds of peaceful protesters marching in solidarity towards London's Houses of Parliament on Sunday, marking the fourth consecutive weekend of anti-racism demonstrations in the U.K..

Extensive polling conducted for CNN in England, Scotland and Wales shows just how deep the racial divisions are rooted there. For instance, one poll found 64 percent of black people believe the U.K. isn't doing enough to address historical racial injustice. Another revealed how much more likely black people are to be offended by statues and monuments to public figures associated with the slave trade and the British empire.

Now, Monday marks Wind Rush Day in the U.K., named after the empire Wind Rush liner that brought thousands of Caribbean families to Britain in 1948. It was an answer to the British government's call to come and help rebuild a country ravaged by the Second World War.

CNN senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir is at Wind Rush Square in London's Brixton area, also known as the crucible of black consciousness in the U.K. He has more in our -- on our exclusive CNN polling.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PIERS THE POET, SPOKEN WORD ARTIST: We're not saying our black lives matter more than you. We're saying our black lives matter, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The arrival of more than 400 happy Jamaicans. They've come to help the motherland along the road to prosperity.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Away from the relics of empire and the long-abandoned vestiges of colonial grandeur, what does it really mean to be black and British today?

This is Piers the Poet, a spoken word artist struggling to make sense of it all through poems like this one.

PIERS: And if we aren't heard with a knee or with a raised fist, how else can we resist? I think the greatest trick racism ever played was convincing England it doesn't exist.

ELBAGIR: For decades, Britain has been having its own race reckoning. In the past, the spark has been police brutality, social injustice or income inequality, but underpinning it all, a sense many say that, to be black and to be British is to feel unwelcome in your own home.

The Black Lives Matter movement has crossed the Atlantic and awakened uncomfortable conversations.

(on camera): Now an exclusive CNN/Savanta ComRes poll has found how sharply the nation is divided along race lines. Policing, representation, history. It's clear that to be black in Britain is almost to live in a different country. (voice-over): Five black British friends gained global fame after a

picture of them carrying a white man to safety from the middle of a crush of a violent London protest went viral. Hailed as heroes, but the truth is more complicated.

CHRIS OTOKITO, BUSINESSMAN: We, as brothers, as sons, as fathers have had little trust in the police. On Saturday, we had to technically go out to do their job for them.

ELBAGIR: Our poll found black people are twice as likely as white people to say they have not been treated with respect by police.

PIERRE NOAH, BUSINESSMAN: Do we feel protected by the police? Not at all.

PATRICK HUTCHINSON, PERSONAL TRAINER: The police are institutionally racist. There may be individuals within the system that are trying to do a good job, but as a collective, they're racist.

ELBAGIR (on camera): What do you think a police officer thinks when he looks at you?

HUTCHINSON: Color. The race. Color. The first thing they notice. And that should be the last thing they notice.

[00:35:06]

OTOKITO: Unfortunately, threat.

ELBAGIR: You think the first thing a police officer sees when they look at you, a black man, is a threat?

OTOKITO: I think they see us as a majority of society sees us as, as a threat and a fear.

ELBAGIR: And it's not just the police. When it comes to other institutions of power, the racial divide is just as stark.

Black people are significantly more likely than white people to say the party in power, the Conservatives, is institutionally racist.

The final moments of the toppling of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston. For over a century, he presided over Central Square in the British city of Bristol. Then protesters took matters into their own hands.

You could see the hugely emotional moment when the crowd, white and black, rolled Colston's statute to the docks, where the human beings he traded were auctioned off.

Wish (ph), a local musician, was there that day. He grew up in the shadow of Colston's statue, and he watched it topple.

WISH (PH), MUSICIAN: It's systematic slavery. It's got to stop. It's embedded deep in the roots, in the education systems, in the public sectors, in everything all throughout. It's all got to change. We would not have a statue of Hitler, so why would you have a statue

of him? You know what I mean? And it's just kind of like when people were saying, don't want to take away their culture and their roots, but it's like, you know, that's what you've got books for. That's what the libraries are there for, the Internet is there for. You know what I mean? You don't need a statue.

For the system to change, the institutions have got to change, really. We know that they're broken and that they don't work.

ELBAGIR: Led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who in his former job as a journalist used a colonial-era racial slur to mock Africans, the British government is now threatening to bring in up to 10-year jail sentences for what it calls desecration of history. But whose history?

Our polling found black people were more than twice as likely to support the removal of those statues by protesters as white people, and almost three times as likely to say that the British empire as a whole was a bad thing.

World War II era British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's history, like much of Britain's, is complicated by the legacy of his role in Britain's empire. Under his now heavily-guarded statue, we spoke to Aima. Because it's not just Britain's past. This struggle is also about its present.

AIMA, #ALLBLACKLIVESUK ACTIVIST: I thought, why cannot a young black woman use her voice to spread the word? Because until these protests, I never knew that I had a voice.

ELBAGIR: Eighteen-year-old Aima is one of the two organizers of the British Black Lives massive protest. She says she has faced sustained harassment for that role and asked us not to use her surname. Originally from Nigeria, moving to Britain, she says, has been difficult.

AIMA: When I first moved to this country, I did get racist anonymous messages from people around my area. And I think that was the first realization that racism is very prominent in this country. And covert racism, ignorance, going onto the tube and seeing women and men clutch heir handbags and their briefcases.

Our lives matter, and we aren't going to stop until the government makes an effort to promote that.

ELBAGIR: And she's not alone in feeling that way. Black people are nearly twice as likely as white people to say the U.K. has not done enough to address historic racial injustice.

So what do our findings mean for this nation divided?

(on camera): What is clear is that there is a divide between what many black Britons experience and what many white Britons believe that experience to be, which means that what so many black leaders, black activists, and even just everyday ordinary black Brits have been saying for years is true. That when they speak about racism, so many of their white countrymen don't believe them.

And that is something that is going to have to be reckoned with. If there is any hope for this country to move together towards a united future.

Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now as Nima's piece mentioned, the polling data shows Britain's racial divisions reach across multiple institutions, including policing, education, politics, even employment.

So what can be done to change these perceptions? I'll be asking Arike Oke. She is the managing director at the Black Cultural Archives in London. That's coming up in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:40:06]

All right. We'll take a big quick break. NASCAR fans back at the track for the first time since the Confederate flag was banned at races. Ahead, we'll hear what some of them had to say about that ban.

And one nurse left in a Peruvian village is the only hope its people have of beating the coronavirus. We'll have his story when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Peru reporting 184 new deaths from the coronavirus on Sunday, taking the country's death toll past 8,000. Small towns in the region don't have the resources to combat the pandemic. Guillermo Galdos brings us the story of one man left as the only nurse in his village fighting to save more than 750 people.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUILLERMO GALDOS, JOURNALIST (voice-over): Eight hours downriver from the nearest hospital, this remote Shipibo village in Peru's central Amazon is struggling.

About 80 percent of this community has COVID-19 and no doctor to care for them. The one doctor they did have abandoned his post when the outbreak began, leaving Elias, a nurse, in charge.

He and two others are doing the best with what they have to care for the 750 people in this village. But it's getting harder every day.

ELIAS, NURSE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: in the past three days we ran out of the medicine the government gave us. We don't have anything.

GALDOS: They are so remote, Elias says he doesn't know if or when they will get additional supplies.

After checking on patients in the clinic, Elias goes out in the community to check on those too sick to walk.

[00:45:04]

(on camera): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: And you are positive for COVID, as well?

ELIAS: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Yes, I am.

GALDOS: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Since when?

ELIAS: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: The day before yesterday I tested positive.

GALDOS (voice-over): And yet, Elias keeps working. He says he has to keep helping.

He has come to see Raynor (ph), a 32-year-old man who has been sick for the past two weeks.

This is the front line against COVID-19 in the remote Amazon.

ELIAS: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: He feels so weak that he cannot even stand up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: My heart is agitated. It feels like it wants to stop.

GALDOS: Raynor (ph) has lost around 17 pounds in the past few days, and he still has a fever.

His wife is extremely worried. She has tried to isolate him, but they still share the same hut with their four children.

Caimito is one of the hundreds of thousands in the Amazon now affected by the pandemic. Here, nobody has a bank account. So when the government gave a bonus check to Peruvians struggling to find work during the pandemic lockdown, people in Caimito had to travel eight hours to the nearest bank in Pucallpa, carrying back to the community more than just money.

It is here in Pucallpa, the capital of Ucayali region, that you find these. People dying at the hospital doors. There are no beds left.

(on camera): This is the COVID area in one of the main hospitals of Pucallpa. Doctors here have to work 12- to 18-hour shifts under 40 degrees Celsius. The heat under these suits is practically unbearable. You feel like the mask is melting on your face. (voice-over): The hospital is short on staff and running low on

oxygen. With only four intensive care beds, the waiting list is long. But only one in 10 in the critical condition will survive.

Back in Caimito, the evangelical church has organized a service. Elias, our nurse, did not show up at the church. He did not agree with social gathering.

The next morning, he decides to make his own statement.

ELIAS: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: To all the people of Caimito, please. We haven't beaten this disease.

GALDOS: He warns them that, by not respecting social distancing, they are setting themselves up for disaster.

ELIAS: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: If we don't take action, we are going to keep dying.

GALDOS: And dying they are. Not just here in the remote part of the Amazon but all across Peru. Despite lockdown measures, the daily infection rate is climbing, without an end in sight.

Guillermo Galdos, for CNN, Caimito, Peru.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Powerful report there.

Now, the funeral for a man killed by Atlanta police officers -- police officers is this week. As the family of Rayshard Brooks prepares its final goodbye, the Atlanta police union is speaking out. We'll have that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:52:22]

HOLMES: The Atlanta mayor and Fulton County district attorney have been invited to attend the funeral on Tuesday of the man shot and killed by police a little more than a week ago now.

Video shows Rayshard Brooks was shot after a physical struggle with police in a Wendy's fast-food parking lot. Days later, District Attorney Paul Howard charged former police officer Garrett Rolfe with 11 crimes, including felony murder.

U.S. Representative Doug Collins, a Republican, is calling for an independent prosecutor in the case, claiming the charges are political. The district attorney is a Democrat.

Meanwhile, some Atlanta police officers say they don't feel supported by leadership. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON SEGURA, ATLANTA POLICE SERGEANT: We're being attacked. These guys are our brothers. And we're being attacked by Paul Howard. We do the job to protect. We expect to be protected by our leaders. And they've all failed us, all of them. I appreciate you all being here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, NASCAR says it is investigating a noose found in the garage stall of black driver Bubba Wallace on Sunday. NASCAR says it is angry, and it is outraged.

Bubba Wallace is the only black driver in the association and called for a Confederate flag ban at NASCAR events. NASCAR agreed, and on Sunday it was scheduled to hold its first race since that ban was put in place.

Now Wallace issued a statement saying, quote, "This will not break me. I will not give in, nor will I back down. I will continue to proudly stand for what I believe in."

The return of fans to NASCAR races was supposed to be on Sunday at Talladega in Alabama. But it didn't work out as planned. CNN Sport's Andy Scholes was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORT: For the first time since banning the Confederate flag at all of their events, NASCAR holding a big race here in Alabama, allowing 5,000 fans in attendance.

A NASCAR official told me that if a fan were to try to wear a shirt, a hat with the Confederate flag on it, they would have to remove that item before entering the racetrack.

Now, we walked around the grounds here in Alabama, only saw one person wearing a hat with the Confederate flag on it, but there was a plane flying around overhead before the storms rolled in with the Confederate flag and the words "Defund NASCAR."

And then across the street, there were a couple of gift shops selling Confederate flag memorabilia. I talked to those owners. They told me they've actually been selling even more Confederate flag items since the NASCAR decision for the ban. And they told me they're going to continue to sell those items outside of NASCAR events going forward.

[00:55:10]

And we also spoke to fans here in Alabama and got their thoughts on NASCAR's decision to ban the Confederate flag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm all for the Confederate flag. I mean, I'm not against it, but I come to Talladega to watch the checker flag, you know? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't let it affect me. You know, I came here

for the racing, this and that. But I'm happy that they did do that. It's just -- it's just progress and moving on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really didn't have a problem with 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. The American dream is, you know, you can come here, anybody can come here and make a dollar. And that's what I'm doing.

SCHOLES: This was the first big sporting event to allow a large number of fans here in the U.S. since the coronavirus pandemic started back in March.

This track usually holds more than 100,000 fans, and they were going to allow 5,000 fans in today. Everyone's temperature was checked as they entered the grounds, masks required to go into the racetrack, and there were also social distancing protocols in place.

All the fans we spoke to said they felt safe in the environment, and they were really excited to be back at a live sporting event. Unfortunately, bad weather rolled in, and the race was postponed until Monday.

At Talladega Super Speedway in Alabama, Andy Scholes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Thanks for spending part of your day with me and watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes. Don't go anywhere, though. I'll be back with another hour of news right after the break.

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