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Thousands Gather for March on Washington; WNBA Resumes Tonight, NBA Restarts Tomorrow after Strike; Jacob Blake Sr. Says, My Son Hasn't Been Treated Like a Human. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 28, 2020 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:02]

MARTIN LUTHER KING III, SON OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: Why, my sisters and brothers and dear friends, in this defining moment for our history in our country, we must answer Dr. King's question. Would our answer be chaos or community? I believe some have chosen the answer with chaos including the current occupant in the White House today.

But we who believe must choose community because if we choose community, we can avoid watching the dream turn into a permanent nightmare. If we choose community, 50 years from now, people will say that we were able to redeem the soul of America and began to fulfill the promise of democracy by systematically eliminating systemic racism and exploitation.

My friends, if we choose community, we will be able to answer in the affirmative to the scripture, here comes that dreamer, come let's slay him, and we shall see what will become of his dream.

Finally, this afternoon, I want to say to you, not only do I come as a protester, but I come as a victim. My daddy was killed when I was ten years old, gunned down, you know that, by an assassin's bullet. Some of you know but may not know six years later, my daddy's mother, my grandmother was gunned down in the church while playing the Lord's Prayer.

So I understand what it means to lose a loved one. But I was so thankful that my grandfather and my mother and my aunts and uncles taught me about love because granddaddy used to say, I refuse to allow any person to reduce me to hatred. The man that killed my lovely wife and the man that killed my son, I refuse to allow them even to reduce me to hatred. I love everybody. I'm every man's brother. If we're going to resolve these issues in America, we've got to come together.

Dad talked about it in that sermon, levels of love. He talked about all of them. I'm only going to talk about the highest level of love. That love that seeks nothing in return, that love that is totally unselfish, you love someone, if they're young, you love them if they're old, you love them if they're black, you love them if they're white, you love them if they're Native American, you love them if they're Hispanic or Latino American, you love them if they're African, you love them if they're Asian. You love them because you know that God calls you to do that. And if we're going to resolve all of these conflicts and crises in America, we got to find a way to do it in love.

Thank you and God bless you and let's keep on keeping on.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: I'm Anderson Cooper. I want to welcome viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. We are watching an extraordinary event in Washington, a new march, 57 years after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his, I have a dream speech, 57 years after John Lewis took the national stage to create for change in America, and 65 years after a 14-year-old Emmett Till was murdered after falsely being accused of flirting with a white woman in Mississippi. Those are the names of past.

Today, the marchers have new names on the lips. Jacob Blake, who right now lies paralyzed in his hospital bed after being shot seven times in the back by a police officer, also George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, black Americans killed by white men and white police officers. They are just three of the many on that list.

The thousands of marchers in Washington are joined in spirit by others across the country like professional athletes who have stopped the games to bring the fight for justice to light, all of this, the violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the calls for justice coming as we wrap up political conventions.

Our Suzanne Malveaux and Brian Todd are in the crowd in Washington.

Suzanne, you are at the Lincoln Memorial. What have you heard from the speakers there today?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Anderson. There is really a beautiful scene behind me. This is at the reflection pool, many, many people linking their arms and holding the arms side to side as they cross the Lincoln Memorial Pool there, the reflection pool and signs of unity and solidarity.

It was poignant and it was an incredible powerful reminder. Martin Luther King III reminding people that he is not just a protester, but a victim, someone who lost his daddy at ten years old but he understands what many of these families on the stage right now at the Lincoln Memorial are feeling and what they're going through. These are the families who have lost their loved ones who have all united and come together to speak for this very moment.

It is not surprising, Anderson, that he also brought his young daughter, the 12-year-old Yolanda, up there as well.

[13:05:00]

This is the person who actually brought the video to him of George Floyd's murder. It was Yolanda that forced him to watch the video. He was not aware at the time. He told me that story. He also says what keeps him up at night is the fact that Yolanda herself says, why do we have to do this still? I thought my granddaddy put this to bed. He responded we do it because we have to.

COOPER: Suzanne Malveaux, thank you very much. I want do go to our Brian Todd, who is standing by. Brian, what are you seeing and hearing from your vantage point?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, we are at the opposite side of the reflecting pool from where Suzanne just came to you from. We are on the east side of it, near the World War II Memorial. You see a good wide shot of the marchers here. Let's go over here toward the pool and our photojournalist, Jake Sawyer (ph), can kind of give you a good wide shot down the reflecting pool and you can see the throngs of people here.

We've talked to several marchers who have come. Some of them came from the Midwest and other places in the country. Almost all of them say that the shooting of Jacob Blake was kind of a catalyst for them being here. Obviously, the killing of George Floyd, that's his funeral, that's what this event was announced by Reverend Al Sharpton.

And, of course, there's a level of frustration. One, a protester told me a short time ago that it was, quote, mentally exhausting that these incidents keep happening even after months and months of these marches and protests for racial justice and police reform. And police reform is, of course, what they're going to be calling for here. These marchers want the Senate to pass a police reform bill named after George Floyd. They want to pass a voting reform bill named after John Lewis, so a lot of different very important messages being sent here as you see these people walking toward me here.

In a short time, the speakers will finish and they're going to walk toward the Martin Luther King Memorial to the south of us, just a few blocks. That's where we're going to be a little bit later. But, again, very energetic, passionate, peaceful crowd here that is just what the organizers hoped for and they're going to be -- the speeches are going to be going on for a few more minutes. They got a little bit of a late start. Everybody here anticipating hearing the families of Jacob Blake, George Floyd speaking. That's going to be just really a centerpiece of this event, Anderson.

COOPER: Brian Todd, Brian, thanks very much.

Joining us right now is WNBA player Natasha Cloud. She opted out of playing this season for the Washington Mystics so she could focus on social justice reform. Natasha, thanks so much for being with us.

I'm wondering what you make of your teammates' actions this week.

NATASHA CLOUD, WNBA PLAYER, BOYCOTTING SEASON TO FIGHT FOR SOCIAL REFORM: I'm so proud not only of our team and Washington Mystics and the entirety of the WNBA but the brothers in the NBA too for starting that movement. I'm so proud of them for standing their ground and understanding that this is bigger than basketball, that this is bigger than ourselves as athletes and individuals and bigger than our leagues too. We inherit this responsibility as athletes to use our platforms and be a voice for the voiceless. And I think they're seeing us do that.

COOPER: Can you just talk about your thought process and making decision to opt out?

CLOUD: Yes. (INAUDIBLE) was this directly affects me, if directly affects my fiance, it directly affects our community and our future children. And for me, there was no greater time than to take this head on than right now.

You can see this beautiful march in Washington that I'm about to go to after this. You have people from all different walks of life, all different backgrounds and they're coming together peacefully to fight for justice and for change, for the black and brown communities.

COOPER: And this march is happening nearly decades after the last that the nation still dealing with same issues that we were dealing with back then. Are you more optimistic, less optimistic about real change?

CLOUD: You got to remain optimistic through all this. You got to remain optimistic in the goodness of people still left in this country and hoping that we can create this change together. It's unfortunate that in 2020 we are still here. I remember protesting this in 2016 in the WNBA and it's unfortunate, but we have to continue to fight this fight. It is not going to be fixed overnight. It's going to be something that takes warriors and stamina for years to come.

But as you can see, Yolanda is up there speaking, Martin Luther King's granddaughter, and it's a beautiful thing because the next generation gets it and so we're pushing for them.

COOPER: Natasha Cloud, I really appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

CLOUD: I appreciate you. Thank you.

COOPER: One of the marchers is Jacob Blake Sr. He's the father of the man who was shot seven times in the back by Kenosha, Wisconsin police officer on Sunday in front of his kids.

[13:10:04]

Earlier today, Blake gave an emotional interview to CNN's Alisyn Camerota. He talked about finally getting to see his son in the hospital realizing his now paralyzed son was shackled to his hospital bed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: How is your son doing, Mr. Blake?

JACOB BLAKE SR., FATHER OF MAN SHOT SEVEN TIMES BY KENOSHA POLICE: Current situation, he is doing -- he's -- let's make it very clear. My son is fighting for his life. He's holding on. He's holding on. He's medicated pretty much all the time.

CAMEROTA: So he's sedated and medicated because, as we understand, he is in so much pain. Have you been able to speak to him?

BLAKE: Yes. I got -- two days ago, I got to speak to him.

CAMEROTA: And can you tell us about that conversation and what he said?

BLAKE: He -- at first, his eyes were squinted when I walked into the room. And I thought they were squinted because he was in pain. But when I got to his side, he grabbed my hands and began to weep. And he told me that he was hallucinating and then he said, I love you, daddy. Daddy, I love you.

CAMEROTA: Yes, that must be so hard to see him in this condition.

BLAKE: Yes. Then his next question was, why did they shoot me so many times? And I said, baby, they weren't supposed to shoot you at all. The thing that bothered me the most is that my child is -- well, there were so many things that bothered me but when I walked into that room, you know, he is paralyzed from the waist down, why do they have that cold steel on my son's ankle? He can't get up. He couldn't get up if he wanted to. So that's a little overkill to have him shackled to the bed. That just makes no sense to me.

So, you know, he was so -- it was the oldest in the car was eight and the youngest in the car was three.

CAMEROTA: And have you talked to them?

BLAKE: Oh, they're with me every day.

CAMEROTA: What do they say? How are they coping with this this morning?

BLAKE: The oldest every day is questioning, daddy, why did the police -- they call me papa. And all my grand kids call me papa or pop pop. So he said, papa, why did they shoot my daddy in the back? Where is daddy? They want their father because he was a part of their life every day. He's a person. He's a human being. He's not an animal. He's a human.

But my son has not been afforded the rights of a human. He's not been treated like a human. He's a father. He's not a deadbeat dead. He's a father that's with his children every day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: We'll have more from Jacob Blake's father next, including his reaction to the president's silence on the shooting of his son. Plus, Spike Lee joins me live next.

This is CNN's special coverage. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:00]

COOPER: As we watch crowds gathering for the march on Washington, I want bring in filmmaker and director, Spike Lee. Spike, thanks for being with us.

I'm wondering as you see this march on Washington, we should note that it's not only the 57th anniversary, the original march is also the 65th anniversary of the Emmett Till's murder. What do you make of events like this? How important is something like this?

SPIKE LEE, FILM DIRECTOR: Well, Anderson, I first want to apologize that my face is not lit but we have a maybe is symbolic. We are not black people on the scene.

COOPER: I thought you had planned this lighting for that particular reason.

LEE: I'm a filmmaker. I should know better.

Anyway, Anderson, all jokes aside, I want to thank you for having me again, and how many times have I been a guest on your show, you know, after someone, black or brown, has gotten shot? And just looking at the footage of Mr. Jacob Blake's son saying how his son who was shot seven times in the back, paralyzed from the waist down, his ankles are shackled to the hospital bed. And that, right away, I think about that's what they did to -- that's what the slave catchers did, where my ancestors, if you got caught, the least thing they did was put shackles on your ankles.

[13:20:06]

And one of your producers, Anderson, told me that so far, our brother, King Jacob Blake, has not been charged with anything. If he is not been charged with anything, why in the world is he shackled to his bed, hospital bed like he's an animal?

My question to the authorities in Kenosha has -- I know he's been arrested but is Kyle Rittenhouse, is he in shackles? 17 years old, shot two protesters, killed two protesters, and maimed another one. And I saw footage, Anderson, my brother, CNN, CNN, after he shot people, killed two, he's walking the streets and armed vehicles and jeeps pass by him. And it's after he shot that semiautomatic weapon, after.

Anderson, I want to ask you a question. Imagine the same scenario but a black man has a semiautomatic rifle and all the chaos was happening in Kenosha, do you think that armed vehicles and jeeps are going to ride right -- right by a black man? I'm laughing because it's so crazy.

COOPER: There's actually video -- it's cell phone video and it's on social media. We can't independently verify it, but it does show a police vehicle communicating with some of the armed white people who had come to, in their words, maintain order or defend property, even giving them water or trying to get them water and thanking them for what they were doing. It does seem, you know -- this is two days after or one day after the McCloskeys were at the RNC and treated basically like heroes for --

LEE: Heroes. COOPER: -- brandishing weapons at Black Lives Matter protesters who were just walking by their house.

LEE: I would also like to say -- Anderson, again, thank you for having me, I really want to -- you know, prayers and blessings to the family. And then this is very important. When our brother, Jacob, was shot in the back seven times, his three sons were in the backseat and they're going to have to live with this trauma all their lives. They saw their father shot seven times in the back. And let's hope he lives but he's never going to be able to walk again.

And, Anderson, there's so much hate in the world, specifically the United States of America. And Doc Rivers, the great coach of the L.A. Clippers, was so on the money with this remark, we love this country. We love the United States of America. But the United States does not love us back. From the very first person that died for this country, Crispus Attucks, in the Boston massacre, the very first person died for this country was a black man.

And we have been fighting, putting our lives on the line for every single war for the promise to be recognized as human beings and full citizenship and here we are in this dreadful year 2020 and black and brown people, black and brown trans people, are being shot down like animals, like it's all right.

[13:25:09]

And this guy in the White House, and what he's done and what this just level of hate, Anderson, it's heart breaking.

COOPER: I don't know if you --

LEE: And I pray God, I pray to God this guy is out November 3rd.

And also I like to bring this up, and I think you talked about this too. I have -- I think there's going to be shenanigans, some skullduggery that if he loses, particularly in a close vote, he might not want to leave. And I know they say law and order and other stuff, later for that.

Anderson, are we coming to a civil war, the next civil war in the United States of America? I ask you that question.

COOPER: Do you worry about that?

LEE: Anderson, I can't have a restless sleep. I mean, this constant --

COOPER: Let me --

LEE: This constant rerun of black and brown people being murdered, shot down for no other reason because of their skin. This is --

COOPER: Let me ask you. At the RNC this week -- you know, look, all conventions for any political party is propaganda. People -- Democrats and Republicans put on the best face possible. But we did see a real effort by this administration at the RNC to appeal to particularly black men and not so much black women but black men, a lot of speakers and the administration says, look, criminal justice reform, there were positive steps made toward that.

Actually, Spike, Breonna Taylor's mom is about to speak. So, I just want to listen to what she says.

LEE: Look, I'm here if you want to come back to me. But, of course, please go. Please go.

COOPER: Okay. Take care, Spike. Let's listen in.

TAMIKA PALMER, BREONNA TAYLOR'S MOTHER: First, I just want to thank everybody who's been in support of getting justice for Breonna Taylor.

Second, I just want to -- I got to thank Louisville Until Freedom, my family and most importantly Kenneth Walker for coming out here and continuing to say her name louder.

What we need is change and we're at a point where we can get that change. But we have to stand together. We have to vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You got this.

PALMER: Yes, yes. That's right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say her name.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breonna Taylor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say her name.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breonna Taylor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say her name.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breonna Taylor.

REV. AL SHARPTON, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: Say her name. Say her name. Say her name.

All right, wait a minute. I brought Mr. Lincoln, all of the broken promises. We all stop when a man was killed with a knee on his neck, narrated his own death on video tape and didn't know they were recording. But his death has been the impetus of a global movement. I bring you his brother, the brother of George Floyd, Philonese Floyd.

PHILONISE FLOYD, BROTHER OF GEORGE FLOYD: George Floyd.

[13:30:00]

Thank you all.