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Thousands Gather for March on Washington. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired August 28, 2020 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00]
(CROWD CHANTING "GEORGE FLOYD")
PHILONISE FLOYD, GEORGE FLOYD'S BROTHER: Thank you all. Give my sister Bridgett, my attorney Tony Romanucci, my wife Kita, my sister Tonya, my nephew Brandon.
BRIDGETT FLOYD, GEORGE FLOYD'S SISTER: Your brother. Your brother Taylor.
P. FLOYD: OK. All right. I'm so overwhelmed right now with everybody's here right now. Man. Man, no. It's OK. Hey. I wish George were here to see this right now. That's who I'm marching for. I'm marching for George. For Breonna. For Ahmoud. For Jacob. For Pamela Turner. For Michael Brown. Trayvon. And anybody else who lost their lives. Or to evil. Man. It's hard, man.
(CROWD CHANTING "GEORGE FLOYD")
P. FLOYD: I got you.
(CROWD CHANTING "GEORGE FLOYD")
P. FLOYD: It's never been more clear than change right now. It's happening right now. Because we demand it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice.
CROWD: No peace.
P. FLOYD: Everyone here has made a commitment because they wouldn't be here for no other reason right now. And it's hot and I know it's hot, but it's now we're here because we are being fried right now, man. Man. Bridgett.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man, breathe in.
FLOYD: I'm trying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keeping breathing.
FLOYD: I'm trying. I'm good. I'm good. I got it. I got it. I got it.
(CROWD CHANTING "I CAN'T BREATHE") FLOYD: As of now, everybody out here right now, our leaders, they need to follow us while we're marching to enact laws to protect us. Man, it's hard, man. It's really hard. I'm so sorry, man. My brother George, he's looking down right now, he's thankful for everything that everybody is doing right now. You all are showing a lot of empathy and passion, and I'm enjoying every last bit of it right now.
If it weren't for you all, I don't know where I'd be right now, because you all are keeping me running. I have to advocate for everybody, man, because right now Jacob Blake, I'm feeling -- it's hard just to talk right now. Shot seven times, man, with his kids. That's painful. I'm done, I'm done. I don't --
BRIDGETT FLOYD, GEORGE FLOYD'S SISTER: I'm Bridgett Floyd, George Floyd's sister. I want you guys to ask yourself right now. How will the history books remember you? What will be your legacy? Will your future generations remember you for your complacency, your inaction, or will they remember you for your empathy, your leadership, your passion for weeding out the injustices and evil in our world?
[13:35:10]
B. FLOYD: You know, Martin Luther King stood here 57 years ago, and he told the world his dream. But I don't think you all know that we're here right now and have the power to make it happen. I don't think you all hear me. But we have to do it together. We have to do it together. For our generations to come, our children. My brother cannot be a voice today. We have to be that voice. We have to be the change, and we have to be his legacy.
Thank you from the Floyd family.
(CROWD CHANTING "GEORGE FLOYD")
B. FLOYD: So you want to say something?
(CROSSTALK)
B. FLOYD: Say his name. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. We're going this way? All right, OK.
REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: No, we're going right back -- back behind you.
B. FLOYD: We're going this way. We're going to this way?
SHARPTON: No, back. Because we're going to line up for the march. OK. Now -- shh. Wait a minute. You're all too close to each other. You all stretch arms now. Stretch out now. I know we're outside, you got a mask but don't get that close. You all spread your arms and social distance. You're all too tight up here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring up the next family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next family, let's go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We got to move. We got to move.
SHARPTON: A few days ago -- a few days ago -- OK. All right. Go ahead. Go ahead. OK. Go ahead, Quincy. Come on, sisters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Follow Quincy.
SHARPTON: Give a hand to the Floyd family as we get ready. Please have one speaker. Shh. Now -- you all are too loud. Why are you screaming?
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Bring in Laura Coates, CNN senior legal analyst, a former federal prosecutor and host of Sirius XM's "Laura Coates Show," and also Abby Phillips, CNN political correspondent, before we go back to the march.
Laura, Jacob Blake's leg is shackled to his hospital bed. He's paralyzed from the waist down. Is that common? Why is that -- why would that be necessary? And has he been arrested?
LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's not necessary.
COOPER: Or has he been charged with anything?
COATES: We're unaware that he's been charged with any crime. And the idea that somebody who'd been paralyzed, who obviously could not try to flee the scene would be shackled when he himself is the victim of police violence and excessive force by any account. I mean, seven bullets to the back (INAUDIBLE) justify everything, but this is all too common in the American justice system.
You have pregnant women who are incarcerated who give birth while shackled, while they're delivering and after giving birth because it's really an obvious reminder they're trying to make. They transform somebody from a victim to a villain and displaces our empathy in a way that makes you say, well, maybe I should doubt this person's story, maybe I should doubt the reason that Jacob Blake was actually shot.
Maybe I should consider the police officers to have been heroic in some way, if this person is shackled, but meanwhile the person who actually killed two people at the peaceful, otherwise peaceful protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, excuse me, was able to return home 35 minutes away, take a shower and turn himself in, after walking by police officers?
[13:40:22]
This is what happens consistently and one in which people have got to look at. Now it is a matter of protocol, Anderson, to have people who are in police custody to be constrained in some way. It's often for the safety of the officers who may be in the room or health care workers or otherwise, but until you actually have a justifiable notion or need to have the person in custody as opposed to simply having a police presence to secure the premises, it's unconscionable to do so and really it's a time to divert from whatever protocol because there's no risk that this person is actually going to flee or present some danger in this state that he is currently in. COOPER: Laura, there is -- police have been very limited with the
information that they have given out. Obviously this has moved from Kenosha Police Department -- we are told that Jacob Blake's father is going to be speaking soon so we're going to listen in now.
SHARPTON: Say his name. Say his name. His sister is going to first speak for the mother who's (INAUDIBLE).
LETETRA WIDMAN, JACOB BLAKE'S SISTER: America, unapologetically I am here to tell you in front of the world that you got the right one. God has been preparing me. America, your reality is not real. Catering to your delusions is no longer an option. We will not pretend. We will not be your docile slaves. We will not be a foot stool to oppression. And most of all we will not dress up this genocide and call it police brutality. We will only pledge allegiance to the truth.
Black America, I hold you accountable. You must stand. You must fight. But not with violence and chaos. With self-love, learn to love yourself, black people. Unify. Group economics. Black women, you are your brother's keeper. I know it's heavy, but forgive him and heal. His manner was taken from him a long time ago. Build him up.
Black children, breathe, learn, grow, and live, and question everything.
Black men, stand up. Stand up, black men. Educate yourself. And protect the black family unit, period.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, sister.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Great job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great job, sweetheart.
JACOB BLAKE SR., FATHER OF MAN SHOT SEVEN TIMES BY KENOSHA POLICE: No justice --
CROWD: No peace.
BLAKE: No justice --
CROWD: No peace.
BLAKE: No justice --
CROWD: No peace.
BLAKE: Jacob Blake.
CROWD: Jacob Blake.
BLAKE: Jacob Blake.
CROWD: Jacob Blake. BLAKE: Jacob Blake.
CROWD: Jacob Blake.
BLAKE: There are two systems of justice in the United States. There's a white system and there's a black system. The black system ain't doing so well. But we're going to stand up. Every black person in the United States is going to stand up. We're tired. I'm tired of looking at cameras and seeing these young black and brown people suffer. We're going to hold court today. We're going to hold court on systematic racism. We're going to have court right now. Guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BLAKE: Guilty.
CROWD: Guilty.
BLAKE: Guilty.
CROWD: Guilty.
BLAKE: Racism against all of us. Guilty.
[13:45:01]
CROWD: Guilty.
BLAKE: Guilty.
CROWD: Guilty.
BLAKE: Racism against Trayvon Martin. We find them guilty.
CROWD: Guilty.
BLAKE: Racism against George Floyd. We find them guilty.
CROWD: Guilty.
BLAKE: Racism against Jacob Blake. Abdul Dualla (PH). If I said the name wrong, Allah forgive me. Guilty.
CROWD: Guilty.
BLAKE: And we're not taking it anymore. I ask everyone to stand up, no justice --
CROWD: No peace.
BLAKE: No justice --
CROWD: No peace.
BLAKE: I met this man when I was 7 years old. How did I know I was going to meet this man again in these circumstances? I truly did not want to come and see you all today for these reasons. My father was in town for the first march on D.C. I have a duty. I have a duty to support and understand each one. I love everybody in this crowd. I love you. If nobody told you today, Big Jake loves you. But we're going to stand up, baby. We're going to stand up together. I need your strength. Big daddy's legs ain't that good anymore. I need your strength. No justice --
CROWD: No peace.
BLAKE: No justice --
CROWD: No peace.
BLAKE: I love you all.
SHARPTON: I want to bring attorney --
COOPER: You're hearing, listening to the family of Jacob Blake, Jacob Blake Sr. just speaking there. We're with Laura Coates and Abby Phillip.
Laura, I just want to follow up on something. There's a lot the police have not said about what initially brought them there. We know there was a domestic disturbance call we're told. The police have said that they actually had tried to use a taser I believe on Mr. Blake that did not seem to work. And then we have seen what happened apparently after that. The entire thing apparently was only a matter of minutes from the time they arrived to the time that Mr. Blake ended up being shot.
So there's a lot we don't know about what occurred. Is that normal? I know the investigation was handed from the Kenosha Police Department over to state authorities. But is that normal not to release more information?
COATES: Well, oftentimes if it's not a high profile case, Anderson, the public really doesn't know a lot of information because it's done behind the scenes through an investigative body and of course this has been outsourced to the greater investigation body outside the geographic area. Why? Because they have a statute in Wisconsin that essentially says they do not want the fox to guard the hen house, to have police officers who had been wanting to investigate their own police officers. We want to have an air of transparency, accountability and credibility.
But you see, when you're talking about these circumstances, a very high profile incident, you do want to have as much information as possible because misinformation can lead to a disturbance in the community. Misinformation can lead to not only a lack of credibility but believability. It can exacerbate existing problems so you want to be as transparent as possible, but of course if you have a police unit that does not provide all the information even as to why specifically he may be shackled in the hospital bed even though he is paralyzed presently from the waist down.
People look at this and it seems to be a continuation of the withholding of dignity as opposed to the pursuit of justice. Particularly as we only now know that one officer involved and we know that he presently is not incarcerated. We know presently is not -- has not been charged with a crime so it's a different dynamic at play. That does not bode well for trying to restore relations.
COOPER: Abby, Jacob Blake's father says that President Trump hasn't called, that he did speak at length with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. He compared it to talking to an uncle and a sister. Has there been an attempt by the administration, do you know, to talk to the Blake family?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a little confusing right now to be honest, Anderson. Initially the White House had said that they were making attempts to reach out to the Blake family and then just yesterday the president's chief of staff Mark Meadows said that he was the one who was reaching out to the Blake family representatives on behalf of President Trump, and that that would be the extent of their outreach to the family.
He seemed to suggest that there were efforts being made to limit contact with the Blake family but we don't really know what he's -- what they're referring when they say that. But, I mean, I think the bottom line here is that there's some real questions about whether this kind of outreach from the president to the Blake family is even something that the White House wants to do right now.
[13:50:10]
It is not consistent with the message that they've been trying to drive all week, and in fact, they haven't -- the president in his speech last night, over an hour, 70 plus minutes, didn't mention Jacob Blake at all. The only mention of Kenosha came when he talked about rioting and mob violence. So, you know, it's not clear to me that the White House sees any advantage politically right now to reaching out to the Blake family. And in fact they might see it quite the opposite considering that the president's base seems to be very skeptical of the situation.
COOPER: And so, Abby, the president today took credit for success in Kenosha, hasn't directly addressed what happened there in terms of the police shooting.
PHILLIP: I'm sorry, Anderson.
COOPER: That's OK.
PHILLIP: I'm sorry. Let me just --
COOPER: That's all right. I'll go to Laura. Laura, the -- just in terms of the young man now who had come from Illinois and shot, allegedly shot and killed two protesters, wounding another, what is the process for him now?
COATES: Well, you know, in Wisconsin, it's one of the few states in the United States where a 17-year-old may not actually be considered able, you know, to vote obviously. He's not even an adult age, so to speak, but can be punished as an adult in the criminal justice system. And so at the age of 17, he is now faced with these very serious charges, and according to the reporting, what we know from what's happened so far, it is because he intentionally killed two people and injured another person.
Now we know that there are going to be different discussions and facts about whether this was self-defense as some are articulating. Why he actually had a weapon in general at the age of 17, how he got his hands on it. And of course the relationship he had with the police officers going forward and how he was able to leave and then return at his own will to kind of turn himself in.
And so right now he's facing very serious charges. The fact that he's 17 years old will not be a shield from the justice system. And it's worth noting, when you think about the dynamics at play here, I mean, Trayvon Martin was 17 years old when a packet of Skittles was seen as somehow some part of a lethal threat. And you have a 17-year-old walking down the street by police officers able to -- people shouting out he just killed someone, and he's able to return home?
And you have to wonder, will the parents be involved in some sort of discussion about prosecution or charges if they were aware or helped to facilitate the access of these weapons if they facilitated his escape from an area. All of that will be considered right now. We're all waiting to see.
COOPER: Yes. Abby is back with us. The president has not directly addressed, and correct me if I'm wrong, hasn't directly addressed the shooting of Jacob Blake, right?
PHILLIP: No, he hasn't, Anderson. And in fact, when he was asked by reporters yesterday, he ignored multiple questions about it. He rarely even in these situations addresses these situations immediately. We know that he was briefed earlier this week. His chief of staff and the Department of Justice briefed him on the situation but he conspicuously avoided those questions. So this is not something, it seems, that the president wants to talk about because as I said earlier it contradicts the broader message. And now, I think, things are even more complicated for the president because there's been an individual arrested and charged with two counts of murder for killing two people in Kenosha and that person was a supporter of the president who apparently showed up armed to protect businesses.
So it has made the situation even more complicated for the president. And so I don't expect a whole lot of conversation from him about it. He's been tweeting about the National Guard in Kenosha. But at the same time there's no indication that the federal government had anything to do with the National Guard coming into that city.
COOPER: Right, the governor --
PHILLIP: The governor called the National Guard --
COOPER: The request of local authorities.
PHILLIP: Exactly. Earlier. And had done that before President Trump even weighed in on social media. So he seems to be wanting to take credit for things calming down in the city but none of the -- no responsibility whatsoever for any of the negative things that might have happened and also not really wanting to address the underlying issues of race and the treatment of black people by police.
COOPER: Yes. Laura, Abby, thank you both very much.
Kenosha police speaking in moments. We'll take that live. Plus breaking news in the pandemic. The FDA has just fired its new spokesperson just days after the FDA commissioner overstated the impact of plasma treatments. Stand by.
[13:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: We're learning about a surprise departure at the Food and Drug Administration. Sources tell CNN the FDA commissioner fired the agency's newly appointed spokeswoman, Emily Miller. It comes days after a very public communications debacle by a blood plasma treatment for COVID.
CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me now. So why was Miller fired?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Anderson, we don't know. But certainly if she had any role in what happened with the announcing the emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma.
