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"Black Panther" Star Chadwick Boseman Dies at 43; Opposing Narratives after Kenosha Shooting; Second Spike of COVID-19 in Europe; Trump Dismisses Protesters as "Anarchists, Agitators," Stokes Fears of Crime and Violence under Biden; Navalny's Chief of Staff Blames Kremlin for Poisoning; Black American Athletes History of Powerful Protests. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired August 29, 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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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST (voice-over): A devastating loss: the world reacts to the news that "Black Panther" actor, Chadwick Boseman, has lost a four-year battle with colon cancer.
Also, ahead. The U.S., again, questions its relationship with race, as thousands of demonstrators gather in the nation's capital to demand an overhaul of the country's criminal justice system.
And as the U.S. still grapples with rising coronavirus cases, several countries in Europe are now seeing massive spikes. The latest in the global effort to fight the virus.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to you, our viewers, here in the United States and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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BRUNHUBER: As demands for racial justice in the United States grow louder, the nation is mourning the unexpected loss of a young actor, who made film history through his portrayal of African American legends.
Chadwick Boseman lost his four-year battle with colon cancer. The 43- year old starred in the boundary-breaking Black superhero film "Black Panther." He also portrayed soul singer James Brown and the first Black Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall and baseball's Jackie Robinson. Boseman's death fell on the same day Major League Baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson Day when the Brooklyn Dodgers' number 42 smashed the game's color barrier.
Condolences are pouring in. The Black advocacy group, the NAACP, paid tribute on Twitter, thanking Boseman for "showing us how to conquer adversity with grace."
And Academy Award winning actress Viola Davis tweeted, "No words to express my devastation of losing you. Your talent, your spirit, your heart, your authenticity, it was an honor working beside you. Rest well, prince."
Let's bring in Afua Adom. She tweeted out what Chadwick Boseman meant to Black kids and, frankly, to all of us, playing the Black Panther so brilliantly is immeasurable. He continued to give joy through his talent, whilst battling an awful disease. Rest in the ultimate peace and power you deserve.
Afua Adom joins me, now, live, from London.
You said that this took your breath away, the passing of someone so talented, dying so young.
AFUA ADOM, JOURNALIST AND COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. I mean, to wake up to this news, this morning, was truly shocking because, Chadwick Boseman, as "Black Panther," seems so strong, so young.
You know, we know that "Black Panther" was coming back in May 2022 and we had no idea that he was so gravely ill although, the signs were there lately in his posts on social media.
In fact, people had been questioning his appearance. He did appear to be thinner and not as healthy and not as built up as we've been used to. And people were questioning. And then, in some -- in some cases, making fun of the fact that he looked thinner and he looked gaunt to the point where he, in fact, deleted those pictures.
So although the signs were there, we just didn't know that for four years -- can you imagine?
For four years, he made some of the greatest movies of his life. He was Black Panther, going through such a horrible and terrible experience, battling colon cancer, whilst in this incredible and very, very demanding role.
You know, he spoke about how he had to bulk up for the role. You know, there's videos on social media, that I've seen this morning, that brought me to tears, when he was talking about children with terminal cancer, who are writing to him and saying that they were trying to, basically, stay alive so they could see him in this role.
And imagine him having that responsibility on his shoulders, whilst also going through the same thing himself. It's unimaginable. And he really has transcended into a real-life superhero.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Well, you know, despite that, you know, success, despite that talent, looking back, I mean, he found it hard to break in the barriers that he faced mirrored those of many talented African American artists.
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ADOM: Oh, absolutely. You know, in his Howard commencement speech address in 2018, he talked about how he was on a soap opera and he left because he didn't like the way that they were portraying Black characters and he himself talked about how hard it was for him to break through. You know, his breakout role was in "42." That was in 2013, which was
only seven years ago. So he was 35 or thereabouts, when he had his breakout role. And that really has taken time. He has more than paid his dues. He's been acting for such a long time but always carried himself with such charisma, such grace and really took on his roles and knew the responsibility that he had, you know, of being this Black actor.
But was never afraid to talk about the struggles. And I think that's part of what made him so relatable, so great to interview. And just someone who just represented Black actors, male and female, in such an amazing way.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And as you said, I mean, that, you know, seminal, defining role of "Black Panther," even though he played a fictional superhero, just -- just a real sources of strength for many, in the African American community and the diaspora, really, around the world.
ADOM: Absolutely. Here, in the U.K., when "Black Panther" came out, I was at the premiere. And the excitement that was around that film in the months building up to it was unimaginable. In the way the African diaspora community, the Caribbean diaspora community here, in the U.K., came out and showed up for "Black Panther." It was so important that we had this film that wasn't necessarily a Black story.
It was a superhero story that -- through a Black lens. And that was something that we'd never seen before. And it was so beautifully done. You know, the -- the costuming, the elements of science. Everything about "Black Panther" was everything that we wanted and been waiting for.
It was so important to see that, on screen and to have King T'Challa, that superhero, that our kids, you know, my daughters watch "Black Panther." And to have that superhero representation for ourselves and for our children was so important and will continue to be important.
That is such a legacy that he leaves. You know, from 2016, when he first popped up in the Marvel movies, to the standalone "Black Panther" films, it's something that we will never, ever forget. And the excitement that surrounded that film was incredible. It was such an amazing part to be part of that.
And we so looked forward to seeing him again, next year, in the next "Black Panther" movie. It just feels like he's gone far too soon. It's such a shame.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. Very well said there. You know, just a relatively short career but still, larger than life. Thank you, Afua Adom very much, in London. Appreciate it.
And Boseman's death came the same day as a massive peaceful racial justice demonstration was held in Washington, D.C.,
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Marchers demanded justice for Jacob Blake, the African American man left paralyzed in a police shooting, earlier this week. But they also honored the anniversary of reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 March on Washington.
Like participants in that historic event, Friday's marchers called for equality, better voting protection and police reform. Crowds gathered at the Lincoln Memorial where King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech 57 years ago.
Relatives of Black people killed during encounters with police were among the speakers. And relatives of Jacob Blake also spoke. And they did so as opposing narratives emerged in their loved one's case, along with new details about the suspect in the deadly protest shooting Wednesday. Sara Sidner has more.
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JACOB BLAKE SR., JACOB BLAKE'S FATHER: Jacob Blake.
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The family of Jacob Blake joining thousands in Washington rallying to give a voice to those taken away at the hands of police.
LETETRA WIDEMAN, JACOB BLAKE'S SISTER: You must stand, you must fight but not with violence and chaos.
SIDNER (voice-over): Authorities revealing new details now about Jacob Blake's past and the circumstances surrounding the shooting that left Blake paralyzed.
The sheriff saying he's cuffed to his hospital bed because Blake has felony warrants for his arrest, including one from July for third degree sexual assault. The restraint highly criticized by Blake's family.
BLAKE: When I walked into that room, you know, he's 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 what was -- that's a little overkill, to have him shackled to the bed. That just makes no sense to me.
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SIDNER (voice-over): Friday afternoon, Blake's local attorney says the cuffs were finally removed and Blake's warrants vacated. And dispatch audio from the moments before Blake's shooting is shedding a little more light on why police approached him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Complainant says Jacob Blake isn't supposed to be there and took the complainant's keys and refused -- is refusing to give them back.
It looks like he's trying to leave. We're trying to get a vehicle description. SIDNER (voice-over): And new information about the 17-year old who's accused of shooting and killing two people and wounding another during protests over Blake's shooting.
In the charges laid out against him, authorities say Kyle Rittenhouse was running away from the scene. He can be heard saying on the phone, "I just killed somebody." His attorney telling NBC News, though, his client was acting in self defense. Hannah Gittings' boyfriend, showed here, died trying to stop the gunman using his skateboard.
HANNAH GITTINGS, SHOOTING VICTIM'S GIRLFRIEND: He loved the city because it was his city and he wanted to make it better. Like he wanted to stay in this house with me and my daughter and raise her here and, like, make it a better place.
SIDNER (voice-over): Blake's father says these two shootings are an example of two different justice systems in America.
BLAKE: That 17-year-old Caucasian shot and killed two people and blew another man's arm off on his way back to Antioch, Illinois. He got to go home. My son got ICU and paralyzed from the waist down. Those are the two justice systems right in front of us. You can compare them yourself.
SIDNER: To that end, we are getting more details on what led up to the shooting of Jacob Blake. According to the Kenosha Police Association, they are saying that Blake indeed had a knife on him, that officers asked him to drop it, that he did not comply.
They also say they tried to use a Taser, that they were -- he was in a tussle with an officer and that when he was going to his car, they were actually called out there because he had stolen keys, according to them, and was maybe attempting to take the vehicle as well.
Obviously had three kids inside the vehicle. And he turned his back and you can see the video from there. He turns his back, the officer grabs his shirt, ends up firing at him seven times, hitting him in the back and paralyzing him.
So those are the details that are coming out now from the police association. To be clear, they are not the investigating agency. That is the State Department of Justice, who is looking into this case and they are, of course, not the official police spokesman or the police chief in this case.
An odd way to get some of this information out. It is not coming from an official source but it is coming from the agency, the group that supports police officers.
We have also heard from Jacob Blake's family about these allegations. And they are adamant. They say Jacob Blake did not have a weapon on him -- Sara Sidner, CNN, Kenosha.
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And U.S. president Donald Trump made his first public comments on Jacob Blake's case Friday. On an airport tarmac in New Hampshire, Mr. Trump was asked whether the shooting was justified. This was his response.
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TRUMP: I'm looking into it, very strongly. I'll be getting reports and I'll certainly let you know pretty soon. But I'll be -- it was -- it was not a good sight. I didn't like the sight of it, certainly. And I think most people would agree with that. But we'll be getting reports in very soon and we'll report back then.
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BRUNHUBER: And Facebook is under fire for the way it handled the militia group that encouraged armed people to come to Kenosha Wednesday night. In a town hall meeting, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, in part, quote, "what's going on in Kenosha is really, deeply troubling. On second review, doing it more sensitively, the team that's responsible for dangerous organizations recognized this violated the policies and we took it down."
Coming up, a huge crowd gathered on the White House lawn and, well, as you can see in this video, there are not a lot of masks. We'll talk about the U.S. and its fight against coronavirus next.
Plus, several countries in Europe are reporting a troubling spike in coronavirus cases. We'll have the details coming up.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, in accordance with New Hampshire executive order 63, please wear your masks.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): You can hear it there, jeers at a Trump rally in New Hampshire, supporters of the U.S. president Trump booing as they were reminded to mask up to protect against COVID-19.
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BRUNHUBER: And they aren't the only reluctant ones. On Thursday more than 1,500 people gathered on the White House lawn in what's been called a potential superspreader event to hear the president's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. Nick Watt tells us how America is coping with the virus.
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TRUMP: Like those brave Americans before us, we are meeting this challenge.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But now, our president is leading by bad example, no distance, few masks and many places prohibit gatherings like these, all brushed off by a senior White House official with this. Everybody is going to catch this thing eventually.
One prominent model now projects 135,000 more Americans could be killed by COVID-19 by December 1st.
Remember, last week we were told --
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, CDC DIRECTOR: You are going to see the death rate really starting to drop.
WATT: But if that is true, our average daily death toll still hovering around 1,000 will actually rise.
Right now, we are also seeing record rates of infection in Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa where the governor closed all bars in the hardest hit counties, including some college towns, because --
GOV. KIM REYNOLDS (R-IA): It is increasing the virus activity in the community and it's spilling over to other segments of the population.
WATT: 8,000 cases and counting on colleges campuses across the country as students return.
But here is the good news. Nationally, new case counts are falling, New York's infection rate the lowest since all this began and the White House has announced the purchase and the production of 150 million new 15 minute tests.
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DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: It really could be game-changing.
Before you go to school, before you go to work, it could catch a lot more of the asymptomatic cases that we are currently not catching at all.
WATT: Plus, there is vaccine optimism but some concern over complex logistics.
PAUL MANGO, DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR POLICY, HHS: We don't know exactly how many doses we're going to have. We don't know at what time we're going to have those doses as we approach the end of the year.
WATT: The CDC telling governors it is rapidly making preparations to implement large-scale distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the fall of 2020, asking states to be quick with their permitting process.
But --
DR. ALI KHAN, DEAN, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: We can't afford 1,000 deaths a day until the vaccine. We need to adopt the control and containment strategy in the United States. WATT: Instead, the president's tacit message up close, unmasked, totally cool.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, misdemeanor charges against two TikTok stars who allegedly held house parties with hundreds of people. Now the city attorney said that, because they have 90 million followers, between them they should be setting a better example.
Meanwhile, the president, who has more than 85 million followers on Twitter, just hosted more than 1,000 people on the nation's front lawn -- Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
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BRUNHUBER: California is reopening, again. But this time, it will take things slowly and more cautiously. Starting Friday, counties must wait a minimum of 21 days before they can ease COVID restrictions. They also need to meet reopening guidelines for two weeks straight.
Now previously, the state was criticized for reopening too quickly. And as a result, there was a resurgence in coronavirus cases and deaths.
Several countries in Europe are now on high alert. They're reporting big jumps in COVID-19 cases. Spain and France are among the worst hit, with daily infections around what was seen in March.
Italy, the U.K., Ireland and Germany are also seeing their numbers trend up. But the good news is that, so far, the number of deaths hasn't matched the spike in new cases. So let's discuss what might be happening, here. So joining me now from Lancaster, England, is Dr. Muhammad Munir. He is a virologist at Lancaster University.
Thank you very much for joining us. I appreciate it. When it comes to COVID, unfortunately, so much of the medical has become political. So that's where I want to start here.
When you hear that, you know, thousands of COVID skeptics are planning to protest in Berlin, when you hear a crowd of -- at a political rally for President Trump is told that wearing masks was required by state law and the crowd boos, what goes through your mind?
Is it possible to get a grips -- a grip on the disease if those responses represent the attitudes of so many people?
DR. MUHAMMAD MUNIR, LANCASTER UNIVERSITY: Not really, Kim. I mean, that is really worrisome because, I mean, still, we know that one in 10 people among us, they have the only antibodies and they are protected. The rest nine are still susceptible to the infection.
And not observing social distancing, wearing masks and probably, one of the other factor is that in those protests and gathering, people from different age groups involved, which have different comorbidities, different vulnerabilities and different disposition, altogether is a wonderful breeding place for the virus. Viruses love to spread when people gather in protests without
observing all the social measures we have been putting in place. And the problem -- another thing is that people who do not follow the restriction, they might only constitute 5 percent of the total population.
But the effort can be put by the rest of 95 percent can be provided by these 5 percent, putting all those successes into a failure.
BRUNHUBER: Is that what we're seeing, here, in terms of the rising numbers in Europe?
MUNIR: In Europe, there have been many protests, particularly, in Germany. People have been gathering in Berlin. And I was looking on to the real pictures. Pretty clear that the virus would love to spread within that -- the communities. And particularly, those people who are protesting this restriction, they are probably the one that are least observing the measures that we've been putting in place.
So all in all, I think this is really worrisome and fear the spike in cases more than what we are currently seeing.
BRUNHUBER: Also, worrisome. We're hearing, at least now, of two cases of COVID-19 reinfection.
So what does that mean, going forward, for -- for a treatment and for a vaccine if you can -- if you can catch, you know, various strains of this?
MUNIR: Yes, absolutely. That has also been a very important topic recently. Just to highlight that we are impacted on a daily basis by many different pathogens.
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MUNIR: And normally, our body does a remarkable job to eradicate those infections and don't let them establish. Generally speaking, for coronaviruses, I mean, out of 24 million cases, we have only four or five reinfection cases, which could be contributed by many host factors, environmental factors.
And I think the important thing is most of those cases of reinfection have been asymptomatic. So meaning, the immunity established by the first infection was good enough to protect at least the lethal outcome of the second infection.
So it is something we have to watch very clearly but the virus is mutating overall environmental impact is making people susceptible to reinfection. But as it stand, it's not really of any concern.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Well, so many things to keep an eye on here. Thank you so much, Dr. Muhammad Munir, in Lancaster, England. We appreciate it.
MUNIR: Thank you, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Well, we're getting two very different messages from Democrats and Republicans following their national conventions.
Will voters be swayed by the coronavirus or by law and order?
We'll discuss that, next, after the break. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to you, our viewers, in the United States, Canada and around the world.
Well, as thousands marched near the White House and called for racial justice, the president of the United States had nothing to say about it. Donald Trump's attention was on re-election.
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BRUNHUBER: Just one day after using the White House to wrap up the Republican National Convention, in defiance of longstanding tradition, he resumed holding large political rallies, despite the ongoing pandemic. Here's CNN's Jim Acosta.
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TRUMP: Commutation.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a bit of counterprogramming from the White House to the March on Washington down on the National Mall, President Trump held a surprise photo-op in the Oval Office, where he issued a full pardon to Alice Johnson, the same criminal justice reform advocate whose prison sentence he commuted two years ago.
TRUMP: We're giving Alice a full pardon. I just told her. We didn't even discuss it. We just -- you were out there. I saw you in the audience last night.
ACOSTA: But the president refused to comment on the march and the protesters' hopes to end police brutality in the U.S. His aides shouted over our questions.
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QUESTION: What is your message to the thousands of people on the Mall?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jim, let's go.
ACOSTA: A subject Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris addressed in a virtual message to the demonstrators.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As we continue to see Black men and women slain in our streets and left behind by an economy and justice system that have too often denied Black folks our dignity and rights, they would share our anger and pain but no doubt they would turn it into fuel.
ACOSTA: The president and his team are trying to have it both ways, with Mr. Trump hammering away at his law and order a message.
TRUMP: We can never allow mob rule. In the strongest possible terms, the Republican Party condemns the rioting, looting, arson and violence we have seen in Democrat-run cities.
ACOSTA: While his staffers insist Mr. Trump is actually a compassionate leader, ignoring his record of race-baiting stretching back decades.
JA'RON SMITH, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF AMERICAN INNOVATION: I just wish everyone could see the deep empathy he shows the families whose loved ones were killed in senseless violence.
ACOSTA: The president also tried to pull a fast one on the coronavirus, insisting he's just following the science in the battle against COVID-19.
TRUMP: My administration has a very different approach. To save as many lives as possible, we're focusing on the science, the facts and the data.
ACOSTA: But that's not true. Just look at the audience for his speech, hundreds of supporters sitting side by side with few masks in sight.
As one senior White House official told CNN: "Everybody is going to catch this thing eventually."
Chief of staff Mark Meadows all that said attendees were there at their own risk.
MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Obviously, any time that you have people together, there's the willingness that you make choices individually.
ACOSTA: The RNC revealed four people have already tested positive for the virus after attending convention events down in Charlotte, another example of GOP officials ignoring the administration's own health experts.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Any crowd, whether it's a protest but any crowd in which you have people close together without masks is a risk.
ACOSTA: Despite the real danger, campaign officials say the president will be holding more big events in the coming days with large crowds like the one we saw on the south lawn of the White House.
And just as we saw at a rally in Tulsa over the summer, campaign officials will be learning in the coming days whether staffers or other attendees were infected with the virus. Not everybody was tested before the event -- Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. To discuss all of this with us from London is Thomas Gift. He is the director of the Center on U.S. Politics at University College London.
Thank you very much for joining us. So both conventions have come and gone.
What did you make of the Republicans' efforts to portray a kinder, gentler Trump?
It doesn't seem, you know, sustainable, contrasted with what we saw last night, the unscripted Trump back on the campaign trail.
So what's the point?
THOMAS GIFT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, what struck me most about Trump's speech was its predictability. He really stuck to the standard script of painting Biden as an artifice of the political left, someone who would usher in socialism, counter virtues of big government and undermine so-called traditional American values.
I think Trump made very few overtures to moderate and centrist voters and instead appealed directly to his base, which of course is nothing new. Largely lacking in his speech was an intellectually lucid agenda about what the party stands for, about conservative values, about what innovative policies the Republican Party would bring to Washington if Trump were reelected.
Instead, we really got a steady dose of opposition politics. Trump seems to think, I believe, that his best chance is to change the conventional wisdom, that 2020 has to be a referendum on his record. Instead, he really wants to make this more about fear of Democrats and what he maligns as their radical far left social agenda.
BRUNHUBER: All right. So Daniel Dale, CNN's fact checker, fellow Canadian, I must add, is getting plaudits for his handling of that amazing string of untruths, shall we say, that President Trump wove together during his speech. But it seems no fact checker in the world can seem to make a dent on his existing support.
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BRUNHUBER: Is there any cost to the lying?
GIFT: Well, he is known as the Teflon president because nothing seems to really stick to him. And because of that, I think Trump has used that as carte blanche, essentially a blank check for him to distort the facts, to play fast and loose with the facts. And so far, there haven't been too many consequences, at least with his base.
There's about 30 percent to 40 percent of the American population that's going to stick with him through thick and thin, through ups and downs. And, you know, if it hasn't stuck, you know, in the last three and a half years, it's unlikely that there's going to be any change in the next two months going into the election.
BRUNHUBER: All right. So what we've seen before the convention, during and after, Mr. Trump is portraying himself as the law-and-order candidate and in the potentially key state of Wisconsin, some Democrats are saying that the violence around the protests in Kenosha will help Trump.
How do you think this unrest will play as a useful foil for Trump?
GIFT: That's a really great question. It does look like Trump is homing in on law and order as a central (INAUDIBLE) of his campaign platform designed not only to appeal to his base but also to white suburban voters. I think it's about the distillation (ph) of fear and it's about presenting himself as the only firewall between security (ph) and anarchy in the country.
Trump has really tried to do this by making the case that Biden and the Democrats are captive to defunct police agenda, tepid in supporting law enforcement and that they're weak on cracking down on crime and violence, which Trump says occurs disproportionately in Democrat-controlled cities.
I think that message and depicting protesters as outside the mainstream ever, even though it will resonate with some, it's not entirely clear whether support for Biden is strongly connected to the protests.
It's possible that some voters even see this as a strongman argument, even more so because Biden has taken a relatively balanced approach to the issue. He's demanded police accountability while, at the same time, saying he respects law enforcement and wants to give them the resources they need to do their job effectively.
BRUNHUBER: Well, finally, the NBA players' response to the Kenosha shootings, their deal with the NBA, that they can use arenas as polling places and -- and, you know, sharing voting information and advertisements during the playoffs, what kind of difference do you think this will make, given that there's been so much focus on voting rights, on disenfranchisement and so on?
GIFT: That's a really great question. And it is interesting to note exactly what you just said. I mean, it's -- it's hard to know.
A big question, I think, really, for Democrats, is, can they expand their core of voters?
You know, can they get people to come out to the polls?
They really have accused Republicans of trying to engage in voter suppression. So whether this makes a difference, in particular, I think is, very much, an open question.
BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll see. Thank you so much for your analysis. Appreciate it. Thomas Gift of The UCL Center on U.S. Politics in London. Thank you very much.
GIFT: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: Coming up, after the break, police in Berlin expect thousands of people to protest, today, against coronavirus restrictions. So we'll go, live, to the German capital for details.
Plus, Alexei Navalny's closest ally is speaking out. He tells CNN who he believes put the Kremlin's most well-known critic in a coma. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: As the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny fights for his life in a German ICU, his close friend and chiefs of staff tells CNN he believes the Russian government is responsible for the suspected poisoning. Our Phil Black has more from Berlin.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russia's denials about harming Alexei Navalny mean nothing to his closest friends and family.
LEONID VOLKOV, NAVALNY CHIEF OF STAFF: Their refusal, to even open up a criminal investigation, proves that Mr. Putin is responsible.
BLACK (voice-over): Leonid Volkov and Navalny have worked together challenging Russia's president and political system for the last 10 years.
BLACK: Just to be clear, you believe this was the state?
VOLKOV: Based on the information I have at this point of time, I strongly believe that it is (INAUDIBLE) state or some -- well, or is a part of the state.
So as of now, we don't have the proof that Putin ordered it. So it might be some of the government agents. But the level of organization, the poisons that they used, it's not something you can buy in a pharmacy.
BLACK (voice-over): Volkov says Navalny always knew the risks. But together, they desperately hoped his popularity would protect him, making it too risky for anyone to seriously think about trying to kill him. They were wrong.
Last week, Navalny began screaming in pain aboard a Russian domestic flight. Soon after, he was in a coma. Russian doctors said there was no evidence of poison but that was quickly contradicted when he arrived here at Berlin's Charite Hospital. Tests here determined poison from a group of chemicals but not the specific substance. The Kremlin says that's why there is still no reason to open a criminal investigation.
VOLKOV: It only could have an intention to kill. If the emergency landing (ph) would take 20 more minutes, he would not be with us now.
BLACK (voice-over): Navalny is Russia's most prominent Putin critic. Through a mix of determination, charisma and clever use of social media, he's shown repeatedly he can call huge angry crowds to the streets. He has exposed state corruption and the ruling elites' vast wealth.
But if this was an attempted assassination, why now?
Volkov says the timing suggests it may have been Navalny's call for Russians to follow their neighbors in Belarus and hold mass protests against their own government. And Navalny's political machine has been working to influence coming local elections with a tactical voting campaign to stop pro Putin candidates.
Whatever the reason, Alexei Navalny's supporters believe some of his enemies made a cold calculation. The benefits of his murder would outweigh the risks of creating a political martyr.
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BRUNHUBER: Still more to come on CNN including a look at the long, storied history of Black athletes using their sport to fight for social change. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): We are looking at live pictures from Berlin. Thousands of protesters, few masks and, as you can see, absolutely no social distancing. Those are demonstrators opposed to coronavirus restrictions. They're gathered in the German capital.
BRUNHUBER: So for more on that, let's go, now, to Fred Pleitgen in Berlin who is right down there, as we speak. Fred, we've seen, generally, as a case study for how a large, democratic nation can deal successfully and rationally with the virus.
But there's so much anti-COVID passion there in Germany. And it may come as a surprise, to many. Give us a sense of what's happening right there, now, behind you.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Kim. Well, you're absolutely right. There are literally thousands of people who have already turned out for this demonstration against some of the measures of the German government has taken, to try and combat the novel coronavirus. The folks who are organizing this, they believe that tens of thousands
of people are going to show up not just from Germany but they're actually mobilizing from other countries as well.
And one of the things the German government has said and that many people in this society, quite frankly, say is that, despite the fact that you have these rules to try and combat the novel coronavirus.
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PLEITGEN: At the same time, they do believe that the right to speak your mind and the right to demonstrate is such a high and important good that it is something that needs to be able to take place.
One of the things with this demonstration, the city of Berlin where, obviously, this is taking place, they filed a court order to try and prevent it, saying there were health and safety risks, saying that people would not abide by the guidelines that are there.
But a German court has actually said this demonstration can take place so that's exactly what's going on now. There are some very heavy restrictions supposed to be in place. For instance, people are supposed to wear a mask. They're supposed to physically distance as well.
As you can see, the mask part of it isn't really happening, that much. As far as the distance is concerned, if you go over there to the Brandenburg Gate, also, you can see people bunching up.
But by and large, I don't think the crowd is large enough, yet, to have real massive groups of people.
As far as the folks who come here are concerned, it's an interesting mix of people. A lot of regular people who just don't agree with the coronavirus measures. However, there are also, if you look over there, some flags over there of the color of the German imperial war flag, a far-right group that operates here in Germany.
And also, a lot of people who don't like the press, like, for instance, the gentleman behind us.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Fred, listen. You know, passions on this issue, clearly, are so high.
Are authorities expecting any violence?
PLEITGEN: I mean, they certainly do believe that's something that could take place. What happened last time this demonstration took place was that the police stopped it at some point. They said the people were not abiding by the guidelines. And there, you did have a few scuffles.
But by and large, one of the things, so far, at least that we're seeing, is it does appear folks that are here, while some of them certainly are part of the German far right, some of the folks you are seeing walking past me, they are, by and large, peaceful in the way they're protesting.
So far there haven't been any issues. But certainly doesn't mean police don't believe it's something that could happen as the days go on. The march is set to take place for several hours. And then, there's a long demonstration at the end of it.
So there is still a lot of time. And we're going to have to wait and see what happens especially, if folks don't abide by the health and safety measures. And the authorities believe that they have to try and make a move to stop this demonstration at some point because it is extremely large.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, as we can see. All right. Listen. Thank you so much. We're going to be following this story throughout the day. Appreciate it, Fred Pleitgen in Berlin.
Well, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka has returned to the courts after she chose not to play following the Jacob Blake shooting. Osaka wore a Black Lives Matter shirt before her rescheduled semifinal at the Western and southern Open on Friday. The former world number one said she withdrew initially after, quote, "watching the genocide of Black people at the hand of the police."
Osaka won her match in straight sets to reach the final. She said she wants to continue the fight for racial justice.
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NAOMI OSAKA, TENNIS STAR: For me, I just wanted to create awareness. I felt like the NBA, it's been talked about. Everyone wore shirts. So I just wanted to create awareness in the tennis bubble. And I think I did my job, I guess.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, when NBA basketball players and other professional athletes refused to play this week, they were participating in a long tradition of protest. Ever since the civil rights movement, many Black athletes have used their sports to get their message across. Brian Todd has that story.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As LeBron James put it in a tweet, "Change doesn't happen with just talk."
The Los Angeles Lakers star and members of the Milwaukee Bucks take the lead in refusing to participate in the NBA's playoff games, making a powerful statement about the shooting of Jacob Blake.
STERLING BROWN, MILWAUKEE BUCKS PLAYERS: Despite the overwhelming need for change, there has been no action. So our focus today cannot be on basketball.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're calling for justice for Jacob Blake and demand the officer be held accountable. TODD (voice-over): This comes four years after 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick first took a knee to protest against the oppression of African Americans. But for many decades, Black athletes in America have taken some of the most powerful and the riskiest measures to call attention to racial injustice.
MIKE FREEMAN, AUTHOR, "FOOTBALL'S FEARLESS ACTIVISTS": They come from a place of sincerity that most people can look at them and go, all right, they sort of automatically kind of get it.
TODD (voice-over): In the 1960s, as the Vietnam War raged, boxing's electrifying heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the U.S. military. His impassioned arguments became legendary, like when he spoke of why he didn't want to kill Viet Cong soldiers.
MUHAMMAD ALI, AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL BOXER: Shoot them for what? They never call me nigger. They never lynched me.
TODD (voice-over): In the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who'd won gold and bronze medals, wore Black gloves and socks and raise their fists on the metal stand to call attention to injustice and poverty.
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TODD (voice-over): Arthur Ashe, the first Black American man to win the U.S. Open and Wimbledon tennis titles, was arrested, protesting against apartheid. In all those cases, those athletes paid a steep price for taking a stand.
JERRY BREWER, SPORTS COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: The costs were tremendous. John Carlos and Tommie Smith, come home and their lives and their families' lives in a lot of ways were ruined, you know, irreparable damage.
Muhammad Ali says his career and his freedom in some ways damaged. Colin Kaepernick loses his NFL career because of it. The stakes in going all in are tremendous.
TODD (voice-over): One columnist believes this latest protest by NBA players could end up being the most powerful statement of them all.
FREEMAN: They set out postseason games, which no NFL player, NBA player, athlete of any kind ever wants to do. They work their whole lives to get to the postseason to get to the playoffs.
TODD: The analysts we spoke to say this is just the beginning of protests like this. That this protest, led by the NBA players, reflects the fact that athletes, now, realize the power they have. They have more control over the money, the TV viewership, the public images of their respective leagues, than they've ever had before -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Thanks for watching. For viewers in the U.S. and Canada, "NEW DAY" is just ahead. And for everyone else, it's "Tech for Good."
