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U.S. Races To Vaccinate As Experts Warn Of Possible New Surge; TSA Reports Record High Air Travel Since Start Of Pandemic; Derek Chauvin Murder Trial Resumes Tomorrow After Week Of Compelling Witness Testimony. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired April 04, 2021 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:49]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me and again, Happy Easter. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
We start this Easter Sunday with a race to vaccinate and efforts by health officials to ward off a new COVID surge. This, at a time when Americans are gathering to celebrate the holiday. Churches like St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York seeing long lines of people waiting to get in to attend mass at 50 percent capacity.
There's reason for optimism. More than four million vaccinations were administered in the U.S. on Friday, setting a new record and bringing the seven-day average past three million a day.
However, the average of new cases is rising above 60,000 once again, and as the U.S. closes in on 555,000 deaths from the disease, health experts warn we are not in the clear just yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH AND POLICY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: At this time, we really are in a category five hurricane status with regard to the rest of the world.
At this point, we will see in the next two weeks the highest number of cases reported globally since the end of the pandemic. In terms of the United States, we are just at the beginning of this surge. We haven't even really begun to see it yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Another reason health experts are worried, millions of Americans are traveling. The T.S.A. reporting a record number of air passengers on Friday. CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro is at LaGuardia Airport in New York. So Evan, cases are on the rise, but that doesn't seem to be slowing down travelers.
EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. I'm at the Arrivals Hall in LaGuardia in Terminal B. Right now, you can see it doesn't look very busy, but there is plenty of evidence that travel is becoming more normal for Americans again. Yesterday, it was the 24th straight day of more than a million
passengers at airports since this pandemic began, which is a big deal, a large number of new travelers, people are acting as though things are back to normal. But standing in the airport, but I can tell you it isn't back to normal.
You have to wear a mask when you're in the airport. These social distancing markers are still on the floor. If you want to stand around down at the airport, you have to go, you know, six feet apart.
The idea is to try to keep people safe still, because this pandemic is still very much with us.
I spoke to a traveler earlier today about why she was traveling today and what she thinks is driving this increase in travel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JADE DEL ORBE, CLEVELAND RESIDENT: I feel like because people are just probably like just tired of being at home. You get tired after a certain like point. They're like, oh, whatever.
I guess like, some people have gotten the vaccine. So they're like, oh, yes, we can go out now. It's a lot easier with the vaccines.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So, now, Fred, the C.D.C. says if you are fully vaccinated, you can travel at relatively low risk to yourself, but they say, please don't travel if you don't have to because there's this virus that is still spreading.
And I can show you in a graphic, just about 18 percent of the American population currently are fully vaccinated according to the Federal government. Now, that's a good number. We've had record vaccination days, but still, it's only 18 percent, and if I show you this other map of America and the cases rising and falling across the country, you can see there are plenty of states where cases are falling or staying flat.
But there are also plenty of states where those cases are going up, and that is what people are worried about, another surge coming.
So as Americans are looking at all of this and seeing this ability to travel again, getting back out there, we are seeing other signs that they are doing that.
Delta Airlines, which had kept its middle seats open because of social distancing throughout this entire pandemic, due to capacity concerns is now ending that policy starting today. That's a month earlier than they expected to do it because of the capacity, people desiring to fly so much.
We're seeing these kinds of things happen, even as the C.D.C. is still telling people look, this virus is still very much with us. Cases are rising across the country and even though it feels nice, the weather is great, you want to get out, they say, you really shouldn't unless you absolutely have to -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Yes, that's right. People want to be optimistic, but they're also hearing these experts say, "Please be careful." Evan McMorris-Santoro, thank you so much.
All right, tomorrow morning, the nation will hear more testimony in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd.
This week will likely be just as difficult to watch after days of tearful eyewitness accounts detailing the horror of watching Floyd struggle under the knee of Chauvin.
[15:05:07]
WHITFIELD: Chauvin has pleaded not guilty and faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge. CNN senior national correspondent, Sara Sidner reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JERRY BLACKWELL, MINNESOTA PROSECUTOR: On May 25th, of 2020 Mr. Derek Chauvin betrayed this badge when he used excessive and unreasonable force upon the body of Mr. George Floyd.
ERIC NELSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Derek Chauvin did exactly what he had been trained to do over the course of his 19-year career. The use of force is not attractive, but it is a necessary component of policing.
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The defense and prosecutions dueling arguments in a case the world is watching.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want?
GEORGE FLOYD, VICTIM: I can't breathe. Please --
SIDNER (voice over): The first week of testimony in the former officer's murder trial began with jurors seeing the entire bystander video that was followed by a long line of eyewitnesses.
JENA LEE SCURRY, MINNEAPOLIS 911 DISPATCHER: My instincts were telling me that something's wrong.
SIDNER (voice over): Jena Lee Scurry, a 911 dispatcher, called a police supervisor as she watched officers' treatment of George Floyd on a street surveillance camera.
DONALD WILLIAMS, WITNESS: I called the police on the police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And why did you do that?
WILLIAMS: Because I believe I witnessed a murder.
SIDNER (voice over): Donald Williams was watching from the sidewalk. The professionally trained MMA fighter was overcome with emotion as he heard his own call to 911. WILLIAMS (via phone): Ya'll murders bro. Ya'll murders Thao. You going
to kill yourself. I already know it.
SIDNER (voice over): Sixty-one-year-old eyewitness, Charles McMillian was there too.
CHARLES MCMILLIAN, WITNESS: You can't win.
FLOYD: I am not trying to win.
SIDNER (voice over): He says he begged Floyd to comply.
FLOYD: I can't breathe. I can't breathe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop moving.
FLOYD: Mama. Mama.
SIDNER (voice over): McMillian dissolved into sobs when he saw the video from that day.
MCMILLIAN: I feel helpless. I don't have a mama either. I understand him.
SIDNER (voice over): An off duty firefighter and EMT walking by on May 25, 2020 testified she begged officers to let her check Floyd's pose or check it themselves.
GENEVIEVE HANSON, EYEWITNESS AND FIREFIGHTER: There is man being killed. And I would have had -- had I had access to a call similar to that, I would have been able to provide medical attention to the best of my abilities and this human was denied that.
SIDNER (voice over): Some witnesses faces were shielded from the public only the jury saw them because they were all minors when they witnessed Floyd's death. The teen who took the video that went viral, and her nine-year-old cousin who testified anonymously.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been nights, I stayed up, apologizing and, and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw that officer put a knee on the neck of George Floyd. I was sad and kind of mad.
SIDNER (voice over): A former cashier who accused Floyd of paying for cigarettes with a counterfeit $20.00 bill testified, too.
CHRISTOPHER MARTIN, WITNESS: I took it anyways and I was planning to just put it on my tab until I second guessed myself and as you can see in the video, I kept examining it and then I eventually told my manager.
SIDNER (voice over): Soon after, police were called.
MARTIN: George was motionless, limp, and Chauvin seemed very -- he was in a resting state. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw you standing there with your hands on your
head for a while. Correct?
MARTIN: Correct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was going through your mind during that time period?
MARTIN: Disbelief, then guilt.
SIDNER (voice over): None of the bystanders knew George Floyd at the time. Only one person who testified this week did. They met at his job years ago when he noticed she was crying.
COURTENEY ROSS, GEORGE FLOYD'S GIRLFRIEND: Floyd has this great deep Southern voice, raspy. He goes like, "Sis, you okay, sis?" And I wasn't okay.
SIDNER (voice over): They dated for nearly three years. She testified that they shared many things including an addiction to painkillers.
ROSS: Floyd and I both suffered with opioid addiction. We got addicted and -- and tried really hard to break that addiction many times.
SIDNER (voice over): Chauvin's attorney pounced, pointing out Floyd's drug use, his argument, Floyd didn't die from Chauvin's actions, but his own drug use and preexisting medical issues.
[15:10:05]
NELSON: It was your belief that Mr. Floyd started using again, about two weeks prior to his death. Correct?
ROSS: I noticed a change in his behavior, yes.
SIDNER (voice over): The jury also heard from a slew of EMTs and police both current and former.
When EMT Derek Smith arrived on the scene, Chauvin was still on Floyd even though Floyd was unresponsive.
DEREK SMITH, HENNEPIN COUNTY PARAMEDIC: I thought he was dead.
SIDNER (voice over): But Smith said that he and his partner along with an officer worked to treat Floyd. Two officers criticized their fellow officers' treatment to Floyd.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have an opinion as to when the restraint of Mr. Floyd should have ended in this encounter?
SGT. DAVID PLOEGER (RET), DEREK CHAUVIN's FORMER SUPERVISOR: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it?
PLOEGER: When Mr. Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could ended the restraints. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is your -- you know, your view of that use of
force during that time period?
LT. RICHARD ZIMMERMAN, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE: Totally unnecessary.
SIDNER (voice over): Lieutenant Richard Zimmerman testified he is the most senior member of the Minneapolis Police Force. He has been there 35 years, now, the head of homicide.
Chauvin's attorney intimated that the lieutenant may not be in the best position to judge patrol officer's decisions.
NELSON: You're not out patrolling the streets, making arrests, things of that nature.
ZIMMERMAN: No.
NELSON: All right. And it's fair to say then that your experience with the use of force of late has been primarily through training?
ZIMMERMAN: Yes.
SIDNER (voice over): He shows up on scenes after an incident occurs. Still, with all his years of experience, he did not mince words when asked if the officers used excessive force that day.
ZIMMERMAN: Pulling him down to the ground facedown and putting your knee on a neck for that amount of time, it is just uncalled for.
I saw no reason why the officers felt they were in danger, if that's what they felt and that's what they would have to feel to be able to use that kind of force.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER (on camera): The witnesses like Lieutenant Zimmerman there have been clear, pointed, and at some points, emotional as you've seen for this week of testimony. It is a powerful case that the prosecution is bringing, but we have to remember that in this country, you are innocent until proven guilty in the court of law, and we still have not yet heard the defense's case. That will be coming up in a couple of weeks.
WHITFIELD: Okay. And then -- and then this week, Sara, the expectation is that it will get more technical that prosecutors will bring in toxicologists and medical examiners et cetera, right?
SIDNER: Yes, and you know, there's one person we haven't heard from that we expect to hear from that a lot of people are waiting to hear from and that is the Chief of Police, Chief Arradondo is expected to take the stand. He is on the witness list.
But I do have to tell you, the witness list is really long. There are 400 potential witnesses. It is not likely that they will all be called, but we will start hearing far more technical type of testimony in the next week. WHITFIELD: All right, Sara Sidner, thank you so much, from
Minneapolis. Appreciate it. Fantastic reporting.
SIDNER: Sure.
WHITFIELD: All right, Corporate America fights back against new voter restrictions. The Senior Vice President of Uber joining me live coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:17:36]
WHITFIELD: Coca-Cola joins the fight against Georgia's new voting law critics call suppressive. The Georgia-based company made it crystal clear it opposes the law.
According to a letter obtained by the "Atlanta Journal Constitution," Republican lawmakers upset with Coca-Cola's response are calling to remove the company's products from their offices at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta.
Atlanta is also Coke's hometown.
The beverage company isn't alone in its displeasure with the law. More than a hundred companies are speaking out against restricting voter access to the polls. CNN's Matt Egan has more.
MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS LEAD WRITER: Fred, CEOs are speaking out on Republican efforts to restrict voting. The leaders of more than a hundred companies including Target, PayPal and Uber issued a statement on Friday vowing to oppose legislation that would deny eligible voters the right to cast ballots.
The CEOs say that voting should be safe and accessible to all voters and that a strong democracy is good for business.
Texas-based American Airline says it strongly opposes a Texas bill that would place new restrictions on voting. All of this comes after some Atlanta-based companies face boycott threats over their initial response to Georgia's controversial voting restriction law.
Both Coca-Cola and Delta have since escalated their criticism of that legislation with Delta CEO Ed Bastian going as far as to call it unacceptable, wrong and based on a lie.
After those comments, Georgia state lawmakers threatened to revoke a tax break for Delta.
Business leaders clearly face a difficult balancing act here. They're under pressure, sometimes enormous pressure from old customers and employees to make a stand.
At the same time, they don't want to alienate some of their more conservative customers, and they don't want to invite a backlash from local politicians. This issue is not going away. An NYU study says the bills have been
introduced in 47 states with provisions that restrict voting. Fred, that means many more CEOs are going to have to decide whether or not to speak up.
WHITFIELD: Matt Egan, thank you so much for that.
So the corporate fight against the Georgia law actually got started when former CEO of American Express, Ken Chenault and CEO of Merck, Kenneth Frazier challenged black corporate executives to join forces to challenge the law and lawmakers, and among the 72 black executives who signed the letter pledging to protect voters rights, Tony West, the Chief Legal Officer at Uber, and he's joining me now live from New York.
Mr. West, so good to see you. Thanks for joining me. Happy Easter, by the way.
[15:20:20]
TONY WEST, CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER, UBER: Happy Easter. Good to be with you.
WHITFIELD: All right. So, I read that Mr. Frazier said he only paid attention to the Georgia bill kind of on the periphery until it was passed and then he was blown away. And then he and Mr. Chenault, last Sunday started e-mailing and texting execs just like you, and so now what? How will your collective commitment and clout help protect voters' rights?
WEST: Well, that's right. They reached out and reached out to a number of folks, because I think what they recognized is something that we've all collectively recognized, that access to the ballot box is essential to the health of our democracy, that the economic opportunity, the innovation, you know, the diverse talent that powers American companies, that all depends on a healthy, well-functioning representative democracy.
And for our country to succeed economically, it's important for Corporate America to speak up whenever the basic tenets of our healthy democracy are threatened, whether it's Georgia or the other measures that were mentioned in the in the report of 44 other states, any measures that would restrict access to the ballot box, that's our obligation.
WHITFIELD: So you're speaking up, you're making a commitment to carry on this fight. But the letter doesn't say anything about boycotts. But by taking a stand, are you concerned that customers and other businesses may boycott you, Uber?
WEST: Well, look, I think, you know, when it comes to Uber, Uber has always stood for expanding access, access to movement, access to economic opportunity. And for several years, through our Rights to the Polls program, we've stood for access to voting.'
And now that we've joined with other companies in speaking out and opposing measures that make it harder, not easier for eligible voters to vote, we're doubling down on that commitment.
You know, we've worked with others to support the civil rights community and the faith community and their legal challenges to the Georgia law. We're recommitting ourselves to efforts like the Get Out the Word Vote that we've done in --
WHITFIELD: Oh, I hope we really didn't lose that signal. I'm waiting just in case we can reconnect.
No, we really did just lose that signal.
Okay, when we try to reestablish and hopefully with success with Tony West, we will bring his comments back to you. Thanks to Tony West there.
All right, still ahead, President Biden's infrastructure plan involves much more than just money, highways and bridges. How the President's proposal could help fight gun violence, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:27:24]
WHITFIELD: All right, see, I knew if we were patient, we could re- establish connection. He is back with us now, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Tony West of Uber. And thanks so much for hanging in there with us.
Mr. West is one of 72 black executives who signed a letter committing to fight the Georgia new voting law.
All right. So let me ask you, you know, the MLB, they pulled the All- Star game from Atlanta over this voting law. The All-Star game was expected to bring in around $100 million to the local economy in Atlanta's Mayor says.
Yes, that's a hurtful loss, but it's the right kind of fight to be in, while Georgia Governor Kemp calls that a mistake and he will not bow to pressure. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): Major League Baseball put the wishes of Stacey Abrams and Joe Biden ahead of the economic wellbeing of hardworking Georgians who were counting on the All Star game for a paycheck.
MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), ATLANTA, GEORGIA: I can't say that I like it, but I certainly understand it. And it is really probably the first of many boycotts of our state to come. And the consequences of this bill are significant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, so it's not just Georgia, right? I mean, you and other corporate execs are also plotting fights in at least 43 other states where there is under consideration 250 restrictive voter bills. How do you go about this?
WEST: Well, look, I think, you know, American businesses have always made their voices heard in our democracy on all kinds of critical issues, right? Whether it is tax policy, or H-1B visas, infrastructure, you name it, and that's very appropriate.
Because if our nation is going to thrive, it's important for us to be competitive in the world. But we also need to make sure that our voice is heard whenever the health of that democracy is threatened.
So it's very important and very appropriate for American corporations to lend their voice to this particular issue and it's important to remember the right to vote, this is not a partisan issue. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue. This is an American issue.
There is nothing more American than standing for fair, free and equal access to the ballot box. And one other thing I would add is, we can't think about this issue disconnected from the history of voting in this country.
Last summer, in the wake of George Floyd's killing, we heard droves of companies make statements that black lives matter that was the right thing to do. Similarly, we cannot look at these kinds of voter restrictions and not recognize the history in this country that for decades, black voters have been disenfranchised at the ballot box.
Black lives have to matter not matter, not just in the context of a police encounter, they have to matter at the ballot box as well.
[15:30:14]
WHITFIELD: So am I also hearing you say that it's particularly incumbent upon companies to be engaged, especially if they have diversity, inclusion kind of outreach programs? They have to say something as it pertains to something like the basic and most important right that Americans have, which is the power of the vote.
WEST: That's exactly right. They have to -- they have to speak up, and then they have to take a stand.
You know, for us at Uber, this is -- this is really about access. We've always been about access to movement, access to economic opportunity. And for several years, we've had this Rides to the Polls program, which has meant access to voting.
And in terms of that, in the last election, we worked with a number of local Get Out the Vote groups, including groups in Georgia to make sure that people could fully participate in the democratic process.
And so, being for voting is as American as it gets. Being for an inclusive representative democracy, I think, is as American as it gets.
And if you're serious about being an anti-racist company, and we have been very public about that commitment, free, fair and equal access to the ballot box that is essential to achieving racial equity, and we will continue to support efforts to do just that.
WHITFIELD: Perhaps now, more than ever, employees are finding out that they have power, too. It's not just the company executives, but I mean, Delta's CEO just earlier this week said they heard their employees after Delta initially said we support the law.
And then they heard from their particularly Georgia based employees who said, hey, wait a minute. And then the CEO says, Delta kind of corrected itself and said, okay, now we want to find some distance between ourselves and this law and back what it is our employees are saying.
So what is your message to employees and how they need to find their voices if they haven't already?
WEST: Well, look, one of the great things about what has happened over time is the employee base, the talent that powers American companies, that powers economic opportunity in this country that is increasingly diverse, and those voices are important.
And it's important that when those diverse voices get around decision making tables in companies around this country, that they make those experiences and their voices heard and known.
And I think that is exactly what you're seeing here. And frankly, you know, for a lot of us, this is very, very personal as well as it is professional.
Like you, Fredricka, I have my roots you know, in Georgia. My father was born and grew up in a family of sharecroppers in rural Georgia, a little town called Cuthbert. My mother was raised in Huntsville, Alabama.
So both my parents grew up in the 1940s in the Deep Jim Crow South. Voting in our family has never been taken for granted. And so it's a very personal thing as well. It's important when we see restrictions like that, to stand up and speak out.
WHITFIELD: That's right. All right, Tony West, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Uber. Thank you so much for being with us. Thanks for hanging in there with all of our technical snafus. One day, it'll be smooth sailing again. That's the hope. Thank you.
All right, a massive Facebook hack. More than 500 million users' information put online this weekend, including Mark Zuckerberg's cell phone number. We'll talk about that next.
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[15:37:54]
WHITFIELD: The Biden administration is making the case for the President's massive $2 trillion American jobs plan. The infrastructure package includes funding for road repairs, job training, upgrades to public schools and hospitals and expansions to broadband internet access, and in order to pay for it, Biden wants to increase the corporate tax rate from 21 to 28 percent.
Also included in Biden's infrastructure plan is $5 billion for community-based violence prevention programs. Fatimah Loren Dreier is the Executive Director for the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention joining us right now.
So good to see you, Fatimah.
FATIMAH LOREN DREIER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HEALTH ALLIANCE FOR VIOLENCE INTERVENTION: Hi, there. Wonderful to be here. Thank you for having me.
WHITFIELD: And Happy Easter. All right, so tell me --
DREIER: Happy Easter.
WHITFIELD: Thank you. So tell me, how do you think this money would help organizations like yours prevent violence?
DREIER: Well, first we'll talk with some context. Gun violence is the leading cause of death for African-American boys and men, and the second leading cause of death for Latino boys and men. And it's a cycle of violence, right?
Within five years of a violent injury, 30 to 40 percent of victims will return to the hospital with another violent injury.
Violence is a public health crisis.
This $5 billion investment helps scale strategies that break cycles of violence using public health approaches.
WHITFIELD: And then can you tell us how this pandemic particularly has impacted communities across the country when it comes to violence?
DREIER: Absolutely. So, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all communities, but we all know that there is a disproportionate impact in communities of color.
Those same communities have been significantly impacted by spikes of violence. In fact, in 2020, we saw an estimated 4,000 more homicides than in 2019, according to the gun violence archive, so violence has significantly been impacted by COVID.
WHITFIELD: What kind of tools do you believe this kind of money will help you access that perhaps you haven't before? Because and particularly now, we're still in the midst of the pandemic and this proposal also comes in the wake of mass shootings in Atlanta, Colorado and California.
[15:35:10]
DREIER: That's right. So we use a public health approach, meaning we break cycles of violence further upstream. There are a number of strategies that address this: street mediation, intensive life coaching, just to name a few. I work on hospital-based violence intervention, and so just to share a
little bit about what that means, I'm going to tell you a story about an African-American man Sherman Spears. Sherman was shot in Oakland, California in the mid-90s, and while he was recovering in the hospital, friends from his neighborhood came to him to plan retaliation.
But Sherman told them no, he wanted to change his life. So after he healed, he partnered with doctors and returned to the hospital to share his own experience with other victims of community violence, to encourage them to break the cycle and imagine a new life going forward.
Breaking the cycle isn't easy, so hospital-based models provide wraparound care, including housing, employment, mental health support, and my organization, the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention expands these programs in over 80 cities in the U.S. This funding, again, would help scale these initiatives and ensure that the resources that victims need, and those who are at greatest risk need will be provided at the level that they need it based on the burden of the problem.
WHITFIELD: And you know, I'm listening to you describe so eloquently, there are so many ways in which you know, violence is impacting communities and I can't help but also think about what we're seeing in this trial of Derek Chauvin, and all of these eyewitnesses, while they may not have been directly impacted, meaning, you know, cut down from the violence, they were witness to the violence and look at how it has impacted their lives, how they are saddled with grief, you know, nightmares.
And so talk to me about how programs like yours is also addressing the needs of people who are eyewitness to or, you know, have also been impacted by violence, even if it's not direct.
DREIER: You really hit it on the head. Violence doesn't just impact victims, it impacts entire communities. So imagine the incidents that we saw in Minneapolis happen every day in communities. We're talking about very high concentrations of violence, and the trauma experienced by young people and old in these communities is something our programs absolutely address.
We do so through targeted trauma informed care. We've seen mothers who've lost their sons from gun violence across this country, organized, get together, provide grief counseling to those who have shared experiences. This work is life saving and life giving for those who have experience these trauma and violence regularly.
WHITFIELD: Yes, and while I say not direct, I mean, I guess it really is kind of directly when you are a witness to it, it is impacting you, and many of them are reliving what they experienced. So there is indeed that kind of that direct impact.
Fatimah Loren Dreier, thank you so much, the Director for the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention, thanks so much for what you do.
DREIER: Thank you. Appreciate it.
WHITFIELD: All right, and this programming note, the new CNN Original Series, "The People versus the Klan" tells the true story of Beulah Mae Donald, a black mother, who took down the Ku Klux Klan after the brutal lynching of her son, Michael. Don't miss this powerful new series, "The People versus the Klan" premieres with back-to-back episodes next Sunday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.
We'll be right back.
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[15:48:09]
WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. More than 500 million Facebook users' data has been leaked online, including Mark Zuckerberg's cell phone number. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan is following all of this for us. So, Donie, oh my gosh.
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, it's a lot of people, Fred, 500 million Facebook accounts. This all apparently happened back in 2019 where hackers were able to basically exploit a flaw in Facebook systems, where they were able to match up phone numbers with people's accounts and that gave them access to people's names, their date of births, where they live, e-mail addresses, and in many cases, phone numbers.
Now this data has been actually floating around on the dark web and elsewhere, apparently, since 2019, and Facebook says that they have now fixed this flaw that was exploited. But of course that doesn't remove the reality that this information is out there and it was posted over the past week, cyber experts tell us on a hacker forum, which makes it very easily accessible for cyber criminals.
And I just want to give you a breakdown of some of the numbers on the accounts that have been leaked in this way. Breaking down by country, it says -- this is according to Hudson Rock, which is a cybersecurity firm, 32 million accounts in the U.S., 11 million in the U.K., 28 million in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia is 39 million, 10 million in Spain, and 35 million accounts in Italy.
So really a huge amount of data here and now open for hackers on the web.
WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh. And so what is Facebook doing to protect users and you know, allay their fears?
O'SULLIVAN: Yes, well, clearly they're not doing enough when something like this happens. Questions we have been asking Facebook is, are they going to tell the impacted users? You know, are they going to notify users?
I was speaking to some of the experts who've been looking into this information and they were actually able to find the phone numbers of two of our CNN colleagues in the system.
[15:50:12]
O'SULLIVAN: So yes, it's going to be a big question for Facebook as to, are they going to tell users that their data is out there in this way, because, you know, this information can be used, you know, phone numbers, date of births, location, all of this together can be very, very useful for cyber criminals for identity theft.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. So this isn't the first time, you know, Facebook has been in this kind of, you know, predicament, all the data that Cambridge Analytica, you know, got a hold of a while back, leading up to the 2016 election.
So one would think that I guess certain precautions or measures have been taken, so it wouldn't happen again, or is this completely different?
O'SULLIVAN: Yes, Facebook has certainly brought in a lot of new protocols since Cambridge Analytica, since 2016 election interference when it comes to security, but obviously things like this are still happening.
I think one of the big questions as well, something we're still working to determine is over the past few years, we've seen some new and very stringent security laws about data -- personal data online, commonplace in the European Union and also in the State of California.
So how this might all play into laws in those different jurisdictions is something we're going to be learning about, I think in the coming days.
WHITFIELD: Oh, okay. Donie O'Sullivan, thank you so much.
And my goodness, what a sight if you're not hip to this, in Egypt last night, 22 Ancient Egyptian mummies were paraded through the streets of Cairo in a procession of epic proportions of the mummies.
This is not animation. This is the real deal.
The mummies of 18 Kings and four Queens were moved in custom-made mummy mobiles from the Egyptian Museum, where most have resided uninterrupted for over a century, and they were moved to a new location at the National Museum of Egyptian civilization.
What an incredible choreographed event last night.
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[15:57:10]
WHITFIELD: A five-year-old cancer patient lives out his dream thanks to Sheriff's Deputies in Florida, CNN's Randi Kaye tells us how they went beyond the call of duty.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a real badge and you are now a real Deputy. All right, congratulations.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In Manatee County, Florida, there's a new Sheriff in town, actually a new Sheriff's Deputy. His name is Jeremiah Valera.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got this flag for you, buddy. So now you're an official member of our K-9 unit, too.
KAYE (voice over): Jeremiah is just five years old, but he was recently given his own badge and deputized by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office after they learned he has a rare form of childhood cancer.
The National Pediatric Cancer Foundation alerted them and Deputies jumped into action, inviting Jeremiah to spend a day with them.
SGT. STEPHEN CHENARD, MANATEE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: I have a son myself, 11 years old, a little older than Jeremiah, but to see him and his strength and what he is going through was amazing to see, to put a smile on his face for that day, it was worth that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is that, bud?
KAYE (voice over): Jeremiah got to meet a K-9 dog and check out a high tech SWAT vehicle. He even radioed for backup.
JEREMIAH VALERA, FIVE-YEAR-OLD DEPUTY SHERIFF: I need backup. I need backup.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got some backup. You've got plenty of backup, buddy.
KAYE (on camera): So to see him within that day, did that just -- how much did that warm your heart?
DANIELA ISAZA, JEREMIAH'S MOM: Oh, that meant the world for us to finally have some happiness and a little break from what became our normal routine.
KAYE (voice over): These days, their normal routine of treatment and doctor's visits is taking a toll on Jeremiah. It all started about a year ago when Jeremy was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma. His mom says doctors think the cancer started in his spine, then spread.
He's had chemotherapy, bone marrow biopsies and stem cell transplants and now gets 14 shots a month for immunotherapy. It's a lot for a five-year-old to handle.
So being deputized really lifted his spirits.
ISAZA: When grandpa comes to visit him, he loves to pull him over.
KAYE (voice over): All of it has inspired Jeremiah to get better and one day become a police officer. He already has the uniform and takes a picture with every officer he meets.
KAYE (on camera): What do you like about police officers?
VALERA: They protect kids.
KAYE: They protect kids, they sure do. That's hard and you want to be a police officer?
KAYE (voice over): And now when Jeremiah returns to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, his new friends couldn't be happier to see him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: High five. Thank you for coming, buddy.
KAYE (voice over): Hugs and high fives for a little boy when he needs them most.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Bradenton, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Now, that is so special. Thank you so much for joining me on this Easter Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
The CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Jim Acosta.
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