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New Day Saturday
Six Police Officers Shot In Florida, Pennsylvania; Bannon Returns To Breitbart After Turbulent White House Run; Bannon: "Presidency We Fought For Is Over"; Mayor Wants Robert E. Lee Statue Gone ASAP; Boston Free Speech Rally And Counter Demos Scheduled in Boston. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired August 19, 2017 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:00:06]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The firing of President Trump's senior strategist Steve Bannon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sources tell CNN Bannon was supposed to be fired two weeks ago.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We'll see what happens with Mr. Bannon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were laughing at me when I was saying, hey, this guy Trump is going to be serious.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bannon's outsider status caused friction with the D.C. insiders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you think they're going to give your country back without a fight you are sadly mistaken.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the president himself that failed America. He's failed the United States in terms of moral leadership.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of a sudden these statues of civil war generals that were installed in the Jim Crow era here, they became touch stones of terror.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those statues represent the honor, the courage and the bravery of the confederate soldier. Those soldiers were not fighting to perpetuate the institution of slavery.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: So grateful to have your company as always. We are going to get to politics in a moment, but we do have some breaking news we need to tell you about this morning. Six police officers have been shot in three separate incidents. Two in Florida and one in Pennsylvania. VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: First in Kissimmee, Florida, one officer is dead, a second in critical condition after police say they were possibly ambushed while responding to a suspicious activity call. The police have arrested three people and are searching for a fourth person.
PAUL: President Trump tweeted his condolences, "My thoughts and prayers are with the Kissimmee police and their loved ones. We are with you."
BLACKWELL: Now the second incident last night, two officers were shot in just north of Jacksonville, Florida. They were responding to an attempted suicide call when police say the suspect shot at the officers with a rifle before being shot and killed in that exchange of gun fire.
And in a third incident, two Pennsylvania state troopers were shot, the suspect in this one killed. Investigators are not releasing any details more than we know about Pennsylvania at this time.
PAUL: Cedric Alexander, law enforcement analyst joins un on the phone. Cedric, what is your gut reaction to this? I mean, we're seeing six officers, two different states, at least one an ambush style as it's being characterized.
CEDRIC ALEXANDER, LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST (via telephone): Well, first of all, certainly our hearts and prayers go out to the officers were killed and those that were injured. It just speaks very much to the inherent danger that our police officers are involved with every day.
Every day they go to work, they have to go to a variety of different calls and you just don't know which one of those calls are going to result in something very tragic. And six officers in two states within the last number of hours, that is so tragic, but it just speaks to the type of danger that are out there that officers are --
PAUL: But you don't think there's any connection especially between the two in Florida?
ALEXANDER: Right.
PAUL: OK.
ALEXANDER: So, it's going to be interesting to learn more about what happened to these officers and the circumstances, but I'm pretty certain from what we know so far, these events were very different from each other. They were spread into two different cities, two different states, and each had different circumstances behind them.
PAUL: Very good to point out. Cedric Alexander, we appreciate your insight. Thank you. And we will, of course, continue to monitor the situation as we get more information and we'll pass it on to you, of course.
BLACKWELL: Well, now, it's from the west wing to war for President Trump. This morning, the fired White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon, is back at his former job as executive chairman at Brietbart.
He told Bloomberg that he's drawing up the battle plans right now for what he's calling taking on the president's opponents on Capitol Hill, in the media, and in corporate America.
Now Bannon was ousted yesterday after a chaotic seven months. This is the latest in what's been an unprecedented house cleaning at the White House and it may not be over yet.
Sources say that Chief of Staff John Kelly is not done. Two sources close to the White House tell CNN deputy assistant to the president, Sebastian Gorka, could be in line for the next exit.
Meantime, this morning, we are also watching Boston. The city is preparing for thousands of demonstrators of what's being called a free speech rally today. More than 500 police officers will be there patrolling and the mayor says that hate groups are not welcome.
First though, a closer look now at Bannon's short but really stormy tenure at the White House. Here's CNN's Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[06:05:05] TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the whole improbable unexpected roaring rise to power, the man whispering in Donald Trump's ear was Steve Bannon, a true believer at the alter right-wing brietbart.com when few were.
STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST (via telephone): They were laughing at me when I was saying hey, "This guy, Trump -- this is going to be very serious. So, it's good to see that you're in the heat of combat now.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (via telephone): I remember that you looked and you said, "Boy, those are big crowds you're getting."
FOREMAN: More than a cheerleader Bannon was the campaign's ideologue pushing explosive and persistent themes some of which he'd crafted over years on terrorism.
BANNON: We are in an outright war against jihadists, Islam, Islamic fascism.
FOREMAN: On big money interest.
BANNON: Our financial leads in the political class have taken care of themselves and led our country to the brink of ruin.
FOREMAN: On opponents within the Republican Party and on his holy grail.
BANNON: Reconstruction of the administrative states.
FOREMAN: Once called the most dangerous political operative in America, Bannon is a former Navy officer and a former banker, who made an early investment in the Seinfeld TV series that led to money and media experience, which he transformed into political battering rams.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): We do not want our kids and our grandkids' futures taken away from us and we're going to stand up and do whatever we need to do to make sure that doesn't happen.
FOREMAN: He produced a series of blistering films promoting conservative views on immigration, climate exchange, and the Obama administration. Bannon's movies praised Sarah Palin in the right while savaging Hillary Clinton in the left.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): With the Clintons nothing is sacred everything is for sale, but we are the ones who are paying the price.
FOREMAN: And through it all he preached the gospel of a government run amuck.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Unbelievable. Unbelievable.
FOREMAN: By the time he and Trump joined forces Bannon was fiercely going after the media and elites of all stripes.
BANNON: I say every day these working-class men and women, middle class men and women, are ten times smarter than this intellectual group.
FOREMAN (on camera): But Bannon's outsider status caused friction with the D.C. insiders. He was never able to push any major legislation through to passage. He fell out of favor with some Trump family members and critics never stopped howling about his ties to the nationalistic alt-right movement with its racist overtones.
BANNON: We are a nation with a culture and a reason for being and I think that's what unites us and I think that's what's going to unite this movement going forward.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And even though he's now out of the White House as he takes a familiar role as Brietbart's executive chairman, you can expect his war on Washington to roll on.
BANNON: If you think they're going to give you your country back without a fight you are sadly mistaken. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: Barely a week into Donald Trump's presidency, this photo was taken, you see him there in the oval office. He's on the phone with Vladimir Putin, but this shows, illustrates how much things have changed in seven months.
Because National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was out by February. Press Secretary Sean Spicer resigned in July. A week later it was Chief of Staff Reince Priebus who was forced out and now Steve Bannon is fired.
So, the only two left in this photo are the two who were elected, the president and the vice president and despite turmoil in the west wing, the president is still casting his administration as a well-oiled machine.
BLACKWELL: All right. Joining me now to discuss, CNN political commentator and political anchor for Spectrum News, Errol Louis, and breaking news reporter for the "Washington Examiner," Melissa Quinn. Good morning to both of you.
Errol, let me start with you. From Bannon's exit interview with "Weekly Standard" and he says, "The Trump presidency that we fought for and won is over. We still have a huge movement, and we will make something of this Trump presidency.
But that presidency is over. It will be something else and there will be all kinds of fights. There will be good days and bad days, but that presidency is over." Translate that. What does it mean for policy and politics?
ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think some of that, Victor, is just kind of closing the door behind him and saying it will never be as good as when I was there.
And sure, I guess from his perspective that might be true. I think what I see going on here, though, is that Bannon brought not just some particular ideas around wanting to find a trade war or wanting to fight a culture war, want to take on the Washington elite and the corporate elites.
He also brought a certain style. The chaos wasn't a means to get his agenda accomplished. That in some ways was the agenda, to be disruptive, to be crude, to be rude, to be shattering all kinds of conventions.
And so, when he says that's over, I think a lot of us can sort of breathe a sigh of relief. If you didn't like that chaos that characterized this White House for the first six to eight months then, you know, it's probably not such a bad thing that that Trump presidency is coming to an end.
[06:10:11] BLACKWELL: Melissa, one more to you, a pull from the "Weekly Standard," right, he speaks to the president here saying "His natural tendency and I think you saw it this week on Charlottesville his actual default position is the position of his base.
The position that got him elected. I think you're going to see a lot of constraints on that. I think it will be much more conventional." I don't think there are a lot of people who think that the president reacted well to the events in Charlottesville a week ago today.
But is this a president who can be constrained? I mean, he spoke from his heart on Tuesday.
MELISSA QUINN, BREAKING NEWS REPORTER, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": Yes, I think a lot of people would agree that we've sort got a glimpse into President Trump's real thinking during his remarks in Charlottesville on Tuesday, and we do see that President Trump does speak from the heart every morning at around 6:30 a.m. when he tweets. But it seems like Steve Bannon's big concern is that President Trump maybe influenced by those in his inner circle, who many believe are actually liberalists, who are globalists.
While we know Steve Bannon does not escribe to that point of view. People like Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, and he seems to be sort of issuing a warning to President Trump saying that, yes, even though you made these promises to your base and the broader Republican Party that you were going to build a border wall and take a really hard stance on terrorism, his fear really seems to be that with his departure, those in the president's inner circle may actually push him to do the opposite of that.
BLACKWELL: All right, Errol, Bannon is going back to his job at Brietbart, jacked up and free as he told the "Weekly Standard," but how effective is Brietbart? Because they went after H.R. McMaster mercilessly, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Gary Cohn, and they're all still in the White House and Steve Bannon is the one who is out.
LOUIS: Well, that's exactly right. It reminds me in some ways, Victor, of the people in Charlottesville who are marching under the banner of failed military efforts, marching under the Nazi banner, under the confederate banner.
So, yes, Steve Bannon can claim his moral victory. The reality is, I don't know anybody who checks Breitbart regularly for anything resembling information. I don't think you do. I know I don't. I doubt that Melissa does. It's not an essential reading.
We know where they are coming from. We know they like to be crude in order to get eyeballs, attention. The reality is they're not going to insult their way into power or influence or change any minds that way.
So, if he wants to go out and fight that war, sure, he'll be on Sirius XM, speaking to his convinced followers and sort of trying to offend people in order to get noticed. That's one way to do politics for sure.
BLACKWELL: So Melissa, the president was reportedly livid after the earlier interviews with Bannon in "American Prospect" earlier this week in which he talked about North Korea policy saying there's no military solution there, saying that he had personnel purview over the State Department. We have not heard from the president at all since that interview, have not heard from him since the firing. What do you make of that?
QUINN: I think it's one of those instances where the silence is really speaking volumes. If you remember a few weeks ago when the president fired Reince Priebus or he resigned or -- his immediate departure when he decided to name John Kelly as chief of staff, the White House put out a statement.
And it wasn't really that long before President Trump tweeted and said, you know, Reince was a great guy, we thank him for his service, but yes, with Steve Bannon, we're seeing something completely different. And I actually thought that the statement that the White House put out yesterday was maybe a little cold just saying we thank him for his service and kind of be on your merry way now, which was definitely a little bit different from the response that we saw in several weeks.
But we know from different reporting that President Trump has been really frustrated with Steve Bannon and there has been a ton of speculation surrounding his departure at the White House really going back all the way to January when we saw that chaos and turmoil so I don't necessarily think it's a surprise.
John Kelly and Bannon agreed mutually that that would be the last day. Ask yourself if ever lost a job, have you ever looked at your boss and just say, yes, this is the last day. Someone initiates that and that's the White House.
Errol Louis, Melissa Quinn, thanks so much.
QUINN: Thank you.
PAUL: Now, I want to take you to Boston because they are beefing up security for the first big demonstration since the deadly protest we saw in Virginia a week ago. Thousands and thousands of people are expected to be at this what's being dubbed as a free speech rally, but it includes a speaker who was in Charlottesville.
BLACKWELL: Plus, an investigation happening right now in Alabama after a noose was found outside a predominantly black church.
PAUL: And a man who inspired the movie "American History X" is with us as hate groups gain traction in the U.S. We're going to ask the former neo-Nazi, can they be stopped?
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[06:19:12]
PAUL: It's 19 minutes pass the hour right now. The mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia now wants the statue of Robert E. Lee out of a city park as soon as possible. Earlier this year, Mayor Mike Singer had voted against moving it out.
However, he says the violence that broke out, when white supremacists and neo-Nazis demonstrated against removal and clashed with those counter-protesters, what we watched together here last week, that's what changed his mind. Here's what he told "AC 360."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL SINGER, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA: These equestrian statues of civil war generals that were installed in the Jim Crow era here, they became touch stones of terror. They became these kinds of twisted totems that these people are clearly drawn to.
They're trying to create a whole architecture of intimidation and terror around them. It was visited upon our town. It was evil. [06:20:08] And as the days went on and especially -- I mean, the turning point for me was this extremely powerful memorial service for Heather Heyer, the woman who was mowed down by a weaponized car and it just seemed that there was no option left.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: The statue is still standing there at the moment. Charlottesville Police are providing extra protection to keep it safe from vandals, but Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe did sign a ban on any protest there until new regulations are in place.
BLACKWELL: Investigators in Alabama are searching for the person who left a noose on a church porch. Sheriff's deputies say it was hanging outside this predominant black church, St. John Primitive Baptist. It is in Florence.
A member found the noose after bible study. Nothing else at the church was damaged. The case has been turned over to the FBI.
PAUL: And today there are serious concerns of possible violence in Boston.
BLACKWELL: That's because thousands of people are expected to attend what's being billed as a free speech rally and protests of the event are planned.
CNN correspondent, Polo Sandoval joins us now. Polo, good morning to you. How are they preparing? Are we seeing differences as we saw the preparations about this time last week in Charlottesville?
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor. It's a good question. It's important to point out that this event has been previously scheduled. The so-called free speech event, however the events of last week, a week ago today, definitely has led to really more interest and even more security in light of what took place there.
And I can tell you that the organizing group has maintained that they are basically inviting, quote, "anybody who enjoys the right of free speech." The concern though is that that could be seen as an open invitation for some of these groups, including the KKK, for example.
The group took to Facebook late last night. The organizing group saying that they are aware of, quote, "rumors" that this group could potentially make their way here. However, they also claim that they would -- if they are made aware of any of these hate groups are attending today's rally that's expected to hold about a hundred people or so then they will ask them to take their free speech elsewhere.
Now as for the city, they definitely have been in a very tough position here. I want you to hear directly from Mayor Marty Walsh, here in Boston, explaining why they issued the permit for the so- called free speech rally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR MARTY WALSH, BOSTON: I don't want them here. Let me be clear. I do not want them here. If I could have not had them here with a permit, I absolutely would not have given them a permit if I didn't have to give them a permit. We don't need that type of rhetoric going on in Boston common. We've come too far.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: So, there are several speakers that on the list today. Two of them though, do have right wing, right extremist ties. As for counter-protesters, they will be meeting opposite side. Organizers saying that their Facebook indicates that they could see potentially thousands.
These are more left leaning groups that plan to march here to Boston common and that's where the security concern is. That's why they have brought in hundreds of police officers to keep an eye on the crowd.
They are expecting things to remain peaceful. As we heard from authorities yesterday, Victor and Christi, if things get violent in their words, they will shut it down -- guys.
BLACKWELL: All righty. Polo Sandoval, appreciate the update. Thank you. We'll be taking you to Boston throughout the morning, of course, once everybody gets there as well.
BLACKWELL: All right. The NAACP is calling out the NFL threatening to boycott if the league does not take a stand against confederate monuments and symbols. Why leaders say the NFL needs to do more than talk.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he punching him though?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: It's hard watching this dashcam video capturing the moment a police officer punches a man after what seems to be a routine traffic stop. The story behind this arrest and why police say they're standing by that officer.
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[06:28:20]
PAUL: Welcome back. So good to have you this Saturday morning. I'm Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you. Two big stories we're following this morning. The three separate attacks on police in Florida and Pennsylvania.
Let's first go to Kissimmee, Florida, where one officer is dead. A second is in grave critical condition, we're told, and they were possibly ambushed while answering a suspicious activity call. Now to Jacksonville where two officers were shot after someone advanced on them with a rifle. They were answering an attempted suicide call. Two state troopers were shot and the suspect was killed in Pennsylvania.
PAUL: Also, this morning, Steve Bannon is out after a turbulent run of the White House. President Trump chief strategist was fired. He told the "Weekly Standard" that the Trump presidency we fought for and won is over.
And as you can see from this picture, all the originals from the president's cabinet are gone although it's not clear if Bannon's departure will end the chaos in the White House.
We want to bring in Errol Louis, CNN political commentator and political anchor for Spectrum News. Errol, we were just talking about Boston as well and as we look ahead to what might happen there today, I want to look at how the president handled that comparatively to other past presidents. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORMER PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN: The future doesn't belong to the faint hearted. It belongs to the brave. The challenge was pulling us into the future and we'll continue to follow them.
FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: The bombing in Oklahoma City was an attack on innocent children and defenseless citizens. The United States will not tolerate it and I will not allow the people of this country to be intimidated by evil cowards.
FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I can hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people - and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.
Barack Obama, Former President of the United States: The goods news I am confident that the outpouring of unity, strength and fellowship and love across Charleston today from more races, from all faiths, from all places of worship indicates the degree to which those all vestiges of hatred can be overcome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN HOST, NEW DAY: We feel that together Errol and we remember what we heard on Tuesday from the president. What is your reaction initially?
ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's amazing. It's such a great piece that you put together. I lived through all of those moments, not all of them as a journalist. In some cases, I wasn't working and just kind of watched with everyone else.
Those were moments, Christi, went the whole - you felt that the whole nation was coming together for at least a common experience and to hear a statement of deep core values that the nation has agreed to believe in. It's often said that we're not a nation that's built on ethnicity and
not built on religion, but built on shared ideals, a shared idea, and those were the moments when the president is the only person who can step up and do it.
The president is our head of state and also our head of government and we've put a lot of symbolic responsibility on the holder of that job to really sort of bring the country together. And this is something that just has not penetrated the Trump White House.
He just doesn't seem to understand or value or recognize that this is his job. And that's why I think you've seen military leaders, corporate leaders, people in the streets, others stepping forward to do what, by tradition, the president would do, which is try and make a statement; in this case, against intolerance and against bigotry, and try to bring the nation together.
PAUL: I want to take a look at that picture if we could pop it up please, of the January 28 picture of his administration and the fact that four of them that were there are no longer there.
"The New York Times" reporting this morning that the president believes Bannon was the one who was leaking information to the press, that he was taking credit for the successes President Trump saw were being made.
Was this a clash of egos more than anything? And who is his crisis management team now when we talk about reaction to crises?
LOUIS: See, the assumption there, Christi, is that they want the crisis to be managed. The reality is the chaos is coming from the man in that photo on the phone. It's really coming from the president himself.
He gets up every morning and he sends out by Twitter instructions to the entire federal government. He contradicts himself. He changes or makes policy or alters it. That is no way to run an orderly White House or an orderly large organization of any kind.
Most of us in the jobs that we work at couldn't get away with that. And yet, he does it. So, yes, you can change all of the players, you can change the cast of characters, you can sort of chronicle the jungle warfare inside the White House, which I think the press has done pretty well.
But in the end, it's not going to stop until and unless the president decides to do something differently. That disastrous news conference he had at the beginning of this week on Tuesday, that was supposed to be on infrastructure and they weren't supposed to be any questions taken from the press. He decided to start freestyling and look at where it ended up.
PAUL: Rep. Ruben Gallego tweeted this late last night. "Now it's time for Miller and Gorka to go." Bannon is out now, it's time for Miller and Gorka to go. And, of course, he's talking there about Stephen Miller and Sebastian Gorka, both White House aides. How vulnerable are they, do you believe, and how does this
administration function when there's such a revolving door and seemingly not immediate replacements available?
LOUIS: Well, in the world of palace intrigue, I suppose that the Bannon faction will be purged to the last man. That's the way these things usually work out. Perhaps some of these individuals will manage to stay, but make no mistake about it, there is a purge underway. There's a factional fighting and the Bannon faction lost.
I think there will always be people willing to serve their country. If anybody got a phone call from the White House, including you and I, Christi, you would take it seriously if the president or anybody near him asked you to serve the country. You'd think about it seriously.
[06:35:07] So, there's a lot of talent out there. There's 300 million people just dying to make this country a better place. If the president can figure out that chaos is not the environment and rivalry and backbiting is not the - spontaneous tweeting is not an environment that's going to get him the best and the brightest and use them to their best potential, if he ever figures that out, I think we will see some of the chaos subside.
PAUL: Alrighty. Errol Louis, insights always appreciated from you, sir.
LOUIS: Thank you.
PAUL: And a quick programming note for you, after lawmakers failed to pass a bill on healthcare, what will House Speaker Paul Ryan say as he faces his Wisconsin voters. That's during a live CNN town hall event. Jake Tapper is moderating this special CNN event. It's Monday night at 9 Eastern right here on CNN.
BLACKWELL: All right. Coming up, we want you to look at this video. This is from Ohio. It is a police dashcam video. Investigators there just really want to know what is going on here. This is video of an officer beating a man after what seemed to be a routine traffic stop. We'll look into this.
PAUL: Also, what is it exactly that attracts young men to hate groups? And how can they get out of them? We're talking to the man whose story inspired the movie American History X for his insight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:40:32] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN HOST, NEW DAY: Some disturbing dashcam video we want to show you right now. It was released by the Euclid, Ohio Police Department and it shows what some people are calling another case of police brutality.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST, NEW DAY: Look, you've got this officer who pulls a man out of the car and just begins violently beating him. This is during a routine traffic stop. Let's get more now from CNN correspondent Brynn Gingras.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god.
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But he's punching him, though.
(SHOUTING)
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Blow after blow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is he still punching him though?
GINGRAS: That's a Euclid, Ohio, police officer on top of 25-year-old Richard Hubbard III.
This is Hubbard's arresting photo. His face swollen from those punches.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop! Stop! (INAUDIBLE)
GINGRAS: The scuffle was also captured on police dashcam video obtained by the "News Herald," and happens two-and-a-half minutes into a traffic stop.
MICHAEL AMIOTT, OFFICER, EUCLID POLICE DEPARTMENT: The registered owner shows a suspended license.
GINGRAS: Officer Michael Amiott said in a written statement, he pulled over Hubbard because the license plate showed the car's owner had a suspended license. Hubbard didn't own the car, but the person driving with him did.
AMIOTT: Face away from me.
GINGRAS: Then, in an official statement, Amiott explains what he says happened in the video, "Richard quickly pulls his left arm from my grasp and in front of his body out of my control and view. I attempted two knee strikes on Richard. Both had missed. He was attempting to hold on to my legs as I did so. The suspect continually called us weak."
Amiott is now on paid administrative leave from the department while the incident is under review. Records shows Amiott resigned from a different Cleveland-area police department three years ago after an investigation found he lied about a traffic stop.
But for this case, his union is sticking by him, saying, "We hope that people will not rush to judgment, but rather will understand the literally split-second decision and response required of our police."
The video has gone viral, highlighting tensions between police and the public.
Hubbard didn't want to make any comments to CNN. But the ACLU and NAACP said they were appalled by the brutality.
(on camera): Though this happened last week and the Euclid police chief didn't respond to the public outcry until Thursday, he released a statement on a Facebook page apologizing for his delay and promising a thorough investigation. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: Brynn, thank you.
BLACKWELL: Thank you very much. Next, a German magazine is the latest now to link President Trump to the Ku Klux Klan on its cover. Look at this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:47:25] BLACKWELL: Welcome back. Take a look at the German magazine "DER SPIEGEL", now linking the president to the KKK on its cover. I mean, a striking image here. This is titled, the true face of Donald Trump. It's written in the white letters there in German. It calls the president a racist and a hate preacher.
But this is only the latest publication to link the president with the white supremacist group. "The New Yorker", "The Economist", "TIME", all produced covers, you seem them there with that similar theme this week.
For many, the images of neo-Nazis and stuff about white supremacists marching through the streets of that Virginia college town this past week, they were shocking, they were offensive, they were downright frightening to a lot of people.
BLACKWELL: So, one man who apparently took part says that he went there for the fun, for the fun of a white supremacist rally. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Why would a wannabe white supremacist, running from counter-protesters, decide to strip in the street?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not really white color, man. I just came here for the fun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He can't just take it (INAUDIBLE).
MOOS: Oh, yes, he could, now that he was safely in the vicinity of Charlottesville police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). You need to put it back now.
MOOS: The unidentified young man picked up his clothes and started to slink away. He had apparently gotten separated from his fellow white power marchers and was then chased by counterdemonstrators.
This one wore a mask and wielded a stick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened?
MOOS: The man behind the camera is C.J. Hunt. He was making a documentary about Confederate memorials when he came upon what he refers to, in a "GQ" article, as this part-time Nazi, this junior secessionist.
What he was wearing was what some called a new neo-Nazi uniform, a Polo shirt paired with khakis.
C.J. HUNT, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: So, you just came here for the fun?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the fun.
HUNT: Yes, yes. So, you're not a real white supremacist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barely. It's kind of a fun.
HUNT: Which part?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
MOOS: But the documentary maker wasn't feeling the fun. "As a person of color, my identity is not a uniform I can take off when I'm feeling unsafe."
HUNT: You're a white supremacist until people start facing you and then you took the uniform off. So, are you going to put it back on? Or put it - yes, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
MOOS: And then, off he went, blending in with the counter-protesters, supremely confident he no longer looked like a supremacist.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[06:50:10] BLACKWELL: NFL pre-season continued last night, and so did protester and the national anthem. Andy Scholes here with more. Andy?
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Seattle Seahawks star Michael Bennett, as expected, taking his seat for the national anthem last night to protest social injustice, but this time he had company. We'll have details ahead in this morning's "Bleacher Report."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Well, some mourners are lighting candles and placing flowers in a Finnish town right now to pay tribute to victims of a stabbing attack at two markets.
[06:55:03] Now, at least two people were killed, six people hurt. This happened on Friday. One witness told us that he saw a man running with a knife and just stabbing people in his path.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were sitting just on the front row of a cafe. And all of a sudden, we just heard a woman scream really, really loudly. And, first, we thought it's just an internal fight between two people.
But I saw this huge knife. This guy was having this huge knife in his hand. And he was just - several times, he was stabbing this person who was down on the ground. And people were just running everywhere.
And we ran into this cafe where he hid. And this guy was just constantly stabbing at people. He was just turning around with his knife - swinging his knife everywhere and people were running in all directions. This is just - this was in front of our eyes. It's just horrible.
And this woman, lying on the ground, covered - I thought that she was dead. She was dead. She was covered by the police and the ambulance. They covered her body to do the investigation, to test the traces and, what do you call it, the DNA and whatever.
I can just see this knife, this huge knife in his hand, and he's just stabbing - it's just awful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Well, police have a person in custody. They shot him in the leg before that. They've not yet released his name, but officials have said that this was terror related.
Right. A show of unity. An NFL player supports a teammate who was protesting during the national anthem.
PAUL: Andy Scholes has more on this morning's "Bleacher Report". Good morning.
SCHOLES: Hey, good morning, guys. Seattle Seahawks star Michael Bennett says he plans on sitting for the national anthem all season to protest social injustice. And he thinks, for real change to happen, white players would also need to join in on the protest.
And that's exactly what happened last night before the Seahawks preseason game. Bennett sat on the bench during the Star-Spangled Banner. This time center Justin Britt stood next to him and put his hand on his shoulder. And afterward, the teammates shared a hug.
And then, after the game, Britt spoke about the moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JUSTIN BRITT, CENTER, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: Well, I want to support him. I want to support what he's standing for and his beliefs. I'm not against what the flag means and veterans. My dad was in the army. So, I'm not putting any disrespect to them. I'm just trying to understand the issues, trying to educate myself more in that regard and showing support.
SCHOLES: Now, Britt joining Bennett's protest comes a day after the Eagles' Chris Long put his arm around Malcolm Jenkins as he protested the anthem by putting his fist in the air.
All right. In the meantime, Colin Kaepernick remains without an NFL team. And because of that, the NAACP is now calling for a boycott of the NFL. The Atlanta chapter of the organization says they don't want fans coming to the games or even watching them on TV.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are a part of the national movement to send a message to the NFL and Roger Goodell. There will be no football in the state of Georgia if Colin Kaepernick is not on a training camp roster and given an opportunity to pursue his career.
This is a simple request. This is a demand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: And the Atlanta chapter of NAACP also calling for the Falcon, Hawks and Braves to chip in and help in removing all symbols of the Confederacy that exist in the city. All three teams released a statement saying they stand for inclusion and will continue to respect the state and local officials and a process is designed to work through these critical issues.
All right. And finally, Colin Kaepernick will have his own exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African-American History and Culture. According to "USA Today", his game-worn jersey and shoes will be part of the Black Lives Matter collection.
The museum's curator says the items will be rotated into the collection over the next year or two.
And, guys, back to that boycott, I think a lot of people are taking that seriously. I actually have heard before this came out yesterday of some friends of mine, they were planning on doing that until Kaepernick gets signed by an NFL team.
PAUL: All right. We'll see. Hey, thank you so much, Andy. Appreciate it.
BLACKWELL: Thanks.
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