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New Day Saturday

Fears Of COVID-19 Cases Spiking Due To Holiday Weekend Gatherings; Florida Man Becomes First In U.S. To Receive Oxford Vaccine Trail; Trump Pressuring FDA For Coronavirus Silver Bullet By Election Day; Clash Looms As White House Seeks Short-Term Funding Bill; Tenants Get Eviction Reprieve Until The End Of The Year; Protesters And Police Face Off In Rochester, New York During Daniel Prude Demonstration. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired September 05, 2020 - 08:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROWD: Black Lives Matter!)

[08:00:00]

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Growing questions about why the video showing the arrest of Daniel Prude was not revealed until this week, despite the incident taking place back in March.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just scary being a black person. Like how can I not be here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We use Labor Day as a way to take the day off, but unfortunately the virus doesn't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A new model often cited by top health officials is surging its projections.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're rounding the corner on the virus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: is reported to have called them suckers and losers -- suckers for serving, losers for dying.

JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: If these statements are true, the president should humbly apologize.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you see is a lack of understanding about why soldiers serve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And look at the White House there this morning. I hope the sun is shining wherever you are, as we enter this holiday weekend. We are always so glad to have you with us in the mornings. Now, weekend morning can be hard to wake up. It's good to know you there. I'm Christi Paul,

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Martin Savidge in for Victor Blackwell. It was another night of demonstrations across the United States. In Rochester, New York, last night, protesters demanded justice in the death of Daniel Prude. He died in March after being restrained by police.

Meantime, the White House is fiercely denying allegations. The president called fallen American service members suckers or losers.

Also ahead, a Florida man is turning grief into action after losing seven family members to COVID-19. His pioneering role in a new coronavirus vaccine trial is coming up.

But let's begin this morning with the fight against Coronavirus. The U.S. recorded more than 50, 000 new coronavirus cases on Friday. The same day a model of -- often cited by top health officials predicted the virus could kill more than 410, 000 Americans by the start of next year.

PAUL: Yes. As we kick off this holiday weekend, the nation's top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci is encouraging us to keep gathering small, to make outdoor plans, because that will help prevent the spread of the virus.

SAVIDGE: Let's bring in CNN, Natasha Chen. And Natasha, Labor Day weekend going to look very different in a lot of places in this country, including right here in Atlanta.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Martin and Christi, those gatherings will be rather small or completely virtual. And it's still early, but generally on Labor Day weekends, you would see thousands of people in the streets here an eclectic mix of college football fans and people gathering for a parade of folks in costume for Dragon Con, which is a massive convention of gaming, comics and literature fans.

And so this year it is going to be very different. Those event organizers say it is really important to keep their attendees safe and healthy, but those are dollars that Atlanta businesses won't see this year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARRIE BURNS, CO-FOUNDER, ATLANTA MOVIE TOURS: This entire Walton Street is just a hotbed of film

CHEN (voice-over): On Labor Day weekend, Carrie Burns would usually be booked solid, giving tours of iconic spots in Atlanta where major blockbusters and TV shows were filmed.

BURNS: Right behind us is the tank scene from "Walking Dead"

CHEN (voice-over): The post-apocalyptic Atlanta of "The Walking Dead" may be a thing of fiction, but the reality of 2020 can be bleak. Nearly, 6, 000 people in Georgia have died. About 280, 000 people have tested positive for coronavirus, and businesses like Atlanta movie tours, closed for good. BURNS: It is emotional, but I think you come to a point where you know

that you made the right decision.

CHEN (voice-over): The Atlanta Convention and Visitor's Bureau says this Labor Day weekend would have seen nearly a quarter million visitors and businesses would have made more than $151 million just off of Dragon Con and two college football kickoff games at Mercedes Benz Stadium.

Instead, Dragon Con is virtual. The Atlanta Black Pride festival is still happening in person. But the annual PGA Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club is being played to no fans. The two kickoff games, plus a third one next weekend are canceled,

GARY STOKAN, PRESIDENT & CEO, PEACH BOWL, INC: Well, you're talking about $100 million over the three games and $7. 5 million of that would have translated back into tax revenue into the City of Atlanta. So, certainly, the hotels, the restaurants, the bars, the city itself is losing a great economic impact.

GREG GANT, OWNER, THE REDUCTION PHONE BOOTH: As you see when you walked-- when you guys came in, there's no one on the streets. There's no businessmen, there's no lawyers, no offices, no high-rises.

CHEN (voice-over): The Red Phone Booth, a speakeasy in Downtown Atlanta opened exactly five years ago with a Dragon Con cigar club as their first guests.

[08:05:00]

CHEN: And so this would be packed during Labor Day weekend.

GANT: Absolutely. Absolutely. They're all dressed up. Some in steam punk, some in the 1920s theme with Charlie Chaplin stuff.

CHEN (voice-over): Instead, they'll still have local supporters coming by this weekend at a reduced capacity per state rules. More than half of the company's furloughed staff are back, but business has not recovered enough to bring back all of them.

GANT: There's been many sleepless nights.

CHEN (voice-over): And he knows some businesses, like his friend Carrie Burns', Atlanta Movie Tours, won't make it on the other side of this pandemic.

BURNS: I think that we could have done better to stop this or slow this early on with some -- between mask wearing and physical distancing early, early stages. We got to the point where we were just a little too late.

CHEN (voice-over): While the owners of businesses that are emptier this weekend know that the sooner the virus is stopped, the sooner they can see friendly faces again. That requires people not gather unmasked this holiday weekend. GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): I understand that many, many of us are tired

and ready to move on. But we have to hunker down and keep chopping against COVID-19.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: As of right now, the SEC championship and the Peach Bowl are on the calendar for later this year. But already in 2020, Atlanta has had 29 canceled events according to the Convention &Visitors Bureau, and that they say, comes out to about $640 million lost for this city. Martin and Christi back to you.

PAUL: And I'm sure they won't be the only ones, Natasha Chen. Good to see you this morning, Natasha. Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Dr. Anthony Fauci says that he is confident that federal regulators will allow a vaccine to be distributed this fall only if it's based on science and hard data.

PAUL: Now, we're hearing from him after the CDC told states to prepare for the large scale distribution of a vaccine by November 1st, that's just two days before the election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I have faith in the system that the FDA will do what they promise, and they promise that they will make decisions that are regulatory basis, purely on the basis of the science and the evidence, and I'm counting on them to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Joining me now is Jacob Serrano. He is the first American to take part in the AstraZeneca, Oxford University vaccine trial; and Jarelle Marshall, the first patient to receive the Moderna vaccine in trials at the University of Cincinnati. Good morning to you both.

JACOB SERRANO, OXFORD VACCINE TRIAL PARTICIPANT: Hey, how you're doing?

JARELLE MARSHALL, MODERNA VACCINE TRIAL PARTICIPANT: Good morning.

SAVIDGE: So, I'm going to ask you both this and I'll start with Jacob. How did you find out about the trial, Jacob?

SERRANO: Well, I had a couple of friends who work from the JEM Research Facility, which is the one that is using the Oxford, and AstraZeneca vaccine. And I had a lot of -- I had like a back-story with corona and I've seen a lot of people affected by it.

SAVIDGE: We're going to get to that. We're going to get to that in just a minute. And Jarelle, let me ask you real quick. How did you hear about the vaccine program?

MARSHALL: I got a call probably 45 minutes to an hour before I went down to the hospital to take it from a friend that was involved with some of the research that asked if I wanted to participate.

SAVIDGE: And you both have your own individual motivations as to why you wanted to take part. So Jarelle, let me start with you. What got you into it? Why?

MARSHALL: Like I said, my friend called me. I called another friend of mine who is a doctor and I sent some of the information to him. And at the end of the day, he told me that, obviously, African-Americans have been disproportionately affected, and that they needed more African- Americans to participate in the trial. So when he told me that and that I was relatively low risk, I just said, might as well, why not. I want to help.

SAVIDGE: Jacob, you were talking about the motivation you had and it's quite personal, isn't it?

SERRANO: Yes. I wouldn't just say it's just based off from the family loss, because also a lot of friends and colleagues around me that -- you can tell there was a shift by who they lost and just the effect that it took on their lives.

SAVIDGE: And just remind us, how many of your family have died as a result of COVID-19?

SERRANO: Sadly, seven.

SAVIDGE: Wow. So, I mean, is it in their memory, is it to make sure that other families in future, hopefully, won't have to go through this is that, I would think, a major motivator for you to be a part.

SERRANO: Personally I've lost many family since I was a child. I'll tell you that is a part, but this is mainly so any other family or community doesn't have to face this. Like, I'm pretty sure many have faced this already. But I just want to try to put a stop to it, if I can.

[08:10:00]

SAVIDGE: Jarelle, there may be a lot of people listening who don't even know how this process works. I mean, once you sort of made that initial outreach or responded, what happened next?

MARSHALL: I went down to the hospital. I went through some testing. And then I had one of the researchers come in and pretty much read me verbatim, how the study was going to be conducted, risks, ways that I can opt out if there was ever any -- if I ever had any hesitation or a reason to want to get out. And then once I decided that, yes, I still want to be a part of it after her reading 20 pages to me, they started with taking my blood and, and whatnot.

SAVIDGE: Jacob, I mentioned, it was a similar experience for you. Do you -- I guess, we should point out that you're not told if you actually have got the vaccine or whether you got a placebo, right?

SERRANO: Yes. No, it's at random to see -- it's like -- well, it's kind of like part of the research. It's the controlled study group, so kind of can't tell if not.

SAVIDGE: But what do you think? I mean, is there a kind of a -- do you have a feeling?

SERRANO: I mean, basically-- possibly, the first day I did feel like some sore and tender in certain areas, not even just where they applied the injection. But, honestly, I'm kind of glad that they say like, if they do or don't, because I just believe is better for whoever has it or doesn't, try to live your normal life and if you notice anything, then of course, you have the mark it down in e-diary. So I believe I do. But also, if I don't then as part of the control study group,

SAVIDGE: Jarelle, have you -- I mean, I presume you still practice social distancing, still wearing a mask and all that. You don't somehow feel immune to having to do that.

MARSHALL: No, no, not at all. I always wear a mask, yes, pretty much everywhere I go.

SAVIDGE: And Jarelle, have you had any side effects? Have you felt anything?

MARSHALL: Just a sore arm in the -- where I got the injection at. That's the only side effect I've had so far.

SAVIDGE: Mm-hmm. Jacob, I'm interested to know, since your family has suffered so, what has the response been from family members or friends when they heard that you were being a part of this?

SERRANO: It varies. Some family and friends are just, I guess, a bit -- I won't to say angry, but they're more concerned. A few are happy that we're at least in this phase of testing. But in the end, it's -- I'm doing it for a reason. I'm doing it. So, hopefully, we can go back to a somewhat normal life. But, with each person it varies. I'm not surprised that some are bit upset, especially with the history of whomever they've lost and whoever I've lost, I understand the concern.

SAVIDGE: What do you say to people, Jacob -- and I'll actually ask you both, but, Jacob, let's start with you. What do you say to people who claim that this is all just a hoax?

SERRANO: Well, I believe with anything that seems like a glimmer of hope, there's always going to be people who would just feel like there's too much of -- or seem that doesn't align with realism. Back a couple days, before I was even told about this, I remember rumors of a vaccine, and I just thought, whatever, I don't believe it.

And I'm someone who's very optimistic and very comedic and playful. So, I feel like this whole thing took a toll on me to the point where I lost hope and I understand a lot of people are just saying that this isn't going to happen. But from the deepest part of my heart, I believe something good can come out of this.

SAVIDGE: And Jarelle, you are part of a community -- a group of people who have suffered so heavily, minorities have with COVID-19. So for you to be a part of this, do you feel like you're part of something really significant and big?

MARSHALL: I do. I mean, being in an African-American community, my family had a lot of opinions after they heard, because I definitely didn't tell anybody, my mom or anybody, really did I was going to go do it. So, yes, I feel like some big. It's affecting everybody. And, I just want to, yes, get back to normal, as I'm sure everybody else do.

SAVIDGE: We all do, of course. But it's going to be thanks to the likes of people like yourselves, both of you, that are helping my family, helping everyone's family across the country here by volunteering and taking part. I -- we all do greatly appreciate what you're doing. So, Jarelle Marshall and Jacob Serrano, thank you so very much.

[08:15:00]

SERRANO: Anytime.

MARSHALL: Yes, no problem.

PAUL: I wish them the best. So President Trump is continuing to push an optimistic timeline, saying a coronavirus vaccine could be available as early as next month.

CNN White House Reporter Kevin Liptak joins us now. And Kevin, the president has been accused of applying pressure on the FDA to approve a vaccine ahead of the election.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, the president really is cranking up pressure on his administration to deliver a vaccine and to deliver one soon. He's telling aides he wants to move faster to provide Americans a light at the end of the tunnel of this pandemic and he's certainly mindful of how that would affect his political prospects. Even some of his political advisors have dubbed the prospect of a vaccine before Election Day as the Holy Grail.

Now, we're told, this is all creating something of a pressure cooker environment at the Food and Drug Administration, where officials say they feel caught between the president's demand for speed and the imperative to deliver a vaccine that safe and effective, and that Americans will be willing to take.

Now, the FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn has been adamant that he won't bend to political pressure to approve a vaccine before it's ready. Dr. Anthony Fauci said on CNN yesterday that he would call out political interference if he thought he saw it. But the President has clearly been accelerating the timeline. Listen to what he said yesterday at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We remain on track to deliver a vaccine before the end of the year and maybe even before November 1st. We think we could probably have it sometime during the month of October.

We have some really great companies. They are all doing very well. They're all in final stages. And I think you're going to see results that are shockingly good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: Now, even as the President was trying to project optimism on coronavirus, there was this other political story that was looming in the background. Of course, it was that badly damaging Atlantic magazine article that portrayed the president as disrespectful to American service members, saying that he had described some of American war dead as losers and suckers.

The president, we're told, was furious about this article. He mobilized a massive effort by current and former officials to deny it. Now, in that course there was one voice that was notably absent, that was the president's former Chief of Staff John Kelly, who was present for many of the events that were depicted in there.

The President was asked about his silence yesterday and he said that -- he went off on Kelly. He said he was totally exhausted by the time he left the White House. That he was not able to function. That he got eaten up by this world, so clearly no love lost there between the President and his former Chief of Staff.

Now, if the President's goal in all of this is to try and reduce but the notion that he doesn't respect the military, it's not clear that that line of attack is going to work for him. Kelly is a decorated former Marine Corps General, and his son died serving the country in uniform, guys.

SAVIDGE: Kevin Liptak at the White House, thank you very much.

PAUL: Kevin, thank you. So Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, whose late son Beau served in Iraq, had this reaction to the allegations against the president.

Biden responds to report of trump insulting U.S. war dead, says his son Beau "wasn't a sucker" for serving;

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: If it's true, and based on everything he's said, I believe the article is true. I'd asked you all the rhetorical question. How do you feel? How would you feel if you had a kid in Afghanistan right now? How would you feel, if you lost a son, daughter, husband, wife? How would you feel for real?

I've probably -- I've just never been as disappointed in my whole career with a leader that I've worked with president or otherwise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: I want to point out, CNN has not independently confirmed the Atlantic's report.

Still ahead is a government shutdown on the cards again, in Washington, what it means for the economy what it could mean for you. We'll talk about it. Stay close. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:00]

PAUL: 23 minutes past the hour right now. Economists are still calling for another stimulus package, because there are millions of people who are still struggling. It's not clear if lawmakers are going to agree on terms anytime soon, particularly with the November election upcoming.

But it's starting to look as though the fate of another package is going to be tied to the threat of a government shutdown. That happens at the end of this month on September 30th. Ted Jenkin, is a financial expert and the CEO and Co-Founder of oXYGenFinancial, he's with us. Good morning, Ted.

TED JENKIN, CEO & CO-FOUNDER, OXYGEN FINANCIAL: Good morning, Christi.

PAUL: Yes. OK. So tell us, how optimistic are you about another relief package?

JENKIN: Well, hopefully, the parties can meet somewhere in the middle here, Christi, at a package of $2 trillion or $2.2 trillion. But they're far apart on a lot of issues. The House wants $900 billion in state and local government funding. The Senate only wants $200 billion dollars.

The House wants $400 billion for school funding. The House only wants $100 billion -- and as we've seen with the political football, unemployment, the House wanted $600 a week of unemployment, and right now we're only at $300.

The only place it seems that they can agree is on another stimulus check, $1, 200 for individuals $2, 400 for married couples. And, potentially, if you qualify, up to $6, 000 for an entire family. So hopefully they can meet in the middle and get a package that makes sense.

PAUL: Wow. OK, but what about a government shutdown?

JENKIN: Well, look, government funding is set to expire here on September 30th. And when Congress comes back next week, they only have 15 days for legislation to pass something. But Vice President Pence said yesterday, the way they're going to resolve this is with the continuing resolution.

[08:25:00]

And Christi, this is just a fancy way to say let's just extend the fiscal budget the way it is now, until we can come to some sort of resolution. I think the House has worked hard on this, but the optics would be really, really bad for people who want to get reelected in Congress and the President himself who wants to get reelected if the government shuts down. So I don't think you're going to see it happen. I think that they'll use this continuing resolution.

PAUL: OK, OK. So let me ask you this, what's been the impact of the president's executive orders to help people who are struggling?

JENKIN: I mean, it's been slow, Christi. 41 states have been approved right now for this extra $300 a week, but many have not paid out anything yet. And remember, FEMA is the one that's doling out this money, only three weeks at a time right now and then week by week after that.

And, look, 6 percent of Americans will never see this money ever, ever, ever Christi, because if you don't make $100 a week of unemployment, you get nothing.

And when it comes to the payroll deferral tax that went out this week, Christi, I'm not implementing it in any of my companies. And the simple fact is, if employees sign up for this, yes, they will get a little bit of extra money in their paycheck for four months here until December, but they have to pay it all back Christi, in the first four months of 2021 unless you're in dire straits.

Why would you incur debt that you don't need to incur that debt? And that's what's going to happen to a lot of people. I fear for them that they take advantage of it. What's going to happen in 2021?

PAUL: Well, and when you talk about incurring debt, then let's talk about the eviction moratorium that, fortunately, is helping people right now, but there is no forgiveness of the rent that they won't pay in that amount of time. So give us your take, really, on the benefits of this eviction moratorium.

JENKIN: I mean, you're absolutely right, Christi. The CDC put a ban this week on evicting people, homeowners and renters until the end of 2020, those that have no other housing options and make less than $99, 000 of income. I mean, I suppose the good news here is it gives people about four months to get back up on their feet, and it may stunt the growth of the coronavirus, because you won't have homeless people.

But on the other hand, Christi, you're right; you have to pay this money back in 2021 and immediately. And if people don't have jobs, Christi, I really fear a lot of people will be kicking the can down the road. But that road is going to be a dead end road that will end up in personal bankruptcy for millions of Americans in 2021 if they can't get back to work over the next four months,

PAUL: Ted Jenkin, always appreciate your expertise, sir. Thanks for getting up early for us.

JENKIN: All right. Thanks Christi.

SAVIDGE: Demands for justice in Rochester, New York, the scene of a deadly arrest. Coming up how the death of Daniel Prude is raising questions about the role of policing in mental health cases.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]

PAUL: It's been a third night of protests in Rochester New York overnight.

SAVIDGE: Demonstrators have taken to the street every night since the release of the body cam videos showing the arrest of Daniel Prude, a black man who was pinned to the ground by police and then later died. Mass protesters shouted "Black Lives Matter" as they peacefully marched through downtown streets last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROWD: Black Lives Matter!)

SAVIDGE: The protests turned violent as the night wore on, though, with demonstrators confronting customers at a restaurant.

PAUL: Protesters tried to cross a bridge and that's when police fired pepper balls and pepper spray into the crowd after they refused to leave that area.

Remember, an autopsy ruled that Prude's death was a homicide, citing complications of asphyxia. The drug PCP was also found in his system and was dubbed part of the reason for his death or cause of his death as well.

We have former police officer Joseph Ested with us now. He's the author of the book, "Police Brutality Matters."Joseph, so good to have you this morning. Thank you. I want to get your take on what you saw in regards to Daniel Prude there, the video, your reaction

JOSEPH ESTED, FORMER POLICE OFFICER: When you are tussling with somebody, trying to get him to the ground, and they're under the influence of drugs, they can hold tremendous amount of strength. But the problem I see you have multiple offices and the victim was in handcuffs already.

So this whole notion of he was on drugs, he had this tremendous amount of strength, and it needed that many officers to actually restrain him. Getting somebody in handcuffs, I can understand it. But once they're in handcuffs, I can't understand why you would use that much force for someone in handcuffs. So I had a problem with that.

SAVIDGE: I want to talk to you about your bad cop bill for police reforms and it mentions establishing an independent Department of Justice division to work with states to investigate these police involved shootings.

But when we talk about accountability here, it took Daniel Prude's family releasing that body cam footage on their own for the police in the City of Rochester to respond. And then, you've got the Rochester's police union that saying the officers followed their training, they didn't do anything wrong. So how do we get to a place where all the parties involved are held accountable from the beginning, because that video is six months old?

ESTED: Yes, that is correct. And when it comes down to the union, union have taken a different position. They became defense attorneys. They used to start it out to be labor relations, but now they take defense attorneys.

You have to remove the union out of the equation of negotiation on how to fix the problem when it comes down to policing. You've never seen a union official come out and say, "We got that one wrong guy. Maybe we need to look at it. Maybe we need to do this. "When, for the most part, we operate pretty well. Sometimes we have some that don't follow procedures, and we need to hold them accountable.

[08:35:00]

A union official never have done that. Look at Pat Lynch, when it came down to Eric Garner. He was trying to tell the whole world that Eric Garner wasn't choked. So we need to really start looking past the actual police unions when we start talking about correcting this issue when it comes down to police brutality.

Like I said in my book, "Police Brutality Matters, "we need an independent body to investigate police we don't need the police being investigated by the police. History shows that it doesn't work.

We also don't need the local DA to investigate the police. Me, as a police officer, I work with DAs day in and day out. We develop a relationship. I go to Christmas parties, weddings. It needs to be an independent party, non-partial our relationship when it comes down to it.

It needs to consist of federal and state agents who specialize in prosecuting crime scenes, prosecuting cases when it comes down to police brutality. It's just like I used this analogy when I'm doing IG live show once a week on police -- at "Police Brutality Matters" and we have these conversations on how to correct the problem with policing.

Like a plane crash, Delta plane crash, they don't send their own agents to go investigate it. An outsider of the NTSB, they come in, they investigate it. These are people who are experts in plane failure, of human failure. It has to be somebody outside of the entity of policing to investigate police.

And the only way we're going to fix this police brutality problem is state legislation. You see what's going on now when it comes down to the -- these proposals when it comes down to bills. These bills are federal bills. When was last time you've seen a federal officer choke individual? So, I would like to see state legislation and DOJ task force to investigate police brutality.

PAUL: We only have a couple of seconds left. But you said in your book that the culture of policing is more dangerous than policing itself. What specifically do you mean by that?

ESTED: Yes. The culture police is more dangerous than policing itself for Blacks. Look, as far as you can go back to our first highly publicized police beating, Rodney King, all the way up until now, it's always been -- the victim has always been a Black individual.

So when we start talking about how to fix the police problem, let's look at -- we have -- how law enforcement sees Black people, especially poor Blacks. They group them all in one. You hear this conversation all the time, well, Blacks commit more of the crime. It's a real small percent of the Black population that is committing a crime.

Like, when I'm in law enforcement, I had these conversations when it comes down to, OK, our bad apples are policing. You want the community to say, look, we only have a few -- less than one percent. You need to look at the Black community the same.

They look at the Black community as that small percent of the Black community, and especially the poor Black community, and they combine them into one. So we need to change that mindset when it comes down to how we police the poor black community.

SAVIDGE: Joseph Ested author of the book, "Police Brutality Matters, "thank you very much for joining us this morning, sir. Thanks for your service.

ESTED: Thank you. Appreciated.

PAUL: Thank you, sir. So we have an up close personal look at what it's like to cover a presidential campaign. We're talking with two of the stars of CNN's new documentary "On the Trail."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:00]

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN POLITICAL EMBED PRODUCER: (voice-over): We are CNN's eyes and ears on the ground. We know what you have to raise the roof about.

WRIGHT (on camera): If we don't walk towards her and she goes over there, they we'll miss that.

WRIGHT (voice-over): It's a grueling job that takes almost everything you have some days.

WRIGHT (on camera): Senator, where you satisfied with Bernie Sander's answering whether a woman could win this election?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's an argument between him and Elizabeth and I was not in the room.

WRIGHT (voice-over): You're basically giving up a part of your life for the next nearly two years. But afterwards, you will have covered a presidential election.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How that feels?

WRIGHT (on camera): It feels good. That's why I do this job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: That's a clip from the new CNN Documentary, " On the Trail: Inside the 2020 Primaries." It's a film that follows several campaign embed reporters for firsthand look at what it's like to cover a presidential campaign.

So let's bring a couple of them on board here. Political Embed Producers Jasmine Wright, Daniella Diaz. Ladies, so good to have you with us. Jasmine, good to see you again.

WRIGHT: Hi.

PAUL: Thank you so much. First of all for people who might be a little bit confused about this, Daniella, what exactly does it mean to be a political embed?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN POLITICAL EMBED PRODUCER: Yes, Christi, we are the eyes and ears of CNN on the campaign trail. We are the ones who cover every single campaign event for CNN. We are constantly running around shooting, taking notes, doing the reporting, and we report back to our correspondents and producers, so that they can do their job and be able to report the news on CNN.

PAUL: So Jasmine, have you had a moment where you thought -- I don't know if I'm going to get this? Well, what was one of your biggest challenges on the trail?

[08:45:00]

WRIGHT: I mean, there are so many times that I can recall thinking -- like stressing out about OK, there's news happening. How am I going to get this back? I think one of the challenges is, honestly logistics, right? You are carrying gear. You are -- also while you are carrying that gear, you're having to report back, you're having to send emails, you're having to answer texts.

You really happen to be online all the time, so that when news is happening, you are in front of it for the network, you are getting that information back in a timely fashion. So on top of driving your car to the next event, and on top of putting your gear in its place so that it can capture the event, you are also sending editorial. So, basically, juggling all of these really intensive acts is one of the hardest things about the job. But it's really exhilarating when you can do it correctly.

PAUL: Right, right. It's called kind of like a one man band, that's what I did when I got into the business. I was a one man band and that gear is no joke. And it was worse back then, because it was a lot bigger. I'm showing my age.

Daniella, what, what about you? Is there a moment where you were in the middle of something and you had a real concern about even making sure that you were digesting the information properly? And that you would get that nugget of news out of everything that's out there?

DIAZ: Yes, I mean, this is an experience that we had at every campaign event, it would be juggling so many things. But I found it to be such a rewarding experience to be able to provide help and the foundation of our coverage to CNN. And even though you're juggling a zillion things, it's still an amazing experience that I loved experiencing before COVID kind of changed everything, but I miss it every single day.

PAUL: What about Daniella, the interviews? Is there any in particular interview that stands out to you?

DIAZ: You know, Senator Warren is who I was embedded with, and she almost spoke to reporters every single time -- almost every single time she was on the campaign trail. And I found every time that I spoke to her, she would take one of our questions. And I found it to be such a rewarding experience to be able to get that one-on-one time with the candidate. And that's why our jobs are so important to the network because we get that.

PAUL: Jasmine, for people who watch, who are at home and they're just watching what is large being whittled down into what is real in terms of here's your five minutes or your four minutes on the segment. What do you think that that viewers need to know most about what goes into that process?

WRIGHT: So I think one of the most fantastic things about this documentary is seeing how much work and sacrifice we put in as journalists to get the story to the American public, right. You see me at the beginning give up my apartment to basically live on the road. You see, Kyung, our CNN colleague, spending a lot of time away from her children in service of that news.

So I think that one thing that when you look at this documentary, in its entirety that you can take away is how much we care about our jobs, how passionate we are about our jobs, and the effort that it takes to do our jobs, because it is a difficult job. It demands a lot of you. But that passion that we have and that really all CNN colleagues have is what makes the job fantastic.

And you're both very good at what you do. You might not say it of yourselves, but I will say it for you. Very well done Jasmine Wright, Daniella Diaz, thank you both for everything that you do.

DIAZ: Thank you so much.

PAUL: Absolutely. Sure. We know we'll be seeing more of you. And be sure to watch "On the Trail: Inside the 2020 Primaries."It's tonight at 8:00 pm right here on CNN.

SAVIDGE: Coming up an hour from now on CNN NEWSROOM. We speak with photographer Brenda Ann Kenneally, who traveled the country, meeting the countless Americans who are struggling to feed their families during this pandemic. Hear their stories and see her remarkable photographs. That's coming up at 10:00 am

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[08:50:00]

PAUL: So you can see face masks on street murals now all across Atlanta. SAVIDGE: In this week's "Impact Your World" we'll introduce you to the

painters who wanted to send a message of hope and support to neighborhoods that have been hit hard by coronavirus.

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FABIAN WILLIAMS, ARTIST: We're not seeing visual cues of, of a pandemic.

Turning the murals that people have been looking at for the last few years into a statement saying, hey, put on your mask and stop the infection, it's just another form of visual messaging and I feel like it's the underused tool.

SHERRI DAYE SCOTT, FOUNDER BIG FACTS SMALL ACTS: Big Facts Small Acts is a 100 percent volunteer campaign. We have a series of murals across this city being outfitted with vinyl masks. And their vinyl versus actually painting over various murals because the idea is, this is not permanent.

We're disproportionately seeing Black and brown people being impacted by this disease. We very much wanted to target people who we know were hourly workers and essential workers, people who we knew had to be out and about.

We also have put out about 100 masks in the community. Our hashtag is BigFactsSmallActs and anything that you see that we put out from our yard signs to our murals, to the our promotional videos have that hashtag, which then drive back to either our web page or our social media channels, so that people can find those tips on how to stay safe and keep others safe.

WILLIAMS: On the MLK piece I wrote "We going to be all right."It's a song from Kendrick Lamar. That's true. Like, we're going to get through this.

[08:55:00]

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PAUL: For more information on how you can help, please go to CNN.com/impact, and thank you for doing so.

SAVIDGE: And what a wonderful idea. Thanks so much for watching.

PAUL: Absolutely. SMERCONISH is up next for you. We'll see you again right here in an hour.

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