Return to Transcripts main page
New Day Sunday
Huge Protests Across America Against Brutality, For Equality; Black Sheriff To Police: "We Are Part Of The Problem"; Barr Denies Order To Clear D.C. Protesters; Black Lives Matter Supporters Gathering Around The Globe; Buffalo Officers Plead Not Guilty In Assault Of Elderly Man; Louisiana Issues Storm Evacuation Orders For Several Parishes. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired June 07, 2020 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PROTESTERS: Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The 12th day of people filling the streets with renewed calls for reform after George Floyd's killing nearly two weeks ago.
PHILOMENA WANKENGE, CO-FOUNDER, FREEDOM FIGHTERS DC: I don't care if I lose my life, if that means my nieces and my nephews won't have to deal with being invalidated because of the color of their skin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The system is not going to win. The people have a voice now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) because we're united. People don't have to stand for injustice anymore.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: America's own challenge is rippling out.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Racism is real. It is in the United States but it is also in Canada.
PROTESTERS: No justice.
PROTESTERS: No peace.
PROTESTERS: No justice.
PROTESTERS: No peace.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People think it is not going on anymore, that's the biggest racism right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is "NEW DAY" weekend with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Beautiful shot there of Atlanta and the Big Wheel there as we say good morning to you on this Sunday, early morning, 5:00 am, always grateful to have you with us.
Overnight, the U.S. saw some of the largest protests yet since the death of George Floyd. For the 12th night in a row, there were calls for equality and justice, from coast to coast. Tens of thousands of protesters in the streets, not just in large cities but small towns across America.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Some of the signs you see at these rallies read "Defund the police" or "Defund law enforcement." We're going to talk about that this morning. Supporters of that movement say it might be the solution to police brutality.
Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, he was booed after telling a group of demonstrators he did not support abolishing the city police department.
PAUL: Some demonstrators say it is worth braving coronavirus to protest George Floyd's death. Right now the U.S. is about to surpass 110,000 confirmed cases.
BLACKWELL: The cities across the country are preparing for more protests today. Look at this, coming up on the Gulf Coast, evacuation orders issued in several parishes in Louisiana and tropical storm Cristobal expected to make landfall tonight.
PAUL: We want to start this morning with what we have been seeing here, though, CNN's Polo Sandoval from New York with the latest.
What are you hearing there this morning?
SANDOVAL: Good morning to you.
Cities across the country seeing perhaps some of the largest crowds in recent days or even weeks here, particularly in the nation's capital. We watched them through the evening; they were peaceful, passionate and, by most accounts, predominantly peaceful.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): The peaceful fight for change is continuing across America this weekend.
PROTESTERS: George Floyd.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): The 12th day of people filling streets with renewed calls for reform after George Floyd's killing nearly two weeks ago.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice.
PROTESTERS: No peace.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice.
PROTESTERS: No peace.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Thousands in North Carolina paid their respects to George Floyd on Saturday. Floyd was born in North Carolina but died in Minneapolis after a police officer had a knee to his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no way in the world his life will not change the trajectory of racism from now on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can quite literally lead the way in our nation, enacting more police reform than any other city in the entire country and we cannot fail.
PROTESTERS: Black Lives Matter.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): At least tens of thousands, it is estimated, participated in a series of protests across Washington, D.C., on Saturday. A metropolitan D.C. spokesperson told CNN there were no arrests.
This is the view from space, a satellite image, the words "Black Lives Matter" now fill two entire city blocks in Washington, D.C. in what is being called Black Lives Matter Plaza, which leads to the White House.
The D.C. mayor joined crowds in the plaza as they called for action.
Large crowds attended mostly peaceful protest rallies in Philadelphia and Chicago, massive crowds joined the spirited protests throughout Los Angeles, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want people to help us carry this baton, stand by our sides and we want to take our allies and march toward the gates of racism and injustice and I don't think it stands a chance anymore.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Protesters also marched through a tunnel in L.A., car horns honking in unity.
Protesters could also be seen dancing near Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta on Saturday night.
[05:05:00]
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Where they also chanted to some, "This is America."
(MUSIC PLAYING)
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Players and staff the of the Denver Broncos led a march for social justice through Denver. Protesters outside Denver Police Department District 6 last night.
And protesters seen blocking Interstate 35 in Austin, Texas.
Authorities in Portland, Oregon, and several other cities have suspended the use of tear gas against protesters.
Tensions rose in Seattle last night where police launched flashbangs to scatter crowds but overall demonstrations have been largely peaceful and powerful in the United States.
In Kentucky, balloons were released for Breonna Taylor, an EMT shot eight times in her own home by police executing a warrant to search for another person.
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City filled with thousands more demonstrators fighting for the Black Lives Matter movement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The system is not going to win. The people have a voice now. They'll listen to us because we're united. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people don't have to stand for injustice anymore.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Protesters for New York City and Brooklyn streets late into the night, despite the curfew here, rallying for justice in the name of George Floyd.
PROTESTERS: No peace. No justice. No peace. No justice. No peace. No justice.
SANDOVAL: Many of the protesters that we saw detained by the NYPD in the last couple of days may not be prosecuted. In fact, on Friday, Manhattan's district attorney announced they'll drop any charges against some of those that were suspected in things like unlawful assembly or disorderly conduct, so-called low level offenses.
We should note suspected looters and vandals will not be on that list. As we heard from authorities here, they're hoping to limit some of those legal interactions with some of these demonstrators to send that message to those that are protesting on the streets.
BLACKWELL: Polo Sandoval from New York, thank you very much.
PAUL: Thank you.
So we have seen the images from the protests across the country. We want to hear from some of the protesters themselves.
BLACKWELL: And a lot of them tell us that this moment, this national global moment, feels different and they talk about what they want after the demonstrations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here because I think we all need to make a stand. We all need to do it collectively and silence is not the way to go with it. I think we all have to be proactive in our own right, whether it is out here in the streets or it is spreading awareness or having hard conversations.
I think it is a matter of picking a side and being proactive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want them to grow up in a world where they're not going to be stopped just because they're black. I want them to be able to have a good education. I want them if they're sick to go to the hospital and get the best care they can get.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt the need to come out because my life matters. After (INAUDIBLE) like this, I feel that we still need to march and we still need to care, even though we already showed our support. We need to keep on pushing until actual change is done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: A county sheriff who spoke at the memorial service for George Floyd in North Carolina had a message for law enforcement. He said that they are part of the problem.
PAUL: He went on to talk about the pressures of policing as a black man in America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF HUBERT PETERKIN, HOKE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: I dreamed about being a law enforcement officer ever since I was 10 years old. But that dream is now turning into a nightmare.
You see, I found out, I realized that if I deny all the wrong that law enforcement is doing today, I am denying the color of my skin.
(APPLAUSE)
PETERKIN: And I won't do that. I am a black man first, then law enforcement. You see, one thing that people got, as a black officer, when our community looks at us, they look in two different directions. They look and they say, OK.
They don't trust us because we're officers now. The fear is real in the black community. Let's be real about it. The fear is real. They don't trust the black officer because we're officers. But then they question our blackness.
They ask us, hey, how can you be a part of something with all of this going on?
Can you see?
Are you blind?
Can you see what's going on?
I'm going to keep it real. If there was four brothers that threw a police officer on the ground --
[05:10:00]
(CROSSTALK)
PETERKIN: -- and put -- one of them put their knee in his neck, that officer's neck, and killed him under video while the other three stood around and flexed, there would have been a national manhunt for all four of them.
(APPLAUSE)
PETERKIN: There would have been a national manhunt for all four of them and they would have been arrested and charged with murder immediately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Tomorrow there will be another public viewing service for George Floyd. This one in Houston.
PAUL: Want to bring in Cheryl Dorsey, retired police sergeant for Los Angeles Police Department and author of "Black and Blue: The Creation of a Social Advocate."
Thank you for being with us. We appreciate getting your voice in all of this, Cheryl. Tell us, first of all, I want to get your reaction, you spent 20 years with the LAPD.
What is your reaction to what Sheriff Peterkin was saying there?
CHERYL DORSEY, RETIRED LAPD SERGEANT: I agree with what he said, in part; certainly there would have been a manhunt if there were four black men holding down a white police officer. Only they wouldn't have been arrested. They would have been killed onsite. That's the difference.
That's the two-tiered system of not only justice but discipline within the police departments. So I concur that police officers who look like me should join black folks' need to infiltrate police departments, much like the FBI has reported the KKK have done and are doing.
And unless and until there is police accountability, unless and until police unions are no longer able to throw copious amounts of money at politicians, who then look the other way when communities request legislation to hold officers accountable, we're going to continue to go through this.
BLACKWELL: Let's talk about some more of the changes. We heard from New York City mayor Bill de Blasio yesterday, talking about acknowledging the problem and then setting a path forward. Here's what he said has to change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY), NEW YORK CITY: We're addressing right now a deep concern, a deep set of concerns about policing, about structural racism, about the history of racism in policing.
And those are very real and well documented concerns and we have to keep weeding out that racism. We have to end that history even though it hangs over us so heavily.
That will take a better disciplinary system, more transparency, that will take better efforts to screen out officers who don't belong on the force or remove officers who don't remove on the force. And that work will actually help us to move forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: NYPD is a department of 36,000 officers. You were with a huge department, LAPD.
What does that take?
Give us the timing you expect and, you know, the mayor sets that tone. But the officers may not be bought in. The unions may not be bought in. Moderate the expectation of when these changes will happen, if you would.
DORSEY: Let me say this, I think the mayor is being intellectually dishonest. He's saying we're looking at this right now. Where the heck has he been? This is not a new phenomenon. This has been going on since the beginning of time.
And let us not forget that there was an officer by the name of Daniel Pantaleo, who stayed on their payroll for five years after he had choked Eric Garner and was only fired, only fired, to be clear, because he was ineffective, according to the words of then commissioner James O'Neill, he was ineffective.
Why?
Because the civilian review board determined that he lied, not because he used a prohibited chokehold, for months and years they tried to convince us that we didn't see a prohibited chokehold.
So why is it that police chiefs who serve at the pleasure of mayors, who are elected officials, so you guys need to vote, are allowed to have officers like Derek Chauvin on their rolls, who have committed misconduct and received 18 personnel complaints and was on his way to 19 but for the death of George Floyd?
Why do we have to wait until there is a death, a national viewing, if you will, of something before action is finally taken?
This has happened time and time again. Walter Slager -- Walter Scott was shot and killed by Michael Slager after he tased someone inappropriately on two other occasions.
[05:15:00]
DORSEY: And it wasn't until the death of Walter Scott that finally Michael Slager was taken off the rolls.
So they're being disingenuous when they clutch their pearls and pretend this is something new they just discovered. Now on this day, something different is going to happen.
Nothing different has happened substantively, since 2014.
PAUL: Sergeant Dorsey, we talk about what is happening in Minneapolis and this call to defund the police, what does that say to you about what the future would look like if that happens?
DORSEY: What it says to me is that those are words to placate the Millennials because the Millennials want to do away with police departments totally. And that's not going to happen. And so here in Los Angeles, our mayor talked about taking away
millions of dollars from the police department and, in so doing, somehow makes it easier for police to file complaints -- for community members to file complaints?
It makes no sense. If these police chiefs wanted to stop this bad behavior, they could do a couple of things real quick. They could create a safe zone for police officers to report misconduct by their peers. And they can remove the officers who have been identified by way of complaints, red flags, whatever you want to call it.
If you can't fire them because of due process, put them on the desk. A police chief, a captain, a sergeant, a watch commander can put an officer on a desk very easily and he doesn't have the skill set and temperament to be out among the public.
BLACKWELL: Cheryl Dorsey, thank you for the insight and giving us some truth, when you're hearing so many platitudes from politicians across the country. Good to have you.
PAUL: Thank you.
DORSEY: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: A sheriff deputy is dead after an ambush involving a person with explosives.
PAUL: The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department says the deputies followed a van after a tip there were guns and bombmaking materials inside of it. When they arrived at the home, the deputies were ambushed with gunfire and multiple improvised explosives.
A 38-year-old sergeant Damon Gutzwiller was shot and pronounced dead at the hospital there. The sheriff's department says he had been with the department since 2006.
Another deputy was either shot or struck by shrapnel and struck by a car as the suspect got away. Police eventually did catch up with the suspect, Steven Carrillo, who was shot and arrested.
Coming up, attorney general William Barr says the violent removal of peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square earlier this week wasn't his call.
So who made the decision?
BLACKWELL: Also, the outer bands, those tropical storm force winds, are reaching the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama and Florida this morning. Coming up, where people are already getting prepared for the heart, the center of the storm to come ashore, maybe later tonight.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:20:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BLACKWELL: Attorney general William Barr said he had nothing to do with the decision to remove the protesters from Lafayette Square in Washington earlier this week. Remember, President Trump wanted to walk across the square to take pictures outside of St. John's Episcopal Church after it was damaged during the protest.
PAUL: Law enforcement had to clear his path before that photo-op. The White House press secretary said President Trump did not know about the plan to empty the streets and that Barr made that call. CNN national correspondent Kristen Holmes has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Attorney general Bill Barr trying to distance himself from last Monday's events amid increasing fallout.
Of course, just to remind our viewers, last Monday was when the world watched peaceful protesters out in front of the White House in Lafayette Park get aggressively removed by law enforcement, who used rubber bullets and pepper balls, among other tactics, just so that president Trump could stand in front of St. John's Church and take that photo holding the Bible.
Now, make no mistake, the White House put this squarely on Barr, which is why he is in fact trying to distance himself. A senior administration official said that president Trump had no idea there was a plan to empty the streets and that that was the attorney general's decision.
Now, he is pushing back for the first time. And in an interview with the Associated Press, he said he didn't give the final order to clear the park. And he clearly said this, not -- he was not involved in giving tactical commands like that and he put it on to the park police. So essentially they're shifting the blame.
But I do want to note one thing. We watched on camera as Bill Barr talked to law enforcement, he stood out there, before the protesters, in between that area that had been blocked off, talking to these officials.
And this was caught on camera. And he's not the only person, though, who wants to distance himself from this. We have seen several officials really trying to push back, including the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper -- reporting from the White House, Kristen Holmes, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: Kristen, thank you.
So there are solidarity protests and marches happening around the world against police brutality and racism. We're talking tens of thousands of people coming out in Australia, Britain, France, Germany. That's just among other countries.
BLACKWELL: Demonstrators denounce racism in their own countries, too. CNN's Nic Robertson has details for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PROTESTERS: Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): From Auckland, New Zealand, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Berlin, crowds have gathered so George Floyd's last words don't die with his killing.
A huge mural elected along the iconic path of the old Berlin Wall.
In Montreal, the message, the same: prime minister Justin Trudeau adding his own cautionary words, no country immune to this scourge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Anti-black racism is real.
[05:25:00]
TRUDEAU: It's in the United States but it's also in Canada.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON (voice-over): In Ireland, North and South, George Floyd, larger than in life, remembered on Dublin's walls. In Dublin, trans- Atlantic ties making this killing feel closer to home.
And, in London, protesters came in their thousands, gathering amidst the grandeur of Trafalgar Square, marching off toward the U.S. embassy, pausing outside the prime minister's office to tell him what they think.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- everywhere in the world. People -- people choose to think that it's not going on anymore. That's the biggest racism of all right now, the fact that they're sitting there, thinking that it doesn't exist. This is proof that it exists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON (voice-over): In Paris, silence for remembrance for a life taken so callously. America's friends are watching and they are worried.
DOMINIC RAAB, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: We want to see deescalation of all of those tensions in America come together.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): More protests are planned for London, where 23 people were arrested Sunday, some for breaking lockdown rules, which bans groups larger than six.
America's own challenge is rippling out. So far, more peaceful than the nightly storms filling U.S. streets. All the same, a measure of how racism scars our common cause -- Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Be sure to watch "STATE OF THE UNION," Jake Tapper is joined by former secretary of state General Colin Powell, Housing Secretary Ben Carson and California representative Karen Bass. "STATE OF THE UNION" airs today at 9:00 Eastern here on CNN.
PAUL: And do stay close, tropical storm Cristobal is churning toward the coast. We're going to look at when and where this thing is going to hit.
Take a look at the radar here. We have some more other video to show you, a tornado, look at this thing, touched down near two major theme parks in Orlando.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BLACKWELL: The two officers charged for shoving and seriously injuring a 75-year-old protester in Buffalo, New York, they could face up to seven years in prison if convicted. That's according to the Erie County district attorney.
PAUL: They're out of jail at the moment. The officers were greeted by cheers and applause on their way out. Here is CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: The two Buffalo police officers who were seen pushing a 75-year-old protester were charged on Saturday with second degree assault. The two pleaded not guilty. They were released on their own recognizance and did not need to post bail.
This happened just behind me, caught on videotape. Now on Saturday, there was a large law enforcement presence outside the district attorney's office. And after the arraignment, there were cheers from members of the law enforcement community supporting those two officers.
The district attorney has said that he believes the entire Buffalo Police Department needs retraining.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN J. FLYNN, ERIE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: They're not trained to shove a 75-year-old man with a baton and knock him to the ground. They're not trained to do that.
Yes, are they trained to push back, trained to clear an area, absolutely. But there's elements to that, there's aspects of that that are proper.
But when you cross the line, all right, that's when it comes out of the training aspect and now comes in my world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YURKEVICH: That 75-year-old protester, Martin Gugino, remains in serious but stable condition. And those two officers are still suspended without pay.
As for protests here in Buffalo, they have been peaceful over the weekend. You can see a group across from city hall gathering. This is across from where Martin Gugino was pushed by those two police officers. And on Sunday, tonight, this will be the last night of curfew, which starts at 8:00 pm -- back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: Vanessa, thank you so much.
Now there are evacuation orders issued for parts of Louisiana this morning. Of course, as tropical storm Cristobal moves closer to the Gulf Coast but hundreds of miles away from its projected landfall, the storm's producing really powerful winds, rain and look at this, tornadoes.
BLACKWELL: These outer bands of the storm, they spawned a tornado near downtown Orlando yesterday. At least three homes were damaged. Good news is no reports of injuries from this tornado.
(WEATHER REPORT)
[05:35:00]
BLACKWELL: There have been evacuation orders issued for towns and parishes along Louisiana's Gulf Coast. And if it is not a concern as people are heading to the shelters. Remember, this is during a pandemic.
PAUL: Natasha Chen is with us from New Orleans right now.
We know people in Louisiana, they are adroit at dealing with this kind of thing. They know what to expect. They know what to do.
But in the atmosphere of COVID-19, how is that changing things there?
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I talked to somebody who has been in New Orleans for a long time and he said they're not really that worried about this storm, although there are some very life threatening flood warnings coming from officials.
They are watching this as closely as they can, knowing there are pandemic issues to deal with at the same time, like you said. And at the shelters, people will have to bring additional things they may not normally bring during a disaster, like hand sanitizer and face coverings.
As for places that issued evacuation orders, that includes the parishes of St. John the Baptist, Plaquemines, Lafourche and parts of Terrebonne and Jefferson Parishes and that includes the town of Grand Isle that is on a barrier island.
And they actually issued a mandatory evacuation yesterday, expecting about two to four feet of storm surge, according to the mayor. A lot of people here paying attention to the potential flooding issues here.
The National Weather Service for New Orleans, just in the last hour or so, said the flood watch for this area extends north through Tuesday morning. So flooding always a concern in this area, especially when you get these storm systems.
But people here seem to be carefully watching this, making their grocery runs but not extremely concerned, relative to the types of storms they may typically get here. Back to you.
BLACKWELL: Natasha Chen for us in New Orleans, thank you so much.
Up next, a CNN exclusive: details about the D.C. -- the National Guard there in D.C., when they will be leaving the streets, when they'll be heading home.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BLACKWELL: An NYPD deputy commissioner describes the ambush on police officers in Brooklyn as something out of a terrorist playbook.
PAUL: A police body camera captured the chaotic moments after an officer was stabbed in the neck. Take a look here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got stabbed?
(INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Obviously that last video is of the night that police say was used two other officers were shot in the hand.
BLACKWELL: All three are expected to be OK. Whether or not this was in fact an act of terror, that's still being investigated. Police do not believe it is tied to the protests or any of the other actions that have happened over the last 12 nights. The suspect was shot several times and is in critical condition at a hospital.
Now to the CNN exclusive.
[05:45:00]
BLACKWELL: After witnessing one of the largest demonstrations in recent memory, the National Guard commander says that thousands of National Guard troops brought to the nation's capital to help patrol the protests are about to go back to their home bases.
PAUL: CNN's Ryan Browne says the redeploying of these soldiers could start as soon as tomorrow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN BROWNE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some of the nearly 4,000 additional National Guard troops that were brought to the nation's capital in the response to the recent protests could start going home as soon as Monday. The top general in the D.C. National Guard told CNN in an exclusive interview at the D.C. National Guard headquarters.
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM J. WALKER, D.C. NATIONAL GUARD: They'll be redeploying this week, probably as early as Monday.
BROWNE: Do you have a sense of how many, is that all of them?
Or just a portion of them?
WALKER: They will leave as the situation dictates.
BROWNE: Now the presence of those troops from some 11 states was a major point of contention between the White House and the D.C. local government, D.C.'s mayor asking the White House to remove those troops and telling the governors to send their troops home, saying that local law enforcement could handle the protests.
But Defense officials say because of the peaceful nature of the recent protests, they could potentially begin drawing down the number of troops. The general also addressed another controversy involving the National Guard here in Washington, that is those low-level helicopter flights that took place Monday.
Some accuse those helicopter flights of being intended to disperse some of the peaceful protests. The top general said the flights were not directed by the Pentagon but that the flights themselves were under investigation.
WALKER: I have a joint task force commander, a general that serves under me. And so he had the aircraft in the air. I am not a pilot. So I don't know if that was the -- if they were too low. I don't know if they were too low.
Here's what I can tell you, a full investigation is underway right now and it's going to be thorough. It's going to be comprehensive.
BROWNE: The general echoed other senior military leaders saying, at this time, active duty troops were not needed to respond to the recent social unrest but saying he did not have a crystal ball and would remain watchful as the days moved forward -- Ryan Browne, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: Ryan, thanks so much.
A protest in New York looked more like a festival. Look at the community marchers here spread through music and the messaging there. We'll tell you more.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BLACKWELL: We're seeing corporate America at least adopt the rhetoric of the social justice movement in the wake of George Floyd's death.
PAUL: America's biggest businesses are racing to catch this moment or maybe really catch up with their customers. CNN's Abby Phillip clues us in here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It started as a trickle. Silicon Valley companies like Salesforce and Apple speaking out, days after the killing of George Floyd, but now it has become an avalanche, as corporate America breaks its silence on race amid nationwide protests.
PROTESTERS: Don't shoot!
PHILLIP: The leaders of America's most powerful businesses are facing pressure from their customers and employees to act.
MARK STEWART, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, NORTH AMERICA FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOBILES: I say to you today no more. No more. Racism of any kind is decisive -- divisive, it's ugly and it brings about the worst of humanity.
PHILLIP: Ben & Jerry's, the Vermont-based ice cream company that is no stranger to activism, offering one of the most strongly worded statements, calling for concrete steps to dismantle white supremacy in all its forms.
CHRIS MILLER, BEN & JERRY'S CORPORATE ACTIVISM MANAGER: In order for us to make the kind of progress that we need as a nation and as a society, it requires us to acknowledge and to embrace some hard truths.
PHILLIP: Nike flipping its iconic slogan "Just do it" on its head, now pleading, for once, don't do it. Don't turn your back on racism.
And nine of Detroit's largest businesses including General Motors CEO Mary Barra, now coming together to pledge that they will push for action.
MARY BARRA, GENERAL MOTORS CEO: We will stand up against injustice and that means taking the risk of expressing unpopular or polarizing points of view, because complacency and complicity sit in the shadow of silence.
PHILLIP: It's a dramatic change for predominantly white corporate America. But for some, the outpouring of support for protests rings hollow. Democratic Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez blasting companies for releasing bland statements with a hashtag, tweeting, your statement should include your org's internal commitments to change.
Activists also penning this statement from the National Football League which they noted failed to mention policing or racism at all. And it comes four years after NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's protest against police brutality prompted a threat from the league to punish players who knelt during the national anthem.
Today, something has changed and for the companies like Ben & Jerry's that have long spoken out, it's overdue.
MILLER: Typically, what companies do is use that power to advance their own narrow self-interests. There is a cost to that. That if the rest of the society is burning down around us, can't have a healthy company in a sick society.
PHILLIP (voice-over): Abby Phillip, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: The push for equality and an end to police brutality weren't the only messages as thousands of people got together in New York City yesterday. Protesters were making music, singing, dancing. They were beating the drum, tooting their horns, hear them there, almost carnival-like atmosphere there in togetherness as they were approaching Washington Square Park.
BLACKWELL: Also some dancing and singing in downtown Atlanta.
[05:55:00]
BLACKWELL: There is that Electric Slide.
PAUL: That's never going to go away, Victor. We're never going to get away from it.
BLACKWELL: Every time you get to this phase of a lot of these social justice movements, at some point, it gets to an art where it becomes, you know, kind of a unifying moment, here comes the Electric Slide.
PAUL: It is unifying. (CROSSTALK)
PAUL: Everybody knows how to do it.
BLACKWELL: You know the steps?
PAUL: Yes, I do. I can't do them here for you.
(LAUGHTER)
BLACKWELL: I have the producer in my ear.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: Quick break. We'll be back.
