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New Day Sunday

January 6 Select Committee to Hold First Hearing Tuesday; Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) is Interviewed About the Select Committee and the Infrastructure Negotiations in Congress; U.S. Sees Summer Surge in COVID-19 Cases as Vaccinations Stall; Skateboarding, Surfing Make Their Olympics Debuts; Alabama City Plagued By Spike in Shootings, Homicides; Virginia Food Bank Starts "Mobile Market" to Combat Food Hunger. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired July 25, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: And here is part of what is so alarming, as well. This is one of 88 fires that are burning 1.4 million acres across the U.S. right now. Six new fires were reported just yesterday in California and Nevada. State officials are declaring additional states of emergency to help combat the fires.

(MUSIC)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. And welcome to your NEWE DAY. I'm Boris Sanchez.

PAUL: Good morning. I'm Christi Paul.

Let's talk about what we are seeing today. First of all, reliving the riot. U.S. Capitol police officers who responded to the deadly January 6th insurrection are testifying on Capitol Hill this week.

This is amid questions about which lawmakers will even serve on that commission.

SANCHEZ: Plus, surging cases as COVID infections rise because of the delta variant. There is now data showing just how much of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated. Plus, there is a legal battle brewing in one state that is set to reimpose mask mandates tomorrow.

PAUL: And striking gold. The U.S. wins its first Olympic gold medal of the Tokyo games. Coronavirus, though, and now the weather are showing some problems potentially for the Olympics.

(MUSIC)

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much for starting your week with us. It is Sunday, July 25th. Good morning to you.

And good morning to you, Christi.

PAUL: Good morning, Boris. It's always good to be with you. So we want to talk about this first. They put their lives on the line

when that mob descended on the U.S. Capitol and this coming week, we're going to hear from those front line police officers who responded to the attack.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, they are set to testify when the select committee on the January 6th riots holds its first hearing on Tuesday. That hearing follows a political showdown over who actually is serving on that committee. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pulling his picks from the panel earlier this week after Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of them.

Now Pelosi is considering whether to appoint another Republican lawmaker.

CNN congressional correspondent Daniella Diaz joins us now live from Capitol Hill.

And, Daniella, it sounds like it's going to be an emotional start to the hearing. What can you tell us about what we are going to see on Tuesday?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An emotional start indeed, Boris. You know, this will be the first time that the public will see a lot of this video that -- from body-cam footage from the police officers that responded January 6th. You know tThe public has seen bits and pieces of this. But this will be a full hearing where they will get to see that.

Because these police officers are going to testify ahead of this -- or ahead of this panel for the first time for the first hearing for this select committee. Look, there is still a lot we don't know about how this hearing going to play out, especially after this political showdown, which you mentioned, between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. You know, McCarthy actually appointed several Republicans to this panel but two were rejected by Pelosi. Those people being Congressman Jim Jordan and Congressman Jim Banks. So as a result, McCarthy is not participating in this panel at all and it's unclear what Pelosi is going to do going forward to try to make this a more bipartisan panel ahead of Tuesday.

I do need to mention, of course, there is one Republican serving on this panel and that is Congresswoman Liz Cheney. She was appointed by Pelosi, not McCarthy, and, of course, she was ousted from Republican leadership earlier this year for refusing to tout the big lie that the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.

So, a lot of questions heading into Tuesday.

SANCHEZ: Daniella Diaz reporting live from Capitol Hill. Thank you so much, Daniella.

With us now to discuss the committee's pivotal first hearing just two days away, the chief deputy whip of the Democratic Caucus, Congressman Dan Kildee.

Congressman Kildee, thank you for joining us this morning.

REP. DAN KILDEE (D-MI): Thank you.

SANCHEZ: You were in the Capitol during the insurrection and you've been open about some of the trauma that you experienced, with mobs calling for death.

How do you anticipate it's going to feel listening to testimony and reliving what happened that day?

KILDEE: Well, I'm sure it will be difficult for any of us who are a part of that. I was trapped in the gallery after the evacuation with a handful of other members. But, you know, the witness has will testify in that first hearing, those are the people who felt it the worst. These are the people, the officers who were completely outgunned, outmanned, whose own leadership failed them.

[07:05:01]

And 140 of them suffered very serious injury. Obviously, some took their own lives. This was a deadly attack and we are going to hear from the people that felt it the worst.

So, as tough as it was for some of us, it was nothing like what those officers faced.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, it's difficult often to hear from those officers, especially given their frustrations when some of your colleagues in the House don't acknowledge the reality of what happened that day. I'm curious what specific questions you are hoping that this committee is going to bring up. What are you -- what are you trying to learn through this investigation?

KILDEE: Well, I think, first of all, to understand the true events, the magnitude of the attack. And hearing the officers, to hear their depictions of what took place is really an important moment to properly record the history of that day.

But I think the committee, obviously, will have to look at the causes -- how the security professionals, the leadership failed. Why the National Guard wasn't deployed. And then, of course, how this whole thing was organized, how -- how much organization went into the attack.

We know that it was not a completely spontaneous event. So we have to get to the bottom of this. And I think while the criminal investigation is important to hold individuals accountable, it's really important that the committee itself explore all of these questions to create the proper historical reference for this moment, but also to make sure that we can take the steps we need to take to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, I want to dig into something you said. It's been reported that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Republican lawmakers spoke with the former president as this insurrection was unfolding. Would you like to see testimony from McCarthy or Trump himself?

KILDEE: Well, there is a critical moment when Kevin McCarthy spoke to President Trump and it's been reported secondhand that the president was essentially saying that, well, I guess Kevin McCarthy wasn't as upset about the election as these people were, essentially implying that Kevin's position wasn't the righteous one.

Unfortunately, for Mr. McCarthy, that may have been a very brief moment of truth for him. But that wasn't a critical moment. I think there are a number of these moments during the insurrection where there was communication between members of Congress, perhaps President Trump, maybe others at the White House, maybe the National Guard leadership. That is really important information that will help us fully understand the events that allowed this attack to be as bad as it was.

This is the reason that we want serious people who are willing to ask honest questions and seek the truth on this committee, not people like Mr. Banks or Mr. Jordan who are trying to pretend that this thing didn't happen, that it was some sort of a field trip. It's -- I think the speaker made the right call on that particular decision because of the questions that you raised that have to be the subject of the investigation the committee will conduct.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, House Speaker Pelosi says that the committee has a bipartisan quorum. Right now, the only Republican on the committee is Congresswoman Liz Cheney. CNN has learned that the speaker is considering adding Adam Kinzinger, congressman from Illinois, as another Republican.

Broadly speaking, though, Republicans have indicated they're not going to take the findings of this committee seriously. They're calling it a partisan hit job.

But how would potentially having someone like Kinzinger on the committee potentially change that, if not among your colleagues, then among Republicans more broadly across the country?

KILDEE: I think that's really the question, the second point -- Republicans more broadly, and really Americans more broadly across the country. This shouldn't be a partisan effort. Unfortunately, Kevin McCarthy is contributing to that image because he's refusing to allow Republicans to serve on the committee unless they're appointed by the speaker.

And in this case, he knew when he named those five individuals that the speaker would have the right to determine whether they were appropriate. That was the deal. That was the understanding at the outset.

So, the fact that we're finding ways to make sure that there is Republican representation is because the speaker's committed to it, even if Kevin McCarthy is not.

SANCHEZ: Now, Congressman, we are more than eight months out from Election Day 2020 and the former president continues to spread the big lie.

[07:10:01]

Just last night in Arizona he falsely told a crowd there that he won the election in that state and he again went after former Vice President Mike Pence for doing his job for not trying to overturn the election on January 6th. I'm curious, when you hear this kind of nonsense not only from the former president but so many of his acolytes in Congress that you have alluded to, what's your response?

KILDEE: It's pretty frightening. I guess it's not so frightening that this guy who I think is a deranged person anyway would say these things. What's frightening is there seems to be a good number of members of Congress who are either going along with it or pretending to go along with it, and some percentage of the American people that are falling into this.

You know, there are good historic corollaries for leaders who try to create their own set of truths and then use those people who follow them to try to take power away from the people who legitimately are in power. And this is what the president tried to do. This was an insurrection that took place on January 6th. What the president is continuing, the former president is continuing to try to do is continue to fuel the precondition to that insurrection.

The reason that insurrection occurred is because they believed Donald Trump, many of them, believed Donald Trump, this big lie, and it caused them to take matters into their own hands. I mean, I think they were crazy. Don't get me wrong. But I also think many of them actually believed this falsehood.

So this is where President Trump bears so much responsibility for any of the consequences of what he says. He is so accustomed throughout his life from being able to walk away from responsibility for his actions, pretend that he didn't do what he did, and this is just another example of that. It's dangerous, and in this case, it was deadly.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, and the historical precedent for this kind of myth- making, almost always leads to absolute disaster.

Congressman, I do want to get in a question about a separate issue. So, there are two massive infrastructure packages coming together in the Senate. There is a bipartisan bill and a budget resolution that would unlock reconciliation.

Bernie Sanders, the Senate Budget Committee chair, says he is confident he can get all 50 Democratic senators onboard to pass a $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. You're in leadership and on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Based on your conversations with your colleagues, do you think that the $3.5 trillion price tag is enough to keep your caucus in line?

KILDEE: Well, you know, we have to deal with the reality that the Senate, you know, holds half the power in this decision. And so I can speak for myself. I know a lot of my colleagues feel the same way. We need to do as much as we can do that we can get through the Senate

and maybe live to fight another day if there's more work to be done. You know, we don't get any credit and we shouldn't get any credit for what we say we are in favor of.

The American people want to see action. And the way I look at it, if we can get a $3.5 trillion investment in our future, knowing that we may have to come back in the next term passing this could give us the opportunity to do that. Failing to do so puts everything at risk and we know that if the Republicans are in charge, they're not going to do any of it.

So, I would -- I would favor the biggest teal deal we can get through the Senate knowing until we change this arcane Jim Crow relic called the filibuster, it's going to be tough to get much done.

SANCHEZ: Congressman Dan Kildee of Michigan, we appreciate you sharing part of your weekend with us. Thank you for joining us.

KILDEE: Thank you very much.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

All eyes on Tuesday are going to be on the select committee's first hearing. And you can join Wolf Blitzer for CNN's special coverage of that January 6th Select Committee's hearing beginning Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. right here on CNN.

Just as COVID cases are spiking nationwide, Missouri's state attorney general is threatening to sue over a mask mandate in St. Louis that is set to start tomorrow. We have more on that coming up.

PAUL: And listen, surfing is one of the events making its debut today. We are live from Tokyo ahead.

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[07:18:39]

PAUL: So, this summer surge of the coronavirus pandemic is getting worse across the U.S. Nearly every state is reporting an increase in infections as the more transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus surges.

New numbers --

SANCHEZ: Yeah, new numbers, though, show --

PAUL: Go ahead, Boris.

SANCHEZ: I'm sorry, Christi.

New numbers show just under half the population of the United States is fully vaccinated and the rise in infections and hospitalizations is being driven by the unvaccinated. Communities are taking steps to curb the spread though. St. Louis City and county will be requiring masks in indoor public places and on public transportation starting tomorrow, but Missouri's attorney general says he will sue to stop the safety measures from being enforced.

PAUL: Yet, now, the truth is this. Vaccines are effective. They are widely available and they are free. But there is this dangerous mix of vaccine hesitancy and misinformation in certain pockets of the country that is slowing efforts to end it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. GREG POLAND, DIRECTOR, MAYO CLINIC'S VACCINE RESEARCH GROUP: We are a year and a half into this and there is still waiting for information that they don't really even understand. You wouldn't ask your grocery store clerk what should you do about fixing your car's transmission. Why would you listen to a neighbor about what they think about vaccines?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:20:02]

PAUL: And here is CNN's Polo Sandoval with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The delta variant driving new outbreaks this summer as vaccinations stall in the United States. Florida currently one of the most infected states in the U.S.

REP. CHARLIE CRIST (D-FL): If the governor would lead more strongly and really lean into this and say, you know, people, you've got to get vaccinated, it's so important, it's life or death, I don't know why he is not doing it more. I really don't understand it.

SANDOVAL: Florida, Missouri and Texas are three states accounting for 40 percent of all cases nationwide. Austin, Texas, Mayor Steve Adler now recommending masks for all residents, even for those already vaccinated. But that's about all he can do.

MAYOR STEVE ADLER (D), AUSTIN, TEXAS: It's frustrating that the governor is attempting to limit our powers. It's even more frustrating that the message going to the community is mixed.

SANDOVAL: In Los Angeles County, California, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are now again exploding. On Saturday, the county reported 2,600 new cases. More than 60 percent of the county's eligible population has been fully vaccinated, but some individuals are wavering on getting vaccinated at all.

BARBARA FERRER, L.A. COUNTY DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH: There is a whole group of people who really are still struggling to understand how easy it is to get vaccinated. We'll provide anybody with transportation. We also got questions about whether they had to show their papers, can they get vaccinated if they are Mexican -- you know, no, you don't need any papers to get vaccinated and, of course, you can get vaccinated here in L.A. County regardless of immigration status.

SANDOVAL: Local vendors taking matters into their own hands when it comes to vaccinations in some instances. A restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, posting this photo, quote, for the safety of our staff, guests and community, no vax, no service. Amid the rising number of in infections state and local leaders are again recommending masks be worn indoors even by those who are vaccinated.

And with the new school year around the corner, at least eight of the 20 largest school districts in the U.S. are making masks optional for students in school, while another nine are requiring masks. Some districts like Shelby County and Tennessee are preparing for a return to classes with mask mandates.

JORIS M. RAY, SUPERINTENDENT, SHELBY COUNTY SCHOOLS: Our parents are very supportive and they understand that in the state of Tennessee there is a 200 percent increase of COVID-19, specifically the delta variant. Seven hundred new cases per day. You know, I have said it before and I am going to continue to say it, I'm going to keep students safe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Both the CDC and the FDA saying in a statement that they currently are exploring multiple options how to make a third COVID-19 vaccine dose available specifically to immuno-compromised individuals should that become necessary. We should mention that a recent study found 44 percent of those people who are hospitalized with so-called breakthrough cases are immuno-compromised people. We should remind folks, Christi and Boris, that currently, that emergency use authorization, it only allows a maximum of two shots. We'll see if that is needed for that segment of the population, the most vulnerable.

PAUL: Yeah, very good point.

Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

SANDOVAL: Thank you.

PAUL: So, Richina Bicette, medical director the Baylor College of medicine and emergency medicine physician, is with us now.

Dr. Bassett, it's good to see you.

I wanted to jump off a point that Polo was talking about. We are a week away from kids going back to school. Parents are wondering, how dangerous is this variant particularly for children?

DR. RICHINA BICETTE, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Well, I think the variant is dangerous not only for children, but for all of us. We have to remember and think about just how quickly this delta variant has spread. From when it was first seen in the United States in March, it went from making up 1 percent of cases to making up about 50 percent of cases at the beginning of July and currently the delta variant makes up over 80 percent of cases. It is directly contributing to the precipitous increase in daily COVID cases that we are seeing in the United States.

Now, there has been some back and forth in terms of mask guidance for schools. I think that the CDC really needs to take a look at what's going on and needs to make sure that their recommendations are going updated with the nature of the pandemic.

PAUL: So, let me ask you, with the politicization of mask-wearing, do you believe a mask mandate would actually be effective or might it insert stronger opposition from those people who already don't believe in its effectiveness?

BICETTE: Nothing about in pandemic should be political. Unfortunately, it is, and that's why we are in the position that we are in. Everything about coronavirus has to do with public health and nothing to do with politics. There are people that are still dying unnecessarily from COVID-19 when we have a safe and effective means to combat this pandemic. People need to get vaccinated. And if you're not going to get vaccinated, then you should wear a mask. You can't have it both ways.

[07:25:01]

PAUL: So, Friday, the White House announced though a purchase of hundreds of millions of additional Pfizer doses in part to be prepared in case those booster shots are needed. Do you anticipate the necessity of boosters? And if so, when?

BICETTE: I definitely think that we probably are going to need booster shots. When is the big question. For the Pfizer and Moderna people who were initially in those trials, it's been about a year since they first started testing the vaccines. So, we should be able to see when that immunity starts to wane.

We also know that while our current vaccines are effective against this new more dangerous delta variant, they're not as effective as they were against the initial strains of coronavirus that first appeared.

So, again, as more variants start to appear, we likely will need booster shots.

PAUL: Well, I know White House aides said that they don't believe any new recommendations were imminent, but they acknowledge they have previously received little warning, they say, when the CDC updates its guidance. Is part of the problem here, does there seem to be a disconnect between the CDC and the White House, or is this just a matter of, you know, fluid information at a time when we are all trying to decipher what this virus is and how it moves?

BICETTE: There is a lot of disconnect between a lot of governing bodies. The CDC is saying one thing regarding mask guidance for children in schools, whereas the American academy of pediatrics is saying something else. Pfizer previously came out and said they thought we would need booster shots relatively soon, and then we heard the FDA said something different. It seems that a lot of groups are functioning in silos instead of us

all working together and looking at the data in order to come up with a strategy and a playbook that is best for the entire population.

PAUL: Dr. Richina Bicette, we always appreciate your insight. Thank you for taking time for us this morning. Be well.

BICETTE: Thank you, Christi.

PAUL: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Skateboarding is now an official Olympic sport, and just a few minutes away, we're going to take you live to Tokyo to find out who took the inaugural gold medal in the brand-new Olympic sport.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:29]

PAUL: So, new sports making their debut at Tokyo Games today. History is being made on what is now the second full day of Olympic competition, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, but the COVID crisis and even the weather is now looming over the games.

Let's get over to CNN's Blake Essig. He joins us live from Tokyo.

Blake, tell us about the new sports that we're seeing this time around -- skateboarding.

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Boris, Christi. History is being made at these Olympic Games.

It started with -- excuse me. It started with the Olympic cauldron being lit by Naomi Osaka on Friday and now on the second full day of competition, we get to talk about some Olympic firsts.

Both surfing and skateboarding are making their Olympic debuts. They did that today. And 22-year-old Yuto Horigome of Japan has won the first ever gold medal in skateboarding, winning the men's street competition, a huge moment for Japan in skateboarding. Horigome won the gold in the same city where he learned to skate as a kid, spending time at plazas and parks with his father who is also a street skater.

Now, there are also several other sports making debuts here in Tokyo, including karate, and speed climbing, while baseball and softball are making their return to the Olympics after 13 years away. Now, despite the history being made here in Tokyo, the legacy of these Olympic Games will definitely be defined by the global health crisis. There's no question about that.

But before COVID-19 turned the world on its head, it was the weather that was supposed to be making headlines here at these Olympic Games. And while cases in Tokyo are surging and Olympic-related cases continue to climb, it's the weather that could cause problems for organizers in the coming days. A tropical storm is approaching Japan and could move and make landfall hitting Japan and Tokyo specifically on Tuesday.

Now, the storm could bring heavy rain, strong winds and high waves. As a result, rowing, the rowing event, which has been set to take place on Tuesday, has been pushed back to take place instead on Wednesday because of that threat of the storm.

Now, while the surfers have avoided the tropical storm for now, other athletes have high temperatures to contend with as the heatstroke continues to be a constant problem and a threat throughout these games. To put that threat into perspective, according to Japan's public broadcaster NHK, more than 50,000 people each year are hospitalized and hundreds die every year as a result of Japan's heat.

And it's worth pointing out that when the Olympic Games were last held Tokyo back in 1964, they were actually pushed back several months because of Japan's high temperatures during the summer -- Boris, Christi.

SANCHEZ: All right. Blake Essig from Tokyo, thank you so much.

There is still much more ahead on NEW DAY. But, first, a quick programming note for you. Tonight, be sure to catch a new CNN original series "JERUSALEM: CITY OF FAITH AND FURY." Here is a quick preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDNETIFIED MALE: So, Herod the Great latches to building projects because he can build buildings that will outlive him. He is trying to build his way out of depression.

UNIDENTIFIE FEMALE: He built a series of four to fortified desert palaces along the eastern frontier, including Masada overlooking the Dead Sea.

[07:35:04]

He built whole cities like Caesarea on the coast where, in addition to building a city, he built the largest artificial harbor that had ever been constructed up to that point.

And that Samaria, the ancient capital of Northern Kingdom of Israel, he built another city.

ALI QLEBO, ANTHROPOLOGIST & WRITER, THIS WEEK IN PALESTINE: King Herod is one of the main figures that has dominated Palestinian geography. And we owe to him the major monuments of Palestine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: An important history lesson. "JERUSALEM: CITY OF FAITH AND FURY" airs tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:25]

PAUL: There have been several shootings that involve children, one of them an 11-month-old baby shot and killed this week. So community leaders there in Birmingham, Alabama, are desperate for information and they are offering a $25,000 reward now for helping solving any of the cases such as Katrina Grady's.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, Katrina is a Good Samaritan caught in a drive-by shooting and she stopped to help. That's when her 8-year-old daughter was shot.

CNN's Ryan Young went to Birmingham, Alabama, looking for the reasons this is happening.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A spike in homicides in Alabama's most popular city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So easy to get a gun.

YOUNG: Birmingham police say homicides are up more than 16 percent. In 2020, Birmingham saw the city's most homicides in 25 years. 122 people reported killed leaving residents desperate for change.

KATRINA GRADY, MOTHER OF KAITLYNN KATRINA GRADY: I hate thinking about it because I never would have thought something like that would happen to my family.

YOUNG: Katrina Grady is still coming to grips with what happened to her daughter in May.

KATRINA GRADY: I froze up because I couldn't believe my baby just got shot.

YOUNG: A nursing assistant, Grady had stopped to help a car she saw on the side of the road. When shots rang out her 8-year-old daughter, Kaitlynn, was caught in the crossfire.

KATRINA GRADY: She didn't even know she was shot in the head nor in the arm.

OFFICER TRUMAN FITZGERALD, BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA POLICE DEPARTMENT: Right in this area here is where Ms. Grady stopped to offer assistance.

YOUNG: Kaitlynn is just one of several children who have been the victim of an uptick of gun violence in the city this past year.

CHIEF PATRICK SMITH, BIRMINGHAM POLICE: What we are seeing an overabundance of guns.

YOUNG: Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith says his officers are also dealing with an unprecedented number of guns on the street and not just any type of weapon. Smyth points to the availability of high- powered assault weapons leading to an increase in homicides across the city.

SMITH: We no longer have that argument or fistfight in the backyard anymore. It's an argument that leads directly to a handgun.

YOUNG: What's behind the surge? Chief Smith points to a number of things, including COVID-19 and its wide ranging impacts from less officers on the street to the impact on the city's court system.

SMITH: COVID caused everything to shut down. People were let out of jail to eliminate the possibility of health threats to them for COVID.

YOUNG: The city of Birmingham just allocated just under $100 million to the police department in next year's budget.

MAYOR RANDALL WOODFIN (D), BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: Every time I get the alert that someone has been killed or shot in our city, I think about my own mother. I consider the grieving mothers out here in our community.

YOUNG: While the mayor says supporting the police department is a priority, he says they also need cooperation from the community.

WOODFIN: You are not going to arrest your way out of decreasing homicides, right? You need prevention measures. We need enforcement re-entry measures and that requires community, that requires partners.

KATRINA GRADY: Help me find the person responsible.

YOUNG: Katrina Grady is encouraging people to say something when they see a crime take place. Police are still looking for who is responsible for Kaitlynn's shooting, but Grady is thankful she still has her daughter.

KAITLYNN GRADY, DAUGHTER: Thank you for praying for me.

KATRINA GRADY: Just to know that your child is not here, just to know my child could have been gone, too, as well. So I wouldn't wish that on nobody.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: What really an important reporting there from Ryan Young. Thank you, Ryan.

So, after the break we will tell you about a food bank that is filled with items you usually cannot find. We're talking about fresh fruits and vegetables. This farmers market is on wheels and it's really filling a need.

Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:44:13]

PAUL: So businesses are starting to recover. More people are returning to work, which is good news. But there are still so many people that need help. Families are struggling to put food on the table every day and the demand is greater than ever, because of the pandemic, though places like food banks are having to rethink how best to serve their communities.

Well, Ruth Jones Nichols is the president and CEO of the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore and she is with us now.

Ruth, it is so good to see you.

RUTH JONES NICHOLS, PRESIDENT & CEO, FOODBANK OF SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA AND THE EASTERN SHORE: Good morning.

PAUL: Talk to us about this mobile food bank that you have, mobile markets, because the foods that you are passing out aren't foods we normally see in food banks. Is that correct?

NICHOLS: Well, actually, over the past several years, food banks across the country have been increasing.

[07:50:02]

The amount of fresh fruits and vegetables that we distribute here in our service area, fresh fruits and vegetables representing one-third of what we distribute each year. However, we know that individuals are struggling to get to some of the traditional food pantries and meal programs. So, the 757 Mobile Market is an innovative approach designed to take food closer to where individuals live or receive other important services.

PAUL: So, about how many households do you feed a day?

NICHOLS: You know, each day with the 757 Mobile Market, in particular, we'll be able to serve 350 households but each year, we serve over 300 -- 130,000 individuals. And that's important to note for our service area, but it's important to note that nationally, because of the pandemic, we anticipate that there will be over 43 million individuals who experience COVID insecurity including 13 million children. So, each day, we serve thousands of individuals, but each year, a total of millions of individuals. And that's one of the reasons why it's so important to implement innovative solutions.

PAUL: It's so interesting because it almost looks like it's a -- it's a farmers market, if we look at those pictures there. I know that Virginia community colleges -- campus' latest statistics are about a third of the students struggled to pay for food last fall and more than 30 percent are struggling to pay for housing.

What did people say to you when they come in? Did they talk much about their situation?

NICHOLS: They do. You know, individuals talk about how difficult it is for them to choose between putting food on their tables or paying to further their education. We certainly know that through higher education and workforce development programs, that individuals will be more likely to experience food insecurity -- food security as well as access living wage careers.

So, when individuals come to the 757 Mobile Markets we hear a lot of wows. We hear a lot of -- for me, we hear people say, this is such a nice and dignified way of serving the community. And that's really what we're hoping to do. We want to improve the neighbor experience when they're showing up, seeking assistance.

PAUL: So, tell me, what impact do you think you've seen this -- particularly this mobile market give to the communities that you serve?

NICHOLS: Well, in our service area, we have experienced a 17 percent increase overall in food insecurity rates and we know that so many individuals who are experiencing hunger and food insecurity live in food deserts or other places where they cannot access affordable, nutritious food. So, we anticipate that the 757 Mobile Market will help to close the meal gap for families that are struggling to put food on their tables. We also anticipate that it is going to be a lifeline for seniors, for children, for low-income families, for individuals who aren't able to get out of their homes or their neighborhood.

So, we're expecting great things from the 757 Mobile Market as one of our innovative approaches to ending hunger.

PAUL: And I love how you mentioned it, it's so true. You're adding some dignity to this, because we're all human, we're all just trying to get through this together.

Ruth Jones Nichols, you're doing such important work. Thank you for sharing it with us.

NICHOLS: Thank you so much.

PAUL: Best of luck to you.

And thanks all of you for being with us this morning. We always appreciate your company. We hope that you make some good memories today.

SANCHEZ: Always a pleasure to join us, Christi.

Before we go, we do have a quick programming note. Tonight, be sure to tune in to a new CNN special. Don Lemon has more on that and it just might leave you humming.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. These past few months, I have scoured America, trying to answer this question, where have all the theme songs gone? Did you ever wonder?

And one thing I learned is that writing songs is hard but writing TV theme songs, even harder.

You know, I spoke with Gary Portnoy, he's the co-creator of the hit TV show "Cheers" theme song. Don't start seeing it already. But he didn't get it exactly right the first time.

Watch.

CHEERS THEME SONG: Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.

GARY PORTNOY, CO-CREATOR OF CHEERS THEME SONG: When "Cheers" started, nobody was watching it.

CHEERS THEME SONG: -- all your worries, sure would help a lot. Wouldn't you like --

PORTNOY: But, fortunately, there was a lot of interest in the song.

LEMON: What happened?

PORTNOY: Judy Hart-Angelo was a friend of mine for a number of years. We wrote this song called "My Kind of People."

LEMON: Let's hear it.

PORTNOY: My kind of people, root for the home team, making a living, out in the mainstream.

[07:55:09]

We sit with our friends, the old and the true ones, before the night ends, we're bound to make new ones -- here's the really bad part -- you never know who's going to show at "Cheers" and here's to -- so.

LEMON: Wait, I liked it.

PORTNOY: You liked it, OK. Well, we sent it, and they turned it down.

LEMON: I hope you get a chance to watch it, I hope you get a chance to sing along, and I hope it lifts your spirit and everyone else's.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Don.

Be sure to watch, "WHERE HAVE ALL THE THEME SONGS GONE?" tonight at 8:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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