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CNN TONIGHT

President Trump Met with Law Enforcement in Dallas; COVID Cases Surges in Many States; Three Stars with One Common Goal; NBA VETS Kendrick Perkins, Stephen Jackson And Rapper Bun B Working With LeBron James To Turn Out Black Vote In November; LeBron James Launches 'More Than A Vote' To Register Black Voters And Fight Voter Suppression; Video Shows Chicago Officers Lounging In Congressman's Office In The Midst Of Protests And Violence; Director of 'Antebellum' Calls On Black Artists To Speak Out Following George Floyd's Death; Celebrities Call On Americans To Reject Racism And Support Black Lives In New PSA;. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired June 11, 2020 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: This is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon.

It is 11 p.m. here on the East Coast. And with thousands and thousands of Americans demanding justice and an into police brutality, the president attends a roundtable at a church in Dallas with faith leaders and members of law enforcement, saying the White House is working on an executive order on policing standards.

But also appearing to ignore the national outpouring of anger over systemic racism in policing. Warning against labeling people as racists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We have to work together to confront bigotry and prejudice wherever they appear. But we'll make no progress and heal no wounds by falsely labeling tens of millions of decent Americans as racists or bigots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Three key law enforcement officials in the Dallas region, all of whom are black, were not invited to the roundtable.

And also, tonight, General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, apologizing for appearing in a photo-op with the president last week. After peaceful protesters were forcefully removed from Lafayette Square in front of the White House.

Let's discuss now. CNN White House correspondent John Harwood is here and former federal prosecutor Laura Coates. And president of the -- former president, I should say, of the National Organization of Black Law Executives, Cedric Alexander. I clearly have the A-team with me and I'm very excited about that. So,

thank you for joining.

John, let's start with you because you were told the president's events in Dallas today, event, I should say, was to discuss justice disparities. But he didn't really do that.

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, he didn't. And what he did was show us that the sentiments that most Americans are expressing now, growing numbers of Americans are expressing, that we need to take real action to address the inequities that have been made plain.

We've held up a mirror, as Mitch Landrieu said in the last hour, held up a mirror to America, and we want to act on it. Those are feelings the President of the United States simply does not share.

He is stuck in a mental space of racial conflict. That's what he is known throughout his life, as a businessman, as a politician. And so, he was celebrating the forceful putdown of dissent today in that roundtable.

That's what he thinks white people in authority should do. He believes that, and many Republicans agree with him, that racism is really in contemporary America about the false accusations of racism against white people.

There was a Pew poll last year that showed that Republicans were more likely to say whites faced a lot of racism than blacks. That is not a formula for action on this problem, and the president is demonstrating his isolation.

LEMON: Yes. Among other things. Cedric, let me bring you in because why do you think that these -- the three top -- these three top law enforcement officials who are all black, right, all three of them, why -- why weren't they invited to the president's event?

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, FORMER PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF BLACK LAW EXECUTIVES: Well, that's certainly the $50,000 question especially if you're going to have an event that talks about the issues that are at hand in which he brought up.

And there, three excellent law enforcement persons. I know one of them. Chief Renee Hall. She's very, very capable and outstanding chief. Doing an incredible job there in Dallas. And she would have been able to give him a lot of insight into what the challenges are around what she does, and as it relates to law enforcement and public safety, so he missed a great opportunity there.

I don't know how you do that, but he certainly missed a great opportunity. And more importantly, Don, the country missed a great opportunity to hear from the three of those law enforcement leaders there in metroplex.

LEMON: So, Laura Coates, this president keeps praising the police, calling those, who use excessive force bad apples. This is -- I want -- this is what Fox News said about George Floyd's death. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The sad thing is that they are very professional, but when you see an event like that with the more than eight minutes of horror, that's eight minutes really of horror, it's a disgrace, and then people start saying, well, are all police like that?

[23:05:01]

They don't know, maybe they don't think about it that much. It doesn't make any difference. The fact is they start saying, well, police are like that. Police aren't like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I should have said this is what the president said to Fox News. I want to clarify that.

So, is he -- is he minimizing what we saw in that video and so many other videos that we have seen including the videos of how the police respond to many of these protests?

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, yes. Any time somebody is trying to be dismissive of what is a systemic problem as anomalies or one-offs really is belying the facts and the data. And more importantly, if he continues to dismiss it, or be dismissive of it as if, any other profession, any other structural entity, any other field, would allow the so-called bad apples or not to punish those who are acting in a way that is antithetical to our laws.

It's an odd thing for the head of the executive branch of government to say here, and remember, this goes down to a basic law of -- rule of civics here. I mean, under his umbrella, the Department of Justice, are prosecutors whose job it is to actually prosecute those who violate the law, not because everybody every human being or every American person is a bad person but because we anticipate and foresee somebody breaking our social contract.

And so no other field, Don, do we ever say because there are some who engage in bad behavior, or a percentage who do, we should dismiss it as anomalies. If we kid, did, we wouldn't have Justice Department.

LEMON: Right.

COATES: Or any prosecutor doing any sort of prosecution.

LEMON: I'm so glad you said that because it's true. Listen, I think -- I think police officers, obviously, they have a very tough job, but day after day, I've been seeing people saying, you know, you need to praise police officers and so on and so forth. We need to respect the law. Don't get me wrong.

But I don't know of any other profession that comes to work every day expecting to be praised all the time because I receive, and I'm sure most people on their job, receive more criticism than praise. That's just how it goes. That's life. That's life in the lodge, as we say.

John, the president says he is finalizing an executive order on policing standards. Is the White House offering any details about what this is going to entail, what's going to be in this?

HARWOOD: No, some hints about data collection and standards and guidelines, but when you have the fundamental impulses of the president that don't go toward acting on this problem, that don't go toward recognizing this problem, that's what that comment about Chauvin saying, well, people then say all police are like that.

Of course, all police are not like that. But as Laura was just saying, you need rules and laws to regulate people's conduct so that you have a system in place to address people who go out of line.

He is minimally interested in that. There will be something, but I think the most important action is going to come from what Republican senators agree to do. They're obviously feeling pressure. Don't know if that will be sufficient pressure to get them to act.

We've seen in past crises about, say, gun safety measures after mass shootings that that impetus fades rather quickly, but what Republican senators agree to, how far they're willing to go, will probably dictate what gets through the Congress, what the president will sign.

LEMON: All right. I can't wait until social distancing is over so I get to see you guys in person, especially Laura. We miss you. Here in the studio.

COATES: I miss you guys, too. I'm from a distance. Hello. Love you.

LEMON: We love you, too. We'll see you all soon. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Don't let anybody tell you that the coronavirus is over. Cases are trending up in 20 states. That story is coming up.

And I told you what the president said about bad apples in the police department. We just discussed it a little bit. Well, you know well, you know what they say about bad apples, right? Take it away, Chris Rock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: Cops gun down an innocent black man, they always say the same things. They always say the same things, it's like, well, it's not most cops. It's just a few bad apples. It's just a few bad apples. Bad apple? That's a lovely name for murderer. That's like, how did they get that one? Bad apple? That almost sounds nice. I mean, I've had a bad apple. It was tart. But it didn't choke me up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[23:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: You might think that it's over, seeing fewer people wearing masks, less social distancing, so on and so forth, but coronavirus cases are on the rise in 20 states tonight. That includes Florida, where over a thousand people a day have been testing positive.

A top infectious disease expert in the state is warning that tear gas at recent protests may have exacerbated the situation. More than 113,000 people have died in this country from coronavirus.

And as CNN's Erica Hill reports, a new forecast is predicting it's going to get worse.

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As Americans embrace summer, health experts are focused on disturbing new data trends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHISH JHA, DIRECTOR, HARVARD GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE: Somehow, as a country, we have decided that hundreds of thousands of Americans dying from this virus is OK. And that is unbelievable to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: New modeling forecasts nearly 170,000 COVID-19-related deaths in the U.S. by October 1st.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR STEVE ADLER (D) AUSTIN, TEXAS: We had a huge spike in hospitalizations in our city yesterday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Texas, one of at least a dozen states seeing a spike in coronavirus-related hospitalizations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KATE GALLEGO (D), PHOENIX, ARIZONA: We opened too much too early and so our hospitals are really struggling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Nearly 80 percent of Arizona's ICU beds are now in use.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[23:15:00]

JAY VARKEY, INFECTIOUS DISEASES PHYSICIAN: I think that a critical shortage of ICU beds is absolutely the nightmare scenario. That was the whole reason we were emphasizing about flattening the curve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: In some of the first states to re-open, the curve is not flattening. Florida still posting more than a thousand new cases a day. In South Carolina daily counts have been rising over the past two weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA BELL, EPIDEMIOLOGIST, SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL: I am more concerned about COVID-19 in South Carolina than I have ever been before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Much of the west and south also reporting an uptick. Nashville is now delaying its next phase of re-opening in response to a rise in new cases.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If we handle them well, we could be OK. If not, then we really have a significant problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Iowa's iconic state fair has been postponed for the first time since World War I. No butter cows and no campaigning. The Coachella and stagecoach festivals in Southern California canceled for 2020. New research from the U.K. boosting the case for wearing a mask. Noting widespread use could help avoid a second wave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SLAVITT, FORMER ACTING ADMINISTRATOR, CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES: It is consistent with several other studies which essentially show that if you got the majority of people wearing masks, the virus really has no place to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: In Missouri, two hairstylists who worked with 140 clients while symptomatic did not infect them. Everyone wore masks. Health officials now taking a closer look. And in Chicago, a successful double lung transplant for a woman in her 20s who spent six weeks on a ventilator battling the virus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANKIT BHARAT, CHIEF OF THORACIC SURGERY, NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE: Yesterday, she smiled and told me just one sentence. She said, doc, thank you for not giving up on me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: A bit of hope in uncertain times.

Erica Hill, CNN, New York. LEMON: All right. As always, Erica, thank you very much. I want to

bring in now Mark McClellan, he is the former FDA commissioner and director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy. I appreciate you joining us. It's --

MARK MCCLELLAN, DIRECTOR, DUKE-MARGOLIS CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY: Good to be with you.

LEMON: It's a little scary, right, because we don't know. The top infectious disease expert, Dr. Tom Inglesby is saying we need to be ready for a rise in coronavirus cases after the week of mass protests. How -- what do you think? How bad could it get?

MCCLELLAN: Well, Don, we are seeing a rise in cases already in many states as you -- as your reporters just pointed out. And I am concerned. I think people should be concerned. We are having spread of the virus in communities all across the country.

I think the good news is we know a lot about how to contain that spread with masks, with some respect for distancing, with not staying too close to too many people for too long. We can make a difference in these curves.

LEMON: So, you know, as I mentioned earlier, Florida is seeing an uptick in cases and there's a concern that tear gas being used at protests, that that's exacerbating the problem. How dangerous is a combination of tear gas and COVID-19?

MCCLELLAN: Well, anything that causes people to cough, that gets more of those droplets in the air, especially if there are lots of people close together, is a risk. And that does go along with --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: When you get the tear gas, you take the mask off so you can get air.

MCCLELLAN: Yes.

LEMON: And you cough. Sorry. Go on.

MCCLELLAN: No, that's right. And we'll know, Don, in the coming days just how much of an impact that's had. For the people who did protest, it's important for them to watch their symptoms. Get testing. Testing is a lot more available than it used to be.

And to think about isolation if they have any symptoms at all to keep this -- keep the further spread contained. Very important reasons for protesting but also very important reasons to contain the further spread of the coronavirus.

LEMON: You know, Dr. McClellan, the director of Harvard's Institute of Health is predicting another 100,000 deaths in the U.S. by September. The University of Washington model is predicting another 50,000 to 60,000 deaths by October 1st. These are staggering numbers. Should we -- MCCLELLAN: They are.

LEMON: We should be -- we should be in place right now to handle this virus. What's going on?

MCCLELLAN: Well, there are further steps we can take now, Don. We're not seeing explosive growth in cases like we saw in some parts of the country back in the spring. The steps that people are taking, the businesses are taking, can make a difference.

So, if we take some further steps like paying attention to masks, like paying attention to distancing, like staying home if you have symptoms, those things can slow this -- slow the curve and prevent those deaths in the future. So, this is not a done deal. It really depends on what we do from here.

LEMON: Yes. So, let's talk about Texas because Houston-area officials say that they're getting close to re-imposing a stay-at-home order. Cases are rising there. Is that where the rest of the country may be heading if we don't do what you said and try to ward this off?

MCCLELLAN: Don, this is becoming a regional set of outbreaks. So, once you start to have spread in the community, it becomes harder to stop and it's also important to remember when you see hospitalizations going up, that's a big lag behind the actual transmission of the virus. Ten days or more.

LEMON: Great.

[23:20:04]

MCCLELLAN: So, it's important to take steps like slowing down re- opening if those surges are starting to happen and that's increasingly something we need to watch for at the regional level. In every city, every region, around the country.

LEMON: Man. Well, let's -- let's hope and pray. Thank you.

MCCLELLAN: Let's hope. And let's -- we can change this.

LEMON: Yes.

MCCLELLAN: People -- there are steps, we understand well now, to do.

LEMON: I don't want to sound like, you know, the prayers go out, you know, we always say when something --

MCCLELLAN: Yes.

LEMON: -- happens, right, thoughts and prayers. If we're safe and we do it smartly. We need to be smart about this. And people need to protect themselves.

MCCLELLAN: That's right.

LEMON: That's what we need to do. Thank you, doctor. I appreciate it. MCCLELLAN: Thank you.

LEMON: Big-name athletes and entertainers are teaming up to help protect African Americans' voting rights. Three of them join me next. OK? We have Stephen Jackson, we have Bun B. We have Kendrick Perkins. After this.

[23:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK. I want you to watch this next segment. Please. The death of George Floyd spurring people to action all across this country. We've seen thousands take to the streets to protest police brutality and systemic racism.

And now with the election less than five months away, a group of star athletes and entertainers banding together to harness that energy. Led by LeBron James, the group which is called more than a vote will focus on two areas, registering new voters and fighting voter suppression. Particularly in the black community.

So, joining me now is Stephen Jackson, as you know, he's a former NBA player. Also, a friend of George Floyd. Rapper Bun B, and Kendrick Perkins. Also, a former NBA player. All three are from the Houston area. And are working with LeBron on the more than vote project. More than a vote project.

Gentlemen, thank you. I really appreciate you joining us and especially for what you do and how you're using your platform and harnessing all of this.

Kendrick, I'm going to start you. There's never been an organization like this for you to work with. What is your -- what is your end goal here? Is it November of 2020?

KENDRICK PERKINS, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Well, Don, first of all, I'm a huge supporter of you and your show, but, Don, to be honest, we as African Americans, we're tired and we've had enough. We're tired of unarmed African Americans being murdered by police officers. We're tired of unarmed African Americans losing their lives because of the color of their skin.

I mean, can we change racism overnight? No. Racism has been around for 400 years and probably is going to be around for the next 400 years. But what we can change is the system, and my brother, one of the most powerful, iconic, people in the world, LeBron James, came up with a brilliant master plan. A power plan.

And part of that plan was to get popular entertainment -- entertainers with power, popular athletes with power, and to join forces so that we could be powerful together.

And with that being said, what all of us joining forces and coming hand in hand, now we have created, you know, a powerful movement and we called it, you know, more than a vote. And more than a vote, yes, we're reaching out to the African American community to encourage them to go out and vote and we're also educating African American community to bring awareness to, you know --

LEMON: To issues.

PERKINS: Yes, to issues and to restrictions that we have been dealing with for over the last however many years.

LEMON: Right.

PERKINS: So, you know this is a special thing and I think with us all joining together as one, it's very powerful because, you know, it's the difference between being popular and powerful. Powerful moves the needle. We're just trying to reach out to the African American community and educate them and I just want to applaud my brothers on here, Steven Jackson and Bun B., we're all from the same area who raise and who --

LEMON: Kendrick.

PERKINS: -- have been standing on the front line.

LEMON: Yes. I love your passion, but you got to let these brothers talk, too, because -- I love your passion. I agree with what you said. The power in numbers. And sticking together. I'm so happy to see people doing this, standing up, using their platform. Using their voice. Any influence that they have.

Stephen, today you led a march to the Minneapolis district attorney's office to demand convictions for the four officers involved in George Floyd's death. Here you are tonight to advocate for African American voters. Is this all connected for you?

STEPHEN JACKSON, GEORGE FLOYD'S FRIEND: Yes, I mean, it's just a role that fell in my lap, Don. Just to give you a shout-out just like Kendrick. You know I'm a big fan of you, too.

LEMON: Thank you.

JACKSON: But, yes, just something that fell in my lap, you know. I wish I didn't see my brother get murdered for the world to see, you know, by racist cops.

So, me having a voice and us coming from Texas, and (Inaudible) from Third Ward, I just use my voice and my name to go out there and stand for my brother. You know, when they killed my brother, they didn't know he had a celebrity friend, a person that played in the NBA that won a championship, that's proven to stand up for his brothers. I've shown it many times.

[23:30:04]

So, this does go hand in hand, Don. And I'm embracing it. And I hope I continue to lead the right way.

LEMON: Amen. Bun, I want to bring you in because you're an artist. You're also a lecturer at Rice University.

BUN B, RAPPER: Yes.

LEMON: So, you're smart brother.

BUN B: I'll take that.

LEMON: People are going to trust you because they know you. How are you going to educate people in the community? What do you have to say about this?

BUN B: Well, "More Than a Vote" is an amazing initiative and I want to think LeBron James for having myself, Kendrick, and Stephen be a part of it.

One of the main things that we're dealing with right now in the African American community is voter oppression. Voter oppression in the past was really just about intimidation, right. The Klan would come through black communities and tell them, you know, you better not vote tomorrow or else. And even to the point where they would be at polling stations intimidating people with guns and violence.

Voter oppression in 2020 is different. It's more systematic, right. So, if you look at Atlanta, Georgia, right. Atlanta, Georgia had malfunctioning machines at black polling places. They had either understaffed polling stations or stations where the people that were working just really didn't know what they were doing.

They also didn't have adequate paper forms for when the machines did malfunction. So, there's a lot of different things that come into play when you look at voter oppression in America in modern times. And so, that's what we're trying to do.

One is to combat that voter oppression in black, in African American communities; and then, two, you remind people to be vigilant, right, because there are a lot of forces at play. It's not only going to be in the polling stations. Social media has been a place for disinformation for several years now.

And so, that's going to be another place where people are going to try to oppress the vote by, you know, convincing people that the vote got moved or it got canceled or maybe that specific polling stations are closed. So, we got a very real thing happening right now in terms of voter oppression in this country. And we want to make sure that people are informed about what they should be avoiding come election.

LEMON: So, Kendrick, Bun just talked about Georgia, what happened in Georgia on Tuesday night -- on Tuesday -- I mean, it went into the night. You could say Tuesday night. We saw, I mean, just crazy lines in Fulton and DeKalb counties. What's you -- very high black and minority population. This is what you said on Twitter. You said, "They are trying to make it tough" as a way to take people's rights. Do you think that this is intentional what happened here?

KENDRICK PERKINS, FORMER NBA PLAYER: Yes. And I've been told by reliable source, actually, a governor, that, you know, we can't fall for those tricks. You know, they see that outside -- what happened outside of Georgia, for us, all of those African Americans, ready to vote, and then all of a sudden, quote/unquote, the systems are down or whatever the case may be. That's part of their plan. And we can't fall for that. And we have to bring awareness to that that, you know, they do lie. They do come up with things and try to, you know, throw a curveball into certain situations so that black people cannot vote. So, we can't fall for that.

LEMON: You see, there's so much misinformation out there especially on social media where young people spend a whole lot of time. Do you guys -- I know it's early on, but do you guys have a plan for that?

JACKSON SR: Well, I have to say, from my side and from my perspective, I think young people awoke. I think a lot of times when all the nonsense was going on during the riots, it was the young people that exploit it, that people put in bricks and the people who's trying to get people to tear stuff up that wasn't even with the (INAUDIBLE).

So, I got to salute the young. I got to salute the young generation. They really woke, and they're -- it's a big following and is following me. And they really made a lot noise during these protests. So, I got to give the young generation some applause. They woke. They're really making a statement right now.

LEMON: I got chills when you said that because I've been saying that all along is that these young people are out there and they're pulling us into the future. I seriously have chills because this is not about the establishment. This is about young people, and they're saying, we're done.

And quite frankly, they are not happy with some of the things that we put up with, I mean, our generation; people in their thirties, forties -- forties and fifties. They think that we didn't move and push hard enough, right? And so, I think that --

JACKSON SR: Right.

LEMON: -- if they're going to be the ones to do it, I think they deserve our full support because they're standing out there, as I said, at like standing in an abyss, and they need our support. They need to know that we are visible, and that we support them, and that we had -- that the old heads or the old guards that we have their backs. That's all I'm going to say. I'm not going to preach anymore.

But Bun --

BUN B: Yes.

LEMON: -- listen.

BUN B: I'm the resident old head here, so yes.

LEMON: President Trump won the 2016 election because - I mean, at razor-thin margin -- razor-thin margin in places in Pennsylvania, in Michigan, Wisconsin. We know how important swing states are. Will your group make them a focus in this election? [23:35:05]

BUN B: Absolutely. If you look at Wisconsin through the primaries, they had levels of oppression in their elections. So, we already see what's going on and these are just the primaries, right? These are simply the primaries, and they're already initiating different levels of voter oppression, right?

They're testing the waters, so to speak. And so, we have to be very aware of what we have to look forward to in November. But I have faith in the young people of America. If you look at every civil rights movement throughout history, the young people have always been on the forefront, right?

And so, it's our job as the old heads, the OGs, whatever you want to call it, to make sure that they have as much information as possible. But if you tell them what they need to do, they will do it. We're seeing it every day in these protests across America and around the world.

Young people want to engage, but they do need to be educated, and they do need to be informed. Because if they're going to go out there and put themselves on the frontline, be active and be involved, we have to make sure that they're as informed and educated they could possibly be so that they can be in the right position to make the right choices when the comes.

LEMON: Gentlemen, you're welcome here anytime. Raise your hand if you need to get something out or you have something to say. I applaud you. Thank you very much for what you're doing. It is much appreciated. Be safe.

BUN B: Thank you for the platform, Don.

LEMON: Absolutely.

JACKSON SR: Thanks for having us, Don.

LEMON: Yes. Chicago police officers caught on surveillance video lounging in a congressman's office making popcorn, even sleeping on his couch, as protests raged outside. We're going to dig into that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:41:21]

LEMON: Tonight, Chicago police are investigating some of their own officers who were caught on security video lounging inside a congressman's office last week while protests over the death of George Floyd were turning violent. We have the story now from CNN's Ryan Young.

(START VIDEOTAPE)

MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT, CHICAGO: You know who you are. You know what you did. Don't make us come find you. Come in, identify yourselves, but we will find you.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tonight, these pictures are shaking up the Chicago Police Department; officers on duty relaxing, drinking coffee, some even helping themselves to something to eat during the recent protests.

The surveillance video was captured in the early morning hours of June 1st as protests occur throughout the city and within blocks of the lounging police following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. It all happened inside longtime Congressman Bobby Rush's campaign office. People broke into the office. But once they were gone, 13 officers sat and lounged inside for as long as 5 hours.

REP. BOBBY RUSH (D-IL): One was asleep on my couch in my campaign office. One had his head down on the desk. One was on his cell phone. They even had the unmitigated gall to go and make coffee for themselves and some popcorn, my popcorn, in my microwave.

YOUNG: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the city's top cops say these pictures betray the work of other officers. Tonight, while investigators worked to identify the officers, the police issued a statement which in part says, "At the request of Chicago Police Superintendent David O. Brown, an internal investigation has been opened into the police response and actions that took place from the late evening of May 31st 2020, into June 1st 2020, at Congressman Bobby Rush's campaign office."

Three of the officers seen in the video are wearing white shirts, indicating they are supervisors with the department. Tonight, the superintendent delivering a stern warning.

DAVID BROWN, CHICAGO SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE: I'm not playing with you that I mean what I say when I say we're going to hold you accountable and that your behavior reflects my leadership, and it reflects all of your leadership. Move, get out of the way, but we are going to uphold the nobility of this profession.

YOUNG: The mayor was already pushing for statewide licensing of police while seeking to rebuild trust in the black community and is sure to site this video moving forward.

MAYOR LIGHTFOOD: And I can tell you one thing for certain, not one of these officers will be allowed to hide behind the badge and go on and act like nothing ever happened, not anymore, not in my city, not in your city.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG: Don, we reached out to the police union, but they had nothing to say so far when we asked for a comment. But if you think about all the things that are going on in the city, and particularly how violent that night was, it's disturbing to sort of see everyone hanging out and chilling inside the congressman's office. Just think about this, the solve rate for homicide this year is below 20% in the city. So, you can understand why people in the south, in the west side, the sides that are hit particularly hard by violence, are upset when they see these images.

LEMON: It's just unbelievable. Ryan, listen, have the mayor or the commissioner, have they said what the punishment for these officers what that might be?

[23:45:01]

YOUNG: Well, they said there's going to be some strong discipline. And let me not sugarcoat this at all, Don. It's been really tough the last few days. You had them come out and talk about how hard some of the officers were working, 12-hour shifts. They've been under siege at some points. But then, there are instances like this. And there are others where officers have been disciplined that had sort of made a black eye on parts of the city, especially when it comes to policing when we have a national conversation about changing things. And when you think about Chicago in particular, and the way they're trying to reach out to black and brown community, you know this doesn't help.

LEMON: Ryan, I haven't said over the last couple of weeks, you've been doing a fantastic job at your work, and I'm very proud to be your colleague. Thank you very much. Thank you. Keep it up. Thank you, brother.

My next guest is calling on black artists to step up and speak out. He is the writer and director of the upcoming movie "Antebellum", and he's got a message that you need to hear. That's next.

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[23:50:31]

LEMON: Protests and calls for change sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody are being felt all through American society, including Hollywood, where artists and studios are grappling with their responsibility. So, let's talk about that.

Gerard Bush, the writer and director of the upcoming film, "Antebellum", is here. How are you doing? We've been trying to get you on for a while. I'm so glad that you finally said yes, and I'm envious of your apartment. It's beautiful or home. I'm not sure where you live. It's gorgeous. So, thank you for joining us.

Let me talk about what you have written here, a very moving piece in "Vanity Fair" about what it's like to be black in America with all the history. You write this, "To be Black in America is to be in a constant state of simultaneous worry and defiance. An in-between place; a not-so-soothing balm that prevents us from erupting into rage every time we walk out our front door." Talk to me about that.

GERARD BUSH, WRITER & DIRECTOR, "ANTEBELLUM': I think that most black folks in this situation, suddenly we find ourselves catapulted into a different emotion that we really haven't tapped into. I felt apoplectic after what happened to George Floyd. And I felt like, at this time, it is more important than ever that we, as artists, as writers, as directors, as creators, get engaged and make sure that we provide a more accurate picture of what it is to be black in America and all of the contours of that experience.

And so, for me, it felt like a much more, sort of productive emotion to feel anger because the anger is what activates people if it's used in a productive manner, to initiate meaningful, sustainable change.

LEMON: That's -- yes. Amen. Here's what you pose a question. You talked about this just a little bit, but I want you to expand on it if you can. You posed a question in your article, what must black artists do? So then, what is the answer? I know you said engage, but what is the answer?

BUSH: I think that we have to be extremely careful about the stories that we tell ourselves. I'm interested in telling the stories that we want to see and hear and experience from the perspective of black folk, rather than telling a story that white people or some white people want to see about us.

I think it is just as important for us to provide an accurate reflection in all of its rich mosaic of diversity as who we are as black people, as it is for us to show that reflection to the broader, sort of American collective.

And so for me and my partner, Christopher Renz, who, you know, we write and direct everything together, but for us it's about how can we start working with movie studios to ensure that we have black executives, that we have black women, LGBTQ folks represented from the black community, where we have a clear voice, a seat at the table so that we can put movies and television shows that are beyond this homogenized idea of what America is, which quite frankly, that's how we get a deluge of this mediocrity in a lot of what we see. There's a lot of it, but it doesn't mean that it's necessarily great.

LEMON: Right.

BUSH: I think if we have --

LEMON: But reflective.

BUSH: -- more black folks engaged -- yes -- and we --

LEMON: I don't -- before we run out of time, I want to get -- I want to talk about your film because I think it's important.

BUSH: Great. OK.

LEMON: It's called "Antebellum". And right now, you know, we're seeing a real effort around removing confederate flags, statues, names from institutions around the country. Why do you think this is taken so long? And talk to me, how does that play out to you because your file is called "Antebellum"?

BUSH: Yes. "Antebellum", for me and for Christopher, was inspired by "Gone with the Wind", which I think was an absolute insult to black people. Just the other day, Lady Antebellum reached out to us to say that their name was weighing heavy on their hearts, and that our movie, definitely, had an impact and hearing about the movie. And I said, you know, look, this is great. This is showing growth about a conversation that all of us need to have.

[23:55:04]

And so, if you have confederate monuments or confederate flag, in my opinion, that's tantamount to a Nazi flag. This was -- we're celebrating traitor in America. We're celebrating people that are celebrating or believed in the subjugation of black people, believed in building this country on the backs of stolen bodies and free labor. So that's a conversation that we should have. And I think "Antebellum" is going to activate a national conversation around that.

LEMON: OK. We're over. And I just don't want to get in trouble for this. I don't know if you saw that there's a PSA with the prominent white celebrities making an effort. It's called, "I Take Responsibility". Are you happy with -- and you got say -- do it quick for me -- that to see your white colleagues speaking out like this? It got a lot of criticism. But quite frankly, white people don't know what to do right now.

BUSH: Yes. Look, I think that inaction is not an option. But at the same time, I think that white folks need to find a way to engage in proper allyship. And that means, having meaningful conversations with the black community or black folks in your life. And if you don't have black folks in your life, then that is an indication of the problem.

So, albeit I understand good intentions, I think we need to broaden it where they're actually having the black community as a part of what that allyship should look like.

LEMON: Listen, I think that if your intentions are good, do some action, and you can always correct them, right?

BUSH: Exactly.

LEMON: So, Gerard Bush, thank you so much. Hope to see you soon. I appreciate it.

BUSH: Thank you very much.

LEMON: Thank you and thanks for watching everyone. Our coverage continues.

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