Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Ana Cabrera 20200613

Across the country. In the wake of George Floyds death. In the nations capital, chanting demonstrators marching with black lives matter signs, wearing shirts that read, i cant breathe, the same words george floyd said when an officer put a knee to his neck. This is all happening as we get word of a deadly officer involved shooting in atlanta overnight. The Georgia Bureau of investigation saying a man was shot and killed by police after taking an officers taser outside of a wendys. Natasha chen joins us now from atlanta with more. Natasha, what more are you learning . Reporter well, ana, there are a few important things that we learned from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Press conference within the last couple of hours, and remember, the police were first called there because of a report of someone sleeping in his car in the drivethrough, and a lot happened after that that is under investigation now. What gbi says is that they have video now from wendys as well as from witness video, and they are digitally enhancing it to take a closer look. But they can already tell some things just by watching the videos with the naked eye. Here is the gbi director describing what he sees in the video. We have now seen full video from the wendys restaurant showing this gentleman entering into the video frame running or fleeing from Atlanta Police officers. It appears that he has in his hand the taser. You can see, at least not naked eye, thats what it appears. He runs a relatively short distance, looks like its probably five, six, seven Parking Spaces distance, and at that point, turns around and it appears to the eye that he points the taser at the atlanta officer. At that point, the atlanta officer reaches down and retrieves his weapon from his holster, discharges it, strikes mr. Brooks there on the parking lot, and he goes down. A reporter at that press conference asked the gbi director whether mr. Brooks was facing the officer or had turned his back away again when he was shot. That part, were waiting to watch the video that the gbi has as they mentioned. Theyre going to release that to us, but the gbi director does not know where on the body Rayshard Brooks was shot. We are standing in front of one of two protests in the city right now. This is at centennial park. The wendys location where this happened, theres a group gathered there, ana. So, natasha, theres the body cam video as well as that wendys Surveillance Video. Any word on when that video might be released . Reporter by the end of the day, were hearing gbi would like it to be released. They checked in with the Prosecutors Office. It seems that everyone is okay with that happening. And so, what were wanting to note, though, is that body cam video may be limited because gbi says that one of the body cams that was worn by the officer was knocked off during the struggle between the officer and mr. Brooks. The struggle over the taser. So, the body cam video may be incomplete. So were working off of that as well as wendys Surveillance Video as well as peoples cell phone video who witnessed the event. Okay, thank you. Now to new york where protesters are marching for a 19th straight day on their way to the Brooklyn Bridge. Our evan mcmorrissantoro is in the middle of that. Whats their message, evan . Reporter hi, ana. Yes, we are crossing the Brooklyn Bridge now, another large group of protesters. As you mentioned, many, many days of this has gone on, and todays a very interesting today for it because this morning, Governor Cuomo in his press conference, hes been trying to cast this state as the leader in the reforms that this movement is bringing on. And he said today, look, weve done a lot. Weve passed a lot of legislation. Weve called for police to change across the state. Protesters, you won. You can stop marching. As you can see, they havent. I spoke with one protester from queens, melissa morris, and asked her about what the governor said. Police officers still doing Police Brutality, even though the laws have changed, so they got to fire those individuals and got to get them off the streets. The same way you get criminals off the streets, the same way you got to get the nypd criminals off the streets. Reporter so, listen, thats one comment about what this march is about on a small level, but on a larger level, its about Political Action and changing the way the country works. Someone came up to me after i did that interview and mentioned to me, there are two Voter Registration sites at barclays center, which is where this march began. So this movement is about more than just maybe the direct police and now has moved into a change about how this country actually operates, ana. And thats why theyre still out here and say theyre going to stay out here. And you mentioned that Voter Registration place being a focal point of these marches. Of course the election now just about five months away. Evan mcfoi evan mcmorrissantoro, thank you. From new york all the way across the country to seattle where protesters have set up an autonomous zone. Thats been heavily criticized by president trump. Cnns dan simon is there for us. Dan, what is the latest with this group . What do they want . Reporter well, hi, ana. First of all, one can debate whether or not it was a good decision or a bad decision for the police to leave their station and create this vacuum in here, the occupation zone as theyre calling it or the autonomous zone, but the facts on the ground, ana, indicate that this is an entirely peaceful situation. Weve been here for several days, and it feels like youre at a street festival, quite frankly. You have barbecues going on. You have live music. You have people Walking Around with their six packs of beer. Let me show you what it looks like here on the corner. Theres some speakers talking about some of their demands. You just asked me about their demands. The two primary ones is they want to see the Police Department defunded, which is what youre hearing all across the country. And they also want to see this Police Station, which you see here behind me, they want to see it turned into a community center, and the mayor has been talking to cnn. She spoke to chris cuomo last night and indicated, basically, that all options are on the table and even said that theyre going to reevaluate whether or not there should even be a Police Station in this particular area. So the bottom line is, protesters are certainly getting the attention of city leaders, and there seems to be a negotiation taking place, ana. Dan simon, thank you for us in seattle. Joining us now cnn law analyst and former Philadelphia Police commissioner, charles ramsey, and cnn political commentator and New York Times oped columnist charles blow. So commissioner, let me back up to what we just heard reported from natasha. The new Police Shooting that happened overnight in atlanta, a man there fatally shot after reportedly taking one of the officers tasers and pointing it at that officer. We are still awaiting Surveillance Video, which will hopefully tell us a lot more. But whats your initial read of what we know right now . Well, the video will tell us a lot more, and we do need that. I dont know the distance between the individual and the officer at the time he allegedly pointed the taser toward him. Did he point it at him . Was he still running . You have to see the video. Fortunately, there is video. Its not unusual, by the way, for an officers body camera to be knocked off during a struggle. It happens. I know that many of these companies that make these body cameras are trying to come up with some way of making it more secure, but thats not unusual, just so you know. But yeah, i think the video we have to wait for the video, but from what was described by gbi, this is not doesnt sound like a minneapolis type of situation, but we dont know until we get more evidence. Quick follow on that, though, because i think a plot of people at home hearing, he had a taser and the officer responded with lethal force, i mean, a taser is not lethal force, right . So, what would justify lethal force . Well, taser is considered less le lethal, not nonlethal. If you get hit with a taser, it does immobilize you. If youre immobilized, somebody called take your weapon, could hurt you. I dont know all the details, i dont know the facts but they need to let the investigation continue. So it depends on the circumstances as to whether or not this was something where the use of deadly force would have been justified, and right now, its hard to tell without being able to see all the evidence. Charles blow, as we look at these images out of boston and the protests that are now happening on a third weekend in a row, at least 20 cities and municipalities are starting to ban or will begin to ban chokeholds in policing. We also know breonnas law passed in kentucky this week, banning noknock warrants. Does this tell you the protests are working . Absolutely, thats what it means. This is they could have banned those chokeholds at any point. Black lives matter has been demanding that chokeholds be banned for a very long time. They refused to do it and theyre only doing it now because these people are in the streets. So its a direct correlation to that. So, yes. The protests are working. But what i think were seeing on the street is that its figurative now and they know that. The protesters. The system actually puts the officers in that close of contact with particular people, hypersegregation in cities allows people like, as mayor bloomberg said, you can just photocopy the description and send people into the neighborhoods, which is what he said he did. Thats possible because of hypersegregation, so the whole system is what is aiming the foot soldiers in the community, so i think the people in the streets are saying, we need to deal with the system itself. Its not just the officers. Its not just the last interaction. Its not the particular officer had a particular bias. We try to do that like the bad apple philosophy, then we lose the battle. Its not about bad apples. If the unions are going to defend the bad apples just as viciously as they defend the good apples, then you are linking the good and the bad together, not us. Commissioner, in buffalo, new york, we now have officials calling on the new York Attorney Generals Office to open an investigation into a black officer being fired after she intervened when a white officer put a suspect into a chokehold. Important to note, this incident was in 2006 when it happened. The officer was fired. She lost her pension as a result. Whats your reaction . Well, i mean, id like to see that case file, because that by itself doesnt seem to me to be anything that would require any level of discipline. Thats what you would want someone to do. There must be something more to this than just that. I just you know, i have seen duty to intervene for a long time, even before it was written in policy. I mean, you would hope that somebody would actually intervene if they saw something wrong. Unfortunately, it doesnt happen often enough, so it should be encouraged, not discouraged. So i would i mean, i would dig a little deeper into that one, but if it happened as she said, and she was fired for that, then that is absolutely terrible, and it would seem to me like she would have one heck of a lawsuit. This is a new investigation, but it happened in 2006. What kind of value does going back to look at old cases and incidents like this provide . Well, i mean, in this case, it would provide a lot of answers, because to me, thats a serious allegation thats being made against the department. So, you would need to find out exactly what it is that took place in in that case, but it would also i mean, highlight, if thats a problem, if that actually happened, thats one more thing that has to be corrected in not only that department but other departments that think similarly. I mean, that just cannot be accepted. Duty to intervene is something that ought to happen if a Police Officer sees something that they need to step in and stop, whether its another Police Officer, if its a citizen, i mean, you intervene in anything you see as wrong, irrespective of who it is. Charles blow, 14 officers from the minneapolis Police Department penned an open letter condemning exPolice Officer derek chauvin, and they write this. Derek chauvin failed as a human and he stripped george floyd of his dignity and life. This is not who we are. We are not the union or the administration. We stand ready to listen and embrace the calls for change, reform, and rebuilding. How does that sit with you . I mean, it sounds good, but as the last speaker was talking about the duty to intervene, we keep seeing these things happen not by a single officer. There are always other officers there and no one is intervening. No one is intervening in the images that we see. So, the Police Department can come out and condemn, yes, but there were four there are three other people right there on the body, physically on his body, and there were other officers around. Where is this duty to intervene showing up in these videos . Youre right. And the videos tell a lot of the story, and weve talked so much about the importance of the videos. Go ahead, commissioner. Well, videos dont tell everything that goes on in policing, but in all fairness, it was horrible what we saw in minneapolis, and what weve seen elsewhere. But you got 800,000 Police Officers, 18,000 departments, so you know, i want to keep things in context. Policing needs reform. The entire criminal Justice System needs reform. It would be a huge mistake if we stopped at just police. Prosecution, courts, correction, reentry, and then hit economic inequalities, housing inequalities, education. I mean, the whole system needs reform, so but i also think we need to keep it in context and not act as if intervention never takes place in policing. Im not saying it never takes place. The i im just telling you, point me to the videos where it is happening. Everythings not going to because what im seeing, what im seeing is that i dont see it, and i keep seeing eric garner, you know, whoever, name me the case and theyre not happening by single officers. There are other people around, and im like, well, why wouldnt somebody there do something . And im not saying it never happens. I just want to see the video. It would make me the feel a who lot better to see those videos. Im not arguing with you here, but i spent 47 years as a cop. Ive seen a hell of a lot more than you have. What im saying is we cant act as if theres nothing happening in policing because thats just not true. But having said that, it doesnt mean its where it needs to be. Its nowhere near where it needs to be and those officers need to be held accountable and any officer that fails to intervene when they should ought to be held accountable. Period. That means firing, criminal charges, whatever the heck it means but i want to keep this whole discussion in some kind of context. Not make it seem as if it never, ever happens. They only show you videos thats just a small percentage of what actually takes place out there on the street. Of course thats the case. No video is falling every officer every day. Of course thats the case. Im just saying in the cases where these people are being killed, i would like to see, sometimes, an officer intervene in those cases. In those cases. Yeah, but you not that it never happens. I dont disagree with you. Life is precious. None of these things are happening that are happening, even this case here in georgia. None of thats happening none of those are capital offenses. You dont deserve nobody deserves to be able to take your life in the street without a trial. This idea that, like, i yes, i want to see them. Im going to keep saying that. I want to see the images of people intervening in these cases, even after the bodies fall. Even after the persons dead. Im still looking at the video, toward the end, and nobodys saying anything. Nobodys moving to resuscitate. I want to see those. Okay, got to end it there, guys. I would also love to see the media show those kinds of videos. We welcome them and obviously its an important part of the conversation right now. Thank you both for having this discussion with us. Charles blow and commissioner charles ramsey. We appreciate it. The protests are continuing, and youre looking at images out of boston right now, one of those protests taking place at this hour on the 19th straight day following the death of george floyd. Well take you live to los angeles next. We have a saying at us foods we help you make it. 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And there has never been a summer when its mattered more. Wherever you go, summer safely. Get zero percent apr financing for up to five years on select models and exclusive lease offers. Were going live now to atlanta and mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms addressing an overnight incident in which a black man was killed by police. Lets listen. I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force and have called for the immediate termination of the officer. What has become abundantly clear over the last couple of weeks in atlanta is that while we have a police force full of men and women who work alongside our communities with honor, respect, and dignity, there has been a disconnect with what our expectations are and should be as it relates to interactions with our officers and the communities in which they are entrusted to protect. Chief erica shields has been a solid member of apd for over two decades and has a deep and abiding love for the people of atlanta. And because of her desire that atlanta be a model of what meaningful reform should look like across this country, chief shields has offered to immediately step aside as police chief so that the city may move forward with urgency in rebuilding the trust so desperately needed throughout our communities. Former assistant police chief and now interim corrections chief Rodney Bryant will serve as the interim police chief as we immediately launch a National Search for new leadership. Chief shields will continue in a role to be determined. To the men and women of apd, your service and sacrifice on behalf of our communities is not lost upon me, and i remain grateful for the work that you do to keep our city safe. But as dr. King reminded us many years ago, there is a fierce urgency of now that calls upon each of us, myself included, to be held accountable to the communities in which we are entrusted to serve. For that reason, we have already convened an Advisory Committee to examine our use of force policies in our city and expect feedback within the next two weeks with final recommendations within the next 45 days. To the family of mr. Brooks, there are no words Strong Enough to express how sincerely sorry i am for your loss. I do hope that you will find some comfort in the swift actions that have been taken today and the meaningful reforms that our city will implement on behalf of the countless men and women who have lost their lives across this country. With that, ill take any questions that you may have. This was her decision to step aside as police chief. Yes. I have accepted it. She will remain with the city in a role to be determined to help us plan and implement a course forward, but she is stepping aside as police chief. Just one officer who fired his weapon. The other officer has been placed on administrative duty. All right. Thank you. Okay, you were listening live there to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and a lot of news that she just made. She just made an announcement that shes calling for the firing of an officer involved in an overnight shooting in which a man was shot and killed by police. And she made a big announcement, that the police chief of atlanta has volunteered to step aside following calls for her resignation or firing in light of this most recent incident. Erika shields, youre seeing there, she says will continue on in a new role and the mayor announcing the new interim chief, Rodney Bryant. Hes the former assistant police chief there in atlanta. She also announced a commission p, who has been following this story. Shes getting set up for us. Let me tell you what we have learned about this incident that took place outside a wendys in atlanta. We were told by the Georgia Bureau of investigation director this afternoon that there were officers called to this wendys around 10 30 local time last night because there was somebody, they were told, in the drivethrough asleep in a vehicle. When they arrived, they encountered a man who they believed to be inebriated. The police say that he failed a sobriety test. There was a confrontation with police. He managed to get the taser from one of those officers and took off running. The director of the gbi says that that man turned toward police and pointed the taser, and thats when an officer opened fire, shooting and killing this 27yearold man now identified as Rayshard Brooks. We understand there is video from this incident, multiple you can see, even one person in this video right now with their cell phone, so theres cell phone video. Theres Surveillance Video as well from that wendys, and theres body cam video, at least partial body cam video, although as the director of the gbi told us, that body cam video is incomplete because it was knocked off during the confrontation, according to him, with this now victim of the Police Shooting. So were hoping to get that police video some time today. The Georgia Bureau of investigation says that is their goal, to turn that video around, to provide as much transparency as possible into what exactly happened, and protesters are gathering outside that wendys today and in other parts of atlanta, protesting what happened overnight and protesting the broader issues that have been a big part of the conversation around the country for weeks now. In fact, these are live pictures in atlanta today, as you can see, ongoing protests, day 19 following the killing of george floyd in minneapolis that has brought to the forefront the conversation about Police Brutality and excessive force, especially involving people who are africanamerican as well as the injustices systemically, Racial Injustice in the criminal Justice System and in society at large. So, again, the mayor of atlanta, georgia, announcing the police chief in atlanta is stepping aside and calling for the firing of an officer who shot and killed a man overnight in that city. I am being told we have some sound right now from that press conference this afternoon with the Georgia Bureau of investigation. Lets listen. We have now seen full video from the wendys restaurant showing this gentleman entering into the video frame, running or fleeing from Atlanta Police officers. It appears that he has, in his hand, the taser. You can see that at least to the naked eye, thats what it appears. He runs a relatively short distance, looks like its probably five, six, seven Parking Spaces distance, and at that point, turns around and appears to the eye that he points a taser at the atlanta officer. At that point, the atlanta officer reaches down and retrieves his weapon from his holster, discharges it, strikes mr. Brooks there on the parking lot, and he goes down. Again, that was just within the last couple of hours. That was vic reynolds, the director of the Georgia Bureau of investigation and detailing what he says is shown in the Surveillance Video that, again, theyre working to bring to the public sometime today. They say they are trying to digitally enhance that video as well to get a clearer look. He is urging the public not to rush to judgment. He says their investigation will be thorough but exat tpeditious thats where we are at this hour as protesters continue in the streets of atlanta, and again, the police chief of atlanta now stepping aside. Interesting timing because we did hear from the georgia naacp president earlier this afternoon calling for Atlanta Police chief erika shields to be terminated immediately following this event. He said, we are done dying. The city of atlanta must not only address this with their words but also their actions. Well, today, Keisha Lance Bottoms, the mayor of atlanta is taking action and now let me go to natasha chen live on scene for us in atlanta. So, this was obviously a call that the mayor is hearing. Reporter absolutely. And i am looking at my cell phone right now at the video that the Georgia Bureau of investigation has released. Its on youtube. It looks like Surveillance Video from the wendys restaurant showing what happened here as mr. Brooks seems to be fleeing from the officers with the taser in hand belonging to police. And so, were going to be taking a much more a closer look at what happened there. But behind me right now, you see all these people gathered. The way they have been gathering in the last couple of weeks. The names on these signs are names of people who have been killed at the hands of police, and right now, as far as this incident is concerned, theres also a group outside the wendys location where this happened last night. So there are two locations right now, this group right here and the group, including family members, of mr. Brooks that i met outside the wendys, ana. So, natasha, did the protesters get the news that Keisha Lance Bottoms Just Announced, and what was their reaction . Reporter you know, im not really sure if they have. Because i just walked up toward them, but lets listen to what theyre chanting here. Breonna taylor. Reporter okay, so theyre saying the names of people who have been killed by police. Im going, right after im finished talking with you, im going to be checking in with some of them about whether they heard that announcement. As you know, it was just in the last few moments, so people, even if they do know, are still processing this breaking information, again, that the Atlanta Police chief, erika shields, has offered her resignation, that mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is calling for the termination of the officer involved in the shooting and of course the resignation of chief shields is something that the local naacp president had called for earlier today and it looks like that is what has happened, ana. And natasha, you mentioned you spoke with family members of this man, Rayshard Brooks, the family members of the man who was killed overnight. Reporter i spoke to his cousin and you can imagine just how distraught he is. He says this is the worst thing to wake up to after weeks of watching the unrest across the country, watching what happened to george floyd. He said he cant believe this has now come to the doorstep of his little cousin, and very emotional interview that he gave to the media. He says that there has to be accou accountability, that someone needs to answer for this, ana. Natasha chen on cnn atlanta for us. Well take a quick break and be right back. Why bother mastering something . Because when you want to create an entirely new feeling, the difference between excellence and mastery is all the difference in the world. The lexus es. A product of mastery. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Yeah. This moving thing never gets any easier. Well, xfinity makes moving super easy. I can transfer my internet and tv service in about a minute. Wow, that is easy. Almost as easy as having those guys help you move. We are those guys. Thats you . The truck adds 10 pounds. In the arms. Okay. Transfer your Service Online in a few easy steps. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Transfer your service in minutes, making moving with xfinity a breeze. Visit xfinity. Com moving today. Our breaking news and back to atlanta where the mayor has Just Announced the citys police chief is stepping aside following a deadly Police Shooting overnight. Mayor bottoms saying this was shields decision, the Police Chiefs decision, and that she will remain with the city in an undetermined role right now. Rodney bryant will become the interim chief of the police there in atlanta, and we also have a couple of new pictures of the man who was shot and killed last night. This is 27yearold Rayshard Brooks, and i want to bring in former lapd chief Cheryl Dorsey whos joining me now. Sergeant dorsey, let me ask you for first your reaction to this swift call by first the mayor saying she wants the officer involved to be fired and that the police chief is stepping aside. Well, listen, every police chief serves at the pleasure of the mayor so this was an easy fix. In terms of the officers, theyre entitled to due process and i dont know that they will be able to be fired on the spot unless you want them to get their job back, but you see, swift action can be taken when they want to. So, its interesting that the video weve heard so much about apparently is from the wendys surveillance cameras, and some body cam video as well as video from people who were at the scene or nearby that investigators currently have and are using. The mayor is saying, based on what shes learned, she does not believe lethal force was justified. What are your thoughts about whether lethal force would be justified in an incident in which, you know, a person points a taser, which he had gotten from the officer, we are told, at that officer and the officer opens fire. Well, as i previously stated, were assuming that the taser was operable. I dont even know if the darts that were in it were able to be discharged, number one. And number two, it sounded like they were saying that this man had turned and was fleeing, and so listen, weve seen far too many times, officers who dont have the physical stamina or just dont want to run after someone who flees on foot and so they shoot them because, listen, when an officer kills you, theres only one version and its the one that they tell, and so i imagine these officers are crafting a story, theyre going to stick to it, and it will be interesting to see how the District Attorney views this and then ultimately a jury. We also have with us the former Philadelphia Police commissioner, charles ramsey, and commissioner, we were just talking a short time ago about this case, and you really urged people to sort of pump the brakes, not rush to judgment. What are your thoughts about what has transpired . Well, you know, you have to see the evidence, but the mayor would have access to evidence that right now we dont have. You know, mayors have a tough job. They got to make tough decisions, and Police Chiefs, we all well know, are only one incident away from being fired or being asked to step down. I mean, thats the nature of the business. But as that video is released, well be able to determine more, because youll be able to see, did he turn around . What was the distance between the two . I think your previous guest mentioned something very important, if the taser had been discharged before, would it be capable of firing again . I dont have the answers to any of that. Again, you know, we need to know the evidence before we can really make a judgment, but the mayor made a choice. She made a statement, and you know, she knows more than we know. I want to listen in again to the Georgia Bureau of investigation director describing what happened last night. We have now seen full video from the wendys restaurant showing this gentleman entering into the video frame, running or fleeing from Atlanta Police officers. It appears that he has in his hand the taser, you can see that at least to the naked eye, thats what it appears. He runs a relatively short distance, looks like its probably five, six, seven Parking Spaces distance, and at that point, turns around and it appears to the eye that he points the taser at the atlanta officer. At that point, the atlanta officer reaches down and retrieves his weapon from his holster, discharges it, strikes mr. Brooks there on the parking lot, and he goes down. Sergeant dorsey and commissioner ramsey, i feel like you both may have some different opinions about what we just heard, so i just want to get, again, both of your thoughts on that, because sergeant dorsey, it sounds like you believe the officer made the wrong call to fire. Well, let me be clear. When someone runs from you, a Police Officer has two choices. You can get ready to get exercise, or you let them go. You dont get to shoot because you cant catch them, and so based on what im hearing, based on what gbi just said, this was a shooting that was unnecessary and most likely out of policy. Commissioner ramsey, do you agree . Well, i dont have enough evidence to make that determination. I mean, i spent 17 years as a chief, and i read a lot of files, and you have to read the file, you have to see the evidence, you have to view videos, if theyre there, and then you make a determination as to whether or not the use of deadly force was justified or not. Perhaps it wasnt. I dont know. But i havent seen enough to be able to make a determination on this particular case, and you have to judge cases individually. Based on what you have, the facts you have at your disposal for that case. It may have been a bad shooting. I dont know. But as we start to see the video and as more information is released, then you can start to make a judgment as to whether or not this officer should have used deadly force, should not have used deadly force or what have you. But again, the mayor probably has more information than certainly we do at this moment. Commissioner, how do you anticipate this investigation will proceed . Well, gbi is they will handle the investigation. Theyve already shown a willingness to share some evidence, which not all the time, the District Attorney along with the investigating agency are willing to do so thats a good thing. They understand the urgency and they understand the environment. Im sure that they will try to get this wrapped up as fast as they can, but it needs to be thorough. It needs to be complete in order to be a good investigation, so im sure theyll go as fast as they can but not so fast that it will be sloppy. Im confident that that wont happen. Thats a good organization, gbi. Okay, thank you very much, commissioner ramsey as well as sergeant dorsey. I appreciate both of you very much. And we are working to turn the video that we understand has been released now from the Georgia Bureau of investigation, so were working on that. Were also working to get reaction from protesters on the ground there in atlanta. You can see them gathering as you look at these live pictures. Youre watching cnn. Quick break. Well be right back. Ges that go out today get delivered. There are people who can only get food from amazon. When you come into work, thats what drives you. My little one, i would say hes definitely proud of me. Every time he sees the blue prime trucks, he says, daddy, theres your people i know every single one of us is here busting as hard as we can go every day to make sure these packages get delivered. Can i find an Investment Firm with a truly longterm view thats been through multiple market cycles for over 85 years . With capital group, i can. 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Were building a 5g network that will deliver unprecedented reach and reliability, and the highest capacity in history. With more coverage and more bandwidth to keep your employees connected, you will get the largest and most Reliable Network at an unbeatable price. Tmobile for business. We are continuing to follow breaking news out of tlanatlant where the citys police chief has stepped down following a deadly policeinvolved shooting last night. This is the cousin of rashard brooks, the man who was shot and killed, speaking earlier today. I dont know how to do this because i never knew i was going to have to do this. I watched this on the internet from the whole george floyd situation till coming together like were doing something. And this whole thing landed on my doorstep with my little cousin. I just think for me, the most hurtful thing for me is to watch the video. Wake up and watch that video. Ive got two little boys. They see the same video, its their cousin. Thats why it hurts so much. I just i thought atlanta was higher than that. I thought we was bigger than that. I want to bring back cnn political commentator charles blow. Charles, the mayor taking swift action and the police chief stepping down. Whats your reaction . Well, i actually commend mayor bottoms just for her response to this entire episode, including with this, because what shes demonstrating is that the city and her leadership will be responsive. Now, i dont know we havent seen this video, but she says that she has. And that, you know, that she didnt, from what i was reading in that statement, did not agree that that should happen and that the officer who did it should be fired. Thats responsiveness. And if the police chief resigned, as the statement said, there were calls for that and theyre being responsive. I just appreciate the responsiveness of power when people say that they demand a response. How important is it to see that video and to have that transparency and how even the Georgia Bureau of investigation is handling this . I think we need to see it because theres already something in the public domain, so we need to see the official video that they are seeing because in that one that i watched, you dont see the turn. So thats important. But i still cling to this bel f belief. Nothing that i have heard or that i have seen about this demanded that that man be killed. Now, can police justify that killing . Probably. We rarely see police charged, convicted, for these killings because in fact its legal. Thats the killer part, right . In most cases you can justify the killing. But the problem is not that its legal. Slavery was legal, jim crow was legal, mass incarceration is legal. Its just not right. If the pattern disproportionately affects people who look like me, then theres a problem there. You have to i know these are splitsecond decisions. Thats a hard job for people to have. A lot of people have hard jobs, though. In this job you have the power to take a life. That cannot be that is not a small thing. If he was if he turned with a taser, you knew it was a taser, youd know it wasnt a gun. Is that is that enough to take his life . That answer has to be bigger than it is that question has to be bigger in the discussion than it is because its not necessarily that you can justify it. I hate when people say that. I hate when people analyze this case and say we have a discussion and you can justify it because this could have happened and that could have happened and that could have happened. Yes, it could have happened. But you have the discretion, you alone, and you have to look at that and say if its my brother, my sister, whatever, would i do this. Well, thats an important question. And according to the mayor, what she has seen, what she knows of this incident, she used the word justified. She does not believe lethal force is justified and is therefore calling for that officer to be fired. Charles blow, please stand by. I want to turn to natasha chen who is inatlanta for usand has been talking to protesters following this news and this announcement from the mayor. Natasha, what are you hearing . Reporter when i last spoke with you, i think the news was still trickling in. Some people knew, some people didnt. The person with the megaphone did mention it at one point. So i want to introduce you to one of the folks here, alex fairley. Shes been out at these protests almost every day that you can, right . Tell me what you felt and what you thought when you heard about the chief stepping down. I mean i guess it didnt really come as a surprise. But honestly, i dont really feel anything. Its a minor step. It is a step, but it also depends on who theyre going to replace her with. If its another person thats not going to implement the change we want, were still going to be out here fighting for what we want and that is a total change of this system of injustice. Reporter you said that you did view the video that the gbi released within the last hour or so, surveillance of what happened last night. Whats your take on that . I think its exactly perfectly exemplified what were out here fighting for. And people might have their biases that they need to check on this situation and say that he reached for the taser or he was fighting back. But lets remember that dylann roof went in a church and killed nine people. Instead of being met with a bullet, he got a burger. So it doesnt matter what kind of fighting theyre doing, we see white people out with machetes or juking Police Officers like theyre on a basketball court. When it comes to a black man, we are given no benefit of the doubt. We are not given justice, including black women as well. So the video exemplified why we are out here. We cannot stop fighting. We cannot stop, or slow down. As much as we want to paint the streets or change the street name, were not getting what we want and thats actual change. Reporter what im viewing so far and probably what alex has viewed from the Georgia Bureau of investigation is that it seems mr. Brooks was running away from the police. Seemingly with a taser in hand that belongs to police, according to the witnesses. And there is one moment where hes turning turning and reaching in this direction back toward the police with that taser in hand and is pointing it at police. What in your view in a reformed police in the future, the ideal future that you have, what would police have done that they didnt do last night . Well, i think what should have happened, what were calling for is defund the police. That means taking money out of their enraged large budget and moving that into other resources. So what could have happened is maybe someone could have called the police for them to come not wake this man up and see what was the matter. If he was that inebriated, call a medic or someone who can help him instead of scaring him awake, probably intimidating him and scaring him. So instead of calling the police to handle the situation top to bottom, you could have called in another reinforcement that might have been more appropriate for his situation. Reporter alex, thank you so much for speaking with us. I appreciate your opinion here. Of course not everyone is going to have the same exact reaction to this, but it is a major breaking moment for this crowd to understand that the chief of police has stepped down, has offered her resignation, and to some that is not a surprise and they are wary of what change may come, ana. Natasha, since youve been on this story from the getgo, walk us through and just reset what we know about the events that transpired. Reporter sure, right. So rashard brooks, a 27yearold man, was reported to be asleep in his vehicle in the wendys drivethrough. That is when Atlanta Police were called there and responded. From what the Georgia Bureau of investigation is releasing, they say that there was a struggle over the Police Officers taser when they met with mr. Brooks, that he resisted arrest. Witnesses say that mr. Brooks was able to take hold of the Police Officers taser and then in what were seeing from the video that was released from gbi in the last hour or so, which seems to be Surveillance Video from the restaurant, it seems to show that mr. Brooks was running away from police with something in his hand, which witnesses told gbi was the taser belonging to police. And in one moment, and of course this is all happening in seconds, it seems that mr. Brooks had turned his arm back toward police pointing what was in his hand at the officer before he was shot down. So of course all of that in split seconds, its going to take experts and of course the Prosecutors Office to really determine what happened there and what should be done about it. So at that point, this is where the gbi gathers the information, turns it over to the Fulton County District Attorneys office. Fulton county d. A. s office also says theyre doing an independent investigation, ana. And natasha, we see that crowd behind you, protesters as weve been discussing in this day today. Its day 19 following the killing of george floyd. Atlanta has been through so much because its been in the National Spotlight with Ahmaud Arbery also prior to the death of george floyd. Whats the mood of the crowd there today . Reporter yeah, you know, theyre mentioning all of these names. At least the crowd here. I should say the crowd at the wendys location where the incident happened last night, theyre more focused just on rashard brooks but all of them have been talking about the series of incidents that they feel are unjust. They are calling for a systemwide change to how Police Protect the community. And so as miss fairley was talking to us just now on the air, she said the crowds may have dwindled a little bit more recently in the last couple of weeks, but this is now picking up today, this weekend. So its a little bit back to the size of what we were seeing, perhaps, a little bit earlier in this movement. I also have not seen Police Vehicles as much today in this spot the way that we were seeing in the very beginning when george floyd was first killed. The streets are blocked by the protesters but police cars are not blocking the streets necessarily. But we did see Police Vehicles at the wendys location blocking the streets there. So this group is energized. They have been listening to the speaker in the middle. They have en