Transcripts For CNNW 1968 20200614 : vimarsana.com

Eventually the suspect takes off with the taser. Watch this. Surveillance video released by the gbi picks up where that video ends. Youre about to see brooks running from the police. He appears to turn back toward the Police Officers and discharge the taser before turning back around and continuing to run. You then see him fall to the ground and once again this video is disturbing. Theres the moment Rayshard Brooks appears to discharge the taser. The officer fires once more in slow motion. Heres what the attorneys representing the Brooks Family say happened next. Listen to this. We talked to some Witnesses Today who said that officers went and put on plastic gloves and picked up their shell casings after they killed him before rendering aid. We counted 2 16 before they checked his pulse. And people wonder why everyones mad. Watch the video as he lays there dying the officers stand around. One kicks him and flips him over. The witnesses tell us, which we cant see on camera, they filmed it, they went and picked up the shell casings i wonder why. So all of you cant know how far away he was when they shot. So you cant find their positions when they used the weapon . They appear to be carrying more about covering tracks than providing aid. Chris stewart, one of the attorneys representing the Brooks Family right now. Natasha chen has been following the story all day. First of all, i know you were confronting by some of the protesters, are you okay . Is the crew, are the photojournalists, producer, our security guy, everybody okay right now . I want to update our viewers . Yes, thank you for asking, wolf. We all kind of regrouped back at cnn center. Were meeting back here to continue covering this story as we discussed with you earlier. Protesters were angry about us filming the people who were destroying the wendys building. We saw that people were throwing things at the windows, breaking the glass and setting fire to one of the patio umbrellas. And i was trying to record some of that on my cell phone while our photojournalists were recording that with our cnn camera, thats when a few of them got very aggressive with them and our camera broke. I do want to say that i have been in touch with Rayshard Brooks family in the last 15 minutes or so. I saw them this evening in the crowd right after tear gas was deployed, and thats when his cousin who spoke with us on camera earlier today told me he really wanted the protesters to know he wanted this to be peaceful tonight. And when i was at the wendys trying to record some of this. I spotted him in the crowd. And so i texted him to say, are you okay . And he said, yeah, i left, because i didnt want any part of that. So thats at least how the cousins are reacting right now. Looks like somethings going on on i75 right there. You see police some of the protesters clearly the police want to clear that interstate 75 to allow traffic to resume. But that standoff is continuing right now. Natasha, one thing explain what you know and youve spoke tonight family, to others there on the scene. How this escalated to the degree that it has . You know, when it was earlier in the evening, i even saw families out there with their babies. They brought their children to protest peacefully, i would say up until 8 00, 8 30 we were seeing a large crowd standing in the middle of the intersection chanting the names of people who had been killed at the hands of police. And peacefully standing there, with i would say it was closer to 9 00 when people started really gathering at a liquor store on that corner, in the parking lot of it, which is just a half a block from the wendys. There were folks gathering around a Police Squad Car and blocking that car in. Thats when things started to get a little more aggressive. And we could tell from a safe distance. Police were trying to get that vehicle out of there. Shortly after that, thats when the tear gas was deployed. From that point on, we saw people trying to get on to the ramp of the freeways. On different ramps, and you saw the people actually getting around the police line who had blocked the ramps, going up the grassy hill, up to the interstate. And when people felt that was not the direction they wanted to go in, a group started directing everyone back to the wendys, and we could tell that there were some people very you can see a huge number of police cars and traffic in that area right now. Its a very still, very tense situation. I know you heard the lawyers representing Rayshard Brooks family. Saying in the words of the attorneys have destroyed the image of policing once again did any of them have any positive image of the police going back three weeks following the death of george floyd . You know, a lot of these people i spoke to have been consistently protesting over the last 2 plus weeks. The only hesitation i heard today was when i asked one of the protesters her reaction to the mayor calling for the termination of the officer involved in last nights incident. She said to me, i dont know about that, i dont have a comment about that. Because this was shortly after gb if released the surveillance video. It seems as mr. Brooks had turned around in the last minute to point the taser at the officers, you are looking at someone who pointed a taser at an officer, then the officer fired with a gun. And so thats the only person who hesitated. Everyone else who has been out there over the last couple weeks, this is an example of why more resources need to be redirected to other types of services. Who could have helped deal with this situation of a person sleeping in a vehicle in a drive through. And not have this escalate to the point where someone is shot in the drive through. Their answer to me often times is, it should have never gotten to that point. Very quickly, before i let you go, youre not going to be anywhere for too long. What part of atlanta are we is all of this unfolding in . This is south of downtown, the wendys that were stalking about is on University Avenue and right by the interstate i75. Its a major interstate in the atlanta and georgia area. Stand by, natasha, the attorney for the family of the man killed Rayshard Brooks, delivered an emotional press conference. Just a moment ago, we had it live here on condition krng. Hes joining me now, thank you so much for joining us i watched all of your statement. I heard what Justin Miller and the other attorney had to say. Both of you very strong and powerf powerful. Tell us why youre frustrated over what happened. The atlanta mayor, the Atlanta Police department will act quickly, decisively, to invest gate the killing of Rayshard Brooks. Its frustration and hurt. Think about how long you and i have been talking about these cases. You covered walter scott five years ago, and were right back in walter scott part two. Its frustration, because i dont want to lose hope or faith in the police department. But at a certain point. Enough is enough. I respect law enforcement, but im not respecting how it is affecting africanamericans. Its gone on too long, and it has to change. Everybody has to get off the sideli sidelines. This is antiloss of life, loss of fathers and enough is enough. Give us the context of what youre learning about how this shooting unfolded. Weve heard that Rayshard Brooks was simply in his car, he fell asleep in the drive through, cars going around him in this wendys, pick up what happened based on everything youve learned over the past 24 hours. Pick up what happened next . Weve been talking to witnesses. It was a nonviolent, noncriminal situation. He fell asleep in the drive through, which happens to people all across this country all the time. Witnesses said that he did not get a field sobriety test, there was a discussion with him and the officers, and suddenly they decided to put his hands behind his back. And, of course, like any person. Hes wondering why, and he turned around like why are you all trying to arrest me. A discussion could have ended this. Why not talk to him as a human being and say, hey, buddy, maybe you had too much to drink. Leave your car here, take uber. Ive seen it happen before. That didnt happen, instead they got physical, he ran he did have the taser. A taser is not a lethal weapon, he didnt have a lethal weapon. It didnt need to happen. It didnt need to happen. You know, he were seeing the video, our viewers he seems to turn around and fire that taser. Did he actually fire it, we do see a little flash there. No, we dont have any information on that, we dont know if that was the first shot where the glare of taser, who has a light caught him getting shot the first time, either way it goes, according to law enforcement. Ive had cases where officers used tasers own my clients and their defense is, its not a lethal weapon. You cant have it both ways. You did not have to kill him. You could have tracked him down, you had his license, his information, you had backup coming. Why kill him . Thats just what hurts. Why kill limb . When i was watching your news conference, i was moved when you said, i dont know what justice is any more. Just elaborate for our viewers. Its just we just got back, you know, we also represent giana floyd, George Floyds daughter. I dont know what to tell the world any more about justice, we keep saying we want justice i dont know what it is any more, do we want someone fired, arrested. Were losing hope, when you lose hope, you have this chaos. I dont want people burning down their own communities and burning down anything, you lose hope. And whats the answer, the there has to be a total reform of policing. The first thing that has to be drilled into officers mind is deescalation. Community. Community above a gun. It has to be that way, maybe if we start over from scratch, whatever it has to be, change the standards, the requirements, Police Officers are the only job in this country where they can take your life, liberty and freedom. Its the most powerful job in this country. Yeah, and i was really moved. Im sure our viewers were as well. When we heard you speak about Rayshard Brooks family. One of his daughters celebrating her eighth birthday this weekend. Tell us about that. Just imagine, lets take color out of it. A human being is sitting in a living room with a 1yearold and a 2yearold climbing on them, an 8yearold in her birthday dress waiting on her dad to come and pick her up and finish the Birthday Party they started yesterday. And knowing that hes not coming in that door. And that he died from a nonviolent offense. Yes, he shouldnt have hit the officer, yeah, they tussled. But he ran away, and should have just been arrested for whatever it may be. But not murdered. You cannot be a judge, jury and executioner because you lost a scuffle. Weve seen too many videos where if he was white, that wouldnt have happened. Its frustrating playing with someones children again, in a situation where their dad should simply be alive. But for the decision of someone who pulled a trigger instead of having a conversation in the beginning. I dont want to hear anything about what he shouldnt have fought them. He shouldnt have done this. They should have had a conversation with him in the beginning and they should have let him run and catch him. We didnt need walter scott part two. Did that little 8yearold girl celebrating her birthday this weekend, does she know her dad is dead . No, she doesnt understand. She thought he was going to show up at any moment. Her mother who you will hear from monday tried to generally explain. But children dont understand that concept fully. And its just sad that all his children, the three girls and his little boy are going to have watch their dad be shot while running away when they get older. Just like giana is going to have to watch her father have a knee put on his 234ek. Deandre phillips in atlanta is going to have to watch her father be killed when he tried to run. I could go on and on, but theres no need to list names, most people dont even care any more. So heart breaking. When we see these little kids who lose a father, George Floyds daughter. We saw her sweet little 6yearold, and now were seeing more kids who are going to be suffering without a father as a result of what happened late last night. How big and i know youve studied this for a long time. How serious is the problem in the Atlanta Police department right now. Well, its just not atlanta. Its everywhere. There has to be fundamental changes, not just to the policies, but to the mentality, the mentality that of course officers have a tough job. I have great friends that are officers, but yes you have to carry a speer in a shoe. And often you have to use the speer, but youre the shield of the community. You wear the shield on you, youre the shield, you protect the community above everything. You use the shield when someone has a gun and is running into school. Not when someones asleep at a wendys. Too often that concept, the mentality has been lost. And i think thats just because of the divide of officers need to live in the community where they police. Its hard to kill a black body when you interact with it every day. Really really sad development. Were showing our viewers these live pictures coming in from atlanta. You know the area, obviously, very, very well at that wendys, the interstate and some of the streets below. Protesters very angry, and theyre still on the street. Police have a tough job to deal with all of this tonight. Whats your message if you if theyre watching right now, folks in atlanta. Folks all over the country. Whats your message to the protesters who continue to be outraged. Its more to the people watching the outrage. People have been silent for years, they watched walter scott, they watched alton sterling, there were no violent protests like this understand the sense of helplessness, of, if were quiet and were docile, that didnt work, theyre still killing for no reason. If were out rioting and the violence and protesting, that didnt work. What are people supposed to do . Nobody condones violence, because i just dont want more people arrested. That will ruin their lives. Of course, thats not the answer, burning down your own community. But you have to give them some type of answer. Some type of definite change. Not were just going to institute a new taser policy. I did that, we got a policy changed, but you have to give them something concrete. We are changing the culture of policing. Were going to have officers from your Community Policing your community. Were going to have officers living there, were going to change the mentality, where the first thing someone thinks is, im going to kill another human being who is not threatening my life. Let me stop myself, let him get away, and well find him later, because this wasnt a felony. Weve been showing our viewers, chris i dont know if can you see it, some cars are beginning to move over there on the interstate. Im not sure if these are regular vehicles or police vehicles. Were showing pictures of whats happening below at that wendys. That wendys now seems to be on fire right now, looks like looters went in it looks like traffic is beginning to move on that i75, an area, chris, you know, very, very well. But the fact that it is deteriorated. It was a peaceful protest that all of a sudden not so peaceful any more, it and it thats a disturbing development. The family does not want his memory or name to end in flames and destruction. What they do want it to end in is change fundamentally. And for this officer to be held accountable for using lethal force when that wasnt necessary. But you have to understand where by the way, were showing chris, this is the wrendys, where the incident occurred last night, its been torched and its burning up right now. I dont see any effort by the Fire Department to get to the scene. Maybe they cant get to the scene because the roads are all blocked. But this is the wendys where Rayshard Brooks was in that through through, he was in his car, he fell asleep, and clearly wendys had nothing to do with any of this, but the anger is clearly visible right there. You see this wendys now torched and burning up. Its frustration, wolf. It is anger and pain of living this cycle over and over again. And, of course, thats not burning down a wendys is not going to fix anything, its not going to change the situation. Weve all got to come together. White, black, conservative, liberal, weve got to fix this, or this is what society will be. Yeah, its a really sad situation. And give me your thought while i still have you, chris, it happens less than three weeks after george floyd was killed. 46 years old, in minneapolis. And we saw obviously we all saw the 8 46 second video with the Police Officer on his knee on his neck. People are still protesting. 19, 20 days later theyre still protesting right now. Now we see this incident involving Rayshard Brooks. Its quadruply sad that this is unfolding here in the United States of america. It is. And 2020 has been something, but you have to look at the message. God is trying to tell the United States of america something in 2020. Normally these happen once a year, a couple times where some big cases theyre happening back to back to back. Hes trying to open our eyes to wake up, change this, and get to what youre supposed to be as a country. Are you hopeful as you look down the road, you see this as a turning point or are we simply five years from now, you and i are going to have the same conversation . No, im hopeful. Because when we were in minnesota marching for George Floyds family, the diversity, i had never seen that before. When i look around the world and theres protests around the country for george floyd, just like there will be for this case, ive never seen so many people unifying for change for once. And thats the true power, when its all of the people coming together to change. And thats why i wont lose hope and ill keep fighting these cases and go against officers that do Something Like this, and ill keep saying and acknowledging officers that do the right thing. I have hope, and you cant lose hope. So you know. Before i let you go, one final question, chris. Walk us through the next steps, youre the attorney representing the Rayshard Brooks family now. What happens in the coming days . Keep getting more information. In one day of investigating this, we found witnesses who said the officers picked up their shell casings before rentering him aid. If you watch the video, 2 16 before they even touched him. They could have saved his life. Some more information will keep coming out, and well get down to the bottom of it, and well await the word from the District Attorney on if charges are coming. It looks like that traffic is beginning to move on that interstate over there. You can see the wendys. Its still blazing, still on fire right now, i dont see any firefighters on the scene at all. Very disturbing development. Chris stewart, i know you have a lot going on, it was kind of you to join us, our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Are grateful to you, thank you so much. You want to make a final point before i let you go . Dont lose faith, anybody. Dont lose faith. Answers and change will come, as long as we keep demanding it. Were not going to lose faith, were going to demand change and were with you. Thank you so much, l. Chris stewart, representing the family of Rayshard Brooks killed by Police Last Night in atlanta. These are live pictures were seeing right now, were watching all of this unfold. Very tense situation unfolding in atlanta. Lets take a quick break and resume our special coverage right after this. Heres another cleaning tip from mr. Clean. 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Natasha, jen is with us, update our viewers on what we know right now. Clearly this remains an extremely tense situation in atlanta. So tense that the Fire Department tells me theyre not going in right now, i got off the phone with sergeant cortese stafford. He tells me that the fire is in the dining room, is spreading through the drive through window, but right now there are protesters in the streets, so its not easy for them to access the building right now. Without backup assistance, and right now theyre watching this situation to make sure that the fire doesnt jump to another structure, and because they have no reports of anyone inside, and right now it looks to be contained to the one building. They are observing at the moment, because they cannot access the building, wolf. Right now theyre hoping it stays contained to the wendys with no one getting near it. They will stand by and it doesnt get worse, because they will need backup assistance because they need people in the street. Natasha, were going to get back to you shortly, were watching all of this unfold. Chief ramsey, what do they do right now in atlanta. You see the fire is blazing at that wendys, a major interstate still blocked. Firefighters cant get to that, to deal with that fire right now. Because so many streets around there are blocked off. What do they do. The Fire Department is not going to come in as long as they dont feel its a safe situation. Youve got a situation where you have streets blocked, you have people out in the street. I guess theyre a little uncomfortable as to whether or not the people in the street might attack them or whatever. I dont think thats going to happen. There is some concern, theres so much confusion going on right now, its a shame, fires dont solve a problem. And im sure that the vast majority of the people there to demonstrate are not happy to see that sort of thing taking place right now in atlanta. When you see whats going on in atlanta, right now, what do you think . It saddens me, because it takes away from the message. Clearly the family is asking people to protest peacefully, they dont want destruction, Property Damage and the like, associated with their loved ones name. And listen, lets be clear, theres a segment of society who are not going to feel any sympathy for this family because of the actions of others. Theyre going to dirty up this young mans name because of the actions of others. Its sad for me to have lived through this in 1992 and watch areas of los angeles never recover because of destruction. Cedric, im anxious to get your thoughts as well. What do you think . I am hopeful that reform is going to come very quickly. And i think weve heard from a number of your guests tonight the importance now of beginning to have those conversations, but they have to move from conversations and as you heard, the victim attorneys say we have to do more than just rewrite policies. We got to set up a whole different methodology in terms of how we deliver service to the communities in which we serve and in doing that, how do we do it in a way in which the community can begin to trust the police again. Because in many parts of this country. And youre watching it tonight right there in atlanta, youre seeing people who have totally lost trust in and i know the leadership are working very hard to maintain their trust. Its going to take time. I think they have incredible leadership there in atlanta. Im hopeful, and i love the mayors leadership there and her decision making, she has to make decisions in tough periods of time whether people agree with it or not. Shes a leader of that city. Reform needs to take place quickly, and its going to have to happen at a local level. Theres federal legislation being pushed forward by the Congressional Black Caucus who did an outstanding job this week. And i think some reform is going to be seen at a federal level. But at a local level. Some things clearly have to change and they have to change now because we cant continue to have nights like this in our country. We have to feel like someones paying attention to them. By the way, were seeing on the right, pictures from atlanta, you see the flames, the smoke continuing. On the left, this is washington, d. C. , where protesters have gathered as well. Theyre clearly angry about whats going on. Theyre blocking traffic right now at the same time, were watching whats happening in the nations capitol, were watching whats happening in atlanta. Were checking our affiliates around the country to see if these protests are going to expand to other cities as well. This is a tense moment indeed. Cornell william brooks, the former president of the naacp. Hes president of the Harvard Kennedy school right now. Give us your thoughts. As i look at a restaurant being burned in atlanta. One of the things that comes to mind is we have a building burning, we have the patience of the people across the country and around the world also burning. So, in other words, when were in this moment where we clearly appreciate the danger of violence. But the problem has been here to for, we talk about the violence of the protesters, not the violence of the police. And we are at a moment where we need nonviolence. Those wearing blue uniforms and gold badges. Not merely calling for nonviolence from those who are in protests and demonstrations. As a christian minister, i deeply deeply believe. Not only the moral efficacy of nonviolence. But the legal positivity of nonviolence. We have to be clear. If we can use diplomacy and deescalation with respect to the north koreans who had nuclear arms, why cant we teach Police Departments to use deescalation with respect to unarmed civilians. Weve heard guests talk about this being a local problem. It is a local problem. 18,000 Police Departments, 19,000 jurisdictions across 50 states. We cannot wait for this problem to be solved, department by department, hash tag by hash tag. We need a national will. In other words, we need a sense of urgency, think about this, in our streets, we have deadlines on protests we call curfews. When it comes to police brutality, there is no deadline. Wheres the sense of urgency, when do we put this on the calendar, we deployed national guardsmen, because we want police in the streets. The president threatens to bring in the u. S. Military, because we want piece on the streets. And we want it at a timetable. When it comes to police brutality, be clear, times up, we arrived at the deadline, we need Police Departments to now establish protocols whole scale transformation, and we need to defund what doesnt work and invest and fund those things which do work. And this form of policing that we have today, which results in 1,000 people being killed a year, must change and has to change now. Thats what millions of people are saying right now. That building youre seeing on the left part of your screen, that used to be the wendys, the restaurant where this incident occurred last night, that whole building is now being destroyed, the flames continue to go through it, and no firefighters on the scene. Its too dangerous for them to get there. So many streets are blocked off. Were going to continue our special coverage right after a quick break. This is hal. This is hals heart. Its been broken. And put back together. This is also hals heart. 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Com moving today. Very awful situation has unfolded in atlanta. Youre looking at live pictures coming in from that wendys over there, where the incident occurred last night. Look at that building, its now totally engulfed in flames. Thats where Rayshard Brooks was in his car, simply going through the drive through. He fell asleep, cars were going around him. The Police Showed up and then that situation deteriorated. Big time, resulting in Rayshard Brooks being shot and killed by police. There are a lot of angry folks in atlanta. They blocked off i75, a major interstate in the atlanta area. Firefighters cant even get to the wendys and other places in the area, to deal with that fire. That fire continues right now with no firefighters on the scene. Arriva martin is still with us, a civil rights attorney. Arriva, as you see the situation, it was a peaceful demonstrate, but then things quickly deteriorated. Yeah, weve seen that happen throughout the country as we watch these protests erupt following the brutal murder of george floyd. We minimize the pain of the protesters when we only focus on the fires or the looting. We i dont think we can even understand the pain that the Africanamerican Community and communities really all over the world are feeling as we watch these deaths play out. Being killed by the police is the sixth leading cause of death for black men. We are way beyond policy changes, were way beyond body cams or policies as it relates to tasers, we have to have that incredibly uncomfortable conversation on this country that focuses on systemic racism. We get close to having that conversation, we teeter around the edges of it, but we retreat from it. Until we have that conversation, we can enact policies at the local level. We can enact policies at the federal level, but theyre not going to be carried out in anyway that respects the dignity and humanity of africanamerican men. We keep seeing that over and over again. Walter scott as crew stewart talked about, michael brown. Trayvon martin, we can do a role call of all the africanamerican men who have been killed by police, and what happens in the aftermath, theres intense media scrutiny of the death. Theres protest, call for change, and then we go back, we retreat back into that place thats safe without pushing through and having this conversation about systemic racism and how it permeates Police Departments around this country. And we have to have that conversation at this moment oar well be right back here not in five years, but probably next week and definitely next month. I want to bring in l. A. Honig our cnn legal analyst. I want to read to you a statement that we just got from the georgia governor, brian kemp, he issued the statement via twitter on the death of Rayshard Brooks, who was shot and killed by the Atlanta Police. At the Atlanta Police departments request, the gbi, the ga launched an investigation into the conduct of two Atlanta Police Department Officers that led to the death of Rayshard Brooks, i am confident gbi director Rick Reynolds and his team will follow the facts to ensure justice is served. As always we stand ready to provide resources and support to protect giorgians who are peacefully protesting. That statement from the georgia governor. Ellie, let me get your reaction to that and your thoughts on whats happening. You see the wendys where this incident occurred, its totally emplacened right now. Thats an important statement by the georgia governor, the first thing that has to happen is a thorough and clean investigation. They need to get all the facts here. Theyre going to have difficult decisions to make at the prosecutorial level. The first question is, was this shooting legally justified . Police are allowed to use lethal force but only as a last resort. Only if there is an imminent threat of death or serious body injury to the Police Officer or another person. If this shooting was found to be unjust phied then prosecutors are going to have to consider which charge is appropriate here. Under georgia law theres a murder statute for murders with malice aforethought. A statute i thought it was really interesting when the attorney for the family mentioned he has talked to witnesses who said the police i think we just lost our connection. Well try to reconnect with him as well. Charles ramsey the former d. C. Police chief, former Police Commissioner for philadelphia is still with us as well. So you see these images and you see what is going on in atlanta, chief ramsey right now. You see that wendys engulfed. Those flames could quickly spread to other parts. Theres been several fires and you saw interstate 75 blocked off as well for quite a while trying to slowly reopen it but this is clearly a very tense situation for the protesters as well as for the police. Yes. That looks like a gas station right across the street there. I hope they are able to secure the area and get the Fire Department in there because that is not good no matter how you look at it. They got to get that fire under control. That fire could quickly spread elsewhere in that area and there is no sight of firefighters anywhere. We are told by our reporter there on the scene natasha chen that the Fire Department basically says they cant get there. The streets are blocked off. And it is impossible to get there. What do you think the police can do right now, chief ramsey . Unblock the streets. You have to coordinate with the Fire Department and figure out a route to get in and clear the road for them. It is not just a wendys. I dont know if there is another building a adjacent but if that is a gas station and it looks like it would be a gas station if the wind shifts and you get embers in that direction you have an even larger problem there. Again, it takes away from the reason why people are demonstrating to begin with. There is a legitimate issue that is taking place across the country around police use of force and it has to be dealt with but when we have things like this occur, it does take away from it. I dont think it is going to slow things down. I hope it doesnt. These demonstrations are really important. Change happens as a result of crisis. This is definitely a crisis and hopefully will force police and force legislators and force everyone to really take a real hard look at what is going on and make substantive changes. One of your guests earlier said the violence has to stop and that is true but all violence needs to stop. This is not a good situation whether were talking about police use of force, whether were talking about violence that takes place in our communities. We have just got to find a way to end it all because it is just lives are being lost and it is senseless. We can see the flames continuing. Lets hope they dont spread. There is a gas station right there. Other shops very close by if the wind comes those flames could easily pick up elsewhere. An extremely dangerous situation unfolding in atlanta following the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks 27 years old last night at that wendys, now totally destroyed, flames coming in from the wendys. Our special coverage will continue after a quick break. Dont get mad. Get e trade and get more than just trading. Investing. Banking. Guidance. The first and only full prescription strength nonsteroidal antiinflammatory gel available overthecounter. New voltaren is powerful arthritis pain relief in a gel. Voltaren. The joy of movement. Lets be honest. 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Each one means one less person vulnerable, one less person exposed, and one step closer to a healthier community. So for now, keep your distance. But dont lose count. Well have some catching up to do. Were watching whats happening in atlanta. You see the flames there where the wendys drive through restaurant, where the incident occurred last night involving Rayshard Brooks where he was shot and killed by police. They are hoping those flames will not spread. There is a gas station, other shops right nearby. Firefighters have not been able to even get close. A lot of the streets are blocked off by protesters right now. Our National Security analyst is with us. When you see what is going on in atlanta right now and clearly the protesters are very angry over the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks, what do you think . I think we need to separate the issues. It is the justified protest over another Police Shooting and what needs to be dealt with tonight which is to deescalate the situation so theres going to be three approaches. The first is of course life matters more than a wendys. Buildings can burn. I know that is hard for people to see but you dont want to put firefighters in harms way. You also dont want to harm members of the community and neighborhood so youll just focus on protecting life at this stage. While the building fires look bad they are secondary to protecting life. The second is you want to contain the situation. There are Peaceful Protesters who probably far out number or we know far out number what is going on with a small group that is either setting things on fire or finally protesting so you just want to contain them. You need political and Community Leadership to deescalate the situation. It is still relatively early. 11 00 p. M. You want to try to deescalate the situation. Those things together hopefully will then lead to a conversation and even protests over what may have been an unjustified killing. I think that is just important to focus on because you want to protect the community tonight which is essentially in harms way as well with some of this violence. It must be so frustrating to folks in atlanta watching this to see this building in flames potentially spreading and firefighters cant get close to the scene. It is hard to watch that. I recognize that. Youre just making tactical decisions. You need to protect your First Responders in particular the firefighters who are not armed. You dont want to escalate a situation in which police have to come in to save firefighters if situations get out of hand so these decisions are made all the time. Then you want to minimize the impact of the fire spreading. We cant see it but just the way firefighter incident command works is there is likely firefighters prepared to ensure it does not spread past the wendys. The wendys is essentially gone. We see that now. Just want to make sure it doesnt spread. It is frustrating to see. There is a prioritization at this stage which is to protect the community and to protect the free expression, the protests against another Police Shooting. Stand by. The top of the hour, 11 00 p. M. Here on the east coast. We welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer in washington. This is a special edition of the situation room. Were following the breaking news out of atlanta. Its been one site of the nationwide protests for 19 days now following the killing of george floyd but tonight a new name is chanted there, Rayshard Brooks. Right now deep anger and frustration have erupted. Protesters have set fire to the wendys where police shot and killed brooks last night after an altercation in the parking lot there. The Georgia Bureau of investigation says police were called in around 10 30