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Killing Of Rayshard Brooks Sparks Fresh Outrage In U.S.; Eighteen U.S. States Report Rise In Cases As Economy Reopens; U.S. Air Force Jet Crashes Off England's Coast In North Sea; California Investigates Hanging Deaths Of Two Black Men; Rayshard Brooks' Family Speaks As Protests Continue In Atlanta. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired June 15, 2020 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: A very warm welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Isa Soares. And two major stories for you this hour. Protesters

takes the streets of Atlanta will share you in live in the just after another black man dies at the hands of what police officers.

We are waiting to hear from the victim's family. These are live pictures coming to you from Atlanta. And Europe reopens while China locks back down

a new Coronavirus cluster in Beijing has the world worried about a second wave.

So, we begin this hour in the United States where an encounter with police has claimed the life of yet another black man. 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks

was shot and killed by police in Atlanta, Georgia this weekend. It happened after he fell asleep in a fast food restaurant drive-through.

He was shot while running away from two officers who were attempting to arrest him. Now we are expecting to hear from his family this hour, but

first, CNN's Dianne Gallagher was his - this deadly encounter. We want to warn you though some viewers may find this video disturbing.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Protest against police brutality pressed on for the 20th day in cities across the country, including Atlanta

outside this burned out Wendy's. Here a memorial is growing in memory of Rayshard Brooks who was shot and killed by police Friday.

Last night the Fulton County Medical Examiner ruling the 27-year-olds death a homicide, saying he was shot two times in the back this police body cam

footage showing the start of the interaction. Watch an Atlanta police officer respond to a call reporting a man asleep in his car at the Wendy's

drive-through.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, what's up, my man? Hey. Hey. Hey, man, you're parked in the middle of a drive-through line here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Officer Desmond Brosnan asked Brooks to move his car. He eventually does to a parking spot close by, where Brosnan asks--

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much did you drink tonight? Not much? How much is not much?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Brosnan calls in another officer to conduct a DUI test.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a guy sleeping in the Wendy's parking lot. No alcohol, I tried to wake him up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: That's when Officer Gary Rolfe arrives on the scene. Brooks agrees to a breath test and tells the police--

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know, I know, you did - a job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Wolf tells Brooks that he has had too much to drink and tries to handcuff him. That's when Brooks begins to resist. Video from a witness

shows Brosnan get his teaser ready. Brooks' grabs it out of his hands seen on this dash cam video. Before running away, Rolfe fires his teaser and

follows. At this moment surveillance video shows the incident take a deadly turn.

During the chase Rolfe reaches for his hand gun. Brooks' turns back and appears to fire the taser. And Rolfe shoots his handgun three times. The

officers eventually provide medical treatment on sight before an ambulance arrives to take Brooks to the hospital, where he's later pronounced dead.

After the shooting Rolf, who shot Brooks, was fired from the Atlanta police department and Brosnan placed on administrative duty. But that's not enough

for Brooks' wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOMIKA MILLER, RAYSHARD BROOKS' WIFE: I want them to go to jail. I want them to deal with the same thing, because if it was my husband who killed

someone else. If it was my husband who shot them, he would be in jail. He will be doing a life summit. They need to be put away.

(END VIDEO CLIP

[11:05:00]

GALLAGHER: The Fulton County District Attorney says his office is weighing charges against the officers and a decision could come as early as

Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL HOWARD, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: If that shot was fired for some reason other than to save that officer's life or to prevent

injury to him or others, then that shooting is not justified under the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Atlanta's Mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, believes that Brooks' death was entirely avoidable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), ATLANTA, GEORGIA: This was not confrontational. This was a guy that you were rooting for. And even knowing

the end, watching it, you're going, just let him go. Just let him go. Let him call somebody to pick him up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Dianne Gallagher reporting there. At this hour demonstrators in Atlanta, George are protesting at the state capitol building following the

shooting of Rayshard Brooks and as Dianne Gallagher who just filed that report is then joins us now.

Dianne, I know that Brooks' wife has been speaking out. We're expected to hear from the family sometime in the next hour or so. Talk us through what

they may say or in fact talk us through what they're calling for what changes do they want to see here?

GALLAGHER: So Isa, at this point what his widow has said, and what the Attorney for his family has said is that, they don't just want the officer

who fired the shots that killed Rayshard Brooks to be fired, they don't just want him to lose his job.

They want him to be charged and they want him to be charged with murder. They want him to face, in the words of Rayshard Brooks' widow they want him

to face the same kind of accountability that Rayshard would have to do if he had done the same thing.

And so, they want equal justice, in their words. They don't want the police officers to be held to this different standard. Also the family would like

to see the other officer lose his job and also be charged. And so, they want to see both of those officers face legal penalty as well as losing

their jobs there, Isa.

SOARES: Now, police, have they been saying anything, Dianne, as to why they shot him? I mean, from us just looking in from the outside, did he

represent a danger to them? Was it a lack of impatience? How are they justifying this?

GALLAGHER: So, we actually have not heard from the officers or the police union. And we've contacted them multiple times, obviously, due to the

officer being fired, due to seeing what we saw on that video there and the loss of someone's life at the hands of a police officer. We haven't heard

anything back from them.

Now look, what that likely defense here is going to be in each of these cases when an officer shoots and kills somebody, they often say that they

feared for their life. And that is pretty much the barometer here.

That's often what they have to prove for it to be considered justified by their department and by the eyes of the law, because of the way that the

structure of the system is set up here to protect police officers on the job.

Now, that's something that allow protesters you probably hear behind me are trying to change. They want legally for police officers to be held

accountable for their actions when on the job and not are able to avoid consequences.

But, we have not heard directly from those officers. Immediately afterward in the video, the District Attorney, who, again, is weighing whether or not

they are going to charge these officers with - he said anything from murder to manslaughter depending on the evidence that they get.

The District Attorney said that, what was key for him was that after the officer shot and killed Rayshard Brooks, he said, I got him. He didn't

check to see if the other officer was okay or say, we're all right, or are you okay. His words were "I got him."

And the District Attorney has pointed that out several times as to what he's examining for whether or not those officers were afraid for their

lives, when in fact they escalated the situation to a handgun from the taser.

SOARES: Dianne Gallagher there for us in Atlanta, Georgia. Thanks very much, Dianne. Now staying in the United States, 18 states now have seen a

rise in the number of COVID-19 cases since lockdown orders began lifting just weeks ago among them, the State of Florida which reports a record

number of infections for a third day in a row.

Let's bring in Rosa Flores live for us in Miami. And Rosa, 18 states recording a rise and some of these have only just opened a few weeks ago.

What are you hearing? What are officials telling you?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's very concerning, Isa. And here in the State of Florida, last week experts were concerned because

there were about 1,000 cases recorded every day. Well, over the weekend that changed. And now it's more than 2,000 cases a day.

[11:10:00]

FLORES: Now according to Governor Ron DeSantis here in the State of Florida, this is due to outbreaks in agriculture communities and in

prisons. But the thing is that officials in big cities, here like Miami and Miami Beach, if they are concerned then these two cities were some of the

last cities to reopen in the State of Florida.

Now from talking to these Mayors, I can tell you that the Mayor of the City of Miami, Francis Suarez, says that he started noticing the uptick last

week and then became very concerned, of course, because of Memorial Day, and then because of protests. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ (R), MIAMI: We still haven't seen all the numbers from Memorial Day or from the protests. And so will lead us to believe that

there is probably going to be an uptick from irresponsibility.

And if our citizens are not responsible, they all continue to wash their hands, avoid facial contact, wear masks when they're outside, socially

distance, then we can be in a situation where we'll see an increase in cases and it would require us to make some sort of difficult decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Now, Mayor Suarez also says that if the situations continue to worsen, then that he would consider re-imposing restrictions. Now, there is

one metric that gives them hope, Isa. He says that hospitalizations have been dropping a bit, but of course he is still very concerned and urging

residents to wear masks and social distance.

SOARES: Rosa, is there a sense whether if these numbers continue to rise, there could be another shutdown from what you've heard on a local level?

What's plan B to contain and if they don't want to have a lockdown?

FLORES: You know, I just talked to the Mayor of Miami Beach about that same issue, and he says that, if these are tough decisions that they're going to

have to do as local officials, because they're weighing, of course, the unemployment. They know that if they shut down cities that the unemployment

rate is going to increase again.

And they know, of course, that people need to make a living and they need to put food on the table, and at least here in the State of Florida, the

unemployment system that would normally respond in a situation like this and issue checks to residents was a mess when the pandemic broke.

And so, they know the challenges. But this Mayor and other officials that we've talked to say that their primary concern, of course, is public

health. And in the middle of a pandemic, if they do see that the cases increase, that they continue to rise. And that people are still not social

distancing, not wearing masks, and he says that they have no choice, but to close down cities again.

And so, this has been left to local officials to make those decisions, Isa. And they're contemplating them right now as they see the number of cases

continue to increase.

SOARES: Rosa Flores is there for us in Miami, Florida. Thanks very much, Rosa really good to see you. Now, on the other side of the globe, Beijing

is seeing resurgence. Neighborhoods are going to lockdown as dozens of people tested positive for the Coronavirus. Let's take a look at the latest

in China and right around the world.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: I'm Steven Jiang in Beijing, the authorities here have shut down the country's biggest wholesale food market

and declared wartime emergencies in a growing number of city neighborhoods where the emergence of a new cluster of Coronavirus cases.

The Chinese capital had not seen any cases for almost two months this until last Thursday. Since then, they have reported more than 70 cases, almost

all of them linked to the market, which used to supply about 70 percent of the city's vegetables. That's why among the cities, more than 20 million

residents, there is growing concern not only about their health but about food supplies.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Patrick Oppmann in Havana. The Mayor of Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo, has been diagnosed with the

Coronavirus according to a new release from the local government. This is the latest health care for Sao Paulo Mayor, Bruno Covas who was also been

public about his battle with lymph node cancer. Covas said that he's not feeling any symptoms and is working from home.

Sao Paulo is the epicenter of Brazil's Coronavirus crisis. There are over 170,000 cases there, and more than 10,000 deaths, according to local -

officials.

SOARES: I may take us through right in the Valencia Spain, where the beaches are being prepped for tourists again. Next week the country plans

to open for EU-travelers, but today, the holiday Island of Mallorca has actually brooked a deal with Germany tour agencies to allowing thousands of

German tourists in early as a test case.

When they arrive, they'll have their temperatures checked, they'll have to show their contacts, where they will be just in case there is an outbreak

so that they can be traced.

[11:15:00]

SOARES: But they won't have to be tested for the Coronavirus. If all goes well, then Spain plans to open to travelers outside the EU in July.

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Hi, I'm Anna Stewart in London. From today, it becomes compulsory to wear face coverings on public transport, and non-

essential retail stores are allowed to open in England.

The shopping experience will feel very different with social distancing outside, one-way systems inside, and none of the new measures are likely to

boost consumer appetite a concern to businesses and for the wider economy which shrank by nearly a quarter in just two months.

Well Asia's biggest and the ONS show that only 37 percent of adults in the U.K. actually feel safe to leave their homes, so it could be a very slow

start to trace.

SOARES: We'll have much more ahead right here on "Connect the World." Richard Quest will join me with more on how the Coronavirus is triggering

enormous changes in energy markets. And we're also following the crash of a U.S. Fighter jet off the coast of England. We'll bring you the very latest

on that. That's next. You're watching "Connect the World."

(COMMERCIAL)

SOARES: Now for a developing story out in Lakenheath in England. U.S. Air Force F-15 Fighter Jet has crashed into the North Sea. The jet and pilot

were part of routine training mission from RAF Lakenheath Base, as you can see from the map. It's still not clear why the plane crashed or the status

of the pilot?

CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson joins me from Lakenheathen, England. Nic, so at this stage, what more do we know unfolded

here? I suspect the search and rescue is still underway?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It is still underway. At about 8'o clock this morning, the base had tweeted a photograph of some

F-15C Eagles, the same aircraft that crashed. It's not clear if that was a picture of that same aircraft, same type of aircraft.

They tweeted those about 8'o clock local time this morning, about eight hours ago, saying essentially they just started their Monday morning work.

About an hour and 40 minutes later, 9:40 in the morning local time here, that's when the reports of this aircraft crashing into the North Sea.

That was reported from a location called Flamberhead on the Yorkshire Coast. About 74 nautical miles was where the aircraft was believed to have

crashed into the sea. So from here, there is potentially a 100 miles to 200 miles away. So the aircraft went down there.

The Yorkshire Coast Guard has launched a helicopter and is involved in the rescue. The Lifeboat Association in the U.K., the World National Lifeboat

Institute has launched two vessels from Burlington and Scarborough both on the coast close to the place where the aircraft went down.

[11:20:00]

ROBERTSON: But the moment is not known, why the aircraft went down is not known, where the aircraft is not known. And it's not known where the pilot

is and the commander of the 48th air wing of which that aircraft was part of Colonel William Marshal has today released a statement saying that

they're prioritizing in amongst everything else, finding and locating the aircraft and the pilot. They're also prioritizing the family to make sure

they are being kept informed at the moment, Isa.

SOARES: And Nic, you said pilot assumes just one person then on board?

ROBERTSON: That's the information that we have at the moment. One pilot on board, routine training mission, nothing appears there have been out of the

ordinary about today at all, the base here tweeting out of photographer the aircraft early this morning, 8'o clock local time.

If you look at the tweet record of the base of this flight wing here, they were flying apparently over the Coast of Normandy yesterday. You see the

pilot doing rolls in the aircraft there. So, this is a base that's used of a high pace of operation that search and rescue underway, Isa.

SOARES: Nic Robertson there for us, thanks you very Nic. Philippines Journalist Maria Ressa says she'll keep on fighting after caught found her

guilty side is liable. Ressa is a former CNN Bureau Chief who runs the online news site Rappler. It's known for its coverage of President Rodrigo

Duterte and his brutal war on drugs.

Critics say Rappler's work is the real reason behind the case as the government tries to silence for media. The President's spokesman says the

verdict should be respected. Ressa says reporters should not let themselves be intimidated.

MARIA RESSA, CEO AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR, RAPPLER: When power, great power, price to hang a domically sword over your head. If you allow it to affect

you, they succeed, because you're not doing the kind of journalism the investigation journalism we should be doing. So what we have learned in

Rappler is we swat it away and we keep our eye on the ball.

It makes me wonder and worry, what is the government afraid of? Why are they afraid of journalists? Why must they always make me feel their power?

I think I'm a nice person. I ask very respectfully, our reporters are very respectful, and they just don't like the questions. And we need to get back

in this idea of checks and balances.

SOARES: Now Ressa faces upsetting in prison, she says, she plans to appeal. Former U.S. Marine is facing a 16 year prison sentence in Russia. Paul

Whelan was convicted is fined and sentenced in Moscow on Monday. He held up a sign in the courtroom calling his secret trial a sham, as you can see

there, and urging U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.

Russia says Whelan was caught red-handed with classified information. He says he was set up. Now breaking news that we've been following the last

hour, the U.S. Supreme Court has announced a landmark decision on gay, lesbian and transgender rights.

The court ruled that Federal law prohibit its employers from firing workers, just because they belong to one of those groups. The ruling is a

defeat for the Trump Administration, which argued those workers were not protected under U.S. law that news broke in the last hour.

Jessica Snider is outside the Supreme Court and Jessica, a truly historic and a big day for LGBTQ Workers in the United States.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. So, this is really a landmark ruling and this massive victory for transgender

individuals, and gay workers of which there are about 8.1 million Americans who are identified as gay or transgender in the United States. They will

now be officially protected from discrimination in the workplace.

And this massive victory for the Gay Rights Community actually coming at the hands of the conservative anchor to this court, Justice Neil Gorsuch,

Justice Gorsuch appointed by the President Donald Trump and really hopeful among conservatives that he would bring home, these conservative ideals.

But today in a 6-3 decision, the justice upholds these anti-discrimination laws as they pertain to the transgender and gay community. Also notable is

that the Chief Justice here, John Roberts, who sort of been the center of the court ever since Anthony Kennedy retired, he also joined this opinion.

It's notable because it was just a few years ago in 2015 that the Chief Justice read his descent when the ruling came down, legalizing same sex

marriage across the country. So it shows that maybe Chief Justice Roberts has changed his tune a bit or perhaps is because of the way that this

decision boils down.

Basically this was a law here in the United States that said that says you cannot discriminate against a worker because of their sex, among other

things, among the religious affiliation, national origin. And Justice Gorsuch is a strict Textualist that means he reads statues as they're

written, not as they were intended or not as the notes, he describes the laws.

[11:25:00]

SCHNEIDER: So, in looking at it, Justice Gorsuch said that you can't discriminate on the basis of sex. That automatically implies transgender

status and sexual presentation. It's a reasoning that Justice Roberts agreed with along with the liberal members of this court. So the rule is

now clear here in the United States, that employers may not discriminate on the basis of your transgender status or your sexual orientation.

And Isa, I spoke with a few of the plaintiffs that brought this case here in the fall to the Supreme Court, including the transgender female, Amy

Stevens. She was fired several years ago from her job at a funeral home in Michigan, when she told her employer that she would be transitioning to a

female.

And I spoke with Amy Stevens in the fall. Unfortunately, she passed away just about one month ago before this landmark ruling came down. She's now

represented by her wife in this case. But she told me at the time that if they won, it would be a landmark ruling, but there would still be a lot of

work left to do.

Because as it stands now, there are still many rights that the Gay Community is still fighting for. But Isa today the Supreme Court officially

saying that employers across this country can no longer discriminate believe it or not, it's something that before this moment was, in fact,

legal that employers could discriminate because of the sexual orientation and now they can't, Isa?

SOARES: Yes. When you said believe it or not, it's still unbelievable. Jessica, let me ask you this. This is a win for LGBTQ Community like you

said, and a defeat for the Trump administration any reaction thus far from the White House?

SCHNEIDER: None yet, Isa. Peter Navarro, the Economic Adviser at the White House, he was actually asked about this decision just moments ago. He said

that he would leave any reaction up to the Attorney General. So we have not heard from the Attorney General, Bill Barr, and we have not heard any more

from the White House. But for sure, this is a defeat.

Conservatives had been arguing that Congress did not intend to include sexual orientation or transgender individuals when they wrote this law

encompassed in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. So, surely the fact that an appointee of Donald Trump wrote this opinion will certainly sting for the

Trump Administration, Isa?

SOARES: Jessica Schneider there for us. Thanks very much, Jessica. And coming up right here, California is investigating the hanging deaths of two

black men after protests erupted over an official initially calling that's a suicide. We're live in California with more on these really disturbing

cases.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:00]

SOARES: Now, I want to tell you about a disturbing case sparking, really, even more outrage as well as racial tensions in the United States. A civil

rights activist is calling on the FBI and the Justice Department to investigate the death of a black man who was found hanging. Yes, you heard

it right, hanging from a tree in Palmdale County, California last Wednesday.

Robert Fuller was 24-years-old. Police initially called his death a suicide, but many suspect it was a lynching. Making matters worse, this was

the second hanging of a black man from a tree in the state within two weeks.

Let's bring in Suzanne Malveaux who joins us now from Los Angeles. Suzanne, it's incredible that in this day and age we're talking about hangings, but

the police, the city I believe they are describing it as an alleged death by suicide. But crowds are outraged, and family, I assume, also want an

investigation. What are you hearing?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I was there in Palmdale, California just yesterday. I talked to a lot of those outraged residents

and friends of the family of Robert Fuller's family. What is happening so far is that the State's Attorney General will be investigating along with

Palmdale City Officials and the Sheriff County's Office.

An independent investigation, they say, an independent autopsy, but this was only after you saw protests and memorials around Robert Fuller's death

and a lot of people just saying it doesn't make a lot of sense. Even just going to the site there and seeing the tree in which he was allegedly

hanging, it is a very small tree.

A lot of people look to it and say it doesn't even look like the branches could hold a grown man. Some people believe that the body perhaps was

placed there right across from City Hall. They are demanding for cameras, video, audio, whatever type of footage they have. We were there in that

square. We saw that there are cameras around the city buildings.

So far officials are saying they don't have any footage to work with here, but there are certainly a lot of unanswered questions here, people

demanding a real explanation that makes sense. His family certainly saying that this does not look or feel like a suicide in any way. I want you to

take a listen at one woman who I spoke to yesterday who made it very clear how this community is feeling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANNA HARGROVE, RESIDENT: There's no way he hung himself. This is a lynching in the middle of Palmdale in 2020. There is another lynching of a

young black man in Victorville, not even 15 minutes away. They're lynching our black children! And Palmdale, Lancaster and Victorville, California!

Right now, justice! Justice! Justice!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And the other man that she was talking about, which she mentioned, it's not far from Palmdale. That was 30-year-old Malcolm Harsh

who was also at least, the sheriff's authorities saying that he was found hanging from a tree that they, that they don' foul play was involved, but a

statement from the family saying that the explanation of suicide does not seem plausible. There are many ways to die, but considering the current

racial tension, a black man hanging himself from a tree definitely doesn't sit well with us now.

We want justice, not comfortable excuses. So that's what we are going to be looking into later today. There will be a press conference with officials

dealing with these hangings. There is going be a virtual town hall. We'll see if any of those questions will be answered, but clearly a very tense

situation as these communities grapple with these deaths and with these alleged hangings. They do not believe that the authorities are being

truthful.

SOARES: Suzanne, very, very quickly, do we know whether an autopsy is being done?

MALVEAUX: Yes, we do know. So in the case of Harsh, the family says they were quite upset because they say that the body of Harsh was at the

coroner's office for 12 days before the autopsy was done. So they really don't even believe the results.

As far as Fuller is concerned, they, too, say there's going to be an independent autopsy because so far what the coroner's office said was they

deferred the cause of death. What that simply means is that they still want more evidence they want more information, if you will around the cause of

death so that now it is still an open question about what the cause of death is. So still undetermined and certainly unclear in terms of how they

died?

SOARES: Indeed, Suzanne Malveaux there for us. Thanks very much, Suzanne. Now to the latest developments in the case of George Floyd, 7 even

Minneapolis police officers have resigned since his death was caught on camera and sparked protest right around the world.

[11:35:00]

SOARES: In addition to those resignations, a city spokesman says more than half a dozen - I need to interrupt. We've got the family of Rayshard Brooks

now speaking to reporters. I'm going to take you live now and we'll return to this story.

JUSTIN MILLER, BROOKS FAMILY ATTORNEY: Rayshard Brooks so that everyone will see and understand what was taken away from all of these people behind

us. You're going to hear from Mr. Brooks' niece and cousins and Mr. Brooks' wife as well, and hopefully you'll get to see and understand why this is

very important and why this can't happen again? So first up, you have Chastity Evans. This is Mr. Brooks' niece and she'll say a few words.

CHASTITY EVANS, BROOKS' NIECE: My uncle Rayshard. On June 12th, one of our biggest fears became our reality. Not only did we lose another black

unarmed male, this time it landed on our front doorstep. Bless him.

His kids will never get to see their father again. Not only was he a good dad, he was a loving brother and husband, and to me, an uncle I could

depend on. Rayshard Brooks fairly had the brightest smile and the biggest heart and loved to dance since we were kids.

Me and my uncle are both 27-years-of-age, 27 years of age. No one walking this green earth is expected to be shot and killed like trash in the street

for falling asleep in a drive-through. Rayshard has a family who loves him, who would have gladly came and got him so he could be here with us today.

The day after my uncle's murder his oldest daughter say for her father in her birthday dress to come and take her skating. And to look across the

room and know that it's never a possibility anymore breaks my heart. Me and my family are still grieving the loss of my grandmother when my uncle's

life was horrifically taken away from us.

Not only are we hurt, we are angry. When does it stop? We're not only pleading for justice, we're pleading for change. The zone where my uncle

was killed is the same zone we represented and loved all our lives. We stood with the Atlanta Police Department when they were just tearing up our

city. We said, this doesn't happen here, leave them alone.

And here we are three weeks later. Those same police took something from our family we'll never get back, Rayshard Brooks. Most of us haven't slept

or eaten since we viewed a video of a man being murdered to only get phone call moments later to say it's your loved one. This entire situation has

traumatized me and my entire family.

I'm sure for the rest of our lives my uncle did not die in vain. His life mattered. George Floyd's life matter, Breonna Taylor's life mattered,

Michael Brown's life mattered. I'm not only asking the city of Atlanta to stand with us, I'm asking for everyone in this nation to stand with us as

we seek justice for Rayshard. Thank you.

MILLER: Now you'll hear from his cousin, Tiara Brooks.

TIARA BROOKS, BROOK'S COUSIN: Rayshard Brooks, the name that may start a protest tomorrow or another day in the future. However, the man himself no

longer has a future. He can no longer live in the present nor plan for tomorrow.

No matter what the different points of view are of his death, we must all agree to one fact, the fact that he was killed by the Atlanta Police

Department. The fact that someone's cousin, brother, uncle, nephew, father, companion and friend are no longer in this world. The trust that we have

with the police force is broken.

[11:40:00]

BROOKS: And the only way to heal some of these wounds is through a conviction and a drastic change with the Police Department.

But, honestly, true justice will never prevail because we will never be able to bring back Rayshard Brooks. He will no longer be able to return to

this world nor to his family. However, again, if we stand together and united as one, there will be no more cases similar to Rayshard's.

How many more protests will it take to ensure that the next victim isn't your cousin, your brother, your uncle, your nephew, your friend, or your

companion so that we can finally end the suffering of police excessive force. We are tired, we're tired. And we are frustrated. Most importantly,

we're heartbroken, so we need justice for Rayshard Brooks.

MILLER: This is Mr. Brooks' cousin. His name is Mr. Ellis.

ELLIS, BROOKS' COUSIN: I'm going to try to make this brief and clear. First and foremost, we want to show our appreciation for everyone who has been

out here supporting and helping us. We encourage you to continue to do so. I actually go by the name of Decatur Red. A lot of people know that. A lot

of celebrities are trying to reach out to the family. We are the family. I am the family.

If you want to help, reach out to me so we can make sure that my cousins, wife and kids are taken care of, if you can't help financially then try to

just keep helping with your voice and stay with the protests. But again, I just want to tell you, we appreciate all the help and we appreciate the

voices around the nation. Thank you.

CHRIS STEWART, BROOKS' ATTORNEY: I'm Attorney Chris Stewart. I tried to figure out a way to encompass everything that's going on and get rid of the

division of one side versus the other and get the whole country to understand what's going on. The first thing that came to mind was what we

all just went through with the Coronavirus outbreak?

We all sheltered in place for months, losing our minds. And then we started seeing on the news large amounts of white Americans demanding change.

Coming out and rallying in the streets and protesting and making their governments change laws so that we could start getting back to a regular

life.

And as I sat stunned, watching TV and watching so many of our white brothers and sisters out there rallying, protesting because they thought

something was wrong with the current state of laws in their city or state, we didn't have a problem with it. That is their right as Americans, to

demand change. To demand laws change.

So why is it so offensive or painful or off putting when African-Americans step forward to demand change against police brutality? Why is it so wrong

when we are protesting in the street when we see something wrong with police abuse? It's our God-given and American right also.

So it's a thing of unity when you see both sides. You have to support and vocalize your rights as we did and we watched on TV and as people are doing

in the streets now, demanding changes in laws and policies and accountability in value of life where a man that was running away doesn't

get shot twice in the back.

And now there is a question of was it reckless or should he have used that force? Let me tell you and show you why shooting in a crowded parking lot

is so reckless and so unnecessary of what he did? A witness today sent us his vehicle, which was hit by one of the officer's bullets while he and his

kids were in the car.

A couple feet up, and we would have had another loss of life. So trying to justify the actions of shooting at Mr. Brooks as he's running away in a

crowded Wendy's parking lot when you could easily catch him later for what started off as a very non-confrontational situation, it can't be justified.

[11:45:00]

STEWART: It cannot be justified. Otherwise we're going to continue to lose lives from stray bullets shooting at someone that should have never been

shot at. And people ask how could this have ended? Why did he resist? It could have ended fair. It also could have ended here.

I could walk - my sister's house is right here. That's how this could have ended. It didn't have to go to that level, and that's what we're saying in

America with policing, is this type of empathy is gone. The courtesy of an officer, it wasn't like he was called there because Mr. Brooks had been

swerving and was a danger to society.

The first call was because a man was asleep. Where is the empathy in just letting him walk home? That's what policing is supposed to be no matter

what color you are. But as I said, that's broken, that's gone. We don't see that often and we definitely don't see it in the African-American

community.

So just like the protests before, that's what we're demanding. It's not just laws and policy changes, but a mental change in policing which is

missing. So we do want everybody's support. We're looking forward to the DA's findings in this situation. And the only thing we can ask for is some

semblance of an idea of justice because there is no definition anymore of what it is. What we know right now is that a man's life was taken when it

should never have happened.

MILLER: Right now we want to introduce everyone to Tomika, who many of you have met, and the kids, blessing, memory and dream. Blessing, it was her

eighth birthday when her father died. She had her birthday party on the same exact day that they found out that their father was killed.

She had her birthday dress on, as all of you have heard. She had cupcakes and friends over. She was supposed to go skating with her dad, and that

didn't happen, of course. Also Makai, who is 13, is their stepson. He took care of them as well. Tomika, do you want to say a few words?

TOMIKA MILLER, WIDOW OF RAYSHARD BROOKS: I just want to thank everybody for all the protests and love and support you guys have done. Words can't

explain how thankful I am for everything. Even though I can't bring my husband back, I know he's down smiling because his name will forever be

remembered.

There is no justice that can ever make me feel happy about what's been done. I can never get my husband back, I can never get my best friend, I

can never tell my daughter, he's coming to take you skating, or swimming lessons.

This is going to be a long time before I heal. It's going to be a long time before these family heels. Like I said, I'm just thankful for everything

that everyone is out there doing, and I just ask that if you could just keep it as a peaceful protest, that would be wonderful, because we want to

keep his name positive and great.

STEWART: Lastly, we do want to acknowledge and thank Tyler Perry who we spoke with who will be taking care of the funeral for the family. And it's

support like that and it's people who are actually in this community that love the community that want healing and families like this to never have

to go through something like this to step forward. We want to thank him for such a generous move, brief questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible)

TOMIKA: I mean, we've watched it and I always said, baby, I don't ever want that to be you, and he was always like, no, it's going to change, it's

going to change. We always tried to stay positive about everything.

[11:50:00]

TAMIKA: But we've had our incidents where we had police officers stereotype my husband just because of tattoos on his face. It's really crazy. I'm

scared every day. My children go out, my husband goes out, my family members go out. I'm scared every day because I don't know what to expect.

This really startled me because I don't even know if they'll come home.

STEWART: Chris, that kind of it goes to a point of people were asking why would he resist when they were trying to put him in hand cuffs. They put

George Floyd in handcuffs and he was subsequently killed. Just putting them in handcuffs if you're African-American doesn't mean you'll get nicely

taken to the back of a police car.

Especially watching this video of George Floyd over and over again, his reaction may have been I'm not getting put in handcuffs. So we can't just

toss it out because he resisted. George Floyd didn't and it ended the same way.

MILLER: This is something that is not new it's not just with this George Floyd. All of us, all of us, I know every black man standing behind me, and

women, too, we have all been dealing with this from birth. So that's a trauma that is deep. It's not something that just started two months ago.

I still today dress like I dress, do what I do. I still feel nervous around police, and that shouldn't be the case, all right? So if you feel that way,

and then you see all of these things happening, of course you're going to feel some kind of way when the police come up to you and, you know you are

somewhere where you're not in the perfect state of mind at that point in time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it was Chastity who spoke about this. I think you mentioned a few weeks ago that your family was asking people not to

attack the precinct, the police. Can you talk about that moment and what it feels like now, thinking that that's the position you took before?

EVANS: It makes you eat your words. I love Atlanta. My family loves Atlanta. And when they were tearing out the windows, we were like, why are

they doing this to our city? Burning police cars, why are they burning police cars? This doesn't happen in our city. They hit it hit our front

door. So not only does it happen in our city, it happens in cities everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell us a little more about Rayshard Brooks? What did he like to do?

JAMAICO (ph) BROOKS, BROOKS' COUSIN: My name is Jamaico Brooks. Rayshard is my first cousin. These people you see behind are his sisters, his brothers,

his nieces, his nephews, his first cousins. A week and a half ago me and his older brother were playing chess. And he just popped up.

And I said, how you doing, man? He said I came because I need to see my wife and daughter on my daughter's birthday. I said, you staying out of

trouble? He said, I'm fine, I'm all right. We shared a few drinks, his big brother gave him a few dollars and he left. He was always happy. He was

always smiling.

And he wasn't that type of dude. For you people looking around the world and you have your feelings. Before it happened to us, I can only guess at

what you felt, but now I understand. Life shouldn't be this complicated. Life shouldn't be where we have to feel some type of way if we see a police

or somebody of a different color. I didn't come down here to talk to the media I came to love on my people.

[11:55:00]

If you ask how old this black man was, look at your children when you see them laugh that innocence, that joy, that pureness of soul. You have a

glimpse of what we lost. You have a glimpse of what it feels like because tomorrow we're going to have to deal with it again.

We're going to have to bury him, we're going to have to say we miss you, and if we didn't say we love you enough, we have to apologize to him for

not telling him we loved him that much. I can't breathe. I got to go.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: You are watching family members of Rayshard Brooks leave the room in Atlanta a very emotional press conference, attorneys for

the family, several members of the family, including the widow. Let's listen again Attorney Stewart.

STEWART: I'm not sure what else America needs to see. A rerun of George Floyd I'll probably be back here in a few months with another case.

KING: Chris Stewart, the Brooks family Attorney, now finally leaving the room. The family members left earlier and Mr. Stewart saying, I'll be back

here in a couple months with another case. Family members quite emotional as they describe Rayshard Brooks thanked supporters who were protesting in

Atlanta and elsewhere in honor of him.

Mr. Brooks shot in the back twice by a police officer in a Wendy's parking lot. Let's bring in our CNN Law Enforcement Analyst Chief Charles Ramsay,

Former Chief of Philadelphian D.C. Police Department. He is also a Criminal Defense Attorney Joey Jackson.

Chief, I start with you not really so much on a question of law and order because they weren't getting into that much of the specifics of the case.

One of the family members appealing for a conviction saying that would be a step toward healing, not the step, but a step toward healing.

But what I was most struck by, and I ask you as a Chief who has been a Chief in large urban communities like Atlanta, you in Philadelphian D.C.

were the grace of this family. Even as they shared their pain, thanking people for their support, urging the protesters to continue their protest

but also urging them to be peaceful in honor of the memory of Rayshard Brooks.

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well I mean it was an incredibly emotional and painful press conference to watch. They did

exhibit an awful lot of grief. More strength than I may have had, to be honest with you, under similar circumstances.

I want to first offer my condolences. They need more than condolences. They need something to change. They may not be able to bring their loved one

back, but they certainly don't want to see anyone else have to go through this.

I've seen too many families suffer over the years, whether it's a result of an officer-involved shooting or just violence that takes place in

neighborhoods. We just should not have to go through this time and time and time again. So it's just a difficult situation, and hopefully things will

turn around. If we really put our minds to it and actually make that happen.

KING: Joey, the Chief says if we put our minds to it and make that happen. You heard Attorney Stewart on his way out the door sounding quite

skeptical, actually saying, I'll be back in a few months with another case.

You heard Tamika Miller, the widow now of Rayshard Brooks, saying that they were talking about the George Floyd situation and he said no that's not

going to happen to me. She said that he was always an optimist. Now that family sharing the pain that too many black families have had across

America.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: John, I cannot blame Chris Stewart of course for being skeptical I certainly would hope that we can do better as

a society but him being there with the family, experiencing the pain. What we saw is the human side on the other side of excessive force that leads to

death. That's the human side.

The person dying, being a brother, the person dying being a nephew, a person dying being an uncle, being a father, being a brother of the

community. That really has value.

END