Transcripts For CNNW March On Washington 2020 20200828

Hands of police who is now paralyzed in the hospital still. His father was on cnn earlier today, and hes said that his son is not only in pain but that hes also shackled to a hospital bed. Again, hes paralyzed and shackled to a hospital bed. President trump, he made no mention of jacob blake as he accepted the Republican Partys nomination in front of a packed crowd outside the white house last night. Instead, he continued to hammer away at his message that really has been his message since the 2016 campaign of law and order painting a dark picture of America Today including in the city where jacob blake was shot. We must never allow mob rule. We can never allow mob rule. The Republican Party condemns the rioting, looting, arson and violence we have seen in democratrun cities all, like kenosha, minneapolis, portland, chicago and new york. So were going to get back to the president s remarks in a moment but lets start with the march on washington. Many speakers, including members of the king family, families of victims of Police Shootings, they will be addressing the crowd this hour and throughout the day. Cnns Suzanne Malveaux is there and joining us now. Suzanne, what are you seeing and hearing there, and what are we expected to see throughout the day . Reporter well, kate, its been such an emotionally charged preprogram before the official program thats going to be undergoing in just minutes now, people who have been crying, people who have expressed rage, but mostly just real frustration here. I mean, some very passionate and personal stories about people who have lost their loved ones, mostly d. C. Residents, a local prograbefore ts national one to begin. We are expected to hear from reverend al sharpton as well as Martin Luther king iii and ben crum the attorney who represents so many of those families of those loved ones killed who have become household names now. Trayvon martin, breonna taylor, george floyd, many, many those who are suffering quite frankly. I had a chance to talk to so many people here, including Martin Luther king iii, and he said what his father would think about this moment, having 57 years ago given that famous i have a dream speech. He says his father would be proud of the people who have come here who are fighting for justice, but he would also be very sad that were still at this place where our society is so broken. I ask him what makes him stay up at night and what keeps him up, and he said its the fact that his 12yearold daughter has already asked him the question why do we still have to do this . I thought granddad he put this to bed, to put this to rest, and he says its because we have to. We have to continue this fight. And, kate, this day also significant because its the 65th anniversary of the murder of emmett till. You might recall it was back in 1955. 14yearold back boy in mississippi tortured and lynched after being wrongly accused of offending a white woman. I had a chance to talk to his cousin Deborah Watts who is part of the foundation to keep his case alive, and she says its not good enough just to show up and be here. You have to and and call for change. You have to know what the change, is and she said for the case of emmett till its Still Holding his accuser accountable who is still alive today, and so that is the message. You dont have to be here physically. You can livestream or just watch, but you must do something moving forward after this march is over. Kate . I was going to ask you really quick. How are they accounting for social distancing there . Reporter they are encouraging people to social distance. The regulations very strict just getting into the mall area. You have to have your temperature checked. You have to have a mask on. They are encouraging people to stay six feet apart. Some people in fact are doing that. Others are quite crowded in together. There are grids set up along the reflection pool all the way to the monument, and so there is some distancing, but theres crowds as well. What we do see pretty consistently is everyone is almost everyone is wearing a mask which is a good thing, but in terms of the social distancing, that is a bit of a challenge here as people are reminded to be as safe as possible touring this critical time, kate. You can see behind you those chairs are spaced out there making some accounting for it. Thank you, suzanne. Well check in with suzanne throughout the day. Theres also a Court Hearing for the 17yearold charged with killing two protesters following the Police Shooting of jacob blake. That Court Hearing just wrapped up a short time ago. Kyle rittenhouse faces two felony counts of homicide and one felony count of attempted homicide for allegedly shooting people on the streets of kenosha, wisconsin during the protests there. The cnns Shimon Prokupecz is outside the courthouse with the very latest. Whats happening there . Reporter yeah, so the Court Hearing is over. It only lasted minutes, kate, and Kyle Rittenhouse did not appear. It was all virtual. It was on the calendar and they had to decide whether or not rittenhouse would go back to kenosha where hes facing the murder charge and the assault charge. Thats now been delayed. The judge the lawyer representing rittenhouse, hes hired some new lawyers, some new lawyers are working with him. They have asked for a continuance, so in 30 days on september 25th, everyone is going to come back to court, and well see if they decide whether or not they are going to fight this extradition. I should note that his attorney, john pierce, who just started representing him and also Andrew Calderon who appeared on his behalf, said they will claim selfdefense here and that rittenhouse was just trying to defend himself when he used that ar15 style weapon to allegedly shoot the people that prosecutors have now charged him with, so well be back here in about a month or so when were going to decide when they are going to decide if rittenhouse is going to head back to kenosha to face charges. With that kind of defense you can anticipate that they will need to be leaning heavily on the social media video weve seen. Yeah. Jacob blakes dad, shimon, said that his son is shackled to his hospital bed even though hes paralyzed, and no one seems to be able to explain why this has happened. Have you heard anything from officials . Reporter no. You know, ive asked. Ive emailed the District Attorney from Kenosha County to ask him about it. Ive gotten no response. Police so far have not responded to that, and the father this morning on cnn, on new years da day on new day and describing what its like to see his son, describing cold steel on the leg of his son and here he is describing that. Hes paralyzed from the waist down. Why this dove that cold steel on my sons ankle . He cant get up. He couldnt get up if he wanted to, so what thats a little overkill to have him shackled to the bed. Hes a human being. Hes not an animal, and hes hes a human, but my son has not been afforded the rights of a human. Hes not been treated like a human. Yeah. So were still waiting for those answers, kate, as i said from the Prosecutors Office and from police on exactly why it is that he is shackled basically inside his hospital bed when hes paralyzed at this point and cant move. Yeah. Exactly. Shimon, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. You heard a little bit right there from jacob blakes dad. We want to play some more for you as it was quite powerful, impactful to hear how he describes what he and his family are going through. Jacob blake sr. Talking about the to Alisyn Camerota on new day about the first time he spoke to his son in the hospital. First, he his eyes were squinted when i walked into the room, and i thought they were squinted because he was they was in pain, but when i got to his side he grabbed my hands and began to weep, and he told me, he thought he was hallucinating, and then he said i love you, daddy, daddy, i love you. Yeah. Thats that must be so hard to see him in this condition. Yes. And then his next question was why did they shoot me so many times . And i said, baby, they werent supposed to shoot you at all. I mean, of course, you dont have an answer to that and none of us have been given an answer to that, and i mean we spread a lot of love in there, and he knows where i live, and he just said i didnt think you were going to be able to come, and i just reassured him that im not leaving. Sometimes you get get a little angry. Sometimes more than a little angry because weve been going through this so long, so long, and its only the brown faces and the browntoned people that get treated in this way. Its too its like my lawyer says, theres two Justice Systemses because that 17yearold caucasian shot and killed two people and blew another mans arm off on his way back to antioch, illinois. He got to go home. He got water. They gave that guy water and a high five. My son got icu and paralyzed from the waist down. Those are the two Justice Systems right in front of me. You have to understand that we dont prescribe to useless and violence, violence and looting and burning, thats not going to bring trayvon back. Thats not going to bring george floyd back. Thats not going to bring tamir rice back. I could go on and on. Thats not going to bring my son up out of the bed and walk. Only god can get him up out of the bed and make him walk, and if he does not, then thats gods will. My sons psychological wellbeing is important. Yes. Hes going to have to fight a fight of his life every day. His fight will never end because of seven shots, not seven shots because my son did something aggressive to anyone. It was the overaggressiveness of a Caucasian Police officer, seven shots out of his weapon. The. Thats jacob blake sr. Speaking about his son who is sitting now paralyzed in a hospital bed trying to recover and fighting for his life. Jacob blake sr. Will be taking part in the march on washington today. He said its important for him to be there especially, of course, in light of what hes just described his family is going through right now and also his familys long history fighting for civil rights. So there are three other people involved in that fight that are not able to be there in washington today either. The victims who were shot this week in wisconsin while protesting the Police Shooting of jacob blake. You should know their names as well. Police say that 36yearold Joseph Rosenbaum was the first person shot and killed by Kyle Rittenhouse. He is survived by a fiancee and a young daughter, and theres also 26yearold Anthony Huber from silver lake, wisconsin. His friends say that he died trying to protect those around him, and police say he reached for the shooters gun with one hand while all he was holding in his other hand was his skateboard. As huber tried to grab the gun the suspect aimed, fired, killing him. A third man, 26yearold gage kroscoix, he was injured and shot in the arm. You should know their names as well. Coming up for us, from the nba, wnba to Major League Baseball to the nhl and beyond, the sports world takes a stand against racism and Police Brutality. Where does this movement go now from here . Plus, the message from Health Experts about coronavirus is very clear. Dont gather in large groups, wear a mask, social distance, so why then did this, you see these pictures, happen at white house last night. Fine, no one leaves the table until your finished. Fine, well sleep here. Its the easiest because its the cheesiest. Kraft. For the win win. Did you know Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance tada so you only pay for what you need . I should get a quote. Do it. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Cancer wont wait. It wont wait for appointments to open up or test results to come back. 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Were asking every citizen to not have large gatherings in their backyards until we have an effective vaccine, to really curtail those gaergs when you bring people together. When youre in a large crowd, if you have the congregation of people that are much, much close to each oh, you definitely increase the risk that you will either acquire or spread infections. Its not super spreading individuals. Its super spreading events, and we need to stop those. Were asking people not to go to bars, not to have household parties, not to create large spreading events. Were asking people to distance learn at this moment so we can get this epidemic under control. But still the president hosts a gathering of more than 1,100 people on the south lawn of the white house. Joining me right now cnns jeff zeleny. Jeff, what is the white house saying about what they allowed to happen on the south lawn last night . Reporter well, kate, they are essentially brushing aside any concern or questions about the crowd. The president loved it. He loved being out there which was essentially a trump rally on the south lawn of the white house. You haired dr. Birx say dont have large gaergs in your backyard. Thats exactly what President Trump did. It was a very large gathering. People were very close together, very few masks, just a handful of masks spreadically. Look, the white house is dismissing this, and they are focusing on the president s message. The president im told loved the Fireworks Show and loved the music and all of it, and he plans to start campaigning more aggressively, so well see more scenes like this. The question is if we will see more positive test cases. Earlier this week when the rnc met in charlotte, were learning this morning that four people tested positive from that meeting which theres also not much social distancing, so perhaps well find out in the come days of the result. I think what it says even bigger than, that the moment, its a moment of leadership and how seriously you are taking this, so i would not be at all surprised if that showed up in an advertisement from the Biden Campaign because it shows a sharp contrast to how seriously both of these two candidates are taking this. Kate . Jeff, thank you so much. Here with me now is cnn medical analyst dr. Lena wen, a Senior Health commissioner. You can imagine what dr. Birx said about that crowd. You dont need to imagine it since we just played t. At the same time you could probably know as we showed on other side of the screen, the march on washington, dr. Birx would likely have concerns about social distancing there, but when you see the video from last night, the president of the United States going completely against the guidelines of his own Coronavirus Task force on social distancing and masking, what did you think when you saw that crowd last night . Yeah, kate, i was really worried. I was worried about the individuals who were there. I mean, they are coming from all over the country, some of them are coming from viral hot spots, and i worry about the individuals whom may have chronic medical conditions, who are older, who may contract this virus. I mean there, could be one or more multiple super spreader events from that one gathering when people go back to their Home Communities and may transmit it to others, but i also worry about the message that this is sending to the American People. Its hard to sent message about consistent mask wearing and people are experiencing quarantine fatigue and when they see the president of this country for whom many millions of people regard President Trump as their most trusted messenger, when they see the message coming from the president , they might not abide by these guidelines that we in Public Health are trying so hard to ask people to do. Yeah, im just looking at these pictures on the march on washington as well. Im looking pretty close. There are a lot of people, but youre seeing people Wearing Masks. Concerns, you know, theres concerns for all types of large gatherings like this. It it doesnt matter where it is, but the fact that its the president of the United States thats not enforcing it, its just it gets to leadership, like you said. Well, it is important for us to state as you just did that this is a virus that doesnt discriminate. It doesnt care why it is that were having elengths like this but heres what we know. We know being outdoors versus indoors does help. That keeping physical distancing helps also and also that the amount of time that youre exposed is important, too, and, of course, Wearing Masks, Wearing Masks reduces risk of transmission by up to five times, so i hope that everybody will be abiding by these Public Health guidance. The white house announced something yesterday, im curious to your thoughts on it, that its buying Something Like 150 million rapid covid tests from abbott laboratories. Theres theres a lot we dont know about it, right, like we dont know how long it would take to roll out is 50 million of those and also where they would be going. What impact do you think that this can have or will have . Well, im very optimistic about this type of test, this new antigen test because even though its not as accurate as the tests that weve been doing, the molecular pcr tests, much faster, could be done within is a minutes. Point of care meaning you dont have to send it to another lab to process. Can you get the result right where you are because it could be gamechanging because it allows us to test asymptomatic people who dont have high risk so if its used as surveillance before you go to school, before you go to work, you could catch a lot more of the asymptomatic cases that were currently not catching at all so even if its it catches only 80 or only 50 of these cases can, right now were catching zero percent so i think it will make a big difference in our ability to combat covid19 if it could be distributed rapidly and in a widespread manner. If we talk about death projections and how they have changed and gone up and up pretty much consistently over a long period of time, the cdc coming out with their new prediction that 200,000 people will have died by midseptember. Im struck by how the president has all along really just dismissed the death toll, you know, very recently, even dismissing the models saying, that you know, it doesnt account for mitigation so hes not going to believe it when at that point it was projecting 134,000 would be dead by this month and were looking at 180,000 dead at this moment and now 200,000 by midseptember. People are lost in the numbers now, numb to the numbers now. What should be the numbers be meaning to people at this point . I think people should take away that it doesnt have to be this way. These are models. They are projections based on what were doing right now. That also means that if we take the right steps, if we are restricting these large gatherings, not being indoors and were outdoors, Wearing Masks, that that has a big impact on these numbers, and so the future here is not predetermined. Its up to each of us to do the right thing and up to our elected officials to do what public Health Experts are advising them to do which is these types of measures that we know will reduce transmission and save lives. Dont be numb to it. Take i guess power in it. This isnt a predetermined future. This isnt a fate that were all that we will all see. Thank you, doctor. Good to see you. Still ahead for us, more sports leagues are taking a stand and demanding a change after the Police Shooting of jacob blake. Former nba star and wisconsin native caron butler joins us next. Come on in, were open. All we do is hand you the bag. Simple. Done. We adapt and we change. You know, you just figure it out. Weve just been finding a way to keep on pushing. Weve just been finding a way to keep on pushing. Start your day with secret. Secret stops sweat 3x more than ordinary antiperspirants. With secret, youre unstoppable. No sweat try it and love it or get your money back. I wondered. 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Silvers response comes after the nba playoffs were postponed again last night as players chose to not take the court in order to use their platform and voice to speak out against racial injustice. And clearly this protest moment has become something much bigger than the Milwaukee Bucks, than baseball and basketball or any other sport or any one at least. Joining re negotiate is former nba star and wisconsin native caron butler. Caron, thank you very much. What are you thinking today about about the moment, the boycott and how its really reverberated through pretty much all professional sports . Thanks for having me on this platform. I think that the players and also the employ eds of the association has done a remarkable job as standing aside one another. When we think about over the 200 employees today that stood in solidarity with the players and todays strife, i just thought that that was remarkable. Its putting a lot of pressure on the board of governors to reach out to the resources, whether its legislation, whether its, you know, anyone in your pool of resources to just challenge them to do more in these respective communities, because you look at across the board. You have over 30 nba teams and you have 30 nba cities, and of the relationships are strong. They are powerful, and you have to maximize those things, and were putting the burden on the athletes too much to always answer these questions, and rightfully so because were from these communities. We want to be, you know, moving the needle in social justice in all these different areas, and we see a universal wrong, we need help for people from different walks of life to standing aside and say this isnt right. Thats what youre seeing happening right now in the association and im proud of my brothers whether its, you know, the employees in the nba or whether its the brothers that play and perform at a high level. Standing in solidarity, it means a lot. The wnba were learning is resuming play tonight. Do you what really got attention is when everyone decided to walk off the court, right . It wasnt just wearing wearing wearing something. It was were not going to play. Do you does that diminish the impact . Do you wish that the wnba or the bucks or teams would hold out longer to get the point across the . This is what i felt. Officially i knew that the Milwaukee Bucks was impacted a little bit more than everyone else. Thats my own state. Im from wisconsin. Clearly in kenosha, wisconsin where the incident happened to jacob blake, and i saw the leadership of the Milwaukee Bucks just saying that this cannot go on in this moment. Whether we hold out a game, whether we hold out a week, whether we hold out a month right now isnt the time to be playing basketball, so i give a ton of respect to those guys, and lets face it, back in december i took those bucks players and entire group to a correctional facility where they heard the stories of inmates and people speaking on Police Brutality before one of the biggest games of their career playing against the los angeles lakers, and i feel like that that really impacted the decision. The Lieutenant Governor barnes was there also, and he reached out to the bucks prior to their game where they boycotted, and im so glad that they took that leadership, and now the call to action is next. Something jacob blakes dad was on cnn and speaking on one of our earlier shows today. Theres something that he said about his son that i wanted to ask you about. He said hes a human being. Hes not an animal. Hes a human, but my son has not been afforded the rights of a human. He has not been treated like a human, and he also said that jacob blakes kids are asking their grandfather why did they shoot my daddy in the back. I wanted to ask you about that, because you have written a lot about growing up as a black man, the tough road from the street to the nba, that was your book. You have children. What do you think about what jacob blakes father is saying today . You. Know what . An arrest should not turn into a death sentence, and when you have a Police Encounter, because it is a Police Encounter and a black and brown and Latino Community every three seconds in the United States of america, it should not lead to lethal force. That should not be the first engagement, and i feel like the contract between grass roots and black and Brown Community and Law Enforcement as of now has been broken. It really has, and people are terrified. People are on defense, and i think that that nodes to be addressed immediately because its going to be more instances. Theres going to be more situations, and and unless it gets addressed from top all the way to the grass roots, and these elected officials are getting out there saying that this is priority number one, were going to continue to have these situations. Were going to continue to have these conversations, and we dont want to have that result. I know that my control room will be mad at me because im over time. When jarred kushner said on nba that the nba stars are boycotting and they are lucky they can take a day off, what do you want to say to that . I mean, its not anything of convenience or being afforded to take off. Its standing on right side of justice, and i think as collectives, you know, people from all walks of life, all different shades of colors, we have to stand on the right side of juts tis. In the mast weve seen people stand and just watch the show and not say anything, and that that is no longer okay, so for him to say that, that irresponsible statement, and, you know, he should be ashamed of himself for speaking in that magnitude. Caron butler, thank you for coming on. Thank you for your voice. Thank you. Thank you. President trump, he took the stage at the Republican Convention and attacked biden by name 40 times and did not in the speech mention the name of jacob blake at all. Why . I had saved up some money and then found the home of my dreams. But my home of my dreams needed some work sofi was the first lender that even offered a personal loan. I didnt even know that was an option. The personal loan let us renovate our Single Family house into a multiunit home. And i get to live in this Beautiful House with this beautiful kitchen and its all thanks to sofi. That selling carsarvana, 100 online wouldnt work. 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Find new creative roots in the kids juice aisle. The Republican National convention is in the books. President trump speaking at length about his law and Order Campaign message saying that he stands with police in the wake of nationwide protests. He didnt acknowledge though at all why these protests are happening. The shooting of so many black men at the hands of police. Lets talk about that speech tonight and what it means today. Here with me now is former republican congresswoman mia love. Good to see you. Thanks for coming in. Thank you. The president s silence on the issue at the heart of these protests, if thats a campaign strategy, are you okay with it . What do you think of it . Well, i said last night or the day before last night and ill say it again. I think that its important to recognize that there is a young man who is in a hospital bed completely paralyzed. It would have been nice to mention that. However, with the Republican National convention we talked about some of the people that were out there. Youve got jack brewer, tim scott, that actually made a case for black americans voting for donald trump. They actually tim made sure that he let americans know that democrats prefer the issue versus the solution because he tried to work on Police Reform and he couldnt get democrats to the table to work with him on that, so it was really interesting the way that they had other people kind of address the American People on those issues. I do believe it would have opinion a leadership move for the president to actually address and acknowledge what is going on. I would argue that tim scotts powerful speech is quite a different message than what we heard from donald trump basically throughout his 70 minutes last night. Yeah. No question. How do you square the president not talking about jacob blake or george floyd and social justice but also saying last night hes done more for the Africanamerican Community than any other president since Abraham Lincoln . Well, like i said, if it were my preference, i would have had advised him to acknowledge, it mention it because i think its worthy of acknowledgement and some of the communities out there that he has to speak to all communities are looking for leadership and saying, look, i want you to see us and recognize what is going on. In terms of touting what hes done for black americans, i think what hes referring to is hobbs lit first time funding permanently, hbcus and also the criminal Justice Reform that hes put into law and black americans that want School Choice and Different Things like that, so i think that thats what hes addressing but theres a lot more that we can do. Ive often heard ive heard you said youve made very clear youve never been one to be all in for donald trump. Youve spoken out about his tone and personality especially. Did you hear anything last night that indcates to you that the president is reaching out to anyone, anyone like you, who is not all in for him . That is a great question, and what i can tell you is that i have renewed faith in the Republican Party because of the people that i saw at the convention, people like tim scott, jack brewer, lee zeldin, elise stefanik, some of the suburban women. You had Everyday Americans that that were talking about what has happened to them and how the president has helped them or how republican policies have helped them. You heard from prolife groups. I even spoke to my dad who feels the same way i do, very frustrated, really would have preferred not to go to the polls, and then he called me the day before yesterday and said if i give my vote to donald trump, it will be because of the because of the women and the men that were speaking at convention and because of my faith in the Republican Party. But what im hearing you say you dont accept donald trump. No, no, no, no. I think we need to ask more of our leaders and that includes joe biden. I think that theres a lot of explaining that has to happen in terms of his policies and the things that hes done while in office for 47 years. I think that we need to do everything we can to make sure that we are not accepting the bottom of the barrel. We need to accept we need to expect more from our leaders, so thats what im asking. Im saying just rise to the occasion. Do a little bit more because what were seeing from the people that are wanting to be president is just not enough. And yet it is a choice between two people come this november. Congresswoman, thanks for coming on. Appreciate your time. Coming up for us, hurricane laura devastates parts of louisiana. Well take you live to the ground next. Liberty mutual customizes your Car Insurance, so you only pay for what you need. I wish i could shake your hand. Granted. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Feel the coolpowerful 24hour, cool mint cnondrowsy, allergy relief plus an immediate cooling sensation for your throat. Live claritin clear. For one week only, save up to 34 on select claritin products. Check this sundays newspaper for details. Heres to the duers. To all the people who realize they can du more with less asthma thanks to dupixent, the addon treatment for specific types of moderatetosevere asthma. Dupixent isnt for sudden breathing problems. It can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as 2 weeks and help prevent severe asthma attacks. 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Act like my kids. How much longer . Exactly how they sound. Its got massaging seats too, right . Oh yeahhhhh. Oh yeahhhhh. Visit the mercedesbenz summer event or shop online at participating dealers. Get 0 apr financing up to 36 months on select new and certified preowned models. This just in this cnn. The water level in a coastal parish in louisiana topped 17 feet due to the hurricane this week. That is the highest level on record there. One mayor is described the last 24 hours as out of a bad Science Fiction novel as they start to now pick up the pieces. Cnns Martin Savidge in lake charles. What are you seeing there today . Reporter the damage here is significant. It would be expected. It is just how widespread it is and it looks very much like you would see with a tornado and a tornado is more geographically narrow but this is just everywhere, this is part of the commercial district and the building there, thats crushed, thats a restaurant and then maybe just to the lake effeeft thats the remnants of a cell phone tower and shows you how communication is impacted. The neighbor here which is an Insurance Business ironically enough, it is devastated and if i walk a little bit further you understand the reason why its devastated. This is a broadcast tower that tumbled down in the midst of the storm. Those are really tall things but it was no match for the power of laura. We have drone footage to show you. This is of a tall highrise building in downtown lake charles. Look at that. The windows are broken out all over the place on that thing and clear example they told people not to go high up. That building bore the brunt of it. Looks like something out of an apocalyptic movie. No electricity in the entire city. 78,000 people. No Running Water the mayor says. The electricity is going to take a long time, not something of a power line out because of a pole down and the basing infrastructure for electricity is wiped out. We have weather moving in and making it worse for people. The roofs ripped off and tarps not handed out yet so the misery will continue and why the mayor saying to people you can come back but look and leave because this city cannot support all those people who try to come back, at least not now. Kate . Very real, tough picture. Thank you so much for your coverage. So when the pandemic, the coronavirus pandemic, first hit, pet adoptions skyrocketed and thats when cnn hero Sherri Franklin jumped into action. When we got the shelter in place order for the covid19, we moved 86 dogs into foster homes. Good morning, everyone. We are having meet and greets virtually so that new adopters can meet their dogs before they actually touch them. Hows that feel . It is really been so heartwarming to actually see the first time the new adopters gets to meet their dog in person. Look. Its a great time if you have been thinking about adopting a dog, nice to wake up and not focus on the bad news. For more you can visit cnn heroes. Com. Well be back. Adventure. To reconnect and be together. And once we did that, we realized his greatest adventure is just beginning. avo male welcome to the most adventurous outback ever. The allnew 2020 subaru outback. Go where love takes you. avo female get 0 apr financing for 63 months on select models during the subaru a lot to love event. Hello to our viewers in the United States and and the world. Im john king in washington. An important moment today in a summer full of racial anxiety. Theres a new march on washington to protest Police Brutality and racial indifference. A live look at the mall. This years event held 67 days before a president ial election and being held with the goal of showing, yes, strength in numbers yet also respecteding the coronavirus pandemic puts. Martin luther king iii is scheduled to speak. Well bring you the big moments live when they happen. Say their names is a constant refrain of this summers marchers and jacob blake is a name to hear today, hospitalized in wisconsin, shot seven times in the back by a White Kenosha police officer. Handcuffed to his hospital bed even though he is paralyzed. His father seething at the treatment of his son. Hes a human being. Hes not an animal. Hes a human. But my son is not afforded the rights of a human. He is not been treated like a human. Jacob blake sr. Is here in washington for the march today. The mall where that is playing out a short walk from the white house where the president staged a big celebration of himself last night. And i say very modestly that i have done more for the Africanamerican Community than any president since Abraham Lincoln, our first republican president. Kenosha was part of the president s Convention Acceptance Speech but he did not say jacob blakes name. When there is police misconduct, the Justice System must hold wrong doers fully and completely accountable and it will. But when we can never have a situation where things are going on as they are today, we must never allow mob rule. We can never allow mob rule. And the strongest possible terms the Republican Party condemns the rioting, looting, arson and violence we have seen in democratrun cities all like kenosha, minneapolis, portland, chicago and new york and many others, democrat run. Well have more on the president s speech and strategy in a moment. First lets get to todays march. Boris sanchez is live there for us. What are you seeing . Reporter hey, john, yeah, just behind me in the next hour or so the march is set to begin. These activists moving from the Lincoln Memorial to the mlk memorial further down the mall. Right now all morning we have been hearing from several prominent speakers, the families of jacob blake, of breonna taylor, eric gardiner, as well. We have heard from lawmakers. Congressman al green. Soon set to hear from the reverend al sharpton and Martin Luther king iii, the 57th anniversary of his i have a dream speech amid the backdrop of a pandemic. And so to be able to get boo the mall today everyone had the temperature checked, organizers made sure everyone had masks, green bands to enter the area and several people made clear that the message of social justice is more important, more significant than the risk of coronavirus and one refrain from speakers is that they simply want to be heard and clearly an emotional day and they want the message to carry across the street at 1600 pennsylvania avenue at the white house where as you noted President Trump held an acceptance speech last night. Boris sanchez watching this march, well come back for the big events. Thank you very much. Well return to the march later this hour. Now more on the president s Convention Closing speech and about his strategy for the bruising Nine Campaign week just ahead. When im reelected, the best is yet to come. A plan sinatra of the president there, fact and logic to the wind. The president cast his coronavirus leadership as bold and effective and he called the United States the envy of the world coming to testing. The brutal facts are that the United States leads the world in cases, leads the world in deaths, and seven months in still doesnt have an adequate or consistent testing plan. Beyond the coronavirus alternative facts, the Convention Strategy is clear. First, rally the base. The biden plan would eliminate americas borders in the middle of a Global Pandemic and hes even talking about taking the wall down. The words under god in the Democratic Convention were removed from the pledge of allegiance. Not once but twice. We will never do that. Second appeal to the suburbs, we know that the president s tweets and the chaos repel suburban voters. The 2020 bet now that sounding alarms of biden raising taxes and cities on fire bring enough voters back. Joe biden is not a savior. Of americas soul. He is the destroyer of americas jobs and if given the chance he will be the destroyer of american greatness. Joining me now, Julie Hershfield Davis and sung min kim. We are watching the march play out. Would the president of the United States acknowledge this moment . He has not yet today but its taking place steps from his house. He did mention kenosha last night. But in harsh terms of law and order and tweeting since the National Guard moving into kenosha, wisconsin, two days ago there is no further violence. When legally asked to help by legal authorities, the federal government will act and quickly succeed. Are you listening, portland . Crystal clear, julie, the president thinks law and order, not voicing compassion for the marchers or for the blake family, law and order he thinks is his path to victory. Right. As he mentioned he did a similar thing in the runup to the 2018 midterm elections, talked about the caravan and the threats that people were facing if they voted for democrats. He talked about sanctuary cities. This is the same argument on a broader scale with the country and really centered on democratic cities because he is trying to argue in a kind of unusual way that even though he is president of the United States that the unrest that we have seen, the violence in some cases, and the divisions are really not because of him but because of democrats and extremism on the democratic side and the left and i think that he is we heard Kellyanne Conway his Senior Adviser talking about this earlier this week, they feel that to the degree that people are frightened and uncertain of whats going on in the communities that that will accrue to the advantage of republicans and the president in particular and doing all that he can to try to tie democrats to this and joe biden to this. And really deflect attention from the Racial Justice issues that have come to the fore and, of course, the virus and the deep, deep recession. And to that point, again, you look at the picture on the screen and most demonstrations around the country since the death of george floyd have been peaceful. The march today very large. The president is right. Theres been vandalism and looting and reckless destructive behavior. The president s right about that. But if you look at the bigger context, also peaceful protests, demand for change, this march today but if you listen last night, its crystal clear, the president sees only the chaos and wants you to blame joe biden. Your vote will decide whether we protect law abiding americans or free rein to violent anarchists and agitators. If joe biden doesnt have the strength to stand up to wildeyed marchers like Bernie Sanders and fellow radicals than how will he ever stand up for you . He is not. It is an understandable play i guess if you follow past campaigns. Especially race baiting with a law and order message proven somewhat successful in the suburbs but he is an incumbent president and wants to blame the cities and the mayors and governors but isnt this Donald Trumps america . And thats the fact that he has glossed over and that his surrogates have glossed over the fact that the chaos happening under his watch and in his america. Thats the struggle that the president would have faced regardless of what situation in his reelection bid in 2016 he was able to run as the outsider not familiar with washington, who would come in and shake things up but, you know, right now he is the incouplent be and there are a lot of questions and challenges to answer for so you saw several times last night and throughout the Republican Convention how the president and his team tried to flip that and paint him as someone whos trying to keep, continuing to make America Great when biden had nearly 50 years to try to make changes and he never has. Now whether that argument sticks we will find out november 3rd. It was remarkable just how the issue of Racial Justice and the protests were handled throughout the Republican Convention this week. Contrasting that with joe biden where he not only expressed sympathy of the blake family and said in the same sentence that the violent protests are not the way to go and didnt hear very much sympathy for the blake family and for mr. Blakes circumstances at the Republican Convention last night nor in the proceeding. It is the only person i recall hearing is ben carson, the housing secretary saying our thoughts are with the family. What the president and his team chose to focus on and the situation was the chaos erupting in kenosha and because they think thats the way to attract these iffy voters not sure, you know, they dont like his rhetoric, they dont like sort of the chaos he has kind of presided over the last several years and trying to see whether and the president s team trying to bring them home. So, the challenge now for voters if you have a small universe we think of voters persuadable, we think three debates and see them side by side at least and play it out but at the moment two conventions and two very different visions. We are aggressively sheltering those at highest risk, especially the elderly while allowing low risk americans to safely return to work and to school. Just judge this president on the facts. 5 million americans infected by covid19. More than 170,000 americans have died. By far the worst performance of any nation on earth. The Republican Party condemns the rioting, looting, arson and violence we have seen in democratrun cities all. Like kenosha, minneapolis, portland, chicago and new york and many others. It is about winning the heart and, yes, the soul of america. Winning it for those communities who have known the injustice of a neon the neck. Just as i did in my first term, i will cut taxes even further for hard working moms and dads. I will not raise taxes. I will cut them and very substantially. Im not looking to punish anybody. Far from it. But its long past time the wemtiest people and the biggest corporations in this country paid their fair share. We say it, julie, as a cliche, elections are about choices but the choice between the two is pretty stark on just about every issue. One thing that both candidates were definitely doing with both conventions was trying to draw out that contrast and it was a pretty easy assignment because there are two very different visions here and clearly two very different accounts of how President Trump has done. Now, for President Trump he wants as we also talk about this all the time with an incumbent president , you want it to be a choice for joe biden we have seen him and leading democrats really try to hammer home that this is a referendum on President Trumps leadership and that he has had the test of the last four years and failed on so many of those tests they point out. You heard joe biden talk about covid, about racial unrest and present a verial tern y alterna vision to attack the problems and a different economic prescription and agenda. The questions going to be in the next few weeks whether they can really keep that referendum theme going. Joe biden and the democrats, and really hammer home to voters the record that they say is worthy of throwing trump out or whether President Trump is successful at making this more of a choice. We heard him talk several times about 47 years that joe biden has been on the National Scene and can he again try to make himself into the change agent that he thinks people want to see . Thats the contest in the next few weeks to come. 67 days if you want an exact count. Its a blur. We both know that. Appreciate the reporting and insights today and off we go from the conventions to labor day, debates and beyond. We have just learned that four people tested for coronavirus at mondays opening of the convention in charlotte. The rnc says there were strict safety protocols in place, testing all attendees. Those who tested positive were told to quarantine. Up next, a teen charged with two killings in wisconsin due in court for the first time today. Embarrassing you. That wall is your everest but not any more. Today lets paint. Behr. Exclusively at the home depot. Whether we see them or not, we need to know that theyre always there. For the past 25 years, masimo has been monitoring patients in hospitals around the world so that doctors and nurses can make sure you feel safe. As new challenges have arisen, weve grown to bring that same safety and support to the place that you want to be most. If weve learned nothing else, its that when challenges arise, theres only one way to rise above. Together. Masimo. Together in hospital, together at home. Learning more now about the Court Proceedings for the 17yearold charged with killing two protesters in skenosha, wisconsin. Kyle rittenhouse allegedly shot three people at a protest over the shooting of jacob blake, the teen now held in illinois. Shimon prokupecz joins us now. What was decided at this mornings proceeding . Reporter really nothing, john. This was a very brief hearing, his lawyer waved his appearance. He does have new lawyers, the public defender here initially defending him and new lawyers reptding h representing him, one spoke in a statement to nbc, john pierce, a noted conservative lawyer whose firm representing rudy giuliani, and he said theyll fight this, this is a self defense case and they intend to fight this and just quickly, john, new information that was released by the prosecutor in kenosha on this particular case paints a chaotic picture the night of the shooting where they describe how most of the victims were trying to protect themselves, trying to get the long gun that rittenhouse had on him, trying to get it away from him and one person in particular who said that he kind of felt that rittenhouse didnt know how to handle this kind of a weapon. The other thing of note here is that rittenhouse was charged with possessing a dangerous weapon as a minor. To possess and to buy and to use and to have this kind of a weapon legally you have to be 18 or over in the state of wisconsin. He is under age. And so that is an added charge and that is certainly going to raise some questions as to how he was able to obtain this weapon, john. Shimon prokupecz for us, appreciate the live reporting there. Up next for us, new concerns about the cdc revamped coronavirus testing guidelines. I wanted to tell you about my greatgrandmother. She was not able to vote in her lifetime, but i wanted to honor all that she had done to ensure a Lasting Legacy of education and civic involvement. Im very proud to carry on her story. They get that no two people are alike and customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. What do you think . I dont see it. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Now every bath fitter bathbath fis installed quickly, safely, and beautifully, with a lifetime warranty. Go from old to new. From worn to wow. The beautiful bath youve always wanted, done right, installed by one expert technician, all in one day. Weve been creating moments like these for 35 years, and were here to help you get started. Book your free virtual or inhome Design Consultation today. The president was emphatic last night, the end of counting coronavirus cases is near. We are marshalling americas scientific genius to produce a vaccine in record time. We will have a safe and effective vaccine this year and together we will crush the virus. This year. You heard it there. Thats the president promise even though the experts think thats overly optimistic. Until that day comes, we count cases and that count is high today. First we look at the state by state. We end the work week not as good of a position as we started. 14 heading down. See red out here in the middle of america. 16 states heading up as of friday, more cases than a week ago. Go back and take a look at monday, 11 states up, more significantly 25 states heading down and close in a worse position than we began the work week. One of the reasons is this, just a stubborn baseline. Here we were before the summer surge, 70,000 plus at the peak. We saw early in the week we thought to get the baseline below 40,000 cases a day, some progress. Pushing it below 40,000. Last two days spiking up again and above 40,000 new infections a day in the United States, that is a sub bornly high baseline. You see the big states, florida is down. Texas is down. Californias down. But these four states reporting record high cases, new infections, a record high for them in the pandemic just yet. Iowa, north dakota, south dakota, nowhere near the numbers that we were getting in july from florida and texas and arizona and california but the rolling hotspots driving up the case counts and then think we need more testing. You do see in the last couple of days a spike here, in testing in south dakota, here for two days out in iowa but largely the lines flat. Theyre having new infections, a spike, will they okay set raacc testing . The Administration Says theres plenty of testing. The administration said its an emergency authorization for the socalled abbott law rapid test but listen here to an expert on this saying this test is dramatically overrated. Im very concerned about the hype over the last 24 hours about a new test from abbott. I would not want to use this test on someone with clinical disease. We know that this very same kind of test for influenza only achieves about 50 to 70 positivity among those with influenza and worry to see a big drop in number of positives with 50 to 70 of the positives that are really there. Joining us now is dr. Shapar, a former cdc official. Doctor, it is good to see you. Do you agree with the doctor there that this abbott lab test is unreliable . I think part of the complaint is people in the Public Health community who see med yeah by press release if you will, emergency authorization for something or authorize use of something that doesnt really have a Significant Impact but if youre a layperson you think theres more progress. Yeah. I think i agree with some parts of what he said in that its not a magic bullet. We dont know how reliable it is in a real world setting. It was used on 102 people. Theres benefit so thats exciting for issues of test turn around time and need to see how it performs in the real world. Add that in about the biggest context of testing. Debates about what kind of testing and how many tests you should do. Theres been broad condemnation of Public Health officials today, governors the other day. Other organizations the day before that about the new cdc guidelines essentially saying if youre asymptomatic dont worry as much as we told you to worry a month or so ago. Is that fair . When you see all of the experts, expert groups, governors react in the way they have in a consensus way against what the diminishing the testing of asymptomatics we can recognize that thats generally agreed upon to be a problem in terms of saying it is not needed. 40 of cases we believe are asymptomatic and need eyes on did virus to fight it and we cant fight with the eyes closed. Right. So heres what the National Association of city and county Health Officials said. It caused confusion and undermined the credibility of the agency with professionals and the public alike. It put them in a position to say we wont be following the cdc guidelines. You have this confusion. Who do i believe and trust . Do i trust my county health director, my mayor . Do i trust the cdc saying this is not necessary right now . There are some people thinking that political pressure on the cdc from higher officials in the Trump Administration saying lets do less testing closer to the election so that we will have fewer positive cases reported. Doesnt moean theyre not out there. I think you mentioned the key word is trust. This is a time dealing with 180,000 deaths months into a pandemic and this trust really needs to be built up between government, Public Health and citizens and i think we are seeing an erosion of that trust with the sudden decisions, whether its Hospital Data or who we test. It doesnt build trust and we need that trust going into if and when we have a vaccine and making sure people trust that the vaccine is safe, that it works and so cant build the things overnight and i think on the trust issue we seem to be going in the wrong direction. And where are we on the patients question on the right of the screen right now. Not see you it but showing the march on washington today. And this is a wide shot here. I dont know if we have a closer shot right now. Most of the participants there are Wearing Masks, they have to have them to get into the most secure area near the speakers. Theres the president of the National Urban league and see the people with masks here. This is one scene and then saw last night, those people are trying to be responsible. I want to show you a scene at the white house last night when the president gave his Convention Acceptance Speech, they had more than 1,000 people packed on the south lawn of the white house shoulder to shoulder in the chairs, very few masks. Doctor, when you look at an event like that, for anybody in a position of leadership, especially the president of the United States, is that responsible at this moment . I think we have mixed messages on the importance of masks but from a scientific perspective we know they work and could end the pandemic if we all wore masks in the United States, the burden of the disease on the population. So if some people are, some people arent and that includes leaders it will delay things in this country and make disease spread maybe longer than it has to and results in more people being sick and dying. One of the ways Public Health professionals that yourself are calm and candid and dont let me drag you into the poll it cans, stick to the data and science and get attention with Something Like this, the ihme increasing the model forecasting 317,312 deaths in the United States by december. Were about to hit 180,000. 317,312 deaths in december. That number would be lower if people wore masks and social distanced, would it not . It would. It would. We have a choice. Do we want to theres a projection of 200,000 deaths by the third week of september and we are locked into that, among cases that exist. Is it another 50,000 to take us to a quarter million . Another 100,000 . We have decisions that we can make now to make sure we dont end up in that situation and i think we are numb to the fact of numbers but every one is a mother, father, son, daughter, important. One is one too many and its important to remember that each single digit in that figure is extremely important. I could not agree with you more. Every person counting up the case count, every number you see on the death toll, the United States or around the world, is a friend, a neighbor, a son, a daughter, a child of somebody. Doctor, grateful for you insights as always. Up next for us, athletes returning to the court but they promise activism will be front and center. We live with at t and we are well past the honeymoon phase. Ocupado tom. At t, whats this i hear about you advertising a 100 Fiber Network . Only like a fraction of my customers can get that. Thats it . . You have such a glass halfempty attitude. The glass is more than halfempty you need to relax tom. Oh tom, you need a little tom time. A little tt. Stop living with at t. Xfinity delivers gig speeds to more homes than anyone. Just moments ago the democratic Vice President ial nominee Kamala Harris sharing a message at the march on washington. As john put it, emmitt till was my george floyd. He was my ray shard brook, breonna taylor. The road ahead, it is not going to be easy. But if woe Work Together to challenge every instinct our nation has to return to the status quo and combine the wisdom of longtime warriors for justice, with the Creative Energy of the Young Leaders today, we have an opportunity to make history right here and right now. Thats Kamala Harris speaking moments ago and now straight to the march. This is a granddaughter of Martin Luther king jr. Speaking now. All across the nation we are going to be a great generation that was in 2018. I didnt know what would hit us in 2020. A pandemic that shut our schools and put our young lives on hold. More killings of unarmed black people by police. Attacks on our right to vote the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression that we learned about in school. And more extreme weather than ever before. But great challenges produce great leaders we have mastered the selfie and tiktoks. Now we must master ourselves. Less than a year before he was assassinated, my grandfather predicted this very moment. He said that we were moving into a new phase of the struggle. The first phase was the civil rights and the new phase is genuine equality genuine equality is why we are here today and why people are coming together all across the world, from new zealand to new jersey. He said that we must not forget the days of the montgomery. We must not forget the sitins movements. We must not forget the freedom rides, the Birmingham Movement and selma. Papa king, we wont my generation has already taken to the streets peacefully and with masks and socially distanced to protest racism. And i want to ask the young people here to join me in pledging that we have only just begun to fight and that we will be the generation that moves from me to we. We are going to be the generation that dismantles systemic racism once and for now and forever we are going to be the generation that calls a halt to Police Brutality and gun violence. Now and forever. We are going to be the generation that reserves Climate Change and saves our planet once and for all now and forever and we are going to be the generation that ends poverty here in america, the wealthiest nation on earth. Once and for all. Now and forever we are the grandparents, great grand parents and all ancestors. We stand and march for love and we will fulfill my grandfathers dream. So show me what drk looks like. This is what democracy looks like this is what democracy looks like with with one last time. Okay then. Lets show them. A proud dad. Let me thank god that we have been able to assemble today and to thank reverend sharpton and the National Action network and all of the ose that are actuall here today and most of all these families that have been impacted by Police Brutality and misconduct. So we have come to bear witness, to remain awake, to remember from where weve come and to carefully consider where we are going. Whether you are here in person, on loon online and watching on msnbc and other networks, thank you for joining us for this march on washington. Together we are taking a stand and we are taking a giant step forward. Let me also thank al green for the very warm introduction. My dear friend. But we are taking a step forward on americas rocky but righteous Journey Towards justice. August 28th is a day to remember the triumphs and tragedies that have taken place in our historic struggle for Racial Justice. Today we commemorate the march on washington to jobs and freedom in 1963 where my father declared his dream but we must never forget the america nightmare of racist violence exemplified when emmett till was murdered on this day in 1955 and the criminal Justice System failed to convict his killers. 65 years later, we still struggle for justice. Demilitarizing the police. Dismantling mass incarceration and declaring as we can that black lives matter. In our struggle for justice there are no permanent victories. For on this day, 12 years ago i was honored to address the democratic National Convention in denver and on that night in that evening in the milehigh city our spirits were soaring as the democrats nominated barack obama who would go on to become the first africanamerican president of these United States. But the progress we celebrated then is imperilled yet again and now we must march to the ballot box and the mailboxes to defend the freedoms that earlier generations worked so hard to win. In so many ways we stand together today in the symbolic shadow of history but we are making history together right now. We are marching with the largest and most active multigenerational, Multiracial Movement for civil rights since the 1960s. From High School Students to senior citizens, black as well as white, latino, asian american. Native american, pacific islanders, americans are marching together, many for the first time and were demanding real lasting structural change. We are marching together for time honored goals and in timely ways. We are courageous but conscious of our health. We are socially distant but spiritually united. We are making masking our faces but not our faith in freedom and we are taking our struggle to the streets and to social media. The nation has never seen such a Mighty Movement of what my father called the coalition of conscio conscience and if we move forward with passion well complete the work so boldly began in the 1960s. Were marching to overcome what my father called the triple evils of poverty, racism and violence. And today, those evils have exacerbated four major challenges that currently face our country. First covid19 tragically has killed more than 175,000 americans. Disproportionately africanamerican. Latino and low income people in every background. Second, more than 30 million americans are unemployed again, disproportionately people of color. Covid19 laid bear the inequalities in the economy that kept too many people trapped in the debt and poverty. Third, Police Brutality and gun violence are killing so many unarmed africanamericans today we march with their families and we say their names. George floyd. Breonna taylor. Eric garner in. Michael grown. Tamir rice. Youseff richardson. Crutcher. Trayvon martin. Ahmoud ar bery and so many others. The Voting Rights are under attack. We must defend ow right to vote because those rights were paid for with the blood of those lynched for seeking to exercise their constitutional rights. They were paid for with the blood of civil rights workers, such as sammy young jr. , goodman and cheney, janet lee jackson, viola, james reed, those rights were paid for through the sacrifices made by heroes such as ct vivian, fanny lou hammer, jose and john lewis but since the United States senate has failed to renew the Voting Rights act, we have had to overcome a whole new trick bags of tactics to suppress our votes, discriminatory voter i. D. Requirements, cut backs and voter purges, targeting those who have missed several elections and disinenfranchising those that paid the debt to the society and now covid19 is making its dangerous even deadly to stand in line at polling places. We shouldnt have to risk our lives to cast our votes. We need to be able to do what President Trump does. Vote safely by mail. But now were struggling to overcome the dismantling of the u. S. Postal service for the express purpose of suppressing our vote. With all these threats to our lives and liberties, our challenge is to use this moment to expand this movement, a movement that not only raises its voice but cast its votes, pursues its vision and makes lasting change. The scripture says, where there is no vision the people perish. Our vision is best expressed by a phrase we must never forget. That is, the beloved community. With those words my father john lewis, ella baker, rosa park and so many others in america whose dramatic practice is as good as its promise and america where the triple evils will be replaced by peace, justice and shared abundance and where hate and fear finally give way to help and love. To achieve that america, we need to raise our voices and cast our votes. Over the weeks ahead, culminating on election day, we need to vote as if our lives and our livelihoods, our liberties depend on it because they do no person, no people are more keenly aware of the risk of disenfranchisement than those that suffered from it. Theres a knee upon the neck of democracy and our nation can only live so long without the oxygen of freedom. The strength must be exercised more than rhetoric and more than marching. The simple challenge before us is that everyone can cast a ballot and everyone who can must cast a ballot and that ballot that is cast must be counted and the result must be transparent and known to the whole world. And so, today i can call on everyone with a means to drive people to the polls, to make a plan for yourself. For your family and your neighbor, for those organizations and companies that care about democracy, i call on you today to offer your resources and your capacity to make sure everyone ballot is counted. If our fore fathers were willing to die for the right to vote we can work for the right to vote and i will continue to call on you to act in the coming days. You know, my father was assassinated in memphis, tennessee in solidarity with poor working people, sanitation workers whose slogans i am a man is a statement that they were human beings with rights that should be respected and acknowledged. They were asking for safe working conditions, for a living wage, recognition of their union and human dignity. They summed up the struggle with four words. I am a man. It impairs movements like black live matter and to the me too struggle against Sexual Harassment and abuse. Movements of americans trying to claim the dignity theyve been denied. Martin luther king jr. Fought for the dignity of work and that fight is never ending. In 1963 the march on washington demanded jobs and freedoms. In 1968 the memphis sanitation strike workers demanded and the poors People Campaign insisted that working people should not live and labor in poverty. Those fights foreshadowed the struggle today to make the minimum wage a living wage, not a poverty wage. And we are fighting alongside the front line workers, sanitation workers, health care workers, grocery workers, transport and Food Service Workers and so many more. Theyre praised for being essential but theyre treated as if theyre expendable. While standing with sanitation workers in memphis, dad said so often we overlook the work and the significance of those who are not in professional jobs, those not in the socalled big jobs but let me say to you tonight that wherever you are whenever you engage in work that serves humanity and for the building of humanity, it has dignity and worth. We have a president who confesses greatness with grandiosity and my father knew better. Everyone he said can be great because everyone can serve. He understood the human yearning for recognition and in his famous speech he explained that Everyone Wants to be a drum major, the leader of the marching band and he challenged us to channel instinct into becoming drum majors for justice. While we honor our history we must be a living movement, not a monument. If dad were here today, im sure he would implore us not to defy him with selectively wrote him when convenient but to be drum majors for justice, to champion the ideals he promoted, Racial Justice, social equality and peace. And he would gently but intently challenge us not to dwell upon the past but to live and labor in what he called the fierce urgency of now so if youre looking for a savior, get were and find a mirror. We must become the heroes of the history we are making. Us means all of us. In 1963, after my father spoke, the architect of the march asked for participants to urge congress to pass civil rights and Voting Rights law. We must demand that the United States senate stop blocking passage of the George Floyd Justice in policing act. And the john lewis Voting Rights restoration act. And so, when we conclude today, lets remember that this is the commitment march in the spirit of 19 63. I ask you to pledge to act in three ways. The civil rights are at stake in this election, i ask you to register and vote but to make sure at least one other person registers and votes. Second, commit to service and struggle in your community. From voting registration to raising the minimum wage. To demilitarizing the police. Get involved with one or more of many worthwhile struggles in your community. Third, i ask you to pledge as my father and john lewis did to get into good trouble and do it nonviolently. Remember that in the fight against injustice nonviolence doesnt mean pass i haive accep. We must come together and join with the black lives movement, to raise our voices and say enough is enough we must come with the poor peoples campaign, the Climate Change and Environmental Justice movement, the womens march and me too movement. The parkland students and march for our lives and say enough is enough. Martin luther king jr. Famously said that the moral arc of the universe is long but bends toward justice but he was also the first to say that it doesnt bend on its own. We must do some work ourselves. And the final year of his life he wrote in the last book, where do we go from here . Chaos or community . While my sisters and brothers, and dear friends, in this defining moment for our history and country, we must answer dr. Kings question. Will our answer be chaos or community . I believe some have chosen the answer with chaos including the current occupant in the white house today. But we who believe must choose community because if we choose community we can avoid watching the dream turn into a permanent nightmare. If we choose community, 50 years from now people will say that we were able to redeem the soul of america and began to fulfill the promise of democracy. By systematically eliminating systemic racism and exploitation. My friends, if we choose community we