Upon a small town in North Carolina near floyds birthplace, standing in solidarity with the family. I feel so sad because it very well could have been my brother, my son, my uncle, any of those. How his family now hopes floyds death will be a turning point. Crushing the curve. New york city finally starting to reopen. Business owners eager to get back to work even as more than a dozen states are reporting seeing their cases increase. Plus, how its affecting college football. And ready to make landfall. Tropical storm cristobal spawning tornados in orlando, downing trees and damaging homes. Our weather team in new orleans with the storm track. Good morning. We are waking up to breaking news overnight. A white virginia officer charged after using his stun gun on a black man. The man said he couldnt breathe. All this while it was another night of largely peaceful brutitncding wt s expected to be the largest whi tomorrow, the fired Police Officer who put his knee on George Floyds neck for nearly nine minutes is set for his First Court Appearance. Derek chauvin facing a Second Degree murder charge. And this morning, a Senior Defense official tells abc news that at one point last monday, President Trump wanted 10,000 troops in washington, d. C. And other cities to quell the protests. We have Team Coverage this morning. Lets start with abcs rachel scott who is in washington. Rachel, good morning to you. Reporter dan, good morning. I want to get to that breaking news overnight. Its an image we have seen played out over and over again. A black man being detained by police, saying the words, i cant breathe. It has sparked National Outrage and protests, and now another Police Officer in virginia is in custody. No overnight, a virginia Police Officer arrested and charged with assault after this violent takedown of a black man caught on police body camera. The white officer seen firing his stun gun as the man walked away. The officer seen leaning on the mans back with his knees. The man saying, i cant breathe. I cant breathe. I cant breathe. Hey, well roll you over. We can all agree that the footage of this incident is unsettling. I want our community to know that we are pursuing charges that are in line with current law. Reporter it comes as the nas ill applwith outr ffalo Police Officers now charged with felony assault after shoving this 75yearold man to the ground. Incidents like that driving huge crowds like this one overnight in seattle. Police firing flashbangs to disperse a crowd after they say protesters began throwing explosives, rocks and bottles at them, injuring some officers. And in denver, thousands marching through the streets. Many gathering outside police headquarters, held back by fences. Earlier saturday in minneapolis, the city where george floyd died while being arrested [ chanting ] the citys mayor booed. Forcing him to leave a demonstration after refusing a protesters demand to abolish the citys police department, but at the same time saturday, some of the largest demonstrations yet coast to coast. Mostly peaceful marches from San Francisco to new york to new orleans to philadelphia. Here in washington, the largest crowd yet. A sea of protesters in this shadow of the Nations Capital pressing toward the white house. We can actually make policy change, and make sure everybody is treated equally in this country. Reporter overnight, protesters painting, defund the police, on the street as a counterpart to mayor bowsers black lives matter memorial. Demands for equality even sweeping across small towns. In saddle brook, new jersey, where more than 80 of the residents are white, chants of black lives matter. [ crowd chanting black lives matter ] and the president kept a low profile yesterday. No Public Events on his schedule, and even as washington saw its largest demonstration yet, the president tweeted, the crowds were much smaller than expected. Dan . So interesting to see those protests in small towns across america. Rachel, thank you so much for your reporting this morning. Were going to move now to minneapolis where the fired Police Officer who held george floyd to the ground with his knee will make his First Court Appearance tomorrow. Abcs Zachary Kiesch is right there. Zachary, good morning to you. Reporter dan, good morning to you as well. Protesters here in minnesota and around the country have been adamant that Police Accountability in the way of convictions is an important part of this healing process. Now four officers have been charged in the death of floyd which happened just behind me here. Former officer Derek Chauvin will make his First Court Appearance here in minneapolis on monday afternoon. His charges have been upgraded to Second Degree murder and Second Degree manslaughter. The prosecution will need to prove use of force was unreasonable. Now the original Police Report stated mr. Floyd resisted arrest, although the Video Evidence we have seen doesnt seem to support that claim. Two officers defending the rookie officers charged in the crime are putting blame on chauvin, the supervisor, and despite that graphic video showing former officer, chauvin on the neck of floyd for nearly nine minutes, attorney general Keith Ellison says, this wont be easy. Whit . All right, Zachary Kiesch for us in minneapolis once again. Thank you so much. We do now move to North Carolina where thousands gathered for an emotional farewell to george floyd in the state where he was born. Abcs Victor Oquendo joins us with more. Victor, good morning. Reporter good morning, whit. The Service Inside this church was private, but that did not stop the huge crowds from gathering here in the small town of raeford, North Carolina, and we heard from George Floyds friends, family and local officials, including the county sheriff, a black man who wants his fellow officers to recognize that they are part of the problem, and he does not want George Floyds death to be in vain. More than 10,000 people descended on the town of raeford, North Carolina, not to mourn the loss of george floyd, whose death sparked a worldwide movement, but to celebrate their native son. Some death aint about dying. Some death is about waking all of us up. Reporter near his birthplace, hundreds of floyds friends and family gathered at saturdays emotional memorial service. We must all come together and come to the front lines to protect each other. Reporter since Early Saturday Morning when his casket was wheeled into the douglas cape fear conference center, the line stretched for miles, filled with people who wanted to stand in solidarity with the floyd family. I feel so sad because it very well could have been my brother, my son, my uncle, any of those. I saw my people. You know, hes one of us. Reporter the local sheriff, among those, boldly calling for change. We are part of the problem. Saying his death is a turning point. I feel like god chose him for a reason, that he hand selected my brother because he had worked for him. You know, he had a job for him and he called him home and so his death is not in vain. Reporter there will be another public viewing tomorrow in houston where george floyd spent so much of his life followed by his funeral on tuesday. Eva . Victor oquendo for us, thank you. And just a bit earlier, we spoke with emerald garner whose father died in new york city after police put him in a banned chokehold in 2014. Emerald, thank you so much for being with us this morning. Weve seen some Police Departments in some cities ban chokeholds. Locally theres legislation that was introduced to outlaw chokeholds by federal Law Enforcement in your fathers name, the Eric Garner Excessive Force Prevention act. What do you hope that achieves . Hello. Good morning. Thank you for having me. I mean, i hope it will achieve what everybody has been hoping to achieve, which is accountability. Police officers need to be held accountable, and thats just thats just what the goal is. Thats what the end game is. What other changes would you like to see in Police Forces across the nation . Theres a whole list of things, but just to name a few, you know, cultural sensitivity for Police Reform as far as, you know, retaining the officers, you know, doing background checks on the officers, if the officers have complaints already, you know, they should be fired. They shouldnt still be on the force if they have, you know, so many complaints against them because when you work in retail, you know, you get a writeup, and the next step is fired. So i think that type of sternness and that type of enforcement and accountability is exactly the change that we need to see. Recently weve seen this discussion about systemic racism and how we end it. Do you have a message to the president and congress who have yet to act on an antilynching bill . Please pass the laws and, you know, just see us. The world is at a standstill right now, and the trending topic is black lives matter, and you cant go anywhere without seeing that, and its about time that they take accountability for the black lives that didnt matter, and the black lives that are no longer here with us because of the hands of the police. Do you think things are different this time around with the protests and the results, and if so, why . I do think that things are different right now, you know, as i said. Were in a national pandemic, and, you know, theres no tv shows. Theres no big movie release. Theres no concerts. Theres no theres nothing going on right now. So they have no choice but to focus on the black lives matter movement. Theres nothing to nothing to do but to focus on the civil rights movement, and changing the laws and policymaking and voting and filling out the census. Thats what thats what thats all we have to do right now. We dont have anything else to do. Everybody is mostly everybody is home, you know, people are taking to streets, but, you know, thats whats happening right now. Well, emerald garner, thank you so much for being with us. We really appreciate your time. Thank you so much. All right. Lets talk about the politics of all of this with abcs martha raddatz, who is in washington where shes going to be hosting this week later this morning. Martha, good morning to you. So were nearing nearly two straight weeks of protests here with people calling for change. How long do you think this movement can last . Its so interesting to hear emerald garner pointing out that it could last for quite awhile because people are not working or going to school right now. I guess the second part of that question is, do you think well see results as a consequence of these protests . I do think the protests could last awhile. I dont think you will probably see the numbers like you saw yesterday here in washington, d. C. I was out yesterday covering those protests as well, and they were all peaceful. Youve really seen that over the last few days, a very different tone, but theres a lot of energy and emotion that still remains. So i suspect you will see something. So many people have said they think this is different this time. Weve all heard that before, dan. Weve heard it before when other black men were killed by white Police Officers, but it does feel like there might be results from this. It is so widespread. You look at the whole country. Okthl those people out of all races. They are very diverse crowds. So i think in this case, there might be some change. In a polarized congress, in a polarized country, its always difficult, but maybe we will see some change. As you know, the protests have created a lot of friction between the president and both current and former military officials. In fact, the Associated Press has a story this morning with the headline, white house, pentagon tensions near breaking point. Youve covered the military for decades. Whats your take here . I think really this week was stunning. When you had secretary jim mattis, general jim mattis coming out with very harsh, very strong words directed right at the president. You had the former chairman of the joint chiefs, mike mullen. So this seemed like a real Inflection Point as well. Those men were clearly angry about what the president had done, and threatening to put active duty combat troops on the street facetoface not Just National guard, but bring in active duty military. I think youre, you know, youre looking at this photo opportunity right now where the secretary of defense behind him i do not think meant to be in that photo opportunity. Mark, the chairman of the joint chiefs behind him in whats called the battle dress uniform. He backed out of the photoop, but i think both men regret being part of that walk. They want to keep politics away from the pentagon, and that that is very important to them. Such a tense time in this country. Martha, thank you. Really glad to have your analysis on a sunday morning. And a reminder, martha has a big show this morning. Shes going to talk about the trump administrations response to the protests with the acting Homeland Security secretary, chad wolf. Plus, the mayor of washington, d. C. , Muriel Bowser reacts to yesterdays demonstrations in her city. Thats all coming up on this week later this morning right here on abc. Whit, over to you. Dan, we are also following Severe Weather this morning. Our rob marciano is in new orleans where the gulf coast is bracing for Tropical Storm cristobal to make landfall today. Rob, good morning to you. Good morning, whit. Rain bands have been rotating throughout the night in the french quarter. It has been quiet throughout the night. Cant say that too often. Matter of fact, its been quite for days now. You see the storefronts are boarded up. We do have some sandbags here. Its been a combination, of course, of storm preps, protests that have been close by daily, and covid19. So a triple threat here in new orleans while cristobal has already made its mark in florida. Wow. Reporter overnight, Tropical Storm cristobal spawning tornadoes in florida. Were under a tornado warning. Reporter watch as this twister drills through downtown orlando. Literally theres a tornado right here. Reporter the powerful winds tossing this trailer onto a car and leaving homes like this one in shambles. In sarasota, cristobals outer bands bringing gusty winds and torrential rain flooding roadways there. In louisiana, the storm already causing coastal flooding. New orleans has been preparing for the storms impacts. There are over 200 floodgates that protect this city, and a couple of years ago a train came through here and derailed and torehis one up. So theyve got to patch it before the storm comes through. But covid19 and the black lives matter protests are complicating the prep to protecthe ty. We cant be stopped on our mission, and so well make sure that we get the job done. Reporter dereks job is to keep new orleans from flooding and for a city below sea level, youve got to stop the storm surge, and theyre beefing this up with sand, heavy equipment and manpower. These guys are doing hard labor with masks on. How difficult has it been to prep for this storm in the world of covid . It is definitely a challenge. Weve had to alter our protocols. I think like the rest of the world, we have had to change how we do business. Reporter i mean, the last thing they can risk is that team, his men and women, getting sick preparing for this storm when another hurricane possibly stronger could be coming down the pipe in the coming weeks as were just Getting Started in hurricane season. Covid19 certainly throwing a wrench into everybodys preparation work. All right. Lets go to where this storm is. It is just s d t u cstinto ftinue to weainly storm surge. A breast of new orleans later on tonight, 50, maybe 60mileperhour storm. It will not get to hurricane status. It just doesnt have that sort of structure and the leftovers of it do get up across the mississippi and Missouri River valleys. And with that comes heavy rain and the possibility of more tornadoes, especially the Northeast Quadrant with this. The northeast getting slammed tonight about 12 hours from now, and flooding not just here, but potentially all the way up into parts of the midwest. Thats a check of whats happening with cristobal. Ti good sunday morning. Looking at san jose, where we have mostly sunny conditions, looking at breezy winds around the bay. Windier at the coast, a warming trend begins tomorrow. So highs today the coolest day of the week with the gusty winds at the shoreline, low to mid60s here, 70 richmond and oakland, as well as palo alto. You head inland not much warmer and breezy, low to mid70s. The accuweather sevenday forecast we begin to warm up theres been lots of Severe Weather. I do want to bring in other parts of the country. The northeast