[Paul:] I want to talk about the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks. CNN has learned that a majority of Atlanta police officers in two precincts did not show up for work yesterday. That's the third day in a row that the departments experienced their shortages.
[Blackwell:] You know, prosecutors have charged two Atlanta officers in Brook's death. Reverend James Woodall is the president of the Georgia NAACP. He led protests in the wake of Brooks' shooting. Reverend, good morning to you. And you say that you and protesters will take over the Georgia capitol every single day until legislators do their job. What's your definition of their job here? What do you want them to do?
[Rev. James Woodall, President, Georgia Naacp:] So, we will- we've asked them to pass a very healthy hate crimes legislation here in the state. We've also demanded that they repeal citizen's arrest as well as stand your ground. And then, to pass Senate Bill 414, which is a moral turpitude law that will re-enfranchise 275,000 Georgians due to the racist and outdated statute of the moral turpitude clause in Georgia constitution.
[Paul:] So, we know that in changing people's minds, we believe that policy will help do that but not fully. I want to show you some numbers here from a poll last week that 67 percent of people polled say they support the Black Lives Matter movement. Compare that to 40 percent in 2016, what do you think has contributed to this change?
[Woodall:] Well, one, I think the reality of people seeing that black people's lives are literally under attack, we had three general assembly members just this week, entertaining conversations on social media, saying that protesters who were marching to the state capitol last week should be shot down, you know, with one man in machine gun in the helicopter. We have we have, you know, people all over the State of Georgia, are having the level of uprisings, we haven't seen sustained in years. And so, you know, their presence alone is enough. But secondly, that the amount of and the volume of death that we're seeing literally day-to-day basis is contributing to that increase.
[Blackwell:] All right, you might have heard, Christi mentioned the sickouts at Atlanta police department at the top of this segment. I want to read this to you. It's a 24-year Atlanta police veteran told my colleagues, Dianne Gallagher and Pamela Kirkland that "the mayor has come out and said, "our use of force policies basically, we're going to do away with them. No new policy or information has been put in. So, what are we supposed to do? No one knows what we're supposed to do. We're in a dark gray area right now as far as what we're supposed to do. So, I am scared." The Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms came out and said she would sign some executive orders. But there's 14 days until initial guidance, 45 days until a recommendations. Officers say they're in this great area. What's your response to those officers who feel like, you know, they're they are bit lost now?
[Woodall:] My response is, I served eight years in the United States Army, and I stand with my brothers and sisters in arms. But let us be clear that, you know, this is about black people literally being murdered. This is not about officers being attacked and that was the same conversation we saw yesterday in the state capitol when, you know, we had the opportunity to pass the hate crime law, instead, they added law enforcement protections. This is about black people being murdered. Ahmaud Arbery was murdered. Rayshard Brooks was murdered. And so, any narrative that suggests that this push is a black versus blue kind of question is out of order. This we stand with them. We'll make sure that our people are protected. We'll ensure that our law enforcement is protected. But we need to get the same kind of courtesy and duty to be able to say, I can walk outside on my street and not be afraid because of a white racist or even a police officer, and that's just the reality that Georgians are facing every day, and yesterday, we saw it again, where there was a protest happening downtown Atlanta, and then, literally somebody ran into the protest, opened fire. And so, this is not, you know, some political conversation, these are people's lives that we're having to deal with.
[Paul:] Real quickly, when we talk about the walkout part of the walkout to from police, as we understand it is because of the charges that were brought against Officer Rolfe. One of them could make the death penalty could put the death penalty on the table. Do you believe that is the right course?
[Woodall:] Well, one, we I personally do not support the death penalty. So, I would not advocate for that. What we're asking for is just simple accountability. When there is, you know, crimes committed people should be prosecuted and held to the highest standard of the law. That's what the State of Georgia is endowed with, with the responsibility of making sure that these kind of the crimes are held accountable for. And so, you know, if the crimes fit, then they have to proceed forward. But I'm not going to get into the back before the well what should the penalty be, our main thing is just accountability and ensure that the process is thorough.
[Blackwell:] I've already got the wrap here, but I want to get an answer to this. We understand from reporting that Georgia NAACP hired a private investigator. This was the day before the charges were announced. Do you have reasons not to trust the D.A.'s investigation?
[Woodall:] Well, we fully support the D.A. Howard in this case. However, we do want to ensure that the information that's being shared is not only accurate but we have access to it as a public, and we've seen these kind of cases happen where there's not a release of information. There, there, there are certain thing that happened, you know, and we're like, kind of left out of the loop. And so, we just wanted to make sure and also want to lift up is not just the Georgia NAACP, but it's the just Georgia coalition that is working in tandem with one another to ensure that justice truly is for Georgia.
[Blackwell:] Reverend James Woodall, president of Georgia NAACP. Thank you so much.
[Paul:] Thank you, Reverend.
[Woodall:] Thank you.
[Blackwell:] So, for the companies that want to support the Black Lives Matter movement, it's more complicated than just issuing a statement or tweeting out a black box. Just ahead, we're going to talk about what companies should do from an expert who knows this well to prove their commitment.