[John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] For three weeks of nationwide protests demanding an end to police brutality, the U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order on police reforms which critics are calling lukewarm at best, basically an empty gesture. His order does ban chokehold, except when a police officer's life is at risk. However only the departments that have certified have to obey this ban. The order also says financial incentives for departments be followed best practices. And it creates a national database of officers with a history of using excessive force. The reforms are meant to make police more accountable but the President's remarks sounded more like a tribute to all of the men and women in blue.
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] I strongly oppose the radical and dangerous efforts to defund, dismantle, and dissolve our police departments. Without police, there is chaos. Law and order must be further restored nationwide. And your federal government is ready, willing and able to help. In many cases, local law enforcement is underfunded, understaffed, and under supported. Americans want law and order. They demand law and order. They may not say it, they may not be talking about it, but that's what they want.
[Vause:] Joining us now Ike McKinnon, the chief of police from the city of Detroit. Chief McKinnon thank you for being with us.
[Isaiah Mckinnon, Former Detroit Chief Of Police:] Thank you for inviting me today.
[Vause:] just heard a public statement I guess on police reform from the President that could I guess be seen as progress because a week ago it didn't seem likely The executive order which he announced though, it seems very police- friendly, some may say. Seems to fall way short of what protesters have been demanding. Here's a little more from the President. Listen to this.
[Trump:] That is why today I'm signing an executive order encouraging police departments nationwide to adopt the highest professional standards to serve their communities. The standards will be as high and as strong as there is on earth.
[Vause:] There's a lot of recommendations, a lot of encouragement, nothing really mandatory in the executive order. But I guess that's what because policy for police is made at a local level. Trump's plan tends to focus on leveraging federal spending, to encourage those reforms. Is that about as good as can be expected from the White House?
[Mckinnon:] Well, let me say this. As a person that has been involved in law enforcement for 50 some years and as an educator and so forth there are so many things that we have to do but we have to look at people who are serious about what they should be doing. To me it was a step but it's not enough to stop some of the things that we've seen here in the United States over the x number of years.
[Vause:] Well, it's
[Mckinnon:] I've seen the public saying look, you are policing but who are you policing, and what are you policing, and what are you doing there? Are you there to serve and protect us? Are you doing the proper job for us? Are you being clear and square with us? And most of the people who are protesting is certainly, in my years, most people are saying no, you guys aren't doing exactly what we want you to do. And so as a person who has done this for a long time, I would look at number one, study the people that we recruited for this field and make sure they are there to serve and protect. And number two, I would look at having them go through a serious series of mental health checkups to see that they're doing the right job and using this as
[Vause:] And just to pick up on that list, because you started it and you outlined a lot of that in your op-ed for the "USA Today". So just speak up on the point the third point which you believe needs to be addressed a nationwide database to prevent bad officers from what is called department jumping. They get fired from one department, move on to another so that they don't have a, you know, blotch on their record. End senior promotions for officers who have multiple disciplinary complaints. And then this is the big one, rehabilitating police unions. We'll get to some of this in a moment. But out of all these points, is there one which is more important than all the rest?
[Mckinnon:] To me, they're equally important because if we take one without the other, I think that we are not doing a true service. For instance, if we don't look at the officers jumping from department to department I had an officer when I was chief who had come from another community in another state who had been charged with rape. And the charges were dropped, but it was so serious that he left the department. And the officers who did the review of him did not turn this up until later. I had to terminate this man because just imagine someone like that. Then we had other officers who had beaten people up in other departments and it turns out there's been two or three series like that. And this becomes a horrible situation for everyone that's involved. And so we as police people have to make sure, certainly as leaders, we have to make that that does not happen within our department.
[Vause:] In that same op-ed, you wrote your background and your motivation for becoming a policeman. And you recalled a moment, you were 14 years old I think when a group of police officers pulled you to one side began beating you because you were an African-American kid, I guess, and you wrote this. "The more I screamed, the more they beat me. I saw the anger on their faces, the horror on the faces of black people who gathered around us yelling for the police to stop. I was scared, angry and confused. Why did they hurt me? That day I promised myself that I will become a Detroit police officer and change the Detroit police force from the inside." So you are someone who has lived both sides of this divide. Why is it so difficult to get reform here? And why is it so hard to get police to stop shooting and killing African-Americans?
[Mckinnon:] Because of the dehumanization of people. Those people who beat me up, they didn't see me as a human being, I don't think. And later on when I was an officer, I had two years as an officer, I was shot at by federal officers. And I've seen these kinds of things, the beatings of people and the language that they use, is just atrocious. So if you don't see someone as a human being, you dehumanize them, and you don't think of them as being someone that's equal to you certainly or someone who's just a human being. And that's why they do this things exactly.
[Vause:] Chief McKinnon you are someone who has served your country, your community, you know, for a very long time and a very senior role. So thank you very much for being with us. We appreciate your time.
[Mckinnon:] Thank you so much.
[Vause:] Thank you sir. Well, the death of George Floyd has reverberated in cities and countries around the world, including the African nation of Ghana. But the country's tourism minister is inviting black Americans to quote, "Leave where you are not wanted and come home". Here is Stephanie Busari.
[Stephanie Busari, Cnn Producer:] One African nation is sending a message to African-Americans in the wake of George Floyd's death.
[Unidentified Female:] We continue to open our arms and invite all our brothers and sisters home. Ghana is your home. Africa is your home.
[Busari:] Ghana recently unveiled a monument to Floyd and is openly calling for black Americans to move there. The country has courted the black dollar for some time. Last year, the president launched the year of return initiative, marking 400 years since the first documented arrival of west African slaves to America. Young and old flocked to the country for a number of cultural events, such as Accra Fashion Week and a music festival Afrochella. Ghana's finance minister hailed the scheme a massive success, saying it recorded as much as $3 billion in added GDP. The government of Accra is now building on that momentum, with another initiative called, "Beyond the Return", which aims to encourage investment in Ghana.
[Akwasi Agyemang, Ghana Tourism Ceo:] The clarion call now for the "Back to Africa" to be reignited is really something that is natural. Africa is home and we are hoping to open our arms to our kith and kin to come back home.
[Busari:] One African-American man who came for a business trip in February says he chose to stay and see the pandemic through there. And he urges others to follow in his footsteps.
[Rashad Mccrorey, Founder, Africa Cross-culture:] Really consider moving to Africa. Really consider moving to Ghana. This land, the resources, the riches everything is here for you to succeed.
[Busari:] A country once central to the transatlantic slave trade now offering a safe haven for those looking to restart their lives. Stephanie Busari, CNN Lagos.
[Vause:] Well, in the coming hours, the U.S. will slap Syria with new sanctions which will target the central bank and allies of President Bashar Al-Assad. Doing business with the Assad regime especially in the banking and construction industry as well as oil could be impacted. They'll face travel bans, be denied capital, even face arrests. Still to come, Brazil doubling down on an unproven drug for treating COVID-19. Now, it's pushing Hydroxychloroquine for pregnant women and children who have the virus.