Return to Transcripts main page

Don Lemon Tonight

COVID-19 Killed 100,000 Americans; No Lengthy Comment From President Trump On George Floyd's Case; Experts Blame Inaction From The Administration; Coronavirus Pandemic; Dr. Fauci Says He Wears A Mask To Be A Symbol Of What You Should Be Doing; U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 100,000; Protests In Minneapolis Tonight Over Death Of George Floyd. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired May 27, 2020 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:00]

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Can you live with knowing that you basically decided it's OK that others will die because you don't want to do more?

Thank you for watching. CNN TONIGHT with D. Lemon right now.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: I've got a question for you.

CUOMO: Yes, sir?

LEMON: So, in that same vein, because we were talking about this with these viruses that are infecting America. Imagine when you said I do for -- what I do for you, I'm doing for me. What I'm doing for me, I'm doing for you.

Imagine if that was me on the ground how you would feel as a friend, as someone I spend a lot of time with. Imagine how people around this country feel when their friends like you, both of us are a different background. When their friends say nothing. When they do nothing. Except send out a tweet or say, man, that's terrible. I can't believe that happens. And then when they see everyday racism, they don't stand up for it.

Imagine how that feels to people of color in this country. It feels terrible. Is that really being a friend? I'm not saying you specifically, you understand what I'm saying. You know what I'm saying.

CUOMO: I totally understand and, you know, the only word I can use is just hurt, it all hurts. We didn't have the plan -- the show planned the way it unfolded. I just -- we couldn't let Williams go.

I mean, he was saying what you and I have heard and, you know, you've heard in your own heart. I've heard from so many people that I love that they're so afraid that it's going to be them, it's going to be their kid and white people roll their eyes like, come on, man. It only happens once in a while.

It doesn't have to happen that often if every time it happens in your mind it seems to go unanswered in terms of why it's OK. So, we kept him on just so that people could hear how scary it is for someone to watch that and think --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: But that's the problem, Chris. It doesn't -- it's not that it happens -- it happens a lot, we just don't see it. We're just seeing from the video -- this is the reason that Colin Kaepernick was taking a knee, and then people were upset and the President of the United States having the nerve to call him and others who were standing up for this sort of injustice, to call them sons of bitches.

This is why people are standing up, so that it doesn't lead to this. So that you aren't sitting at home saying, my gosh, I can't believe this. Look at what they're doing to this man. This happens all the time. This is why he was doing it. And the nerve and the gall of people to say, my gosh, stop doing this. I want to enjoy my football game.

Now think about that now in this context, how selfish that sounds and how you -- how you might feel if that was your loved one on the ground, and that there were people who have been protesting this all along and who have been fed for up years and they're trying to get your attention. By something as respectful as taking a knee at a football game.

Yet you can call them sons of bitches, but then you look for an excuse for this police officer in Minneapolis, saying, well, there must have been something that led up to this. The guy must have been resisting.

Clearly, this just can't be the act of a police officer, someone who is supposed to be protecting the community.

Yes, it is. People who continue to look for excuses, well, where is the rest of the video? Where is the rest of it? Wasn't he resisting? He must have been doing something terrible. He shouldn't have been in this position. Maybe he should have been complied -- should have been complying.

How many more excuses do you need to make before you examine yourself and say, OK, maybe I need to wake up a little bit and take a good long look at what I've been doing. Maybe I need to understand or realize that the environment that this president has trafficked in can help to lead to these sorts of situations, where people think that that sort of behavior, meaning the people who are doing these things, the people who are calling the cops on people falsely in central park.

The people who are chasing people down the street in Georgia and killing them. That you may begin to think that your actions or normal -- are normal. That you may begin to think that you as the preeminent voice can do things that are inhumane to other people and it will be accepted.

The game is giving it away. The woman in Central Park said I'm calling the cops and I'm going to say this scary black man did something to me knowing that the cops would probably come there and be on her side and not his.

The police officer, according to your witness, he looked him in the eye, he told the police officer, hey, stop it, you're going to kill the man. The cop said nothing. Maybe shouldn't be on drugs. Gave the game away.

That is the game. We can do it and we can get away with it and no one is going to tell us any -- no one is going to tell us otherwise. We're not going to go to jail for it. Maybe I'll lose my job. I'm going to keep my pension, though, because guess what? The police association is going to fight for me.

[22:05:05]

That is what has been happening in this country for years, and that's why the Black Lives Matter folks are out there and that's why people are protesting, Chris. I'm not condoning people protesting, but let me tell you, people are tired of living in an occupied country, a free country -- a country that's supposed to be free, yet they are occupied. So they are frustrated and they are angry and they are out there. And they're upset.

You shouldn't be taking televisions, but I can't tell people how to react to this. I don't know how it is to live under those circumstances in those neighborhoods.

I do live in Harlem, but I am lucky enough that I have this job that keeps me protected from many of those things. Other people don't have that.

I'm sorry to go -- I'm sorry to keep going on and on, but this is how you and I talk, and this is how we continue to talk, and I think that every person out there, listen, if you are black and you don't have a white friend, get one and tell them what's on your mind.

And if you are white and you don't have a black friend then get one and let him tell you what is on -- or her what is on their mind. Because that is the only way we are going to solve this. It is not upon -- it is not incumbent upon black people to stop racism. To stop this. It is incumbent upon people who hold the power in this society to help to do that, to do the heavy lifting. And guess who that is? Who is that, Chris?

CUOMO: White people. I don't talk much, but when I do, I make it count. Think that the protest makes sense. I don't think you can process the anger without them. Now, you start committing crimes and it's a riot, that's not a protest.

LEMON: That's not -- it's different.

CUOMO: It's different, but at the same time, I remember what Dr. King said about this and I understand that it's not easy to keep emotions in check when nobody seems to be keeping them in check when you are the victim. I get it.

What hurts most, I think, in this particular fact pattern, other than the duration, is why the hell were the other cops standing there doing nothing? Nobody is trained to put a knee on a throat.

LEMON: Because that -- it's not about training, it's not about police training, it's about the way we have been trained in society to react to those things. It is OK. Now, imagine if that was an 18, 19, 20- year-old white kid on the ground. Do you think those officers would be doing the same thing and reacting the same way?

CUOMO: That's the troubling question. That's the meme that's going around right now with the cops with the black kid on the ground saying hello to the white guy in Camo with the AK-47 and the mask who is protesting in Michigan. That when it's white people with guns and they're out and they're angry and their faces with cops.

LEMON: Didn't see any of that.

CUOMO: Everybody's civil.

LEMON: Didn't see any of that. The flags burning. Spitting in police officers' faces. Yelling -- yelling at police officers armed. Armed with heavy weaponry. Didn't see any of that. Did you any anybody with their foot on anybody's neck?

CUOMO: No. I mean, you know, you've heard people make it -- make it a joke. But it's tragic and sad if black people said let's all go and get guns and start to protest, that would be the fastest change of gun law culture in this country.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: If you started to have African-Americans buying up AR-15s or whatever you want to call them and going out and protesting legally with legal weapons, you'd see a change in the laws, and that's sad.

LEMON: Yes. And if you see a black man who has this platform, a television show, who has the gall enough to tell you how it is, guess how many people are going to call him racist and a race baiter.

CUOMO: Who cares?

LEMON: Check out my social media feed and see what happens. But I --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Who cares? You say what's true. And you say what's real. And look, you're not getting it from a second source.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: That's exactly what I would feel.

CUOMO: You lived it.

LEMON: Yes. I don't care. Go for it. I really don't care. You can save it or you can put it out there. I do not care. I am -- I am so frustrated -- listen, I am not even -- I've got to talk about the big story as well that's happening in the news, and that is coronavirus. But I'm so sick of as a person of color, especially a black man, as my actions, my thoughts, whatever I do is being seen as more aggressive or somehow sinister just because of the shell that I am in. I am sick of it.

I'm sick of having to monitor myself because of this body that I'm in. It is exhausting. It is mentally and physically exhausting and that is how people of color feel in this country. And you know what? I love you for listening to me here on television and I love you for doing it in person, so thank you.

CUOMO: I love you. You're a gift to me as a friend and you're telling people --

LEMON: Yes

CUOMO: -- what they need to hear and you're telling them because you do care as much as anybody I know.

LEMON: Thank you, Chris Cuomo. I'll see you soon.

CUOMO: I love you, brother.

LEMON: Love you as well.

This is CNN TONIGHT. I am Don Lemon. And here is -- and thank you for listening to that.

This is our breaking news here tonight on CNN.

[22:09:58]

This country reaching a tragic milestone tonight. More than 100,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, 100,411 in the latest count.

Their families, their friends and their neighbors, all Americans, all grieving tonight, and the fact is this didn't have to happen. It did not.

Experts have said that if we had only taken this pandemic seriously sooner, tens of thousands of those lives could have been saved. If this president had taken this pandemic seriously sooner, lives could have been saved.

LEMON: But on a deeply tragic day in this country's history, didn't have a thing to say. When we are -- when he arrived back at the White House tonight. But he tweeted, and I quote, this is a quote from Lou Dobbs calling him the greatest president in our history. OK. Whatever. Really?

That's what he thinks is important right now, what Lou Dobbs thinks? I mean, come on, give me a break. With more and more Americans dying from the coronavirus, that is an absolute disgrace. That's this president's reaction to one of the darkest days in our history. Compare that to the reaction of Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My fellow Americans, there are moments in our history so grim, so heart-wrenching that they're forever fixed in each of our hearts. A shared grief. Today is one of those moments. One hundred thousand lives have now been lost to this virus. Here in the United States alone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Americans are mourning and our president seems to be having trouble with empathy, having trouble with leadership as we face a crisis like nothing in our recent memory. Even today. He is refusing to wear a mask. Stigmatizing one of the best things that we can all do to protect our fellow Americans.

And then there's the president's son Eric Trump tweeting tonight, quote, "great day for the Dow." It's just vulgar, really. Ghosh isn't even the word for vulgar. That's what you tweet on the night when the coronavirus death toll in this country passes 100,000? Great day for the Dow. Disgraceful.

And what was on the president's mind today as Americans are marking this tragic milestone? Distraction, of course. He was on a Twitter tirade blasting his perceived political enemies. You know what he hardly mentioned at all in the middle of the tirade, the coronavirus.

He only managed to show any interest in the pandemic with two tweets. One bragging about how his ban that wasn't actually a ban on travel from China. There were restrictions but it wasn't an actual ban. The other bragging about testing. Even though the fact is we still don't have the testing that we need to reopen this country safely.

And despite the fact that he has been tweeting and retweeting all day tonight, he is waging war on Twitter, promising an executive order on social media. It is unclear tonight what that order will say, but a source telling CNN it was hastily thought up. Duh. At the last minute.

Probably because he thinks it it's going to help him and say, my gosh, we're being censored. Nobody is censoring you. No one. The president is furious at Twitter for what was, frankly, the mildest possible suggestion that two of his tweets about mail-in voting are not accurate.

I guess the irony is lost on this president waging war on Twitter while tweeting all day. And why is he doing all of this? Because we're in the middle of a pandemic. Because more than 100,000 Americans have died. Because more than 36 million are unemployed. And because for all of his bluster and bragging, the president just can't bring himself to show leadership. He downplayed this virus for months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We have it under control. It's going to be just fine.

We think we have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment, five. And those people are all recuperating successfully.

By April, you know, in theory when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.

The coronavirus, which is, you know, very well under control in our country.

We're going down not up. We're going very substantially down, not up.

When you have 15 people and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: It is being contained. And do you not think it's being contained in this country?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not a doctor, I'm a lawyer.

CONWAY: Well, you said, -- you said it's not being contained, so are you a doctor or a lawyer when you said it's not being contained? That's false. You just said something that is not true.

[22:15:02]

LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: So far it looks relatively contained and we don't think most people -- I mean, the vast majority of Americans are not at risk for this virus.

TRUMP: We are doing a great job with it and it will go away, just stay calm. It will go away.

Some of the doctors say it will wash through, it will flow through. Very accurate, I think you're going to find in a number of weeks.

The FDA also gave emergency authorization for hydroxychloroquine.

And I say it, what do you have to lose? I'll say it again, what do you have to lose? Take it. It will be wonderful. It will be so beautiful. It will be a gift from heaven. If it works.

I said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do, either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you're going to test that, too. Sounds interesting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll get the right folks who could.

TRUMP: Right. And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets on the lungs --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Can you believe the President of the United States actually said that? That's when those briefings just, I mean, came to, like, a screeching halt. I wonder why. This president dismissed the virus. This is -- everything I'm saying

is true, OK? He dismissed this virus. Said it would go away in warm weather. Suggested ingesting disinfectant might be a treatment.

I've heard people in conservative media say, he didn't say that. That's not what he said. Yes, he said it. We just played it for you. He promoted and took a drug with the potential for serious side effects. And what did all of that get us? What did it get us? It got us more than 100,000 Americans dead.

It did not have to happen. If this president had just been able to show some leadership. Instead, he is trying everything that he can, everything he can think of to distract you from this crisis.

You know, we talked tonight and last night about two major crises in this country. Two deadly viruses, really infecting Americans and killing Americans, COVID-19, racism '20.

And with the death toll from the coronavirus passing 100,000 tonight, we are grappling with the fact that Americans are still dying from racism. Still dying from racism. No vaccine for that. For that virus. No amount of social distancing on the street, in our cars, even on a walk in the park. That can protect us from that. No amount of social distancing. No mask to keep us safe.

But it is time now to take off the mask of racism and come together. White, black and brown, and say enough is enough. Easy words for me to say. Can you say that? Can you do that?

When it may be inconvenient for you, when it may not be in your face, when you don't see video of police officers with their knee on someone's neck or a woman falsely calling police or of a man jogging down the street and someone shooting him with a long -- with a rifle, with a long gun, excuse me. And you see his actual death. Can you do that?

It is time for these deaths to stop. Like the death of George Floyd. A black man in Minneapolis who died after a white officer arresting him held him down with his knee on his neck for minutes. Minute after agonizing minute as George Floyd screamed, please, I can't breathe.

This video, disturbing as it is to watch, doesn't show what led up to this arrest. It doesn't show what police described as a victim resisting arrest. And most police officers, most experts I spoke to said that doesn't matter.

If you -- it will tell the story of how it got to that, but when you look at what happened on the ground and how long those officers were on top of him and that he was already handcuffed and subdued -- but it shows us what happened to George Floyd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[22:20:04]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please. I can't breathe, officer. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to kill me. You're going to kill me, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, tonight a new video has emerged. We have new security camera footage that we'll play for you, and I'm going to talk to the man who helped bring it to light.

And we're going to take you live to the streets of Minneapolis where protesters are out for the second night in a row. President Trump was asked about the death of George -- George Floyd today. He didn't have a whole lot to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, we were wondering if you have a comment about the Minnesota (Inaudible) --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: I'm very sad about it. Very, very sad, sad event.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should the officers be prosecuted, sir?

TRUMP: We're going to look at it and we're going to get a report tomorrow when we get back. And we're going to get a very full report, but a very sad day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The president later tweeting he has asked the FBI and the Department of Justice to expedite their investigation, but, you know, just really seems to be incapable of showing true empathy to victims of two viruses infecting this country, racism and the coronavirus.

Instead, his words and actions on both fronts have left this country worse off. How long are we going to stand by and let the death tolls go up? Because the terrible fact is more than 100,000 Americans did not have to die.

With all 50 states reopening, what can we do to prevent more unnecessary deaths moving forward? That question for CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Dr. Harvey Fineberg next.

[22:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This is a sad, tragic day for America, passing a grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic. Now more than 100,000 deaths in this country. And President Trump is conspicuously silent tonight.

Let's bring in now CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins, Dr. Harvey Fineberg, the chair of the Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases. Both join us. Good evening to both of you.

Kaitlan, how is this president marking that a short time ago this country surpassed 100,000 dead Americans under his leadership?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, Don, he hasn't mentioned it. We did see the president note that we were getting close to the six-digit death toll yesterday, but he was only talking about it in that context of how many lives he believes he's saved by the measures he's taken.

Saying, that otherwise it would have been a million and a half to two million people he believed that would have died from coronavirus. Though, Don, we know those numbers actually come from if there had been no mitigation efforts, no social distancing, no mask wearing, shutdowns, things of that nature. That's what the models were projecting at the time.

And the president was here in Florida tonight, he was hoping to reach a much different milestone to see this space launch, and of course that was thwarted by poor weather. But as the president returned to Washington, he did not speak to reporters about the death toll on the record, on camera, anything like that. And he hasn't tweeted about it either.

So far he's tweeting plenty of time about Twitter, he's retweeting praise from Lou Dobbs, calling him the greatest president ever, maybe, but he has not mentioned so far this historic but grim milestone that we've reached.

LEMON: Yes, he's tweeting -- where is Lou Dobbs? Lou Dobbs is on Fox. Where is he now? Does anybody know? On the business channel. OK.

COLLINS: Yes, he is.

LEMON: I haven't seen him.

COLLINS: Yes.

LEMON: Yes. Don't know. OK. So, Dr. Fineberg, it's been three months since the president insisted 15 cases would go down to zero and now there are over 100,000 deaths. This terrible milestone wasn't set in stone. I mean, it could have been avoided.

HARVEY FINEBERG, CHAIR, STANDING COMMITTEE ON EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES: One hundred days, 100,000 deaths, Don. The real question is what are the next 50 days going to bring? Will we have another 50,000 deaths? Will we be able to get it down to 40,000, 25,000, 15,000?

We don't know what's going to happen with the virus, but we do know what we can do to control its spread. And that's going to be up to every state, every county, every community, every family to take the steps that are well-established to reduce the spread of this infection.

We need the tests. We need to isolate those who are infected. We need to quarantine those who are exposed and we need to contact trace to get everyone who has been exposed identified. Those are the simple but difficult steps that we all need to take now to minimize the future toll of this pandemic.

LEMON: Yes. And what have we learned in all of this? Kaitlan, you know, there is -- there is also Dr. Fauci this morning who has been imploring Americans to wear a mask. He says that he wears one as a symbol of what you should be doing. That puts him at odds with the -- with this president.

COLLINS: Yes, it seemed like a pretty clear message, actually, to the president. And there have been times in the Rose Garden where you've seen the president standing there not wearing a mask and Dr. Fauci is right behind him wearing a mask, and so it's been a conflicting message.

Fauci said on CNN earlier that he basically wears one as a symbol. So, when he's out, it's a sign of respect to other people -- and you've seen Republicans say similar things. Several governors saying, please, don't turn this into some kind of culture war, a political divisive issue where certain left-leaning people are wearing masks, right- leaning people are not wearing masks.

Republican governors have urged the people who live in their states to not take it to that step. And that's kind of what Dr. Fauci was saying. He believes it's a sign of respect for people to wear them and it's more of a symbolism for someone like him who is tested on a pretty regular basis, as is the president, to wear one. Yet Trump, himself, has not worn one.

And now, Don, you've seen him even going further. Yesterday saying he believed a reporter was being politically correct by refusing to pull the mask down as he was asking the president a question because the president couldn't hear him.

[22:30:03]

So, taking it a step further with that and the Biden retweet mocking Biden for wearing one on Memorial Day as well.

LEMON: This is where we are. Thank you, Kaitlan. Thank you, Dr. Feinberg. I appreciate it.

Coronavirus reaching every corner of the country, but it is hitting along partisan lines in dramatically different ways. How coronavirus is dividing blue and red America even more. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, with more than 100,000 Americans dead from the coronavirus, no state has been spared from tragedy, but red states and blue states are getting hit by the pandemic in very different ways.

Let's discuss now. Matthew Gentzkow, he is a professor of economics at Stanford University, who has been tracking partnership and the response -- in the response I should say to this virus. So, partisanship, excuse me. So, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate you joining us, Matthew.

[22:35:00]

Your research team originally thought a health crisis like this would minimize partisanship, but you saw exactly the opposite here. Tell me about your findings. What happened?

MATTHEW GENTZKOW, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: Yes, we thought it could at the beginning. I think there were reports of partisan differences early on and responses to the virus in surveys, and one of the things you might expect is that a crisis like this where people's lives are on the line might pull people together. We wanted to see to what extent that is really true using -- we looked at data from GPS devices from 40 million or so smartphones where we could track individual people's movements to see how different are those things really in red states and blue states.

LEMON: Your data shows that Democratic counties experienced far more coronavirus deaths than Republican counties. Does this explain one reason why Republicans have been protesting stay-at-home orders, do you think?

GENTZKOW: Yes, I think that is a great question because we observe these pretty substantial differences in the extent of social distancing in red and blue parts of the country, but the blue parts of the country have also been a lot harder hit. There have been far more deaths. You think about the places like New York and New Jersey where the outbreak has been worse. Those are overwhelmingly Democratic places.

So, one of the main things we wanted to do was try to control for those differences and see what kind of partisan gap remains that isn't just due to differences in how hard hit places are. And when we do that, we see some of that gap closes, but there is a substantial partisan difference that still remains.

LEMON: Bloomberg News found that in states Trump won in 2016, 23 people lost a job for every one person infected with coronavirus, but in states that Clinton won, 13 people lost a job for every person infected. How do you interpret that and how does that fit with your research?

GENTZKOW: Yes, I think it's -- I think it's very consistent in the sense that the virus that people are experiencing is really different. And also the messages that people are hearing from the top, from politicians, from leadership, from the media are very different depending on, you know, which channel you tune into.

And so those very different differences can translate into people perceiving the risks differently. And the people making different trade-offs and people weighing things differently. And I think this research shows that that is true. I would say it also shows that those differences are not as huge as someone might think. So we estimate about a 15 percent difference in the extent of movement in more Republican, more Democratic areas. That is substantial, but it's also not the case if you look at the

images on TV of protests outside of statehouses and states where lockdown orders have been lifted and people are thronging bars in big numbers, that is also not really the -- representative of what's going on. Most places in this country, red or blue, have done a lot of social distancing. But there is a real gap, and I think it goes back to that difference you're talking about in just what people have experienced.

LEMON: All right. Matthew Gentzkow, thank you very much. We appreciate you joining us here on CNN.

I want to get to some news that is developing right now. Where CNN's Sara Sidner is. She is in Minneapolis. Protesters are out on the streets. Sara, good evening to you. Clashes are continuing between police and protesters tonight over the death of George Floyd. Give us the very latest. What do you have?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm going to give you the scene right now. This is the police department, the third precinct here in Minneapolis. They have created a barrier around the particular precinct that some of the windows have been smashed in and they've been battling back and forth with protesters, many of them throwing water bottles. The police responding with beanies and responding by shooting tear gas.

But now you're seeing all those lights there. You're hearing people yelling at the police with their hands up. Those lights are actually the fire department because just across the street the auto zone is on fire. So, you can really see it. It's starting to billow. And I'm going to have sight push in. Now those sounds that you are hearing are flash bangs and fireworks.

So, sometimes you're hearing the flash bangs from police. And many times you're hearing fireworks that are from the protesters who are sometimes blowing those off near different parks. Now, we do not know how this fire started at auto zone, but this whole area here, this whole city block here has been a hot spot all day. East Lake Street, Minnehaha and they are right there.

They're starting to -- we're going to move back. They're starting to -- they're starting to throw molotov cocktails. We're going. All right. Watch it. Watch it. Watch it. They're starting to shoot molotov cocktails. (Inaudible) OK. So, what you're seeing is a few things. One, that is tear gas, and sometimes you're seeing the tear gas being thrown back at the police after they've already fired it at the protesters.

[22:40:07]

And then you're seeing -- if you look down there, just look down there, you can really see it going, and every now and then a protester will pick up and throw it right back at the officers, and so you're seeing these billows of smoke going over the officers, but you're also seeing that smoke going over the protesters. And let me tell you there were thousands of people out here earlier

today around the police department. They eventually moved them out and down the street, and then at some point they started to retreat. The officers began retreating back to the third precinct. Another flash bang there. And what your sort of seeing is this intense emotion blowing up tonight here in Minneapolis.

Really over this video, but also over a long history where people feel that are out here in the streets, the protesters here feel that they have never been given true justice from the police department. When it comes to cases like this. This harkens back to Philando Castile, where the officer was -- all right, sir. So he says he's been hit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look. They don't give a fuck about us, man.

SIDNER: He says he's been hit. You can see here. Now that is usually from these.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bro, how did I get shot so many times today? And listen, man, my name is Laroy Williams.

SIDNER: Here, talk to me. Laroy, tell me why you're out here. This is CNN. Why are you out here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, they killed my cousin Jamar. So, we did this on the north side. Second of all, when I came out here I didn't even know my home boy got killed. I used to work at the South Carolina from Texas. Third of all, they've been shooting me, I'm talking about all day.

SIDNER: So that is these shots. Thank you for speaking with me. These shots, these are some of the things that are being blown off here. And there is a lot of frustration that are people -- he is talking about the way people feel about the police officers, that they don't care about the black and brown community.

The police officers obviously there are four of them who have been fired Don, and that is -- and you know because you've covered these stories alongside me. That is a very fast reaction from the police department. Who said that even though the officers initially said, and you'll see a lot of running like this because as soon as the flash bangs happen, you'll see a lot of running. We got it.

LEMON: Sara, listen, we're going to let you go because we want you to be safe out there. So let's continue getting you in a safe position.

SIDNER: We're all right.

LEMON: Continue to talk over this. So, you see Sara Sidner. She is out there on the streets of Minneapolis and conditions that are not completely safe. She is saying there are flash bangs going off, as you can hear. There is tear gas being thrown at protesters. Protesters on occasion throwing it back to police. Molotov cocktails being thrown at police officers.

And just mostly general chaos. General chaos going on right now. And if you can see, there's -- or hear they're saying hands up, don't shoot, which started during the Michael Brown incident, the happening in Ferguson, Missouri a few years back. But, again, that is what's happening on the streets of Minneapolis after this man was killed after a police officer put his foot -- his knee, excuse me, on his neck for about nine minutes. Being pronounced dead. George Floyd, 46- year-old pronounced dead at the hospital moments after he was taken into police custody.

So, to continue on in that vein, we're going to get back to Sara. We want to make sure that Sara is safe. We'll continue to report to you what's happening on in the streets of Minneapolis, but in this vein, I want to speak to a local business owner or business owners who released surveillance video of the moments leading up to George Floyd's arrest. That is next right after this break. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:45:00]

LEMON: The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Monday sparking outrage and protests in Minneapolis tonight. We're going to take you back to the streets live. We're going to continue to watch that. But this is the disturbing footage captured by a bystander shows an officer relentlessly pressing him into the pavement with a knee on his neck.

Floyd can be heard telling the officer that he can't breathe, begging for his life. But now the security camera footage from a nearby restaurant is painting a fuller picture of what happened. On the top right, OK, you can see police, they've approached Floyd and they are in the process of removing him from his vehicle. A lot of activity is blocked by his SUV, but he eventually makes it over to the wall and then he sits down. On the ground, OK?

Floyd is then helped from the ground and pressed against the wall while the two officers prepare to walk him across the street. And you can see Floyd is distressed and has a pained look on his face as he speaks to them. He is then walked across the street. OK, there he is. They're helping him up. And he's walked across the street to another police SUV while one of the officers pulls his vehicle around to the other side of the street, blocking the view.

And you'll see all of that happening, OK? But police in their report, and we'll show that to you -- I just want you to see in this video what is happening, all right? So they walk him across the street. So, in the report, though, and you can look at this. This is him going across the street. Now unless we're missing something here, don't see much of any resisting, OK? Falls down there. And they tried to help him to the SUV.

[22:50:04]

OK. So, in their report, they say after he got out, Floyd physically resisted officers. And joining me now is Rashad West. That was his restaurant security camera footage that we just saw. Jared Brewington who helped him secure and release this footage of Floyd's arrest, he joins us as well. Gentleman, I appreciate you joining us. Thanks, so let's go through this.

Rashad, you first. The security camera footage we just looked at came from your restaurant, Dragon Wok. The FBI is now in possession of this footage. But why was it important for you to make it public?

RASHAD WEST, OWNER, DRAGON WOK: Really, I feel like we have, you know, as business owners and especially as a black man, I feel like when something like this happens, when you get footage that clearly shows that he wasn't struggling or altercating with the police, I think it was very important for me to show that part. Because you always get the chopped up videos that we leave out things and have people wondering what did he do beforehand.

I'm disgusted and sick about hearing that. So, I figured, you know, let's take this footage, make sure it does not get cut, and show the community that he was not struggling. So, we just knew right away it was extremely important to get this to the right people. So it wouldn't be hidden and out of sight.

LEMON: Now, you helped get this video out there. And you felt this is for you Jared, you felt time was of the essence because of what might happen with the investigation. Tell me what you wanted to avoid happening.

JARED BREWINGTON, HELPED SECURE UNEDITED FOOTAGE OF FLOYD ARREST: I wanted to avoid happening what happened with some of the neighboring businesses that already had the FBI come and -- come with warrants and secure their DVRs and security systems. I was initially alerted to the need for security footage when the Washington Post called me early yesterday morning thinking I was still the owner of the restaurant there. Rashad's business had followed my restaurant at the beginning of the year I had moved on.

But I still had ties with the community. So, when I called Rashad and the neighboring business, the neighboring business said that the FBI had already taken their DVR. I alerted Rashad to that and he said the FBI was at his door. I said if you wait for me, we can secure that footage and get it to the press to at least, you know, preserve an unedited, full extended cut, or cuts of that time frame.

So many times when these things have happened the community cries out for weeks, where's the video, either body cam or the like, dash cam. And the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in this instance here or local authorities hold that video for so long and it leaves the community wanting to know what's going on.

And in that, there comes cynicism and scrutiny as to, you know, what happened then, what are the results. And you know for too long in our black communities, there have been unarmed black men killed by police officers and there hasn't been any prosecution. We have that here. You know, Minneapolis has a national audience for a lot of things that aren't as beautiful as our number one ranking in parks systems.

LEMON: Let me jump in here. Because I want to get to the Attorney General Keith Ellison coming up. But I just have to ask both of you. You both have seen the entire video, right?

WEST: Yes.

BREWINGTON: Yes, sir.

LEMON: Rashad, were you there when it happened? Did you happen to witness it and get video? So, you weren't there. You've just seen the video?

WEST: So, I saw -- so what happened was I was alerted. My phone was going crazy. We were closed that day. It was Monday, so we were closed. And I just rushed down there to see what was on my video to see if I could at least get something. I didn't expect that they were arresting him right in front of my restaurant, so luckily we got the video showing that he was not struggling.

LEMON: So, did you see the entire thing play out from beginning to end on the tape?

WEST: Absolutely.

LEMON: Everything plays out. Did you see any resistance on that tape?

WEST: Did not see any resistance, not at all.

LEMON: Neither of you?

BREWINGTON: No.

LEMON: No.

WEST: Mr. Floyd was set against the wall like was seen on the video when he was walked across the street, you know, the cruiser did a U- turn. And then at that point, the next vantage point would have been the now infamous Facebook video that alerted --

LEMON: Got it.

WEST: -- the public to his unjust killing.

LEMON: I thank both of you for coming on. We appreciate it. We appreciate you doing the right thing, and you're welcome to come back any time. Thank you and stay safe.

WEST: Thank you for having me.

[22:55:02]

LEMON: Thank you and I know Rashad, that you're upset about this. You told me in the break that this has to stop and you're absolutely right. Thank you, sir.

So listen, next, the chief law enforcement officer of Minnesota, I'm going to ask the state's Attorney General what's ahead for these officers involve in George Floyd's arrest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, we're following breaking news here tonight on CNN. President Trump weighing in on the investigation of the killing of George Floyd. Saying in a pair of tweets that he has asked the FBI and the Department of Justice to expedite their investigations into his death. Investigations are also being conducted by the Hennepin County attorney's office and Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Let's discuss now with Keith Ellison, the Attorney General for the state of Minnesota. Thank you. Mr. Attorney General, we appreciate you joining us. So, listen, I have to tell you the body cam footage has been released. CNN is bringing that in now.