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Cuomo Prime Time

Protests Spread Over George Floyd's Death. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired May 30, 2020 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:00]

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We're in the height of it, and I want to get to my colleague now, Chris Cuomo, who is going to continue our breaking news coverage.

Chris, we start with these pictures, coming from the capital, from the White House, people are angry, they are upset, and there you, are a face-off between police and protesters.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Look, it is the scene that we have been seeing, Don. You've been covering it tonight with our people obviously, ably on the ground. What we see right now is a breaking point here in front of the White House.

The shields are often an indication for pockets of more angry people to come and test the shields. If there are barriers, they test the barriers.

Now, the challenge for police in what you are watching right now, is what do you do with the people who are wrestling with? What do you do? They want your shields. If you surrender your shield, it is going to be used as a weapon.

If you want to open up and detain the people who are attacking you, you are going to create an overflow situation, and a breach in the flanks.

LEMON: They have been surrendering the barricades and allowing these in fighting form, but after a while they say, listen, just take it.

CUOMO: And they bring more barricades.

LEMON: Right.

CUOMO: Because again, you can call it de-escalation, but it is also tactical. They are incredibly outnumbered and the dynamic is often manufactured, Don.

You know, we have to give some credence to the reality on the ground. As you know, and anybody who has covered these in different situations.

You see a lot of brown faces right now, and there are a lot of brown faces on the ground, but they are not all brown faces. And when you look, more often than not at who is right up in the face of police, you will see a lot of white faces.

And sometimes, they are organized, sometimes, they are members of groups. Sometimes, they are frequenters of these, and they are agitated and they are looking for provocation.

Sometimes, they are allies. Sometimes, they are just hyper sensitized and angry. So, not every situation is the same.

And you see that again and again in different cities.

So, now, there is spray coming from the officers, probably a retardant spray, a pepper spray or something like that, which is a deterrent.

And we will see what that does to the crowd, and this is repeating itself, in cities all across this country in cycles of movement.

This is the White House, we could show you Minneapolis, we could show you Denver, we could show you Los Angeles, we could show you Brooklyn, New York. We have seen these scenes.

Why? Because the issues that underlie it are repeatable. This is Los Angeles. We watched an officer, early this night take a solid beating from various members of a crowd, as he was trying to detain somebody.

Now, the question becomes, Don, what takes this situation to the next level of process? What will that process be?

That is a question that we do not have the answer to yet.

LEMON: Yes. Listen, and you point out something that is very astute, that there is a strategy behind what these police departments do, and I've been noticing the difference from city to city as to how the police departments handle this.

They should probably all have very similar training, but it is obvious that they use that training in different ways, as we look at the pictures happening in Los Angeles.

Some of the officers engage, and others don't. They show incredible restraint, and I have to say that the officers that are standing out there in front of the White House, in Lafayette Park, in Washington D.C., have shown incredible restraint with people who are coming into their faces, yelling at, them and trying to pull barricades, and even throwing objects at them.

So it is an interesting back and forth that we have been watching play out. I do have to say Chris, that I think that -- I know, and you know as well, that Police Departments around this country saw what happened last night, and said, overnight, and this morning, and today, that is not going to happen in our city, and we are going to be prepared.

CUOMO: But it's not that easy for them. You know, they are up against it, when it comes to policing in general, let alone situations like this.

Now, I know that that is a counter narrative, that right now, what these demonstrations, protests, riots, rebellions -- however you wish to characterize them are focusing on the inequities and the imbalances where minorities in this country are not just disenfranchised, but they feel preyed upon and victimized.

LEMON: Occupied in a free country in their own neighborhoods, in their own communities.

CUOMO: You're right. I hear the language, I understand why people are using it. But in a situation like this, as you and I have been in, I have been in many times in many different parts of the world. The police, there is no upside for them in the situation.

If you touch anybody, you are going to have emotions run over in a very bad way. You almost can't use your weapons, no matter what's going on, because you don't want to escalate.

[00:05:06]

CUOMO: But you are getting hurt an injured and there's huge chunks of time that you have to stand in harm's way --

LEMON: And Chris, not to mention that we are in the middle of a pandemic, speaking of touching people.

CUOMO: Well, look, and it is no small irony in watching these tonight that you are watching people burn cars, attack buildings, attack police and the whole time they have COVID masks on.

So, they are protecting themselves from a virus ostensibly, while in the middle of what you are watching on your TV screen. How bizarre a situation we have in our country. That during a pandemic, it doesn't work for me, you see people online and others in the media commenting that -- why don't they wait until the pandemic is over?

Outrage doesn't have patience. The idea that there is a pandemic doesn't change the fact that there is a guttural reaction to a man having a knee on his neck as he begs for his life and then dies.

But it is interesting that we are in a time where these people who are out there have masks on to protect themselves from a virus at the same time they are protesting that the police don't protect them from others in society. It is just a bizarre reality that we are living through together.

LEMON: Yes, listen, I'm sure people wish that there's some sort of mask or something that could protect them from this other virus that is racism and perhaps they think that the protest in whatever form they are choosing to engage whether it's peaceful or whether it is violent, they are hoping in some way that that's going to protect them.

I don't know if the outrage will, but it certainly has fueled something and awakening in this country, and the death has certainly of George Floyd has fueled an awakening in this country, Chris.

I asked the question to Bakari, it's obvious that it was the death of George Floyd, but what happened? What was that -- what is different about this time?

This feels different to me than Ferguson. This feels different to me than Baltimore. This feels different to me than other cities where there have been protests especially considering the diversity of people who are in this crowd.

As you mentioned earlier, and I was so happy that you said it and we have been seeing it all day as I was with Wolf, looking at the people in this crowd, these aren't just angry black people, right? You said it, too -- who can't -- you know, don't know how to control themselves and are out here looting, these are people of all different ethnicities and I would imagine, all different backgrounds of socioeconomic as well.

CUOMO: And what I don't like in these situations, and we have to be careful to police, no pun intended, is there are some organized elements, anarchic elements that come into the situations.

LEMON: Right on.

CUOMO: Do bad things and then disappear and then people on the fringe of politics take advantage and say look what they did here, look what they did to these people.

Often, it's not who you think it was who did it, or who you are being led to believe.

LEMON: Who started it, at least, right?

CUOMO: Exactly.

LEMON: Right.

CUOMO: So, look, it's complicated. Look. Look at the faces on your screen right now in Los Angeles. Do you see an angry black mob standing in front those police? No.

You have to look at each situation individually and I'm not an apologist. Open your eyes and look at the picture.

I'm not trying to distort reality, I am showing you reality. Oh, well, that is just here. I will show you scenes like it in nine different cities and we will start right now.

Don, as is your want, please stand by. I couldn't have a better partner than you in doing this kind of coverage.

Let's go to Sara Sidner though in Minneapolis who is giving us context of where we were a couple of hours ago, you very astutely showed everybody that when the curfew started, the only people who left the streets where the cops. Where are we now?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are about three and a half miles from the Third Precinct. We are about a block down from the Fifth Precinct where folks had walked all the way there, gathered in front of the Fifth Precinct. This is the Wells Fargo here at the Fifth Precinct. The car set on

fire, it has gotten the ATM on fire. If you look over to the right, that is where you have tellers that is on fire and then that is the actual building there, the Wells Fargo Bank. That is -- the inside of it on fire. People kicking through the windows right now.

I have two young black men who -- youngsters who are out here and who want to we want to talk to them because they have been talking about what it is, and why they are out here, and why they are out here past curfew.

You've got a lot of folks running right now. Tell me your name.

AHMED: My name is Ahmed.

SIDNER: Ahmed, why are you out here?

AHMED: I am out here to get justice for my city. My city has been going through a lot of pain. This is not the first, second or third time and this needs to stop right now, and this is the only way.

[00:10:00]

AHMED: You see all of this? All of this damage is what we have to do to get our voice heard. Why is that?

But if it was a white man getting you know, getting shot down on the street like that -- that like the police officer --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police officer on the street -- he only got third- degree murder.

AHMED: Third degree murder. He only got third-degree murder. And then there is a Somali cop --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mohamed Noor.

AHMED: Mohamed Noor, that's the name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Killed a white lady.

AHMED: He killed a white lady and he is in jail right now for 12 and a half years.

SIDNER: What you gentlemen are telling me is that you see disparity between how people are treated because of their race.

AHMED: Yes.

SIDNER: And you feel like --

AHMED: I wake up -- go ahead.

SIDNER: Yes, and you feel like the only response that you feel like you can express is burning stuff down, breaking stuff up. Do you feel like you are going to damage your own neighborhoods and then not have places to go?

AHMED: I'm not saying that. I am not damaging anything. I'm over here just to show my respect and my efforts to see what I can do. Because at the end of the day, there's not a lot we can do.

If the government is not going to listen, if the attorney is not going to listen, you know, but the Mayor, I respect him, Jacob Frey, I respect him. You know, he tried to do something about it.

He did say that those four officers need to be behind bars right now.

SIDNER: Are you satisfied?

AHMED: And it is still not happening.

SIDNER: Are you satisfied with the charges brought against Derek Chauvin the other and the other three officers? What do you want to see happen, what does justice look like to?

AHMED: The same thing that happened to Mohamed Noor. The same thing that happened to Mohamed Noor. A fair trial. That's what we want, a prosecution. That's what we want. We demand that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Free Mohamed Noor.

AHMED: Free that man right now.

SIDNER: Thank you, gentlemen.

AHMED: You're welcome.

SIDNER: Please be safe out here.

AHMED: Yes, you guys be safe.

SIDNER: Please be safe out here.

AHMED: And I'm not participating in any of this part. You see me earlier, right?

SIDNER: I saw you earlier, you were not participating, and do you think this is wrong?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is wrong? I want to say completely, it is wrong, but it is also wrong though. You know.

Bu then, if it is like, it's what people have got to do to get their voices heard, then that's what we have to do, because like he said, Mohamed Noor is in incarceration right now for 12 and a half years.

AHMED: For killing a white lady.

SIDNER: So, what you're hearing is the frustration in disparities in people being charged, officers in particular. He is talking about Mohamed Noor. I know you know the story because I just want to remind people that officer, hold on a second -- I am going to pull you away. Come this way, come this way. We've got teargas. Come on. There's a

smoke bomb.

So, basically, he is talking about disparities, and you heard right there, people are asking why people are burning things, why people are looting.

One of the reasons is, there's a lot of folks that believe that if their voices have not been heard, other than when this sort of thing happens, this is when they get attention. This is when people pay attention to what they are saying and leaders pay tension to what they are saying. Otherwise, they feel completely ignored.

And so that is why you are seeing this reaction, and it's interesting -- all right now, all right now.

So the bottom line is, people feel very frustrated, very, very frustrated.

So, everyone's emotions are high, as you might imagine. But you heard those two young --

CUOMO: Yes. What happened? Is she okay? All right, so here is what we're doing. Sara is okay., If anything, you get a false sense of calm, when you are watching Sara Sidner because as happens with experience, she has been in so many situations in so many different parts of the world that people with that kind of calm and expertise and professionalism, they process things differently than the rest of us can, or the rest of you who haven't been in those situations for better or worse.

We pulled away because when people start taking advantage of the coverage, a couple of things happen. One, you start to hear things that don't advance your understanding, that are more just hyperventilation than they are really an incremental awareness issue for us.

And it creates a safety issue, because they start to see an opportunity and they come and they can be more violent in the situation and there are only three people there, it's Sara, her photojournalist, a photographer, Stipe, and her producer.

So, it works better when you give a little air to them. Let it go away. Let them move on their way, and not feel the need to dominate the shot.

Secondly, what you are hearing -- do they think what is happening is wrong in terms of the burning of the cars and the burning of the building? You heard unanswered there that is very familiar in these circumstances, very difficult to understand and very easy to distort.

Do you think this is wrong? Sara said to them, and pointed at the burning car. Yes, it is wrong, but it's wrong also, but not the same. Well, there is wrong in there is not wrong. There is wrong and there is right. Right? That's why you think.

It's too simplistic in a situation like this. The motivation for the wrong matters as well.

[00:15:07]

CUOMO: Why did you light this car fire? Because you're some jackass from out of town who has dreams of anarchy? Or you've come in just a mess around and wear a guy faux mask? That is one kind of wrong.

You are somebody who is either hypersensitive to or living and feel victimized by systematic disenfranchisement, in constant perceived threats to your own life by the people who you are supposed to be able to trust.

Now, that's a different kind of wrong, isn't it? And if you say no, no, it's the same -- what about the Boston Tea Party? What about what happened in the 60s? What about what happened at Stonewall?

Doesn't the motivation for what you see is wrong matter?

The answer can only be yes, and once you accept that, then the task becomes, well, if you can understand, and you can start to hear the pain, then you can start to understand the context of the problem.

Now, this is more complicated than it looks, because again, this is not a sea of brown looking to destroy a society that they do not like.

There's a lot of whites there. There are a lot of young there. There are a lot of different people creating provocations for different reasons. It's all complicated.

It's hard for police. It's hard for journalists. It's hard for people on the ground and it's hard for you and you see it.

There is a lot to process in this. Just do not give into the oversimplification of what is right, what is wrong, because that is why we keep getting stuck in this cycle.

There is going to be more developments. We will cover it all night.

Let's take a quick break right now, please stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:20:28]

CUOMO: We are watching what has become a national story. Yes, we are still struggling in a pandemic, and that reality is reflected bizarrely on streets tonight all over this country by people who are in the streets, angry, some protesting, some there to provoke police, some there to destroy property, some there to do a combination, and wearing masks to protect themselves from the virus. How bizarre is that?

You are looking at Minneapolis, Minnesota. A curfew has been in effect since 8:00 p.m., the results, not so good.

The only people who seem to have vanished from the streets in a lot of different places, according to reporters on the ground, at least early on in the night were the police -- the authorities seem to have abandoned positions. We will have to understand what the planning and strategy was behind that.

We gave you one perspective, a moment ago, from Sara Sidner, talking to people locally about what happened, now here is Miguel Marquez. He has been there all day and night, different side of the city. Miguel, how are you doing where you are?

MARQUEZ: Well, it's gotten a little dicey, I have to be honest. We started in downtown with a thousand, maybe more protesters. They marched for miles taking over part of 35 West at one point.

They have marched all the way to the Fifth Precinct, where Sara is.

The mood, the tone, everything changed very much from what we saw what was mostly friendly, mostly there was no chaos or looting along the way. In fact, whenever anyone tried to do that, the protesters would stop them from doing it.

Now, we are near the Fifth Precinct where a Wells Fargo Bank has been set ablaze. They are trying to break into the front door on this side, and I want to show you over here. This is -- they have been lighting off fireworks. There was a Molotov cocktail that went off over here.

This is actually the Fifth Precinct, and you cannot quite tell, but there are several silhouettes on the roof. There are officers up there with nonlethal weapons that are firing into the crowd at certain points.

A lot of the individuals -- excuse me -- a lot of the individuals that -- a lot of the individuals that we marched with all day, they have dissipated. The crowd has gotten much smaller, but certainly, much more rowdy.

And a lot of people, obviously, want to get on camera, and talk about their issues.

We did see, there is a shopping mall here with a Dollar Tree Office Max, several different stores that are being looted, people are trying to get into gas stations in this area.

They marched from the Third Precinct with Sara as well to this location. The group I was with marched from downtown, all the way to this area. They have all met here, and now --

CUOMO: Hey, Miguel.

MARQUEZ: It is again, the sort of standoff. Yes, Chris?

CUOMO: When you say the group you were with, first of all, the young man who just wanted to get on camera, we have watched him before, and I've listen to what he wants to say. He is about getting attention. I have no problem with you keeping him off camera. I've heard him now several times. He doesn't have a message he wants to articulate, it's more about the attention. So, good call on that. The group you were with, the composition of the group. The mentality

of the group, give us a sense of what kinds of people, what kinds of message, what kinds of influence?

MARQUEZ: It was heartening. It was Minneapolis. It started at Viking Stadium. You had about several hundred people who were there. There were speeches. They were sort of rallying.

The time got closer to when the curfew would go into effect. They began to march. It is not clear what was going to happen.

The police never confronted them. They stayed off a block or more either direction, keeping the traffic off of them, but it was Minneapolis.

It was black, it was white. It was Latino. It was young, mostly young, but older people as well. Girlfriends and boyfriends, husbands and wives, people walking their dogs along with the crowd.

It was everybody coming out to express their anger and they're upset.

We did have, along the way, people getting in the camera, wanting to sort of shout expletives and the like. I'd much rather have them do that than do other things.

But now, it is much different mood here at the Fifth Precinct where protesters, this is what they want to focus on. They want to focus on that police -- put the focus on the police on what they feel they have done to the city, to residents of the city for too long, and clearly, across the country as well.

You've seen it. I've seen it for many, many years now. It has been simmering for decades, and it comes back every now and again and boils over.

We are seeing that now. This feels different in some ways. This feels more substantial.

And the video of George Floyd dying at the knee of that police officer. While we have seen many videos throughout the last several years, we have not seen one like that -- that specific, that clear, that obvious, and it is just too much for many people to take -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Miguel, stay safe. You know how these situations change on the ground. You have a lot of opportunists around you. You're a pro. You play it well and take care of your team. I'll check back when he tell me to.

Let's go to Los Angeles. We have Kyung Lah there. There's an intersection here that was once again getting overrun, and Kyung, we see now the police in formation to clear the intersection, is that what's happening?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we've been seeing throughout the evening are police officers, sort of making this exact formation. You can see how they come through the intersection.

There is a number of them and then they come through, and they try to push back the protesters.

What we have been seeing throughout the night is that after the protesters disperse, then they suddenly rush towards the police again.

And then what you are hearing there are these flashbangs.

CUOMO: Yes.

LAH: You can see that. You can hear it, and that is to disperse the crowd. We've been seeing that throughout the evening, at every intersection that we've been in, and it's almost been this repetitive cycle, throughout the evening here in Los Angeles.

And this is just one intersection. It is something that we have seen from the aerial pictures, from our affiliates, and at a number of locations throughout downtown Los Angeles.

CUOMO: Now, Kyung, tell me --

LAH: We have a statement from the --

CUOMO: Kyung, tell people why they are hearing all the horns? Be careful as you follow, but the horns we're hearing. Who are they?

LAH: Yes, it's difficult to tell. It sounds like to me, from where I am, that it is people supporting the police, I think.

We are going to walk this way.

CUOMO: Go ahead.

LAH: And you can see that this is -- we are behind the police line here.

CUOMO: Right.

LAH: And the protesters are on the other side, about half of a block away. And every time that the crowd gets dispersed, then they reform and then there is another confrontation with the police.

We have a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department that one of the officers at one of these intersections, where we saw this action happen is that this police officer was injured in one of these -- yes.

And so -- well you can hear -- you heard this man speaking. The people who are coming out here are because they are feeling the same thing that we are seeing in other cities. It is that people are upset, and they are chanting the name and they have that sentiment that they do not want to be ignored, and that's something you are hearing from all of the people who are gathered now here.

What we have seen, also, are police vehicles being vandalized, spray- painted, windows being shattered. But I have not seen direct protester to police officer confrontations.

So we haven't seen pushing and shoving.

CUOMO: Good.

LAH: But certainly, here in Downtown Los Angeles, you can see that they are still trying to disperse crowds.

CUOMO: Yes, a couple of things. First of all, you want to make sure that the team stays as close as the police will let you get that to them.

Because as you know, when you fall behind the police, you start to get exposed to some of the angrier elements that are there. The team can be at risk. So, don't slow down for me, Kyung.

Make sure that you keep moving as the team wants to move, so you can stay in proximity to where the police are. It is the best place for the team to do its coverage.

Thank you for the deference of slowing down the shot, but the audience at home can figure it out. I just want you to be clear about something that has been misreported a lot tonight, not on CNN, but those officers were not shooting into a crowd when they were walking up.

Those yellow -- they paint them yellow for a reason, okay. Those are not guns, okay. They are the propellant canister for the flashbangs.

Flashbangs are what they sound like, you are probably pros at this at this point, with so many of these we've seen so many times over the years.

[00:25:07]

Flash -- the big light, disorienting. The bang -- the sound, disorienting. Smoke. Worrisome, so you back away.

They shoot them on an angle at the ground essentially, so that there is a bounce effect and they can create more of a barrier.

They are a deterrent. So, I know it looks very, very frightening, and by the, way on the ground, it can seem very frightening. Those things work to great effect. The only better thing is certainly teargas. Teargas does exactly what it sounds like.

Everything starts to pour out of everything in your face, and it's almost impossible for you to move, let alone breathe. It certainly creates hostility very quickly.

Now, Los Angeles is a different structure than you are seeing in Minneapolis. Los Angeles has a sophistication of dealing with crowd control that I don't know Minneapolis has in terms of its experience.

Now, Kyung and her team are running to catch up with where the police were so they can monitor the action and show us what is happening. They are not running in fear right now. Again, it is important for you to have context about what is

happening. There's so much opportunity for hype, misinformation, disinformation and we don't need that right now.

The pandemic was more than enough to have this boiling over and let's be honest, one thing has something to do with the other on two different levels.

One, people are upset. They've been pushed to the edge. They have been inconvenienced. They have been scared. They are desperate.

The bizarre thing that we are living through, a pandemic, and now we have these demonstrations on the street, and everything that comes along with it and they have COVID masks on.

That's our time. They're protecting themselves from a virus, while they were fighting outrage of what they see as an unjust society. Bizarre times to be sure.

But within that, there is an opportunity to politicize this. That these are tyrannical blacks who don't feel they have a stake in society so they want to destroy it.

Every city we are showing you, you see plenty of white faces, especially in provocative circumstances. Why? Good and bad reason. Like everything else in life.

Some of them are hyper vigilant, allies, aware. Others are semi- organized or fully organized or into anarchy. They've got the guy faux masks. They are there for bad reason to do bad things, and I've had them try to do exactly that with teams that I've been with.

So, again context matters.

Los Angeles right now it is doing different waves. You see them right now trying to move police vehicles to secure a specific area of traffic flow.

So let's do this, let's take a break and when we come back, let's go through the different cities and we will see the different strategies, and as different pockets of problems arise, we will go to them specifically. So, let's take a quick break. Please stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:37:28]

CUOMO: All right, let's go back to Minneapolis. Miguel Marquez, a lot has changed since we went to break. What's happening?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, so the State Police formed a line, started moving up toward the crowd. The crowd then challenged them. They made the announcement that they are breaking curfew and that they would be removed. That's when things got very, very intense here. What is happening is that protesters are firing bottle rockets and big

fireworks into the precinct. There is actually a small fire burning in the precinct. Police on the roof and the police -- the line of police moving up the street alongside the precinct are firing volley after volley of teargas to try to clear those protesters out.

Also some flashbang grenade. I got hit by something -- I am not sure if it was a rock or a canister.

CUOMO: Are you okay?

MARQUEZ: Police now -- you can see the police moving -- yes, I am just fine.

You can see the police moving down the line here. We are moving back down the streets as protesters are now picking up some of those canisters. They're trying to throw them back at police. We can see them.

CUOMO: Miguel, do me a favor.

MARQUEZ: You can see what they're trying to do. Yes.

CUOMO: Do me a favor, please, move yourself off to the side and find a position where you guys won't be in direct line of what's about to come your way.

MARQUEZ: Well, we are on one street and they are pushing them back.

CUOMO: I know, but try to move to the side because we know.

MARQUEZ: We're fine as long as we keep moving.

CUOMO: All right, good, good. Just be safe.

MARQUEZ: We're fine as long as we keep moving.

CUOMO: Because you know that everything they are going to shoot is a deterrent. It will come straight down the street.

MARQUEZ: Look at the flames coming out of the Wells Fargo there to the left now. That is what's been happening here all night.

The fireworks has gotten more intense, and they're using -- the protesters are now using the fireworks as weapons.

They just keep coming back. Keep coming back.

You can see these are all canisters. Watch yourself. Watch yourself. Watch yourself. This way.

All right, now we are in the thick of it. Let's go this way.

CUOMO: Yes. You've got to move away from that direct line, Miguel.

Make sure the team is safe. Don't worry about it, we see what's happening. Are you all right?

[00:40:09]

MARQUEZ: Yes. That's a healthy dose.

CUOMO: Yes.

MARQUEZ: Yes.

CUOMO: Sorry, give yourself a second, Miguel. Give yourself a second.

We are with Miguel Marquez right now. He is in Minneapolis.

The State Police have started to tell people we are going to start stepping it up now. You are going to be arrested if you don't follow the directions. There is a curfew that has been in place since eight o'clock local time.

It is now 11:40 local time. Miguel has been following their advance, closely enough that he just got a good dose of whatever pepper spray or teargas that they are launching.

His team is now moving out of the way. It is the only way to do the job right is you have to keep ourselves away from the direct action from the police because they don't know who they are looking at and who they are not. A lot of ugly things happen in those moments.

Miguel and his team are gathering themselves now. I want to just check back with him for a state of play, and then we will move to the other side of the city. Miguel, how are you doing now?

MARQUEZ: We're fine. We've moved back. Most of the protesters are moving out now. Police are moving in. It looks like, it's mostly State Patrol.

There were several volleys between them with the fireworks from the protesters and the teargas and the flashbangs from the police.

They fired a hell of a volley of teargas into the crowd to get them out. They just had enough. The strip mall next to them, the bank next to the precinct, they were being set on fire and being looted.

The fire then was being directed at the precinct itself. There was a Molotov cocktail thrown at the precinct. There were fireworks going off. There is a small fire that had started at the base of the Fifth Precinct, and that is when they had enough.

The State Patrol started moving up right along the precinct there and they made the announcement three or four times that they were breaking curfew and that's when they moved in.

Maybe 50 to 60 protesters confronted them and when that volley of pepper spray or teargas came, they scattered and then moved around the corner and that's where you picked it up with us and it looks like we are probably moving again here.

CUOMO: Yes, so let's do this, Miguel.

MARQUEZ: Yes, we are leaving.

CUOMO: Yes. Be careful, because we know, Miguel, you're a pro. I've been with you in these situations many times. When they start to run, people bang into you. They take it the wrong way.

Get yourself to a safe position. I'll come back to you. You let me know when you are good. Let's go to Sara Sidner on the other side of the city.

MARQUEZ: They are firing --

CUOMO: Yes, be careful. You know he is breathing in a lot of that teargas.

Miguel and I have known each other a very long time and he is as good as they get in those situations.

But you've got to reposition. You have to be safe enough to tell the story without becoming a part of the story.

Sara, what is going on where you are in Minneapolis?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are you talking to me, Chris?

CUOMO: Yes, ma'am. How are we doing?

SIDNER: All right. We have just seen an incredible scene here, because now all of a sudden, the State Police have shown up.

State Police are coming this way. Protesters have moved back the other way. I will get as close as possible but we are taking on -- you hear the teargas being shot. They are standing in the road.

It's very hard to see them, but as they move forward and advance forward, they have been taking on rocks and returning with plenty of teargas. Lots of folks have been running down these streets and you will see people hiding behind cars.

The line of the officers is now moved just past the Fifth Precinct here where are of the protesters ended up coming when they left the Third Precinct which is about three and a half miles away from here.

I don't know what you can see Spike is able to zoom in, but a line of officers from the State Patrol are marching up the street. They have stopped in the middle of the street and they have sort of stopped advancing for now because I think many of the protesters have moved way back.

But this is the first time that we have seen them out here. For the most part, we have only seen the guys on top of the Fifth Precinct.

We are going to move back some because they are advancing forward a bit, but there's been plenty of fires here. We saw people breaking in to Wells Fargo as they it on fire. There you go. You are seeing right there and that stuff is potent. It will make your

eyes sting and make you cry. Really, really potent stuff.

People are running into it, but they are also firing rubber bullets as well.

CUOMO: Watch out, Sara. The canisters are right on your heels.

SIDNER: A lot of people unable -- okay, watch it. Watch it. There are some behind you.

[00:45:07]

SIDNER: There are a lot of folks with their eyes all red, walking through this. It is very strong, very potent.

Sometimes, it is smoke bombs, but for the most part we are seeing lots of teargas here, Chris, and they are really just trying to move people away from the Fifth Precinct.

It doesn't seem that they're going much further than creating a barricade for the Fifth Precinct there. I can tell you right now, we saw fireworks set directly at the Fifth Precinct, and it caught part of it on fire, we are just not sure exactly where that fire was, but it was definitely near or on the building there of the Fifth Precinct.

CUOMO: All right, Sara --

SIDNER: He is holding what has been fired by officers. I have also seen several of those at the Third Precinct as well. So, where did you get that? Did you pick up the street?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was right over there. Right in front of that car.

SIDNER: Okay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I picked it up. Right on the back of the leg. They must have shot it from all the way down the block.

SIDNER: You were basically running back. What did you see? Did you see a line? Did you see how many officers?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard that they were coming from that side and from behind K-Mart, so they were trying to flank us.

So, basically, everyone started running and I had my exit strategy and so you know, I had to escape with my bros. Northside.

SIDNER: Thank you so much. So, you are hearing from someone who has watched the police try to flank the area.

Again the precinct is just three blocks from here. They move the protesters back who have dispersed, and they did that because they were able to use a whole lot of really potent gas and teargas and it really did move people way. They did so in part because there is a curfew, although nobody has

been forcing it. But they also saw that the precinct was on fire. The Wells Fargo was on fire, and that there were other fires starting to burn.

And so you saw this force coming in. It is the first time we've seen by the way, officers for most them, actually, after dark. It is the first time we have seen a large number of officers after dark here, after nightfall.

CUOMO: Very interesting, Sara. Obviously, when you are on the ground, you get into a real bubble, real fast. You only know what's happening around you.

In other cities, especially Los Angeles, very different strategies of policing. And as you pointed out early on, it's the only place where we saw the streets basically fall under control of the citizens or whoever else is there, and it will be interesting to see how they turn the tide tonight, given how long people have been there. Maybe they were hoping they would burnout to go home.

We will see how it goes. I'm going to take a quick break and I will check back in with you. Please, make sure you keep yourself in a safe position. I don't have to tell you, you are one of our best.

Let's take a quick break.

You are looking at Los Angeles now. We are showing you shots of Minneapolis. The State Police there are starting to assert themselves differently.

What will that mean? We will tell you as soon as we get back. We will watch it together.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:52:08]

CUOMO: We have breaking news. Once again, these are very unusual times. There is a pandemic going on. We have our streets literally on fire, because of an overflow of outrage out of perceived injustice that kind of plays off the pandemic as well, and of course the killing of George Floyd and other things we have seen.

Now, another part of the mix and the outrage and the frustration is how people feel about what they have been told to do during COVID.

One of the things that has become a flash point of politics is with places of worship. Trump, our President has made worship and places of worship a political weapon as if they were being disadvantaged and that people were making liquor stores essential places but not churches.

Now, that is inaccurate. It is deceptive and it is dangerous, and we know all of those things, and when you look at these streets, the relevance of messaging and what you tell the American people, how you say it and what you want to stir up and playing with demagoguery can have consequences.

Thank God, this is still a nation of laws. That is our religion, and yes worship matters, but there will be fairness under law. So, what did we just see? Just now, breaking news tonight from the Supreme Court, a rare late night vote five to four -- nine justices rejected a challenge from a California Church to public gathering restrictions.

The church argued that the state's pandemic-related restrictions violated constitutional protections for places of worship. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the liberal justices to form a majority. Okay?

Now, what does this mean? The Church argued that hey, you are violating the constitutional right to worship. Okay. It is not an absolute and endless and boundless right, why? Of course, you can believe whatever you want in this country, and you can practice it, basically anyway you want, comma, unless, what is that unless?

When your practice of your faith endangers my health or the health of others, then you do not have unfettered rights and that is what this is about.

Keeping other people safe, gathering in to small rooms or big rooms and crowding together is about the most dangerous thing we can do. It is not about faith. It is about fairness and keeping people healthy and the Supreme Court agreed.

We are going to take a quick break. Breaking news. Tracking what is happening in the streets all across America right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:59:49]

CUOMO: All right, let's take our coverage back to the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. Brian Todd is there.

What is the latest?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your mic doesn't work, Brian.

CUOMO: All right, now, you hear the team talking to one another. They were having interference on their microphone. They were trying to change frequency.

Are they able to hear?

[01:00:10]