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Continuing Protests Around The United States; Chicago Police Clash With Protesters; Protests Erupt Across U.S. Following Death Of George Floyd; Atlanta Mayor Sets Curfew For 9:00 P.M. To Sunrise. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired May 30, 2020 - 20:00   ET

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

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: I want to start in Atlanta. This hour, protesters, again, gathering outside CNN World Headquarters for a second night. A former Philadelphia police commissioner, Charles Ramsey, is back with us. And, Commissioner, when you hear, you know, protesters gathering again outside CNN, we all saw those images last night there and the destruction that came.

We now have reporting, from places like Pittsburgh, where they say multiple officers and journalists have been injured. In Seattle, we're hearing of violence sparked there. So, again, it sounds like another very, very tense and perhaps violent night. What needs to happen in order to calm down the situation?

CHARLES RAMSEY, FORMER PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, I mean, first of all, as I said before, you have legitimate grievances that are there. There are people there to protest, to exercise their First Amendment rights.

But you do have a group of individuals, albeit a small group, that use these use these kinds of incidents to further their own agenda. That's when you started get fires set, cars overturned, windows broken, all those kinds of things. These aren't people that are out to legitimately protest. This is a whole different group of folks that show up, usually after dark. That's got to -- that's got to end.

Now, the police will do everything they can to take them into custody, break up the crowds. Hopefully, we don't have too much property damage. But, eventually, somebody is going to die. I mean, you had a police officer die today. He was shot in Oakland last night.

CABRERA: Yes.

RAMSEY: But you're going to start having civilians die as a result of this. I mean, you can't control these fires and the fire department can't even get to the scene to put the fire out when things are chaotic like they've been over these past few nights.

So, it's just not a good situation at all for anybody, for law enforcement or protesters.

CABRERA: We know in Minnesota the governor has activated the full Minnesota National Guard. The largest deployment in that state's history. What do you make of that? RAMSEY: Well, I was asked that the other night when they say they're going to bring 500 National Guard into Minnesota. At the time, I didn't think that was enough because you could kind of see the way that was going. I don't have a problem with that large deployment, depending on how they're being utilized. I mean, you need to have that kind of presence to prevent anything bad from happening.

But what I didn't like was what I heard during that press conference. I thought the language used by both the governor, the public safety director and others was way too strong, way over the top. And that's the kind of thing that really can insight folks.

And I think we all have to take a deep breath, have a measured response, watch what we say. I mean, you don't want to see any violence take place. But I do think we have to watch our words. Words matter. And we need to do this, but do this in a way in which we don't make a situation worse.

CABRERA: So, let me ask, how do police, whether trying to prevent fresh violence in that moment, you know, prevent that from happening. But, at the same time, communicate with these people who are clearly hurting. Yes, we hear you. We understand why you feel that way and why you feel you might have to, you know, shake this community or this state or this country to its core to break through.

RAMSEY: At some point in time, there has to be thoughtful dialogue to take place. Now, it may not take place on the street during the middle of the protests or, in some cases, even when it turns to rioting in particular.

During a protest, I know when I was in D.C., I was always out on the scene. You walk around. You talk to people. You make sure your police officers are staying calm and don't overreact to situations. You move around the crowd and you can really get a sense for what's going on and what people are really looking for.

But there has to be thoughtful dialogue to take place. That will not happen as long as people are burning and looting. That's not going to happen. So, you have to bring calm to the situation first. But, then, they can't just drop -- just because the flames are out, doesn't mean, now, OK, let's go back to normal. It's over.

It's not over. There's a lot of frustration. There are legitimate grievances. There is a problem with racism. There is a problem with bias. There is a problem with all of these things. Not just in policing, but in society in general. And if it's not addressed, we're going to be having this conversation again and again and again.

CABRERA: It is really interesting to see how police departments around the country have reacted to the killing of George Floyd. And, you know, taking a stand. New York Police Department issued a statement calling it deeply disturbing, tweeting it was wrong.

In Chicago, you know, officers are going to be required to watch the video of the death of George Floyd as part of mandatory training there. I just don't recall other police killings in which police departments have not given the officers the benefit of the doubt.

[20:05:02]

RAMSEY: Well, there are some where they don't get the benefit of the doubt. But this was so bad and so graphic, there is no way at all you could justify the actions of that police officer. But these are police chiefs and other leaders that are taking these steps. I want to hear from the unions. I mean, you -- the national (INAUDIBLE) did put out a letter condemning the action.

But what about these local unions and so forth. I mean, we've got some people that disciplinary action is taken against them. I've fired people. It's -- if there's a grievance filed, it goes to arbitration and wind up getting their job back. I've had a couple people I've had to fire more than once. I mean, there are just some people that just should not be police officers.

Now, everyone's entitled to some form of due process. I don't have a problem with that. But if there's bad people in our ranks, we need to be able to rid of them. And the union, I would be glad to see them go.

And so, you know, we need everybody on board if change is going to take hold. But it has to go beyond just policing. The entire criminal justice system and then there all the other societal issues and inequities that need to be addressed. Otherwise, things are not going to improve, at least not improve at the rate in which people would like to see.

CABRERA: Commissioner Ramsey, thank you and please just stand by with me as we are looking at live --

RAMSEY: I will.

CABRERA: -- images of New York right now. I want to go to our reporter who's on the scene, Shimon Prokupecz. Shimon, it's on a -- if you can hear me, describe for me what's going on.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, this group, as you can see, there's a trash fire here. There's another trash fire down the street. There's a fire truck there. At one point, this fire truck couldn't get through, because this group of protesters, which has been running around Manhattan from Times Square to Chelsea to now here on 14th Street, basically on their own. Police have tried to stop them. They get to the corners (ph). They try to stop them. And, basically, then, they run away from the police.

But now, they've been basically on their own without the police. And now, we're here on 14th Street where, as you see, they've set several fires. They're throwing trash cans into the street. And, now, police are moving in. You see them here on the bikes. They are finally moving in.

I can tell you, we were on Chelsea on Seventh Avenue and (INAUDIBLE.) And basic -- and this group was just running around setting fires along the avenue. They were throwing trash into the street. They were lighting trash cans on fire. There's another trash can on fire here. But, really, for the last 30

to 40 minutes, they've been on their own. The police have not been with them. And so, they've been able to do basically whatever they want -- they've wanted.

And now, they've dispersed. This is what happens. This is part of the same group that we saw earlier. They're on bikes. They're on mopeds and scooters. And what they're doing is they're going from corner to corner, block by block, lighting trash on fire. Throwing garbage into the street. And as the police approach, they run away. And then, the police back off.

And then, what happened was that they've been allowed to be on their own now with no police for quite some time. They're still here. The police have still not arrested them. Have not taken them into custody. And they're up the street.

But I could tell you, Ana, just for -- you know, I've covered protests in New York City and I have to say to you that I've never seen anything like this before. Where people are running through the streets, setting fires, throwing all sorts of trash into the street.

And, really, for the police department, at times, it's been difficult because they're on bikes. And they're taking off the minute the police approach them. And that's basically been the scene here. Which is -- this is one of the bigger fires that we've seen. And you can see the police are back out here. The fire department trying to -- putting the fire out and more police have arrived.

But the group that's doing this is just a block away. They're continuing to ride away on their bikes and scooters. Heading to the next corner, perhaps, to do this. But that's been the scene here throughout the last hour or so with this group through Chelsea and then through -- along now 14th Street in Manhattan -- Ana.

CABRERA: And, Shimon, as we watch and we see these officers on their bikes, it's good to hear that -- you know, there have been direct clashes. But are officers communicating with the protesters who are out there? What are they saying to each other?

PROKUPECZ: Right. So, they have been communicating. And we spoke earlier where they tell them to disperse and it's unlawful assembly and that they have to disperse. And they -- what they're doing is they're using the officers on the bikes to disperse the crowd. And go after some of the protesters who are in the street who have gathered on the sidewalks.

[20:10:00]

PROKUPECZ: If they gather on the sidewalks for a time -- for a period of time, they then make an announcement and tell them that they have to leave the corner, that they have to leave the area. And that's what's been happening now for the past several hours.

But I could tell you, these fires are probably, you know, currently an escalation. They've set smaller fires. But that was, certainly, a really bigger fire that we saw here.

They're not vandalizing stores that we've seen. It's mostly trash. They're throwing trash into the street and lighting trash on fire and using mopeds and bikes to get around which is making it a little difficult for the police to follow them and to chase them down.

But, also, there was a period of time that we were with them, where there was no police around them. And they were on Seventh Avenue in Chelsea here on their bikes, jumping over the trash, doing stunts on their bikes as they were lighting fires, trash on fire.

But now, the group has left. That group that's been doing that has left. They've -- oh, I can see them. They're up ahead here on 14th Street. It's probably about 50 or 60 of them, Ana. It's not a particularly large group. But it is -- it is --

CABRERA: I'm -- what is the message? What is the message from demonstrators who are showing up there?

PROKUPECZ: These demonstrators, I mean, they are chanting black lives matter. But, honestly, I've seen them out here. I'm not sure what their message is because they're lighting fires. They're vandalizing property. I've seen them spray painting on Fifth Avenue. Stores on Fifth Avenue. Just pulling out cans of spray paint -- spray paint and spraying graffiti on iconic buildings along Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. So, I don't know what their message is.

But this is certainly -- you know, there's vandalism here. There are lighting trash on fire. They're throwing trash into the street. They've been throwing bottles at police and agitating police. When police approach them -- the police will come in. When they gather, police will come in. And when the police come in, they take off.

And, in some cases, police are making arrests. In many cases, they've made arrests, Ana. They've made a lot of arrests. In some cases, they're allowing them to just run away. And then, when they run away, they find the next area. And this is -- and this is what happens. Some of them are still gathered here. A couple of them are up the block here. But this has been going on for several hours.

What was really distressing, I should say and disconcerting, was the fact that they were able to be in this area of Chelsea on their own. No police around. And the police were several, several blocks away and which allowed them to light fires. And we were on this street a good amount of time.

The fire truck came here before the police got here. And the street was blocked with file cabinets. File cabinets that were thrown out by someone. And what the protesters did was they just threw it all in the street.

And the fire truck was trying to get around it. And as they were trying to get around it, they rode over it. But then, they couldn't get over it, so then they stopped. And then, they just pulled out their hoses and they distinguished some of the fires. But this has been the scene here pretty much for the past hour or so. We walked from Times Square and with a lot of -- this group -- with a lot of people from this group. So, I've seen them. You know, I've seen them out here. But you made a good point, Ana. What is the message?

CABRERA: And it's hard for us to tell from these pictures and I know it may be difficult from your vantage point as well, Shimon, to tell just how many people or really how large this group really is. And how many are protesters, verses people who are lookie loos and are curious and are trying to see what else is going on. Because, obviously, in New York, you have so many people often times on the streets, even though there is the coronavirus pandemic which has, obviously, put a lot of people off the streets in the past several months or past several weeks, I should say.

I'm wondering, as far as nightfall, Shimon. Because it is now, you know, after 8:00 in New York. We can tell the sun is going down. And I know there was violence in New York last night in several locations, particularly in Brooklyn. Is the plan or strategy for nighttime different than what we've seen during the day?

PROKUPECZ: No. There's no -- there is no other plan, from what I know. You know, and I've been talking to police officials. It's the same plan day or night. What they do is -- with the bikes. There we go. You see people backing up here, as the police officers come through here. And more police, as you can see, are starting to show up here. And the police officers on the bikes, you can see here.

[20:15:00]

PROKUPECZ: So, to your question, there are a lot of onlookers. There are a lot of people who have come out onto the street to watch. There are a lot of peaceful protesters. So, this particular group that I have now been following and been with, this is the group that's been doing this. They've been lighting trash on fire, throwing trash into the street. They are mixed in with some people who are just looking and who come out of their apartment to see what's going on.

But the group that's been mostly -- most of the members of this group that have been doing it, I don't see right now. A couple maybe in with some of the spectators, some of the people here watching. But I have not -- I don't see them now. So, a lot of people now are getting pushed back, as you can see here. This is what they're doing. So, the police telling everyone to get on the sidewalk. And a lot of people looking. Right, a lot of people out of their apartments.

If there wasn't social distancing and if there wasn't a pandemic, there would be so many cars around us right now, Ana. There would by so many people around us. It probably would be much worse, if we weren't in this pandemic. Because there would be a lot more people outside. And, here, we see more police officers wearing helmets, moving in.

And I think -- and there's another fire now up ahead there, Ana. Like we said, the police are there. Someone just throwing a bottle at police. But this is what happens. The police are in one area. This group goes to another area where the police aren't. And they set fires. As you can see here, more trash on fire.

CABRERA: OK.

PROKUPECZ: So, they're in the street and the police will eventually move in and they will go to the next block and light more fires.

CABRERA: OK. Shimon Prokupecz, thank you. We will check back with you, as we are continuing to cover another evening of unrest here in America. We'll have much more in just a moment. You are live in the CNN Newsroom.

[20:17:15]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Live images out of Miami right now, as the protests continue. And we're looking at the streets there where people are starting to gather. We have seen protests now developing across the country from Miami to Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle, New York, Atlanta, Salt Lake City. And, again, these images in Miami.

I want to bring in Ed Davis. He's the former Boston police commissioner, along with Charles Ramsey, former Philadelphia police commissioners, and CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson. Commissioner Davis, let me start with you. First, your thoughts about the protests we're seeing around the country tonight.

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: Hi, Ana. It's terrible to see this. There is destruction being done that's mindless. It's not directed. It's not -- it's not really about the memory of Mr. Floyd. It's about hurting people and hurting things, at this point in time. But when you watch that video, you understand why people are angry. This is the most disgusting thing I've seen. And we really need to do something to correct it.

CABRERA: Commissioner Ramsey, if you were still a police commissioner and protests like this were going on in your city, what would you be instructing your officers to do?

RAMSEY: Listen, it would be to find in a way in which we could be most effective. I was just watching New York and Shimon was mentioning, you know, about, you know, the lack of presence and that sort of thing.

This isn't your typical situation where you can send a one-person car or two-person car. I mean, this is civil disturbance here. So, officers are moving in platoons. You saw the bike platoon show up. They're very effective. But they are on bicycles, so there's a little bit of a delay.

And what these -- some of these protesters, what they do is you've seen some of these guys on these little bikes. They're scouts. They go out and they look to see where cops aren't. And then, they text message or send something through social media. And then, all the sudden, you see the whole crowd go someplace. And then they can do what they do and then they move on. They'll be chasing these guys all night. But getting back to what I would do. You do the best you can to try to contain it. The ones that are actually breaking windows and setting fires, you do everything you possibly to identify them and get them off the street and lock them up.

CABRERA: Commissioner Davis, what about you, how would you handle it?

DAVIS: Well, we someone were to check, I mean, we have tactical plans. We train for this type of event. And, actually, we've experienced quite a bit, in a much more limited way than what we're seeing in the country right now.

But you deploy them over field forces. You deploy specialized units. And, you know, in a situation like this, you don't want to be too heavy handed up front. You -- we try and not to put helmets and batons in the officer's hands until the crowd does things that indicate that you need them. So, our frontline officers are watching very closely. You usually go in soft uniforms to begin with.

But once people start throwing things and harming people, we have to protect our officers. And that's when we start to escalate our force. But escalation of force is based upon what we're facing.

CABRERA: Joey, let me ask you about what happens next, in terms of the Minnesota case and the death, the killing of George Floyd? We know one officer has been arrested. The man who we all now have seen on that video over and over again, unfortunately, kneeling on the neck of George Floyd. That's just so sickening, so disturbing, just absolutely horrific. And, yet, there were three other officers there with him that didn't say, this is wrong. Stop doing that.

[20:20:02]

CABRERA: And people want those officers arrested as well. Do you think we'll see that happen?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I really think we will and that time will come. You know, (INAUDIBLE), I have to address what I'm seeing here which is incredible. And the problem that I have with this, there are multiple, is that it takes away from the message.

The message, I think, needs to be that there is a problem with policing in communities. There is a problem with the way and the manner in which police are policing communities of color, in many instances. That has to be addressed. What are solutions we can come up with? Is it working with clergy? Working with businesses? Working with members of the community so we can build businesses, build churches, build bridges, build roads, not destroy and tear them down. And so, I think the rioting really takes away and distracts from a frustration that communities are feeling. And so, that's a problem.

Listen, as a practitioner in our courts, I can tell you there are disparities. As a practitioner in our courts, I can tell you that I was disgusted not only with what I saw on that tape, but the fact that it took so many days to arrest him. Generally speaking, Ana, when a person commits an offense that you think is criminal, you make the arrest. That's what happens.

None of my clients have been afforded the ability of, oh, we're going to get every shred of evidence. We're going to interview every single of the witnesses. We're going to have everything we need to prove you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Then we'll arrest you. That's not how it works. And that leads to frustration. It leads to the disparity. It leads to a feeling that, what is this? Why are certain communities treated one way and others communities treated another?

So, I get -- and I'm -- I mean, I live within a system where there's disparities. But the manner in which this is occurring really breaks my heart because it takes away from the constructive things we could be doing in order to elevate the message that this is unacceptable and we can fix it.

And so, ultimately, Ana, the viewpoint to your question is the officer will be held accountable. They have enough to convict him of murder with respect to his depraved heart. I think the other three will be held accountable and they will be arrested. But the message needs to be that this has to stop, finally.

The reason we're seeing this throughout the country is because there are problems in different pockets around the country with respect to policing. And I don't want to indict police in general. My dad was an officer. I saw what he went through. I get it.

Officers are out there, keeping us safe, doing brave and valiant things. But when one does wrong, we need to speak up and say so. And this is the result. But there are better and other ways to resolve it and it's not this.

CABRERA: OK, everybody stand by. Let me go to Ryan Young. He's live in Chicago where we are seeing an escalation of events on the ground there. Ryan, what's going on?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, an absolute escalation. We are kind of moving back a little bit just to give ourselves some safety. I think we'll start running here.

This is what's happened in the last 10 minutes or so. We have seen the state police join the Chicago Police Department. We have seen officers get way more aggressive as they start to set a new line to move people back.

What is happening right now is they are using tear gas to spray the crowd to try to disperse them. What we saw the last time we were talking to you right after you left, we saw several protesters actually fight with other protesters because of the fact that there are women being hit by rocks being thrown by another group.

So, it was one of the first times I've actually seen protesters standing up for their own protest. They were, like, look, this can't happen here. We saw several girls bleeding from their head. They brought some folks in to get them out and treat.

Then, there's this new line for the state police that showed up. Right before you came to us and we started calling the control room, they were spraying this crowd with the pepper spray. That was the first escalation of everything else. They also decided to set a new edge to bring back this way. So, this entire crowd right now is being flanked by not only state police, but Chicago Police Department.

There are protesters here who were first here to protest. But there is another group, like I tell -- been saying over and over again, who have been trying to vandalize the situation. And they've also been trying to antagonize people to get them even more excited. There's definitely an escalation, when it comes to the police department and how they're stepping up to meet what's going on here.

But there are plenty of people who have now shown up with bricks and rocks and they're throwing them toward the officers. And they've been trying to break the windows.

We were even asked by the police to move from the location where you were as they set this. Now, you see it now. The police officers are trying to clear the plaza that's right below the shooting (ph) tower here on famous Michigan Avenue.

But they have set a hard line here. The state police we even saw get pretty aggressive, trying to take back some of the property from some of the vans that were used. They asked us very nicely kind of to move before.

But, at some point, they set a much harder edge. And this has been -- sort of almost got exploded, at one point. It has calmed down just a little bit. But you can see the difference in the numbers of officers who now have arrived in this location.

[20:30:04]

YOUNG: So the reinforcements are here. The line has changed. And it seems like it's made this smaller group that has stayed here a little more aggressive.

But what was the scariest part about this was the young ladies that we saw bleeding from their heads because some idiots decided to throw some rocks in their direction. And watching the back of their heads bleeding was something that had people sort of running to try to help them, but even the paramedics had trouble getting in to help them because of the crowd here.

CABRERA: Wow. Ryan, obviously you mentioned there are people who are there to protest peacefully, and try to get their message out productively. And then you talk about this element of people who are coming in and they are agitating, and they are trying to cause trouble period, and violence.

How have those protesters who've been there doing, you know, their thing reacted to this element of people who aren't there for the right reasons, perhaps?

YOUNG: Well, I'll speak about it and how it affected us. There was one point we got surrounded by some people who were throwing rocks. And at one point, there was some guys who came over with us. And basically, were like, nothing's going to happen to this crew. Nothing's going to happen to these people, so we were good.

And that was a conversation that started we had because they were like, we're not here to vandalize. We saw people pull out spray paint cans, and then all of a sudden, those spray camp -- spray cans were taken away by protesters. So you can see them trying to change this.

I told you earlier about a woman who stood in the street between some of these rabble-rousers. A black woman who was like, we're not going to tear up the city. We are going to peacefully protest. So that was a statement that was made right in the ministry happening, right in front of our cameras.

And you almost couldn't believe it. She was screaming at the top of her lungs as tears were in her eyes. She goes, this is not how we are heard, so there's been that coordination.

There's another element that's here for something completely different. And you can see the damage they're doing. These officers, for the most part, have been taking it but it is ratcheted up. And that's why I started calling in because when they started spraying the crowd with that pepper spray and the -- and the irritant, you could see how things were changing.

There were several young men who showed up here with rocks in their hands and they were throwing it toward the officers. So up until that point, we hadn't seen the physicality that had just exploded in the last 10 minutes or so.

CABRERA: OK. Ryan Young in Chicago, stay safe. My friend, we'll check back with you.

And as you've been seeing, protests are erupting across the country. We'll have much more right after this. Thank you for being with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:35:08]

CABRERA: Welcome back to live images out of Chicago right now. You can see a car is on fire, black smoke billowing from the streets of Chicago where we just talked to Ryan Young, who is with protesters and police. They're continuing to encounter each other and to have some confrontations. This again an image from those streets, fires have begun.

I want to go to Minneapolis though because that is where George Floyd died in police custody. He was killed by a police officer who's now under arrest. That happened earlier this week. And we've seen large protests there for several days that have turned violent at night.

Miguel, today is peaceful. Tell us more.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is peaceful. We are 23 minutes though until the mandated curfew for tonight. Protesters were allowed to march last night. The police just didn't have enough manpower to keep them in check.

I want to show you where we are right now. This is hallowed ground. This is the very spot where George Floyd had that knee to his neck for nine minutes. He was pronounced dead shortly after at the hospital. What is different about that video from other videos we have seen is just how obvious it was.

I expected the crowd here would have gone down as we got closer to the time of the curfew is going into effect. The Minnesota governor has said, stay home. Don't go for a walk, don't go for a drive. We see military helicopters overhead. The National Guard is in town.

And what is concerning to residents in this area and around the city is that protesters, people got this, down the street here, they have started to march and they're going to continue marching, they say.

If you go up higher, Pete, go up higher. You can see -- you can see the people way down the street there, marching. The goal for them is to continue to march and not let anybody start any sort of violence, any sort of looting. They have told them repeatedly throughout the day at this protest, at this demonstration at what they're doing right now that they don't want to see that.

Last night, we saw the same thing. It was the vast majority of protesters that were peaceful, they were angry, but they were peaceful. But there was a -- there was a minority that wanted to mix it up with the cops and they did.

The governor saying that 80 percent of the individuals who are causing most of the damage and are here just to create that chaos are from out of the state. He promises with the additional resources of the National Guard and police agencies that are on the ground here tonight to shut down the various protests.

[20:40:02]

We have -- we have reports of protests in various parts of the city already, that was one of the problems last night, they could not police all of those protests with the strength that they needed to, to keep them in check.

Tonight, the governor says they do have that. So we are 20 minutes now till the time that that curfew goes into effect. I don't see any police so far in this area. But I know that neighbors in this area are concerned people who have homes in this area or concerned people who are at this protest with their children are concerned.

It is all of Minneapolis out here and they are toughly proud of their city and what they have built in this state. It is a beautiful city. And it comes as a shock to wake up in the morning and see that line of fires across the entire city from the night before.

You probably have several hundred people now walking. It is not clear how far they're going to get or if there will be a confrontation with police, but tensions are incredibly high. And nothing suggests to me, at this point, that they are going to be any lower in Minneapolis tonight.

It does appear that there will be several areas where protests will continue. We know where we ended up last night in the fifth precinct. But there are many people over there. There are other areas of town where there are also protests gathering, and it is not clear how police are going to deal with it.

Typically, you would see --

CABRERA: Are you noticing...

MARQUEZ: -- that they are trying to show up and creating...

CABRERA: Sorry, Miguel. I was going to ask about the National Guard because the governor, as well as other officials there in the state made a big point this morning to talk about, you know, deploying all active National Guard members in that state in unprecedented move.

MARQUEZ: So what they are probably going to do, they have shut down all the freeways into and out of Minneapolis tonight. The National Guard will probably stand guard at some of those entrances and exits and shut down those freeways, so that's not a place that protesters can go.

The National Guard will probably be used in ways to hold ground that police then can move around and actually try to affect arrests and control protesters. But with so many protests happening in so many different locations, it will be difficult. And it's not clear how tough, how hard they're going to crack down on these protesters.

Last night, it was clear that the protesters moved toward the fifth precinct. And then once there was a critical mass there, it became violent. It was -- it was not what all the activists and people that I speak to on the streets here what they wanted, and it happened anyway.

And tonight, we just have to see this test of wills between people who are fed up with it, and authorities who understand their cause and what -- and are on their side, but just will not allow another night of violence. Ana?

CABRERA: All right. Miguel Marquez in Minneapolis for us. We will check back with you. Thank you. Stay safe. Another evening of unrest across America.

We're going to take you live to Miami, where you can see there's what appears to be a vehicle on fire in a roadway there. We've seen many of these images in different cities across the country today already and the night is still young. Stay with us. You're watching CNN. You're Live in the NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.

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[20:45:26] CABRERA: Let's go live to Atlanta now, as we continue to cover the breaking news protests. Again, tonight across the country, Atlanta was in cleanup mode following last night's destruction. But still, you can see the site of more large protests today. And CNN's Martin Savidge is there now.

Martin, show us where you are. And do you see a sign that things are growing tense like they did last night?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's looking very clearly like they're bracing for another bad night here in the city of Atlanta. We're in the exact same spot where the problems kicked off last night, which is right on the outskirts of Centennial Olympic Park right outside CNN Center.

Last night, the police force showed up initially with the bicycle police. It was a much softer approach. Tonight, that's all out the window. They showed up with the heavy forces right away. Police in riot gear on the scene. They're in a very strong demeanor.

Already, they've made at least a dozen arrests. They're not taking anything from anybody in the crowd here. If something is thrown or hurled in their direction, that person is often taken into custody.

There's also a lot of spectators, people are drawn to watch what's going to happen because at 9:00 o'clock, there is a mandatory curfew that goes into place, which means those people that are now here can no longer legally be here.

We should also point out the National Guard is on scene. They're setting a lower profile but they're down the side streets here prepared with what looks like medical personnel to come in in case they are needed.

So unlike last night where this started with the chief of police giving the protesters the streets to vent. There is not the kind of gift that's been given to them tonight. The curfew starts in just about 10 minutes. Ana?

CABRERA: All right. Martin Savidge, thank you for that reporting. We'll check back. Much more after a quick break. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[20:50:45]

CABRERA: Welcome back. As protesters take to the streets around the country tonight, I want to take you live to Miami and CNN Rosa Flores is on the ground there. Rosa, what are you seeing?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana, it's a very tense moments. I want you to walk with me because right now there are police in full SWAT gear walking along I-95. Now, there's been some very tense moments. For the past hour and a half. Protesters have burned at least one car that we saw with our own eyes. It took about 15 to 20 minutes for the fire department to arrive and actually put out the fire.

But you can see along I-95, either remnants of a lot of protests earlier today, both the southbound and the northbound lanes of I-95 here in Downtown Miami were completely closed, as protesters weaved through traffic.

You can see some of the signs here of the protesters asking for justice. You can see how a lot of the walls along here are also defaced. It's a very emotional time right now in this country. And here in Miami as well, you can see that the police officers have mounted onto this wraparound vehicle that we've seen in multiple times.

[20:55:06]

But, Ana, again, we're monitoring the situation. We know that at least one car was burned and is now put out. Ana?

CABRERA: OK. Rosa Flores in Miami for us, thank you.

And that's going to do it for me this evening. Please stay well, stay safe, and I'll see you back here tomorrow afternoon.

Don Lemon takes over our special coverage after this.

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