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Don Lemon Tonight
Protesters' Angst Cause Damage to Properties; One Officer Charged Over George Floyd's Death; Domino Effect Seen in Many Cities; Anger and Protests Spread Over George Floyd's Death Under Police Custody. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired May 29, 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]
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- patrol officers as well to try and preserve as much as they could. And only time will tell to see whether we see a third night of destruction similar to what we have seen from the previous night and are wonderful (ph), Chris.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: All right. Omar, thank you very much. We know it's going to be a long night for you. It's important to have you out there. Keep the team safe.
The explosions that you're hearing that sound like gunfire, my reporting is that, that's not what it is. There has been no reporting of any type of identifiable gunfire. It's either fireworks going on, flash bangs, which the police use which are what they sound like, smoke and sound to kind of disorient people and move them away. Or tear gas canisters. So, we've had no reports of actual gunfire.
It is now time for more continuing coverage. Don Lemon, CNN Tonight, picks it up right now.
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Interesting to watch all those pictures coming out of Atlanta and, of course, Minneapolis, Chris. I worked in that building in Atlanta for seven years and it is surreal to see that happening again.
I think you're right. CNN is not the news. A lot of people are being attacked. A lot of riots going on. A lot of people are losing, you know, parts of their businesses and so what -- and so on.
But I just think it's interesting to watch. I think it's important for people to know as well, if you're watching that -- I don't know if we have a picture of what's happening in Atlanta right now, Chris. Help me to get through this a little bit.
There were -- I remember being there in 2007, 2008 maybe and people -- protesters tried to enter the building, and that's when CNN put redundancy into the building. You know those metal gates that you see on the front of stores that roll down. So, it's quite tough to get into that building. Let's hope that they don't continue to try to do that.
CUOMO: They weren't there tonight. They broke the glass that was right in front.
LEMON: Guys, no, no, that's not actually in front. That -- the part that you saw, that was the Omni. That's near the Omni in McCormick and Schmick's restaurant. That is not the main entrance to the CNN building.
CUOMO: Got you.
LEMON: And so that is -- that's where you go to the motor lobby of the hotel and then you go off to the restaurant. The main lobby of the CNN building has those redundancies, like I said, built into it.
CUOMO: Got you.
LEMON: And so those gates will come down. Nobody can get in. But I think it was smart for Nick to get into a safe spot where he could report and, again, so there is Nick Valencia. Nick Valencia is now outside.
Chris, I'll see you in just a little bit. As I understand, you're going to be back a little later on to help us with our coverage as well.
There is Nick Valencia standing there now in front of the CNN center. And this is out near Centennial Olympic Park. Again, which is across the street from the Omni hotel in downtown Atlanta. And it appears that obviously this has gotten out of control. Nick Valencia standing by. Nick, can you hear me?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, I can. I can hear you. It's just in the last 30 seconds as these fire trucks made their way to a fire that is just getting out of control here on the side of Centennial Olympic Park, Don, a car set on fire has spread to another.
And as these fire trucks were making their way to distinguish the blaze, the demonstrators used that as an opportunity to try to sneak behind the police line. You can see behind me here two demonstrators being put into zip ties.
At one point the police line had to advance on the demonstrators because they were being attacked essentially. Those projectiles have not stopped. There is still a smell of tear gas in the air stinging your nostrils. These protesters are not going home any time soon. They've dug in, at least those who are left here tonight, Don. This crowd has by and large thinned out.
And I want to set the scene for you here. You see this chaos happening behind me. It all started here, which you're familiar with right here, Centennial Olympic Park, the big (AUDIO GAP)
LEMON: OK.
VALENCIA: -- air that's spreading. Are you OK?
LEMON: So, we're having a bit of trouble with -- Nick, stand by.
VALENCIA: All right. Yes.
LEMON: Nick, what's happening where you are?
VALENCIA: You OK?
LEMON: Is that our photographer?
VALENCIA: Hey, we just -- yes, that's our photographer. He's all right. He just got bumped into. He's OK. He's OK. He's OK. We're OK here. You all right, William? OK. All right.
Yes, we're live on the air here, guys. Just got to make our way here if we can. I want to show the crowd. Can we -- can we step in the street? I want to show this -- where this all started out here, Don, earlier tonight here right in front of the CNN center.
They set a car on fire just before eight o'clock while we were live on air, perhaps just after eight o'clock. That really instigated this crowd. And since then the situation has only devolved. You know, we've seen flash bangs. It was earlier tonight that our crew got shot with what we believe was a BB gun.
Our photographer, William Walker, aside from just getting bumped into there, got a BB pellet in his pelvic area. I got one in my gut. I mean, it's -- these are demonstrators that are very, very upset here tonight and they came here to confront police.
[22:04:55]
There's no peacefulness about this at all whatsoever. It was about three o'clock that these demonstrators showed up here outside of CNN center. And over the hours their anger continued to blossom.
They began throwing rocks at about seven o'clock. That's when our national desk called us to come down here to what was then a devolving situation, and things just continue to get more and more pear-shaped here.
You have graffiti all across the front of the CNN red letters. Profanities towards police officers. Names of African-American men gunned down by police. You have, you know, and then here the scene playing out right in front of you, Don.
You have a demonstrator that's been taken into cuffs bloodied, asking what he did wrong. We saw him get on top of a fire truck. And he's claiming he didn't do anything wrong. Hey, man, why did you show up here today? Why did you show up? What are you doing out here today?
LEMON: Hey, Nick -- so, Nick, let's take a beat here.
VALENCIA: What do you guys doing out here today?
LEMON: Hey, Nick.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm being detained.
VALENCIA: Why are you being detained?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. You can ask this officer right here. I don't know, sir.
VALENCIA: All right.
LEMON: OK.
VALENCIA: Go ahead, Don.
LEMON: So, Nick, let's take a beat here. I want, you know, I want everyone to calm down here because, again, this is -- these protests obviously are interesting and they're very disturbing. This is not the first time that protesters have come to the CNN center in Atlanta.
Let me -- listen, let me tell you why. It's probably -- if not one of the biggest attractions and business in Atlanta besides Delta Airlines, right? And so right next to the CNN center --
VALENCIA: That's right.
LEMON: -- you've got the MARTA and the subway, if you want to go over and talk to Nick, by all means go over. And so people can show up here very easily and they know that the cameras are here at the CNN center in Atlanta. It's trained on this location.
So, Nick, if you can take a beat. Show us around where you are. I know you have the park behind you.
VALENCIA: Yes.
LEMON: You've got the Omni hotel and then the CNN center beyond that on the other side. The size of the crowd and just walk us through the scene and tell us what's happening.
VALENCIA: Yes. We, you know, we're out here, downtown Atlanta, you know, CNN center is -- say again? OK. It's -- you know, it's mainstay. It's a main attraction, as you say. You know, it's a -- people come here as tourists, as a main tourist destination here, you know? It's been a hub of this city of Atlanta since it's foundation, you know?
This was one time the world's largest indoor amusement park before Ted Turner purchased it and turned it into -- you know, was once the Omni Center and then became the CNN center, the home to us, you know, the home to --
LEMON: Yes.
VALENCIA: -- our Atlanta bureau, our colleagues here. And it is, as you mentioned, not the first-time demonstrations -- demonstrators have showed up. However, this is the first time in my years here in Atlanta that I've seen things turn violent.
LEMON: Yes.
VALENCIA: One of the beauty -- you know, one of the beautiful things about the city of Atlanta is the harmony here. You know, yes, it has a history of racial tension. Yes, you know, the history of the Civil Rights movement here, people like Andrew Young, you know, people like Hosea Williams, of course, Dr. Martin Luther King, you know.
But this is an area where, even though we saw demonstrations in the years like 2015 during the rash of police shootings of African- American men, these demonstrations were by and large peaceful.
This is not peaceful at all. This is a crowd that is out for revenge. They have been confronting police. Even though at times they've been, you know, threatened or burned, I should say, by the officers that tear gas is going to be deployed on them. They've continued to even still now. You're still seeing bottles being launched towards the police line.
LEMON: Yes.
VALENCIA: We've seen, you know, multiple police officers injured here throughout -- throughout the course of the night, Don. And it shows no sign of slowing down any time soon.
LEMON: And if you look at some of the, you know, the signs in the crowd there. You know, there are signs talking about police officers and equating them to the most terrible forms in our society, people, Klansmen and so on and so forth.
We know all police officers are not like that. And this situation just the one that we witnessed on -- from a camera in Minneapolis was unfortunate. And it's unfortunate that it had to happen, but it does happen here in the United States.
Nick, if we -- let's continue to talk here because there is a police precinct --
VALENCIA: Yes.
LEMON: -- inside the CNN center. But for the -- for the number of police officers and the number of emergency personnel I see on the scene, it looks like they have come from all over the area. What is the amount of emergency workers, police officers and SWAT teams and what have you? What are you seeing there on the scene as far as presence?
VALENCIA: You know, it's always difficult to give these estimates. You know, police officers haven't given us the official number, but we can estimate about 200 law enforcement officers from the state patrol, local Atlanta Police Department, SWAT teams, plain clothes officers as well.
They are outnumbered by these demonstrators, at least four to one, which is a very scary thing for these officers. It's not often that you see them nervous in these types of situations, you know? You usually see officers in the demonstrations that we've been in across the country, you know, they've been accused of being the aggressors, right?
[22:10:01]
I mean, that's why people are out here tonight. That's why they're angry. That's why the undertone of what's happening here. But even tonight we saw some fear in the eyes of those officers as that crowd grew in size, as the anger started to fester among the crowd. At that car being lit on fire was really the catalyst that set everything off.
It was -- we don't know exactly what was used to set that car on fire, but as soon as that happened, I mean, prior to that they were getting on vehicles, jumping and breaking out the windows of Atlanta police cruisers.
Once that car, that Atlanta police cruiser, caught flames, I mean, things went from bad to worse. You now hear -- you see this light overhead. I believe what is a law enforcement helicopter showing up. And behind me another demonstrator being taken into custody.
He's saying Minneapolis, we're here for you all. He's claiming he did nothing, but, you know, they've been given multiple orders here, Don, to disburse and none of those here have done that at all.
What's really concerning is where we are. We are flanked by Centennial Olympic Park and the demonstrators have surrounded this area. Behind us, this main thoroughfare, we do have an escape route. We do have a way to safety. We do have police presence, including what is a Department of Corrections bus for those that they've detained and arrested are being taken.
But aside from this safe avenue out here, everything else it's flanked by demonstrators.
LEMON: Well, Nick --
VALENCIA: There is no way out of here without having to go through demonstrators.
LEMON: Nick, we're going to -- I want you to stand by because we're going to get to other scenes that are playing out in other cities around the United States.
Our thanks to Nick Valencia who is joining us now from the CNN center in Atlanta.
Listen, this is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon.
And this is our breaking news right now. The outrage protests have taken to the streets all around this country. This is the fourth night that they're doing this. They're doing it over the death of George Floyd. And you saw protesters and police they were facing off near the CNN center in Atlanta. That's where Nick is on the ground there.
There's a curfew that is imposed just about an hour ago in Minneapolis, but protesters are still on the streets there after tear gas and flash bangs were fired into crowds.
And then there is the standoff -- take a look at this. This is Brooklyn at -- protesters at the Barclays center in Brooklyn starting to cool down now. But we're watching it right out -- happening right out in the open. And you can see they were trying to cross a police line and police now are there standing, holding forth.
This is all happening as Derek Chauvin, he is the ex-officer, we saw with his knee on George Floyd's neck while he was screaming, begging for his life. That ex-officer, now an ex-officer because the mayor fired him right away has been arrested, charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
And this is his booking photo that you are looking at now.
I want to get now to the epicenter of all of this, and that is Minneapolis, where there is a curfew in effect. Protesters are still out on the streets tonight and there you see our Sara Sidner, who has been on the ground there. Sara, take it away. Go on. What are you seeing?
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right. So, we are an hour and 12 minutes past curfew, and right now the protesters rule the streets. The National Guard nowhere to be seen. The state police, nowhere to be seen. The local police, nowhere to be seen. The sheriff's department, nowhere to be seen.
The protesters are the ones that feel like these streets are their streets, which we will hear people chant, and they have been walking -- the third precinct, by the way, is down that way about two miles. We are two miles past where people have been for several days now as we've watched this unfold.
And now we are two miles past that. You can see a fire going on there. That is cars that are on fire. Protesters here -- and, of course, of course there's an explosion because there is gas and there are all kinds of things inside of these cars.
But I'm going to take you past the fires because you've been seeing fires all along. And show you what's happening in these streets. These cars that you're seeing behind us, those are folks who are in support of more arrests of police officers in the case of George Floyd.
They have been writing up and down, doing whatever they pleased in these streets. And there is no police presence whatsoever at this time. Very similar to yesterday in the sense that we saw no police after the third precinct caught fire.
Today what is incredible that I have never seen in covering dozens of protests across my career and across the world. I have never seen police disappear. And I'm talking about the National Guard. They told everyone from the state police, they made a huge announcement saying you are in violation of an order to disburse because there is a curfew at eight. It is as if there is no curfew ordered at this time.
[22:15:07]
Protesters have taken over the streets here. I'm on East Lake Street and now Park Avenue South here in Minneapolis. And almost every single one of these buildings that we're walking past has some damage or is boarded up.
To my left over there, the Park Lake car wash. You can see the glass blown out there. And I'm going to pull us out of the road a little bit. You can see glass going out in many different places here.
But we are so far from where we were reporting yesterday, which was really sort of very close to where George Floyd ended up having a knee in his neck and losing his life. We're way past that --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Well, that really means --
SIDNER: -- and folks are just walking, trying to find the line.
LEMON: That means a lot, Sara, considering the considerable reporting that you have done all across the world. As I mentioned last night, a decorated war correspondent and here you are saying that you have not seen a situation like this where there is no law enforcement, especially on a street or streets of the United States in a major city in the United States of America.
I want you to stand by. I'm going to get back to you, Sara. Let's get to CNN's Miguel Marquez. He is also in Minneapolis for us with a large group who are protesting and walking the street there. We understand that you have been talking and -- to some of these folks tonight. What are you seeing and what are you hearing from them, Miguel?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first thing I want to make perfectly clear, this has been almost entirely peaceful. In fact, completely peaceful. There have been a couple of individuals who have been spraying graffiti, but you also have many people when they see it happening, when they see people attacking buildings, they will stop them. The entire crowd jumps on them and starts going after them.
I want to show you where we are. This is 35 West. This is the freeway. This is the southbound lane. There are -- this crowd has grown. When we started off, it was maybe under a thousand. It looks like it's well over 1,000 people at this point.
There are people from across the spectrum here. Young, old, boyfriends, girlfriends, white, black. People angry at what they are seeing. It's not entirely clear where we're going. We're probably going off the freeway now, it looks like. But an incredibly respectful.
Also, here we haven't seen police, except -- except to block off some of the streets so that they can pass peacefully. Look at how big this crowd is. It goes all the way back to the next exit. They blocked off traffic. It was a little worrisome to see many people coming out here --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, more (Inaudible) on the anarchists coming here destroying the fucking city. Don't tell me to get the fuck out of here. If you got something --
LEMON: Well, unfortunately, Miguel, as you know --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because they're all angry.
LEMON: -- as you know, this happens. You've covered that. People get into the camera and they say things that they shouldn't say, but we will continue and go on. What else are you seeing, Miguel?
MARQUEZ: They like -- they think that -- look, they think that they're making a statement. There are some fireworks going off in different locations. It is a little worrisome that when they came on the streets on the freeway there were a lot of cars moving very, very rapidly. The police did not shut down the freeway.
We've seen that in other cities where in Baltimore and in New York that the police will back off, shut down freeways, shut down streets because the last thing they want is an incident where people get killed in one of these protests because a car went through them or they had an issue.
LEMON: Hey, Miguel, how -- where did this start? Where did this protest start?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we next?
MARQUEZ: This is the message.
LEMON: Where did this protest start and how far are they traveling?
(CROSSTALK)
MARQUEZ: This started right at the base -- this started right at the base of the Vikings stadium. It was maybe 800 maybe 1,000 people strong. It has grown since then. They've marched all over downtown, sort of act of defiance throughout the curfew.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is amazing.
MARQUEZ: We're well into the curfew at this point. And the police have backed off, tried to stop traffic from coming near them. They did not do anything to stop traffic when they came on to the freeway here.
LEMON: Yes. And --
MARQUEZ: So, they are still -- they are still moving.
LEMON: You are right when you're talking about the message. Am I next? as the poster reads there, as the poster reads am I next, that's what many people in this country are concerned about.
MARQUEZ: This is exactly what the message that people are talking about here, you know, am I next? The sense of injustice. The sense of anger at how difficult it is to be a black man in America right now. But this is not just black people protesting here in Minneapolis tonight. It is people across the spectrum. It is amazing to see the number of people on this freeway shutting down right now.
[22:20:06]
It's -- it's stunning. And when they issued that curfew today, when the mayor and then the governor issuing a curfew for both Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and the number of the National Guard state troopers or state patrol that was out and police, it seemed very clear that they were not going -- there was going to be a zero tolerance policy, but clearly they are going to allow people to protest peacefully.
And that is what's happening here tonight. They may be angry. They may be screaming at our camera, but I'd rather have them doing that than burning things down and looting. They're on top of it. When somebody starts doing something, they go after them, make them stop and make them move on.
So, it's an interesting dynamic that's playing out here. I think people here have even been shocked by the power that -- that they have brought to bear here, Don.
LEMON: And right you are. It's better that they yell at the camera than destroy a property. Miguel Marquez, well said.
MARQUEZ: Sure.
LEMON: That is Miguel Marquez. We have -- Miguel Marquez who is in Minneapolis. Our Sara Sidner is also in a different part of Minneapolis, closer to where George Floyd lost his life at the hands of a police officer. And then we have our Nick Valencia, who is reporting from Atlanta.
We've taken you there within the span of 20 minutes, and we have much more to show you throughout the evening here on CNN. You're looking at live pictures now. This is from our affiliate WSB in Atlanta. And you can see there a fire has been set.
Again, exactly -- I can't tell you exactly where this shot was taken. Again, these shots are -- I should say these shots are being controlled by our affiliates. This is not a CNN camera. So, this this is, I would imagine, somewhere in downtown Atlanta. Possibly -- possibly in -- in the park there. Centennial Olympic Park across from the CNN center. Really, across from the Omni center and then the CNN center beyond that. The Omni hotel, I should say and then the CNN center beyond that.
So, we'll continue to watch these pictures. We'll watch it all play out. We're going to take you through it calmly. What we don't want to do is upset people at home. We want you to be calm. The situation as we are watching it here, we're going to take you through it as calmly as possible.
I know it may seem chaotic in some places, but it appears, at least from the scene in Atlanta now, police have somewhat -- some control over the protesters that are there. Gaining some control. This is now live picture of Dallas, Texas where you can see -- where
you can see protesters have gathered on the streets here of Dallas, Texas. I haven't heard any reports from Dallas, Texas of anything that has gotten out of control. But you know things can turn into really a tinderbox in just moments.
And, again, this is from our -- this is from Dallas, from our affiliate KTVT. And you can see a stream of protesters making their way down a thoroughfare in Dallas, Texas. Happening in cities, again, all across the country.
Last night, Phoenix, Arizona, Louisville, Kentucky, obviously Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota happening there. But now we're seeing different cities. Large crowds gathering. Washington, D.C. earlier today. And, again, this is Dallas, Texas.
So, we will take you through all of this. Cedric Alexander joins me now. He is the former president of the National Organization of Black Law Executives.
Cedric, we are quite fortunate to have you with your expertise here. So, let's talk about what we're seeing here. I said tinderbox out there tonight over -- all over the country. What are you thinking as you watch all of this happening and it appears to be escalating in some places? This is now Dallas, Texas, the pictures you're looking at.
CEDRIC ALEXANDER, FORMER PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF BLACK LAW EXECUTIVES: Well, depending on what time zone you are in the country, some places it already hit dark. And we see what happens as it gets later in the evening in some cities.
The sad part here is, Don, and you remember this, we all were on the ground there in Ferguson and in Baltimore several years ago. And here we are again tonight.
But what's really heart wrenching to what we're looking at, people who are angry, people who are hurt, people who are sad, people who feel they have no other way but to do what they're doing tonight. Some of them are attempting to exercise their constitutional rights by -- by marching and being peaceful. And then you have others, of course, that may be in those crowds whose intent is to do far more harm. We see some of that tonight as well, as it relates to property.
But the nation, Don, is hurting. And that's virtually every community across this country. When I talk to police chiefs and my former colleagues, sheriffs, they all are angry as regards to what they saw because of now. Those very good police officers you see out there tonight who are doing everything that they can to keep people safe, they've been painted with a broad brush, a brush of dismay, a brush that they're no good, that they're not trustworthy, and it's not fair to them.
[22:25:07]
But you have four individuals -- one fortunately has been arrested today -- and three others that I certainly hope are arrested very soon. But this is a very, very dark hour right now in this country. But we got to find a way to get through it.
As I watched the mayor tonight in Atlanta, Ms. Keisha Lance Bottoms, from the bottom of her heart, her anger, her dismay, she is really hurt. She is hurt. In any city mayor -- Mayor Frey in Minneapolis, he's hurt. People are in pain.
But one thing I will say to the American people that are out there in the streets tonight. If you're going to protest, protest peacefully. Because what we want to do is make sure that you keep focus on your mission and your mission is to make sure that the death of George Floyd -- George Floyd and others do not die behind darkness and behind these fires because that becomes the story, and that does not need to become the story.
LEMON: And I think that is well said. Cedric, you mentioned the mayor of Atlanta. Let's listen to Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D-GA): You are burning cars. You have defaced the CNN building. Ted Turner started CNN in Atlanta 40 years ago because he believed in who we are as a city. There was a black reporter who was arrested on camera this morning who works for CNN. They are telling our stories and you are disgracing their building.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Again, that is the mayor of Atlanta, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms talking about -- she's obviously upset and frustrated at what is happening in her city, and as any mayor would be, as Cedric mentioned, as any mayor would be in trying to keep the calm. And is frustrated by some of these scenes that are playing out.
We have to keep in mind, though, what happened here. A man lost his life at the hands of a police officer. It was all caught on tape. And now you have these protests that are spreading in cities all across this country tonight over that man's death. That man is George Floyd.
CNN reporters are live in cities across this country. In Minneapolis, in Saint Paul, in Dallas, and also in Atlanta. And wherever there is a protest -- there is Des Moines, Iowa right there. Protests on the streets of Des Moines. We have it all covered for you. We're going to take you through it. We're going to do it calmly so that you can see exactly and hear exactly what is going on.
We'll take a very quick break. We're back with our breaking news on the other side.
[22:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We're back now with our breaking news. Protests are happening all across this country, in cities all across the country. You're looking at pictures now from our affiliate KGO. This is San Jose, California. From this angle, from the vantage point that we have now, it seems to be a much smaller crowd.
This is WAVE TV, and this is in Louisville, Kentucky, where you are seeing crowds gathering there tonight. They gathered there, as well, last night. We also have pictures coming out of Dallas, Atlanta and Milwaukee -- excuse me -- yeah, and Minnesota. So we've got -- we've got a lot going on here. Minneapolis, I should say. We have a lot going on here.
Those are the protests that are happening on the streets of Dallas. You see the signs, "no justice, no peace." And in some of these cities, there's supposed to be a curfew, but obviously protesters are not abiding by that curfew.
Listen, crowds of protesters are gathered tonight within earshot of the White House, which really went into a lockdown for a while. So I want to get near the White House now, and that's where we'll find our Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan, you have been reporting on this story. So what can you tell us about the White House being on lockdown earlier due to these protests?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Just a few hours ago, Don, they were not letting anyone leave the White House grounds because there were these protesters outside the White House. They've been protesting in Washington, going down the street, and then they culminated in front of the White House.
And, Don, I don't know if you can hear them, but they're actually still outside the White House right now. It's difficult to see them because there aren't a lot of lights in Lafayette Square, which is right in front of the White House. That's that park you often see on television.
But you can hear the protesters still chanting George Floyd's name, among other things. They've briefly moved on to front of the president's hotel here in Washington, but now they've returned outside the White House and they're pretty loud. We're at a hotel just a few -- we are about a block away from where you typically go inside the White House front gate, and you can still hear those protesters incredibly clearly from where we are.
LEMON: You know, Kaitlan, President Trump has now spoken to the Floyd family. But I want to know how he is defending his "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" tweet. What is he saying about that?
COLLINS: He has said two things since he tweeted that, about a little over 24 hours ago, late last night. Of course, that is a phrase that originated with a very controversial police chief who made that comment in the 1970s, talking about using shotguns and dogs to rein in what he said was out of control violence happening in Miami.
He said that -- he had told basically his officers that when the looting starts -- when the looting starts, the shooting starts. That is why people raised their eyebrows when the president said last night. Today, he claimed not to know where that phrase originated, Don. He said he had heard that phrase before. He said that he just simply meant it as when there is looting there will be shooting of people. He did not say he meant it coming from a police perspective.
Though we should note, when he tweeted it last night, Don, it had been when he was talking about those protests and those riots that you saw happening in the city of Minneapolis. He said he couldn't stand seeing that and that he would call in the military if he needed to. So he was talking about it in the way of suppressing those riots that he was seeing on television.
[22:35:00]
COLLINS: So he was trying to clear that up today, saying he didn't know where it originated from, though it's really hard to understand what else that phrase really evokes when you hear that.
I want to note, Don, right now, I can see -- I can see there are these barriers in front of the White House, these gates. You can hear the protesters pushing on them. You can see they've actually got some lights right now and the secret service is standing right there in front of the protesters.
LEMON: Kaitlan, I need to get to Dallas. Thank you. Our Kaitlan Collins is reporting from near the White House. I appreciate your reporting. Ed Lavandera is on the ground for us in Dallas. Ed, I understand that it is heating up where you are. Tell us what you're seeing.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tear gas canisters have just gone off here in downtown Dallas. There has been a protest that started here earlier this evening at Dallas police headquarters, about 6:30 central time, and the protesters then started marching their way and wining their way through downtown Dallas. This is where the situation has become far more tense.
I listened and watched the police chief, who was walking with her officers here through downtown Dallas, and I heard the police chief talking to one protester, saying that we're giving you the streets, the chief said, but you can't touch and confront our officers. The police chief told one protester that apparently someone had thrown a rock at police.
This is the intersection of Young and Griffin in downtown Dallas where things have become much more tense. This was the tail end, Don, of the long march protest that was winding its way through downtown Dallas. For much of the evening, it has been peaceful. And this is where a line of officers and squad cars arrived here in downtown Dallas. They were essentially trying to navigate the protesters through much of downtown Dallas.
And following there, you can see more of these sparks going off here as SWAT team officers have moved in and trying to ease the -- break away this confrontation between the protesters, getting up close to the officers that were navigating alongside of the protests here. You can see here off to my left as they continue to fire the tear gas canisters at the crowd here. A lot of them have dispersed.
This entire intersection was full. This is a rather weird situation to be in because we are in a four-way intersection, so there are people and officers around us in every direction, Don. Protesters have spray painted -- Dave, our cameraman, is panning around here at the situation.
So you can see all of these officers arrived here into downtown to kind of keep the protesters marching in one particular order. Here on this truck here, this is where the area where the initial confrontation started.
LEMON: Ed, just a couple of minutes ago, as of just a short time ago, this was a peaceful protest.
LAVANDERA: Absolutely. It has been peaceful the entire evening. And for some reason, when it got here to this particular intersection, is when things changed dramatically. We are about to be overwhelmed here by the smoke. Dave, let's move because I cannot -- hold on, Don.
LEMON: I got you, Ed. So, Ed -- listen, Ed is out on the street. There's tear gas going off. He does not have a gas mask it appears at his disposal right now. And -- listen. Take it from me from experience. It is a very uncomfortable position to be in, when you get a whiff of that tear gas. It chokes you up and you can barely talk.
But we're -- Ed Lavandera is in Dallas and we're watching the scene unfold there. According to Ed, this was peaceful as of just a couple of minutes ago. And then for some reason, it went south. And for whatever reason, we have no idea why.
But you're looking at a helicopter in the sky. It could be a police helicopter or a news helicopter. But I would imagine that they have moved the news helicopters out of the sky and the airspace is only for police helicopters now.
What is interesting to me is that in some of the cities, it appeared that police were taken off -- were caught off guard last night, especially in Minneapolis and maybe even tonight. But it looks like cities around the country, police departments around the country met today, saw what happened last night, and said, we have to get our acts together and make sure we have enough manpower on the streets.
So it looks like in these cities, even when these things go south and people get riled up, it still appears that the police have some control over them. It got a little dicey there in Atlanta just a little bit earlier. But from what I witnessed at the top of the show with Nick Valencia, it appears that police had gotten it somewhat under control, controlled chaos, as they call it.
So I want to get back now -- we're going to take a break from Dallas here. We'll keep an eye on that and Ed Lavandera. We're going to go now to the streets of Minneapolis tonight where people are ignoring the curfew that has been imposed. I want to get to CNN's Omar Jimenez. He is there. He's been there all morning.
[22:40:00]
LEMON: You saw him this morning being taken into custody by police. You've been at the scene all day. First of all, tell me what you're witnessing tonight, Omar.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, you talk about that curfew order that was supposed to be in place. Now, for hours, it is clearly being ignored by people here. This has essentially been the focal point of the protests night in and night out here in Minneapolis.
This is the police precinct that we saw on fire yesterday. Now, you're watching people going in and out of this precinct. We've seen them break out the windows from this precinct on the inside. Some people cheering in some ways, seeing it as a symbol.
But one thing that you do notice as you look at this and as you pan out is that these are not the number swells that we have seen at this particular location over the course of just the past two days. In fact, the governor described it as 48 hours of anarchy that we had seen in this city.
But you've seen what is left over from that, because as you look across the street from the precinct, you see that business completely blown out. And when I mention it's almost like a ground zero here, I mean that in more ways than one because of the absolute destruction that is actually -- that you see here. It looks as if a bomb went off in this area.
And one thing that it's almost easy to lose sight of in this is why people were protesting in the first place. All of these protests largely started peacefully here in Minneapolis over and in regards to the death of George Floyd, how that death unfolded, and how subsequently that death was handled.
Well, now and the days since then, we have seen that, again, give away to some violence, and, of course, the governor and the mayor here have been trying to deploy more resources to get things under control like imposing curfews, like deploying the National Guard, like employing more state patrol officers here to the city. But people seem to be ignoring that and we have seen images across the city here of people who are still out protesting. Don?
LEMON: So this is the first chance, Omar, I've gotten to speak to you on television. I spoke with you on the phone earlier today. I can't tell you how proud I am of you in the way that you handled yourself. So talk to me about what occurred live on our air on CNN this morning. You were on television, wrongly detained, if not arrested. I'm not sure how they're qualifying it now. You had your credentials. You showed it. You were respectful. What happened, Omar?
JIMENEZ: Well, all that happened just behind me, again, at this focal point earlier this morning, right around 5:00 a.m. local time here. And our team had been reporting on what had been literal hours of no law enforcement, no firefighters as buildings were burning and as people were literally running through the streets in pure anarchy. Then law enforcement, both the state and federal level, all arrived at once, and we saw a line of state patrol officers making their way down the block.
LEMON: Omar, let me interrupt you. Let me ask you this. Let me ask you this.
JIMENEZ: Yeah, go for it.
LEMON: What was going through your head when this happened? What were you thinking? Were you thinking I can't believe this is happening, is this real? What were you thinking?
JIMENEZ: Well, there was a lot going through my head. One, it was surreal that we were in that position to begin with. I had heard from another one of our reporters, Josh Campbell, he was at a separate location. He said he had a similar interaction with the police. But his didn't end in an arrest, mine did. We were taken over to the police van where we were eventually transported to that station.
And as we were sitting back there, while I was thinking about what would happen next to myself and my team members here, I didn't realize, but my mom was worrying her butt off at home trying to call as many people as possible because all she saw was me being arrested, me being taken off. And because I wasn't technically booked into anywhere, she had no idea or no record of where exactly I went.
And the text message she sent me later on is she feared she would be another mother that lost a black son who quote, unquote, died in police custody. And that was the fear that was going through her mind. Even if for us, we felt that CNN would come and help us on the legal side, if we felt CNN would contact the governor's office to help us get out, which they did, there was a fear there even just within my family that I would not come out of that the same as how I went in despite that happening live on national television.
And these are the conversations, the stories like this George Floyd story provoke. And what happened to us and our crew was almost in some ways a microcosm of the larger story that we are looking at here. Just because something happens on camera does not mean that it's going to be a positive outcome.
LEMON: Boy, I can tell you for sure that your mom didn't know because her friend, Shawn Robinson (ph), we have a mutual friend, who texted me and said --
(LAUGHTER)
[22:45:00]
LEMON: I know Jane, who is your mom, and I know Omar, and I just wanted to get in touch with you. And I gave your mom my number because your mom said she had no one's number at CNN to contact, and she didn't know what was going on.
JIMENEZ: Yeah. LEMON: So now she has my number and she also has the boss' number. So, you're good now. I just want to say, you did --
JIMENEZ: Don't be surprised if she starts calling you now.
LEMON: That's OK. She can call me as much as she wants.
JIMENEZ: Yes.
LEMON: But Omar, take care of yourself. And listen, you're doing a fantastic job and I'm very proud of you. I don't want to treat you like a young man, but you are a young man, and I just can't wait to see the career that you have ahead. Just continue to stay calm and carry on and do your job with the dignity that you are doing. Thank you so much, OK?
JIMENEZ: Thank you, Don.
LEMON: So here's our breaking news. The fourth night of protests across the country over the death of George Floyd at the hands of police and one of the officers has been charged with third-degree murder. This is Washington, D.C. right now, not far from the White House. I would imagine --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (voice-over): There you go. Right across the street, you can see the White House there in the distance. It appears there is a scuffle, right in the center of your screen. Let's listen and see what's happening.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Don't shoot. Don't shoot. Don't shoot.
LEMON (voice-over): All right. We'll continue to watch these pictures. We'll take a quick break. We'll see you in a moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Back now with our breaking news, with our continuing breaking news coverage. Protests are spreading across the country tonight over the death of George Floyd. These are pictures of Minneapolis. You can see the fire department is on the scene. They are trying to put out -- it looks like a smouldering fire, at least. I'm not sure if there was flame. But at this point, it looks like they have whatever fire, whatever size it was under control.
There's supposed to be a curfew in effect in Minneapolis but protesters are still out there. They are on the streets tonight. We want to get to the streets of Minneapolis. There's our Sara Sidner, who is there. Sara, these folks are not supposed to be out. There's supposed to be a curfew. The third precinct went up in flames. So what is happening now?
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We walked about three miles, Don. I want to give you a look at the scene. First of all -- show the crowd here -- there are hundreds of people here. They're hands up, saying, don't shoot. But if you look at the top, this is the fifth precinct. This is the fifth Minneapolis police precinct in the city of Minneapolis.
If you look at the top of the precinct, there are one, two, three police officers that I can see so far that every now and then -- now there is a fourth -- that every now and then comes to the edge and they point their nonlethal weapons. Those have been either having bean bags, rubber bullets or tear gas that is deployed. That's what we've been seeing at the third precinct.
Now, we're at the fifth precinct. The protesters just kept marching all the way down Lake Street, and I can tell you that initially today, we watched as the National Guard rolled in. We watched as the state police rolled in. We watched as the sheriff's department came in and made a line, blocking everything that we had been standing near the third precinct yesterday.
And then all of a sudden, as protesters came forward, they backed up. And they backed up and the police backed up until there was no police presence whatsoever. So we walked three miles following where the protesters were going and ended up here at the fifth precinct.
So far, there have been a few water bottles thrown, but it has been for the most part peaceful here. Folks are here chanting, singing, listening to music. Their ire is again focused on another police precinct and this, of course, is after what happened with George Floyd.
And you are seeing a very diverse crowd here. You are seeing a lot of white folks here, as well as plenty of black folks here. You are really seeing a large community. You're seeing many, many, mostly young people, who are out here.
We've talked to several of them, Don, and they say they are heartbroken but their heartbreak has turned into anger, frustration, and they just literally said they can't stop and they won't stop no matter what curfew is put on them.
That curfew, by the way, has been in effect for an hour and 53 minutes. And these folks just never abided by it. It looks like authorities aren't enforcing it whatsoever, Don.
LEMON: All right. Sara, thank you very much. Sara, stand by. We want to get to Ed Lavandera in Dallas, Texas and check in with him. Ed, when last we left you, there was some tear gas going on. I think you got a gulp of it. Are you OK and what's happening at the scene?
LAVANDERA: Yeah, we're fine. We cleared it all out. We're able to talk and breathe normally again. But just moments ago, more tear gas canisters, about four tear gas shots. We're starting to get whiffs of it in the air because the wind -- there, you heard another one.
This is a small remnant of the march that has been going through downtown Dallas this evening. For the last 10 minutes or so, it has been calm. But this has now escalated once again. There is a group of protesters throwing rocks and other objects at the line of SWAT officers here in this intersection of downtown Dallas. And this continues. You can see it.
One gentleman here appears to have been taken, is being loaded up into the back of the van, taken into custody. I hear over the loud speakers, the officers talking about other arrests being made. We're standing back a little bit here because the wind in this particular intersection is swirling around us.
When we were with you there earlier, Don, what happened was, the wall of smoke was in front of us. When I turned around to get away, the wall of smoke had wrapped back around us, and that is when we're caught there in the middle of that intersection and got a mouthful of the tear gas there.
[22:55:02]
LAVANDERA: We also have officers on horseback trying to get this crowd to move back there. They're beginning to push the remnants of this group back. We'll see if we can get a better vantage point from around these trucks here. We're behind the SWAT team line.
Don, it is two -- two different ways where officers are moving. This street, you see this is moving back toward the west. This is moving back toward the south over here. So you have two different lines of officers moving these protests in different directions. So it is definitely a very tense situation here in this particular intersection.
I do not know what has happened to this massive group of protesters that was marching through the streets of downtown Dallas. There were thousands of people here earlier this evening, and this was the tail end of the march of the line that was marching its way through downtown Dallas tonight. We were kind of hanging out toward the back of this line.
We were trying to figure out what exactly is going on with the rest of the group. I don't know if they've dispersed and they're continuing to march in other parts of town but that is the scene that we're seeing here unfold, Don.
LEMON: Ed Lavandera is in Dallas. Ed, we'll get back to you. I want to check back in with our folks who are in Minneapolis and get to the streets there in just moments.
Speaking of Minneapolis, this is our breaking news. Protesters are taking to the streets around the country over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. You're looking at pictures now from our affiliate WCCO.
Today, the former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, was charged with third-degree murder in Floyd's death. His bail is now set at a half a million dollars.
I am joined now by Minnesota's former Democratic senator, Al Franken. Thank you so much, Mr. Franken. We appreciate you joining us. We know that this is your city. What has been going through your mind seeing the third precinct, the police precinct in your city, on fire, officers using rubber bullets and tear gas against protesters? What's going through your mind?
AL FRANKEN, FORMER MINNESOTA SENATOR: The murder of George Floyd was incomprehensively tragic. We've had this history in the -- this is our original sin, of course, which was just violence against African- Americans. And we have seen this throughout our history. Now, we have cell phones. So the anger that you're seeing, the frustration you're seeing is completely understandable. And it is -- it is very tragic.
LEMON: So listen, sadly, George Floyd isn't the first black man to be killed by Minneapolis area police in recent years. We all remember Philando Castile and Jamar Clark. You know about these stories. This is where you are. You understand why people feel like no progress has been made at all.
FRANKEN: I understand that. We have some -- a good leader, the chief of the department, but we've had this history. I don't know what the solution is. I think we have to make it easier to get rid of bad cops. The cop who killed George Floyd had a history of this. And I'm a guy who believes in unions. We have to make it easier to get rid of cops that have histories like this. That's one thing we need to do.
This is not Minneapolis. This is a national problem. You're seeing it tonight. You're seeing it nationally. And we -- this is something that -- this pandemic has revealed so many of the weaknesses that our country has. Part of it is in just the disparities by race, in wealth, and income. And you've seen people of color die at greater numbers and have to go to work because they need to put food on their family's table.
And this is part of what has been exposed by this pandemic. And we have a president now who wants to use this to distract from his record on this, his absence in leadership on this. And he just wants to foment disruption, you know, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.
[23:00:05]
FRANKEN: That's the old Nixon playbook.
