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Don Lemon Tonight
Justin Trudeau Reacts On Chaos In U.S.; Peaceful Protests Seen In Major Cities; Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D), Atlanta, GA Is Interviewed About How She Views The Eight Days Of Protests In The Country After George Floyd's Death; Curfews Are In Effect In Every Major City In The United States, Including New York City; Thousands Protest In Houston, George Floyd's Hometown. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired June 02, 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]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA: We all watch in horror and consternation what's going on in the United States. It is a time to pull people together, but it is a time to listen. It is a time to learn what injustices continue, despite progress over years and decades. But it is a time for us as Canadians to recognize that we, too, have our challenges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: What do you take from the silence, 20 seconds? Was it a stunt? What was the effect? For me, it's that a leader doesn't just talk. A leader has to listen, but most importantly, a leader has to feel. A leader has to feel what the people he leads feels. He doesn't have to have the same experience, but he has to understand their experience.
I'll be back at midnight Eastern tonight. Our coverage continues, of course, with the man, D. Lemon, and "CNN TONIGHT."
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: I think he's many of us right now. Good evening, by the way. I think he's many of us. Many of us at a loss for words. When people ask me about, what do you think about this or the president did that or -- and I don't really know what to say.
And so, I think that's -- I think he faced a conundrum in that moment that many people face. They don't know what to say. They don't want to say the wrong thing. They don't want to jump to conclusions and then you're just sort of flummoxed because we've never really seen anything like this before. We've never been in this position.
CUOMO: No. I mean, look, obviously we've had protests, we've had wrongful killings, we've had prosecutions that don't go the way they're supposed to go, but there is just such a starkness and contrast and such a profound pain.
See, I think people keep missing -- not you -- but people keep missing the pain. They see the anger. They see the anger in the protests and they judge the anger because, frankly, Don, it's easier to do. It's easier to identify with. Everybody gets anger. Not everybody gets pain and hurt.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: Especially in a context like this. And I've never seen during this administration as stark a contrast. Kind of close with what was going on, on the border and putting kids in cages and him not giving a damn about that and lying about it and putting that on other people. But now these are all Americans you're dealing with. There is no other, unless another you choose to create.
LEMON: Yes, pain and fear. Pain and fear. Listen, I know people who are afraid. They see the people out on the streets. They're not afraid of the legitimate protesters, but they're afraid of the looters. Even coming into their own homes. Coming into their businesses.
And there are many people who live during the civil rights movement who faced the very same fear. I had Bernice King on the other night. Same fear when mobs would show up at her house, when they would burn crosses on their lawn, when their property would be damaged, when they would -- when black families would be in fear of being dragged out of their homes in the middle of the night.
None of it is right, but what I'm saying is we are gripped in fear right now and we don't know what to do on many, many different levels and it's time for some understanding.
No one wants to go back to the 1960s and we don't want to progress forward -- we don't want to move forward without gaining some understanding of where we are in the moment and how we're going to change things, and that comes with everyone letting their guard down, having some empathy for the person that you don't really know about and listening, and not just having -- we always say -- I'm sick of people saying -- Chris, we do it all the time, let's have a conversation. Well, where do you go after that conversation? Got to be some action, right?
CUOMO: Right. Because, you know, look, I think -- I'm pretty sure -- I've had so many different quotes in my head recently, but Tupac Shakur gave an interview recently where he eloquently said, I thought, you know, blacks have been asking, asking, asking, for a long time, let us in, let us in, let us in, begging, begging, begging, it's bad out here, let us in, let us in.
We're asking you know, let us in. We begged and you don't let us in. We start banging on the door because we need to get in. We can't stay out here. We're dying out here. Do you think we're going to keep asking at a certain point?
Now, I know that sounds incendiary to people, but everything that has mattered in American history has happened because people got to a point where their desperation led them to action and they insisted things got better.
LEMON: That's -- CUOMO: We've never done it by conversation and a pat on the back. It
doesn't mean insurrection. It doesn't mean civil war.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: It means passion that fuels anger that fuels change.
[22:04:58]
LEMON: But the thing is, Chris, it does mean insurrection, and I don't mean -- I don't mean it in the way people -- let me -- it means insurrection when people get tired and if no one listens, then it fuels insurrection, do you understand what I'm saying?
CUOMO: Yes.
LEMON: After a while people say, OK, look, I'm tired of this. I'm tired of it and either you let me in, you understand me, I'm going to force my way into the conversation, force my way into the system. I'm going to demand that you let me into the house, meaning -- I'm talking about -- you get what I'm saying, the metaphorical house. And you're going to have to do it and people aren't going to like.
So why can't we all figure out how to do it now instead of an insurrection that happens because no one wants to change?
CUOMO: And I think that what we've learned --
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: -- you know, you and I aren't young anymore.
LEMON: Speak for yourself.
CUOMO: We've been seeing for a long -- well, you look young but you're not. And we've been living this a long time.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: And it's frustrating. I understand people's frustration because what we've learned is there is no solution, there are solutions.
LEMON: Yes, right.
CUOMO: A lot of different things have to happen and it has to begin with a grassroots momentum that rewards people for capturing what they feel and punishing those who do not, and leadership on the top and those in power who recognize the opportunity and the need.
LEMON: That's what these -- that's what you're looking at Seattle is all about right there. That is -- that's the grassroots. That's our future showing us, asking us, are you going to come with us or are we going to have to drag you? Are you going to stay where you are and then --
(CROSSTALK) CUOMO: And there's opportunity in that.
LEMON: Exactly.
CUOMO: If you want to be one of their leaders and you go out there and you show that you get their issues and you have a plan to do something, even if it's just one thing.
LEMON: Right.
CUOMO: You get their votes.
LEMON: Right.
CUOMO: Now you're in power.
LEMON: Now you're in power.
CUOMO: Now you have a mandate.
LEMON: Yes. Thank you, sir.
CUOMO: I love you, Don Lemon.
LEMON: I love you more than I don't know, who knows.
CUOMO: In your case, not much.
LEMON: I got to get to the breaking news. I'll see you later. I'll see you later on tonight. This is the breaking news.
This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.
Listen, we have breaking news out of major cities all across America tonight under curfew after things got ugly in too many places last night. You're looking at pictures in New York. That is one place that's under a curfew. Most of the cities we're going to show you tonight under curfew as well.
So far things appear to be calm. You never know. We hope they stay that way. That after a day of peaceful, in fact, beautiful protests in cities all across the country. Thousands and thousands of people exercising their First Amendment rights. Last night we asked, democracy or dictatorship?
Well, today those protesters gave us our answer. The response to the president, the response to the violence last night seems to be even larger and more peaceful protests. People out in the streets in even greater numbers.
I want you to take a look at this. This is New York's Times Square. This was earlier. Look at this. Here we go. Doctors who have been applauded every night for fighting the coronavirus, taking a knee with the hundreds of protesters.
America is at a cross roads tonight. America is at a cross roads tonight. Are you listening, America? At a crossroads. The president threatening to send the U.S. military into states and communities across its country. Whether they like it or not.
Military police just a few hours ago facing off against nonviolent protesters at the Lincoln Memorial where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his I have a dream speech in 1963, but President Trump is shamelessly trying to use this crisis to his political advantage. Just one day after peaceful protesters were gassed so he could stage a photo-op in front of St. John's Church.
Abhorrent. Scowling with somebody's bible in his hand. Using the church, the bible as a prop, creating a scene that he hoped would appeal to Evangelical voters. Shameful.
A longtime adviser telling CNN sarcastically the president, quote, "is not a man of faith."
Take a look at what happened to one protester over the weekend, OK? This is Kansas City, Missouri. This appears to show a protester, he's yelling at police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your scary ass on somewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't do that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the (muted).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the (muted).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Apparently, this -- these police officers didn't like the way the man was speaking to them. Appears to be sprayed with pepper spray. Held on the ground by police.
[22:09:55]
By the way, the Kansas City Police Department is issuing a statement saying, as previously reported, we made 151 arrests this weekend. By the way, that is something else we're showing you. A 151 arrests this weekend. This man is one of them.
The protester was arrested for multiple city protest-related charges. He did not resist his arrest, however, the associated response from the crowd was aggressive and violent by throwing various objects and physically interfering with the arrest, which is also a crime for which they were not arrested for at the time.
That is what led to the officers' response with the pepper spray. That is B.S. That's B.S. Come on, Kansas City. Do better.
While the police say the man was arrested for protest-related charges they did not specify which law he is accused of breaking, and it looks like he was pepper sprayed while he was being arrested.
Protesters are taking to the streets to make their voices heard. To make America listen. Let's remember what this is all about. Here it is. This is the death of George Floyd. An unarmed black man pinned to the ground by police. One with his knee on his neck. Crying, screaming I can't breathe. Calling for his mother.
His last words more powerful than even a threat force -- a threat of force from the President of the United States.
CNN's Jason Carroll is in Brooklyn for us tonight. He joins us now live. We also have reporters all around. Alex Marquardt is in Washington. We're going to go to Jason first on the streets of New York. Jason, we saw protesters defying a curfew last night. What's the situation now?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was the same thing today. Protesters defying the curfew and it was peaceful until just a few moments ago. Most of the protesters had left. There were about 1,000 or more at a certain point.
There were just less than a couple hundred less than that at the last second, and then some of the officers said that someone started throwing something at some of the officers. And at that point they started to make a few arrests.
At this point now, you can see the officers behind us, they are telling us we have to move back to a particular corner where we can report. Well, you can hear this one saying we have to leave. I made a point in telling him that even though there is a curfew, essential personnel, as in press, are allowed to be out here. And are -- we are allowed to report. But they're continuing to move us back.
So we're going to get to a point where we can report from, but I do want to point out that up until this point, this was a peaceful demonstration with more than 1,000 folks who were out here peacefully marching through the streets, even past curfew, and police used an incredible amount of restraints in allowing those demonstrators and protesters to continue to march throughout the streets of Brooklyn. But you can see at this point, they are moving us back.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: So, Jason, why are they moving them then if they're peaceful?
CARROLL: Because, as I said, at a certain point some of the officers said someone threw some sort of projectile at them and they then at that point went after that individual who threw whatever it is they said that they threw.
And so, at that point, they went to make the arrest and then they started moving us back to a particular corner where they said we can report from. So that's where we are now.
Yes? Where's the corner where we can report?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're making our job harder. You can still film, you just got to keep moving.
CARROLL: Understood. But where do you want us to move to? he said to this corner. Which corner?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a curfew, guys. You got to disperse. Come on.
CARROLL: Yes, we're essential. So, we're allowed to be out here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. You saw what happened --
(CROSSTALK)
CARROLL: He said -- he said we can report from a particular corner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You saw what happened.
CARROLL: I did see what happened. What did happen? Tell me what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not talking about that. You got to disperse. Eight o'clock ordinance, city ordinance.
CARROLL: OK, but the media is essential. So, we are allowed to stay out here.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get that. Just keep moving along, sir, please.
CARROLL: OK. Where would you like us to go to?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just keep moving.
CARROLL: To where, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep moving.
CARROLL: To where? He said to move to a particular corner. I agree to go to the corner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're cleaning the block.
(CROSSTALK)
CARROLL: OK. We'll move to a particular block. Is it OK if we move down here? Sure.
(OFF-MIC)
CARROLL: Absolutely, would you like us to move down here? We can report from there? OK. OK. All right. So down here at the end we're allowed to stay there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you have to move later. I'm not promising anything.
CARROLL: OK. That's good. We'll do it for now. Are we in agreement?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For now. Yes.
CARROLL: OK. All right. Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. So, we're allowed to report then, Don, from here at the end of the block. And that's where we'll continue to do that, but at this point the crowd is -- the crowd has been disperse.
Look, I know it looks tense. It is tense. But, again, the officers did use an incredible amount of restraint throughout the evening. Up until the very last moment when, again, the majority of the peaceful protesters had left and then at that point police say someone threw some sort of projectile, so the police went for that particular individual, found that particular individual, made some sort of an arrest and then they started moving everyone back.
[22:15:05]
Now, I just want to be clear. They told us we could move back to the corner, that was at least 100 meters back in the other direction. We got to that corner and then they kept pushing us along and along. I kept saying, where would you like us -- we'll go wherever you need us to go, and then you heard how the conversation went just a few moments ago, Don.
LEMON: You handle that very well. Better than I would because I didn't quite understand what he was saying. Jason Carroll reporting for us in Brooklyn.
CARROLL: You understand my point, don.
LEMON: I totally get your point.
CARROLL: We're essential. We're allowed to be out here as the press.
LEMON: Yes.
CARROLL: We're allowed to report.
LEMON: Yes, absolutely. I get your point. Thank you, Jason Carroll. Nice job.
CNN's Alex Marquardt is in Washington for us near the White House. Alex, what are you seeing where you are this evening?
ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, you know, at this point in the evening there is always the question of what the protest is looking like. Might it turn violent?
But the, you know, this crowd, many of whom were out here last night, have good reason to be angry for what they went through yesterday. When this entire area was cleared out suddenly at 6.35 p.m., well before the curfew, so that the president could walk across Lafayette Square and hold up that bible at St. John's Church.
What you are seeing now, Don, are a number of protesters who are still out. Now more than three hours after the curfew that was set by the mayor of Washington, D.C. They have been keeping it extremely calm and the focus entirely on the point of these protests, to raise their voices peacefully in remembrance of George Floyd and to chant, among other things, that black lives matter.
So, what we have seen today is diametrically opposed to what we saw over the course of the past 24 hours. There is a curfew in effect, but we have seen no effort by either the federal officers inside the park or the Washington, D.C. police force, which we imagine is on the streets all around this area, to shut down this protest.
Now, we have to say, this was a huge protest during the course of the day. Over the past hour it has thinned out rather dramatically. You can see here there are a lot of people aligned against -- lined up against this new fence that was put up overnight.
It's about eight feet tall, made out of steel, connected by links of chain. And there have been some protesters who have been pushing up against it, but then they have quickly been told by others to stop it, that they want to keep it peaceful.
And on the other side, Don, what you have is a long line of National Guard -- National Guard troops. They just recently were switched out. They switched out the D.C. park police, they relieved them. And that just speaks to the huge number of forces that have poured into Washington to help out with law enforcement.
Some 2,000 to 3,000 National Guard troops from D.C. and from a number of different states are helping out along with a number of different federal forces.
But, Don, the night is wearing on. This curfew is very much, as we said, in effect. Just moments ago, a huge crowd of protesters went down westwards on 8th Street to leave the protest.
My colleague, our colleague Jeff Zeleny reports that they are just walking out, they are being escorted by police. The police showing no sign of wanting to arrest them, despite the fact that that is the threat, if they stay out after curfew. So, you can hear those chants of George Floyd. No, that's about the president.
LEMON: Yes.
MARQUARDT: But, Don, this is -- this is a peaceful protest, and hoping it remains so.
LEMON: All right. Alex Marquardt, we'll check back. Thank you very much. I appreciate that.
I want to bring in now the mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms. Mayor Bottoms, I'm so happy that you're here. Thank you so much for joining us this evening.
So, you've been watching these protests all day and you've been getting reports from your city, paying attention to what's happening there. Largely peaceful taking place in our great American cities all across the country. You know, we're talking about eight nights of protest so far. How are you viewing this moment in history?
MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), ATLANTA, GA: You know, Don, it's a lot to take in, and as I was sitting watching your coverage, I wondered what it was like in 1965 to watch these moments happen. Did that generation recognize the magnitude of the shift that was happening in the nation? And I think that's what we're seeing right now.
We are seeing a shift in the nation. When you see white police officers taking a knee with protestors, I think that for so many it's a recognition that our pain is being felt and our voices are being heard, and I think the question for all of us is now where do we go from here?
LEMON: We're looking at live pictures of Atlanta right now. And we see, you know, military units there on our screen there. Your city is under a curfew tonight. Are people heeding it?
[22:20:05]
BOTTOMS: They are by and large. And I'll tell you, this has just been a point of personal concern for me since Friday. We know what happened on Friday in cities across America, and we had to call in for reinforcement in Atlanta.
It's been our longstanding history as the birthplace of the Civil Rights movement that we allow peaceful protests to go uninterrupted, but now that we have the National Guard in our city and we have the state patrol in our city, we can't control what these other agencies do in response to many of these protests.
So, you saw some of the protestors being gassed today, tear gas and a lot more aggressive than we would do on a -- on a local level normally. And that -- that was my concern when we had to call in for extra support.
LEMON: You know, I keep thinking, you know, about this president's inauguration speech where he talked about American carnage and he said it would stop then and there, and now we have this, over 100,000 Americans who didn't have to die from the coronavirus and the literal carnage on American streets right now, Mayor.
BOTTOMS: Yes, you know, and, Don, the -- there are so many disturbing things that are happening right now. But we are still in the middle of a pandemic. And there is a very human need for all of us to come together and be amongst each other during this very difficult time because we're grieving, we're grieving as a nation, we're grieving for the murder of George Floyd and the names go on and on.
But the reality is that we're still living in the middle of COVID-19 where we aren't supposed to be in close contact with each other. And we'll know in a couple of weeks what these mass gatherings mean for our communities and COVID-19.
LEMON: But you have to be concerned about that, I'm sure.
BOTTOMS: We all have to be, especially in our urban city centers. But, you know, that's something we'll see what happens in a couple of weeks. I just hope that people will continue to be mindful of that.
We are sending out messaging in Atlanta urging people who have participated in the mass demonstrations to police go and get tested for COVID-19.
But the reality is very simple, Don, our communities are sick and they are tired and they are dying. And it's from COVID-19, it's from poverty, it's from police brutality, it's from underlying health conditions, and I think what you're seeing -- what we're all seeing and witnesses is this is bubbling up and it's playing out in real time. And the question I found myself asking over the past few days, what is our point of satisfaction?
LEMON: Yes.
BOTTOMS: In 1960, the students from the Atlanta University Center articulated in their appeal for human rights what their grievances were and what response they wanted from state and federal leaders and local leaders, and I think it's incumbent upon us to do the same thing.
LEMON: Mayor, thank you so much. I'm going to -- I know you're busy. You have to get back to the business of the city. But just on a personal note, I got to spend some time with your mom and I really enjoyed it, and I'm just wondering how she's doing in all of this and just give her my well wishes, OK?
BOTTOMS: I will make sure to do that. Thank you, Don.
LEMON: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Curfews in cities from coast to coast, but there are plenty of people out there tonight after a day of peaceful protests, and we are learning more tonight about the president's photo-op yesterday. That's next.
[22:25:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. We're getting -- we're getting some reports now of trouble in the streets of New York, New York City tonight.
CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is out there. We're also getting some information about possibly on the bridge. This is Shimon in Chelsea and then we'll get to the other thing. Shimon, what do you have?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes, so we're in Chelsea, Don. So, this group is now mixed with what have been mostly peaceful demonstrators through the day. But there's a large mix of people here that we just saw looting again here on 23rd Street. They broke into a store, it looked like a wine shot, and they took bottles of wine.
And you can see the police, police are now trying to -- they are throwing bottles at the police who are in their cars. And you can see them all -- you can see -- you can see them throwing items at the police. They're on bikes here.
So now they're -- so it's not clear why this group here is fighting, but -- the police, Don, just so you know, have actually been arresting people tonight for breaking the curfew.
There are now -- it looks like they're breaking a window here and you can see -- so some of these actually, Don, I recognize some of these people as being peaceful protesters who were out here all day.
But they are now mixed in with a group of agitators and some of the looters that I saw -- so you see this person here who is telling people to kneel, he has been one of the organizers, Don, of some of these demonstrations.
[22:30:09]
And I've actually spent some time with him and talking to him, and he has been trying to de-escalate. That's what he's doing here. But there are hundreds of people here and it's going to be -- the police just keep arriving as some people take the knee here. So he's trying to de- escalate --
LEMON: I was going to say, Shimon, it looks like some of the protesters are upset that some of these people are causing trouble. They seem frustrated by it.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Yes.
LEMON: It seems like some of the -- they were trying to -- some of them were trying to break it up and stop them from causing conflict out there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Why are you recording now? Fuck you, bro.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): So, here are the police now moving in. So, let's see how this plays out. Police right now are standing back, Don. There are people in this crowd, Don, that have been peaceful protesters today. But they were coming south on -- we're on 6th Avenue. They were coming south. The looters were on 23rd Street and then they made a right on 6th. The peaceful protesters then got mixed in with the looters. And so there's an escalation here now.
And you could see him here, Don. You see him kneeling here. He has been -- there we go. One of the officers now --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE/UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Peaceful protest, peaceful protest, peaceful protest -- PROKUPECZ (voice-over): You can hear they're chanting "peaceful protest". I'm just going to have our cameraman here turn around and show you. So they're trying to diffuse the situation. These are the peaceful protesters, Don.
LEMON: Mm-hmm. They're actually chanting "peaceful protest" right now.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): I don't know what the police are going to do. They are. And they've been peaceful. I don't know what the police are going to do because they have --
LEMON: I think in a situation like this --
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): -- been making arrests.
LEMON: -- we've all gone to that -- there is a training, a hostile situation training that New York City police gives to civilians if you want to take it, but many times to the media, and they try to stay back unless absolutely necessary to let the situation sort of diffuse itself, and then if they feel --
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): There are the police.
LEMON: -- maybe as they are now, that it is not going to, then they start to move in, but they take as much time as they -- at least that's what the training says.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Stop! They just pushed --
LEMON: They just pushed you?
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Yeah. So the police are pushing everyone back. We're with CNN. We're with CNN. We're with CNN. Let us here. Let us here. The police are pushing us back. We're with CNN, guys. We're with CNN. Come back here. We understand. Thank you. Thank you. So here are the police moving in. I just want you to hear some of this, Don.
LEMON: Keep it -- director, can you put the pictures up in the camera for me and take the prompter off? Thank you.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): There you go. Right here. Right here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Thank you.
LEMON: Thank you.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Someone here fell. There's a woman here on the ground, Don.
LEMON: Do you know what happened to her, Shimon?
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): There's a car now. I don't know. I assume she got trampled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): She got hit by a car.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): She got hit by a car. That's what our security is saying. She is in a lot of pain. And, Don, the curfew here -- we're seeing the police. The police now are pulling someone out of a car. You can see them on the ground. I don't know what happened here, Don, with this car, but --
LEMON: Listen, for those of you who are just joining us, it is just after 10:30, 10:34 here in New York City. There was a curfew that was put in place for 8:00, and you're watching these pictures unfold. Our correspondent Shimon Prokupecz is out in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. And there is a conflict going on. You can see someone there being detained by police officers. And then now police pushing people up against the wall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Back up. Back up. Back up. You're going to get hurt.
LEMON: They had been showing restraint, according to Shimon, who is out there now, but you can see now the situation has escalated and they're trying to calm things down. Let's go back to Shimon Prokupecz. Shimon, what are you seeing?
PROKUPECZ (on camera): Yeah, so someone tried to come through the crowd and now police are trying to -- we're going to go to the other side, officer. We're with CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no.
[22:35:00]
PROKUPECZ (on camera): We're going to the other side. We're with CNN.
LEMON: Tell him you're online. Tell them that you're online.
PROKUPECZ (on camera): We're on -- we're with CNN, guys. Come here, guys. Let me just get our team together. Mark, over here.
LEMON: So, as you can understand --
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): I've already gone --
LEMON: Go ahead, Shimon.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Go ahead, Don. No, I was just going to say, you know, you are watching this, I was watching Jason Carroll earlier in Brooklyn, and I actually got a call from a police official who was a little distressed about what he saw and called me and said if there was any help that I needed to let him no.
So, you know, we're trying to let the police here know that we're just trying to do our jobs and making sure that we can capture these moments. And, you know, it just takes some talking to them sometimes. But, you know, we have been pushed back a little bit here.
But things seem to be calming down. Now they're trying to keep people back. They're also down the block here. They've been pushing this group. I don't know if you can see them, but they're pushing this group all the way down the block.
LEMON: Were these two separate groups, Shimon, or was this one group that was once all together? Shimon, can you hear me?
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Yeah, I can hear you now. Go ahead, Don. I'm sorry.
LEMON: I said --
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): What was the question?
LEMON: -- is this -- are these two separate groups or was this group all together as once --
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Yes.
LEMON: -- at one point?
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): No, it was two separate groups. We were walking. We were in Times Square. We walked down.
(On camera): We were going to Union Square because we heard there was some activity. And on our way here, we saw the group on 23rd Street, and they were running and cheering. We heard glass breaking. And so we ran over and we saw them looting. This group then met up with the other group that was coming.
The other group, as I said to you, for the most part today I was with them. I saw the leader, one of the leaders of the group. They've been peaceful. They've been good. It is always what happens here is that you have the agitators and in some -- the bad actors who meet up with the peaceful protesters and stirs things up. And the police are aware of this, right? We've heard of -- we've heard them talking about this now for days.
And there's also a curfew. So they need to clear the street. And I think that the peaceful protesters, as you saw, were trying to bring down the temperature, trying to diffuse the situation. But bottles started flying at the police officers and other debris and that was it, the police moved in. And now they are just standing around. They've made several arrests.
LEMON: Did this car try to come through an intersection or do we know? Were the streets blocked off when these protesters were coming through? Did this car come out of nowhere? What happened?
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Yeah, I don't know, Don, but all of a sudden the police were saying something to them. I think they -- and then within a few seconds, they were pulling people out of the car. You saw them throw someone on the ground. They threw someone up against a wall here. So we don't know. Right now, the four individuals it looks like who were in that car --
LEMON: Well, Shimon, let me ask you something.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): -- have their hands up.
LEMON: There was a -- you can go over to where the -- OK, there they are. Go on. Describe that before I ask you a question. Sorry, go on.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Yeah, no, they're holding them. They have their hands on the trunk here, and the police are trying to figure -- I don't know why they're stopped, Don. It is after curfew. Cars are not -- remember, cars south of 96th Street are not supposed to be in Manhattan. So, it's the curfew and they close off the streets south of 96th Street.
So, I don't know how they wound up here or why they're here. They're also here arresting a man here, an individual, the police here are arresting. But things have settled down here for now. The police, I can see in the distance, are pushing -- are not pushing but they're moving some people back. But, yeah, I don't know. You're right, it's a good question. I don't know what this --
LEMON: My question was --
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): -- trying to do but --
LEMON: This is the question I was going to ask you. When you rounded the corner there, you saw this woman lying on the ground, and it's either your photographer or producer, I'm not sure, or maybe security person --
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): It's our security team, yeah.
LEMON: -- said that she got hit by a car. I don't know if she got hit by the car and then that's where she landed that way. I'm not sure. I'm just asking because what car would she have been hit by?
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): You know what, Don? She's not even --
LEMON: She's gone.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): -- she's not even here anymore. She got up.
LEMON: Yeah.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): She's gone. So thankfully, she's not seriously hurt. She may have just been hurt as people were running from the scene.
[22:40:00]
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): But I think, you know, the point you raised about there were two groups here, they met up. The bad actors mixed in with the good actors and that was it.
LEMON: Let me me jump in here, Shimon --
PROKUPECZ (on camera): It's very hard for the police.
LEMON: -- because I need to tell people --
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Go ahead, Don.
LEMON: -- what is going on in the screen. Just stand by. I'm going to get back to you in short order. So, 10:40 and you're watching obviously CNN. This is what's playing out in New York City.
Right side of our screen, our Shimon Prokupecz on the scene of this incident that is happening in Chelsea where we saw several people being detained by police officers, one of them you see there to the right being walked away with sort of those zip tie cuffs on.
And then to -- on the left of your screen, you're looking at the Manhattan Bridge and there is a large group of protesters on this bridge. I'm not sure if they're making their way to Brooklyn or back. I'm not exactly sure in which direction they're going. This is courtesy of our affiliate WPIX, we don't have control, and we don't have any CNN personnel. We're just watching their pictures.
But this is -- you're looking at this. You're seeing an NYPD car and then a bus -- what appears to be a bus or some sort of motor home-type vehicle trying to get through that crowd of protesters on the bridge. And so at one point, we saw on the bridge people taking a knee. And if they push in closer, we can see exactly what's going on.
The people are just sort of walking around the vehicle. The vehicle may not be moving. Yeah, that's what's happening. The people are walking around the vehicle. The vehicle is not moving. And, again, this is what's happening in New York City right now.
This appears to be peaceful. It doesn't look like there's anyone being detained. No one is out of order. At one point, as I said, these folks were looking like they were taking a knee, kneeling there right in the middle of the bridge right over the river.
So here's the thing, though. There's a curfew at 8:00 p.m. tonight, supposed to go into effect. The police department is under really considerable, considerable amount of pressure along with the mayor.
From the governor of New York State, Andrew Cuomo, who is not happy with, he says, the performance of the mayor and the orders that were given to the police department, not necessarily the officers, in a statement, saying he has great respect for the officers and the work they do, but he was not happy with how -- I guess what orders were given and how that was carried out or what they were told to carry out.
But, again, this is what's happening in New York City, large group of protesters here, and if we can just get back to Shimon Prokupecz a shot. I just want to get people to the streets of New York before we leave them for just a short break here.
But this is what's happening. And I would imagine this is going to be breaking out, happening in New York City and possibly in other cities across America tonight. CNN is on top of it. We will get back to you right after a quick break. Don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [22:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We're back now live with our breaking news. We want to get straight to the ground now. CNN's Jason Carroll is in Brooklyn. Jason, I had live pictures up, an aerial shot just moments ago and, you know, the TVs are small on these cameras, so I couldn't exactly see what was going on.
But apparently these protesters on the bridge, I think they're making their way towards you. It's easier for folks at home to see these pictures actually than I can, and it's dark. But we saw a police car on the bridge and a bus. And what's going on? What are you seeing?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, they're ready for them. You can see there are a number of officers on this side, the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge. A number of those that you see there on that bridge were part over a larger group of protesters that were here in Brooklyn.
Some of them splintered off, headed up on the bridge, tried to make their way into Manhattan. They were stopped on the other end of the bridge, and so they were sort of boxed in, if you will, on one end and now the other end.
So now what we have are a number of police officers here. As you see, that vast number of folks who are on the bridge, demonstrators, again, who are trying to make their way into Manhattan, were stopped. Now, they've got to turn around, make their way back.
So the question is, Don, what happens when they get here? Will they be allowed to sort of move on? Doesn't look likely because we've seen a number of these officers out here with those white zip ties that you see often times when they're about to make arrests and bring people into custody.
So at this point, we're waiting here with scores of police officers as they wait for those protesters who are on the bridge slowly making their way back to the Brooklyn side. Don?
LEMON: Jason, I know that you're on the Brooklyn side, but do you -- I'm not sure if you have this information. If you don't, I apologize, but are officers on the Manhattan side, as well? So no matter what side they go to, they're going to be greeted by these officers. Is that -- is that --
CARROLL: That is my understanding, that there are officers on both sides, and that initially some of the demonstrators who were out here wanted to make their way from Brooklyn over to Manhattan. They were stopped. And so now we're hearing that they're going to turn around and make their way back to the Brooklyn side.
LEMON: Yeah.
CARROLL: Either way, they're going to be met with officers. Whatever they decide to do, they're going to be met with a vast number of officers who are out here on the streets tonight. And, again, we're just now at this point waiting to see what the officers are going to do.
And, again, let me show you this real quick. Let's just get a shot of that. You've got that big bus there. We've got some of the protesters there, you can see, making their way -- just a few of them making their way back on that other end.
So, they're prepared. Look, if they've got to make arrests, Don, they are prepared. They've got the bus here. They've got a number of officers with zip ties. And so if they are going to be making arrests, they are prepared to do just that.
LEMON: Yeah, there is a lot going on, Jason. I wasn't sure if they were stopped in the middle because in the pictures we had, there was, again, a police car and a bus in the middle of the bridge and it looked like protesters were trying to get around it.
[22:50:00]
LEMON: But, again, Jason Carroll explaining to us from Brooklyn what's happening on the Manhattan Bridge. Jason, stay in place. We're going to get back to you throughout the broadcast as you get more information as they make their way towards Brooklyn.
In the meantime, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Houston, Texas. That's George Floyd's hometown. Members of the family are taking part in that protest. Joining me now is Houston's mayor, Sylvester Turner. Mayor Turner, thank you so much.
I just want to get your reaction at what you're seeing. You're seeing what's happening in New York. We saw massive crowd peacefully protesting in your city. You are out there marching. Why?
MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER (D), HOUSTON, TX: Well, I think, Don, it's important for me as mayor of the city to march with them. Look, what I saw what happened to George Floyd was very, very disturbing. It was wrong, not just for the police officer placing a knee on his neck, but for the other thee who stood by and were complicit enablers.
And it is important as mayor of the city, when we know something is wrong, when we recognize, for example, that there needs to be systemic changes, it is important for me as mayor to recognize that, but not only to recognize that, but to march with them.
Look, for me, I come from one of the communities. I still live in the same neighborhood in which I was born. And so I understand the agony, the pain. I'm an African-American male. I just happened to be the mayor of the city of Houston.
And so it was important for me on this day, when we paid tribute to George Floyd, want to give support to his family, that I march with them, demonstrate with them, protest with them, and pledge that in this city, in this city, we're going to do better because we're not perfect. We still need to make improvements. But this is a city where we value the work of police officers, law enforcement. We recognize that community and police have to work hand in hand together.
LEMON: Mm-hmm. Mayor, listen, cameras are trained on -- have been trained in your city for days now and other cities, as well. But next week, it's going to be in a way that is just unprecedented, I'm sure, because this is where George Floyd's funeral is going to be. It's his hometown. And what are you expecting to take place next week? Are you ready for that and for everything that goes along with it?
TURNER: Well, you know, I won't say that you're fully ready. But today, we had 60,000 people marching in downtown eleven blocks. We had people representing the diversity of our city. We had community activists, leaders, faith-based leaders, the elected officials from the federal state to local level all walking together.
The diversity of the city was on full display, 60,000. Don, we're not under a curfew. At the same time, tonight, relatively speaking, our streets are quiet. I'm proud of that. I'm proud of Houstonians.
This is George Floyd home. Sixteen members of his family walked with us and marched with us today and stood on the stage today. What they have said repeatedly is that they want us to stand up for George, and not just for George, but many others who have lost their lives, as well. They want us to do it but do it in a very peaceful and respectful way.
Next week and tonight, let me add, Don, tonight, city hall is lit up in crimson and gold, the colors of the high school, Jack Yates High School, in third ward where he graduated, and to reflect the unity of our city and the respect and the support that we're giving to the family. We're loving on this family.
Next week, when his body comes, we will show proper respect. We will honor him. We are pledging and committing ourselves to do even better. Next week, Houston will stand tall just like they did tonight. And that's just who we are.
LEMON: I want to ask you real quickly, because you mention the family. These are 14 members of his family there now, correct? They marched with you. You saw his brother Terrence --
TURNER: Yes.
LEMON: -- pleading for peace. I think this family -- I think it's an incredible family. I want to give them credit for helping the protesters be more peaceful. They were calling for peace. The brother called for peace. The family called for peace, to protest and march but for peace. And I think we should give credit where credit is due because they are under so much pressure right now. I think these young people listen to them.
TURNER: Well, I know they do. The city listened to them. Look, they are experiencing a pain that will not go away today or next month or next year. They have lost George. He will be gone forever.
LEMON: Yeah.
TURNER: So they will have to find a way to deal with that.
[22:54:59]
TURNER: The least we can do is to pay tribute to him, to honor the family's request, to stand up, to make things right, make things better it right, but do it in a peaceful way.
LEMON: I got to get to the break. Thank you very much. Mayor Turner, I appreciate your time.
TURNER: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: More on our breaking news right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: And this is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon. It is a top of the hour just shortly before 11:00 here on the East Coast. Curfews are in effect tonight in just about every major city in the United States, including here in New York City, where it kicked in three hours ago.
This was the hour last night. This was the hour last night when the later curfew went into effect, a decision which came under heavy criticism, so an earlier curfew was established tonight.
[23:00:00]
LEMON: But as you have seen, crowds are still out in the streets. There have been arrests. There have been conflicts with police officers. It's all playing out live now, and we're following every single bit of it.
