Return to Transcripts main page

CUOMO PRIME TIME

Protests Turning Tense In NYC; Curfews Imposed, National Guard Called In As Protests Escalate; Philadelphia Asks National Guard To Help Protect "Sensitive Areas"; Protests Erupt For Sixth Day Following Death Of George Floyd; Protesters, Police Face Off Near White House As Fires Burn; President Trump Briefly Taken To Underground Bunker During Friday's White House Protests; Minneapolis Police Chief: Floyd's Death A "Violation Of Humanity". Aired 10-11p ET

Aired May 31, 2020 - 22:00   ET

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


[22:05:00]

ANNOUNCER: This CNN BREAKING NEWS.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST, CUOMO PRIME TIME: How are you? I'm Chris Cuomo. Welcome to a special edition of PRIMETIME. Right now in the United States. There are no two ways to say it. There is no peace in the country right now. Nearly every American city of any size you have bad situations - streets, public spaces.

Most of the situations we're seeing if they're about message - have the same message. People are sick and tired of what they see as a lopsided police justice, economic and cultural system that favors a majority at the expense of a minority.

Now that's general. Right? There are specific pockets for better and for worse. One of the most neglected part of the coverage of this event in this country right now is that while we see the faces of the victims, and we are hoping as a country that we start to listen to the pain that these events have caused, and look at the underlying motivations and the machinery of these situations.

What you're seeing boil over in the country right now is not what it seems very often we have it covered all over in the hot spots. We'll take you through all of them tonight. But you have to watch with awareness. Not all situations are the same. Not all groups of people are here for the right reasons. Many are not here to ask for justice. Many are here to spread injustice.

There are insurgent groups there are agitators. I don't say this from hearsay. I don't hear this from government sources. I'm telling you I know it from the realities of having been on the streets and I know what is happening on the streets tonight. So we have to watch with awareness, so that nobody starts selling any toxic narratives about who is doing what. We have to be smart.

Let's start in New York the situation, once again as often happens at night. it's turning violent. During the day, you had peaceful protests. In fact, you had them all across the country and you had them all across the city. People were chanting things like "George Floyd," just simply the name of the most recent victim of what is seen as abusive policing.

And if you see looting stop it. Now, I want you to hear that message also. OK. It is easy to lump everybody in the same basket. That's how we got in this situation to begin with, the generalities that can be dangerous. But not everybody is out on those streets for the right reason. Certainly, many are not there for good reason.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is New York City right now. Are you were trying to figure out Shimon when I was watching you with Don, something was on fire around Union Square in New York City. What is the situation now, what have you learned?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: So that the situation is the same. Chris there is that fire. We believe that the car fire around the corner here on East 12th and Broadway.

And what's happened now is more police officers have moved in and they are now-- you see someone is throwing something. This is how this has been unfolding. Here is more and more objects being thrown at police. The protesters have now surrounded the police.

You could see the police in the middle here. The protesters have surrounded them. And as the police start to move, as the police will start moving in, the crowd starts to run. And that's - here's some one else is just throwing something.

And the police, as you see, are essentially in riot gear. They're wearing their helmets. We've seen officers with those large classic shield. And so now you see again - so police - police with protesters you see here at a standoff here basically. And now the fire truck is trying to move.

So there are two fires. There's a fire engine and there's a fire truck around the corner as well dealing with this fire. But this has escalated. This group which was at first in the thousands marched from Brooklyn. Over the Manhattan Bridge they went through SoHo Park and there were arrests made in SoHo.

It was relatively quiet here. We were here just moments before the crowds showed up and it was very quiet, peaceful and all of a sudden the group got here and police just rushed in. And I just want you to hear here the protesters now chanting, "Shame" at the police. And the police are just lined up here, as you see in their helmets.

[22:10:00]

And you know there - it seems that police are trying to push the crowd back. But so far you know with the chanting on here we see police pushing more people back. And so this is how it works. The police will move in, Chris, and tell them to--

CUOMO: All right, Shimon. I hear you. I hear you. Let's just watch the scene here for a second so people can absorb it for themselves.

PROKUPECZ: The police are pushing us now.

CUOMO: So Shimon, you and the team move out of the way. Find yourself a safe opportunity place to start your coverage. Do not stay directly in the line of the police who are pushing you backwards. Find a safe space for you in the team. I have the coverage until you get there.

Now I want you to look as you're watching this. Look at the faces of people who are in direct confrontation with police. Can you be white and be at one of these situations for the right reasons? Absolutely.

A term that is now becoming very common the word, "ally", and that word saddens me. And we'll talk about that later tonight. But in this moment you absolutely can be an ally. You can absolutely be in there. But I want you to pay attention to the colors of people who are here to tell you two fundamental truths.

One, this is not an all-black issue. The victims may overwhelmingly be black, but you have a lot of people in this country who want to see things change. But I have to keep reminding you of this.

You will see - and every one of the cities I'll take you to tonight, you'll see pockets of agitators, anarchists, fringe political groups from left and right who are here to provoke. They are organized. They plan for violence and disruption and they seed it - S-E-E-D. You have to be aware of that. You see it here in this crowd.

Look at the people who are right in front of the police. Do not dismiss this as just angry black men. It's hard to even see black men right now. All right? Keep your eyes on the situations each one will be individual.

Now where do we want to go next? We're going to go to Boston where we see the cruiser on fire? We're going to Philadelphia and Brian Todd. Philadelphia, Brian, what are you seeing? Shimon Prokupecz in New York. I told him and the team to move. You have to get out of the direct line of where people are running otherwise you get trapped when you're covering these situations. You can't make your way through the crowd, especially the photojournalists, the cameramen who are walking backwards when they're doing this - very difficult job. So they'll get to safety.

Brian Todd's in Philadelphia. Keep New York on the screen. Let's split it with Philadelphia. And Brian what are you seeing there?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, chaotic scene here at a shopping center in North Philadelphia off Broad Street. The police were just here on force because this place just got hit with looters. Once the police left a bunch of these people came back. They're going back into these stores. Now the chaos is ensuing This is a GameStop store. You've got people going in here and coming out, because the police just left here a few minutes ago.

This has been a massive sweep and clear operation by the police here in North Philadelphia, trying to clear out some of the arrestees taking them in buses. I'm not sure what that was. We're going to try to move over here a little bit. But, again, once the police leave, one certain pocket were looting has occurred, the looters come back.

Look over here. They're going into an Ashley Stewart Store that was looted earlier. Now, they're all coming back and going into GameStop. It is real chaos here. And the police are kind of playing whack-a-mole here Chris. You know, when they come in and clear an area like this, they got to go and address another area. You've seen that happen.

We were in an area of West Philadelphia earlier today where there were burned up police cars. Policemen were injured. They had Molotov cocktails, bricks and rocks thrown at them. About four or five cars were set on fire. Our team was down there where there were no police. Then the police moved in and the police started firing--

CUOMO: All right, Brian.

TODD: --tear gas and rubber bullets. So we got - yes.

CUOMO: Brian.

TODD: Yes, Chris. Take care, you and the crew. Get out of that situation before it gets bad again. Get to an opportunity situation where you guys are safe and then come back to me. All right? It's not a safe place where you are right now, we're being told. Get where you can be. There's a police cruiser coming up behind you. Find a safe place and then come back to us. All right?

[22:15:00]

Let's go to Washington D.C. and Alex Marquardt. One of the things you have to do as we balance these different situations, Alex, is with a crowd there that is pretty static and stable right now. We need to move the teams, because many journalists, their instinct is to stay in the place when it all of a sudden becomes dangerous.

Can't give you the coverage if they get hurt. It's not fair to their families either, so they relocate. We'll get back there. We'll keep picture up when we can. Alex what are you seeing in the nation's capital? You're right outside the White House.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you're absolutely right. So this is the heart - the middle of Lafayette Square Park. We are right in front of the White House.

But Chris it's not just - the journalists have to keep moving around. These protesters have been moving around throughout the course of the day. This is primarily been ground zero for this protest which has centered on the killing of George Floyd, but also directing so much of that anger at the man in the White House.

In the past two hours protesters have reassembled here in Lafayette Park. And we are seeing a dynamic that has changed over the course of the evening. As you know, Chris, these protests take on a life of their own. And oftentimes as we get into the later hours of the night, they will turn from peaceful to a little bit more unruly, sometimes violent. We've seen that in Washington D.C. over the course of the past two nights. There are clearly people in this crowd, if not the vast majority, who want this to be a peaceful protest as it started earlier today. But there are certainly people here who would like it to - like it - like to see it become more violent than it is right now.

So what we have seen, Chris, just in the past few minutes there is a significant uptick in the projectiles that are being launched towards the police. And I say launched, because we have seen fireworks launch at a very low altitude at the height of my head towards the police - and the police have responded by firing pepper spray, by firing tear gas.

You'll see a lot of the people's eyes around me they're watering, and also firing flash bangs. So the police are responding to things that are being thrown at them, that are being fired at them. But then you are also seeing - and this is very important, you're seeing a lot of people here then put up their hands saying, "Hands up don't shoot" and reprimanding those who are trying to cause trouble.

So for the most part, I want to say, people do want this to be a peaceful protest. It is coming slightly unraveled. And what you're seeing now, I don't quite know, you've got a lot of people who are leaving the park. But, Chris, this is what happens in the nighttime hours. It gets a little bit more - there's a little bit more unrest.

CUOMO: Right.

MARQUARDT: So, last thing I'll say is, the mayor of D.C. has imposed a curfew, which is due to go into effect in just 45 minutes' time. Doesn't look like anybody's going anywhere for now Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Alex, you keep the team safe. You keep moving around. Let us know what's going on. When you need me to come to you, we both know how to do the job. You get in my ear. You told me that you need me I'll be there in a second. All right?

Now where Alex is, just so you understand, split screen there another part of the city. You see what I see there is a really big fire there that has obviously been lit either in the middle of the square or street. They're feeding it with things while they are there.

I don't see a large police presence there. I don't know what's on fire. While we've - when we find out I will tell you. But this is a different part of Washington D.C., not directly in front of the White House where Alex Marquardt just was.

Where do you want to go now? All right let's go back to New York City and CNN Shimon Prokupecz. We have just seen him moving with a crowd that was getting moved back. Now he's in a better area to report. What happened? And what's going on now?

PROKUPECZ: Yes. Chris, well, first the crew is safe. We're all safe. We're all fine. Police were just pushing everyone out of the area. A car was set on fire. As you saw earlier and they just wanted to remove the protest. They wanted to remove everyone out of the area. So now they've all left. The protesters have mostly left. The police are still standing around and that's what we have now. They were successfully able to move the protesters out. Let me show you down here. They're all now heading west on 14th Street where at Union Square.

Just so the viewers understand. This is where a lot of the more violent protests - some of the more the confrontation with police has occurred in this area. This has been a meeting point so to speak for a lot of the peaceful demonstrations. But at night we have seen a lot of problems in this area.

And so police are always here, they're staging here. This crowd that they pushed back, and pushed out of - this group that they pushed out of this area, they came from Brooklyn. They went over the bridge - the Manhattan Bridge. There were some disturbances in SoHo. They made a couple of arrests and then they came here and police--

[22:20:00]

CUOMO: Shimon, hold on one second. Shimon, hold on one second, I don't want to lose you. Just hold on one second. The split screen right now that is Lafayette Park in Washington D.C. I don't know what that building was that - it was showed all burned out. People were walking in and out. I'm trying to get information on that.

But this is a park where they've obviously lit a fire there. They're organizing around it. They are chanting there is no significant police presence there. But this is what we're looking at in Washington D.C. OK. You can see they've taken police barricades used to frame in, basically and outside bonfire that they have there and they're feeding it. They are there, no big police presence, no real reporting of any kind of violence. So this is what you're seeing here.

In New York City where Shimon is, so my understanding from NYPD - Shimon when he's on the street he's one of our best crime reporters. Shimon, I'm being told that - if you can hear me as you're walking along that NYPD has become very aware of organized resistance groups that are infiltrating the otherwise peaceful protests.

That they've been monitoring chat rooms with organized efforts where they're using city bikes, I don't know about the city where you are in the country. But in New York City there's a very big city bike public bikes that you can rent. They've been stealing the city bikes. They've been taking off the tracking information and using them as scouts to find areas of opportunity to bring in reinforcements of gasoline and bricks.

These are outside anarchist, agitator, not from New York City, not organic to this cause - elements. One out of every seven arrests over the last two days has been of an individual who did not offer a New York city address. One out of every seven. Shimon, does that square with what you're hearing?

PROKUPECZ: 100 percent, Chris, it does square. In fact, I will tell you with my own eyes, I was out here yesterday. The city bikes I saw - the other thing that's interesting and you can see you know there are a lot of people on bikes - there have been protesters who have been on bikes. And that's been the difference here.

I've covered protests in New York City. I covered it during the Eric Garner. I've covered "Occupy Wall Street." You've been never saw the element that we're seeing here. People setting fires turning, over trash cans. We saw windows being broken. A bank just around the corner from here, the windows there were broken.

We are now seeing stores boarded up along Fifth Avenue and other locations around Manhattan, because of what happened here yesterday. That has never happened before - or in recent in recent time.

And you're absolutely right, Chris, they are on city bikes. I've also seen scooters - them on scooters. I've seen people on scooters. I have seen yesterday - I was - when we were on 14th Street just west of here where there was a fire. There was a container - a construction container and there were bricks and I saw some of the protesters pulling out bricks.

And then there's something going on behind here. A group has gathered in front of a store here. I don't know what's going on.

CUOMO: Well let's get close. Let's see what group is and let's see what they're doing/ But don't get you. Your P.J. knows how to do the job. But don't get too close to that. They see you--

PROKUPECZ: Yes, Davide (ph), he's great.

CUOMO: Yes. Davide is great. So I don't know. So let's see what they're doing.

PROKUPECZ: Yes. So there are people there. Go ahead Chris. Yes, they broke into the store it seems.

CUOMO: Yes.

PROKUPECZ: And now they're running away and - so, yes. So, you know Chris, I'm from New York and you've you're from here. And you know where - this doesn't normally happen during these kinds of demonstrations and it didn't during the day. It was very peaceful.

It was very moving to see thousands of people gathering together and just chanting and express expressing their frustration. And the mayor, of course, as we heard from him this morning, was really upset.

And what he said and what the police commissioner has said, to your point earlier, is that there are people that are hijacking these peaceful demonstrations. And what they're doing are small groups and they're mingling in with some of the peaceful protesters. And as a result this is this is what we're getting.

And you're right, one other point I want to make Chris is that the police are becoming very aware of this group. Several of them have been arrested. And as you know there's a whole - very good intelligence division here at the NYPD. They've been able to gather a lot of information about who these individuals are.

[22:25:00]

And their police officers in plain clothes, we've seen on the street here that are keeping an eye on things, and in some ways they've been able to pinpoint some of them. And in some of these groups, it's sometimes why we see the police moving in the way they move in. That's why with this group that we saw earlier went where they were pushing us back.

The reason why is they wanted to clear them out is, because this group just moments before they got to this area and they were in SoHo, they were acting up and police had to make arrests and so they ran through hating their arrival. This is what we see. Yes.

CUOMO: Go ahead. Keep moving with the crowd. Let me when you have something I want to grab a break. You know how to get me when you need me.

And again the New York source high ranking official NYPD, New York Police Department has told me that one of every seven arrested in the last two days has not been from New York City. Now what that tells us is, a lot of things are true at the same time. There are a lot of people who are black in this country, who believe they have very good reason to be fed up and that this is the response.

There is a meme going around social media right now of Tupac Shakur saying, "you really expect us to keep asking to treat us well when we've been asking for generation after generation? Eventually, you stop asking. You start insisting, you start knocking down the doors." Now does that make it right?

Look those kinds of judgments become a chain. Well, is it right why they're doing it? Is it right why they feel they have to do it? Is it right that that hasn't changed? You know so people cherry pick what they want to be true in these situations. All I know is the same thing you know. We keep winding up right back here situation after situation, administration after administration.

This administration has done no favors to this cause by harnessing anger. There's plenty of anger in America. And when you play with it you play, with fire just as you see on your screen right now.

This is in Boston they're putting out a fire that I showed you earlier on the street. Does not appear to be a cruiser. I don't see a light rack on top. But they're lighting cars that are police cruisers and they're lighting civilians' vehicles as well. Some of them are black. Some of them are white. Some of them are there and they're angry and they are legitimately trying to seek change. Others are not.

A lot of things are true at the same time. We'll try to give you the facts as we understand them. Right now. I want to take a break we're going to have a long night in front of us. Please stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:30:00] CUOMO: All right. Let's go back to our rolling coverage of what's happening around the country. Let's get to the nation's capital. CNN's Alex Marquardt is there. I saw you had the gas mask on. It's now off you're in Lafayette Park, I believe, that's where we saw the fire. Give me the latest.

MARQUARDT: Yes. Chris I just took this off moments ago, so I can actually talk to you clearer. The gas has is very heavy in the air, but it is dissipating. During those last few moments, during the commercial break there were - there was a - and in the last 10 minutes or so, a large salvo of gas - tear gas was fired by the police in Lafayette Park.

For those who are not familiar with Washington D.C., this is as central as it gets. The White House is right there about two blocks away. So that is the park. Right here is a huge fire that has just been set in the past 15 minutes by these protesters.

Last time I spoke to just moments ago Chris, we're talking about people wanting to keep this peaceful, the wheels have come off of this thing. This is a huge fire that was set. I don't know what started it, but we have seen things like fireworks coming out of it as well as branches that are being thrown into it.

Just for some context. This is St. John's Church. This is where. Generations of presidents have gone to worship. The loud banging that you're hearing over here is most likely flash bangs coming from the huge police presence in Lafayette Park.

Here, what you're looking at here and my cameraman Jay McMichael is going to show you, is yet another blazing fire that started just moments ago. This is on the edge of the park right here. It is there has bathrooms in it. I understand it's a utility facility. There have been protesters on top of it throughout the course of the afternoon. Now it is completely aflame. And you can see there at least a park bench in that doorway, as the flames grow--

CUOMO: Hey Alex.

MARQUARDT: --and come out of the window there. There is a huge plume of smoke. Yes, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. So now we know what this building is. We saw burning before. It's a public facilities building. Ask cowboy to show the fire again in terms of the proximity to nearby houses and structures. Is that is that fire in Lafayette Park - not cowboy - Jay McMichael is the name of the photojournalist. We all know him as cowboy. But is it close to anybody's homes or no?

MARQUARDT: Sorry. There they're firing pepper spray.

CUOMO: Put the mask on if you need it Alex.

MARQUARDT: --police right there trying to disperse. Yes, I'll give it a couple more seconds, but I might have to. We are right outside businesses, office buildings, hotels. This is Eighth Street in Downtown Washington. So that's a church that's - I got to put this on Chris.

[22:35:00]

CUOMO: Go ahead. Put it on Alex.

MARQUARDT: So, I don't think you can still hear me.

CUOMO: I can hear you.

MARQUARDT: But this is - this is very much business center. Apartments - All right. So, this is, obviously, a protest where the emotions are running extremely high. Throughout the day it was peaceful. That is no longer the case.

Just to press (ph) this, Chris, that's the White House right there right. This is a business center. This is where people live and it is the center - it's a chaos in just the past 20 minutes.

CUOMO: All right. So Alex let's do this. You get to a position where you can let us know what's going on. We know people are angry. We understand why. We'll come back to you in the team. You guys stay safe. All right.

So one of the points of concern there is, look, the White House is obviously a very sensitive area. The President, we believe, is on premises. I'm trying to get confirmation about that. We had reporting earlier in the night that our White House correspondent corps had found out that security had moved the President of the United States into a protective bunker down in the belly of the White House.

Why? What is their level for that? Is that still in place tonight? Those are good questions we're trying to get the answer to them. But the idea that the President of the United States was put into a protective bunker gives you a sense of not simply an assessment of the severity, but the sensitivity of the moment.

They have a huge security presence around the White House that is many layers deep. Hopefully, nobody is foolish enough to try to make a move on that area. It will end quickly and badly. I know what happens on the outer ring of it, becomes very interesting to us. Alex Marquardt is there.

Now let's not forget what this is all stemming from at this time right. It's not just one event. But George Floyd's death, not at the hands but at the knee of Minnesota police was simply too much for too many to take. If for no other reason than just the fact that it was too long.

The idea of duration should not be missed in this situation. There were civilians around the police officers begging them to remove the knee from Floyd's throat. It was clear to them that he was in distress from what he was seeing, what he was saying and what they were seeing.

Why didn't the other officers realize that urgency? Why didn't the officer with his knee on his throat understand that urgency? He wasn't taught to do that. That's not in any training protocol. You don't even learn to do things like that when you're being taught self-defense. And your goal is to maim who you are up against.

Why did he think it was OK? Why did they do it for so long. Why did the other police do nothing? Now this is a situation that is about action and inaction and action of prosecutions over time that quest for justice over time, systemic fixes in those communities that change the fates for generations of specifically young black men, but also women.

Now you have three other officers who have not been arrested. Again, you must understand the criminal justice system. The idea that well we want to have all our ducks in a row and you don't want to go off halfcocked. You want to make sure.

Listen, these communities that we're showing you tonight are filled with people who've been arrested on probable cause, either immediately at a scene or before any charges were filed, and in fact, many will languish on the inside of jails for months, weeks, many days before charges are filed. Why not here? Is there a law that protects police?

Let's go back to Washington. People around police are now actively engaging. Let's watch this and figure out what's going on. Who do we have on scene?

So the police are pushing people out of what was that public facility building. I don't know who this guy is who got knocked down. I thought I saw a credential hanging from him. I can't tell. We'll see if Alex knows once he can talk to us.

His photojournalist cameraman is shooting right now his name is Jay McMichael. He's who I was referring to as cowboy. All right. Somebody just hit the police. They will now advance. That is fireworks. OK. Something else was just thrown. Looks like an empty can

[22:40:00]

The media right in front of the police, they're making a mistake. So, the D.C. protocol for their police in the metro area and the Capitol Police, they share a protocol. Which is, if something is thrown at them, they use it as an advance mechanism. So they will move up when there is an act of aggression against them. Something to keep in mind as you see what happens here.

Again, what hit seemed to be pyrotechnics, seemed to be fireworks. It can be, obviously, scary but different than a Molotov cocktail or something else that we were seeing in New York City.

Now if you go - I don't know if you can hear me Jay, if you can hear me move back towards the police line if you can. I want to see who is advancing towards the police line. If you can show us? Now some of these guys are going to be media. You can tell because they're being nice enough to duck out of the way of the shot.

But you're going to want to see who advances back toward police lines? Why? Walking towards police lines is, obviously, asking for trouble. Now the police are advancing. Again, you'll see people move. You see Alex there right there. He's trying to clears throat from all the teargas.

OK. We don't believe the crew can hear us, but that's OK. The person showing you picture right now, I've been in riots with him in other situations. He knows what he's doing. And remember he does this job walking backwards, which is why you need to have a team so somebody can help him from falling down.

Now the police are advancing down this street. They want to clear the area. That's why people will, obviously, run away if this smart. Now they're throwing things back. That is going to cause further engagement from the police. Now, again, composition of these situations is something to keep in mind.

As you can see it, it's not a crowd of entirely enraged black men. All right? You're going to have mixed crowds, because we have mixed support for these issue. You don't have to be black to believe that there is not sufficient justice and economic equality in this society. But there are also groups that like to mix it up with the police in these situations.

Now some of these people are going to be media. But just be aware - seems to be about a dozen police, I don't see a secondary level of them. So this is a little unusual to have that smaller group of police trying to clear this kind of camera.

Heather is in my ear. She's running this for us from the control room. Heather are you able to talk to Alex or any of his guys? All right. OK.

Now. All right some people are moving the barrier up to where I think it was supposed to be. That's helpful to keeping less tension.

You hear people coughing, because obviously there is the use of dispersants, tear gas, pepper spray. The irony here is that so many people have masks on. If that gets in your eyes, it can really make you sick in the moments. Seems that young woman is dealing with that.

They have masks on, because we're in the middle of a pandemic. And those masks are not going to help them with tear gas, not for long.

We're trying to get somebody to talk to us. But look the story tells itself. You see the police advancing. They have their riot gear.

Now that woman who just walked past you, on the back of her head was a Guy Fawkes mask. You see these people at every riot that I've covered. They have their own agenda. OK. They are often violent. They are often abusive and that's something to keep in mind here. There are lots of different people.

[22:45:00]

The police are advancing now. They seem to have gotten another group with them also. You see there's some reinforcements for the police. They're holding a new line. That was fireworks. I doubt it came from the police. They don't use those. Again, you see the groups here. You see people who are throwing things. All right. Alex, we've been hearing you and the team kind of reassess and organize to get yourself somewhere. Tell cowboy he's been doing a great job of showing us that the story through pictures. What are you seeing right now from your vantage point?

MARQUARDT: Chris, essentially the park has been completely cleared out and everyone continues to run away from park as the police are advancing with tear gas, with pepper spray. Air is very heavy with both. And it clearly seems that as a reaction to those fires that were set to the violence that those agitators were stepping up.

The police - and there are various police, both federal and local said enough was enough and have - it looks like from my vantage point at the northwest corner of the park, pushed everybody out. And it is just this eerie scene of a smoke filled air with lots of different kinds of lights. Lights from the sirens, lights from the fires, lights from these flood lamps that the police had used to illuminate the protesters.

So the police, it appears from here, has successfully pushed the protesters out of the park, away from the immediate vicinity of the White House. Again, we are at the northwest corner, for anyone who knows Washington. That is at Eighth Street and Connecticut Avenue.

And the protesters, there are some as you were saying before, who were certainly agitators and trying to cause trouble. There are others who want to keep this peaceful and they, I'm looking at them now, are putting their hands up saying, "Hands up don't shoot." And it's not clear how successful they are they're going to be, because the police really have apparently decided that enough was enough. It was time to push these protesters out.

But, Chris, I got to tell you this was something that this protest escalated so quickly. This was something that throughout the entire course of the day was entirely peaceful with chants of black lives matter and George Floyd and angry protest directed at the President. There was a little bit of back and forth, a standoff as we got into the evening hours.

And then just in the past hour, since you've been on the air, this has just - the violence has skyrocketed--

CUOMO: Right. Hey Alex.

MARQUARDT: And this is completely evolved.

CUOMO: Alex do you have any idea of what this group is about? Are these locals? I see a guy in cargo shorts. A white guy who was walking back and forth right now between the two sides. Are these local people? Are they part of an organic community organization or who are all these people?

MARQUARDT: Right, Chris, you got another wave of tear that just came in. It's very hard - it's very hard to say. From the outlook - from the outset, just looking at them, they look like the same types of people that we've been seeing all day who have been partaking in in the peaceful protest. As you know when emotions run high and anger grows, then you said - then it takes a little spark to get something to explode.

Now that's not to say that there weren't people who came in specifically to agitate later on in the evening.

CUOMO: Right.

MARQUARDT: That could absolutely be the case. It's just extremely difficult to tell from here just from looking at them. But there are definitely people who want to keep it peaceful and there are definitely people who want to get it violent. But right now there's no back and forth. There's no standoff. The police have taken charge and pushed everybody out of that park right next to the White House, Chris?

CUOMO: What is she showing us right now. Why am I looking at her? What happened?

MARQUARDT: She's - ma'am what happened?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are tired untrained police officers--

MARQUARDT: Did you get hit by it just now?

[22:50:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're tired of untrained police officers on the street. We're tired of it. Untrained police officers resolved to killing innocent black man, because you need four officers to take him down. They are the untrained police officers and we are tired of it. We want them off the street. We want better police officer and we want it now. This is police brutality. I'm a white woman in America standing up for black people in this country. And this is what I get from the police who are here to protect us.

MARQUARDT: So, Chris, I'm just guessing. But from what we know from here--

CUOMO: She seems to have been hit something. Yes.

MARQUARDT: It looks like a rubber bullet that hit her.

CUOMO: And look to Alex to your point - to your point, just make sure that you see what the movement is with the police right now. Are they holding the line or they advancing further down the street?

MARQUARDT: They are holding the line. They are holding the line just outside of the park, so the protesters are marching back up to them, most of them with their hands raised. And so, again, it is back to being a standoff.

CUOMO: right.

MARQUARDT: But if I had to guess the police are certainly not going to let them back to the position where they had been earlier, which they did frankly allow the protesters to do. So that is - so the police are deploying all sorts of methods.

CUOMO: All right. Your mic is back on now Alex, just so you know. I can hear you through your microphone. And, look, just so you guys can absorb this moment at home or wherever you're watching, a lot of things are true at the same time.

You have black people who are angry about injustice and came in and wanted to protest, have no interest in any violence. You have others who were there to protest and are interested in being violent and fighting back against what they see as oppression.

They have white, what they're called allies now. I thought we were all in the same country. We're all supposed to be each other's brothers and sisters. But now it's - you're an ally, because that's what we've come to where majority vs. minority, literally you need like an alliance now. Like, we're not all on the same page. That is a very sad state of affairs.

But there are a lot of things that are true at once. So when you hear things about what happened at a protest and who's responsible, be careful on how you consume the information. All right. Now people are going to run. This is one of the most dangerous points of covering and for the people in the crowd also. They fall they get run over and trampled.

MARQUARDT: Yes. We're just staying off to the side.

CUOMO: Yes, smart. Smart. But I'm just saying, just by looking at this one scene in Washington DC, which has a very large black population, I see more white faces than black faces here right now and that's fine.

White people have every reason to be out and seek redress. As you just heard from that young woman who is saying, she doesn't want to see black men over policed by poorly trained police. You know you have the right to say that in America. You have the right to come out and seek redress. You have the right to protest.

There's nothing wrong with it being white or black. That's not my point. My point is that a lot of things that are happening in these situations at the same time. The idea that one group or one type of person is responsible for everything bad that happens, is simply on true.

And we have to be aware of the different factors in these situations. Many who are trying to either make blacks look bad or trying to make police look bad. We have to be aware of that as well. Alex you have any more perspective from your area?

MARQUARDT: Yes, Chris, I think you can hear the shouting behind me. That woman is saying - she is one of the people who has been trying to keep the peace in this protest. She is telling the protesters not to engage with the police, not to fire anything at them, not to throw anything at them. But I can tell you a lot of the protesters are ignoring her. They are moving forward back towards the police who undoubtedly will engage again. This is essentially a game of cat and mouse. This is protesters moving forward, the police fire, they move back. And here they come. Sure enough the police are moving forward and rather violently.

CUOMO: Violently meaning what? What are they doing Alex?

MARQUARDT: Just trying to get a sense of the melee that is happening right on the edge of the park. These protesters are not backing down. But this has - we said, obviously it has escalated significantly, but now it is really taking on a violent edge that we haven't really seen until now. Chris?

CUOMO: A violent edge meaning what? What are you seeing in terms of the engagement?

MARQUARDT: Well, not just in terms of what you saw from that woman earlier and what she had experienced by being shot by a rubber bullet. But our cameraman, I have to tell you, one of them Josh was hit by a police officer with a baton as we were retreating from that previous scene with the fire. And he was holding up his CNN credential.

We are all making clear to everyone who we are, who we are with, that we are journalists. That did not help. Josh was hit in the leg with a baton. And it looked like the same thing was happening to protesters as the police just moved on them in reaction to their advance back towards the police.

[22:55:00]

CUOMO: Now they're all seem to be moving back up there. Are the police allowing the line there? Are there barricades? Or is the line between them random?

MARQUARDT: A lot of the barricades have disappeared. The protesters had pulled the barricades away and had used them for their own purposes, like to surround that fire earlier and to push forward into the park in the face of the police.

So what we're looking at now, I would say, is several hundred protesters at least on this side of the park facing off against about three or four rows of riot, uniformed police, stretching the width of the street.

CUOMO: They're chanting "you are the threat."

MARQUARDT: And you can - that chant you can hear is, "You are the threat right."

CUOMO: Right.

MARQUARDT: So we've heard that protesters shouting at the officers all day long, trying to shame them, and telling them that they have since in essence are complicit with the killing of George Floyd. Chris? CUOMO: It's interesting on one level this is what you've heard blacks and black community leaders calling for in person and online, which is to have whites raise their voices, a nod to the reality that minorities can't change the reality in this country alone. They don't have the power frankly. The majority will change culture. Those with power and access will change culture. The decisions they make, what they tolerate and what they don't.

So on one level seeing what seems to be a preponderance of white people squaring off against the police right now is very interesting to say the least. Now, Alex, help us understand why this area is of hypersensitivity to police in terms of clearing the area and keeping it safe? What is the proximity to the White House? Just break down the area for people not from D.C.

MARQUARDT: That's an excellent question. Basically there is no more central part of Washington. This entire area is the business area. It's a tourism area. The White House is almost a stone's throw away. It is let's say 200 yards away across this - Sorry sir, we're speaking on the air. So we are extremely close to the White House. Follow me Jay. Jay come on over here.

And so what you've got here.

CROWD CHANTING: Go to the front.

CUOMO: All right. All right. Let's cut away. Alex, I'm going to give you a break. I'm going to give you a break to reassess where you are. All right?

Do not go to the front. I understand what they're saying. They're saying go to the front, so that you can see exactly what's happening.

Listen, I've been in a lot of these situations. Being right in the police's face is not a safe space for anybody. That's where they don't want you to be. If you want to cover this situation and show what other people are doing, the media is not the story. You should not be in the front they should be off to the side.

I understand the frustration. I understand the urgency for people to have the media show their reality. I think we're able to do that without becoming part of the reality. That is a provocation to the police. The last thing you want - and I'm not saying you've never seen it before.

And I'm not saying some of the criticism is unjustified where the media makes a situation worse by drawing attention to it being in a place that creates a pocket of provocation for police. Yes, I've seen it too. We want to avoid that. We don't want to encourage it.

So we'll leave D.C. when we hear that there is a change in the state of affairs there we'll go back now. Let's go to Philadelphia and CNN's Brian Todd. The situation there.

TODD: Chris, police are trying to stay ahead of the chaos, trying to stay ahead of the looting. It is a real struggle tonight. They're coming upon looting scenes just about everywhere we go. We're a few blocks from where we came to you a few minutes ago where there was looting going on in a shopping center. They just arrived here and found that this DTLR store - this sportswear store it appears was being hit and they've rounded up about seven or eight people. They have them over here and zip ties.

A police officer just told me they're still searching the building here. So they're trying to figure out if anyone is still in there. They are leading suspects with you know handcuffed into these police vans and moving them away.

But I have to say, Chris, it is, as I said, a real struggle for police to stay ahead of the looting, because it's widespread tonight in the city of Philadelphia. Police have also been attacked in Philadelphia. Our team was witness to a police cars being set on fire in West Philly earlier today.

We were fired upon with tear gas and rubber bullets. We had to scramble out of the scene when the police swept down a street where police cars have been burned out.