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CNN TONIGHT

Fire and Fury Spread across U.S. in Fifth Night of Protests. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired May 31, 2020 - 00:00   ET

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

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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We're back now with our breaking news.

There's chaos in America. There's 40 million people who are out of work.

Thank you for joining us so much. Midnight here on the East Coast. This Saturday night we have been watching smoke rise from many of our great American cities, smoke from police cars set on fire, from canisters launched into crowds, from angry protesters and buildings and businesses and on and on, torched by people who couldn't find another way to express themselves.

America already in crisis is seeing chaos this weekend. From L.A. to New York to Seattle to Miami, throngs of people really forgetting all about social distancing. They're packing the streets to show their anger over the death of George Floyd. And they're facing off with police and police are trying to break them up.

Cities all across this country, you're looking at Las Vegas right now. There are curfews that are in place in Atlanta and Philadelphia and Denver, in Louisville. At least 25 cities with curfews tonight. At least six states and Washington, D.C., have National Guard troops mobilized to help police keep order.

If just three months ago, if I had told you we'd be staring down 20 percent unemployment, that we would be mourning 102,000 dead from a pandemic, that there would be mass protesters, that this would be playing out in Washington, D.C., you would not have believed me.

And there is Washington, D.C., tonight. This is America tonight, everyone. This is America. I want to bring in now the reverend Dr. William Barber. He joins me now by phone.

Reverend, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it. Talk to me about what's going on. I'm frustrated. I am angry. I am confused. And I just -- I am at a loss for words. So talk to me.

DR. WILLIAM BARBER, POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN: Well, Don, first of all, all of those are the right emotions. The Bible says blessed are they that mourn. And the scripture in Jeremiah says the problem is too often we try to put Band-aids on wounds and we try to say everything is all right when it's not because we don't face it.

Then the wounds only become septic. We've got to in this country decide to address five issues: systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, lack of health care, the war economy and this false narrative of religious nationalism. And they all intersect.

And it's going to take all of us, red, yellow, black, white, brown, gay, straight, trans, everybody. If you think about it, and I've been weeping tonight as well, before COVID, before we get to all of this, we had 140 million poor and low income people in this country and 700 people are dying a day before COVID.

We weren't talking about it. We weren't addressing it; 80 million people without health care and uninsured. And 500,000 people uninsured, thousands die. We weren't really dealing with it, talking about the middle class or wealthy.

Then COVID hits and we've got all these wounds of racism, wounds of classism, 100,000 people are dead. Then we find out that many of them didn't have to die, 50 percent, 60 percent of them didn't have to die.

In the midst of a pandemic, a health crisis, Don, we need help. We need living wages, sick leave. People are being sent into lethal situations. They aren't being given protective equipment.

And what do we do as a country, the Congress, the president, is we gave 85 percent of nearly $3.5 trillion went to corporate interests. And people are dying. We gave people a name change from service workers to essential workers and then people have to see a lynching, a literal lynching on TV.

So what this is, Don, is public mourning. No one wants the fires.

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BARBER: Even many of the activists on the ground have said they don't want this. But they've also shared how their non-violent pleas and protests have gone unnoticed for years as the situation has gotten out of hand over and over again.

And no one knows who's behind this violence. There's a lot of questions. But what we do know, what we do know is that countless people have said, change America, change Minneapolis, long before this. And some people even saw the non-violent protesters' unwelcome development.

What we're seeing is public mourning, public mourning. Don. I'm going to say something real strange maybe from a moral perspective. Mourning like this is actually necessary to get where we need to be.

I'm not talking about the fires. I'm talking about the protests. Like you said, this country was founded on something -- you can't act like the Boston Tea Party didn't look like this. But this mourning, as ugly as it is, is actually a sign of hope. And I'm going to tell you why I say that. Because the worst situation for this nation would be for somebody to

be killed like George Floyd, for 140 million people to be in poverty and dying from poverty at 700 people a day and nobody mourned and nobody speak out and they just accept it. They just accept it.

This is what happens when people have experienced the deadliness of racism but not only through police brutality but also the kind of deadliness that racism has in policies over and over again. That's what we're seeing, public mourning.

(INAUDIBLE) death like black people six times likelier to die from the virus as white people. Even before COVID. Black people had disparities in health care that caused death. African Americans three times more likely to die from pollution than other Americans. Black children suffering from asthma nearly double that of white and the death rate is 10 times higher.

You cannot have this level of death to continue to happen over and over and over, day in and day out, and not think that eventually there's going to be massive public mourning.

And lastly, Don, I want to say this. Look at the crowds. This mourning is so deep. You know, George Lloyd was kind of a tipping point. But it's so deep that white folks are in the street mourning, Latino people, men, women, children, young people.

What the screams are really saying is look, this is screwed up. Something's wrong here. And we may not be able to change it right now but it's not going to go unnoticed. Rachel weeping because her children are dying and she is refusing to be comforted. That's what we're seeing, public mourning where people are refusing to be comforted.

And America better hear this. We better hear this.

LEMON: Listen, Reverend, I know that this -- you're far more eloquent than I am. I know this can be a catalyst for change. I just don't want people to have to lose their lives as this catalyst is happening.

When I say I don't know what's going on, I do. I know what's happening. I just don't -- I just don't understand how it is -- let me put it this way. I'm worried about the process and how it will end, especially with our void in leadership.

Do you understand where I'm coming from?

BARBER: Oh, listen, when you have a national leadership and they've allowed him to get away with so much lying and so much vitriol and when white nationalists March with AK-47s on the governor, statehouse, he doesn't say a thing, calms white separatists and supremacists, says there are many good people among them.

And even when, you know, he says -- he pulls out that statement, which is a very dangerous statement.

[00:10:00] BARBER: I actually think, Don, Donald Trump is playing for the Richard Nixon/George Wallace angle at this election now, the 1968 chaos. And if he runs, you know, it's kind of the law and order.

And it's a dangerous thing. You're exactly right. And people need to understand that those that may feel like breaking a window, that you may be actually enabling a narrative that Trump actually wants. You know, when he says about when the looting starts, the shooting will start. But then tip that over.

What if he had said instead of saying that, when a cop murders someone, there will be sure prosecution?

What if in this country we had the same commitment to restore law and order when the police murders somebody than we have this commitment to stop destroying of property?

What if we had the same commitment to fix when people's lives are being destroyed?

We wouldn't see the things we're seeing. I'm worried, Don. I'm worried about people being out there with this COVID, catching COVID, maybe taking it back home.

And the only thing that's going to happen is we in this democracy -- I'm with the Poor People's Campaign, a national call for moral revival. And even before this, before this happened, we had already been planning for June 2020 a mass Poor People's Assembly and Mall March on Washington. Now it's going to be a digital gathering.

But Don, this is what we're doing. We're not having a lot of people come pontificate about the poor. We're going to have white coal miners from Kentucky standing with black folks from Alabama. We're going to have people, from white farmers from Kansas, who will be standing with fast food workers from the Carolinas, saying that we've got to address these issues. And we've got to change this narrative. And we have to put a face on poverty.

And we're not going to let anybody say, as Trump said tonight, when he said the crown jewel of democracy is the rule of law. That's a lie. The crown jewel of democracy is the establishment of justice. It's the providing for the common defense. It's the promoting of the general welfare. It's the ensuring of domestic tranquility.

And it's equal protection under the law. This crown has five jewels in its crown. It is not the rule of law. The rule of law were words used by segregationists. When Dr. King and Rosa Parks would march and sit in, they would say we have to restore the rule of law.

And so we are going to have to have a moral fusion coming together. That's what we're doing with the Poor People's Campaign, religious people, non-religious people. People who believe in the Constitution, scripture.

And what we need in this country is a moral mobilization rooted in our deepest nonviolent traditions that shifts this narrative, forces us to see the pain that is existing because of all of the policy denials and policy hurts.

And also lastly, Don, that will have -- that will build power. There are more poor and low wealth people in this country than in any election march. (INAUDIBLE) poor and low wealth people would organize and vote. That's the power we have. We've got to do that. And there's got to be a -- not just a political --

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LEMON: OK. You've got to let me jump in here. And when I talk about leadership, when I talk about leadership -- and, listen, I think that, you know, you are spot-on in much of your assessment. OK? And that's your assessment.

I also -- when you're talking about poor people and I am with you, you fight and you are in the trenches for poor people always and have been forever and a day. And that's what I admire and respect about you.

In this moment -- and people always will talk you up and say, you know, you go, Don Lemon, you go -- as we're watching arrests, Reverend, in Salt Lake City and there are some that are happening in New York. And I will get to them because these arrests will be happening all night because we have curfew orders in place.

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So we will put the pictures up and we will let them play out and then we'll get -- yes. And we will get to them. I'll get to reporters and they'll talk about them.

But what I want to say is we can talk about the leadership or the leadership vacuum in Washington and that goes from the top because the president is at the top. There is also weak Democratic leadership as well. Let's be honest about that.

BARBER: Yes, sir.

LEMON: But people love you. "Don Lemon, thank you for calling them out."

Thank you for speaking the truth. Reverend Barber, thank you for speaking the truth.

But what about the leadership in other places?

What about Hollywood?

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LEMON: Strangely quiet. I see them on Twitter. I see them, "Oh, I'm loving what Don Lemon's doing," I'm loving what this person's doing. But they've got to do more than that, especially black celebrities and black leaders and white celebrities and rich Hollywood and rich folks and wealthy people.

Why aren't they helping these young people? These young people are out there, standing on a platform at the edge of an abyss by themselves.

And what they're doing -- yes, I'm calling you out. You can be mad at me all you want. You're sitting there watching TV and you're bitching about it. And you're saying oh, my gosh, I can't believe I'm watching this. What is going on?

Stop texting me and asking me, oh, my gosh, Don, what is happening to our country?

Stop tweeting me and telling me I'm loving what you're doing. Get on television or do something and help these young people instead of sitting in your mansions and doing nothing and have some moral courage and stop worrying about your reputation and your brand.

That's all I've got to say, Reverend. And I'm off my high horse. Go ahead.

BARBER: You're not on a high horse. You're actually, as they say in the country, you're plowing deep. Let me say that, from the political leaders, when they talk about poverty and low wealth and these things, they talk about middle class and the wealthy. They won't do it.

That's why we're raising up people who will and force it because what has happened is people are feeling left out. You know, Don, we have had 36 presidents (ph) (INAUDIBLE) since 2016. You know, not one of them has been (INAUDIBLE) systemic racism or poverty with 43 percent of this nation in poverty and over 50 percent of the children in poverty.

Those that have celebrity, we got to use our platform. We can't hide behind party --

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LEMON: And money is great. I have to say, Reverend, a lot of people give money and that is desperately important. But you need -- yes.

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LEMON: A lot of people give money and that is important. But you also need -- visibility is extremely important because young people need to see people who have made it so that they can understand that they have made it too and they can know publicly, right, that you have their backs.

They don't necessarily see the dollars. They may feel it in some ways but they don't see them. If they see you out there, then they know, there's that person like me, there's that Oprah like me, there is that Jay Z like me. There is that Colin Kaepernick who is like me, who is on television because of the knee and now it is all coming full circle.

There is -- that -- I can't -- I'm so upset. There even is a Kim Kardashian who is like me. There is that Tracee Ellis Ross who is like me. And I'm talking about all these people who I admire and I love.

There is that Tyler Perry who is like me. There is that -- I can't even think of names right now because I am so infuriated by what is happening -- in this country, all of these folks.

BARBER: What you're simply saying is there must be (INAUDIBLE). I was having this same conversation with Erica Alexander, who has joined the Poor People's Campaign. You know her formerly as Maxine Shaw -- and David Oyelowo. He's joining the Poor People's Campaign to be with us (INAUDIBLE). And I could go down (INAUDIBLE).

This is the time we have to put our presence in the mix. And it's politicians. It's people who have star power, athlete power. And we've got to say together we're going to hook up.

Too long, Don, there has been an -- I said it's other day. Democrats run from poverty. Republicans racialize poverty. And too many people deal with the reality of poverty. But it's never dealt with in our public places.

That has -- because this is about George Lloyd. But George Lloyd is also so much more. Somebody was saying to me tonight, even some of the looters, these are people who have been inside, who've lost their jobs, who don't have money. We don't even know the level of hunger that is existing right now in the midst of COVID.

You know, passed deals, Don, and we didn't even expand food stamps for people, you know. We didn't expand basic health care. We've got meatpackers that are being forced to go to work that don't even have sick leave and a living wage.

All of those things are hurting. And now we have to identify -- you have to remember, I come from a tradition, where Jesus said inasmuch as you do for the least of these.

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BARBER: We have to use ourselves and our position and identify with poor and low wealth people and stand together and fight.

But I want you to know, Don, that what's going to make that happen and what I see happening and what's getting ready to come is the way I'm seeing the people will have nothing else to lose.

I wish that the whole country could go -- and you will see some of it digitally. We had planned to do it on Pennsylvania Avenue. When I see these white coal miners holding (INAUDIBLE) -- hooking up with black people in Louisville, Kentucky, I've seen that, Don.

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LEMON: That's what we need. That's what we need.

BARBER: -- Callie Greer, who lost her baby, died because Alabama wouldn't expand health care. But when I see her join together with this lady from -- who's a teacher making poverty wages in West Virginia and saying, we're not doing this anymore, we're not going to be separated, we're going to address racism.

That's what we (INAUDIBLE) because we must shift the consciousness of this nation. And, Don, you're right. Everybody, it's your time now, not somebody everybody.

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LEMON: Everybody. I want to see every -- I want to see every white person of power and influence and wealth out here fighting for this cause and young people, every black person of power and wealth and substance out here fighting for these young people.

I'm not talking about the people who are out here looting and causing this but for the people who are -- the young kids who are doing the right thing.

By me calling out your name that doesn't mean I'm calling you out. It means I love you, Ellen. It means I love you, Oprah. And I know they give millions of dollars to charity every year.

But I mean your visibility in helping speak out for these people, these young kids. That's what I'm talking about. And you may be doing something and I don't know about it. And if you are then I apologize. I want to see you, Tracee Ellis Ross. I want to see you, Tyler Perry. I want to see you, Drake. I want to see all of you.

I want to see you, my friend, Anthony Anderson. I love you. I love all of you. I want to see you doing this. I want to see you, Diddy, out there doing this. I want to see you, Jane Fonda, who I love and respect. I want to see you out here fighting for these kids.

Get them -- do something. Help change racism in this country. Help do it.

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LEMON: I've got to go, Rev. I've got all these pictures. I've got breaking news. I've got to get to it. I love you. And we've got to get to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles has fires going on. And you see that. There's looting, fires, violence, chaos. Major cities across America tonight. Kyung Lah's on the ground for us in Los Angeles.

What's going on, Kyung?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, you've been watching what's been happening at this building. This is a fire, from what the police are telling us. They suspect that after the looting takes place, they're suddenly having to chase fires. So they're starting to connect the two.

Are the fires being set after the buildings have been looted?

So this is one very large fire that we're seeing. But I want to give you a sense of just what we're seeing on one snapshot, one block, if you walk with me here on Melrose Avenue. So that's one fire. I'm going to turn you this way.

As you walk up and down Melrose, if you've been through Los Angeles, you know that it's filled with these stores, stores up and down Melrose Avenue and every single one of them, the great majority we walked by, they have been completely ransacked.

The glass is broken. I don't know how they're getting through. We've seen some bats. And then everything inside has been completely emptied. People are climbing in, grabbing shoes.

So you saw that one fire. Look this way, another fire. So block after block on Melrose Avenue, just where I can see, is burning. From what the police department tells us -- we were just at that first fire -- there are three fires in walking distance right here on Melrose Avenue. So as we watch the fire truck move on, this is the largest one --

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LEMON: Kyung, I understand that this -- yes, I understand this is a smaller fire, a smaller building where you are and if we can get the other picture back up, there is another fire as well, which is a bigger building. And I do need to confirm this. I understand.

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LEMON: And the producer's in my ear. I am getting it from a source, is this true, that the National Guard is arriving at midnight in Los Angeles?

Please confirm that for me.

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LEMON: Kyung is nodding yes.

LAH: That's per an order from -- yes. That is per an order from the Los Angeles mayor, Eric Garcetti, trying to calm down the city right now, trying to bring some order and protect some of these businesses.

Something that has been really heartbreaking that I've seen are business owners coming with their kids just to try to save what they can. And remember, we're in the middle of a pandemic. These are businesses that haven't been able to sell what they normally sell.

And now some of them are dealing with not just looting but look down there. They're going to have -- this business is going to have water damage. It's -- I mean, I don't even know how they're going to save this particular business.

And as you point out, this is just the two that I've been able to see. There are other fires burning on Melrose Avenue, Don. So just where I can walk, I can't even tell you what other parts of the city looks like.

So the mayor of Los Angeles, hoping by calling the National Guard, trying to prevent more scenes like this as we watch the fire department try to take care of this burning building.

One last thing, Don. I'm going to just walk you this way with me. If you will. It's a little hard to see. But you can see the police line right over there. As -- oops. We're going to watch our back here. Sorry. But I'm going to have you turn.

You can see the police department there. That was the Los Angeles Police Department. As we were walking up just to get pictures of this fire, the Los Angeles Police Department had to deal with protesters on the street, trying to clear protesters so that the fire department could move in and work on this fire. So they have their hands full just on this one block, Don.

Watch your back, Jordan.

LEMON: You're good there, Kyung?

Wasn't sure if you're finished.

LAH: Yes. Sorry.

LEMON: You're doing such a great job out there. I was just going to let you continue on with your reporting. But Kyung is at the scene of a fire at Starbucks. And then again, there's another fire. Initially I thought it was the same structure that was on fire.

But I'm being told by producers it is two different structures in two different areas of Los Angeles. Our Kyung Lah is on the scene.

Brian Stelter, right?

We're going to Brian Stelter joins us live.

I understand you have some information you need to share with us. But I appreciate you joining us here. And I appreciate you helping. Everyone should know, as long as we're being transparent tonight, Brian often helps me with reporting. So I appreciate the texts as you are getting information because you have deep sources. And I appreciate you helping me during breaking news.

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BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: I think a lot of us are experiencing this at home as viewers. I know Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, we know Walnut Street in Philadelphia. These are famous neighborhoods in important cities in the United States that are being looted and vandalized right now.

And I just want to give people a bigger picture perspective about what is going on. I've been visiting local news sources, checking in with reporters across the country.

What we are seeing tonight is the most widespread outbreak of disturbances in America in several generations. We are talking back since 1968. Think about New York and L.A., these big cities that are seeing suffering. But this is also happening everywhere, from Raleigh, North Carolina,

to Denver. Last night Eugene, Oregon, and Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Just in the past few hours, Don, we've seen acts of vandalism in Dallas, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Oakland, California; Tampa Bay, Florida.

We've also seen peaceful protests without any violence at all in Baltimore, in Orlando, in other major cities. But I think it's important for the viewers to know, this is disturbingly widespread. We're talking about relatively small cities like Wilmington, Delaware, where windows have been smashed in recent hours.

We're talking about Salt Lake City, Utah; Madison, Wisconsin, where there was widespread vandalism. There were fires set in Reno, Nevada, and Nashville, Tennessee. So we're talking about big cities, yes.

And it's terrifying to see what's happening in L.A. right now. But we are also seeing these disturbances in small communities. I spoke with Douglas Brinkley, CNN's presidential historian. He told me we have not seen a spasm of riots like this since the assassination of MLK in 1968.

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STELTER: And all of that, Don, I think just reiterates the point you were making about the absence of leadership.

Where are the leaders in the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, in Hollywood and on Wall Street, in local communities?

Because this is a national problem. It's a widespread national crisis happening in dozens of cities right now.

LEMON: And for the most part, Brian, silence. I appreciate that. Brian, thank you so much. And thank you for bringing the information. And if we need you we'll get back to Brian Stelter, our chief media correspondent.

I have a programming note for you. So a black man dies at the hands of police.

Why does this keep happening?

When will this end?

Make sure you join me for an important conversation. "I Can't Breathe: Black Men Living and Dying in America," tomorrow night, 8:00 Eastern. We're back in a moment.

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LEMON: Well, this past hour we have seen some strong images from Washington, D.C., just steps from the White House. CNN's Alex Marquardt is joining us live from D.C.

What does it look like there?

Take us through this, Alex.

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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, we've been out there this evening. The protests here have significantly ramped up in the past few hours. They have gotten darker. They have gotten more destructive.

What we're seeing now, just after midnight, are scenes of broken windows, broken glass. You've been talking to other correspondents around the country, where they've seen fires.

We have seen also a large fire near the White House. A spokesman for the D.C. Fire Department said it was a construction project with scaffolding that caught on fire. They say they've gotten it under control with water and it's not a danger at this point.

But, Don, this is happening in the heart of the nation's capital. The main flashpoint has been Lafayette Park, which, as you know, is right in front of the White House. It is federal land. And tonight we have seen the D.C. National Guard getting called up to help the U.S. Secret Service and park police with those protesters that have been gathering in that area all evening.

We have seen waves of projectiles flying back and forth, pepper spray, bottles. There have been reports of tear gas and some bricks. There have been multiple scenes in the area this evening that have been very tense.

There was a bit of a lull when the sun set and then it really has picked up in the past few hours. As with elsewhere, we've heard these protesters chanting "Black lives matter," and chanting the name, "George Floyd."

These are chants that have become familiar to many Americans in the past but of course, George Floyd is a name that most -- that none of us knew even a week ago. And this city is really a powerful symbol in a number of different ways for this moment.

And it's heavily African American, just under 50 percent. It is, of course, also the seat of the federal government, the home literally of the president. And they are protesting right outside the home of the leader of this country, from whom, as you've noted, Don, we have heard very little.

What we have heard from him is that these protests have little to do with the memory of George Floyd. I can tell you that is not true. I was out there. The name George Floyd is coming out of the protesters' mouths.

After last night's protest, there was also some violence and destruction and some protests last night here in D.C. The president accused the mayor of D.C., Muriel Bowser, of not letting the D.C. police get involved with quelling that unrest.

That also was not true. The D.C. police has been working hand in glove with Secret Service, with park police, to secure that area around the White House.

And then, Don, there was that ominous series of tweets from the president earlier today. He had said that if the protesters had gotten through, they would have been met with vicious dogs. That, of course, conjures up all sorts of images of the civil rights battle in the '60s.

Mayor Bowser calling those comments "gross." She said the president was a scared man, afraid and alone behind the walls, behind the fence at the White House and she said his attack made the city less safe.

But, Don, it is just extraordinary to see these scenes unfolding just yards away from where the leader of the free world is living -- Don.

LEMON: And stay with me, Alex, because you talked about the president. The president speaking earlier, as he left to go to the SpaceX launch. And he did talk about this and mentioned, I think, in some sense, wanting control over the cities and then tweeting out tonight, talking about a Democrat mayor and the National Guard and allowing New York City police to do their job.

But really no message of really coming together and of peace. John Lewis, the great civil rights leader and congressman, releasing a statement earlier and then a statement coming in. And I will go over this and I'll come back to you, Alex.

This is from Joe Biden, has released a statement tonight on the protests happening across this country, saying, "Protesting such brutality is right and necessary. It's an utterly American response. But burning down communities and needless destruction is not. Violence that endangers lives is not. Violence that guts and shutters businesses that serve the community is not.

"We are a nation in pain but we must not allow that pain to destroy us. We are a nation enraged but we cannot allow our rage to consume us. We are a nation exhausted but we will not allow our exhaustion to defeat us," he says.

"These last few days have laid bare that we are a nation furious at injustice. Every person of conscience can understand the rawness of the trauma people of color experience in this country, from the daily indignities to the extreme violence like the horrific killing of George Floyd," Biden says.

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LEMON: But again, a message of -- in the spirit of coming together as Americans to stop violence, coming from the presidential candidate. But so far nothing of that nature from the White House after this unrest this evening.

MARQUARDT: Yes. And as he was leaving to Florida to watch the spacecraft take off, he was asked about the unrest. And that message that you're talking about certainly did not come across.

In fact, Don, we had been worried about a confrontation here tonight between supporters of the president and the protesters that we've seen tonight in the past few nights because he had tweeted in the morning, "MAGA night at the White House?"

MAGA, of course, being make America great, a reference to his supporters. And so it sounded like he was summoning his supporters to the White House, the area around the White House, presumably to counter-protest against the demonstrators that we've been seeing out there.

And then he also said, as if an attempt to sort of tamp this down and bring African Americans into the fold, he said, "MAGA loves the black people."

And that just obviously sounds so disconnected from the kind of messaging that certainly many of the protesters would like to hear out there.

And then when he was asked whether he wanted his supporters to come down there, he claimed that he didn't care. So it was certainly not the message of resolve, of support, of an effort to tamp down this unbelievably high temperature in this country.

And then he went off to Florida and has returned. In fact, we saw the helicopters flying over the protests as he was returning to Washington but have yet to really hear any sort of message from him tonight. As we were saying, these protests, these fires are burning just feet from his front door.

LEMON: Alexander Marquardt, covering the news for us from Washington, D.C., Alexander, thank you very much. We appreciate that.

I want to get to Philadelphia now, where we find our Brian Todd. He has been covering the story for us.

Some pretty post-apocalyptic scenes where you are, fires, looting, chaos -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Don. I can show you down here on 17th and Walnut Streets. We need these masks for the pandemic. Tonight we also need them for all the smoke inhalation we're facing. Our photojournalist Andrew Smith is going to follow me as close as we can get to this three-alarm fire.

The water is still being sprayed. We may have to back off. You can see the hoses there still going up into that building trying to fight this fire. We were just told by a firefighter on the scene was that the fire happened at that building and at the black building with the red awning next to it. There's a Vans store right there. That's where the fire started.

A three-alarm fire that required 120 firefighters to respond to. I asked the firefighter here a short time ago if there were any injuries. She did not have that information. We'll try to get that for you later.

But we do have some other information for you here tonight, Don; 38 arrests have been made in Philadelphia, according to the Philadelphia police, 22 of those were for footing-related offenses. I've got to believe that number's going to go way up. It's probably already way up because of the carnage we saw here in this downtown area of Center City, Philadelphia, earlier today.

All around us you see that Citizens Bank over there. That got -- the facade of that got smashed in. Again, there's just businesses all around here that got looted and broken into.

We also have some figures on law enforcement, people who were injured; 13 police officers were injured, interestingly, seven of them with chemical burns to the face. That gives you an idea of what they were up against here in Philadelphia earlier today when they were being attacked, confronted by people wanting to cause trouble.

This is obviously emblematic of what's going on around the country, the fires, the looting, the burning. But even here, there's also messaging. There's also outrage. You see the sign in on the Chase Bank, "I can't breathe." The genuine heartfelt anger is mixed in with a lot of this.

And again, we've heard city officials here in Philadelphia, the mayor and the police chief, Danielle Outlaw, saying there were some outside agitators here, that a group of people that were a minority of the protesters did all this.

It's extraordinary when you think about it, a minority of people among thousands who were peaceably protesting can do damage like this. But that's what they did here in Philadelphia tonight, Don. And the city is still reeling. I can tell you. I think I showed you a little bit earlier.

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TODD: They're sweeping this entire area and trying to clear people out because the curfew is on until 6:00 in the morning and the police are moving very aggressively to clear people out. They tackled people right in front of us, chased them down the street. They're trying to get people out of here. They're not playing around at this point because of everything that happened.

They've also declared a curfew for tomorrow evening as well, 8:00 pm to 6:00 am. I've got to tell you that from what we saw in this area, most people are abiding by the curfew. The trouble happened mostly earlier today and it was really bad. We took you by city hall where they defaced part of city hall. They defaced the statue of former mayor Frank Rizzo.

There were burned-up police cars. On our way here tonight, we saw a burned-out police car being hauled away. So you've had many civilians injured here as well. Those figures the police do not have yet. It's going to take them a little longer to give us -- see, Andrew, if we can take you a little bit closer to it. The firefight. We're still getting pelted; we can't get too much closer. The camera's just going to be covered with water.

But clearly they're still trying to get this thing out. You cannot see flames here but it's got to be somewhere in back of that building. There's a cherry picker with some hoses still battling that blaze. You can't really see it right now. But you can see some of the hoses over there. Maybe Andrew can frame in on that.

So still a very active scene here tonight in Philadelphia, Don. You know, again, we're going to be seeing here what happens here tomorrow, when the protests start up whether we have scenes like this. The police will be out in force.

We do know that state police here have been reinforcing the Philadelphia police, as are police from Bucks County, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. So they have reinforcements.

We don't have word about National Guard deployments here. It seems like the Philadelphia police, the state police and some other jurisdictions for the moment, for the moment have it under control. That could change easily.

LEMON: Yes, wise words, Brian Todd. That could change easily. Right you are.

Our thanks to Brian Todd, who's covering this for us in Philadelphia. We will get back to Brian Todd as well as our other correspondents who are out in the field all over this country. We're back in a moment.

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LEMON: And we are back now live on CNN. Let's get straight to Minneapolis. Miguel Marquez is there.

What are you seeing?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are at the first precinct in downtown Minneapolis and we've been forced to come here because the protesters we've been following earlier tonight, the police were able to break them up. They went in several different directions and they were sort of chasing the smaller and smaller groups and trying to move them on. Not necessarily trying to arrest them but trying to keep them splintered.

And it seemed to be very successful. Areas where protesters were freely walking on previous nights are now absolute ghost towns. The police have a heavy presence everywhere. National Guard at all sort of the big infrastructure items, like hospitals and bridges and freeways, protecting sort of areas that won't allow individuals to access buildings but also infrastructure as well. Just want to show you a sense, give you a sense of it. This is the 1st

Precinct downtown, these are the barricades that have been set up along here. But it's not just this. The precinct itself is just there in the middle of the block. They have put four layers of enormous cement blocks up.

And I want to show you what downtown Minneapolis looks like. Most of the cars that are moving are police cars.

We wanted to show you other stuff happening in other parts of the city. The problem is right now is that everybody is on high alert. Every neighborhood you go through, they've set up their own neighborhood watches. They have the streets barricaded at the end.

And people with bats, clubs, golf clubs protecting their neighborhoods, bright lights on at the ends of the blocks to keep anybody from coming into their neighborhoods. Homeowners, essentially, protecting their investments. The city is incredibly fearful, locked down, distrustful and extremely afraid of what the next days are going to bring -- Don.

LEMON: All right, Miguel, thank you very much.

And I just want to share a moment from earlier tonight. One protester who was with Miguel gave a raw, emotional take on the violence we have seen across this nation this week.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what I got at that say to the people who are destroying things. If you really feel like you have to take an opportunity, like if you're going to be opportunistic, something is wrong with you.

If you cannot stand up and fight the good fight and you want to be a cheater and go ahead and take what we're trying to do, something is wrong with you. Because what we're trying to do is stand up for the basic right of humanity. That's what we're trying to do and we're trying to do it in a peaceful way.

We do not want to go through this anymore, OK?

I want to be able to go in a white neighborhood and feel safe. I want to be able, when a cop is driving behind me, I don't have to clench and be tense, OK?

I want to be able, just to be free and not have to think about every step I take. Because at the end of the day, being black is a crime. At the end of the day, being born black is a crime to them. And I don't understand why because we're all humans. And that's sickening.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

LEMON: Hello, everyone, and thanks for joining me. I'm Don Lemon.

It's already an extraordinary time in America and this especially is an extraordinary night. Many of America's major cities right now are reeling from violent public protests. Crowds of angry demonstrators smashing store windows in New York City, physically clashing with police in Kansas City and Chicago and Minneapolis.

And then after night fell, fires started. This one in Washington, D.C. This one is a Starbucks in Los Angeles. All of this happening, of course, while this country is trying to emerge from a deadly pandemic, trying to get the bogged-down economy safely restarted again, under the shadow of more than 100,000 coronavirus deaths.

So we're going to stay in Los Angeles now, where you're looking at that fire and those pictures there. CNN's Kyung Lah joins us.

LAH: We're on the ground. I got a little clarification on, you called the business a Starbucks. I'm actually standing right next to it. They've been hitting it with water. It's actually the business adjacent to Starbucks. It is a shoe store.

If you look closer to where the water is being hit on the roof, it is still burning. It has been burning for the greater part of one hour. Firefighters have been hitting it as hard as possible.

What we're hearing from the police is that they think it is connected to looting. This is just one block here and I'm going to have my cameraman, Jordan, spin this way with me. The looting I'm talking about is up and down Melrose Avenue.

This is an area, if you've ever been here, Independent Fashion, and they have been emptied out. The windows smashed. They have been tagged on the walls, on the outside windows and then completely cleaned out.

And I want to walk, have you walk with me and bear with me as we do this walk. The reason why I want to come down this way is because, after we were watching the fire burn at that shoe store, there was a report that there was another fire. And I'm going to turn you this way.

You can see where the police are gathering right there. I'm not really -- this is actually new. We were just here a second ago. I wasn't seeing all this police activity. So let's actually -- OK.

What I was going to show you is that there's another fire burning behind the police arriving. But now I'm just going to actually let you look at these pictures as we are watching them live here on CNN.