[John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] I'm John Berman in New York. This is CNN's special live coverage. We are witnessing a national moment, a national moment of pain, anger, and frustration. I want to show you live pictures from Newark, New Jersey. This is a protest happening right now, looks to be thousands of people out on the streets, again, not at all social distanced, after a tumultuous night in America. Today at least 30 cities are cleaning up after this night of protests. Some were peaceful. Other protests started that way but then turned violent. Buildings were vandalized, fires set, police cars smashed, officers were attacked. Hundreds were arrested. At one point even the CNN World Headquarters building in Atlanta was damaged by protesters as our crews in the building continue to broadcast what was happening there and around the country. And there are more demonstrations scheduled for today, a response to the story that has dominated the news for days now.
[Unidentified Male:] I can't breathe. Please, your knee on my neck. I can't breathe. Get up and get in the car, man. I will. Get up and get in the car. I can't move.
[Berman:] This is the source of the pain and the anger and frustration the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who lost his life after a Minneapolis police officer held his knee on Floyd's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. The criminal complaint says Floyd was unresponsive for two minutes and 53 seconds of that time. Think of that. It's possible he was dead for two minutes with a knee on his neck. That officer has now been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, but activists and protesters are saying that arrest isn't enough, and they're demanding all of the officers involved now be charged. We want to begin our coverage live in Minneapolis now, the city where George Floyd died. CNN's Omar Jimenez is there. And Omar, the governor has announced a full mobilization of the Minnesota National Guard. What exactly does that mean, and what's the latest on the ground there?
[Omar Jimenez, Cnn National Correspondent:] Well, for starters, it means they are going to make as large an effort as possible to quell some of the violence and looting in some cases that we have seen unfold over the course of just the past three days. I remember yesterday Governor Walz had described the previous two days as 48 hours of anarchy. That was ahead of them announcing an 8:00 p.m. curfew here to try and quell some of what did not end up stopping what we saw last night. And you see some of that evidence behind me where you see people still out and about and trying to clean up their community, actually. But it's also coming with the backdrop of buildings that are still smoldering from the night before. Similar scenes to what we've woken up to, again, over the course of just the past two days alone. And while we are deploying, or while the city and state are deploying more resources, you see the community coming out in droves to try and clean up their own places. And that also points to what we heard a lot from officials here across the state, saying that there are outside elements coming in here that are messing with the righteous anger in regards to that cellphone video of George Floyd that you played a few moments ago. The Mayor of St. Paul Melvin Carter specifically said every single person that was arrested over the course of Friday was from someone out of state. And here is what he has to say about the current situation we're in.
[Mayor Melvin Carter, Saint Paul, Minnesota:] That frustration, that pain, is real, and it's legitimate. And to all of the people in our community who believe what I just said, who wholeheartedly need the world to hear that Mr. Floyd should be alive, that someone should be held accountable, and that we as a community, we as a culture, we as a society must do everything we can imagine to keep this from happening again, we stand with you. I stand with you. Unfortunately, there are also those among us who would seek to use this moment, who would seek to use his death as an excuse, as a cover to agitate for the destruction of those same communities that have been most traumatized by George Floyd's death.
[Jimenez:] And the Mayor of Minneapolis Jacob Frey says the story over the past few days as far as nighttime rioting and protests is simple. It comes down to simple math in his words. So they are hoping to even the odds a little bit more tonight so that Governor Walz 48 hours of anarchy don't continue even more than it already has, John.
[Berman:] Omar Jimenez in Minnesota. Omar, I have to say, that scene that you are standing in front of right now, that burned out shell of a building, reminds me of buildings I stood in front of in Baghdad, bombed out buildings there. It is an eerie sight to see in the United States of America. Terrific reporting, Omar. Please stand by, keep us posted as more develops. We're going to go to Washington right now. Attorney General William Barr making a statement.
[William Barr, U.s. Attorney General:] Accountability for his death must be addressed and is being addressed through the regular process of our criminal justice system, both at the state and at the federal level. That system is working and moving at exceptional speed. Already initial charges have been filed by the state. That process continues to move forward, and justice will be served. Unfortunately, with the rioting that is occurring in many of our cities around the country, the voices of peaceful protests are being hijacked by violent radical elements. Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate and violent agenda. In many places it appears the violence is planned, organized, and driven by anarchic and left extremist groups, far left extremist groups, using Antifa-like tactics, many of whom traveled from outside the state to promote the violence. We must have law and order on our streets and in our communities, and it is the responsibility of the local and state leadership in the first instance to halt this violence. The Department of Justice, including the FBI, the U.S. Marshals, the ATF, the DEA, and our 93 United States attorneys' office U.S. attorneys' offices around the country, are supporting these local efforts, will continue to support them, and take all action necessary to enforce federal law. In that regard, it is a federal crime to cross state lines or to use interstate facilities to incite or participate in violent rioting, and we will enforce those laws. Thank you.
[Berman:] A statement from the attorney general of the United States William Barr, taking no questions there, saying that the investigation into the officers who were there when George Floyd died is continuing at the normal pace. He was saying that obviously state charges have been filed, and the federal investigation continues. He went on to say, however, that he believes that outside forces in some of these states and cities where we've seen protests are fueling the fires of these protests. He also said it is the responsibility of state and local governments to keep law and order, which is a phrase that has been something of a buzz phrase over the years. I want to bring in Josh Campbell, who is on the streets in Minneapolis. Josh, it was interesting to hear from the attorney general, and I just want to note so people know some of the context here with William Barr, the Justice Department, the Trump Justice Department has backed off some of the consent decrees in cities where there were policing issues, which means less federal oversight of these police departments where racial injustice was seen to be a problem. And the attorney general has also suggested that in cities and states where issues surrounding policing are questioned, that maybe law enforcement will not be applied quite as diligently. So it was interesting to hear him talk today.
[Josh Campbell, Cnn Correspondent:] It certainly was. And we've been wondering what the U.S. government, the federal side, would be saying as this continues, particularly about some of the violence that we've seen from certain protesters, certainly not all of them. We've covered a number of peaceful protests, but some have certainly turned violent in the past couple days. We've seen pictures of destruction. The question is now, at least what I took away out of that press conference, is when the attorney general says that these are leftist groups, that appears to contradict some piece of information that we got from state officials here who said that their investigation indicates that at least some of those who are trying to incite people online are white supremacists, which are not leftwing groups. And so there is a disparity there. The attorney general didn't offer any additional details on what the investigations have found so far, so that will be critical. And as you know, the Department of Justice is a political entity. The attorney general is a political appointee, and especially this attorney general has been closer to the White House than many attorneys general in the past few decades. So that is interesting to note looking through that lens. Is there a political tinge to this? I think the answer to that is going to come from the department itself, perhaps from the FBI, the agency, the investigative agency that would be looking into violations of interstate law as Barr mentioned there. But again, at least what we heard from the A.G. about leftist groups doesn't seem to square with what we're hearing from the state officials about what they are seeing, John.
[Berman:] And I have to say, Josh, having covered many of these protests, demonstrations, even violence before, you often hear that the violence and the worst aspects are caused by outside agitators. And yes, I know that people do come from other areas and have proven to come from other areas in many of these instances. But it is also politically convenient for everyone involved when they are not local people expressing local pain and local anger. So I just want to know what you have seen with your own eyes. Is there a way to discern where these people are from?
[Campbell:] It is very interesting you say that. I was just talking with our producer Erin about this same topic, and that is if you are an elected official in an area, a state, a city, a county, and you have widespread destruction, and you've already been criticized with state officials here have been criticized for their initial response to some of this destruction, it is, as you mentioned, potentially convenient to say, well, it is other people. What is so fascinating is we are on the ground talking with citizens. We've been doing reporting on people who are out cleaning up. John, people are coming up to us. They know we're reporters, and they're saying, hey, have you heard that these are outside groups? These are not Minnesotans. These are outside people. We want you to know that. The question is, where is that information coming from? Are we talking about a circle, a feedback loop here of information that comes from state officials and to the citizens, or are they themselves seeing it as they go to some of these protests? That we don't know. It's going to be difficult to prove that negative. I can tell you there was a large protest that was here earlier. It has now since dispersed. But police officers are now preparing. You can see we're across from the Fifth Precinct here not far from where Mr. Floyd was killed. And police officers have set up Jersey barriers. They've set up fencing. You see officers on the roof right now, which is so unusual for a police department like this. They're looking forage agitators regardless of where they're coming from, whether they're local, whether they're from out of state, they want to be ready for what's about to happen. We don't have the answer to the question, John, about whether these calls for an increased presence by National Guard, whether the curfew here is actually going to impact people and cause them to stay home. We'll have to wait and see.
[Berman:] All right, Josh, thank you very much for being with us, thank you for your reporting, thank you for asking the questions to the people you see on the ground there. That is what is so important. Appreciate it. In the San Francisco Bay Area, thousands of protesters filled the streets overnight. In Oakland two law enforcement officers were shot at the downtown federal building, and we have learned today that one of them has died. CNN's Dan Simon joins me now. And Dan, what do we know about this tragedy on top of tragedy?
[Dan Simon, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, hey, John. It was a very ugly scene in Oakland, California last night, just like we have seen in cities throughout the country. This started out as a peaceful assembly. Oakland police say you had more than 7,000 people protesting, and within that group you did have obviously several dozen people if not hundreds of people that engage in criminal acts. We saw the spray painting of buildings. We saw the looting of businesses, smashing windows, etcetera. And then at around 9:45, according to the FBI, a vehicle pulled up in front of the federal building in downtown Oakland. Somebody in that car started opening fire at two contract security guards for the Federal Protective Service, and two people were hit. One of them died. Obviously a very unfortunate situation. We know that police are investigating, and they are bracing for more mayhem tonight on the streets of Oakland. It's unclear exactly what procedures the department may put in place to thwart a repeat of this violence, but more protesters expected on the streets tonight in the city of Oakland. John?
[Berman:] Dan Simon for us in the Bay Area. Please keep us posted, Dan, if you hear any new developments. We do have more breaking news for you this afternoon. A potentially historic day for U.S. space flight. NASA at this moment putting the odds at 5050 that the weather will allow SpaceX to launch next hour with two American astronauts on board, launch from American soil, by the way. We're standing by.