Today. Mutual of america financial group, Retirement Services and investments. Additional support has been provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. And by contrutions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Sreenivasan good evening and thanks for joining us. States and cities across the country are preparing for more demonstrations, calling up National Guard units and considering the federal governments offer to deploy active duty troops after violent protests last night. Demonstrations spread after the death of george floyd, a black man who died after a White Minneapolis Police officer kneeled on his neck for nine minutes. That officer is now charged with third degree murder. Many legal and peaceful gatherings continued today to grieve and demand justice for floyd, and for others. But last night, demonstrators set fires, smashed windows, and attacked Police Officers in many places, and Officials Say in some cases, outsiders are behind the violence. Newshour weekends Megan Thompson begins our coverage in minneapolis, where george floyd died last monday. Reporter cleanup began this morning in minneapolis after violence rocked the city for a fourth straight night. Thousands of protesters took to the streets last night in defiance of an 8 00 p. M. Curfew, setting buildings and cars on fire, looting local businesses and firing on Law Enforcement. Former Minneapolis Police officer derek chavin was charged yesterday with murder and manslaughter in the death of george floyd. Floyd died after chauvin kneeled on his neck during an arrest on monday. Three other officers involved are still under investigation. Despite chauvins arrest, the rioting escalated overnight. Police, state troopers and 700 National Guard troops tried to calm the chaos while firefighters worked to contain the blazes. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and minneapolis mayor jacob frey held a press conference at 1 30 in the morning, pleading with protesters to stop. Im deeply concerned with the people who you need to go home. You need to go home. This is not about georges death. This is not about inequities that were real. This is about chaos being caused. There is no honor in burning down your city. There is no pride in looting. Reporter this morning, governor walz announced a full mobilization of the minnesota National Guard, activating another 1,000 troops, the largest domestic deployment in the states history. Our great cities of minneapolis and st. Paul are under assault by people who do not share our values, who do not value life in the work that went into this, and certainly are not here to honor george floyd. Sreenivasan as minneapolis prepares for more protests, i spoke with Minnesota Public Radio reporter matt sepic, who was on the streets during both peaceful protests and as violence broke out last night. Matt, you were out in the streets last night. What did you see . Utter chaos. I walked for many miles throughout the lake street area in south minneapolis, which has been the heart of the unrest here in the city. There were fires everywhere, a very light Law Enforcement presence for most of the evening. Ter on, some National Guard troops were finally able to get through to assist and protect firefighters who were putting out a gas station fire, one of many fires burning in structures along lake street. Sreenivasan but what do we know about the people who were responsible for this . What are authorities saying now . At a News Conference this morning, st. Paul mayor Melvin Carter said the number of people that they arrested last night were all from out of town. Governor tim walz of minnesota says that the demonstrations have moved from legitimate protest and civil disobedience to out and out rioting that has nothing to do with protesting the murder, in his words, of mr. George floyd. Sreenivan give me an idea of the neighborhoods where this is happening. Who lives there . What whats it like for people who are not familiar with the city . Lake street is a very diverse area working class, many immigrant businesses, many people of color, a lot of restaurants. Theres a a large hispanic community, Latino Community that lives along lake street, and much of it now is destroyed. A lot of these businesses that have taken generations to be built were gone in the night of rioting. Reenivasan have you seen the size of the peaceful portions of the protests stay the same, increase, decrease, the type of people who are coming . They appear to be the same. There was a protest just before sunset, before the curfew yesterday on interstate 35w through downtown minneapolis. They marched, they closed down the freeway, as you have seen in past protests. And that dispersed, and people walked away. And, on thursday evening, there was a similar protest tside the Hennepin CountyGovernment Center in downtown minneapolis, demanding the prosution of the Police Officers involved. Again, that was a peaceful protest. The actions that youre seeing with looting andioting, the governor, other authorities here say this is a separate group of people. Many of them do not live here, and theyre coming in to foment chaos because they see the tension that has built and the anger that has built following the death of george floyd. Sreenivasan matt, give me an idea of the size of the crowds versus the size of the Police Forces that are trying to contain them. Governor tim walz said in an overnight News Conference that police, the National Guard, the Minnesota State patrol, were vastly outnumbered by looters and rioters who were on the streets. They just did not have the personnel to focus on all of the places that they needed to focus on, to deal with the large numbers of people who were coming into town to foment chaos. Sreenivasan matt sepic, Minnesota Public Radio, thanks so much for joining us. Youre welcome. Sreenivasan President Trump commented on last nights protests in washington, d. C. In a series of tweets today. And, in new york, officials reacted to videos of Police Behavior from demonstrations there. Newshour weekends Ivette Feliciano has more. Reporte in new york, protests turned violent last night as Police Clashed with crowds for the second day in a row. Some protestors in brooklyn thw Water Bottles and fireworks at police, and videos captured a police van on fire. Some peoplwere hospitalized, and busloads were arrested. Officers used eyeirritating chemicals, moving vehicles, and batons to disperse the crowds. A widelycirculated video showed one officer violeny pushing a woman to the ground. When asked about that video in a press conference this morning, new york mayor bill blasio called Violent Police reactions on peaceful protestors unacceptable, and announced an independent investigation to determine who is responsible. But he also condemned protestors who subjected the police to what he called horrible and vile things that would not stand. Because they are working men and women. And any protester that tries to take the humanity away from a Police Officer and devalue them, just because theyre a public servant, is no better than the racists who devalue people of color, and particularly, black men in america. Reporter also last night in washington d. C. , police attempted to dispel hundreds of protesters chanting curses at President Trump in front of the white house. The u. S. Secret service enacted a partl lockdown of the building. In a tweet this morning, the president said that had protesters breached the fence, they would have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most omino weapons, i have ever seen. Adding, Many Secret Service agents just waiting for action. we put the young ones on the front line, sir. They love it, and, good practice. Sreenivasan for more on the protests in washington, d. C. And President Trumps response, i spoke with phillip rucker, the washington posts White House Bureau chief. Philip, its not every day that we see protesters actually start going at the white house. I mean, theres its a place in front of the white house that weve seen all sorts of protests. Its tradition. But last night seemed different. It sure did. What we saw was a a number of protesters through the city of of washington, converging on the white house and demanding racial justice. Weve seen similar demonstrations in a number of cities over the last 24, 48 hours. And it it came right up to President Trumps home, and he has been tweeting that he actually watched it all from the windows of the white house residence. Sreenivasan and his response, well, was classic President Trump not what youd expect. It was not. You know, his response to to the protests in front of the white house on friday night was to thank the secret serve for their work containing the crowds, but also using some real interesting language. He talked about the dogs being vicious referring, apparently, to police dogs, a reference to the Law Enforcement tactics that we saw in the 1960s in this country. A really jarring reference for him to make, especially after the comments that he made about looters and shooters a day earlier in reference to minneapolis. Sreenivasan that phrase is also something that segregationists used in the 60s. The president tried to clarify that that was not his intention yesterday, but it seemed a little confusing, even the clarification. It was confusing. Its unclear what the president was trying to communicate when he used that phrase. But that, of course, is a phrase that the police chief in miami back in the 60s would use in regard to going after robbers and and other vandals in black neighborhoods in in that city. It was very much a racially charged phrase. The president claimed he didnt know the ogins of the phrase, but it its unclear where he heard it from. But, clearly, it was a dog whistle, as many of his supporters heard it. Sreenivasan these protests are happening and this conversations happening when the president is also trying to steer the nation towards the topic of china, towards the topic of twitter and censorship, while we still have a massive pandemic that hasnt ended. Thats right. What weve seen from the president the last few week its the deliberate effort to try to distract and divert attention from the pandemic and from what Many Public Health experts see is the failures of the federal government to contain the spread of the coronavirus and save lives, and focus instead on a number of diversions from trumps conspiratorial allegations about President Trump and and Vice President biden; to to his de you know, spreading a bunked Conspiracy Theory about a cable show host, joe scarborough, being implicated somehow in the death of a young staffer more tn two decades ago. A number of distraction from the president that seemed aimed, according to my reporting, at generating alternative headlines and storylines for him that he thinks would be helpful in the campaign but ultimately end up trying to distract his supporters and other americans from the crisis playing out every day in our country. Reenivasan Philip Rucker of the washington post, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you. Sreenivasan officials in atlanta, georgia are reeling, after Peaceful Demonstrations turned violent. Newshour weekends Christopher Booker has more. We are all in this. This hurts. This hurts everybody in this room. But what are you changing by tearing up a city . Reporter Atlanta MayorKeisha Lance Bottoms impassioned question came after a night of intense confrontation between protestors and city police. Earlier in the day, as the s started to set, demonstrators had gathered near atlantas Centennial Olympic Park to march to the state capitol. The night rned as splinter groups broke from the peaceful assembly, and Law Enforcement officers advanced into the demonstrators with batons. As a police car burned, the groups moved toward the entrance of cnns atlanta headquarters, smashing windows and throwing projectiles at a line of police ofcers inside the buildings lobby. In response to fridays unrest, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency and activated nearly 500 National Guard troops. And, mayor bottoms recruited atlanta rapper and activist killer mike in her call for calm. I woke up wanting to see the world burn down yesterday, because im tired of seeing black men die. He casually put his knee on a human beings neck for nine minutes as he died, like a zebra in a clutch of a lions jaw. And we watch it like murder porn, over and over again. So thats why children are burning to the ground. They dont know what else to do. Now is the time to plot, plan, strategize, organize and mobilize. Sreenivasan for more on the protests in atlanta last night, and the reaction from city leaders, i spoke with Sudhin Thanawala, a reporter for the Associated Press, who is covering events there. Sudhin, we saw the mayor. We saw killer mike. We saw lots of people pleading with the citizens of atlanta to stop burning down their own city last night. How severe was it . Because, oftentimes, we see just a little glimpse of the city. What was happening . There was a significant amount of damage, but really this started off as a peaceful protest. There were thousands of people who gathered in a park downtown and marched for a couple of hours to city hall excuse me, to the state capital, and then came back. And then, you had a group of several hundred protesters who ended up confronting Police Outside cnn headquarters. And this was on a small side street, so not the main street in front of cnn. And thats when when you really started seeing seeing some violence. They spraypainted the cnn sign. They began breaking windows at cnn. Police, for the most part, they did come over when when the protesters started breaking windows at cnn, but they were pelted with with bottles, plastic bottles. Police have told us that protesters threw knives at them. So, it progressed from there. Then, they smashed police cars, set one on fire. And then, they began going around in that area, in general were talking about a few ocks here smashing windows, looting, looting some stores, restaurants. And it was confined to that area for much of the night until really late, when protesters went to another part of the city a little farther north where, again, they vandalized, looted stores. This is in an area called buckhead, north of downtown. Sreenivasan whats the city planning to do tonight or the nights after . We havent heard yet. Its still a little early here this morning, and we are asking Police Officials what their plans are. The mayor addressed this last night. She said she is concerned about another night like this, and she really pleaded with protesters. She invoked this citys civil rights legacy. Dr. King was born here, of course. His daughter spoke. She spoke quite eloquently about the anger she felt when her her father was assassinated. But she said, you know, violence isnt the way to go. So, theyre hoping for the best. We havent heard of an exact plan. Right now, we do know that the governor declared a state of emergency in this county, fulton county, and deployed the National Guard. And we know there he also sent in reinforcements from from the state police. And so, there are definitely is definitely going to be a bigger Police Presence today and and going forward. Sreenivasan is this different . Does it feel different compared to other times there has been any unrest . I think it does a little bit. I think what we saw in terms of the violence was was unusual. I think atlanta does have a history of peaceful, relatively peaceful protests. And there there just seemed to be just more anger and frustration at at whats going on. You know, a number of the otesters i talked to just said, enough is enough. You know, theyre and theyre looking at some of these recent incidents of course, the one involving george floyd, but also Ahmaud Arbery here that we had in in georgia. And, you know, a couple of other people i talked to said, you know, that could be me. And and theyre just very, very concerned about their safety, about their lives. Sreenivasan Sudhin Thanawala from the Associated Press joining us from atlanta. Thanks so much. Thanks, hari. For more on the aftermath of George Floyds death, and continuing coverage of protests across the nation, visit wwpbs. Org newshour. Sreenivasan the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in the u. S. , even as restrictions on gatherings and businesses are being lifted ith new safety guidelines in place. The c. D. C. Reported more than 21,000 new cases yesterday, and more than 1,200 new deaths. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday that new york city, the epicenter of the virus and the only remaining region in the state that has yet to lift restrictions, is expected to start its first phe of reopening on june 8. A divided u. S. Supreme court rejected an appeal from a California Church last night that challenged state limits on attendan at services due to covid19. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the courts four liberal justices in the 54 decision denying the appeal from the Pentecostal Church near san diego. The church claimed that limits on gathengs violated its constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. Justice roberts, in an individual opinion, said that because restriction also applies to other gatherings, it does not violate First Amendment rights. California governor gavin newsom closed churches and other places of worship to the public in march, but began allowing up to 25 of building capacity, or 100 people, whichever is smaller, to atte services this past week. German chancellor Angela Merkels office said today that she will not pernally attend the g7 conference if it is held next month in the United States, due to covid19. The g7 was cancelled because of the pandemic, but last week, President Donald Trump said he is considering moving forward with hosting the meeting of world leaders. Merkels office added that her decision could change depending on how the coronavirus spreads. The group of seven summit of the worlds top economies was originally scheduled to be held at camp david in midjune, but no official new date has been set. Just days after reopening, hundreds of schools in south korea are closing, after spikes in coronavirus cases. South korea reported 39 new cases today, many connected to anutbreak at an ecommerce Distribution Center outside seoul. Earlier this week, many schools opened for the first time in more than two months, with students greeted with Hand Sanitizer and temperature checks. But, after the recent uptick in cases, Health Officials decided to reclose schools, as well as museums and parks. For the first time in nearly a decade, a crewed mission to space launched from the United States today. Three, two, one. Blast off. Sreenivasan astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken took off in the Spacex Dragon capsule this afternoon. If all goes according to plan, they will arrive at the inrnational space station tomorrow. President trump and Vice President pence were both on hand today to witness the launch. The first attempt on wednesday was called off just 16 minutes before launch. This is the First Crewed Mission from u. S. Soil since the Space ShuttleProgram Ended in 2011, and the first ever in a privatelymade spacecraft. Sreenivasan thats all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. For the latest news updates, visit www. Pbs. Org newshour. Im hari sreenivasan. Thanks for watching. Stay healthy, and have a good night. Captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org pbs newshour weekend is made possible by bernard and irene schwartz. Sue and Edgar Wachenheim iii. The cheryl and Philip Milstein family. The j. P. B. Foundation. Rosalind p. Walter. Barbara hope zuckerberg. Charles rosenblum. We try to live in the moment, to not miss whats right in front of us. At mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. Mutual of america financial group, Retirement Servicesnd investments. When it comes to wireless, Consumer Cellular gives its customers the choice. Our nocontract plans give you as much or as little talk, text and data as you want. And our u. S. Based Customer Service team is onhand to help. To learn more, go to www. Consumercellular. Tv. Additional support has been provided by and by the corporationor public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. 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