Transcripts For CNNW CNN 20240703 : comparemela.com

Transcripts For CNNW CNN 20240703

Developed over the last hour or so, police have moved into Columbia University to move those propalestinian demonstrators out of the building that they have occupied since last night, hundreds and hundreds of Law Enforcement course. But you can see have swarmed onto the campus or in the case of the screen, youre looking at right now, the picture youre looking at right now, just off campus, we have seen Law Enforcement move people onto buses, presumably under arrest. Weve also seen the police simply move people off the bus and let them go on their way. We have dean no violent encounters, but billy, between police and protesters as of now when we have seen police move into Hamilton Hall itself, that is the building that was occupied overnight by these protesters. Let me read you a statement from Columbia University which explains how this all has been taking place over the last hour or the Statement Reads a little after 9 00 p. M. This evening, the nypd arrived on campus at the universitys request. This decision was made to restore safety in order to our community, we regret the protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through there actions after the University Learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded. We were left with no choice. Columbia Public Safety personnel were forced out of the building and a member of our Facilities Team was threatened. We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation. The statement continues leadership team, including the board of trustees, met throughout the night and early into the morning, consulting with Security Experts in Law Enforcement to determine the best plan to protect our students in the entire Columbia Community. We made the decision they say early in the morning that it was a Law Enforcement matter and at the nypd were best positioned to determine and execute the appropriate response. This is important what they say next, we believe that the group that broke into an occupied the building is led by individuals who were not affiliated with the university. Sadly, this dangerous decision followed more than a week of what had been productive discussions with representatives of the west lawn encampment. They go on to say theyd been moving people out all day, resulting finally, in what you are seeing on your screen tonight, this is just one of the images that we have. Our eyes on right now. Again, this is just offcampus. Lets go right to Julia Vargas Jones cnn producer who was on campus for most of the day right in front of Hamilton Hall, but was just moved off. Julia, tell us what youre seeing now. Whats happening where you are just going to swing around a little bit so you understand where we are. This is Amsterdam Avenue and this is one 14 up this way. I dont know how much you can actually be. Im sorry, im just kind of walking through the crowd this is where we were pledged were pushed out of Columbia University through those gates and pushed into this its not really a cattle because were not getting arrested, but we were pushed into area with barricade . Myself im assuming that Columbia Universitys and hundreds of others, people that were protesting in sayyed. Were also pushed out. People that were making this Human Chain Outside of Hamilton Hall. They were pushed out. They made another Human Chain Outside, hundred and 14, and eventually the nypd, just forcefully remove them. They did not get arrested. This is like teeth difference here. They looked like for me, i can tell you if there were not and then weve got pushed into this little area right now. Its a thin stuff if i can go into get my thing its very its very difficult to understand where i believe wants us to go eventually right now were just sitting here at this corner in the middle of the protests, which nowhere else to go up here, up this way, we have boston than y pz boss says, i cant tell if there are people inside those buses or not moving that way. And then now we see a emergency medical vehicle making turning into one 14 streak they are going this is the way that they pushed all in all of the protesters and journalists. So not sure all of this is blocked off and believes is not letting us move anywhere else. This is where we have to say for the time being, julia, it hang on one second, just so people understand there is Amsterdam Avenue which runs North And South. There is broadway wheres runs North And South inbetween broadway and amsterdam is Columbia University basically between 143 in 160 or higher and 18th street. If you go up a little bit further north of that, so so julia is on one end of the university where people have been pushed out. Two questions quickly, julie, one, it looks like its raining now, if you can confirm, its raining now, which may have an impact it may have an impact on the crowds there that people still outside and who are the people youre looking at a map right now, just what is describing. You can see northsouth broadway, who are the people standing beside you . John, there is nowhere for us to go. I dont think that we can get out of here right now this is i see a lot of students, a lot of students press a lot of people from the journalism fluid, which is where i what im affiliated with as well. And we want were after that board just outside Hamilton Hall a protesting. So its a mix of students people that were there protesting that we dont know and can confirm if part affiliated with the university are not this is just the situations and then just pushed us all into the same corner at 1 14 and amsterdam all right. Julia vargas jones, stay safe, dont go far. Let us know if there are any developments where you are. Want to bring in john miller, cnn senior Law Enforcement in Terror Analyst right now, john, i have to say over the corner of my eye, saw you go on the phone, which generally means youre finding out information. Whats the latest your hearing on what is happening up at columbia . So Police Obviously swept the group that was in front of Hamilton Hall off some of them who ended up on those buses are those are going to be people who are in custody. Those who were swept out through the gates there are people who elected not to be arrested and agreed to leave so were going to have some arrest numbers, but probably coming to us later because theyre operating out of multiple locations to do that tally. They did make entrance into Hamilton Hall from what i understand. And this is all luminary, so you have to assume some of it could change that there werent a great deal of people in terms of numbers inside the building when they made entry, they used Distraction Devices or what we would call flash bangs these are things that go flash and then bang so that they could overcome any resistance. Booby traps or anything that was waiting for them inside. And then they did a floor by floor search, which did not produce a lot of people. Theyre going from the second to last floor now to the top floor. So the building is nearly cleared in the first instance, theyll do a secondary search just to clean up behind that. But thats pretty much where we are now. So if you talk about what what are our reporter on the scene was saying about people were pushed out, they were put into pens it feels like from a tactical standpoint they want to create a corridor, a portal so that when they have these people who are under arrest on these buses, that the buses will have a clear path out and that the street will be open and not occupied and they can take them down to this mass so rest Processing Center, an unknown number of arrests. You say so far dozens, hundreds, any sense . Im going to just based on the visuals, it appears to be at least dozens that could trip the triple digits because there were large number of people there. But as we learned from his vargas, a lot of them and were pushed out of the gates. And those are people who decided to forgo the process of being arrested. Now, things have developed their over the last couple of days protest leaders from outoftown people like lisa, 50. And who is the author of the book . Shut it down . Who is very adept at Coaching Groups on how to do protests, how to do disruption how to do vandalism and physical damage, how to handle mass arrests situations have been up there talking to them, working with them. So lot has changed over the past 48 hours in terms of where they were. All right. We are being told dozens have been arrested. That is so far. We also did get word from Julia Vargas Jones on the scene that a lot of people were simply moved away, pushed away, and i imagine it is to an officers discretion whether tool rest are just remove people from the premises. John miller just reporting that the police who did enter Hamilton Hall used flash bangs. They move through fairly quickly and there were not a lot of people actually in Hamilton Hall and they are close they think to clearing the building or at least seeing every part of the building. One interesting point to add there what were seeing on social media is reports from students saying that the tear gas was deployed. The nypd almost never uses tear gas and saying that they did not use tear gas tonight. I think thats the smoke from the flash bangs that theyre probably reading as that yeah. And you were looking at police now walking past one of our camera is right there in a mass movement, unclear whether they are moving to Hamilton Hall, 140 or moving away from Hamilton Hall with us now also is Philippe Rodriguez then retired nypd officer. Its just explain what john just said to us about using the flash bangs to get and we did hear from a Police Spokesman a short time ago, who did reiterate what john just said, which is that the nypd does not use tear gas, correct. But how do you imagine they went through that building . Its almost like a tactical situation where the almost thing is to get through it safely so a flash bang is just a very long Concussion Grenade and its made to do is disorient the person. So if they had a preemptive type of tactical thing that theyre going to attack an officer it now makes most a little bit dizzy because it messes with equilibrium. So it does get this is a tactical advantage. We never want to go in there with the use of excessive force. So we can mitigate that from the beginning, it was a good tactical choices are useful its just not often seen in new york city. Shimon prokupecz, if you are with us, im not sure if we have shimon right now. Shimon, if you can hear me am here. Im here give us a sense of what youre seeing okay. So were on amsterdam, one 16, so were outside Hamilton Hall here, but this is where the police went in, was just such a strict such Strategic Planning that went into this you just wonder what, how much time was the nypd planning for this . Because the way they came in here just over my Left Shoulder im going to try to show you. Can we just show i just want to show this side over here. Is there a way to do the number of Emergency Services vehicles . John ive never seen this kind of response at a scene. I mean, there are a least a dozen to 20 Emergency Services vehicles here. And then of course, we saw many of them walk to this heavily armed trunk. Its what they call a barrel a cat. And then they walked up through that window and then entered Hamilton Hall. Its just a stunning pictures to think that this is a University Cullum Columbia University, that the police are entering in such a way because the doors were barricaded the group broken in good morning and its been there all day. They unfurled flags here or signs here today, there were up on the roof i want point. So the nypd really spent the day planning for this and then surged i mean, hundreds, if not at least 1,000 officers here i mean, you have officers from the search teams, you have officers from other precincts, the Emergency Services officers. The response was just enormous now, most of the officers are just standing around. Were seeing some protesters were hearing the chance a students are gathered outside here summer up here on, on a bridge, all watching to see whats going to happen and what the next steps will be. But right now, all eyes and everything is on Hamilton Hall as we await to see what the next steps are are the police going to bring anybody out from inside and you can hear . The protest is there shouting shame at the officers every time a group of officers would move through an area, we would hear that shame, shame towards the officers. But this is such an escalation here. But what started it . We have to remember is what happened here early this morning you know, the fact that you had outside groups, the nypd has says so the college has said so the fact that they broke into this hall the fact that they snuck onto the campus. We believe someone who has not gone around 2 00 yesterday when the campus would allow the press, the media to get on on on the campus of the college. They snuck on and so they spent the morning, Early Morning planning this and they got inside and this was a game changer and just talking to soar versus all day, john, they were waiting they were waiting all day to get word from the college that they could do this. The nypd wanted to do this. They felt it was necessary, it was needed, and there was a lot of concern that if they didnt do this today this would only escalated. There were concerns for other members of outside groups coming in trying to escalate this even further. Sewing doing this, i mean, these are going to be images that are going to are going to last a lifetime, right . This kind of response on a university in the United States in many ways, sometimes its just unfathomable and such, in such a situation. But thats exactly what happened here. The response was, i john, ive covered so many protests through the years here in new york, especially ive never seen a response its like this. They came prepared they came in force and they came to send a message and right now, were just seeing so many of the officers still out here standing around. Things are calm, people are chanting. We could even here are some, it sounds like chance that are coming from inside the campus as the police are just standing around. And right now really drawn. All eyes are on Hamilton Hall as we await to see if anybodys brought brought out and what the next steps are here. Yeah. Shimon prokupecz, who on the street. Theyre near that enormous police note that as big as the Police Presence and as many of these protests as weve all covered, one thing that we have not seen here yet that we often see almost always see is a rash of injuries or violent clashes. We havent seen that yet with our eyes here. Thats not to say it hasnt happened and we wont learn of that shortly. But this has seen fairly organized so far. Lets get right to Miguel Marquez right now. But gayle you are just so people know its the right side of our screen where miguel is. Tell us what youre seeing miguel yeah. So were on 114th street just near Amsterdam Avenue. This bus that you were looking at here, this is the second bus filled with the recipes that is now leaving this area. Its heading toward Amsterdam Avenue. When it gets down there, the last bus that tried to get out, you can see all the people under that are arrested still shouting, still yelling. Many of them wearing cafe is theres a large number of people who are trying to block the buses on Amsterdam Avenue as they get down there . A police moved down there are a large contingent of Police Officers down there to control that crowd so that buses can get out. We have seen dozens of people arrested. The gates just here where im sitting next to if you go up that gate and took a rights, youd be basically at Hamilton Hall. So it sounds like if there werent many people in there that most the people that weve already seen commodities, gates probably came from Hamilton Hall. What im curious about are the encampment. If you went up this gate and went left, youd end up near butler library, which is here. And the encampment, which isnt a center lawn

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