All of the chaos coming just hours after the minneapolis officer who put his knee on the neck of george floyd was arrested and charged with murder and manslaughter. Were live across the country as america begins to fracture. Mixed messages. President trump trying to calm nerves nationwide saying he spoke to the floyd family. I understand the hurt, i understand the pain. That after a rose garden event where he didnt say a word about america in chaos and which controversy raging over his tweet saying when the looting starts, the shooting starts. What hes now saying about that tweet. Big news for the big apple. New york citys mayor making a major announcement. The epicenter of the coronavirus will begin the process of getting back to normal in less than two weeks. What life will look like now in the nations biggest city. Those stories, plus take two. Nasa and spacex hoping the weather cooperates for a historic manned launch at Kennedy Space center after the previous attempt was scrubbed a few days ago. Its history in the making and if the weather cooperates, its hours away. Today, saturday, may 30th, 2020. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with peter alexander, Kristen Welker and dylan dreyer. Welcome to today and thank you so much for joining us on this saturday morning. It is a difficult start to the weekend. Of course, were waking up after those protests overnight in cities all across the country. Demonstrators out in the wake of the death of george floyd and, of course, peter, you were at the white house as some of the tensions were escalating here in d. C. Yeah. That violence, that chaos reverberating across the country. I was in the white house, the secret service locking down the building, the campus for more than 90 minutes. We were inside. But outside you could hear the echoes of the protesters clashing with police and secret service officers. Well have more on that this morning as well. We certainly will. Thats the top story. The growing unrest in dozens of cities around the country as protesters took to the streets enraged by the death of george floyd in minneapolis. It happened in new york, atlanta, los angeles, as well as many smaller ones like louisville, austin and portland. Our correspondents have been up all night covering the story. Lets begin with blayne alexander in atlanta on the protests there. Whats the latest there, blayne . Reporter peter good morning to you. Now that the sun is up, you can see the full extent of the damage in downtown atlanta. This is the scene. You can see the front completely smashed out. Police officers are Still Standing guard. We were here and watched a number of protesters descend upon this area, throw things through the windows and challenge the police line standing inside trying to get in. When they couldnt get past the police line, they threw lit fireworks inside. All of this is taking place again as police tried to clear the streets. Overnight, across the country, the calls for justice are growing more intense. In atlanta, where protesters filled the streets, smoke billowed into the sky as a police car went up in flames. Nearby, crowds set their sights on the cnn center, vandalizing, then breaking in. All this despite an impassioned plea from atlantas mayor to stop the violence. Go home. Youre not honoring a legacy of Martin Luther king, jr. And the Civil Rights Movement. If you want change in america, go and register to vote. As the sunsets, the destruction spreads. This is the College Football hall of fame. Its a Popular Museum in the heart of downtown atlanta. Over here behind me, you can see centennial olympic park. The home of the 96 olympics. In the middle of it all, a police vehicle. Nearby, two cars were ablaze for more than an hour as officers fired tear gas working to clear the area. All just hours after what started as a peaceful protest over the death of george floyd. His final moments captured on video, an officers knee on his neck. When you saw the video, what did you think . That could be my father, that could be my brother that, could be me. It just happened too many times. More tense clashes around the country, including this standoff at the Barclays Center in brooklyn, where a police car burned and officers pepper sprayed the crowd. Demonstrations turned deadly when someone fired shots into a crowd killing a 19yearold man. Police were not involved. In louisville, reeling over the death of 26yearold Brianna Taylor killed by Police Officers as they served a narcotics warrant. Directly at us. Nbc affiliate reporter came under fire from police. San Jose California protesters flooding a freeway, smashing windows with drivers still inside before clashing with police. And cincinnati, where protesters stormed the areas justice center. Calls for justice echoing through city after city while, amid the escalating tensions, many are hoping the message does not get lost. It keeps happening. No matter whats done, no matter how many protest, it keeps happening. Its getting seen more. Reporter guys, overnight, as we were standing out here for hours, we did see a number of people get arrested. At least two arrests. We know of several more that happened overnight. I need to put this into context. The city of atlanta, especially the mayor and police chief, hesitant to use any sort of confrontational force. Atlanta is the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, the home of the peaceful protest. Dr. Martin luther king, jr. Was born here. You could hear the passion in the mayors voice when she spoke last night. Take a look. When i heard there were rumors about violent protests in atlanta, i did what a mother would do. I called my son and i said where are you . I said, i cannot protect you and black boys shouldnt be out today. Reporter and as you heard the mayor and some of the people with her, this is our home and our city. If we lose atlanta, what else do we have left . Guys, back to you. So powerful to hear the mayor speaking as a mayor, as a mother, emotions running so high all across the country. Blayne alexander in atlanta. Thanks so much. It was another night of unrest and anger in minneapolis as well. Even after the arrest of the Police Officer who had his knee on George Floyds neck. Protesters ignoring a citywide curfew that was supposed to start at 8 00 last night. Gabe gutierrez remains in minneapolis for us again this morning. Gabe, good morning. Reporter peter, good morning. Parts of the city saw anarchy overnight. Right now, you can see several buildings on this block are on fire. For much of the night there was no Police Presence in parts of the city. Right now. The National Guard as you can see has arrived on the scene. The curfew imposed overnight was flatly ignored by many of the protesters and now this city is a tinderbox of rage. Overnight, minneapolis burned again. A fourth night of protests after the death of george floyd. Multiple buildings went up in flames and often there was no police in sight. At times, rioters ruled the streets. Its clear the violence is spreading. Right now multiple buildings on this block are on fire. The National Guard just arrived on the scene. This seems like a dramatic escalation from what we saw the night before. As a curfew took effect for the first time, defiance. Youre in violation of Unlawful Assembly. Protesters ignoring orders to disperse and marching through downtown. This is not about georges death. This is not about inequities that were real. This is about chaos. The chaos erupted as fired officer Derek Chauvin was booked on charges of third degree murder and manslaughter accused of killing floyd. Overnight, we also learned that his wife has filed for divorce. Her Attorney Says she is devastated by mr. Floyds death and her utmost sympathy lies with his family. State documents show his knee was on his neck for more than eight minutes. His attorney declined to comment. We can only charge a case when we have sufficient admissible evidence to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt. As of right now we have that. Hours after the announcement protesters gathered here. For them, the charges arent enough. We want firstdegree murder. Clifford adams says the tensions are not so easily diffused. I do not condone the violence or the looting. But what do you expect when people get angry and they havent been heard. The county Attorney Says an investigation is underway and he anticipates charges against the three other officers. But in this wounded city, theres a long troubled history of abuse allegations. Even minneapolis Current Police chief and four other officers, once sued their own department. The officers were paid a settlement two years later. That powder keg now exploding night after night. Do something about it. Clean up this police department. Reporter this morning, many buildings in this city are still burning. On this block emergency crews are now on the scene trying to douse the flames. There are many questions here about leadership in the city. Yesterday the governor had criticized local officials for not having enough of the state and the National Guard was supposed to be here last night. They were here for part of the night. But obviously it didnt stop the violence. Many residents here are now wondering whats next. Peter . Gabe, youve been on the ground for days now. We saw the arrest of Derek Chauvin just yesterday. Are protesters, demonstrators you speak to, are they satisfied by that or they want to see the other three officers arrested as well . Reporter well, peter, certainly they do want to see more arrests in this case. You heard the county attorney say charges are anticipated. However, they are not just upset with the fact that the three other officers havent been charged. They also are not satisfied with the thirddegree murder charge against this officer. As you can see, many of them are still upset. Peter, we should point out that at the beginning of the night, there were many peaceful protesters. Certainly, as the night wore on, they were overshadowed by all this devastation. Peter . Gabe gutierrez on the ground for us again in minneapolis as we watch the smoke leaving the buildings. As we mentioned protests raged here in washington, d. C. As well forcing the white house into lockdown for a period of time. Those demonstrations coming less than a day after President Trump came under fire for a tweet where he wrote, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Nbcs Kelly Odonnell is at the white house this morning with more. Good morning to you. Good morning, kristen. Calm now but last night crowds challenged Law Enforcement into the night. The angry and unpredictable clashes came hours after President Trump said he phoned the family of george floyd to offer his and the nations sympathies. He called floyds loved ones terrific people. Protests outside the white house. Anguish sparked in minnesota over George Floyds death reached the president s doorstep friday night hours after he expressed sympathy expected from a president. I understand the hurt, i understand the pain. People have really been through a lot. The family of george is entitled to justice and the people of minnesota are entitled to live in safety. But President Trump earlier social media comments had also been predictably contentious amid a volatile situation and prompted a warning from twitter. He had referred to protesters as thugs and wrote, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. But the president p claimed no awareness of that expressions link to 1960s racial unrest. Then used by a miami police chief who wielded tough tactics in black communities. I dont know where it came from, i dont know where it originated. I wouldnt know a think like that. Still defending his word choice. Its very accurate in the sense that when you do have looting like you had last night, people often get shot and they die. Thats not good, we dont want that to happen. He spoke of floyds suffering. He was in tremendous pain, obviously and couldnt breathe. Former president barack obama weighed in urging americans to step up. It falls on all of us to Work Together to create a new normal in which the legacy of bigotry and unequal treatment no longer infects our institutions or our hearts. President trump said demonstrations are warranted but should remain safe. It should be a peaceful protest. I think aefrlier in memory of george floyd, i think it should be peaceful. Kelly, when we first heard from the president yesterday, it was from the rose garden when he made a major announcement about one of his favorite targets, the world health organization. That was a much higher profile event. There the president said nothing about the protests over george floyd. He did say the u. S. Will withdraw from the world health organization. During this pandemic. Upset the organization did not properly warn other nations about the threat of coronavirus he says and not making significant reforms. The u. S. Sends about 400 million a year to the organization and top democrats, including nancy pelosi, say they will take issue with this because that money was appropriated by congress. Theyre saying the president may not have the authority to withdraw from the w. H. O. And withdraw that funding as well. Kristen, peter. That is another contentious issue. Kelly odonnell at the white house. Thank you. The former Vice President and apparent president ial nominee said he spoke with George Floyds family as well friday after the arrest. He sat down with craig melvin on msnbc to talk about their conversation as well as the growing unrest around the country. Craig began by asking biden whether he thought justice had been served. Well, its not finished yet. Well see what happens. Look, im not going to make a fact that he was charged with murder and was charged with manslaughter as well as a minimum what should have been done. Nine minutes on that mans neck when his face is up against the curb and being crushed is totally, totally inappropriate under any circumstances. Its brutality. President trump indicated a short time ago that the administration, at least had spoken with George Floyds family. I know that youve talked to the family as well. It was a private conversation. I dont want to put you in a tough spot to divulge the contents of the conversation. Can you characterize at least what you said to them, what they said to you . What i said to them was that i had just a little bit of sense of different losses. What a black hole they felt like theyre in. They felt theyre being sucked into a void into their chest and they felt lost and i indicated to them that they talked to me about george. He seemed to be everybodys mentor in the family. His brothers, his cousins who were his peers, thought of him as a brother. The way everybody looked to him for leadership. How do you heal the racial divide, mr. Vice president , that has existed and persisted, arguably, since the founding of our republic. You constantly, constantly work at it. Heres the deal. The idea that we remain silent when we see these things happen. The idea that we dont understand and we should talk about it. Not just africanamericans but folks like me should talk about it. I talked today about a friend of mine who an African American friend who has a son and shes begging him not to wear a hoodie. Shes afraid hell be characterized as being bad. Theres so many things that are the burdens that exist for people who are minorities, particularly africanamericans. Its real. Its real. We have to speak to it. The president has to speak, we all have to speak to it and not kid about it. Not make up excuses. Its wrong. That was former Vice President joe biden speaking with craig melvin on ms. Nnser nbc. Well continue to have reaction and fallout throughout the morning. We want to turn to our big story this morning. The coronavirus pandemic and big news for the big apple, new york city, set to reopen in less than two weeks. Hundreds of thousands of workers expected to be back on the job by early june. Kathy park is in times square with that part of our coverage. Kathy, gorge to you. Reporter kristen, good morning to you. New york city needs to meet two benchmarks, that includes more hospital beds and contact tracers. Once that happens, up to 400,000 people could be heading back to work. Over the next week, the city will be working with businesses to make sure that theyre ready. This morning new york city is now just days away from reopening. Ending one of the longest lockdowns in the country. Were on track to open on june 8th. Bring about 400,000 employees back to work. That start date clearing the way for curbside retail, manufacturing, construction, wholesale operation to enter phase 1. Manhattans Garment District eager to get back to work. For the first few months people werent sure what to expect. Now they see a light at the end of the tunnel. Businesses expected to enforce social distancing, limit capacity and sanitize regularly. The mayor is saying that several resources will be rolled out to help with the transition. Were going to be providing face coverings for freeforall businesses that need them. Well start with 2 million face coverings. In san francisco, the first city to go into lockdown, a cautious approach to reopening tentatively set for june 15th. Were still asking people to stay home if at all possible. Cdc releasing new details on when and where it arrived. It arrived as early as late january, a month before Community Spread was detected. Today in connecticut, fox woods resort and casino is in parts of the d. C. Area people can now dine outside and get a haircut by appointment only. With the weather warming up in texas, reopening of w