Their son. We have a whole lot to get to tonight. We want to get out to berkeley, california now and cnns dan simon with the very latest. Dan . Dan simon, are you there . Reporter i havent heard anything in a minute. Are you guys there . Yeah, apparently dan simon is having an issue. Hes not hearing us. But again, were hearing there are protests. And as you can see, happening in berkeley, california. You can see the protesters there lining the streets courtesy of our affiliate ktvu. We want to get to cnns deb feyerick who is out among the protesters as well. Deb, where are you and what are you seeing . Reporter yeah. Can you hear me . Yes, i can. Reporter is this don . Yes, it is. Reporter im sorry, don. Its a little bit loud here. Hold on. Im going to whats going on, deb . Reporter not much. There are few protesters left. It was much larger earlier on. Now there are just a couple of dozen protesters that stayed around. But the crowd is running out. The police have it well under control. The protesters called it at a quarter after 9 00. This is sort of the hardcore group thats here. Deb, you have been out every night with those protesters. The numbers get big and then they get small. Is this usually the time they start to dwindle or are you finding it happening earlier now . Reporter its interesting. We have been out here, usually protesters go home around midnight. This was an earlier protest. It was very well organized. There did seem to be some central leaders. We heard the Trayvon Martin organization was here as well as another justice group. They decided effectively around 9 15 after they walked into a Shopping Mall across the street from the Barclays Center theyre going to regroup on wednesday they said and demonstrate outside city hall. But right now weve just got a hardcore group. Police were incredibly tempered in their response. We were in times square on thursday, and the police then were much, much more aggressive. It may have been because there was so many streets that were closed down the night before. But here out in brooklyn a much different tone. The police suffering a lot avenue bus from a lot of the protesters who were very angry, demanding justice, calling them racists, calling them pigs, calling them killers. And the police just stood and watched and stormed the perimeter, let them do what they needed to do. And then about 9 15 the majority went home. I wonder if the protesters have any reaction to whats happening inside the Barclays Center. Of course the royals are there and then you have lebron james and teammates as well. We had derrick rose earlier and lebron james got the idea from him wearing the i cant breathe tshirt. Any reaction to that, deb . Reporter it was really interesting because word got out to one of the organizers that in fact he was wearing that tshirt along with a number of players who were wearing it. And the crowd cheered. And it was a rather remarkable scene because it came at a moment when they had staged one of these dieins where they were laying down in the middle of the street right outside the Barclays Center and all of a sudden everybody sort of got up and cheered because they really appreciated the support that lebron james and other players were showing to them outside. I can say probably at the height of the protests, don, there were a couple hundred people. Maybe as many as 400 or 500 people who were out earlier today. They knew it was a Good Opportunity for them to be here and to make sure in their words that they spoke for michael brown, that they spoke for eric garner, and that they made sure that they had a good showing in brooklyn, don. Cnns deb feyerick out with the crowd. Thank you very much for that. Eric garners family is closely watching the protests tonight. And his children join me now exclusively. Sons eric jr. And emery and daughters erica and emeril. Thank you for joining us. Such a beautiful family. Thank you. You guys were talking about you specifically talked about, emery, you mentioned lebron james. Yeah. What do you think of the players wearing the tshirts . Its a lot of support. Yeah. For me and my family. Lebron james, my favorite player. So you know, its surprising. Yeah. What about you, eric . I went downtown with Russell Simmons earlier, and it was just beautiful out there. Its a lot of positive. Its no negativity. I hope they keep it like that. We dont need negative at this time. Yeah. Im going to ask you about that. And its nice to see you guys smile. Right . Because its such a heavy story, right . And its not to downplay what happened to your father, obviously, and whats going on. But its good to see you smile, quite honestly, because its been a tough time. Its been really hard. Im really im proud of the protesters, especially the peaceful ones. And wearing those tshirts, you know, they get fined for that. So theyre taking the fine. Like you know, were going to take the fine and you know, were supporting the cause. Its like really awesome. And then its just amazing. Lets talk more about what derrick rose said. Tonight derrick rose said that two years ago he may not have worn a tshirt but he said may not have worn that i cant breathe tshirt but now that he has children that his outlook is different. You have a child now. Right . You mentioned we both have children. You both have children. I have a 3yearold. And i have a 5yearold. And now you can anyone with a child can relate. Yes. Because you know, it can happen to anybody. I mean, this was a very tragic thing. And i felt like everybody who watched that video, you know, felt what my family feels, and it feels so good. Thats whats keeping us encouraged. Thats whats keeping us strong as a family. And we just thank the supporters because you know, without them, i mean, without amsy orta just to say, like, without him the story wouldnt be as wide as it is. He was brave enough to take out his phone. So my thanks goes ut to him. Ive just seen him a couple of days ago and we had a very long talk. And every time i see him ive just got to thank him. Hes just like my brother. One of my brothers. And what do you say, though because i dont want to give shore shift to this. What do you say to the protesters what are being violent . Come on over to the other side. I commit mid life to this. I just made a commitment. I joined the youth move. National action network. Item chairperson for the march thats coming up on washington. So i just want to encourage the youth to come reach out, tell us what we can do to make it easier for you. Were at the forefront. Like youre doing it for us but we want to know what you want to bring to protesting as the youth. I know when last we spoke im going to get to you. You guys can speak if you want. You can jump in here. Are they always that quiet . No, theyre not. Theyre on tv looking at themselves. Hes like, is this water . Whats going on here . Yeah, you can have a drink. Dont feel nervous. You got him, right . Big sisters here. So you mentioned last time we talked, you dont think body cameras would have helped. But then if there wasnt a camera there, because not everybody like you said, he he was brave to poult his phone. But if theres a camera there thats rolling all the time, dont you think thats an opportunity to bring out injustice or keep injustice from happening . No. Because its just like i read in reports, it can be as in cops can only turn it on and off at certain times. They have free will to turn it off and on . I dont know. Do they . I read somewhere that its a conflict with that. But do you think without this camera there would be such an agreement that this was a race or a class injustice, whatever it is . You dont think it would be from multiple ethnicities . It was an injustice, period. Because theres black, white, chinese. I have a store in front of my house, on the side of my building, and theyre like, you know, he cant be out there to protest but we support you. We support you. Theyre like, do you see the protests . Everybody texting me like did you see paris . They were laying down in front of the eiffel tower. Or did you see california . They were doing this, they were doing that. Its just its an everybody thing. For celebrities to be like lets support the Garner Family because that was wrong, you know, it was wrong. Theres nothing they can do to make it right. But we can fight for justice so that it wont happen another time. And the cat has emery and erics tongue. It has been you said it wasnt a racial issue, and i think i saw you on television. Do you guys feel that because theres been people saying how can the family say this . Its not its just because i was so nervous. Its not that its not about race. The racial issues been going on for years. For years. But with the Police Department you have a professionalism. You know, we cant control as people, we cant control everybodys thoughts on racism or whos racist. It all comes down to community relations. And say whos racism or whatever. But i feel the city, the government, or you know, whoever with these cops can control how they treat people of color, people of minority communities. Do they let you speak . Are you guys okay . Yeah. Its been up and down for you, right . What do you all want to say . Yeah, what do you want to say to the people . I want to say thanks for everybody who support us. And like without the support they probably would sugarcoat it or whatever. So i thank everybody for my dad. And your name is eric garner. Yeah. Thats going to follow you forever. People will remember your name forever. Yeah. Whats that like having that name now . Ive got to carry a legacy. And ive got to be strong for my family. Yep. And this right here is his legacy. Weve got to carry on. Stay strong. Youre a beautiful family. Thank you. Thank you, eric. Thank you, emery. Thank you, emerald. And thank you, erica. You told me they were all es. I couldnt remember last time. Thank you. Its good to see you smile again. Thank you very much. When we come back, tavis smiley is here. He tells me what dr. Martin luther king jr. Would do about all of this. And im going to talk to the parents of akai gurl yeerks an unarmed black man killed by a Police Officer just last month. I have a cold with terrible chest congestion. Better take something. Theraflu severe cold doesnt treat chest congestion. Really . New alkaseltzer plus day powder rushes relief to your worst cold symptoms plus chest congestion. Oh, what a relief it is. Here we go ensure active heart health. I maximize good stuff, like my potassium and phytosterols which may help lower cholesterol. New ensure active heart Health Supports your heart and body so you stay active and strong. Ensure, take life in. In the country. We operate just like a city, and that takes a lot of energy. We use natural gas throughout the airport for heating the entire terminal, generating electricity onsite, and fueling hundreds of vehicles. Were very focused on reducing our environmental impact. And natural gas is a big part of that commitment. I lost my sight in afghanistan, but it doesnt hold me back. I go through periods where its hard to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. Non24 is a circadian rhythm disorder that affects up to 70 of people who are totally blind. Talk to your doctor about your symptoms and learn more by calling 8448442424. Or visit my24info. Com. Get to tmobile and knock out your gift list. With zero down and zero interest on the Samsung Galaxy note 4, the note 10. 1, the gear s and more. The big guys job just got easier. [but the more you learn abouty insurancyour coverage,bout it. The more gaps you might find. Like how you thought you were covered for this. [boy] check it out,mom [prof. Burke]when youre really only covered for this. Or how you figured you were covered for this. When youre actually paying for this. You might be surprised at whats hiding in your coverage. Talk to farmers and get smarter about your insurance. We are farmers bumpadum, bumbumbumbum [announcer] call 1800farmers and see how much you could save. Breaking news. Weve been showing you the protests all over the country. This is berkeley, california youre looking at now. And you can see we dont have control of these pictures. Traffic is 3w5kd up because of protesters on the street. But our dan simon is there now and he joins us with the very latest. What are you seeing, dan . Reporter after two days of violence you have the definition of a peaceful protest. Thousands of people marching through the streets of berkeley. A lot of berkeley students. If there is going to be violence tonight, it will come from a very small fringe element. We do see some people dressed with masks, things of that nature. Those are the people you look out for who may cause trouble. But so far this crowd is behaving themselves, and we hope it stays that way, don. Lets hope it stays that way because all of them start initially peacefully, and then somehow some of them evolve into or devolve, i should say, type a rowdy crowd. But so far youre not seeing any of that. How many people are we looking at there, dan . Reporter i would say between 3,000 and 4,000. So if the largest crowd weve seen. And you have to remember, its just after 7 00 pacific time. So its still early. And over the weekend when the violence broke out it was definitely in the later hours. Theres a chance it can happen tonight. A good chance if you look at what we saw the last couple days. But we certainly hope this does not occur. Dan simon reporting on the protests in berkeley, california for us this evening. Thank you, dan. Tavis smiley has been watching the protests intensify all across this country over Police Shootings of africanamerican men. He is the host of course of tavis smiley on pbs and the author of death of a king the real story of dr. Martin luther king jr. s final year. I watch you all the time, tavis. Ive been wanting to get your perspective on this. President obama gave an interview to b. E. T. Today. Heres what he had to say about the protests. Then Attention Spans move on, right . Theres the next thing. Theres some International Crisis or theres something that happens here. And change doesnt really occur. And the value of peaceful protests, activism, organizing, it reminds the society this is not yet done. Whats your reaction, tavis . The protests were seeing across the country to eric garner and the Darren Wilson decision. What the president just said. First of all, i appreciate and agree with much of what the president had to say. There were two or three things that sort of galled me today, quite frankly. Number one, when the president goes on to suggest in that conversation that change takes time, that we have to be patient. Dr. King once said that change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability. You have to be deliberate about these things. And so for the president to suggest to black folk that this is going to take time, we have to be patient, that things dont happen overnight, i get the point he was trying to make. And yet the truth is if he had been patient in 2008 he wouldnt be the president tonight. So that message of being patient as opposed to doing exactly what folk are doing right now i think rings hollow, number one. Number two, the president goes on b. E. T. To once again to some extent lecture black folk but goes on colbert to do the jokey joke thing. And i quite frankly dont fancy that. In the oval office the president has a bust of dr. King. Im glad its there. But at the same time dr. King once wrote a book called why we cant wait. And i would recommend to the president and all the rest of us that we read that book about what king was saying 50 years ago about why we cant wait. And in time, as you know, there are two dimensions to time. Theres chronos, the passage of time. And then theres chiros, an appropriate right critical moment in time. This is a chiros moment for this president and for all of us quite frankly and we cant mission, this don. Weve got to step tavis, i want to ask you this because the children of eric garner were on tonight and they were smiling. Are you saying the president cant be multidimensional . Because you mentioned Stephen Colbert and then you mentioned going on b. E. T. . He cant be multidimensional dealing with this situation . No, what im saying is id like to know when this b. E. T. Interview was scheduled. Most folk were unaware of it. It sort of came out of nowhere. It wasnt mentioned in the listings. I dont know what the motivation was for doing that. What im suggesting is that the president , you know, cant have one message for us, to be calm, to be patient, that things happen over time, and then what would you have him do, tavis . Because you tweeted, you said blatant disrespect for black life on obamas watch. What will it take for him to step into this moment hashtag eric garner . What would you have the president do . When the president was running for president , when senator obama was running for president , and race became a critical issue in whether or not he was actually going to get the nomination, much less get to the white house, he took the time to get the most important major Public Policy address of his entire campaign at the National Constitution center in philadelphia. And now what youre telling me is the best we can do is an interview here or there . I just dont buy it, don. Hes also doing things, hes starting a commission, hes been meeting with leaders from all over the country. So okay. I take you at what you just said. But i think the president s between a rock and a hard place when it comes to this particular issue. Let me be clear. This happened, that is to say, racism being the most intractable issue in this country, was the case before he ever became president. I understand that theres value in the symbolism of his being president. Im just saying, as ive said so many times, that great president s arent born, theyre made. They have to be pushed into their greatness. And it may very well be back to that chiros moment that this is the reason in part why at this critical juncture this man happens to be the president of the united states. Im just saying step into your moment and provide the kind of moral leadership, not a oneoff here or there on b. E. T. Or colbert but step into your moment and provide the kind of conversation, the kind of leadership, the kind of focus on a social justice agenda that would make sure as dr. King said 50 years ago that we arent still dealing with what he called the triple threat of racism, poverty, and militarism. Tavis, you and i know each other, lets be honest. It sounds like youre being extremely hard on the president because oh, come on, don. Dont start that nonsense again, don. No, no. This is not e