documentaries on al-jazeera. every generation has a higher purpose. this is al jazeera. hello i'm daryn jordan this is the al-jazeera news hour live from doha coming up in the next 60 minutes. testers are back on the streets across the united states venting their anger the police brutality in the killing of an unarmed black man. fired for using excessive force as police chief takes action against our own officers. to nasa astronauts safely make it to the international space station on

the 1st trip in u.s. soil in nearly a decade. i'm in new zealand we will tell you why coronavirus may change the way our cities are designed. there's an uneasy peace across the united states as protesters continue to make their feelings known about the death in police custody of an unarmed black man but so far there's been no repeat of the violent looting and destruction of property that's occurred over the past several days where hundreds gathered again in minnesota where this all started to denounce the death of george floyd he was killed by a white police officer who knelt on his neck for most 9 minutes last monday the national guard has now been mobilized in several states to help contain the violence nightly curfews have been imposed and there's already a heavy police presence on the streets of many major cities to washington d.c. hundreds of gathered outside. the white house president from has come under fire

for his continued critical comments about the protests in atlanta 2 police officers have been fired for using excessive force on protesters on saturday a group of riot police swarmed a car rest of the couple inside they didn't appear to be resisting but despite this they were tasered dragged to the ground and handcuffed the city's police chief said members of her force can't be allowed to act with impunity i think is law enforcement if we are ever going to get out of this space that we are in today we have to recognize that our behaviors cannot consistently be pardoned because we are law enforcement. these these are good guys i know them as individuals i've worked with one for over 20 years. but they made that level of mistake that cannot be rolled back so 1st up it's john hendren he's live for us in minneapolis where this all began john somebody sold those extra 1000 national guard troops being brought

into into the city last night that's not what's been happening on the streets today when you up. there and those that national guard troops are free enough the police to do things like this you see that line of officers over there they are right now firing the 1st round of tear gas they've struck near our spot and they're firing these rubber bullets they're really pellets aimed to be non-lethal devices to drive protesters away and you can see there's a small line of protesters here but a very small one at this spot and that is because they've isolated the larger group on the other side of a bridge this is what happens here now for the past 2 days after curfew the police wait about an hour and then the movie and what happened here was the protesters went on to the highway just about a block or so away and then police came in from both sides armed heavily in swat gear drove them off with tear gas in those pellets and now they've isolated them on

2 sides of the highway we saw the national guard troops come in apparently as some kind of reinforcement but the protesters really own the night for 3 or 4 nights and then last night on saturday night we saw that all change the police came in very aggressively in about 15 minutes they moved a mass of thousands of protesters and they fired pretty indiscriminately it seemed to me several reporters were hit. and that is what they intend to do they want to keep these demonstrators off the streets and they want to stop the damage to property daryn yeah and as you say john minneapolis now under a state of curfew but clearly though some people not to be hearing that stay off the streets. that's right when you're seen part of it here we are all breathing in a little tear gas or excuse me. there are hundreds of protesters on the other side possibly even as many as

a 1000 on the other side there are thousands of protesters throughout minneapolis some of them peacefully demonstrating that's generally going on at this site were george floyd died earlier today there was a peaceful scene where people were giving out free food there were flowers laid families were there people with dogs and that tends to change over the course of the night after 8 o'clock what you get is the more hardcore protesters and that is when you've seen buildings lit on fire and looting and that sort of thing and of course that is what the police are particularly worried about. mostly those businesses that have been targeted have been large corporate businesses multinational businesses in the protesters say that's on purpose they want to send a message but they don't want to hurt the small business people but some of the small business people have been hit we spoke to one and this is what she had to say . when i saw him 2 nights ago it was just it was a trip it was like

a trauma that was just like checked again for me you know and i had put that away in my life long long time ago and right away i told my mom this is a war zone this feels just like a war zone right now me and my sisters and my brothers and my mom have been in our business for the past 4 nights asking people this is black owned business please don't destroy this is a minority business please don't do this to us. been allegations that. takes us from outside of minneapolis coming into stone. what are you seeing and hearing that . we heard initially from the governor that most of the people who had been arrested were from out of town well in fact the police released data over the past 24 hours and that shows that only 20 percent of those. who are arrested are from outside the state of minnesota so really it's small numbers are they professional protesters or outside agitators it's hard to tell we've seen people who come in from out of town simply because they were interested in supporting this

movement so i i think probably that diminishes the argument that it is largely outside agitators who are operating here the people we've been talking to here are from this neighborhood by and large so i don't think that's i don't think that's a fair criticism but we don't know who all of those protesters are and of course you see here spirits are getting high as the night wears on this could get worse john hendren there live for us on the streets of minneapolis where this all started john for the time being thank you for that well as we mentioned earlier 2 atlanta police officers have been fired for using excessive force on protesters on saturday a group of ron police swarmed a car on a rest of the company inside let's get more now from gallagher who joins us live from miami on these so just bring us up to date what's the latest regarding the rest of those 5 policemen in atlanta police brutality video from last night. well 2 of those officers have been fired within hours of the incident happening the

other 3 have been placed on desk duty we had a press conference earlier from the mayor of atlanta and the chief of police who both condemned the actions of those police officers and if you watch that video it's pretty horrific from the standpoint of the 2 people in the car there were 2 young students the police surrounded the cost smashed the windows slashed the tires and then tase the passengers inside one of the passengers as ultimately since how to see easier since on happened all charges of now being dropped but what are you seeing here is the authorities in atlanta taking pretty swift action the chief of police there saying that you know she'd work with one of these officers for the past 2 decades but these actions are totally unacceptable so now. you've got the kind of thing i think the protesters want to see they want to see their leaders take action against police officers when they show this kind of overreaction in these very difficult circumstances so that may quell some of the anger i think in

places like atlanta but of course there is still a great deal of anger over the death of george floyd but overall tonight sunday night here in florida and in georgia far more peaceful scenes than we've seen in previous night here as as you were saying you know some concern there but in terms of violence and unrest in the streets of miami that we saw yesterday tell us what's been happening there today where you are in miami. well the curfew has been in place for about 2 hours now some people ignored the curfew but they've been quickly dispersed in places like downtown miami where we saw people surrounding the police station setting fire to at least one police vehicle we had some trouble earlier in fort lauderdale which is about 50 kilometers north of my location at the moment but things are far calmer here than they were on saturday night and of course florida is no stranger to these kinds of cases especially the trayvon martin

case the unarmed black teenager who was gunned down by the self-appointed neighborhood watch captain george zimmerman 8 years ago zimmerman in a trial was found innocent by a jury but the pain of that case still resonates with the african-american community here and of course that case is what launched the black lives matter movement there was another black man here john corey who was stuck on the side of the road he was also shot and killed by a police officer and then of course in georgia ahmad are break back in february was basically corralled by 2 white men who believed he was a burglar they armed themselves and killed him and it was a great deal of inaction by the local authorities in georgia one district attorney passing the case on from one to another it wasn't until the video came out. showing mr a model being gunned down by these 2 men that any action was taken and that's an important point in this day and age it's when video is taken when that kind of evidence is

seen by the general public that these cases do move forward i think it's that sense that things have been swept under the rug for so long and we've all reported on these cases time and time again and see no action taken that may very well change with the death of george floyd that's certainly what the protesters here in florida and across the country hope to see in the future are to undergo there in miami andy thank you for that well police in los angeles have also been using rough tactics against protesters out on the streets this footage has emerged showing an l.a.p.d. cruiser as it confronts crowds of people marching on the street and then accelerates it in several people before speeding off let's get more now from rob reynolds who joins us live now from los angeles robs the california governor governor newsome has now declared a state of emergency also activated the national guard so talk us through what's been happening there today. that that video is very disturbing that is in pursing square that's really the heart of los angeles and certainly there's

going to be some investigation into that we haven't heard from police chief michelmore yet about whether there's an investigation into those officers who apparently ran over several people there in person square quite a quite a quite a shocking scene the shift the protests largely shifted from downtown los angeles today to the seaside cities of long beach and of santa monica in santa monica which is kind of upscale beach community popular with vacationers people in groups of several 100 marched on the oceanside main avenue blocking traffic maintaining a very peaceful posture as they promoted themes like black lives matter held up signs saying you know don't shoot and i i can't breathe obviously they were

protesting the death of george floyd in police custody and police brutality in general these protesters remained largely peaceful throughout the day although right at the moment since they have declined to disperse it appears that santa monica police are making mass arrests earlier today we saw scenes of santa monica police firing plastic projectiles and smoke bombs into the ranks of the protesters again they were not fighting the police they just simply refused to move another group of people who seemed to have really no interest in peaceful protest or political issues or racial issues in general. descended upon santa monica and broke into sever. stores taking shoes jewelry and clothing by the by the armful jumping into cars and driving away so there was

a considerable amount of ransacking there also in long beach some protesters were largely peaceful in that city they marched back and forth in the largest port city in the united states but some people chose the time to take the opportunity to ransack a mall doing some heavy damage to a number of stores there the entire county of los angeles the biggest in the country 10000000 people is under curfew tonight and the national guard is assisting the los angeles police force and other police forces in the in the county in their efforts to try and keep the peace the mayor of los angeles eric our city said earlier today that he resisted the idea of calling for the national guard

but eventually decided that strong measures were needed to keep the peace there are to rob reynolds there in los angeles rob thank you for that or let's move back now to the east coast from the west coast and go to new york there's been criticism of the police response off to a car was seen running demonstrators on saturday the city's mayor bill de blasio says an investigation will take place. that is not the way things are supposed to be there will be a full investigation into discipline as necessary there will be but do not present only one side of the picture i looked at those videos i saw people converging on the police vehicle i saw people throwing things at the police vehicle that is not peaceful protests so let's not kid ourselves if you or anyone else was inside that police vehicle surrounded by people you would have had a really tough decision to make you can't stay there you can't get out of the vehicle you have to get yourself and the vehicle out of the situation safely for all al-jazeera has been out among the protesters in new york city. in one of the

most famous spots in all of america time square and protesters are out in force thousands of them out here making their voices heard you can see them it's young people it's old it's white brown you getting a whole cross-section of new york city here they are angry and they are calling for justice and they are taking their message out to all parts of new york city including here right by times square on saturday you saw protests in all the 5 major boroughs the new york city we're seeing protests on sunday as well it is mostly very very peaceful here but the crowds as you can see are absolutely huge some of the largest crowds we have seen in years for protests over in new york city. well once again there's been a series of protests in washington d.c.

in the overnight curfew would also be imposed from 11 pm let's talk to mike hanna who joins us live now from the mike let's talk 1st about president trump tweeting earlier about designating on t.v. for the fall left radical far right radical group as a terrorist organization but can he do this because there's no domestic statute that would allow for that. indeed yes he actually cannot do that there is no law providing for such an action to be taken the american civil liberties union was very quick to respond saying that even if the administration tried to do this despite the fact that there's no legal avenue to do so it would gray's great concerns about the 1st amendment about freedom of speech the a.c.l.u. also described this said the use of the word terrorism was an inherently political act and exposed the ability to abuse and misuse this particular turn so certainly there has been reaction to that incidentally a little bit later the attorney general william tempted to walk back the statement

a little bit he made no reference to this news conference to designating any movement as a terrorist organization saying instead that the joint terrorism task force would be investigating the reasons for the violence which would involve an investigating into a number of groups among them and but washington's mayor was also fairly quick to call on president trump to temper the tone of his tweets. had think that the president has a role to play nationally in calming. the the iraq that we see in cities across america and i think at that elite. he has to not incite violence and that's what we would expect and might the former vice president joe biden's been tweeting what more is he had to say about all this.

well joe biden the presidential candidate actually went to a protest site in delaware. and spoke to protesters there he also issued a tweet saying that it was necessary for people to listen to what the protests. does have to say but significantly he included in that tweet a picture of him apparently taking in me now whether this was intentional or not is beside the point the image of the vice president doing this evoked images are african american athletes of the past who took a need to protest against police brutality so certainly whether this was meant by the vice president it may have a wide ranging impact in terms of him showing i did be cation with those protesting against police brutality or i to my kind of there in washington d.c. mike thank you for that let's speak now to gerald malloy in hartsville south

carolina and gerald is a democratic state senator representing the 29th district jerrold we'll talk about joe biden a 2nd but the death of george floyd has galvanized all these protests across dozens of u.s. cities there's a palpable sense of anger frustration with law enforcement and the politicians but why do you think these incidents of white policeman killing unarmed black men a still happening. well i think that what's happening i think that the people that approaches test testing is generational issues that have been happening in that they believe as relates to people of color and they think that there is disparities in the treatment of many individuals and so ringback it has sparked outrage the folks that are really trying to protest really the initially there's a lot of innocent protest folks are doing it because they want to make certain that they can pay attention to the injustices that are being present within there is

a very big or small percentage of those individuals that are that are taking it and making it get out of hand and so this is a another day here in america that we really not necessarily proud of where we have a person of color that was my words murdered. here in minneapolis and in what is happening then is it just be king out for injustice at jealous where has the national debate failed and why on both sides communicating addressing these longstanding issues of institutionalized racism marginalization and does this indicate do you think a failure in political leadership. well i think this is a time where we really got to have leadership those individuals they're listening to that are out there doing. the protests and the greater responsibility comes here after in our court system so that we can end up getting some confidence in what and

what happens and so for example there's been numerous occasions where individuals that have. people of color and they have walked free and i think right now swift action is critical in this case and also the other individuals that were watching. the police officer that will wipe you mr of florida murder their actions were complicit you know what was going on and what happened they have confidence in justice system. that is a ok birds who are doing what needs to happen here and in america generalist talk some politics because you endorse joe biden in the primary and south carolina where you are seen as a turning point was it not for biden's campaign so if joe biden becomes president what difference is he going to make to the race debate and what would he do differently that he didn't do even under a black president president obama. well i think the one thing that will change is

the tone in rhetoric there is coming from the way house certain that i was helpful in this situation but i think greater than that i think those things that we talk about now to have that conversation to communicate and this point in time to have a calm voice to come out in the public and tell what is needed as matter say we have not had that voice to come out of the come out of the way house and instead a lot of times when a divorce comes out it turns political as opposed to addressing a what is going on in these various states where we have i'm 20 almost into a police state where curfews a near the national guard is being brought out that joe biden would do and he has a history of. curing race relations and from his many news in the senate and with president obama there's mounting speculation general as to whether or not joe biden will pick a woman as his running mate for 2020 but given the anger in the frustration we're

seeing on the street should biden pick a woman of color as his v.p. and if so who briefly. well i think there's going to be a great debate here in a. country that i think that if you pick a woman i think you have someone very strong i think become a harris the senator from california would be a great choice she has a great criminal justice background but also she's capable she ran the largest criminal justice department in our country other than the united states department and so i think that gives the president well that's present by and some great options and i think that senator kennedy has to be a fantastic choice jeralyn to get a final point from him before you go i mean we have this rather strange confluence of crises in america we have this worsening coded 19 pandemic and now we have these growing rice protests right across the country so what do you make a president trumps leadership during these troubled times because america is

a nation in trouble as you said isn't it yes i think it's been very divisive and i think that that 19 has not been helpful a lot of the individuals that looting and the rioting those folks have been we've been stove here a lot of people live in food deserts i was surprised to see that a lot of the stores that were looted they were getting basic supplies and so i think that what is happening is that we have an issue where individuals are just hungry for some supplies in the things that are necessarily needed unemployment is have people out of jobs and these are difficult times german are really good to get your thoughts thanks to talking to margins there i thank you. yes thank you now several top officials in the trumpet ministration have blamed anti for an anti fascist protest movement for the violence amid the demonstrations so let's take a closer look now at that movement is a collection of left wing groups which oppose nazis him white supremacists and

racism some anti for groups can trace their regions to the fight against european fascists in the 1920 s. and thirty's like other protest movements from that era teeth to this often dress in black where the movement was dormant for years is but a scene a revival since trumps election most new members young voters well president trump has announced that the united states of america will be designating on t.v. as a terrorist organization he says of the democrat run cities and states should look at the total shutdown of radical left on a case in minneapolis last night the national guard a great job and should be used in other states but it's too late and sometime in any of the national security adviser robert o'brien echoed the u.s. president's stance against unsafe we stand with the protesters it's the violent and tea for the radical militants that are coming out under cover of night traveling across state lines using military style tactics to burn down our cities and they're

especially targeting the most vulnerable parts of our cities george that the minority sections african-american sections and hispanic areas and burning down businesses of people who are trying to get a leg up and and the presence outraged by that and we all are and and that has to stop and we're calling on the f.b.i. to investigate and to fund and get to the bottom of these violent rioters. well this isn't the 1st time that president trump has threatened to designate and teeth a terror organization last august trump said the city of portland was being watched very closely after confrontations between far right groups and fascist counter-protest has spiraled into violence all right so let's bring in mark bray from new brunswick new jersey he's the author of the book on teeth the anti fascist handbook great good to have you on the program to since a president trump says look he's not going to designate on teeth as a terrorist organization why does he see on t.v. as a threat and does it really pose

a risk to civil society and the political establishment well frankly i'm not convinced that he even believes what he says him so to me it's primarily a way of distracting from the very legitimate grievances at the heart of the protest in response to the police murder of george floyd a way to separate the sympathy that people had for the outpouring of rage against russian racism in this country and try to blame it on a kind of a shadowy outsider organization which is doesn't even really exist as a coherent organization as a whole it's a network of different kinds of radical groups organizing against the far right and really you know implicitly implies that you know a kind of racism that can't believe that black people and their allies can organize on a growth scale in a deep and meaningful way really the issue that needs to focus of course is why was george killed what can we do to prevent this from happening and not make

a conspiracy theories about. the groups that have participated but are not making this happen mark look here i mean you've written extensively about 10 teeth so briefly explain to our viewers what is that doctrine what do they stand for and why they're seen as on a case that extremist by many within the political elite. well. it is short for anti-fascist as you said in the lead in anti-fascism dates back a century but in recent years americans have come to know and in response to demonstrations against the far right provocateurs like mel you know the list defending against wait to premises in charlottesville when heather higher was murdered by a white supremacist and her groups exist across the country are composed of different kinds of radical anti-capitalist who don't trust in the state or the police to stop the far right some of them are in our case some are the communists some of them are socialists and i'm sure that some of these folks have showed up to these protests but there simply aren't that many people in the united states who

are part of these groups these groups tend to be small and so the notion that there are these legions of people that are part of these antico groups carrying out these protests causing property destruction really distracts from the fact that only there are a lot of black youth youth of color who are without jobs who are frustrated about not having basic necessities who are angry about the continual policing of black people who see property destruction as a kind of a last resort ok when the system has really responded over the course of the years when people keep getting killed but mark i mean thanks to the 1st amendment the u.s. has traditionally avoided designating domestic groups on the right all the left as terrorists because under the 1st amendment it is your constitutional right is it not to free speech. he is and really as you mention this isn't the 1st time trump or other republican politicians have talked about labeling on t.v.

but as a terrorist organization quote unquote it hasn't come to much but i think that the more troubling undercurrent is that it presents a way for law enforcement to target protesters and radicals of any straight as affiliated with something that is hard to define that is nebulous and not out do you and so to me it's pretty transparent to try and take what is at its core a kind of police abolitionist anti-racist black lead rebellion against white supremacist bullies and try to turn it into some sort of conspiracy theory by a shadowy groups that somehow works against the interest resisting police brutality to get your thoughts thank you for talking to al-jazeera think you are let's go back to washington d.c. and bring in mike hanna again mike on a sound that has been some troubles that just bring us up to date with what's been happening. yes indeed 20 minutes ago there were some scuffles in the streets between protesters and police somebody set

object to light so flame started going into the sky firecrackers were set off it is appears as well so certainly the relative calm of the day dissipated slightly one must remember that the mayor has ordered a curfew to be put in place that starts in some 30 minutes the mayor herself saying though that those who've been responsible for the vandalism that has been seen and blitz the protests are not likely to observe any curfew so certainly that is on the minds of law enforcement officials in the course of tonight they were acts of vandalism in the course of last night as well and the washington police were hoping to avoid this and were given some encouragement by the fact that the protests were peaceful for much of the day there were some standoffs during the day at one stage demonstrators pressed against the barricades that had been established outside the white house large distance from the white house but generally the protests were

peaceful however in the last half hour that in the least one part of the city has changed where there have been isolated clashes between police and protesters flames now flickering in the night flash bang this being thrown by the police but also it appears as well that some of the protesters or elements among the protesters are throwing firecrackers back at the police so what has been a genuinely calm day and now not so different are i to my kind of the in washington d.c. giving us an update mike thank you for that. it's time for short break your knowledge is there when we come back. as mexico prepares to start reopening on monday despite infections still rising rejoined paramedics on the front lines of the pandemic stay with us.