al-jazeera. the 'd. more mass demonstrations against racism in the u.s. as donald trump says he's done more for the black community than any other president. i'm about to sin and this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up britain's join the battle thousands turn out in central london in solidarity with us demonstrators. and about turn from a top epidemiologist who admits sweden should have done more to curb coronavirus.

and china warns the u.k. to back off as britain talks of offering citizenship to millions of hong kong residents. the u.s. president is again fanning the flames of police brutality protests as the last of night long curfews ends in the u.s. donald trump says it is the ministration has done more for the black community than any other president in a series of tweets is attacked media networks that have been critical of his response to 8 days and nights of demonstrations following the death of george floyd while in police custody and one of his tweets he simply says law and order. now there was an overnight curfew in many big cities as people defied restrictions to continue their protest against racism and police brutality after the death of

george floyd in minnesota where floyd died in police custody just over a week ago the mother of his daughter has held an emotional news conference roxie washington says he was a good man and father john hendren reports from minneapolis. a week after george floyd death little spark that left american cities in flames roxie washington is demanding justice. on the business of apple for. he with. well we're ahead you way he will never walk down. echoing the crowd of protesters at the sight of george floyd's death floyds family wants all 4 officers involved in his detention to be charged with a crime and not pay. any of your right because the one justice.

justice for him because he was the norm out of well in about it thanks sure that this is the proof that he would look good. at the state capitol in st paul were thousands of protesters meant to keep the pressure on their government . minnesota's governor says he wants justice and he's launched a discrimination probe into the minneapolis police department to get the investigation will review in p.d.f. policies procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department is utilized to semi practices towards people of color the governor says he wants the protesters to know there are heard what we keep hearing from protesters on the street is that they don't trust the police they want the police to stop discriminating against african-americans and even black professionals tell us what happened to george floyd here could have happened to any one of them and

need to change the system a different tune in the more recent early shift say they experienced discrimination on a daily basis but they worry most about their children encountering police i worry a lot. they're young adults. they're trying to stay in positive and be productive in their everyday life. be no law abiding citizens but unfortunately we. can't change your complection or you're in the city. you don't always get an opportunity it's a theme heard over and over at this site known as the george floyd memorial they come not just for george clooney but for those who might come next. john hendren al jazeera minneapolis ok let's go straight to our white house correspondent and the correspondence kimberly hall just bring us up to date with what the situation is in

washington the moment. yeah well the latest thing is the us president has spoken out for the 1st time in a conservative radio television or rather conservative radio program reacting to the violence that continues to iraq now he was asked directly by the show's host about the predominant mistrust that exists in communities of color when it comes to the police the u.s. president didn't seem to have a solution for that essentially calling it a long term problem he also talked about how he believes he has very high poll numbers when it comes to the african-american community i can tell you that is not the case in terms of the polls that we have seen over the last few years the u.s. president blaming the media once again for the fact that those poll numbers are low essentially not mentioning for example historically low unemployment when it comes to communities of color that is something the u.s.

president says has been tapped down he also was reacting and that was asked about the reports that on friday evening when the white house was in many ways not overrun but certainly threatened significantly with the protesters very close to the gates of the white house it was reported that the u.s. president went into an underground bunker temporarily the u.s. president sort of dismissed that saying guess it was just for a short period of time and he was really just inspecting the facilities now the u.s. president also commented about that photo opportunity that caused so much controversy when he cleared the lafayette park with riot. gear police there was tear gas the protesters were pushed back for what essentially turned out to be a photo opportunity of the president standing in front of st john's episcopal church with a bible the u.s. president got a lot of criticism from some very prominent religious leaders he pushed back on that saying the religious leaders loved it the bible holding that it was

a great symbol so. we're now watching to see what happens next the u.s. president has appeared on this radio show we know that there will be a press briefing with this press secretary kaley mcenaney that will be coming up at 800 g.m.t. we'll find out what more the u.s. president will say with regard to the law and order he says he intends to project across the united states if this unrest continues and so white house correspondent kimberly halted in d.c. one committee thanks very much indeed well to his analysis the legal director at the american civil liberties union of minnesota she's joining us live by xoom thank you very much indeed for being on all of his hero what action is the a.c.l.u. taking. going to it's great to be here a fellow we overnight filed in lawsuit against the city of minneapolis and the many minnesota state patrol because as our lawsuit says the press are under

attack in minnesota. we have no seen numerous well documented instances members of the press being deliberately abused by law enforcement and that cannot go on answered you have serious 1st amendment concerns about what is happening in our city how would you interpret the action that's taking place against journalists is it actions of independent offices or is there a wider issue to be dealt with. i don't know our lawsuit alleges that leadership. the police agencies have failed to. take steps to ensure that members of the media are protected and there has been a pattern of this kind of abuse for many years our lawsuit. mentions incidents

dating back to 2002 where journalists have been arrested and maced in 2008 minneapolis police were sued for taking part in a resting the journalist in goodman and one of her crews during the aren t. convention so this is something that goes deep into the department's conduct and i think when you have as here protests against the very police department. there is an added incentive for them to try and suppress speak. to reason out some thank you very much indeed we're going to have to leave it there because i understand mark as the foreign secretary of the united states is speaking that's listen to what he's going to say america all while many of their fellow guardsmen are deployed abroad defending against america's real adversaries most importantly i

want to assure all of you and all americans that the department the fence the armed services our uniform leaders our civilian leaders and i take seriously our oath to support and defend the constitution of the united states and to safeguard those very rights contained in that that document we cherish so dearly this is a tough time for our great country these days but we will get through it my hope is that instead of the violence in the streets we will see peaceful demonstrations that honor george floyd that press breakout ability for his murder. that move us to reflect about racism in america and that serve as a call to action for us to come together and to address this problem once and for all this is the america your military represents this is the america we aspire to be and this is the america that we're committed to defending with our

lives thank you we're going to burn. thank you mr secretary. thank you back to your comments about monday evening and when you left the white house. with the president and others i think i heard you correctly you said you didn't know that you were going to be going to the scent just church but you didn't know what would happen when you got there and you've been criticized by many course actually participating in the presidential photo op so my question is do you regret having participated well i didn't know that we were going to the church i was not aware of a photo op was happening of course the president dragged a large press pool along with him and look i do everything i can to try to stay a political and destructive try and stay out of situations that may appear political and sometimes i'm successful doing that and in sometimes i'm not a successful but my aim is to keep the department out of politics to stay political

and that's what i continue to try and do as well as my leaders here in the department. we're going to bill their. you know why i was secretary could you address has been a lot of criticism of your use of the word battlespace describe areas inside the united states for people are protesting would you like to take that phrase back and when you talk about keeping the military a political how do you see the department navigating this when response protest has become a partisan issue. well i'll take your 2nd question 1st bill that is the challenge right it's it's a there's a political tone to this we are in the political season and election approaches and this is always a challenge for every department defense and every election year and so this is something we're going to continue to deal with as we creep closer and closer to

election season i've been speaking about the importance of staying out of politics by remaining a political. leadership since since i took office reinforced it when i came in when we started the the new year and i've talked about it several times since then but this will be the ongoing challenge with regard to your 1st question is as you rightly said earlier this week i was quoted as saying that the best we wait to get street violence under control was by dominating the battle space and probably all of you who cover the pentagon hear us use this phrase often it's something we use day in day out there are other phrases that we use day in day out that you understand that most people don't understand it is part of our military lexicon that i grew up with and it's what we routinely use to describe a bounded area of operations it's not a phrase focused on people and certainly not on our fellow americans have some of suggested is a phrase i used over the weekend when speaking with minnesota governor waltz he and i spoke a couple times on friday and saturday as i spoke to him about the deal of the

support to what was happening there keep in mind it was only a. few short days ago where minneapolis was the epicenter and all eyes were focused on on minnesota the governor was also a former member the national guard and i was complimenting him on the call with the governors about what he had done it was his successful use of the guard in sufficient numbers that really wrested control the streets from the looters and others breaking the law and its size given credit for that and he's doing so so the peaceful demonstrations could be held so that peaceful demonstrators could share their frustration and their anger that's what i was can encouraging other governors to consider in retrospect that would use different wording so as not to distract. from the more important matters at hand or allow some to suggest we're militarizing the issue. limiting. our thank you much for very forgiving this very thing some of the people that criticize you for the term battlespace were some of america's most respected former

generals and they said that that was just inappropriate language and if i could move on to what you knew about the situation at lafayette square were you aware that the park police were going to use such strong measures in pushing back the protestors there and did you express any concerns that that may not be exactly what needed to happen to make that for the last possible. thanks for the question luis i was not aware of the law enforcement plans for the park i was not briefed on them nor should i expect to be but they had taken what actions i assume they felt was necessary given what they faced but i was not briefed on the plans and was was not aware what they were doing. yet the secretary thanks for your time i realize you're trying to keep the

department out of politics but it took you a week to to say anything along the lines of what you did at the top of this call and your strong strong comments this morning about george floyd. in light of the more than 200000 black service members in uniform and the pain across the country why did it take so long. thanks thanks dan it's a fair question i think that you may have written about this and you rightly said. i've worked very hard to keep the department of politics which is very hard these days as we move closer and closer to an election year remaining a political means that there are times to speak up and times not to and as a certain my earlier remarks what happened to george floyd happens way too often in this country and most times we don't speak about these matters as a department. but as events have unfolded over the past few days it became very clear that this is becoming a very combustible national issue and what i wanted to do i had made the determination as events escalate the last 72 hours that the moment had had reached

the point where it warranted a clear message to the department about the about our approach and so given the dynamics i wanted to lead by crafting my own statement for the apartment 1st which i did yesterday and you all should have seen it and got it it went out this piece of paper my message to the force which said i thought with these the proper tone for our service members and deal disadvantages and all and giving my leaders the space to also craft similar messages expressing our outrage of what happened expressing our commitment to the constitution expressing our commitment as an institution to. 2 and racism and hatred in all its forms and just a general expression with regard to what the department is about so that that's the timeline dan if you will and that's why it did and i do that with great counsel from the advisers will go out one more hold on it if she ever the

chiefs were interested in picking up dinner sometimes when you say nothing that that's something unto itself in retrospect would you have done so more quickly well we did you know general milley we talked to the chiefs there was most of the chiefs . one to take the lead for me and and so what i told was i was through the chairman i was going to take a was going to send the initial message out again to set the tone to express my views and then give them the space to to share their views as well to do so and again this is we are a week into this or so and when you look at what's escalated it's been a matter of 72 hours maybe 96 or so so and we've been consumed with a lot of things between now and then but i do think it's important to speak up and to speak out and to share what we view again as an institution the racism that exists in america and how we view it as an institution again i think we've led on

these issues over the history of united states military and will continue to do so certainly while i'm at the helm right when we're on the phone condiment. not going to nick schifrin. if the secretary thanks very much for doing this if i could take you back to. the other night i know you're saying that you didn't know exactly what the plans were but with all due respect those plans were designed by commander in chief and also by bill barr course a fellow secretary cabinet secretary and someone who is in the command center with you so how could you not know about those plans and what does it say about those plans to both clear the park and go to the church and do what the president did and number 2 i know you conducted an inquiry on the use of the helicopter you may not

want to say this but you believe it was inappropriate to use in that have ak helicopters to intimidate protesters make on the 1st thing neck again i think there's some speculation with regard to what you what you stated i encourage you to speak to department of justice as again it was a law enforcement action i had not yet arrived at the command post i was in route to the command post when i was asked to return to the white house to update the president got back to the white house and within a short period of time we were the president went out to give his remarks so there was no space in between there there was no opportunity get a briefing and again nor what i expect to get a briefing on what the law enforcement community was planning to do with regard to the clearing a park again that was not a military decision was not a military action the national guard was there in support of the in support of law enforcement with regard to your 2nd question i would just say this much i'm not going to comment because i've asked that an inquiry be made i want to make sure i understand why what happened who was involved what words were they given or not

given what was or a safety issue involved right with an aircraft hovering that low so there's a lot of questions that need to be answered i spoke to secretary mccarthy last night about he is digging into it and we will get the facts and we'll go back from there and really their. basements are cited terry. you served. in the d.c. national guard i did it all on next question were you surprised that a medical helicopter from the d.c. national guard was used to intimidate people who were peacefully assembling and then secondly as this goes on you've asked the secretary the army to look into this who tass the helicopter and it was a helicopter under the authority of the department of justice is that why there is this kind of murkiness about how the helicopter is task how medical helicopter was used in an aggressive form yet so those are some of details we have to tease out in terms of you know who directed it what was request was at the request of law enforcement you made a statement that it was to intimidate protesters i got

a report back that they were asked by law enforcement to to to to look at a checkpoint a national guard checkpoint to see if there were protesters around so there's conflicting reports i don't want to add to that i think we need to let the army conduct its inquiry and get back and see what the facts actually are but when he looked at the video if he didn't see it right look i think when you're landing that loan the city it's looks unsafe to me right but i need to find out i need to learn more about what's going on it would not be unsafe if they were met a back bird picking up somebody who was seriously injured or some like that right would be a different circumstance so we have to find out all the facts take it all in and let the army do its work and then come back with with what they discovered as possible it was not a matter of factness and that's right to my understanding wasn't i need to i'm sorry but i need to actually head to the white house i just want to wrap up by saying something to the directly to the men and women the department offense and let me say this as i said my message to the department yesterday i appreciate your

professionalism and dedication to defending the constitution for all americans moreover i'm amazed by the countless remarkable accomplishment of the departed offense in today's trying times from repatriating and sheltering americans who were evacuated from a foreign land to delivering food and medical supplies to communities in need and to protecting our cities and communities in every challenge and across every mission. the u.s. military has remained ready capable and willing to serve as i reminded you in february i ask that you remember at all times our commitment as a department and as public servants to stay a political in these turbulent days for well over 2 centuries united states military has earned the respect of the american people by being there to protect and serve all americans through your steadfast dedication to the mission and our core values and your enduring support to your fellow americans we will safeguard the hard earned trust and confidence of the public as our nation's most respected institution thank you. but

see u.s. defense secretary. giving a press conference they are dealing with a couple of issues covering particularly the level of action that's been happening in washington d.c. in the early part of this week but also talking about the rather controversial visit to a church that president trump made earlier which mark esper took part let's go straight to our white house correspondent kimberly halakhah what did you make of fought to mock esper was saying their company. well there is a real effort by the trump administration via the pentagon to try and get control of the narrative namely that this is an administration that has been potentially using him abusing federal forces in order to try and quell the protests at least in washington d.c. where this is it a long clay of controlled by the federal government this is where the federal

authorities do have the ability to do that unlike in states where the governors are in control so there was a question there about the president's announcement in the rose garden would he use the insurrection act this is something that does allow a president to take control to quell and rest goes back 218007 with the president use the insurrection act he said in the rose garden that he intended to if necessary now we know from the defense secretary that he personally mark esper does not support the use of the insurrection act in fact the last time it was used by us president was in the early 1990 s. to quell unrest in los angeles now he goes on to say mark asked for that this would be something that would only be used as a last resort the other thing that's going on here is that there seems to be a pushback on a lot of the reporting that the federal forces used tear gas on peaceful protesters

this is something that the mayor of washington d.c. said part of me occurred and this is something that we hear the defense secretary pushing back on he says that the national guard did not fire rubber bullets so did not use tear gas in the confrontation that current at lafayette square that's the park right outside the white house now this would be consistent with a press release that also came out from the united states park service where they said what they did fire were smoke canisters and pepper balls and that the protesters they argue were not peaceful but instead were throwing projet. tiles including bottles filled with caustic liquid so this is something that is an effort to push back we should also point out that on the issue of that photo opportunity where the protesters were cleared so the president could make that walk across lafayette square to stand with a bible in front of st john's episcopal church mark s. 1st saying he was aware the president was going to the church but not for a photo opportunity he then said he encourages all americans to protest peacefully

and regrets that he used the term battle space regarding those protests he also said that it is the right of every american and should speak out against racism including the department of defense to see that american institutions do not allow that to continue to exist inside their walls and finally we heard about the efforts by the national guard to disperse some of those protesters in washington d.c. in recent days using a low lying helicopter a medical helicopter we now know that this is something that the national guard says they are investigating kimberly thanks very much indeed that's kimberly hall could live for us at the white house thousands of people have gathered in london in solidarity with the protesters in the u.s. organizers say they're also marching against systemic racism in britain is a lot of pictures from the center of london gatherings are still banned under the u.k.'s coronavirus restrictions but promise

a bonus johnson said he understood the i'm go after george floyd's death and supported the right to protest to us of vegs live for us now in london at hyde park in hyde park is where the protests started but i understand from the pictures we've just been seeing i said that the protesters are now moving through the center of the city. yes some of those protesters have moved away from this park but there's still people here protesting they've been his since day and day it's end support and solidarity with what's taking place in the united states they've had banners of people chanting george name and also taking it mean but it's not only about what's taking place in the united states for people here it's also about some of the issues here in the u.k. people here are more likely to be stopped and searched by police there's been a number of death deaths of that people in police custody but also the death of mark duggan back in 2011 when he was shot and killed by police and there were riots

here in london the capital also in other cities in the u.k. now police here have pretty stiff they have made their wrist statement they've said that they're appalled at the death of. what happened the night it states and they've also called for justice they've also accepted that that needs to be done to tackle racism in the united kingdom several 1000 people in this iconic understand marching throughout the city heading towards downing street that's the prime minister's residence but it's midweek and the lockdown was still in place although . people have come out in support of solidarity in what's taking place in united states but i said bring us up to date with the situation in london's hyde park i said thank you very much and. this is all just it would be the top stories the u.s.

defense chief says he does not support the use of the insurrection act and mark says any use of the military to stop the unrest george floyd's death should only be a last resort. i've always believed and continue to believe that the national guard is best suited for performing domestic support to civil authorities in these situations in support of local law enforcement i say this not only as secretary defense but also as a former soldier and a former member of the national guard the option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations we are not in one of those situations now i do not support invoking the insurrection act donald trump says he's done more for the black community than any other president and more than his democratic presidential nominee joe biden the brains media

networks forgiving who he calls terrorist thugs and looters a platform to speak. thousands of people have gathered in london's hyde park in solidarity with the protesters in the u.s. organizers say they're also marching against instead make racism in britain caverns and still banned under the u.k.'s coronavirus restrictions the prime minister boris johnson said he understood the anger after george floyd's death and he supported the right to protest. the scientist in charge of sweden's response to the coronavirus says the country could have done more to many people died the government relied on people to stay at home voluntarily instead of imposing a lockdown china is warning the u.k. that interfering in hong kong's affairs could backfire that's after prime minister about his johnson said the u.k. could offer millions of people in hong kong a route to citizenship if china imposes a controversial national security law beijing argues that foreign influence is

a threat to hong kong stability and prosperity. officials in india have urged people to stay home because of a tropical cyclone that hit 2 states on the west coast at least 100000 residents of maharashtra states have already fled their homes for safety and of mumbai dozens of patients recovering from corona virus and among those who had to be moved it's the 1st time in more than 70 years aside from has touched down in the area french court has approved the transfer of a rwandan genocide suspect to u.n. tribunals for this in ca booker is accused of bankrolling the 1904 massacre of the country's tutsi minority his defense team has argued he was too elderly and frail to be transferred but the court ruled that the 84 year old's age and health condition were not obstacles those are the headlines coming up next our knowledge it's the stream good bye. to their own. let me ask you how worried you are about the increase in hostilities in yemen we listen this is the

moment you stop me 30 action this is the moment right on fighting every night we meet with global news makers and talk about the stories that matter is there a. time for mean ok you watching this studying this weekend across the united states there were protests against police brutality. and we are a target. for the most inhuman things i see.