matt's brakes didn't sound right... ...so i brought my car to mike at meineke... ...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. breaking news tear gas sends thousands of protesters fleeing. we have full coverage. cnn's arwa damon and nick paton walsh are right in the thick of it all. they are on the scene. we have expert analysis from cnn's christiane amanpour and fareed zakaria. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

this is cnn breaking news. the breaking news we're following, tens of thousands forced to flee as police fire giant clouds of tear gas and water cannons on demonstrations of turkey's taksim square right in the heart of istanbul. thousands of mass chaos refuse to be deterred. cnn senior international correspondent arwa damon and nick paton walsh are both right in the middle of it all. they have been in the past several hours. they're even being forced to put on gas masks to continue their reporter for us. we're joined by christiane

amanpour. arwa set the scene. what's going on? we've lot arwa for a second. let's go to nick first. what do you see? >> reporter: the latest moves behind us here the police have sent bulldozers into the taksim square area ahead of gezi park. that sounds incremental, but it's key because it shows their positions to clear away much of the debris. there have been fires as well. we've been wondering what is the goal of the police presence here. i think they're looking to clear the area up they're maintaining a presence in the central air. key, the smoke billowing across the square at the moment is it seems from a fire an excavator on fire here. we haven't seen much tear gas, i'm cautious to say that because

every time i do we hear another volley. in the past 10 15 minutes, police take up position on one of the roads leading down past gezi park. at this point we are hearing protest chanting but the emphasis for police right now seems to be amassing in that area of taksim square in front of gezi park and before you reach the main street. >> we're showing our viewers, nick live pictures from taksim square. we see lights there, a very tense situation. it's already just past midnight local time in is tanstanbul. are we expecting an escalation in the coming hours? >> it has been hard to predict. it is volatile. there are hundreds of thousands of protesters on side streets

that appear to be in battles with the police and what is the area inside taksim square itself the heart of the city here it has been at the beginning, conservationists not wanting it to be demolished to make room for a mall or museum or whatever the government plan was for it. behind me now there has been a temporary lull. we were seeing during the night protesters surging back towards police after the tear gas had been fired at them dissipated in the wind. that hasn't happened for a couple of hours now. the question people are asking is what is the police strategy here? i've been standing here for about 16 hours. only a brief lull thousands forced to flee because of a massive volley of police tear gas. we haven't been able to hold the ground. people are beginning to ask whyare

we seeing these scenes for such a sustained period. >> this is all happening in the heart of istanbul nick. this is a major facility a major park there right near all the -- so many hotels, tour ismism i assume has dried up. give us a sense of perspective, nick. you're there. how significant is this area to istanbul? >> reporter: it's the very very heart. the main street ends here taksim square one of the key landmarks landmarks, the main hotels around government buildings. a very important of the city. last night i was walking through

and there were some tourists attracted by what had begun to feel like a relaxed sense of permanence amongst the protesters certainly inside gezi park. even a fashion shoot i saw taking place inside one of the burned out buses the protesters had left aside the road. we were wondering would the police take advantage of the lower numbers to make a move and at 8:00 this morning, that's precisely what they did, almost strolling in initially but pretty soon that gave way to clashes and organized hard core protests ready to meet them molotov cocktails, rocks and an elaborate fireworks device which seemed to be aimed at the ranks, too. some of the police tactics seem to be back and for the.

-- forth. the police not quite as heavy handed as in the beginning of the protests but the real question was exactly why did they fire that volley of tear gas which during the middle of a peaceful protest caused thousands to literally run for their safety across in dark square. >> nick, stand by. i want to show our viewers the pictures live from taksim square in istanbul, turkey. christiane you look at these pictures and you can't help but say is this a repetition of what we saw in tahrir square? it led to the end of the mubarak

regime. >> interesting you should say that. it's significant erdogan said this is no turkish spring. i asked gentleman straw, the british secretary, he also didn't think that this is what this represents. nobody really thinks that this is the case right now. but clearly, you know, this is the first page challenge to prime minister erdogan. he's in his third term. he's been in office for about 11 years and they're trying to figure out how they're going to deal with this. i spoke to his chief adviser earlier who said that the protesters will be allowed to stay in gezi park. that is the green area in taksim. he said they'll be allowed -- >> christiane, hold on for a second. it looks like there's major activity going on with police. let me bring back nick paton walsh for a moment. nick what's happening right now? >> reporter: wolf i'm holding my tear mask in my hand. we've seen an armored police vehicle moving down the left-hand side of gezi park an

area blocked off by protester barricades behind which they've been amassing about ten seconds ago, a minute, a massive volley of tear gas from the police in that direction. and now one, two, three, i'm going to put this gas mask on i'm afraid. a significant number of vehicles heading in that direction. it is clear the police want to move down towards that barricade. it is the last remaining stronghold of protests outside of gezi park itself at that we can actually see. and when that tear gas is fired, it does waft across the square towards us. forgive the difficulty you may be having hearing me here. this is about the first we've seen in about an hour on a concerted effort by the police to advance towards protesters' positions. a water cannon is now being used by the police to push back

protesters and there has of course been a fire burning there for quite some time now, wolf. but yet again this tacktic of surging toward protesters and then we have to ask are they going to try and hold that particular road? do they have a strategy to reit and control? or will they move back and finally see protesters take their area again? >> if the tear gas is reaching you, you may want to strap that mask as you're doing right now. otherwise you're going to be in trouble. arwa damon is on the scene for us as well. arwa you're joining us on the phone. do you have a mask on yourself? >> reporter: wolf we're basically right now on the other side of where nick is reporting from. standing in the park that is actually above that street that the tear gas is being fired down. and as nick was reporting that

masses of people running back into the park trying to stay away from those fumes. and they really have it down to something of a science. they will run away from where the tear gas is getting close to them. people will already be lined up ready with this white peppermint smelling fluid that they spray into your eyes and it helps to ease the sting. and then they erupt in chants and then slowly move back forward. and this has been pretty much what we've been seeing all night. we were also down in the square this evening wolf when tens of thousands of people had converged and the riot police at that point actually seemed as if they were relaxed. that's what we were reporting. an altercation broke out right in front of us -- it erupted

into full-scale chaos with the tear gas being fired. with i don't know if you heard as well, the crowds around me now now, really the altercation is what led to this massive crackdown by the riot police. they didn't physically enter gezi park but they did with great -- they fired tear gas into it. it's a pretty populated area densely populated. you can imagine when that takes place. >> nick paton walsh with the gas mask arwa damon, stand by as well. we're showing our viewers here in the united states and around the world what's going on right in the heart of istanbul right now. this is a major u.s. ally a

nato ally and what's going on right now is lig. we'll have continuing coverage right after this. . ugly. we'll have continuing coverage right after this.

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we're following breaking news out of turkey. these are live pictures you're seeing right now. it's after midnight in istanbul where police have come in with more tear gas, water cannons. this is a dangerous situation. there are thousands of protesters on the ground in taksim square. that's right in the heart of istanbul. arwa damon and nick paton walsh are on the ground for us and we'll have analysis from fareed

and christiane amanpour. there had been a lull but now it has picked up. >> reporter: that is something that has been throughout the day today. i am on the edge of gezi park. that is right above the road that that tear gas is currently being fired down. demonstrators are out chanting right now that everywhere is taksim everywhere is their resistance. you're hearing more of that sort of language where people are describing themselves increasingly as being the resistance against the government because if you will remember this did all begin because of a government project to turn this park that many view as being the last green space in the heart of istanbul into a shopping mall. and then because of the

excessive use of force by the riot police these demonstrations have then taken on a life of their own. they're about much more than trying to protect this park. they're about demanding an end to what prime minister erdogan's opponents view as being his increasingly authoritarian rule. their conservative, islamic ideations on the nation and they have defined themselves as being a -- >> arwa hold on for a moment. nick paton walsh, he's got an excellent view of what's going on. clearly the demonstrators moving in. you see the fire. nick paton walsh is wearing a gas mask because of all of the tear gas right now. nick narrate a little bit, describe what's going on. we're showing our viewers these live pictures from taksim square. >> reporter: you're seeing those

armored vehicles move away from what was a protest, a barricade blocking access to the left-hand side road that goes down the edge of gezi park. now, about five minutes ago police moved in heavily. a lot of tear gas fired. two fire engines coming in behind those armored vehicles. there were some fires there, an excavator on fire for nearly an hour. they were clearly trying to move in in that direction. we don't know if they turned back because the protesters simply put up too much resistance or whether we're looking at them having accomplished what they wanted to and moving back instead. but a massive volley of tear gas that we haven't heard for some particular time. you begin to get a sense of what the police strategy is here. they seem to want to move down that particular road. they have amassed excavators bulldozers on the central part of taksim square over there.

you are just hearing ambulances moving in. one of the big questions about this is how many people have been injured in these clashes. let me just pause and let you hear the protesters. >> hey, nick we see a bulldozer right in the heart of taksim square. i don't know what that bulldozer is getting ready to do. do you have any idea what it's doing there and what's going on with that bulldozer? >> reporter: there is a lot of debris in the center of that square some of it from barricades some of it from fires. it was burning previously. they obviously want to clear away the barricade that be a instruct the police's ability to move in on protesters. we've seen them do that around here in the area surrounding the live position where we are for much of the day. i think part of the police

strategy is to clear as many thoroughfares as they can at this particular time and the bulldozers are putting some of that into effect. but it does keep getting interrupted by volleys of tear gas. you're seeing less of that in the last hour or so. but you heard there the chanting of protesters their morale still evident. a lot of anger. and we're really going to have to see in the hours ahead if police are beginning to get a lid on it. or if we're going to see the standoff continuing in other areas. i apologize, i do have to pause between sentences to take breaths through this gas mask. >> as one who has reported through a gas mask myself you have to make sure the straps are really tight, otherwise you'll be in trouble and start coughing. you might want to tighten those straps around your head nick. stand by. i want to continue showing our

viewers, you see the bulldozer right in the heart of taksim square. fareed how would you describe this situation that's unfolding? clearly a major crisis for turkey. >> wolf it's a major crisis. if you want an analogy, this is chicago in 1968. this is a huge culture clash in a democratic country. prime minister erdogan has been elected three times but, remember he has never received more than 50% of the popular vote. the way turkish parliamentary works. you see the anatolian groups that have voted for prime minister erdogan very different from the istanbul more secular, more urban groups over here. so there's a culture clash at work here. we saw it in 1968 in the united

states in chicago in cities around the country. it's happened in other places. but the actual development, the spark that led to this is about the development of taksim square but there's something much much deeper going on here. it's two turkeys that are coming to head in taksim square two very different countries with a very different vision of the future. >> hold on for a moment fareed. nick you've taken off your gas mask. has the tear gas moved away? is it okay for you to be there without your gas mask? >> reporter: that seems to be the case. it's always hard to work out whether we're having gas from the fires blown towards us smoke from the fires or fresh amounts of tear gas. the gas mask as soon as you take it off, you hear tear gas being fired again by the riot police. that clean-up in gezi park,

before gezi park on the square in front of it still continuing. the bulldozer you talked about earlier on. we're trying to work out quite what the police's next move really is. the tear gas that they seem to be firing it down that road i was referring to alongside gezi park protesters are very good at throwing it back. they've been doing that as well. can you hear those repeated shots. it's one of the things we really noted here that the use of tear gas sometimes feels indiscriminate. it's filed in a general direction, they seem to fire a lot in a particular time to completely disable an area remove people from it. in ankara people came up to show me where the tear gas injured people as they hurtled through the air. many of them have come near where we're standing at this particular point.

so a lot of concern for safety of protesters. you can hear that again. you can see i think now perhaps some water cannons being fired at this particular point toward the protesters. those armored water cannon trucks designed to disrupt froess have been all over turkey for the last 12 days. they're moving again towards protesters down there. still that question sustaining wolf what is the end game how are they going to get control of this area? >> we're hearing a lot of volleys of tear gas, nick that's being fired together with the water cannon. this situation is clearly escalating right now, even though it's approaching 12:30 a.m. local time well after midnight in istanbul. nick i want you to stand by fareed is standing by christiane amanpour is with us and arwa damon is on the ground in istanbul.

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to help. breaking news coming out of turkey right now. taksim square police have just moved in once again firing tear gas, water cannons, trying to disburse crowds thousands of protesters on the ground right

now. they are not leaving despite all the tear gas and the water cannon the bulldozers that have moved in as well. this is a clearly very dangerous situation. nick paton walsh, you were just wearing a gas mask. is it okay for you to be reporting without that gas mask right now? actually you got the gas mask on. >> i tell you, wolf i'm afraid each time the situation seems to change around me. we've just seen another volley of tear gas being launched. it appears they are moving towards more protesters. unfortunately with this mask i can't get a particularly accurate view. the road to the left of gezi park has a barricade along it blocked by protesters much of it on fire. they've surged towards it firing tear gas and using their armored water can trucks and then had a retreat. we're seeing another volley of tear gas in the general direction of the protesters.

sometimes that's what's most alarming is it doesn't seem to be specific targets, it's designed to make life unpleasant. many people looking back on it may ask the question why were those hard core few protesters who violently did attack and we've seen that today, did attack the police were were they not particularly picked out by the police and arrested and why were the heavy handed tactics we've seen put upon the entirety of the crowd here? many of these protesters are calm peaceful simply exercising the freedom to assemble wolf. so many questions to be answered tonight. i think the most pressing one is all this chaos behind me who hasn't left injured? many concerned about that. >> christiane amanpour what do these protesters really want? >> well there's several very different protest groups but i think importantly we need to state exactly what the government is saying about what's going on right now. what you're seeing and what

we've been witnessing over the last several hours is taksim square does not seem to be full of protesters. you can see that image right now. taksim square is not. it's police there. and this is because the mayor of istanbul issued a terse statement on television tonight saying that he hoped people would just go home for their own safety and that they would use, quote, unremitting police moves to clean taksim square as long as it took day and night he said we will have the police to clean taksim square. on the other hand the chief adviser to prime minister erdogan told me not so long ago that the protesters will be allowed to stay in gezi park and that the police will not have access to gezi park. we'll see whether that ends up being the case. but what they're trying to do is say, okay these areas are designated for protest and these areas have to be cleaned up. whether or not that works, we'll see. but that's what the government is saying. the government is also saying

that prime minister erdogan wants to meet with what he calls the legitimate protesters tomorrow. those are the people who he calls the environmentalists and other who is started what was a peaceful protest at the end of may because of government plans to turn the only green area in that place, gezi park into some kind of development, some kind of construction anyway a whole new project. so they say, at least himself advisers that they still intend to have that meeting tomorrow. we'll see who turns up for that meeting and whether or not it will diffuse the situation. as nick has said obviously the police tactics are designed or should be designed to move what they call their violent protesters away from the legitimate protesters. so far we haven't seen that happen quite as well as it should in regular policing. so this is something that started as a peaceful protest that quickly spread around much of the country for the first week or so. people using this first protest

to mushroom their demands into more you know discontent with what they see as a more authoritarian prime minister erdogan. >> and we're seeing our viewers live pictures from what's happening rights now in taksim square in istanbul. you see nick paton walsh has his gas mask on because of all of the tear goes and smoke that is in the area right now. you hear a lot of chanting right now. nick while i have you over there, what's the latest? >> reporter: we are hearing what sounds like the bulldozers moving in to try and clear some of the debris in that square. i think that's what i hear. i'm seeing a red flair near some of the barricades to -- it's a major challenge for police here if they wish to end the evening with some semblance of normality, some sort of reward. at the end they are going to need to get rid of a lot of this

debris. we've seen a lot of the debris just pushed to the side into underground cavities. but the real issue is going to be how fast they can do that over there and what level of resistance they get from protesters. down below me missiles being thrown back and forth. a very chaotic situation frankly. you have to bear in mind how difficult it is for pro tessers here to simply sometimes seek -- there's tear gas in a lot of the places and this is pretty much a construction site. there is rubble everywhere, there are metal objects sticking out of the ground and very little light where can you work out where to run. so a perilous situation indeed. people actually were injured tonight, wolf. >> be careful there. i'm going to get back to you in a moment. fareed is standing by as is arwa damon. you see the bulldozer moving through the center. they're going to apparently get rid of that debris but

protesters are still there. you hear the water cannons and you're also hearing some tear goes volleys going forward right now. let's take a quick break and resume the breaking news coverage right after this. let's get the ball rolling. in parks

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to talk with an insurance expert about everything that comes standard with our base auto policy. and if you switch, you could save up to $423. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? we're going to -- you're looking at live pictures from istanbul from taksim square where more tear gas volleys are being fired, water cannons, bulldozers right in the middle of istanbul. arwa damon is right in the middle of it all watching what's going on. arwa, update us on the very very latest because this situation seems to be escalating. >> reporter: well we're right on the edge of gezi park where tear gas is being fired. we are perched right above it. we saw a group of people running

past us. we haven't seen them returning just yet. and then we also are next to this makeshift studio that's been set up by the demonstrators where they're streaming everything that's happening live because they're so upset with the way the media has been covering they are telling us. you can also hear people chanting the sounds coming from down below getting significantly louder. a lot of people crowded around watching you can hear the clapping. the crowd is getting heated up as they feel like they may be able to [ inaudible ]. you know what's interesting, wolf is a lot of the people that we've been talking to here have been very quick to point out that up until now they weren't necessarily political. many of them weren't really

active or involved in anything up until all of this happened. and most of these people here have day jobs. they'll go to them during the day, they'll come out at night and they'll tell us look, this isn't about the park anymore, it's about [ inaudible ]. there's a lot of anger towards the government and how it's handled everything. here amongst the demonstrators in gezi park there's also a real sense of -- thement minute the tear gas is fired they'll be ready with an anti-acid that goes into your eye that takes out the sting of it. they have their own makeshift medical spaces. they've had a fair amount of injuries. you see people of all ages here young and old. you name it. and a lot of the demonstrators

are telling us there's no turning back. [ inaudible ]. >> arwa hold on for a moment. i want to go back to nick. he's got a good view. police are gearing up for something right now. nick what's happening? it looks like they're getting ready to move on demonstrators. >> reporter: that's right. we've just heard -- there you would have heard that is another stun grenade. a volley of tear gas now being fired to force protesters. these police emerged from behind the main monument in the square being took up cover behind that armored vehicle and now they are moving quite forcefully in the direction of gezi park from what i can make out. there are also protesters nearby in the road one side behind the barricade. it's hard to tell their precise

target but it looks like it's going to land pretty close to gezi park. if that tear gas gets near you, it highly effective. i've got my tear gas in my hand. let me just pause so you can take in the images. >> nick i want to be clear. the police say they want all the protesters out of taksim square but supposedly they were going to let the presotesters stay at nearby gezi square. you're saying they seem to be moving these police near gezi park to remove the protesters from there? >> reporter: it's extraordinarily hard to tell their targets. it's dark and there's a lot of smoke. the volleys i've been seeing seem to be headed in the direction of gezi.

there's also the barricade along the road beside it. that's been a main point of friction in the past couple of hours of protesters. and there are hundreds. i got a glimpse, there are hundreds behind those barricade there is. but that large amount of tear goes now blowing across the square. it seems the police facing directionally, from what i can tell towards gezi though you are correct to point out, wolf this confusing government stance do they want everybody out of the square as they suggest, including perhaps gezi? or are they going to let people stay where they are? people are packed in there, artificial infrastructure. it's a utopian kind of alternative society. it's not ready for people to march in like riot police at

this particular point. so you have to worry about casualties if you do and force your way into someplace like gezi. we don't quite know what this police movement is about. and there seem to be lulls. >> tell our viewers in the united states why what we're seeing -- these are live pictures from istanbul right now. what we're seeing is so important potentially to the united states and other nato allies. >> what we are witnessing is a political conflict in turkey that is a cult war. it not a real war but it is a culture war. turkey is a key nato ally. it's also been the model emerging market. investors for the last ten years have loved turkey. what you see here is underneath that surface are pro western

economy is a pro growth democracy. you're seeing a 1968-type clash. eight clash between classes and social groups and political parties that have very different visions of the country. and what unites this opposition some of whom are secularists, some of whom are environmentalist some are left-wing types, is the feeling that prime minister erdogan has turned into a kind of elected authoritarian, has turned into a elected czar dictator. and by doing what he's doing in taksim square he's feeding this very feeling. remember erdogan thinks he's knows this problem very well. he was the mayor of istanbul. that's how he became politically powerful. he was elected mayor, very popular. but he's been in office 11 years, wolf. and sometimes that can make people believe that they have more power, more control than

they actually do. >> and it you'll started with a demonstration protesting the construction of a mall in a park. but look what's going on right now. look at that tear gas that's being fired as police move from taksim square elsewhere, maybe to gezi park. we're watching what's going on. we'll take a quick break. much more of the coverage right after this. i'm the next american success story. working for a company where over seventy-five percent of store management started as hourly associates. there's opportunity here. i can use walmart's education benefits to get a degree, maybe work in it or be an engineer, helping walmart conserve energy. even today, when our store does well, i earn quarterly bonuses. when people look at me, i hope they see someone working their way up. vo: opportunity, that's the real walmart.

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...so i brought my car to mike at meineke... ...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. we're right back to taksim square. tear gas, water canon. police moving on demonstrators. nick paton walsh is right there in the middle of it. tell us what you're seeing right now. you're wearing that gas mask. i hope it's firmly attached. i don't want you to breathe in any of that tear gas. >> reporter: what we are seeing at the moment is -- we talked earlier on a few minutes ago about what looked like riot police shooting at gezi. all over this area.

since then as we've seen quite regularly, the police moved back towards the main part of taksim square. we're not quite sure why they chose to do that. and now we are seeing bulldozers fully in evidence clearing away some of the debris. so really the question still remains what is the police end game and strategy here? what part of this central square are they trying to hold onto? or are they trying to keep from confusing signals about that. and exactly how much longer will this standoff continue? how much longer will these images be broadcast around the world which are doing nothing positive for turkey's tourist economy. >> and our viewers are watching this here in the united states and around the world right now. i'm getting a lot of tweets. in fact from people in istanbul and elsewhere. they're watching cnn international and our live

coverage of the demonstrations and the police reaction in istanbul right now. stay with us for a moment nick. fareed is with us. christiane is with us. let's take a quick break. resume the coverage after this. [old english accent] i doth declare that thou have brought overmany discounts to thine customers! [old english accent] safe driver, multi-car, paid in full -- a most fulsome bounty indeed lord jamie. thou cometh and we thy saveth! what are you doing? we doth offer so many discounts, we have some to spare. oh, you have any of those homeowners discounts? here we go. thank you. he took my shield, my lady. these are troubling times in the kingdom. more discounts than we knoweth what to do with. now that's progressive. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ hooking up the country helping business run ♪ ♪ trains! ♪ they haul everything safely and on time. ♪ tracks! ♪ they connect the factories built along the lines. and that means jobs, lots of people making lots and lots of things. let's get your business rolling now,

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us. there are thousands of protesters at gezi park as i take it. what's going on, arwa? >> reporter: there really are. the street being fired at is right underneath where all of those people are lined up. i don't know if you can really see them from here. there's not a lot of light. whenever the tear gas gets fired down that road all of the spectators are moving back into the area that is the rest of the busy part and up against taksim square itself. you really can't differentiate the two. there's also medical crews that are out here on stand by. and if we swing around to show you this side this is where all the tents are set up, where people are gathering. and then something quite interesting happening over here as well. the demonstrators have set up a

makeshift tv studio where they're live streaming their own demonstration tv channel. because they're so frustrated the way they say turkish media has been reporting all of this. and a lot of these demonstrators are young professionals. they actually go to their jobs during the day. they come back here they demonstrate at night. a lot of them obviously staying up very, very late tonight. and a lot of them quick to tell us they were apolitical up until now. but it's because of the way the government has chosen to handle these demonstrations from the beginning that they feel right now they have to take a much much more determined stance. we keep hearing chants of "this is only the beginning." the resistance is going to keep carrying on. there are thousands of people here wolf down on the street strewn out throughout the park itself.

>> arwa just stay with us for a moment. i want to show our viewers these live pictures coming in from taksim square. we've got live pictures coming in from gezi park. arwa has her gas mask ready to pull down. this is a tense and dangerous situation. our coverage continues in a minute. this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. nobody likes to miss out. that's why ally treats all their customers the same. whether you're the first or the millionth. if your bank doesn't think you're special anymore you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally. ♪ bonjour ♪ ♪ je t'adore ♪ ♪ c'est aujourd'hui ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ et toujours ♪

♪ me amour ♪ ♪ how about me? ♪ [ male announcer ] here's to a life less routine. ♪ and it's un, deux trois, quatre ♪ ♪ give me some more of that ♪ [ male announcer ] the more connected, athletic seductive lexus rx. ♪ je t'adore, je t'adore, je t'adore ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ s'il vous plait ♪ [ male announcer ] this is the pursuit of perfection. we're following the breaking news here in "the situation room." i'm wolf blitzer in washington. we want to welcome our viewers in united states and around the world. protest against the ally. renewed their attacks on demonstrators in istanbul. they've been firing tear gas, water canons stun grenades.

earlier they forced tens of thousands to flee. local officials say the assault won't stop until taksim square is completely clear and calm. let's go to arwa damon on the scene in nearby gezi park. these pictures are very very disturbing. what's the latest for our viewers? arwa what are you seeing? >> reporter: well a lot of the action that's taking place, the standoff is happening on this street right below where we are on gezi park. i'm not certain you can see it. but there's people that are lined up on the edge of gezi park watching what's happening down below. they hear when the demonstrators advance as it seems what's happening now. then the tear gas is fired. quite often they'll stream back in our collection if the tear gas gets too intense. and they've got it down to something of a science. once they hit this area there

will be other people here waiting pouring a liquid into their eyes. it's a white liquid that's an anti- anti-acid. they're chanting prime minister resign right now. then over here you have gezi park itself. we hear something quite interesting. it's a tv studio that demonstrators put together where they're streaming what's happening live. they keep bringing guests into it because they've been so frustrated how turkish media have been portraying them. a lot of the people out here are young professionals. they have day jobs. they are working. we met a young group of engineers.

and they claimed a lot of them were apolitical before all this began. but it's because of how the government they say, decided to handle these demonstrations. cracked down so hard when they first all began that now they feel that it's their point in time where they have to come out and take a stance as well. >> arwa stand by for a moment. nick paton walsh is at taksim square where the demonstrators were out by the thousands earlier. what's happening right there, nick? >> reporter: we're seeing a bit of a pattern here. there's an elaborate dance of bulldozers and pickup trucks trying to clear the debris away from the main square in front of me here. then down the road to the left. i can see the protesters there in the smoke. often the recipients of tear gas from the riot police.

moved them a couple of times now. unsuccessfully trying to move them on as you might imagine. but i've been watching this now for about 17 hours. and if this night continues on it's clear the goal is to get as much of the debris away from the central square as possible. and they continue to do this on the side road on the left of gezi park. they surge in firing a lot of tear gas. and then pulling back. you can hear a lot of the debris being moved by bulldozers. >> clearly you're wearing that mask because of the tear gas in the area where you are. is that right? it would be dangerous to just be breathing without that gas mask on? >> you know the problem i always found standing here when these vollies go off, the wind

is prevailing in our direction blows it towards us. when i take the mask off, i have to put it back on very quickly. this is particularly nasty types of tear gas. it makes it hard to breathe and really so much -- more volleys of tear gas being fired now. it gets into everything. you can walk across areas the following morning and still smell it still be affected by it. very pungent. i've seen people in the capital, one lady who's asthmatic and another suffering from an epileptic fit. >> we have an eyewitness account of what's going on at gezi park. christian amanpour is also with

us. you've been getting information from turkish government officials who are watching our coverage on cnn and cnn international. whap are what are they saying to you? >> i think they're saying exactly what we've been seeing. that at the moment there are not clashes as we've seen over the last 15 hours or so. there's none of those running battles we've seen in taksim square at the moment. you can see that in the pictures we've been showing for the past hour. and what nick has been reporting about is all of these vehicles these bulldozers these clearers which are coming to get rid of all the debris and all the other stuff. which is kind of commensurate with what the mayor of istanbul said tonight. please keep out of the square while we clear it. whether people stay out of the square that's a different issue. they also told me earlier and a chief adviser to erdogan that

gezi is the place they will not allow police to go into. we'll see if they hold to that. that's what we've been seeing over the past hour. that there are protesters in gezi park. that these police and bulldozers are trying to clear out taksim square. that's what we've been seeing for the past hour. >> are they explaining why they're still launching tear gas and water canons? >> i can see the -- i can see those water canons. i have no idea about that. but the other thing that i think is really interesting is we've been reporting and of course the prime minister's adviser told us there's going to be some kind of meeting tomorrow between the prime minister and members of what they call the legitimate protesters. those who they call the environmental peaceful protesters. now we're hearing from a newspaper that contacted me earlier to say the names they've

seen who will take part in this meeting tomorrow are an artist musician actor. apparently according to this editor with you know links to the government apparently according to this editor members of the protesters were invited, but they refused. so again, this is news coming into us right now. we're reporting to you as we get it. i don't know what's going to come out of these talks that are meant to be happening tomorrow. >> it's after 1:00 a.m. now in turkey. we see there's still a lot of dangerous environment. clearly both at taksim square as well as gezi park. tom forman is here with us. we've heard a lot about taksim square gezi park. show our viewers where this is. because these are important parts of istanbul. >> it's important to understand the geography here.

istanbul is at the end. largest city in the country. about 14 million people. and this is where taksim square is over here. we talk about the park a lot. and it's important to understand that we're not talking about some great distance. this is the park right here and this is taksim square. so you can see it's right in the same area. all day long you've seen this monument over and over again. that's it right there. and when you've heard arwa talking, it's this one. this is an important road in this town. it's used by almost everyone. and indeed this area is incredibly important especially for the tourism business and the cultural business and the interplay of the international community. because there's a huge international presence in this town. there's consulates around here an awful lot of businesses that attract an awful lot of tourists. what we've been looking at today is really a tactic of containment or an overall strategy of somehow trying to get this thing to a new level.

and the containment seems to be focused on the idea of saying this is the border of gezi park. stay inside here. and that's where negotiations would take place. that's important because this square down here taksim square has been the center of rallies over many years when people have protests with the government. it is an important geographic spot. and in fact for most of the past 30 years, it has been closed to all forms of protest because it's possible for them to get out of hand there. wolf? >> tom with a good explanation of what's going on. we've got live pictures from istanbul. we're going to go back in a moment to taksim square. nick paton walsh is there. you see him in the right part of your screen. he's wearing a gas mask because of all the volleys of gas that's been launched. and arwa and christian amanpour

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] if you can't afford your medication astrazeneca may be able to help. right back out to arwa damon. she's watching what's going on. nick paton walsh watching what's going on. arwa to you. it seems gezi park is still very, very intense. >> reporter: it most certainly is. those clashes are taking place right alongside the park that is right up against taksim square. we just saw another group of men running through carrying a stretcher. the demonstrators are perched up along the edge of gezi park. the road where the clashes are taking place is right below it. they've actually dropped a ladder down to that road that

people climb up and down. and you see people coming through. they've got goggles. this woman is saying tayyip resign referring to the prime minister, of course. but people -- and here we have another makeshift medical team running through with a second stretcher. they do have field clinics set up here. there was great concern, we're hearing, earlier on that they were unable to handle the number of wounded people. a lot of them really suffering from inhaling the tear gas and other injuries as well. there are ambulances that are lined up on the other side of the park but really volunteers have been here pretty much they say since this all began. it's still a very fluid situation, wolf. people are also very ready with

the fluid that is an antiacid mixed with water they put into eyes to ease the sting. but there's a sense of community here at the same time despite the anger we're seeing directed towards the government, towards the riot police. people here really rallying together trying to help each other out. we even have right next to us actually, a makeshift tv station where the demonstrators are live streaming their own guests. although you can see people are quite exhausted just given how late it is right now. but you have people from all walks of life here. you have young professionals, bankers. you also have young and old. everyone really saying they're coming out -- a lot of them telling us they're not really political individuals. but they felt they had to come out and take this stance against the government right now. >> arwa stand by for a moment. nick paton walsh is right near

you. he's at taksim square. nick what's going on at taksim square? the pictures look like bulldozers are clearly moving in clearing debris. but is there still tear gas in the air? >> reporter: yes, that is continuing the bulldozer clearout. if you would have heard in the background while arwa was talking the volleys being fired down that road to the left of gezi park. it's unclear what the police strategy towards that area is. they seem to be focusing on clearing debris in gezi park. with large vol e looleys of tear gasp. we've now been looking at this for 17, 18 hours i've been standing here watching these

standoffs and clashes. there's been a consistent standoff of tear gas, water canons the protesters occasionally responding with their own molotov cocktails, fireworks even. you have to wonder now we're into the 17th and 18th hour of these clashes. what exactly was the police's original goal moving in here? how long did they expect it to take to take control of this area? why were they still engaged in a standoff with protesters when many filled into the square afterward? that was always going to be a concern. the call for people to join the protests. you do have to wonder what the strategy was. did it fail? trying to deal with the protesters more than they expected. even now at about half past 1:00 in the morning, you're hearing the loud chants of protesters.

still very much in evidence here. even though we see the bulldozers and trucks trying to get through the debris as quickly as possible. >> stand by for a moment. we have a turkish expert joining us. you're from turkey originally. you see these pictures. give us perspective. is this what they call the turkish spring similar to the arab spring? is that what we're seeing? >> it's not necessarily a spring. there was no winter in turkey. i think it's more like on occupy movement. in part driven by turkey's new rising middle class. where people are making demands for the government. that it expects basic rights such as the right to assembly. i think it is definitely a country and democracy but also seeing deep splits between one-half which voted for the governors party and the other which has not.

>> how much of a threat is this to the government of prime minister erdogan? >> not a real threat. because the half of the country that still supports him is behind him. but there is social polarization. given this is a violent crackdown in the central square. turned into a hot spot issue for everyone to look at. turkey's image as a stable country is at risk. it has grown in leaps and bounds. gdp per capita has tripled. incomes have doubled for most turks. now suddenly the world is awakening to a new world. the fact it has become middle class society is deeply polarized between a government and its opponents. >> the turkish leader was here in washington on may 16th for meetings with president obama

and other officials. at that time there was no indication anything like this was in the works. >> absolutely. none whatsoever. a lot of people in washington -- i have contacts with the u.s. government often. a lot of people are worried about the direction of this ally. people are looking at this and saying it's not good for stability. if we're going to do anything with this concerns are rising in washington. and people are hoping that the stalemate of istanbul comes to a peaceful end. right now it looks like the prime minister decided to up the ante with a crackdown. people hoping that the suggested meeting between the movements, things would have calmed down. but it looks like he's decided to take a different turn now. >> is there any connection to what's going on in istanbul and elsewhere in turkey to what's going on in neighboring syria? we know the turkish prime minister erdogan has been

opposed to bashar al assad. >> turkey is a split country between the government and opponents. most of the opponents of the government are saying that the government does not listen to them. this is a government that has been in power for over 11 years now. it is the longest-serving government in turkey's history. ever since 1946. a lot of people are saying this is a government that has stayed in power for so long that it disregards public opinion including on syria. turkey feels it has been left alone. there was a major terror attack in turkey. the biggest attack on turkish soil that killed 51 people. people are saying this is because of turkey's forward syria policy and they should pull back. the government is still quite forward in its policy. i think syria is one issue that is behind the protest. i don't think the protests are just about the future of the

downtown park. i think the park and the environmental concerns mask a number of other issues. it is the fact that although this is a very popular government that is loved by its supporters it is also a government that is disliked by those who don't support it. and because of the split, i think the opposition is now going to latch onto other issues. whether or not the protest in taksim square continues or not. and we might wake up to a new turkey where the square is nice and clean. everybody's gone home. the police cleaned it up. but the protesters will come back with new demands because this looks like a turkey in which the new rising middle class has found a voice and they're using social media to organize. >> is there -- is it too simplistic to say the demonstrators are against the islamist tendencies of the government? they want to be able to drink alcohol, for example. they don't want to have to dress more conservatively. and don't like some of the islamist tendencies of prime

minister erdogan's government? >> i don't think we're seeing secularist turkey uprising. what we are seeing is secular turks going up against the government they see as conservative. and straight jacket conservative. they don't like the government is trying to manage and engineer social policies. this passing legislation that limits access to alcohol. that's a culture war in a predominantly muslim country. where some people think alcohol is a sin. some don't want the government to legislate on that issue or women's rights. i think this is a country where the middle class which has so far been quiet. but that forms that plurality if it's not risen u. . they've found in the last two weeks they can effectively organize stay on the streets. and they can have their voices heard. i think that's why they'll be around for us to recognize. >> sonar cagaptay stay with us.

we made a connection with an eyewitness in the middle of the tear gas volleys that were going on. we will take a quick break, resume our coverage. what's going on in turkey right after this. ♪ ♪ ♪ fly me to the moon ♪ ♪ let me play among the stars ♪ ♪ and let me see what spring is like ♪ ♪ on jupiter and mars ♪ ♪ in other words ♪ [ male announcer ] the classic is back. ♪ i love ♪ [ male announcer ] the all-new chevrolet impala. chevrolet. find new roads. ♪ you ♪

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protesters who are deeply angered by some of the actions of the turkish government of prime minister erdogan. and we've seen the violence escalate over the past few hours. it's now approaching 1:30 a.m. in istanbul. joining us on the phone is the manager of the hotel in istanbul. thank you for joining us. how close is your hotel to taksim square or gezi park? >> the hotel is directly next to gezi park. about a hundred meters away. and taksim square is directly behind it. >> so you're right in the middle of it. is the tear gas getting into your hotel? are the guests in your hotel suffering as a result of the tear gas, for example? >> today we're not because the wind direction, the wind blows such that the gas goes in the

other direction. >> describe what you've seen in the course of today. because you're there. you're on the scene and you've got the grand hyatt hotel you've got to deal with. >> well we saw in the morning that there was unrest on the square. and we saw that police was having contact with the demonstrators. the demonstrators have been there for a couple of days now. and it's been calm for the last days. but today there was much more unrest on the square. yeah. we saw the movements outside the hotel. >> and what is it like right now from your vantage point? i don't know if you've been outside lately. does it look like it's easing up a bit, or is it still tense? >> it seems to be very still tense outside. i think there are -- seem to be there are less people on the street. >> how dangerous would you say the situation is?

>> well the situation directly around the hotel is relatively calm. 150 meters away from the hotel where things are happening. and we have been able to control the situation inside the hotel and directly in front. the situation could always change. we've been focusing on making sure the guests staying with us are secure. and that's successful so far. >> jan peter van der ree, good luck to you and those guests at the grand hyatt in istanbul. we'll stay in touch with you. this has been a remarkable day in istanbul. we want to share with you what we have seen over the past few hours. watch this. >> those are being shot directly into. there were thousands, tens of

thousands of demonstrators who were peaceful. again, we were standing right here when something like an altercation seemed to have broken out. that gas is coming towards us right now. but it still continues to be a pretty tense situation down here right now. difficult to tell what is happening inside the park itself from this vantage point. those demonstrators -- sorry. no idea what that was. >> nick paton walsh has more. what can you see from your vantage point right now, nick? >> reporter: what we have been seeing in the last few minutes are what looked like water canons firing in the direction of gezi park. we don't know what sparked this police move. did say there was some sort of altercation. so no specific reason why that itself would be cause to trigger such an enormous response by police.

>> reporter: in the park right now putting a gas mask on once again. because there's more tear gas being fired. people are really rallying together. as far as gassing of the tent city here. >> tear gas is really horrible. >> seeing these protesters now trying to move back up towards the square. and here you go. both bangs, not tear gas. but instead fireworks. >> did you think that the government would actually attack the way they did? >> yeah. today in the morning they were here. and then they go to -- and then they attacked. >> we're seeing people run away now again. scattering. it's not quite clear why we

haven't heard the familiar crack of tear gas again. but they're moving -- there we are. >> reporter: right now in the very front of the park. you can see people trying to help us out because of the tear gas. the entire front part of the park right now has been cleared out because of the intensity of what was just fired in. >> reporter: i think we're being saved by the wind here to a certain degree. the police -- no. i'm sorry. i'm going to have to move back in. it's too intense where i'm standing. lots of tear gas in the air. substantial police presence in the very center of the square itself. and of course that question remains what exactly is the end game here? >> some of what we saw in the past few hours. these are live pictures you're seeing right now. it's escalatinge inging big time. nick paton walsh is in taksim square. what's going on now?

>> reporter: a volley of fireworks being fired by protesters on the left of gezi park. taking opposition behind. then a volley shot in the direction of the police. didn't seem to actually reach the police. and now tear gas the standard police response is blowing towards our live position here as we speak. but now we're heading to about 2:00 in the morning local time here. and this standoff continues. the police haven't managed to make any headway down that side road towards protesters. their focus is that central park where the bulldozers are picking up a lot of debris and trying to cart it away. but the real question is what do they intend to do about that hard-core protest? there is tear gas blowing in here. difficult stuff to contend with.

it gets into your respiratory as well as your eyes. what i think the net effect of today for police has been to deprive protesters of much of the access to the area below the bureau where i've standing. to find a new front line between the police and protesters to the left of gezi park down that key concrete road. i think tom was explaining earlier on. and we still have of course people inside gezi park as well. the real issue is as the night goes on what do they intend to do about gaining further ground? about holding further ground? you probably will see numbers of protesters as things go by. people have jobs homes to go to in many ways. the question is how to police seem capitalized on what's been happening now? 18 hours we've watched these clashes. we have yet to see a concrete decisive plan by police to retain control. >> nick if the tear gas

continues, put on your gas mask. and we'll check back with you. stand by. nick paton walsh at taksim square. arwa damon is speaking with protesters at gezi park. we'll take a quick break. we'll go back to arwa after this. [ lorenzo ] i'm lorenzo. i work for 47 different companies. well, technically i work for one. that company, the united states postal service® works for thousands of home businesses. because at usps.com® you can pay, print and have your packages picked up for free. i can even drop off free boxes. i wear a lot of hats. well, technically i wear one. the u.s. postal service® no business too small. (announcer) born with a natural energy cycle... cats. they were born to play. to eat. then rest. to fuel the metabolic cycle they were born to have,

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approaching 2:00 a.m. in istanbul turkey right now. you're looking at live pictures of the demonstrations continuing. so is the tear gas. arwa damon is over at gezi park for us. arwa you're speaking to some eyewitnesses some protesters. i know you have someone you want to speak to. go ahead. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. i'm joined by tona. she's actually an economist.

she's been here -- she was just telling me -- from the first day the first tree was being torn down. let me ask this. the situation has changed so much since then. how did you guys who were here at the beginning adapt and learn how to deal with all of this? >> well you learn. i never stand in front of the police before. i'm not an activist. since i was 14 i stopped some people from tearing down trees. since then i've never been an activist. but this time it seems like the organizations, they asked to stop this. but it seems without any permission they started like at 1:00 on the 27th night toring down the trees. then people starting coming in. and i came in on the 28th morning and in front of us were the police. i thought within three days the government officials, the

municipality and so on they could come and talk to the people and settle this down. but it seems that these -- let's say these government official situations they do not work. >> reporter: obviously the situation right now has escalated to such a degree where it's about a lot more than that. >> after the third day, blackout for six days. and we started call inging cnn, bbc, and so on. the people who spoke english well. and we wrote some letters to eu. after the sixth day, everybody understood. i mean the international press, and they understood that something was going on here. >> reporter: so you heard the prime minister speak earlier today. >> yes. >> reporter: what is the solution to all of this right now? how does this end? >> the solution is to speak to the people basically. to speak to the people and say this is settled.

of course after the sixth day it became very political. because there were so different parties and it seemed like the government never listened to them and tried to solve their problems. then every organization joined the situation basically. but it started as a very very innocent nature-protecting activity basically. >> reporter: how does it make you feel to see this happening? turkey? i mean this is unprecedented in your lifetime. >> well it feels very unsecure at the moment. i trust my friends at the moment and nothing else. because the government officials they do not work. they cannot find a solution. it seems the international organizations, they cannot find any immediate solution at the moment and i am very sorry for this. >> reporter: what do you think is going to happen next? where does the country go from here? >> well i think somehow it will settle down. but we have to find -- i mean all of us all the citizens not

only the government offices, all the citizens have to sit down and tell the government what they would like to have in this country. it's not a matter of suppressing people. they have to listen listen listen. >> reporter: thank you so much for joining us. wolf that's been what we've been hearing a lot here. despite the fact that the government has been describing people as being extremists or a minority and a lot of people here are self-described professionals. they work during the day. they come out here at night. and their position towards the government as each day goes by the more violent it becomes. it becomes even more hardened. they are more determined to see this until the very end. >> it started off relatively modestly. but it's not so modest anymore. stand by. nick paton walsh is standing by as well. we'll take another quick break. we'll watch what's happening in istanbul, turkey right after this.

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sleep number. comfort individualized. visit sleepnumber.com to find one of our over 400 sleep number stores nationwide. in the past few minutes we've seen significant numbers of turkish riot police moving in with tear gas, water canon against protesters. nick paton walsh, tell our viewers what we're seeing right now. clearly over the past two or three minutes, this situation has escalated. >> reporter: absolutely. dramatic development here wolf. we have been wondering what the police would do about this group of protesters to the left of gezi park. the answer very clear. in the last two minutes they fired a substantial volley of tear gas towards them and have sent in now two armored

vehicles. we're seeing more tear gas being fired. water canons also at their is disposal now. this seems to be the move down the left of gezi park to push those protesters back. we don't know what their final strategy is but here's a water canon now being used. we're also seeing protesters trying to shine a green laser light presumably into the eyes of police to temporarily blind them. but we're seeing now large numbers of police moving down that street in that direction using these armored vehicles as cover. thick amounts of tear gas. actually obscureing a lot of what they're doing at this point, wolf. this does appear to be the next phase of the police operation to try and move down that side street, wolf. >> how close are you to what's going on down there? i see you're wearing a gas mask as well. >> reporter: about a couple of hundred meters looking straight

down onto those pictures you're seeing. the gas masks we're wearing up here simply because of the tear gas. the prevailing wind blows it towards us a lot of the time. hard to talk to you without them. now seeing one of those armored vehicles advancing towards the barricades. both of them in fact. a bulldozer coming in behind those two armored vehicles. i'm suspecting that's to assist in clearing the barricade. the mayor of istanbul did say they would unremitingly continue until this square was cleared. that's clearly what's happening right now. another appearing just below where i'm standing to clear further debris out of the way. but as that bulldozer moves in yet more tear gas. i mean just a constant barrage we're seeing now. a series of these bulldozers clearly the focus for police right now is to get rid of this debris. got about six hours, five hours until dawn.

maybe they want people to wake up and see where the protests are. the number of protesters as i can see. we don't know how many there have been. and but, dramatic scenes wolf we have seen in the last five minutes as they began to pile down that particular road wolf. >> yeah it is amazing. the police have the tear gas, water cannon bulldozers they have gas masks. hard for me to understand how the protesters can deal with this, nick. >> well many of these protesters in dealing with tear gas, experience from previous protests and police tactics as well. a lot of people have gas masks, a lot of make shift ways of dealing with tear gas, lemons,

water into the eyes. that won't help you with tear gas. you need a gas mask. many of them have them. we don't know how many remain behind the barricades. and i can see -- i can see, a lot of tear gas. and the excavators bulldozers moving in to push a lot of the debris that started to accrue there. it is clear the police are making their move against the barricades. the last hold out of protesters the left of gezi park. i think we are waiting to see. >> we just received a strong statement from the white house about what is going on in turkey including a warning for the turkish government. we'll read that statement to you. we'll get analysis stay with us. the breaking news continues right after this. l lose 3 sets of keys 4 cell phones 7 socks and 6 weeks of sleep but one thing you don't want to lose

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from the obama administration the white house reacting to what we have been covering in turkey. here is the statement -- we continue to follow events in turkey with concern and our interest remains supporting freedom of expression and assembly including the right to peaceful protests. we are concerned by any attempts to punish individuals for exercising their right to free speech as well as attempts by any party to provoke violence. we believe today's events reinforce the need to resolve this situation through dialogue. as we have said we believe that turkey's long-term stability, security and prosperity is best guaranteed by upholding the fundamental freedoms of expression assembly association and free and independent media. turkey is a close friend and ally of the united states we expect the turkish authorities to uphold these fundamental freedoms. the turkish analyst is with us. a strong statement from the white house, given the fact this is a nato ally of the united states the word "we expect the

turkish authorities to uphold these fundamental freedoms." >> it is in living memory the harshest the u.s. government has been of a nato ally i would say because the statement calls on the government in turkey to respect basic freedoms expression and assembly. it goes to the core of the problem. the core of the problem we are seeing in turkey liberal, secular, middle-class turks rise up to a conservative democratically elected authoritarian government telling the government "listen to us. hear our voice. take ow views into account." the government response has been a crackdown that violates assembly association, and media. the statement stands behind what is going on in turkey. even as demonstrations disappear. this time when they come back i think it will be a reconfigured turkey in which the middle secular class would have found democratic participation and street protests have realize they'd can do this. >> we still continue to see tear gas, bulldozers, walterter cannons,

the demonstrations continuing the riot police in turkey responding forcefully approaching 2:00 a.m. in istanbul. that's it for me. the extent of our coverage. stay with cnn for more breaking news. i am wolf blitzer in "the situation room" and erin burnett, "out front" starts after this. of course i had no idea what it was. i felt like my feet were going to sleep. it progressed from there to burning like i was walking on hot coals... to like 1,000 bees that were just stinging my feet. i have a great relationship with my doctor... he found lyrica for me. [ female announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new

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"outfront" text -- breaking news. turkey erupting into violence. reporters struggling against tear gas just to tell the story. we'll take you there live for the latest. plus a hint from hillary, what some people believe is her first twitter post and the real meaning behind it. and the u.s. government building a case against mr. edward snowden. what charges might the nsa liker face? let's go "outfront." hello, i'm ashleigh banfield. i am in for