be the voice of peace so they can move on in this investigation. what did you hear on the streets? >> there were people out here. community activists. there were some folks wearing t-shirts that said peace keepers. as it got close to the at which point they were going to enact this curfew, it was time to go home. some of them had bull horns. some of them were talking to protesters one on one. and it looked like the majority of people were saying we're going now, we'll be back tomorrow. so throughout this week there have been community members, civic leaders who were trying to use gentle persuasion to get people to listen to the police, to get them to act in a peaceful manner, to respect this community. and they were out here again tonight. and they were doing what they could to get people to adhere to this curfew order.

>> it's the top of the hour. steve, if you could, please stand by. we want to reset for our viewers here in the united states and around the world. the situation we continue to monitor in ferguson, missouri. you're looking at live pictures there of police in position. they have used smoke, we understand, just a few minutes ago, and it seems they are continuing to do that. to disperse the crowds. here's the timeline. just about an hour ago this curfew went into effect. we have live pictures from many different angles and it seemed for the time that things remained peaceful. then about 20, 25 minutes into the curfew our reporter steve kastenbaum, who remains on the phone with us, steve told us that there was a confrontation between a group of protesters, maybe 100, $200 protesters and police. we saw from our live pictures police started to advance. then they started to use smoke to disperse the crowds, donning their masks. we have seen from affiliate video that even some protesters had gas masks, possibly prepared

for something like this. steve kastenbaum joins us now live by phone. steve, if you could tell us the very latest as what you're seeing right now. >> reporter: not much movement in front of us here. there's a line of police in riot gear, helmets, shields, vests, some of them wearing full body armor. we did see police officers holding assault rifles, and they are standing behind the five or six armored vehicles. we've seen these armored vehicles out here in the past during this week. last night they were involved in a standoff with protesters. and the police slowly and in unison started moving towards the demonstrators who were advancing in this direction. throughout the night they've been blasting through loudspeakers, messages telling them that there is a curfew in effect, that they were violating that curfew and that if they did not clear the streets they were risking arrest. for a while there was just a pretty uneventful standoff.

hold on just one second. listening to an announcement again. the officer on the loudspeaker saying you must clear the streets immediately, if you do not you will be subject to arrest. the protesters, we're told about 150 to 200 of them, were defying the order, were saying they had the constitutional right to protest peacefully. then we saw these vehicles moving toward the demonstrators and we're at a standoff right now here in ferguson. this has been the avenue where all of the demonstrations have been taking place this week since the michael brown shooting happened. just a few blocks from here, actually. >> and we're trying to look through the police officers on our two live shots we have for you now to see if people are still in the street. i can't see them. we could see them earlier. and many people putting their arms up, which has become the

symbol for people upset about the shooting of this unarmed teenager. michael brown puttingar their arms up and saying don't shoot. earlier today when this curfew was announced the reaction from some in the community was there's going to be no quiet in the streets, no one's going to sleep until there is justice. others saying 12:00 midnight is a problem on any day, this is a saturday night after a week of emotions and volatility after what has happened. but it's actually pretty remarkable, isn't it, steve, that so many people have been out in the streets before and on this night most are not there. we want to say. just 150 to 200 people that want to defy this curfew. but most have heeded the encouragement from the community

and stayed away. and it looks even like the rain is subsiding now and that -- earlier you were saying hopefully that is what's also keeping people home. >> reporter: yeah. and if i could interject here, there's a line of police in armored vehicles have advanced much further down the avenue right now towards the demonstrators. it's very difficult to tell from our vantage point whether there are demonstrators still out there at that distance or if they've backed off. we did hear what sounded like some sort of high-pitched tone or audible tone at a very high pitch being blasted in that direction. we do know these type of crowd control armored vehicles do have an array of tactics they can deploy. some of them being very -- sometimes painful audible high-pitched tone that they'll

blast and that might have been that. we're hearing again the message on the loudspeakers being blasted toward the protesters, they must clear the streets. if they do not they're risking arrest. i don't see any more smoke canisters being fired in their direction. again we were told by police officials they were not using tear gas, that the canisters we saw flying through the air were just smoke. we're seeing a secondary line of police officers in riot gear being strung out across west fluorescent avenue here in ferguson right now. taking up a defensive position it looks like from one side of the street to the other. while their colleagues are much further ahead of them now, more than a football field's length ahead of them. here advancing down the avenue through this community. it's hard to say what's going on beyond the lines here now. we really can't see the

demonstrators from this vantage point now. >> we can't either. we can see the armored vehicle there moving in. and you said earlier, did you not, steve, that you believe that there were different police officers representing different forces supporting this curfew. did you say that? >> yeah. the police officers we saw here tonight -- in fact, we saw for the first time police officers from st. louis metropolitan police department in their light blue shirts. were taking part here. but we've seen police officers from multiple jurisdictions, state highway patrol, the county, other surrounding communities. what they call this is a mutual aid situation, which means that the local police department needs help from other police jurisdictions. and -- excuse me. as we've been reporting throughout this, the governor gave control of the situation to the state highway patrol.

so that's the organization at the top here and organizing this, controlling what takes place. and throughout the week we saw a variety of tactics being employed. a wide variety of tactics. at some stage here, on some days we didn't see any police officers out here at all. and the community was self-policing. but last night was definitely a turning point. 24 hours ago we were watching looting taking place here while a large number of demonstrators were involved in a standoff with this same line of riot police the night before. so i think a lot of people have said enough is enough, this has got to stop, this can't keep going on night after night into the late-night hours. it sounds like off in the distance we're hearing smoke canisters being fired again. not seeing the smoke clouds, but definitely hearing what sounds like the same sound we heard when the smoke canisters were fired earlier. >> and steve, just to point this

out, a slight discrepancy that i'm seeing on social media, that people are saying it's tear gas. but according to our confirmed information from you on the ground it is smoke that's being dispersed. just to make sure that our viewers understand what they're seeing there. smoke canisters that are being thrown and smoke to clear the protesters there from the streets. steve, can you talk to us just about the neighborhoods down fluorescent? the people who have homes, the people who have businesses near this street. what's it like for them night after night after night, this unrest? you've got to imagine they're hoping for some peace, a peaceful night at some point. >> reporter: for several nights in a row many of the people who were out in the streets demonstrating were those same people who live on these streets. this is their community and they're very upset over this shooting. and the way that the information was released subsequently. so they were out here night after night with their families. by the way, again hearing some

more of those burst that's we heard earlier when the smoke canisters were fired. they were out here, and they were angry and they wanted answers and they wanted justice, they said. and they were out here last night as well. but tonight there weren't as many of them here. almost none of the community members who live in this area were out here tonight. it was mostly young people, high school age, teenagers, and people in their young 20s. i saw very few of the faces that i had been seeing on the previous nights and we'd gotten to know some of these community members. they weren't out here in large numbers tonight. 'll and after last night's looting, the previous looting that took place 24 hours ago or a little bit more, they were very upset. they were not happy to see what was happening to their community. and they were saying to us enough is enough, this can't go on like this, people have to respect their community. they definitely were still

angry. they still wanted answers. they wanted to protest and demonstrate. they weren't happy with how this investigation was being handled. but at the same time they were not happy with the way -- and very angry, quite frankly, with the way a small nuv agitators were disrespecting their community and looting the businesses here. so i don't know if the fact they didn't show up here tonight, the local residents didn't show up here tonight, was because of the rain or because they felt they'd had enough, but there were not a large number of local area residents out here at a late hour tonight because we had gotten to know the faces of the people who live here and i just didn't see them here tonight. >> glad you pointed that out because that means from your vantage point that many of the local people did as they were asked to do, stay home. and who knows where these young people that you say you talked with earlier, came from different regions or different areas of the city, to just make a stand or if they're from that

neighborhood. but either way, there are up to 200 people that were defying this curfew in the past hour. we're over an hour now. and it looks, steve, as if some of the police officers when we see the camera just panning around or standing firm and looking down the street, others seem to be milling about. kind of nonchalant. not looking as though they're seeing any possible danger. what are you seeing? now you're farther away. what would you say about that as far as the tension or not tension. >> i think we're in a lull right now, quite honestly. i haven't heard the announcement coming over the bullhorns lately in the last couple of minutes. and from this distance it would be difficult for us to heart protesters as well. i can't say with any certainty how many still remain. but they have pushed their line

much further down west florissant avenue toward a more residential part of this avenue before it picks up with businesses again. in fact, they are down right in front of the qt gas station and convenience store where we have been broadcasting from for several days. that's the gas station that on the first night of disturbances was looted and was very much destroyed. you probably are familiar with the images we were seeing during our protests through the last couple of days. and it looks from our vantage point that that's where this battle line is right now. it's really difficult from where we are now to get a good check of what's going on up in front of us. >> well, hopefully it is as you say, a lull. maybe because the people are backing down.

we haven't seen them from this vantage point, and we were, about 45 minutes ago. clearly we could ko see them when this curfew started taking effect. there were definitely people out there. and just appearing to be defiant from their gestures not backing off when the police were firing the smoke, still standing there. we just can't see them but that doesn't confirm -- >> our camera man is motioning to me looking at our picture it seems like we're getting some images of people that have been arrested. we're very fortunate to have a long lens on our camera here that can see way off in the distance, and it's looking -- >> we're seeing it now. >> some people have been arrested, at least one we saw going to a van here and appeared to be in handcuffs. so we can say there's definitely been at least one arrest but

possibly more. are you seeing this image? >> we are seeing it now. >> you are seeing this now. in that van we did see at least one person, possibly more going in in handcuffs. so we're seeing the police are now making arrests. can't tell you how many. we are now seeing some smoke off to the right side of where this confrontation is taking place. and you can see that now. it's rising from about the vicinity of where the qt gas station and convenience store is situated. i have no way of knowing where that smoke is coming from precisely and where it is, why we are seeing smoke. but we are seeing smoke rising in the area there now. again, we're at such a distance it's really hard to say what that smoke is coming from, whether it's fire, whether it's from smoke canisters or another source. we did see some arrests being

effected here. not seeing a lot of police activity. not hearing much on the announcement of the loudspeakers at this point. >> we did see a man and a woman from the best we can tell being put into vans that have handcuffs on. >> from what we can tell from the vantage point this camera has a lens that's able to see at great distances, we did see at least one person, possibly more, going into a van. a police van. we're trying to get an idea of what's going on here. if you can give me a second here. >> steve, we can. why don't you take a moment, just stay on the phone with us. but if you need to take a moment, we'll do a reset here for our viewers. just stay on the line with us. we'll come to you in a moment. but for our viewers here in the united states and around the world, we want you to know that we are looking at live pictures in ferguson, missouri right now. just about an hour 16 minutes ago a curfew went into effect. central time there. a curfew went into effect in

ferguson to make sure people basically cleared the streets. you'll remember there's been night after night after night of unrest. the hope tonight was that things would remain calm. about 20 minutes into that curfew we saw police officers start to advance. we understand from our reporter that there was a confrontation between police and protesters. about 200, natalie, protesters, correct? >> yeah. 150 to 200. >> and it seems that police started to advance. then we noticed smoke canisters, according to our reporter, being thrown into the crowds to disperse the crowds. things seem to have calmed down since. remember the officials in charge said they would not use tear gas. and again, our reporter saying instead they used smoke. smoke to disperse the crowds. the rain still coming down there. initially people thought, you know, that that might be a deterrent. there was a big crowd out there tonight. it seems at this point that things are calming down. and according to steve

kastenbaum, there have been arrests. >> seeing this man who's walking here. a camera is on him. not sure. can't remember who he is. but he's been interviewed i think before. can't confirm that. trying to appeal for peace. we don't know. he was just walking. it seemed like all the cameras were trained on him for a moment. we haven't heard from any local officials since this curfew began. 'll police are in charge of this right now. >> and we're trying to line up some -- an interview or get some informi information from local officials. but let's bring our reporter steve kastenbaum back with us by phone there on the ground in ferguson. steve, if you could tell us what you're seeing at this point and any new information you could update us on. >> as this thing has worked -- the rain is coming down very heavily again. so that could impact what's going on down the road from us. it's unclear. there may are been an incident in front of us.

we did see some legal observers running down the avenue in their direction. we were trying to ask what happened. it's not really clear. we don't have any official information from police officials but the legal observers as they were running by us -- and again, we do not have this confirmed from authorities so we do have to check on this but there is a report of somebody possibly being shot. we don't know if that had to do anything -- had anything to do with this standoff. it could have been a separate incident. whatever happened, we did see some commotion here. legal observers running in a direction. so we do have to check on that and we have to be very clear about this, that we do not have that information confirmed. so it's something that we want to check on. again, though, we do know that there were arrests that had been taking place. we were able to see this through our camera. some people, at least one, possibly more being put in the back of a van in handcuffs. and the rain now coming down

even heavier here in ferguson. so that's clearly going to have an impact on what's going on a significant distance away from us now. the police line's been pushed much more forward. just heard a loud bang just now. very loud bang. and a flash. not clear what that was. but we had seen smoke rising down to the side of where this conversation is taking place. the rain is just really coming down right now. >> we can see it. >> reporter: it's a very confusing moment for us here because it's hard to tell exactly what's taking place further up. clearly the rain is going to be an issue for both the police and the protesters who are defying, continue to defy in curfew here in ferguson. >> steve, want to interrupt real quick. pardon us. natalie, you're seeing some things on video. >> it just appeared there might have been a couple more people walking in handcuffs. really can't confirm that because with this rain, as you

say, steve, it's going to get a little more confusing. harder to see. what about that smoke you were seeing in the distance? >> reporter: yeah, the visibility has gone down a little bit because of the rain now. so it's hard to tell whether or not whatever that smoke whether it dissipated or not. i haven't seen any fire trucks coming through. i have not seen any fire trucks coming through. and i have not heard sirens, either. so it's hard to say. could have been more smoke canisters that went off. it's just really difficult to say at this point. >> we want to take a moment, steve, to reset again. so if you need to take a moment as well, we will be back to you momentarily. please stand by. but for our viewers just joining us on cnn, you're looking at live pictures from ferguson, missouri. the rain coming down heavily. the rain may act as a deterrent along with police officers who have used smoke canisters to

disperse the crowds. >> and you've been seeing on social media, we've been seeing on social media some people reporting through social media that they were using tear gas, and that is erroneous. officers there on the street said this is smoke. and steve also heard them using a very high-pitched tone. something else he pointed out is in their arsenal to try to get people to back off and to move away from the police officers. they have been steadily walking down this street, which has been the flash-point for the past week, steadily moving in very slowly. truck moving in very slowly. some people on the front lines there of the line looking down the street, holding their positions firm. and other police officers kind of just walking nonchalantly behind them. there are members from the st. louis metropolitan police taking part and trying to keep control tonight of this curfew. the state highway patrol is part

of if. they're calling it mutual aid. they've all come together to try tone force this curfew. so far an hour and a half in we've seen just a sprinkling of people in handcuffs being put in vans. some smoke coming up. one totally unkochld repoconfir of a possible gunfire. >> and steve is checking that out to find out if that is indeed the case. we want to confirm it. but i want to point out what you mentioned a minute ago. it seemed like a smaller group out there tonight. many of the community members, people who were told to stay home, stayed home. a lot of people did follow this curfew, but it seemed like there was a smaller but determined number of people who came out and wanted to violate that curfew. in fact, we saw on an affiliate feed one person who showed up there with a gas mask on, clearly ready in case tear gas was used. again, as we understand from our reporter, tear gas is not being

used. it is smoke. >> and of course this is a predominantly black area. and from the best i could tell the two people being put in the van were white. so perhaps there were -- there have been white people out here standing with the community in protests. but that might be an indicator that people from different areas did come in to the community tonight to defy this curfew. we'll wait and see who's been arrested. but the good news is from what we can tell these have been peaceful arrests. >> and steve kastenbaum joins us on the phone. steve, please stand by with this. just so you know, i'll have my raincoat out tomorrow. i'll be joining you. i was there a week ago and i remember how quickly things can change. one minute it's peaceful and then a flash-point and all of a sudden there's a different situation. is that how it played out tonight, people were honoring the curfew and suddenly a

confrontation? >> reporter: right. let's take you back even beyond the point when the curfew -- >> let's transition here. we're going to listen in to alderman french giving information. >> what was that like? were you in the midst of that group? >> yeah, sure, sure. >> what were they yelling? >> well, first we were talking to them. just trying to get them to go home. some of them did. we let them know that, you know, this is not necessarily a government-imposed curfew, that we as community leaders have worked with them to come up with this for the safety of everyone. and that we'll all be back out here 6:00 in the morning and we can protest all day. >> when they were holding out and continuing to encroach this way, what was it they wanted to get across? >> you know, some of the guys didn't want to be told to leave. they felt like it was a violation of their rights. and that's their right. >> do you think there was a disproportionate use of force today by the police?

>> no. i mean, compared to what we've seen earlier this week i don't think so. it looks like they've been -- they've been pretty cautious, i think. i think the use of tear gas from afar to get the last few to disperse was a lot better than going in with armed -- basically armed troops like the previous folks did. >> did you see anybody hurt? >> i did not. >> on either side. >> i did not see anybody hurt. i wasn't that close i guess to be able to see if anybody was hurt. >> [ inaudible ]. >> maybe 50, 60. >> and there was a report of someone who was shot. you have not seen any injury? >> i saw something on twitter about it but i don't have any information. >> the police told me it was smoke and not tear gas that was fired. >> well, i heard that too. it definitely burned. when it was shot into the crowd. i was already in my car with the windows up.

having gone through this a few times, i know where to be. but she was out there and she got a bit of it. i opened up my door and she jumped in and her eyes were burning. so i don't know if that's the smoke or what but -- >> can you describe to me the tension and what it felt like when you were in the midst of that? >> i maean, we work very hard o that group all day long. folks from the nation of islam, some community leaders, religious leaders, we spent a lot of time with that group. there was no convincing them. they wanted to be out here. and if they wanted to be arrested or if they wanted to do civil disobedience, i think this is the best case scenario of just the tear gas. >> when you get the feeling there's no convincing them. >> well, i wanted to be here to

make sure that it was done prop properly. and already the senator and some others stayed and so i wanted to make sure they were okay. >> there's been complaints there were limits of the press and freedom of assembly. can you comment on what type of freedoms have been curtailed here in ferguson tonight. >> tonight? >> [ inaudible ]. >> is this the umbrella? >> looking at live pictures in ferguson, missouri from affiliate kmov. the rain coming down there after what seemed to be a night of unrest yet once again. the curfew went into effect about an hour and 30 minutes ago in ferguson, missouri. initially it did seem like police were able to take control of the streets, but then about 20 minutes into that curfew natalie and i watched here through these cnn affiliate

video feeds that there was -- seemed to be a confrontation according to our reporter as well. between police and protesters. then we saw police advance. they were in their riot gear. they had gas masks at one point. then they started to throw smoke canisters into the crowd. >> right. and that's all we have heard, that they are only firing smoke, that that's all they have done. and used a high-pitched tone. we want to point out antonio french, the alderman standing there in the rain. he's who we saw earlier walking across the street to the cameras to talk. he has been out there, as he said, trying to tell people you can come out and protest in the morning all you want, you can stay out all day, they're just trying to keep the peace at night after a night of looting, they just want to protect that community and protect the neighborhood. and he -- i had fewer numbers for us. he said about 50 to 60 out there who were defying this curfew,

just did not want to give it up to the police officers earlier. again, we have seen a few people being put into vans, being arrested. have no idea how many, though, or how many just left. but the police have steadily moved down this street. the rain has started again. and we have it -- there's so far that we can't see how much are perhaps on the other side still outside. >> and we did see arrests just a few minutes ago. we saw a few people being loaded into a truck. it seems that some arrests have happened in this case. cnn is working to confirm to find out how many people, who was arrested in this case. our reporter also telling us that he heard shots fired at one point. so we're trying to figure out what exactly might have happened there. there's a very unconfirmed report and we're working on this to see if someone might have been shot. we're trying to confirm that for you. and as we do confirm it we'll bring you that information. >> let's bring back in our reporter who's there. steve kastenbaum for us.

you've been out there for many hours. whoops. we just lost him, sorry, but we'll re-establish contact with steve. he's been standing out in the rain and in the -- >> very diligent, yeah. >> pouring again. really trying to follow what's been going on. at first the police were right there next to our team but our team is well back. we thank the crew for staying with us. george is out there and you're going tomorrow. they're out there trying to keep those cameras zoomed in to help everyone get a feel for what the situation is on this night where it is 1:30 in the morning central time. that is in st. louis that this is occurring. i want to point out all the hundreds, some reports of thousands of people who've been out. there has been chaos. there has been violence. there has been looting. but on this curfew evening, hour and a half in, the alderman there, mr. french, said just 50 to 60 people standing out there

and not even knowing if they are from this immediate neighborhood. of course anyone can come out and defy the curfew if they want. but steve pointing out he's got-tone know the locals, the same people out there and he has not seen them on this evening when they've been asked to stand down. and he's not seeing the people that he has seen on the nights before. >> i think it's important to put the context here as well. you i was out there a week ago. i'll be back tomorrow. but when you see the images, people who are out there, you see the looting, you see the people who are defying the curfew, it's always a smaller number. it's a smaller number than the people who come out to protest. the people who want to do so peacefully. the people who want to voice their opinions. many people believe an injustice happened here and they want answers into the shooting death of michael brown at the hands of a ferguson police officer. it just takes a few people to cause chaos, unfortunately. and we've seen that.

but i want foint out that a lot of peaceful people, vocal people, peaceful people have come out to make sure their message is known. and again, seems to be a younger crowd as well. some people defy the curfew. some people come out to loot. the other day it was poignant to see community members standing in front of the store to block looters from getting in there, to stop people from undermining the message that many people are rallying behind. again putting this into context, it's important to watch the investigation play out. the police will start to release more information about what happened. and hopefully people will have a better sense of how this is going to play out. >> i want to ask you, since you were assigned to go there shortly after this happened, what were you feeling on the street as you were walking around as far as safety, as people coming out angry as

opposed to those going over the edge? >> you know, it was a tense situation. absolutely tense. myself and photojournalist jordan gazardo, we were two people out there just watching the situation, getting a sense of what was happening. you saw some people who had bull horizon. you saw some people who came out to be very vocal, to even stand in front of police officers and yell and say look, this is wrong, we want answers, nothing wrong with that. that is protesting. but then we also started to see a younger group of people come in, smaller group but a younger group of people. we saw looting. again, these are people who in many ways undermine that message that others are trying to make. trying to get answers for the shooting. nothing wrong with peaceful legal protests. >> absolutely. >> but looting is illegal. and that certainly caused a heavy-handed police response. >> right. and we can see it up close. it was just so sad to see that. when that happens. people running into the liquor

star, coming out with things. and the people that were trying to stand there and block it, like don't do this to our own community. let's go back now. we have re-established contact with steve kastenbaum, who's been standing out in the rain for many hours. from your vantage point what can you tell us about what's going on right now? >> reporter: the police lines have advanced along west florissant avenue much further out away from our vantage point here. it's really difficult to see what's going on. it appears we have not seen large numbers of police coming back. so we can only presume they're still there, facing off with the remaining demonstrators who are there. the alderman, who represents one of the communities here in ferguson, did come back out and said there was a conversation with these police, these riot police and demonstrators who said they just wanted to exercise their right to protest peacefully and they felt that the curfew violated that right. i was not able to listen to

everything that the alderman said. i was out of earshot from him. so i did not get all the information that he brought back to us here. but i tell you that the police are still up there, down the avenue from our vantage point and we're still seeing police. not hearing much at this point because the rain is impeding our ability to hear. we had seen smoke rising from an area back in this part of the community where the face-off is taking place. i have not seen fire trucks advancing in that area p . so i don't know what that smoke was. but we also know that at least a few people were arrested. we did see them going into vans in handcuffs through our long lens on our camera. so they have been making arrests. >> also we should point out there have been no confirmed reports of any injuries on this evening. again, one hour 36 minutes in

some people were out there trying to defy this curfew. we did hear from antonio french, the alderman, who has been out there before. he's been a voice trying to tell the community, look, let's go along with this curfew, let's bring peace to the streets, let's stop the looting, let's stop the wrecking of our own neighborhood, and you can come back in the morning. i think he said 6:00. i thought it was 5:00. but maybe it's 6:00 a.m. and you can protest all you want all day. hopefully his voice came through. he's been out there before working hard in his position to try to be one of the voices that appeals for calm in such understandably tense emotional week for the people of ferguson, the friends and the family as well of michael brown, who was killed over a week ago. an 18-year-old, unarmed.

and no word on where the officer is. obviously in hiding. and his wife, who lived about 30 minutes away from this neighborhood. she was also -- or excuse me p the woman he lived with who's also a police officer as well. >> steve, i want to give you just a minute to reset as well if you wanted to get some news gathering and any new information. but if you'd stay on the phone with us, if you'd stand by. one thing we want to point out, natalie, we're hearing from the alderman that the number was lower. 50 to 60 people as opposed to what we've heard, about 100, 200. so i'm sure there are a lot of people in a lot of places. i'm sure it's hard to square the circle on who else is out there. but from what we've seen in these live pictures it does seem like it's a significant group of people out there defying the curfew. >> if you're just joining us, we want to reiterate again because at first over an hour ago when it looked like okay, police were waiting it out at first and our reports were that it was quiet. but then that small crowd

gathered and they started to walk down the street, you know, behind their shields and in trucks. then at some point they got down on their knees and put their gas masks on. we had reports of gas canisters but apparently we've been told it was just smoke fired through the air. there was a barrage, a volley of smoke. we could not see through the smoke at one point. people were still out there but steadily as they have walked down the street. we can't see if there are many people there, but we want to reiterate again, no reports of injuries as of yet. >> and let's hope we don't hear of any more injuries. it's been a very volatile situation the last several days. and to point out also what you were mentioning as far as they threw smoke. remember, we heard from captain ronald johnson, reiterating to people that they would not use tear gas, they would not use a heavy-handed approach. he kept his word.

i mean, they used smoke, according to our reporter, used smoke. let's see if we have video of that. now we do. you can see the smoke there. this is from earlier. that police used to disperse the crowd. a crowd of between 50 tore 60 to maybe 100 or so. we'll have to figure out the numbers there. but certainly a determined group of people who came out to violate this curfew. >> this was over an hour ago, this video that you're seeing when they first started firing this barrage of smoke canisters. they were also using high-pitched tones at one point. that's so irritating it would cause people perhaps to back away. and right now these live pictures we're seeing, this is the first shot, again, we can't tell from where this is and where it's going. that's just traffic going down the street. that's the first time we've seen that in a while. don't know if that's just a

different camera angle from a camera different places. we are bringing you some of these pictures from our cameras. some of our affiliates, as you can see here. kstk. so we're getting different vantage points from different media that's part of our system here at cnn. >> let's check with our control room. do we have steve back? steve, if we can bring you back in. it does seem like the streets are quieter now. is that the case from what you're seeing on the ground? >> reporter: it's really hard to tell what's going on up where the confrontation was taking place. it's gotten much further away from us as the police advanced on the demonstrators that were there. i do want to point out when this started there were 150 to 200 people out on the street in ferguson on the avenue here. so initially when the curfew went into effect there was that number of people out here. presumably because the alderman came back and told us there was i smaller number defying the order, we can only presume that

a lot of people we saw earlier decided to go home, turn around and leave. i just want to make sure we're making a distinct that when the curfew went into effect there was a larger crowd of people who initially didn't leave. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: we're trying to hear what's going on out there. we're hearing reports of people coming out of the crowd. we were feeding in some video, some interviews we did with witnesses who were up there who were coming back in our direction. i'm not sure if we have that tape ready to go but when we do let me know and we'll play some of that. right now we're not getting much information at all to what's going on up there. we're being left to just observe what we can, what little we can see now with our lenses because they're so far away. >> just seeing a different angle there. some police gathered around what looked to be a boarded up hair salon. there's that shot again.

just standing there. >> just so you know for shurz here in the united states and around the world you're looking at many different angles from many different affiliates. cnn has several affiliates there in the st. louis area. we are very thankful to use their live pictures to show you, many different angles covering the situation all over. what's happening in ferguson, missouri. and right now it does seem like things are a little calmer. >> perhaps they're just getting there to be out of the rain. maybe that's the only reason. yes. so coming up on two hours, and as our reporter steve is saying over and over again he can't tell. for their safety our camera crews are staying back. we've seen a lot of media walking around. some with still cameras and such. but our crews are staying back, staying back away from any potential flashpoints. but can't really tell if the

streets have quieted down. all we can say is over an hour ago we could see people through the police line and now we really haven't been able to see anyone except police officers in the different angle that we are getting as the rain continues to pour as it did last night and as it did earlier in this curfew. so hopefully, without any confirmation, but hopefully these quiet streets that we can see right now are reflecting the fact that most people have gone home. earlier when we were listening in, all the audio was turned up. you could hear police making announcements. we haven't heard any announcements. you can see police in the street. really can't see them right now. so hopefully this is reflecting that it is mainly a peaceful situation. as the clock ticks on in the middle of the night there saturday thiet. 1:45 in the morning in ferguson. and if you're just joining us,

this is the city where over a week ago an unarmed black teenager, michael brown, was shot by an officer with the county police and was killed after reportedly being in a convenience store and walking out without paying some cigars. and that has left this community, these people just extremely angry and upset and wanting to have some answers today. as we've been reporting, some 40 fbi agents came into this community from around the country to investigate. there's questions about whether there should be a special prosecutor put on this case from somewhere outside this immediate region because of the volatility and the emotions and such. 40 agents there going door to door knocking on doors, interviewing people that were in the area so they can continue to

move forward, figuring out what happened because there's so much we don't know. there are conflicting reports between the police report some 13 pages that were presented on friday and those of witnesses that said michael brown was backing off and putting his arms up in the air, still somehow was shot dead. >> important to point out we know brown shot by a ferguson police officer. and the one thing that people have criticized the department about is how quickly or slowly people would say they have released information. what they did release, though, recently inflamed a lot of people. it was surveillance video of allegedly brown inside a convenience store, a nearby ferguson store where apparently police say he was involved in a strong-armed robbery. that video was released. what has not been released are the details and information leading up to the shooting.

if you look at that, a lot of people are saying, hey, why are you releasing this have the victim? why aren't you releasing the information about the shooting? that has certainly outraged a lot of people. it led to unrest the other day. and tonight we're seeing some people who said, you know, we're not going to abide by this curfew, we are going to stay out here and we're going to violate it. >> yeah. so 13 pages i mentioned, george, were of this incident that happened at the convenience store and many people pointed out, his family members, that they weren't about the shooting itself. >> the family's been very clear they want no violence. they don't want any looting. they just want the process to play out, to get answers. >> and again, can't imagine what they're going through. again, this was a young man, unarmed, who his mother has reiterated over and over they got him through high school in an area where you have a dropout rate, there's many poor people in this area, they got him through high school and he was going on to college when this

terrible event happened just a few days ago. >> if we have earlier video, let's take a moment to look at this here. you can hear that there. the smoke canisters that were basically fired into the crowd. a crowd of some -- about 100 or so people. we're getting information on that. but obviously that was used to disperse the crowds. you'll remember that captain ronald johnson told people, promised people that police would not use tear gas, that police would not use heavy-handed tactics. and again, it's important to point out that police keeping their word there, using smoke canisters to disperse the crowds. and it seems at this point, an hour and 48 minutes into this situation, that police are getting more control of the streets there.

>> yes. and reports and some response from the community was, well, this is saturday night and you're asking us to clear the streets at midnight. on any day that would be perhaps a difficult thing to pull off. but apparently, for the most part the community has complied. and as our reporter steve kastenbaum had said earlier, as soon as the curfew took place there were still upwards of 150 people there but just a few minutes in the people that had started off in the streets, that number came down to 50 or 60 according to a local alderman antonio french. perhaps we can cue back up that tape in a few moments and play for you his comments. he came out to the comments standing in the rain and was talking about the fact that he was telling people, police go home now. you can come back when it's daylight and protest all you want with the signs you want and say what you want. but now is not the time because

after so many days of unrest they want to try to bring the peace back to this community as the governor said when he was announcing this curfew earlier today. he said we've got to have peace before we can move forward toward justice. >> so cnn covering this story from many different angles. we have many different live video feeds coming from our affiliates showing you this situation on florissant street. just what's happening there on the ground. our newsroom is working to figure out how many people might have been arrested in the situation. we saw some images of people, you know, being loaded into trucks. so that's something we're looking into. and now let's go live to our reporter steve kastenbaum, who is there on the ground to tell us exactly what he's seeing there right now. steve. >> reporter: we haven't gotten any sort of update from police. we want to get some official word from police officers here as to what's taking place in front of us. it's really hard to say whether

or not there are still any holdout demonstrators. when the alderman came back to us here, the local representative came back here from what we can only describe as the front lines here, this confrontation between riot police and steadfast demonstrators who weren't going to leave, he told us that it came down to about 50 or 60 demonstrators who they just were not able to convince to obey this curfew and go home. and they were saying that they were exercising their constitutional right to demonstrate peacefully and they felt that this curfew violated that right. the alderman said that despite what we saw as far as very heavy police presence, strong police presence -- by the way, i have to tell you that we're starting to see police officers pulling back here. these are not the same riot police that we saw earlier. these were police officers who were and are in plain clothes

but wearing bulletproof vests that say "police" on them. so we're not seeing those armored vehicles coming back through here. i can't say whether they're still up there. but we are seeing some police officers pulling back now. so it's possible that this is winding down. but i can't say for sure because we've yet to receive any sort of official word from police officials here at this forward command center here. so again, the alderman said there was a group of 50 or 60 demonstrators who they were just not able to convince to go home. and that's when we saw the five or six armored vehicles moving in and dozens and dozens if not over 100 police officers in riot gear somewhere in body armor moving if on them. and we saw smoke canisters being fired at them. public address announcements being made telling them that they were risking arrest if they defied this curfew order and did

not get out of the streets. it really does look like a significant number of the police officers are pulling back now. so we're not hearing any loud noises up in the distance anymore. we're not seeing smoke. so it is possible that this confrontation is winding down. >> right now as you're talking we're seeing a police officer there in the corner. there he goes. helmet in one hand, shield in the other. and he's just walking with both of them now. so that's a very, very promising sign. you mentioned the command center. did they give you updates or is it up to the media to go over there and inquire as to what the situation is? >> reporter: here's the situation. we are at a parking lot in front of the ferguson market and liquor store that's been a flash point here. it's also the store where the surveillance tape originated that seemed to show according to police michael brown taking part in a strong-armed robbery. this is where they asked the

media to gather if they were going to stay in ferguson beyond the curfew. and if we went beyond the parking lot we were told it wouldn't be guaranteed that we couldn't be arrested depending on what happened beyond this point. so this is where we elected to stay because we wanted to be able to continue to bring this story through the night. about half a mile behind us is a much larger command center and a staging area where there's a very large command work. multiple agencies. police agencies and other agencies from missouri have taken over a parking lot at a target shopping center and they've been use lighting that as the main command post. we're sort of at a forward area. behind us is a much more robust staging and command post where police have been guiding this operation, have been leading this operation. so it's possible there's more information being released there. but where we are we haven't been

given any official statements from police. >> and earlier we could definitely hear noise in the streets. saw the police presence. how would you describe the sounds around you as far as just the noise level of that being a gauge of the situation? >> it was pretty tense as the police came through here. they were lined up in military style. several officers deep with their batons in one hand, shields in the other. some of them were holding what appeared to be automatic rifles and most of them were wearing helmets, kevlar, bulletproof vests. some of them had on fatigues. these protesters that did come out, said that did burned their eyes but officials said it was not tear gas, it was just smoke.

it was somewhat confusing because we couldn't tell specifically what was going on since the riot police advanced on these demonstrators, they had the right to stay here, they weren't going to move. so we're still waiting for official word as it appears this is winding down. more police officers coming back to this sort of forward command area. >> smiling and talking about looking quite nonchalant there with the gait of their walk. >> steve, can you tell us about tomorrow? are there any planned protests you know of? >> well, we know there's going to be a march here. to ferguson during the day. that's been widely publicized. we are still anticipating that taking place. but we're getting some sort

of -- is it all right with you if i break away from here? >> absolutely. steve, take your time. we're also very curious if you're able to, just who might have been arrested. the number of people arrested. but we understand you need some time to do some news gathering. let's take some time to reset. 56 minutes past the hour. it is now 57 minutes. into what has been a night of unrest in ferguson, missouri. you're looking at live pictures there from affiliate kmov of what seems to be winding down at this hour. here's the timeline. so about one hour 57 minutes ago we saw police basically in position. we saw them holding the line. and it seemed like there was peace on the streets. this was when the curfew went into effect. then 20 minutes into the curfew we understand from our reporter there was a confrontation between police and some protesters. keep in mind that the larger number of protesters, many of the community members who were

told to stay home stayed home. >> they did. >> there was a smaller group, though, that was determined to stay there to violate the curfew. about 30 minutes, 35 minutes into the situation we saw police starting to throw canisters. initially it was presumed that it was tear gas but we now understand, cnn confirmed information that it was smoke. smoke canisters being thrown into the crowds and that worked to disperse the crowds. >> absolutely. just a few arrests we've seen, we have no idea the number. hopefully steve is getting that information right now from an official who he's talking with but we could see just from a camera zoomed in as far as he could, two people, a man and a woman being put into the back of the van. and beyond that there have been no injuries, no reports of any direct clashes beyond just some

initial people yelling. it does happen. >> it seems like things are calming down. right now, you know, we did hear from antonio french just about an hour ago. mr. french is a city alderman near st. louis, missouri. you may recall he was arrested last week while documenting the protests and police presence there in ferguson. want you to take a listen to what he had to say just a few minutes ago. >> i was out there doing what i've been doing all week. just being with folks out here trying to keep them safe. trying to keep this whole thing peaceful as best as possible. we worked with a lot of different community leaders and organizations to make sure we pass the message to everybody here that they should be off the street by midnight. the vast majority of people did. there was a hardcore group that kind of posted over by the barbecue joint there. >> what was that like? were you in the midst of that group? >> yeah, sure.

>> what were they yelling? >> well, first we were talking to them and just trying to get them to go home. some of them did. we let them know that, you know, this is not necessarily a government-imposed curfew, that we as community leaders have worked with them to we'll be back out here at 6:00 in the morning and we can protest all day. >> they were holding out and continuing to encroach this way. what was it they wanted to get across? >> some of the guys didn't want to be told to leave. they felt like it was a violation of their rights and i guess that's their right. >> do you think there was a use of force on the part of the police? >> no, compared to what we've seen earlier this week, i don't think so. it looks like they've been -- yeah, they've been pretty cautious i think. i think