good evening. i am katie occur. it is 8:00 p.m. out west and 11:00 p.m. here in the east. as you can see from these images, america is crying out. amid a global pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the depression. the country is convulsing with once in a generation civil unrest. there are protests all around this country. but let's go right back to washington, d.c., right in front of the white house, just a couple of hundred yards away where we find msnbc's garrett. it is 11:00 p.m.

the curfew is in effect. are the protestors going anywhere? >> reporter: they don't like they're moving anywhere. at 11:00, the white house went out, the curfew went into effect. they are pushing us back up 16th street. i'm keeping my head on a swivel here. you're hearing some of the flash bangs in the distance. i expect that is the enforcement of the curfew. i'm trying to keep an eye behind me. d.c. fire is attending to the structure fire behind us that became an issue within the last hour or so. and at the moment where i stand right now, ironically, katy, the remaining demonstrators here have been kneeling with their hands up to make a point in any way that they can to police peacefully, if possible, through other means at times.

but trying to make a point that the violence that they have seen perpetrated against primarily black men in this country has to stop. the question remains, d.c. is not usually a curfew town. we do a lot of protests here, but a curfew is rare, and seeing how things are going to go in the next 20, 30 minutes is going to be touch and go, katy. that's what we'll be watching for here. >> garrett, i watched you all through last night through the drama you faced and i've been watching you today. who can you tell me who these protestors are? are they from washington, d.c.? are they coming from out of town? how many are agitating and how many are there to peacefully protest? >> reporter: it's a mix. today, i talked to students from howard university, the historically black college just up georgia avenue who organized a march to be outspoken about this. i talked to an imam from virginia who drove up.

there are absolutely people who . there are absolutely people wh came here to cause trouble. i saw guys with baseball bats. softball practice isn't happening here. but overwhelmingly, the pictures of what happened after dark are more dramatic. what happened during the daylight is a whole lot of people who wanted to express a very justifiable anger. there's nothing wrong or illegal or against the rules about being angry at the cops. that's what we saw primarily all day yesterday, all day today. like my parents used to say, not much good happens after midnight. that's when things got really bad last night. it may happen earlier tonight. >> garrett, you are just a couple hundred yards away from the white house. what do we know about the president's whereabouts right now?

>> reporter: well, with apologies for not being able to check my phone, he has been home all day. the white house called an early lid, meaning we knew he was not going to travel. as recently as friday night, the first of the protests in lafayette park, he was moved to a secure bunker underneath the white house. i can tell you, when the lights are on behind me, you can look all the way down across the park into the residence. this protest is loud enough for anyone who lives or works in the white house to hear it. and it is, with the addition of the fires late tonight, large enough for anyone who lives or works in the white house to have seen it. the president's tweet in recent minutes about fake news, i don't know what news he's watching, but this is very real and it's very much right outside his residence. >> garrett, what does it feel like there tonight in comparison to last night?

>> reporter: urvegmm, oddly we' going to walk backwards because we're going to try to make a distance between ourselves, the police and the protestors. oddly, tonight feels calmer last night despite the fires and the images that you're seeing. all right. so the cops are moving behind me. we're going to try to keep the same distance as we go as safely as possible. last night was one big protest and when it came clear that some elements within the protest that they were not going to be able to get any closer to the white house, they splintered off into the surrounding streets, started setting cars on fire and smashing windows. i haven't had an opportunity to get much out of there, because this has been a much more centralized protest here this evening. and at least in my experience, it has seemed more focused. now, again, as the streets start to clear and police move people

out, that's a different story. this is the headquarters of the aflcio, the union here. the windows are smashed, the sprinkler system is going off inside. this was not here four hours ago. this was not here three hours ago. so the destruction that plagued downtown d.c. last night is back here again tonight. at least in some small measure. i don't know if it's as widespread. last night we saw windows smashed as far up as george town and mt. vernon square, for folks familiar with d.c. 15 to 20 blocks away from the white house. again, tonight things have seemed more localized. but i'm limited by my own perspective here having kept at least one eye on the white house all night. as we progress here up 16th street, i want to show you what we're seeing here. metropolitan police department in d.c. are coming in from the east and they have tried to

close off the south towards the white house, the east towards capitol hill. you can see fire burning in the distance. i think that's another burning car or suv. and they're going to force everybody west. they're going to force egress west and my god, so that's at least one car on fire and another flipped over here on i-street and 16th in downtown central business district of washington, d.c. and those are fireworks being used by the protestors. forgive me, we're going to make some moves here. we're going to end up in a place we don't want to be if we're not careful. oh, damn it! i just got -- >> move out of there as quickly as you can. get safe. we'll check back in.

sounds like he might have been hit with something there. oh, wait, he's still with us. garrett, are you okay? >> reporter: yeah, i'm here. it was a rubber bullet or something. i don't want to be dramatic about it -- [ audio difficulties ] garrett, you're cutting out. as brian said a moment ago, as somebody who knows your parents as well, i want you to get to a safe place. get out of there. there are people running towards you. we'll come back to you. god forbid you get hit with something again. we're going to keep watching your shot. it is just startling to see.

it takes the words out of your mouth. startling to see what is happening across the country, but especially what is happening in washington, d.c. garrett is just a few hundred yards away from the white house. there is a fire burning in lafayette square. maybe 200, 300 yards, just in the park outside of the white house gates. a couple blocks away, there's a car on fire. there's another car that is overturned. the headquarters for the afl-cio is -- the windows are smashed. the walls are tagged. the sprinklers are going off in the lobby. and there's a fire inside there. as garrett said, we only have the ability to see in a very limited way what is happening in the city where garrett is right now, and the couple other places where we have our cameras and we have our aerial shot so it's unclear what else might be happening across this city. what you're seeing on the right-hand side of your screen, that looks to be people who have

been arrested there in washington, d.c., with zip ties used as handcuffs. there are peaceful protesters. there have been peaceful protesters in washington, d.c., all day long. there are images out there of very young people hopping the gates into lafayette park to try and kneel in front of cops. they have been largely peaceful throughout the day, but if you've been watching msnbc for the past couple hours, as the day has turned into night, the bad elements have come out. a fire was set to some sort of utility building. a small building in the park outside of the white house. you're seeing on your screen right now cops gathered. they are ready and they're trying to keep things as calm as they possibly can. but this nation is angry. it is hurting. and there are people in these crowds who are exploiting that. there are people in these crowds who are setting fire to things.

there are people in these crowds who are trying to get into confrontations with the police, who are trying to make things worse, as there are also peaceful protesters who are trying to demand that police brutality end, that innocent -- or that unarmed black men are not targeted by the cops. are not killed by the hands of police officers across this country. we're going to keep an eye on washington, d.c. we're going to check back in with garrett as soon as we make sure that he is okay. let's head now to minneapolis. this is where it all started, where george floyd died under the knee of a police officer just last monday. look at this image right here. this is a semitruck driving directly into a crowd as protesters were trying to cross this bridge. it does not appear, though, as anyone -- that anyone was hurt

from this. thank god for that. the driver of this truck is currently in police custody and just the image of that red truck, that tanker, will make some people think of the l.a. riots in 1992 and reginald denny. this is not the same scenario at all. let's go now to nbc's morgan cheski live from minneapolis. what is it like right now and can you tell us what happened on that bridge? >> reporter: katy, i absolutely can. the first thing, what a stark contrast from last night to tonight where around this time we were seeing hundreds of law enforcement officers make their way through the city clearing out areas where thousands had gathered earlier in the day and tonight an almost eerily quiet evening here, katy, after a series of arrests that happened within the past several hours. we know 150 people were taken into custody not too far from where i'm standing, in fact, you'll see a line of police and

national guard humvees. about 50 yards down this street. we know there was a gas station a short distance on the other side of that barricade of vehicles where police and law enforcement officers were able to round up that many protesters and take them into custody. and that is one of the more aggressive actions we've seen since this footprint from law enforcement really tripled yesterday, katy. now, as for that incident that happened earlier on the bridge today, we arrived on that scene within just a few minutes after it happened to see people running away, fearing the worst. when the truck drove into the crowd, katy, a lot of people thought it was protesters in its path that couldn't get out of the way. fortunately, we know no protesters were injured. after speaking with officials we heard that when that truck drove into that crowd, the crowd then swarmed, when it came to a stop,

actually pulled the driver outside of the truck. held him on the scene until police could arrive. we do know the driver was taken to a nearby hospital but with non-life-threatening injuries and is, as you mentioned, in custody facing charges. in the meantime, that crowd that was several thousand large has since dissipated throughout the city. we've been hearing reports of smaller groups. 100, maybe 200 in certain areas. we know law enforcement at this point not hesitating to use tear gas, mace, to clear out those crowds. and get them from congregating in these areas especially since that curfew was put into effect at 8:00 central standard time. we know this is the third night with the curfew in place. the first we did not see any enforcement. last night is when we saw the state police roll out in that riot gear near the 5th precinct where we were reporting from and basically take very aggressive measures to move this large group out. i think that contrast in how this is being enforced is why we're not seeing a lot of people out tonight. we did drive down this area.

a lot of people were sitting out in front of their homes anticipating, seeing the protests come their way. here in minneapolis, one of the things i've noticed is a lot of people put out bottles of water, gallons of milk, on their front steps, to help anyone who may need it as they make their march through the city. today when we made our way down, all that was unused. i thought there might have been anticipation of a larger protest tonight. that's certainly not something we're seeing at this point in time. however, as garrett mentioned earlier, katy, nothing goods happens after midnight. that's been when we've really seen the most destructive people make their way through this city. we're going to keep a close eye on things in minneapolis. when you consider the damage that's already been done to block by block, dozens if not hundreds of businesses damaged to point where they can't continue to operate, burned or gutted completely. the road to recovery here is going to be significant and it's going to have to parallel a

fight for justice that a lot of people feel is not yet met because every person i spoke to today at a peaceful protest at the state capitol said one police officer in custody is not four police officers who are involved in the death that took place monday that has become such a passionate cause for the people here. not just in minneapolis but all across the nation and so, katy, tonight minneapolis grappling with the fact that maybe the worst is over but also looking ahead to see how they can carry this momentum for justice forward and have momentum. katy? >> morgan chesky in a quiet and what a welcome sight that is, a quiet and it seems peaceful for the moment minneapolis. let's go back to garrett haake in washington, d.c. garrett, where are you and what's happening now? >> reporter: hey, katy. so we are being moved north and west by mpd who is taking their enforcement of the mayor's 11:00

p.m. curfew plenty seriously. as you saw if you were with us at the top of the hour. we're on "k" street right now. police have been mostly working people north away from the white house. i'm still hearing some of those explosions in the distance i'm associating now with cars on fire. at least that's what i've been able to match them up to. as i've seen, i can hear the police helicopter overhead. i can tell you where i am in the central business district of d.c., the city has seemed to clear out substantially. you know, there's no one behind me as i'm looking west. further toward virginia. back east, the police, again, mpd staged sort of on the eastern side of the city and cleared what remains of these protesters. just an ugly end to what was i think by and large a sort of a positive emotionally effective day of protests here that just completely went off the rails in the last hour and a half with the starting of those fires near lafayette park, confrontations escalating with police then

police using pretty much everything in their arsenal to clear those intersections there. my crew and i each took some projectile contact, let's say, and were separated from each other briefly. that's why we lost audio there just because we weren't all in one place. we're back together now on streets of d.c. that are quieting down. at least where i am here in the central business district. >> garrett, let's hope it stays that way. clearly, they were going to get very serious about that 11:00 p.m. curfew. garrett, thank you. let's go now to the other side of the country to santa monica where we find nbc news correspondent gadi schwartz. last time i saw you you were on the promenade and watching as people -- this is jo ling kent. we're going to get over to gadi schwartz. last time i saw you, you were on the 3rd street promenade. you were watching as people were looting foot action. cops had flooded in to arrest them. seems like you're still there. give us an update on what's happening now.

>> reporter: yeah, so we saw that foot action being looted for about eight to ten minutes and saw the police finally coming, you probably saw it live on tv, so right now a lot of these people are being processed. you've got about 20 or so that are now wearing those handcuffs, those plastic handcuffs and sitting here waiting. officers are actually giving some of them water right now. they're pouring it in their mouth for them. which is kind of weird because everyone's wearing masks and so it's this awkward dance. some people have been cordial with the police officers. others have been somewhat hostile. things are simmering down on this street right now and they're waiting for transport. i'm going to walk you down this way. this was the foot action that they were looting. if we take a look on both sides, it's very different than what we were showing you earlier on 4th street which is a street just up the way. that was almost every single storefront that we saw had been

broken into and cleared out. but here you got a lot of them that have been protected by police that were blocking pedestrians from coming into the promenade for most of the day then just around about 40 minutes ago, an hour ago, all it took was somebody coming in here with some sort of hammer or possibly a rock or something, smashing this window, then suddenly there were hundreds of people that were running inside, they were grabbing everything they could. just watch your step here. you can see the destruction that they did. we saw it live. it all happened within about five to eight minutes. and then people just scattered. they ran that way and ran this way because this is where they were being dropped off by cars that were waiting there. some people even bringing plastic containers to throw the loot in and then get away. in fact, we got this plastic trash can and inside is just filled with nike air force ones that are brand-new, still in the box. those are littered throughout

this area. right now police have this blocked off so it's unclear what's going to happen to the merchandise. i want to show you this right here is the 3rd street promenade. it goes all the way down. this is the only store that we've seen on the actual promenade that appears to have been lotted from our perspective. and this is where police are now concentrating so you've got some of them standing at ease. it goes all the way up to 4th street there and they're making sure that people aren't stopping on the promenade and going into many of these stores that are still filled with merchandise. however, for about two or three hours, katy, over on 4th street, there were no police around so we saw store after store after store looted live on television. all that was happening here on this side of santa monica while on that side of santa monica unbeknownst to the hundreds or thousands of protesters that showed up to demonstrate peacefully, the police had containment, were there to make e sure, to facilitate is what they put it, that peaceful protest. then over here, you had skirmish after skirmish.

police uncomfortable coming in clearing the streets because there were too many people. two different things going on. two very different groups of people. this was looting that we saw. doesn't seem to be a lot of crossover between what was happening here and the protests but those protests on the other side of santa monica were beautiful and peaceful to behold, so just a really difficult juxtaposition out here to wrap your mind around. katy? >> gadi schwartz on the 3rd street promenade in santa monica. gadi, thank you very much. let's head back now over to seattle just up north where we find jo ling kent. jo, you're walking on the streets there. have the protests stayed calm there? has there been any confrontations? >> reporter: katy, i want to tell you about a moment that i

just witnessed which i did not expect to witness. we were back up at the edge of downtown in the capitol hill neighborhood. it was dozens of police in a line and hundreds of protesters, mostly peaceful, but it was getting tense and you had activists, perhaps the organizers of that particular group of people, coming up very close with the police and instead of having a tension, an escalation, there was a conversation. we witnessed a conversation between one of the women who, an activist, an organizer, then that paused for a minute then they came back to the police. they were able to negotiate through the police line and i saw two powerful handshakes happen between activists and police officer. and they were able to open the line and the police stepped aside. there was huge applause. this entire group of people were able to proceed back downtown here in seattle where we are now in the heart of downtown. what was remarkable about that

moment is today we've been following these protesters and ever since curfew hit, about 3 1/2 hours ago, it has been very spirited. but very peaceful. and the activists who are up front, who are now way past us now, their entire motivation here is to keep it peaceful, to get their message out there. that is exactly what we're experiencing here in seattle at least for the moment but it's still daylight. katy, as you know, once night falls, things can change quickly. send it back to you. >> it's 8:24 over there in seattle. still daylight, indeed. jo ling kent, thank you very much. let's go to the mayor of that city, seattle, mayor durkan. madam mayor, thanks for joining us. i guess, what's it like there, and what are you expecting for tonight? >> you know, i will say that it's been a very challenging day for seattle as a city, but that's true across our country. and one thing i picked up even from all your reports that i

think is really important to remember is we cannot lose track of the central message that we should all be focused on. and that is the death of mr. floyd once again showed the deep betrayal of our systems for people of color, and particularly for african-americans. we have to honor his sacrifice. we must make sure that the people who are protesting peacefully, sometimes in anger, showing their trauma, their furor over what's happened over generations in america, does not get co-opted by people who use that just to further violence and conflict because so many of the reports are focused on the car fires and the looting and the conflict. really what we should be focused on as a nation, how do we get better, how do we improve the lives of every american, particularly black americans?

from the time of slavery on, we've not grappled with the systemic racism and injustice in their lives, whether it's education or health care. or the outcomes you can expect from covid. whether it's opportunity in their day-to-day lives or how they're treated by police. and we and not lose sight of that message. that's one reason why i condemn the violence by the other people who were not, were not, part of the protests. we had thousands of people protesting in seattle last night. peacefully. and they were there to speak of their anger and their anguish and their grief. to come together in communion. then we had thousands of others who came for the sole purpose to create conflict, to loot, to steal, to cause damage. we cannot have the second. that is not what we need in america. we need to focus on the true injustices and move to a country of greater justice.

and i truly believe at the end of the day, at the end of the day -- sorry. go ahead. >> just, i want to stick with the root of this problem. and this is the death of george floyd. not just george floyd. death of multiple black men and black women at the hands of cops. over the most recent years, but for decades now. is this a problem? you're talking about systemic racism. and those points are well taken. when it comes to law enforcement, is it a problem in training or is it a problem in recruiting? >> i think it's all of the above. and remember, police are going to reflect their community in many ways. you need to, you know, i've been involved in police reform for years when i was at the department of justice, we instituted the consent decree for the seattle defense department which ten years later has changed its use of force. it is training. it is how they're held accountable. but it also goes to the root

causes of injustice in our society and while we must, we must demand better from police, and we cannot allow for people to die at the hands of the police wrongfully, we also have to make sure that we are attacking injustice everywhere. that we truly make good on the promise of america for those people who were not considered full americans when our constitution was founded. and we must remember that, you know, i want every child who grows up in seattle to know they're going to have equal access to education. they're going to have equal access to job prosperity. their family will have health care and housing. we must focus on a nation on how we make sure our prosperity is shared and how we make good on the promise of america, to the generations of americans that have been left behind. that should not be lost. you know, for every car that burns, there have been families that suffered for generations and so i really deplore the

people who came solely for the purpose of taunting police, creating conflict with police, looting stores and causing damage. that did nothing to honor mr. floyd. >> madam mayor, thank you very much for joining us. we appreciate your time, and good luck in your city tonight. let's go over to atlanta, georgia. we find nbc's blayne alexander. the last time i saw you you were getting over coughing from pepper spray. the intersection behind you is empty, quiet. does that mean the city of atlanta is the same? >> reporter: you know what, that certainly seems to be an indicator. this is the best way to tell the story of what's going on in atlanta right now. to get the understanding of why exactly i was choking, coughing, me and my team were right in the direct path of that tear gas because, yes, this is really

kind of command central for law enforcement, for national guard troops. this is where they've been holding the line. and just within the past few minutes or so, katy, we actually saw a lot of the troops line up, walk away, get in their transportation and leave. we've been checking with our crews on the ground and what we've seen typically over the past few nights is once that tear gas is kind of sprayed among the crowd, they scatter. they disperse among different places downtown. and then officials go off and try and find them. it can be a painstaking process. that lasts the better part of a night. we were out here watching it unfold for three hours last night. it appears for the most part the pockets of unrest, people who may have been going by, smashing windows or continuing to stay on the streets, have been cleared. now, we can look over, you see some military vehicles right over there. they're slowly starting to pull out as well. i will tell you -- >> blayne, sorry to interrupt you. we have to go to minnesota where the governor is speaking right now.

>> a few requirements to allow law enforcement to make sure out city streets remain safe. i want to reiterate, again, i think many of you like me have watched that, the video of the truck and the peaceful protesters. i am so incredibly thankful we had no fatalities or no injuries. i just think it highlights the fact, again, of trying to make sure that we create space and keep the ability to peacefully protest there and i think over the last two days minnesota, we've clearly shown a difference between people exercising their 1st amendment rights, showing passion to injustices, and trying to make their voice heard. and those that were trying to do something very different. so i'm going to have paul snell give some updates on where we're at . at this point in time, we're seeing very few incidents.

i think some folks who got caught after time, some very respectful interactions, and those folks, again, were simply, i think, exercising their rights and got caught behind the curfew and i'm just grateful how that has panned out so far. so with that, paul snell. >> good evening. thank you, governor. just to provide a quick update as to where things are, as you've seen, as the governor mentioned, the incident with the truck coming onto the bridge was obviously a significant and great concern when that happened. we had been -- we had been monitoring the crowd that was involved in that walk. we knew that they were peaceful. there was no real issues. and when the truck came on and the things that evolved and the great deal of concern we had for the safety of everyone in that situation, as you can see plainly that once the truck came in, again, we didn't know exactly at that point in time what the intent was of that truck driver. and then the concern about was

somebody -- was anybody hit? early on was also a concern. then obviously the driver was removed from the truck and was assaulted by a number of people. and then i think a positive note, there was also a large number of people attempting to protect the man who was driving that truck. so, you know, all in all, that situation was -- we sent a lot of resources there, as you saw. there was gas deployment that was really about wanting to disperse the crowd. to move people away from the scene. ultimately, as you saw, officers came in and it was very slow and methodical. different than you might have saw from a tactical standpoint of last night. based on what the commanders saw in the group, that the group appeared largely cooperative. we didn't see high levels of

resistance at that point in time. ultimately, you saw the encirclement that happened, 150 to 200. i don't know the exact number. and, again, those people, you know, were involved in acts of civil disobedience which we respect. they were very respectful in terms of their interactions with officers. it was slow and methodical. this is a textbook kind of response to these type of situations. and that, you know, they're finalizing that as we speak. as they are doing that, we have moved sum resources from st. paul into minneapolis to begin to address other areas. while there's not been significant unrest, we have had people out violating the curfew. based on what we saw them engaged in, we decided it really focus on that area on or near washington there. and address that group. you know, right now, that will continue. those efforts will continue as we finalize these arrests and

the booking of those arrested out off of washington. and after that, you know, we will, again, hit hotspots and disperse, get people to get home and comply but ultimately we feel very fortunate that that situation on the bridge did not end any more seriously than it was, and we were also grateful, as the governor mentioned, that so many people did, once again, comply with the curfew which makes a huge difference. as you know, that incident with the truck occurred prior to the implementation of the curfew which, you know, did create challenges because when the curfew was enacted, but commanders based upon field observations made a specific and explicit decision to give focus to that area to address that group. and ultimately, the rest as you're seeing happening now. so we -- the situation is at present stable.

the protests at the capitol during the day was i think a large event. largely very peaceful throughout the course of the day. later this evening, there was a rush on the fence. a larger group of people who were saying that they were not going to leave the capitol grounds. that was after curfew. they pushed up against the fence.

there was an attempt to breach the fence. there was a small deployment of gas to disperse some crowd at -- who are at the fence at the capitol. and ultimately, that area is now cleared. there was a small number of arrests. a small number of people were arrested at the capitol -- >> so minnesota officials right now talking about calm protests today. a relatively calmer night so far. certainly hope it stays that way. we're going to take a really quick break and we'll be right back. o. that's why we're expanding your range of choices. many dealers now offer optional pick-up & delivery and at-home maintenance, as well as online shopping with home delivery and special finance arrangements. so, whether you visit your local dealer or prefer the comfort of home you can count on the very highest level of service. get 0% apr financing up to 36 months on most models, and 90-day first-payment deferral on any model.

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you've heard it from numerous elected officials including the president blaming outside groups for some violence and property destruction that we've seen. joining me now is nbc news reporter ben collins who has now reporting on the involvement of fringe groups in the protests. so the president and his attorney general william barr labeling it as far-left extremists, antifa. at one point an official in minnesota was saying everybody that they had arrested was from out of town. they had to walk that back. always skeptical of blanket statements, ben. tell me what you found from your report in terms of the organized outside groups that might be involved in these protests and some of the more violent conflagrations. >> reporter: sure. so we saw a lot of posturing from a lot of these kind of groups. both white supremacist groups on the right and the left, you

know, antifa-style groups as well. the white supremacist groups from what we've seen, they took video while they were there. they took photos while they were there. you know, they posted memes on open facebook groups and closed chats saying pretty consistently let's burn down these things and all this stuff. they didn't actually post any proof that they did these things. so, you know, there was a lot of talk of online chatter from elected officials saying there was people from outside the state, outsiders coming in and wreaking havoc, but frankly, the people who would be responsible for that haven't really shown any proof of that so far. >> and just for all of our viewers, a moment ago you were looking at images outside of philadelphia. this is boston right now where we have seen some clashes, but a moment ago you were looking at philadelphia where there was, it seemed to be looting at a family dollar and some other businesses.

and i want to be clear, the images that you're seeing, these are -- these are not the entirety of the protests, and this doesn't tell the whole story of what we've been seeing in america for the -- you just saw a cop push that man to the ground that was running away. for the past few days, we've seen violent confrontations between protesters and police. at some points getting completely out of hand. to the point where some officers had been relieved of duty or fired in certain cities. there's been a lot of anger at the way that the -- that many officers around this country have treated a number of the protesters who say they were just trying to demonstrate peacefully. and listen. ben, when you talk about who's involved in what's happening, it can seem a little easy to just blame outside groups. it can seem a little easy to say, well, it's these people who are there to do no good and

maybe use that as a justification for some of the -- some of the stronger use of force that we've seen around the country. >> yeah, that's absolutely right. and, look, there's been a rush to blame antifa in other events other than just this. really antifa isn't the sort of movement you'd see from other sort of terror groups or say, like, white nationalist groups who try to recruit people and announce they made it. you know? white nationalist groups recruit on facebook, recruit on twitter. once something happens, they post that they've tried to take over a thing. right? you know, the one white nationalist group that said they were trying to do something this time, they are actively trying to foment a second civil war. that's not really the case with antifa. we know this is -- antifa is a loose collective. it's a loosely defined group.

intentionally. some cases it's just one or two people giving out advice. it's not really, you know, you can't really define them and nail them down as one specific kind of group. and to define larger sects of protesters as this, it would be unfair to the movement which, you know, we see a lot of terrible stuff in the news. we see a lot of the most -- you know, we keep flying over these looted stores and things like that and there have been tons of peaceful protests all throughout the day and all throughout the cities, all throughout the country. so to lump those two things together would be unfair both to protesters and to police. >> ben collins who lives in the digital world of extremist groups and misinformation. ben collins. thank you very much. let's now go to philadelphia. you're seeing these images, these aerials. let's go to another part of philadelphia where we find my

colleague and anchor, ayman mohyeldin. ayman, what do you have? >> reporter: so, katy, we are here right in the heart of philadelphia. in the center of the city. in fact, we're right between city hall and the municipal building and it's a very different scene that's unfolded here over the past couple days. there is no doubt this is the epicenter of the protest for a whole host of reasons. one, the statue you see behind me, frank rizzo statue, former mayor of philadelphia, also former police commissioner, has been the lightning rod, if you will, of so many protests taking place here because of what he symbolized in this city's past. now, that in itself is up for debate, but a lot of the protesters very angry with the fact that that statue remains here in place. it was spray painted. it was vandalized. in fact, officials here cleaned it up early this morning. the center right now has been somewhat quiet for the past 12 hours or so because officials have really reinforced the police presence down here.

have really shut down -- we walked around the city for a few minutes, got a chance to see some of the streets that were vandalized over the past couple days. a lot of the windows have been boarded up after the looting and rioting took place in those areas. for the most part, though, as i was saying, this area tonight has been very quiet. the focus of the protests and the demonstrations and in some areas, the looting, has now focused on in western philadelphia. the police commissioner in this city trying to maintain the peace a little bit. you're not seeing a lot of direct confrontation, in fact, the police lost 15 or so vehicles. many of them set on fire. as a result of some of those demonstrations, smashing those windows, lighting those cars on fire. for the most part, though, as i was saying this evening, with the presence of the national guard expected later on, a curfew put in place, public transportation completely shut down until tomorrow morning. there's been very little activity here. the underlying question, though, remains what happens in the days

ahead. and we're going to see as the week gets under way tomorrow morning, when the city kind of re-opens again, to what extent we're going to see an emergence of reemergence of protests and demonstrations. for the most part, tonight in the city center, it is quiet, it is calm. most of the activity is focused in the western part of philadelphia where there remains some looting of targets and other stores in that area. katy? >> again, what a difference from the images we saw last night across the country including in philadelphia. ayman, thank you very much. when we come back, we're going to talk to the mayor of portland, oregon, where they extended the curfew another night after protesters and police clashed again in downtown today.

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with me now is the mayor of

portland. the images out of your city have been distressing at times. you have another curfew today. what are you expecting as it gets darker in your city? >> we've had a curfew two nights. three nights ago we had extensive looting and vandalism. tonight we have a couple thousand people protesting in two different locations. so far it's been largely peaceful. there's been a little bit of violence towards the police officers throwing water bottles and the likes. but so farthings seem to be pretty good. >> so what is the tactic in order to keep things under control? what we have seen in cities across the country and in just the past hour, a lot of the protests and a lot of the tension, a lot of the protestors have dissipated. part of that is the curfew,

another part is the police maybe having a bigger strategy, the national guard coming in. what do you do in order to calm things down or does'9" ju it ju its course? >> every then administratidemon different. but we don't tolerate violence or vandalism. we established a curfew like dozens of other cities. we have limited public transportation and tonight, we took an unusual step in closing off on-ramps into the city of portland, because we heard anecdotally that some of the then str demonstrators were coming from outside the city. but i want to underscore this -- there are many people in this city, particularly black portlanders who are very frustrated that all of the discussion around violence, chaos, looting, is overshadowing

the larger message around justice and the death of george floyd and what i'm hearing in particular from black portlanders is they don't want us to lose the larger context around the fight for justice for black people in america. >> and looking at these images from portland from saturday, what we're seeing are young people, lots of white boys with skateboards. where is the message that these protestors are sending by damaging buildings? is it a message that i guess would they be heard? would this moment in our history be heard as loudly as it is being heard right now without all of this chaos? without all of this drama? >> you know, that's a very provocative question, and i've had a lot of discussions with

people in the community about that. of course, there is a long and strong history of demonstration here in portland as well as around the country. that's a very american value. if you look back into our own past, there have been times when provocation, even some aspects of violence have shed light on important civil rights issues. but what's happening here, we have black leaders in our community saying hey, if you're a young white person and you're committing acts of vandalism, don't do it in my name, because that's not honoring the legacy of george floyd. that's not what the black community represents. and frapg nkly, that's not a portland value either. so we don't support or condone violence or vandalism in the name of any political ends. >> open up social media, you'll see that happening and small interactions all over the country, people going up to

people, other people and saying don't do this. mr. mayor, thank you for joining me. >> i appreciate it. thank you. >> good luck in portland tonight. i appreciate all of your time. and it is 8:56 in portland. it is 11:56 here on the east coast. that will do it for me. joshua johnson continues our coverage after a short break. joshua johnson continues our coverage after a short break talking about bundling and saving...umm... jamie, you're cutting out. sorry i'm late! hey, whoever's doing that, can you go on mute? oh, my bad! i was just saying there's a typo on slide 7. bundle home & auto for big discosnouts. i think that's supposed to say discounts. you sure about that? hey, can you guys see me?

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i'm joshua johnson. good to be with you tonight from nbc news world headquarters in new york. picking up our continuing breaking news coverage. it is midnight in the east. 9:00 in the west. we are now entering another night of protests following the death of mr. george floyd. the anger is growing across the country, the calls for justice are louder, and in washington, d.c., lafayette park, secret service and the national guard are among those who surrounded protesters. in downtown boston, a police car was set on fire, as thousands of people marched through the city streets. protests in los angeles also turned fiery again as more police vehicles were set on fire there. while protesters in minneapolis where all of this started continued to take to the streets. so much for us to catch up on this evening and we begin in santa monica with gadi schwartz,