let's start with bill weir. >> reporter: it is the 12th night of protesting in the united states, the 12th night of course of shakes peshakespeare this is real life. we're two hours past a mandatory curfew, and yet nypd, the new york police department is letting this group of several hundred protesters march at will. they're determined, disciplined, energized by news this week that four nypd commanders were reassigned as punishment for roughing up peaceful protesters. three officers up in buffalo who shoved a 75-year-old man and stepped over his bleeding, unconscious body were charged with second degree assault. they see that as a victory. they are calling for police reformer that would open up the disciplinary records of officers, eliminate change holds, make calling 911 and making false accusations against a person of color, would make that a hate crime. all these organizers say this is the fruit of their labor this week e and you've seep, basically, the police response evolve over the week. it went from very aggressive violence, containment to letting these folks wear themselves ou

cnn's bill weir takes us there. >> reporter: you've heard the slogan always open? bell air diner in queens hasn't locked third doors in 22 years. what was it like to realize you had to shut down? >> man, it was scary, depressing. you know, we've been continuously open 24/7 for 22 years. >> reporter: when pandemic business dropped 70% and they were forced to lay off 20-year employees, it looked like that iron streak would end, until a flash of inspiration from the fast. so what are you looking for, a blue honda in the third row. >> blue honda in the third row. i brought my roller blades. oh, look, there's two milk shakes going that way. >> reporter: welcome to new york city's first ever pandemic drive-in theater. at 32 bucks a war. patrons get films like "ferris bueller's day off" and after ordering online, they get mass car hop. have you ever been to a drive-in movie before? >> my first time. >> no, i've never been to one. >> reporter: welcome to the pinnacle of entertainment in 1955. back in my day, in order to go to a drive-in movie, we snuck people in, in the tr

right now bill weir is on the scene for us with a group of protesters. date our viewers, what's happening where you are, bill. >> reporter: well, wolf, this has been a relatively quiet night. the groups have gotten smaller as the week progressed. we heard police scanner traffic here. we're following this group that seems to be headed for the manhattan bridge that would cross into brooklyn. according to the commander's voice we heard over the police scanner, if they try that they'll be arrested. most of today the protests were festive, very peaceful, and nypd seemed to let folks wander wherever they wanted to go. but after sunset of course that's been a different story. and this will be a key interesting moment to see what the response is here. and to see how motivated these folks are to get over the bridge. if they try, if they just use the pedestrian access they'll be allowed through. about a half hour ago just as curfew fell many in this group took to the fdr drive, one of the main arteries, one of the main highways on the east side of manhattan. but th

let's check in with bill weir now out in brooklyn. bill, where are you? what are you seeing? don, we are right by barclay center, home of the brooklyn nets and boy it's been a long day. i've been following different groups all over brooklyn, all day. today, 100 days after the first coronavirus case was confirmed. we started to reopen in new york city. so 400,000 people went back to work. but obviously, there are tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, still out of school, out of work, full of rage, and motivated to stay in these streets. so who knows how long this will go on? but one sign that this is working, today, a new york assembly passed the eric garner chokehold bill. eric garner, of course, 2014, staten island. cop stopped him for selling loose cigarettes. one officer put a chokehold on him, killed him. took five years for him to be fired without a pension. nobody went to jail for that-. t but if the governor signs it, his legacy of i can't breathe, same last words of george floyd, will be that a cop was caught making that chokehold move to go to jail for 15 years.

i'm bill weir. cnn, new york. >>> that's new york city, now to buffalo, new york. these two police officers seen on video seen pushing a 75-year-old man protesting there have now been arraigned after being arrested. both officers pleaded not guilty to one count of assault in the second degree. >>> and a crowd celebrated when they walked out with cheers and applause. the district attorney says the elderly man was treated for a head injury, loss of consciousness and bleeding from one ear. officials say he's in serious but stable condition. >>> in los angeles, thousands of protesters marched through different parts of the city, our reporters tell us the crowds were diverse with people of all ethnicities and backgrounds and the atmosphere was peaceful and energetic. police mostly stayed away. cnn's paul vercammen was at one of the protests. >> reporter: spirited protests throughout los angeles. many of them spread out and as you see and hear this scene, the honking of horns, the celebrating of the protesters and the chanting that they're doing, it is clear that the lap

i'm bill weir, cnn, new york. >> these were the largest protests in washington, d.c. since the death of george floyd. tens of thousands of people pouring into the streets of the nation's capitol on saturday. many of them gathering right here on the newly commissioned black lives matter plaza so named by the mayor of d.c. who also had that huge mural, those yellow letters painted on two city blocks on 16th street that runs right into lafayette park by the white house. protesters saturday adding the words defund police. but for the most part many of the chants, much of the anger directed right there at the white house, at president donald trump. you can see that fence there which is as close protests can get to the white house with a huge black banner again reading black lives matter. president trump today tweeting law and order, but when it comes to law enforcement not much of it was visible today are. a testament to the fact they felt these protests would be peaceful and they were almost if tire entirely peaceful today as they have been the last few days. reflecting t

that scene has also been very peaceful so far and cnn's bill weir is joining us now in new york city. bill, what's happening there right now? >> reporter: ana, this is one of those gatherings that sort of restores your faith in humanity. you've got people, strangers giving each other water, volunteers jumping on stage to sign language translate, families with their signs, so many messages here, time to mobilize, time to openize, say their names, silence is violence. white silence, complicity is violence and it's ironic, i was just noticing we're in the -- right near the classic arch here in washington square park, the scene of so many movies and inscribed at the top of that is, let us raise a standard to which wise and the honest can repair. the event is in the hands of god. let us raise a standard. that's a george washington quote, our country built on rebellion, that the wise and honest can repair to form a more perfect union and that's what we're seeing today. in terms of the news of the day, as this peaceful protest unfolds amid rain, scanner traffic i was hearing from nypd estima

let's go to my colleague bill weir. you've been walking alongside reporting all evening with them, defying the curfew but police are letting them. >> reporter: exactly. we're two hours past curfew, poppy. take a look around. we're hearing from the organizers of this particular -- >> to stay together. >> reporter: this young man in the beret has been leading these chants of do not engage, stay together. he's been keeping morale up with chants and this has been a very deliberate march, very deliberate, fast march. you can hear them say don't stop, they want us to stop. >> do not engage. >> do not -- >> engage. >> engage. >> we are -- >> we are. >> united -- >> united. >> we are -- >> we are. >> peaceful -- >> peaceful. >> reporter: i'm going to try to talk to this gentleman. i'm live on cnn. can i talk to you? >> everybody here in silence. take a look, the orange revolution. restart. >> what's your name? >> harris. >> reporter: you seem to be the leader of this particular march. is there an object? >> i'm definitely helpi

let's go right to cnn's bill weir who is live for us in new york. bill?rter: jake, another big march today in what has been a month of marches in new york city. there are several all over the city. and they will go through the night. today sort of because it's juneteenth, both a mixture of rage and a bit of celebration as well. a lot of people learning the history of this holiday, which largely was a texas holiday to celebrate a major general marching in galveston and informing slaves over two years after emancipation that they were free, their masters hadn't told them. it's a holiday of deferred liberty and justice. and over a century and a half later, a lot of people still motive ya motivated that it is still deferred liberty and justice for all. given the day off today. the city is just now beginning to open up in phase two of the coronavirus lockdown. so a lot more traffic in the streets. it'll be interesting to see as the night progresses. but over this last month, jake, the detente has gotten to a place where it's almost routine now. but the passion

bill weir takes us there. >> reporter: you heard the slogan always open. queens hasn't locked their doors in 22 years. what was it like when you realized you had to shut down? >> it was scary. we've been open 24/7 for 22 years. >> reporter: when pandemic business dropped 70% and they were forced to layoff 20-year employees, it looked like that iron streak would end until a flash of inspiration from the past. >> what are you looking for? a blue honda in the third row? >> i brought my roller blades. there's two milk shakes going that way. >> reporter: welcome to new york city's first ever pandemic drive-in theater. at 32 bucks a car, they get to watch films and they get masked car hops. have you ever been to a drive-in movie before? >> no. >> reporter: welcome to the pin cal of entertainment in 1955. back in my day, we snuck people in in the truck so we wouldn't have to pay full price. do you have anybody in your trunk? >> we do not. a tip for next time. >> reporter: they have two seatings, or parkings, starting with pianos or standup comedy. >> believe it o

i'm bill weir, cnn, williamsburg, brooklyn. >>> jasmine cannick is a political strategist.he joins us now from los ageles. great to see you. i mean, these protests have been remarkable and global, but i guess the challenge is not allowing that momentum to fade. allowing george floyd to be another name on a list until the next incident. how do you do that? what is the endgame. >> right. so the endgame is that in america we have only got any real change around human and civil rights through two methods, either a court ruling or through legislation. so i think the challenge is going to be for all of the people that are concerned about police brutality and police killings is how do you change the law, right? how do you get an independent prosecutor so bonnie isn't investigating clyde? which means the d.a.'s office, that depends on the police and the sheriff, aren't investigating these situations. in california the only way we can get an independent prosecutor is to go through state law. and so it will be interesting to see if these groups can work on getting independent prosecu

cnn's bill weir takes us there. >> you have heard the slogan always open?r diner in queens hasn't locked their doors in 22 years. what was it like to realize that you had to shut down? >> oh, man, it was scary, depressing. you know, we had been continuously open 24/7 for 22 years. >> reporter: when pandemic business dropped 70% and they were forced to lay off 20-year employees it looked like the iron streak would end, until a flash of inspiration from the past. so what are you looking for? a blue honda in the third row? >> blue honda, third row. i wish i brought my rollerblades. two milk shakes going that way. >> reporter: welcome to the first-ever pandemic drive-in theater. at 32 bucks a car, you can get ferris bueller's day off and after ordering online they get masked car hops. >> ever been to one? >> no. >> welcome to the pinnacle of entertainment in 1955. we used to sneak people in in the trunk, so we didn't have to pay full price. do you have anybody in your trunk? >> we do not. >> reporter: they have two seatings or parkings. starting with dueling pi

cnn's bill weir took in the show. >> reporter: you heard the slogan, always open? air diner in queens hasn't locked their doors in 22 years. what was it like to realize you had to shut down? >> it was scary, depressing. we have been continuously open 24/7 for 22 years. >> reporter: when pandemic business dropped 70% and they were forced to lay off 20 year employees, it looked like that iron streak would end. until a flash of inspiration from the past. what are you looking for? a blue honda in the third row? >> third row. >> should have brought my rollerblades. look, there's two milk shakes going that way. welcome to new york city's first ever pandemic drive in theater. at 32 bucks a car you can see ferris buehler's day off and after ordering online, you get masked car hops. have you ever been to a drive in movie before? >> my first time. >> i've never been to one. >> welcome to the pinnacle of entertainment in 1955. back in my day, we snuck people in, in the trunk, so we wouldn't have to pay full price. do you have anybody in your trunk? >> we do not. good tip for

and your impassioned comments to my friend and colleague bill weir.reat unlearning that's taking place right now. tell me more. >> that's right. that's right. well, this is a real experiment, this idea of bringing together cultures in a country under democracy to co-exist as one. so there's going to be a lot of things that we have to work out in that motion of working out how we're going to live together we made some pretty bad decisions. and those decisions now are culminating in the moment that we're living through now and have reached a head at different points in the past but now we're at a point where people have realized almost as if we're facing a collective moral reckoning that these decision that's our ancestors have made have left us with a lot to untangle. so there's something about what's happening right now that can be a moment of great spiritual consciousness elevation, something that can elevate our collective consciousness and change the world and literally set the tone for the next 100 years. >> i think george floyd's 6-year-old daugh

talking to all our reporters on the ground, but new york is also seeing a big march today and cnn's bill weir is joining us now. you've been on the move and we heard you speaking to musicians. where are you right now? >> reporter: ana, we're on 34th street here in midtown manhattan. the jon batist second line protest just stopped in the middle of a rain storm which brought cheers. excuse me. can i get by? thank you. this crowd has come, it started in -- started in union square. and was going to washington square park which is a few blocks away to kind of stage there. they ended up having protester glid lock. it is improvisation right now. the new york pd is trying to shut down streets as the multiple protests move around, but the volunteer second line new orleans style band playing everything from "we shall overcome" to "down by the riverside" to "when the saints come marching in" stopping for chants. let's listen for a second. [cheers and applause] >> it sounds like that is jon batiste on the bull horn the band leader of stephen colbert's late show and usually a guy who is as happy and go lu

bill weir is in lower manhattan. you have been following with protests there.ithin this group today fill us in on what's happening there? is this a confrontation or some kind of face-off with police? >> reporter: exactly, ana. yeah. we've -- now. we're down in lower manhattan. near canal street. right as the manhattan side of the manhattan bridge. and there are protesters here squared off with a unit of nypd. this is definitely a much more tense setting than we've seen all day. the march is through washington square park, the musicians, people were singing. this is much more tense. there are gentlemen heckling the officers there. you can see the one officer, okay, towards the back, if you see t guys in the white shirts are the commanders. overnight four commanders were reassigned as punishment for their actions during the early george floyd protest. you might have seen viral video of one pushing a woman down in the street violently. another dropping a man's mask and pepper spraying him in the face. those four officers still on the force but being reprimanded by

i want to go to cnn bill weir in new york city at a different location. where are you?reporter: wolf, i'm in brooklyn. we're making a loop towards the barclays center. this smaller crowd that we saw maybe 5, 700 people here. judging by the reactions from neighborhoods around us, it's having an impact. the news of the day in new york, we have a bicycle advance team here. we have protesters on bike running advance work to stop traffic. the news of the day is that the new york state assembly passed the eric garner chokehold bill. the man stopped for selling loose cigarettes and choked out by an officer, killed. that officer fired but not indiets i indi indicted. the city paid almost 6 pllds in settlement. his legacy is a new law, if it passes the senate which would make it a aggravated strangulation. a 15-year prison sentence for any officer who closes off a throat in force and arrests. as far as the momentum goes, today is the 14th day of protests since george floyd died. it's also the 100th day since the first coronavirus case was confirmed in new york city. having flatt

bill weir joins us from new york. looks like lower manhattan, maybe near the village? where are you? >> reporter: actually grand army plaza in new york. another massive peaceful protest and yes early this morning mayor deblaz i don deblasio tweeted that the curfew is over. he hopes it doesn't come back. of course, the covid-19 ban is lifting on monday. he wants to help the economy by getting rid of the curfew and onerous on owners and look at this moment yesterday. we marched ten hours all over the place and one that really was the sort of a die-hards in manhattan last night were led by a young man named paris howard and one point after marching three hours past curfew, nypd inspector named inspector elias nikus said i'll walk with you gu guys, i'll join you down 34th street and the crowd seemed very appreciative of that. paris howard said the inspector is protecting us. they embraced and much to the delight of several hundred protesters last night. so that is so indicative of a sea change in the approach of nypd over the last ten, is 1, 12 days since george floyd's tr

cnn's bill weir is keeping a close eye on what's happening and you guys have been on the move, bill. whaf what's going on? >> reporter: we've been moving fast, ana, all around midtown from 14th street up to madison square garden and 34th street, an incredibly diverse crowd, mostly masks, as you can see, and what's interesting, i have seen more people giving away water than selling it today. a sense that communities are coming out, folks in apartment buildings cheering as they pass by. this one was started by john batiste, the band leader for stephen colbert's late night show. he wanted to put out a second line feel. he put out the call for musicians and we've seen dozens of tubas and drummers and trumpeters. they've kind of broken up in terms of the cohesiveness of the band, but it's been news in new york right around midnight last night, it was announced, as this rainstorm comes down on us, that four commanding officers from the nypd have been reassigned as punishment for the way they handled the first night of protests. you may have seen it on social media in one incident. these ar

and new york with bill weir joining us from nyc. what are you seeing there? >> reporter: we're in the midst of a very big haitian drum circle. it has grown exponentially by the hour. you can see families, all demographics here. how are you folks doing? how are you? you can see the kind of easy very peaceful celebration. somber, as people bring families, kids. you see signs for black lives matter to fund the police which is a new rallying cry as well. how are you? what's your name? >> gwendolyn. >> reporter: i'm bill from cnn. we're live right now. >> okay, cool. >> reporter: what brought you out and your family out today? >> we teach our kids that all life matters. >> are you the kind of family that would normally attend protests? or just this week? >> we normally attend, yes, yes. >> reporter: raising good young citizens as well. and do you think, how did you feel about the early protests and the nypd response and how it has evolved? >> well, that was not the good answer. but look at this. this is beautiful. it is peaceful. that's what we need. love. yeah. >

i'm bill weir, cnn, williamsburg, brooklyn. >> reporter: so, in los angeles a car caravan rally. they drove from compton to los angeles police department headquarters. and they made their point clear. if you look at this sign right here, "no justice, no peace". "we demand justice for george floyd, for breonna taylor and for all victims of police brutality." now, one of the points one of the organizers of this rally, not only do they want to stop police violence, but by allowing it to be a car rally. -- "black lives matter" this reads, some older people who aren't able to march ten miles were able to participate. let's hear from the organizer. >> we're here to stop police terrorism. we want to stop police terrorism because this is nothing new. we want people that are watching to know that protesting is great, marching is great, but it's not enough. we have to organize every day year round. >> reporter: and there you have it, a symphony of car horns right in front of lapd headquarters in los angeles. we counted hundreds and hundreds of cars that made that ten-mile trek from compton

cnn's bill weir is there for us. what is the situation? looks like you have a very sizable crowd where you are. >> yeah, it's building, fred. it's just started here. and this one has a very different feel because this deliberately a musical protest. somewhere in that throng of tuba players and trumpeters and guitar players is john batiste, the band leader of stephen colbert's late night show. new orleans musical prodigy. and he comes from a tradition of the second line, a funeral in new orleans becomes a celebration as people march down the street dancing behind the band. and he wanted to do similar jeftsure he ur gesture here today. he put out the all for musicians. they showed up. this is 14th street. a symbol of the union victory in the civil war which takes on poignant meaning in days like this. but right now, a very festive -- i mean, this has been such a roller coaster of human emotions the last two weeks here. so much rage, fear, loathing, resentment. but today, it's almost as if it's a parade, a celebration in some ways of the spir

but we begin with bill weir, who had a chance to speak with a protest organizer as demonstrators marchedhrough the streets of new york. >> you're defying curfew. are you afraid of arrest the way we've seen in recent days? >> listen, we're a peaceful protest. there's no reason that we should be arrested for being outside peacefully. you see no looting. you see no rioting. we are okay to be out here. the fact that they would give us a curfew at 8:00 p.m., they're trying to control us. they don't have that right to control us. if we want to speak or if we want to march, we don't have to be silent. we don't have to listen to what they're saying. if you're watching right now i want you to realize wherever you are right now, you have a voice. you can speak up. black lives matter. you do not have to let white supremacy rule anymore. >> reporter: let me ask you this. the four commanding officers who were reassigned as punishment for pushing protesters, spraying protesters, the two buffalo cops who were charged with second-degree assault for pushing the 75-year-old, the governor calling for polic

let's go to brooklyn, new york, where bill weir is joining us. you're on the move with a large crowd there. >> we are. on several thousand moving down laenl avenue probably toward the brooklyn bridge. if yesterday was any indication. the first passionate, focused, very serious about it. nypd letting it happened as the last couple days, and early this morning, mayor de blasio announced he was lifting the curfew a day early because last night it went so well. i was with a crowd that marched fast and determined for three hours after curfew. they were led by a young protester named paris howard who just around 11:00, one of the inspectors in charge of that precinct came over and said, can i march with you? they ended up shaking hands. putting arms around each other. and at the end said, everybody can disperse peacefully. they said we want to be sure this isn't used a propaganda. this is the first step to reform. there are a lot of things to work out but what a marked contrast to the early days. ten days, 11 days ago when it was batons and tear gas an