here in washington, that includes the national mall and lafayette park on the north side of the white house and between 15th and 17th street northwest. each year the united states park police facilitates demonstrations and special events in and around the district. to ensure the safety of the public peace demonstrations of partners and coordinates with numerous public safety and protection agencies within a national capital area. in the days following the death of george floyd, videos from witnesses and tv became public and ultimately led to protesting cities throughout the united states and abroad. the district became a focal point for demonstrators and one of the most highly concentrated areas of protest was in and around lafayette park which is recognized as a public forum for speech and assembly. the park police is accustomed to managing unruly public demonstrations and spontaneous events as well as throughout the national capital area. in these instances we have an obligation to protect the safety of the demonstrators, maintain law and order and keep law enforcement officers safe

the same afternoon overwhelmingly peaceful protesters gathered at lafayette square park at lafayette square park, national guard, law enforcement lined the perimeter of the park. around 6:30, nearly half an hour before dc curfew, the park police and law enforcement partner moved in on the protesters, peaceful protesters and innocent bystanders and members of the press were caught in a chaotic barrage of shields and teargas. the militarized assault, you hit people from historic st. john's church. clergy and church staff, pushed off their own patio by officers and the battle space and even more incredible. donald trump accompanied by the attorney general and white house advisors, the top military brass flowed through the park where he posed with a bible for a brief photo op at st. john's, no idea the president was going to do this. peaceful protesters, church and press look to this administration's violent and senseless operation. to embody our three main treaties protected by the first amendment, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and freedom of the press. scra

national guard's task force civil disturbance and the park police at lafayette square. who else was? you say you were one of them. >> we had several officers across the national capitol region. i was just the park police for that specific operation. >> and who tasked you? who ordered dwr eed you to take position? >> the commander of the task force disturbance. >> who? >> the commander. i would rather not reference his name. >> oh, so we can't verify that you were tasked with that position. just forced to take your word for it? so when you say commander, commander of what. >> the task force. >> the task force civil disobedience. >> disturbance. >> right. okay. you stated the materials to erect the security barrier did not arrive. i'm quoting. did not arrive on the scene until around 9:00 p.m. chief monahan testified a much different timeline with materials arriving earlier in the afternoon. so, are you feeling strong ly enough about him arriving at 9:00 that you would believe chief monahan was lying? >> sir, i can only speak to my account and as a fact witness, the times

i'm ken wayne and i'm palmore that fire is burning right next to lafayette park kron four's justine waltman in the newsroom tonight with the latest just a plus san francisco fire just upgraded this to a 3 alarm fire and it's burning on washington street which is you mentioned is right near lafayette park. >>and the fire so big we actually were smelling the smoke here in our newsroom or on the embarcadero about 2 miles away from where this fire is burning right now, san francisco fire saying the flames are coming from a garage and i want to show you what crews are dealing with right now this is video just in to the kron 4 news room that a viewer posted on twitter you can see huge amounts of black smoke filling the sky and kron four's taylor sackey also nearby in the area and she shared this video on twitter as well we can see flames coming from behind those 2 victorian buildings and firefighters there on the stairs trying to lift that hose going into the back of the building actually gets stuck to sort of on the tire of the car that's parked there. the firefighter than us to go lifted up. th

this is a block and a half north of lafayette park. if you go to i and a right and go have a block up that is what we are looking at and there is still a large contingent of law enforcement officers and officials just along h street if you follow the alphabet, they are there right along the park and as you see the famous st. john's episcopal church, right now we know that auto traffic is being impeded by protesters. as we get more details i will pass them along. shannon: you were down there is the church was set ablaze by protesters. the fourth of july weekend in atlanta was violent and deadly, 31 people shot, five killed including an 8-year-old girl. brian kemp declaring a state of emergency in deploying the national guard to the state capital saying peaceful protests were hijacked by criminals with a dangerous destructive agenda. lawlessness must be stopped and order restored in our capital city. numerous of these facing explosion of crime. we discuss with police commissioner bernard carried and us attorney and fox news contributor a

there's barr's role in clearing protestors from lafayette park just outside of the white house. ahead of sort of that famous photo op of the president holding a bible. there was the removal of a federal prosecutor in the southern district of new york where there are several trump related investigations going on. there's barr's comments about mail in ballots and fraud in the upcoming election. there's immigration enforcements. actions that have been taken recently. i know democrats are concerned about lack of civil rights enforcement. the doj stepping into challenges to covid related closure orders from governors across the state as we deal with the pandemic. i'd also think another bucket is the positions that the doj has taken in court. the top one there is the obama care when congress eliminated a penalty for the individual mandate, the justice department is now arguing that the entire 2010 health care law should fall. they're also fighting at the supreme court,court, the judici committee's request to see more grand jury materials from the mueller probe. the doj is currently fi

as you know this is just north of lafayette park, which is itself just north of the white house.with the address 1600 pennsylvania avenue, we'll 16th street in the nation's capital, dead ends literally right there at lafayette park. we have seen protesters and demonstrators and others -- and i always add that, because not everyone is there to protest and demonstrate, some are actually there to do other things and create lots of trouble. we'd seen a collection of folks on different nights in that area. this evening, as you can see once again from these latest pictures, there is a large contingent of law enforcement officials and not just the d.c. police. we also understand, and this is fairly similar protocol to what you and i saw over the past couple of weeks when i was actually out there. the capitol police, the park police and others are also moving in and out of this particular area throughout the evening, just to make sure that things are safe. unfortunately tonight, i can tell you that there has been a few things that would really disturb the folks who live here in the distr

>>a major adam dimarco of the dc national guard says he still can't believe what he saw in lafayette park on june 1st it was my observation that the use of force against demonstrators in the clearing operation was an unnecessary escalation, but acting chief of the u.s. park police gregory monahan said violent protesters forced his agency to act 50 u us park police officers were injured between may 29th and june 1st california democratic representative tj cox said tuesday's hearing was about more than just a violent end to a single protest is whether or that the park place yourself really have a duty and obligation of fealty to the constitution but republicans like arkansas representative bruce westerman called the hearing a political show i wish that. >>congress could work. renewing hope in america rather than continuing to drag issues like this through the mud lawmakers also wanted to know the park was cleared out specifically so president trump can walk through the area. >>to get to a photo op at a nearby church. there is 100% 0 okay relation between our operation and the president's vi

we ask about the protesters forcibly cleared from lafayette park. was it for that presidential photo-op? also tonight, the a.g. on black lives matter an on allegations of racial profiling by police. and amid this pandemic, should americans, concerned about their health, be allowed to vote in the presidential election by mail? what the attorney general says. >>> after that confrontation in new york's central park ignittrn calling police on a black man, a bird watcher, falsely claiming he was threatening her. the surprising turn tonight. what he's now saying to prosecutors. >>> the racist rant against asian-americans inside this restaurant. a tech ceo on video lashing out. the waitress defending the families and what's happened now. >>> the teacher who made international headlines has died. mary kay letourneau, convicted of raping a 12-year-old student, later marrying him. he was by her side as she died. deborah roberts on that tonight. >>> and the tropical threat we're watching along the east coast this evening as it closes in on the carolinas and th

lafayette park was also lit on fire, directly in lafayette park, looking for people, the person responsible for setting that fire as well. >> others who participated in the attempted disruption of the andrew jackson statue are already in custody including 37-year-old graeme lloyd who turned himself over to authorities in portland, maine, and made his first court appearance yesterday. the judge in that case transferred the case to here in washington, d.c. by the way, bill, the bureau of alcoholic, tobacco, and firearms is opening up to team is offering a $15,000 reward for anybody who can identify leading to charges and conviction of people who are send the church and the related structures. tremendous amount of money involved for people willing to talk about that. >> we are on it. we will bring you back. thank you, doug. hearing from lawmakers after intel chiefs a moment ago brief congressional leaders, live in capitol hill to find out what happened behind closed doors. a record 10,000 new coronavirus cases in one day, dr. marc siegel, what you need to know heading into the weeke weekend. c

lafayette park comfort station was also lit on fire, directly in lafayette park. it will look for people -- the person responsible for setting that fire as well. >> and here in new york, the two lawyers accused of throwing a molotov cocktail inside a police van in brooklyn during the george floyd protests were finally released from jail and $250,000 bond after spending weeks in solitary confinement isolated to protect them from catching covid-19. police say cameras outside the 88 precinct clearly show them throwing a torch fashion from above light bottle to the broken windows and nypd vehicle, then jumping into a car to try and get away. the pair were quickly arrested and charged with a laundry list of serious federal crimes. use of explosives, arson, using an explosive to commit a felony, arson conspiracy, use of a destructive device, civil disorder and possessing and making a destructive device. if convicted, the pair could face a mandatory minimum of decades behind bars, mike, but they have both pleaded not guilty. mike. >> mike: serious charges, rick leventhal

he had an understanding of who was on the ground in lafayette park. he was there. he knew that the d.c. national guard were in a supporting role to the park police. >> i'm going to stop you there created you are talking about lafayette park, that is fine, but there were others deployed who were not local, non-d.c. federal law enforcement deployed to take action within d.c. within the boundaries of the district of columbia. i am asking if you know yet whether or not those actions were coordinated with the d.c. national guard were not? sec. esper: my understanding is because i was with the secretary of the army, we were at the fbi joint operations center on monday evening with representatives from a number of agencies, i cannot list them all. i know it was fairly well coordinated. secretary mccarthy did an outstanding job with regard to working that out on the spot. major general walker was by his side most of the time. i will ask chairman billy. -- general milley. i can't confirm or deny that all of those federal law enforcement agencies worked tied into the d.c. nat

was also lit on fire in lafayette park, we're looking for who said that fire as well. >> in new york the two lawyers accused of throwing a molotov cocktail inside a police van in brooklyn during george floyd protests were released on 250,$000 bond after spending weeks isolated to protect them from catching covid-19. cameras outside the 80 eighth precinct clearly show him during the torch facet from the bud light bottles of the broken window and nypd vehicle, then jumping into a card to get away. the pair were quickly arrested and charged with a laundry list of serious federal crimes, use of explosives, arson, using an explosive to a felony, arson conspiracy, use of a destructive device, civil disorder and possessing and making a destructive device. if convicted the pair can face a mandatory minimum of decades behind bars, they both pleaded not guilty. breaking tonight the kansas city police officers in critical condition after getting shot in the head. police were called to mcdonald's restaurant ready and identified suspect was waving a gun, then fled on foot after police chased

. >> the events i saw at lafayette park. >> o'donnell: campaign 2020, america decides. joe biden says he'll pick his running mate next week. so who is on the short list? deadly shark attack. a 63-year-old woman killed by a great white shark as shark sightings in new york force popular beaches to close along the coast. two fatal accidents brought new york city to shut down a popular moped-sharing company. could other cities do the same? and tonight, military history: the woman now in charge of the u.s. army reserve, shattering a glass ceiling more than 100 years this is the "cbs evening news" with norah o'donnell, reporting from the nation's capital. >> o'donneodning and thank you for joining u deam coronavirus closing in on 150,000 americans, it now,a peers the outbreak is growing so rapidly nationwide, nearly half of all states are in what the white house calls the red zone. in a new report given to governors this week, but not released publicly, the president's coronavirus task force says the infection rate in 21 states is so high that they should begin reimposing res

do you want to expand on the actions at lafayette park? >> for the 29th, 30th, and 31st, there was unprecedented rioting right around the white house. very violent. during that time, as you say, about 50 park police -- and a comparable number, is my election, of secret service. we had around 90 officers injured. i'm talking about things like concussions, one was operated on, and so forth. it was so bad that it's been reported the secret service recommended the president go down to the shelter. we had a breach of the treasury department, the historical building on lafayette park was burned down. the lodge. st. john's was set on fire. bricks were thrown at the police repeatedly, they took crowbars and pried up the pavers at lafayette park and through those at the police. balloons of caustic liquid were thrown at the police. it was clear when i arrived at the white house on monday that there was total consensus that we couldn't allow that to happen so close to the white house, that kind of rioting. therefore, we had to move the perimeter out o

burning in san francisco's pacific heights it said washington street and franklin that is near lafayette park. >>the fire broke out shortly after 7 o'clock this evening that fire quickly went to 3 alarms to burning in a 3 or four-story tall apartment complex this video you can see how large that complex is the apartment buildings there takes up a good portion of the block in the 1900 block of washington street. the specific address is 1927 washington street, but just within the last couple of minutes, san francisco fire tweeted out that this fire is now under control and there are no injuries, however, there are there are with the getting around that area there's a lot of activity there still even though the fire is under control. we want to check in now with the kron four's dan thorn. he just arrived at the scene and he has more for us dan. >>well ken and pam as you can see behind me here so a number of firefighters here responding to this fire. it seems as though they have it under control yet you could still smell a lot of the smoke that was moving through the area here right now on washin

do you believe that william barr lied to you under oath about what happened in lafayette park?> he not only lied. he doubled back. he did a backflip. i quoted him where he said it was not chemical, that the pepper balls used against peaceful protesters. this was a peaceful protest. if there was any kind of rioting, of course this is not the way you would deal with rioting. this was peaceful protests. that's what everybody has said. the attorney general said it was not chemical. no, it was chemical. he did a double back flip. he used pepper ball agents against peaceful protesters. and what i showed him was that the beauty of pepper balls is not only the chemical irritant but the blunt force trauma. that's what he directed when he stood in that square at 6:10 and said get it done. and there's no coincidence between the president finishing a law and order statement in the rose garden and walking across. what i compare him to, the attorney general worked as an advance man on the campaign. can you imagine the secret service would have thought there's some disturbance in lafayette sq

l the administration with you president and telling them to get it done, used force to clear lafayette parks of the president with you and others at your side could walk across the park and have a photo often front of st. john's church. it is also an affront to the constitution and to the american people. given the time in a coordinated attack against the peaceful demonstrators it is this was not planned for use of political purposes and just yesterday major dimarco testified to another committee of congress that the protesters were peaceful and that is what the majority of people have said. and the response was excessive. when did you first learn the president plans to walk to the park and go to st. john'sth church? so versest i like to respond so would you please answer my question my time is limited. >> i learned sometime in the afternoon that the president might come out of the white house and then later in the afternoon i heard he might go over to the church. smacked such assets lewdly necessary for the park you declared? >> that had nothing to do with that. the plan to move him. [inaud

by the administration and with you present and telling him to get it done used force to clear lafayette park so that the president with you and others at your side could work across the park and have a photo-op in front of the church. this was under the bishop of the diocese and the director of the church and affront to the constitution and the american people. given the timing and the attack, it's strange that this was not planned for use of political purposes and just yesterday major demarco testified to congress that the protesters were peaceful and that's what the majority of people have said and the response was excessive. when did you first learn that the president planned to walk through the park and go to st. john's church? >> first i'd like to respond to what you -- >> will you please answer my question? my time is limited. >> i learned sometime in the afternoon that the president might come out of the white house and then later in the amp afternoon i heard he might go to the church. >> so it was necessary for the park to be cleared. >> the plan to move -- >> mr. general, it was nec

do you want to expand on the actions with lafayette park? >> for the 29th, 30th and 31st there was unprecedented rioting right around the white house. very violent. during that time, as you say, about 50 park police and a comparable number of secret service. so we had about -- i think around 90 officers injured. i'm talking about things like concussions. one was operated on and so forth. we had the president -- it was so bad that it's been reported the secret service recommended the president go down to the shelter. we had a breach of the treasury department. the historical building on lafayette park was burned down, the lodge. st. john's was set on fire. bricks were thrown at the police repeatedly. they took crow bars and pried up the pavers on lafayette park and threw those at the police. balloons of costic liquid were thrown on the police. and it was clear when i arrived at the white house on monday, it was total consensus that the -- we couldn't allow that to happen so close to the white house. that kind of rioting. and, therefore, we had

the protests and saying that at no time referring specifically to that big protests we saw in lafayette park in washington d.c. that chemical agents won't use rubber bullets when used and yet that was the whole focus of that day the fact that so much force was used against citizens. that's right and what he's saying here is not the fact that those agents were used the rather by who and you just heard the defense secretary making it clear that the national guard troops who were present during that alter cation with protesters the defense secretary said they were the ones who shot their over bullets or who used the pepper spray that rather the military was there as a supportive role standing by to step in if a law enforcement was needed require the help of the military he also made clear that those active duty troops who were called upon and stationed at the ready just across the river from washington d.c. mark asked for the defense secretary said that they were not actually deployed and you really seen these see these military. leaders zone in on that they that the military did show restraint

the administration and with you present and telling them to "get it done," used force to clear lafayette park so that the president with you and others at your side could walk across the park and have a photo op in front of st. john's church. this is anathema to the bishop of the diocese and the director of the church. it was an affront to the constitution and the american people. given the timing and the coordinated attack against the peaceful demonstrators, it strains credulity that this was not planned for use for political purposes. just yesterday, major dimarco testified to another committee of congress that the protesters were peaceful and that's what the majority of people have said and the response was excessive. when did you first learn that the president planned to walk through the park and go to st. john's church? >> first i would like to respond to -- >> would you please answer my question. my time is limited. >> i learned sometime in the afternoon that the president might come out of the white house and then later in the afternoon i heard he might go over to the church. >> so it

the administration, and with you present and telling them to get it done, used force to clear lafayette park so the president, with you and others at your side, could walk across the park and have a photo op in front of st. john's church. this was an anathema and an affront to the constitution and the american people. giving the time and a coordinated attack against the peaceful demonstrators, it strains credulity this was not planned for use of political purposes. just yesterday, major demarco testify to another committee of congress that the protesters were peaceful, and that is what the majority of people have said, and the response was excessive. when did you first learned that the president planned to walk through the park and go to st. john's church? >> first, i like to respond to what you -- >> would you please answer my question? my time is limited. >> i learned sometime in the afternoon that the president might come out of the white house, and then later in the afternoon i heard he might go over to the church. >> so, it was absolutely necessary the park be cleared? >> it has nothing

the administrations and with you present and telling him to get it done, used force to clear lafayette park so the president with you and others at his side good walk across the parking have a photo opportunity at st. john's church. this was anathema to the diocese of the church and an affront to the constitution and the american people. giving the time for the coordinated attack against the peaceful demonstrators, it strains fragility this was not planned for political -- it strains credulity this was not planned for political purposes. andprotesters were peaceful that is what the majority of people has said. the response was excessive. when did you first learn the president planned to walk through the park and go to st. john's church? a.g. barr: first i would like to respond to -- rep. cohen: would you answer my question? my time is limited. a.g. barr: i learned sometime in the afternoon the president might come out of the white house, and later in the afternoon i heard he might go over to the church. rep. cohen: it was necessary the park be cleared. a.g. barr: it had nothing to do with t

findings at all be used, danny, in the lawsuits against the departments for portland and for lafayette park sure to. some degree, inspectors generals' reports are made public. they're posted right on their websites. sometimes they're very detailed. other times, not so much. depending on whether it's an audit or investigation, certain information is released. they'll sometimes publish summaries to congress, and that will be made available online. any time it's made public, it can be used in any lawsuit if it's information that's helpful to meeting the burden of proof. >> can we quickly talk about michael cohen here for a moment? >> yes. >> as i read, he's being re-released. does the government have any appeal to that? >> they can appeal that order, but they shouldn't appeal it. this has all the indications of a bureau's messup and an administration failure. it could be something that goes higher up the chain of command in the doj. but the poorly drafted language of the release is something. keep in mind i'm biased. i have a lot of personal dealings with the bureau of prisons which leads me t

that magnificent idea, the supreme court and the new black lives matter mural on the street near lafayette park near the white house. that is where lewis made his final public appearance. it is a flitting final path here in washington for congressman lewis who helped shape the landscape of this city and its history over more than 30 years. cnn's esmalvo is here on capitol hill to start us off on this somber day. >> reporter: it's a beautiful day here in washington, d.c. there's a great deal of anticipation on the john lewis. we suspect there will be a lot of people on capitol hill as they say good-bye and also celebrate his life as the conscience of the congress having evolved and served as an activist that have and really as a lawmaker here in washington, d.c. as you know, this event and these kind of eve vents laying in state are planned town to the minute and we saw just about so:34 this morning, the first plane landing at joint base andrews, that of former staffers and family members. we do expect that the casket that the body of john lewis will arrive with about 20 family members and curre

park police to police to back up the rest in washington's lafayette park.on treader was taken into custody without incident at his home. if he's charged with two counts of destruction of federal property. authorities identified him and numerous videos and still pictures wearing rose-colored goggles and others without a mask. here, adding a cigarette on the burning center of confederate leader albert pike and law enforcement sources say that he has connections to antifa and that he "was on top of the statue directing people." they had as, chiseled it, and a human chain preventing people from getting to the statue. it also investigation, the firesides on the 9th of june 22nd and other structures in the nation's capital. of >> it was lit on fire and the starbucks arson fire, there wasa few others at lafayette park, the station was lit on fire. looking for the people or person responsible. >> others participated in the attempted destruction of the jackson statue are in custody and the rest come in the wake of the june 26th a and executive orders where he demand

do you think that -- >> well -- >> do you think it's appropriate at lafayette park to pepper spray, tearas and beat protesters and injure american citizens? >> well, i don't accept your characterization of what happened, but as i explained the effort there was -- >> mr. barr, i just asked for a yes or no, so let me just tell you -- i'm starting to lose my temper. according to sworn testimony before the house natural resources committee by army national guard officer adam demarco who was there, this was quote an unprovoked escalation and excessive use of force against peaceful protesters. you -- >> i don't remember demarco -- >> mr. barr, excuse me. this is my time. >> -- decision making. >> sir, the president told governors on a telephone call that the way to deal with the protesters of police brutality and systemic racism like in lafayette square is that quote, you have to get much tougher. you have to dominate. if you don't dominate, you're wasting your time. these are terrorists. and he also talked about you on that call, sir. here's what he said. he said the attorney general is here,

talking about lafayette park. that is fine. but there were other law deployed who were non-d.c.y nonlocal, also deployed to take action of the he boundaries district of columbia. i'm asking if you know yet actions r not those were coordinated with the d.c. not.onal guard or sec. esper: my understanding is because i was with secretary of mccarthy, the chairman, we were at the f.b.i. joint center monday evening with representatives from a funnel of agencies. agencies, i r of can't list them all so i know it coordinated.ll secretary mccarthy did an utstanding job with regard to working that out and major general walker was by his side time.of the i will see if chairman milley has thinking to add on that. about 30 seconds. gen. milley: congressman, i an't confirm or deny that all of those federal law enforcement agencies were tied into the d.c. personally.rd for walker, i would have to talk to walker specifically about that. all the federal agencies came underneath the department f justice except for the park police who were under

broke out shortly after 7 o'clock tonight in pacific heights and washington and franklin near lafayette park. kron four's dan thorn is live on the scene has been for there for the last hour and a half or so and he has the latest for us dan. >>ken and pam were here on washington street between franklin and gough where a lot of the activity remains there are several, san francisco firefighters that are still on scene here we've been told tonight that there were at least 4 buildings that were damaged because of this fire. investigators are still determining where it broke out and how it broke out, several people are believed to be displaced tonight we still don't have those numbers and in terms of the amount of people but they will not be able to return to their homes. as firefighters are made on scene here if you take a look behind me. the firefighters had a number of ladders that were put up onto the roof areas of these apartment buildings that are really tightly knit together here on washington street. the flames were seen on top of the roof area also a lot of smoke that was seen by neighbor

president trump got in trouble for one incident in lafayette park where he tear gassed peaceful protesters for a photo op. well, every night in portland he's tear gassing peaceful protesters for a photo op. >> laurence tribe, help me understand this. i will be talking to a number of senators who put forward legislation to prevent federal troops from going in. i certainly do not understand the constitution the way you do. but it does actually -- our first amendment does give us a right to protest. the president is criminalizing protesting in general rather than arresting people who set fires to things and threaten public buildings. >> you're clearly right. and in fact just listening to nick reminds all of us that the destruction of america is underway in the hands of this tyrannical president. there is no ill legality except occasional minor offenses that the police of oregon can take care of themselves. and the homeland security acting director chad wolf and the attorney general are deploying para militaries on the streets of america sweeping up lawful protesters, targeting the press, esse

lafayette park. and bill barr did everything he could to try to distract us, but we were not going to be distracted. >> i want to ask you about mail-in voting. you have unique familiarity with this given where you are from. bill barr was asked about this today and he continued to parrot the administration's view that mail-in voting is not secure. let's just listen. all right. you know what? i don't have the sound there, but the congressman rich richmond was saying, do you believe as the attorney general that mail-in voting will lead to massive voter fraud? the attorney general responds, i think there is a high risk that it will. he went on about that. tell me how you respond to this because you know mail-in voting better than many americans do. >> yes, i come from the state of washington. we're one of the states that has had mail-in ballots, mail-in voting for almost the long in the history of other states. you know, i think oregon may be a bit longer than us. i have this written down to try to count

yesterday, we also heard from the most senior guardsmen on the scene outside of lafayette park, who said, yes, they did use tear gas. so jeffrey, bill barr could know those things, if he chose to look into them. but he didn't seem to have that kind of intellectual curiosity. >> and i thought the hearing was at its best when it was about facts, not about people yelling at each other. representative swalwell and cicilline, they pointed out -- the attorney general was very concerned about the excessive sentence to rogersto stone, the president's friends. and they asked, are there any other sentences in the entire federal system that you have intervened to try to lower? and the answer was "no." so i think that's really what was revealed. out of all of the sentences in the united states court, the only one that the attorney general has intervened in in his tenure in office was one for the president's friends. that tells you more than congressmen and attorney general yelling at each other. >> and that's william barr's planet, which might be different than the planet other people live on when t

do you think -- >> i think pepper -- >> -- was appropriate at lafayette park to pepper spray, tear gas, and beat protesters and injure american citizens? >> well, i don't accept your characterization of what happened. but as i explained, the effort there was -- >> mr. barr, i just asked for a yes or no, so let me just tell you -- i'm starting to lose my temper. >> joining us now, congresswoman pramila jayapal, democrat from the state of washington. thank you for being here tonight. it's the second time we've had an opportunity to talk this week. this evening after your exchanges with the attorney general, you tweeted, attorney general bill barr must resign. tell me why. >> well, this is -- everything we saw today, ali, is exactly what we have known for some time and watched, which is that bill barr is not acting as the attorney general for the people of the united states. bill barr is the personal h henchman for donald trump, and he has no interest whatsoever in ensuring safe elections. he has no interest in actually taking on police brutality and racism. he uses the department to esse

steps from lafayette park, more to the white house. you see it right there.ow black lives matter plaza as they call it in washington, d.c. our joe johns is right there. >> reporter: john, this is seen as sort of a bridge between the youthful activism of john lewis and the youthful activism of today. we are expecting to see the procession in just a few minutes. what i want to do is point out to you what's going on in this intersection. you look over my shoulder, you can see a mural of large photograph of john lewis. that apparently is his last public appearance we're told it was here at black lives matter plaza on june 7th. as you can see he is wearing a mask with arms crossed. now, why is this a bridge? it is a bridge for a number of reasons, including because of the demonstrations, the fact that this is the place where the president of the united states cleared a group of peaceful protesters in order to walk over to st. john's episcopal church to do a photo-op holding a bible. it is more than that. when you look at the life of john lewis, this is an activist

they took crowbars and pried up the pavers at lafayette park and threw them at the police. balloons of caustic liquid thrown on the police and it was clear at the white house on monday when i arrived total consensus that we can't allow that to happen so close to the white house. that kind of rioting. therefore, we had to move the perimeter out one block and push it up toward i street and there was already a plan in being at that point that the park police and the secret service had worked out the night before which was to put the perimeter further away and then give them time to put a non scaleable fence across the northern part of the park. during the day -- monday, the factor that is led to the timing of it were that that movement was going to be made as soon as there were enough units in place to actually perform it and units were very slow getting into the day throughout the day much to my frustration because i wanted to move it before there's a build-up of demonstrators and also the fencing had to be delivered. when those things were accomplished, the tactical commande

so just answer the question. >> well, i think -- >> do you think it was appropriate at lafayette park to pepper spray, tear gas, and beat protesters and injure american citizens? >> well, i don't accept your characterization of what happened, but as i explained, the effort there was -- >> mr. barr, i just asked for a yes or no. so let me just tell you -- i'm starting to lose my temper. according to sworn testimony before the house natural resources committee by army national guard officer adam demarco who was there, this was, quote, an unprovoked escalation and excessive use of force against peaceful protesters. u.s. media reports have confirmed -- mr. barr. excuse me. this is my time. sir. sir. the president told governors on a telephone call the way to deal with police brutality and systemic racism like in lafayette square is that, quote, you have to get much tougher. you have to dominate. if you don't dominate, you're wasting your time. these are terrorists. and he also talked about you on that call, sir. here's what he said. he said the attorney general is here. bill barr. and we

do you think that was appropriate at lafayette park to pepper spray tear gas and beat protesters anditizens? >> well, i don't accept your characterization of what happened. but as i explained, the effort there was -- >> mr. barr, just answer yes or no. so let me just tell you, i'm starting to lose my temper. according to sworn testimony before the house natural resources committee by adam demarco who was there, this was, quote, an unprovoked escalation and excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, numerous media reports. >> i don't remember demarco as being involved in the decision-making. >> sir, sir, the president told governors on a telephone call that the way to deal with the protesters of police brutality and systemic racism like in lafayette square is that, quote, you have to get much tougher. you have to dominate. if you don't dominate, you're wasting your time. these are terrorists. and he also talked about you on that call, sir. here is what he said. he said, the attorney general is here, bill barr, and we will activate bill barr and activate him strongly. do you r

. >> reporter: democrats question the use of force to clear lafayette park in june just before president trump walked to a nearby church and held up a bible barr said it was to protect the white house and nearby buildings. >> the movement was not geared to the behavior of that particular crowd it was geared to the fact that we were moving the perimeter out so we could put a fence up on "h" street. >> reporter: barr was also asked why he sought a more lenient sentence for trump friend roger stone and moved to dismiss charges against michael flynn? >> in donald trump's america there are two systems of justice, one for mr. trump and his cronies and another for the rest of us. >> reporter: but barr said he made those decisions without any white house pressure >> i would just ask people to -- supposedly punishing the president's enemies and helping his friends -- what enemies have i indicted >> reporter: what about president trump's claims that the push to use more mail-in ballots could rig the election >> do you believe that this 2020 presidential election will be rigged >> reporter: i have

john's church, lafayette park. you were there, you experienced this in ways none of us care to have to have done ourselves. that seems to be an important moment in this campaign. >> that's right, chuck. very few of us thought we would ever see something like that in this country. i had lived through it in latin america but not here in the u.s. we were getting ready to go live for our evening newscast, and all of a sudden we realized we were under attack. we did not expect it. there were people kneeling in protest around me when we started tasting tear gas, then came the mounted police and the flash grenades. i looked down to see if my feet were still there. we realized we were being targeted. they started shooting at us. my bureau chief got hit in the back, the photographer in his stomach, also in his arm, i got hit in my arm. we don't know what it was, pepper balls some people have said, rubber bullets. you have some pictures of what my arm was looking like. and everything got worse when we realized that all this

and with regard to the role the national guard played in lafayette park on june 1, i also want to makear the following, that the guard did not advance on the crowd, that the guard did not shoot rubber bullets, that the guard did not employ chemical agents of any type. rather, the guard remained in a static role as backup to law enforcement if needed. anchor: meanwhile, transcripts of george floyd's final moments have been released, showing police ignored him when he said he couldn't breathe and told him to stop talking. the document also states floyd told officers he couldn't breathe more than 20 times. he died in may when a police officer not on his neck for nearly nine minutes. his death sparked global protest against racism and police brutality. d antiracism activists painted a mural on a road in new york right outside the main door of trump tower. president trump has previously said it would be a symbol of hate and denigrating to 5th avenue, home to many luxury stores. mayor de blasio says distort -- it honors the community that helped build new york. ♪ anchor: libby is recognized

taken ly watched actions lafayette park in june. 1,500 federal agents from 10 different agencies were deployed confront protesters in washington, d.c. t lafayette park, long been honored and accepted as a place of protest in our nation's of tol, on the first day june, the world watched in horror on live television as agents deployed by the administration and with you present and telling them to get done, you scorched to clear laugh yacht park with you and your side could washing across the park and have st. to op in front of john's church. to the lso an affront constitution and to the american people. giving the time and the against the ttack eaceful demonstrators, it strains that this was not planned for political purposes. demarco testified to another committee of congress that the protesters were and that's what the majority of people said and the excessive.s when did you first learn that the president planned to walk hrough the park and go to st. john's church? a.g. barr: first, i would like to respond to -- my ill you please answer question, my time is limited. sometime in learne

inspector general's office announced investigations into the federal response this weekend and in lafayette park on june 1st. protests here have gone on for nearly 60 is straigstraight day. citizen journalists like alyssa azar is with a collective of citizen journalists who have documented the growing outrage from the beginning. >> why are you pushing? no, no! i'm moving. i'm moving. >> the tactics that they're using every day just are bringing the protesters back in bigger groups every night, and just a lot angrier, you know? we're seeing tt wvenseeminyocutg up that does every single night. i feel like what they're doing is really enraging people more than anything. >> reporter: she worries if tensions don't subside things could get much worse. >> like the only thing that could happen next that will take it to the next level is for an officer, federal or, you know, portland police to fire a live round. we've already seen those being pointed and pulled from hollisters at least on two different occasions. that's a fear for a lot of people, and if that happens i can't even imagine the reaction tha