Unrest, looting and violence in response to the death of George Floyd in police custody

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Unrest, looting and violence in response to the death of George Floyd in police custody

This is a rush transcript from "The Story with Martha MacCallum" May 29, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Hi there Bret. Good to see you tonight. Have a great weekend. Hello, everybody. Good evening to you. I am Martha MacCallum and this is "The Story".

Breaking tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're very, very saddened by what happened to our relationship with China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: An unprecedented crackdown on China announced today by President Trump. General Jack Keane joins us with the meaning behind all of that.

And, finally, the release of those Flynn-Kislyak phone calls. Those transcripts were indeed dropped late today. We're joined by K.T. McFarland. We'll work our way through them. We'll find out what was it in these phone calls that triggered spying, in Bill Barr's words, on the Trump campaign. And why? We're going to take a close look at what they actually said. I think you'll be quite interested. That's coming up.

But first tonight, a story that makes America weep. As we brace for another nightfall in Minneapolis where a mandatory curfew is about to go into effect. The former police officer who was captured on video pinning a handcuffed to the ground tonight is behind bars.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE FLOYD, KILLED BY MINNEAPOLIS POLICE: I can't breathe, man. Please, please let me stand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Please, let me stand. That was all George Floyd was asking that officer to do. Please, just let me stand, while I'm handcuffed. How is it possible that Derek Chauvin, after all the red flags that we now know about from other crime scenes, was allowed to keep wearing the badge of the City of Minneapolis. We'll talk about that tonight.

Then there is this larger and sickening scene last night of complete lawlessness at the Third Precinct Police Department in Minneapolis after police evacuated their own police station. And then it was totally overrun. Take a look inside for a minute. Ask yourself, have you ever seen anything like this in America? Take a look at this. This is the inside the police station.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

MACCALLUM: Just unreal. 46-year-old George Floyd had dealt with law enforcement before. He'd done time over a decade ago for armed robbery. But he had rebuilt his life in Minneapolis. He made this video warning the younger generation after a friend lost her son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FLOYD: Our young generation is clearly lost, man. I don't even know what to say no more, man. Like, you youngsters just going around just busting guns in crowds, kids getting killed. And it's clearly the generation after us, man, that's so lost man. Come on home, man. One day, it's going to be you and God. You going up or you going down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: What do you think he would think of what is happening now in his name. George Floyd, like 40 million Americans had just lost his job. The bar that he worked at was shut down for the pandemic. And then on Memorial Day he tried to use a counterfeit $20 bill to pay for goods at a corner store.

A city is shut down for months has now exploded into flames and destruction over the past several nights. And like the Governor of Minnesota, we all hope and pray that tonight is going to be better. We're on the scene and we will take you there live. We have reaction this evening from Rochelle Ritchie, and we'll also be joined by Congressman Dan Crenshaw.

Plus, Glenn Greenwald on the arrest of a news crew in the middle of these riots today. And then General Jack Keane who compares what he is seeing there to a war zone in Afghanistan.

But we begin this evening with Fox News correspondent Mike Tobin who's been on the ground throughout all of this, live for us in Minneapolis. Hi Mike.

MIKE TOBIN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi Martha. We're watching the size and anger of this crowd that has formed up on Lake Street grow as we get closer to sundown. They are now confronting this line of guardsmen and state troopers chanting. And at the moment there's a Native American crowd they're chanting and using drums. So the crowd is rather calm, but they are angry.

Despite the announcement of charges, angry that it took four days to get charges, angry that three of the officers have not been charged despite the announcement Hennepin County attorney that charges against the other officers are likely.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE FREEMAN, HENNEPIN COUNTY ATTORNEY: We felt it appropriate to focus on the most dangerous perpetrator.

I'm not going to speculate today the other officers. They are under investigation. I anticipate charges.

LEE MERITT, ATTORNEY FOR GEORGE FLOYD'S FAMILY: I think the appropriate charge in this case was murder. And I think every officer who was involved under the law should have been charged as well. And so we still have a long way to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOBIN: Just before 10:00 o'clock last night that remarkable scene played out where the officers of the 3rd Precinct formed up in the parking lot. They got into vehicles some of them on foot and under pressure from a rioting mob. They retreated from their headquarters at the Third Precinct.

Within a matter of minutes, the kids toppled the fences outside of the precinct. They began bashing in the windows. Ultimately, they made entry to that Third Precinct building and started setting fires. They set fire to the Minnehaha liquor store. And now we're watching the crowd grow, waiting for this curfew, that's just a few hours away. Martha.

MACCALLUM: Mike, thank you very much. We'll check back with Mike Tobin live in Minneapolis tonight.

Joining me now Rochelle Ritchie, who served as a spokesperson for the Baltimore City State's Attorney during the Freddie Gray trials. Michelle it's good to have you here tonight. Obviously, this is just an awful story from beginning to end right now today, charges for Derek Chauvin, a former police officer. Your thoughts on what we've seen so far today.

ROCHELLE RITCHIE, FORMER CONGRESSIONAL PRESS SECRETARY: Well you know Martha, it's very reminiscent of what I saw happening in Baltimore in 2015 during the Freddie Gray trial. And, look, I understand a lot of people are watching what's happening in Minneapolis and they're very shocked, some of them are very older. And some of the looting and the violence that we are seeing.

However, I think that this conversation goes a little bit deeper. That this trauma that you see in the African-American community are being expressed right now it's not as a result of police brutality. It's a result for year over year racial injustice and discrimination.

And I see what was similar to Freddie Gray, is also a shot you can see George Floyd somewhat in a similar position that Freddie Gray was when he when he died seven days later after he was put in the back of that van.

I think charges that have come from your district attorney are pretty much to pacify the protesters and pacify those of us that are wanting to see a stiffer charges. Why? Because it took what four days or 72 hours. And he - and even during the press conference when he said he's been charged with murder and manslaughter, he did not say third-degree murder. It was a reporter that actually had to ask him that, and he knew that charge of third-degree murder was a slap in their face.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I mean, I agree. When you look at that - and they also were patting themselves on the back for getting this done in only four days. What's your reaction to that?

RITCHIE: That's insane! Four days? I mean, when we were at the state's attorney office in Baltimore City, maybe Marilyn Mosby the state attorney at that time, no, she did not get any conviction, but she at least was sincere in her efforts to take justice.

She at least tried and she did not try to use the ignorance of people who do not know the law to her advantage. And he did this - and like he said, four days, Freddie Gray died April 19th. Charges did not get brought until May 1st, and the officers were not even indicted until may 21st.

This is an incident to pacify people, and it's an insult. And pretty much it seems like, this is a way to sort of put this officer in protective custody, because we've seen protesters outside his home.

And the other thing I want to mention is, some people are saying, oh, this is violence. This goes against what Martin Luther King says. Well, Martin Luther King also said that a riot is the language of the unheard. And when people have for centuries and years been saying, this is happening in our community and it's been scoffed at, this is the result.

MACCALLUM: I mean, it's a tragedy all around. And when you watch what has happened to - it's something like 130 businesses in the middle of this difficult period for - during the pandemic on top of everything else. It's just another world of hurt for all of that part of the community on top of the suffering that is related to what has happened here to George Floyd. Rochelle, thank you. Good to have you here tonight. Thanks for being here.

Joining me now is Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw from Texas. Congressman Crenshaw welcome to you. You know your thoughts this evening as we watch this story unfold.

REP. DAN CRENSHAW (R-TX): Well, I think two things are true. George Floyd should be alive. There is a very clear injustice there. And I think there's also wide agreement on what should happen with respect to bringing justice to not just that one officer, but we're looking at all of them. There's no disagreement there.

But there also shouldn't be disagreement on what's happening with these riots and the injustice that is occurring against innocent people in Minneapolis because of this. And I'm a little confused that at some people that want to just brush right past that and make excuses for it. That's also not OK.

We can live by a very clear system of justice in this country and we should and we should all unite around George Floyd's case. I think that's very clear. And we should also be able to say that that injustice does not justify further injustices against other people, like you said 130 businesses being destroyed, that there's no justification for that.

MACCALLUM: But I think that there is, obviously, such deep pain based on the fact that we see too many of these situations. And if there wasn't a cell phone and people standing around him you, just have to wonder. Would we ever - we've never would have known about this. I guarantee it.

And it is the anger that you are seeing in these protests is understandable when you look at some of these other cases and it makes you wonder these are the ones we know about. And I've always been - we want to support our law enforcement. We know that most of them have their hearts and their badges and their work in the right place. These are the people who reflect badly and they should be removed.

I don't understand why someone who had the number of complaints against him that this officer had for prior crime scene behavior, why would he even still be on the force?

CRENSHAW: I don't know. I can't answer that question. And the anger is justified. Again, there's a very clear injustice that occurred here. The question is always do you attribute it to a systemic problem and that becomes much less clear. You have to use evidence if you're going to make that argument. But the anger for this is clearly justified. I mean the guy was killed and it's just - it's clearly justified. There's no disputing that. There's no disagreement there.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I mean, when he says please let me stand it just - it's incredible that these four people could be standing around him and not one of them nudges the other and goes, "look, let's get the guy up." I mean, it's just unbelievable when you watch what happens. It makes you question things about humanity.

And, again, these - I believe, I couldn't live with the world if I didn't believe that these people were the exception. But this is - it's just so inexcusable. I want to ask you about the larger picture, because you write about heroism, about leadership in your new book.

And I think back to - I was looking back today at video of the 1967 summer riots and it said, they happened because of unemployment, because of poverty, because manufacturing had moved out of areas and jobs had left those areas. And I think well, here we are again potentially in the summer of 2020 post pandemic.

CRENSHAW: Yes, it's true. And one thing I write about too is, there is injustice in this world. My book is largely about petty outrage culture. OK? I'm finding outrage where there shouldn't be any.

In certain situations, there - again outrage is justifiable and this is one of them. Whether it's people losing their jobs or whether it's or whether it's the George Floyd, there is justifiable outrage. But you're always still accountable for your actions. You're always still accountable for the story that you put forth into the future.

We have to remember that as Americans we cannot forget that basic fact, otherwise, we will decay into cultural chaos. And that's largely why I wrote the book, because we do need to stiffen our spines and come together and agree on these very basic things and agree on what kind of justice should be done for George Floyd, but also what shouldn't be done, and that's really what it's about. And we have to - we're going to have to come together if we're going to get past this pandemic and this economic crisis.

MACCALLUM: Well, Dan Crenshaw, thank you for your service to our country and the book is "Fortitude." Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw always, good to see you, sir. Thank you very much. Good to have you with us.

CRENSHAW: Thanks Martha.

MACCALLUM: So when we come back tonight, another big story that is breaking on this Friday evening. We just got our hands on the official transcripts folks of Michael Flynn's phone calls with the Russian Ambassador Kislyak. So much grew out of these particular phone calls, yet nobody had their hands on what actually was said. K.T. McFarland has just gotten to see them herself for the first time. She's infuriated. She joins me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: All right everybody. Tonight, a Friday evening release of the phone call transcripts between the then incoming National Security Adviser General Michael Flynn and the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

These were at the heart of then FBI Director James Comey's concerns about Russian collusion. These were the calls that were so concerning, they required unmasking to find out who it was who was saying these things, which now that we see them, would have been fairly obvious.

And Comey, of course, voiced his concern in the January 5th Oval Office meeting with the President, even suggesting that the contents of these calls merited withholding information sharing from the incoming administration with regards to Russia. That advice was not taken, we should point out, by Susan Rice or President Obama.

Here now K.T. McFarland who was Michael Flynn's deputy at the time, working very closely with him, who is now also seeing these phone calls verbatim for the first time. I would also point out that these supposedly hair raising phone calls required almost zero redactions. There is next to nothing that is even blacked out of this for intelligence purposes before they were released to everybody.

K.T. what was your reaction when you got to look finally at what exactly was said between these two individuals?

K.T. MCFARLAND, FORMER DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Martha, I'm going to take a deep breath, because it is very - I want to keep my anger under control. But what - there was nothing wrong. I talked to General Flynn before he had this phone call. I talked to him right afterwards. He told me what he was going to say. He told me what he said. This is exactly what's in the transcript. There was nothing wrong there. There was no quid pro quo. There was no special deal cut.

And what it shows is that the Obama administration, by putting no sanctions on, just two weeks before Donald Trump was going to be sworn in as President of the United States, they wanted to give him a crisis. They wanted to present President Trump with a crisis on day one of his administration.

They could have put these sanctions on weeks before, months before. They waited until right before the inauguration. And, you know, what were they all about - and then when there was nothing there, we didn't take the bait. Then they really got angry and they did the whole Russia collusion delusion Mueller investigation and so.

MACCALLUM: All right. K.T. let me put a couple of these up, because I want people to actually see what's in them, because we've promised to show them to them.

Here's Michael Flynn on December 23rd saying to Kislyak, "You know, the strategic goal is stability in the Middle East. That's the strategic goal. And you know between you and I, and you know this and we know this, and you know between Washington and Moscow, we will not achieve stability in the Middle East without working with each other against this radical Islamist crowd." Controversial?

MCFARLAND: No, not the least. In fact, people in the media and in think tanks and even in the Obama administration were saying far more serious stuff than this. He was - Mike Flynn was just saying the obvious. We want to work together. We want to work together in dealing with extremism and terrorism and violence in the Middle East. Nothing there.

MACCALLUM: So let me just show this one, because this goes more to the heart of the question of whether or not any discussion of dropping sanctions, if you do this - quid pro quo type stuff. This is December 29th.

MCFARLAND: Right.

MACCALLUM: Mike Flynn says, "What I would ask Russia to do is not - is if anything, because I know you have to take some sort of action to only make it reciprocal. Make it reciprocal, don't make it - don't go further than you have to, because I don't want us to get into something that has to escalate tit for tat. Do you follow me Ambassador? And he says, "I understand what you're saying. But you know we might appreciate - you might appreciate the sentiments that are raging in Moscow." So this is what he said after the sanctions were put in place and Russia was considering what they would do to retaliate.

MCFARLAND: You know, if the whole thing - Mike Flynn doesn't promise anything. He wasn't saying we're going to lift the sanctions the minute we get in or he wasn't saying let's cut a deal right now. He was just saying the obvious Let's not escalate this into a crisis. Let's not have a U.S.- Russia crisis on day one of the Trump administration. There's nothing wrong there. In fact, there's everything right.

What would - what did - what were we supposed to say? Let's get into a real crisis, so on day one President Trump and Vladimir Putin can really do get out. Mike Flynn did exactly the right thing and there was never a deal struck.

And when I was investigated, interrogated by the Mueller investigation, that's what they kept coming back to. The fact that the Russians didn't retaliate, that we didn't have a crisis, they therefore assumed President Trump had done something wrong. Nobody did anything wrong. The only thing wrong was done by the people who perpetrated this hoax on the American public for three long years. Destroyed people's lives, tried to hobble the Trump presidency right from the beginning.

MACCALLUM: I just want to get your last thought K.T. on this. One last piece, which I thought was interesting, December 31, 2016. Kislyak says, "And I just wanted to tell you that we found that these actions have targeted not only against Russia, but also against the President elect." Meaning, all of the investigation that went on beforehand and the suspicions that were that were surrounding all of this. What's your - what are you taking away from that?

MCFARLAND: Look, Vladimir Putin had no intention of responding and escalating this crisis. Obama administration didn't figure that out. He had - Putin had far more to lose by perpetuating a bad relationship with the United States. I think Putin played us all like a violin. He pretended they were going to retaliate, and they didn't retaliate.

And what did Putin accomplish by that? He looked like a great statesman. He managed to embarrass President Obama, calling him petty kitchen diplomacy. And he got brownie points with President Trump.

But it all came apart because of the Russia collusion delusion. They decided, the outgoing Obama administration, the intelligence officials and a lot of people in the media who were cooperating with them, they were going to find a scandal no matter what kind of a scandal it was.

You know, when Stalin was President of the - Head of the Soviet Union, his super-secret Spy Chief Beria, he said to Stalin. You find me the man I'll find you the crime. And that's what this entire Russia hoax was all about. They wanted to find a crime, whatever crime would do, even when they had to make up.

MACCALLUM: K.T. McFarland, thank you very much. Great to have your reaction to this release tonight. No doubt there's going to be a lot more fodder as we move forward on this. Thank you very much K.T. Good to see you.

Let's go over to this. Fox News alert, breaking this evening as there is protests on the ground that are continuing to gather this evening in Minneapolis tonight. These are the scenes as we wait for the curfew to kick in.

OK. I'm sorry, I - there was a cue at the top of that. It looks like it is Minneapolis. But this is Atlanta. So we're seeing some spread in other places, as we saw last night in Los Angeles as well. Tonight people gathering on the streets of Atlanta this evening, as we continue to go through the evening watch - keeping an eye on Minneapolis as well.

So General Jack Keane will join us on how all of this might play out. Plus, his reaction to the violence and the destruction that we saw in Minnesota last night, which he says, looks more like a war zone than anything he's ever seen in the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: All eyes on the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, this evening where a mandatory curfew goes into effect about 90 minutes from now. Police and government officials are hoping that they will avoid a repeat of last night. Shops, restaurants, even a police precinct went up in flames as some of protest over the death of George Floyd spun out of control.

My next guest, a retired four-star general, has likened these pictures to things that he's seen in Afghanistan, never here in the United States. Joining me now, General Jack Keane, chairman for the Institute for the Study of War, and a Fox News senior strategic analyst. General, always good to see. Thank you very much for being here tonight.

JACK KEANE, FOX NEWS SENIOR STRATEGIC ANALYST: Glad to be here.

MACCALLUM: I want to start by playing again this video that was from the inside of the third last night. Just take a look at this, general, and tell me what goes through your mind as you look at this.

KEANE: Well, what is so shocking to me that's taken place here in Minneapolis, I mean, this police department that tolerates the abusive behavior over pattern of an officer's career and then culminates and snuffing out the life of a fellow citizen on a public street in broad daylight, and while his fellow officers stand by and tolerate it, that is outrageous.

And then the same police department whose main job is to provide civil order and enforce laws absolutely abandons their responsibility to protect people's lives and protect their property.

And not only that, they drive off in the dead of night because there is some pressure by youngsters in the neighborhood who are rioters and hooligans. I didn't see any AK-47s or automatic rifles or pistols, they were carrying things in their hands, to be sure, but it's certainly something that's well within the discipline of a police department to be able to enforce the laws.

This is criminal behavior, and when you see what is happening in that precinct, to abandon that, is really outrageous behavior, and abdicating their responsibility.

I think we are going to find out, unfortunately, a lot more about this police department, Martha, then we currently know, and I think, eventually, we are going to get some accountability from them.

It's really a sad thing. I mean, why wasn't a curfew imposed after the first night? Why wasn't the police out there, you know, en masse, with the National Guard, making certain that things did not get out of hand? And by pulling back, they incentivize the rioters to commit actually more criminal behavior, and that's what we saw here. It's really something that is so unfortunate to see.

MACCALLUM: Yes.

KEANE: Unfortunately, I will correct something.

MACCALLUM: Yes.

KEANE: I've seen it far too often in America, but when I do see it, it reminds me of things I've seen in combat zones, and you don't expect to see it in America, and it's always shocking when you do see it.

MACCALLUM: Shocking, indeed. I want to switch gears with you and ask you a little bit about another very big story for our country, and that is the changing dynamic of our relationship with China.

This is the announcement that the president made in the Rose Garden today about our policy towards Hong Kong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: China has replaced its promised formula of one country, two systems with one country, one system. Therefore, I am directing my administration to begin the process of eliminating policy exemptions that give Hong Kong different and special treatment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: What was your reaction to that move today, general?

KEANE: Well, it's welcome news. It is one of the strongest speeches in American president has ever made about China, it's comparable to speeches that Ronald Reagan made about Russia.

And I think for the American people to understand really what has taken place here, there is -- there is a clash of ideology and values between our two countries, but more important than that, because that has always existed.

President Xi came into power in 2013 and he declared a new doctrine for China that we had never seen going back to Mao Zedong, and that is he fully intended to dominate the Indo-Pacific reason, the Asia-Pacific region in the sense, and also to replace the United States as a global leader in the world.

And for four years, there was no impediment to that. There were no obstacles. Nobody was pushing back on it, despite the fact that they were predatory in what they were doing, and the Trump administration came in, and I suspect Xi is surprised by the election like many in America were, and even more surprised when the Trump administration identifies China as the number one strategic threat to the United States, and treats them, they are not just a competitor anymore and someone we should cooperate with, they're absolutely a predator, economically, politically, and militarily, and we have to be willing to confront them and push back on them with our allies.

That was a major, major event for President Xi, and he has been adjusting to this ever since, and I think the Trump administration has been trying to get their sea legs straight during this time frame, as well.

But now President Xi sees clear eyed that his ambitions are going to be stifled if he doesn't come out and really take a stand, and that is what he is doing here.

It's in Hong Kong, which is the flash point in the front lines of this confrontation between the United States and China, to be sure. He has weaponized COVID-19.

MACCALLUM: Yes.

KEANE: I mean, he actually used that disease to spread it around the world because he thought it would destroy western democracies economies, and he's been able to accomplished that.

MACCALLUM: Yes.

KEANE: He wants the confrontation. He is looking for it because he knows full well he can't get to his strategic objectives unless he gets the United States --

MACCALLUM: Yes.

KEANE: -- and the allies to back down, as they were doing in the past.

MACCALLUM: General Keane, always great to have you with us. Enlightening, sir. Thank you very much. Good to see you.

KEANE: Yes. Good talking to talk to you, Martha.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: So, coming up next -- you too, sir. Coming up next, I'm going to speak with renowned journalist Glenn Greenwald on the role that social media company should play in regulating free speech. Very hot topic right now. Also, his reaction to the stunning arrest of a reporter today on live television, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Minnesota's governor now apologizing for an arrest by state police in Minneapolis today taking a news correspondent, Omar Jimenez, and his CNN crew into custody live on air. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Whatever you want us, we will go, we just getting out of your way when you're advancing through the intersection. This is among the state patrol unit that was advancing off the street seeing and scattering the protesters at that point for people to clear the area. And so, we walked away.

I'm sorry?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're under arrest.

JIMENEZ: OK, do you know why I am under arrest, sir? Why am I under arrest, sir?

Officer, I don't understand (Inaudible) right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Joining me now, Glenn Greenwald, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and co-founder editor of The Intercept. Glenn, good to have you with us again. First of all, what was your reaction when you watch that videotape this morning?

GLENN GREENWALD, CO-FOUNDER, THE INTERCEPT: I thought it was harrowing, every time, any time you see armed agents of the state arresting journalists for essentially doing their job, standing in the middle of the street, reporting on an extraordinarily newsworthy event that the entire country is discussing, it seems like a clear abuse of state power.

Obviously, there is a lot of confusion in these kinds of scenes when there's protesting and rioting taking place, I certainly understand that it's not easy to be a police officer, but when you do put on the badge and are armed by the state, you have the obligation to uphold core, basic freedoms and rights, which certainly included freedom of the press.

And in this case, the officers acted incredibly recklessly. You see there that the reporter is trying to be responsible, trying to be cooperative, and yet he just ended up under arrest while he was reporting. It was a really direct attack on a free press.

MACCALLUM: Yes. One of the things that, you know, seem particularly lame in all of this, is that the Minnesota state patrol later said that the three were released once they were confirmed to be members of the media.

He is holding his media badge sort of forward in that as he is reporting. He's got a camera rolling on them. It seems a little bit disingenuous to imagine that they did not know that this reporter was with the press.

GREENWALD: Yes, and it's very difficult to understand what could possibly motivate that, other than there's almost an intentional desire to show your power, that you can actually prevent people from reporting on what it is that's taking place in the city, and particularly what the police are doing.

Obviously, a major part of their story is misconduct by the police. Most people agree that that was the case.

MACCALLUM: Right.

GREENWALD: And so, to see the police then taking into custody reporters as they are reporting on the fall out and consequences of that is really disturbing. I think there's almost no justification imaginable.

MACCALLUM: Yes. Awful. Yes. I think everybody is on the same page with regard to that. It's a bad moment. The governor apologized, he said it's very important the story be told. And you know, he tried to do some cleanup on that as quickly as he could.

With regard to the other story that I want to get your thoughts on, is this battle between the president and Twitter over section 230, which is basically describes the liability factor for social media outlets, which obviously has been a moving target throughout all of the evolution of them.

Here is what President Trump said about this this morning. "Twitter is doing nothing about all of the lies and propaganda being put out by China or the radical left Democrat Party," he writes. "They have targeted Republicans, conservatives, and the President of United States. Section 230 should be revoked by Congress. Until then, it will be regulated."

What's your take on all of this, Glenn?

GREENWALD: I think it really gets to the heart of censorship debates generally and our free speech generally, and also what we expect from how our political discourse is going to be regulated.

The irony here is that usually when companies or governments censor speech, when they demand the right to decree what's true and false or move things based on their own arbitrary standards, it's because they seize that power appeared.

In the case of social media companies such as, Face -- Twitter, Facebook, and Google, they wanted that power. They wanted the model of say AT&T, where they say we're just a neutral platform for people to communicate ideas, we don't make judgments about what's being communicated. We don't assess or analyze of the truth or falsity of it.

That is why they got immunity, because unlike Fox News or The Intercept, where I work where we make editorial judgments, if we say something false, we can be sued. They didn't want to be sued, they said we're not making editorial judgments.

The reason they've started to delete more aggressively, to censor and suppress, to declare things true and false, is because that obligation has been foisted upon them, largely by journalists --

MACCALLUM: Yes.

GREENWALD: -- who have said this is your obligation to constrain and regulate our speech. Is that really what we want?

MACCALLUM: Right.

GREENWALD: Do we trust Facebook and Twitter to arbitrate what is true and what is false? I don't trust them to do that, and I don't understand who would.

MACCALLUM: Yes. Yes. Great point. Glenn Greenwald, great to have you with us. That's a debate that's going to go on.

GREENWALD: Thank you, Martha.

MACCALLUM: We'll see you soon. Hope you'll come back. Nice to see you.

GREENWALD: All right. Good to be with you.

MACCALLUM: All right. A Fox News alert -- you, too. Fox News alert, the White House is reportedly under lockdown this evening as protests are now growing outside the front gates. These are live pictures. We are seeing similar scenes in Atlanta, certainly in Minneapolis tonight, as well. We'll bring you that live when we come back.

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MACCALLUM: Fox News alert, protests growing tonight outside the White House this evening. There is a live look outside the front gates, we're told that there's a lockdown in effect, meaning that people who are there, reporters, are not leaving the premises at this moment.

It looks fairly under control, but there's a pretty good crowd growing out there this evening. We are also seeing a similar scene unfolding at this hour in Atlanta, Georgia.

Take a look at these aerial shots that we have, this is outside CNN's world headquarters, where we're told that protesters have smashed the windows, trying to enter the building.

We told you moments ago about the CNN reporter who was arrested with his crew and then released in Minneapolis. We're not sure if there is a connection, but obviously, this is all -- the base of all of this is the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.

So, my next guest, joining me now, as we take a look at all of this, is the former safety for the Minnesota Vikings, and he writes about all of what's going on today.

He says, "it's emotionally draining to write this often about unarmed black men losing their lives at the hands of evil individuals. It's even more draining to continue to watch polarization and identity politics being used to divide us following a brother or sister's tragic loss of life. This is definitely a war. I just hope we keep our eye on the actual enemy."

Joining me now is Jack Brewer. Jack, thank you so much for being here tonight. Obviously, there is a lot unfolding as you and I are speaking. What do you mean when you say "we have to keep our eye on the real enemy here?"

JACK BREWER, FORMER SAFETY, MINNESOTA VIKINGS: The enemy is evil. We live in a world now where, you know, Satan drives racism. Racism is evil. Racism is of the spirit. Racism, as we can all agree, it's not of the flesh, it's not something that we can necessarily see and touch.

But to fight these battles, Martha, we've got to fight against spirit in a spiritual way, and that does not mean blaming it on President Trump, blaming it on the mayor, blaming it on the governor. We have to really do soul-searching right now, and it's going to take repentance.

Our country has a long history of oppression towards black people, have a long history of police officers and a culture of police officers that is just one that has not been very good. And so, we have to address those things, and I think most Americans agree.

And what's so sad right now is that you see overwhelmingly, when I talk to Americans across the country, when I talk to police officers across the country, everyone agrees this was a horrible thing. It was despicable.

And so, you have something that should be so uniting, that should be bringing us all together, one America, one country, under one God, and we are divided. And the reason why we are divided is because we cannot get away from identity politics long enough to really address the enemy, address the sick and evil enemy of racism.

MACCALLUM: You know, I think, I remember when I was a kid, there -- you know, people marched hand-in-hand more often, I think.

BREWER: That's right.

MACCALLUM: And now it feels like the country is more divided than ever, and we do all share -- we all share an equal humanity, obviously. Anyone looks at these two individuals on the street and can see what is happening, that one person is lording his power over another person, and essentially strangling him to death.

And you know, this we are watching now, Jack, you know, I don't know if you can see this monitor, but we are seeing police cars getting smashed, people throwing things through windows in Atlanta, Georgia, tonight as we speak. As you -- as you answer this. Unbelievable.

BREWER: It's terrible, and you know, a place like Atlanta, where there is so much prosperity for African-Americans, they are so rich in history in a place like that, and to destroy your own land, that is fighting this physically, is fighting it in the flesh, and Martha, we've got to get away from that.

I mean, just like yourself, you shouldn't feel like you can't stand up against the oppressions of racism and against those things, because you are a white woman. We can't make all white cops feel like they are evil. That's not right, because there's a lot of people -- they are men of God and women of God that are going out there fighting and scratching to protect and serve their communities.

We can't let, you know, something that one or two percent of people are doing and let that just become the reality for the entire country. That's just not true. We all have to stand up against that, but in order to go after this oppression, we've got to lock arms and we've got to repent. We've got to really admit that we've had some issues and we've had some things that we have to get, get through, and I think, as a nation, we can come together and win this war, win this war against evil.

MACCALLUM: Jack Brewer, well said, sir. Thank you very much. Great to have you with us tonight. Thank you.

BREWER: God bless you.

MACCALLUM: We'll be right back. God bless you, too. We'll be right back.

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MACCALLUM: That is the scene in Atlanta, unrest on the streets tonight.

That is The Story of May 29.

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