STORYLINE:

Four Minneapolis police officers who were involved in the arrest of a black man who died in police custody were fired on May 26th 2020.

The firings come a day after a bystander's video showed the man pleading that he could not breathe as a white officer knelt on his neck and kept his knee there for several minutes after the man stopped moving.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced the terminations on Twitter, and said the firings were the "right call."

May 25th's death of George Floyd was under investigation by the FBI and state law enforcement authorities. It drew comparisons to the case of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man who died in 2014 in New York after being placed in a police chokehold.

***

Protesters gathered near the home of a white former Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on the neck of a black man, who later died in custody.

The May 27th demonstrations took place outside the Oakdale home of Derek Chauvin.

Earlier on May 27th, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for criminal charges to be filed against Chauvin.

Footage recorded by a bystander shows Chauvin with his knee on George Floyd's neck for several minutes as Floyd gasps for breath on the ground with his face against the pavement.

***

Protesters angered by the death of a black man who died while pleading for air as a white police officer kneeled on his neck have torched a Minneapolis police station that the department abandoned.

May 28th marked a third night of violent protests following the death of George Floyd, who died in a confrontation with officers outside a grocery store.

Protests first erupted May 25th, a day after Floyd's death in a confrontation with police captured on widely seen citizen video.

***

Thousands attended a rally on May 29th in front of city hall in Houston, where George Floyd grew up.

The rally was mostly peaceful but police had apparently taken into custody a woman who had a rifle and had tried to use it to incite the crowd.

The crowed marched down streets in downtown Houston to get to city hall, chanting "No justice, no peace" and "Say his name. George Floyd."

Many held up signs that said "Justice For George."

Lazaro Gonzales, 21, of Houston, held up an American flag blanket, on which he wrote, "I can't breathe."

"Everybody is expressing anger," Gonzales said. "Everybody is all, everything we've been keeping silent. We need the government to understand our rage."

As people assembled at Houston City Hall, Derrick Robinson looked on at the crowd which he described as incredibly diverse.

"I'm speechless," he said. "I'm sitting back in awe watching everyone who cares."

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said he welcomed the rally.

Acevedo later oversaw the ejection of an unidentified woman carrying a high-velocity rifle into the crowd of protestors.

Clad in all black and ski mask, the woman drew jeers from the demonstrators, many asking her to leave.

"A white woman with a rifle trying to incite this crowd," Acevedo said. "We're not gonna tolerate that (expletive), people inciting these young people in our city. These young people have every right to be protesting out here peacefully."

***

On May 29th hundreds of people gathered in Lafayette Park near the White House after marching in the nation's capital to protest against the death of George Floyd while in police custody.

Protesters shouted "No justice, no peace," and "I can't breath" as the march unfolded.

The march took place several hours after prosecutors charged MInneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin with third degree murder and manslaughter.

Chauvin could be seen on video on May 25th with his knee pressed into the neck of Floyd, who was handcuffed and unarmed.

Authorities filed a complaint that Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.

***

Demonstrators took to New York City streets on May 29th for a second day in protest at the death of George Floyd, the black Minnesota man killed in police custody, and invoked the names of other black people who died at police hands.

In Brooklyn, crowds of demonstrators chanted at police officers lined up outside the Barclays Center. There were several moments of struggle, as some in the crowd pushed against metal barricades and police pushed back.

Protesters lit fire to a sign outside the arena, forcing police to advance and put out the flames.

Scores of water bottles and fireworks flew from the crowd toward the officers, and in return police sprayed an eye-irritating chemical at the group multiple times.

The names of black people killed by police, including Floyd and Eric Garner, who died on Staten Island in 2014, were on signs carried by those in the crowd, and in their chants. Protests have taken place around the country, with some in Minnesota and elsewhere becoming violent.

***

Protests continued into the evening of May 29th in Minneapolis, where earlier this week a black man died while in police custody.

A police officer was charged earlier on May 29th with third-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.

His death after an officer placed his knee on Floyd's neck has sparked protests across the country,

***

President Donald Trump says he will not tolerate mob violence during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The president made the comment as he spoke in Florida after watching the successful launch of a SpaceX rocket May 30th.

He turned his attention to the unrest in American cities following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis before he congratulated NASA and others involved in the space mission.

Trump says the rule of law is the crown jewel of the country and that his administration would stop mob violence.

"I stand before you as a friend and ally to every American seeking justice and peace," he said, "and I stand before you in firm opposition to anyone exploiting this tragedy to loot, rob, attack and menace. Healing, not hatred. Justice not chaos are the missions at hand."

***

Several hundred people shouting "Black Lives Matter" and "I can't breathe" have converged on the White House for a second straight day to protest against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and President Donald Trump's response.

Speaking in Florida after watching the launch of a SpaceX rocket, the president said: "I stand before you as a friend and ally to every American seeking justice and peace, and I stand before you in firm opposition to anyone exploiting this tragedy to loot, rob, attack and menace. Healing, not hatred, justice, not chaos are the missions at hand."

Three lines of barricades separate protesters from a loose line of uniformed police officers at Lafayette Park, across from the White House. At one point, the protesters left the park, chanting as they marched up a nearby street. A block from the White House, they held a moment of silence and brief sit-in.

***

Police in Minneapolis are confronting protesters out after curfew on the fifth day of protests over the death of George Floyd.

A group of marchers was moving north toward downtown on a city street when officers fired tear gas on the evening of May 30th . The group immediately retreated.

Soon after, officers fired tear gas and moved in to push away throngs of protesters who were milling around the city police's 5th Precinct.

The tougher tactics came after city and state leaders were criticized for not more strongly confronting violent and damaging protests.

Minneapolis has been the epicenter of protests since the death on May 25th of Floyd after a police officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for some eight minutes. The protests have spread to cities across the United States.

***

Hundreds of protesters joined a Black Lives Matter demonstration in London on May 31st after a week of protests in the US sparked by the death of George Floyd.

The crowd gathered in Trafalgar Square with banners and signs and chanted Floyd's name, referring to the black man who died on May 25th after an arresting officer in Minneapolis pushed his knee into Floyd’s neck while he was on the ground handcuffed.

The crowd in London then set off on a march past the Houses of Parliament.

***

Clashes erupted in central London on May 31st after a largely peaceful Black Lives Matter protest.

Tension escalated as police tried to clear a junction in Parliament Square blocked by protesters.

A number of people were seen being arrested and put into police vans, the Metropolitan Police Service said late Sunday 23 people had been arrested in relation to the protests.

One protester, who chose to remain nameless, said the demonstrators had been protesting peacefully and criticised the actions of the police.

***

President Donald Trump has visited the 200-year-old church near the White House that was set on fire as demonstrators clashed with police over the weekend.

Beginning with James Madison, every person who has held the office of president has attended a service at St. John's Church.

Law enforcement cleared protesters out of the area with tear gas before Trump's visit. Tear gas canisters could be heard exploding as Trump spoke in the Rose Garden. He then walked over to the church.

The protesters appeared to be acting peacefully before they were dispersed by force.

Trump is urging the nation's governors to get tougher with violent protesters and to deploy the National Guard.

He said in the Rose Garden that he is ally of peaceful protesters, but he stressed that "I am your president of law and order."

***

Thousands of protesters demonstrated in the Dutch capital of The Hague on June 2nd against the death of George Floyd in the United States.

Floyd died on May 25th after a police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.

Global outrage over what happened to Floyd has kindled frustrations across borders and continents.

***

George Floyd's 6-year-old daughter and her mother spoke at a news conference June 2nd after days of protests following his death.

"I'm here for my baby and I'm here for George because I want justice for him," Roxie Washington said through tears.

"He was a good man," she said.

Protests have broken out across the country since Floyd's death on May 25th.

Floyd after a white Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on the handcuffed black man’s neck for several minutes.

***

The family of George Floyd, the man whose death in Minneapolis police custody triggered nationwide protests, joined a crowd city officials estimated at 60,000 demonstrators to rally and march in Houston to protest Floyd's death.

The marchers on June 2nd chanted the name of Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis policeman pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes. He grew up in Houston and a public memorial and burial is planned there for next week.

Protesters marched from a downtown Houston park to City Hall where, at a rally that lasted a little over an hour, various local and congressional officials, activists and members of Floyd's family spoke.

***

Thousands of protesters were marching again in Los Angeles June 2nd as a city-wide curfew was extended to a fourth night.

More than 2,700 people have been arrested in Los Angeles since protests and violence began.

That's according to the Police Chief Michel Moore, who apologized again June 2nd for stating previously that rioters "capitalizing" on the mass gatherings have the death of George Floyd on their hands.

Moore said 2,500 of the arrests were for failure to disperse or curfew violations. The rest were for burglary and violence. The Police Department's civilian oversight board met June 2nd and many members of the public who called in to the meeting slammed Moore and called on him to resign or be fired.

***

Prosecutors have charged a Minneapolis police officer accused of pressing his knee against George Floyd's neck with second-degree murder, and for the first time are leveling charges against three other officers. Bystander video showing Floyd's May 25th death has sparked protests nationwide and around the world.

The officer, Derek Chauvin, was fired May 26 and initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Three other officers were also fired but weren't immediately charged.

Attorney General Keith Ellison on Wednesday charged the other three officers with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter. Floyd's family and protesters have demanded that all four be charged.

Floyd's family and protesters have repeatedly called for criminal charges against all four officers as well as more serious charges for Chauvin, who held his knee to Floyd's neck, despite his protests that he couldn't breathe, and stayed there even after Floyd stopped moving. Floyd, a black man, was in handcuffs when he died with his face pressed to the street.

***

City workers and activists painted the words Black Lives Matter in enormous bright yellow letters on the street leading to the White House, a highly visible sign of the District of Columbia's embrace of a protest movement that has put it at odds with President Donald Trump.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted aerial video of the mural shortly after it was completed Friday.

The letters and an image of the city's flag stretch across 16th Street for two blocks, ending just before the church where Trump staged a photo-op after federal officers forcibly cleared a peaceful demonstration to make way for the president and his entourage.

"The section of 16th street in front of the White House is now officially 'Black Lives Matter Plaza,'" Bowser tweeted. A black and white sign was put up to mark the change.

Bowser's endorsement of the project follows her verbal clashes with the Trump administration over the response to protests of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Bowser has complained about the heavy-handed federal response and called for the removal of out-of-state National Guard troops. She says their differences highlight the need for D.C. to be a state and have more control over its internal affairs.

On June 5th, as the protests turned peaceful, she ended a curfew imposed after people damaged buildings and broke into businesses over the weekend and Monday.

The mayor also tweeted out a letter from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who wrote the president to express alarm that peaceful protesters were being confronted by heavily armed federal agents and officers, many of them with their identities and agencies obscured.

***

In a downtown Nairobi park, an empty plinth marks the spot where Britain's Queen Victoria was once memorialised.

One local resident said colonial statues should be taken down "all over the world," due to the painful memories they evoke.

When Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963, the nation emerged filled with statues of its former masters.

A political consensus arose to take down these reminders of colonial rule.

But successive governments left one statue standing.

It was a statue of Queen Victoria presented to the Kenyan capital in 1906 by Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee, a wealthy Indian businessman.

The statue stood in Jeevanjee Gardens in the heart of Nairobi for over 109 years, until one night in 2015 when it was torn down and beheaded by vandals.

To date, the perpetrators haven't been identified. The statue now sits headless in the park's bushes, five years on.

"This statue reminds me of the suffering our forefathers went through (at) the hands of colonialists and whenever we see them, the memories are fresh," said Samuel Obiero, a local resident.

In recent weeks, statues with racist connections have been targeted by protesters around the world.

This came after the death of George Floyd, a black American who died on May 25 after being restrained by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

***

City of Brussels workers scrubbed clean the statue of King Leopold II in the city centre after someone painted red hands and eyes of the statue to draw attention to the monarch's policies in what was Congo.

Cleaning crews used a crane to power wash the giant monument.

During his 1865 - 1909 reign King Leopold II held Congo, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo, as his personal property and may have been responsible for the deaths of millions.

There are statues, busts and streets named after Leopold II all over Belgium.

An online petition demanding the removal of the statute in central Brussels has reached more than 70,000 signatures.

Public pressure from the Black Lives Matter movement has helped remove a statue in Antwerp and one inside the University of Mons.

***

Activists in Rotterdam have defaced the statue of a 17th-century Dutch naval hero, accusing him of paving the way for slavery between Africa and the Americas.

They daubed red paint and sprayed the word "Killer" on the statue of Piet Hein, celebrated in Dutch history as a key figure in the country's so-called Golden Era of trade and colonial expansion.

Hein was best known for leading a Dutch naval action in 1628 that captured a Spanish treasure fleet near Cuba.

He also played a pivotal role in establishing Dutch colonial rule in the East and West Indies.

A group calling itself "Heroes of Never" claimed responsibility for defacing the statue, saying Hein was "a key figure in clearing the way for trans-Atlantic human trade in enslaved West Africans."

Monuments to slave traders and colonial rulers have become the focus of protests around the world, driven by a reexamination of historical injustice after the death of George Floyd in the United States.

***

More than 1,000 people took to the streets of Paris on June 13th to demonstrate against police brutality and racism.

Angry shouts rose from the peaceful, largely black crowd as a small group of white extreme-right activists climbed a building overlooking the protest and unfurled a huge banner denouncing "anti-white racism."

Police did not arrest them, and prevented angry protesters from approaching the far-right group.

Residents in the building tore part of the banner down, one of them raising his fist in victory.

Police surrounded the intended march route, bracing for potential violence after scattered clashes at some demonstrations around France recently, also inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and George Floyd's death in the U.S.

The Paris protest was among several in France and other countries this weekend for the same cause.

June 13th's march was led by supporters of Adama Traore, a French black man who died in police custody in 2016 in circumstances that remain unclear despite four years of back-and-forth autopsies. No one has been charged in the case.

At the protest, a huge portrait showed a face that was half Floyd, half Traore. Banners strung between trees around Republique plaza bore the names of dozens of others who have died or suffered violence at the hands of French police, scrawled in red.

Protests were also being held in Marseille, Lyon and other French cities.

The French government is under growing pressure to address long-running accusations of excessive violence by police, particularly against minorities.

***

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on June 18th she is ordering the removal from the Capitol of portraits honoring four previous House speakers who served in the Confederacy.

In a letter to the House clerk, Pelosi directed the immediate removal of portraits depicting the former speakers: Robert Hunter of Virginia, James Orr of South Carolina and Howell Cobb and Charles Crisp, both of Georgia.

The portraits were to be removed later on June 18th.

Calling the halls of Congress “the very heart of our democracy,″ Pelosi said, “There is no room in the hallowed halls of Congress or in any place of honor for memorializing men who embody the violent bigotry and grotesque racism of the Confederacy.″

Pelosi noted that Friday is Juneteenth, honoring the day in 1865 when many African Americans learned of the end of slavery after the Civil War.

She called Juneteenth “a beautiful and proud celebration of freedom for African Americans” and noted that this year’s celebration comes "during a moment of extraordinary national anguish, as we grieve for the hundreds of Black Americans killed by racial injustice and police brutality, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many others.”

Orr, who served as speaker from 1857-59, swore on the House floor to “preserve and perpetuate” slavery in order to “enjoy our property in peace, quiet and security,” Pelosi said in her letter.

Hunter, who served at nearly every level of the Confederacy, including as Confederate secretary of state, served as speaker from 1839-41.

Cobb served as speaker from 1849-51, while Crisp served after the Civil War, from 1891-95.

Earlier in June, Pelosi urged the removal of Confederate statues from the Capitol and the renaming of U.S. military bases that honor Confederate Army officers.

***

Thousands of New Yorkers took to the streets on June 19th to commemorate Juneteenth.

The marchers made their way from Brooklyn, across the Brooklyn Bridge and gathered at Cadman Plaza for a rally, where they chanted against police brutality and for better race relations.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced earlier in the day that Juneteenth will be an official holiday for city workers and schoolchildren next year.

The Mayor said the city will also form a new commission to examine its history of racial discrimination.

Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when the Union army brought word of the Emancipation Proclamation to enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln declared all slaves free in Confederate territory.

The new Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission will give New Yorkers a platform to discuss their experiences with racism, examine possible discrimination in public policy and recommend changes like removing symbols of racism from public spaces, de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, said in announcing its formation.

***

Rev. Al Sharpton took jabs at President Donald Trump on June 19th while speaking at the Juneteenth celebration in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

"When I hear people walk around, talking about make America Great again, give me the date that America was great for everybody," Sharpton said. "Greatness is when Blacks and whites and Latinos and Asians and original Americans hit the streets all over this country and march against your tear gas and march against your rubber bullets."

The rally took place in the city's Greenwood district, a once thriving Black commercial district that never fully recovered after one of the country's most destructive and deadly white attacks on Black communities.

Hundreds of people milled in blocked-off streets, listening to music playing, giving an ear to stages hosting political speakers and stopping at voter registration booths.

***

Rayshard Brooks, who was fatally shot by a police officer, is to be remembered June 23rd at the church in Atlanta where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached.

The private funeral at Ebenezer Baptist Church follows a public viewing held Monday.

The Rev. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor at the church and a Democratic candidate for Senate, will deliver the eulogy.

Officer Garrett Rolfe fatally shot Brooks in the back after Brooks fired a Taser in his direction while running away after a struggle with officers outside a Wendy's restaurant on June 12th. Rolfe, 27, is white. Brooks, 27, was Black.

King's daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, also plans to deliver remarks at Brooks' funeral, along with a friend of his and his mother-in-law, according to a draft program released by the church.

When officers responded to complaints of a car blocking the Wendy's drive-thru lane, they found Brooks asleep in the car.

Police body camera video then showed Brooks and officers having a calm and respectful conversation for more than 40 minutes.

After conducting field sobriety tests, Rolfe told Brooks he'd had "too much to drink to be driving."

Brooks resisted being handcuffed, and he and the two officers wrestled on the ground. Brooks grabbed one of their Tasers and fired it in their direction as he ran away.

An autopsy found he was shot twice in the back.

Rolfe was fired and the other officer, 26-year-old Devin Brosnan, was placed on desk duty after the shooting.

Police Chief Erika Shields stepped down less than 24 hours after Brooks died.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced 11 charges against Rolfe, including felony murder, and said the officer kicked Brooks as he lay dying.

***

Scores of mourners, some dressed all in white and others wearing Black Lives Matter shirts, filed into the historic Atlanta church to pay their tribute to Rayshard Brooks.

The church was once the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s pulpit.

Brooks was killed by police in a Wendy's parking lot that stoked protests across the U.S. against racial injustice.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, also delivered remarks at the private service, along with a friend of Brooks, his mother-in-law and the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the Rev. Raphael Warnock.

"We are here because individuals continue to hide behind badges and trainings and policies and procedures rather than regarding the humanity of others in general and Black lives specifically," said King.

The private funeral at Ebenezer Baptist Church follows a public viewing held Monday.

The Rev. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor at the church and a Democratic candidate for Senate, will deliver the eulogy.

Officer Garrett Rolfe fatally shot Brooks in the back after Brooks fired a Taser in his direction while running away after a struggle with officers outside a Wendy's restaurant on June 12th. Rolfe, 27, is white. Brooks, 27, was Black.

When officers responded to complaints of a car blocking the Wendy's drive-thru lane, they found Brooks asleep in the car.

Police body camera video then showed Brooks and officers having a calm and respectful conversation for more than 40 minutes.

After conducting field sobriety tests, Rolfe told Brooks he'd had "too much to drink to be driving."

Brooks resisted being handcuffed, and he and the two officers wrestled on the ground. Brooks grabbed one of their Tasers and fired it in their direction as he ran away.

An autopsy found he was shot twice in the back.

Rolfe was fired and the other officer, 26-year-old Devin Brosnan, was placed on desk duty after the shooting.

Police Chief Erika Shields stepped down less than 24 hours after Brooks died.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced 11 charges against Rolfe, including felony murder, and said the officer kicked Brooks as he lay dying.

Brosnan, who the prosecutor said stood on Brooks' shoulder as he struggled for his life, is charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath.

Lawyers for both men said their clients' actions were justified.

05:40:18

00:00:00

Minneapolis officers fired after black man's death

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Minneapolis - 26 May 2020

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Leslie Redmond, Minneapolis NAACP President:

"Mr. Floyd should have not have died. He should still be alive today. And we urge you all to stand up. This is not a black people issue, this is a human issue"

00:13:00

Protesters gather outside former US officer's home

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Oakdale, Minnesota - 27 May 2020

2. Protesters chanting "Arrest him and we'll go home"

3. "Murderer" written in chalk on street

00:21:17

Minneapolis police station torched during protest

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Minneapolis - 28 May 2020

4. Various of protesters outside a burning police station

00:33:07

Thousands rally for Houston native George Floyd

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Houston - 29 May 2020

5. Various of people marching, police watching

6. The crowd assembles at the mall in front of city hall

7. People in crowd holding protest signs

00:50:05

Protest near White House over George Floyd's death

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington, DC - 29 May 2020

8. Protesters gathered in Lafayette Park near the White House

9. Protest in downtown Washington

00:57:21

Protesters clash with police in New York

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New York - 29 May 2020

10. Protesters crowding around burned-out police van

11. Anti-police protest outside Barclay's Center Arena in Brooklyn in response to the police killing in Minneapolis - clashes with police

12. Woman dousing eyes with water

13. Charred protest sign “In the age of (in)formation Ignoarance is a choice

01:13:03

Cars burn as protests continue in Minneapolis

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Minneapolis - 29 May 2020

14. Various, cars burning during protests

01:21:14

Trump says he won't allow mob violence to rule

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POOL

Cape Canaveral, Florida - 30 May 2020

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, US President:

" The memory of George Floyd is being dishonored by rioters, looters and anarchists. The violence and vandalism is being led by Antifa and other radical left wing groups who are terrorizing the innocent, destroying jobs, hurting businesses and burning down buildings."

01:46:00

US protesters converge on White House

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington - 30 May 2020

16. Various of protesters, police outside of White House

01:57:20

Minneapolis police fire rubber bullets at protesters

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Minneapolis - 30 May 2020

17. Line of police

18. Tear gas being deployed on protesters

02:06:03

Protesters join London demo against Floyd's death

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UK POOL

London - 31 May 2020

19. Aerial of protesters marching past Parliament Square

20. Aerial passing over marching protesters

02:13:22

Black Lives Matter protest turns violent in London

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

London - 31 May 2020

21. Police pushing people back, telling protesters to move UPSOUND (English) "Get back, out of the way."

22. Police detaining protester as women try to stop them from doing so, other protester pushing police officer, camera pans to police trying to stop him, scuffling with him and detaining him

23. Police scuffling with protester and detaining him UPSOUND (English) "Let him go, let him go." Camera pans to police stopping man on bicycle UPSOUND (English) "Listen, calm down."

02:25:24

Trump walks to church after police clear protests

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POOL

Washington, D.C. - 1 June 2020

24. Trump walking to St. John's Church

25. Trump standing outside the church holding bible

02:40:16

Thousands in Dutch protest over Floyd death in US

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The Hague - 2 June 2020

26. Various of protesters kneeling while a speaker reads the names of American victims of police brutality

02:51:13

Mom of Floyd's daughter: I want justice for him

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Minneapolis - 2 June 2020

27. SOUNDBITE (English) Roxie Washington, mother of Floyd's 6-year-old daughter, Gianna:

" I'm here for my baby and I'm here for George. Because I want justice for him. "

03:07:05

Thousands march in Houston protesting Floyd death

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Houston - 2 June 2020

28. Protesters before marching

29. Protesters marching, chanting

03:16:05

Thousands march for George Floyd in Los Angeles

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Los Angeles - 2 June 2020

30. Protesters at City Hall

31. Various of protesters marching

03:27:24

4 Minneapolis cops now charged in Floyd's death

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St. Paul, Minneapolis - 3 June 2020

32. Wide of news conference beginning

33. SOUNDBITE (English) Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General:

"First today, I filed an amended complaint, that charges, former Minneapolis police officer Derrick Chauvin, with murder in the second degree for the death of George Floyd. ……… Hennepin county attorney, Michael Freeman and I filed a complaint that charges police officer Kueng, Lane and Thao with aiding and abetting murder in the second degree, a felony offense. "

03:57:23

Huge 'Black Lives Matter' painted on road near WH

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Washington - 5 June 2020

34. Pan of mural, people walking on street

04:10:12

Empty plinth in Nairobi where UK queen once stood

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Nairobi - 10 June 2020

35. Various of plinth of former Queen Victoria statue

04:18:10

Vandalised King Leopold statue cleaned in Belgium

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Brussels - 11 June 2020

36. City of Brussels workers cleaning graffiti off the statue of King Leopold II

04:23:21

Dutch activists daub 'killer' on trader statue

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Rotterdam - 12 June 2020

37. Statue of Dutch naval commander Piet Hein with red paint on it

38. Municipal worker washing the statue

04:31:00

Thousand protest police brutality, discrimination

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Paris - 13 June 2020

39. Wide pan of demonstrators

40. Wide of demonstrators

04:39:03

Confederate portraits removed from Capitol

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POOL

Washington, DC - 18 June 2020

41. Various as Capitol Hill workers remove portraits from the Capitol

04:49:04

Thousands march in NY on Juneteenth

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - 19 June 2020

42. Marchers carrying placards and signs crossing Brooklyn Bridge

04:58:03

Al Sharpton: Protesters will make America great

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tulsa, Oklahoma - 19 June 2020

43. SOUNDBITE (English) Rev. Al Sharpton, Civil Rights Activist:

"Greatness is when Blacks and whites and Latinos and Asians and original Americans hit the streets all over this country and march against your tear gas and march against your rubber bullets and march against a military occupation you threaten and march anyhow. That's what will make America great."

05:24:02

Rayshard Brooks casket arrives for funeral service

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Atlanta - 23 June 2020

44. Rayshard Brooks casket arrives at Ebenezer Baptist Church

05:33:13

Mourners bid farewell to Rayshard Brooks

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POOL

Atlanta - 23 June 2020

45. Rayshard Brooks funeral service in progress

STORYLINE

BLACK LIVES MATTER MURAL PAINTED OUTSIDE NY COURTS

Teams of painters and artists gathered for a second day on July 2nd 2020 to paint a "Black Lives Matter" mural in the middle of a street that passes federal buildings in lower Manhattan.

The mural sits adjacent to the Thurgood Marshall federal courthouse, named after the first Black U.S. Supreme Court justice.

Endorsed by city leaders, three up-and-coming Black artists from New York were chosen to stylize the letters of each of the three words.

"I think the mural is a very strong and powerful contrast and combats the oppression of some of these buildings and some of the things that have happened in these buildings, historically," said Sophia Dawson, a Black visual artist who was commissioned to paint the "lives" portion of the mural

***

Large yellow letters spelling the words 'Black Lives Matter' have found a brand-new home, and this time on 5th Avenue.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, First Lady Chirlane McCray and Rev. Al Sharpton were joined by members of the community on July 10th to paint the mural across the street from Trump Tower.

Similar to the one painted outside the White House, the mural sends a clear message.

The mayor has said its his administration's way of honoring the black men and women who helped build New York.

***

For a second day a Black Lives Matter mural on 5th Avenue was on display in front of the namesake Manhattan tower of President Donald Trump.

The section of street remained closed to vehicle traffic as people took photos of the mural.

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the plan to paint Black Lives Matter in front of Trump Tower in June after earlier announcing that the slogan would be painted on streets at several locations. Trump responded via Twitter that the mural would denigrate "this luxury Avenue."

***

An artist has erected a statue of a Black Lives Matter protester atop the plinth in the English city of Bristol once occupied by the toppled statue of a slave trader.

Marc Quinn created the likeness of Jen Reid, a protester photographed standing on the plinth after demonstrators pulled down the statue of Edward Colston and dumped it in Bristol's harbour on June 7th.

The statue, titled "A Surge of Power (Jen Reid)" was erected before dawn on July 15th without approval from city officials.

Colston was a 17th-century trader who made a fortune transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas. His money funded schools and charities in Bristol, 120 miles (195 kilometers) southwest of London.

The toppling of his statue is part of a worldwide reckoning with racism and slavery sparked by the death of a Black American man, George Floyd, at the hands of police in Minneapolis, in May.

Quinn, one of Britain's best-known sculptors, said Reid had "created the sculpture when she stood on the plinth and raised her arm in the air. Now we're crystallizing it."

Reid told The Guardian newspaper that the new statue was "incredible" and would help "continue the conversation."

City authorities fished the Colston statue out of the harbor and say it will be placed in a museum, along with placards from the Black Lives Matter demonstration.

***

At least some of the Confederate monuments that have been recently removed from places of prominence in Richmond, Virginia, are being stored on the grounds of a waste water treatment plant, photographs show.

Photos taken by The Associated Press and Richmond Times-Dispatch show a collection of statues and other large objects under tarps at the facility just outside the city's downtown.

On July 1st, Mayor Levar Stoney ordered the immediate removal of all Confederate statues on city property in Richmond, a onetime capital of the Confederacy.

Stoney invoked his emergency powers, citing ongoing civil unrest and concerns that protesters would get hurt if they tried to pull down the statues themselves.

The only Confederate statue that remains on Richmond's prominent Monument Avenue is a memorial to Gen. Robert E. Lee located on state property.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has ordered its removal, but it has been at least temporarily blocked by a lawsuit.

The monument removal decisions were made after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

Floyd's death sparked global protests against racism and police brutality and led to a re-examination of statues and monuments of historical figures around the world.

The statues' fate is not currently clear.

A new state law that took effect July 1st allows local governments to remove statues on public property.

It contains a provision that says the local governing body must offer the monument "for relocation and placement to any museum, historical society, government, or military battlefield" but also says the local government "shall have sole authority to determine the final disposition."

The city council has scheduled a public hearing on the future of the monuments August 3rd, according to the Times-Dispatch.

***

Federal officers' actions at protests in Oregon's largest city, hailed by President Donald Trump but done without local consent, are raising the prospect of a constitutional crisis - one that could escalate as weeks of demonstrations find renewed focus in clashes with camouflaged, unidentified agents outside Portland's U.S. courthouse.

Demonstrators crowded in front of the U.S. federal courthouse and the city's Justice Center late Monday night, before authorities cleared them out as the loud sound and light of flash bang grenades filled the sky.

Trump says he plans to send federal agents to other cities, too.

Constitutional law experts said federal officers' actions in the progressive city are a "red flag" in what could become a test case of states' rights as the Trump administration expands federal policing.

The protests have roiled Portland for 52 nights. Many rallies have attracted thousands and been largely peaceful. But smaller groups of up to several hundred people have focused on federal property and local law enforcement buildings, at times setting fires to police precincts, smashing windows and clashing violently with local police.

Portland police used tear gas on multiple occasions until a federal court order banned its officers from doing so without declaring a riot. Now, concern is growing that the tear gas is being used against demonstrators by federal officers instead.

Anger at the federal presence escalated on July 11, when a protester was hospitalized with critical injuries after a U.S. Marshals Service officer struck him in the head with a less-lethal round. Video shows the man, identified as Donavan LaBella, standing across the street from the officers holding a speaker over his head when he was hit.

***

With controversy growing over the Trump administration's decision to send federal law enforcement agents to Portland to deal with the city's unrest, a spokesman at the Pentagon said that no U.S. military troops have been deployed to the city.

However, Jonathan Hoffman says the Defense Secretary Mark Esper has concerns about federal agents wearing uniforms resembling military combat uniforms while they are carrying out law enforcement duties.

"The secretary has,has expressed a concern of this within the administration that we want a system where people can tell the difference," he said.

Hoffman says the Pentagon's concern dates back to protests that took place in the nation's capital at the start of June.

Federal forces were deployed to Portland in early July, and tensions have grown since then: first, on July 11th, when a protester was hospitalized with critical injuries after a U.S. Marshals Service officer struck him in the head with a round of what’s known as less-lethal ammunition.

Then, anger flared again over the weekend after video surfaced of a federal agent hitting a U.S. Navy veteran repeatedly with a baton while another agent sprays him in the face with pepper spray.

Crowds had recently numbered fewer than 100 people but swelled to more than 1,000 over the weekend - and they are once again attracting a broader base in a city that's increasingly unified and outraged.

In a separate matter, Hoffman expressed confidence that the National Defense Authorization bill will soon be signed into law, despite the president being at odds with lawmakers on Capitol Hill over renaming military bases named after Confederate military leaders.

"We're confident that there will be an agreement and that the NDA will be signed and implemented on time so that we can have a budget for our forces," he said.

***

A Minnesota judge on July 21st lifted a gag order in the criminal case against four former officers charged in death of George Floyd, but said he would take a news media coalition's request to make body camera footage more widely available under advisement.

Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill also ruled on July 21st that he would not hold Attorney General Keith Ellison in contempt of court.

Cahill said in a statement Ellison made when he announced that additional attorneys would be assisting in the prosecution was innocuous and did not violate the gag order.

Even though the gag order was vacated, Cahill said he still expects all attorneys in the case to follow the rules on disclosure of information.

Floyd, a Black man who was handcuffed, died May 25th after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, pressed his knee against Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes as Floyd said he couldn't breathe.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Three other officers who were at the scene, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Kueng, are charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter.

All four officers were fired.

Police body camera videos were filed with the court this month by Lane's attorney, Earl Gray, as part of a request to have Lane's case dismissed.

Gray said he wanted the videos to be made public - prompting Cahill to issue an order barring attorneys and parties from discussing the case.

Defense attorneys for all four of the former officers asked that the gag order be lifted. The Associated Press is among news organizations that objected to the gag order.

Cahill made the videos available for in-person, by-appointment viewing only.

Media attorney Leita Walker objected to that format, saying it violated the common law, rules of public access to records and the First Amendment, and was essentially equivalent to keeping the videos under seal.

Records of all courts are presumed to be open for public inspection with limited exceptions.

Prosecutors said a court may impose restrictions if that access will interfere with the fair and impartial administration of justice, and that reasonable alternatives aren't adequate.

***

A huge crowd gathered in Portland, Oregon on July 22nd, as demonstrations continue against police brutality and the deployment of federal officers there.

People screamed and sharply questioned Mayor Ted Wheeler, as he tried to address the crowd.

The Democratic mayor has opposed federal agents’ presence in Oregon's largest city, but he has faced harsh criticism from many sides and his presence wasn't welcomed by most, who yelled and swore at him.

Holding just a microphone attached to a speaker with a cord, Wheeler called it a “listening session” and opened up for questions after a few minutes - but it was unclear if anyone could hear over the angry crowd. About 20 feet (6.1 meters) away, Black Lives Matter speakers rallied a crowd of up to 1,000 people.

Some Portland residents, including City Council members, have accused Wheeler of not reining in local police, who have used tear gas multiple times before federal agents arrived early this month in response to nearly two months of nightly protests since George Floyd was killed. Others, including business leaders, have condemned Wheeler for not bringing the situation under control before the agents showed up.

***

Federal agents appeared to deploy tear gas in an attempt to disperse protesters in Portland, Oregon, on July 24th amid ongoing nightly demonstrations in the city.

Thousands of demonstrators had crowded around the U.S. courthouse building and began to move away as clouds of gas rose from the area and flash grenades could be heard.

Protests in Portland over police brutality and racism have seen a resurgence since President Donald Trump deployed militarized federal agents to the city earlier in July.

Federal agents have used tear gas, less-lethal ammunition and other force against protesters who have been targeting the U.S. courthouse with fires and other vandalism during two months of nightly demonstrations.

U.S. authorities say they must act to protect federal property and officers, while local leaders say their presence has made the situation more volatile and urge the agents to leave.

***

Virginia has removed from its iconic state capitol the busts and a statue honoring Confederate generals and officials.

That includes a bronze statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee positioned in the same spot where he stood to assume command of the state's armed forces in the Civil War nearly 160 years ago.

They are the latest Confederate symbols to be removed or retired in the weeks since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked a nationwide protest movement.

Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, a Democrat, quietly ordered the Lee statue and busts of generals J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and others removed from the historic Old House Chamber.

A moving crew worked through the night on July 23rd - carefully removing the monuments and their plaques and loading them into a truck and taking them to an undisclosed location.

The stealth approach avoids the possibility of protests or a lawsuit to keep the monuments in place, but may prompt criticism that the monuments were moved without public discussion.

Designed by Thomas Jefferson, the Virginia State Capitol is the first state capitol to open after the American Revolution and was used as the Confederacy's Capitol during much of the Civil War.

Filler-Corn's move to remove the Confederate generals comes a few weeks after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered the removal of a different Lee monument - a 21-foot (6-meter) bronze equestrian sculpture on Richmond's historic Monument Avenue.

A lawsuit has delayed that statue's removal, but other Confederate monuments on the street - once one of the most prominent collection of tributes to the Confederacy in the nation - have already come down.

And earlier in the week, the U.S. House approved a bill to remove statues of Gen. Robert E. Lee and other Confederate leaders from the U.S. Capitol.

The bill's prospects in the Senate are uncertain.

In Virginia, the Old House Chamber was where lawmakers first met when the Capitol opened in 1788 and was used as the House's meeting place for more than 100 years before the Capitol building was expanded.

It is not currently used for official purposes when the legislature meets.

The chamber's history is long and varied - then-Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall presided over a trial there that saw former Vice President Aaron Burr acquitted of treason - but much of the iconography in the room is devoted to Confederates.

Virginia delegates voted in the chamber to secede from the Union in April 1861.

A few days later, Lee entered the room to take formal command of the state's military.

Like many Confederate monuments, most of those recently removed from Virginia's Capitol were erected decades after the Civil War.

They were commissioned and built during the Jim Crow era, when states imposed new segregation laws, and during the "Lost Cause" movement, when historians and others tried to depict the South's rebellion as a fight to defend states' rights, not slavery.

The Lee statue was approved in 1928 with the help of then-Gov. Harry Byrd, who would later go on to lead the state's Massive Resistance to racially integrated schools.

It's $25,000 price tag (about $370,000 currently) was paid for by the state, donations and an in-kind donation from the sculptor.

Busts of Davis and Alexander Stephens, the vice president of the Confederacy, were donated to Virginia in the 1950s by Mississippi and Georgia.

***

Tear gas was fired in Portland, Oregon early on July 27th, minutes after protesters shot fireworks at the US federal courthouse.

The protest on July 26th started peacefully, but intensified early Monday.

Some demonstrators crowded around the fence surrounding the federal courthouse in downtown Portland and shot off fireworks.

US agents deployed tear gas and flash bangs, forcing some of the protesters to retreat.

The agents warned protesters to stay off federal property.

***

A US flag was set on fire and police were deployed in the early hours of August 1st, as protests in Portland Oregon continued.

Another fire was set outside the courthouse in central Portland, which has become a focal point for anti-racism protests over the last few months.

More than a thousand people remained in downtown Portland early Saturday peacefully protesting, about three days after the announcement that the presence of US agents there would be reduced - a deal that Oregon officials hope will continue to ease tensions as the city tries to move on from months of chaotic nightly protests.

There were no reports of violence or clashes between protesters and federal agents or police.

***

Tourists are flocking to Nashville to see a new mural of Dolly Parton that celebrates her position on Black Lives Matter.

Mural artist Kim Radford offered up the mural of the country superstar to local businesses and connected with a local music club called The 5 Spot, which was made famous for being one of the spots where the TV show "Nashville" was filmed.

But as she was painting the mural last week, Billboard ran an article with Parton in which she said she supported the Black Lives Matter movement, saying "Of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter?"

So Radford quickly added the quote to the top of the mural and soon enough, pictures started spreading.

"I looked at her quote in particular and it was so sassy and a sensitive comment about something's that got a lot of, you know, friction in the air right now," said Radford. "And she just treated it just like Dolly does: lovingly. And it was just perfect."

Now less than a week old, the mural has become a hotspot for tourists visiting Music City to get a selfie. Radford herself got stopped by fans in front of the mural to pose for pictures.

"I've had her fans reach out from as far as Dubai, I believe that was the farthest," said Radford. "A lot of, a lot of women. And I have to say, 95 percent super positive."

***

Wisconsin's governor has summoned the National Guard to head off another round of violent protests after the police shooting of a Black man under murky circumstances turned Kenosha into the nation's latest flashpoint city in a summer of racial unrest.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers says 125 members of the National Guard will be in Kenosha on August 24th with responsibility for "guarding infrastructure and making sure our firefighters and others involved are protected."

The move came after protesters set cars on fire, smashed windows and clashed with officers in riot gear on August 23rd, hours after the wounding of 29-year-old Jacob Blake, who was hospitalized in serious condition.

He was shot, apparently in the back, as he leaned into his SUV while his three children sat in the vehicle.

***

Anger over the shooting of a Black man by police in a southeastern Wisconsin city spilled into the streets of Kenosha for a second night on August 24th, with police once again firing tear gas at hundreds of protesters who defied a curfew, threw bottles and shot fireworks at law enforcement officials guarding the courthouse.

Kenosha became the nation's latest flash point in a summer of racial unrest after cell phone footage of police shooting Jacob Blake on August 23rd around 5 p.m. CDT (2200GMT) in broad daylight circulated on social media. In a widely seen cell phone video made by an onlooker, Blake was shot, apparently in the back, as he leaned into his SUV while his three children sat in the vehicle.

Protesters on August 24th chanted, “No justice, no peace” as they confronted a line of law enforcement officers who wore protective gear and stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the courthouse entrance.

Police first fired the tear gas about 30 minutes after the 8 p.m. curfew took effect and protesters refused to disperse. But hundreds of people stuck around, lighting fires and screaming at police.

Tensions flared anew earlier on August 24th after a news conference with Kenosha Mayor John Antarmian, originally to be held in a park, was moved inside the city’s public safety building. Hundreds of protesters rushed to the building and a door was snapped off its hinges before police in riot gear pepper-sprayed the crowd, which included a photographer from The Associated Press.

***

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters during a third night of unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August 25th following the police shooting of a Black man whose attorney said he had been left paralyzed.

A group of protesters walked toward a fence which was put in place on August 25th around the Kenosha County Courthouse and started shaking it.

Police behind the fence advanced as some demonstrators threw water bottles and fireworks over the barrier.

Armored vehicles then rolled in and tear gas was fired into the crowd.

When police ordered protesters to disperse, the crowd responded by chanting “Black lives matter.”

Police then fired rubber bullets.

Jacob Blake, the man shot by police responding to a domestic disturbance on Sunday, is paralyzed, and it will “take a miracle” for him to walk again, his family's attorney said Tuesday, while calling for the officer who opened fire to be arrested and others involved to lose their jobs.

The shooting of Blake on August 23rd - apparently in the back while three of his children looked on - was captured on cellphone video and ignited new protests over racial injustice in several cities, some of which have devolved into unrest.

***

Roughly a thousand people gathered on August 29th in Kenosha for a march and rally against police violence, about a week after an officer shot Jacob Blake in the back and left the 29-year-old Black man paralyzed.

Demonstrators marched through the streets chanting, and listened to speeches given by members of Blake's family.

Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey and two other officers were responding to a domestic abuse call on August 23rd when Sheskey shot Blake seven times in the back.

Blake is paralyzed from the shooting, his family said, and is recovering in a Milwaukee hospital.

The shooting, which was captured on cellphone video, sparked new protests against racial injustice and police brutality, just three months after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police touched off a wider reckoning on race.

Protesters have marched on Kenosha’s streets every night since Blake's shooting, with some protests devolving into unrest with damage to buildings and vehicles.

On August 25th, two people were killed by an armed civilian.

The commander of the National Guard said Friday that more than 1,000 Guard members had been deployed to help keep the peace, and more were on the way.

***

A man who was fatally shot after supporters of President Donald Trump clashed with left-wing protesters on the streets of Portland, Oregon, was a supporter of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, its founder said August 30th.

Joey Gibson, head of the group based in Washington state, told The Associated Press the man who was shot to death on August 29th was a "good friend," although he did not identify him.

On August 30th, President Donald Trump and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler blamed each other for the violence.

Trump called Wheeler a "fool" on Twitter while Wheeler blamed Trump for creating such a toxic environment.

"It's you who have created the hate and the division," the Democratic mayor said of Trump. "Your campaign of fear is as anti-democratic as anything you've done to create hate and vitriol in our beautiful country," he added.

Trump had earlier issued a flurry of tweets and retweets, including several blaming Wheeler for the death and one in which the president appeared to be encouraging his supporters to move into Portland.

"GREAT PATRIOTS!" Trump wrote as he shared video of his supporters driving into Portland to confront the protesters.

Police issued a plea for any information related to the killing, including videos, photos or eyewitness accounts. The shooting happened about 15 minutes after a caravan of about 600 vehicles that were part of a pro-Trump rally left downtown.

It wasn't clear if the shooting was related to the clashes between Trump supporters and counterprotesters in Portland, which has become a flashpoint in the national Black Lives Matter protests since George Floyd was killed in May and an increasing centerpiece in Trump's law-and-order re-election campaign theme.

Police have not released any information about the case but said they were aware of videos on social media that showed the shooting.

Police Chief Chuck Lovell asked for anyone with information to come forward.

"A human being lost their life last night, and it's critical that everyone refrain from conjecture and allow us to gather the evidence and statements needed to hold the person who did this responsible for this heinous act," he said.

***

Protesters greeted President Trump as he arrived in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on September 1st, more than a week after the shooting by police of Jacob Blake, which has touched off days of unrest.

Protesters lined a street as Trump's motorcade passed by, along with supporters of the President shouting "USA, USA"

Some demonstrators carried anti-Trump signs and shouted "justice for Jacob Blake."

On the eve of his visit, Trump defended a teenage supporter accused of fatally shooting two men at a demonstration in Kenosha the previous week and accused Democrat Joe Biden of siding with "anarchists" and "rioters" in the unrest.

***

Police have used tear gas to disperse a demonstration against police brutality in Rochester on September 4th.

More than a hundred people gathered to demand justice for Daniel Prude.

Prude, a Black man who was 41, died in March seven days after officers encountered him running naked through the street, handcuffed him, then tried to stop him from spitting by putting a mesh bag called a spit hood, or a spit sock, over his head.

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren announced the suspension of seven officers at a news conference Thursday amid outrage that city officials had kept quiet about Prude's death for months.

Prude's death and the actions of the police officers have intensified the debate over whether police should be responding to calls about people suffering mental health crises.

A union leader on September 4th defended the officers involved in the encounter, saying they were strictly following department training and protocols, including using the mesh hood to stop Prude from spitting.

03:47:05

Black Lives Matter mural painted outside NY courts

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York, 2 July 2020

1. Painters working on street mural

2. Thurgood Marshall federal courthouse

3. Walk shot of Sophia Dawson

00:14:10

'Black Lives Matter' mural painted at Trump Tower

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York - 9 July 2020

4. Various of Bill de Blasio, First Lady Chirlane McCray and Rev. Al Sharpton painting Black Lives Matter mural on the street outside Trump Tower alongside other community members

00:20.22

Overhead view of BLM mural at Trump Tower

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New York - 10 July 2020

5. Wide of Black Lives Matter mural on 5th Avenue in front of Trump Tower

00:26:00

Sculpture of BLM protester replaces Colston statue

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Bristol - 15 July 2020

6. Black Lives Matter protester Jen Reid standing in front of the statue in her likeness

7. Statue of Jen Reid

00:34:00

Confederate statues stored at waste water plant

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Richmond, Virginia - 14 July 2020

++MUTE FROM SOURCE++

8. Confederate statues covered and on the ground

00:38:03

Protesters in Portland chant against police

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

++WARNING: AUDIO CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE++

Portland - 20 July 2020

++VIDEO QUALITY AS INCOMING++

++NIGHT SHOTS++

9. Protesters chanting

10. Wide of protesters sitting by fire

00:46:03

Pentagon says no U.S. troops deployed in Portland

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POOL

Arlington, Virginia - 21 July 2020

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Hoffman, Pentagon Spokesman:

" But I can say that unequivocally there are no Department of Defense assets that have been deployed to or are pending deployment to or are looking to deploy to to Portland at this time."

00:57:12

Officers charged in Floyd's death appear in court

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POOL

Minneapolis - 21 July 2020

12. Various of former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao arriving at courthouse

13. Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane, arriving at courthouse

14. Former Minneapolis police officer J. Alexander Kueng. arriving at courthouse

01:12:09

Huge crowd protests in Portland, Oregon

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Portland, Oregon - 22 July 2020

15. Big crowd of demonstrators

16. Wolfgang Taylor holds up shield that he uses to defend fellow demonstrators

17. Demonstrators with signs

01:20:08

Tear gas fired at Portland demonstrators

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Portland, Oregon - 24 July 2020

++NIGHT SHOTS++

18. Wide of demonstrators, zoom in to rising smoke, UPSOUND explosions

01:26:03

VA removes Confederate statues from state Capitol

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Richmond, Virginia - 23 July 2020

19. Various of workers inside state capitol removing confederate statue and busts

01:37:17

Agents deploy tear gas, flash bangs in Portland

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

++CLIENTS: EDIT MAY CONTAIN EXPLETIVES++

Portland, Oregon - 27 July 2020

20. AUDIO of bangs, tear gas appears, protesters begin to retreat from federal courthouse

21. View of tear gas from distance

01:46:16

Portland protesters burn US flags, police arrive

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Portland, Oregon - 1 August 2020

22. American flag burning ++NOTE: AUDIBLE PROFANITY++

23. Protesters walking by armed police ++NOTE: OFFENSIVE GESTURES++

02:00:16

Tourists flock to see mural honoring Dolly Parton’s Black Lives Matter quote

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Nashville, Tenn.- 20 August 2020

24. Wide of Kim Radford posing for pictures in front of her Dolly Parton mural

25. Wide of Kim Radford taking a fan's picture in front of her Dolly Parton mural

02:07:13

Protesters gather at Wis. courthouse

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: USE OF EXPLETIVES++

Kenosha, Wisconsin - 24 August 2020

26. Burned out vehicles near courhouse

27. People with signs on courthouse steps

28. Officers in riot gear emerge from door and stand in front of crowd

02:19:02

Police and protesters clash in Wisconsin

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kenosha, Wisconsin - 24 August 2020

++NIGHTSHOTS++SCREEN FOR EXPLETIVES++

29. Crowd of protesters outside building

30. National Guard truck

31. Zoom, big cloud of gas

32. Officers with Sheriff's Dept. shields

33. Burning vehicles

02:39:15

WI police fire tear gas, rubber bullets to disperse demo

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kenosha, Wisconsin - 25 August 2020

++NIGHT SHOTS++

34. Protesters chanting outside courthouse building

35. Officer appears from hatch of armored vehicle, points weapon

36. Tear gas in street

37. Officers walking in line behind fence

02:54:11

Blake relatives join protest march in Kenosha

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kenosha - 29 August 2020

38. Protesters marching and chanting 'Say his name:Jacob Blake'

39. Jacob Blake's sister Letetra Widman reciting a poem

40. Jacob Blake's uncle Justin Blake addressing crowd

03:06:15

Portland mayor blames Trump for protester killed

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POOL

Portland - 30 August 2020

41. SOUNDBITE (English) Mayor Ted Wheeler, (D) Portland:

"Mr. President, why this is the first time in decades that America has seen this level of violence - it's you who have created the hate and the division."

03:21:01

Trump jeered and cheered upon Kenosha arrival

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Kenosha, Wisconsin - 1 September 2020

42. Crowd of demonstrators awaiting President Trump's motorcade UPSOUND (English) "Say his name. Jacob Blake."

43. People shouting as motorcade passes by UPSOUND (English) "USA, USA, USA USA"

44. Man speaking into bullhorn UPSOUND (English) The system is outrageous. They're puttin' our kids in cages. Trump Pence out now."

03:34:22

Police use tear gas against Rochester protesters

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rochester - 4 September 2020

++NIGHT SHOTS++

45. Various of protesters demanding justice for Daniel Prude UPSOUND (English) policeman off screen:

"The Rochester police department has declared this an unlawful assembly. You are hereby ordered to disperse. Please leave the area immediately by travelling eastbound on Cork Street."

46. Tear gas being dispersed

47. Woman affected by tear gas having water put on her face

TAPE NUMBER: OA 260

DATELINE: August 13,2010 Washington, DC

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Gibbs and Secretary of Homeland Security Napolitano, 8/13/2010

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

12:10 P.M. EDT

MR. GIBBS: Good afternoon. Welcome to the White House. Before we get started, I have one quick announcement. On Sunday, August 29th, President Obama will travel to New Orleans, Louisiana, to mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The visit will include remarks by the President at Xavier University of Louisiana. Members of the President's Cabinet who have worked to speed recovery and restoration efforts in the region also will be in New Orleans to mark the anniversary. We will have more on that trip obviously as it gets closer.

Next, we are joined today by Secretary Napolitano. As you know, just a little while ago, with Secretary Napolitano, the President signed into law a border security bill that puts more agents and more equipment along the Mexican border. And she is here to talk about that, our efforts to bolster the border region since coming into office. And I will turn it over to the Secretary.

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Thank you. Well, thank you. Good afternoon, everybody, and thank you for being here today. I was very pleased to be with the President earlier as he signed a bill providing $600 million in additional resources to further strengthen security along the Southwest border. We applaud Congress for acting in a bipartisan manner to take quick action on this bill. I'd like to especially thank leaders Reid and Pelosi, and also Schumer and McCaskill.

The legislation adds permanent resources that will continue to bolster security along the Southwest border, supporting our efforts to crack down on transnational criminal organizations, and reduce the trafficking of people, drugs, currency and weapons.

The bill is important in two respects. First, it adds new resources to the border. Second, it makes permanent many of the assets that this administration has surged along the border during the past 18 months.

Now, let me pause there for a moment. I have worked on border issues as a public servant for 17 years, starting in 1993, as United States state's attorney in Arizona, then the attorney general of Arizona, then the governor of Arizona, continuing through today as the Secretary of Homeland Security. What's significant about this bill, in addition to its contents, is that it passed something with bipartisan support that gives us the resources to continue efforts that were well underway, and demonstrates that the border is not and should not be a political issue; it is a matter of national security in which we all, both parties, have a stake.

And on that score, even before the President signed this bill, the administration had already devoted more resources to the Southwest than any point in American history. These efforts are making a difference. And they are the reason why everything that is supposed to be going up is going up, and everything that is supposed to be going down is going down.

Seizures are up and rose across the board last year. Apprehensions for illegal crossings are down. For the first time ever, we are screening 100 percent of southbound rail. Criminal alien removals are at an all-time high. We've added more technology, manpower, and resources to the border than ever before.

This is a long-term, systematic effort to defeat the cartels and to continue to secure the border. The administration is dedicated to that approach. And that's why the President ordered 1,200 National Guard troops to the border, and it's why he asked Congress for this supplemental funding.

Now, the bill. In terms of manpower, the bill provides for 1,000 additional Border Patrol agents. It contains $68 million for Customs and Border Protection officers at or ports of entry, facilitating legal traffic and interdicting contraband. It enables ICE -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- to hire more than 200 special agents, investigators and intelligence analysts who will help combat narcotic smuggling and their associated violence.

It provides for two more unmanned aircraft systems, and has $14 million to deploy improved tactical communications technology that will improve enforcement, particularly along some of the more remote areas of the border. It also includes $196 million for the Justice Department to surge federal law enforcement, add prosecutors, immigration judges, and support for detention and incarceration of criminal aliens in coordination with our Homeland Security enforcement efforts. And in terms of infrastructure, it includes $6 million for two forward-operating bases to improve our border enforcement activities.

This bill is clearly another step forward on border security, on top of the significant progress that the administration has already made. It is one of the many tools in the toolbox we have constructed along the border.

So we're very pleased with the swift passage, very pleased the President was able to sign this bill into law today. And now I'm happy to take your questions.

Q Secretary Napolitano, when the President spoke about immigration last month, one of the points he made is that our borders are just too vast for us to be able to solve the problem only with fences and border patrols; it won't work. Our borders will not be secure as long as our limited resources are devoted to not only stopping gangs and potential terrorists but also the hundreds and thousands who attempt to cross each year simply to find work. Is the administration now in any way conceding that comprehensive immigration reform is not tenable, that you can actually fix this problem, bill by bill?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: No, no, I would say quite the opposite. I think the administration's position is that this bill adds to significant border security efforts that have been underway for the past 18 months. And the administration is very intent now in saying, look, this bill passed on a bipartisan basis. Now let's get Republicans to the table finally so we can address the whole issue of immigration reform. These are not sequential items; these are things that should be done together.

Q So in your sense, having gotten this piece through, and knowing the politics as well as the policy, that comprehensive reform is still something that could happen in the next couple years?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Absolutely. And it needs to happen. And again, I say this as someone with a lot of experience with the immigration issue and along the border. We need a safe and secure border. This is a 2,000-mile, roughly, expanse. It involves a lot of legitimate and legal trade of commerce, goods, tourism, people that need to be able to go back and forth. So the border area itself needs to be safe and secure. But as a nation we also need immigration reform.

MR. GIBBS: Bill, let me just add this. I think you've seen the President has talked about this. As I've mentioned in here before, the President has worked on this in 2005, 2006, 2007, as a member of the United States Senate. Leaders in the Senate made tough decisions and tough votes to get a bill because Democrats and Republicans worked together. Nothing is going to happen on this issue in a comprehensive way that only involves one party or one person. Secretary Napolitano's home state had leaders that were willing to make tough votes, willing to roll up their sleeves and be leaders. And the question is -- we will get comprehensive immigration reform when we go back to a time in which both Democrats and Republicans are willing to be leaders. And only then.

It's not going to go through the Senate or the House or Congress and come to any President's desk because one party has willed it to do so.

Q Well, I guess that's my point, just to finish up on this, is that there always seemed to be strong support at some level for securing the border but not for the more difficult parts, including guest worker program and so forth. So how does this differ from that? You got the part that both parties can support. Where does the rest come from?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Well, I think the efforts on overall immigration reform are ongoing, but the point I'm making is that you need to multitask. You need to secure the border and have a safe and secure border area, and you need immigration reform. That's what this President has set out to do. That's what he has asked the Department of Homeland Security to work on. That's why he has invited Republicans and Republican leadership to the table, said, look, let's get to the issue of immigration reform.

But at the same time, we want to make sure that the border itself and that 2,000-mile expanse is safe and secure.

Q Just following on that, I'm wondering if you could talk a little more specifically about the President's timetable for bringing about comprehensive immigration reform, for getting Republicans to the table. And how much will this be contingent on the outcome of the November elections? Are you concerned that if Republicans increase in strength then the prospects diminish?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Well, I think the purpose of our briefing here today is to talk about this bill, its significance, the fact that it passed in a bipartisan fashion, and very swiftly. I mean, the President made a formal request for this supplemental funding I think in June, and we are now -- we have already begun moving resources, in addition to what we had already put at the border, to the border.

This will allow us to make some of those movements permanent. And the addition of 1,000 more Border Patrol agents on top of the 20,000 we already have, that is significant. Two hundred more ICE agents that we can devote to special investigations involving the cartels that use that border and its trafficking routes, that is very significant. Unmanned aerial systems that we can add to the ones we already have, along with the fixed-wing and helicopters that we have, that allows us to have the capacity for 24/7 air coverage along this border.

This is the most kind of systemic border security package -- when you add everything together that has happened -- that we've ever seen.

Q But not to be impolite, the question was, what is the timetable for -- now that you have this bill, which is significant and clearly lays the groundwork for comprehensive immigration reform -- what's the timetable for the next step? And how much is it contingent on the elections?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: The President has said from the beginning that immigration reform is a priority for him. He had reiterated that as recently as the speech at American University, which you were quoting from, and he has invited Congress to the table. But again, as was said earlier, this is in the hands of the Congress and they will need to address this in a bipartisan way. It can't only be done by Democrats; the Republicans need to be willing to come to the table. The timetable question should be addressed to them.

MR. GIBBS: And I think, just to add one thing, nobody has suggested that I have heard that only one step needs to be taken to have comprehensive immigration reform. This is an aspect of it. It's something we always mention, but there are obviously other aspects that are needed and that people are interested in doing. And the President has reached out to and has talked to Democrats and Republicans on this issue. We just need a little support to make it happen.

Q But if you don't get those other aspects, if you don't get comprehensive reform, is this not just then a drop in a bucket in attacking the problem?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: No. And I say this again as someone who is from a border state and has governed a border state. The border region is an important, critical area for this country. So much trade and commerce occurs along there. People live in communities along that border region. We want to make sure that border region is safe and secure. We want -- and that requires a law enforcement approach that includes manpower, that includes infrastructure, that includes technology. And that's why this bill, added to what we've already done, gives us the resources necessary for that kind of a system to be in place. That makes a lot of difference for people who live in that area and for the country as a whole.

Q Could I ask you about -- you've mentioned the crossings are down. Can you talk a little bit more about that in terms of the numbers? And to what degree do you think that is the result of the economy, that there simply aren't the jobs here now for people to want to cross the border? And to what degree is it because of specific measures that have been taken by this administration?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: We can give you specific numbers, but I can tell you from my own experience that crossings are down, I have to say, 50 percent, 60 percent from even a few years ago.

Q Some people believe that almost all of that is because of the economy.

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: I think it is fair to say that the economy has something to do with it, but it is also fair to say that the additional law enforcement resources at the border also have something to do with it.

And there's a third factor, I think, that should be taken into account, and that is we have undertaken really an unprecedented partnership with Mexican law enforcement, with the Calderón administration, with law enforcement on the Southern side of the border, and that also is having an effect.

Q To follow on that, can you quantify what this extra money and resources is going to mean in terms of percentages of all the things that you're trying to curtail?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: I don't understand --

Q You said you were trying to limit the activity of drug cartels, of narco-trafficking, of human trafficking -- $600 million, 1,200 National Guard troops -- how much of an effect is that going to have? Can you quantify it in terms of numbers and percentages?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: It's always difficult to quantify a negative, how much have you prevented from occurring. But what we can give you are exact numbers on how much crossings have gone down and how much seizures have gone up, and that will give you some of the matrix.

Q But now you're adding more resources. So I guess the question is -- critics might say, well, you're throwing this in, you're doing this for political show in order to lay the groundwork for November, in order to lay the groundwork or the predicate for pursuing comprehensive reform at some point in the future. What effect is this actually going to have? And that's the genesis of the question I'm asking.

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: I think you will see crossings continue to go down, and I think you will continue to see seizures going up. I don't know if I can give you an exact number.

Q At an increased rate because of all the --

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: When the resources are in place, I think you will see that. And I think you will see crime rates along the border keep -- either remain stable or keep going down, so that communities along the border are safer because of this money. So there are all kinds of ways you could look at it, but I would look at all of those factors.

Q To follow up on the earlier questions about the timing of comprehensive reform. So is it safe to say now that the policy pieces are in place -- I know you say it's not sequential -- but the policy pieces are being put in place, and now it's simply a political problem to get reform through Congress?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: I think it is fair to say that it is time for immigration reform; that the administration is ready to invite the Congress to get at it. But again, as Gibbs just said, it can't be just one party; the Republican leadership now needs to come to the table.

Q As you know, Republicans here in Washington and in the region say that while this is -- while 1,200 National Guard troops is helpful and while this money is helpful, it's not enough. It's nowhere near enough. Do you agree that more is needed, or do you think that we really have the resources you need at this point to do the job?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: I think this bill matches very well with what the President asked for in June. It augments what we had already been surging down the border, beginning in March of '09. I mean, I think people perhaps didn't recognize the fact that since March of '09 we have been moving resources to the Southwest border.

This allows us to make some of those resources permanent, not temporary. So I believe that we have designed what needs to happen at this border, we have a good idea what it takes to keep this border safe and secure, and that these monies will allow us to do that. And again, it shows when the Congress acts in a bipartisan fashion, even on a complicated issue -- and border security is a complicated issue; other issues they've addressed in a bipartisan fashion are complicated -- when they do it things can move rather swiftly.

Q I'm sorry, I didn't understand for sure how you're responding to my specific question. Do you think this is enough, or is more needed to do the job that you think needs to be done?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: I think this is what we asked for, and of course, what we asked for is what we thought would be enough.

Q Do you know how long it takes for 1,500 more agents to be hired and trained and get on the job?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Yes, the average time for a Border Patrol agent to go from hiring to training to be boots on the ground is eight months.

Q Eight months?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Is eight months.

Q And once you get all of these in place, you feel you have kind of a long-term now stabilization on the numbers there. Is the gap widening between the border security and then the more political issue on the other side of what to do with the illegal aliens who are in the United States now? Isn't that a problem that now is even farther -- especially with the lawsuits that are out there -- is that becoming farther and farther from a possibility, not only this year but next?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Well, again, that goes to the issue of underlying immigration reform with those already in the country. But we have set pretty clear priorities for ICE about who they should focus on from a law enforcement perspective, just like any prosecution office would. And we have directed, and the assistant secretary has directed, that we focus on criminal aliens -- and record numbers are being removed from our country of criminal aliens; that we focus on gang members; that we focus on felony fugitives. And when you look at the numbers, the numbers show that ICE has made significant strides in that regard and, really, record numbers are being removed.

Q Thank you, Robert. Madam Secretary, as far as this bill President signed this morning, it's supported by the Indian Americans and companies doing business in India. But there is a red alert in India now from some companies doing business in India in the part of the bill, which is that this bill will be paid by those H1B visa holders who will be entering the U.S., but they have not entered yet, but it will be paid by them. And also that this bill might impact the U.S.-India relations, and what many companies are saying this bill should be paid by those who are illegal in this country but not those people doing business in India.

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Well, I think the method of payment, which is an increased visa charge for certain business-related

businesses -- business-related visas -- makes a lot of sense, because what it's saying is that we're going to make sure that we pay for immigration in this part of it, that we pay for it out of the visa system. And that way it doesn't come out of the general fund, which is necessary for so many other things. And so the Senate was able to find a way to fund this bill that doesn't add to the deficit and allows us to get the enforcement monies we need on a permanent basis.

Q Do you think that in any way as far as U.S.-India relations and this connection and the companies doing business in India?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: I think this administration has a very close relationship with India and we hope to sustain it as such.

MR. GIBBS: April.

Q Back on the issue of comprehensive immigration reform. There is a concern about the temporary worker program as you were starting -- this precursor that -- Marc Morial, for instance, the head of the National Urban League, is concerned that there needs to be more accountability in the process of screenings just in case there are companies that decide that they may need to go outside of the United States to bring in some workers. What say you about that and bringing in more accountability as to finding -- making sure that they've exhausted all avenues that no one wants to work in that company, and they have to go abroad to Mexico?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Well, I think we are all concerned and focused on making sure in the business side of the immigration process that the rules are followed, that the rules are enforced, and that jobs are not unfairly precluded for American workers. And that's the directive that's gone out.

Q But would -- it might be the directive, but what kind of teeth are you putting in place? What kind of accountability efforts are you putting in place to make sure that businesses are exhausting every measure that they can to make sure that no one wants the job in the United States before they go out into Mexico for hiring?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: We can give you a separate briefing, but at USCIS, they have begun or have been conducting a lot of oversight or go-backs on visas that are given, to make sure that the rules are being followed.

Q Lindsay Graham had been specifically working on this issue. You were talking about the need for Republicans to come to the table. Is the administration specifically reaching out to him?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: I think the administration has reached out to a number of Republicans, including Senator Graham. And I think we all recognize that this is an issue that's not going to go away; that immigration needs to be addressed even as we secure the border. And so, yes, the administration has reached out to Republican leadership and to others, including Senator Graham.

Q And has he indicated that he will be willing to work with you on something?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Well, he co-signed a op-ed with Senator Schumer, and they, together, because of where they sit in the Judiciary Committee structure, have key roles to play on whether an immigration bill could move through the Senate. And that op-ed, which the President has endorsed, laid out really what the framework for the immigration bill should be.

Q That was a while ago, though.

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Indeed.

Q I mean more recently.

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Again, I have seen no sign that there is any change in Senator Graham's position.

Q Secretary Napolitano, last week after a nun was killed in a drunk driving accident in Prince William County, you asked for a review into the circumstances that led the alleged driver to be released by ICE back in 2008. Just looking for some details there: When do you expect that review be completed? Will the results be public? And what questions are you hoping it will answer?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: The review is not complete yet. I don't have a completion date, but it's something we're tracking out of our headquarters. I think we want to know the same thing that the public wants to know. Why was this individual with two DUIs in his past out on the road? And we want to make sure that the directives that we have issued since this individual entered the immigration system, that the directives would make sure that somebody like this would not be released onto the road.

Q And will those results be made public, or is this just for internal --

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Let me not answer that question prematurely because I don't know whether there is a -- whether that would compromise an ongoing investigation. But to the extent we can make things public, we absolutely want to.

Q Thank you, Madam Secretary. A number of Republicans, notably on the House side, have indicated they would be warmer toward a comprehensive immigration package if there was more being done on the fence. Was more money put in for the fence along the border, and what is its status right now?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: The fence -- there is not money in here specifically for fence, in this supplemental. But we have built out the fence to the extent, minus about six miles, that it has received appropriations. And so, in our view, the fence is there.

But the fence is only part of this. I mean, as I said, I think famously, when I was a governor, you show me a 15-foot fence and I'll show you a 16-foot ladder. You got to have infrastructure but you've got to have the manpower and technology to back it up. And you got to have the air cover. And that's really the system that we have been putting in place over the last 18 months, and that's what's in this bill.

Q So you're saying that the fence is just six miles short of completion?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: From the amount that was appropriated for the fence, that's right. And I think that six miles have -- I may be corrected, but I believe almost all of that is in litigation.

Q You talked about the money in the bill for incarceration and prosecution. But is that record deportation of criminal immigrants -- was that straining your existing resources?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: I think that's -- I think it's fair to say, yes, it was. And one of the things about this bill that's significant is that it recognizes that this is a system, and it's a system that crosses federal departments. So if you're going to increase efforts on border security, if you're going to increase efforts on removing and deporting criminal aliens and the like, you need more on the detention side, you need more on the immigration judge side, you need more on the U.S. attorneys side. So there's $196 million in here for the Justice Department.

Q Secretary Napolitano, could I ask you to weigh in on the 14th Amendment controversy before Congress right now? Do you think it's remotely practicable to -- I don't know, deport babies -- I don't know -- what do you make, from an immigration perspective and a policy perspective, about this "born in the United States" and discussion about whether you should no longer be a citizen? Are you surprised that Senator Graham and some of the other senators who have intimated they wanted to debate this issue have gone there?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: I have to tell you I am surprised, to say the least, that discussion is being had about amending the United States Constitution before we even get to the table on amending the statutes that actually carry out immigration policy. I think that's where the action needs to be. And any talk of amending the Constitution is just wrong.

Q Do you say it's political also, or do you think it's serious --

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: I think it's just wrong.

Q Can we follow up on that?

MR. GIBBS: Sure. (Laughter.)

Q I'm sorry -- I just wonder if you've discussed that with the President and do you have a sense of his feelings on it?

MR. GIBBS: Well, Sheryl, I think I spoke on this two days ago, after having discussed this with the President. And what I said was I very much -- the President and Secretary Napolitano agree on this.

Let's take this a couple different ways. The 14th Amendment enshrines, and has for more than 150 years, equal protection and due process -- two things that we don't think need to be tampered with. I think the Secretary just pointed out the process for augmenting the Constitution takes a long time. With a little leadership, we could have comprehensive immigration reform. And it is always interesting that -- and I said this the other day and I will say it one more time -- that those that have, with steadfast fidelity, talked about not tampering with our Constitution have now swerved to pick the 14th Amendment as the best place to address comprehensive immigration reform. It is -- it's rich in its irony; it's wrong in its approach.

Q Governor Brewer, in justifying the state's immigration law, has repeatedly said that the federal government is not doing its job. Do you see this legislation, in part, as an answer to that criticism? And I'm also wondering if you can talk about what conversations -- we know she met with the President earlier this year -- that you have had with her, your successor?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Well, I'll take it in two ways. One is I think her factual premise was just wrong. The facts are the facts. And the facts are that there are more Border Patrol agents at that border than ever before; there's more infrastructure at the border than ever before; there's more technology at the border than ever before; there's more air cover at the border than ever before. And the results are the results. The results are that illegal crossings are way down, and seizures of drugs and guns and cash are way up.

And so I think that the factual premise that she posited, which is that somehow the federal government had ignored Arizona, was just inaccurate -- and unfairly so. And we will continue to augment the resources that we have been putting into Arizona, particularly the East side of the state, which is known as the Tucson sector.

You know, when I was the U.S. attorney, I supervised the prosecution of at least 6,000 immigration felonies. This is an area I know quite well. And I will tell you there has never been a greater federal presence at this border. So the factual premise for the bill was wrong.

Now, I did meet with Governor Brewer in Boston during the NGA, and we just discussed all the things that we were doing at the Arizona border. It was a very professional and cordial conversation.

Q Madam Secretary, the Republicans along the way have said that you have to secure the border first. You, yourself, have listed a number of steps that the administration has taken during the past 18 months. My question to you is, first of all, how will the administration respond? Because there are already Republicans saying that this is an important first step, but more has to be done. The question is, when will the border be secure? Who will certify that the border is secure if that is what is needed to get comprehensive immigration reform? How do you respond to that?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Well, I think this is more than a first step. I go back to March of 2009, when we began moving assets and resources down into the Southwest border, so I disagree with that characteristic.

Secondly, as I've said before, this is a great bill for us. This is a great bill. It adds a thousand Border Patrol agents; it adds ICE agents; it adds air cover; it adds other technology. It helps us make sure we have the most up-to-date communications technology at the border, which is really important because some areas you can't cover with a cell phone because there aren't any cell towers down there, so you really need the communications capacity.

So that part is there. And what I would simply say is -- sometimes I hear "securing the border" and the goalpost just keeps moving -- "well, we've done this, we need to do this and this and this." And I say, look, we will continue to do everything we need to do to have a safe and secure Southwest border. We will continue to do everything we need to do to work with counties along that border. We now have the Secure Community System, as I said before, at every one of the 25 counties along the border. We will continue to make sure that our efforts are informed by good intelligence and analysis so we're not just throwing money at the border.

But that should not be used anymore to preclude discussions about immigration reform. As I said many times, these should not be sequential; they should go together.

Q A second question, Madam Secretary. ICE has said that they can only get only get to (inaudible) deportations a year because they just don't have more resources. I wonder if this bill would provide some more resources to get some more deportations. And the second point is, some activists have said that by passing this bill alone the most radical have hijacked the debate on comprehensive immigration reform, and I would like your reaction on that.

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Well, I think it is likely that we will see more deportations, particularly in the priority categories I have set forth. Can I give you a number just yet? No. It would be premature to do so. But obviously our goal is to make the best, most efficient use of the money that we receive from the Congress, and focus it on where we think the best efforts ought to be. And that is making sure we are removing from our country criminal aliens, felony fugitives, gang members who are also in our country illegally, particularly once they've served their sentences.

For those who say, or who would suggest that somehow this bill is radical -- what did you say -- what was the phrase you used?

Q They say that by passing this bill alone, the radicals have hijacked the debate, basically, and moving to more enforcement-type --

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: No, I think that's just wrong. I think this bill is a bill that the President asked for. He asked for it because we know that we can make good use of these monies for permanent and consistent across-the-border security, and that's what we want to have. But that in no way should be read to suggest, imply, or in any way, back off from the fact that we also need immigration reform.

Q Secretary, Senator McCain and Senator Kyl said yesterday that key elements of border security are still missing, for example, implementation of Operation Streamline in the Tucson sector, more Border Patrol agents, among other things. So I was wondering if -- do you agree with this statement? Do you agree that these kind of measures are still needed in the border?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Well, again, Operation Streamline has proven effective in some places where it is used. We use it in some places. It's very expensive, and there are other methods that we use that are proven equally effective. And so as you're trying to make the best use of taxpayer dollars and make sure that they're targeted where they can do the best -- Streamline is one way. Repatriation into the interior of Mexico is another way that has proven very effective.

And so we need a lot of different kinds of tools in our toolbox. And I think it is a mistake to focus on any single one and say, well, if you don't have that tool, you don't have an effective system. We have a good toolbox. We have a good system. And now with these monies, again, passed with the support of Senator McCain and Kyl, we can do even more.

MR. GIBBS: We'll take one more.

Q Just a follow-up, a quick follow-up? Madam Secretary, you said that leadership is needed from the Republicans and Democrats in Congress in order to have comprehensive immigration reform. But in Congress they said that leadership in the White House is needed in order to have comprehensive immigration reform. So at the end of the day --

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Look, only Congress can pass a bill. The President can advocate, he can get them to the table, as he has in the Roosevelt Room upstairs. He can implore, he can provide ideas, he can agree to a framework, as he already has. He can give a major address that spells out what's needed in a bill. But only Congress can pass a bill.

MR. GIBBS: Take one more in the very back.

Q Businesses from India and the U.S. have said that the portion of the bill which raises the fee on H1 and L1 visa is discriminatory and this would undermine the growing economic relations between India and the U.S. What's your comment on that?

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: I don't think it will. I think the United States and India have a robust and vital relationship, and nothing in this bill should interfere with that.

Q Just to follow up, about the WTO scenario where the U.S. can be taken to -- the WTO rules are being violated with this bill.

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: On that I can't comment. That has not been raised to me at all.

MR. GIBBS: Thank you, Madam Secretary.

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: All right, thank you.

MR. GIBBS: Should we do a few other topics, and then call it a Friday?

Ben and then I'll go to April.

Q Thanks, Robert. A couple quick topics. Down in the Gulf today could be the day that the well is sealed for good, depending on, I guess, test results there. Can you give us any indication on how that's going?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I would say -- and I think we will have directives from the National Incident Commander soon -- the scientific team met and was meeting this morning, as they have in each big step along the way, to evaluate where we were, take pressure readings, evaluate all the data that's applicable in making those next decisions.

As you know, the storm delayed some of the activity on the relief well. It is our hope that, even as we have put the mud into the well-bore and cemented the well, that the final steps that will kill this well off once and for all will resume soon and hopefully come to fruition. It'd be nice to have that sometime this weekend. (Laughter.) It would be nice to -- well -- (laughter) -- no, no, it would be nice to have had that about 110 days ago, but I say that not because of the proximity of the President's trip. I say that because we have maintained throughout this process that that was the end of this well, is having that relief well and have -- what that means in terms of the stability of the entire well structure -- that is obviously important to moving forward.

I will say this -- and I repeat this because it is important to this government and to this President. This would end -- a relief well -- a successful relief well would end this phase of, but would not end our commitment to this region. We still have oil to clean up. We still have an environment to monitor and measure and study. We have natural resource damage assessments that will be -- fines that will be given to BP for that. And we have a process by which restoration of the Gulf will begin.

Secretary Mabus will travel with the President tomorrow to Florida, and they will talk more about that process.

Q Talk more about the restoration process?

MR. GIBBS: Talk more about sort of what these -- what sort of we're shifting into in terms of the next steps in this process. I think it is important that the people in the region understand and know clearly that -- our focus has been for the past many days what we think is now very much upon us, and that is a well that is dead. I think it is important to know that this well has not leaked oil for a month. That is important -- certainly important to the environment and to the people of the Gulf. This well, the relief well would kill this once and for all. That ends that phase as we transition to the next phase.

Q And one other point, moving a little bit further ahead -- can you frame White House goals and expectations for the President's U.S. trip next week? I mean, he's going all over the place. Obviously a lot of political fundraisers to that, but he's got a policy event every day. What does he hope to get out of this?

MR. GIBBS: Well, look, I think you'll hear the President talk a lot about the economy, different aspects of it, in different places, whether it's our initiative on exports and other things. Obviously the President's travel includes, as you mentioned, Ben, a hefty amount of political travel for Senate candidates, for gubernatorial candidates, and for the congressional committee. And some of the money raised goes directly to state parties to build campaigns, strong campaign, top to bottom, within the state in some very important areas in 2010.

I think the President takes that role seriously. And we obviously are getting closer and closer to some very important elections where we'll make some important choices about going backwards or going forwards. You'll hear that speech again. (Laughter.)

Q To clarify, it sounds like you're not willing to give up on the relief wells. Just leaving the cemented top as it is now is not enough for you.

MR. GIBBS: I hesitate to get ahead of what I think the National Incident Commander is going to do soon. Again, the way we've always talked about this is the importance of that relief well. Despite the fact that if you -- look, a month ago, a sealing cap largely prevented additional oil from coming out. Mud on top of that increased that. The cementing of that increased that. But we still have the relief well.

Q How do you ever go back in and find out what went wrong in the first place? You've got all these oil wells out there that can't budge until you guys find out what happened --

MR. GIBBS: Well, there's a scientific and engineering process that is ongoing that's -- I forget the exact name of it but I'll get it -- that's an investigation that's headlined out of New Orleans, that will look at -- and, look, I think one of the things we'll want to do is look at some of the components that are there and see the degree to which they contributed to what happened on April 20th.

Q Is the President discouraged at all at the stubborn nature of the economic recovery?

MR. GIBBS: Yes, has been for going on 18 months.

Q So what else -- I mean, everything is being thrown at it. You hear about creating more opportunities for small businesses, creating more jobs --

MR. GIBBS: Which I think is -- which, I will tell you, is a priority of the President and what he hopes is a priority that the Senate will complete when it comes back to do its business in the fall.

We hear a lot about how important small business is -- it's true; how important small business is to creating jobs -- that's true. What we need now is that rhetoric to match the support of Republicans on Capitol Hill that, for the most part, have voted against -- let's be clear -- ending capital gains for small business, increasing the amount that small businesses can deduct based on the investments that they make, and increasing through community banks the lending that's available for credit to expand and hire more workers.

That is tremendously important. I think what happened just earlier this week, ensuring that 160,000 teachers and 160,000 classrooms weren't without those teachers was tremendously important. I have said this millions of times and I'll make it a million and one. We looked at and we continue to face the greatest economic downturn that our country has seen since the Great Depression in almost every person's lifetime. It is going to take a while to get out of that hole. We will continue to work at finding whatever solutions are necessary for trying to do that.

I think if you look at -- and I know this is -- the President understands the frustration that the millions without jobs face. What is economically indisputable is that the actions that were taken prevented something much, much, much worse from coming to fruition.

Q What will it take to restore the confidence, though, in the American people who -- in the spring, when we were talking to people, you got the sense that everyone thought things were getting better. Now, polling, it seems that people think otherwise.

MR. GIBBS: Well, as I said here the other day, I think the trajectory of where April and August are, are different.

Now, what we're not debating is whether that trajectory is up or down, okay? If you look at where we were a year ago, if you look at where we were a year and a half ago, we were fighting an economy that was contracting greatly, we were fighting an economy that was shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs -- 700,000, 750,000 jobs a month. We're adding jobs. Our economy is growing. Not as fast as the President and many of those that are frustrated would want -- and I would include the President among those that is frustrated.

Obviously some events happened, I think beginning, as you've heard the President and myself say, beginning in Greece and in Europe, that have caused people to become concerned.

Q On the President's trip this weekend -- this was asked a couple of days ago -- but any plans to get in the water?

MR. GIBBS: I doubt that that will go out specifically on the guidance, but stay tuned. (Laughter.)

Q Everyone wants the picture, Robert.

Q So, yes?

MR. GIBBS: What's that?

Q What this is about is that everyone wants the photograph.

MR. GIBBS: Are you guys bringing your suits? (Laughter.) Are you -- go ahead.

Q So, yes, right? It just won't be on the guidance? If I were going -- I would bring my suit if I were going, but I'm not going.

MR. GIBBS: But you're not -- well. (Laughter.) Give your Speedo to somebody else.

Q So the question is, will we get in the water, and will there be pictures?

MR. GIBBS: I will wait --

Q Are the waters clean enough to get into?

MR. GIBBS: Of course they're clean enough to get into.

Q Would that say something if he takes a walk down the beach but doesn't put his feet in the water?

MR. GIBBS: Guys, why don't we all worry about what happens on Saturday.

Q Because this is Friday.

MR. GIBBS: I know. I know it's Friday and we have to preview whether or not the President will go swimming. (Laughter.) I'm going to let --

Q That's the biggest tourism --

Q Swim -- we're not saying swimming. He can just walk in the water.

MR. GIBBS: I see, just walking in the water.

Q No, no, above the knees.

MR. GIBBS: All right, you guys maybe get together, figure out -- (laughter) -- what would appropriately check the Aquaman box and -- (laughter.)

Q If you would say it now, it's the biggest tourism --

Q I have a non-swimming question. (Laughter.) Was the President briefed about GM's news yesterday?

MR. GIBBS: Yes.

Q How did he react? And when, with an IPO likely in the coming months, does he expect to get back the government's money?

MR. GIBBS: Let me -- I want to state clearly, I am not, and you have heard on any number of occasions, members of this administration, we're not going to comment on an IPO. Obviously that is a process that is ongoing. Once that process begins, the Securities and the Exchange Commission has purview over that process, and I'm not going to run afoul of that.

The President -- obviously we are grateful for and I think the country should be grateful for the service and the sacrifice of Ed Whitacre. The President was informed of this, and our belief is that Dan Akerson is a proven and well-respected individual that will carry on what Ed and others have started in restructuring an auto company that not too long ago was on the brink of extinction. They announced again yesterday a quarterly profit. They are on the upswing, as the other auto companies are, as well.

You've heard the President and the administration say -- and I'm not saying this not necessarily in the relation to the timing of IPOs -- but our belief is that if you look at the valuation of the company and the investment that we put in, we believe the money that this administration put in will be gotten back.

And I think the reason is -- and I think this is important -- the money that we invested came with managerial changes that had to be enacted. I think Ed Whitacre and I think Dan Akerson understand that GM made a series of decisions that got them into a position, with the type of economic downturn that we've had, that, quite frankly, put the existence of the company in great danger.

I think both of those individuals -- and I think you have a management structure and work ethic at that company in management -- and we all saw the tremendous job that those that are working each day putting those new cars together -- there's an understanding that they have a second chance; that that investment required them to do some things differently, and they are, and now there's a much different story to tell in the auto world, that will only, quite frankly, get better as our economy gets stronger, and more people buy cars.

You've heard me say these figures before -- the auto industry's sort of apex was 17 million to 17.5 million car sales a year. The economy that we were dealing with when the President came into office was one that was selling at 9-9.5 million cars a year. Now we're up to 11-11.5 million cars a year. We'll get higher and higher, and the industry itself will get, by definition, stronger and stronger.

Q Can I follow up on that, Robert?

MR. GIBBS: Yes.

Q Does the President feel like his philosophy on governance has been vindicated by this?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I think his philosophy that a million people shouldn't lose their jobs without us taking -- without us doing what is necessary to keep them, I think the President's philosophy that communities that are built around and generations of families that are built around work in the auto industry shouldn't be abandoned without a fighting chance I think has proven to be correct.

The President would be, though, the first to tell you that management decisions that were made, as I just talked about, to change the direction and trajectory of the auto industry were important. And everybody made sacrifices -- most of all, the workers, as they did what they thought they needed to do to keep an industry in place. They owe -- they are owed a lot of credit for what has happened.

Chip.

Q Are you familiar with the Benenson memo?

MR. GIBBS: The Benenson memo -- I don't know what the memo is.

Q -- or maybe you could just address the argument, basically it's that this is not going to be a wave election because the Republicans are even less popular than the Democrats are.

MR. GIBBS: Well, I will say -- my sense is Joel's memo is sitting somewhere in my in-box. I have not seen Joel's memo. I will say if you just look at -- if you look at the NBC poll, you see that the drop in ratings for Republicans is greater than any other political party. They continue to be less popular than Democrats.

I think if you look at that polling, you see a fairly appreciable change in the enthusiasm gap over the course of several months. I think quite honestly the President has pointed out to the American people and others what those choices are: Are we going to take an economic philosophy that got us into this mess and go back to that, or an economic philosophy that is getting out of it? And I think that's what the next several months of this election will be about, and I think we'll do well in November.

Q That, along with the recent election, does the White House, does the President feel Democrats are on a little bit of a roll right now?

MR. GIBBS: Well, as I said, Chip, I think there's -- what is -- undoubtedly, Democrats had a very good Tuesday. In every state we nominated the strongest candidates, and in many of those races got opponents that I think most people believe make the chances of Republicans winning many of those races less likely.

Q Tomorrow, does the President see this as a family vacation, and can you really have a family vacation in 27 hours?

MR. GIBBS: Well, the President views this as -- I think it's important --

Q Wasn't it originally billed as a vacation?

MR. GIBBS: No, I think this was originally billed as, and continues to be billed as, highlighting the notion that a region of the country that is heavily dependent upon tourism is alive, well, and open for business.

For a number of these communities, certainly those closer to Louisiana and Mississippi and in Alabama, for a lot of these communities, you talk to folks there, and this was to be the first season, past Katrina and Rita and other natural disasters, that things would have been back to normal for the entire time. And we know that well down the coast of Florida, communities that never saw oil are being impacted economically. Tourism in Florida and along the Gulf Coast is the economy.

This is an opportunity to highlight the notion that this important region of the country is still doing well and open for business. It will also provide the President an opportunity to, again, talk to those that have been affected by the damage caused by BP, and a desire to talk again with them about what has to happen going forward to restore, both economically and environmentally, the damage that's been done.

Q Not a vacation?

MR. GIBBS: Look, he's going to have some fun. Whether or not he gets in the water is up for clearly some debate. (Laughter.) But, look, he will have an opportunity to enjoy the physical beauty of the Gulf and do some work at the same time.

Q This evening the President is hosting an Iftaar dinner in honor of Ramadan, in celebration of Ramadan. Has the President been monitoring closely the U.S.-allies coordinated efforts in the Pakistani-Gulf relief efforts, Robert?

MR. GIBBS: Well, look, obviously the President has, in his PDB, been briefed on the flooding that has occurred in Pakistan and asked that -- asked each day specifically about the relief efforts there and to ensure that all that can be done is being done to assist the Pakistanis in what clearly is a devastating environment with devastating pictures.*

Q Robert, a follow on the Ramadan?

Q Reaction to Russia's announcement that it is fueling the nuclear power plant in Iran at Bushehr? Did we ask them recently not to do this? I presumed we've maintained all along that we don't want them to do this until --

MR. GIBBS: Well, look, I think this is -- I think what is important here is this is done under IAEA -- under the monitoring and the safeguards of the IAEA. Russia is providing for the fuel and taking the spent fuel back out of the country. It, quite clearly, I think, underscores that Iran does not need its own enrichment capability if its intentions, as it states, are for a peaceful nuclear program.

So I think, in many ways, this is a concept that closes that fuel loop, and I think, again, demonstrates and proves to the world that if the Iranians are sincere in a peaceful program, their needs can be met without undertaking its own enrichment program, which call into question its motives.

Q Robert, can I ask a follow-up?

Q On another matter, WikiLeaks says it's going to release about half of the 15,000 documents it withheld because of its admitted concern about their sensitivity initially. Does this trouble you more than the initial release?

MR. GIBBS: Look, I would -- I don't know that it would be easy to quantify the troubling nature of the initial releases with this release as well. I think all of the releases have been troubling.

We discussed the nature of what's in these documents, why there are laws in place to ensure that documents that are classified as secret and top secret aren't posted on the Internet. It's the safety and the security of our soldiers. And I think if you go back to the beginning of -- or go back to the initial release of documents and find what the spokesman for the Taliban said specifically about names that they found in those documents, that they knew how to deal with those individuals. I think we're clear on what that means. And I think we're clear on the danger that those that are helping an effort to provide safety and security and peace to the Afghans, how that is threatened by those who wish to do us harm and those who wish to continue to garner attention for themselves by posting these documents on the Internet.

Q If I can ask one final question. Norm Eisen's departure and the decision to basically chop up his responsibilities among other officials and not name another ethics czar -- why should that not be seen as a lessening in commitment --

MR. GIBBS: I don't know who came up with the notion of the "ethics czar."

Q Well, we like the czar.

MR. GIBBS: No, I've watched your channel; I know. (Laughter.)

Q I mean "we," writ large.

MR. GIBBS: I've seen those 37 stories, Wendell.

Q Not just us. Why shouldn't this be seen as a lessened commitment to transparency and accountability?

MR. GIBBS: There are a number of attorneys in the Counsel's Office and an added position in the Domestic Policy Council to oversee our efforts to reform the way our government works and to ensure its highest ethical standard.

Understand, though, Wendell, that charge does not come from a participant in the Counsel's Office or a staffer at the DPC. It comes from the President of the United States -- a President who, as a state senator in Illinois, worked to change laws in that state that allowed at one point you to use your campaign fund to buy a car not for campaign purposes but just to drive around; somebody who worked in the U.S. Senate to pass landmark ethics reform in 2007, and has instituted here some of the toughest rules on closing the revolving door and ensuring that the people of this country know each and every month who comes in to meet with people and who they meet with.

Q To clarify Ann's earlier question on top kill versus static kill, Admiral Allen said yesterday -- I believe it was yesterday in a briefing -- that there was a possibility that there was more harm than good in trying to go for the relief well. And you've noted here today that all along you guys have said that the relief well is the final end-all. I'd just like a little clarification on that. Are you intimating that you will go ahead with the relief well?

MR. GIBBS: The powers vested in me are not the same as those at the National Incident Command. I'm going to let them make the final announcements on that. I think what Admiral Allen might have -- I did not see what he specifically said that you just talked about. There has been -- and I said this earlier -- at each of the big points along the way, before different operations -- static kill, top kill, the sealing cap, what have you -- have taken place, there has been a robust and vigorous discussion with the scientific team, largely headed by Secretary Chu, to evaluate each of the steps that we're taking. Because obviously doing no harm to the situation that we have now is tremendously important. So I know that there were meetings going on today to evaluate a whole range of scientific data around the well, the integrity of the well, and a whole host of features.

Q You're not implying here today the relief well will definitely be drilled?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I want to not simply imply, but state clearly that that direction will come from the National Incident Command.

Q Can I talk a little --

MR. GIBBS: Oh, go ahead.

Q I'm sorry, just one more, I'm sorry. The symbolic nature of the trip to the Gulf -- there was some criticism when the First Family went to Maine after the First Lady had encouraged others to go to Panama City. Can you talk a little bit about the picture, the symbolic nature of why they're going to be there?

MR. GIBBS: Well, again, I think that for anybody -- look, I grew up not far from there. I have friends that are vacationing in the Gulf right now. That region of our country is so heavily dependent upon visitors from throughout the region and throughout the country for the nature of their economy. That's what fills those hotels. That's what fills those restaurants. And what the President wants to do is highlight the health of the region, the vitality of the region, that it's open for business, and that we hope others will do the same.

Q So there's no reason for anyone not to go to the Gulf.

MR. GIBBS: There's no reason for anybody not to go.

Q At the dinner tonight, do you anticipate that the President will address the issue of the mosque in New York?

MR. GIBBS: I have not seen the President's final remarks, Laura. I will say this. I think the President strongly believes that our country was founded on, first and foremost, on a tenet of religious freedom. We have events throughout the year -- Christmas, Hanukkah, tonight's event, Iftaar, and others -- to celebrate the rich diversity of religious freedom in this country that goes back, as I said, to its founding. I anticipate he'll talk about that. Again, I have not seen the final remarks.

Q How does that square, though, with the earlier comments on this from the White House that this is a local matter?

MR. GIBBS: Religious freedom is something that the President believes in and I think you'll hear him talk about tonight.

Q Robert, back on Bushehr reactor, in March, when Secretary Clinton was in Russia, she said that it would be premature to open the plant until Iran had given the international community reassurances that its nuclear program was only for civil and peaceful purposes. So what's changed? You seem to be endorsing it.

MR. GIBBS: I would point you over to State. I think they can answer the difference on where we are today.

Q Robert, two things. One, is the fact that the President's water visit is in question because possibly about Secret Service and security getting in the water with him? Is that some of the issue? (Laughter.) No, no, no, it's a real issue, because he said something about like that in Hawaii.

MR. GIBBS: And, April, I got to tell you, you will never see me stand up here and talk about security issues, whether it's relevant to this question or not.

Q Okay, one more question, one more --

MR. GIBBS: You ended with a big one, and -- go ahead, go with your follow-up.

Q No, it's on the Katrina anniversary.

MR. GIBBS: Go ahead.

Q How is New Orleans now like another American city, especially since this administration has pulled it out of its standalone status, in the ways that you look at it? We understand that you have lumped New Orleans in with other cities that are -- that just have the normal financial issues and things of that nature.

MR. GIBBS: I don't know what you're --

Q How is -- looking at findings --

MR. GIBBS: Let me -- before you rephrase your question. The region that was impacted so devastatingly by Katrina, I want to assure you this administration does not look at like it looks at everything. I'll be honest with you, April, I don't think you could look at the actions, the funding that we've freed up, the stuff that has been done by Secretary Donovan on housing, the reforms that have been helped and moved along by Secretary Duncan in education -- I think the premise of your question, the notion that somehow we've turned a blind eye to treat that -- I know you're shaking your head, but I'm going to take this for a little bit of a ride -- I just don't think the premise of your question is accurate.

Q Okay, I wasn't saying that it's not special, it doesn't have its needs. What I was saying -- and let me rephrase it -- is that some OMB officials came over earlier -- around -- just right after the release of the FY2011 budget. And we asked about New Orleans, and they said New Orleans is now, by this administration, viewed in light -- like Detroit. It's in a category -- it's not standalone anymore but it's in another category of a special-needs kind of -- still moving forward. That's --

MR. GIBBS: I'll be honest with you, April. I have not heard that.

Q The bill the President signed to reduce the disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine is not retroactive, so those who were serving -- or offenders that were serving before he signed the bill will be serving longer sentences than people in the future. Has he thought about reducing those sentences, or has anyone looked at this?

MR. GIBBS: It's a good question that I will ask somebody about.

Q The Wall Street Journal yesterday reported that Axelrod met yesterday with Elizabeth Warren. Can you confirm that?

MR. GIBBS: I can.

Q And what do you make of that? Were they talking about the appointment?

MR. GIBBS: They were discussing whether we were going to go swimming in the Gulf. (Laughter.)

Q Walk on the water or --

MR. GIBBS: I tried the best I could not to laugh as I was doing it.

No, look, obviously she was here. I think it -- look, the consumer office is an aspect of the financial reform/Wall Street reform bill that the President signed recently. It is -- it in many ways was an idea conceptualized by Elizabeth Warren several years ago. Obviously we have said that she is among those being looked at for a role in that new bureau, because the President believes that -- if you think about the intersection that most people have with the financial industry in this country -- it's getting loans for a house, it's getting loans for autos, it's credit cards. The reforms that the President worked on and passed earlier, particularly around credit cards and the protections that he thinks need to happen going forward in loans like the ones I talked about, are a big part of the financial reform bill that he passed.

I will say I do not expect any personnel announcements about this job in the coming week. But she was here to talk about the office yesterday.

Thanks, guys.

Q Week ahead?

MR. GIBBS: The week ahead will go out in email in just a little bit.

Q All right, you said week or weeks for the announcement on the financial --

MR. GIBBS: Week, week. I don't anticipate anything next week.

Thank you, guys.

END

English/Nat

Chechnya's parliament has challenged efforts by the breakaway republic's president to recruit army reservists to combat crime, branding the move unconstitutional.

President Aslan Maskhadov wants reservists to be divided up into teams which, along with police, would take over strategic sites throughout Chechnya.

Since Chechnya's independence war with Russia, the republic has been wracked by violence - hundreds of people, including foreigners, have been kidnapped or murdered.

Thousands of army reservists reported to duty after President Aslan Maskhadov ordered them to be recalled to fight a wave of kidnappings and banditry.

Four foreigners - three Britons and a New Zealander - were murdered in the breakaway republic last week after being abducted more than 10 months earlier.

Another hostage, Frenchman Vincent Cochetel, was freed over the weekend but only after a Russian commando team rescued him following an intensive shootout.

The hastily called-up government reservists will be divided into teams to help police protect strategic areas around Chechnya.

One reserve commander said his men were ready to deal swiftly with any new kidnapping attempts.

SOUNDBITE: (Russian)

(Q. Are you ready to react to further kidnappings?)

"We hope so, we can only hope. If there will be any attack we will be ready to go into action, we will strike back."

SUPER CAPTION: Isa Munaev, Commander of Reservist Division at Khankala

Hundreds of people have been abducted since the end of the 1994-1996 war with Russia, many of them foreigners, and the region has been declared a no-go area.

One of the few foreigners left in the war-torn region spoke with A-P-T-N about life in troubled region.

Polish citizen Igor Mikhailevsky has been working for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (O-S-C-E) in Grozny for the last five months.

He said the O-S-C-E was the last international group left in Chechnya and hoped that tight contacts with the Chechen government would provide them with the security they needed.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"We are the last representatives of the international world but we have good cooperative relations with the local authorities which are trying to meet our requests concerning the problems of security."

SUPER CAPTION: Igor Mikhailevsky, OSCE representative

But, for the time being, Chechnya is experiencing a reign of terror.

And - due to the lack of an extensive internal security programme - this situation is likely to continue.

Khankala/Grozny, December 13-14 1998

Khankala, Dec 13

1. Reserve soldiers at Khankala military base

2. Reservists gathering

3. Reserves at attention

4. Reservists

5. Reservists at attention

6. Reservists

7. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Isa Munaev, Commander of Reservist Division at Khankala,

Grozny, Dec 14

8. OSCE headquarters in Grozny

9. Guards outside OSCE

10. OSCE armoured cars

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Igor Mikhailevsky, OSCE representative

12. Mikhailevsky gets up

13. Reservists on the streets helping police

14. Road block

15. Security check