This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto," June 2, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: All right, we are watching, Bill, the same cities you are.
Better than three dozen across the country right now have big crowds developing. The ones that are getting a lot of attention, New York City, Los Angeles, and in Houston, Texas, where, of course, the funeral of George Floyd, a Houston resident before he moved to Minneapolis, will be next Tuesday.
All of this comes at the same time we are hearing that a number of cities have moved up their curfew times. In New York, what was an 11:00 p.m. curfew that was supposed to start will now be 8:00 p.m. Washington, D.C., what was 11:00 p.m. will be having 7:00 p.m. And in Santa Monica, California, what was 4:00 p.m. will now be moved up to 1:30 p.m.
What they find out in a lot of these cities, when they set a curfew time, protesters just work around that and move a little bit earlier. It's one of those kind of events.
Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto, and this is YOUR WORLD.
The very latest right now, we will be hearing from the New York City police commissioner, Dermot Shea.
Ahead of that, we want to update you on what's happening around the country and how these earlier curfews are sorting out right now, some easier said than, well, at least implement.
So, we will get the latest now from Laura Ingle, who's following all of that very, very closely out of New York -- Laura.
LAURA INGLE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.
Well, all day long here in New York City, we have seen peaceful protests, and they have been very large in downtown. And we have seen people march through the streets. But, of course, what happens at night is totally different.
Scenes like this are playing out. Check out -- we're outside of a Foot Locker. Take a look inside of this. This is the kind of destruction we're seeing, these metal gates absolutely torn apart, shoes scattered everywhere.
And the rioting and the looting last night was absolutely out of control. That is despite an 11:00 p.m. curfew that took place. As we looked at the mayhem that went down last night all throughout the city, including midtown Manhattan, where Macy's flagship store was even hit in Herald Square, many people said that, actually, they thought the curfew worked to an extent last night.
There were over 700 arrests that happened between 11:00 and this morning. But, still, when you take a look at the damage, you take a look at what we saw happen last night, we heard from the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, today, who said it just wasn't enough. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): The police in New York City were not effective at doing their job last night, period. Use the police. Protect property and people. Look at the videos. It was a disgrace.
I believe that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGLE: And then that, of course, set off a war of words, as we have seen play out through the day.
Here's the president of the PBA, his reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK LYNCH, PRESIDENT, PATROLMEN'S BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION: What we need is City Hall and the state or the second floor of the governor's office, Governor Cuomo, to support us, rather than throwing us under the bus. And that's exactly what they're doing, blaming us for their lack of planning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGLE: All right, so tonight, we talked about that earlier curfew.
It's happening at 8:00 p.m., in just a matter of hours. And last night, also, it was announced that there would be 4,000 more officers on New York City streets. That will happen again once -- again tonight.
And as we take a look at people trying so hard to clean up, they have got to clean everything up and board it up again. There's still -- there's still a lot of merchandise in here.
And earlier today, we actually saw the arrest of an alleged looter at this very store. He was caught with a big bag of shoes that clearly look like it came out of the store. We watched him get taken away, handcuffed, put in a patrol car, driven away.
That's one more down, allegedly. But we will see what happens again tonight, as we hope for some peace here in New York City -- Neil.
CAVUTO: All right, Laura Ingle, thank you very, very much.
Laura Ingle following all of that in New York.
With us right now, the guy who's got the pressure of the world on him right now in the Big Apple, Dermot Shea, the New York City police commissioner.
Commissioner, very nice to have you.
DERMOT SHEA, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Thanks, Neil. Thanks for having me.
CAVUTO: You might have heard what the governor had to say: The police in New York City were not effective at doing their job last night.
What did you think of that?
SHEA: Well, I just heard a story about somebody saw a protester -- excuse me -- a looter arrested.
The reality of the situation is that that looter will probably be back in three hours, and we will have to catch him again.
Any comments that are placing the blame for where we are with this situation on the backs of the men and women of this police department that are putting their lives on the line, Neil, I think, is disgraceful. And he should be ashamed of himself.
There's politics, and there's what's right. And that is a disgraceful comment.
CAVUTO: So, you don't appreciate what the governor had to say, because he went on to say, you used 38,000 people to protect property.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: All right, go ahead. I'm sorry.
SHEA: Yes.
Well, I think my point is self-evident.
CAVUTO: So, do you think that, in retrospect, you could have used either more men and women on the force last night, you could have been more proactive in the face of all of this?
Will you be tonight? How would you describe it?
SHEA: Yes.
Well, obviously, Neil, it's a difficult situation. When you step back, this isn't a New York story. It's a countrywide story. When you look at the incident in Minneapolis, horrible, denounced almost immediately by police executives across the country.
But there is a bigger story, and it's not just about this incident, I think. And we recognize that. And we recognize and I have said publicly many times welcoming protests. We respect the concerns.
I think we have to look in the mirror, as police executives across this country, and recognize that we have to do better at times too. But there are protests, and there are honest discussions that have to take place from both sides. We will get out of this together, I think.
But what you see on some of these videos, whether it's in New York City or other parts of this state or this country, with the looting, with the attacks on police officers, Neil, it's very difficult times, and it's disheartening.
We have had, just in the last 24 hours, police officers shot at, run over with a car, Molotov cocktails thrown.
So, I would appreciate a little bit of leadership from the executives across this state that run for public office. This is where you shine, or this is where you are exposed. And we're not seeing enough support, in my opinion, for the men and women of this police department that are the best, the best that this country has to offer.
CAVUTO: Does that include -- does that include, Commissioner, the mayor?
Do you feel that the mayor, as some critics of the mayors have said, have sort of tied one arm behind your back, that you can't respond or reply the way you might want? Is that true?
SHEA: He has absolutely not tied his -- our hands behind his back.
I mean, I speak to the mayor multiple, multiple times every day. Do we see eye to eye on every issue? Absolutely not. I have said many times the world would be a boring place if everyone had the exact viewpoints.
But I can tell you definitively that he has the backs of the men and women of this police department. It is an extremely difficult time. You heard him on the news today. You may have heard his comments denouncing the actions of those that are attacking the cops.
And, again, what we need is probably less press conferences by many people and more support, and more coming out and making difficult decisions that may not be the most popular, but decisions that will state the truth, with honesty, with where we are as a country and a state, as a -- and a city, and what we need to get out of this, instead of taking easy shots at the men and women, not only of this police department, but law enforcement in general.
Law enforcement is far from perfect.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: Well, Pat Lynch -- Pat Lynch, who is the, you know -- the PBA commissioner, sir...
SHEA: Yes.
CAVUTO: ... has said that he got a sense from his men and women that they're not being supported by you or certainly the mayor.
You say what to that?
SHEA: Well, it's unfortunate.
I know Pat very well. I respect him greatly. I would disagree with that comment, if that was how it was said. But, again, I did not hear him say that.
CAVUTO: OK.
So, let me ask you a little bit about what the governor has said, that he could -- always has the option of displacing, replacing the mayor here.
How would you feel about that, if the governor acted to say, all right, you're not getting it done, I will?
SHEA: Neil, I don't think this is productive. I really don't.
When you look at -- when you look at the -- there's politics at play here, obviously. What everyone should be concentrating on here is, how do we get out of this situation?
There's marches across New York City going on right now, and they are peaceful. But I think that you know that, when you look at what's transpired across the country, I mean, we have been very fortunate, in some ways, here in New York City. We have had officers injured, and it's terrible.
We have not had loss of life here. There's been loss of life in places across this country.
I think all leadership, all elected officials, law enforcement professionals, clergy, community leaders, everyone, this is the time to come together, not to throw -- throw barbs, throw press conferences, and advance self-interest.
Let's come together and decide, how do we get out of this, before innocent people are hurt, before unnecessary public property is destroyed? That's what we should be concentrating on.
CAVUTO: You know, Commissioner, there's lots of video. People have smartphones now, so they end up taking a lot of video and pictures that sometimes don't tell the whole story.
There's one famous incident, of course, that emerged of an officer brandishing a gun on a protester. We come to discover, in another video -- and I think we have it here as we're speaking to you, sir -- where that protester was flinging a brick, or trying to, at a lieutenant. So, it's possible that this officer saved that lieutenant's life.
Do you worry that the image that some in the force are getting is that they're just prone to violence, and you're not getting the whole story?
SHEA: Yes, but I think it's a two-way street there, Neil.
I think that you also have to recognize that we make mistakes too. And a lot of what's going on now is, people have lost faith...
CAVUTO: Right.
SHEA: ... and believe there's not enough transparency when an officer does do something wrong.
But this is a complicated situation. And when that -- when that first video came out, it was a video of an officer pointing a gun at the crowd. It doesn't look good.
CAVUTO: Right.
SHEA: It doesn't look pretty.
But when you heard the whole story, you had the lieutenant standing there, minding his own business, and a criminal -- some would say protester, but I'm drawing a line between people that are actively looking to commit crimes and harm people -- walked up from behind, like a coward, with a brick in his hand and tried to basically take the head off of that lieutenant.
That's what was responded to by the officer. So, again, there will be times that we do things wrong. There will certainly be times that we do things wrong in the middle of a riot as well.
I think we do the best we can. We have to own the mistakes and own up to them. When we do egregious things, we have to tell people that we recognize it as quickly as possible and take corrective action. And that took corrective action could be a multitude of things.
Officers need to be disciplined when they do things wrong. But there is a very toxic environment right now, fed by a lot of misinformation, a lot of it organized. And I think that people are smarter than some of the news reports and Twitter feeds that are going on.
But it's a -- it's a time that we need, again, leadership, calmer heads to prevail to get us out of this, to lead us out of this.
I spent today talking with -- this morning with a reverend, planning, what can we do this week? We can't wait until next week. We can't wait until tomorrow. What can you do today? What can we do together? What improve -- what improvements can we make to start turning the tide here?
And I think everyone needs to think that way.
CAVUTO: Do you have any concern yourself, Commissioner, about how the president has involved himself to say that not enough governors have been tough, that it's time to get really, really tough, and that, if you guys, by extension, don't do it, he will?
I guess he was referring to military presence or action in cities and states. How do you feel about that?
SHEA: Neil, I'm going to leave that to whether it's the mayor, the governor. I have enough on my plate right now.
We will get out of this, is the message to New Yorkers. And thank you again for giving me the opportunity to come on today.
It has been a tough five days. It has been a tough five days.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: No, I appreciate that, sir.
How are you going to distinguish tonight? How do you think you will distinguish tonight between appointment protesters, those who are not in the area, they're just trying to rattle cages, and those who are trying to peaceably speak their mind?
SHEA: Yes, and that's a great point.
And that's the shame of it, Neil. Last two nights in particular, we went all day long. There's been many videos of members of this department standing in solidarity with the protesters, kneeling with the protesters.
I 100 percent support that. We are -- we need more of that, to see each other.
What is a cowardly act, and it needs to be called out, and it has been called many times, is using or hijacking, if you will, a peaceful protest that is trying to enact change, trying to do what they think is right, and using that as cover...
CAVUTO: All right.
SHEA: ... to really then sow hate.
And that's what they are doing in an organized fashion, attacking police officers. We see it in burning fires. It is literally playing with people's lives, and not just the men of women of this police department.
CAVUTO: All right.
OK, Commissioner, thank you very, very much.
We know you have a crazy schedule. We appreciate your taking the time to spell it all out. We wanted to hear from you. And you were kind enough to do just that.
SHEA: Neil, thank you very much. God bless. God bless you, yes.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: ... police commissioner.
We will have more after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: Minnesota's Governor Tim Walz is already announcing that the Minnesota Department of Human Rights is going to open up a civil rights investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department itself.
Meanwhile, a curfew takes place 10:00 p.m. local time tonight in Minneapolis. I don't know whether that could be counterproductive or what. It's fairly late, obviously.
Garrett Tenney with from Minneapolis.
Hey, Garrett.
GARRETT TENNEY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.
And the governor said that this investigation will look not only at the death of George Floyd, but at other similar incidents going back to 2010. And the Department of Human Rights said that those incidents require investigation into whether the respondents' training policies, procedures, practices, including, but not limited to use of force protocols and any corresponding implementation amounts to unlawful race-based policing.
For the past week, demonstrators have been calling for systemic changes to policing and racial equity. And Governor Walz said that this investigation is just the first of many steps to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TIM WALZ (D-MN): This isn't about a broken system. This is about a system that's functioning absolutely as it was designed. Unfortunately, that's meant to exclude some from it.
If this is not an inflection point to change that, or risk what we're seeing, this will come back again, if it's not addressed. This will not go away once the fires are put out and there's a lull.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TENNEY: Neil, those systemic changes are what this crowd of a few thousand people who are here outside the capitol to call for.
This event was organized by a group of high school seniors. And it is just one of the many entirely peaceful them instructions that we have seen take place over the last few days. And thousands more are expected to -- on Thursday for a memorial for George Floyd, before he heads to Houston, where his funeral will be held a week from today -- Neil.
CAVUTO: This 10:00 p.m. curfew they talk about, I'm thinking, all right, that's fairly late.
And I'm just wondering, they obviously think that through. In a number of other cities, they have moved it much, much earlier, in the case in New York, to 8:00 p.m. And that had been at 11:00 p.m., some of these other cities.
Why that 10:00 p.m. time?
TENNEY: Well, you will remember, initially, this curfew was at 8:00 p.m.
CAVUTO: Right.
TENNEY: For Friday and Saturday night, it was 8:00 p.m. Sunday, it was 8:00 p.m. at night as well.
But then things had improved. They'd improve to the extent that, for the last couple of nights, they moved it back for another couple of hours, because they had said they had seen those improvements. And those improvements were also evident just on the streets, but also in the government's response.
The National Guard has started sending a number of its soldiers back home because they feel the situation here is becoming much more stable, and they're hoping that stays the case. We know things can kick up at any point, but they're feeling confident about where they're at right now -- Neil.
CAVUTO: All right, thank you, my friend. Be safe yourself.
Garrett Tenney reporting on all of that.
Well, it's been a busy day for the president. He's getting an earful from bishops, who say he went too far, incorporating the use of a Bible to make a statement and also visiting a shrine in honor of John Paul II.
And then there's Joe Biden piling on him as well.
Senator Tim Scott on whether that's fair -- after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When peaceful protesters dispersed in order for a president, a president, from the doorstep of the people's house, the White House, using tear gas and flash grenades, in order to stage a photo-op, a photo-op, at one of the most historic churches in the country, or at least in Washington, D.C., we can be forgiven for believing the president is more interested in the -- in power than in principle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: All right, well, Joe Biden wasn't the only critic of the president's appearance at the St. John's Episcopal Church, the so-called Church of Presidents. So was the local bishop, Reverend Gina Gerbasi, who had said that it was a cheap political stunt.
Now, South Carolina Republican Tim Scott wasn't going so far as to call it that, but said that, by clearing the area out for the president, it probably did not help his cause.
Senator, do you still stand by that, that maybe the president's intent to wave a Bible and to do all of that, but to be cleared ahead of time with tear gas and everything else, it just rattled a lot of folks, including the bishop?
What did you think?
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): Yes, there's no doubt that the -- an attempt to show solidarity for Mr. Floyd is very important. How we do that and where we do that is also important as well.
And so one of the reasons why I said it wasn't helpful is because of the concept of tear gas to clear the area. I hope the president, as I heard him in the Rose Garden, focusing on justice for Mr. Floyd, that's a very important sentiment, one that everyone wanted to hear the president talk about. He said that. He got to the topic. He was focused on how to move the country forward. I thought, for the speech itself, we were heading in the right direction.
CAVUTO: So, when he continues to criticize, that is, the former vice president, sleepy Joe, and that he had 40 years to get his act together on these type of issues -- I'm paraphrasing -- and he didn't, is that constructive?
Even though it might be a legitimate criticism, in this day and age, and with everything going on in this heated environment, Senator, do you think that the president should do less of that?
SCOTT: Well, I think, when you're running for reelection, your opponent is calling you out in any way, shape or form, this president and any president would respond in kind to that, based on the facts.
What I think we should have more of is a concrete conversation about the policies of Vice President Joe Biden vs. the policies of President Trump. If we have that conversation, there will be a clear delineation about progress that has been made on behalf of the most vulnerable communities in this country under President Trump and some of the challenges that were inspired and enacted by Vice President Biden.
So, that would be a clear contrast, and one that would be worthy of actual investment of time, energy to hear that debate. I hope we have that debate, frankly, in the future.
In order for us to have the margin in our lives to hear that debate, we have to eliminate, A, first the awful death of George Floyd that needs to have justice. And, second, the violent protesters and the agitators in that crowd are eliminating the possibility to getting to the real issue of race and justice in America, and then later having a debate between the president and his opponent on how we move this country forward, and which policy positions have actually worked.
CAVUTO: Well, we're not having that debate, to your point, like you say, Senator.
SCOTT: No. No, we're not. Yes, sir.
CAVUTO: And maybe there's a lot of blame to go around.
But the president has said repeatedly -- and I think he echoed it again today, Senator -- that he has done more for blacks in this country going back since Abraham Lincoln.
Do you agree with that, that Donald Trump has done more for blacks going all the way back to Abraham Lincoln?
SCOTT: Well, I'm only in my mid-50s. And I thought -- I know you thought I was in my 40s. But I'm actually in my mid-50s.
(LAUGHTER)
SCOTT: So let me just talk about what I can talk about, which is in my lifetime.
I will say, without any question, the last three years of progress have been unprecedented in my lifetime. The fact that we have secured permanent funding for HBCUs under President Trump is something that was surprising, I think, frankly, to the HBCUs.
The United Negro College Fund president said clearly that the level of funding the last year was the highest ever. Think about the jobs created. Under this administration, we created over seven million jobs, two-thirds of those jobs with the minorities and to women.
We had an increase in the labor force participation rate among African- Americans. Homeownership, I believe, was up by two points under this administration, access to quality education improved, help for sickle cell anemia secured under this president.
So, when you look at the actual accomplishments -- put aside all the vitriol, all the rhetoric, all the things that some may find distasteful. The actual policy positions have been incredibly concrete.
And I would say this has been the best policy position of a president in my lifetime. And that's what I know from just personal experience and having watched this for the last 30 years of my life.
CAVUTO: So far, only one officer has been arrested in this whole affair, as you know.
There's growing concern that no movement has been made to address the other three officers who were around him when he had his knee on Mr. Floyd's throat. How do you feel about that? And do you think they should be arrested?
SCOTT: Well, Neil, I will say that Attorney General Ellison is in charge of the case. I hope that he does a thorough investigation, number one.
Number two, I want justice for Mr. Floyd. There's no doubt in my mind, watching the video, it was murder by the officer. The other three standing there, having the power to stop it, are they culpable? Absolutely. Responsible? Without doubt.
What the charges should be, I don't know. I'm not an attorney. But, certainly, I hope that there's more to come. And I'm confident that the attorney general of Minnesota will do everything in his power to discern the actual necessary next steps.
I think there should be next steps. I just don't know what they are.
CAVUTO: Do you have any concern going forward? I know your support of and for the president. That's understandable, but that there are many in your party who are concerned that his language and his terminology and in-your- face style is not constructive in this environment.
Even the archbishop of Washington criticized the president for all but having a political prop in going to this shrine for, obviously, John Paul II.
Do you think he's got to dial it back?
SCOTT: Well, I will -- I will say, I think the president is going to do what the president's always done. So any suggestion that there will be a dialing back is probably unlikely to be seen.
The question is, as I spoke with him on Saturday...
CAVUTO: All right.
SCOTT: ... I wanted to weigh in on what I thought he should do.
I think he should spend more time on George Floyd, more time on justice for Mr. Floyd...
CAVUTO: OK.
SCOTT: ... and more time on that process.
So, I'm not going to pretend to look into a crystal ball and think that something's going to change.
CAVUTO: Senator, thank you very much.
We will have more after this.
SCOTT: Yes, sir, Neil. Have a great day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: You are looking live in Hollywood, California, where the protesters are gathered right now.
It's expected to be a big crowd. There's a curfew that kicks in at around 6:00 p.m. Eastern time. We're following that, as we are in a dozen other major cities.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAVUTO: All right, back to the virus. Remember when that was captivating everyone's attention.
Anyway, the president is meeting with the health and human services secretary, Alex Azar, as we speak at the White House. Investors are a lot more focused on promising developments here, and eventually that things will subside on the protests front in the near future.
To the doctor who can at least address what's going on, on the coronavirus front.
Dr. Christopher Ohl is a professor of infectious diseases at Wake Forest Baptist Health and a doctor of internal medicine, a real smart guy. So, we're very fortunate to have him.
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: Doctor, thank you for taking the time.
What kind of progress do you think we're making now, as you step back and look at American cities and states reopening, de-sheltering? How do you like the way it's going?
DR. CHRISTOPHER OHL, WAKE FOREST HEALTH INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST: Well, in some areas, it's going fine.
The West Coast has had a nice decrease from their peaks earlier in the month and month-and-a-half ago, and the Northeast is cooling off somewhat. But there are a lot of areas in the country that actually are just kind of in the thralls of their first wave, particularly more rural areas here in the South, Southeast, and some areas in the Midwest.
A lot of these are oriented around clusters, workplace outbreaks that you have seen and we have talked about, meat processing plants, and socially, economically disadvantaged people, so on and so forth.
So there's still a lot of us who are going through it.
CAVUTO: You know, Doctor, I know it's a little different, but, obviously, no one is honoring any distancing rules that might or should be in effect in all of these cities and states that have had these protests going on ever since the killing of George Floyd.
And from your perspective as a doctor, and leaving aside the controversies, and the tragic ones, at that, over this man's death...
OHL: Sure.
CAVUTO: ... does that worry, when you see, in city after city, across the country, we're probably talking hundreds of thousands of people over the -- all these days that have gathered, and they're inches apart?
OHL: Yes.
Well, yes, it is worrisome. Our surgeon general came out just recently and said that there will be clusters associated with some of these protests and gathering of people in closed spaces. And I agree with him. There will be.
It's just a matter of waiting to see the two to three weeks exactly what happens. But, as we move into the summer, we're -- large gatherings of people, no matter if it's for a protest or political convention or a funeral or a family gathering, are the things that are worrisome to us right now, because we can -- we can do stuff to reduce the risk in small gatherings and in small workplaces and retail stores and even some restaurants and such.
But, in large gatherings, all you need is one super-spreader, and you can have something like the NextGen meeting happened in Boston, where one meeting over two, three days, and you have over 100 people infected.
CAVUTO: Right.
OHL: And then these people spread back out.
And so these large gatherings aren't helpful. I understand that -- about protesting and such, but I wish there was a safer way to do it.
CAVUTO: Yes, apparently, that has not been considered for the time being.
Doctor, thank you very, very much. Very, very good having you.
We will be watching these protests that continue. And the crowds, as the Doctor said, are large. So, leaving the politics and obviously the fury out of there, there is that practical concern that people are endangering themselves, both those protesting and those trying to shield themselves from the protesters.
We're monitoring that.
We're also monitoring what's been going on, on the lockdown front and coming out of that, because that has been one favorable development for the economy. But is this the one thing that could disrupt it?
In other words, just as things are looking to improve, the economy stops all over again, not despite this, because of this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, Raleigh, North Carolina, and the curfew that's in effect at 8:00 p.m., and this after a lot of businesses were dealing with looting, including my next guest.
Alan Horwitz is owner of Reliable Loan & Jewelry, which was among the many, many stores ransacked. How does a fellow like Alan then rebuild after something like this? He was kind enough to join us, Alan Horwitz.
Sir, very good to have you.
How you holding up? ALAN HORWITZ, OWNER, RELIABLE JEWELRY & LOAN: Pretty tired right now. Haven't slept in about two days, the worst days of my life, to be honest with you.
CAVUTO: I believe it.
What happened? Tell me what happened. I'm sure. Tell me what happened.
HORWITZ: Well, you know, the protest started peacefully, and when it got dark, another group of people. I guess you could call them protesters, but I think there's just two different types.
I'm not sure the people that did this kind of destruction might not have known what the protest was even about. They just wanted to cause mass destruction and go down the line in downtown Raleigh and destroy businesses.
And I saw it for the first night, broke in the store, all the front windows, many, many showcases, my security gates. And that continued. The looting continued at about -- until about 3:00 a.m., 3:30, I think.
We boarded up the next day, cleaned up the best we could, hoping that it was not going to continue into the second night. And, unfortunately, it did. And we had another -- a second break-in, and had to do the cleanup all over again.
So, it's been a rough few days.
CAVUTO: Oh, my gosh.
Well, Alan, where were the police, to say nothing of the first night? You would think, after you suffered that, that maybe at least the next night, there'd be a stronger law enforcement show.
HORWITZ: Right.
CAVUTO: I mean, what -- can you tell me what happened?
HORWITZ: You would think so.
Yes, after the -- after I got the second break-in, the police were there, of course, after the fact. But they weren't there to protect the downtown business owners. The National Guard was not here. They were dispersed elsewhere.
There's just so many downtown businesses that got destroyed, and they have to rebuild because of this. And the lack of decision -- smart decision- making by the city leaders is just very questionable. And all of us business owners down here are very upset.
CAVUTO: Now, that's your livelihood. That's your life, Alan.
HORWITZ: Yes, sir.
CAVUTO: I mean, are you -- hopefully, cooler heads prevail and things get calmer. Do you want to reopen? Or are you concerned that things might never be the same?
HORWITZ: They will be the same as far as my business goes.
We're in the rebuilding process now. We have got a lot of things to do on the interior of the store and exterior. But we will be back and be just as strong as ever.
I have been downtown for three generations. I don't plan on going anywhere. And we're just going to keep on going and hope for better leadership if this ever happens again in the city. There needs to be more protection for the business owners.
There was plenty of protection at the government buildings downtown and around here...
CAVUTO: Right.
HORWITZ: .. as far as the officers goes, and National Guard, but there should have been more protection for us. The curfews should have been set two days prior, when I think they knew things were going to get out of hand.
And if they didn't, they should have prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. And that was not done.
CAVUTO: And you suspect that those who were looting stores like your own and others, they were not the same crowd there to remember George Floyd?
HORWITZ: I don't believe so.
I think this was just a separate group that had every intention of just causing mass destruction in this area. And they succeeded.
CAVUTO: Wow.
Alan, hang in there. My best to your family and all your workers.
HORWITZ: Sir. Yes. Yes, sir.
CAVUTO: You're an institution there. And I'm sure you will get it back.
HORWITZ: We will be back.
CAVUTO: Be back. Be well. Be safe.
Alan Horwitz -- go ahead, Alan. Finish that thought.
HORWITZ: Oh, just thank you so much. I appreciate it.
And, hopefully, things will get better.
CAVUTO: I have no doubt they will. Hang in there, Alan.
Thank you very, very much, the owner of Reliable Loan & Jewelry, which was ransacked.
And, again, Alan Horwitz is right, and this -- we have heard from a number of others, not by the crowd necessarily that was remembering George Floyd.
Speaking of George Floyd, he was originally from Houston. His funeral is planned a week from now in Houston, large crowds gathering today to remember him. These have been very peaceful protesters thus far, and we hope it stays that way.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAVUTO: We're just learning from our David Spunt that the attorney general, Bill Barr, is going to be meeting in person with the FBI director, Christopher Wray, and other senior FBI leadership. It could go into the evening.
We will follow the latest protest movements in Washington, D.C., and across the country. The significance of that, as more and more are now calling on the National Guard, including the president, advocating that states get more in front of this.
The former assistant U.S. attorney Andy McCarthy with us now on all of that.
Andy, what do you make of his latest development?
ANDREW MCCARTHY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think, Neil, what's going on is some prodding, because the president obviously has the authority, if he wanted to, unilaterally to take action here.
It's preferable that the governors do it. It's preferable that the feds do it, with the government -- with cooperation with the state authorities.
And I think one of the real unfortunate things in a series of unfortunate things is that this thing has, in many ways, sunk into partisan politics in an election year in a country that's deeply divided to begin with.
And the unfortunate thing about that is that, if the politicians on each side look like they're setting the stage to blame the others for failure, the insurrectionists on the street will understand that we're calculating that we're going to have failure, and that just makes the problem worse.
So, what we really need here is statesmen to rise above this. We need an American reaction, not a Republican or Democrat or president or blue state governor reaction. We need an American rule of law reaction to this to make it clear to the street that order is going to be reimposed, not because President Trump wants it or somebody else wants it, but because we have to have it in order to have ordered liberty.
CAVUTO: Then, Andy, there are disputed reports, as you know.
When the president visited the St. John's Episcopal Church, the so-called Church of Presidents, there was rage expressed there because charges that they used tear gas to clear the area.
Now we're hearing from the Park Police that was never the case, even though the bishop there, Reverend Gina Gerbasi, called it a cheap political stunt, and that it was unnecessary to clear protesters with tear gas.
Does it make a difference at this point to just clarify, no tear gas was used, the president's across the street, he wanted to go there to make a statement?
Any there legal snafus with that? Is -- does it send any different signals on this, and is it somewhat mitigated by the fact that he didn't -- or tear gas wasn't used at all?
MCCARTHY: Yes, of course it is.
I think you're right, Neil. The fact that it wasn't used as important. They should get that message out.
But I just think this is one of these times. And you and I had this very conversation probably two or three weeks ago about the pandemic and the responses to the coronavirus. And it's kind of the same thing.
We have all these legal niceties, and we can lay them out. And we can say what the court tests are and what the president's authority is, et cetera. But this is really one of these times where the politics overwhelms the law.
And I don't mean politics, necessarily, in the nitty-gritty sense. I mean we have political actors who are responsible for national security, and they have to act. And, really, if they're going to do it successfully, they have to act cooperatively.
And you can say all day that they have got the unilateral authority to do this and that, but we need them, like in a post-9/11 way, to pull together and act.
CAVUTO: All right, well put.
Andy McCarthy, and the fact of the matter is, if the president has to take powers into his own hands and call in the Guard, the power of the presidency is such that he does -- he does have that power to do so. So, there is a back-and-forth on this. It is what it is.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAVUTO: All right, it's the kind of thing you generally don't like to see, but it appears a group, a massive one, at that, is heading toward the White House.
You might be asking, then, with all of this going on, how is it stocks continue to advance today, and, in fact, are higher than when they were when all this started?
A lot of it has to do that they think that this will be short-lived, these protests, cooler, calmer heads will prevail, but at the corner of Wall and Broad advancing on the belief that, between that and eventually finding a cure or some resolution on the virus front, and people calming down in this country, better times are ahead, they hope.
We shall see.
Here comes "THE FIVE."
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