>r th that does . thanks forp "early start" . ♪ >> breaking news overnight. demonstrations against donald trump. one declared a riot. >> also breaking this morning, donald trump back on twitter, reacting for the first time about the protest against his election. good morning and welcome to "early start." >> i'm john berman. it is friday, november 11th, veteran's day. it is 3:00 a.m. in the east. we want to welcome our viewers in the and around the world. breaking news this morning, protests across the country against the election of donald

trump. these are live pictures from los angeles where you can see police are still on the streets there as well as demonstrators. we also have live pictures from portland, oregon. this was really the site of some of the most tense moments overnight. police declared these demonstrations actually a riot in portland after demonstrators threw projectiles at officers and smashed car and store front windows. also, on the portland twitter feed, the police warned rioting is a class c felony. the damage that we saw in portland, but we saw thousands and thousands of people on the streets once again all across the country. for the first time, donald trump has responded directly to this. he did it in a tweet, and he blamed the media. he wrote, just had a very open and successful presidential election. now professional protesters

incited by the media are protesting. very unfair. >> however, most of the protest across the country overnight were peaceful. cnn's anna cabrera walked alongside thousands of demonstrators at one anti-trump protest in denver. >> john, alison, hundreds of protesters if not thousands gathering in denver, protesting against the election of donald trump. they say it is not a protest to hate trump, but to reject hate, reject bigotry, racism, discrimination and oppression. i want to talk to one of the protesters. this is lisa. you came out with your young daughter. >> right. >> what is the message you want to send? >> i want my young daughter to understand first and foremost love is the most important thing and we don't discriminate people based on their color, where they come from or based on who they love. and she is a woman, and that's

really important to me as well. and i want her to know even at three that she has a voice, and she has a voice in our democracy and no matter what the electoral college says we still have a voice and say in what goes on. >> thank you so much, lisa, for talking to us. we're hearing a lot of similar sentiments. there are people here of all races, of all ages, of all walks of life, and they say they want this to be a symbol of unity, a rejection of division. john and alison. >> all right. anna cabrera, thanks. new information this morning on planning for the trump transition, which officially gets under way today. a source tells cnn that the president-elect will be sitting down in new york for his first meeting with the transition planning team. he will be briefed on where things stand so far, and we are told one top priority is filling about 800 administration jobs, and those require a security clearance. so you've got to start naming those right away to get that

clearance under way. >> yeah, you know, traditionally first job to be filled is white house chief of staff, and a new name surfaced that is stirring controversy. trump is said to be strongly considering steve bannon. that is not sitting well with some advisers. some don't think he is best fit for position. executive of brightbart news, joined the trump campaign in august. a lot of people think you need washington experience or connection with people in washington to be chief of staff. ban non-does not have it, although, you know, donald trump said he was going to change the culture in washington. >> which is why reince priebus's name is being floated as well. he is a frontrunner. he became a trusted confidante for trump during the down days of campaign. here is what the chairman told cnn's jake tapper about possibly filling the position. >> it is not an issue, honestly,

it isn't. right now, basically most of us have had two hours of sleep in four days. i think people are taking a breath, getting some of the details figured out. there's these transition teams, you know, have been working for months and months and months. slowly but surely i think those details will come out. meantime, insiders tell cnn priebus and trump have discussed the chief of staff job. >> no slowly but surely here. they only have 71 days to make it happen. this stuff is happening right now and people are jockeying for positions right now. so president-elect trump and his new administration, they say they plan to hit the ground running after meeting with house speaker paul ryan and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. trump was asked to list his top three pirriorities the day he gs to the white house. >> what are the top three?

>> now, president-elect trump and probe shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries. no one would have believed this would have happened a week ago. take a look at the photo op for the ages. trump emerged from thursday's 90-minute white house meeting with high praise for the president. he even called him a good man. hours later trump tweeted this. a fantastic day in d.c. met with president obama for the first time. really good meeting. great chem try. melania liked mrs. o. a lot. listen to the two men addressing the media minutes after their closed-door session. >> most of all i want to emphasize to you, mr.

president-elect, that we are now going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed, because if you succeed then the country succeeds. >> i very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel. he explained some of the difficulties, some of the high-flying assets and some of the really great things that have been achieved. so, mr. president, it was a great honor being with you, and i look forward to being with you many, many more times in the future. >> thank you. you know, they met privately. no one else in the room. oh, to be a fly on the wall in that room. >> you know, it went on for 90 minutes. donald trump claimed it was only going to be ten minutes, i think it was going to be longer than ten minutes, but they talked for a long, long time. you can see president obama who said he valued the way george w. bush turned over the office to him. you can see president obama working harold to make it a

smooth transition, publicly. >> paying it forward. the first lady and her successor sitting down for tea a few doors down from their husbands. michelle obama took melania trump on a tour of the white house residence. the press secretary says the two mothers primarily discussed the challenges of raising children in the white house. all right. the fight for control of the democratic party, it has start. this in the wake of hillary clinton's surprising loss. the former democratic party chairman howard dean has announced he wants the chairmanship of the dnc once again. he led the party from 2005 to 2009 after his insurgent but ultimately unsuccessful run for the white house in 2004. he was known for having a 50-straight strategy for the democratic party. some people suggest maybe that's what they need. they shouldn't have been focusing just on blue states and democratic strongholds, but elsewhere. people say dean is part of the past, not the future. we shall see.

bernie sanders touting keith ellison for top party. he is one of only two muslims in the house. his office has refused to comment but he said he will announce his intentions on monday. >> okay. what bernie sanders is not interested in discussing at this point is whether he would have beaten trump if he'd won the democratic nomination instead of hillary clinton. sanders told cnn's wolf blitzer he was as surprised by her loss as anyone, but he refused cheerfully to be drawn into monday morning quarterbacking on the election. >> what good does it do now? you know, the election is over and, you know, hillary -- i did my best to see that hillary clinton got elected. >> there are people in the sanders' camp though who are saying, i told you so. >> right. >> and pointing fingers and saying, you know, people were not listening to them during the process when they said white working class voters were not having their needs and fears

addressed during the primaries. bernie sand ertz markedly did not say that yesterday. the first photo of hillary clinton has surfaced since her concession speech. it was posted by margo gerster of white plains, new york. she was hiking with her 13 month old daughter and her dog on thursday when she ran into bill and hillary clinton taking a walk in the woods. >> what are the chances? >> she tells cnn she appeared at peace and was kind and gracious. we're told was actually bill clinton that took the picture. >> time for an early start on your money. it is day two of the so-called trump bounce. wall street continuing to give president-elect trump a warm welcome. the dow jumping 218 points, up 1.1%. that is an all-time high for the dow. the upbeat mood is due in part to trump's victory speech and trump's raising hopes that he'll help the economy and scrap some more extreme campaign positions. plus, the gop retained control of congress, which many think

will help get things done. not all sectors are rallying on the trump win. tech companies taking a hit. the candidates criticized sector on the campaign trail, facebook, apple, amazon all closing lower on the day. more gains possible on the day though. dow futures slightly higher. european markets are mixed and asian closed mostly higher. >> steve banion of brightbart, or reince priebus. will one of these men be chief of staff. plus, show you live pictures of los angeles right now. we are keeping our eyes on protests like this, moments of tension like this across the country as thousands of people take to the streets to protest the results of the election.

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♪ live pictures from portland, oregon. there were demonstrations across the country overnight that are still going on right now in some places including portland. i say demonstrations, this you're looking at in portland was actually declared a riot by the portland police department. that because of some of the violent acts that were committed there, some cars were damaged and also things thrown at police. so the technical term they used for it was a riot, though, you know, that may be a term that to some people means more than we've seen pictures of right there, but you can see there are tense moments on the streets of

portland. you can see that there's a lot of deep feelings about this election that are going to last for a long time around the country. this is happening as the trump team, the team for president-elect trump is putting the transition in motion right now. he holds his first official meeting with that team dahir in new york. let's talk about some of the rumors about names being floated and some of the things donald trump has said over the last few hours. paris denard, cnn commentator. he has been supportive of donald trump throughout the election process. who knows what job paris will have in the near future. also joined by cnn political analyst josh rogue an, a columnist for "the washington post." i don't expect him to have another job in the near future. >> eugene scott is with us now. we will get to pictures of some of the protests in a bit. josh, first to you, because i think the news that steve bannon is being seriously considered as chief of staff will be something that is disturbing to many on

the left, surprising to many republicans, and even to many donald trump supporters. what does this man represent and what would it mean were he to be picked as chief of staff? >> yeah, i think this is one of many instances inside the trump transition team where there's a battle raging. my sources inside the transition team confirm this, between those who want to see trump appoint an administration more moderate, mainstream, more establishment, and those who want to, a, have an enemies list and use that enemies list and, c, put the people that came in at the end of the campaign in key positions. what a steve bannon chief of staff position would mean is a total commitment of trump to the latter, more extreme, more campaign style that he had during the end of the campaign. it is really a signal that he's going to be combative, that he's going to be divisive, that he's going to keep these sort of themes of racial, you know,

economic and political persecution alive. it is really -- would be a sign that the divisiveness in the country is getting much, much worse before it gets better. >> paris, wouldn't it be a better choice to pick reince priebus? >> listen, at the end of the day president-elect trump will be the one that selects the best people to serve in his administration, especially in positions like chief of staff. mr. trump, don't forget, is a businessman, has been a businessman, a ceo for many years. so he knows a little thing about hr and putting key people in the right positions. whether it is bannon, priebus or somebody else that we don't know, it is going to be somebody who is loyal to mr. trump, that will protect president-elect trump's interest and can advance that interest. also, the role of chief of staff is somebody that has to be very organized, someone who can keep things moving. so bannon is someone who has that experience. about judgment, chairman priebus

at the rnc has that experience. at the end of the day, mr. trump, we cannot forget the fact that the president-elect has this type of expertise being a business leader and putting key people in these types of positions. >> paris, i want to get back to this point, whether it be in this segment or the future because there's a lot to talk about in the position. this is in portland, happening right now, breaking news. this appears to be -- i don' know if it is tear gas, it could be smoke, but some kind of device now being used by police to disperse the crowds we thing in portland. these demonstrations have been going on across the country overnight. portland, police are saying they're more than demonstrations, they're riots because of the damage to property and danger posed to law enforcement. things have been thrown at them. i suppose keep these pictures up while we bring up the subject of donald trump's response to the protests overnight. eugene scott, let me read you the tweet again from donald trump. just had an open and successful

presidential election. now professional protesters incited by media are protesting. very unfair. i wouldn't expect donald trump to be happy with the protests, but i think on either side, had hillary clinton won we would have seen demonstrations and they're understandable. we're seeing these and they're understandable. i don't think they're incited by the media or by professional protesters. i feel like the media the last two days has been overwhelmingly laudatory of how everyone is calling for a peaceful transition. what is your opinion? >> my opinion is the right thing to do when trying to handle conflict and tension is to be able to explain your opponent's positions and views in a way they would rec myself. if you speak with these protesters, they would tell you they are not out here because of the media. they'll tell you they're out here protesting policies and ideas that donald trump put forward, just like donald trump

supporters would have been protesting policies that hillary clinton's people put forward. the reality is when donald trump supporters have gone on to say that they would have protested the outcome, mr. trump, president-elect trump did not rebuke them. this is a very partisan response to what is happening from many segments of the american population. >> and donald trump has an uphill battle here in a divided nation, trying to unite everybody. but you're hearing people who are protesting, people who voted -- who didn't vote for donald trump saying, he is not my president. so he is starting from a tough spot. >> you know, there's a touch of irony. i promise you a lot of people on the streets right now don't feel a particular tie to the media after this election. josh, we're going to come back to this in a little bit. we're going to get to some other news, but i want to say we're keeping our eye on what is happening on the streets of portland as this situation develops. we will be right back. ♪

♪ and welcome back. you're looking at live pictures from portland, oregon. it is a little after midnight, and these are demonstrations that you're seeing, anti-trump

protests, which portland police are calling riots at this point. looking much calmer than what we saw earlier. >> yeah, just a few minutes ago, literally just a few minutes ago we saw some kind of smoke device or disperseal device, whether it was tear gas or something else. i'm not sure it was tear gas based on what you're seeing, but there was something used to try to disburse the crowds. these are tense moments in portland. in portland police have called them riots because of damage to property and threats to police. >> let's bring back in our panel to talk about this more. we've got cnn commentator paris denard, donald trump supporter. cnn political analyst josh roguen, a columnist with washington spot. and eugene scott. let me go to you, paris, because these are angry voters, angry americans about the outcome of this election. donald trump has a tall hill to

climb in trying to unite this country. >> well, he does. i think that he set the right tone with his victory speech on tuesday evening, early wednesday morning. i think that his message yesterday after meeting with president obama set the right tone. he was very respectful. he was presidential because he is the president-elect. i think that he is forward thinking, forward moving. president obama is forward thinking, forward moving. i think secretary clinton set the right tone in her speech after she conceded the election. i think the american people have to unite and understand and accept the fact that president-elect trump is going to be the president of the united states. we have to find ways if you don't agree with his policies or his -- things that he proposes, to find things that you do agree with and work together to make this country great again. it is the only way we can heal, it is the only way we can come together. i hope that democrats like

secretary clinton will -- and bernie sanders, which a lot of these people that are protesting identify with him even more, will come out and say this is inappropriate, it is not right. let's unite and come together and work toward common goals that we can find. i think there are things we can find common ground on, and that's the important thing as we move forward with our country. >> again, just as you were talking, paris, we saw things thrown at police officers there. we saw, you know, a trash barrel being turned over right there. josh, i want to get your take on this, but i just want, paris, a quick response. you know, donald trump has said very conciliatory things over the last, you know, 37, 40 hours or so. so too has president obama, so too has hillary clinton. everyone is taing and doing the right things. no question about. throwing things at cops is never the right thing. but protesting, there's nothing

wrong with protests, are there? you're not suggesting people don't have a right to try to make their voice heard? you're not saying that, are you? >> no, i'm not saying people do not have a right to protest. i'm saying you have a right to vote, so i would have hoped that all of these -- if any of these protesters did not vote, i don't think they have a right to be -- i don't think they should be out there protesting if you did not vote. president obama always said, don't boo, vote. >> right. >> but you do have a right to protest, but it always should be peaceful, it always should be respectful, and it should always not include violence, especially at our law enforcement. that's inappropriate on either side. >> josh, you want to jump in and give us your thoughts? >> yes. first, i second your point that peaceful protesting is not only a right, it is patriotic and goes back to the foundations of our nation. but i want to go back to your earlier point, john, that i thought was great, that donald trump's reaction to this, namely it was a professional protesters incited by the media is not true, okay. it is pretty clear that that's

not the case, okay. so looking at that reaction you can only draw one of two conclusions. either, you know, he is lying and trying to sort of play the victim and demonize the protesters, or let's say he believes it, then he doesn't understand what's going on in the streets. there's a lot of tension, and it doesn't have to get violent but it could get violent. that's what we're all trying to avoid. that's what president obama is trying to avoid, the media would try to avoid if we had a role in it. what donald trump is not responding to that or even acknowledging that that exists and that's problemattic. only 48 hours after he said he wants to be president for all-americans, this is his first test and he is failing the test. these are americans, donald trump. if you want to be president for these people, you have to first acknowledge their right to have these feelings and to have these grievances. >> for those joining us, it is 3:30 eastern time. we have breaking news as you can see on the skreek, new protest against donald trump's election rattling the nation in more than

a dozen cities from philadelphia to phoenix. these, once again, are shots from portland. these protests happening for a second night in a row. here in portland the police officially declaring the protests a riot after demonstrators threw projectiles at officers, smashing cars and store front windows. the portland police twitter feed warned riotic is a class c felony. i want to ask you this, eugene, these are images presumably being watched around the world. >> we are being watched around the world. >> how is this perceived? is it undermining the presidency of president-elect trump? >> we are being watched. yesterday morning when we were on and got a response from a viewer in europe, and the reality is people even internationally are very concerned about what is going to happen in the next administration. to paris' point, i think a lot of people want to give mr. trump a fair chance and to see what he can do. he had this great speech

following his slick torrey, saying he wanted to be the leader for all-americans. but when you suggest that people are acting irrationally who very much have strong opinions about the positive proposals you put forward, it does suggest what josh mentioned, that you don't understand a significant percentage of the american voters that voted against you. >> paris, the tweet that donald trump tweeted about the protests, is that presidential? should he at least maybe in part said, we are a divided nation, i want to bring everybody together, i'm a president for everybody? you know, could that line maybe have softened it a bit? >> you only have 140 characters, but i think it is important for viewers to understand and remember a lot of the things said about the tweet are inaccurate. he did not talk about the protesters didn't have a right to protest. he didn't invalidate any of the protesters. what he said is he felt they were professional protesters incited by the media, and he called that unfair, meaning that

the media was doing that, not talking about the protesters. i think at the end of the day what president-elect trump is saying is i don't think he wants to believe that these are americans that are out there doing that, that these are democrats out there doing that because he believes in the greatness of the american people. hoping that we can rise above this. because to your point earlier, the world is watching. america is known for having a peaceful transfer of power, where we vote, we have free elections, you vote freely, you can vote early and often, and then you move forward with the governance of the country. it is hard for people to accept the fact that americans are out there, democrats are out there, this is their response. the response should not be violence towards police officers or destruction of property, that should never be the response. >> violence should never be the response. you talk about, you know, our system what is great about america, another great thick is the freedom of speech and the

freedom to protest. what we are seeing on the streets of portland, these are live pictures of what is happening in portland. this is not what we've seen across the country. there were thousands and thousands of demonstrators across the country, 99% of them walking peacefully and marching peacefully, wanting their voices to be heard. what is happening in portland to be clear, the police are calling it a riot because of damage to property and threats posed to police officers, thrown projectiles and the like. let me reed read you the tweet donald trump put out in response. had a very open and successful presidential election. now professional protesters incited by the media are protesting. very unfair. again, just to be clear, as we look around the country there isn't really any evidence that these are professional protesters. it does appear to be sincere feelings of concern from protesters, just as we heard very sincere feelings of concern on tuesday in this election from people supporting donald trump.

there is a sense, eugene scott, from both sides that their voices are not being heard. >> absolutely. we also don't have proof these are democrats as paris suggested. we just have proof these are people who do not support what just happened. the reality there are people who voted for donald trump, who voted for donald trump in part because they felt like he represented them. he had ideas that they thought needed to be brought to the table, and they wanted their voices heard. the reality is there are lots of people in this country coming from different vantage points who feel unheard, and this is the time that we wonder if the president will listen. he told us he will, and time will tell. >> i want to bring in symone sanders, a former bernie sanders campaign press secretary and clinton supporter. simone, thanks for joining us. good morning. >> good morning. >> you are watching these live pictures along with us. you know, we have a right to protest, but, you know, when you start destroying property, not the most productive way, many think, to express your views. what are your thoughts on what you are seeing?

>> so, yes, i want to under score that pro testing is a vital part of the american fabric. we achieved this country via protest, and it was not necessarily a peaceful protest. so while i always call for peaceful protests, we all have to understand that there are people out there in america right now tonight or this morning, wherever they are, that do not feel peaceful. they feel like their lives are in danger, they feel threatened. we are in a new time really when you have steve bannon who has given a platform of alt-right being floated as chief of staff for the white house, for the people's house, you're going to see unrest. what you are seeing in the streets right now, what we're seeing in the streets is really a manifestation of the unrest and bubbling over of where america is. for donald trump to dismiss -- pardon me, president-elect trump to dismiss the protesters as professional protesters incited by the media just goes to demonstrate how absolutely aloof he really is to where the people

actually are. >> and it is interesting, simone. you just corrected yourself mid sentence to say president-elect trump, because it is true. donald trump is the president-elect of the united states. probe seemed to actually go out of his way during their meeting, during their photo op, josh rog ento use those words, president-elect trump. he is conveying the clear message we are in the midst of this peaceful transition of power, which in my mind is one of the single greatest things the united states of america does. we do it so very well, and it should be an example to the entire world. kellyanne conway yesterday, a lot of what happens right now is on twitter. kellyanne conway, who was campaign manager for donald trump, and has apparently been offered a job in the trump administration, has actually called on president obama to say something about these protests. i wonder if you can give your reaction to that? >> yeah, no, i think probe has a

healthy respect for the office of presidency and peaceful transition of hower. he's doing his best to bite his tongue. we heard josh earnest say president obama still thinks donald trump is unqualified to be president, yet he doesn't see any upside in hitting that mantra now that donald trump will be president. as for kellyanne conway calling on president obama to call off the protesters, i think it sort of shows you this is not just donald trump tweeting in the middle of the night from his apartment in trump tower. this is their strategy. this is what the trump team and its surrogates are going to say about these protests. these protests are going to go on, okay. this is the beginning, not the end. it is going to get worse before it gets better. that's not my hope, just my prediction. what the trump -- the whole trump structure is going to say is, oh, well, democrats, you got to rein in your people. okay, that's not going to help, okay. we can have an intellectual argument about who is to blame.

did donald trump cause this by dragging us into the gutter for a year? i think there's a good argument for that. putting that to one side, what is he going to do now? is he going to be the campaigner donald trump or going to be president donald trump? early indications it is the former, and that's really the most troubling thing of all. >> we're going to take a quick break and jump back and get paris's reaction. we will be right back. problem

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♪ all right. live pictures now from portland, oregon. there have been demonstrations all night, thousands of people on the streets all night and into the morning across the country, protesting the results of the election. we're looking right now in portland, oregon. has gone beyond, police say, just peaceful protests. the police in portland say these are actually riots because of damage to property and also things thrown at police. i have to say, you know, we have twitter up here and i can see people's reaction to what we're seeing and what we're saying. there are a lot of strong feelings on -- i want to say both sides but there are more than two sides because wees have donald trump saying what they're seeing on the streets is awful. we have people who are upset about the results of the election saying, you know, it is

wonderful. we have people saying it is the media's fault. it is not the media's fault. we have people saying all sorts of things. i encourage you, join in this discussion. tell us about what you're thinking about what you see on twitter, i think it is an important time for everyone to talk and figure out if we can understand what is happening in this country, whether it be some of the anger we heard on election day or some of the anger we are seeing right now on the streets of portland. as we talk about this, please join the conversation on twitter with us. >> we have a slew of political commentators joining the discussion. we've got symone sanders, she is former bernie sanders campaign press secretary and a clinton supporter. paris denard, a donald trump supporter. cnn political analyst josh rogin, a columnist for "the washington post," and here on the set cnn policy reporter eugene scott. good morning, everybody. paris, to you, you know, donald trump campaigned as the law and order candidate. this could be his opportunity to really show his might, being that person. what should he do?

>> i think mr. trump should -- while he was the law and order candidate, he was much more than that. president-elect trump tapped into a frustration, a frustration in my opinion that crosses color lines. it crossed socioeconomic lines and regional lines. he tapped into a frustration that the american people from all walks of life are facing. they felt left out. they were in fragile communities, and they felt this system that the government had forgotten about them, had failed them in many cases. when you looked at the educational system, when you looked at the violence in some of the inner cities, when you looked at the joblessness and the unemployment and wage stagnati stagnation, and you look at the rise of terrorism both abroad and at home. the frustration that republicans felt, democrats felt, that african-americans felt, that latinos felt, it manifested itself somehow. a lot of times you see that acting out in protest. so we can say that they want to be protesting president-elect

trump's election or some of the things that president-elect trump might have said on the campaign trail, but there's always an underlying issue. there's something called the root of the problem or the root of the issue, and once we are able to get to that, then we can have a real serious conversation. i think that's what president-elect trump was trying to do on the campaign. i think that's why people responded to him in kind, and i think that's how he's going to lead, by making america great again not just for republicans but for everyone, especially the protesters in orlando -- i'm sorry, in portland, oregon, and across the country. >> simone, stand by for one minute. everyone stand by. with us on the phone is sergeant pete simpson, the public information officer for the portland police bureau. sergeant simpson, thanks so much for being with us. give us a sense of what's going on the streets of portland right now. your police department has declared this a riot. >> caller: yeah, we're still out

in downtown portland addressing a crowd of rioters who have been out for several hours tonight. right now we've made multiple arrests over the course of the evening. you know, things started out at 5:00 p.m. and it was large and largely peaceful. we estimate somewhere around 4,000 people marching. but over the course of the evening we started seeing and getting reports of people in the crowd attacking vehicles and then lots of vandalism to businesses and windows, some fires being started. once the protest got in the downtown portland it shifted from a protest march to a riot. it just was a free-for-all of damage to businesses in the pearl district. we spoke with and saw some of our folks that we've built relationships with with black lives matter, it was one of many

groups in this event, and they made it very clear that they were not part of that and they were actually trying to get these anarchist groups to start. they were not listening to them, and so a good number of those folks left the march, and it presented a lot of challenges for us tonight. >> sergeant simpson, this is alison cox as well. are you finding the anti-trump protests happening in your city not only include people against the outcome or unhappy with the outcome of the election but people who are just gloming on and just causing destruction for the sake of it? >> caller: yeah, we have -- there's a large combination of folks in the protest. you know, it definitely started out as a protest about the election results, but as we see here somewhat regularly there are lots of groups that have lots of issues that come together, and the anarchist black block segment has been

here and well-entrenched here, and routinely will insert itself into other events and use the large crowd to make them anonymous while they break windows, start fires and damage cars and things. like i said, we've made several arrests. some folks we're familiar with, some folks we're not familiar with. we're -- you know, as i'm talking to you right now i can hear munitions being deployed on the streets. >> what is being deployed? >> less lethal munitions, things like sting balls, pepper ball, pepper spray. our officers in the last couple of hours have taken rocks, bottles, other projectiles being thrown at them from the street, from parking garages, pretty much anything that's not nailed down has been thrown at police. >> do you have a sense of how

many, as you know call them rioters, are on the streets right now? >> caller: the last number i had heard was not too long ago, was anywhere from 100 to 200 people, and they -- again, this is the leftover group from a larger group which was largely peaceful earlier. a lot of the folks out there now are the kind of anarchist folks. you know, they're really out at every protest we have. it sort of doesn't matter what the issue is, and certainly there's a fair amount of people who are there for the show, if you will. >> so do you feel that this situation is escalating or do you find your officers are able to get control of this? >> caller: well, i think it is stable in the sense that it's been consistent now for, you know, an hour and a half, two hours of -- it is just a battle for control of the streets. you know, we're trying to keep

people moving and arrest folks as we can. fortunately, this part of downtown portland is really businesses and offices. there's not much residential. there are some hotels. you know, our goal is to get people to leave the area and go home for the night, and we'll stay out here until we feel like it's safe to leave. >> all right. sergeant pete simpson, for the portland oregon police department. thanks so much for calling in and giving us a sense of what is happening on the ground right now because we've been seeing these pictures, and you give it some context. sergeant simpson thanks so much. let me recap what the sergeant said here because i think it is important. from the perspective of the police, what you're seeing on the streets of portland is several hundred, a few hundred, maybe 100 to 200, maybe more, what he calls anarchists who are the remnants of what was a largely peaceful protest earlier

in the evening, people upset about the results of the election. there were maybe 4,000 people at the beginning. these are the remnants of people that he calls fairly -- many of them regular protesters, people who join in, glom on to other things, and he called many of them anarchists. several arrests have been made. as of right now on the streets, we are just told the police are using, you know, less lethal methods, we're told. that means pepper spray, paint balls, smoke grenades, things to try to disburse this crowd because the 100 to 200 people left on the streets of portland are breaking things and burning things and throwing things at police officers. they're trying to get the situation under control there. >> but despite these pictures, and they're pretty today mattic, the sergeant saying things are stable. he wants people to just go home at this point. >> all right. what we're going to do now, we're keeping our eye on the

streets here as the situation on ongoing in portland. there are also protests we know are ongoing in los angeles as well overnight. i don't believe anything the likes of what we're seeing right now in portland, but, again, this started out as demonstrations across the country, tusands and thousands of people demonstrating against the results of the election on tuesday. now what we're seeing is some pockets, small pockets of violence at least in portland, oregon. i think this is tape from before. i don't want you to think you're looking at live pictures. we saw that happen a few minutes ago in portland. we're keeping our eye on it. we will be right back. whatcha' doin?

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this is cnn breaking news. >> breaking news. you are looking at live pictures from portland, oregon. this is tape, actually, from a short time ago. a demonstration that portland police are calling a riot. it started peaceful. people protesting the outcome of the election. the police sergeant of the portland police department saying it turned into anarchists.

>> and also breaking donald trump responded to protesters on twitter. we will tell you what he says and who he blames. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> good morning. i'm alison kosik. it is friday, november 11th. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. protests in portland, oregon. demonstrators threw projectiles at officers. rioting is a class c felony. protests are taking place in more than a dozen cities from philadelphia to phoenix. we are getting our first look this morning at donald trump's reaction to the protests. it comes in the form of what else but a tweet. in his tweet, he is blaming

protests on full-time agitators. he tweeted just had a very open and successful election. now professional protesters insigin incited by the media. >> one protest in oakland became pretty heated. police dealing with a crowd that was upset. cnn's dan simon was in the middle of it. >> reporter: the temperature has risen on the streets of oakland. the crowd has been unruly. a period of time the highway was blocked. it was a different situation earlier where we saw a peaceful protest. a group of citizens wanted to express disgust over the election of donald trump and trying to move forward. that anger has turned into something resembling chaos. the police are trying to deal

with it. john. >> there are demonstrations in los angeles and we have been looking at pictures from portland, oregon all morning as arrests have been made and police have been dealing with several hundred agitators. to be clear, most of the protests across the country overnight were very, very peaceful. our ana cabrera was in the middle of one in denver. >> reporter: john and alison, thousands gathering in denver protesting against the election of donald trump. they say this is not a march or protest necessarily to hate trump. in fact, it is a protest to reject hate and bigotry and oppression. i want to talk with a protester here. this is lisa. lisa, you came here with your daughter. what is the message? >> i want my