DC UNREST

Streets".

Nbc's chris pollone has more details on this story.

:00 (nats) about 20 minutes before a mandatory curfew started monday night... federal officers and national guard troops outside the white house suddenly moved on peaceful protesters... hitting them with flash grenades and tear gas while shooting rubber bullets.

Then moments later... another extraordinary scene.

(nats) the president... cabinet members and staff... walked off the white house grounds to a historic episcopal church that protesters had vandalized the night before.

(nats of wh produced twitter video) early this morning, the official white house twitter account posted a campaign style video of the visit... showing mister trump holding a bible in front of st.

John's church.

The two top democrats in congress called the president's actions "cowardly, weak and dangerous."

("cnn") super burned in (voice of: bishop mariann edgar budde / episcopal diocese of washington) "the president just used a bible and the sacred text of the judeo christian.

One of the churches of my diocese without permission as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of jesus and everything our churches stand for."

It happened moments after mister trump delivered his first formal statement following the death of george floyd a week ago.

(sot: president donald trump/ no super) "i am your president of law and order, and an ally of peaceful protestors."

Warning governors he'll invoke the insurrection act to send the military to cities where violent "if a city or are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then i will deploy the united states military and quickly solve the problem for them."

Federal military police are en route to washington, dc on the president's order... as the capital emerges from the fourth straight night