On the ground in France after widespread riots

So David, you are in Paris at the moment.

What sort of mayhem have you witnessed on the ground, and who is involved in these protests and these riots?

What I've witnessed is a sort of a long-running test of strength between protesters and police, and I've been based around the Place de la Republique, um, relatively close to the middle of, uh, Paris.

And I've really focused on this area because this was a, a focal point of the protests, uh, especially on Saturday night when there was rioting and looting in the street, and now a huge national conversation about just how that got totally out of hand and caused so much damage and destruction.

Okay.

And so how widespread is the damage though? 'Cause you mentioned of course the focal point being in Paris.

Uh, but we know it is actually spread to numerous spots a- around France.

So just tell us about this.

The destruction is widespread, and the looting is widespread, and so we've got, you know, undoubted proof of huge social unrest and high levels of crime.

So in the streets that I've been walking around, I've seen store after store looted.

I, I mean, indeed, I'm sure many have seen reports that apparently 1,500 shops have been damaged or looted nationwide.

Uh, I saw a report by Alexandre Bompard, the head of the French Federation of Commerce and Distribution.

I think he's estimated cost of the repairs could run into hundreds of millions of dollars.

So just tell us Davis- David, walk us back to where this began.

What day did it begin, and what is the genesis of these protests in particular? When ...

You know, was there an incident or something in particular that prompted them in the first place?