fireworks, separation, or any other anxieties, (announcer) if your dog suffers from fear of thunder, thundershirt may be the answer. thundershirt, absolutely, 100% works. good evening. for a second time in a few days, the president held a large indoor gathering in the middle of a coronavirus hot zone.

this time at a mega church in phoenix, which enticed people to come by promising a new air purifier they installed would kill the virus and keep people safe. that actually happened. it's called the dream city church. here in the real world, doctors and scientists called b.s. on the miracle purifier. and that's where we begin, keeping them honest. the virus killed 120,000 americans and it's not even july. the alternative reality the president wishes he was inhabiting. in the real world arizona is experiencing the steep growth in cases you once saw in new york at the beginning of the outbreak. look at that chart. here is the growth in the number of people sick enough to be hospitalized. again, not a good sign. arizona is hardly alone. look at texas. new cases rising there just as sharply and again not just from more testing. so many people are getting sick that in houston, texas

children's hospital tells cnn it's providing additional icu and acute care beds now for adults. the governor greg abbott, a strong supporter of the president is telling texans the safest place to be right now is at home. and on a global scale, the european union is now weighing the possibility of banning travel from the u.s. just think about that. because of the way america has handled, this administration has handled the coronavirus pandemic, americans may not be allowed to fly to europe by the europeans. going by the data, it's hard not to see why. look at the comparison between the e.u. and the u.s. since the pandemic began. the united states, we're the green line. the united states not only has not gotten the virus under control, it's backsliding towards 30,000 new cases a day. the white line, that's the european union.

in the meantime, the president goes straight into the middle of one of the hardest hit states not to visit patients or doctors or nurses or emts. he first visits the border wall and gets a dose of self-gratification, his own favorite medicine other than hydroxychloroquine, at a mega church where the pastors promise a miracle device will keep folks safe. and in this house of god he again uses a racist slur to describe the virus. >> so many names, i could give you 19 or 20 names for that, right? it's got all different names. wuhan. wuhan was catching on. coronavirus, right? >> kung flu! >> kung flu, yeah. kung flu. [ cheers ] kung flu. covid. covid-19. covid. i say, what's the 19? some people can't explain the 19. covid-19. i said, that's an odd name. >> in the meantime, back in the real world dr. fauci and members of the once visible coronavirus task force that has now become invisible, much like the

coronavirus. they are invisible, told lawmakers it's been weeks since they've spoken to the president. >> dr. fauci, when is the last time you spoke to the president? >> about 2 1/2 weeks ago. >> admiral, when is the last time you spoke to the president? >> it was about 2 1/2 weeks ago, as well, maybe 3 weeks ago. >> honorable haun, when is the last time you spoke to the president about the pandemic and response? >> it's been some time since i spoke about the pandemic response. >> cdc director robert redfield, who you saw there not saying anything, he declined to answer that question. when was the last time you saw the president? it really does make you wonder, though. it was clear trump didn't like him even when the task force was having daily briefings. he didn't get a lot of chances to talk, but redfield won't say when he last spoke to the president. the others had no problem, two, 2 1/2 weeks, which isn't good.

redfield has got to be then much longer than that. now, remember, the coronavirus task force, which the vice president always used to make sure to point out did everything quote/unquote at the direction of the president. the coronavirus task force which is now as invisible as the virus itself, the task force still recommends mask wearing, more testing for the disease, social distancing, staying away from enclosed spaces and big crowds. you see them testifying. they had the masks on. sometimes they took them off to speak and put them right back on. the president is doing everything he can to subvert all those people you just saw, the nation's top scientists. he shut down the daily briefings on experimenting with people with disinfectant. he shut it down so people won't hear as much about the virus. the president believes if you don't hear about it as much, you'll forget about it and about the federal government's incompetent response. just forget, you'll move on, it seems so old. sure, your dad may die or your grandmother might get sick, she might die, you might get sick, you might die, so be it.

the president is actively working to turn people against all the other recommendations of the task force he once claimed to lead. wearing masks, social distancing, not congregating in giant indoor stadiums with thousands of others or mega churches. of course, behind the scenes, the president has gotten more tests for the virus than probably anyone else in this country, if not in the world. and everyone in the white house who makes contact with the president is tested and has their temperature checked. publicly, he's pretending this virus is passed. privately, he's living in a biological bunker. he visited the underground bunker, he was taken there one friday, rushed there by the secret service. he denies that but he lives every day in a biological bunker. people being tested around him. everyone is wearing masks, having their temperature checked. he's as sanitized and protected from the virus as anyone can be and in the midst of that epicenter of sanitation, he is

encouraging everyone else, don't follow the guidelines. publicly, he's flouting all of those guidelines except the one about hand washing. he's washing his hands of all of it. he's creating a string of distractions and he's been boasting of course that he ordered a slowdown in testing. >> so i said to my people, slow the testing down, please. they test and they test. we have tests and people don't know what's going on. we have tests. we got another one over here. >> he said that on saturday. yesterday, his spokesperson said look, he was only joking, of course. >> there was a comment he made in jest and in passing specifically with regard to the media coverage and pointing out the fact that the media never acknowledges that we have more cases because when you test more people, you find more cases. >> is it appropriate to joke

about coronavirus when 120,000 people have died? >> he was not joking about coronavirus. >> ms. mcenany is learning when you go out on a limb for djt, he will cut you off. the president suggested he wasn't joking and made it completely clear to a cbs news correspondent today. >> mr. president, at that rally when you said you asked your people to slow down testing, were you just kidding or do you have a plan to slow down testing? >> i don't kid. let me just tell you. let me make it clear. we have got the greatest testing program anywhere in the world. we test better than anybody in the world, our tests are the best in the world and we have the most of them. >> so, okay, he says he wasn't joking. never mind what his spokesperson said. wasn't joking when he said that he asked to slow the testing.

of course, task force members were asked about this claim today and they said they didn't know anything about it. >> to my knowledge, none of us have ever been told to slow down on testing. that just is a fact. in fact, we will be doing more testing. >> as dr. fauci said, all of us have been and continue to be committed to increasing readily, timely access to testing. we've made a marked improvement. >> let me go straight to the question my colleague asked. i'll ask each of you for a yes or no answer. has president trump ever directed you to slow down testing for covid-19 in the united states? dr. redfield? >> no. >> no, sir. >> no, congressman. >> dr. redfield seems unfamiliar with the mask there. i don't know. maybe he said it to someone else. he does after all tend to repeat himself frequently and maybe he never said it, just made it up and now he's sticking by the lie

he thinks makes him look tough and they loved it. so likely by tomorrow he's going to contradict himself. so who really cares? who jokes about slowing testing for a deadly virus? the president is doing some standup, doing bits at the laugh shack on tuesday at 1:00 a.m. testing new material. there is nothing funny when the guy joking about slowing down testing is the guy who has the power to slow down testing and the same guy who does not like a lot of testing because then you know how far the virus has actually spread and he believes it makes him look bad. i doesn't make anyone less sick and any less dead but makes him look bad and he's said so openly time and time again. >> we have so much testing, i don't think you need that kind of testing or that much testing. we've done more testing than every other country combined. in a way by doing all of this testing, we make ourselves look bad. i've always said testing is somewhat overrated. something can happen between a test where it's good and then something happens and all of a sudden, this is why the whole concept of tests aren't necessarily great.

>> again, it seems normal, i guess, after a while but just, we got a pandemic, global pandemic going on, more than 100,000 americans dead. not even beginning of july. and this is what we got. so this is where we begin the program tonight, testing and the state of the virus and the president complaining about how badly he's being treated. after trying to draft off the popularity of dr. anthony fauci by hijacking the coronavirus briefings and then destroying them, now he's dtrying to bask in the glimmering glow of the scientists he no longer wants you to hear from. the tweet today, dr. anthony fauci who is with us a very high 72% approval rating. what he is doing. who else is popular. got to get rid of that person. the tweet continues. if he, dr. fauci, is in charge

and with us doing all these really good things, why doesn't the lamestream media treat us as they should? because it's fake news. joining us is dr. richard, acting director of the cdc and also with us, cnn chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. we were warned the cases are going up. we all need to wear masks, avoid big gatherings, and increase testing. as somebody who has run the cdc and knows how difficult it is to run a public health campaign and get a population to abide by guidelines which are restrictive and difficult, and wearing a mask is unpleasant, it's got to be -- i mean, could you ever imagine a situation where there would be a pandemic and the leader of the country would be subverting the guidelines the top scientists are pleading with

people to do? >> anderson, this is a really troubling situation. when i think back to where we were several months ago, there was some unity of messaging about how serious the pandemic was and that we needed to take action. but right now, we're in a situation where we have such incredible mixed messaging. we have every public health leader in the nation, the majority of political leaders in the nation saying that this is a serious situation and we need to take action. but at the top, and in other quarters in some states we're hearing people say go back to work, go back to your social life, don't worry about this, the virus is under control. and without that unity of purpose, without everyone aligning behind doing the right thing, we are in real danger of slipping back in many places to a worse situation than we were in several months ago. >> sanjay, when you look at images, you know, inside that church tonight, again, hardly any masks. no social distancing.

it's indoors. there could have been an outdoor church service. they could have probably figured how to do that. what do you do? i mean, as somebody who cares about public health. >> people ask the question, how do you do this safely? the answer is, you really can't. i mean, in the middle of a pandemic, where you -- where we know we account for 25% of the world's infections at a time when the european union is thinking about possibly banning travel of passengers from the united states to that country, that situation you're looking at is sort of the worst-case scenario. it's indoors, as you mentioned. people can't physically distance. they're not wearing masks. we know the rates of infections are increasing significantly in arizona. we know from tulsa, as you remember, there were eight staff members that tested positive before that event in tulsa. >> from the president -- >> advance people and secret service agents. we don't even know.

there is definitely a certain percentage of the population you look at inside that church that have the virus. you can say that almost with confidence because of what is going on there. people who arrived early in arizona may have become infected. also in that particular rally, you just couldn't possibly recommend it. i don't think any public health official would say this is a good idea. this is now safe based on what we've done. no masks and physical distancing is a problem. >> is the -- we should point out in phoenix, there is an ordinance that masks should be worn inside when within six feet of somebody. that's not happening here. we're obviously still -- tell me. where do you see us in the course of this pandemic? obviously a lot of hope on vaccines but the timing of that, nobody knows really. and if history is any guide, it will take longer than it seems like the administration seems to be indicating. where do you think we are?

>> well, you know, i think we're still early days. when you look at any state that has done some serology testing to see what is taking place in the population, not that high a percentage of people have been infected and so it's early. and we're in a transition phase. so you have a number of states who have been able to really drive down cases, drive down the curve, so new york, new jersey, massachusetts. and they are switching to slowly opening based on the best public health science with testing, tracking, isolation, and quarantine. and it's going to be a test case to see, can this be done in a safe way so that we don't see large increases? have they the systems in place so that everyone who needs to isolate can? this is taking place at a time when unemployment benefits, the supplemental from the federal government is going away and when the protections against eviction and mortgage foreclosures are going away. and so what does it mean to

someone who is going back to work who has been told they were exposed to someone who has coronavirus and has to decide, do i quarantine for 14 days and not be able to put food on the table and risk eviction or do i go to work and take my chances that, well, maybe i was exposed but i'm not going to get sick? we're letting the systems fall apart that we need to have in place to make sure everyone can protect themselves, their families, and their communities. >> dr. richard besser, sanjay, thank you. appreciate it. still to come, breaking news on the investigation to what nascar said was a noose found in the garage of bubba wallace. the justice department announces findings. also, kamala harris joins us to see if congress can reach a deal on police reform and talk of her as a potential vice presidential nominee for joe biden. we'll be right back. volkswagen today. you'll get 2 years or 20,000 miles

of scheduled carefree maintenance. 3 years or 36,000 miles of 24/7 roadside assistance. 4 years or 50,000 miles bumper-to-bumper limited warranty. 5 years of connected services. and for 6 years you won't have paid any interest. down the road, you'll be grateful you bought a volkswagen today.

can i find an investment firm with a truly long-term view that's been through multiple market cycles for over 85 years? with capital group, i can. talk to your financial professional or consultant for investment risks and information. breaking news in the

investigation of the noose left in bubba wallace's garage. he's the only black driver in nascar's top circuit. on sunday, a member of his team found the object, brought it to the attention of nascar, which alerted authorities. wallace never saw it. on monday nascar showed support for wallace with every driver lining up behind him. emotional scene for wallace but randi kaye has new information about the investigation. what's the latest? >> anderson, the fbi and u.s. attorney's office said that after conducting numerous interviews and a thorough review, they determined that there was no federal crime committed. the fbi assigned 15 agents to this case, which sounded like a lot to me so i asked my fbi contact why so many and he said they simply wanted to get to the bottom of this quickly. they knew it was an important issue and case. in the end, they determined that the rope found in bubba wallace's garage had been there long before that garage was

assigned to bubba wallace. here is the joint statements. the investigation revealed evidence including authentic video confirmed by nascar that the noose found in garage number four was in that garage as early as october, 2019, although the noose is now known to have been in garage number four in 2019, nobody could have known mr. wallace would be assigned to garage number four. >> in the statement, they are still calling it a noose. >> i noticed that, too. i said, why call it a noose still if based on your investigation, and my contact again said it was his understanding that the rope was fashioned in a noose knot and it was used as a door pull, as he put it. also, nascar today releasing a statement saying that the fbi concluded based on photograph evidence the garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose had been there since last fall and this was interesting about a question like that at a press conference yesterday with the

president of nascar. listen to this. >> can you confirm, was the rope from the rope that normally you would pull down the garage door? >> i am not sure, bob. i have no information on that. >> well, he didn't know yesterday but apparently that is exactly what it seems to be and in a teleconference late today, anderson, nascar's president said this was the best result they could have asked for. they were thrilled bubba wallace was not the target of a hate crime and not the target of a noose in that garage. >> and then, apparently, there since at least last fall, did anyone else recall seeing it? >> yes. wood brothers racing released a statement on twitter today saying that of course they were very thankful this wasn't what it seemed to be initially so they were very pleased about that but they also said some new information. they said one of their employees without knowing information

about the investigation or the details of the case told them yesterday he recalled seeing what he refers to as a tied handle in the garage pull down rope from last fall. so he said it was there last fall. apparently, wood brothers racing then took this information to nascar and they say that they've been cooperating with this investigation ever since. so lots of folks here anderson tonight pointing to that rope being in that garage back in october last year. >> randi kaye, thanks very much. joining us is laura coats, cnn legal analyst. because of this moment we're in as a country, it's obviously, this has become a major story right away. certainly for nascar and bubba wallace this is the best possible outcome. >> well, it is. we're in a time where sensitivity is obviously heightened and we know the climate we're now in and we have the backdrop of nascar being requested by bubba wallace, the only african-american racer, to request for confederate flags to

be taken down and there has been backlash with that. even in this climate, i look at this and first, i have more questions about the placement of this rope, how is it that people were able to come to a conclusion that led them to investigate it as a noose and possible hate crimes and then it could be dispelled so quickly. i do wonder about the facts and circumstances but i also know that hate crimes in the way they are investigated by the fbi and department of justice is they trust their own credibility by saying we are calling balls and strikes. we're investigating, we are thorough in our investigation and so i hope that any time someone wants to look at this case and say this is pure coincidence or hate crimes in general are anomalies and somehow are one-offs, that all of the reported increase in hate crimes up until now can't be disregarded because we know the fbi will call the balls and call the strikes when they see animus or not. >> certainly, if they assign 15

agents to it, it certainly would be an indication of the seriousness with which they took this. >> well, they would. why is that? because we know bubba watson, the word they use, although he was the target of a hate crime, there is nothing to suggest they don't recognize nooses as emblematic of an ethnic form of intimidation and the hate crime legislation looks at the circumstances, as well. the things meant to target someone with specificity and those that target a general population hoping to intimidate. so the idea of taking it seriously is what you should do when you talk about the history of nooses in america and lynching and the way it's used particularly with african-americans and not just african-americans in this country. it began with mississippi burning and discussions about what happened for freedom writers including jewish americans down south and it includes anyone who as a goal of justice who is targeted by mobs, as well.

>> and i mean, this comes at a time obviously in the wake of nascar banning the confederate flags, and wallace was involved in, there are reports he received threats and demonstrations, people showing the confederate flag outside nascar the other day. there is this moment of unity yesterday when the drivers rallied around bubba wallace and regardless of the outcome of the investigation, you know, it is actually, you know, an example where we are seeing real changes taking place in a sport. >> absolutely. i think you can't disregard simply because you have this outcome where he was not the target of a hate crime, that's a good thing. and then there was the request he had to make in 2020 at 26 years old i believe he is having to make the request that a confederate flag not be prevalent at the nascar racing track. so that shows there is some support around the notion that things that may be dismissed as

not problematic are having a fresh look at what things are right now. it's odd they were coming up with something like a noose and it hung for so long and nobody questioned it until now. >> laura coats, appreciate it. thanks very much. coming up, potential biden running mate kamala harris joins us next. t-mobile and sprint are joining forces to power your business. we're building a 5g network that will deliver unprecedented reach and reliability, and the highest capacity in history. with more coverage and more bandwidth to keep your employees connected, you will get the largest and most reliable network at an unbeatable price. t-mobile for business.

you know when your dog is itching for an outing... or itching for some cuddle time. but you may not know when he's itching for help... licking for help... or rubbing for help. if your dog does these frequently. they may be signs of an allergic skin condition that needs treatment. don't wait. talk to your veterinarian and learn more at itchingforhelp.com.

♪

♪ [ engines revving ] ♪ ♪ it's amazing to see them in the wild like th-- shhh. for those who were born to ride, there's progressive. i geh. common bird.e. ooh look! over here! something much better. there it is. peacock, included with xfinity x1. remarkable. fascinating. -very. it streams tons of your favorite shows and movies, plus the latest in sports news and... huh - run! the newest streaming app has landed on xfinity x1.

now that's... simple. easy. awesome. xfinity x1 just got even better with peacock premium included at no additional cost. no strings attached. just say "peacock" into your voice remote to start watching today. during last night's broadcast police and protesters clashed in lafayette park. people across the country have been taking to the street

protesting police violence and taking part in a nationwide re-examination of race and justice and equal justice under the law. lawmakers grappling with police reform legislation appeared to reached a stalemate with republicans saying the move could kill any reform bill this year. joining us to talk about it, potential biden running mate kamala harris. thank you for being with us, senator. >> good to be with you. >> you called the senate republican police reform bill weak. schumer called it a non-starter. is there any way for a middle ground here? you have republicans saying if this doesn't pass, there may be nothing this year. >> certainly there's a way for something to be done if everyone approaches it with an earnest desire to actually meet this moment and implement the reforms that we know, we actually have available to us. part of the frustration that we have had is that the senate

majority leader mitch mcconnell is putting this republican bill up for a vote tomorrow without any meaningful process. i serve on the judiciary committee, so does cory booker, and we're the two senate authors. we've not had any hearings in the senate judiciary committee. over a week after we proposed the bill, it took them over a week to come up with a bill that talks about basically process and having reviews and studying issues. ours is a bill that talks about the need for accountability and immediate accountability so we talk about things like the need for pattern and practice investigations when a department, an entire department is accused of having a culture that may lead to discrimination. we're talking about the need for independent investigations that prosecutors should not be investigating misconduct of police officers from a department they work with every day. we are talking about the need for a new national standard for use of force so that instead of asking when there is excessive

force, was that force reasonable, we should ask, was it necessary? these are the concrete things we're proposing in the bill. what they have offered really there is nothing salvageable about it and i intend to vote against the motion to proceed and follow the recommendation of a vast number of civil rights groups that are urging us to vote against the motion to proceed. >> one of the things you hear a lot from black lives matter protesters is defund police. it means i think different things to different people. but i'm wondering what you believe in that, believe about that, about the idea of defunding police. >> well, here is what i believe. that we need to reimagine public safety, anderson. and understand that healthy communities are safe communities. so what does that mean? look, when you go to upper middle class suburbs in america, you don't see that kind of police presence that you see in other neighborhoods, but what you do see are well-funded schools. you see families that have jobs that allow them to have an

income that they don't have to worry about feeding their kids by the end of the month. what you do see are families that have access to public health, mental health without worrying about the cost of it. what you do see are communities that have small businesses that have access to capital. these are the things that make for a healthy community. if we want safe communities, we have to invest in the health and well being of those communities and then they will be safe. instead in many cities in our country, one-third of the budget is spent on policing. that's not a good return on investment for taxpayers. and of course we don't want to get rid of police. i'm not saying get rid of police but we have to invest in the health and well being of our communities. >> obviously you're being considered as a potential vice presidential pick for vice president biden. during the primary some people attacked you for your time as a

prosecutor, a law professor, and former director of the loyola law school project for the innocent. there was a quote saying kamala is a cop, and this law school project for the innocent former director wrote in "the new york times" saying kamala harris was not a progressive prosecutor. said when progressives urged her to change reforms as the state's attorney general, ms. harris opposed them or stayed silent. for black lives matter protesters and many people in the streets, this is a huge issue and i'm wondering how do you -- what do you say to protesters who might not view you as an agent of change in a system that you used to work in? >> well, first of all, as it relates to the person that you have referred to in terms of those quotes, that's simply wrong. it absolutely wrong. when i was attorney general of california, i instituted one of the first requirements that law

enforcement officers receive training on racial bias and procedural justice. i was, i think, the first state agency that required that law enforcement agents in that state agency wear body cameras and keep them on full-time. i'm the first that created the whole division and approach on the national model for the re-entry initiatives for the formerly incarcerated and getting them jobs and support. it's simply incorrect. what we need right now is leaders who are prepared to deal with the fact that these are long-term grievances and rooted in the fact that there is generations of people who have been abused, the subject of racial profiling and murder and that we need to reform policing to make sure there's consequence and accountability. and so i'm very proud of the

work that we've been doing in the senate. i urge everyone to support the bill that cory booker and i have proposed on the senate side together with our congressional black colleagues, black caucus colleagues and other members of the house and senate, this is a time for reform and a time for leaders to step up and be in a position where they can actually lead. >> senator kamala harris, thank you. >> thank you. just ahead, protesters demanding the removal of confederate statutes. we'll talk with it with the former mayor of new orleans who removed four confederate statutes while the mayor. it's been 75 years since your ancestors served in world war two. many of their stories remain untold. find and honor the veterans in your family. their stories live on at ancestry.

don't bring that mess around here, evan! whoo! don't do it. don't you dare. i don't think so! [ sighs ] it's okay, big fella. we're gonna get through this together. [ baseball bat cracks ] nice rip, robbie. ♪ raaah! when you bundle home and auto insurance through progressive, you get more than just a big discount. i'm going to need you to leave. you get relentless protection. [ baseball bat cracks ] i got this mountain bike for only $11. dealdash.com, the fair and honest bidding site. an ipad worth $505, was sold for less than $24; a playstation 4 for

less than $16; and a schultz 4k television for less than $2. i won these bluetooth headphones for $20. i got these three suitcases for less than $40. and shipping is always free. go to dealdash.com right now and see how much you can save.

earlier tonight, president trump said he would defend statues like the one of andrew jackson from being torn down. left unmentioned by the president, the fact many of the statutes protesters are wanting to remove are confederate leaders like robert e. lee. joining me to discuss it, cnn contributor and mayor of new orleans three years ago led the effort to remove three statutes in his city and joining us is our other guest. mayor landrieu, you were front and center of this. you were a piece i did for "60 minutes" on this subject. talk about your thought process on the removal and how you see it now.

>> a couple of things. when we began, we were focused on the confederate monuments. there were over 1,700 of them dotting the landscape in mostly the south. put up between 1890 and 1920 and jumped forward and put a bunch of them up in the 1950s. these statutes were put up to revere people who fought against the united states of america in the civil war for the purpose of preserving slavery. and opposition was that was inappropriate. they were put up to send a message. they were put up in places of reverence. although they should be remembered, my position is that they shouldn't be revered. as soon as we started doing that, the folks said contextualize them and don't take them down, put a plaque up and don't start because we don't know where we'll stop and it's always that argument that they use that it will come to take down lincoln and jefferson and not stay focused on white supremacy as it relates to confederate monuments. that's what we're going through as we speak.

>> professor, contextualizing is one thing that has been discussed a lot but i think what a lot of people don't realize and we're seeing the roosevelt statute outside the museum of natural history in new york, there is talk of removing that given its depiction. but just on the confederate monuments, can you talk about the history of why they were built? and when? it's not as if they were done in the heat of the civil war, it was done afterward to rewrite history. >> right, these monuments, it takes several decades for these monuments to emerge and as mr. landrieu stated, it's a propaganda campaign to rewrite the history of the civil war and slavery and also meant to rationalize the racial apartheid and jim crow segregation in many ways to clean the southeast image up in the court of public

opinion to say slavery was a benign institution and african-americans were happy slaves unprepared for freedom and the confederacy was a noble cause. in many instances, in most if not all of them, these statutes are a reclamation of public space in the name of white supremacy. >> so professor, where do you think -- i'm wondering what you make of -- it seems like the debate has moved, a lot of people are saying, forget about, you know, putting it into context, let's put them somewhere else. >> i think if these statutes are warehoused, it's a wasted opportunity to deal with the narrative of the lost cause. i think people are formulating political solutions to the problem of confederate revision. the path forward, however, i think will require educational tools. you can't have reconciliation without recognition. for many people they represent institutional problems and i think tearing them down won't make the tortured racial history go away.

we'll have to deal with not only the story of lost cause but what was the result of what these statutes entrenched like jim crow segregation. they paved the road for how we got to now. >> mayor landrieu, what do you make of that? >> i love the professor but i disagree with him just a little bit. i don't think taking them down erases history. >> i don't, either. >> i absolutely agree the most important thing is what we do going forward. if we just take them down and we don't deal with what they represent and the idea of them and that we don't have a moment of acknowledgement, we can't move towards reconciliation. i think he's exactly right about that part because there has to be a reckoning in the country but everybody will notice that as soon as we start getting locked in on the confederate monuments, everybody wants to take your eye off the ball and take you to washington, jefferson, and to grant and they don't want to stay focused on this very important time in our history when people try to rewrite it and tell a historical lie. so what i said to the people of

new orleans and, you know, with their blessing and help, i said, look, let's deal with this issue now. let's foursquare look at where it is we came from, where we want to go and let's begin to deal with institutional bias that you know see manifesting itself in police departments and the consequences of covid, et cetera. the stories go on and on. you need to get to the root of it. the professor is exactly right. unless you get underneath it, then if you just take the monuments down and that's all that we do, we will have missed a great opportunity for our country. >> i've been looking at videos in south africa in the days leading up to the election of mandela and the years leading up to it, the truth and reconciliation commission, and it's an extraordinary thing and there is some criticism and some faults it had. it's incredible to see a society which, you know, there's plenty of reasons to have animosity toward, you know, by people who were oppressed for generations and that society has been able

to move forward and kind of reinvent themselves in an extraordinary way. do you -- i mean, i don't know that something like that would work here but interesting to look how south africa did it. >> yeah, i think the south africans were willing to put themselves on the proverbial sofa, you know, and deal with the country's tortured racial history. by the way, isn't that dissimilar to the memory of the confederacy. it's much grounded in mythology as it is an actual history, and i think the fact that they were willing to come to the proverbial table and have a discussion about what transpired during the apartheid regime was a critical step in the reconciliation that characterized that country's ability to move forward after the demise of that terrible regime. >> julian hader, always a pleasure to talk to you, mayor landrieu, you as well. atlantaens gathered to

remember rayshard brock shoks s and killed by police. we'll be right back. for over 85 years? with capital group, i can. talk to your financial professional or consultant for investment risks and information.

talk to your financial professional or consultant here's what we want everyone to do. count all the hugs you haven't given. all the hands you haven't held. all the dinners you didn't share with friends. the trips you haven't taken. keep track of them. each one means one less person vulnerable,

one less person exposed, and one step closer to a healthier community. so for now, keep your distance. but don't lose count. we'll have some catching up to do. fireworks, separation, or any other anxieties, (announcer) if your dog suffers from fear of thunder,

thundershirt may be the answer. thundershirt, absolutely, 100% works. let's check in with chris and see what he's working on for "cuomo prime time." chris? >> i'm trying to get everybody on the same page, coop, just in terms of you got to look past d.c. for leadership in the form of the president. we have to understand the reality where we are with the pandemic right now and that's the important thing. so we're going to bring in the former cdc director. we're going to talk about what the path is forward for us to get to a better place, what the obstacles are. we're going to take on the mayor of yuma, arizona. how do you agree that masks work but you decide to vote against mandating them for your own city? because it's a question of liberty. let's test that argument tonight. we need to because that argument is spreading through the fringe right as fast as the virus. also, i have ken burns on tonight. >> that's cool.

>> he is "ac 360" worthy guest and he's going to come on tonight to talk about the statues. what do the symbols mean? what is the right place to draw the line? is there a too far? is there a too much emphasis on symbolism? can that frustrate biggest efforts. >> his series is fantastic and all the stuff he does. cool, chris. see you in just about four minutes from now. coming up next for us, how rayshard brooks was remembered in the church where the reverend martin luther king jr. once preached.

-excuse me. uh... do you mind...being a mo-tour? -what could be better than being a mo-tour? the real question is... do you mind not being a mo-tour? -i do. for those who were born to ride, there's progressive.

-i do. if yoyou'll get 2 vyears or 20,000 miles of scheduled carefree maintenance. 3 years or 36,000 miles of 24/7 roadside assistance. 4 years or 50,000 miles bumper-to-bumper limited warranty. 5 years of connected services. and for 6 years you won't have paid any interest. down the road, you'll be grateful you bought a volkswagen today.

11 days after he was shot and killed by an atlanta police officer, rayshard brooks was laid to rest. dr. king's daughter, the reverend bernese a. king, said she knew the pain of growing up without a father. rayshard brooks' life matters, she said, and he should have been able to live to enjoy his family and watch his kids grow into adulthood. reverend king added it was especially troubling that he was killed in a city that he called home and the mecca of civil rights. he leaves a widow and a 3-year-old daughter and a stepson. the news continues. i'm going to hand things over to chris for "cuomo prime time." chris? >> all right. thank you, anderson, and thank you for helping us remember the right things in the right way. i am chris cuomo. welcome to "prime time." look, we