mayberry. that is a real conversation we should have. host: michael star hopkins, founder of northern star strategies. democratic strategist. you can follow his podcast available on spotify and apple podcast. thank you for being with us this morning. >> kayleigh mcenany, white house press secretary, will give an update on the protests in u.s. cities after the death of george floyd. we will have live coverage. a portion of this morning's "washington journal" while we wait. host: we are joined by armstrong williams, longtime tv host, author and commentator. thank you for being with us. guest: thank you for having me. host: we started our segment with michael hopkins. we asked both of you on to talk about the reaction last week to the death of george floyd at the hands of the minneapolis police.

as the protests have grown, the civil unrest and rioting has grown. i want to get your reaction overall to what we have seen, particularly over the last three days. of america isuty our right to protest in a peaceful way. the majority of the protesters are very peaceful. happenedent than what when you had a terrorist attack on the church in charleston. members of that community, even though they thought they were being looted and burning and vandalism, the community capped -- moral high ground and kept the moral high ground and galvanized the world. what you are seeing in places across the country are people who have the moral high ground, but it has been hijacked. they are no different than the law enforcement officers that i

-- theirto be more behavior, to be no more than thuggery. killed george floyd was for no reason at all and others just stood around. you have to ask yourself. what would cause them to react in such a way that they would not show any humanity? it also shows a lack of immunity to burn, loot, destroy. this has gone on so long. it did not start with trump. it happened under obama, bush, and clinton. we always have these situations. baltimore was burning, d.c. was burning not a long time ago. these thugs should be taken into custody and booked and prosecuted to the fullest of the law. there is no place for it and they are not representative of the majority of people who want

a peaceful solution and say to law enforcement we cannot tolerate this anymore. what do you think the responsibility is of those who you talked about having the moral high ground? the movement has been hijacked in your words. how to the peaceful protests regain that moral high ground? guest: you are not going to lose that moral high ground when you watch the video of george floyd. no matter what you think about law enforcement and people protesting, you cannot see that -- i don't know many people that watch the entire nine minutes. i think people were shocked to see something like that. it is unfortunate that there are those that have their own agenda. i cannot say whether they are being paid for by someone. i do not get caught up in conspiracies. people,know what causes

and yet i see these people. what you believe believe, and yet you destroy my life. i have employees the need to be employed, and yet you show disrespect. we always have this. i also do not think the answer is telling law enforcement in minnesota and other places to stand down. i respect the mayor of atlanta who said she was outraged. there was no place for this. you are not helping the cause, you are destroying the cause. we need more mayors like the mayor of atlanta to take the moral high ground and take it away from this thuggish behavior. in terms of the police, in particular the floyd incident, you mentioned the term bad

apples. it has been mentioned by the national security of trump over the weekend. do you think the police incidences in the country are examples of bad apples or is they are broader -- is there a broader systemic issue? guest: both. i have been stopped at 4:00 in the morning going to the jim. i have been stopped in the deep south driving. i have never had a bad experience with law enforcement. i have only seen the best of law enforcement in my entire life of dealing with them. 95% of law-enforcement is that way. people in washington have seen the metropolitan police department. they comport themselves well. speak to each other, show each other respect. i can tell you right now that

they too are ashamed and embarrassed and humiliated by what they see in law enforcement. what they will tell you is that if you are someone like derek you ask-- chauvin, yourself how he could be continue to move through the ranks and policed her addictions -- and police jurisdictions? the reason is you cannot shed a record. the person that gets them at the next precinct has no idea of what their records were. if you have that kind of behavior, he needs to be shared -- it needs to be shared.

host: the u.s. house coming in briefly a 9:00 for a pro forma session. the phone lines (202) 748-8001 four republicans -- facts are republicans -- for republicans, . we caller: a couple things. this policeman derek chauvin, what he did was conducted a form of extreme torture.

it was not just murder. nine minutes of torture. he knew people were watching. he knew it was on film. he did not care because he knew there was a probability that , like the guy in new york, that he would get lots of money from alt-right people to defend himself and he would walk. that is with the frustrations target is. let's take four or five years to determine -- give them enough time to forget about what this man has done and then let him walk if not before then. after americans have been dealing with this kind of stuff for 400 years. 400 years of repetitious, negative reinforcement. imagine that happening to our counterparts. 400 years of negative reinforcement of who, what, and how you are. your god, yahweh, created you.

and not just here in america. people formerly from africa who were brought over as slaves by the portuguese remover. -- by the portuguese or whomever. i agreed his opening segment, but he lost me on the alt-right. that not the alt-right freed people like derek chauvin. we so want to malign the left, the right. it is about right and wrong. it is about moral striving. that derek chauvin wants to stay on the police force. if you can imagine that the police force allows you to stay on the force and you get away with what happened with him, you begin to believe your behavior is ok. you become an enabler. that was obvious with his colleagues standing around him.

they had no humanity. they were just as guilty as he was. the bottom line is what creates this kind of attitude, this kind of behavior when you see it firsthand and you do nothing? i have to tell you i am not outraged over the fact that george floyd died because he was black. i am outraged because he died because he was a human by -- human being. i could care less about derek chauvin's race. what i care about is his behavior. this attitude toward a human being that could have been anybody. it is easier to understand the negative when it is black-and-white. and the color is right, there is a history of this disproportionately happening to american blacks. if you ask yourself if it would have been different had this person been caucasian. i think this is not about race.

it is more about law enforcement and what they are doing and what they are trained to believe and what they get away with. but we need to be outraged over the loss of a human being's life, not his race and not the race of the human being that caused him to die. host: we will go to gloria next in maryland. republican line. caller: good morning mr. armstrong. you and i are not total strangers. cnn for an opportunity to speak out. i am a nearly 83-year-old, totally blind. i am only blinded physically. poorly -- a fully ordained minister. i was brought into the activism by the blood of emmett till. i want to say this. when you look at apartment -- withyou look at a problem

a lot of moving parts, but it is the same problem. america has to understand that is capable of overcoming. we are not going to allow another execution and that is precisely what it was to take place under the full view of america under the supervision of a white house that is smelling increasingly like an outhouse. we have an opportunity to throw all the garbage out the window. an election is coming. let's not bother about the multitude of reasons. if could see this coming, you pardon the pun from the blind lady. we have an opportunity to do what a cowardly, emasculated republican senate could not do

-- impeach the unworthy person in the white house at the polls. host: gloria in maryland. armstrong williams, your response. if trump were not in the white house, this situation would be different. it happens under all the watches of the presidents. --you think you can bring you can blame this on trump and all of a sudden this goes away, it is much deeper. it is a problem we almost face. it is a problem we must all deal with. fellow mantreat our even when no one else is watching. it is all about how your rear and teach our children. what we teach them to do is what they become. we must value humanity not because of what humanity looks like but because we are all created in the eyes of god -- as equal beings.

just because someone has wealth or poverty does not mean they have character. character is indelible to how you treat people, how you live, and the good that you do in the time that is given you. while it is easy to bring politicians in this, obviously the politicians cannot resolve this for us. we have got to reawaken the sleeping giant, which is the american people. when you see these peaceful protests speaking out because of their outrage at how we continue to destroy humanity, then and only then will these politicians follow as we lead them. ago: trump tweeting moments -- november 3, the election date. president'shink the chances for reelection have changed given the covid pandemic and the recent unrest and violence in u.s. cities?

we are so focused on what is going to happen in this election, whether the president has been impacted by covid-19. we remember in 2016 when the press told us he did not have a snowball's chance of winning the white house. my attitude was we have -- we know far less than we think we know. let the people decide. whatever that decision is, at the end of the day, that person becomes our president -- my president and will remain my president. this is a republic. i respect the will of the people and i will let the people decide. i think the president is doing the best that he can. i think he cares about this country. i think he is frustrated. he does not always say the right things, tweet.the right things i wish he had more discipline, more self-restraint. but i believe he cares about

this country. when you talk about looting and shooting, those looters look like millions of americans. the issue is the frustration of people who do not -- of people who take it to a new level. i think sometimes you have to put more order in place. you cannot just stand down. i wish it were not coming from the president. i wish these mayors and governors would take a strong stand to say, we are not going to tolerate this behavior and if you conduct this kind of behavior it comes with consequences. go to ray in north carolina. caller: i wanted to mention, and i think armstrong is amazing. first, i was thinking how trump

is being blamed over so many things that it is obvious he had nothing to do with. matter, but ins many matters. are ignoring the local, state, and the federal folks involved in this. i cannot help but think those are democrats often in those positions. even the attorneys general, the people who enforce the laws, who set the tone, the leaders. we are going to listen to our local leaders, but more importantly we have to stop fighting. it seems we are fighting religion. we fight morality. tv,y time i turn on the there is all kinds of killings and the language is her and

this. -- horrendous. i have a grandsons and a finding something decent to watches hard in today's culture. very quickly -- but russia was proven to want to create discord in our country. i do not think they really cared who won. they love this. our enemies love it when we are divided like this. host: that issa rae in north carolina. in orth carolina. we all get to where we are by our experiences and the things that shape us. i think we are two divided on the left in the right, but we are fighting something we have never seen before. in the midst of covid-19, we said we need to shut down.

people were self-quarantined and all of a sudden they found something significant. they said i had to step up and fight for humanity even if i get sick or die. in that strength, we have to find unity. we have to see that we have far more in common. the dissonance and writing -- riding in america to tell uss trying something is something it is not -- >> good afternoon, everyone. the president has made clear that what we are seeing in america is unacceptable. violence, looting, anarchy, lawlessness are not to be tolerated, plain and simple. these criminal acts are not