kahn for the federal trade commission. on www.c-span.org we are streaming the testifying of michael bolton on the january 6 on the u.s. capitol. that's live at 2 p.m. eastern. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by the television companies and more including charter communications. >> broadband is a force for empowerment. that's why charter has invested billions, building infrastructure, upgrading technology, empowering opportunity in communities big and small. charter is connecting us. >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> "washington journal,"

reaction former minneapolis police officer derek shaaban being found guilty on all charges -- derek shaaban being found guilty on all -- derek ♪ host:, it is wednesday, april 20 1, 2021. after a 14-day trial over two days, former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin is found guilty of all three charges in the death of george floyd. this morning we are spending all three hours of our program getting your reaction to the verdict on phone lines split regionally. eastern or central time zone, it is (202) 748-8000. mountain or pacific time zone, (202) 748-8001. you can also send us a text this morning at (202) 748-8003.

if you do, include your name or where you are from. otherwise check as out on social media, on twitter, on facebook at facebook.com/c-span. good morning. you can call in now. throughout the trial of the video of the nine minutes and 20 nine seconds that derek chauvin kneeled on the neck of george floyd was considered to be the star witness in the case. in the end it took the minneapolis district court judge peter cahill one minute and 20 seconds to read the verdict of the jury. [video clip] members of the jury i will read the verdict as they will appear in the permanent record of the state of minnesota, district court, court to judicial district, verdict, count one, court file number 27 cr 201-2646. we the jury in the above

entitled manner as to count one unintentional second-degree murder while committing a felony find the defendant guilty. at 1:44 p.m.. signed jury four-person person juror number 19. the same caption, verdict count two, we the during the above entitled manner in count two third-degree murder perpetrating an imminently dangerous act find the defendant guilty. signed by jury for person juror number 19. same caption, verdict count three, we the jury in the above entitled manner as to count three second degree manslaughter culpable negligence creating an unreasonable risk line the defendant guilty, the verdict agree to the 20th day of april 2021 at 1:45 p.m., jury for person 019. host: that was the scene yesterday afternoon after 5:00 p.m. eastern.

here are the headlines this morning from some of the national papers starting with "usa today." the headline "guilty of murder." the front page of "the washington post," the subtitle is tears and jubilation outside the courtroom. a rare rebuke of police violence in the united states. the front page of "the wall street journal" their stubhub -- sub headline, facing 40 years in the case that cited unrest. taking your phone calls throughout this morning, spending all three hours getting your reaction. regional lines this morning. (202) 748-8000 in the eastern or central time zones. (202) 748-8001 if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones. yesterday after the verdict was announced the minnesota attorney general offered his thoughts about the verdict's message to the country. >> i would not call today's

verdict justice, because justice implies true restoration. but, it is accountability, which is the first step towards justice. now the cause of justice is in your hands. when i say your hands i mean the hands of the people of the united states. george floyd mattered. he was loved by his family and his friends. his death shocked the conscience of our community, our country, the whole world. he was loved by his family and friends. that is not why he mattered. he mattered because he was a human being. and there is no way we can turn away from that reality. the people who stopped and raised their voices on may 25, 2020 were a bouquet of humanity, a phrase i stole from my friend

jerry blackwell. a bouquet of humanity. old, young, men, and women. black-and-white. -- black and white. a man from the neighborhood walking to get a drink. a child going to buy a snack with their cousin. an off-duty firefighter on their way to a community garden. brave young women, teenagers who press record on their cell phones. why did they stop? they did not know george floyd. they didn't know he had a beautiful family. they didn't know he had been a great athlete. they didn't know he was a proud father or he had people in his life who loved him. they stopped and raised their voices, and they even challenged authority because they saw his humanity. they stopped and they raised their voices because they knew what they were seeing was wrong. they didn't need to be medical

professionals or experts in the use of force. they knew it was wrong. they were right. these community members, this bouquet of humanity, did it again in this trial. they performed simple yet profound acts of courage. they told the truth, and they told the whole world the truth about what they saw. they were vindicated by the chief of police, by the minneapolis's longest serving police officer, and by many other police officers who stepped up and testified into what they saw and what they knew . what happened on that street was wrong. host: the minnesota attorney general yesterday. more reaction from minnesota's congressional delegation yesterday on twitter. a democratic senator tweeting, "convicting derek chauvin for the murder of george floyd is a moment of accountability and a

moment to recommit ourselves to the movement for racial justice this tragic murder sparked." saying millions of people took to the street because we cannot look away from the reality of george floyd's murder in new change had to come. we need to rethink public safety so black and brown people and all people feel safe and protected in their homes, neighborhoods, and communities. this is the work ahead of all of us. and from a republican saying, for the past 12 weeks 12 of our minnesotans listened to the evidence presented by the prosecution and defense. i think our jurors for their service. it is my greatest hope we find the strength to unify our communities and move forward together. our nation's leaders especially have an obligation to turn down the temperature and reject rhetoric that may incite violence. peace, compassion, constructive dialogue is the only path forward. those are two of minnesota's congressional delegation. we will show you more throughout

the program from minnesota and around the country and here on capitol hill. mostly we want to hear your reaction to the conviction of derek chauvin yesterday by that minneapolis jury. first in virginia beach, virginia. good morning, sir. caller: good morning, how are you doing? host: i am doing well. caller: i want to say one thing real quick. i know i don't have much time. i'm a 65-year-old african-american man and my son is 25 years old. he had gotten very angry about this situation with mr. floyd. i had been trying to convince him that the process worked and things will work out. i had been afraid he would go out and do something to the police. i don't want him to be hurt. i basically would tell him that if it had to have and i would rather something happened to me. it is such a relief that this verdict has come about. i'm hoping and praying there is

dialogue between the police and the black community where we don't have to be in fear of them and they don't have to be in fear of us. host: what was your first conversation with your son like after the verdict was announced? caller: i actually called the police department and i tried to schedule an appointment for my son and i to talk to the police, because he had so much anger seeing black people being murdered by the police and the white racist republicans backing this narrative that if he did not move a certain way or if he didn't comply you deserve what you got. i had dialogue with the police over the phone. my son and i are scheduled to go talk to the police. i'm trying to get him to understand and realize that police are human just like we are. there are good police and bad police. the problem is in the political spectrum you have these republicans saying the police,

you know, if he would have complied, whatever, whatever. it doesn't make sense to me. your eyes didn't lie to me and your eyes did not lie when you saw the video and that man being killed in nine minutes and 25 seconds. i hope my son and all young african-americans, white americans, all americans see there is justice in our system, it just takes time to work. host: this is steve out of illinois. good morning. caller: good morning. i am 52, and i am caucasian. i got pulled over about three months ago. my license plate sticker was outdated. i had the sticker in my car, i had the insurance be of the cop gave me a ticket because i was speeding.

i took the ticket and was on my way. when i went to college our society has to have laws, they have to be followed. that is what our sociology book said. all you have to do is follow the law, it is that simple. i have to say -- host: do you think that the law and justice system worked out here? caller: yeah, yeah, it did. it absolutely did. i think the police officer was absolutely wrong. i have to say, there was a shooting about a 13-year-old boy in chicago. i want to know why the mother wasn't charged. why give a glock to a 13-year-old at 10:30 or 11:30 at night? i have lived in those neighborhoods in chicago. i moved out.

i actually moved out of my house because two youths opened up my living room window and pointed a gun at me. host: that is steve in illinois. jason out of montgomery, alabama. you are next. caller: good morning. i agree with the very first caller. i think justice was served. i think officers need time to get things as well. with that said, i think it is a sad state when we have a video showing george floyd being killed and there was any doubt about what happened or what the outcome was going to be. because many people were holding their breath waiting to see if in fact the legal system would hold him to account. i think that is a bigger story. i think we need to be thankful it did work, but we really need to think hard and long about how

policemen are consistently protected because they are policemen, and how they are given a pass to treat regular citizens in an unlawful way. that is the bigger conversation. until we have that conversation it seems things will keep happening. it doesn't matter about race. the optics of it were horrible and i think race is part of that, but regardless if it is black, or white, or whatever, it was a regular citizen killed by cops who constitutionally are only expected to protect the person in their custody. they failed to do that in a catastrophic way. we can't just keep letting that happen and act like it doesn't matter. host: jason in alabama. the other officers you are talking about will have their day in court later this year.

derek chauvin is expected to be sentenced in this case in about eight weeks. as the washington times points out, his legal woes may not be over. attorney general merrick garland said the guilty verdict will not affect a federal civil rights investigation into the case. "this investigation is ongoing," said the attorney general. the attorney general's boss, president biden, spoke yesterday after the jury announced its verdict. here is president biden from the white house yesterday evening. [video clip] pres. biden: it was a murder in the full light of day. it took the blinders off for the whole world to see the systemic racism that the vice president just referred to. this is a stain on our nation's soul. the knee on the neck of justice for black americans. profound fear and trauma. the pain and exhaustion of black

and brown americans every single day. the murder of george floyd launched a summer of protests we hadn't seen since the civil rights era in the 60's. protests that unified people of every race and generation with peace and purpose to say enough. enough. enough of the senseless killings. today, today's verdict is a step forward. i just spoke with the governor of minnesota to thank him for the close work with his team. i also spoke with george floyd's family again. a remarkable family of extraordinary courage. nothing can ever bring their brother, their father back, but

this can be a giant step forward in the march toward justice in america. host: president biden yesterday evening from the white house. robert out of portland, oregon. good morning. caller: good morning. i am so happy that this verdict came down. it is about time. i know that the police have a really tough job, but nobody has a right to put their knee on somebody's neck and choke them to death. that is just common sense. if you're going to for nine minutes put your knee on somebody's neck, what do you think is going to happen? host: the knee on the neck, the focus point of the political cartoon this morning in "the washington post." there is the officer with his knee on the neck and justice

leaning in with a cell phone camera watching. in albuquerque, you are next. caller: thanks for having me. this is a sad situation all the way around. i'm just hoping george floyd's family was truly there for him when he needed them. other than his attorney getting up there and saying he was the greatest guy on the planet and all that, because they got that big settlement that will affect all of the taxpayers and people of there, right, wrong, or indifferent. i've been down and out. i was in two branches of the military and retired from the military, and i've seen down and out a little bit. i've had good family that was there for me. i hope truly that family members look out for people when they are going downhill, getting in trouble, and whatever mr. floyd was up to before that. it didn't sound too good, but --

host: the city of annapolis announcing two weeks before jury selection before the trial began they had reached a $27 million settlement in the civil lawsuit filed by the floyd family in the death of george floyd yesterday after derek chauvin was convicted on all three charges , including secondary murder charges. among those who spoke were members of george floyd's family, including his brother. [video clip] >> my plan is, i feel relieved today that i finally have the opportunity to hopefully get some sleep. a lot of days that i prayed and hoped, and i was speaking everything into existence. i said i have faith he will be convicted. [applause] it has been a long journey, and it has been less than a year.

the person that comes to my mind is 1955. to me he was the first george floyd. that was emmett till. on cnn with deborah watson, she brought him back to life. people forgot about him, but he was the first george floyd. but today you have cameras all around the world the sea and show what happened to my brother -- the world to see and show what happened to my brother. it was a motion picture the world seeing his light being extinguished. i could do nothing but watch, especially in that courtroom over and over again as my brother was murdered. times are getting harder every

day. 10 miles away from him mr. wright, daunte wright, he should still be here. we have to always understand that we have to march. we will have to do this. we have to protest. it seems like this is a never ending cycle. we have to keep fighting. i'm going to put up a fight every day, because i'm not just fighting for george anymore. i'm fighting for everybody around this world. i get calls, i get dm's. people from brazil, from ghana, from germany, london, italy. they are all saying the same thing. we won't be able to breathe until you are able to breathe.

today we are able to breathe again. [applause] host: george floyd's brother yesterday after the announcement of the jury decision came down. all three counts: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, guilty of all three charges listed in the banner of the headline of "the washington post." st. petersburg, florida, good morning. al, are you with us? remember to stay by your phone. kirk in athens, alabama. good morning. go ahead. caller: i have a question and i need you to answer it and find the answer to for me and maybe give it to me over the air. the question is, what the police was called for was suspicion of him passing a $20 bill.

i watched the entire trial. i did not see a single mention of the legitimacy of that accusation and charge. i didn't see the bill as evidence, i didn't see the bill even mentioned as much. i need to know what became of what should have been evidence in the trial of a $20 bill that was either counterfeit or it was legal, legit. i didn't get an answer to that. where is the $20 bill? if it continued to be put into circulation and spent, what does that mean? what should become of the store and the police? that sort of reaction to what might've been an erroneous charge of passing a counterfeit bill. and many times people might come across a counterfeit bill might not be aware it is counterfeit.

it seemed to be a huge overreaction for a $20 bill that somehow got lost in the process of all this. if the police were called over the $20 why wasn't the $20 bill part of the case in the dry whether it was legit or fake? host: the issue came up, but not much in the trial. i would point you to a store yesterday in "the new york times" specifically about what became of the bill. little has been said about the $20 bill that brought officers to the scene is the headline of the story from "the new york times." the last few weeks of the chauvin trial provided jurors with a comprehensive understanding of george floyd's final moments pieced together . there is a part of the case that both lawyers have spent little time on, the $20 bill that wrought the police to the scene in the first place. mr. chauvin, the former minneapolis police officer, was one of four officers who took

part in the 911 call that mr. floyd had use the $20 bill to buy cigarettes. at the end of that story they note that nearly a year after mr. floyd's death, it remains unclear where the bill came from and if mr. floyd actually committed the crime that brought police officers to the scene in the first place. i won't redo the whole story, but does that work and you can find that i won't read you the whole story, but does that work and you can read it yourself? caller: yes. i was looking and i could not find it at all. host: good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. i guess like most people i have been watching the trial and am just amazed. the one thing i don't think i've heard mentioned throughout all of this is -- and i watched as that boy in the store was made to go out twice to ask mr. floyd

to come in and talk to the manager, which he refused to do. had mr. floyd done all those drugs and past a fake $20 bill, i would have driven off as fast as i could, and he never did. he sat there until the police arrived, and he never resisted until he felt claustrophobic in the back of that car of the police. i have always been wondering, if i was really guilty i would have driven off very fast. host: how much of the trial did you end up watching? caller: quite a bit. i am a senior citizen, disabled, and it really caught my attention. i have been very concerned about anyone, anyone, even a family

member of mine that was kind of abused by the police. i am just glad -- i don't want anyone to go to jail, but i'm just there was really justice this time. host: ingrid out of pensacola, florida. staying in florida this is carol from panama city with a text message saying it was the correct verdict. i hope the good cops, of which there are many, will turn in the bad cops who make the good cops look bad. this verdict will change america for the better as regards to bad cops finally being held accountable. from illinois, i pray somehow the whites, especially the men, grasp the reality that there is a different dynamic in play when police stopped a black person then when a white person is approached and stopped. the black person is immediately viewed as a criminal and the white person is immediately given the benefit of the doubt.

this is from gary, this verdict is a large step towards justice, and it was taken here in minnesota. once again, minnesota proud. lots of your calls, lots of your discussion throughout all three hours of our program. we are hearing from you. phone lines are split regionally. t-storm or pacific, it is -- in the mountain or pacific it is (202) 748-8000. good morning. caller: i see a settlement, $27 million, then you have reverend jackson and river -- who did not show up. what i don't understand is barack obama was president for eight years and we did not have one problem. now it is all over the place. thank you.

host: former president obama with a statement yesterday in the wake of the jury verdict. this is what the former president had to say. if we are being honest with ourselves we know true justice is about more than a single verdict in a single trial. true justice requires we come to terms with the fact that black americans are treated differently every day. it requires us to recognize millions of our family, friends, and fellow citizens live in fear that their next encounter with law enforcement could be their last. while today's verdict may have been a necessary step on the road to progress it was far from a sufficient one. we cannot rest. we need to follow through with concrete reforms that will reduce and eliminate racial bias in our criminal justice system. we need to redouble efforts to expand economic opportunities in those communities that have been too long marginalized. stephen pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning, how are

you today? host: doing well. caller: i guess i fall in the category is one of the earlier callers. i am an old white guy, republican, but i'm not racist. the idea that somehow white people are against black people has got to stop. i don't understand how we got to a point in our society where the news media and politicians continually have to hammer this. but, that is where we are. about the george floyd case -- host: you think racism is a real problem in this country? caller: racism is a real problem everywhere. everyone has racist things in their body. as long as we look at people as black people, white people, yellow people, orange people, whatever the case may be there will be racism. host: are we getting better as a country?

caller: absolutely we are getting better. when i was growing up in the 1960's i was racist and a victim of racism. i was literally beaten by a gang of older black girls. i got over it. it is not the end of the world. i never purposely hurt people in response. so, yeah. there is racism. is it systemic in the fact that it is being pushed upon society by the media more than anybody? and by the people that, i think it was george washington carver the guy that said there are people who make their living off playing off the woes of other black people. i am paraphrasing, but that is exactly what people like al sharpton and jesse jackson are doing, and they get free reign to say whatever they want. this is america, they can say whatever they want. host: do you think justice was served yesterday? caller: oh, i don't know about

justice was served. i don't think justice has anything to do with it. this was -- i guess when justice will be served will be when this guy is sentenced. it doesn't matter. the people who are going to propagate this type of thing to keep the news headlines going, to keep the race more going -- brace wa -- race war going, those are the people who want to see this because it makes great headlines, great news, great optics. you have former president of the united states saying we have to double down. you have the attorney general of the state of minnesota saying immediately after the trial that justice has been served. what the hey?

how did we get to this point where we are now, what is the cop going to do? is he going to be hesitant to show up to a place? are jurors going to be intimidated by what people are going to say on the media? host: steve in pennsylvania. joe out of maine. good morning. caller: yeah, i guess -- i don't think steve ever got over being beaten up by those people, girls. sorry, steve. my comment is about the jurors. host: a jury of seven women and five men. if i can even get the breakdown more for you, but what are your thoughts on the jurors? are you still with us? i think we lost the caller. we will go to alan in new jersey.

caller: how are you doing? i think it is a strange situation we are running ourselves into. the police are going to not want to respond to certain things because they are going to fear that every time they respond to a criminal act of an individual they are going to back down and not know what to do. unfortunately, the democrats just want to keep race baiting everybody. this was not about racism. it was an incident where an individual either passed a counterfeit bill or he didn't. this is about arresting a man. i don't think cops necessarily chase after black african-americans and commit crimes to hurt them. i think we are headed towards a race war, and i believe the democrats are pushing this. everything is not about race. joe biden had no business opening his mouth saying there was enough evidence against this

man to convict him. i haven't heard a president do that. this is the only one this president seems to be so off-the-wall with the things he does between the border and the racial things he is pushing -- host: you're talking about president biden's comments before the jury verdict yesterday? caller: absolutely. he had no business opening his mouth. maxine waters is another one. host: on president biden's comments yesterday, this was the president from the oval office before the verdict was announced. [video clip] pres. biden: i have come to know george's family. i have spent time with them. i've spent time with his little daughter. she is a beautiful child. and his brother, both brothers as a matter of fact. i can only imagine the pressure

and anxiety they are feeling. so i waited until the jury was sequestered and i called. i wasn't going to say anything about it, but philonise accurately said joe understands what it is like to go through loss. they are a good family and their call for peace and trains quality -- peace and tranquility no matter what the verdict is. the jury is sequestered now and not hearing me say that. i wanted to know how they are doing. we talk about personal things. host: president biden yesterday before the jury announcement came down. this is robert out of rochester,

new york. good morning. caller: yes, good morning. the tragedy that mr. floyd's situation was, it really was necessary. but i, as a 60-year-old white guy, who has grown up with black families, we went to their picnics and we played with each other in the backyard, i would like to ask black lives matter to realize the globalist marxist front and 85% of their membership can't comprehend what i just said. if they can turn their attention to black on black gang violence in the inner cities when 7-year-old black children are getting hit in the head with bullets in the crossfire, that is what my white boy --would like to see out of black lives matter to turn their attention to. host: yesterday, do you think justice was served? caller: yeah, there was no sense

in that man's death. the bigger picture here is let's reflect on why he was there in the first place. i don't think he is a choir boy in all due respect to the family. the young man in minnesota was not a choir boy. these are not innocent people. i have seen white boys get their -- beat by the cops. it is not a black thing. host: this text message from sue in ohio saying, guilty of manslaughter, yes. but imagine this. if george floyd had not had resisted arrest there would be no riots, looting. his death, a policeman going to jail. just think about that. i am surprised, but in this case justice was served. mlb writing i agreed this was common sense.

implying that the floyd family may have been there for the money. we are a far cry from achieving justice. your reaction of around the country and around the world with a couple of papers from the daily mail," "guilty" is the headline talking about the derek chauvin case. this from "the guardian," relief across the united states as the jury convicts the officer in george floyd's murder. during question time in the house of commons, prime minister boris johnson provided his reaction to the guilty verdict when it comes to derek chauvin. [video clip] pm johnson: i know the house will want to join me in sending our best to her majesty the queen on her 95th birthday. and in minneapolis delivering justice for the family and friends of george floyd.

host: boris johnson earlier today over in london. taking your phone calls here. around the country. we had to jacksonville, florida. good morning. caller: ok, i will make it real, real quick today. if you had component -- if you had component -- al capone under the knee of chauvin, if you had someone like al capone who was an unbelievable criminal under the need for 10 minutes he would be dead. who would be guilty? it would be derek chauvin. also, the people who pray to god to do this and that, god is supposedly according to all religions to have foreseen

everything as an all-powerful being. therefore it is not hard to figure out. if god foresaw it and allowed it he permits permits. [speaking french] host: greg in colorado, you are next. caller: thanks for taking my call. i wanted to say finally justice was served. i think it is fantastic that finally these bad police are being called out and taken to court and charged. i just hope now that with the appeal that something still happens and justice is still served. my question too that was not brought up in the trial, i had heard something that both of these gentlemen were security guards together at one time.

i'm wondering if that had something to do with derek chauvin's behavior that they? -- that day? i will take your answer off the air. thank you. this is rudy from delaware, ohio. caller: good morning. i feel like saying we have a national blood bank. if anyone is in an accident, does anyone ask if it was an african-american, hispanic american, if you want to live you are going to take the blood wherever it comes from. i feel like mr. floyd's family should get that money that officer shall been received to get out of jail. thank you for taking my call. host: sugar grove, north carolina, good morning. caller: good morning. i am so happy for the verdict, although i heard a special agent

in charge of the fbi during civil unrest in the state of ohio where i used to live watching protesters coming down the street. he patted the gun on the calf of his leg and sat in front of three people, all coworkers, saying i would like to shoot me a couple of n-words. 20 years ago, fbi agent's we have a long way to go still. i would like to read something really quickly. the campaign in 1968 and the nixon white house had two enemies, the antiwar left and black people. do you understand what i'm saying? we knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either, against the war or black, but getting the public to associate hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin and criminalizing those we could disrupt those communities, rate their homes,

break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. did we know we were lying about the drugs? of course we did. "nixon." i was 13 years old when he said that. disgusting. thank you for taking my call. host: connecticut, this is ben. caller: thank you for taking my call. what you're seeing now is a color revolution. the same thing happened in egypt and ukraine, which was all started by soros and obama. thank you. host: joseph and compton, california -- in compton, california. caller: good morning, america. i would like to speak to all of the beautiful citizens we have. when we are dealing with this killer heart that americans have, that people want to kill people. they would kill their own

brothers over political and religious differences. we need to stand and think about this. we can be different and live different and be from different cultures, but we don't have to have this killer heart every time we have a difference with somebody that we feel i'm going to kill you. please, america, let's change our hearts. this is an act of god for all of us to be responsibility. we have to have responsibility here that we have to stand up for justice and liberty and change our hearts here that we don't have to be killers no more and walk around with all of these guns. put down your guns, change your hearts. we don't have to be killers anymore. host: the verdict yesterday, was it a surprise to you? caller: i have been sitting here watching this from the rodney king incident. i was really impressed as i watched law enforcement stand up

and tell the truth. it was a very big difference that we saw law enforcement demonstrate, saying this is how law-enforcement is. it's dirty and nasty. in this incident they explained, this is not law enforcement. this is clear, cold-blooded murder. didn't even have a heart when they saw that the man was in distress to even provide emergency help that he was trained to do. so yeah, justice was fulfilled. host: joseph in compton, california. on the issue of whether this verdict was a surprise this is eugene robinson on the opinion pages of today's "washington post." this is what he writes in the first paragraphs. "it shouldn't have been an open question if a police officer could kneel on a man's neck for more than nine minutes, snuffing out his life with partial

or complete impunity. we shouldn't have had to hold our collective breath from the moment it was announced there was a verdict in the derek chauvin trial to the moment the verdict was read. this shouldn't feel so much like a victory, but it does. the jurors saw floyd tend to the hard pavement and say again and again that he couldn't breathe and held chauvin accountable. they saw george floyd fully as a human being. sometimes that simple acknowledgment of humanity has apparently been too much to ask. the police officers who killed philando castile, derek gardner, and so many other black men were not charged. this is he hopes a beginning." so many papers on this. we are mostly focused on your calls. setting aside all three hours to

hear your reaction. this is anne in washington, d.c. caller: i was truly surprised that there was a guilty verdict in all of the charges. i do believe that the jurors took away the idea that this was a policeman, but was a person who any person would have done the same thing i believe would have gotten the guilty verdict. i hope, and i thank the police officers and jurors for keeping their eye on what happened as opposed to who it was happening too. any person doing the same thing should have been found guilty. host: beverly in mississippi. caller: good morning, america. monday night i went to the store. as i went into the store a white guy and a three-year-old child was standing beside me.

they were at the counter. he turned around, the three-year-old boy, turned around and called me a monkey. he said you are a monkey, your mama is a monkey, and your dad too. i said you are the reason why you are saying this. i am 66 years old. if i was in my 20's it would have been a fight between me and him. i know that if i would have called the police i would have gotten the bad end of the deal. thank you for taking my call. host: this is john out of l.a. caller: good morning. i just want to know one thing. watching 10 people look at the police officers, watching, and instead of trying to help this poor man being suffocated to death i would have tried to have helped this poor man being choked to death, but i would have been scared to death because they would've come after me. i think everyone else would

fight to this too. my first impulse was try to say this guys life, but the way the cops stared at the people, it seems frightening to know that you would have been killed trying to help george floyd. what is your take on that? host: we want to hear your takes all morning long. alexandria, virginia. caller: i agree with the last caller. he is right. i felt the same way and i did not have to wait until i heard the verdict. it was obvious that the man was guilty. he is a killer. we got the right verdict yesterday. secondly, i want to agree with the young man that i believe is from pennsylvania. he said blacks against whites or whites against blacks, and maybe i don't have that right, but i have friends from all over the world. i'm not a racist and i don't believe that guy who called is a

racist. we need to stop calling each other black and white. my ancestors came from africa so his probably came from europe, maybe it why don't we stop calling each other black and white, we are neither one. we have ancestors from somewhere. my ancestors came from africa, and i'm sure his came from europe people need to study history. if you ask somebody they will say i'm black, but how do they get the term black? they forgot the word negro and black are the same. if they want to be called black, and i'm african-american, to let you know if you want to be called black you should just accept being called a negro, because it means the same. host: the chairwoman of the congressional black caucus gave her reaction to the verdict yesterday on the steps of the

capitol and her thoughts on what should happen next. [video clip] >> our message today, this verdict we certainly agree with. guilty on all charges. but we want our message to be very clear that this is just the first step. we know clearly that justice has been delayed. when it comes to today we will continue to say all of the names. we will fight continuously for all those who died or have been injured senselessly by law enforcement. we know there are still the mothers, the families, the children who are in fear today because the verdict -- who are in tears today because the verdict will not bring back their family member.

while we agree today, there is so much emotion that we have collected and gathered as members of the congressional black caucus, and that is why i have asked all of the members to come. our members will afterwords give you their statement before our statements of the congressional black caucus. we thought it best that we are hopeful today would be the catalyst to turn the pain, the agony, the justice delay into action to go far beyond today. host: that is from outside the united states capitol yesterday. that is the scene this morning on capitol hill as we hear from you a day after a jury convicted derek chauvin on all three charges including second-degree murder, a charge that could carry up to 40 years in prison.

derek chauvin will be sentenced in about eight weeks. getting your immediate reaction to the verdict. this is dale in columbus, ohio. caller: yes, my name is dale. i thought for a long time all the accounts would be guilty, but i want to put the question in everybody's mind that they said it was a counterfeit $20 bill. if it was a counterfeit $20 and the man lost his life did they go to his home and make more 20's? they're not going to make more $20 bills. when people make counterfeits they make a number of $20 or $100. they never came up with no question like that. a counterfeit $20, did he have a machine in his house to make $20? what amazes me about this is he had his knee on his neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds

long. that's true but you have to realize it could have been 15 minutes because of how his body was laying at his necklace playing. his neck was seven inches off the ground. if you put your knee seven inches off the ground he could have kept a whole lot longer. thank you. host: springfield, virginia, good morning. caller: good morning. please let me finish my thought. derek chauvin was absolutely a monster, but he was a product of a system that produces monsters. the training and culture. those are police departments. i want to strongly warn the american people, don't see derek chauvin as a bad apple. if you see him as a bad apple the system gets off the hook. it is critical that we keep our focus on the system. in windsor, virginia -- host: what is the answer?

to do away with police departments? is there a police reform bill you support or do you want them disbanded? caller: i think we need to rethink policing, absolutely. defunding -- the one common agreed-upon solution is, and stops should not be by people with guns, basically. we need to defund policing and police departments. i called a couple of years ago about this. the problem with police is the broken window syndrome. in that we, every american, can look around on a daily basis. police speed, drive crazy, part where they want, because at people, throw fbar. i'm a teacher. i cannot say an f-word to a kid. i will be fired.

why are police able to drive crazy, they can throw f-bombs at people, they can throw garbage. no other profession is allowed to do that. postal workers cannot do that. host: i got your point. that is ron in springfield, virginia. among the police reform measures that gathered the most momentum is the george floyd justice in policing act of 2021 that passed the house in early march and is waiting for a vote in the senate. among the things that would do is prohibit prohibit racial profiling, limit the transfer of military grade equipment to police departments, it requires body cameras worn by officers and makes it easier to prosecute offending officers and enable citizens to recover damages in civil court. collecting data also on police misconduct and use of force.

that is among the provisions in that bill. yesterday, karen bass, or offered -- authored the act, spoke about the derek chauvin trail result -- trial result. [video clip] >> step one is the verdict. step two is the sentencing. the sentencing must match the crime that he was convicted of. now, we have to focus on transforming policing in the united states. george floyd's murder, since then, 100 people have died at the hands of police. since the trial started on march 29, 63 people have died at the hands of police. in my opinion, this is the human rights issue in the united states of america. and the point is we need to pass the george floyd of justice and

policing act, put it on the president's desk, because that will be the first step to transforming policing. we need to take a hard look at ourselves in this country, to say why is it that over 100 people have died at the hands of police in the matter of a year? we saw the videotape. we understand the egregious murder, but what about the ones not taken on a cell phone? today, i am relieved. today, i exhale. but this marks the beginning of a new phase of a long struggle to bring justice in america. host: that was congresswoman karen bass yesterday on capitol hill. we have shown you the reaction from around the country. here's more from members of congress, from the republican side of the aisle, senator portman of ohio, his tweet. "george floyd's death was tragic

and should never happen. i'm grateful justice appears to be served as we await sentencing." from the republican of nebraska, "i respect due process and the jury's verdict." katherine clark, "our quest for justice is not over. we do not just want guilty verdicts, we want young girls to have their father's." -- fathe rs." "no joy today, just relief. the lord loves justice and will not abandon his faithful ones." back to your phone calls. we come to the top of the hour now, 8:00 a.m. eastern and we are spending all three hours today getting your reaction to the guilty verdict in the derek chauvin case. the phone numbers are split up regionally. 202-748-8000 in the eastern or

central time zones. 202-748-8001 if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones. you can text us as well at 202-748-8003. we will continue with your phone calls until we end today at 10:00 a.m. eastern. as we take your phone calls now, we will show you the headlines from around the country this morning, talking about the derek chauvin case. james out of idaho, good morning. caller: i'm in boise. you know, the verdict is great, but blacks are not the only people being killed. a young white russian male was shot and killed by police here. and i was almost shot and killed by police. they say they reached further

taser, -- for their taser, but reached for the gun. his mother probably cries herself to sleep every night. he was targeted because he was an immigrant in this country. it's tragedy. his dad, it sits on his heart heavily. and on his mother's heart too. host: lisa out of maryland, good morning. caller: i agree with james on that, but yes, i was shocked at the verdict. i lived through the rodney king stuff that went down in california. i was in my 30's then. i was so appalled by what i saw. i forgot who even filmed that, how it got captured, but i was

so sick because it just reminded me that black bodies have been just a thing since the beginning of this country. this -- there's history behind this. whe i saw thatn, i thought, the white grievance that there was a time when our bodies made money for the country. it was a monetary thing. host: do you think that history is moving in the right direction after yesterday? caller: i do believe that history is moving in the right direction, not as some of my white counterparts would say -- we had a black president, so you know there is progress. but this is the first time i have seen accountability for what goes down to black and brown people, and immigrants like the gentleman articulated. i'm a little sad about this

police officer being arrested. i say sad because i looked in his eyes and watched his movements when the verdict was read and i thought, he has a family, just like our brother that was murdered had. and i thought about, will they protect him in jail? what happens to police officers when they are behind bars with people who hate them? i want to remind folks there's history behind this, looking at black bodies as a thing, not human. host: david out of l.a. good morning. caller: good morning. boy, i have to compliment the humanity of the lady who just got off the phone, concerning herself with the well-being of somebody who is as monstrously hideous as who code george floyd -- killed george floyd.

i will not say his name. i was involved in the rodney gagne case in california. host: how were you involved? caller: i helped establish the justice committee. we were working along the lines of exposing collins for the insane verdict that was given, probation, with a $500 fine for the killing. we had the issue with what happened in simi valley. so we combined the two issues at the time, having a sense that justice denied was the affair. we anticipated what was going to happen with rodney king and

latasha. we knew that there was not going to be any justice, right? i think when the congress person mentioned justice denied, and it has been said before -- host: were you surprised yesterday? did you expect guilty verdicts? caller: i had a sense that there would be guilty verdicts, because black people are at a state right now where it is enough is enough. host: is that community organizing today, as somebody who was a community organizer decades ago -- is that happening today or who is involved in different today or does it get more attention today than it did decades ago? caller: it got a lot of attention back then, but the

attention it is receiving today, like i was getting ready to say, it's a mood and spirit, i would say throughout the nation, but particularly with black people when they say enough is enough. if the verdict i combat like it happened -- verdict had come back like it had in simi valley, it would've sparked a civil war. and the powers that be sensed that. i would like to finish up with this. you by going to get a lot of phone calls like this, this policeman is not unique to the spirit and personality of some american people, right? we had people bringing donuts for the cops in see mead valley, hooraying them on like it was a kind of gang, who watched rodney

king beaten within an inch of his life. latasha is no angel, you would get that a lot. that's manifestation of that person of that devil whose knee was on george floyd. this is white women spitting at kids who are trying to get on a bus, moms over them, harassing kids. that spirit is the american spirit. we need to understand it for the insidious reality and spiritual bankruptcy it is. host: is america's spirit moving in the right direction? caller: by the inch. as a people, we do not have -- we shouldn't be forced to have the patience to deal with this

madness for another second. let alone for another 30 years, as we try to work out whether or not we should defund these insane institutions. host: this is pat out of oklahoma. good morning, you are next. caller: good morning to you. i wanted to say that i personally think it is a sad day that you can take a criminal and allow them to do things, then make heroes out of them. there was a lot in those tapes, that i was not so sure this is correct. i do not feel like justice was done. host: james out of mississippi, good morning. caller: how are you doing?

host: well, sir. caller: i wanted to call in because i think that we are losing the point. we are confusing things with -- and i am not talking about everybody, but i was watching fox news last night -- i do not usually watch fox news, but i felt myself being biased by not listening to what they say. and i would turn it over to the other news broadcasts, but i watched fox news and fox news, sean hannity and another lady that comes on after him, they started showing the violence of the burnings of the riots of 2020, and their topic was --

they came in with the burning of buildings and they were showing how people were running in the stores and tearing up the businesses. and it took me back. i said, here we are in a trial about the death of a person, and they turn around and go back to the rioting, the violence. and i said to myself, and they called them all kinds of names, but you know what -- uh, what calls people to do this? what causes people to tear up their own community or riot? it's not like the black lives matter said, well, whoever they

want to call it, said, we want to tear up something. if you do not have power to compete with the powers that be, and if you pick up a gun, if you go to court, if you protest nicely, you are always going to have agitators. you will always have people that know that people are trying to organize and be respectful, and protest on a peaceful level, but you will always have infiltrators. host: do you think that those people feel powerless today? or do you feel like they have more power today after the results of the trial? caller: which one are you talking about? host: the people who feel powerless. caller: the people who are powerless, when it comes to protesting and marching, yes, they are tired of it.

but i am showing you how the system is portraying the people that want to -- you a black, hispanic, native americans, all marching and doing things. but what i am saying is fox news comes around and they tried to flip it on the violence at that was happening during those merges. and that -- marches. and that is the problem because people cannot get past when people retaliate, or when a person says ion being discriminated against or harassed. if it was not for the camera of the 18-year-old girl that took that picture, this would not be happening now. host: this is the headline from margaret sullivan, her column in the washington post, where she writes, "by hitting record, she may have changed the world."

noting the actions of that young woman when she saw george floyd under the officer's knee and hit record on her cell phone. yesterday, the guilty verdicts announced.w we showed you the president remote from the white house, flanked by the vice president who made remarks as well. [video clip] >> today, we feel a sigh of relief. still it cannot take away the pain. a measure of justice is not the same as equal justice. this verdict brings us a step closer, and the fact is we still have work to do. we still must reform the system. last summer, together with senator cory booker and representative karen bass, i introduced the george floyd justice in policing act. this bill would hold a law

enforcement accountable and build trust between law enforcement and our communities. this bill is part of george floyd's legacy. the president and i will continue to urge the senate to pass this legislation, not as a panacea for every problem, but as a start. this work is long overdue. america has a long history of systemic racism, black americans, black men in particular, have been treated throughout the course of our history as less than human. black men are fathers and brothers and sons and uncles and grandfathers and friends and neighbors. their lives must be valued in our education system, in our

health care system, in our housing system, in our economic system, in our criminal justice system, in our nation, full stop. host: vice president kamala harris yesterday from the white house. we are getting your reaction throughout our entire program this morning, as we also show your reaction from newspapers from around the country. in washington, d.c., the washington times editorial board, the headline, "exploiting civil unrest." "democrats pouring fuel on the fire." they noted last summer tim scott introduced a police reform bill that made lynching a federal hate crime, reviewing the criminal justice system,

aggregating data on the use of force, and punishing state and local law enforcement agencies, if they failed to do so. and if they failed to report to the justice department when no-knock warrants were used. they are using the same filibuster to block that bill. democrats did not want to give republicans a win before the election and used civil unrest to fire up their base during the 2020 elections. this is mary in washington. good morning. caller: how are you? host: i am doing well. caller: i want to say, i didn't want the -- watch the trial, but when they had it on regular television the other morning, and saw -- in the back of the

car, i had a panic attack -- i recognized a panic attack. you go into fight or flight mode. i think that is what was happening to him. you have to go back to it is not white, black, brown or whatever, i think it is more mental health that they need to have. and i think what i would suggest, you know, justice is blind. only god can judge. i know that people wanted somebody to be either murdered -- i mean, not murdered but get the death sentence. i do not know what people want. but i wanted to say i think that some of the money they have for george floyd should go towards getting mental health for people.

and i think we need it across the nation, especially after being in for a year with the pandemic. i do not have anything bad to say. i think that people need to look to god. i'm -- i live in washington now, but i was born and raised in st. louis. and i had a lot of black friends. and my friend, my other son is deceased, but his best friend is black. we did not have prejudice in our home. a lot of it starts in the home. people need to go back to church, go back to god, and look to god. and i think that everybody's emotions are running high. but my dad always told me, do not talk religion or politics, it's too emotional. host: mary in richmond,

washington. you mentioned a death sentence, not on the table in the sentencing. what' on the table is up to 40 yearss in prison after the most serious of the three charges derek chauvin was convicted of, the second-degree murder charge. usa today explaining the charge. "2nd degree murder, attempting to commit another felony. the felony in this case was third-degree assault. chauvin was committed in aiding of the commission of that crime. judge peter cahill told jurors they must find the former officer intended to cause bodily harm or intentionally aided in committing such an assault. the state must prove the assault inflicted bodily harm or was intended for bodily harm, including loss of consciousness." he was convicted on that charge,

along with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. that was returned by the jury after 10 hours of deliberation, from a jury of seven women and five men, hearing 14 days of testimony in the case with 38 witnesses called by the state, and another 11 witnesses called by the defense. howard is in columbus, ohio. caller: about 16 years ago, i was a victim of police brutality. one of the things i suffer from is recurring major depression. this officer, officer sheppard, was supposed to transport me from my residence to a mental health center. the moment he laid eyes on me, he said i was faking a mental illness is because the only thing i suffered from was loneliness and all i could do

was try to get attention from people and get a ride to a mental-health center -- host: bring us to this case and what they derek chauvin case brought up in you as you were watching the verdict be read. caller: it reminded me of when i was abused by a police officer 60 years ago. -- 16 years ago. host: phil in delray beach, florida. caller: i just wanted to say that this false narrative that america is racist, this is a game being played by the left in this country, black lives matter, antifa. what they are trying to do is -- and they do this through our schools -- they teach this false negative -- narrative that america is racist. they should be ashamed for doing that, because you can tell from the callers that a lot of

ignorant people are buying this fig narrative. -- fake narrative. host: is racism a problem in america? caller: it has always been a problem in america and it will always be, but just because you have racists in america does not mean that america is racist. just because you have bad cops who do terrible things does not mean that cops are bad. and cops are terrible. that's the difference at that people do not understand. and they do not understand it, because they do not care about george floyd. they care about transforming america into their socialist, communist vision of what america should be. and this excuse that is being pushed by democrats is because democrats are trying to avoid

the questions at that should be asked about why certain groups, in certain cities, run by that political party, and why these people live so poorly -- why in detroit, baltimore, chicago, los angeles and other cities around the country that have been run by democrats for 50-100 years, do certain groups of people live in such a deprivation? and if black lives really mattered, shouldn't all black lives matter? i ask you this, what does it say about the sickness that' infecting the peoples of this country that a seven year old girl can be shot at a mcdonald's, at a drive through, and nobody knows her name? but we have made a hero out of a career criminal, like george floyd. do you know that little girl's

name? host: who are you referring to? caller: the seven year old girl shot in chicago at a mcdonald's drive-through? you have not even heard the story, yet everybody knows george floyd's name. host: what is her name? caller: i do not know. that shows you how sick things are. host: phil in florida. this is dave. caller: i watched the verdict read in the trial, it was right. i wanted to ask you something. every time there is somebody coded by the police, they are always doing something wrong, they will not comply, they think they can do whatever they do or whatever they, you know, want to do. they can say, no, i am not getting out. 103 cops were killed last year

and every time they stop somewhere they are in the combat zone. what are they supposed to do, oh, get in your car sir, when that person is hopped up on drugs? host: this morning, how derek chauvin became the rear police officer to be convicted of murder. that story noting the officers who kill people on duty are seldom charged with crimes, and when they are convictions are sparse. police shoot and kill about 1000 people a year according to a database, most of these people are armed and the shootings are deemed justified. officers are convicted in fewer than half the cases, often on lesser charges, including cases with the video that fuels public outrage about it. experts and lawyers, who have worked on such cases, contributed to factors like cops have authority to use force, and

when accused of murder they can point to their training. and in court, the judges and juries usually trust them. that is from the washington post. if you want to read more about how derek chauvin became the rear police officer be convicted of murder. now hearing from you throughout this morning from around the country. we also want to show you from pages from around the world about the trial of derek chauvin. we will show you those as we hear from mason in alexandria, virginia. caller: good morning. i would like to give a brief testimony. thank god i was not hurt by the police. in september of 2020, i was there with a witness at linda condolence in arlington, virginia. if people know virginia, that county is racist when it comes

to african-american and other people of color and minorities. i'm a 58-year-old legally blind woman. i do not have a criminal history, no criminal record. so, we go into the dunkin' donuts. as usual. we went there the week before to do some work. i'm legally blind, so i had with me the brother of a friend. he's my eyes, reading me paperwork. be patient with me. we go in there for the second time, no problems the first time. the staff of the dunkin' donuts in arlington, virginia, and we go in there and we go to do work, but there is a different group of employees there. maybe they thought i was homeless because i had groceries.

this particular young white guy, and we are praying for him because he is racist about his behavior toward me, an african-american woman, and i taped the entire incident. and i had a witness. host: what about yesterday and how the -- how much did you expect the results of this trial? were you surprised by the guilty verdicts? caller: i just want to sum it up. host: we have people waiting and i want to get your thoughts on the verdict itself. caller: they called the police. i complied with the police. and the police continued to demonstrate behavior that was racially discriminatory towards me, and my witness. i left, but this has

traumatized me. i'm looking for an attorney. host: i am sorry about your experience. we do have people waiting and we want to get to their calls. sheila is one of them, out of massachusetts. caller: good morning. i want to say about yesterday's conviction, i think that the whole country, in the beginning, was right behind every citizen -- everybody thought that something went wrong there. until black lives matter decided to turn this into a racist incident. the incident didn't involve race, it was not because george floyd was black, it is because he resisted arrest. what happened in my opinion was wrong. and i have police in my family. and i defy anyone of these

callers to walk in the shoes of a cop, any single week, and go up to a car in the darkness of night and not know whether that person has a gun that will blow their face-off. saying that, there's bad cops, we know that. they get to be macho people. but to broadbrush every single cop and everything go white american as racist is absolutely ludicrous. host: more comments from text messages, twitter and facebook. tim in ohio asking, "would white men be pulled over for an air freshener or brutalized for passing a counterfeit bill? i think not." this from sam, "the solution for america is what has happened in several cities, including a

eugene, oregon, calls going to trained professionals first, then the police are called in." ralph saying, "the infrastructure should be increasing homeownership, incentives for businesses for job training and race relations training for police. ministers should preach the king james bible according to the dispensation of grace in apostle paul's letters." "when will the same congress people like bass, who is talking about the real issue, black on black murders, like 27 people shot in chicago last weekend, including a seven-year-old girl." it's just after 8:30 a.m. here on the east coast, halfway through our program and we are spending the entire three hours today showing you some of the reaction to the verdict in the derek chauvin trial, but mostly hearing from you and getting

your thoughts on the verdict, what it means for our country and where we go from here. jerry in minnesota, good morning. caller: i think we should look at the repercussions of will happen going forward. i think that derek chauvin was definitely guilty, but what is going to happen is this -- the police, they already cannot get enough police in minneapolis, they will stop responding like they did in st. louis and south chicago and in indianapolis. then it will become like those cities. and my real concern is this, in minnesota -- i'm from minnesota -- 90% of the people who do not live in minneapolis or st. paul have little or no interaction to black people -- with black people at all. white privilege somehow affects policing in minneapolis is a

ridiculous thought. let's be clear. every one of these cities that they are talking about is democratically run, and has been. they have black liberal police chiefs, fire chief, city councils, boards of education, on and on. my question is this, if they have that, if it is systemic racism in those areas, why do they keep voting in the very same people that have not solved the problem? it seems mind-boggling and crazy to me that they keep doing it. and when you look out there, the only answer is this, too -- the idea it is just the cops, the rationale that you can say it is just the cops does not help the black community heal themselves. until they start doing changes too, nothing is going to change. host: we are hearing from you

this morning, including harold. you are next. caller: i am listening at what is being said and what i see here is basically the people that are calling in that really do not see this going on as far as black people or whatever, they are only seeing things from the point of view of if they don't really have, or are willing to accept what is going on, the black on black crimes, black lives matter. in my neighborhood, i still got people riding around with signs. i've been pulled over. i'm a 77-year-old man. and i've been pulled over

because i drive cars for a dealership. and they will pull me over, knowing it is wrong. and i'm very confrontational because of my age. once i go into what i go into, i get a supervisor out, they still give me a ticket. i go to court. i am only speaking from a black person's point of view, because of me being so outspoken they do not even show up. so, these are the things i am talking about. my neighborhood, and i have been in this neighborhood for going on 35 years, there wasn't but maybe one or two people that lived in the neighborhood. the neighborhood came up real quick. this is for the people over the age of 50, because i know what the mindset that they do have.

host: harold in essex, maryland. we had a previous caller from minnesota talking about elected officials in minnesota. among those that spoke yesterday after the announcement of the verdict was the attorney general of minnesota, discussing the need to end racism and what he calls unaccountable law enforcement. this is what he had to say. [video clip] >> this verdict demands us to never give up the hope for change. generations of said slavery would never end, jim crow would never end, that women would never be equal to men, that if you are different you could never be an equal member of our society, but today we have to end this travesty of recurring enduring deaths at the hands of law enforcement. these are things we have to

focus our attention on. as i close, i want to say to you, the work of our generation is to put unaccountable law enforcement behind us. it's time to transform the relationship between community and the people who are sworn to protect them from one that's mistrustful, suspicious and in some cases terrifying to one that is empathetic, compassionate and affirming. that will benefit everyone, including police officers, who deserved to serve in a profession that is honored, in departments where they do not have to worry about colleagues who do not follow the rules. now, that work is in your hands. the work of our generation is to put an end to the injustices of the centuries of trauma and finally put an end to racism. it does not have to be with us

into the future, if we decide now to have true liberty and justice for all. the work of our generation is to say goodbye to old practices that do not serve us anymore and to put them all behind us. one conviction, even one like this one, can create a powerful new opening to shed old practices into reset relationships. host: that was the minnesota attorney general yesterday. ed in ohio, good morning. caller: this is -- good morning. this is all driven by the democrats, the only way they can get votes. and it is more than that, it is the progressive movement today. the statistics do not oie, less than -- lie, less than 1% of cops in this country are bad. and 99.9% of all -- host: was derek chauvin one of

those bad cops in your mind? caller: definitely. nobody would stand up for him. they didn't have to make it a big race thing. the democrats and fake news jumped on it. watch msnbc, they were sad there was a conviction. in my state of ohio there was a shooting of a 16-year-old girl in columbus, one hour's drive from me. they already said today, they are doing it as i speak, the cops were called, the woman had a knife in her hand, she was attacking another woman, she was getting ready to kill the other woman and they shot her. there again. fox news, they take -- they have shown the riots almost every

night for a year, and i understand -- what i'm getting at is every city is broken. we've broken the murder records already in 2021, and that includes cleveland, we are up 40% from last year. chicago is at 50% from last year. rev. al sharpton yesterday out there in the streets, then he is getting in his private jet. president trump went to chicago three times. the one guy that called earlier, there was a seven-year-old daughter and her mother this week and who died in chicago, black on black crime. 99%, they are slaughtering each other and you do not see the democrats upset, they do not go out there. the founder of black lives matter just bought her third property.

she has millions. host: ed out of ohio. this issue of democrats using this case, something republicans have focused on in the wake, especially of some of the comments from maxine waters. the headline from a columnist at the washington times, "she tried to intimidate the jury in advance of the guilty verdict s in the trial, her comments saying, 'stay in the streets, we have to get more confrontational. make sure that they know we mean business.'" republican saying she was trying to influence the votes. it was in a hearing that kevin mccarthy called for her to be centered for those comments, leading to a vote on the house floor yesterday about that resolution. this is steve scalise of

louisiana with reporters on tuesday before the vote on maxine waters. [video clip] >> i have been clear in speaking out against political rhetoric that incites violence, but if you look at her comments the judge in the trial just yesterday acknowledged maxine waters's comments are so inflammatory it could because grounds for an appeal. and elected officials need to stop doing this and stay out of this. the fact that speaker pelosi covered for her, she was trying to incite violence and in fact there is violence going on right now because of her actions. this is not the first time she has made inflammatory comments. you will see mccarthy bring a resolution to the floor but i would like to see maxine waters apologize for the comments she has made. it is a powder cake there -- keg there and the worst thing you want to do is make it worse, especially to grounds for an

appeal. we saw derek chauvin crossed the line, we should be all focused on making sure that justice is carried out and at the last thing you would want to do is give grounds for an appeal -- host: that resolution failed eventually it was tabled by a vote of 216 to 210 in the house, the vote along party lines. yesterday, the democratic caucus chairman jeffries, -- talked about that attempt to censure maxine waters. [video clip] >> i will not support that frivolous resolution and i think that chairwoman waters has made clear, certainly the perspective of the democratic caucus is clear, we support peaceful protests consistent with the first amendment -- freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and at the

right to petition the government peacefully. at that is what we continue to support. now, kevin mccarthy should focus on his own conference, because the republicans in the house are a mess right now. perhaps you should sit this one out. when you think that kevin mccarthy has the nerve to say something about anyone, when you supported the violent insurrection after the mob attacked that capitol, threatening to assassinate nancy pelosi, kill other members of congress, hang mike pence, he voted to support the big lie, which ignited the insurrection and continues to play footsie with donald trump. when you have a situation where lauren boebert is a mess, matt gaetz is a mess, marjorie taylor greene is a mess -- clean up your mess, kevin.

sit this one out. you have no credibility here. we support peaceful protests. host: democratic caucus chairman akeem jeffries yesterday on capitol hill. this morning in the wake of the derek chauvin trial verdict, we are hearing from you all morning, also showing reaction from members of congress. this is tom o'halleran, saying as a former police officer i know how important it is that those who have sworn to protect are held to the highest standards. today, derek chauvin was held accountable by a jury of his peers. "going forward we must commit to rebuilding trust between police and communities that they serve." and "step one is the verdict, step two is the sentencing, and the sentencing mismatch of the crime." let sentencing coming in

about eight weeks. "the murder of george floyd was a heartbreaking tragedy. i pray our country can write peacefully toward needed change." this from republican larry bushong, "justice has been served, the video evidence was not disputable." dave joyce, "as a former prosecutor i have respect for the process and our nation's judicial system and today that system delivered justice for the murder of george floyd. i continue to pray for the floyd family." some of the tweets from capitol hill that we have been showing you all morning, reactions from minneapolis, and washington and around the country, and hearing from you mostly this morning as we have cap phone lines open for three hours to get reaction from you. sonny in virginia, you are next. caller: i just want to comment

on all of this -- to me it is hypocrisy, you know. it is obvious a crime was committed, justice has been served. but my concern is at the reality of how different people are seeing this and, for lack of a better term, the craziness of it all. i mean, who is gaining from this chaos of confusion, they're politicizing the whole thing? the man was murdered, period. and we have the different wings of the parties, left and right, whatever the case, and they have been politicizing it, but they are not listening to it like the shoe is on the other foot. i find it appalling. host: how do we stop

politicizing these kinds of things? caller: people need to open their eyes, because everyone is affected, regardless of whether you are 10 feet away or five feet away, it's how people perceive what is going on. who is gaining from this? someone from a political party is gaining from the chaos between, you know, the human race, period. host: maria out of san antonio, texas. good morning. caller: i would like to say my opinion is any -- of justice, the whole trial. i'm talking about george floyd and the officer. -- of justice happened because the jury was always talked about in the media of they must be tired.

the most important job of the common people is the jury. it's the right to vote. the said that most powerful is to be part of a jury. and the juror, who has more power than congress, the senate, the president. that power lies in the power of the people. we are being misled by words. i agree it is our generation that needs to stop and say to future generations, we made a mistake. we are no longer repeating those same words. host: omar in brooklyn. caller: good morning. i listen to c-span every morning and i listen to people who hide behind conservative labels, talk about how -- in black people. but people are being murdered every day by police officers,

white supremacists. and they setback and act like nothing is happening. every day -- i went to the same school that rudy giuliani -- where christianity is promoted. i cannot live that life as a christian because you guys, white people in general and this country, they want to turn the other cheek. you cannot turn the other cheek when you're getting kicked on one cheek and you are getting shot in another. you cannot have it both ways, america. white america in particular. you cannot hide behind conservatism and protect the police and say that people are running from the police. what choice do you have? i heard about that kid killed in minnesota during the trial, he's stopped because they have a warrant on him. but come to find out that

warrant was not for him, it was a different person. he's running because he is innocent, and then killed. this is what is happening in america. host: larry in michigan, come morning -- good morning. caller: i'm upset. none of the reporters are saying that he broke the law and the cops were doing their job. the cop got what he deserved, but nobody is saying that he broke the law. he broke it twice. thank you. host: brian in the bronx, good morning. caller: can you hear me? host: yes. caller: from what i am hearing, i am hearing from proud people are the rated came through. it sounds like america is still divided and since donald trump

was in office it has been chaos. i feel like everyone is racist in their own way into should not be like that. we should be fighting for each other, not with each other. host: how can we get to that point? caller: loving one another, helping one another. not being against that person because of another race, get to know the person because not everybody is the same. we are all human. we just have different skin color. that does not mean we are not the same as you. it shouldn't be that way. i do not understand the world was created the way it is. host: the last image of derek chauvin from the courtroom is him being handcuffed and led away, remanded in custody now

that he has been convicted of second-degree, third-degree murder and manslaughter. reporting this morning from cnn, "derek chauvin is separate from the general population at the minnesota correctional facility in oak park heights. administrative segregation is used when somebody's presence in the general population is a safety concern." some of the reporting about what is happening with the former officer, wno as he -- now as he awaits his eight weeks from now. roy in hawaii, go ahead. caller: hello. let me start off, you know, calling from hawaii, we are in mixing pot of many different nationalities and i have many friends in the police force. but the thing is i see what is

going on in the mainland, where it is just a history of -- if you go back super far in history, where just because people are of a darker skin color or not the same color as the more dominant white, i have no problems with white people because i have white relatives, but the news is they look at people with darker skin color and think that they are not as up to par as they are, so they are treated differently. the thing is, you asked the question, how do we change this? -- question, how do we change this? i think it is major police reform and treating everybody the same. i've seen so many videos of, like, they give so many more chances, they meaning police,

they give more chances to the white folks than people with darker skin color. once that changes and everybody is treated equally, and police protect and serve and do what they need to do -- i'm not saying all police are like that, but there are bad apples. and when cc bad apples, especially -- once you see bad apples, especially the media talking about the bad parts, and then the media showing black people and making all black people look bad. it's all these different media outlets, they only show one part of the story. host: roy in hawaii. regina is in richmond, virginia. caller: good morning, c-span. i'm happy he was found guilty for the crimes he committed. he murdered a person. regardless of whether this person had a criminal history,

high on drugs, there was no reason to murder him. individuals are saying the officer was not given a fair trial. evidence was brought before the court and he was found guilty. it's time for individuals to say when a person commits murder, as a police officer, they need to be held accountable. yet there are plenty of good police officers out there, i agree with that, however there are bad officers and they are allowed to remain on the force and they get support from fellow officers, as well as the police unions. they support individuals to stay on the job and continue to torment communities. host: regina, there is a headline in today's new york times, explaining the verdict to my kids. do you have children or nieces or nephews? how do you explain this verdict

to children? caller: as a black person, we have had -- as we would say in our community, is we have that talk with our children. when the police stop you, you comply. and i explained to them that this individual committed murder, he was in the process of doing his job, but in the process he committed murder. and this is not right. this is not what police officers do. this is not how they do their job. that's how i am explaining it to them. we understand that there are some bad police officers and they will overstep their bounds and become a bully in their authority, and sometimes it will commit horrible crimes in the process of doing their job. we see this in the black community, you see police officers in the community that are not doing their jobs as they were trained. officers get training on how to

handle situations where they escalate. and they sometimes, the officers do not follow that training and that leads to somebody being injured or murdered. in this case, the gentleman was murdered. he was murdered. that individual needs to be held accountable for his murder. host: regina in richmond, virginia. larry, good morning. caller: how are you? host: doing well. caller: i keep hearing all these caucasian people calling in, trying to make n excuse for why this -- an excuse for why this dirty cop should not have been convicted. it's the black people's problem, chicago, san francisco -- you let these people get on and you hear them say the same exact thing. if you watch fox news, like i do, you hear the talking points as soon as they open their mouth, to try to make an excuse for something that happened,

that needs to be fixed, but it happened at the beginning of our country and it will not stop until we get reconciliation. i heard a guy call from cleveland, talking about kids being killed in ohio. i'm from columbus, ohio, cleveland is not one hour away. that lets me know how dumb you are, that you said that. host: you watch fox news because you want to hear what the enemy is saying, how do we get to the point of not considering the others of the enemy -- do we need to rethink news altogether in this country? caller: it is all propaganda. and set a fox news, this is not the news. it's the same exact thing. if you do your history, america, and you look back with this president we have talking about the insurrection of this and

that, it is a real race war. there's not going be a race war. and here's another thing for the clans. host: i think you made your point. here is hannah in martinsburg, ohio. you are. hannah, are you with us this morning? caller: i am, hannah, but i am from indiana. host: then hannah from indiana, go ahead. caller: i just want to say that i feel the police department that derek chauvin worked in should have been on trial for enabling derek chauvin's behavior. it is my understanding that his work record or history shows that he shot someone, shot and killed someone, he had at least 16 complaints against him, and he was not fired. so i feel that this department should have been on trial for

enabling his behavior. host: that's hannah in indiana. just after 9:00 a.m. eastern, and we're spending all three hours of the "washington journal" getting your reaction to yesterday's guilty verdict. -- verdict in the derek show been murder trial convicted on second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter charges for the murder of george floyd. we are hearing from you after getting reaction over so much focus over the past several weeks on that trial. 14 days of trial, more than 40 witnesses called, the jury deliberating for 10 hours over the course of two days, and the verdict coming after 5:00 p.m. eastern yesterday. after that verdict was delivered, members of george floyd's family spoke about what the verdict meant, including his brother. here's what he had to say. >> i feel relieved today that i

finally have the opportunity to, hopefully, get some sleep. a lot of days i prayed and hoped , and i was speaking everything into existence. i said i have faith he will be convicted. [applause] it has been a long journey, and it has been less than a year, and the person that comes to my mind is 1955. to me, he was the first george floyd. i was am until -- emmett til. >> wow. >> i went on cnn with deborah white, and she brought him back to life. people forgot about him. but he was the first george floyd.

today, you have cameras all around the world to see and show what happened to my brother. it was a motion picture. the world saw his life being extinguished. i could do nothing but watch, especially in the courtroom, over and over again, as my brother was murdered. times are getting harder every day. 10 miles away from here, mr. daunte wright should still be here. we ought to always understand that we have to march, we will have to do this for life. we have to protest because it seems like this is a never ending cycle.

we got keep fighting. i'm going to put up a fight every day because i'm not just fighting for george anymore, i'm fighting for everybody around this world. i get calls, dm's, people from brazil, from ghana, germany, everybody, london, italy, they are all saying the same thing. we won't be able to breathe until you are able to breathe. today, we are able to breathe again. [applause] host: george floyd's brother yesterday after the verdict was announced. we will show you some of the front page headlines today, talking about the case of george floyd and derek chauvin, and how it is playing in front pages of newspapers around the country as we hear from robert in maryland. good morning. caller: good morning, john. how are you? host: i'm doing well, robert.

caller: look, man. what is going on in our country in the united states is a micro thing compared to what is happening all over the world. in just 95 years -- 1898 to 1993, 1890 to 1993, 95 years, every country in the -- [indiscernible] starting in china in 1890 and again in vietnam in 1975. host: so bring us to the united states of america in 2021. caller: here's the thing. what's going on here in the united states of america is a micro thing compared to what is happening all over the world. the same issue. in the middle east, gandhi,

india, egypt, africa. 1993, mandela came out of jail fighting this crab. -- this crap. host: here is marsha in washington, d.c.. good morning, you are next. caller: good morning. first of all, i want to say, what happened with that police officer saved that man's life. it doesn't matter whether he is black or white, could be anybody's race, but he chose to do that. he chose to take that guy's life, because that is what he wanted to do. because despite what the gentleman was saying, he could not breathe and he was still on his neck. this man here committed a crime. it doesn't have anything to do with black or white, but we are

looking at it that way. the problem is this, when police officer -- when they have the police -- the police officer department wholly responsible for the crimes they're committing, instead of rewarding them for the wrong they do. we will stop this problem and what these probable -- what these officers are out here doing to society. [indiscernible] and not to take their law into their own -- the law into their own hands. host: a few more of your comments from social media and our text messaging service. this from orlando, i am pleased the verdict was guilty on all three charges. i'm a police officer in maryland decorated for valor. derek chauvin murdered george floyd. policing in america needs to change. this is shameful on both sides. this is from andrew in alexandria.

i love how our vice president stated how black people have been historically treated versus how they should be treated. texans tensor also includes criminals -- protect and serve also includes criminals. hopefully this serves as an example to all police on the beat and saves municipalities millions of dollars in felt -- in settlements. one more from dave in orlando writing, it is such a sad situation. i hope this opens people's eyes to prevent these tragedies from ever happening again. god bless america. you saw one of those viewers text in about the comments from vice president kamala harris yesterday after the verdict was announced. here is more from the vice president. >> because of smartphones, some any americans have now seen the racial injustice that black americans have known for generations. the racial injustice that we have fought for generations, that my parents protested in the 1960's, that's millions of us,

americans of every race, protested last summer. here's the truth about racial injustice. it is not just a black america problem, or a people of color problem. it is a problem for every american. it is keeping us from fulfilling the promise of liberty and justice for all, and it is holding our nation back from realizing our full potential. we are all a part of george floyd wash legacy -- george floyd's legacy. our job is to honor it and him. host: vice president kamala harris yesterday. the picture of the vice president standing behind the president. one of the lead stories in

today's xes. the headline on the story -- axios. the headline on the study, reduce pressure for police reform in washington. the story noting the acquittal or mistrial involving the former police officer would have unleashed violence and days more protest and added bipartisan pressure to act on criminal and police reform. unanimously guilty verdicts are a huge relief for the establishment but seem unlikely to rush for systemic overhauls for george floyd's family, civil rights, and the story noting senior democrats and republican aides who would never let their bosses say-so on record privately told axios the convictions had less than pressure that they noted. the aftermath of mass shootings time and again, congress has failed to pass gun-control legislation. conversation moves on to another terrible -- until another terrible event occurs. several democrats hope the conviction brings about broader

reforms. we already talked today about the piece of legislation that is at least furthest along, the george floyd's justice in policing act. that bill passed the house in march and is waiting for a vote in the senate, among -- senate. among the things that the act would do, or have it racial profiling. members -- by members of the law enforcement, banned chokehold, and no-knock warrants, require body cameras by police officers, make it easier for prosecuting offensive officers -- offending officers and enabling individuals, private citizens to recover damages in civil court and force the collection of data on please misconduct and use of force violations. that is what is in the legislation, just part of what is in the legislation. there is plenty more on that legislation. that held up in the senate right now. ken is next right now as we have about 45 minutes left in the program.

ken, your thoughts after those guilty verdict yesterday? caller: it is a real unfortunate situation, but i think, john, what happened yesterday was the rule of law took place. the country is a country of laws. the unfortunate part about most of the people that have been in these situations have been trying to run from the law. then the policeman are left in a difficult position about, what we do now? we are trained to keep these people and keep them safe, but they are running from us, they are fleeing us. what are so east -- what are we supposed to do as policeman? let them go and be unsafe in the communities that we are trying to police? a very unfortunate situation that this policeman murdered this man. it was never about thrace. it was about bad policing. -- about race. it was about bad policing. host: are you yourself a member

of law enforcement? caller: not at all. host: i thought you might have been from the comments you made. did you want to finish your comment? caller: the biggest problem is when we help the communities of color, we should understand, they should understand, all people should understand that the police are there to protect us. then listen to their commands when we are detained. host: jeff is next out of florida, good morning. caller: first, i would like to say i am a 65-year-old white man , and i'm tired of listening to these racist people trying to blame the victims like george floyd for the predicament they ended up in. justifying a police officer killing them, i don't think this country will ever get rid of racism until a republican party,

and that is people like ed from ohio who called and the guy from florida. if the republican party doesn't purge itself of the followers, the white supremacist leader, osama bin trump, we will never get racism fixed. the proposal that the biden administration has presented is a viable, useful, and good bill. i bet there ain't a republican insight that will back it. host: that is jeff in florida. staying in florida, tallahassee, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my calls. i have to chuckle over the last caller. earlier, when i was listening to your program, there were, i'm

going to assume caucasian male after male calling in, and they were not -- host: it's always dangerous to assume on a call-in program where people don't -- at least every time state what they are, but go ahead. caller: should i state what i am? host: if you feel comfortable. it is up to you. caller: i am a white 82-year-old woman, and i have been around a long time. i have seen this culture go on. a lot of this antagonistic attitude i see coming from a lot of the white males who have called in who are not some pathetic to our african-american brothers and sisters and their

plight, i feel like -- i wonder if there isn't a lot of denial going on because of the position that they have always assumed in society, being in control. like i say, i have been around a long time, and it has been around a long time. white male people in control. host: you say you are 82-year-old. do you have grandchildren? caller: no. unfortunately, i do not. my daughter is married -- my daughter's married to late or just have not been inclined. i wish i did. host: i was going to ask because of the headline i talked -- we talked about earlier explain the show been verdict to my kids. how we talk to children in this country about this case and these issues.

caller: how do we talk to them? host: yes ma'am. caller: well. we just have to be honest about the injustices and why. that is all the more reason for them to be engaged and paying close attention to what is going on, and making demands upon these politicians who seem to be deaf to our ears. a certain segment of the political people in washington, d.c. don't hear us. i am thankful for our president. i think he does. i am very thankful for him. as a woman, i have experienced some of this, too. my answer to them, to some of these people who want to act like nothing has happened, i watched the trials. a lot of it.

what do you do when you watch someone being murdered? what are you supposed to do, just act like it was nothing? host: that is clear in tallahassee, florida. some news from the associated press here in washington. according to sources talking to the ap, the justice department said to announce a probe into policing practices in minneapolis after george floyd's death. we already know the justice department is continuing their investigation of derek chauvin, even in the wake of this conviction. that news coming out today of wider probes into the policing practices there. debbie is in arizona. you are next. caller: good morning. after watching what happened with george floyd, with the police officer, and the seeing

that man stood on his neck and on his back like he just got a prized pluck, it seemed the police officer had so many violations for 18 years of his 19 year career, and i feel the police department failed him by not holding him accountable for all of the violations, and the union should be held accountable for all of the times they allowed him to get off on all of the violations. because i believe that our policing needs to change. i do believe in this reform that needs to take place. the problem i believe with tim scott that he presented is it did not go under a national registry. the national registry, like doctors and nurses, they have for if you are in this profession, you would go under a registry. i think the police need to have a national registry like they do with doctors and nurses, because

they have a license. i think that is what was wrong with tim scott's bill. it did not have a national registry. i think this new reform bill, if they did that, we would be able to see the violations with people. host: that is debbie in arizona. it was yesterday after the press conference -- in the press conference after the announcement of the verdict. one of the attorneys for the family talked about the idea of police reform and how it could be done in this country. >> this is not a case against every officer. my officer was -- my life was saved by two law enforcement officers years ago, so i will never put all cops and that's. we can find a unifying purpose between law enforcement and the african-american community. by changes, starting with the george floyd justice in policing act. a beautifully written deal that will help protect the community and solve policing.

the main question is, will we let politics does i -- divide us? republican or democrat, you will stick to your side. unifie and get this -- unify and get this bill passed so you don't have to borrow your own city for situations like this. and i will see you next time when it is time to vote. host: one of the attorneys for the ford family yesterday. back to your phone calls. this is in maple heights, ohio. you are next. caller: how are you doing? host: doing well. go ahead. caller: [indiscernible] ok? i'm black. i'm 72. i was just listening to the man from florida who was [indiscernible] i'm the only black person working in my restaurant with a

lot of white people. first we have to work on mental health. once we start working on the mental health, quit trying to be controlling, and they gotta make the back of the squad cars bigger. people are claustrophobic. host: are you saying mental health of police officers or generally mental health in this country? caller: the police officers to train. host: on how to deal with people with mental health issues? caller: to deal with people with mental health. my wife has worked in a correction center, ok? she tells me -- we talk. that's where the police reform comes in. it wasn't the judge that said

guilty, it was the prosecutors, they didn't say guilty, it's the people in the streets now. even though the jury is educated or whatnot, icicle diplomas, but people got to come together. host: that is eric in ohio and this is mucci out of florida. caller: how are you today? host: i'm doing well. your thoughts on yesterday's verdict? caller: you know, i want to give you a little history. i lived in minnesota from [indiscernible] we moved in 1988. i have a house, and i sold in 2009 after i moved years later. i lived into cities, minneapolis, old section.

[indiscernible] now. the problem started in 1964. lyndon johnson brought the [indiscernible] people moved from chicago to minnesota. that used to be jewish people lived there. they moved out. host: when we hear from the associated press the justice department is expected to announce a probe into general policing practices in minneapolis, you think that is

something that is long overdue? caller: yes. but what i'm saying is [indiscernible] with drugs, killing. host: that is mucci in california. this is kevin out of buffalo, new york. good morning. caller: how are you today? host: i'm doing well. go ahead. caller: my opinion of this whole thing is, if we want to reform the police, first you have to reform ourselves. we just can't keep looking at the police to solve our problems that goes on within our own communities. we gotta take timeouts, and we got to get more involved. if we get more involved, the police will get more involved. there's always going to be white racism. he will not change that.

that is what america is built on. we have to change ourselves from believing this is the only way it could be. host: do you think people have gotten more involved since last may, since the murder of george floyd? caller: to a certain extent, yes, but everyone is not involved. just like black lives matter, i am in buffalo new york and you don't hear -- buffalo, new york. you don't hear much about it. buffalo, new york is like a colonial town. whatever they say, that's how it goes. you learn to live with it. because you know you can't change it, not by yourself. host: where there any protests or marches? we saw so many last summer after -- caller: very few. very few. host: did you get involved in those? caller: i did get involved. i want to be involved in black lives matter, in anything that matters. it doesn't have to be a black organization, it could be a

white organization. how are we going to change it? if we just get past democrats, republican, black-and-white and start thinking about what it is to be a human being, maybe that will make the world better. host: mike in louisiana, good morning. you are next. caller: good morning. i wanted to make the point for police officers, the majority, the stress level of being a police officer, when you see it and someone starts going fell because of the influence of the crimes, the mental aspect, the supervisor says you need a vacation, do something else -- host: mike, you are going in and out, are you still with us? i think we lost mike. kyle, back to buffalo, new york. caller: good morning.

i guess buffalo, hey. host: go ahead with your thoughts. i want to get your thoughts on what the last caller had to say about buffalo as well. caller: i will get to that. unfortunate to teach high school students -- i am a business legal teacher, and one of my classes, -- class is criminal law, so we have been watching the court case from beginning to end. there was a caller earlier who talked about fox news, about watching it too i believe he said watching fox because he wanted -- host: he said something about keeping track of the enemy or some thing like that. caller: exactly. he's not too far off. last night, candace owens said something that really disturbed me. she said they barely showed any footage of what happened to george floyd. they show clips.

throughout the whole trial, they showed everything from the time the police got to the scene to the end. they really showed diagrams, they really -- it was a great case. the defense did a great job. i was a little nervous. i thought the police officer was guilty. i thought man three he would get and i wasn't sure about murder two. this is the problem. when people talk like this on the news, and there are a lot of people who just watch fox news. i go back and forth to learn both sides so i can share both sides of the story, but if you are only watching the one side, you get brainwashed to believe that way. this was a fair trial. host: what were your students expecting? caller: well, i did an assignment, they also guilty,

murder two. we watched the video. the opening statements really by the prosecutor would have had a compelling argument. all of the doctors came on with their professional take on the medical evidence. host: how much of the trial did your kids watch, and did you do it in class? caller: so i did it in class and i would show highlights. i would go home and watch, continue watching it at home, and then i would prepare myself for the next day. i would show them highlights from the different witnesses. yesterday, we watched the closing arguments, try to skip through. i basically showed the just of both sides -- jist of both side's closing arguments. i was nervous, because i

actually thought maybe he would get off, and at least murder three with 10 year sentence. host: are you going to see the kids today? caller: yes. we are going to discuss that verdict around 12:30. host: howdy open that discussion? we have been doing that for the past 2.5 hours. how do you do that with a group of high school kids? caller: what you do is you almost tell the story of history. so prior to this piece, i had been covering the history of policing in america, which really stems from the black codes, jim crow, to modern-day policing, which unfortunately black americans benefited from law enforcement basically keeping them in order, per se, where the white community is left to do their own business. dwi, stuff like that they will

be charged with, but there is a different kind of court system in this country. so they are fortunate to get a history, but they do realize we have come a long way. i also show issues where police have killed white folks, females. it is just not about color. we have a law enforcement that is very aggressive. there was a caller that talked about treating people like crab. it's true. i think police officers, i know it is a tough job and i work with a lot of buffalo police officers. it is tough. host: before you go, i did want to get your response to the previous caller from buffalo who said there is not much of a black lives matter presence in buffalo. it sounded like he was trying to get involved and did not feel like there were many opportunities. you are in buffalo as well. caller: i had a little

difference of opinion of what he said. i did see a lot of protesting going on in buffalo. we made the news because there was an older gentleman that got pushed and shoved, and fell and knocked his head. he made cnn. you know, the police were breaking the line and it kind of got showed, but we have protesting almost every weekend during covid. host: did you see who would go out and join those efforts? caller: no. because we had covid. in new york state, there's a lot of restrictions on what you cannot do during covid. we had high numbers in erie county, so people were skeptical about going out, including myself. i wanted to go, but honestly -- but i did know a lot of people that went and made the news every day. it was people protesting downtown in city hall, black lives matter's i believe is here. i have neighbors, and i live in

a predominantly white community, but we have some people that had the black lives flag hanging out of their house. our area is a little segregated. it is kind of split up to the spanish side, black side, whiteside, then there is the mixed side. unfortunately, i don't think we have had major run ins with the police, but there was a lady who just got vindicated, got her pension because she tried to stop a police officer in early 2000's for something similar. police brutality. she got fired because she went against the system. they had been trying to get her pension. she just got it, so we are starting to see a change. go ahead, john. host: i was going to say finisher thought about before you go, give us a call back sometime in the near future. i want to hear how the conversation goes with your students today as a teacher who has been talking about this

trial for the past couple weeks with her students. interested to hear how that goes. he said that will happen at noon today when you see your students again? caller: noon thirtyish. i will start out with the whole verdict, then we will go into discussions, and you know, so that will end the case. host: maybe we can chat sometime in the next week or two when you call back. tell them i asked you to call back about it. caller: i will, john. thank you so much. buffalo, new york. lawrence in florida. good morning. caller: good morning. i just wanted to say, in the marine corps, while on active duty, we had a saying that when all things rolled downhill, it starts at the top. host: in the saying is not things.

it's a different word then things. caller: it is. trying to be respectful for people that cannot handle that. i also wanted to mention that there is not enough of what we are seeing of our police in their character before and during their active job as a police officer. if there was enough of that, i don't see how they could get through and have so much trouble. when i was in the marines, you did it the right way, the correct way, or you were out of it. no questions asked. it's serious business. host: one of the issues, especially since ferguson missouri, one of the issues that comes up in police reform is the limiting, transferring of

military grade equipment to police departments, that they are over militarized in this country. as someone in the marines, what is your take on that issue? caller: the problem in this country to me is that they are not teaching the right things in the colleges or in the schools. we need to teach morals. we don't have morals in this country, we have freedom. freedom is run by rules. never mind in god we trust, we just want the money. host: did you think the last caller from buffalo, the teacher who has been spending so much time on the trial, do you think he is teaching the right things? caller: he's trying to. the fact of the matter is, how did we all get here? europe came over here, was laying here, and moved in. we got a problem at our borders and then people have been there forever.

they are just going back and forth like they always did. host: that is lawrence this morning. this is draw out of eagle, idaho. -- joel out of eagle, idaho. go ahead. caller: hi, john. i think there is very little introspection in the black community. barack obama, and jason riley, and several other lack leaders have attempted to tell the black community is 74% unwed birth is detrimental to their own existence. host: are you a member of the black community? caller: not at all. i am a 78-year-old vietnam veteran, and i used to teach in buffalo in the 1960's before i got drafted. back then, it seemed like there was more respect for the rules of our society. and what has happened is that respect in these young kids has gone downhill.

i think it is right in line with the lack of civics, and the moral compass these kids need to grow up. host: when you say these kids, are you talking about all kids these days? caller: yeah. young kids today. how else to explain a 13-year-old kid with a gun running down the street at 3:00 in the morning? that was unheard of back in the 1960's. maybe it was common in the black community, but it certainly was not common in society at large. host: that is joe in idaho. independence, oregon. good morning. caller: good morning. -- is still the mayor of independence. host: i remember you called about that, dan. caller: i want to talk about systematic racism, black power ash drugs were considered a black problem and a crime.

now that's why people are addicted, it is a medical problem. are we moving to clear earlier convictions? i don't think so. i want to say that big brother is not watching us anymore. we all have cameras. we are watching big brother now. thank you very much for your time. host: that is dan, independence, oregon. 20 minutes left in the program this morning. some situational awareness, on capitol hill, the house is not in for morning hours until noon today. the senate is coming in at 10 up -- 10:30 a.m. eastern. we are with you until the end of our program at 10:00 a.m. eastern. we spent the entire morning this morning hearing from you, your reactions to the derek chauvin verdict yesterday handed down in the courtroom. after the verdict, the president of the united states spoke as he promised he would about what the verdict means for the country,

where to go from here. here is a bit more from president biden yesterday. pres. biden: you know, state and local government and law enforcement need to step up, but so does the federal government. that is why i have appointed the leadership and the justice department that i have. it is fully committed to restoring trust between law enforcement and the community they are sworn to serve and protect. i have complete confidence in the attorney general, general garland's and commitment. i have also nominated two nominees, read a group duck and -- lawyers who have spent their entire careers fighting to advance racial equity and justice. both have the experience and the skill necessary to advance our

administration's priorities, to root out unconstitutional policing and reform our criminal justice system, and they deserve to be confirmed. we also need congress to act. george floyd was murdered almost a year ago. there is meaningful police reform, legislation in his name. you just heard the vice president speak on it. the legislation to tackle systemic misconduct in police departments, to restore trust between law enforcement and people they are entrusted to serve and protect. it should not take a whole year to get this done. my conversations with the ford family, i spoke with them today, i assured them -- floyd family, i spoke with him today, i assured them that i would continue with the george floyd justice in policing act, so i could sign the law as quickly as possible. there is more to do. finally, it is the work we do every day to change hearts and

minds as well as laws and aussies. -- laws and policies. that is the work we have to do. only then will for justice and equality be delivered to all americans. that is what i just discussed with the floyd family. the guilty verdict does not bring back george. but, through the family's pain, they are finding purpose so george's legacy will not just be about his death but about what we must do in his memory. host: president biden yesterday from the white house mentioning there some of the efforts at the justice department. we will hear more about the efforts in about 15 minutes at 10:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. we will be taking you live to remarks expected from attorney general merrick garland, reporting from the star tribune, noting that he is expected to

make an announcement about a pattern and practice about legal conduct at the minneapolis police department according to reporting and sources familiar with the inquiry, a sweeping investigation they write that is expected to be announced and conducted in the months to come. u.s. attorney general merrick garland making that announcement in 15 minutes. stay here to watch that. until we take you there to the justice department, we will continue with your calls. this is garth out of vermont this morning. go ahead. caller: thanks for the call. george floyd was a breathing, walking, human being -- walking human being until that cop killed him. and i believe that cop was thinking he was going to get away with it when he was saying he couldn't breathe. maybe this will be a wake-up call for the police, because now, he will be going to jail. and guess what his family will also be suffering -- watch, his

family will also be suffering. every citizen, when they turn 18, they don't raise a hand to say i swore -- swear to uphold the law. when a cop does that, they need to be held twice as accountable. if it is stealing a pack of gum all the way up to murdering someone, until they are held accountable, you are going to have this problem. any shooting where someone dies, the feds need to step in and have an independent board of every race to work with them on that shooting. then, that situation. i am a bernie sanders supporter. i have a friend that is a trump supporter. he has a bunch of kids, and he is always talking about the black lives matter and protests and all of this. and i said, look, if i was a

black cop and your kids, a couple of them, got killed and the black cop got off. what would you do? maybe if you started burning down your own town, that would get national attention. that's another thing with it. one other thing is, with assault weapons. if you want to open -- own an assault weapon, i think they ought to be locked at a gun range and that place gives you the key to shoot at a gun range. nobody hunts with an ar-15. the police, this is a wake-up call for the police. host: that is garth in vermont. this is charlotte in georgia. good morning. caller: good morning, john. i am a longtime viewer and first-time caller. i really appreciate c-span. my son was a victim of police brutality in 2012 in birmingham,

alabama. fortunately, his encounter did not end in seville -- severe injury or death. why? why? because he was told beginning at age 12, and i would advocate doing this sooner because children are sophisticated these days, maybe seven, you can always report a poorly trained or melissa -- malicious officers actions later, but if you resist , you may be seriously injured or worse. the poorly trained, malicious, or even racist officer is then able to repeat their bad actions again on someone else. i would say to my child, we do not want that, do we? my child was very strong-willed, disobedient child who later became jailed for some on lawful actions. so i would like to say as parents, each of us, no matter

the color of our skin, would sit down with hours children and grandchildren and have this conversation, i believe these tragedies could be averted. i think that is all i have to say and i thank you all for your time. i enjoyed listening to everyone. . caller: good morning. i hear a lot of colors talk about education in school and raising their children, but the simple fact is that schools are not there to raise your children. raising children comes from home. on the police side, this guy, derek chauvin, from what i saw i thought it was pretty obvious that he was guilty, but i do not understand how someone could be convicted of three different murders for one person. i find that interesting. the police should be held accountable because they have arbitrary power to arrest people, to stop people, search

people, so they should be held to a standard. but where is the culpability to the people who encounter the police? where's the culpability of the 13-year-old kid shooting a gun and then throwing it away? what about a girl stopping someone and getting shot. where's the accountability for that? i am black. i can tell you that laws, marches, and all of these things will not solve our problems. we have to solve our problems. police don't just pull people over on the streets who don't do anything. there is a reason why. every time i have been for dover for something i listen, yes, sir, no, sir, here's my license. the overwhelming majority of the times, i don't get a ticket.

no cop has ever beaten me for no reason. it just does not happen. if you comply, there has to be responsibility for what you are doing. police are humans. we live in a very violent country. people are interfaced with violent acts all day, and then they are supposed to make the 100% right call every time they approach an unknown vehicle? just because you are a good guy they are supposed to know that? they do need to be held accountable, don't get me wrong, but we as a people need to have more responsibility in what we are doing. host: that is eric in virginia. our next caller is out of alexandria, virginia. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i feel like it is just just seeing that horror of he is being killed. when i heard [indiscernible]i

feel sick. the caller before me said when you comply, that only applies for white people. we've seen in the insurrection. the police chief says we know when to shoot. we train went to shoot. it is different for white people. white people who shoot and killed nine people who pray at their church. they took command bought him a burger.

they shoot people and then they come out with this charge. i just wanted to say, for all of these people saying this, i just wanted to say a man of quality is not afraid of equality. just for a second, take off the color and look at the human being. host: just about 10 minutes or so before we are expected to hear from the attorney general, live from the justice department. we will be hearing that live on c-span when attorney general merrick garland steps up to make what is expected to be the announcement of an investigation into whether the minneapolis police department engages in a pattern and practice of illegal conduct. that is according to the reporting. sources talked to the associated press, the star tribune.

we will bring you his comments live when he steps to the podium. until then, your phone calls. tim in new jersey. your thoughts. were you surprised yesterday by the verdict? caller: hello? host: go ahead, timothy. caller: can you hear me, sir? host: i do. caller: two callers ago, the guy before the female, he said the cops doing the right thing. there was a time when we had [indiscernible] and i used to walk on my block everyday going to school, and we would just get pulled over just by the way i looked. so i think cop, the same way we get treated is the same way they should get treated if they are breaking the law. it should be a fair system. host: mark is next in omaha, nebraska. caller: good morning. take you for taking my call.

i agree wholeheartedly with the jury that he pretty much murdered floyd. and i agree with that. what i disagree with is how biden, pelosi, and waters politicized the event and are using it. i feel the media and some of these politicians are using things to defy the country instead of bring us -- divide the country and instead of -- country instead of bringing us together. i don't think that was right with george floyd. he got murdered. the other thing i'm wondering, if merrick garland is looking into who created all of the $20 bills, the fake bills. because if floyd didn't get the $20 bill from someone, this whole thing would not have happened. it is a minor thing, but figure out if there is a lot of counterfeits going on and how did they get the money to put him in the situation where they call the police on him?

i wholeheartedly agree with the jury, that chauvin murdered him. host: lee says next out of texas. good morning. -- lisa is next out of texas. good morning. caller: good morning. i am thankful for the guilty verdict. i watch every single minute of the trial, and this is a time for the country to heal. i feel justice has been served. now, we just need to keep an eye on exactly his sentence from that judge. we have more in common than what we have not in common. we are all americans, whether we are white, black, democrat, republican, we are all americans. this is a time for this country to truly heal.

host: that is lisa in texas. talking about keeping an eye on the sentence for second or gear murder -- for second-degree murder, which is one of the charges derek chauvin was convicted for. yesterday, the maximum sentence is 40 years in prison. the washington times saying third-degree murder carries a maximum years of -- in prison. manslaughter, one of the charges he was convicted of, punishable by 10 years in prison. those sentences, whatever they eventually turn out to be, would be expected to run concurrently. derek chauvin's legal woes may not be over. we are talking about the attorney general merrick garland he announced yesterday the guilty verdict in minnesota will not affect the federal civil rights investigation into the death of george floyd. derek chauvin's mug shot is now available, being reported by fox

news, a picture of his mug shot, his booking photo there. thanks your phone calls. this is gregory in wisconsin. good morning. your next. caller: i picked up the phone when the idiot from virginia was calling about seven or eight minutes ago. he's exactly what is wrong with america right now. i'm sorry. i heard him and i had to call in. i just wanted to make a comment that i wasn't expecting to see three guilty verdicts. i thought we might get one. i started crying after two. i went outside and did the strongest yahoo! i have ever done in my life in celebration of this. it was a great release. anyway, thanks for listening. host: gregory, why did it bring you to tears? caller: i guess the whole thing, it has been such an emotional thing. we saw what happened, i heard

the testimony, i watched the in -- the entire trial from beginning to end. it was obvious, but we have been here before and nothing happened. i just thought, and it only takes one juror, one clown with an attitude or a view that just is not straight, as far as i'm concerned, and i was afraid that was going to happen here. when i heard the first guilty, yes, then i heard the second then i could not believe it. i thought we would get one if we were lucky. that is all i really had to say. appreciate your show. host: mentioning he watched the entire trial. if you want to do that, go back and rewatch it, available on our website at c-span.org. just a few minutes left before we take you to the justice department. we will try to get an alley in new jersey. i'm sorry, eve in grand rapids, michigan. [laughter] caller: good morning.

whatever everybody fails to understand -- when everybody said the police didn't have any charges on him, the police did have charges. they read the charges. matter of fact, he read off the charges that connected floyd and the officer. because both of them were bouncers at a club. also, an injunction against him because he was snatching a woman out of a car. floyd was telling him it was unnecessary, how he was treating the people at the club. both of them had a connection, because he was like this police officer had something in his eyes, when he had his foot, his knee on george floyd's neck. that is because he had some kind of vendettas against him. most officers don't react that way.

officers have their things that goes on. host: got your point. this is austin out of mississippi. good morning. caller: this is austin barnett. am i on the line now? host: yes, sir. until we head over to the justice department here in a few seconds. go ahead. caller: i'm calling to say, first of all, i'm an afro-american, former airborne ranger officer from the korean war. i was listening to an afro-american man that made a statement. if anybody do what they're supposed to do that when he encountered with the police how he responds, put his hands, yes, sir, no, sir. it works sometimes. it does not work all the time. i taught school for 45 years. i taught my students, when you get that light from the police

on you, you put your hands on your steering wheel, you say yes, sir, no, sir, and be extremely polite to the police. sometimes that does not work. it happened to me several times. i was profiled by a police that passed by me, saw i was afro-american, came around and arrested me. i was on my way to work as a mathematical citizen for xerox during research -- doing research capacity. i say sometimes, most policemen -- over 95% of the policemen are very good, takes their job very serious, very humane. and i met many of them in my 92 years of living, i ran across those policemen no matter how

polite they be, they leave their home with their gun and their shield and they go out to show that they are in control. host: that's austin in gulfport, mississippi. our last caller for today's "washington journal." we'll be back tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern/4:00 a.m. pacific. we'll go live to the justice department. expected to hear from attorney general merrick garland, about the investigation into the minneapolis police department, whether they engaged in a pattern and practice of the -- of illegal conduct. we'll hear what he has to say just a few minutes here on c-span. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> and just repeating, attorney general merrick garland this morning expected to announce a probe into policing practices in minneapolis after george floyd's

death and yesterday's guilty verdict of derek chauvin. we'll get to that. also this morning at the u.s. capitol, there will be a memorial for southeast florida congressman alcee hastings who died earlier this month. the houseworking on two immigration bills today. live gavel-to-gavel house coverage here on c-span.