ng in your ears. live loud, polident. this morning my question are you going to watch the fight tonight? plus don't believe the hype. people protests are not the only engine of social change. and the nfl still sending mixed messages. but first, all eyes are still on baltimore. good morning. i'm melissa harris-perry. yesterday six baltimore police officers were charged with crimes in the death of freddie gray. >> the findings of our

comprehensive, thorough and independent investigation, coupled with the medical examiner's determination that mr. gray's death was a homicide which we received today, has led us to believe that we have probably cause to file criminal charges. >> that was baltimore's top prosecutor marilyn mosby announcing the charges ranging from false imprisonment and misconduct in office to manslaughter. and for one officer second degree depraved heart murderer. that says that he acted with extreme disregard for human life. mosby says officers arrested gray repeatedly flouted department policy by refusing to buckle him into the police van and repeatedly failed to get him medical attention. at one point officers placed gray in the back of the police van face down and head first with his hands cuffed and his ankles shackled. gray's final cord was severely

injured and his voice box was crushed. he died from his injuries a week later. after the charges were announced the officers' union, the fraternal order of police released a statement saying the officers are not responsible for gray's death. the charges came after more than a week of demonstrations that at times turned to rioting with shops looted cars set aflame and rocks thrown at police. the protesters were simply calling for justice. prosecutor mosby said that she'd heard the demonstrators' demands. >> to the people of baltimore and the demonstrators across america, i heard your call for no justice, no peace. your peace is meted as i work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man. >> that call for justice is what is at the heart of the black lives matter movement. the protests we've seen are about the number of unarmed black men and women who end up dead at the hands of police but

they're also about a justice system that often fails to hold those officers accountable. we saw it in new york where the officers who placed eric garner in a choke hold a maneuver banned by the nypd were not charged with any crime. we saw it in ferguson when the officer who shot and killed mike brown was not charged with any crime. we saw it in chicago when a judge acquitted the officer who shot and killed boyd of a legal technicality. and we saw it in protests in cities around the country, voices demanding that officers who use unwarranted deadly force be held accountable in a meaningful way. and baltimore neighbors of freddie gray burst into cheers when they heard that the officers would be charged. the man who filmed gray's arrest on his cell phone, kevin moore, told the "baltimore sun," i'm exuberant, happy i finally made a difference in the world." moore said it feels so good that black people finally matter. after announcing the charges mosby who comes from a family of

law enforcement had this message for the baltimore police force. >> to the rank and file officers of the baltimore city police department, please know that these accusations of these six officers are not an indictment on the entire force. >> but will it change how the police force does its job? joining me now john seamus associate professor at john jay college of justice and a retired captain from the police department. and joining me marcus claxton who is director of the black law enforcement alliance and a retired nypd detective. i want to start with you, john at the table, because i am very committed to the idea that structures matter, that people are good and bad and all those kind of things but a lot of times what we see as human behavior is actually happening in the context of structures. if i believe that for the communities that i'm reporting on and talking about, i got to also try to believe it for the

police. help me to understand what are the structures that police officers face that might help us to understand the choices that these six officers made. >> policing is an exceptionally complex endeavor. there are four contexts in which it's set, political, economic social and legal. and they all have different implications and what comes from the prosecutor is something that i don't particularly care for. i don't want her to make a social statement on the back of police officers that have yet to go to trial because it's a bit inflammatory. just as a lot of the protesters were rushing to judgment about what happened in the rioting, so too do i think it is going to happen when these officers go to trial. what's going to happen when these police officers are found not guilty at trial. someone will say -- >> you think they'll be found not guilty at trial. >> no, i have no idea. i'm curious to know how the evidence is going to play itself out. but what interests me is the

term "accountability" is not synonymous with punishment. it is not an outcome. we can't guarantee equal outcome. but we can guarantee equal process. that's what it suggest, they're answerable as public servants and during that process we'll find out what the outcome is going to be. it is then that punishment may or may not attach. and the structure in which that happens is one fraught with political, social legal and economic contexts. >> marcus let me come to you on that. you heard the response from jon at the table. what's your response? >> well clearly, there is a culture within law enforcement, but that culture has been kind of cultivated and we've seen a manifestation of that police culture which is really a shift away towards more community-based public service model into an enforcement model. as a result of that there are

shortcuts that law enforcement has been engaged in whether it by tamir rice trayvon or freddie gray. you can't ignore -- if you look at it academically it may seem clear and obvious to you. but there are certain subtleties and realities that we must face. that is that in large part across the nation enforcement of the law by police officers have become more race-based statistics driven than anything else. that's doing a disservice to the public that we're supposed to be serving and protecting. >> hold for me. because this is an interesting point. when i saw the image of those six officers. there's one woman officer, she's a woman of officer. there are several officers who are officers of color. it's a group of people who are probably pretty representative racially and demographically of the baltimore police force itself. that's why i wanted to ask the questions. what is it that we don't

understand about the choices that they may be making that they're facing. there's been a lot of conversation about potentially when martin o'malley was governor he set activities in process of arresting every person who you see who is so and so so-called disrespectful. we know that this happened when freddie gray made eye contact. but to go to officer claxton's point, why are we arresting people for eye contact? can't we have a little more internal capacity than that? >> i can't disagree entirely because i don't know all the facts. but freddie gray was not arrested because somebody looked at him with a cross eye. the law dictates how police officers can operate, the things they can and can't do. the choices they make are predicated on reaction after reaction. if someone reacts to them that's inconsistent with the law, then they can follow up with that. federal law says you can chase

somebody and wholesale flight is a legal reason and legal basis to do that. in new jersey for example, that's not the case. wholesale flight in new jersey is not probable cause to make an arrest. so it depends where you are. i don't know what the law is in maryland. but if we're following the federal standard they can make that foot pursuit. and the reaction of the police officers is predicated upon how these events are unfolding. sometimes they unfold with a lot more facts and circumstances. a lot of times it happens in an instant. and it is that moment that we pay police officers to make those decisions on our behalf. sometimes they're inaccurate and they're allowed to be mistaken about the facts, but they might be right about the law all the time. in this case perhaps they were mistaken about the facts on what it was they observed but we give officers the leeway and the discretion to make those decisions on our behalf. >> but let me come to you on that, we believe there has to be some sense that once you are taken into custody by police

officers, once your hands are handcuffed and you can't, for example, control your own body in the back of a car, i mean part of our belief is even if they're making bad choices they shouldn't be fatal choices to the public. >> right, absolutely. let me just say that i disagree with mr. shane in as far as giving officers leeway. we don't give them leeway to violate the law or disregard the law. case in point, clear example how the quality of professional law enforcement have diminished so much. members of the fop stated that this is the type of arrest that didn't need probable cause. we can't allow our law enforcement professionals to kind of freelance, if you will. there are laws that are written down and every police officer should be familiar and aware of those laws. you can't skirt around them. no, you can't -- we're talking about an arrest situation. not merely a chase situation or you are responding to a call for assistance, we're talking about an arrest situation.

clearly a law enforcement professional should know the difference between the level of suspicion needed to chase someone and a level of suspicion required to arrest them. and that is probably cause across the board. but when you allow, when you expect and when you accept shortcuts around the law, when you give too much leeway to police agencies and police officers under the guise that they're all noble and well meaning, then the result is tragedy. so the professional -- the level of professional standards have diminished greatly in large part due to the national trend away from a public service model into an enforcement model with people who are ill qualified to be in a position of police officers. not everyone can be a police officer. >> marquez, i so appreciate you joining us. as we go out we'll play a little bit of sound from baltimore's current mayor saying similar things. jon shane will stay with us at the table. we're bringing some other folks in. but i want to thank you marquez

claxton for joining us. the power of protests both when it's peaceful and not. >> to those of you who wish to engage in brutality, misconduct racism and corruption let me be clear. there is no place in the baltimore city police department for you. and as mayor, i will continue to be relentness in changing the culture of the police department. up today, new friskies 7. we're trying seven cat-favorite flavors all in one dish. now for the moment of truth. yep, looks like it's time to share what our cats love with your cats. new friskies 7. for cats. by cats. your mom's got your back. your friends have your back. your dog's definitely got your back. but who's got your back when you need legal help? we do.

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this week some of the people of baltimore expressed their pain and outrage about the death of freddie gray by smashing windows, setting fires and throwing rocks at officers. in short, by rioting. officials not only called for calm, many also insisted on lecturing the protesters and the

public that only nonviolent protests can bring sustained social change. allow me to disagree. take the nonviolent direct action of african-american civil rights protesters. their actions, like the march from selma to montgomery were potent ingredients for policy change, but most of the change was still a result of violence. it was the violence done against their unascended bodies that pricked the conscience of the nation. because a key aspect of so-called nonviolent protest is provokeing violence. if you think that actions of protesters themselves can never bring about meaningful change look at the events of 1969 the night stonewall erupted. in the 1960s the new york police department enforced anti-sodomy laws so aggressively they were arrested 100 men a week. they would burst into space,

threaten, harass demean arrest and often abuse anyone who fit the profile. acting with impunity against a group with no political or social power. but on june 28th, 1969 the new york city police taepted a routine raid on a greenwich village bar, the stonewall inn. but instead of business as usual, police encountered people who had had enough. that night the people of stonewall fought back. men refused to produce i.d.s, gay teachers openly mocked the police performing kick lines in face of cops threatening to arrest them. the resistance became physical bottles flew fwirs burned when police barricaded themselves in the bar to await breakup, rioters used a parking meter as a battering ram. stonewall was not a peaceful action, it was a riot. it was the watershed movement in the lgbt community.

a tradition that continues more than 40 years later president obama himself has cited the stonewall riots as evidence of americans' commitment to the struggle for equal rights. >> we the people declare today that the most evident of truths that all of us are created equal is the star that guides us still just as it guided our forebearers through seneca falls and stonewall and selma, it is now our generation's task to carry on what those pioneers began. >> and this week as baltimore burned, the supreme court heard oral arguments in the case that might lead to marriage equality in every state in our nation. a decision that would represent one more victory in the struggle for equality that began decisively as a riot. joining our table now cheryl

brown, community organizer, mark steiner and lester expense, associate professor of political science at johns hopkins university and author of "stare into the darkness the limits of hip-hop and black politics." so you've been on the ground organizing. i'm certainly not trying to incite more calls for a riot but i'm trying to complication this idea that only sort of peaceful marching in line is the only thing that ever brings social change. >> right. i think that this question of nonviolence versus violence the analysis is often a false framing, right? i think it's sometimes to die cot omize people resisting against good protesters or bad rioters. never is this put on violence, the way they respond the resince to me. it's interesting that those who

have no vested interest in black liberation call for us o be more like mlk. a sanitized version or misunderstanding of who mlk was. >> i want to pause to underline this and listen to a man who was on the streets in baltimore speaking to cnn about this exact idea. >> when i was in the marine corps, they called me a patriot, a marine. but now that i'm fighting for my people, they call me a [ bleep ] thug. i'm not sweeping nothing up. they called me a thug when i fight for my people. >> lester respond to that for me. >> yeah so as you were running the clip i was trying to pull up a quote from donald rumsfeld who talked about riots, former political protest that applied to iraq but not quite here. what we see here is an attempt to kind of castigate a wide range, a significant number of

baltimore's people who are doing basically what needed to be done to bring an indictment in the freddie gray case. if you thing about marilyn mosby. she's elected in large part implicitly because their concerns that her incumbent would not prosecute police. and when she ran for office she was like i'll do this. i'll treat everybody fairly right? and that's an incredible moment. her incumbent outspent her three to one and she beat that. but without those protests and without the violent and nonviolent aspect coming together there's no mechanism to hold her accountable and to hold the city accountable. >> and as a law enforcement officer you must be uncomfortable with this particular set of claims i'm making. >> i can't say that police departments have to back off and allow people to express themselves in a violent way. it doesn't make sense. runs completely counter to the rules of society. >> some are hospitalized.

>> of course. my position has always been this. you meet with protesters ahead of time and lay down the ground rules. give them space to protest and demonstration within the context of the first amendment right. i have no problem with that. that's a legal context in which policing is set. the very first moment that a window is broken a crime is committed, police enforce the law, that's the end of it. we don't say, well we're going to back up take a hands off approach, we're going to allow this to go because when law enforcement hesitates like that it very quickly spirals out of control because the demonstrators almost always outnumber the police they can always move in different directions against the way the police are set up. we don't set up society like that to allow those things to occur. >> let me question who the people are. >> they're teenagers. >> and who they were monday night. i've been out there every day. these young people are the children of the oppressed. these are the people whose

grandfathers and great-grandparents when segregation happened did not stay behind. the government's war on drugs happened. they were the victims of that. before that segregation. before that their parents lived in the south. before that reconstruction, before that slavery, before that was the middle passage. these are those children this saul they've ever known. so when one of their own gets killed and nothing is happening about it and these are the ones that have been targeted harassed beaten bullied and arrested by the police, this they blew up. i don't want to see them burn down the cvs when old people have to get there, get their prescriptions. nobody wants to see that. but our hands around these children and bring them in not force them out and make them criminals. >> when you say no one wants to see that i don't mean that anyone wants this to happen. but when it comes to what people want to see, the truth is that audiences prefer seeing spectacular things over seeing calm things. and -- >> right. >> and if a part of a strategy

of a social movement is to bring cameras, then spectacle is -- i mean like again i'm trying to take a moral evaluation on it and just from a pure perspective, we do send more cameras when things burn. >> that's the social context in which policing is set. and the social context in which television and media are driven largely. >> where were the cameras when 5,000 whackblack, asian latino students marched down the middle of the city in complete peace saying police brutality have to stop. where were the cameras? >> that's not what people want to see. if you turn the channel and something is on fire you stop to see what it is. we have more folks joining the panel. baltimore's state attorney has a special message for the young protesters who marc steiner was

just talking about. we'll hear their response. the beautiful sound of customers making the most of their united flight. power, wi-fi and streaming entertainment. that's... seize the journey friendly.

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i will seek justice on your behalf. this is a moment this is your moment. let's ensure that we have peaceful and productive rallies that will develop structural and systemic changes for generations to come. you're at the forefront of this cause, and as young people, our time is now. >> that was baltimore state's attorney marilyn mosby speaking yesterday with a special message for the young people of the city who have been raising their voices this week in response to the death of freddie gray. joining me panel now in new york is the sports editor of "the nation" magazine. also one of those young activist activists is joining me from baltimore. he's co-founder of -- as members

of the baltimore -- i'm sorry, my whole table is going crazy. lester spence is here and apparently you all know each other a lot. so talk to me a little bit. what has been the response of young people in baltimore. initially i would not have expected that while we were having this conversation there would be in kind of enthusiasm at the table. but in fact it looks like the comments yesterday from mosby really have changed the feeling and tenor of what's happening. >> yeah, well i mean one of the things that i was think was beautiful about yesterday was just the public displays of love and camaraderie particularly amongst black folk. the avenue where it's a historic place, a place where in the '50s you had a lot of black artists and social institutions that were there.

and to me what's so amazing where now you see a lot of boarded-up hosing see a lot of the problems affecting urban america. but you saw black people out in the streets, celebrating, hugging each other. we're out there giving away food and giving away pamphlets that have information about how to deal with law enforcement, just talking about the work that we're doing and getting people information. it was such a beautiful scene. to me what was an amazing contrast was contrasting that with the level of militarization around it. so while you have all these black folks that are embracing each other, loving each other, affirming each other in the presence of that it almost seems like you know the institution of civil society doesn't want us to do that given all the military presence around. >> let me ask you about another kind of clear difference here. and that is from the early days from monday and tuesday there's a lot of conversation of

ferguson ferguson in the context of baltimore. and it does feel to me like when you see this mayor elect in part by the black political power in this city when you see this attorney who clearly has a sense of not only sort of personal but electoral connection to this community, at least at the moment we're having very very different responses from that city government. we don't know what it's all going to end up being, but sort of the ferguson comparison now falls apart completely. and i guess i'm wondering how you build on that in the activism, the kind of ongoing activism that goes on after the cameras leave. >> i think there's an important distinction to be made between the mayor stephanie rawlings-blake and marilyn mosby. a lot of people would say our mayor is a person who has capitulated to the corporate interests of the city. as we see what happens in our

city at large is that oftentimes individual black people are put in positions of power or leadership in white-controlled dominating institutions which brings more black people into these institutional arrangements which undermines our community to dwom a communal independent institutional building at the basis of our work. so marilyn mosby being elected was important because she was elected, as alluded to earlier, for the purpose of prosecuting law enforcement officials. she didn't get the same kind of corporate support. she was outmatched tremendously by the incumbent but she was able to get the grass roots support that she needed. this is what gives her -- and very courageous to do what she did but she knows the support behind her. that's an important contrast. if i can say something else really quickly because i think the ferguson comparison is important because i think people reduce racism to individual white folks in leadership black people who have kuk comed to white folks that how it operates

how it takes black figures put them in institutional positions to give them the veneer of justice when really the same institutional arrangement exists. >> you just dropped the mike so hard on that original structural provided live on air. i ain't even going to come to the panel. i'm going to let the panel breathe on the commercial break and let them respond when we come back. dayvon love in baltimore, maryland, damn. stop less. go more. the passat tdi clean diesel with up to 814 hwy miles per tank. just one reason volkswagen is the #1 selling diesel car brand in america.

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i love making sunday dinners. but when my back hurt, cooking all day... forget about it. tylenol was ok, but it was 6 pills a day. but aleve is just 2 pills all day. and now, i'm back! aleve. let me begin by stating how appalled and frustrated we are by the information announced by the state's attorney. we're disappointed in the apparent rush to judgment given the fact the investigation into this matter has not been concluded. >> that was gene ryan with the fraternal order of police in baltimore yesterday. obviously a very different response from dayvon love. i want to throw it out to the table here. >> what you saw with the police

officers had on mayday which is international workers day, why they should not be seen as part of the labor movement or struggle. he's talking about why can't we crack down on the working people of baltimore even harder. why are we being held back from doing that. dayvon love brilliant. that clip should go viral. at the same time i wanted to say that we have a responsibility to press prosecutor mosby and speak about more demands that we should be talking about. i've been baltimore for two weeks. one person said let's remember that a crumb is not a cake this is just the start. a couple of basic things. one, lifting the curfew. because we're in a moment that is celebratory and it is the weekend and it's very dangerous when you have angry police enforcing at gunpoint in highly militarized fashion people having to go back in their homes at 10:00 p.m. we should have for an investigation about why the police and the mayor were able to put out that the black girl's family, the bloods and the crips

had a plan to shoot police officers. not one bullet was fired at the police officer. that scared the holy hell out of thousands of people. i want to know where that came from and there should be accountability for that. >> the baltimore police department is where it came from. >> heads should roll for that. >> totally bogus. >> so i take the ground zero for the riots in mondawmin mall. so they take the city buses home. mondawmin mall is a transportation hub for high schools. when they came out from school the police were in riot gear keeping them from going home. there were people who slept in hotels. >> they shut the subway. >> they shut the subway down. i take the subway home. when we talk about the riots, a political topic. but we have to talk about the role of the city government in deciding that, the role of police. the other thing we need to push marilyn mosby on.

some people have really really high bails. $400,000 bail. right? >> you mean of the rioters? >> don lemon might think that's funny but it's not funny. he was laughing about that. a slice of bread is not a pillow. people emerging with black eyes. people saying it's from police. there needs to be accountability and amnesty for protesters behind bars. >> amnesty for everybody arrested. they need to be rebuilding and not putting these yuckoung people in jail. it's absurd. >> so here's the challenge i find myself in in part because we had two police officers on earlier, they're not at the table right now. i hear all of you. but on the ground know so much better what's happening in that moment. >> emotional. >> but we're also not about to live in cities that don't have police officers.

even if we want to have a world that we're imagining that at some point, that's not about to happen. in a world where we are going to have police officers policing these cities how do we generate some kind of structural incentive that improves the reasons and the ways -- i mean so i hear heads roll and accountability, but then heightened tensions create a way in which officers then feel even more desire and interest to kind of intervene in black lives. >> that's a difficult question because when i envision a world where black lives matter the police as we know it don't exist. we have to navigate the system in the meantime. so civilian review board that looks like demilitarizing the police. one thing encouraging about mosby's statements she said systemic so structural. lets me know that she's thinking

this is not just about the individual bad cops bad apples but a community of misconduct. >> if the police officers are standing there as young people are coming down and they're there to help give them safe passage home is that a different story? are we going to imagine they're going to be police officers and even if there is an underlying current of what we think but if they go with the spirit i know you have the get home can we be there to help you get home rather than showing up in riot gear. >> police are going to be here for a long time to come. there are other ways of doing this. baltimore has to have a police civilian control board. we have investigative powers. the mayor doesn't seem to want it. mosby doesn't seem to want it. that's what we need. the other thing is a policeman's bill of rights which says you can't question a police officer

for ten days and they can get their stories together and they don't have to talk to a prosecutor. that has to change. but c, you don't need the police to take these kids home. baltimore is one quick example. a group called safe streets run by the city government but they're all excons people who come out of prison exfelons they work with people on the streets. used to be the murder capital. in 1 1/2 years not one murder happened. because they know how to talk to the peep. you have to have a different structure. you have to have people who know the communities, patrol their communities, help people with their problem, work with kids. we don't need a policeman for everything we do in society because they're enforcers, not protectors. >> everything you think you know about baltimore, you may know even though you've never even been there. ♪ sfx: engine sounds introducing the new can-am spyder f3.

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long before protests and social unrest attracted the attention of the news media to baltimore this week the city occupied a space in the public imagination informed in large part by a tv series that has been called the greatest television show ever. viewers of "the wire" during its original run on hbo more than a decade ago or those who discovered and binge watched the show since it first aired think they know baltimore through the lens of the show's raw nuanced and intimate portrayal of the city and its people. the images and sounds coming out of baltimore this week might have felt familiar to "the inquire" fans because of baltimore's unique accent and the boarded up row houses. but the stories that unfold over the course of "the wire's" five seasons were more than about aesthetics because the heart of the series was an often bleak commentary on how the city's institutions have failed the

people they were designed to protect. the frustration and despair of individuals who try to resist those institutions and push against them to change. it used compelling narratives to explain the complex ways in which systemic failures at every level from the war on drugs and industrialization and disfunctional politics helped to replicate inequality for the city's most marginalized people. in fact the real reach of the show was so influential that then-senator barack obama declared "the wire" to be his favorite show when he was running for president in 2008. and just recently when president obama wanted someone to come to the white house to talk criminal justice policy it was david simon, the creator of "the wire" who got the invitation. but there's realistic and then there's real. a real young man who died and was buried this week.

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unless you live within that own communities and you know the lifestyle, you can't judge. you can voice your opinion but you can't judge. i even said some things but when you come down here and you see and you feel the hurt and the pain you understand where they're coming from. you understand the anger, you understand the pain you understand the relief of the stress that was built up. >> that was a protester in baltimore reacting to yesterday's announcement of charges filed against officers accused of causing freddie gray's death. so i think that's what i want to

open up for you all, what is it that we need to know. all of you have spent so much time there. dave, i know you wrote a piece about gil yum price and this international struggle. >> if you understand the gil yum price family you can understand why people are in the streets of baltimore. first and foremost the state of maryland stepped up its executions in the late 1990s after going 20 years without executing anybody. where was the death house, right in the middle of a poor neighborhood in baltimore. in many states the death houses are in the middle of nowhere. because they want to isolate prisoners. this was right in the middle of the neighborhood defined by urban decay even gentrified a little bit. even though the death house and the supermax prison brand new. the only new building in the neighborhoods, the death house. tie reasonoeneason gilliam was executed

for a crime his family felt he did not commit. the mother begged the governor but the governor went ahead and executed him. tyrone x gilliam. the movement for him was led by zelda gilliam, his sister. and she would march with his 1-year-old daughter. and i marched with this baby girl. i never saw her again until i saw her earlier this week as a 17-year-old member of city block, baltimore block dyed red hair standing in front of a room speaking without notes. she said we need a movement for black lives matter. it can't be a black deaths matter. in other words, did you love freddie gray when he was alive? that's the question i love you. you can't love these brothers and sisters only when they're dead. she said we need a world where we all see the humanity in each other. the idea she could say that after the blood her family has spilled in the city of

baltimore, that to me is amazing. mikaela gilliam price, people might say that's the revenge of baltimore's racist history. she's the possible redemption of bat more. >> she is i mean she's -- something that people don't get. and there's a lot of organizing going on. there are -- what mikaela part of the baltimore block, this came out two years ago, three years ago tyrone west was killed by the police. his family stood up. they've been on my show over and over again. and every wednesday they had west wednesday. they stood in front of the police department demanding accountability for the death of their loved one. a movement began to build. >> it was that energy that put mosby in auflgs. >> it was that energy that put most bee in office and the movement began to build. heba brown a baptist minister in town who has been organizing across the city.

you got that. you have tenants rights group working in a neighborhood called park heights. they're not all part of an organization but they're all connected. and they need and they come together and that's why when people came from the outside like malik shabazz, folks saying we got this. >> it's all good. because baltimore's moving. >> you've seen it now, a huge movement from the 2016 elections and more. >> before the break, what we talked about was the idea of what we need to do. we can't just stop. i'm sorry, language. they have been organizing to kind of repeal and pull back the law enforcement officials' bill of rights for a while now, right? continue that work. but more importantly it's not just about the political violence, not just about anti-black police violence it's

also about economic violence. they spend how much money a year incarcerating. $17 million a year incarcerating people in freddie gray's neighborhood. winchester. >> 7 million in police brutality claims since 2011. >> so people have been organizing about the economic violence as well. >> you are thinking about if those dollars go into the public schools, this is the loving freddie gray while he's alive -- >> think about day's work $9 million, camden yard is a $215 million stadium, they only pay $9 million. what 220 or whatever that is math is -- >> i so appreciate you all being here. lester, i appreciate you keeping it so real birdland mhp show. dayvon in denim. dave had will be back in the next hour. i want to say thank you, i hope

that all of you will continue to be voices for baltimore as we move forward. coming up next the fight of the century and its knockout price tag and the nfl's number one draft pick. does his talent trump his troubled past? now you know why dave is staying with us. it occurred to mindy she might actually be invisible. ♪♪ but mindy was actually not invisible. ooh, what are you doing? can you see me? she had just always been treated that way. yeah. you don't have to look at me like that. there are worst things than an attractive woman touching your body. i'll go. join the nation that sees you as a priority. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪

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[laughs] ♪meow, meow, meow, meow...♪ ♪meow, meow, meow, meow...♪ it's more than just a meal it's meow mix mealtime. with 100% complete and balanced nutrition and the taste, textures and variety cats love, it's the only one cats ask for by name. welcome back. i'm melissa harris-perry. the six baltimore police officers charged in the death of freddie gray are out on bond this morning. and not due back in court until may 27th. they're charged with crimes ranging from manslaughter to misconduct in office. and in the case of officer cesar goodson second degree murder is the charge. when state's attorney mosby announced the charges she said gray never should have been arrested in first place.

>> lieutenant rice officer miller and officer nairo failed to establish probable cause for mr. gray's arrest as no crime had been committed by mr. gray. lieutenant rice, officer miller and officer nairo illegally arrested mr. gray. >> crowds cheered in the streets mostly in the same intersection that had been the scene of protests all week. as night fell and the city's curfew set in at 10:00, the streets grew quiet and all tactical police left. joining me now from baltimore, maryland is nbc news correspondent ron allen. what's expected today in baltimore? >> well melissa, there's a big gathering happening here in the plaza in the next couple of hours. it's a demonstration, protest, victory, rally it's any number of thins but very upbeat which is very striking about this. the police presence is very relaxed, no tension at the

moment. there were a few arrests for curfew violations but almost like a -- it's been very well choreographed. a number of protesters stayed out late past 10:00, but by 10:45, 11:00 t streets were cleared. it's only happening in a couple of small areas of the city. things are moving peacefully. because of the very furious and sweeping charges leveled against the six officers. imagine what it would be if that had not happened. things are much more upbeat and positive going forward today. the event today is about a lot of things. one of the issues of police brutality. one of the issues is the freddie gray case. when you talk to activists here there's a whole range of things that they're trying to focus the public on now that they've got momentum and a big victory, they would call it. i talked to people interested in issues like education, voter registration. had there not been a push that

got marilyn mosby elected back in november we wouldn't be where we are today because of the change in leadership. she has a much different approach to criminal justice than her predecessor. people are trying to seize the momentum, seize the victory they got although they point out in is a first step a big step towards getting justice for the gray family but still a long way to go. but they're trying to seize this moment to make further sweeping changes and get the public organized and engaged and moving forward tackling these other long range systemic issues here in baltimore and across the country. >> ron allen in baltimore, maryland. thank you so much for your reporting this morning. now, we're going to shift gears. now it's the fight of the century. finish word century. but it is happening tonight. floyd mayweather will fight manny pacquiao. the two best fight overs the

era. boxing isn't the mainstream attraction it once was when muhammad ali faced joe frazier in the thrilla in manila. or those who listened to low lewis knocking out max snelling in their 1938 remax. it was called the largest history for anything. and the first time many people heard a black man referred to simply as the american. still, boxing has a way of grabbing the public's imagination as well as our wallets. tonight's welterweight championship fight proved that mayweather who weighs in yesterday at 146 pounds and pacquiao who weighed in at 145 aren't heavyweights but they're commonly regarded as the two best fighters in any weight class even as they're approaching retirement age. mayweather 38 and nicknamed

money is the master of defense. then we have 36-year-old pacquiao aka pac man, a southpaw known for his quick feet -- >> go melissa. >> thank god i have these producers. this is a fight that almost didn't happen. so after five years of torturous negotiations involving mayweather's unprecedented request for olympic style drug testing, pacquiao's refused last icons finally set a date but not without a defamation lawsuit that pacquiao flattened mayweather with in 2009 when he accused him of using performance enhancing drugs and mayweather his controversy outside the league includes five convictions in domestic battery or assault cases involving four different women. yet none of this seems to have damaged the hype because the fight of the century is also the highest engrossing tickets sold out in one minute and the two

contenders will share a reported $300 million purse for a record $100 a pop and three to four million expected pay per slew mayweather and pacquiao are the first to cross the billion dollar threshold in career pay-per-view revenue. when it is all said and done tonight's bout could generate $400 million in revenue making this the richest fight in boxing history. in fact in fact pacquiao will make at least $2 million off the sponsorship on his boxing shorts alone. which is a lot for anybody but especially for a man who grew up in crushing poverty in the philippines only to leapfrog two weight classes and dominate oscar de la hoya in 2008. the statesman has said there is a god who can raise people from nothing into something and that's me. i came from nothing into something. mayweather, 38 also grew up poor but in grand rapids michigan, with a father mayweather says physically

abused him. boxing is easy mayweather has said but life has never been easy. tonight as they attempt to best each other in the sweet science, we are reminded how much boxing is tale of two men because that's exactly what boxing has always been about, the sort of heroes and anti-heroes, what it meant to be an american an icon, a game changer or the strongest man in the world. tonight, that story continues, and it could be where the story ends. joining me now sports editor at "the nation" and author of "dance with the devil." a sports columnist at bloomberg view. wes smith, founder and principal of pro art management incorporated a producer of "forgotten four." and gotham nagesh sports writer

for "the wall street journal." joining me from las vegas, sports columnist at "the new york times." bill, how crazy is it in vegas right now as the world has been waiting on this fight that is finally going to happen? >> first of all, i have to tell you how impressed i am in you. when are you coming here? >> let me explain. that research comes from ky ma who is a tiny producer but very interested in boxing. >> melissa's got game. come on. so excitement is still sleeping. this thing is -- i drove in from los angeles and there was like a caravan of people coming. so in about two hours, three hours, this place is going to be permanently crazy because, everybody loves a fight. we can talk all about the peace and the love and the concussions and the hand wringing. people love a big fight particularly in one of the great fighters is an american. somebody who won the united

states. and boxing is just such a great morality play. you mentioned both of these guys come from poverty. that's sort of been the history of this sport from tom who was a slave who wound up being champion. so this is really going to be a crazy moment for all the reasons that you mentioned, domestic abuse and the whole thing makes it great. >> i want to come out on exactly that -- we've been talking a lot on the show so far about structure and inequality of the system but boxing really is two warriors two people in there together. but let me just say this. i outweigh both those guys and so i'm a little bit -- what i don't quite understand, if you can help me. >> how is your jam? >> well i would lose. but why do we care about little guys fighting? >> because that's all we have right now. clearly, if they were

heavyweights, it would be big. but right now this is the best we've had for a long time. the last time i was here for a fight was when tyson bit holyfield's ear. but that's what we have. and these -- you know mayweather's 47-0 pacquiao we've been waiting for a great fight for a long time. this is a legacy fight. mayweather could not retire unless he fought this guy. >> let me ask the same of wes here. >> these are the two most compelling figures in the sport of boxing and it's been that way really since you go back to the heavywaikt division lennox lewis and evander holyfield. you haven't had any personalities that have commanded the public's attacks the way these have. >> the heavyweight champion is white and has been for a long time. and a lot of people have wanted that for a long time wes. how is he not like a big deal? >> he fought last week in madison square garden.

and that story just got glossed over because everyone is preparing for this day. you know these two men really when you have two men in the ring and even with team sports it's about competition. and the competition that drives passion from the fans. and these two men have been successful doing that over the past 10 12 years. >> what do you think we'll actually see? >> what we'll actually see? it will be obviously the biggest spectacle in boxing that we've seen in years. as less is saying the issue of not having an american-born heavyweight is really kind of one of the driving factors and why boxing has declined. frankly i'm not excited for this fight. i can't -- i've written very openly about how i can't have any dollars supporting a guy like floyd mayweather given his history and given the fact that more directly than in any other sport the dollars are going into thiz pocket from the fans so that's kind of my position on this. >> yeah i spend a lot of time arguing that despite the many

hypocrisies in sports that we should engage with sports because it's how we communicate with each other in this nation. and it's worth it no matter how dirty the sport might be. mayweather and pacquiao is a bridge too far for me. i'm not watching it tonight. when i look at the actual rap sheet of floyd mayweather. 21 calls from come from his home begging for police intervention because he was beating women. 21 calls and that's what we know about. he has an elaborate operation of actually paying off whether it's attorneys, women police to get out of these situations so the idea of subsidizing his serial abuse of women is tough for me. it was tough for me because i was at a black women's lives matter ral they week. how can i be there and rekeya boyd rehermember her name then go though this fight.

it's too much. >> i feel like i should put my producer on a plane to come out to hang out with you. >> please. >> for the evening. >> please. we don't have to go to the fight. >> oh bill. oh bill. bill rodin in las vegas, nevada. thank you for joining us. we're going to have more on tonight's big fight when we come back. but first a very different kind of story. the announcement of a big arrival across the pond. early this morning kate the duchess of cambridge gave birth to a little girl. moments ago they left the hospital to check on prince george who will turn 2 in july. the new baby girl will be the fourth in line to the throne. congratulations to the royal family. i wonder if they'll be watching the fight tonight? up today, new friskies 7. we're trying seven cat-favorite flavors all in one dish. now for the moment of truth.

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long before i became a boxer, i used to live in the street starving and hungry. now i can't imagine that the lord placed me in this position and blessings that i can't imagine. >> you came here to see a great event. that's what both competitors bring to the table, excitement. the biggest fight in boxing history. >> that was manny pacquiao and cnn's -- i mean floyd mayweather on a wednesday. the biggest payout in the history of sports. i'm wondering about that narrative. both of them have an up from

poverty narrative. dave was killing our sports joy just before the break by reminding us of the kinds of inequalities that we face when we look at mayweather's history is really about this question about violence against women, but there's this kind of up from poverty story that leaves people still really rooting for both of these guys. >> not just these guys. boxing is historically a sport that's been populated by people from rough backgrounds, very impoverished. most boxing gyms are not in the upper east side or neighborhoods like that. >> kickbox inging. right, or fitness class. sugar ray leonard called boxing the sport of the poor man. i cover a lot of fighters in the d.c. area teenagers and really young adults. for them boxing is a sanctuary. they come from violent backgrounds where violence is a fact of life. boxing is civilized compared to what they have to deal with. it can teach people

self-discipline, it can teach self-control. i wouldn't call it a panacea for the other ails of society. no doubt boxing has a history of taking people who have criminal backgrounds and offering them a positive outlet for the things they have to deal with in their lives. >> it's one of the few sports where that was possible for folks with those kinds of backgrounds as opposed to the major league sports, the nfls, the mlbs, especially for those of color wouldn't have been accessible. >> buster mathis jr. asked his father should i play football or box, and his father said son, please play football because nobody plays boxing. and that's the thing about the sport. is that it takes a chunk out of you. you're signing over a part of yourself. there's a lot of positive that comes particularly from youth boxing but the sport itself institutionally is so corrupt, so decentralized and so thoroughly messed up in terms of how it treats fighters that it

makes the nfl, seriously, look like a quaker convention. >> we talk about the nfl and the future of football and parents not wanting their children to play youth football because of the concussions and everything, the same thing has already happened in boxing so you do see a pool of fighters who really only come from these impoverished backgrounds. >> is it a shift or has it always been true. >> it's always been true but we're more aware of it now. we see this as a problem in boxing but how the sport's always been. >> let me dig in on that a little bit. because part of what happened if you have people from a distance coming to what we saw happen with muhammad ali which is a use of exactly that space, a use of boxing as a way to have a kind of political story, as way to tell a story about -- in fact, even in on this fight,

mayweather apparently said that he was better than ali. saying that no one can ever brainwash me to believe that sugar ray robinson and muhammad ali are better than me and muhammad ali tweeted back to him, don't you ever forget i'm the greatest. even now his voice is relevant in boxing. >> he came up in a time of social unrest and his voice was much needed to galvanize people and to show that they can work within a system and maintain their values when he was a conscientious objector to the vietnam war. stayed true to being a muslim and converting to islam, he was able to follow that path and prove that he was going to stay true to his principles in light of everything happens around him. i think you have a lot of athletes willing to do that for their principles because of the amount of commerce that surrounds them.

>> what if it was just money. he comes up in a time of social unrest. we're in a time of social unrest. would mayweather be more of a likable guy even if for money alone he was able to say i'm give a portion of to a black -- >> according to several tax returns gave $7,000 to charity. he has a nonprofit. guest how much that nonprofit gave out last year? $37,000 is what the nonprofit distributed. i mean -- >> that may be about poverty. but the most charitable i can be. sometimes when you really grow up in a circumstance of poverty, kind of hoarding instinct to keep it all just in case. >> i don't want to in any way be casting stones at floyd mayweather, that's his decision what he wants to give but there's another layer in that he's never been held accountable that he's a serial abuser of women. this isn't ray rice caught in

his worst moment in an elevator and all of us passing judgements. three dozen times calls have gone in about abuse. the stories that you hear -- the hero for me is floyd mayweather's 13-year-old son who walked in on a "usa today" interview with his mom who used to be married to floyd, josie davis who said she was abused constantly in their relationship, he walked out there and said that my dad is a coward, that's what he said. they held up the letter he wrote at 10 where he swore out a complaint and described in detail how his dad beat his mom. that's another level to me. >> him and his brothers reported to the cops. >> right. >> we'll talk more on this topic when we come back. but what has 3,000 emeralds and will be center stage at tonight's fight? the answer is next. ♪ ♪ when you're living with diabetes

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we talk about the money at stake in the showdown between mayweather and packy u. they don't just get a big paycheck, they get a big belt. it's endorned with 3,000 emeralds and gold. the same kind of letter used in ferraris and decorated with 165 handpainted flags. the belt alone is worth around $1 million. and it looks like it could weigh more than either of the men fighting for it. i'm sorry, i'm still hung up on why it's teeny, tiny men fighting is so exciting to us. i am -- i do want to think a little bit about the money piece here. because you know there's on the one hand the kind of judgment that we can bring to it but you know in a market you sell what you can sell. in this case the idea that we still have this desire to see this kind of fighting again between two guys almost 40 years

old. i'm fascinated by this. >> so i wouldn't -- i always say that boxers earn their money perhaps to a greater sense than anyone else. this fight is unique in the fact that mayweather has taken control of his own career his own finances so he sees the vast majority of the money that comes into him. muhammad ali, mike tyson, a lot of boxers who earn a lot of money. >> they don't keep it. >> and they end up practically broke. the various sanctioning bodies promoters take advantage of these less educated less financially sophisticated boxers so in that sense mayweather is a step forward to some extent because he's really the one who benefits on the bottom line. even pacquiao has had troubles despite earning hundreds of millions. >> i believe he owes $75 million in tax money. so we're talking about pacquiao is fighting to pay his tax bill which has a layer of pathos to

it as he talks about coming out of poverty. >> there's not athletes like muhammad ali, but pacquiao is a statesman. having this conversation with kyle wait a minute, is that an indication that pacquiao actually is the athlete like that in this fight? >> i think absolutely. if you talk to people in the philippines after they've had tragedy after tragedy, tsunami and things like that happening, he is the face of you know the international kind of galvanizing people around raising some money for the philippines. it's really interesting, the money is part of what was holding this fight up for so many years. the split between what mayweather and pacquiao, how they would split the purses is what was holding it up. hey, let's just play this fight for charity. let's just get it out there. and get money for charity, this guy that owes $70 million. >> and floyd mayweather is like uh-uh. >> i'm not trying to rain on

everything here. but pacquiao's most significant accomplishment as a politician in the philippines was denying contraception to poor women. >> that's catholicism, right? >> he said that even though he grew up in poverty with a lot of brothers and sisters, that was a blessing and others should be able to go include that blessing. it's just to say that i find it interesting when people say, i'm for pacquiao because this is a morality play about women's rights, both people's ledger if we want to talk about women's righting being represented in a boxing match. >> could we begin by just saying okay boxing feminism. likely two separate spaces. i'm down with the idea of like a feminist boxer just bringing the noise. >> shields, you know. >> stay with us. we've got more. i want to actually talk a little bit about the way in which sports welcome such a big deal as they are right at the center of the other big political story of the week.

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take a look at the eerie scene at oriole park in camden yard on wednesday as the orioles played the chicago white sox to an empty stadium. believed to be the first major league game ever played without spectators. team officials had declared the game would be closed to the public and the protests that had been taking place in the streets of baltimore. i wanted to set these two things next to each other, this idea that everyone in the world would be watching the fight tonight on pay-per-view, on everything else, then in baltimore, the other enormous and important story, here we had a major league game that was happening, no one there, except you. >> i was. i was there. it was absolutely bizarre. and you know you talk to players and managers in the stands and everyone seemed kind of resigned to this reality but obviously not very happy with this decision. what this did was send the message that baltimore is not

safe and not open for business. and that's really not what i found when i went there. i know that david's been there longer than i was and david's been there all week. but people were very willing to talk. they wanted the real story of what was happening in baltimore to be told. >> i thought the scene with the stands empty was appropriate and poignant. not that it should be done this way. it is not business as usual in the streets of baltimore right now, so why should it be business as usual in the stadium. freddie gray is not cheering and yelling, so why should anyone the stadium be cheering and yelling. in an odd way, this was not the intent, it drew a lot of attention to the fact that these are special times like adam jones one of only two african-american starters on the team. are you worried about your schedule and the empty stadium? he said i'm much more worried about the city of baltimore healing. it sent that message.

>> having the national anthem played in front of 45,000 empty seats was very poignant. >> wow. that's deep. >> i kept feeling we make decisions about this show and what's going to go on and what's a reasonable set of conversation for us to be having in the context of the world. we're really battling with do we turn to talking about the fight, the thing that everyone is talking about, do we turn to talking about sports in the context of baltimore. now baltimore shifted, but if it were still burning, there's a question, would the fight have gone -- kind of obviously, i wonder if it should have. >> the whole week you have a number of sporting events taking place. the kentucky derby todayp the nfl draft taking place. it really -- i'm glad that baltimore and the orioles in particular kept the fans out of the stadium to make it seem like this is really more important what's going on in the city than the actual event, but i think it goes to a hardgelarger point that for americans talent trumps

character. in the case of baltimore, i think they actually placed the right emphasis on what was taking place in the streets and the community there with freddie gray. important for them to do. >> interesting. the coo of the orioles john angelo made a long statement about the roots of the problem, the manager of the orioles buck showalter was asked what advice do you have to give to young black men. he said, i have no advice i'm not a black man. i have no advice for them. >> you hear people trying to weigh in on things that they really don't know anything about. i tell guys all the tile when they talk about, i've never been black. okay? so i don't know -- i can't put myself -- i've never been faced with challenges that they faced, okay? so i understand the emotion, but i don't -- you know i can't -- it's a pet peeve of mine. somebody says, i know what

they're feeling, why don't they do this? you have never been black. so slow down a bit. >> slow down a bit. i want to talk about this question of talent trumping character in the context of the nfl draft. we'll give everybody a chance to weigh in more on this. because up next the number one pick in the nfl's draft will his past trouble affect the already troubled league? if you can't put a feeling into words, why try? at 62,000 brush movements per minute philips sonicare leaves your mouth with a level of clean like you've never felt before giving you healthier gums in just two weeks. innovation and you. philips sonicare. ♪ ♪

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caring for these whales, we have a great responsibility to get that right. and we take it very seriously. because we love them. and we know you love them too. on thursday chicago rolled out the gold carpet to welcome 28 perspective nfl players to day one of the 2015 nfl draft. the number one overall draft pick was none other than florida state university quarterback jameis winston. winston famously became the famous person to ever win the heisman trophy after passing 41 touchdowns and more than 4,000 yards that season. but winston is notorious for some of his actions off the field. in september florida state suspended the player from one

game after learning that he made vulgar comments about female anatomy while standing in the middle of campus. two years before that one of his class classmates accused him of rape. a year later the state attorney general decided against prosecuting citing insufficient evidence. winston has maintained that the sex between them was consensual. winston faced a florida state code of conduct hearing involving the florida sexual assault allegation. the campus found he was not in violation of the code. winston is facing a civil suit that kinsman filed in april. for these reasons winston's status as the number one nfl draft pick has been controversial especially since several players were accused of violence against women and children last season. ray rice was released and suspended indefinitely after the now famous elevator video showing him punching his

now-wife ja innay. his suspension has been overturned but he has yet to find a new team. another was said to be disciplining a child with a switch. greg hardy who last week was suspended for ten games without pay because the league found he sly lated the personal conduct policy by assaulting his ex-girlfriend in 2014. this upcoming season will be the first full season for the nfl's new personal conduct policy which is supposed to clarify standards of behavior and impose stricter repercussions on offenders. is this a new beginning for the nfl? or does this week's draft send a message about the league's commitment to change? what do you think? >> i think the jameis winston case in particular has drawn a lot of attention because, one, there's been a series of incidents involving him, but two because jameis -- it does speak

to character concerns that are often cited by executives at sports teams. we see that domestic violence tends to rank very low on the offense scale. we see players who are punished through the draft much more severely for things like drug use like marijuana or something to that effect but we have a whole host of athletes who have in the past been accused of domestic violence from jason kidd to robert parrish, this has been high lighted in the ray rice investigation. wes is exactly right, the better an athlete you are, the more you can get away with. nothing like sports to make people lose perspective of what should and shouldn't be allowed in society. >> but should we say this is a kid who, yes, there were the accusations but there were multiple hearings and trials in which he was found -- where there was a decision not to press charges and so why shouldn't his talent be the only thing making this decision?

>> well because above it all, just the basic issue of maturity. you're talking about two different women accused him of rape and he chooses that moment with everybody looking at him to stand on a table in the middle of vancampus and say bleep her in the bleep and bleep her in the bleep. it's not just about character if you are going to invest that much money in somebody. big macro issue, what a message the united states has sent to young black men this week. if you are going to be a young black men, be jamesis winston, not freddie gray. i've read enough to say that the tallahassee police department covered up this allegation made allowances for jameis winston. a southern police department protected someone guilty or innocent from being charged with a felony and in baltimore they break a young man's back. >> if you want to talk about talent trumping character, what

we talk about with mayweather and winston is similar, mayweather being issued a boxing license despite what he's being charged with. they didn't even talk to him when he was initially being investigated because, you know the police department and campus security are very much in bed with each other because of the high profile these athletes have. >> both of these cases, these are very parochial interests. the tallahassee police department, these communities where college football is the main industry they rely on college football as their economy for a large part of the year. similarly nevada needs floyd mayweather to fight there. that's why it will be at most a slap on the wrist. because if they don't give them a license, california or new york, they will give them that. that's one of the reasons boxing needs national oversight. >> it comes down to commerce. how much revenue you can generate for an organization or team or community, that's what it's all about.

that's the equation that society has to deal with whether or not they want to place more emphasis on the character variable or the talent which leads to revenue. >> when you say commerce all about commerce and also as you point out the parochial interest about the needs economically of those communities and ways even hearkening back to the ferguson report on the ways that policing those black bodies related to the commerce and parochial interests of the communities and maybe also that it's about the vulnerability about black women's bodies or women's bodies in general, this idea that there would be some kinds of violation or some kinds of character issues which, as you point out, for example, the drug war around marijuana, that would potentially but not balance against women's bodies. >> right. >> which are consistently seen as kind of an acceptable part of this. >> and if we want to ask where is the nfl in all this? this to me says it all. tampa bay buccaneers have been

all over the sports media talking about the hundreds of hours they spent investigating jameis winston's character and how confident they are that he's to be the face of their franchise. guess who ne never reached out to speak to erica kinsman, not one call to her. not to say she would have wanted to talk to them. but it speaks volumes that they didn't even want to hear what she had to say. >> i am -- i feel you know lost in a moment like that because there's so -- you know on the one hand when i heard you say the character, there's a part of me saying that being able to use that character discourse particularly against young black men can run counter, can run the exact opposite way. i don't want to miss if we're giving many tense of thousands to have these young men play it has to connect somehow. >> i didn't mean it to say that talent should trump character. >> yes. >> what i want to see is that society come together and really

reprioritize our values so that character trumps talent. >> i just want to -- what worries me is sometimes when i say character, we then take a whole group of people who are just bravado and braggadocio and say they have bad character as opposed to actual -- in this case claims at least, allegations, we don't have convictions in this case of real violence against people. >> part of the problem is actually -- i know you didn't mean it this way -- but using euphemisms as character issues if you read the scouting reports on jameis winston not one actually said sexual assault allegations. >> that word. >> the language used the lack of specificity that we use to talk about violence against women especially in the sports world is a big problem that allows us to skate by that the fact that there are no pictures no videos allows people to say well she's automatically a liar. >> that's very useful. >> they talk about it. all the same thing.

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the ebola crisis that began in 2014 is easing. it's not completely over. cases are still being diagnosed in sierra leone and guinea. there were 33 new cases confirmed last week. but the numbers thankfully are on the decline. overall more than 26,000 people have been infected by the ebola epidemic, close to 11,000 people have died. international health care workers traveled to the affected areas to help combat the highly contagious disease and we've all seen the protective gear they wear. looks like giant space suits. while doctors are working on healings the physical bodies of those affected our foot soldier of the week was focused on helping the spirits. mary beth is an artist and an

associate professor in los angeles. when she saw the images coming out of west africa she tried to imagine being one of the patients. she asked herself, what would it be like to go for days on end without seeing a human face and only engaging with people in those biohazard suits while suffering through physically wrenching symptoms. the suits the health care workers wear are called personal protective equipment or ppes for short. they're very important for preventing the spread of ebola, but they can be very personal maybe even downright frightening, but mary beth had an idea. what if health care workers who wore the ppes had big photos of their faces ob the outside of their suits like a sticker of their smiling faces so that patients can see that behind the scary protective gear is a friendly warm person. someone who wants to help. mary beth got to work and turned

her kitchen table into a command center and spent months there testing cameras, printers and paper types all in an effort to create photos that would adhere to a ppe suit without compromise compromising the suit's integrity. she did research on the disease and the effects of isolation on patients and secured funding from oxidantal college and arnold p. goldman foundation and reached out to 75 people hoping to find someone interested in her project. the chair of ebola case management for liberia loved her idea and asked her to travel to liberia. so in february mary beth left los angeles with 12 boxes of equipment and an oxidantal photographer mark campose who went along to document the process. they went to one ebola treatment center in liberia with the greatest amount of patients and began printing on water resistant vinyl labels and trained the staff on how to use the equipment and donated a kit to the hospital. the pictures were an instant hitp. health care workers loved them.

the images improved their relationships with their patients and they could now see their own colleagues and work better as a medical team that way the patients loved it too. instead of seeing the white ninja suits they have been called in liberia, now they can see their caretakers are members of their own community. no longer an unknown quantity. for thinking about the emotional suffering of those already suffering physically and for coming up with a creative solution, mary beth is our foot soldier of the week. and that's our show for today. thanks to you at home for watching. i'll see you tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. eastern. we're going to take a much closer look at the messaging around the mom who made headlines in baltimore this week. coming up "weekends with alex witt." until, inhibition creeps in our world gets smaller quieter, but life should be loud. sing loud, play loud,

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decision and fires back at critics. >> i don't see what the conflict of interest is. have to prosecute every crime that takes place in the city of baltimore. >> was there a rush to judgment in the case? new analysis as the six officers charged are out on bail. plus a brand new royal baby. the duchess of cambridge delivers her second child but what is the baby's name? hey there, everyone. high noon in the east 9:00 a.m. out west welcome to "weekends with alex witt" a march planned to protest the death of freddie gray is being billed as a victory march. "the washington post" reports thousands of marchers will celebrate the decision by baltimore state's attorney to file charges against six officers. one officer facing second degree depraved heart murde