good evening and welcome to

"politics nation." in about 45 minutes, we're expecting an update from the white house coronavirus task force in the briefing room. once it gets started, we'll take you there live. while we wait, tonight's lead, six feet apart or six feet under. that is the decision facing the country in the weeks ahead. as president trump pushes some states to reopen their economies, while at the same time telling governors that he wants them to decide when and how to ease social distancing restrictions. this week the president took on to twitter, of course, to rally his supporters to, quote, liberate states like michigan, minnesota, and virginia. all three of them swing states. all three critical to his reelection. all three with democratic governors to beat upon. and knowing this president

personally, i am sure he is going to do exactly that. escalate. make it personal, and instead of focusing on a plan for, say, testing, the president is feuding with state leaders, trying to prioritize health policy concerns over politics and in the midst of all this pettiness, the carnage in the black community continues to intensify with the centers for disease control and prevention releasing its first racial breakdown of known u.s. coronavirus cases this weekend. nearly a third of them black, corroborating a point that i've made on this show for weeks now. while new york, chicago and detroit continue to dominate the conversation, the epicenter of black america is still the south, and that's where the disparity is starkest.

of the top ten states where african americans are bearing the brunt of this outbreak, including the district of columbia, seven of them are below the mason-dixon line, according to an associated press analysis of available data, which of course is why this week's images from number eight on that list, michigan of protesters brandishing assault rifles, racist symbols, and comparing themselves to slaves because of the state's lockdown. had black americans like myself scratching our heads and reaching for our masks. joining me now, gretchen widmer, the democratic governor of michigan. welcome, madam governor. >> thank you, reverend sharpton. >> let me ask you first, governor, the interaction between governors and the white house, at one point the

president says they're working closely with the governor there. he talks to most of you on the, vice president pence talks and everything is lovely, and then he dumps and attacks the governors and says it's all their fault, in essence blaming testing, blaming the lack of ventilators. he even called you "that woman from michigan." this kind of contradictory behavior, how are you and other governors dealing with this to cut through all of this inconsistency and deal with the fact that people are dying in your state? >> well, i think that we're just taking this very seriously. we governors have banded together, republican and democratic alike. we're seeing on the front lines what the lack of a national strategy has meant to our states, what the inconsistent messaging has meant to our states, and that's why it's so important that we take the leadership role of closing

things down, working to get ppe for our front-line provider, trying to ramp up testing. testing is absolutely essential to the question of whether or not we're in a position to reengage sectors of our economy. you look at the white house, what they've been prom l giulgp. we need to see 14 days of declining numbers and robust testing, and yet we don't have swabs and reagents. that's precisely why you see republican and democratic governors across the country really taking the lead when it comes to communicating with our population, trying to procure these critical supplies. and closing things down when they need to be closed down. that's not fun. no governor wants to be in a position where we have to issue executive orders and tell people to stay home. >> is it the states, though? is it the governors' obligation? because even the governor of maryland who is republican said that the federal government is not doing enough.

>> so i took a lot of heat early on for sharing the observation that i thought if we had a national strategy, we'd be a lot better off, that if the federal government was making full use of the defense production act to supply these critical components, that that would so important. having states bid against one another to try to get these ppe is driving up the price and making it more difficult to make sure everyone gets what they need. and that's precisely why i think you see governors working together in ways that we haven't before. i'm very fortunate. i've got mike dewine to the south in ohio and holcomb in indiana and pritzker in illinois and walls and ybors and andy beshear. we came together and said we've got think regionally. covid-19 does not observe state line. it doesn't observe party line. and that's precisely why

everyone has to recognize the enemy is the virus, it's not one another. >> one of the things that comes to mind when you say the enemy is the virus, not one another, you've been one of the governors targeted by protesters there was a demonstration outside of the state house in lansing calling on you to back off of this stay at home edict that you and other governors have put out. and the thing -- two-part question. one, how do you react to that? and what do you need the see in order to rescind that? at what point would you say yes, michigan is past the point and we can now let people go to work and go out to school or whatever. at what point? and secondly, i can't help but notice there is, as in most states, a large percentage of those tested and that are dying are african american,

disproportionately. something you've addressed. but the overwhelming majority of those protesting, if not all are white. and they have racial language. i believe one even had a confederate flag out in front of your state house. explain to me what you need to see to rescind the order, and explain to me how you deal with the racial implications of these people marching with maga hats and even one with a confederate flag in a state where most of the victims disproportionately anyway are people of color, black people in particular. >> yeah, absolutely. so first let me say this. michigan has the third highest number of deaths from covid-19. and we are not the third biggest state population wise. we are tenth. and that tells me we have a disproportionate burden on our hands. it is being felt and borne by the african american population in our state. 14% of our residents are african american, and yet 40% of the

deaths are african american. >> 14% of the population, 40% of the deaths. i just want to make sure that our viewers understand what you said. go ahead. >> that's right. and we are one of the first states to release racial data so that people can really start to understand the magnitude of what's happening here. in the african american community in particular, so the people really understand the seriousness of this. i'm glad illinois has done that and louisiana and more are coming online to release that. but this is holding up a mirror to historic inequities in access to health care and access to jobs that pay well and access to educational opportunities. and this is one aspect that we are seeing very clearly, and that's precisely why it's important that we get through this crisis, but we take the lessons from this crisis and change the policy in this country to create real equity. and i think that's really important. as we looked at the protesters, though, reverend al, the vast majority of people in michigan

are doing the right thing. well see that in terms of how our curve is flattening. there are people that are unhappy, there is no question. a lot of people are making big sacrifices. those who want to protest, i respect their ability and their right to dissent. but what is important is that they exercise and they do those activities not endangering other people and our safety, wearing masks, staying six feet apart. they were blocking a hospital so that the ambulance couldn't get in and out. these are ways that they are going to actually perhaps prolong our need to be in a stay-at-home order. so this something that i think while people are -- i'm sorry, my dog hit the camera. while people are trying to, you know, gaff gate this in untenable stressful situations, we know that we've got to insist everyone does the right thing and observes those important cdc acknowledgments.

>> i know that reverend charles williams ii there in michigan tells me that you are actively working toward trying to deal with inequitable health plan. i must ask you this before we leave. i know your dog is trying to tell us we're out of time. on another issue, your name has been touted as one of the possible choices to be vice presidential candidate with joe biden. if you were selected, would you accept? and if so, how would you debate and run against vice president pence? >> i'm not going there with you, al. i have got my hands full with covid-19. every ounce of energy that i'm expending right now is focused on getting my state through this crisis and saving lives, and that's the most important thing. whether the people of this state voted for me or my opponent, i'm the governor for all 10 million people in the state of michigan. i'm going to work every minute to get through this and save lives. i think the world of joe biden. he's got a phenomenal group of people from whom he could find a

running mate, and it's an honor to be included in that, but i'm not spending a lot of energy right there right now. >> but you're not turning it down? >> you know what? reverend al, i haven't even had enough time to think about anything other than covid-19. i think that joe biden is a fantastic guy. i think he could be a great president. but at this point in time i'm not spending too much on that. >> all right. we call that a duck on "politics nation" but i'll take it. thank you governor gretchen whitmer. joining us can is cory booker of new jersey, a member of the small business committee. thank you for being with us, senator. >> al, thank you very much for having me here on the show. and thanks for your work. a lot of people might think you're just on the tv, but you and i know you're in the trenches fighting these battles as well. and you've been a great friend and ally during this crisis. >> thank you. you were on the small business administration committee. and one of the things that has

happened, we've seen $350 billion go out the door for small businesses, but not a lot of it going to small businesses in the black community, something that you've raised. what are we doing to correct that and to deal with that in the second stimulus bill -- or the fourth i guess is the number. because many of the people that need it the most that's on the ground did not get it. it was out the door. the banks were dealing with their customers. some of our business people are unbanked. how do we make sure that the money goes where it is most needed? because those businesses in our communities can't survive without some kind of financial life raft. >> yeah, this is the real challenge. the ppe is important. it's essential. billions of dollars have gone out here in new jersey. but the people we're finding are being left are not just the small businesses, al, they're

also small nonprofits that don't have those banking relationships. disproportionately, african american and latino businesses that are more unbanked, or even if they are banked, they're banking with african american banks and others who are not participating in the ppe program. they're not connected. they're not servicing these loans. er a thousand african american banks out there, only 70 to 80 are actually participating. so you have a lot of folks who are unbanked, a lot of folks who have banking relationships who are not able to participate. we've got to solve that problem if we want to have the philosophy in america that leave no business -- no small business behind. and so in this current negotiation going on, i've been pressing hard. the congressional black caucus has been pressing hard to make sure here in new jersey that everybody has access to the program, whether you have 20 people or whether you're much more bigger established bank that has a -- established business that has a big bank with you. this is a crisis.

and we can't have the outcome having disproportionately african american businesses and mom and pop businesses being left out of the lifeline that should be going to everybody. >> i've been on a lot of conference calls on this issue, and you've been in one that is really leading the charge in the senate on this. to make sure that this bill does not get through this stimulus floor bill unless those safeguards are there. again, not only new jersey nationally, we see a lot of our businesses that really need this. and we're talking about -- we're not begging here. we're talking about federal dollars, taxpayers are dealing with this that they benefit from this because they literally are going out of business, and their employees are there with no money. your pastor reverend david jefferson coordinating are feeding people, passing out prepackaged food with the world central kitchen.

so this is serious when it hits the ground in the nooks and the east oranges and your state, but all over the country. >> well, that's example. jose andres for working with pastor jefferson. they called me up and basically said look, our bank won't service this loan. and come to find out all over new jersey, i have churches that are doing critical work right now from sheltering people to feeding people that desperately need this help but have not been able to get it because they don't have those banking relationships. and when you know this, al, all across new jersey from cam deem to willingboro to paterson and passaic, there are businesses and black communities and latino communities that are critical. they're the anchors of those communities. and from the barbershop to the restaurant, they're not getting to take advantage of this business at the levels that they need to. so this is a leave no one behind. we need to reup this money because of a lot of other businesses of all backgrounds that need to get their money,

leave nobody behind. but we have to do something to address this sharp disparity of access to the money itself. and i've been fighting for that. talked to chuck schumer today. he is in the fight and supplemental package, i'm already working hard to develop the coalitions we need to win even bigger wins for businesses as well, minority businesses, small businesses, farmers, and many people that are having a tough time. the final point i want to say on this, look, we are seeing exposed naked for the eye how disparities in our country and injustices in our country are being doubled down and worsened dramatically painfully by the covid-19. from our vast incarceration in this country, you have people that are in prison or jails doing things the last two or three presidents did, possession of marijuana or possession or drugs that are getting locked up. we know that african americans

are disproportionately locked up for drug crimes, even though they had the same rates of using and even dealing drugs as other populations. they're more vulnerable. you see this stuff happening in our prisons where there is some hot spots in many prisons. you see immigration lockups where folks are just being locked up knoll knot because they've done some crime or threats, they're just here undocumented. we've got make sure that all the injustices in this country, they're more actively addressing them so we do not see the disproportionate rate of deaths hitting these populations. >> absolutely. and we're going keep focusing on this issue as you and senator schumer and others have been communicating with the civil rights community and championing this. we must make sure that it meets the needs of people. we are disproportionately high in the testing and the deaths of the black community and disproportionately low in getting the businesses, who as you say are the anchors in our community getting the needs met

economically. thank you, new jersey senator cory booker. always happy to you on the show. >> thanks, al, for all you're doing, man. all right. for some analysis, let's bring in christina greer, associate professor of political science at fordham university and the host of the podcast faqnyc. and susan del percio, she is a republican strategist and political analyst for msnbc. let me start by asking both you have about some news that broke today. "the washington post" is reporting that there were members of cdc, researchers that were in geneva working with the world health organization in january, and they were giving, sending back information to the white house of the seriousness of the pandemic and the threat it was, which absolutely refutes the timeline that the white

house has given in terms of when they were informed, and it also certainly raises the question of if they were being told this by the world health organization, and why is the president saying to world health organization should not receive -- he is going to freeze their funding and they were not being transparent when they were being informed while our researchers were there. and secondly, how we deal with the fact that the administration didn't move until late february and didn't come with the travel ban until march. susan? >> sorry, i didn't hear you. >> go ahead, christina. >> i was just going say what we're looking at is gross negligence on behalf of the president and the entire administration. who the are we going believe, donald trump or our own two eyes? he had the information. this is in addition to individuals consistently keeping the white house abreast because they knew that the office that

was supposed to be on the ground was completely decimated in 2018 at behest of the president because he didn't want to see the money. we're seeing this kind of short-term hustle versus the long-term hustle that the president is playing with american lives. he did not want to shut down the economy when he got the initial information because he feared it would hurt his poll numbers and also hurt his economic numbers on wall street. the problem is because he ignored it and said several times in front of the american flab this would miraculously going away and only a few people would get the disease, which is a virus, that moving forward we wouldn't have anything to worry about. now we clearly see that's not the case. so now the president has to resort to name-calling of not just governors, but putting it all on the w.h.o. buzz of his gross negligence and his inability to listen to scientists since he said that he doesn't need to because he has all the information he needs right in his head. >> susan, you are republican, but clearly have been critical of this president. what do you think was the

motivation to when you're facing with this information, with these facts from researchers in your own administration, dr. fauci was on this show last sunday night at this time and said that he knew in mid-january and had told the administration in mid-january how serious this was. what could be the motivation to hold it? was it political? did he think it could good away? it would hurt his political standing? what could motive you to do this when people are telling you we are in possible danger here? >> it's the motivation behind everything president trump does, himself. he's only concerned about himself. in this case it was reelection. he put everything on the economy, rev, and he knew that this would start to unravel that. he did not take -- even really address it until the market crashed on march 9th. that was his breaking point.

so it's not surprising that he ignored all of this information. it keeps leaking out. he ignored peter navarro from trade. he ignored the intelligence community. of course he would ignore his scientists and the world health organization. it's not surprising. but what we probably will also find is the bigger problem is that donald trump was probably i'm guessing because any other president would have been urged to send in health care workers and scientists to china. they wouldn't have backed off saying oh, china didn't let us in. no. you insist on it. and you could have. they were in the middle of a trade deal that that's what donald trump was more concerned about, having a good relationship with china to get the trade deal done. for what reason? himself. so that's how he operates. but we're going to keep hearing more and more of this. what's important is that the president realize for him to get reelected, he needs to do a good job, and he got the ventilators

moving. now it's time to get testing moving. that is what leadership is about, and now he's got to continue to -- he's got to work to save lives and get the economy going. >> talking about his reelection, professor greer, the democrats have to select a vice president -- former vice president biden has to select a vice presidential nominee. and one that can win one that adds and balances his ticket. there clearly have been several names touted, including i had governor whitmer on tonight. we're hearing a lot of excitement around stacey abrams who was on this show last night, and a lot of my crowd is having abrams fits. and there have been others that have been named, elizabeth warren, kamala harris. what type of candidate, woman candidate should this mr. biden be looking toward that brings what to the table?

and how do you respond to the names that have been put out there like stacey abrams, whitmer, kamala harris, just to name four. >> it's imperative joe biden chooses someone who can help him win in november and who can also help him governor. it has to be a two-stage process. you saw hillary clinton chose tim kaine. he would have been a great vice president on january 23rd. but he didn't add much to the ticket in the campaigning phase. when joe biden -- it incenses me that we even have to have a competitive campaign because donald trump has been such an abysmal failure as an executive. but here we are. so joe biden needs to choose someone who can help him with the base of the democratic party. that's black voters. that's more specifically black women. he needs someone who can help him with young people with the south, the progressive wing of the party. and i definitely believe that stacey abrams is clearly the person can encapsulate all of those things.

i think governor whitmer is obviously sharp, doing a great job in michigan, but cannot pull out the black vote at all. especially across the country. i think elizabeth warren has some achilles heels when it comes to that as well. and kamala harris, unfortunately the progressive wing of the party will never support her as a vice presidential nominee. so joe biden needs to look at un -- >> so you're saying stacey abrams. let me ask you. i'm almost out of time. who is the biggest threat to the republican women we named? >> i'm going add two more. one is amy klobuchar. if you're looking someone to kind of go after those moderate republicans, she's someone who would be very attractive to the ticket, especially since we know joe biden will -- given his age, he has to think of himself as a potential one-term president. the other name is val demings. >> congresswoman from florida. >> and first female police chief of orlando. she handles hess so well during

the mueller investigation, during the impeachment hearing, and here is the thing that would really. >> them, rev, she rides a harley. >> all right. i'm going have to leave there it, christina greer and susan del percio. thank you both for being with us. >> thank you, al. now to the 2020 campaign. the presumptive democratic nominee former vice president joe biden this week got a rush of high profile endorsements. >> this crisis has reminded us that government matters. it's reminded us that good government matters. that facts and science matter, that the rule of law matters. that having leaders who are informed and honest and seek to bring people together rather than drive them apart, those kind of leaders matter. >> in addition to the support of president obama, biden also received endorsements from two

former 2020 rivals, senators bernie sanders and elizabeth warren. due to the coronavirus outbreak, democrats will now have to rally behind the former vice president virtually, as in-person rallies and campaign events will be off limits for the foreseeable future. joining me now is the chairman of the democratic national committee, tom perez. he is also former u.s. labor secretary under president barack obama. chairman perez, it's interesting to me you get some form of criticism, and i guess you and i in our careers are used to that, but you pull off a mammoth victory for your party in the midterm elections in '18, and now you did something that we haven't seen probably in, i don't know if i've seen in my lifetime, a united party this early in the nominating process where the front-runner is now

all of his opponents have endorsed him and the former presidents endorsed him. but because of the pandemic, we will not see campaigning and possibly the convention as we normally will see it. how do you facilitate a united party but that you can hit the ground and rally up with mass in-person rallies? how does even tom perez thread that needle? >> well, i am really proud of our party. i'm proud of our candidates. our unity is our greatest strength, rev. i remember sitting with you at so many debates. we had roughly two dozen candidates, and they all said it's not about me. whoever wins that nomination, i'm going to be there with them. and you saw this last week with senator warren, senator sander, president obama, everybody pomming together around joe biden. because he is precisely the man for the moment. and reverend, we have our digital clip boards out. over the last month, we've trained roughly 7,000 digital

organizers because we understand the moment. we can't knock on doors. but we continue our battleground buildup. in all of the critical states. you saw what happens in wisconsin. the republicans tried to steal a state supreme court election by really engaging in voter suppression on steroid, forcing voters to choose between health and their right to vote. forcing democrats to come together. we did so by virtual engage. . that's what we're going to continue to do, get our message out. >> the defeat of the republican candidate for the state supreme court who president trump had endorsed. >> and tweeted about three times on that election day. first of all, mr. president, you shouldn't be tweeting about something like that. you should be 24/7 on this pandemic. and your chronic incompetence, your failures in january and february and march are causing people to die. and the racial disparities in this pandemic. we saw in milwaukee 185 polling

place usually that could only open five there. and the republicans cynically took advantage of that, reverend sharpton, because they wanted -- they knew it was going to be hard for african americans to turn out, and they wanted to exploit that that is shameless, absolutely shameless. and that's why we're working so hard, moving ahead to organize virtually, to make sure every voter in every state has the option if necessary to vote by mail, no excuse absentee. >> so you're working on that now about mail-in voting and training people because we may have that, particularly if there is a second wave of this pandemic in late fall? >> absolutely. and i want to make sure voters have choice. i want to make sure that if they want to go to the polls on election day, they can do that. if they want to vote early, that we can have extended early voting. governor northam of virginia just signed a bill extending early voting. making election day in virginia

a holiday. we need to make sure voters have choice. this is a matter of preparedness. with have to be prepared for the possibility that we might have this pandemic reemerging in some parts of the country in november. and that's why we're fighting hard, working with speaker pelosi, leader schumer, other democrats. and by the way, there are some republican governors, reverend sharpton, who have acknowledged vote by mail is a good thing. governor of iowa, ohio, new hampshire. it's the president who said, whoa, republicans lose elections hen we allow more people to vote. well, i want more people to vote. that's the american way. let's make sure every eligible person can cast their vote and doesn't have to put his or her life in jeopardy to do so. >> the president said mail-in voting was no good after he had just participated in mail-in voting. >> amen. >> thank you for being was, dnc chair tom perez. >> always a pleasure. >> always great to see you. >> thank you. >> and a quick reminder, we're

expecting an update from the white house coronavirus task force in the briefing room in just 15 minutes. once it gets started, we'll bring it to you live. coming up, union leaders are urging president trump to prioritize workers and their families and put them at the front of the line in this time of great economic need. but will the president listen? but first, my colleague richard lui with today's top news stories. richard? >> i'm richard lui at msnbc headquarters in new york with a news update for you. protests calling for a reopening of the country. that continued this weekend. this one in austin, texas was promoted by info wars, a site that posts false narratives and conspiracy theories. now to new. in polling nearly 60% of registered voters worry loosening restrictions too quickly will result in more coronavirus spreading and death. the smithfield meat processing plant remains closed in south

dakota after more than 600 employees tested positive for covid-19. cdc officials on the ground there are investigating how that outbreak spiraled out of control. nieman marcus also fell victim to the virus. they're seeking bankruptcy protection as soon as this week. nearly 14,000 employees have been furloughed. is filing alone with creditors worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. "politics nation" with reverend al sharpton continues right after the break. p with wayfair, you spend less and get way more. so you can bring your vision to life and save in more ways than one. for small prices, you can build big dreams, spend less, get way more. shop everything home at wayfair.com

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we have much more "politicsnation" on the way, including a look at how labor unions are taking the lead to ensure that american workers adversely affected by coronavirus can get the help they need from the federal government. plus, in a matter of minutes, president trump and the white house coronavirus task force will take the dais in the briefing room.

make sure to tune in for that. and stay with nbc throughout the evening. cassee dc will be joined by congressman from new york who says it might be time for the white house officials to invoke the 25th amendment. don't miss it. that's tonight at 7:00 p.m. only on msnbc. meanwhile, as millions of americans shelter in place in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus, many of those have been laid off or fired from their jobs. according to governmental data, more than 5 million americans filed for unemployment benefit just last week. with that being the case, labor union leaders are stepping up, sending a letter to congress, asking for their next relief bill to prioritize american workers, including protections for health insurance, essential work site safety precautions, and help for local governments.

public schools, and the postal service to keep this country afloat throughout the crisis. joining me now, randy wine garden, president of the american federation of teachers, and lee saunder, president of the federation of state, county and municipal employees. let me go to you first, randy. the letter you sent with lee sanders and union leaders, what is your concern and what is the response? >> well, you know, we're hearing that unfortunately, the congress, the mcconnell and the president are not actually moving on the issues that we need. the five-point plan is about the five american economic essentials that not just workers need but americans need to actually deal with what has been a health pandemic and an

economic catastrophe. it's like a tornado that's hit some but not others. and ultimately, we need to have those fife essentials. keep workers safe. keep workers healthy. keep workers employed. make sure that the local and state governments that have been anchoring all of this get the monies that they need, and then also start bringing america back through infrastructure. and instead of negotiating that right now, we are hearing that all they're doing is talking about small business and some testing. testing is absolutely essential. but we need all of this, particularly in terms of state and local governments. that's where the -- for the millions of workers, over 22 million who are now unemployed. >> lee sanders, i was on a conference call with you this week, and you told some stories that was horrific, that many

people don't understand that the municipal and state and city employees that your union represents internationally, what they're going through on the front lines is amazingly difficult and washington does not seem to respond in any real way to understand the gravity of the problem they're facing. >> well, our frontline public service workers are risking their lives every single day going to work without the proper equipment. i told you a couple of stories on the phone a couple days ago, where we had a young man who was working in the hospital in oregon, and he actually went to his attorney to prepare a will. he just had a 9-week-old child. he is working without masks. he is working without gloves. and he believes that he is sooner or later going to catch the virus and possibly bring it home to his family. so he is actually preparing a will. we can tell stories like this

all over the world. sanitation workers not having the proper gloves, not having the proper equipment. employment service because of all of the checks coming in right now, they cannot process that. process the money to those going to unemployed because of the lack of equipment, the lack of modern equipment. so this is a disaster. and what we need, and randy talked about it is unrestricted state and local aid going to state and local governments to help provide essential public services every single day. >> now randy, when you listen at the president and others talking about let's get back open, let's open the country back up, what does that mean to your union members? what does that mean to workers that are on the front line at risk at this point? and we're talking about the president encouraging some kind of loosening of the stay home ordinances that have been put in

place around the country. >> well, first, like the president often did, he is creating a false choice. we think that people want to stay home? they want to be safe, and people want to go become to work. but we have an invisible virus that requires herculean work to ensure that america is safe and then america then prospers. and thank you for raising it. and lee talked about it. we have frontline workers, hundreds of thousands of health care workers who every single day are risking their lives. and let me just put these protests in some perspective. there are over two million people who signed move on petitions to get the kind of ppe that people need in order to actually keep themselves and the people that they are working with safe, grocery workers, health care worker, respiratory therapists. and then you have all the

teachers in america who are doing everything they can to keep kids engaged and who change to remote learning in a nanosecond, and the food service workers. so what we're saying, if let's do this right, get the testing and make sure people are safe, and then we all go back in the way in which is safe. >> do you think the congress will take a firm stand here that is nonnegotiable with the president on these issues, the five points that you and randi have raised in this letter? >> well we hope so. we hope that in the next phase of the economic stimulus, that they consider all of our proposals that we've given them. unfortunately, as you know, they're moving money it appears today about $400 billion to small businesses, to hospitals, to provide testing, but none of that money goes to state and local government.

none of that money goes to the areas that are needed the most as far as providing essential public services. so we're going to push every single day to make sure that it's included in the next stimulus. you know, i don't think that the americans across the country who see what these everyday heroes are doing, these public service worker, i don't think that they want to see them get a pink slip. but that's exactly what will happen if we don't get that kind of aid from the federal government. and public services will suffer. >> all right. randi weingarten and lee saunders, many thanks. >> thank you. switching gears. despite the cancellation of his annual essence fest in new orleans due to the coronavirus restrictions on gatherings, "essence" magazine is bringing the event online this july with the virtual festival in honor and support of the city of new orleans. joining me now is kirsten west

sovali, an executive producer for essence digital. thank you for being with me, kerstin. this is exciting. you've, i've been at every essence festival since the first one, and this is the first year we can't go, and you and the team have said don't worry, you can do it virtually. tell us what we can expect. >> don't worry, hi, rev. thank you so much for having me. >> thank you for being here. >> we are having the first ever virtual experience. we have partnered with the city of new orleans for the last 26 years and we are working so hard leadership on this. and we will have a great time. we're still celebrating. we're empowered. we're informing our audience, our community on what's going on and in good times and in challenging times, as "essence" magazine has already done. this is our 50th anniversary and we're here to serve our community. the weekend of july 4th we usually bring over a half a million people to the city of new orleans. we're bringing it all online and

it will be a great time. >> now, you've had the top entertainers that is in music, period that has been there every year, like i said, i've gone to all the shows. i've spoken every year. and as you say, half a million people and counting. do you feel you're going get some of the top entertainers to come on and do the virtual concerts that only essence is able to do in the fourth of july weekend? it's the biggest entertainment event in black america every year. >> we do, we do. but before that, even, we are already having virtual experiences because we've launched essence studios. and so far we've had essence wellness health to address our community and our wellness physically by financially, emotionally, how our families are doing. we've had virtual experiences about the c.a.r.e.s. act, the coronavirus economic securities act. this friday coming up, we're having our first entrepreneurial summit. and we're doing part of the

target accelerators to have $100,000 pitch session for black entrepreneurs. so we're shifting gears and really focusing on now. there are two things we are keeping in top of mind. clifton said come celebrate with me every day something tried to kill me but failed. and also come by the river collective that setting black women are free. if black women are free, that would mean everyone else would have to be free because it would necessitate the destruction of all systems of oppression. so we're celebrating and we're building our communities a the same time. this is what he we have done. we see now in mississippi with e38% of the population is black. 72% of the kocovid-19 cases are black. in louisiana 30% of the population is black. 70% of the population are covid-19 cases. and this is because we have these systems that have been set in place. the system is not broken, you know this, it's breaking exactly as it was intended to work. >> absolutely.

>> so we're taking black women, putting them at the forefront. we're celebrating, educating and doing our best as we've always done in the last 50 years to be there for our community. >> and as always, putting purpose into the party. it's not just a party. >> not just a party. >> always. >> thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> up next, my final thoughts. stay with us. at t-mobile, we know that connection is more important than ever. so we're making big moves to help those who need it most. introducing t-mobile connect. a prepaid plan to help keep america connected. starting at just $15 a month, it gives flexibility for uncertain times. visit t-mobile.com/connect to learn more. you can also manage your account, and make payments online. stay connected with t-mobile connect. and i like to question your i'm yoevery move.n law.

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that the churches, like his church, that is having in-person services -- that the civil rights leadership ought to be supporting them because they are exercising their civil rights, and that we in the civil rights community and leadership ought to be supporting them. to add insult to injury, steven moore, who is a economic adviser to president trump, had said that the protesters reminded him of rosa parks. let me be clear. i joined the civil rights movement at 12 years old. the next year at 13 i became youth director of the local chapter of dr. king's organization and been in civil rights all my life. this is not civil rights. when you risk people's lives to try and raise a point that really is politically motivated. the objective of the civil rights movement and objective of

civil rights activism today is to save lives and to have equality. rosa parks, who i was blessed down through the years to speak to on many occasions and was honored to speak at her funeral in detroit and in montgomery -- rosa parks was sitting in, and became an iconic symbol for standing up for inclusion, not standing up to say that we should have the right to put people's lives at risk so that people can bring the economy back so a president can look better for his re-election. you can stand up. you have the right to stand up. but don't distort what civil rights is, particularly when we look at the makeup of those marchers who have never been involved in civil rights that i can tell in their lives or in their involvement. if i'm wrong, i would hope they would tell me where they participated in real civil rights. that does it for me. thanks for watching. i will see you back here next

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