good afternoon on the east coast. good morning to our friends in the west. i'm chuck todd. more than one week since the killing of george floyd. most demonstrations have been peaceful as tens of thousands of americans take to the streets. troubling reports of vandalism and property destruction remain common as well. police tactics are turning more drastic and aggressive. president trump who has referred to violent protesters as thugs and low-life scum once again called for their, quote, domination by the military today. and new york's democratic governor andrew cuomo also had his share of criticism for the leadership in his state's largest city. >> the nypd and the mayor did not do their job last night. i believe that. use the police. protect property and people. look at the videos. it was a disgrace.

i don't think they used enough police to address the situation because it's inarguable, but that it was not addressed last night. >> joining me is my co-anchor, katy tur who is on the ground in new york city. it's, you know, governor cuomo has never been shy about expressing his views on new york city governance at times and vice versa with the bill de blasio and will express his views about new york state governance. so it's not surprising to see it in public. but, clearly, i think the mayor has a lot to answer for today. >> listen, we are living in a moment, no doubt about that. and he openly mused about his ability to remove the mayor if he wanted to. he didn't go farther than that, but he did openly muse about it alongside his criticism of the

nypd. he also offered once again the national guard. the nypd commissioner dermott shea has said that he does not need the national guard. and during de blasio's press conference today, he wanted to make clear, he tried to make clear that he believed it was just pockets of chaos. pockets of violent unrest in the city last night. that it was not widespread throughout the city. let me tell you where i am right now because this crowd is growing by the minute. in the past hour and a half, more than 2,000 people or so have showed up here to continue protesting. a seventh day of protests here in new york city. and we are in foley square. right underneath the federal courthouse, the state supreme court. we are just up the street a block away from city hall where the mayor was just giving his news conference. we are a block away from one police plaza. that is the headquarters of the nypd. this is the largest police

department in the city. 38,000 police officers. and they have had their share of controversy over the years. and what you are seeing here are people that are hoping that it changes. that this is an inflection point for the nypd, for other police departments across the country. you see signs "i can't breathe," black lives matter. also signs that there are more specific to new york city. for instance, 50a, that's repealing a rule that puts police disciplinary records under lock and key. they want to make those public. they want the public to have access to police officers' records. there's also a lot of talk about defunding the police. i was talking to city council sources here in new york city about this last night, and they do acknowledge they'd like to take a look at the nypd's budget in new york city. they have a $6 billion budget. because a lot of that is federal money, they admit it's going to

be a hard thing to do. but repealing 50a does have the support of andrew cuomo. and they are going, chuck, to send a recommendation to albany in the coming weeks to do just that. they also want to -- there's federal legislation being talked about, but they want to ban choke-holds. and not just the neck in an elbow choke hold but the knee on the neck. anything that would impair a person's ability to breathe. and it's a big deal for the -- for new york city to take this step because, again, the nypd is the largest police force in the country and that would certainly send a message. we're going to be with these protests all day. it's going to get bigger. there's a curfew now at 8:00 p.m. the curfew that goes until sunday. 8:00 p.m. every single night. they are hoping to tamp down before the sun goes down. tamp down on some of the chaos, but they are bracing and they are expecting for what might come tonight.

they're not quite sure. these organized agitators, it's unclear where they might try to hit again this evening. and let's differentiate them really fast from the people we're seeing behind me. the daytime protests have been largely peaceful. >> katy, i'm struck by this one thing that i keep thinking in my head when you and i started this partnership a couple of months ago now. you started off by anchoring in and around the new york area. and it was a ghost town. >> yeah. >> last time i checked, obviously you're not covering a ghost town now, number one. but number two, that virus is still circulating. i cannot shake that issue in my head of all across the country and what the virus impact is going to be in three weeks. >> let me address that really briefly because you're right. we started this show by anchoring in a dead new york city. a completely silent new york city.

and there were a lot of people in the city, among law enforcement, politicians, everyday new yorkers wondering how long that calm would last. especially as millions of people continue to lose their jobs. lots of them here in this city. as black and brown people were hit hardest by this virus, how much longer could you keep order in a city when so many people were being put into increasingly desperate situations. and george floyd, and the killing of george floyd is something big and it's something that the people -- millions of people around this country have reacted to. but you have to factor in what the pandemic has done and the unease, the unrest and the nervousness that that has on americans here in new york city and across the country. >> yeah. it is just -- it's quite striking just on what we've been reporting on over the last few months anyway. katy, thank you.

let's take it down to the white house. president trump is back at the white house. he earlier today visited the st. john paul ii shrine in washington, d.c. the president continues to face backlash today after police and the national guard fired tear gas and flashbangs at peaceful protesters before any curfew outside the white house in an attempt to clear them before the president could get a photo op in front of st. john's episcopal church holding a bible. an australian news crew was broadcasting live when they were struck by police in riot gear. watch. >> we've also seen tear gas being used. they're moving through again. this is exactly what it looks like. exactly what it looks like. >> whoa! >> amelia, can you hear us? are you okay? or your cameraman? hello, amelia.

the police just charged at amelia and our 7 news cameraman there. it looks like a policeman just -- >> which is interesting because they are not discriminating between protesters and the media here. amelia, can you hear us yet? >> amelia, are you there? are you okay? >> yes, i am. you heard us yelling there that we were media, but they don't care. they are indiscriminate at the moment. they chased us down that street as you see. they were firing at the rubber bullets at everyone. there's tear gas and now we're really surrounded by the police and we really saw the way they dealt with my cameraman. quite violent. and they do not care whom they're targeting at the moment. >> quite the picture of the coverage of the united states of

america by an ally like australia there. joining us our nbc news white house correspondent geoff bennett. geoff, there's a lot to take in, but to think that the up close on this is through the perspective of an international journalist only adds to the gravity and to the -- for a lot of people it is still hard to believe this is the united states of america that this is taking place in and that an american president ordered this or at least approved of this action. >> chuck, that video is hard to watch. i can tell you standing here last night as that was unfolding in lafayette park, it was hard to listen to. i remember standing here feeling the bone-rattling effects of the flashbangs that were going off. but i can tell you now that multiple sources tell my colleagues and me that that entire photo op, the president leaving the white house, leaving through the front door, crossing the street here, pennsylvania avenue, into lafayette park, after those peaceful protesters were forcibly removed.

that entire thing, chuck, was fueled by frustration. i'm told the president was frustrated that word had leaked that secret service agents had escorted him from the residence down to the white house bunker on friday night when the friday night protests got a little too hot and a little too close for comfort for law enforcement officials. as one source familiar put it to me, he said, remember, the president hates more than anything else being perceived as weak. and it's also true the number one attack line this president used against joe biden was that joe biden was hiding in his basement, even though most americans had been advised to stay at home. and so the president, i'm told it was his idea to craft some event that would counter the narrative and that together he and top administration officials put together this plan that he would then go to the church. i'm told white house officials, most of them, say in their words it was a success. that it went great. and to that end, the white house this morning put out a slickly edited video of the president's

visit set to triumphant music. what it does not show, it does not show those protesters being forcibly removed. the mayor of d.c. is livid. there was a 7:00 p.m. curfew instituted last night. that entire thing unfolded around 6:30, 6:35. muriel bowser says what happened last night makes the job of d.c. police even more difficult. we've been hearing from faith leaders and top religious thinkers all day who say what the president did yesterday borders on blasphemy. that using a bible and using the church in that way as a prop is outrageous, chuck. >> geoff, very quickly, i understand that there was one very -- one white house staffer whose quote went viral who was sick to their stomach. normally when there's a high-profile negative comment inside the west wing, there's sometimes a mole hunt of some sort.

is there an attempt to try to out that staffer? >> if there is an attempt, chuck, no official has been forthright in saying as much. and i would just add that any white house official who says, you know, anonymously to a reporter that he or she feels ashamed. you don't get points for that. you get points for putting the name to a statement. because as the president keeps focusing on protesters, and even white house officials draw a stark line between protesters and rioters and looters, the president doesn't always observe that nuance. he's focused on dominating the protesters and demonstrators as he so often says. and a point i made yesterday is the president likes to talk about antifa. george floyd did not die in the custody of antifa. he died in the custody of police. what is this president, this administration going to do about reforming policing tactics? yesterday the white house press secretary said, we've launched a civil rights investigation into the death of george floyd. yes, that's true. that is not, however, the same thing as putting in place a

process to prevent, there needing to be another civil rites investigation for the -- in the event of the death of another black man in police custody, chuck. >> geoff bennett at the white house for us, thanks very much. very important to focus on, okay, are you going to focus on a policy fix? it's a very smart way to keep focusing there. let's move to louisville. louisville fired its police chief after the death of breonna taylor and how after the shooting death of a black business owner. two officers involved in the shooting were either not wearing body cameras or did not activate them. the acting police chief says it is unclear whether the fatal shot was fired by law enforcement or someone else. the victim has been identified as david mcatee who owned a barbecue near the shooting scene. joining us is our own cal perry who has been there covering the various protests that have been happening there over the last week. cal, this latest decision, who

is investigating this at this point? i assume there's some potential credibility issues with the louisville police department at this point. >> when you go back to the death of breonna taylor, the mayor decided to make these body cameras mandatory. the fact they were not on, that's the kind of deep corruption we're talking about inside the louisville police department. new details about the death of dave mcatee on late sunday into early monday. police releasing a video they say shows that david mcatee fired a weapon. they don't know in which direction he was firing a weapon, whether it was at people firing at the police or whether it was at the police themselves. we take a step back and look at what's happened since thursday night. on thursday, there were seven people shot in a protest right where i'm standing. one was critically injured. on friday, we were doing a live shot around the corner and somebody pulled a gun out and started waving it around. we had to cut and go off the

air. saturday, fires set and more gunfire sunday into monday. david mcatee was shot. his body laid on the streets for 14 hours. police regret he laid there for so long and then last night, again, as police moved through this square there was gunfire from 100 yards away. it was distinct. we don't know which direction it was being fired. this city is defining itself by gun violence. it's an open carry state but it's become a free fire zone. and it's a very, very scary place at night now here in this city, chuck. >> cal perry in louisville for uthank you. katy, over to you. >> we're seeing an outpouring of grief and anger just like we see here in new york city all over the country. and there are a lot of people out there wondering if this is what needs to happen in order for voices to be heard. for order, in order to effect change. joining us is michael eric dyson, professor of sociologist at georgetown university. and author of "tears we cannot

stop." a sermon to white america. michael, it is really great to have you. i know you're one of the people that has said that you need to get loud. you need to get angry. you need to get disruptive in order for people to pay attention. >> -- >> unfortunately -- michael, your audio is just not working for us right now. we're going to try and re-establish and make it so that we can hear you more clearly because this is an important topic. and, chuck, it is one that a lot of people have brought up. there have been so many incidents over the years and there have been peaceful protests. we've seen, you know, knees taken at the nfl. we've seen knees taken across the country.

peacefully protesting violence. the death of black men or -- at the hands of cops and it's still happening. >> we're going to sneak in a break a little bit earlier. get it quicker and get michael eric dyson back with us on the other side. plus, we'll check in on minneapolis and an update on joe biden attending george floyd's funeral. all of that right after this break.

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a private memorial service will be held this week for george floyd, the minneapolis service will be limited to family, friends and invited guests with it to be live streamed for local media. vice president biden is expected to be in attendance for floyd's funeral next monday in houston where he'll be laid to rest. let's go to shaquille brewster who is out in minneapolis. shaq, another night where it appears there was some calm. what is the status today? and the other question, what about the other three officers? >> well, still no news about the other three officers, chuck. you hear people in the family, people in the community continue to call for the arrest of those three remaining fired minneapolis police officers. but as you mentioned it was another peaceful night here in minneapolis. and at the scene here behind me where george floyd died, you are still seeing more flowers, more people come out to pay their respects. more murals popping up.

this is the scene you see right now. very calm. very peaceful. a little bit solemn, actually. there's jazz playing. there's people who are spray painting on the ground words of commemoration. a very serious mood. and this actually is not one where you're hearing those chants and aggression that you've been seeing in other parts of the country. chuck, we've also known that yesterday the two autopsies that were done were released. one from the county, but the other a private autopsy by the family. both of them ruled this death of george floyd to be a homicide, but both of them had differing and conflicting areas of why he died. if you looked at what the county said, they said it was other factors, including heart disease that he had and drug use. if you looked at what the family said, they said it was because the officer had his knee on the neck of mr. floyd and two other officers had their knee in his back suffocating him essentially.

chuck, you see the scenes here. it's getting more calm each day. the family continues to say that they're going to honor his memory, honor his legacy. later this week there's that memorial service that will happen here in minneapolis. that will happen on thursday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. it will be a private ceremony, but i keep talking to people who are coming out here, people who live nearby who haven't even come to the site yet. i spoke to a man who wanted to let his anger out before he came down here and paid his respects. people are still coming to this site. still flooding to this location and letting their voice be heard. chuck? >> yeah, i have a feeling quite some time that's going to be the case. shaquille brufter er brewster,. i want to apologize for our ability to get michael eric dyson on air. we're going to continue to broadcast in this age of coronavirus. we're going to work on getting him back when we figure -- when we get some better connectivity

issues. apologies to you, michael eric dyson and to those looking forward to that interview. we will get him back. katy, over to you. >> let's go over now to chicago where mayor lori lightfoot says despite protests and looting, the city does still plan to reopen tomorrow. restaurants and some businesses were expected to open already after being closed by the pandemic. >> i want to tell the city now, after a lot of consultation, and, yes, a lot of prayer. we will reopen tomorrow and take this important next step as planned. >> let's go now to dasha burns who is in chicago. what's going on there? >> katy, the mayor said she talked to a lot of small business owners asking if they wanted to delay reopening because of the unrest the city has seen.

she said the overwhelming answer was, no. they want to press forward. so many businesses so hurt by the pandemic so they will press forward tomorrow. restaurants, retail shops like barber shops, salons will be able to reopen. and with some limitations, of course. but it's a little strange to talk about reopening as i'm walking around the heart of downtown chicago right now, the economic center of this city and most businesses not just closed but really boarded up. there's not a lot of activity going on here right now. it's difficult to get in or out of the city and to move around the areas. most bridges have been closed. you can see behind me here, these bridges are raised so it's tough to move around. national guard and police are out in full force, and that has actually pushed the action to outside of the city over the last several nights to the suburbs. we were in one of those suburbs this morning, cicero. we can see some images from there. i believe we have some of those pictures where a lot of

businesses were vandalized. some looting happening out there. so now the governor has sent national guard troops to that area as well. and more protests planned today at 2:00 p.m., we're headed to wrigley field where another protest is planned. action continuing here in the city. at the same time, katy, chicago is on track to hit 50,000 cases soon. 1,000 people still hospitalized in the city during the coronavirus pandemic. so crisis within crisis here as we see in so many cities across america right now, katy. >> and so many health officials were very worried that all of these protests with everything so close together could lead to another rise in cases of coronavirus. chuck, i know it's something -- dasha, thank you. chuck, it's something you and i have talked about. what happens when you cram all these people together. this is -- it's justified

protest but, remember, we are in the middle of a pandemic. >> exactly. up next -- some strong words from joe biden today vowing to address the systemic racism that's plagued our country for hundreds of years. while condemning president trump's bible-toeting photo opad the use of tear gas to clear protesters from the president's path. you're watching msnbc. 1 in 2 kids is underhydrated. if your child doesn't seem themself at times,

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welcome back. just since 1:00 p.m., since we've been on air, the crowd here in foley square in new york city has dramatically increased to many thousands of people. if you were wondering why it's so loud, that's an nypd helicopter that's been circling this area. if you live in new york city, you have learned to work, to sleep, to eat with the sound of those helicopters as they've been patrolling the city pretty much nonstop for the past six days. and again, the crowd here growing by the minute and there's even more people walking down in front of city hall. in the meantime, over in washington, democratic congressman connolly is calling for an investigation into the use of excessive force against peaceful protesters outside of the white house yesterday. demonstrators were shot with rubber bullets and tear gas before the city's curfew came into effect. he is also calling for a probe into allegations that the crowd

was cleared to make room for the president's photo op outside of st. john's church where he's holding a bible. a group of ministers gathered outside the chuch this morning to express their anger with the incident. >> we stand today outraged with president trump's use of the military against peaceful protesters. standing for rights and righteousness. >> chuck, over to you. >> thank you, katy. former vice president biden who could become the presumed democratic front-runner after tonight's primaries, speaking out about civil rights today. he delivered remarks in philadelphia on the nationwide unrest following the death of george floyd. here's a piece of it. >> leadership that can unite us.

leadership that brings us together. leadership that can recognize pain and deep grief of communities that have had a knee on their neck for a long time. in addition to the bible, the president might also want to open the u.s. constitution once in a while. if he did, he'd find a thing called the first amendment and what it says in the beginning, it says the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition their government for redress of grievances. that's kind of the central notion building into this country. >> well, this is obviously an important moment in this campaign. at least the former vice president thinks so because he left his basement to do this event. his first big, i would argue, public speech really since he went into lockdown there. msnbc anchor ayman mohyeldin is

covering this from philadelphia. that in itself is a big deal. who was actually in the audience for this speech? >> chuck, you had city officials, the mayor of philadelphia, a few other members of the city council, other senior members of the city council of philadelphia, as well as some party officials here as well. you mentioned this was, obviously, against the backdrop of what's been happening here. it's significant that he came right over from wilmington, delaware, to come to this building. it's against the backdrop that's really important. philadelphia has now seen its fourth day of consistent protests. yesterday a very scary moment as protesters made their way through downtown philadelphia. ultimately cutting off one of the major expressways here. police firing tear gas at them and really trapping those protesters on the side of the embinkment of the hoyighway as e tear gas rained down on them.

you see the national guard behind me. they're still on the scene trying to keep the peace and order but all eyes today were on this building, city hall. that's where joe biden delivered his comments. he set the tone to try to be in stark contrast to what we're seeing from the president and, in fact, really drew that distinction between the president being part of the problem, not the solution. watch what he had to say. >> the president of the united states must be part of the solution, not the problem. when he tweeted the protesters's quote would have been greeted with the most vicious dogs. when people would have been really hurt. those weren't the words of the president. they were the kind of words bull connor would have used unleashing his dogs on innocent women and children. >> so, chuck, a few things to note about former vice president's comments. one, he also went a little further saying that you can't wait for the elections for

congress to act. he wants police to stop using choke holds and new legislation that's introduced or is going to be introduced in congress. he also wants weapons of war out of the hands of police as they police communities and cities all across this country. so the former vice president using this -- both as an opportunity for him to get back out into the public, to be a part of the national conversation about it, but at the same time, saying that if, in fact, he is elected president, he's going to try to bring this country and heal this country, not exploit it for political gain. chuck? >> ayman mao dean, thank you. katy, the most interesting contrast may not be the words between biden and trump but you'll have two photo ops from yesterday that may become iconic to many people. the vice president taking a knee. we know what that symbolizes. and he's taking a knee at that -- at a church yesterday in front of african-americans.

and there's president trump holding the bible in front of st. john's knowing how he got there, right? that's going to be two indelible images for people for quite some time. >> using st. john's church as -- when i saw it, i thought it looked like he was using the church as a step and repeat. like he was on a red carpet and holding the bible like he was holding a designer purse. you're right. the images are images that will last alongside words like both sides very fine protesters on both sides. or very fine people on both sides. this is another discussion that's being had and it's a controversial one over in silicon valley. up next, hundreds of facebook employees are challenging mark zuckerbe zuckerberg's decision not to take down the president's inflammatory posts calling for violence and aggression against protesters. you know jack dorsey at twitter has done something about that.

some of these facebook employees are even threatening to resign. you're watching msnbc.

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group. antifa, a group of loosely connected left wing activists eager to fight fascism has been a frequent scapegoat of the president for the president in the -- in recent days. although there is very little evidence of antifa's outsized involvement in these protests. chuck, antifa has been a group that the president has called upon at moments throughout this administration where his need to lay blame on the other side or what he perceives as the other side. we also saw it in charlottesville. >> the problem with that tactic is it doesn't erase what the police officer -- what one police officer did to one african-american. and that's, you know, you can't blame that on antifa or anybody else. and it's more of a -- i feel like the whole antifa conversation is more like a shiny metal object to take the focus off of what happened. let's not forget what happened.

let's move now to social media issues here. facebook ceo mark zuckerberg will be hosting his weekly all-staff q&a session today. and it comes amid criticism over his lack of action on president trump's posts appearing to call for violence against protesters. it's a contrast to twitter's move to attempt to place some warning labels on president trump's tweets. hundreds of facebook employees participated in a virtual walkout monday. many publicly denouncing zuckerberg's decision. joining me is nbc's dylan biers, also the host of the biers market podcast. so dylan, it looks as if zuckerberg did a lot of hand wringing over the weekend and we publicly learned how uncomfortable he was with a lot of things and he apparently was behind or at least tried to convince folks at the white house to take down posts before he had to do something about it. but he still seems to have a hands-off posture here at the end of the day.

will that change? >> that's right, chuck. he is trying to do two different things at once. he's trying to telegraph that he cares about this issue and that personally, morally, he's on the right side of history in so far as he's tried to convince the president to tone down his rhetoric. insofar as he is donating tens of millions of dollars to causes for racial justice. but in terms of what he's doing with the company he owns, the company that's used by almost 3 billion people around the world, for lack of a better analogy, he's trying to be switzerland. he's trying to maintain political agnosticism and maintain facebook to the best degree that he possibly can as a platform for free and open speech. now you can debate whether or not that's a good thing or a bad thing in the grand scheme of history. the problem is that he's trying to do this at a moment when the nation and the national debate is at a fever pitch over much more pressing issues, such as

racial injustice, state power, police brutality. and it is a very difficult case for him to make. and when he goes in front of staff today and, in fact, in just a matter of minutes, it's going to be a very difficult case for him to be arguing about, you know, the philosophy of free speech and the semantics of why trump didn't cross the line on facebook policy at a time when so many are in the streets protesting against racial injustice. >> very quickly, do you think at a minimum -- look, i -- the debate about the idea that if basically facebook is a blank sheet of paper. you'll not -- you don't sue a paper company for what's printed on the piece of paper. which i guess is sort of where he's trying to -- but how they sell political advertising and what they do on that front, to me, is where they are very vulnerable on some of their policies here. and it almost sort of runs counter to the cases that they

try to make about what is free speech. >> yeah, it gets really messy. and anyone who pretends this isn't messy is wrong. and they have different policies about the posts that say a politician like president trump puts up on facebook versus political advertising. at the end of the day, if you want to know what is the north star for facebook, what is their bias ultimately to? their bias is toward allowing speech, saving cases where there is actually a direct incitement of violence or where there's hate speech or misinformation and what's happening here is zuckerberg is trying to make the case that donald trump did not actually incite violence, that his tweet -- his post about looting and shooting was actually a threat of state action, of military action, and that, therefore, needs to be up so that people can see it.

and that is where the crux of this debate lies. >> it is, again, sort of, at the same time, they want all this -- they want all this speech said because it allows them to then slice people up into various different pods and then look what you get to microtarget. look what they get to sell to advertisers to microtarget using that political speech. this is where, as you just said, it's very messy, and their business is tied way too much into this than sometimes they want to admit. dylan biers, thank you. i know i'll be talking to you later. back over to you, katy. >> chuck, let me steal this from you. if it's tuesday, it's primary day in america and iowa specifically. congressman steve king faces possible defeat for the first time in two decades. almost two decades due in large part to the history or his history of racist comments. this could be a "who are you"

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we're watching a close race in iowa today where republican congressman steve king faces off against four primary challengers, but one has a realistic shot of defeating him. king has been somewhat of an outcast among his own party after his suggestion that white nationalism was no offensive and his subsequent removal from all committee assignments. joining us now from des moines, iowa, is our own moira barrett. and i think this is the situation today. if this were a one on one, i think a lot of people would assume that steve king was the underdog. but it's not a one on one, even though a bunch of establishment republicans have rallied around one of the four candidates. >> exactly, chuck. and i've been covering steve king here in iowa for several years now, so i made some calls to supporters and other voters in his district this week, just to see what they were thinking.

and he's always had supporters behind him, despite his racist comments, because they think he best represents the country and can help re-elect the president in november in 2020. so they're still standing by him. but i also connected with some republicans who haven't been voting in the past couple of primaries. and because their republican-led state has actually pushed a lot of mail-in voting, they're turning to that and sending in their mail-in ballots early. the requests were up 90% in his district and strategists tell me that could benefit his main challenger, randy betwefeinstra. and steve king doesn't have any committee assignments, which therefore renders him ineffective in congress. >> moira barrett, it's going to be interesting to watch tonight. it's an interesting tactic to go after him. they're not running against him for his comments. they're running against him for the fact that he can't get anything done.

>> and the interesting thing is the vote could potentially splinter because there are so many people in the pool here. and here in iowa, if he doesn't get 35%, it could send him to convention and that's exactly how steve king won in the first place back in 2002. so that five-person candidate pool makes it a little tighter of a race. >> it is. >> moira barrett, should be a late night and with so many mail-in ballots, maybe we won't find out until tomorrow for sure. joining us now for what could be more on the impact of this race, msnbc political analyst, michael steele. michael, i've been thinking about this race and i've been thinking about the timing of this race and symbolically, steve king winning it, could it come at a worse time for the republican brand, if he wins this primary today? >> yeah, it would be a blow that would be very difficult to recover, because of the national repercussion. you know, steve king will be all smiles. but i don't know if the gop,

senate, and the house would be all smiles. and certainly, given the way republican leadership has come out and stood with the president and that stunt at st. john's yesterday, in the face of all of the anguish around not just that act, but the overall narrative of republicans on the heels of the death of mr. floyd, it could be a very tough conversation to have with large communities of people. >> you know, michael steele, it's interesting, we chronicled this in "first read" today. after charltsvilottesville, pau ryan, quite a few republicans came out and didn't like what the president said and said so. helsinki happens, when the president sides with russia over american experts. you have foreign policy experts

speak out on that. ukraine, we're down to mitt romney and justin amash. and now after yesterday, hasn't been much, than the handful of usual suspects that are left in the party that feel comfortable speaking out. and it's amazing to me how few feel that comfortable speaking out. >> well, what you've just chronicled is the slow, steady grip of control of donald trump on what was once known as the grand old party, the gop, the republican party. and those vignettes, those moments illustrate his ability to box those members into a proverbial corner, with a very vocal, animated electorate base behind him, that threatened their political survival. so if the choice is principle or the politics of trump, they have opted for the politics of trump. and so now, at a crucible moment like this, where the country is

roiling from what we saw in the floyd murder, what we now see on the streets and cities all across the country, where there is no red/blue map, it's a problem. >> right. michael steele, i've got to leave it there. we have a little bit of breaking news on an update about the other three officers in the george floyd killing, so michael steele, thank you for that. katy, over to you. >> reporter: chuck, again, breaking news. benjamin crump, the attorney for george floyd's family has just spoken to our own gabe gutierrez and told them that he expects the other three officers involved in george floyd's death to be arrested before floyd is laid to rest next tuesday. more on this in our next hour. you're watching msnbc. effortless is the lincoln way. so as you head back out on the road, we'll be doing what we do best. providing some calm amidst the chaos. with virtual, real-time tours of our vehicles

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good day, everybody. i'm chuck todd. it's 11:00 a.m. out west, 2:00 p.m. in the east ahead of what most certainly will be the eighth night of protests. more than 250 demonstrations have erupted across the nation following the death of george floyd in minnesota just nine days ago. a majority of those demonstrations have been quite peaceful. but as day gave way to night, some did turn violent. despite more than 30 state and local governments imposing curfews, protesters and police in several cities were injured in the chaos. with the nation clearly at a pivot point on racial injustice, the president addressed americans for the first time in more than a week.

and instead of delivering a message of unity or calm, he threatened to deploy the u.s. military, encouraged local officials to dominate protesters, and then we saw what he did yesterday evening. meanwhile, just blocks away from the white house in realtime, park police fired rubber bullets and flash bangs on peaceful protesters to make way for a photo op. bishop marianne butty who oversees that church called the visit an outrage. >> he didn't come to church to pray. he didn't come to church to offer condolences to those who are grieving. he didn't come to commit to healing our nation. he did not address the grievous wounds that we are dealing with and the agony of our country. and so it was an abuse of the spiritual tools and symbols of our tradition. >> well, those that thought it would be an iconic moment in the white house may be right, but

for the reasons that they didn't hope for. my co-anchor in the field, katy tur is live for us in new york city and a demonstration that is currently underway. katy? >> reporter: chuck, there are thousands of people here. there were maybe 2,000 when we started broadcasting at 1:00 p.m. and those numbers have just swelled. many thousands of people that are walking up lafayette street here in downtown manhattan, walking against traffic, blocking traffic, unclear where they are going right now, but this is a peaceful protest. there have been no clashes whatsoever with police, so far today. and that's largely what we've seen in new york city during the day, at least in the last few days. it's what happens after it gets dark that has city leaders and the nypd most concerned. last night, after many nights of this, last night, shops were vandalized, stores broken into

along fifth avenue and harold's square. macy's, 700 arrests. the nypd is making a distinction between what they're seeing there and what they are seeing right here. these they're calling peaceful protesters. the people who are breaking into stores and looting, they are calling outside organized agitators that are using encrypted apps to coordinate, to get ahead of the police, to cause destruction, and then to leave. they are concerned about that happening again in a seventh night of protests here in new york city. and what you see when you drive up and down the streets are businesses, not just boarded up with plywood, actual construction boards, scaffolding and structures built out on to the sidewalk, in order to keep looters out, because they had been so successful in taking off that plywood and still breaking

into these larger shops. governor cuomo, chuck, was giving his daily news conference earlier today, updating about the pandemic, updating about the unrest that we have seen. he confirmed what the mayor said, that the city is going to reopen -- new york city is going to reopen on monday. but he also took a shot at both the mayor and the nypd, saying he's offered, again, to send the national guard, that they did not do a good job last night, that it was disgraceful. and chuck, then he openly mused -- and just left it at this -- openly mused about his ability to remove the mayor. they've got a long and documented history of not getting along. that was brought to the forefront during the pandemic. and it's coming to the forefront once again during these protest protests. >> well, he isn't just the governor of new york state, he is also the governor of new york city, as well. it is an important reminder, i

think, that the governor was trying to remind the mayor of that, as well. and i think -- i think it was intended to be not-so-subtle there. let's move here, a day after the president's controversial photo op at st. john's, the d.c. park police has reportedly issued a slew of denials. according to ktop reporter, the park police did not know the president had plans to walk over to the church. that report says that police used smoke canisters, not tear gas, to disperse the crowd. the distinction being one contained irritants, the other does not. he also says he was told that police advanced in response to water bottles being thrown at their officers. but we do have somebody who had a firsthand account of this in washington, d.c., our own garrett haake, he was there when it all went down. garrett, there's no doubt there's probably some government entities that are all trying to revise their -- what happened and what they think didn't happen.

what did you see? >> i saw mounted park police progressing down the street behind me, through lafayette park, through a crowd of peaceful protesters, proceeded by flash bangs, aided on the sides by national guardsmen shooting pepper bullets. and i breathed in tear gas right about the time i hit the corner of 17th and "h" back here. the idea that anyone would try to deny the objective reality that, you know, upwards of a thousand people experienced out here yesterday is kind of ridiculous to me. i've not seen any, on-the-record, with a name attached, statement from park police actually denying any of this. and while we should probably be clear, there were multiple different federally controlled law enforcement agencies involved in that sweep of this street last night. it wasn't protesters that used tear gas. it was one of the federally controlled law enforcement agencies that did.

that's what happened here last night, chuck. >> and very quickly, garrett, did you witness people throwing water bottles at the park police? >> not before any of this started. you know, i've been here all day saturday and all night saturday. all day sunday, all night sunday, and all day monday. and up until the moment that we had the mounted police pushing people down the street on monday, there was absolutely no object throwing of any kind. saturday and sunday, absolutely. but on monday, none of that occurred until folks were already getting pushed back down the street by these armored and mounted police. >> garrett haake in washington, d.c., where there is active protests going on right now, garrett, thank you. katy, back over to you. >> you bet. >> and chuck, peaceful protests in seattle last night devolved into chaos and our correspondent j jo ling kent was right in the middle of it. let's go to seattle and let's go

to jo. jo, you got hi by a firework last night -- i'm sorry, this is just a sound bite. let's take a look at that. >> we're in the capitol hill neighborhood of seattle right now. i don't know if you can hear me, but we have police now advancing on protesters -- oh, my gosh! we're moving, we're moving! we're moving! we're moving. let's go! >> you're good! you're good! go this way! >> let's go, let's go. >> now let's go to jo ling kent in seattle. jo, what is the expectation for today? >> reporter: hey, katy, we're down here in downtown seattle and you have some protesters already moving towards the center of downtown. they're getting ready for another demonstration, that is supposed to start any minute now and this comes after a lot of looting as you can see here and boarding up of businesses. over the last couple of days, it's been a largely peaceful

scenario, but that disintegrated last night. we have a gentlemen here cleaning up some of the graffiti and damage that's been done to local businesses, but this situation here in seattle, the wider context of it is that the office for police accountability here in seattle is now saying that they have received over -- about 12,000 individual complaints concerning the seattle police department in response to these weekend demonstrations that have now spilled over to the week. we're waiting to hear from the seattle mayor as if there is going to be a curfew yet again. we expect that to be the case again tonight. but in terms of the violence we saw yesterday, it was very quick to turn. and the seattle police chief is telling me that officers deployed less lethal munitions in that particular area, after -- they wanted to disperse the crowd. and they said that during what they call a riot, three officers sustained injured.

we also witnessed severalbandea wounded from the fireworks. there were some tear gas thrown by protesters out there. but what we see is a very passionate and largely peaceful plea here in seattle. but the question is, does this continue to escalate tonight, as the tensions have very much rising, katy? >> jo, how are you and how is your crew? >> reporter: oh, everyone is doing just fine. we really appreciate your concern. we are here to make sure we have this story fully covered and covering every angle as safely as possible and everyone is doing just fine. >> just have to give a hand to all the journalists who have put themselves in harm's way to cover these stories all-around the country and make sure the images are seen by all americans and people around the world. chuck, over to you.

>> thank you, katy and stay safe, jo. let's go back to the twin cities of minneapolis and st. paul. both saw more peaceful protests throughout the night. the floyd family lawyer, ben crump, is telling nbc news he expects the other three officers to be arrested before george floyd is laid to rest next week in houston. so let's go back to our reporter on the ground, thshaquille brewster out in minneapolis. shaq, it was my first question over an hour ago. we seem to have some answer from the family attorney, the floyd family attorney. any confirmation on the official side of things here? >> still waiting on that official side. and as you said, chuck, that came from the family attorney, benjamin crump, who said that he expects both charges to be filed against the remaining three fired minneapolis police department officers involved in the death of mr. floyd. he said he expects that to happen before mr. floyd is laid to rest on tuesday. we know more about the memorial

services and how mr. floyd will be commemorated. p it started with thursday here in minneapolis, thursday afternoon, a small private family invitation-only memorial service before going to north carolina and then we're expecting him to be laid to rest in houston on tuesday. but as you mentioned, chuck, this investigation still is in the hands of two independent bodies. both the fdi and state prosecutors. on the state side, it has been elevated and now the prosecution is being led by attorney general keith ellison, who last week, before he took control of this case, he said that he also expected these officers to be charged. but now that he has taken control, he says he needs to let the investigation go throughout. so we'll be waiting to see if he has any announcements for us in the next hour or the coming days. aside from that, chuck, you also hear from the family attorney, talking about why those other officers should be arrested. why it's not just the officer who had his knee on the neck of mr. floyd until he died over a week ago. listen to what benjamin crump

said. he was talking to a group of attorneys from other african-americans who have been killed recently, the attorney for brianna taylor, the attorney for the family of ahmaud arbery. listen to what benjamin crump just said. >> at some point, it's not even about your training. at some point, it's about humanity. you have people on the street ye yelling to you that, hey, you are going to kill him. he can't breathe. he's calling for his mother. he urinates on himself. i mean, at what point do you say, he's a human being and you're killing this man? >> reporter: that's the same sentiment you heard from terence floyd who visited this site yesterday. you're also hearing that from protesters and people who still come out to drop off flowers and balloons, put up new murals. people paying their respects for the memory of george floyd. chuck? >> shaquille brewster on the ground for us in minneapolis.

shaq, thanks very much. katy, over to you. >> reporter: and chuck, joining us now is derek johnson, the president of the naacp, the ceo of the naacp. derek, thank you very much for joining us. vice president biden spoke earlier today. i just want to get your reaction to his speech, addressing systemic racism and what needs to change in this country. >> you heard the vice president speak presidentially. that's something that we've been lacking since the outbreak. we actually need a leader that speaks to all americans, to speak to the current climate, and not someone to use the same campaign rhetoric and divisive behavior. so it was good to hear the vice president speak about racism, which is a systemic problem in this society. >> do you think that our lawmakers can really address this? i mean, voters across this country have elected -- have elected a progressive mayor, for instance, here in new york city.

they've elected progressive mayors around the country and it seems like addressing police brutality and addressing the issues that black people have with police hasn't been so easy. >> no, i think fdr had the best saying. i agree with you not making me do it. it's going to be incumbent upon voters to make their voices heard in november. and after that, make the individuals who are in elected office do what's necessary to ensure that this democracy survive. we are at a breaking point. in the last 80 days, we have seen a global health pandemic bring our economy to almost a halt. it's crippled. more unemployment than we've seen. but police violence in georgia and louisville, kentucky, minneapolis, an unfortunate incident in central park. peaceful protests, violent reaction.

all of this in 80 days and we're still in the middle of a public health pandemic. it's going to be incumbent upon all of us to make the politicians do what's necessary after november's election. >> let me ask you, do protests need to get loud? does this need to disrupt regular business, whatever it is right now, in this country in order for people to really listen? do the peaceful protests of just taking a knee, do they work? >> well, no in the case where you have invested and there is no other resource for african-americans, we have a history of protesters. and with the corporate behind and and people must value above -- in a society.

the creed that's in the constitution that all men are created equal and women, and still be entitled to inalienable rights. police officers cannot continue to murder african-americans in broad daylight. they cannot continue to kick down people's doors and kill them in their homes because of a defective -- police officers can not continue to go to people's houses and kill them. at some point, we have to speak up for peaceful protests to ensure that we all are. >> derek johnson, president and ceo of the naacp, thank you very much. >> it's loud. >> and i want to remind our viewers, i'm in the middle of a protest here in new york city. just made a right turn off canal and they are marching up broadway. they are going north. there are thousands of people

here. and the police presence is relatively thin. so far, it is peaceful here in new york city. peaceful protests. >> thank you, katy. we're going to be going to birmingham, alabama, in a bit. demonstrators targeted a confederate monument and the mayor ordered its removal. will he have to fight the state of alabama to keep that monument down? the mayor is going to join us later this hour. but first, the latest on the global outrage over george floyd's death as protesters demand justice in the streets of paris and other hot spots around the world. wayfair has way more ways to renovate your home,

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six atlanta police officers are facing charges today for their involvement in an incident where two college students were pulled from their cars and tased during a protest. joining us now from atlanta is nbc news correspondent, blayne

alexander. blayne, i watched this, at the time, again, you couldn't believe what you were watching. again one of these videos where you're jobeyond stunned. >> reporter: not just you, but so many people watched it because it played out live on tv when it happened last night around curfew. that's what the mayor said when she said that they made that decision to fire two of those officers. i really have to say that what is remarkable about this is the speed with which it happened. let me give you a little timeline. the incident itself happened saturday night around 9:00 p.m. it was less than 24 hours that the mayor and the police chief said they had already reviewed the body camera, about five or six body cameras, and they made the decision to fire those two officers. and then less than 48 hours after that, we're now seeing fulton county district attorney, paul houfrd announcing charges against six of those officers. the charges range from

aggravated assault, aggravated battery, destruction of property for smashing out the car windows, pointing a gun at the students inside that vehicle. we know that the officers have until friday, end of the day, to turn themselves in. so that's certainly something that happened very quickly, but as all of this is going on, of course, here in atlanta, officials are getting ready for another night of protests. i don't know if you can see behind me, that's kind of become a staging area, a secondary staging area. we've seen national guard, we see georgia state patrol. they line up, the main area, the cnn center that kind of epicenter of downtown is less than a mile away from here. so all of them are standing by to be on standby as all of the officials get ready to go into downtown. a few things in line tonight. the curfew, of course, has been going on, but of course, we know that georgia is still under a state of emergency. national guard troops still here to help kind of patrol the streets. and chuck, i have to say, i have been covering all of these protests since friday. we have seen a strong de-escalation, chuck.

>> interesting to see that there, blayne alexander, with some on the ground reporting. blayne in atlanta. katy, over to you. >> chuck, thousands of people on the streets here in new york. we are walking up broadway, going north. the protesters are peaceful. there are, frankly, i don't see any police officers whatsoever and i haven't seen any police officers for many blocks now. but the protests that we're seeing around this country are not just confined to the borders of the united states. there are protests all around the world right now. people are marching on the streets of paris right now. in london -- i'm sorry, in berlin, crowds gathered. in london, hundreds of people marched towards trafalgar square on sunday. and take a look at these photos. this is idlib, syria. a mural of george floyd was painted with the phrases, "i can't breathe" and "no racism." joining me now from london is nbc news chief foreign

correspondent, richard engel. richard, why has this been so resonant around the world? >> reporter: well, a lot of people around the world are putting themselves in the same situation. they complain of police brutality, racism, systemic discrimination, and there have been protests in solidarity with george floyd in about a dozen countries now. there are more demonstrations here in london tomorrow and in each country, there are slight differences. in brazil, for example, in rio de janeiro, people were out on the streets. they were complaining about police brutality in the favelas, in the very tough slums on the outskirts of rio, and these neighborhoods, they say, are systematically targeted by police, paramilitary forces go in looking for drugs and gang members and often kill many people. and when they were out on the streets, they were saying, our lives matter, just like black lives matter in the united

states. in jerusalem, palestinians were protesting after the israelis shot dead a disabled man over the weekend and they said, it's the same kind of systemic oppression. then there is, however, a different kind of reaction that is primarily coming from america's adversaries. not a reaction in solidarity to what's going on in the u.s., but an attempt to use the unrest and the very chaotic images as a hammer to hit american society and to hit at the american political system. and that's primarily coming from russia and china and iran, saying, look what's going on in the u.s. don't throw stones when you live in such a glass house. >> richard engel in london, thank you so much. we're walking up the street on broadway. these are store fronts that are now all boarded up. just yesterday, a lot of these store fronts had broken glass, because this is where a lot of

the looters came and targeted. there was a police car along this street that was completely burned out, the one that was right in front of broadway, which is just, i guess, a couple of doors down from where i am. but i want to emphasize, this protest right here is peaceful. >> good deal. thank you, katy. as we see these nationwide demonstrations, remember, our country is still battling the coronavirus. but dr. anthony fauci says skhe and the president don't talk that much anymore. we'll head back to the white house, next.

you might be wondering what our nation's lawmakers thought about what happened yesterday in lafayette square in front of the white house. well, our own kasie hunt asked republican senators what they thought about those peaceful protesters being dispersed so the president could have a photo op outside of a church. >> senator mcconnell, was what the president did last night the right thing to do?

>> i wasn't there, so i didn't see exactly what happened. >> you think he could do better? >> i mean, we all can -- every day, i can do better. i try. >> what the president did, the peaceful protesters that were dispersed with tear gas, he then walked across the street to the church, was that the right thing to do? >> i didn't really see it. >> was clearing the protesters an abuse of power? >> i did not think that what we saw last night was the american way. >> lisa murkowski there, with perhaps the most, the most biting comment there. it's not the america she knows. also on capitol hill today, asa hutchison, and gretchen whitmer are testifying on the administration's response to covid-19. and while fears are growing about new coronavirus hot spots, top health expert dr. anthony fauci says he has not been meeting frequently with the president. fauci told stat news that, quote, i was meeting with him four times a week back, i would say a month or so ago, but as

you probably have noticed the task force meetings have not occurred as often and my meetings with the president have been dramatically decreased. let's bring in nbc news digital senior white house reporter, shannon peaty petty jp piece. the idea that the task force is in a backseat. we lost nearly 300 people over the weekend. another 700 plus in the last 24 hours. this is not something that is just going away. is there no -- when's the last -- the task force not meeting? >> those meetings have been cut back dramatically from every single day, including saturdays and sundays, to now sometimes once a week. there is one today, though. i will say, it's on the vice president's schedule and i enquired with some sources today about what came out of that and haven't heard anything back yet. but we do know they are meeting today. i just asked kellyanne conway about this a few minutes ago when she was talking to reporters, specifically now that we have these massive gatherings

going on, where, theoretically, coronavirus could easily spread and lead to a second outbreak. she did say it's something that they are definitely concerned about. they're tracking and that the hope or one of the things they are doing now to try to get ahead of that is to get all of the sort of ppe and the gowns and supplies to keep that flowing in case there is a second spike. but, yeah, the second spike something that we have heard a number of doctors raise concern about. and the coronavirus task force has been essentially absent to answer any of our questions from reporters about what the implications could be from this -- you know, the most recent outbreak of gatherings. but even before then. >> yeah, i don't think we've heard from a public health official, it feels like, on the record. and i think it's been at least a week, if not more so. shannon pettypeace, thank you. and concerns are growing about new possible virus hot spots as thousands of protesters take to the streets in cities

all over this country. with us now is dr. ka vida patel, a former white house policy expert during the obama administration, also an msnbc medical contributor. dr. patel, it's obvious, large gather gatherings, we know this, this is where we get nervous. what should public health officials be thinking right now? what would you advise -- forget the current situation in the white house, your average state public health official or your l.a. county public health official, what do you try to do to see if you can mitigate what's happening? >> yeah, great questions, chuck. and i think we're all trying to figure that out in realtime. but a couple of things. number one, having the testing in place. we keep talking about testing, but making that testing available and actually being a little bit more aggressive in targeting, especially in urban areas where we know we've got these dense populations, to

actually deploy testing strategies to proactively reach people, look at all of the protesters, all ages, all types of kind of different demographics. so how do we get into their communities and proactively test, number one. and number two, how to give advice on safe protesting. because i think we need to acknowledge that people want to be heard. and you can do it safely, you know, wearing protective eyewear, a non-medical mask, kind of being with a buddy, someone you know what the risk kind of profile might be. smaller groups and trying to do what you can to keep a safe distance. and hand sanitizer. and then the third thing for public health officials is to have your health care facilities ready for potentially these spikes. hospitalizations, er visits and clinic visits, as well. and all of those things are happening, but it's hard to predict to what magnitude you'll need them. >> and that's all the trouble. you don't know where one protest may have a super spreader, five others may have none of that.

as we've learned in this. i guess we just do the math, doctor patel, we'll know at father's day. we'll know about fourth of july how all of this went? >> yeah, that's right. it takes anywhere from at least 5 to 14 days to kind of see what we might kind of call the effect of a super spreader, one person to eight people. but what's somewhat reassuring is that we have actually in some of these kind of areas of density, cities, et cetera, we do know that public health officials are absolutely aware and trying to get tests. and, by the way, if you are protesting and you have the ability to isolate, because you think you might have been in a high-risk contact, try to at least stay away from other family members who are in a higher-risk profile, older people, people with chronic conditions, and hopefully that education, chuck, can help us mitigate some of this. but we do expect to see those

increases. >> look, if everybody, just wear the mask. remember, your mask, if you want to make a statement, make a statement on your mask, but please, just wear the mask, right, dr. patel? >> absolutely, chuck. there's a way to do this and to try to stay as safe as possible. >> excellent. dr. patel, thank you for sharing your increaexpertise with us. meanwhile, a live look at protests in st. paul, minnesota. as you can see there, it looks like an attempt at social distancing protesting, a bit. we'll get an update on the investigation, as well, from gabe gutierrez after this quick break. is mealtime a struggle? introducing ore-ida potato pay. where ore-ida golden crinkles are your crispy currency to pay for bites of this... ...with this. when kids won't eat dinner, potato pay them to. ore-ida. win at mealtime.

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let's go back to minneapolis where gabe gutierrez has breaking news on the investigation. gabe, what do you have? >> reporter: hey, there, katy. well, i just spoke with the family attorney, ben crump, and he says that he expects that the three other officers involved in the george floyd case that have not been charged, he expects them to be charged by next tuesday, before floyd is laid to rest on tuesday. now, we have live pictures of a large gathering, not far from here. i'm in downtown minneapolis right now, in south minneapolis, at the site where george floyd died and took his last breath. a large group of peaceful protesters have gone there. i also spoke just a short time ago with donald williams. he is one of the eyewitnesss that night, more than a week ago now, he is haunted by what he saw and still processi ining the

saw a man die, essentially, before his eyes. take a listen to what he had to say. >> i observed the situation before i interacted. i interacted once one of the young ladies said, i believe his nose is starting to bleed. at the time, george is on the floor, panting for his life, k asking forfask ing for forgiveness, calling for his mom, saying he can't breathe. >> at the time, could you believe what you were seeing? >> no, i was like, in the twilight zone. it was like something that was unreal. it was like it was a movie, you know? >> and he is now calling for those three other officers to be charged. in his words, he believed that they were complicit in killing

floyd. we don't have any official word or timetable from the staple. the state attorney's office says there has been no timetable, but the county attorney did say he anticipated those charges, katy. this is still a very emotional scene over here. a peaceful protest still going on. the eyewitnesss still trying to come to terms with all of this. something that really has sparked all of this outrage across the nation, katy. >> hey, gabe gutierrez, thank you for that exclusive report and a piece of that interview. we look forward to more of that tonight. meanwhile, a prominent confederate monument no longer stands in birmingham. the demonstrators were unsuccessful tearing down the 52-foot-tall stone obelisk, but birmingham's mayor promised to finish the job and overnight, workers brought in heavy machinery and did just that. joining us is the mayor of

birmingham, randall woodfin. you've been asked about removing this monument quite a few times. and you have decided not to act at that time. it's not -- i think the question is, it's technically, i guess the state has oversight over this, but you chose to do this last night why? >> chuck, i'm experiencing some civil unrest in my city and i'm the center of that civil unrest started from not just the death of george floyd, but the symbolism of this statue, which to many people in this community, many note that birmingham has a high black population here in our community and in our city, they feel this statue represents the role being moved forward, as well as what should be in the actual city park. many people should know that the city of birmingham was not a

city or founded before or during the civil war. it was actually founded after the civil war in 1871. so even from that standpoint, revisionist history should be corrected and it should be known that this type of symbolism is offensive to people who were relegated to slavery. >> have you explained to the governor that in some ways these are magnets for protesters and that getting rid of these monuments is actually a way to keep the peace? >> i have definitely engaged the governor as well as the lieutenant governor's office. i'm speaking to them that we believe that this can actually set aside a lot of the angst as well as the anger in the community, because as we know, the anger is being directed at something, whether a police precinct or in our case, an

actual confederate statue. so, yes, i have had conversations with them. >> who -- how would that -- do you have -- first of all, where have you put the monument and where would you like to see it? would you put it in a museum or is it time to destroy these monuments? >> no, chuck, i'm open to putting it in an actual museum, but i'm also comfortable giving it to, believe it or not, here in alabama, there are a lot of confederate organizations that still exist in 2020. if they want it, we are more than willing to actually give it to them. listen, this statue, it's wrong. it doesn't belong in a city park. it's -- we own the park, we operate the park, and i think the city should be allowed to do what we think is in the best interests of our city in our city parks. as it relates to where we took

it, it's in a holding pattern now, we believe because of the heightened sensitivity around this issue from both sides, we haven't disclosed that location. so we're moving forward and i think that's really important for our residents. >> birmingham mayor randall woodfin, appreciate you coming on, explaining your thinking behind this and i hope it's a safe and peaceful night of protests tonight, if they take place. thanks for coming on, sir. >> thank you. thank you so much. >> katy, over to you. >> and chuck, we have reached washington square park. there are tens of thousands of protesters, more than i could possibly count, flooding this park. more on the coverage of the protests here in new york city after a quick break. how do your teeth get a dentist-clean feeling?

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continue throughout the nation. we'll bring that to you live. but first, let's go to nbc's priscilla thompson, she's on the ground in houston as this protest with the floyd family prepares to get started. priscilla, what have you got? >> chuck, that protest is expected to begin here in just under an hour, but already, more than a hundred folks have gathered here and are speaking on the mic right now about injustices. you see a number of people here with signs and pictures of george floyd, brianna taylor and others. and you've got people of all ages here from older folks to children and one of the key messages that i've heard from these folks so far is that we don't want to have to be thinking about this with our grandchildren and with our children. we want this type of violence end to now. and, you know, the organizer group, the truth, just walked up a few minutes ago and said, this rally is really about making

sure the family feels supported. and you know, i think that's really the message here. we expect up to 20,000 people to come out in total when this rally does get underway in earnest. we know that the mayor and police chief are going to be here. and the mayor tweeted earlier, just a little while ago. i want to read it to you. he said, i'm praying that today will be uplifting and encouraging for george floyd's family, our city, and the country as a whole. and i pray this those of us in positions of power who have taken the oath to serve will hear the message of those who have commit to serve. they expect it to be a fairly peaceful protest here when it gepts underway in a little bit, chuck. >> priscilla thompson on the ground for us in houston. priscilla, thank you. katy, over to you. >> reporter: chuck, all of these people that are coming out and protesting all around the country, here in new york city, in los angeles, in minneapolis, you name the city and people are out, they're doing this because they want to see things change in this country.

they want progress to be made. to continue this conversation, let's go to trymaine lee, msnbc correspondent, trymaine lee. he is hosting a conversation on race tonight called "can you hear us now?" at 8:00 p.m. eastern on nbc news now. t trymaine? >> reporter: that's right. the perfect time for this conversation. it's necessary and needed. after a week of fiery protests all across the country, which really was the perfect storm. you had this small, beleaguered community dealt a blow in minneapolis. but there are these kinds of communities all across the country. black communities and black families, black fathers and sons, mothers and daughters under the weight of, quite frankly, a country that has never fully embraced black people in this country. and so you have that righteous indignation, the protests in the beginning. but you also have people who are opportunists. also beleaguered, but taking

advantage of the moment. and i've been talking to activists who say, there are interlopers, white anarchists, people from outside the community, taking advantage of the situation. you have three distinct lanes here all colliding together. and it's resulted in the fire, the broken buildings, the broken glass. but we had a conversation last week, and i said, still, there are so many people out there pushing, protesting, because they care more about the broken bodies than the broken buildings and broken windows. but here we are. and it's time, katy, quite frankly, to have a real conversation not just about where we are in this moment, but also where we've been, before we can have any conversation about moving forward. because sadly, and we see it play out, black people and white people live and die often in distinctly different universes. here we are in this moment, grasping for straws, where the moment for reflection, the moment to truly understand who we are and who we say we are is right here at our feet, katy?

>> trymaine lee, thank you very much. and he's going to moderate a discussion on race and what being black in america means. "can you hear us now" begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern on nbc news now. chuck, take it away. >> thank you, katy. excellent, on the ground coverage there of the protest as it happened in the middle of new york city, no easy feat there, so, anyway, thank you for your professionalism and how well you handled that. that is it for both of us today. nicole wallace and brian williams will pick things up after this quick break. since my dvt blood clot

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good day to you. coming up on 3:00 p.m. in the east, 12:00 noon out west. brian williams here with you. nicole wallace will join us momentarily. despite president trump's threat to send in the military, people are still taking to the streets in cities across our country today, ahead of what would be the eighth night of protests to the death of george floyd. live pictures of the capital in st. paul, minnesota. meanwhile, this was the scene a short time ago in foley square in new york city, where protesters took a knee during a demonstration over floyd's death. this comes hours before a curfew that tonight will go into effect early, 8:00 p.m. eastern time.

the change in the curfew start time came after more looting in new york city last night. new york governor andrew cuomo criticized the new york city mayor, bill de blasio, and new york city police for not doing enough to prevent it. last night, looters laid waste to a huge number of stores over large area, including midtown manhattan. protesters have called for the other officers involved in floyd's death to be arrested. floyd family attorney benjamin crump told nbc's gabe gutierrez said that could happen before floyd's funeral next week. >> we expect the other officers to be arrested before george floyd is laid to rest. because there is no doubt that ambulance was george floyd's hearse. he was dead on that scene and all of them contributed to his death. >> president trump caused another round of controversy today, when he visited the

shrine to the man we now call saint pope john paul ii in washington, a visit that did not sit very well with washington archbishop wilton gregory. he said in a statement, i find it baffling and reprehensible that any catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people, even those with whom we might disagree. this criticism comes one day after the president was roundly criticized for his decision to walk from the white house over to historic st. john's church in lafayette square, which had been damaged during sunday night's protests. its basement set ablaze. it happened about an hour after a contingent of u.s. park police officers, military police used flash bang grenades and tear gas to force protesters who had

gathered peacefully to leave the areas. the president was harshly criticized for using the video oz a photo op. in particular, his decision to stand there holding aloft a bible. his democratic rival, joe biden, responding by saying that the president could have opened the book because, quote, he could have learned something. and i'm joined, as we are at this hour each day by the host of "deadline white house," my friend and colleague, nicole wallace. nicole, i was viewing -- trying to view yesterday through your prism of your time in the white house and holing it up against everything that has been normal regarding the presidency in the modern era. >> well, donald trump has long-since rendered the gop unrecognizable to me. he has now also rendered to u.s. presidency unrecognizable to me. it is not used in the ways that

president obama, president bush, president clinton, president eisenhower, president reagan used it. i read some old speeches today about democracy, pause i wanted to be sure that by asking questions about whether or not dpl democracy is under assault, whether or not our rights to peaceful protest, to peaceful spl assembly, to free speech, to freedom of religion are under assault is a bridge too far. and just reading old speeches by presidents reagan, by presidents bush 41, bush 41, by presidents obama, president clinton, it is clear that we do not stand for, we do not look like the same country we've looked like for a generation. and we've learned in just the last hour from a great piece of reporting in "the washington post" that it was attorney general barr who ordered lafayette park cleared of peaceful protesters ahead of d.c.'s 7:00 p.m. curfew, so that

donald trump could wave a bible around, as our colleague, meika brzezinski pointed out, the same way he holds up trump steaks. we are in a place we've never been before. joe biden trying to garner more press coverage for his campaign and his statements. he gave a speech today that we just alluded to and i know we're going to talk about it more in this hour. but we are in a place we've never been before. the very presence of the u.s. military in the nation piece capital wasn't enough to stop people from gathering near lafayette park last night. our colleague, garrett haake, they were across from the white house again today. they're being watched over by a large contingent of soldiers now. national guard and officers from federal law enforcement agencies. so far things are peaceful. a far cry from when our colleague, garrett haake, was reporting on nearly 24 hours ago. >> reporter: this is an

extraordinary escalation on the streets in front of the white house right now. within the last 15 minutes, mounted police have been coming down the street. you're going to see them in the frame now, using flashbangs in front of them and mounted police to clear what has been an entirely peaceful protest. not 90%, not 99%, but 100% peaceful protest here today. people throwing -- there was no throwing of water bottles, there was no throwing of objects. but a short time ago, mounted police officers have been clearing the street. >> garrett haake has been able to join us now and garrett, it's been interesting to see on social media the attempt at revisionism. the president saying none of it was audible during his speech. others saying there was no tear gas deployed. that those were erroneous media reports. nothing like having the guy who was there, as they advanced, to say what was going on.

>> yeah, brian, i don't know what to say except that those reports are an attempt to rewrite history here. those of us on this street experienced that in realtime yesterday. mounted police, flash bangs, and yes, tear gas. i had to put my gas mask on for the first time that i've been out here covering these protests. it was a significant escalation by federal law enforcement, an alphabet soup of federal law enforcement that has been staging in lafayette park behind me and has become, as d.c.'s mayor explained this morning, they sort of called dibs on responsibility for lafayette park and the area around it last night. and they made that decision to clear it. and as you can clearly see around me, hundreds of protesters are back again today, protesting peacefully, knowing that that very well could be in

store again ahead of tonight's curfew, set to go in place at 7:00. >> garrett haake in lafayette square, across from the white house where, again today, things are peaceful and holding, as we mentioned. former vice president joe biden sought to provide a huge contrast between himself and the president when he traveled to philadelphia, which has seen its share of violence to deliver a speech about racial unrest in our country. >> i won't traffic in fear and division. i won't fan the flames of hate. i'll seek to heal the racial wounds that have long plagued our country, not use them for political gain. i'll do my job and i will take responsibility. i won't blame others. i'll never forget, i will never forget, i promise you, this job is not about me. it's about you. it's about us.

and will work not only to rebuild a nation, but to build it better than it was. >> joining our conversation, "los angeles times" white house reporter, eli stokols, and eddie glad, professor of african-american studies at princeton university and an msnbc contributor. eli, such a contrast, just right there, the last words that we played from joe biden. it won't be about me. with donald trump, it is always about him. last night, squarely, and entirely about him. but using new tactics. using new methods, clearing out peaceful protesters so he could stage a photo op. your thoughts on that? >> well, one of the things that struck me, nicole, one of the contrasts that really jumped out is the differing approaches to the presidency. joe biden talked about the work and the problem of systemic racism in this society and he contextualized that on this historical continuum, going back

# 400 years. and he injected this realism saying, you can elect a new president or not, but this is going to be a longer project than four years or eight years. this is going to take a generation to change. contrast that to a president who reacts and basically is so near-sighted that his focus is just winning the news cycle at hand. there is no plan to combat systemic racism. what brought this president out of the white house finally was his reaction, his frustration with news cycle reports that he had been in a bunker on friday night, as there were protests in the park. he wanted to combat that. he wanted to get out and show, through the media, here i am, wall over to this church, everything is fine. the white house put out this propaganda video after the fact, showing all of this "b" roll. people got tear gassed and cleared on police by horseback so the president could have "b" roll. but none of the clearing of the park was in the white house video of the president walking over there. this is just a president who is

trying to project miss idea of strength to his supporters. and that was just a remarkable contrast, watching that and then watching the former vice president speak this morning. >> eddie glaude, i want to ask you about the big lie. the president's speech in the rose garden included a line in which donald trump said to peaceful protesters, i am your president. at that moment, peaceful protesters outside the white house gate were being hit with tear gas, they were being corralled by military forces by police. the audacity of hope from the obama years and campaigns have been replaced by the audacity of donald trump and his lies and the lies that seem to be coming at a quicker clip and that seem more audacious in nature. >> yes, nicole, and we might

even give him a generous read. that the peaceful protesters that he was talking about were not those folks in lafayette park, but those folks who were protesting about opening up churches. those folks who were protesting about opening up the economy. those folks who are walking around with guns and screaming without masks at police officers. maybe he's talking about them. i think the contrast we saw between him and vice president biden was the contrast between callousness and empathy. vice president biden tried to express a deep sense of sympathy and empathy for those who bear the brunt of systemic racism in this country. and he also said something, vice president biden did, said something that is really important. he said, i will not use racism for my own personal gain. and here he's actually responded to donald trump's declaration that he was the president of law and order, right, which harkened back to nixon in 1968. which gives us a sense that donald trump ought not to be read as simply exceptional. that he is actually a caricature

of a long lineage of exploiting racial sentiment, white resentment for political gain. so i think vice president biden, at that moment, suddenly gestured to a much more complicated read of what donald trump was up to. >> something you said on social media on saturday night. i remember it because i've been thinking about it ever since. you were commenting on something we had to delicately approach saturday afternoon. and that was a balancing act between live events. we had people in the streets of our cities, nationwide, which we interrupted briefly to cover live the launch of the spacex capsule up to the international space station. and i'm going to ask you to repeat and expand upon it have thought you put on social media

about, doesn't it just show the two cop trantrasts, what our co is capable of and what we're not. >> well, this was before -- i mean, this brought a lot of people back to the 60s and the early days of the space race and also days of deep civil unrest in this country. and you fast forward more than 50 years, and here we are again, restarting the space race. and i think what was striking was, just seeing a country capable of invention, innovation, aspiration, and being able to send human beings into space and still not being able to live up to the aspirations of the nation's founders. not being able to achieve our country, so to speak. when you watch the news and you see that, you know, black men and women are still being harassed and in some cases murdered by police officers, you see the protests in the street, you see the same calls for law and order, and the same

callousness across some of these lirnls towards one another, it's hard to know what to make of a moment like that. it's a revealing moment about our country and about something inexorable about our country. because it's so similar to where we were 50 or 60 years ago and here we are again and obviously, seeing that rocket go up was exciting and inspiring, i think, to all americans. and yet there seem to be so few things these days in our politics or even beyond that are unifying in that way. and certainly, everything we were seeing, except for that 3:00 hour, when we paused this coverage of what's happening right now, to watch this rocket launch, we're seeing it still, brian. >> professor, talk about -- even though we have an entire segment on this coming up, talk about the use, what so immediately branded the weaponization of

religion that continued today. >> oh, my goodness. what we've always seen, within the trump camp is an attempt to sackrelize his presidency. sarah posner has a wonderful book coming out about the complex relationship between evangelicalism and donald trump. he wants to be god's strong man. he's represented as this figure that will reclaim the country. so here he's wrapping authoritarianism, fascism in the flag and in the bible. it's part of the symbolology of trump, as he in some ways undermines the very foundation of our democracy. nicole, you opened up this segment with this question about democracy. the presidency, the executive branch has almost unlimited power. what checks it not only are the other branches, are norms. norms that were evidenced and

expressed in the very moment that george washington refused to be president for life. donald trump doesn't give a damn about norms. we are on a knife's edge about democracy and he's trying to wrap it in the flag. >> eli stokols, professor eddie glaude, gentlemen, thank you both for being part of our coverage, as we watch the live peaceful scene at this hour in washington. our first break in our coverage. when we continue, the president's threat to send in active duty u.s. military. big questions about what authority he has to do that. plus, more on these complaints from religious leaders no our country as promised over the president's use of a church and a bible as props. - [narrator] did you just reward yourself

for spending a perfectly reasonable amount of time on the couch with tacos from grubhub? grubhub's gonna reward you for that with a $5 off perk. (doorbell rings) - [crowd] grubhub! (fireworks exploding)

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we're in the capitol hill neighborhood of seattle right now. i don't know if you can hear me, but we have police now advancing on protesters -- [ bleep ] [ bleep ] oh, my gosh. we're moving. we're moving. we're moving. >> you're good! you're good! you're good! >> let's go. let's go, let's go. >> that was our friend and colleague, jo ling kent last night, when she was hit by what we believe was a firework while

running from an escalating protest in seattle. more dramatic video emerged today that shows police facing off against a large crowd. this has received wide circulation on social media as the moment things went south. police appeared to step forward to the barricade, starting with the use of pepper spray dispe e disperseant and flash bang grenades. jo ling kent has been able to join us in the light of day from seattle joling, that was way more excitement than i know you banked on last night. i'm glad you were okay. we were glad to see that you were okay in the moment. we're calling it a firework, that's what we believe it was,

correct? >> brian, upon further review of the video, and we have some other video, different vantage points of what happened last night, it appears to have been a flash bang, a device that may have been thrown by seattle police. we're still trying to figure out the exalt details on that front. but what we want to point out is that behind these protests, as we look at the broader picture here, we now know that there have been over 12,000 complaints filed by protesters in just the past few days, in terms of how the seattle police is reacting to protesters specifically. so at night, you have these escalations of tension, as these peaceful protesters start in the mid-afternoon, marching arm and arm, coming up to the capitol hill neighborhood, and then we saw things turn very quickly on a dime. and the seattle police responding and they are calling it a riot now. and protesters have pushed back

on that language saying they were there peacefully protesting. now, of course, you can see behind me here that this is some of what happens during the day. you've got the major cleanup efforts at retail shopping centers. folks who are trying to clean up the streets of seattle by day. this was some pretty thick glass that was shattered. i want to spin around and show you more of the retail damage. we have nordstrom's here, double boarded up. cleanup crews going inside the first floor, which was completely ransacked, according to people who had a look inside the there, but we do know, coming tonight, we expect additional large protests, just a few blocks that way. we know that there is already 200 people on the ground, gathering earlier today than they did yesterday at this time. so we expect the tension to escalate, as protesters make their voices heard and they call for continued justice for george

floyd. >> jo ling kent, thank you for your reporting. >> the president's speech in the rose garden marked a pivot moment in this administration as tear gas and grenades popped off across the street, the president threatened to dplou the u.s. military using the advectiinsur act. it permits the president to use active duty military troops for law enforcement purposes on u.s. foil. it was used to enforce desegregation in the '50s and '60s. the last time it was invoked was 1992, when civil unrest ensued following the rodney king protest, although that was requested by the governor of california at that time. joining our conversation, retired colonel jack jacob for his service in vietnam, a longtime instructor at west point and a military analyst for us. also, melissa murray, a law professor from new york

university. she's the leading expert in constitutional law and justice issues. colonel jack, here's my question for you. does the military want this assignment from the president? >> no. you know, look -- the military trains for riot control all the time. it's very, very good at it, but it doesn't want to do it. and this is not something that one generally uses the military establishment to achieve. it's in defense of the republic, not against american citizens and the military establishment is not interested in doing this missio mission. >> melissa, i want to take that reality from colonel jack and play it against donald trump's reality. here's donald trump promising the governors that they're going to see a whole lot of the u.s. military in their states >> got a number of people here that you'll be seeing a lot of.

general milley is here, who is head of joint chiefs of staff, a fighter, a warrior, and a lot of victories and no losses. and he hates to see how it's being handled in the various states and i have just put him in charge. >> so melissa, my question to you, the military obviously lives by the chain of command. how does the reality of a commander in chief who's calling for such an extraordinary and many think inappropriate use of active duty troops on american streets deal with this clash of visions and deal with what's appropriate and normal? >> the idea of domestic troops being used for enforcement is incredibly extraordinary. the constitution obviously guarantees that the federal government will provide to the states a republican form of government and protect them from insurrections and invasions, but

it's unclear whether these protests actually rise to that level of extraordinary aid. as a general matter, the states have authority to use their own enforcement mechanisms to maintain order within their borders. and the idea of federal intervention without the imposition or the introduction of the governors or really requires a kind of extraordinary step, and extraordinary circumstances. and it's not clear that that's the case here. >> jack jacobs, talk about the young, soon-to-be second lieutenants make their way through west point. talk about what they view their role is going to be upon commission and graduation and in the world for the military. i'm asking because i heard someone this morning, on top of all the other issues of committing u.s. military on the streets of our country, i heard

someone say, this is something like the opposite of a recruitment poster. you are not going to attract young people to the military if they think they're going to end up here face-to-face with their friends and neighbors back home on the street. >> i mentioned earlier that units train for riot control, crowd control all the time, and they do and they're very good at it. but from the very beginning to the very end of anybody's career in the military, whether it's a couple of years or decades, the focus is always on small-unit tactics, training young soldiers, bringing them up through the ranks so they'll be skilled to complete the missions that the military has normally given. kill or capture the enemy, defend the republican against foreign enemies on foreign soil. but rarely, if you talk to

anybody, he's not going to tell you, she's not going to -- nobody is going to tell you that their focus has been anything at all on using the military instrument of power against its own citizens in any circumstance. you know, we have used the military in other cases, but the perception has been that it is an insurrection or there's going to be an insurrection. and it's something of an irony, because the posy come tads acts were all for the purpose -- were passed by a democratic congress in an attempt to get the military establishment out of reconstruction, which they were successful in doing that. and it seems like something of an irony to threaten to use the military establishment and all of these young people who have been training against its own citizens. it doesn't make any sense

whatsoever. >> so professor murray, another way of looking at this, aren't we one governor's request away from seeing this actually happen? >> well, that would make it more obvious introduction for the president if there was actually an invitation from the governor of a state for this kind of intervention. but we have seen a number of governors say they don't want this federal intervention. in fact, federal intervention at this point would like escalate the tensions that are already simmering in these states and they feel they have it under control with their own police forces and the national guard. and the real question here, if this were ever to be litigated, and i imagine if the president invoked the insurrection act, it would be litigated quite quickly, is whether or not a court would intervene to provide the relief that the governors request. >> two of the perfect voices for this very conversation and our thanks to professor murray, to colonel jacobs for joining us this afternoon. during this discussion, we've