at the same time we change the culture of policing. >> brian stevenson is author of the best-selling memoir "just mercy," a story of justice and redemption. it's always a great honor to get to talk to you. thank you so much for making time to talk to us tonight. >> happy to be with you. >> that is "all in" for this evening. good evening rachel. >> good evening, chris. thanks my friend. much appreciated. thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. it is 9:00 on the east coast and a mandatory curfew has been in effect for about one hour now in america's largest city. this is live in new york right now. there have been thousands of people in the streets of new york city all day today. large crowds today in new york city peacefully protesting the police killing of george floyd in minneapolis. this is interesting, something you should see as a true marker of the dual crisis our country is facing right now.

look at this. this is what happened out in front of a new york hospital this afternoon. it was health care workers out in their scrubs coming out to the sidewalk to cheer on the protesters. protesters yelling back thank you, thank you, thank you. this today was houston, texas, where george floyd grew up. 25,000 people in the streets today in houston to protest his killing. at the start of that protest, all 25,000 of them got one knee for a 30-second moment of silence. after that, they got up and started marching toward houston city hall led by floyd's adopted brother. they were chanting "george floyd" and "hands up, don't shoot." in philadelphia today, in little rock, arkansas today, in charlotte, north carolina today, in milwaukee, wisconsin, there were peaceful protests all across the country today despite the president's threat to use

the u.s. military against americans who chose to protest. for the fourth day in a row, there were demonstrations right outside the white house in lafayette park. some of the protesters told nbc this was their first day there, that the use of force to clear the way for the president yesterday was what motivated them to come out to lafayette park today. they marched through the streets chanting for justice, for justice now. at one point they stopped, they knelt down, and very softly, they sang "amazing grace." we've also been watching franklin park in boston which is the site of a huge and peaceful protest that included a die in earlier today. that crowd in boston still marching through that city today. we're also watching atlanta tonight. in atlanta, six police officers have now been criminally charged after tazing and dragging a

couple of college student who is had done nothing wrong out of their car saturday night. the charges are criminal damage to property to aggravated assault. charges and arrest warrants for those six officers were announced today. we have eyes on seattle tonight, on chicago, on minneapolis where large crowds of protesters have been gathering throughout the day. and of course we are keeping an eye on new york city, america's largest city, as i mentioned under a curfew that was earlied up to 8:00 p.m. tonight after the protests last night gaveway from peaceful demonstrations of anger and solidarity to widespread chaos and looting in new york last night. police arrested more than 700 people in new york city last night. even still the police response was lamented as inappropriate

and ineffectual by new york's governor who mused aloud today about replacing new york city's mayor in order to have a more direct hand in how the protests would be policed in new york city. this is the nation's capital right now. d.c. crowd still in the streets tonight. after the president's threat last night to deploy the u.s. military against the protesters, against the american people. as we'll talk about a little bit later on, the ap is reported 700 members of the 87 airborne has arrived in virginia outside d.c. ap reporting another 1,400 soldiers are ready to be deployed within one hour's notice. the ap reporting that the soldiers are armed, have riot gear, and also bayonets. we'll have more on that in a moment. but all day long we have been

seeing snapshots and sort of disbelieving eyewitness reports of u.s. military vehicles in the streets of washington, d.c., including this convoy of military vehicles that stretched down 14th street in downtown washington today. and, you know, it has been a creepy evidence lust from this president since his first day in office that he wanted to see this. he wanted to see military hardaway, missile launchers, tanks, all rolled out and displayed for him. he literally wanted tanks and missile launchers for his inauguration. you may also remember that his inauguration was a disappointment for the president in lots of ways, not at least because he got an ill attended tractor parade and baton twirlers instead of the missile

launchers that he wanted ripping up d.c.'s streets to celebrate him. it took three plus years of him in office, but he finally got his military in the streets. one of the things that has been weighing extra heavily on the sort of death of the republic scale that we all keep handy these days is that no one will quite admit in the trump administration and even in the military as to what it is exactly they're doing with these threats to use the u.s. military against the american people. no one will quite admit to what exactly they're participating in and who exactly is making it happen and what exactly is being unif y unferled here. yesterday we had the first reports that the president had ordered the deployment of national guard against citizens. we got the reports of in the streets of d.c. of active duty

military police unit in north carolina. there were conflicting and confused reports last night as to whether the president was using the insurrection act of 1807 to deploy active duty troops in places other than d.c. even over the objections of the governors of those states. officials at the pentagon told nbc news they didn't know the insurrection act thing was happening or not. we're just making it up on the fly, i guess. as the president in the rose garden licked his lips last night and make that herky fast inhale sound that he does and then said, as we speak, i am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers -- after that pronouncement from him, not last night after he said those words and actually not all day today would the pentagon say how many of these supposed thousands and thousands of heavily armed u.s. soldiers were actually being, in the president's words,

dispatched on u.s. soil. and dispatching is not the right verb you should apply to soldier deoemployments here or abroad. but that's what he said. but the pentagon wouldn't elaborate, wouldn't explain, wouldn't say what was happening. it seemed like maybe they did not know. "the new york times" was still reporting into the early evening tonight that it wasn't clear whether it was only going to be military police battalions deployed or whether it would be other type of u.s. troops as well. it was not until tonight that the excellent defense reporter at the associated press broke the news in the national press that yeah, actually it's not just military police battalions. it's combat battalions. it's the 82 airborne. quote, on tuesday, today, roughly 700 members of the army's 82nd airborne division arrived near washington, d.c. another 1,400 soldiers were

ready to be mobilized within an hour. the soldiers are armed and have riot gear as well as bayonets. yes, bayonets. like think korean war, right? a bayonet is the dagger-like thing they can mount to the end of a rifle so they can stab people with it. the president has ordered troops with bayonets from the 82nd airborne to deploy in the united states against the american people. for context here, here's some training footage recently posted online from the 10th mountain division showing their rifle bayonet assault course. this is how soldiers in the current u.s. army are trained to use bayonets mounted on their rifles. why do they have them deploy with bayonets? i mean, the idea of the bayonet is to get in close and stab the enemy in case that's easier than shooting them from a foot away.

that's part of how president trump is equipping these soldiers he's deploying against the american population right now. he's also doing this. the associated press, again, also reporting tonight, quote, dateline washington, president donald trump ordered military aircraft to fly above the capital last night as a show of force against american demonstrators protesting the death of george floyd according to two officials. show of force missions are designed to intimidate and warn opposing forces of potential military action. here's how "the new york times" reported on this as well. quote, around 10:00 p.m. last night, the military stepped up its attempts to suppress the protesters. a crowd making its way through the chinatown area of washington had gone relatively unbothered by law enforcement having snaked across town, blocking roads and chanting "we can't breathe," "george floyd," and "hands up,

don't shoot." the group for the most part was peaceful. then a blackhawk helicopter followed by a smaller medical evacuation helicopter dropped to rooftop level with its search lights aimed at the crowd. tree limbs snapped, nearly hitting several people. signs were torn from the sides of buildings. some protesters looked up while others ran into doorways. the helicopters were performing a show of force, a tactic used by military aircraft in combat zones to scatter insurgents. again, the associated press reporting tonight that this specifically is what the president ordered u.s. military aircraft to do, this combat zone maneuver, against americans in the streets of an american city. the president and the defense secretary using the military this way and talking about america this way has led to

criticism from some esteemed military leaders like general tony thomas, the former head of special operations command and general martin dempsey, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. tonight joined that criticism and reasonable caused it a level saying i remain confident in the professionalism of our men and women in uniform. i am less confident in the soundness of the orders they will be given by this commander in chief. we must endeavor to see american cities and towns as our homes and neighborhoods. they are not battle spaces to be dominated and must never become so. that was from admiral mike mullin who served as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff from 2007 to 2011 spanning the george w. bush and barack obama presidencies. tonight a senior pentagon official, james miller, who is undersecretary of defense for policy also resigned from the

defense science board in protest of defense secretary mark esper accompanying president trump on his photo op last night, a photo op for which we now know attorney general william barr personally ordered a large crowd of peaceful protesters cleared out of the park across from the white house so the president could go pose for a photo. when the attorney general ordered those protesters, that charge was carried out on mounted police on horse back, volleys of tear gas, flash grenades, all so the president could pose for a photo op at st. john's episcopal church. that will turn out to be a signal thing in this moment in history. democratic presidential candidate joe biden for one turned it into a new center piece for his own campaign to make donald j. trump a one-term

president. >> we have to be vigilant about the violence that's being done by this incumbent president to our economy and to the pursuit of justice. when peaceful protesters dispersed in order for a president -- a president -- from the doorstep of the peoples' house, the white house, using tear gas and flash grenades, in order to stage a photo op, a photo op, on one of the most historic churches in the country or at least in washington, d.c. we can be forgiven for believing the president is more interested in power than in principle. the president held up the bible at st. john's church yesterday. i just wish he opened it once in a while instead of brandishing it. if he opened it, he could have learned something. we're all called to love one another as we love ourselves. it's really hard work. but it's the work of america.

donald trump isn't interesting in doing that work. instead he's sweeping away all the guardrails that protected our democracy. he might want to open the u.s. constitution once in a while. if he did, he would 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 position their government for a redress of grievances. that's kind of an essential notion in this country. mr. president, that's america. that's america. no horses rising up on their hind legs to push back peaceful protesters, not using the american military to move against the american people. >> joe biden speaking today in philadelphia. i think it will turn out to be important for history that the president has not acted alone

here in were turning the u.s. military against the american people. it'll turn out to be important that it was the attorney general who walked over to la fayette park to order the assault on the peaceful protesters there so the president could go do a photo op on the other side of the park. it will turn out to be important that the defense secretary, mark ses per, and even the current chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley, accompanied president trump in that photo op and that show of force against american citizens that it took to get there. it will be important for the history here that general millilater on that night in the streets of d.c. in camouflage fatigues to survey the situation like some kind of battlefield commanders after the president

told america general milley was in charge. he went out in combat fatigues and strutted around the city to be seen. but for the people whose church it was that this photo op was done in front of, what happened here will not just be important to history the way it will be to all of us. it will not just be important to the history of republic the way it will be particularly to those military leader. for the people whose church that is, what happened here is not just important for american history. it's important for their lives now because of what they've just been used for without their permission. the episcopal bishop of washington telling "the washington post" quote, i am outraged. i am the bishop of the episcopal diocese of washington and was not even given a courtesy call that they would be clearing the area with tear gas so they could use our church as a prop.

the director of the church saying he felt blindsided, quote, we want st. john's to be a space for peace, a place you can breathe. being used as a problep, it rea takes away from what we are trying to do. one seminarn and one priest cleared from the area outside st. john's as the president marched over wrote in a facebook post that she is, quote, now a force to be reckoned with. and then there was the presiding bishop of the entire episcopal church, michael curry, who even if you're not an episcopalian you will recognize from his presiding over the royal wedding in 2018 and the beautiful funeral service for former president george h.w. bush.

he is the head of the entire episcopal church. and after what happened with the tear gassing and the trampling of those protesters so the president could hold a photo op in front of an episcopal church, he has released this statement. quote, this evening the president of the united states stood in front of st. john's church, lifted a bible, and had pictures of himself. he used a church building and the holy bible for partisan political purposes. this was done in a time of deep hurt and pain in our country, and his action did nothing to help us or to heal us. joining us now i'm honored to say is bishop michael curry who was the presiding bishop of the episcopal church. it is an honor to have this time with you. thanks for making time, sir. >> thank you, rachel, thank you. >> let me just ask you to give us your own understanding of

what happened yesterday with st. john's and why you were moved to put out this sharply worded statement. >> well, you know, the president went over to st. john's church and took that picture holding a copy of the bible and did so without the courtesy of even letting her know and the director or pastor of the church. but even more important than that, he did that and took a picture. he didn't say a prayer. he didn't ask for god to bless and help the nation. he could have turned around, addressed the nation, and said you may agree or disagree with me, but tonight i want to ask all americans in your own way by your own fate to pray for the healing of our nation, pray that we may find solutions to our problems, pray that we may find a way to love each other. the president could have used

that in a positive, spiritual and moral way. instead it was used as a matter of partisan politics and a photo op. and that is just simply -- that's just simply wrong. >> bishop, excuse me for interrupts. bishop buddy has been upset about the use of the church, the same way you have been. and i heard her articulate it in a way that felt -- sort of took my breath away. she said that what she believed the president was doing -- i'm going to paraphrase her -- was to essentially clothe himself in the symbols of a faith, in the symbols of a religious tradition that were designed not to honor or make community with that faith or that religious tradition, but essentially to enhance his own authority, to build himself up to, essentially

assume the power and weight of those symbols for himself to try to aggrandize his own political power and standing. to hear it that way took my breath away. i want to posit that to you as to whether or not you think that's the way we ought to look at this. >> well, i'll tell you what. there's the outward form of religion but the inward reality of it that makes the difference. holding up the bible is one thing but actually opening it and reading the new testament and living by the taeching of jesus who said blessed are the peacemakers. you don't read blessed are the peacemakers and then have tear gas fired on peaceful protesters. the jesus who said do unto others as you would have them do unto you, you don't do that and not allow people to exercise their rights as citizens to protest peacefully and lawfully. the bible says jesus says clearly you should love your

neighbor as yourself. this is the supreme law of god to, love god and to love our neighbor. the supreme law of god. and to illustrate that, jesus told the parable of the good samaritan, that's what's inside the bible. that's the teachings of the christian tradition. that's what the church stands for. to stand in front of it and not represent those values, the values of love and justice and compassion and human decency is to violate a basic principle of the christian faith itself represented by that bible and represented by that church. and that's part of what the bishop of washington was getting at. i would submit, rachel, that we can do better than that. i would submit that it is time to move, for the president and for all of us to move to higher ground which is what the bible is about. there's a passage in a bible that says set me upon a rock that is higher than i.

we must go higher. we must claim the law and the way of love for each other, unselfish sacrificial love, as the way in which we will help to bind this nation together, redress our wrongs, establish justice, and make this a land where there is equality and justice and decency for every human child of god. >> bishop curry, let me just ask you one last thing while i have you here. we're watching live images of protests and sites of protests tonight. and it is amid this backdrop of the president threatening to and starting to use the u.s. military on domestic soil against the american people, threatening to do so, bragging about how well-armed they'll be. we've seen incredible violence. we've seen a lot of people hurt. we've seen people shot. we've seen people killed over these past eight days. to people that just feel afraid for where things are going right now, do you have a message for people in terms of people who

worry about the course of the country right now? >> to be sure, there is as the old slaves would say trouble in the land. there's no question about that. but there is, i believe, a fundamental moral order to the world in which we live that has been established by god when god saw everything he made and said it was good. that was a moral declaration. and i believe that in the end, if people of good will and human decency come together and say we're going to be a people of love, we're going to be a people of compassion, we're going to be a people worthy of the name american, and then we will be a shining city upon a hill. if we, the majority, sometimes the silent majority, will stand up, speak up, and join hands together across racial differences, religious, sexual orientation, all of our differences join hands as brothers and sisters and siblings and let us stand up and make this nation a loving,

descent, freedom-loving justice-reigning nation. make america that kind of nation, and then there will be peace in our streets. >> bishop michael curry, the presiding bishop of the episcopal church. it's an honor to have you tonight. thank you for taking the time tonight. thank you for being with us. i'm sorry for the way your church got dragged into this. thank you for your colleagues and the episcopal church for thanking so eloquently about it. >> thank you for all you do. god bless you. >> thank you, sir. much more to get to tonight. stay with us. -excuse me. uh... do you mind...being a mo-tour? -what could be better than being a mo-tour? the real question is... do you mind not being a mo-tour? -i do. for those who were born to ride, there's progressive.

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as we continue to watch protests unfolding live across the country tonight, an 8th straight day of protests in the aftermath in the police killing of george floyd in minneapolis on monday of last week on memorial day. large protests happening in dozens of american cities

simultaneously tonight. with that going on for an 8th straight day, you're looking at boston here, portland, oregon, also seattle and new york we had there. with those protests that we are keeping eyes on tonight with the ongoing massive viral pandemic as loose in the country which has already killed over 105,000 americans, hey, today was also election day. eight states and the district of columbia held primary elections today. it was also the deadline for ballots to be received in idaho's primary election which was conducted at mail. there isn't much suspense at the top of the ballot. where we have results for the presidential primaries, joe biden who is the only remaining active candidate, he is obviously winning. there's interesting down ballot races. voting itself is interesting and harrowing on a day like today. in person challenge was always

going to be a challenge because of the coronavirus which made it difficult for states and cities to find enough poll workers to open up polling places. this was voting today in philadelphia where there are usually 831 polling places open on election day across philly. usually 831. today there were less than 200. in al gainey county, pennsylvania, which is where put pit is, usually about 13. they consolidated today down to 147. poke county, iowa, home to des moines, the state's capital and largest city, usually have 135 polling places. today it was 28. voters in baltimore, maryland reported having to wait over two hours this afternoon. one affiliate posted this video of a line circling the block after poll closing at 6:00 p.m. local time tonight. the reporter says he's been with that station for over 40 years and he has never seen anything

like this. meanwhile, amid the ongoing protests and unrest across the country over the police killing of george floyd, voters in places like philly and washington, d.c., and several counties in iowa, they additionally face curfews going into effect just as polls close or in some cases just before polls close. i mean, four of the states voting today postponed their elections to today back in march because they hoped the coronavirus epidemic would be under control by now. not only is the epidemic not at all under control by now, these states now face the second simultaneous crisis with these protests and unrests and curfew in many american cities where you're heading to the polls and you're having to think how am i going to convince the cops that it's okay for me to be outside because i'm going to vote. how is this negotiation going to go? who do i talk to? is it worth it? should i vote? this all unfolded today even as

record number of voters did not go to polling places at all but instead were able to vote by mail. that's -- that caused its own problems with the surge in mail ballots causing processes delays that may end up disqualifying hundreds or even thousands of ballots in indiana, pennsylvania, and new mexico. thousands of ballots may not be counted if they're not returned by the deadline of noon on election day. the republican party says its considering suing to block an extension of the absentee ballot deadline in pennsylvania just like republicans have south to block expansions in other states. this is the republican party's overt strategy for november, blocking expanded absentee voting even if the reason is because of a fatal pandemic that's killed more than 100,000 americans that should, by rights, lead us to innovate in ways that have people safely and efficiently vote absentee and by

mail. however important any individual result is from any individual primary that's taking place tonight in all these varied places, it does sort of feel like a very dry run for the looming question of whether we're, you know, what kind of small d democracy we're going to have when this is all over. our democracy, including the basic infrastructure and logistics of voting has never been under this much pressure from this many simultaneous crises, all fanned and exacerbated by a president who appears to relish the state of crisis, who will clearly be all too map pi to pihappy to pile o crises in the months between now and the election. it feels crazy to be talking about primary results when we've got protests in the streets in dozens of american cities. we've got the president sicking the american military on the american public. we've got a coronavirus epidemic that is still the worst in the world with over 100,000

americans dead. but while all this is happening, we're all responsible for making sure that our fragile small deed democracy survives this incredibly dark moment. we're going to talk about that among other things with senator cory booker joins us live next. [anthony] hey mama, what's up? [mama] i'm confused. confused about what, everything ok? yeah, i only see one price on my phone bill. that doesn't sound confusing mama. you're on t-mobile, taxes and fees are included. oh come on, there's always extra fees!

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keep track of them. each one means one less person vulnerable, one less person exposed, and one step closer to a healthier community. so for now, keep your distance. but don't lose count. we'll have some catching up to do. >> i'm embarrassed i was two miles from that park and i did not get there to stand with those protesters. i tell you what, donald trump, every member of this coequal body should condemn what this president did, trampling upon the most sacred right of this nation, to assemble, to petition, to protest. what this president did was to make a mockery of our civil rights. i say ours. i was not there in that park, but every one of us should wish we were there. and i'm telling you right now if

donald trump wants to gas someone next time, start right here. if he wants to shoot somebody with our federal officials with rubber bullets, start right here. if he wants to trample them with horses while they peacefully assemble, come to this body because what he did to those americans in that square yesterday he did to all of us. shame on him! to stand and hold up the bible of our faith, of a man who understood humility, our savior who stood up against power misuse, who stood up against every -- every instinct he showed yesterday. today the least we can do as a

body is not to remain silent. that is shame, but to speak out against it. >> senator cory booker from the great state of new jersey speaking today in washington. joining us now is senator booker. i really appreciate you making the the time to be here tonight with everything going on. thanks for making the time to be here. >> thank you, rachel, always. >> let me ask you your perception of how things are in your home state of new jersey. we've seen some really interesting dynamics at work in your home city of newark where you were mayor and where you grew up. and i feel like new jersey has been hurting particularly because of coronavirus but also with these protests. it's been an interesting dynamic at work in your state. it's -- we're seeing the 1918 pandemic happen at the same time of the great depression which the unemployment combined with the unrest of the 1960s, and i think that what i've seen in newark and camden and cities

that have gotten a lot of attention because of the way that folks have pulled together, they felt a need to protest, but they've really tried to keep things and keep people, often outsiders from our community from coming in and resorting to tactics that we still have scars from the challenges of the past. so, i just love my community. i love the spirit they've evidenced. and i love the sort of relentless commitment to struggle and to protest and to push and to fight through hell and at the same time demand that we do better. >> tell me about the remarks that you made today and your feelings about the president's actions, both the decision that he has made to call in active duty u.s. troops to be used on u.s. soil against the american people and also the decision that was made apparently by attorney general bill barr

yesterday to clear protesters out of that park so the president could pose for photographs. >> i've tried my best the last week or two to not make it about him, to say publicly he doesn't have the power to break my heart and take the attention, to make him the focus of it, no, make it george floyd, make it these protesters who are pushing and demanding that our nation live up to values and ideals, to the millions of americans speaking out. but yesterday he pushed himself and made decisions that were such an immoral front. i was born in d.c. my parents came here after garage wauti graduating from historically black colleges. it was activists in the city that helped them get their first jobs. my mom helped to organize a march on washington, peaceful

demonstrations. to see what he did to people who have come to this city to protest their religious freedom, their second amendment rights, lgbtq rights, these are the forums we come together and peacefully protest. he has trampled upon those traditions. he has offended our ancestors. he has undermined the very sort of sacred values we hold. and for a guy in one breath to call protesters thugs and for him to do the thuggest most bulliest, most cowardice of things all for what? because he had an urgent place to be? to deal with a national security crisis? no, so he could awkwardly stand in front of hallowed ground of a church and hold up a bible for a photo op is insulting on so many levels when there are so many more issues that we should be talking about.

so, i took time today and did what i didn't want to do at a time that i want to be talking about police accountability, a time i want to be talking about violence against black bodies, at a time i want to be talking about the intimate connections between americans that demand our love because without that we will have violence, we will have hurt, we will all be damned if we can't manifest in our laws. instead of talking about those issues, he finds yet another way to push deeper into the muck and the despair and the gutter that he seems to want to drag the whole country down into. i just reject that and call on my colleagues with every ounce of my fiber of being to condemn the actions. let's at least come together and say what he did was wrong. >> because of the way the president does seem to sort of revel in this and because of the political common wisdom that

says that he may be able to do with this what nixon did in 1968 when he got elected in terms of turning scenes of despair and violence in the country to his political advantage, trying to make the country turn hardline and regressive, specifically because of fear and because of concerns about the kind of scenes that we've seen over these past eight days. i have to ask because you are such a sharp political mind, amid all the other things you are, senator, how you think this ends and whether or not your party, the democratic party, the presidential campaign of joe biden can turn this around so that this is an engine for progressive political change rather than the kind of regressiveness that i think the president is hoping for here. >> well, look, i want to say first of all i love joe and i'm going to do everything i can. but this is so much bigger than joe biden and it's so much bigger than donald trump.

and i don't think this is a referendum on him, on donald trump. i think this election is a referendum on us and who we are as a society. this is a moral moment. and there have been ones that have been -- and i get schooled by my elders all the time. there have been moral moments like this before where we face down people that wanted to do things so despicable. bull conner, george wallace. i could go through people that used eerily similar tactics that he used in a park yesterday to dispel protesters. so, we answer those moral momen moments. we rose to those challenges in our country. we haven't finished yet. the arc is fully completed. but we spring from -- my very existence in this body springs from our ancestors who met the darkness with their light, who met the most seemingly impossible odds with moral

imagination that was extraordinary and ignited the engagement of others. and so that's where we are. this is a referendum on us. will we surrender to him and his tactics? will we throw up our hands or buckle down and double down and bring the best of who we are, the powerful alchemy that turns concrete and stubborn unmovable challenges into progress for our nation? that's what we need, that kind of spiritual alchemy, that kind of creative love, that kind of unrementing action. i put my bet on the good people of this country over this president any day of the week. and what the people on the streets are trying to show is that always -- i don't care if they're dictators. i don't care if they're illegitimately elected individuals. i don't care if they were elected by a minority like he

was. they showtime and time again when you ignite other people to be activists, they will always show that the power of the people is greater than the person in power. >> senator than the people or i this case the person in power. >> senator cory booker of new jersey. senator, it's always good to talk to you, especially tonight. thank you for being here. >> thank you, rachel. thank you. >> all right. just a minute, we're going to get a live report from new york city where thousands of protesters are still in the street right now despite a curfew that started two hours ago. we all know what happened in new york last night after curfew. stay with us. we'll be back with a live report after this. amy mcgrath... and when i was in combat, leadership was on the frontlines... and today that's republican and democratic governors leading regardless of political party. but mitch mcconnell won't pass what he calls "blue state bailouts." he's political even when people are dying and millions have lost their jobs.

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the manhattan side and not let progress te ing protesters through. chris jansing is there. what can you tell us about what's happening? >> reporter: it's been a pretty intense situation. take a look, rachel. you have scores of police officers who, on this the manhattan side of the bridge down by china town. but thousands of protesters we were told rinl originally, a significant number there holding signs, alternately chanting. the police are just holding their line. i talked to a commanding officer here. he said to me, look, it's past curfew. no one is allowed into manhattan unless it's an emergency situation. that goes for any of the bridges here. and we are just keeping law and order. but i talked earlier to some protesters who were marching and breaking the curfew. and i asked them why they were

doing it. they said this is a sign to police that we are taking back our streets. but you can see over here, they have extra police that were brought in. there was a little bit of intensity when some of the protesters saw more police moved in. and we also had groups of people, this is the power of social media. you see groups of people that heard what was going on and have come down here. so right now, it just remains a standoff, as we know and saw at least one large group of protesters still marching. police were right behind them. but they're trying to avoid any kind of confrontation, but also wanting to send a message, there's a curfew, and we intend to enforce it. rachel? >> nbc's chris jansing in lower manhattan. thank you. we'll be coming back to you as that standoff rolls on into the night. again, hababout a half hour wit that standoff on the manhattan

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continuing to keep our eyes on multiple protests around the country, an eighth straight day of national protests after the death of journgeorge floyd in p custody in minneapolis. this is boston and portland and seattle and los angeles. new york city has been under curfew for two hours but still thousands in the streets. now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening, lawrence. >> evening, rachel. we'll have susan rice join our discussion tonight. we'll talk to her about what seems, i have to say seems like