and pick up without contact. good evening from new york. i'm chris hayes. it is midnight here on the east coast. we are covering the eighth night of protests following the police killing of george floyd. there are curfews in place in at least 28 major cities across the country. we've been monitoring protests for the past few hours.

they seem to have largely taken on a peaceful tenor this evening. thousands of protesters in the cities from minneapolis to washington, d.c., from new york city to los angeles. we will continue to bring you updates on what we are seeing in those protests. msnbc correspondent gadi schwartz is in los angeles where he's been following protests for the last few days. gadi, what's it like there. >> reporter: chris, we're starting to see a significant amount of arrests being made. it's hard to make out here, but this is the back end of a protest group that was split off from a larger group. they've got about 30, 40 people. in fact, we can't go any further over here. hey, is it okay if we just post up right here? can we just post up right here? >> that's fine. >> reporter: okay. so we're up a little bit on a stoop, and you can see what looks like this entire block of cars, the ones that are in the road. they were filled with people. all those people have been taken out. they were put on the ground, and now we've seen some of them being handcuffed, zip-tied, and

then taken over to the side. police basically blocked this area off. we don't know exactly what they're being charged with at this point. it is two hours past curfew. but what we do know is that this was the backside of a rather peaceful protest. we haven't seen any looting tonight. we haven't seen a lot of the same things that we saw earlier in the week. many of the people that were protesting tonight that we talked to say this was all about black lives matter, and this was all about solidarity for what's going on with the rest of the country. and there have been some moments of peace today even though we saw some of the crowds, the biggest crowds that we've seen so far, between protesters and authorities in particular, where we saw this really telling moment between a company from the national guard and some protesters down on vine and sunset. and they were going back and forth, back and forth for quite

some time. the protesters expressing their concern, wanting the national guard to actually march with them down a block. the national guard said we cannot march with you all the way down, but we will gladly march with you from this street to this street, which was the block that they were protecting. they said that that wasn't enough. the protesters said that they wanted to see them take a knee. everybody took a knee. the entire company that was present there took a knee at that point, and then we still heard from some protesters who said this isn't enough, that the soldiers there are there to protect them, to protect their rights, and they wanted to see them join the revolution. they wanted to see them march with them and make sure that they were being protected as opposed to possibly defending against them if things went sideways again. the protesters say everything has been extremely peaceful when it comes to marching through the streets. something that we saw a little bit earlier, but the tenor has definitely changed from earlier

in the week thankfully so far. again, we haven't seen any looting today. we have seen looting in the past. but there are a massive amount of arrests going on right now, probably 30 to 50. we can't really see around the corner this. is just a small segment of that protest group. we can hear a helicopter overhead that appears to be tracking possibly another group just a few blocks away. so that's the situation right now in los angeles. chris. >> gadi schwartz got some great footage of keke palmer, the fantastic actress, who is in that crowd talking to the national guard. gadi, thank you so much. stay safe. joining me now is msnbc correspondent alison barber live in washington, d.c. their curfew has been in effect since 7:00 p.m. earlier today we saw military vehicles rolling through the streets. we have seen different members of the u.s. armed forces deployed around the city. what is the scene like now in front of the white house in lafayette park like there now,

alison. >> reporter: hey, chris, we still hear those helicopters flying overhead. one of them is starting to circle back over us again now. as you said, there are a number of different agencies, uniformed military officials on the ground. so far tonight, though, we have not seen any arrests. we have seen dea agents, military police, atf, fbi as well as d.c. police. the protesters here, though, they are peaceful. some of them were just singing happy birthday earlier. they are frustrated. they still have a message that they want people to hear, but we have not seen them do anything other than peacefully protest here tonight. if you walk a little with me this way, you can see some of the line of heavily armed police in riot gear, military police just over here on the other side of the fence. they've backed up a lot further now, but they have been out here for hours. again, the protesters on this side, they are peaceful. they are speaking out, and they have stayed on this side of the fence. about an hour ago we did see this fence, some protesters started to shake it.

those military police, they started to move forward with their shields up. the question some protesters yelled at them and asked was, why do you have your shields? all we have are posters. again, people here are peaceful. they want their voices heard. they don't feel like everyone is listening right now. they say they'll stay out here as long as the people on the other side of the fence stay out. right now it seems like neither side has any plans to go home tonight. >> i have seen that dynamic before. i hope everyone stays safe there, including you, ellison. thank you very much. i appreciate that. we also have brand-new exclusive reporting from nbc news tonight about the president's photo op in that very same area right where ellison barber was speaking to us. defense secretary mark esper is december ta distancing himself from the president's church stunt on monday when the president ordered peaceful protesters be cleared from the park so he could have a photo op. esper told nbc news, i thought i was going to do two things, to see some damage and talk to the

troops. esper said he believed they were going to observe the vandalized bathroom in lafayette scare which was near the church. i didn't know where i was going, esper said. i have to say in the history of official excuses, i thought we were going to look the at the vandalized bathroom is up there. tonight we have new reporting steps esper's department is taking to -- "the daily beast" reports it was the white house, not the defense department, that was pushing for active military might in the streets. a senior dod official said it was the white house that requested military helicopters fly low over protesters in d.c. it was part of a broader request from the trump team the national guard ramp up its presence in the city. meanwhile, there's still debate within the white house about whose idea the stunt was anyway. "the new york times" reporting just an hour or so ago several administration officials said it was president trump's own idea. two officials said chief of staff mark meadows credited ivanka trump during a senior staff meeting on tuesday. joining me now, the co-author of

that new piece i just mentioned entitled "uncomfortable mission." erin, let me start to me with what is the subtext here or maybe even the text, which is numerous people in the department of defense, the pentagon, wanting to say this was not our idea. >> that's right. obviously some incredible reporting coming out of nbc news tonight. esper saying on the record, you know, i was not prepared to go to lafayette park and have what happened happen. we learned from senior pentagon officials tonight that that sort of has circled down to a lower level within the defense department where senior officials who work with the secretary directly also said to us that they were unaware that the president was going to be making these remarks last night. you remember that esper took part in a call yesterday with the president, with governors from across the nation, and told governors on the line that he expected states to ramp up their military presence in the

streets. he sort of echoed trump's concerns about that as well as attorney general bill barr. but senior dod officials told us they just viewed esper's comments on that call as a general support -- public support for the president. they didn't actually think that the defense department would carry out any plans that would support trump's rhetoric. they did clarify with us that no states countrywide had asked for me military assistance from the defense department, which is how it normally goes. states, if they want to, can ask the defense department for that assistance. but they have yet to do that. and so what we see now is the defense department taking a lot of steps today with the press to try to untangle themselves from this situation. it's quite remarkable. >> there's some news tonight i think the national guard or the d.c. announcing they're going to do an investigation into who ordered that helicopter. the lakota helicopter usually a

medical helicopter, to fly over in a, quote, show of force over protesters last night who were just on the street. so low it was snapping tree branches. it seems there's still some more questions to be answered about what the chain of command was there and who ordered what. >> that's right. it's our understanding from our sources within the pentagon that that request came directly from the white house. it was part of a broader conversation between the white house and the district of columbia and the defense department about what the administration could do to sort of beef up presence on the street, not only when trump was speaking in front of the church in lafayette park but throughout the night. and so we were told that that was a direct request from the white house that that helicopter fly very low over the protesters, which ended up sort of snapping a few tree branches there and scaring off quite a number of peaceful protesters. >> final question for you as

we're watching images assembling here in washington, d.c., people in lafayette square park milling about, about five hours after curfew. the scene seems energetic but not in a state of unrest at this moment. what is the -- is there a sense from your sources and your reporting that people understand that what happened last night was not right? i mean that this was a mistake, that this was a violation in some deep sense. >> i think there is that understanding, and here's why. we've talked to a couple of people today within the administration, senior administration officials, who did confirm with us that there are military personnel sort of stationed outside the district of columbia in the region. the a.p. was the first to report this, that are sort of on standby, ready to deploy into the district if that call is made. but all of the senior officials

we spoke to within the administration say they do not expect that to happen. that sort of comes on the heels of the administration, especially those in the pentagon, understanding that what happened yesterday was, if anything, a p.r. disaster, right? and i think there's a real concerted effort right now inside the pentagon and in the halls of the white house to correct course and to not escalate the situation. and so we'll have to wait and see how things pan out here in the next couple of hours, but things, as you know, chris, things change hour to hour, day to day. and tomorrow is a new day in d.c., so we'll have to see what comes. >> erin banco of the daily beast, great reporting. what we're looking at there, that's live images i believe of los angeles. that's a chopper shot of folks on the roof. a lot of people have been gathering on the roof to watch protests go by. that appears to be police officers apprehending someone on that roof.

we had gadi schwartz in the streets of los angeles and i don't know if that's nearby there, just a short time ago when he was saying there was a number of arrests being made, but the crowd was peaceful. you can see someone being lead off there in cuffs or ties. i want to bring in congresswoman barbara lie. she's introducing legislation to create a racial healing commission to confront the legacy of slavery and racism in the u.s. before i talk about that, want to get your reaction to the protests, what's been happening in california specifically in your district. >> well, first of all, chris, thank you for giving me a chance to be with you tonight. but i have to say that this president -- and we see this very clearly -- that he is trying to militarize the police operations that are required in terms of our domestic public safety. this is a threat to our democracy, and so this is what dictators do, chris. they use the military to quell disturbances. peaceful protests are part of

who we are. i come from the bay area, from oakland, and we pride ourselves on protesting for peace and for justice. and i am proud of people throughout the country not only saying that we're going to not allow any more police murders, and we're going to make sure that we -- as the reverend barber says, the head of the poor people's campaign, make sure that we bring forth a new order, have a new nation be born through this. and, in fact, we're not going to back. so we can't allow this president to stop it. and my district has been working very hard to make sure that their voices are heard. we had thousands of young people out last night, and we're going to continue to protest, and i'm going to encourage young people to get out there, maintaining social distancing, physical distancing, wearing masks because we have to remember we're in the midst of a covid-19 pandemic. but we can't allow this

president to subvert our democracy and our democratic rights. >> let me follow up on that. are you concerned about that? i mean california has seen -- took very early action particularly in the bay area. it never experienced a spike like what we've seen in, say, new york city or even in michigan or louisiana. but it has been at a kind of steady plateau. do you have concerns about, as you look at this, the amount of people near each other, the amount of police officers near each other, the amount of police up close to protesters that were watching a possible accelerant to the pandemic? >> i have a lot of concerns, chris. we have to remember that, yes, we want to protest. we want to hit the streets. we must do that. but we must recognize that we're in the midst of a pandemic and our health directives are still prominent in how we move around. and so i'm very concerned, and i'm urging people to remember we're in the midst of a covid-19 pandemic. and, chris, let me just say it is hitting african-american,

black and brown communities the hardest. and so we have now a pandemic upon a pandemic with the social justice, the police murders, and all of the issues now that are coming to a head. people are beginning to understand what systemic racism really is, and that is manifested not only in the disproportionate rates of death in black and brown communities but also in police murders and poverty rates, and i think it's 54% of african-americans don't make a living wage. i mean, you know, so racism is systemic, and we've got to address it, and i'm very proud of everybody who is protesting and saying, yes, we have to deal with police misconduct and brutality, but we also have to deal with systemic racism. also, chris, can i mention one thing? oh, i'm sorry. excuse me. >> please. >> i just want to mention the congressional black caucus because many members -- all members of the black caucus came to congress to fight for the end

of systemic racism, the end of inequality, and the end of discrimination. and so what we're doing now, many, many bills that the congressional black caucus has, we're going to put forth once again in a package to make sure that the issues now that are surfacing once again are addressed with the kind of democratic movement that it takes to get these bills passed. >> final question and a follow-up on that. we introduced you, we talked about the idea of some kind of reconciliation commission earlier in the evening. i talked to the great brian stephenson who talked about the need for some sort of official sort of truth and reconciliation commission, something of that nature. is that your idea for what the u.s. needs, and concretely what do you think that provides? >> absolutely, chris. on thursday i'm introducing a bill, the truth racial healing transformation commission. many countries around the world, rwanda, for example, after the horrific genocide, did this. we have our own unique framework

in which we're doing it. but we've got to really help people understand the relationship between slavery, lynchings, segregation, jim crow, and police murders and disproportionate rates of covid-19. many, many people don't know this history, so we have to put this in context. so my legislation would establish a commission to tell the truth. it's truth-telling time. we have to really bring to the public the issues around genocide, the middle passage, slavery, chinese exexclusion act, the japanese internment, all those terrible things that were instituted in the policies of this government which now we see play out. and i'm so happy that young people understand it. they get it. they understand what racism is. so we have to do this at a national level so that we can move forward and really transform this country because no longer can we play around with just moderate, incremental

reforms. we have to deal with systemic change and policy changes that's going to help us create a new order, not go back to the old order. and so this commission hopefully will begin that process so that we can move forward. and that doesn't mean we're not going to continue to support reparations and all of the criminal justice bills that the congressional black caucus has moved forward in. so we have a lot of work to do, but we have to get started on this process to help educate people as to why and what they're seeing and why our young people get it and move forward in this country. >> all right. congresswoman barbara lee in the bay area. thank you for making some time with us tonight. >> nice being with you. thank you for doing what you're doing, chris, because we need your voice and your perspective and making sure that the peaceful protesters are lifted up because that's what it's about. and we're not going to let those other folks destroy the message and the movement. >> all right. thank you, congresswoman. stay with us.

we have much more coverage of the eighth straight night of protests around the country. we'll be right back. what is leadership? and where are we seeing it today? i'm 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. i approved this message because i need your help to defeat mitch mcconnell. it's time for him to go. stimulant laxatives forcefully stimulate i switched to miralax for my constipation. the nerves in your colon. miralax works with the water in your body to unblock your system naturally. and it doesn't cause bloating, cramping, gas, or sudden urgency. miralax. look for the pink cap. around here, nobody ever does it. i didn't do it.

so when i heard they added ultra oxi to the cleaning power of tide, it was just what we needed. dad? i didn't do it. #1 stain and odor fighter, #1 trusted. it's got to be tide. wayfair has way more ways to renovate your home, from inspiration to installation. like way more vanities perfect for you. nice. way more unique fixtures and tiles. pairing. ♪ nice. way more top brands in sinks and faucets. way more ways to rule your renovation. nice! on any budget, with free shipping. wayfair. way more than furniture. 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 as well as remote purchasing.

for a little help, on and off the road. now when you buy or lease a new lincoln, we'll make up to 3 payments on your behalf. i discovered my great aunt ruth signed up as a nursing cadet for world war ii. she was only 17. find an honor your ancestors who served in world war ii. their stories live on at ancestry. 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)

we return now to new york city where there has been a curfew in place starting at 8:00 p.m. tonight. ali velshi is live in new york city down near union square. ali, there has been some looting in manhattan, particularly

midtown last night, quite a bit of it. some complaints about police officers sort of standing by while it was happening, at least in the beginning. there were protesters that appeared to shall trappbe trapp manhattan bridge for a while. >> reporter: they were not able to get into manhattan. there were a few thousand of them and they dispersed back across the bridge. i moved over to st. mark's square. there are no protesters left in the street although i happened upon these two who have been protesting for several hours today. what happened when the curfew came? >> when the curfew came, we were all just having fun. we were listening to music. we were jumping around, protesting. people were doing speeches. people were talking about their poems on the -- >> we were all advised to stay together because if we were to separate, that would be easier for them all to get us. i don't know when it took such a turn, but it all started off so peaceful. everything was great.

we were chanting, hands up, don't shoot. we kept repeating peaceful protests as we noticed people were trying to loot certain stores. b this movement is more than this. like this is not us. this behind us is literally not us. we are just telling people to like hear us out. listen to us. this can't keep going on. >> what happened tonight when they went to break up the protest? >> so a couple of us got left behind because people were walking pretty fast, and we were all just walking, doing nothing. and then i looked behind, and i see like 30 cops with their batons already in their hands running at us. and our friend got hit, and she has asthma. so she was trying to take a break too because she couldn't like really breathe. >> one point, when i turned around, i could see that the officer was beating her with the baton also had her by her hair. and i'm going to be honest. if it wasn't for a white woman that stepped in, i do not know what would have happened to my friend because she couldn't keep going because she was having an

asthma attack. and we turned around, and the officer was beating on her in her back with the baton and holding on to her hair. the white woman came and pushed the officer out of the way and made sure we got out of there okay. >> there was one other man who was walking with us, peaceful. six cops took him to the ground, pinned him. he was screaming and screaming, just help, help, help. and we tried to go back, and then more cops just like surrounded his, like, body and started moving towards us. >> you said when does this stop. for people like you who are out here protesting, what does success look like? what do you want to happen? >> the whole point -- the black lives matter mofnlt is just to get everybody to listen to us. nobody is listening. people are focusing on things like this. that's not the main point. the problem is them. the problem is really them. we've been out here for hours. we've been out here since, what, 1:00 p.m. not once did any protester

like -- there was no violence. there was nothing wrong all day. it wasn't until -- >> the only violence we saw was one white person spray painting and all our group was like, you cannot do that. you cannot do that. >> like we all hold each other accountable to make sure we're focusing on the bigger issue, which is racial inequality in this country. like this is not okay. the blood of black men and women fill the streets. i'm out here fighting for my future kids because i want to make sure they're not out here going through this shit. i'm sorry but -- >> practical question for you. we're well beyond curfew and you're still out on the streets. >> why? >> what are you going to do? are you worried about getting arrested? >> honestly, after what i saw today, i just realized there's no good cops. >> mm-hmm. >> we were so peaceful. >> and at this point it's like this is -- personally, this is what i signed up for. i already knew what i was getting myself into today. i was prepared to go. i remember a young black queen

said this earlier this week. if i'm going to die about my skin, i'm going to die about my skin. i'm here to speak my voice. i don't care anymore at this point. if i've got to be taken away in cuffs, i'll be taken away in cuffs. i will put my life on the line for not only just myself but other people that look like me because this is not okay, and this can't keep happening. >> you two stay safe. try and get home. that's the situation in st. mark's square. we do have this vandalism over here. you do have police gathered. there's a whole lot of police on bicycles and you see that corrections bus that was called in. the corrections are here when they make arrests. we did see a number of arrests this evening and we certainly heard of many, many more. for the moment, there does not seem to be much protest activity left in new york city. the curfew does seem to be in effect. it took them a little while after 8:00 to get it that way, but it is now quiet in the streets of new york city. chris. >> ali velshi, you've been doing

amazing work all throughout this last week. >> thank you, sir. >> thank you for that. that was really wonderful to hear those folks and hear what they had to say. i appreciate it. >> reporter: thanks, chris. >> joining me now is eric adams. he's the brooklyn borough president. he previously served as a captain in the new york police department. borough president, you and i have spoken before. i don't know if you were able to hear what those two people had to say about the yiepd and the tactics they used tonight. we've seen examples of new york city police officers appearing to instigate, to escalate, to use batons and things like that. do you think that the nypd has done a good job over these nights of protest? >> first, i want to really commend those two young people that were speaking and the energy and spirit that they're showing. this is really what it's about, and it's really full circle for me, a person who has been

arrested by police, beat bad by police, and then went into the police department because civil rights activists asked me to do so and fought from within for 22 years. she was clearly trying to distinguish herself from those who tried to hijack her and the movement of others by being violent. this is a peaceful, righteous call for police abuse and misconduct. and i think that when you look at the actions of some of the video that i saw police officers carrying out, it really hurts the attempt that these young people are trying to make. and i think her concerns are valid, and we need to continue to listen to them. and there are ways to ensure their safety without having violence towards them. and that is what she was saying. she stated that she want her police agencies to support her as she really recognized the right to protest and the right

to add her voice, and that's so important. s. >> there was some very harsh criticism from the governor towards the mayor early today. i want to play you what governor cuomo had to say about the mayor's response. take a listen to what he had to say. >> the nypd and the mayor did not do their job last night. i believe that. i believe the mayor underestimates the scope of the problem. i think he underestimates the duration of the problem. and i don't think they've used enough police to address the situation because it's inarguable but that it was not addressed last night, right? so facts. >> i should say that gubernatorial criticism is not towards police instigating

violence against protesters, rather towards some of the scenes of mayhem, destruction, some of the looting we saw in manhattan particularly. do you agree with the governor's assessment? >> well, first of all, i'm in the streets now, and that's why -- excuse my video, it's so terrible. but i'm in the streets now, driving around the city, and really monitoring what is happening and really speaking to young people and interacting. i think the time right now is nor the governor and the mayor as the two executives of the city to come together and come up with a united voice and give support where support is needed. this is a very challenging time particularly not because of the protests. we've had protests before in our city. the problem is we have a very sophisticated, organized element that has come into the city with only one intention, and that is to burn down our city, and they are attempting to hijack this rieghteous move by these young

people. and now as you heard the young lady state, many of the nonviolent protesters are now telling these provocateurs that they are not going to get in the way of their protests. and so if we spend our time going through the dialogue between the governor and the mayor, it's going to lose focus. the focus is black and brown people should not be murdered by police, and we want to focus on that. and i'm not going to get into the dialogue of the two chief executives but to call them to come together and get this issue resolved. >> final question for you, borough president. you said you're driving around brooklyn right now. i'm curious what you're seeing in the borough. i know there have been protests. there was a massive crowd at barclays earlier that was there past the curfew. even local members of city council tweeting out from the crowd. what your assessment of things are right now. >> well, it's far more peaceful than what i have witnessed throughout the last few days.

i was out here since friday at the barclays center, saturday. sunday was really troubling, many fires, a lot of looting that was taking place. and yesterday was extremely challenging. and i'm encouraging parents, join your children. this is a teaching moment but also you should know where your children are. those who are breaking into stores or doing things that really takes away from this movement, you should know that. you should not find out later that your child was inside a shop somewhere. be a part of this movement. our children need us, and we can be supportive as possible. i marched with my son, and i was able to assure his safety and at the same time i was able to give him the support that he needs. so let's not sit home. we should be a part of this, and we need to comply with whatever laws and rules because they're put in place to ensure the safety of our young people as they voice their concerns. >> all right. brooklyn borough president eric

adams. thank you so much for making time tonight. >> thank you. >> while we continue to monitor protests around the country, it is also election night in america, and we have some remarkable breaking news out of ferguson, missouri, and in the primary election of congressman steve king. i'll bring you those stories right after this. into a smaller life? are your asthma treatments just not enough? then see what could open up for you with fasenra. it is not a steroid or inhaler. it is not a rescue medicine or for other eosinophilic conditions. it's an add-on injection for people 12 and up with asthma driven by eosinophils. nearly 7 out of 10 adults with asthma may have elevated eosinophils. fasenra is designed to target and remove eosinophils, a key cause of asthma. it helps to prevent asthma attacks, improve breathing, and can reduce the need for oral steroids like prednisone. fasenra may cause allergic reactions.

get help right away if you have swelling of your face, mouth, and tongue, or trouble breathing. don't stop your asthma treatments unless your doctor tells you to. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection, or your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. could you be living a bigger life? ask an asthma specialist about fasenra. theand we want to thank times, the extraordinary people in the healthcare community, working to care for all of us. at novartis, we promise to do our part. as always, we're doing everything we can to help keep cosentyx accessible and affordable. if you have any questions at all, call us, email us, visit us online. we're here to help support you when you need us. take care, and be well. to learn more, call one eight four four cosentyx or visit cosentyx.com

did you know prilosec otc can stobefore it begins?urn heartburn happens when stomach acid refluxes into the esophagus. prilosec otc uses a unique delayed-release formula

that helps it pass through the tough stomach acid. it then works to turn down acid production, blocking heartburn at the source. with just one pill a day, you get 24-hour heartburn protection. prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. in an unprecedented crisis... a more than $10 billion cut to public education couldn't be worse for our schools and kids. laying off 57,000 educators, making class sizes bigger? c'mon. schools must reopen safely with resources for protective equipment, sanitizing classrooms, and ensuring social distancing. tell lawmakers and governor newsom don't cut our students' future. pass a state budget that protects our public schools.

this, all of this, this moment we find our siflz in, the coronavirus pandemic, which again has not gone anywhere, the nationwide unrest, it is also election day today in nine states and washington, d.c. while some voters cast their ballots by mail, others physically went to the polls in the middle of all this. perhaps the biggest election news tonight is that congressman steve king, republican of iowa, who has served in congress for 17 years and was censured for making racist statements just last year, will no longer be a member of the house. congressman king lost his

primary tonight to iowa state senator randy feenstra. feenstra challenged him some ways from the right. we'll talk about that in a second. i'm joined by gjelani cobb. steve king losing his primary tonight, as i said, his challenger ran it against him for being ineffective in getting his wall built. all of that said, king was a somewhat singular figure in that republican caucus, and he loses tonight in the midst of this sort of national uprising over racial justice. >> sure. but it's also a little bit strange because, you know, steve king has been -- we know what steve king has been for years in terms of the commentary, just a list of inflammatory things he's said and things he believes and kind of an ideological white supremist. and so we have things that we

see within the republican party, which is a tolerance and embrace of racism, which has been, you know, obvious and apparent in their politics for a long time. but the ideological kind of explicit white civilization is the hallmark of humanity kind of white supremist ideas, you didn't hear a whole ton of that rhetoric. and steve king was the go-to guy for that. but the odd thing about it is that king's fortunes have gone in the other direction of donald trump, who really represents the kind of zenith, you know, for that kind of thinking. >> yes. >> and so it's odd, you know. it's very much in the category of mixed messages here. >> yeah, and it's a deeper truth that many people see donald trump and think they can do what he does and not suffer consequences, and others have suffered consequences or at least there's been political recrimination in the way there has not been for the president

as of yet, although there is, you know, in your latest piece, you write about trump's failure to see this coming and the ingredients of this particular moment in the ways that he sort of helped mix them together. what do you think this moment means for the nation's politics? >> well, i mean, for one thing -- and this is not even just about politics. this is about governance. you know, one of the things that has been a hallmark of this administration is not only his belligerence and his ignorance, but his total incompetence. >> yeah. >> so i have a line in there where i say that they govern like a building contractor that can't recognize a load-bearing wall. there are things that you do when you want to move the country in a different direction, but it wouldn't seem like, you know, kicking down things that are holding really important structures in place would be part of it. but that's exactly what they've done in terms of defunding the

pandemic preparedness initiatives that barack obama put in place, and similarly the move away from any form of real significant oversight of problematic police departments, which came directly out of ferguson. and so it's almost like a science experiment where you put a pot of water on the stove and turn it on, and it starts to boil, and then you remove it from the stove and go, oh, well, it's cooling off. i wonder what will happen if i put it back on the stove. and so that's part of a -- a significant park of how we got here. >> you just mentioned ferguson. there's electoral news tonight, which is that ferguson has elected its first black mayor ever tonight, it appears. her name is ella jones. she becomes the first african-american woman to be the mayor of that town, a town that was majority african-american for years and had essentially,

when we were back there in 2014, an all-white power structure more or less in terms of the city council and the mayor himself and the police force. it's an interesting thing to happen on this night as people are in the streets and there's a question about what progress looks like and how the problems get solved. >> sure. and, you know, you and i have been in ferguson together, you know, in those really fraught, hectic, crazy nights, you know, broadcasting and reporting on what was going on out there. and there was a hope that people were saying that if there could be some sort of push for organization, people could gain more political power within the local system there and maybe change the way things are, and hopefully this is a sign that that was able to happen. you know, i will say that, you know, ferguson was a community that was disempowered for some reasons that are not all that uncommon. there are lots of majority black

communities that don't have equal or even kind of representative representation in their political structures, and so maybe ferguson, in the kind of best silver lining kind of scenario, maybe ferguson is a blueprint for how those communities can operate as well. >> i want to ask you a question i've been asking a number of people as someone who is a historian by trade if i'm not mistaken and written about history a lot, about the sort of nature of this moment in terms of what we're seeing in terms of public opinion and the politics of the country. a fear by some people that these kind of images of both peaceful protests and unrest and buildings being set on fire, looting, occasionally the assaults against police officers, those images would add up to a kind of backlash politics that would empower some of the worst -- i've heard it

expressed less as the president has done such a horrible job managing this, just like he did a horrible job managing the pandemic. but i'm curious what your thoughts are about this fraught political moment. >> sure. i mean i think 1968 is on, you know, everyone's minds. they think that there may be this concern that people will, you know, bolt to the right, you know, like they did then. and, you know, one of the things that people always go back to is the 1968 democratic convention. and the really kind of gift of an argument that was given to the republicans that if the democrats couldn't even run their convention, how could they run, you know, the country? the problem is that the person running the country right now is donald trump. and so we've seen -- >> right. >> -- a complete fiasco of a pandemic and a just cratering, hollowing out of the economy, and those are things that he owns.

it will be very hard to somehow say that the democrats are responsible for these things that have put the country into this tailspin in the first place. and, you know, beyond this, he has staunchly advocated for the kind of aggressive bend or break the rules policing that has been at the heart of this third crisis that we're in the midst of. so i don't know. i don't think that -- i think you split the difference here somewhere. some people will look at what's happening in the streets and get concerned about it and say we need to vote for the party of security. and then other people are going to say, look, how did we get into this mess in the first place, and that's not good for him. >> i think you're right. i think right now all the data we have at least in this early going suggests that that second half is a larger share. jelani cobb, thank you so much for making time tonight. >> thank you. when we come back, we'll check back in on the protests happening around the country. stick around. when you shop for your home at wayfair

you get way more than free shipping. you get thousands of items you need to your door fast the way it works best for you. even the big stuff. you get a delivery experience you can always count on. you get your perfect find at a price to match on your schedule. you get free two day shipping on things that make your home feel like you! wayfair. way more than furniture.

all right. we are back. at this hour, it is many, many hours past the official curfew in washington, d.c. of course you also have a scene yesterday in lafayette park right outside the white house. let's just see. we have a shot there right now. this is the enormous sort of barrier fence that's been erected on the other side of the park to keep protesters outside of the park, away from the white house. a hundred yards back from there is the national guard. you can see them there lined up in their riot shields. some moments ago, there was people shaking the fence, yelling through the fence. it appears some tear gas was fired by the protesters. people have all regrouped now, and you see a line of people still there, still with their hands up against the fence, inveighing against those folks there. it is obviously quite thinned out from the crowds we saw earlier today. a lot of people milling about. we're going to keep our eyes on that. people all have their masks up. it is noisy, and it is somewhat

tense from the reports that we've been getting. i want to go now to jo ling kent, who is live in seattle. we'll keep our eye on that. jo ling, things last night were pretty intense. police using tear gas to disperse crowds. what is the scene there like right now? >> reporter: hey, chris. we're here in the capitol hill neighborhood where things did get pretty hairy last night. what we see behind us is a crowd that is actually shrinking a little bit here. it's been relatively calm. you can hear the drumbeat of the music, the chanting in support of black lives matter and george floyd. it's the fifth day, i believe, of protests here in seattle. and beyond at the very front of the group of protesters there, you can see beyond the signs, there's a bunch of umbrellas. there's more umbrellas tonight than there were last night. it's a tactic being used by protesters to protect themselves against pepper spray, against tear gas. but this is coming as we've heard more from individual

protesters. i've been talking to organizers today, and they all gathered to hear from the mayor of seattle. the mayor of seattle coming before hundreds, thousands of protesters just about a mile and a half in another direction here, chris. and she came forward and said she wants to hear directly from protesters starting right now. there will be a conversation that will be started tomorrow afternoon here in seattle. however, that invitation to have a conversation has been met with a great deal of skepticism. i was just talking to a demonstrator here sitting on the curb holding her black lives matter sign, and she said that is an empty promise because of the record here in seattle of police brutality and inequality and a lack of social justice through her eyes. so there is hope from the protesters generally a pretty passionate but peaceful crowd right now. but as there are more promises made here in seattle, the question is will those actually

be delivered into any sort of real action, chris. >> all right. jo ling kent there in seattle. thank you so much. right now i want to bring in christina grier, political science professor and paul butler, form federal prosecutor. christina, let me start with you on this. it's interesting, jenny durkan is the mayor of seattle, done a very good job of managing the pandemic there in that city. the question of what the protesters want, what success would look like, particularly when you're talking about police departments in cities like minneapolis, seattle, boston, philadelphia that are run by democrats, sometimes have reformers on the city council, sometimes have reformers in the police chief, which is the case in minneapolis. and this tension between the police, how they act, and the politics of the place and what citizens want and what mayors allow or don't allow. >> mm-hmm.

well, i think what we're seeing is a real tension between residents of these major cities and the fact that big "d" democratic politics, they feel, has failed them. we know that far too many city councils and mayors have negotiated with police departments on salaries and benefits but not on community policing or anti-bias training or any substantive change what it comes to some of the paramilitary state that a lot of the residents of these cities feel. and so this is the boiling point that we're seeing. many of these residents are saying you don't get to have peace until we get to have justice. and the tension that i think a lot of mayors want to do the right thing, but we've had decades-long policies that just really have not benefited so many, i would say, black and latinx members of communities across the country. >> paul, i'm curious about your

thoughts. you wrote a book about policing black men. you worked as a prosecutor at the department of justice. you wrote an kpiincredible essa about being a prosecutor and why you shouldn't be a prosecutor, which is really memorable and sticks with me. and the sort of feasibility of success here, i guess, is the question, right? if the protests were to work, if this worked, if you could change things, what that system would look like. >> chris, you want solutions? i got solutions. eric garner was locked up, and the police were -- he was placed in that illegal choke hold because the police were trying to arrest him for selling a tobacco cigarette. george floyd had the life crushed out of him while the police were arresting him for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill. the police should never be able to arrest -- use violence to arrest people for a nonviolent crime.

for petty misdemeanors, they should just give people tickets. that would take care of 10 million arrests a year. the other piece real quickly is intervention. why don't cops speak up when they see another cop doing the wrong thing? in stressful situations, it turns out it's hard to be that dude who says stop. but there are training programs based on genocide and mass violence that teach cops how to intervene. one is called ethical policing is courageous. every cop in the country needs that training. >> those are both great. the ticket idea is one that i've heard before and really would be absolutely transformative for police departments in particular. christina, let me ask you about this being an election night and just what voting right now -- we have people in d.c., i think, who are still standing on line

to vote. what administration of free and fair elections amidst all this looks like. >> well, i'm a firm believer of protest politics and electoral politics. it has to be both and. we know in this country for generations we have not gotten substantive policy change without protest politics. but it's not enough to just march in the streets and leave it there. we have to make sure that demands are met in an electoral space. and so really holding elected officials accountable, and that's on the local, state, and federal level. i think far too many americans focus on the presidential election, which we have obviously seen is of the utmost importance. however, our city budgets and our state budgets are incredibly important. these state budgets, you know, decide environmental policy, women's reproductive rights, marriage equity, education spending, you know, roads, policing. and so i think that hopefully

tonight is a convergence of the importance of both protests and electoral politics. >> christina grier and paul butler, thank you both so much for staying up late with us as we leave you with those images of folks outside the white house in the very christina grier, th. standing in the spot where president trump had the park police attack the peaceful protesters. i'm chris hayes, back at 8:00 p.m. eastern every weekend. "the last word with lawrence o'donnell" starts right now. >> we're going to begin with correspondence where protesters are still active and continue gathering reports. also joined by president obama's former national security

advise