forceful removal of president's path next to st. john's from the white house. esper claiming he was not aware of the general's plan to remove protesters from lafayette park on monday and said he did not know there would be a photo out at the church, despite the fact the president is always followed by photographers. and rejecting the president's threat monday to use military force on a 200-year-old act, even if the governors objected. >> it should only be used in a matter of last resort and in an emergency, dire situation. we are not in one of those situations now. i do not support invoking the insurrection act. >> secretary esper also said he's investigating the use of a blackhawk helicopter that carried out low-flying anti-insurgent war combat maneuvers sunday, flying so low, it even broke branches off city

trees. >> it wasn't until yesterday afternoon that we determined it was a national guard helicopter that hovered low over a city block in d.c. within an hour of learning this, i directed the instructor for an inquiry to report what happened and why and report back to me. >> all of this after mass protests across the country with a stronger military presence, including in the nation's capital, producing these shocking images from the lincoln memorial. joining me white house correspondent and weekend "today" co-host kristen welker, "the washington post" opinion writer jonathan okayport and retired admiral and former supreme nato ally commander. welcome back. kristen, you're beyond the newly installed fence this monday, 10-foot-high fence at lafayette park. nbc is reporting that the

president is potentially reversing course officially on the insurrection act now that his defense secretary said it is not warranted. >> that's right, andrea. really a remarkable reversal here. the our sources telling us president trump is now backing away from the threat to invoke the insurrection act, which would allow him, arguably in some cases, to deploy the military to various u.s. cities across the country. as you just pointed out defense secretary mark esper seeing he disagrees with that move. let me just set the scene right here now, very active outside of lafayette park. what's happening, the protesters now, you can see the line of federal law enforcement effectively blocking these protesters from getting any closer to lafayette square, which is, of course, right outside of the white house. you can see the protesters rise up here moments ago, andrea.

they were kneeling. they're now holding unsigns. some of the signs saying, i see you, i hear you, i stand with you, black lives matter. i can't breathe. and they're chanting, "no justice, no peace." they're peaceful protesters and it's a sight to behold as the rain starts to come down here in washington. these protesters undeterred and unmoved and coming out early to get their message across, andrea, to not lose sight of what it is that they are chanting for. they want to see reforms in police departments all across the country so there are no longer deaths like the one suffered by george floyd. so they are here hours earlier than anticipated but the police, again, federal line of police lined up blocking them from getting any closer to the white house, as the president continues to come under fire for his broader response to this entire crisis, andrea.

>> kristen welker, and admiral, former joint chiefs chairman mike mullins, admiral mullins, publicly criticizing the trump administration in an "atlantic magazine" post and he writes in part, we are at an inflection point and the events of the last few weeks made it impossible to remain silent. certainly we have not crossed the threshold that made it appropriate to invoke the insurrection act. as we both now, mike mullen has been very quiet and very circumspect about not getting engaged in political debates but he's clearly felt he needs to speak out after the events of the last full days. >> indeed. and you will see a piece from me coming out of "time" magazine within the hour roughly parallel. i have worked with colonel

mullen my career and i'm glad to see his point publicly to this, particularly as chairman of the joint chiefs. let us back up a bit. what our founding fathers worried about more than anything else was the ability to use the armed forces of the nation against the civilian population. they built multiple safeguards into our constitution to ensure that we would not face that kind of action. and so i think for any active duty military person to see that display yesterday of active duty military in lafayette square really rattles old ghosts and the dna of this nation. i'll conclude on this point, andrea, by simply saying as we look at this, we have the capacity to create civil order. we have a million police officers in this country. we have 500,000 members of the national guard. that is certainly more than sufficient to deal with any foreseeable circumstance going

forward. there's no reason to be talking about tanks on the streets. lastly to see that helicopter used in the way we used them in combat in afghanistan really hurts my heart. >> well, i just wanted to check this "time" magazine piece that you have written, and one of the things you've said is the idea of boots on the ground and dominating the battle space in our american cities is an aj ama to the majority of americans. and the battle space quote comes directly from the secretary of defense in a call with governors. he tried to explain today he was using this as a term of art because he was referring and praising the governor of minnesota, who was the member of the national guard because battle space is used in training and it is a commonly used military phrase. but the whole point being, your point being, it should not be used when speaking about

civilian dissent. and this is what our founders created when they created those amendments at the beginning of the constitution. >> exactly right. and so as we look at this, we are not in a battle space. we are in a protest zone. our founding fathers did everything they could to enshrine the right to peaceful protests for our nation. these protesters are the center of gravity of this big event that's unfolding in the country, and i would say that the vast majority of our military men and women would desperately want to protect their right to conduct these peaceful protests. we need to weed out the people that are doing the looting and doing the criminal behavior. curfews help doing that. but at the end of the day our armed forces, in this case our national guard from the department of defense, our law enforcement officers, their job is protect these protesters and make sure that this unfolds in a

way that our founders wanted it to. >> phil rucker, "the washington post" broke the story that a former undersecretary of defense, james miller, submitted his resignation to esper from the defense sign board, advisory board, and he shared with "the washington post" his letter of resignation that president trump's actions monday night violated his oath -- from his letter -- to take care that the law be faithfully executed as well as first amendment right of the people peaceably to assemble. he wrote, you may have not been able to stop president trump from directing this appalling use of force but you could have chose to oppose it. instead you visibly supported it. what are the implications of that, phil, as you look at what is supposed to be a civilian leadership of the military in this country. >> they are quite significant, andrea. what we've seen since the episode on monday is that esper

has thoughts to backtrack. he put out a statement yesterday stating the military should always be apolitical, reminding the pentagon of that. and he did a statements in the last hour saying he disagreed with the president about the choice to use force against the american protesters. and it was his choice to describe the streets of america's cities as battle spaces. it was his choice to stand with president trump on monday when trump declared himself the law and order president and made the threat to use the american military he force. is and his choice to confront the president for the photo-op they church where he held up the bible just minutes after peaceful protesters were pushed away from the streets with military force. these are choices that esper made and these are choices that the joint chiefs of staff,

chairman milley and the others have made as well. >> and jeh johnson, pentagon official before he was homeland security secretary said he did not think jim mattis would have done the same thing. jonathan, your thoughts about the protests, how they evolved. they seemed to have become more energized in the sea after that threat to use military force in the district of columbia, the one state that doesn't have a governor, because it's not a state, where they could arguably get away with it. there is also reporting in "the washington post" that they tried to impose force on the district and take over the local police but the mayor forcibly pushed back on that on monday. there was quite an argument about that. then we saw what happened at the lincoln memorial last night. >> right. i think that, one, very proud of our mayor here, muriel bowser for standing up for washington, d.c. for the people who live here. but i think it was a shock to

the conscience of america, to folks washing msnbc or really anywhere watching television at that hour, watching people peacefully demonstrating at lafayette park and watching the military police and secret service and park police align and then as many as 30 minutes before the 7:00 curfew pushing those demonstrators out of the way, using flashbangs and tear gas or whatever they want to call it, for a split-screen moment, the president in the rose garden talking about being law and order while on the other side of the screen you saw american citizens being -- law enforcement and military turn on fellow americans shocked people. i think that's why the crowds yesterday were even bigger,

because people understood that this originated with the murder of george floyd but suddenly because of the president's actions and his administration's actions came about george floyd, but also the potential death of democracy. so i think what we are seeing here in washington, and in cities all around the country, these demonstrations, andrea, are not getting smaller. they are not diminishing. they are growing because they think people see that there are big issues that at stake here and their voices need to be heard because they're not being heard in the one place where you hope they would be, and that's the white house. >> and kristen welker, we did hear from former president george w. bush this week, writing we serve our neighbors best when we try to understand their experience. we love our neighbors as ourselves. we treat them as equals in both protection and compassion. there is a better way, the way of empathy and shared commitment

and bold action and peace rooted in justice. george w. bush sounding very, very different from our current president. kristen, your comment on that. i also is a sincere philly girl, adopted philly girl, and i want to show the view of the frank rizzo statue being taken down by the city of philadelphia where where it stood in 1999 in front of city hall, the the mayor who divided the city in the '60s and '70s, first get-tough chief and democratic lawyer who was well known for his -- for the many charges that were established of police brutality against the black panthers and other minority groups. >> and, of course, andrea, you covered frank rizzo when you were a reporter in philadelphia and some of the policies which were lightly regarded at the time and now through an historic

lens being shown as racially divisive. it's remarkable his statue was brought down. of course, there was bipartisan agreement the looting and the violence has to stop. and it's these types of peaceful protests that ultimately will get that message across that is so critical. and what you comment, the fact former president george w. bush weighed in and, of course, we are anticipating hearing from former president barack obama today. he's going to be holding a virtual town hall event at 5:00 p.m. the my colleague josh lederman and i reporting as part of that town hall he's going to talk about community policing, he's going to talk about his program, my brother's keeper, and, of course, the obama team has broadly accused president trump of scaling back some of the reforms that started to go into place at the end of the obama administration, andrea. >> kristen welker, thanks so much. we can hear you loud and clear

as you work your way around that protest. thanks for that today across from the white house. phil rucker and jonathan capehart. as protesting in california tuesday also had a more peaceful tone from los angeles to the bay area, calling for state and local leaders to bring change to their communities. california congresswoman has introduced a bill to form the truth in racial healing transformation commission in terms of relationship with police. the congresswoman joins me now. it's very good to see you. thank you so much for joining us today. tell me, what do you hope to accomplish as the black caucus and other members of congress organize to try to do something about the way policing different -- different rules and rules that are followed and not followed, the fact chokeholds are still permitted in places like minnesota. >> sure, andrea, thanks again

for having me with you this morning. first, let me see first the tragic murder and the country is grieving over mr. floyd's death, murder. and we're angry. and members of the congressional black caucus, all members, came to congress fighting for justice and for the end of systemic racism. and to make sure this country truly became a country of liberty and justice for all. so many of the bills the congressional black caucus is introducing are bills that have been presented before and now new bills but coming together as a package. and we think this is the moment to do that. bills such as police accountability, asking for a national database, ending racial profiling. there are many, many bills that will come before the congress and now i think with the protests and with the democratic movement -- and that's what's happening in this country -- taking place, the voices of peace, the voices of reform and the voices who want to make sure

that we have a justice system that's truly just, will prevail. so the judiciary committee will be meeting, the congressional black caucus is holding a variety of town meetings and we're building the support to put these bills forward. andrea, can i just mention also what the prior panel was talking about and just talk about very quickly, dictators used the military to quell dissent and opposition. and what i am so concerned about now with this white house is that donald trump has shown once again that he really doesn't care about democracy. and we have to be very vigilant because we're at that break. i think using what he's done by using the military to try to stop people's dissent is very dangerous to our democracy.

this again is what dictators do. this is not what democratic leaders do. >> barbara, busy day. we're going to have to go to minneapolis, right now. thank you very much for joining us today. we do expect some progress according to ben crump, the attorney for the family of george floyd, in thsome kind of action. they will be visiting the site of floyd's death, along with members of the family. nbc's morgan chesky is there. morgan, can there be some action on the legal front? we've been expecting something might be announced involving the other three police officers involved in george floyd's death? >> yes, andrea, that's certainly the implication surrounding this business today. in addition to just giving the family a chance to mourn at the very site where george floyd lost his life last monday. this will be their first time here. when we saw that raw emotion generated by terrence floyd, the

younger brother of floyd when he visited the other day, having multiple family members here will no doubt stir so many emotions from this crowd as it continues to grow today. people staying here through the night, andrea, despite the curfew, police allowing them to pay their respects. in the meantime any minute now ben crump expected to arrive with those family members. this intersection is filling up with several hundred people right now. we will be keening a very close eye on what they're message is going forward. we know that terrence floyd made an indelible point, andrea, that the violence needed to stop. we will be listening to what his other family members have to say and closely watching any potential charges that could be coming against those three police officers who were also involved in george floyd's death. andrea? >> morgan chesky in minneapolis, thank you. coming up next -- protesting in a pandemic. public health experts warning to expect a coronavirus spike in the coming weeks after the mass

demonstrations coast to coast. what can you do to protect yourself next. and later senator tammy duckworth on that low-flying national guard helicopter over protesters right here in downtown d.c. she joins me later this hour. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. mornings were made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis. when considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz xr, a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis or active psoriatic arthritis

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we've all been watching the destruction and looting and nationwide protests, especially earlier this week. but the vast majority of the demonstrators have been peaceful and we don't want their message to be lost as television coverage focuses on conflict. blayne alexander have spoken for many days with the protesters. >> reporter: with the call for change swirling through the streets of america -- >> no justice, no peace. >> reporter: -- protesters are here for one reason -- >> enough is enough for real. we shouldn't have to do this. >> reporter: but who are the faces in the crowd?

they are grandparents, parents and children. >> i'm here so my kids don't have to come out here. >> reporter: we're having a peaceful protest. there's nothing bad going on now. we're just showing you there should be justice for our people. >> reporter: and some who have protested before. how personal was this for you? >> i am seen as a threat. if i'm pulled over by the police, i'm very nervous, very scared. >> reporter: among them first-time organizers. 17-year-old thompson led a march of some 2,000 walking arm in arm with police. why do you think yours struck such a positive cord with so many people? >> you can't ignore the topic anymore. no matter how upset kwer or hurt we are with things going on in the world, we can come together and work together. >> reporter: but what does change look like? on social media black lives matter is circulating a petition to put more monless money into

departments and more into the poor communities. and you want to see change in the way police officers are hired and trained? >> absolutely. i want to save change across the board. federal and state level. >> reporter: while some earlier gathering ended in violence and looting, the vast majority are a peace. push for change. >> nbc news correspondent blayne alexander joining us from atlanta. this is such an important message. jalen thompson is just who makes your heart sing in his enthusiasm and intelligence and excitement about being involved. >> absolutely, andrea. there are a number of people who i have been speaking to over the past five, six days or so, and all of them really have the same message. yes, it is important there are symbolic victories, right? when you see police and protesters marching arm in arm. we are kneeling together. or those types of conversations we are seeing happening here out

in the streets but really people told me unless there's a concrete policy change, many will find themselves back out here protesting the same issues months or weeks or however much time from now. that's why so many people said they're looking for concrete change, policy changes. what exactly does that look like? overnight in chicago mayor lori lightfoot announced she's giving the police department there 90 days to implement siers of changes. some of them look like things like training for officers, bringing in community members to actually help teach classes at academy or requiring officers actually learn the history of the communities they're patrolling. things that will really improve community and police relationship. the other thing i have heard from protesters repeatedly, yes, protests are important. it's important to move the needle and make sure voices are heard. but also to make sure policy is affected by voting. make sure people don't give up on the political process. so a common refrain we've heard is people need to go out and

vote not just at the federal level but the local elections, smaller elections really matter as well. so we heard about educating people on who are going to be on the ballots and make sure they don't leave that part out as well. andrea? >> such a big and important lesson. thank you very much, blayne alexander, in atlanta. as the protester gather in enormous crowds during a public health crisis, the pandemic, of course, people are supposed to be socially distancing. there are big issues with the president of the coronavirus, even for those wearing face masks. joining us is the senior scholar from johns hopkins university. thank you very much for being here. what do you think when you see these people tightly packed, many shouting and crying out and obviously potentially spreading the virus even without masks or face coverings or without having to cough? and also the effect of pepper

gas and tear gas and others to make them cough? >> this is just a perfect environment for a virus like this coronavirus to spread. you see people closely packed together. we see people shouting and yelling that it's going to create droplets that can spread to other individuals. we see people being tear gassed and being sprayed with pepper spray. all of which makes them cough, which generates more viral particles. we know we're going to get cases but are the cases going to be such our health departments get overwhelmed with contact tracing and do these end up spilling over into the hospital and cause transmissions that are not controlled 1234 that's what we have to focus on, make sure those individuals who are protesting know about these risks and we have heightened suspicion for cases arising out of them and being prepared for them. >> of course, the national guard is stretched now with mobilized crowd control rather than their previous mission most recently,

to help with testing and other kinds of protections for social distancing. what would we expect, a week to three weeks in terms of where you might see some kind of outbreak spikes? >> we should start seeing upticks in about six days or so, that's the average incubation period before people start to show symptoms. we should start hearing about people getting sick at that period of time and maybe several days later before you see the uptick in hospitalizations. hopefully that won't happen. hopefully these will be contained in the individuals protesting and protester won't expose others to themselves once they come back from the protest. you think of them as exposed and quarantining themselves after these events. i don't know if that's happened to everybody but i think it's something we really need to think about and have public health messaging emphasize. >> and handwashing, using sanitizers, gloves if you can, face cover egings for sure and

trying to keep your space as well as you can. thank you very much, dr. adathia. it's always good to talk with you. we wanted to show you this scene from manhattan, captured by our own katy tur, jack of all trades, as protesters passed by the sloan-kettering cancer center. katie shot this and posted it on her social media. applause as well. outside lennox hospital, the just like the daily cheers for health care workers that are echoed across the big apple every evening since the coronavirus began. we'll be right back. in only 8 weeks with mavyret... ...i was cured. i faced reminders of my hep c every day. i worried about my hep c. but in only 8 weeks with mavyret... ...i was cured. mavyret is the only 8-week cure for all types of hep c. before starting mavyret your doctor will test... ...if you've had hepatitis b which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after treatment. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b,

we're going to break out of this to go directly to minneapolis where ben crump, the attorney for the floyd family, is speaking. >> how are you feeling? >> let's walk. let's walk. let's walk. >> this is the first time you're coming here? >> yes, it is. >> introducing the family. he's just escorting them out of a car. this is the family, of course, of george floyd. they've been in minneapolis, where they will be a service tomorrow. i believe he is with his brothers. you can see our own gabe gutierrez right behind.

morgan chask morgan chesky, i think you're nearby as well. morgan chesky, if you can hear me? >> yes, andrea, we're watching the family of george floyd walk alongside ben crump down east 393 38th street. this is going to be an emotional momentment this will be the first time some of these family members to see the emotional site where george died a week ago today. we're coming up on the location where police were initially called to and police were called taking him a short distance away where the fateful footage was shot, andrea. and we see them turn here onto chicago avenue.

this sight has become so powerful in the past week. flowers, messages covering every square inch of pavement almost as people have come to pay their respects. the governor of minnesota stopping by here himself earlier today, andrea, writing "justice now" on the ground. he made a point to tell me, andrea, this justice will not just be what the potential arrest of the three officers but systemic changes in the future ahead is the justice he seeks. and they're now turning the corner here. we do expect to hear from benjamin crump, attorney general for the family and those family members, to see what the message is they want to share today. of course, the message from george's younger brother, terrence, so incredibly powerful the other day saying if i'm here doing this, what are you all doing? implying there was no need for violence anymore. and really since that message was shared, andrea, we've seen a marked change here in this city.

peaceful protests have had a chance to have their message be truly heard in this place, and there's been a drastic cutdown on the number of damage we've seen that really ran through this city for those first several days following george's death. we know that a crowd is growing now. several hundred just within the past several minutes arriving here at this location. i'm standing just outside of it right now. we know that there's several family members here. they arrived in minneapolis ahead of a memorial service to be held tomorrow, andrea. that will be from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at north central minnesota university there. the family saying it wants to be held and feel like a family affair because this is such a powerful moment right now. of course, in planning this memorial, one of the things they have had to take into consideration is how to keep everyone safe during this pandemic.

however, they planned that. we do anticipate to hear from the family shortly, but for now, we'll send it back to you. andrea? >> and among the family member, we believe his son quincy, other cousins, his brother terrence, who's been heard from. let's watch for this moment. >> stay behind us. okay.

>> i'm attorney ben crump, the lead attorney for the family of george floyd. quiet, please. i'm attorney ben crump, the lead attorney for the family of george floyd. and recently arriving in minneapolis is his son quincy mason. he's going to make a few remarks to you. i understand this is a young man who is brokenhearted and this is very emotional for him. now, we come here today to this spot to remember george floyd, who was tortured, who was tortured to death, and so we thank the minnesota governor for

bringing human rights charges against the minneapolis police department because we absolutely believe that he was tortured in the last eight minutes and 46 seconds of his life. witness donald williams yesterday, who was the person in the video, saying you all are gonna kill him, likened it to suffocation like a fish out of water gasping for air. the independent autopsy performed by the family concluded that george floyd was starving for air. he needed a breath. and the ambulance that came here to pick him up from this very spot was the hearse for george

floyd. and so we are demanding justice based on the autopsy findings, but more importantly, what the entire world has seen now with their eyes, that they cannot unsee. the autopsy, the medical reasons cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation, based on the knee to his neck and the two knees to his back that was compressing his lungs, not allowing them to circulate air and blood to his brain. he died because he was starving for air. he needed a breath. and so we're demanding justice. we expect all of the police officers to be arrested before we have the memorial here in minneapolis, minnesota, tomorrow.

because we cannot have two justice systems in america, one for black america, and one for white america. we must have equal justice for the united states of america! and change is going to come in the tragic killing of george floyd, and i proclaim with his son as my witness, that change starts today! >> yeah, yeah! >> we're confident that attorney general keith ellison is working

feverishly to do the right thing. and what is the right thing? to make sure that george floyd's family is afforded justice by holding these officers accountable to the full extent of the law. each and every one of those four officers! >> yeah, we want that! >> attorney general ellison has a track record as champion of civil rights for those who are marginalized, for people like george floyd, because black lives matter and george floyd's life mattered too. quincy's going to make a few remarks. i'll try to take a few questions, and then we're going to let him go receive the rest of his family at the airport, and then we will keep you

updated. we fully expect there to be an announcement with these officers being arrested, and we will give you the family reaction when that happens. but right now, i introduce to the world mr. quincy mason, george floyd's son, to say a few remarks on behalf of him and his family. talk as loud as you can. >> i am here evewith my family trying to get justice for my father. no man or woman should be without their fathers. we want justice for what's going on right now. i appreciate everyone joining for support and love. i thank you all for that. >> this is -- >> this is so emotional --

>> we have seen so many participants around the world, including australia, about what's happened to your father, what happened there, people of color, aboriginals. do you have any message to them? >> i just want to thank them for supporting my family and receive justice. >> this is a pivotal moment because of what happened -- >> we need change because this can happen to anybody else. >> we need change because this can happen to anybody else. >> quincy, did you learn about the death of your father on tv like everybody else? is that the first time you -- >> his family notified him. thank you all. thank you very much. >> keep them right here.

keep them right here. >> morgan, that was quincy mason floyd, of course, the son -- one of the sons of george floyd. obviously a difficult moment. they knelt, they prayed. ben crump, the family attorney, helping him through a very, very difficult emotional moment for a young man who has never been the center of such a storm and in the spotlight as he was. morgan? >> absolutely, and andrea, you heard his words saying that no son should be without his father. and you can almost feel that collective emotion kind of reach out to him in that moment here. of course, going forward you heard ben crump say that deadline that so many people are going to be wactching now, andrea, and that is the memorial service tomorrow at 1:00, he said for justice to be served, those three officers need to be taken into custody prior to that

time. at this point we have yet to see any action taken towards those individuals from a legal standpoint. so, andrea, we'll send it back to you. >> the attorney ben crump has just been talking again. i know he's waiting for keith ellison to make the decision. let's listen. >> murder charges against officer chauvin for having the knee in his neck and equally important is the fact those two knees in his back for not one minute, not two minutes, not three minutes, not four minutes, not five minutes, not six minutes, not seven minutes, not eight minutes, but almost nine minutes, 8:46, george floyd begged for air. he called out for quincy's grandmother.

he called out to anybody who would listen. it seemed like the lay people on the street were listening. the people who refused to listen were the people who were supposed to listen. it was supposed to be the police who were meant to protect and serve george floyd, because george floyd was an american citizen, and george floyd was a human being. george floyd deserved humanity. >> he does! >> and also the system needed to be listening to george floyd, not just the police, but the prosecutors, the criminal justice system, the judges, the legislators, the president. >> yes! >> america! >> america! >> needs to be listening when george floyd said i can't

breathe because when he couldn't breathe, none of us could breathe! >> that's right! >> so this is a tipping point. this is a tipping point. this moment is a tipping point to change america and see if america truly believes in the words of thomas jefferson, that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that their endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights that amongst them are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. america, that means black people too! >> that's right! [applause] >> what do you say to the other

three officers who did not get arrested, what do you say to them? >> lock 'em up! >> the family of george floyd watched the video in agony. you have seen rodney, you have seen bridget, you've seen terrence, you've seen his children, they are horrified at what they witnessed on this video. i think every human being who has any humanity in them are horrified with what they see on this video. the only question is, why weren't those police officers horrified? so the family's statement to those police officers are they are just as guilty for the death

of george floyd as officer chauvin. they all participated. >> that's right. >> when people tried to help, the officer took out mace, mcdonald williams, the emt and witnesses there, we threatened him. even though we're not giving humanity, we're not letting you give george floyd any humanity. so the message is clear, do your job to the people who are responsible for doing justice, because all of the world is watching. all of the world is watching. all of the world is watching! all the world is watching! all the world is watching! all the world is watching! all the world is watching! >> what would you say -- >> all the world is watching! >> a question from the bbc.

what do you think of the way the world has responded? what do you think of the way the world has respondeds, and also the way america has responded? >> you're ul up here. >> could you all get down, please. >> the whole world has been heartening to this family, the entire family, has been very heartening. they receive it as a blessing that george floyd's life mattered to more than just them. it is very important to note who george was. there are videos on social media that george believed in peaceful protests. brandon williams, who was

george's nephew, who was like a father to brandon, said they talked almost every day and during the ferguson protests, during the baltimore protests, is and just recently during the sacramento protests, you had george floyd praying for peaceful protests. you know, the forensic scientists, alicia wilson, who did the family's autopsy, said that george died because he needed a breath. and so i am employing along with george floyd's family for all of us to take a breath for peace. let's take a breath for justice. let's take a breath to heal our country.

and, most importantly, let's take a breath for george floyd as we get ready to memorialize him this week and lay him to his final rest next tuesday. let's take a breath this week to heal the country and to remember george. let's follow george's example. he would have wanted peaceful protests. he wants everybody to use their voice, but he wants them to do it in a constructive way. so as we get ready to memorialize him tomorrow at north central university with all his family, i also want us to remember that breonna taylor, the young lady who was executed in the sanctity of her own home in louisville, kentucky, birthday would be on friday. so let's take a breath for

breonna as well. let's take a breath for ahmaud arbery as well. let's take a breath for terence crutcherer as well. let's take a breath for pamela turner who was killed in houston. let's take a breath for sterling who was killed in baton rouge, louisiana. let's take a breath for philando castile who was killed here in minneapolis, minnesota. let's take a breath for laquan mcdonald who was killed in chicago, illinois. let's take a breath for sandra bland who was killed in texas. let's take a breath for natasha mckinney killed by police in virginia. let's take a breath for stephon clark who was killed in sacramento, california. let's take a breath for cory jones who was killed in palm beach, florida. let's take a breath for botham jean who was killed in his own apartment in dallas, texas. let's take a breath for eric gardner who was killed in staten

island, new york. let's take a breath for freddy gray. let's take a breath for walter scott killed in south carolina. let's take a breath for jamar clark who was killed here in minnesota. let's take a breath -- isaiah wilson! >> let's take a breath for michael brown who was killed in ferguson. let's take a breath for 12-year-old tamir rice who was killed in closed, ohio, by the police. let's take a breath for trayvon benjamin martin who was killed in sanford, florida. let's take a breath for emmitt till who was killed in mississippi. let's take a breath collectively for all of the marginalized and

disenfranchised and dehumanized people, whether black, brown, white, or red who were killed unjustifiably, who were killed unnecessarily, and who was killed senselessly because they are american citizens, one, they are human beings, two, and finally, we should all remember they are children of god. thank you so much. we will respond to you when we get the announcement. [ applause ] >> benjamin crump with that refrain speaking to all of the victims, recent victims and victims going back decades if not all the way back into, of course, the legacy of emmitt till in the jim crow south. let's now talk about that and

what is happening across the country with democratic senator tammy duckworth. senator duckworth joins us here in washington. you have been such a spokesperson for police reform. i want to talk to you also about your military background. let's talk now first about the police issues and whether there can be national standards for police behavior so that this kind of incident cannot ever happen again. >> andrea, i think there should be national standards and we can do it in a number of ways. one of the ways is also with an incentive, which is to build an i road, the national police training and independent investigation act. what it does is provide a grant program so local law enforcement can use that money to train their police forces in things such as community outreach, racism, inherent bias within law enforcement. and then also it encourages them to use independent investigators

in any police-involved killings. you can't trust a local prosecutor to investigate the very same police force they rely on to help them prosecute other crimes. there's an inherent bias there. so there are many things we can do, but it's long overdue. >> and, of course, today we've seen within the last 24 hours the pictures from the lincoln memorial, the national guard troops on the steps of the lincoln memorial. also today secretary esper saying that he didn't really know what that photo opportunity was going to be and defending his own participation with the president and the chairman of the joint chief of staff in what argue is politicalization of the military which is supposed to be civilian controlled. stepping back from the president's threat to use the 1807 insurrection act to forcibly impose military control in areas where the states and indeed the mayor of the district of columbia does not want it. >> andrea, just minutes before

he followed behind the president along with general milley like two lap dogs carrying out this president's really twisted idea of what the military is supposed to do, secretary esper was on the phone to our governors calling the space around the u.s. capitol the battle space. he was talking about the need to dominate the battle space and he was talking about american soil. he knew exactly what he was doing when he decided to support donald trump in this instead of standing up and saying, sir, no, you're politicizing the military. this is not the promissory note use of our military. instead he went right along with it. and that is very scary to me, andrea. our military is supposed to be above politics. they are honorable men and women in uniform who defend this nation's constitution and they should not be used in the way this president is using them. and certainly they should not be allowed to use this way by

people who swore they would never carry out the president's unlawful and illegal orders. both secretary esper and general milley said that in the senate and they're willing to say this is the american battle space. >> you were a helicopter pilot in iraq. you were wounded because of your flying combat missions in iraq. what about the use of a blackhawk to fly solo in what is normally a counterinsurgencesy combat action? >> two things -- yeah. there's two things when i look at that. one, there's what's called an frc, a inflict restrictive zone that sits above the white house and above wherever the president is. and they are in that flight restrictive zone because they're allowed to be because the president is there, but they have to be given permission to be in that area and fly that

low. the faa says you may not fly under 400 above ground level above an open gathering of people. and they were well below that agl altitude. i want to know who gave them permission to do that. was it secretary esper? where is the faa and the air traffic controller who agreed to allow them to do that? most important, this is inappropriate. the downwash of a blackhawk can create a lot of damage and create a lot of harm. i cannot believe that a military officer gave the orders to those pilots and those pilots executed that order and flew that low above americans on american soil potentially harming those peaceful protesters who were doing nothing but peacefully protesting and exercising their first amendment right. it's shameful. i lay this at the feet of president trump, secretary esper, and general milley. >> senator tammy duckworth, thank you so much for being with

us. that does it for this edition. please stay safe out there. chuck todd and katy tur katy pi our coverage right now. good afternoon in the east and a good morning out west. i'm chuck todd. moments ago we witnessed a demand for justice asking all four officers face charges for george floyd's death nine days ago. this is the ninth straight day of protest since floyd's killing. demonstrators are back on the streets after a relatively calm and peaceful tuesday night seeking once again to make their voices heard by those in power. change did come through the ballot box last night. ferguson, missouri, a place known around the world for civil unrest and the black lives matter movement for the 2014 shooting of michael brown just elected its first black mayor, ella jones. and then in