realize what zoe is asking us to realize, to go farther than just doing right in this one case. we have to go back to being able to trust what we see with our own eyes and what we saw with our own eyes makes these charges today inevitable. >> as i said, i wrote down quotes as she was speaking. it's not nothing until everything changes. we're scared, but we're standing up. >> we're standing up. i think something else that we've all been sensitized to -- listen, i love what shaq brewster reported, it was going to be a protest against racism that taught the country and the world how to come back after a pandemic. yes, you go out and you stand up for what you believe in, you wear your mask, use your hand sanitizer and socially distance. this is also playing out against a backdrop of a president who has suggested a military

presence among these demonstrations and protests. jeremy bash served at the pentagon. mark esper broke on the question of injecting into these largely peaceful protests all over this country now a military presence. jeremy. >> nicolle, this was a very important statement by the secretary of defense saying he manifestly imposes invocation of the insurrection act, what donald trump wanted to invoke in order to have active duty military go out against the protesters. in our historical tradition dating all the way back to george washington who was, of course, general of the united states army and then resigned his commission as general of the army to become the civilian president and leader of our country, since that moment, and there's an oil painting of that

moment that hangs in the capitol dome rotunda, since that moment we've had a division between civilian authority and military authority. i think the secretary of defense made clear we are not going to have active duty military troops perform a law enforcement function on the streets of the united states. it's only been done in two contexts, one when governors requested and second for constitutional rights to desegregate schools. the idea that trump wants to use percussion grenades, people on horseback, even the use of gas to get to a photo op is totally at odds with the american tradition of the civilian and military divide. >> yar me, let's not let the secretary of defense off too quickly. he very much went along with this photo op where peaceful protesters were removed with force by the feds, as broin

would say, and it was only after a rebuke from former chairman admiral mike mullin, rebuke from jim miller who resigned that he took the step today of breaking with this president. he went along with it. again, leadership is doing the right thing before it's a press scandal. >> that's right, nicolle. i would add to that list of individuals who called this out, general tony thomas, four star army general who led joint special operations command and also led the special operations command down at tampa. those military and former military leaders spoke out against this, and from everyone i've been talking to, there was deep concern in the ranks about the way the department of defense and the secretary had approached this issue. i think your point is well taken. i also think it's important to note that the president wants to put the chairman of the joint chiefs in some role here. the chairman of the joint chiefs is not in the chain of command.

if the president wants to utilize the military to support law enforcement, there are mechanisms to do so. the way the president was going about it was entirely wrong, inappropriate and at odds with our constitutional traditions. so the secretary of defense really was out there, and he needed to get back to the core of our national security tradition in our country. >> jeremy bash you invoked the title chairman of the joint chiefs. while we're at it, let's talk about general mark milley. there he was looking for all the world like schwarzkopf back from the gulf war in bdu camo, four stars down the front of his uniform, rachel maddow showed uniform of him warricking around the streets of washington later that night like a voice roy reviewing the troops. he will forever be in that still

photo, in that video of the president walking across pennsylvania avenue over to st. john's in his camo uniform having gone along with this himself. here he was indeed that night, walking around northwest washington. >> one of the things to note, from the perspective of someone who served in the department and served alongside these military leaders, where their troops are, they like to be. if their troops are out there helping on coronavirus, establish medical hospitals or if the troops are providing support to law enforcement when our streets are on fire, they want to be out there, they want to be showing comradery with the troops, showing support. i think you're right. in hindsight, it sent entirely the wrong signal. it made it seem as if the streets of washington, d.c. and the streets of america were some foreign battle zone. again, to go back to something else that i think has been very

pointedly described in the news over the last 24 hours, former intelligence officials who have served overseas and seen the way leaders of countries have invoked the military and donned military uniforms and tried to become, in essence, sort of a military-led country, those are some of the weakest countries out there. those are some of the most insecure leaders out there, the countries with the weakest institutions, weakest democratic values, the countries that turn to us and say, hey, america, can you help me, because they don't have what it takes to be strong and stable. it needs to be part of our tradition going forward again and again, reminded to all the people in the chain of command, we are not a military-led country, we're a shiv villian-led country. there are other more appropriate ways to do so. >> jeremy, when you hear today, for example, that kayleigh

mcenany in a hurling shining object compares trump's walk over to the church to winston churchill in the post blitz streets of london to george w. bush throwing out the first pitch after 9/11, i'm assuming, jeremy, those comparisons don't work for you. >> no. brian, here is a thing. churchill went up against naziism, george bush was confronting jihadi terrorism. donald trump has a concerned nation, a nation on bended knee, a nation with a tear streaking down its cheek because of malfeasance by view symbolizing 400 years of racism and the original sin of our country. the proper response, protest, is part of the american tradition. this is not naziism or

terrorism. if kaileigh mcenany or the president's spokes people don't understand, they don't deserve to be in office. they don't understand what it means to be an american. >> i just want to let that sink in for a minute, jeremy bash. i needed to hear that. i want to reset the breaking news that has transpired since we came on the air. news that they will upgrade the charges against the officer, officer chauvin who had his knee on the neck of george floyd when he died. those charges will be upgraded from third degree murder to second. they are also expected to announce charges against the three other police officers who stood by. you remember, the second autopsy, the independent autopsy, the one conducted by george floyd's family found that, as an additional cause of death from the knee on the neck, was the body weight placed on

mr. floyd's lungs and chest by the other officers. there's at least one autopsy that confirms their role in mr. floyd's death. we're expected to hear, likely at the top of the hour, 4:00 p.m., from the attorney general about these charges. brian. >> also, garrett haake has apparently rejoined us from northwest washington, not far from the white house, though farther from the white house than reporters and the public have been for the last couple of days. garrett, each day we wake up to either a new barrier or new parameters regarding the definition of this kind of safe zone around the white house. what did today bring? >> reporter: brian, today we're about 60, maybe 70 yards further away from the white house than we were yesterday, pushed back from the fence.

part of the story is the increasing militarization and federalization on washington, d.c. streets. the national guard was brought out earlier. they relieved a group who wore no insignia, just federal law enforcement officers who wouldn't identify themselves, wouldn't tell me where they were from, what agency they represented. we think they were representing the bureau of prisons and may have come from as far away as texas. there's an enormous federal law enforcement presence in washington, d.c., the irony of which is the protests since monday have been peaceful. you see a couple hundred protesters who gathered on i street, another large group who gathered outside the u.s. capitol today. probably the most antagonistic thing they did was neil for eight minutes to symbolize the death of george floyd in police custody. very much peaceful protests on

the streets of washington. the mayor revised the city curfew, going into effect at 11:00 p.m. tonight. i was out here most of the night last night when the curfew went until 7:00. there was a pervasive attitude among district residents that they were going to stay out on the streets and decide for themselves when they'd go home. lots of people disobeyed the curfew, from the folks i talked to, to prove a point about it and to show that they could peacefully protest in their own city as we saw yesterday and as we're seeing again today. >> garrett, there's been a lot of questions about the chain of command. whose orders are all these men and women acting on. who put out the order the other night to use military helicopters to go into a dangerous low hover to try to use the rotor wash, the wind and the dust to disperse crowds.

who decides to put what looked like dismounted infantry with no visible insignias, that's dictatorship stuff, who decides to deploy them on city streets across from the white house? >> reporter: well, this is the frustration that people have here in d.c. because of the split response in washington. d.c. has a mayor and its own police chief. it's kinds of like in situations like this, your high school student council being in charge of the high school. the feds can come in over top of them and make decisions. you have a split response, d.c. police, the mpd works together on federal law enforcement. on something like an inauguration, npd sets the plan and federal partners help. in this case it seems like npd makes the plan and there are investigations all over the place. the use of the helicopter hovering low over protesters the other night. it's part of the frustration.

it speaks to the same thing as no badges and no insignias. if nobody is identified, then nobody is accountable if things go wrong. that's the frustration. attorney general barr has made himself the face of this to a certain degree. but i don't think there's any one clear person standing up and saying i'm responsible for everything that happens in washington, d.c., as it comes to these protests. >> garrett haake has been reporting from lafayette park for long enough to have his mail forwarded there. thank you for that. to our viewers watching, you might be tempted in parts of america to say maybe the member of congress representing washington, d.c. should raise a complaint/or a ruckus in washington. ah, but that's why d.c.'s license plates bear the phrase "taxation without representation." they have a delegate in congress, but no voting member of congress representing the district of columbia. nicolle, over to you.

>> i had those license plates for many, many years. i drove my car into the white house complex with those license plates on every day. robert costa is going to join our coverage. "the washington post" out with extraordinary reporting really all week, but today an oral history, an oral account of exactly what brian and garrett were just talking about. and i think it's "the new york times" today that describes it as almost unprecedented, the violence that played out on the front door of this white house this week. talk about what nancy pelosi who i think has joined a protest in d.c. streets, since we've come on the air at 3:00. what do democrats think they can push on and where do they feel the most urgency? there are some calls from inside the house, former joint chief mike mullen and jim miller from undersecretary of defense speaking out publicly, writing pieces today about the overreach

and the grave danger of involving the u.s. military in policing peaceful protests. >> nicolle, i got some interesting insights from a house democrat, a lawmaker close to speaker pelosi. they say as much as they want the black caucus to take the lead on legislation, they recognize privately it's a difficult situation to get anything passed with the republicans controlling the senate. they said look for house democrats this summer and speaker pelosi to take the lead. in terms of accountability on the trump administration, they were planning to do accountability in the summer and fall of the president's handling of the pandemic, and that will continue. at the same time they now feel a responsibility not so much to legislate, they'll propose their own legislation when it comes to policing, but to try to understand, to garrett's point, this militarization of the federal response. >> they got an assist from former president obama today who

again, very reluctant to weigh in to current events. he recirculated the piece from admiral mullen. do they feel like this is something where they can build a coalition perhaps, george w. bush weighing in about the rights of peaceful protesters in america. do they see an opportunity to create some sort of bipartisan coalition to try to stop what the world overlooks like a grotesque power grab on the part of this president? >> based on my reporting, many former military officials and leaders from that realm of american government are talking to each other right now, text messages, phone calls, and they feel they have to now rely on each other, rather than republicans in congress, to stand up to president trump. they know they don't want this to be seen as a democratic operation. you see many former republicans now privately talking about what they can do. could it be an op-ed, a letter,

a public statement? they feel republicans in the senate and the house are almost cornered politically, boxed in, not able to respond to president trump, not willing to respond to president trump at this crucial moment. >> bob costa, we haven't heard from you since the news broke that the charges against derek chauvin will be upgraded to second degree murder, and charges will be brought against the other police officers. any reaction from democrats or republicans in congress today? >> the world's eyes are now on hennepin county, on the state of minnesota, on the minneapolis area. this is a story that's not just going to end with new charges. it's going to be a question of broader justice. and you see now candidates across the country, elected leaders watching minnesota, knowing that the whole world is really zeroing in on what happens in this case, but it's now a bigger story than george floyd.

george floyd is the broken heart of this entire story, and he will remain the centerpiece as he should in his tragedy. the question is where do leaders go from here? they want to see justice at the same time. >> robert costa, thank you so much for jumping on the air. to yu and all your colleagues, posting a remarkable body of reporting on the events in the last few days. thank you so much, my friend. brian, we have eyes on minneapolis where the folks gathered are still peaceful. mask wearing is not quite universal, but pretty rampant, everyone awaiting what we expect to transpire at the top of the hour, upgraded charges for officer chauvin and charges for the other officers involved. >> yes, thanks for the reminder, and we have to remind ourselves, we've been covering this story

wall to wall non-stop for over a week now. we are indeed in the middle of an uncontrolled pandemic. i'm certain there are people around the president who have maybe enjoyed the attention getting shifted off of the fact that the white house coronavirus task force has been completely silent in its public facing role. we've not heard from the cdc. part of that is on us. we have had our concentration pulled elsewhere. eddie glaude remains with us. it was eddie who reminded us all on the air that young zoe schaeffer of the twin cities needed to get a mask on. none of this will work if we're not a healthy society. professor, i don't think we would call ourselves a healthy society in any way right now. my question to you is, and i

think we've had this similar discussion in days past, the movement never went away. but is this something new being born? the movement never went away. i've been receiving e-mails. i got an e-mail from one person, please don't undo the gains made in the past week with demands that are too far reachings at this time. one step at a time, sir, please. another e-mail, i watched you and nothing is ever good enough for you. as we talk about what's happening around the country, we still have this divide within the country. we still have city, country divide. urban, rural. we still have a partisan divide that actually plays itself out along racial line. the country is so deeply

divided. s some folk watching this who view this as over-reach, some folk think, black folk are only 10% of the country, why are we kowtowing to them? we have so much work to do to build a new america, brian, and we have to begin that work right now, right here, right now, right here. >> what's the sight of federal troops on the streets of our capital city, national guards but others who will not identify themselves, eddie, what branch they represent, what part of our government, our military they represent, standing guard around our white house, what does that do to the picture you described? >> well, it gives us kind of visual evidence that the norms that have defined our democracy for my lifetime and your

lifetime have been kind of thrown into the trash bin. we have known for a while that the executive branch under donald trump's leadership has been distorted and disfigured and we have been worrying for a while now for democratic institutions and structures will they hold in the face of what we're currently experiencing and no we see the broad power of the presidency at work, by calling to the streets american's military police and might. without identifying them. this is the theater of de dictatorial power. are our democratic institutions strong enough to withstand what we're currently experiencing? >> eddie, i wanted to note something that you mentioned that i think mystified a lot of us, looking at the lectern in

st. paul as we're told we're within ten minutes of the start of this formal announcement, it was odd to have senator klobuchar breaking the news that as some will see it was not hers to break, the local prosecutor's job is no longer hers, in fact, the governor has appointed as a kind of legal special master for this effort the standing attorney general, attorney general ellison, former member of congress from the state of minnesota, it was odd that that was the first way we learned what has ultimately been confirmed as the news out of there. >> yeah, i still can't wrap my mind around it. i don't know what the politics of that announcement was or that tweet. i do know that there's some deep skepticism about senator klobuchar's position around this, given her own past record,

as a prosecutor and her reluctance to prosecute police officers who engaged in misconduct -- i'm actually baffled and maybe that's the reason why ag ellison is delaying. i just don't get it. >> a mystery. we're going to add into our hunt for clues, our conversation, maya wily, maya, you and i think last talked the earlieriest days, it felt like 11 years ago, it was eight days ago, we're expected to hear upgraded charges against officer chauvin and charges of aiding and abetting murder from the three other police officers. your first thoughts? >> it's good to be with you at this suspicious moment, nicolle, i think this is a very important

one. certainly one we expected when the governor took this prosecution and put it in the hands of the attorney general keith ellison. who is known as a progressive. he's known as someone who's an advocate for civil rights and cares deeply about fair and safe policing and certainly the attorney general's indications were that they were going to look at increasing the charges against officer chauvin and also more charges so that all the officers might face charges. that was something that we expected, certainly based on what we saw just in that horrific video where we watched a human being have the life literally, literally pressed out of him. you know, all i can say is, it's an emotional moment. it's impossible to sit here and not say that. the importance of this moment to

the country and as a symbol that the -- that the long arm of the law will reach all the way into the police precinct is one that has incredible importance not just in this moment but because we have a history in this country of, you know, justice not being needed out when certain americans are the victims. this is also an important moment to say and to see that justice can indeed be blind if the uniform is blue. >> but, maya, how do we make sure that it's not just a symbol, there are protests all over the world, the world is watching, how do we make sure people do the right thing when no one's watching? >> you're right. and i would -- i think what we need to understand is as we're looking at these images and as

we're waiting for this announcement that, you know, justice is not a genie that can you stick back in a bottle and cork. these protests that we're seeing across the country because of george floyd are not only because of george floyd, there also because of tamir rice, ahmaud arbery, eric garner, and breonna taylor. and the call for meaningful change, in new york city, we're seeing change for criminalizing chokehold. this is something that to continue. it's a symbolic moment, it's not an end that protesters i think they're going to continue to call upon us all to make. >> maya, somewhat to that point, i think members of the news media are all going to be asking

the same questions today of a lot of different folks looking for answer that celebrates the upping of one charge and the placement of three others. they may be disappointed to hear a more tempered answer, is that in light of what has traditionally been a cascade of disappointment and a low conviction rate in these kind of crimes? >> absolutely, brian. i mean, i think the public knows that in many of the cases in which police officers are charged and those charges are rare, but within they happen, it's incredibly difficult to see a conviction, you know, we've been reminded of rodney king's vicious beating caught on video in 1992, that was -- we saw a lack of justice in that case.

that's something that we have seen far too frequently and eric garner, you know, we didn't see a grand jury come out with indictments against officer pante panteloa. and that is why, you know, while i think this is an important and symbolic moment, it's a moment and why we're going to see advocates, we're going to see the country continue to say, what are we going to do to ensure that we see justice done, not just charges brought? >> and what about -- what about the government's systems, federal, state, local, the work that needs to be done to achieve what you were just talking about, we're a long way in a lot of places from that. >> one thing that has been so

important about demonstrations and important about the fact that we've had demonstrations and advocacy over the past several years and you know particularly beginning with -- not beginning with but really picking one trayvon martin's killer by george zimmerman, there has been organized demands, both around police budgets, re-examining how resources are expaended. an increase in police head count in cities in which we have seen radically drop in crime rates as we have seen police budgets increase, why are we not allocating resources to crime prevention, affordable housing, social services that communities need, those questions and the proposals in local areas are coming, we've also seen them at the federal level with hakeem

jeffries' legislation on chokeholds. and frankly, at the state level, the reality is, we need law change at the federal level, state and at the local level. >> okay, everyone, it's 4:00 in the east, no one is going anywhere. we're all awaiting a major announcement expected at any moment from minnesota attorney general keith ellison, as new charges are filed in the case surrounding the tragic death of george floyd. the charge against derek chauvin increased to second degree murder. he was the officer recorded kneeling on floyd's neck, and new charges of aiding and abetting for three other police officers at that fatal scene. shown here. make nothing effort to stop chauvin or protect floyd, even though he was already in handcuffs at the time of the incident, even as he became unresponsive, even as bystanders

pleaded for his life. as we await for an appearance from attorney general ellison, the family said, this is a bittersweet moment for the family of george floyd. we are deeply gratified that attorney general keith ellison took decisive action in this case, arresting and charging all the officers involved in george floyd's death and upgrading the charge against derek chauvin to felony second-degree murder. this is a significant step forward on the road to justice. their hope, their grief, their pleas for justice reverberating now across the country and around the world. especially in minneapolis, where a large crowd remains gather at the place where george floyd has lost his life. here to talk about it all msnbc legal analyst maya wiley, the

director of the black law enforcement alliance and retired nypd detect mark claxton and neal katyal. let's listen in. >> i want to begin with a reminder and that is we're here today because george floyd is not here. he should be here. he should be alive. but he's not. about nine days ago, the world watch george floyd utter his very last words "i can't breathe" as he pled for his life. he called for his mama and cried out don't kill me. just two days ago when i became the lead prosecutor in the murder of mr. floyd i asked for time to thorough review all the evidence in the case and we looked the evidence available and the investigation is ongoing at this time. i also said that i know it's asking a lot of people to give

us time particularly people who have suffered for decades of injustice to be patient and yet we did get that time and together, a very strong experienced team, which included mike freeman, his team and my team, we reviewed the evidence and we have something to announce today. before i announce it, i want to say, thank you for the patience of the people who have shown me and our entire team in pursuit of justice and i'm here to make these announcements right now. first, today, i filed an amended complaint that charges -- the charges of former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin with murder in the second degree of the death of george floyd. the everyday available to us supports the stronger charge of

second degree murder. we consulted with each other and we agree. second, today, arrest war rants were issued for former minnesota police officers jay a. king, thomas layne. finally, i'd like to announce that today, michael freeman and i filed a complaint that charges, police officer king, layne and tow with aaiding and abetting in second degree. i strongly believe these developments are in interest of justice for mr. floyd, his family, our community and our state. i'm the lead prosecutor in this case. i'll be speaking and addressing the public and but this is absolutely a team effort. we're working together in this case with only one goal, justice for george floyd.

i want to thank first hennepin attorney general mike freeman. i also want to thank county attorney's staff who have cooperated and worked together with my staff and the investigating officers from the very minute this case started. i also want to thank superintendent drew evans of the bureau of criminal apprehension for the care and speed in which they're conducting this investigation and i want to thank especially u.s. attorney general eric mcdonald who are conducting a parallel federal color of law investigation. i have heard directly from the leadership of the department of justice, there's full support

for her leadership in pursuit of her investigation and as she put et it so well, one team, one goal, one mission. i agree 100%. as i said earlier, i think mr. floyd's family, i think -- i can speak for mr. freeman and i jointly thank them along with u.s. attorney mcdonald, we thank the community for their patience and allowing us the time and space we need over these days. as it's so hard to do, i now ask for continued patience. this case continues to be under investigation. we will not be able to say very much publicly about the investigation. except that we encourage anyone who believes that they have everyday in this case to come forward and to be cooperative with the investigation.

as we develop the case for prosecution, which will also not be able to say very much publ publicly about it, because our job is to seek evidence and conviction. so, ask for your patience again while we limit our public comments in pursuit of justice. i also ask for your trust that we are pursuing justice by every legal and ethical means available to us. i also want to add a word of caution -- the investigation is ongoing. we're following the path of all of the evidence. wherever it leads, we're investigating as quickly as we can because speed is important. we're also investigating as thoroughly as we can because the incomplete and thorough is important but it takes time. the reason thoroughness is important because every single

link in the prosecutorial change must be strong. it needs to be strong because trying this case will not be an easy thing. winning a conviction will be hard. in fact, county attorney freeman is the only prosecutor in the state of minnesota who has successfully convicted a police officer for murder. and he can tell you that it's hard. i say that -- i say this not because we doubt our resources or our ability, in fact we're confident in what we're doing, but history does show that there are clear challenges here and we are going to be working very hard and relying on each other and our investigative partners and the community to support that endeavor. to the floyd family, to our beloved community and to everyone who's watching, i say -- george floyd mattered.

he was loved. his family was important. his life had value. and we'll seek justice for him and for you and we'll find it. the very fact that we have filed these charges means that we believe in them. but what i don't believe is one successful prosecution can rectify the hurt and lost that so many people feel. the solution to that pain will be slow and difficult work of constructing justice and fairness in our society. that work is the work of all of us. we don't need to wait for the resolution and investigation of this case to start that work. we need citizens, neighbors, leaders in government and in faith communities, civil and human rights activists to begin rewriting rules for a just society now. we need new policy and legislation and ways of thinking at the municipal, state and

federal levels, the world of our arts and entertainment could use their cultural influence to inspire change we need. there's a role for all who dream of a justice that we haven't yet experienced. and the final analysis, a protest can shake a tree and can make the fruit fall down but after that fruit is in reach, collecting it and making the jam must follow. the demonstrations and the protests are dramatic and necessary but building just institutions is more of a slow grind but equally important. and we have to begin that work as well. we need your energy and we need everyone's help right now. thank you very much. we'll take a few questions. yes, ma'am.

[ inaudible ] . >> we believe we have a duty to charge the charges that fit the fact this case. and so, our concern is to put all the energy we can into putting forth the strongest case we can without fear or favor or anyone or anything. these charges are based on the facts that we have found and we'll pursue them.

>> the hennepin county attorney did an excellent job by gathering facts and has worked cooperatively with us every single step of the way. we have been consulting with each other on these charges. we believe these are the right charges. mike freeman and i signed the complaint for these additional charges. that's what we're doing. >> the whole nation, indeed the whole world have been waiting for the announcement from your office, can you describe the process in your deliberation? >> unfortunately, i can't delve into our dlib ra tif process. i'll tell you generally is, we gathered all of the facts that we could, we reviewed the

criminal statutes, we looked at case law and we arrived at these laws. we believe they're justified by the facts and the law. >> what impact does it have on them, this decision? >>. the pursuit of justice is always good and right and i want to signal to them that we hope that they continue to raise the cause of justice but do it in a peaceful manner, it's their right to express themselves and with that i'll say they should continue in their own communities, to get together, to build just community relationships, we need the faith community to be involved. we need arts and entertainment to inspire us toward justice. there's a lot more to do than just this case. we ask people to do that.

>> i want to thank you for asking that question, because part of my comments were to help set expectations in a realistic light. you know, in order to be thorough this is going to take months. and i don't know how many but it's better to make sure that we have a solid case, fully investigated, researched before we go to trial than to rush it. so it will take a while and i can't set a deadline on that. way in the back. >> attorney general the floyd family asked for a first degree murder charge, you decided to charge second degree murder, can you explain what that charge

means unintentional murder versus second degree intentional murder. >> according to minnesota law, you have to have premeditation and deliberation to charge first degree murder. second-degree murder you have to intend for death to be the result. for second degree felony murder, you have to intend the felony and then death be the result without necessarily having it be the intent. so that's -- that's the state of the law. the felony would be -- we would contend that george floyd was assaulted and that so that would be the underlining felony. >> accept any plea deals in this or do you expect all four to go to trial and secondly, when will the body camera footage be released? >> you know, i really don't have any idea of what the

negotiations or anything like that, that's simply way too early to begin that conversation. at this point, we're preparing to try this case, if something else happens along the way we'll see. but at this point, we don't have any -- we tonigdon't have any p in that direction. >> body camera footage? >> i don't have anything to report right now. we're focused on investigating the case. at this time, i'll consult with the bca and other partners on the case and we'll come to a conclusion about that. again, we believe in transparency but we also believe in a thorough investigation most importantly. >> have the three officers been taken into custody? >> i'll allow mr. drew evans to address that issue. >> good afternoon. i'm the superintendent of the minnesota bureau of criminal apprehension.

we're in the process of taking the officers into custody. one is in custody and the other two we're in the process of taking into custody. >> have the police officers provided any statements to your investigators? >> i will -- as the attorney general said, we can't speak about all the details of the case other than what's in the complaint at this time. we have teams of investigators from the bca jointly investigating this with the fbi trying to obtain all information in this case. i'll tell you that's a regular course of all of our investigations to attempt interviews with all of the officers. we have interviewed numerous individuals in this case and additional information will be provided as we move forward. >> at this time, i believe we

have the team to complete this work. i'd like to just introduce david boyd as well, deputy at the attorney general's office, he heads the criminal division and he has the lawyers to get this done and also we have some experienced lawyers, the hennepin county attorney's office, we're working on this together. >> how did that factor into your decision as well as the protests -- >> i could say that i did not allow public pressure to impact our decisionmaking process. i was prepared to withstand whatever calls came, we made these decisions based on the

facts that we have gathered since this matter occurred and made the charges based on the law that we think applies. but that's my answer. >> it's going great, i spent a lot of time in hennepin county when i was a trial lawyer myself. i know all the lawyers there, i respect them all. we're going on fine. can i introduce you? >> okay. >> andy lefevre, first deputy for mike freeman. >> i'm going to let the people who prosecute cases every single day to prosecute this case and now it's true that i tried a lot

of cases and i've tried homicide cases but on the other side of the courtroom. the people who know how to prosecute, i'll let them do that work. >> you know, i think it helps me anticipate what some of the attacks on our case might be. >> trial here -- >> i see no reason why we can't get a fair trial here. >> the charges that were just filed, if my math is correct, do the three officers now face the potential maximum sentence of mr. chauvin? >> yes. well -- >> apologize if you've addressed this before but does your involvement in this case now put you on the sidelines in terms of the legislative process and

working for police reform, legislation. >> no. i'll continue to do all the duties that i have, which involve legislative, we have been very active in this civil space, we've been active in representing state ae agencies. i'll continue to supervise that. i feel very confident in it because i have excellent professionals who are going to be focused on this like a laser beam every single day. >> can you take us into the room when the decision was made, when you first -- >> i feel a tremendous sense of weight. i feel that -- i feel this is a very serious moment. i can honestly tell you, i take no joy in this but i do feel a

tremendous amount of duty and responsibility 378. >> i don't know the answer to that question. maybe -- >> e i'd just answer that in terms, that's left up to the various sheriffs we work with on this. the best place for everybody and everything that's going in the twin cities. again, those decisions are based on the analysis of the sheriff and they work closely with the department of corrections to make sure they have everybody in their custody, where they should be based on safety assessments. >> thank you all very much. i will say to them that i

pledged and i promise to hold everyone accountable for the behavior that we can prove in the court and that if i don't charge it it means we didn't have the facts to do that, so i'll simply say that as the people who are legal professionals, professional prosecutors we're taking our duty seriously and we are working with the people who gather the facts and this is -- and we have done -- we have done the work we believe is possible, ethical and right. yeah, look, let me be honest here, our country has had, underprosecuted these matters in minnesota and throughout the country. and so, i think the trust is the

result of historically not holding people who are public guardians accountable for their behavior in situations where we should have. so that i think is the origin of the trust problem. but we can't -- we can't control the past, all we can do is take the case that we have in front of us right now and do our good faith best to bring justice to this situation and we will. >> we have been listening to minnesota attorney general keith ellison. who announced an upgraded murder charge against officer derek chauvin from third degree murder to second degree murder. also announcing that the state has brought felony charges against the three police officers, one of them is already in custody. attorney general ellison saying to the floyd family, george

floyd mattered. the attorney general making his remarks as large and peaceful protests are under way -- one on the screen now in minneapolis at the site of where george floyd was killed. also under way on the streets of boston, west hollywood and new york city. we're joined for our coverage by msnbc legal analyst maya wiley and mark claxton and neal katyal. first on the all, some of the most interesting things he said there was at the end, all the benefit, i've learned this from my colleagues of getting that one last question in, he leaned in and said these cases have been underprosecuted. your thoughts on that comment? and what does that mean for these four cases? >> these cases have been generally underprosecuted. i think he's exactly right and

at a sad moment in time, news today -- the underprosecution in this case, they charged officer chauvin third degree murder. today, those charges were upgraded to second degree murder. second degree is a much more serious offense. up to 40 years in prison for it. third degree murder, those charges were very vulnerable, likely to be tossed out, the defense in minnesota to third degree murder is bizarrely -- i intended to harm this specific victim not randomly intended harm in general, that's a defense, the third degree murder. the second degree murder captures this. the charges of the other three, they just stood by and did nothing. it's a bit of a shame that it took so long for these charges to develop but kind of like

jodie foster's movie "the accused" when you have people standing by and doing nothing, what made it worse, these officers were sworn to protect us, sworn to protect floyd and they did nothing and these charges today go after those three and i think that's huge. >> neal katyal, something i keep asking, the world is watching, there are protests on the streets of paris, in more than a hundred american cities since george floyd's death just over a week ago, the world is watching, how do we know that the right charges are brought in a timely manner when no one's watching? >> the charges i think are a good first step. what the attorney general said at the end, charges are one thing, we have to have the slow process of rebuilding our institutions and demonstrating

trust and faith and certainly, you know, this all didn't start with donald trump, police brutality against afric african-americans go back to the antibellum era. but this president of course poured kerosene on it and aided by a bunch of local officials and i think to answer your question, nicolle, what can we do? the most important thing we can do is, vote and demand reform and accountability. there's a reason why last night, steve king was crying in his white sheets and has to do with the fact that people voted. >> mark claxton, this is your work and your expertise, your thoughts on the cases and the conversation neal and i just started. >> well, it's clearly this announcement by attorney general ellison is a major and consequential announcement, it's undoubtedly moving forward,

we'll probably find out that there was some additional eyewitness statements, witness videos, witness audio that perhaps we haven't seen yet and quite possibly some additional information that came as a result of the body cameras that one of the journalists asked about it. that's one component. i think it was a very sobering announcement, because he was careful to indicate that we have to be realistic in our expectations and he tempered down some of the expectations because history is clear about the difficulties and the charges you have when you're trying to prosecute police officers in the course of their duties. third, he did something that's most significant and neal referenced this, he charged interested parties to come up and be part of the solution moving guard, don't rely on these singular incidents or

singular episodes, he recognized there's a need for a wholistic improvement. a need for reform. >> mark, i imagine that it's not just the folks out demonstrating, not just the people covering this that are watching attorney general ellison's charges and his decisions closely, i imagine most police officers and police departments are watching closely, what would have been thing stood out for people running police departments and trying to do right by their officers and the communities they serve? >> if a attorney general ellison's movements thus far are any indication of a larger movement then police departments across the nation should be prepared for some modifications

they've have conducted themselves. listen, reform is in the air. and i think it would be wise, instead of us having the commander in chief, we have provocateur in chief. i think it's undeniable that departments across the nation are paying special attention and preparing for some level of reform. the question is, how wide, how extensive will that be? >> maya, mark calls him the provocateur and neal talked about pouring kerosene on the fire. donald trump at this hour has militarized and federalized the police officer that's charged with what have been largely

peaceful protests in washington, d.c., these seem like, i'm a california girl, i always use an earthquake reference, it seems like the tech tonic plates against the san andreas fault, that an eruption could be imminent. what do you make of these forces colliding? >> i think what's so important about attorney general ellison's announcement, one, he made a very clear concise attempt to say, on law enforcement we all have to be on the same side. while he has essentially leveled a critique against the district attorneys of his own state by saying, these are underprosecuted. at the same time, he's saying, we're working together and he called in his partnership with the federal government as well. with the department of justice.

this was as we were watching leadership that said we must work together in a fair, neutral way, but that carries the weight of justice with it. and the thing we've heard from donald trump exactly the opposite. i mean, i would actually use stronger language and call him the tyrant in chief, because his attempts to actually draw a false equivalency and suggest that the problem we were facing in this country was that a quote/unquote, a far left extremist were somehow, you know, blowing up our democracy when the reality was, the fbi has not -- has just said we haven't found the evidence that there's some far-left extremist elements, what we have angry citizens and we certainly have some that go too far.

his suggestion, to be seen as strong and powerful is more important than the constitution of the united states, is more important than allowing local law enforcement to be local law enforcement, what we were seeing in keith ellison, this is how it works at state and local level and we'll work in partnership with federal government when you allow it, but as a country, as residents it's our job to say, yeah, you're not allowed to treat us the way we saw demonstrators being treated in washington because he needed a press conference and some photo opportunity. our democracy is not a photo opportunity and donald trump must not be unchecked in his attempts to break down this critically important wall we have between our military and domestic law enforcements because that's tyrannical. >> maya, you brought us to the

other headlines of the day the real rupture between donald trump and the head of the pentagon, secretary esper. but before i make that turn, i want to ask you about the man and the grieving family at the center of all of this, attorney general ellison said that george floyd is basically the heart of all of this. now, this work will go on and in the last 12 hours, we've seen his daughter, we've heard from his son, nothing -- nothing brings back a loved one, but where do you the strength and the grace and terrence floyd a couple days ago was at the site where his brother lost his life underneath police officer derek chauvin. where do you think the strength comes from to in some ways be more of a leader than our current president? >> you know, this is something that we see day in and day out.

year in, year out. generation in, generation out. and the black community, this is a common occurrence. and we are constantly calling upon the nation to see and recognize the pain of injustice and unfortunately, the very thing that happened to george floyd are the things that we in our families are talking to our children about every single day. my daughter goes out to protest, i'm telling her how to care for herself. how to be careful for herself. i'm having her have her friends write my cell phone number on their arms, th we have carried for generations and we'll keep carrying it for the desire for democracy. right now, my colleague the

rev al sharpton is speaking with the attorney for george floyd. let's listen in. >> to the best interest of the public, if the attorney general had the case, it's been his acumen as an attorney that's guided more cases than anyone i know, that's why we call him the attorney general for black america, some lawyers want civil suits, we work with ben because he wants civil rights and today's arrests, though we may have wanted murder one, is indicative of his skill, first step toward getting some justice for this family. tomorrow at the funeral, we'll lay out a national mood that will deal with all of the cases and how we're going to go forward with this case, as a lynch pin for new police

accountability. before ben speaks, the son of george floyd who is the victim here, is going to make a statement and then attorney crump. quincy mason. i'm happy that all officers have been arrested. my father didn't deserve to be killed like this. we deserve justice. that's all i have to say. >> attorney crump? >> well said, quincy. we want justice. that really is the statement that people all across america are marching and saying, we want justice, we want equal justice, and i'm very grateful to reverend al sharpton for always answering the bell even when the media isn't around, when unarmed

black people are killed unnecessarily and unjustifiably, and senselessly, he and the national action network always answer the bell. eric garner said he couldn't breathe, it was reverend al sharpton who made sure even when people left and went to ferguson, michael brown, it was reverend al who was still with eric garner's family because people forget they're killing black people so quick that you can't keep up. and so, we're here proud that this family's call for justice was heard by so many, so many people, i mean, not just in

minnesota but in new york, in houston, texas, in australia, i mean, everywhere, people have heard this call for justice for george floyd. i do want to acknowledge the family's gratification to attorney general keith ellison. we obviously were disappointed when the previous district attorney said things like, there may not be evidence to support a crime. that was devastating to this family. because we had all sort of video. and reverend al, we couldn't unsee the video -- i mean, we saw it. you all saw it. one of the witnesses donald williams said that he watched

firsthand george floyd die. and he's the voice you hear on the tape saying, y'all are going to kill him. he literally said that it was like watching george suffocate compared to a fish out of water. the fish stiffens up and then -- the fish never moves again. he said he witnessed that. but we all witnessed it, too. and because we witnessed it, we got emotional. and i pray that these emotions will have everybody act so attorney general keith ellison, the family's grateful he has a long track record, reverend al has been a champion for civil

rights, he said it best today. he swore an oath to do justice. he didn't say just to do justice for black people, just to do justice for white people, attorney general keith ellison said he swore an oath to do justice and as quincy said, that's all we want. plain and simple. we just want justice. nothing more. nothing less. so as his family prepares to memorialize george floyd tomorr tomorrow, where reverend al sharpton will deliver the eulogy and there will be a lot of people really emotional, we don't want you to lose that emotion as the days and months go by.

we can't celebrate because an arrest is not a conviction. and we want justice. you know, we don't want partial justice, we want whole justice. so i'm grateful with all the lawyers who are working with me on this matter. attorney tony romanucci, chris stewart, we're making an united front. this family is united in their quest for justice because we believe this is the tipping point in america, where we finally address something that they don't like to talk about, reverend al, there are two justice systems in america, one for black america and one for white america. when there should be equal justice for the united states of america. and so, all these -- i'll say a

quick word before i turn back over to reverend al. the autopsy conducted by the family, the director of pathology and forensic science at, they concluded that the cause of death was mechanical asphyxia because of the knee on his neck and the two knees on his back that were pressing down on his lungs, not allowing it to contract could -- so air couldn't flow. the legal cause of death based on the autopsy by the family was homicide. clear and to the point.

reverend al, they said the emt record show and they found this based on the autopsy, when they arrived the male patient was unresponsive and pulseless. they put him in the ambulance and they tried to use the lucas devices to shock him, he still remained unchanged, his condition. when they delivered him to the emergency room at the hospital, he was still unresponsive a. therefore, they have concluded that the ambulance was the hearse for george floyd and that's why we demand justice because one of the officers said that i don't think he has a pulse, maybe we should turn him on the side and the audio, reverend al from the police body

cam, officer derek chauvin said, no, we'll keep in this position. that's intent. he intended not to help a man who did not have a pulse, even though police officers by their very own definition are first responders. he was handcuffed with his face down, without a fulspulse, and kept it there for additional three minutes. this is quincy's father. to many of you he's a #. >> reverend al. >>ville more of what said in the opening statement. i think it's a step, but it's going to be a long haul, we must turn this moment into a movement, i'll be making specific announcements tomorrow during the eulogy about how

we're going to mobilize, we must remember in the last 30 days, we've seen ahmaud arbery killed in georgia, we've seen breonna taylor killed in louisville, kentucky. and then now, we're here, with the case here with george. and clearly george floyd, a spark that people are coming out at the risk of their lives during a pandemic to march. the difference about this, people have had enough, this combination of a trio of racism, forced people out of their comfort zone and i think it's time to mobilize nationally and answer this and we'll be laying that out tomorrow. any questions? >> please identify your media outlets. >> i'm with the nbc affiliate

here. you talked about intent, mr. crump, does that mean do you still think it should be first degree murder -- >> the family has always wanted first degree murder. he wanted him to the full extent of the law, whatever george floyd would have been charged with had the roles been reversed, that's what the family has asked for. attorney general keith ellison informed this family that the investigation is ongoing. and if there's everyday that they discover that supports the conclusion of first degree murder, that they will charge it. so the family has never wavered. if only second degree is what attorney general ellison thinks

he can prove, then the family is relieved of that. they want the most. you heard him talk about the desireal's show to make sure man who killed his brother, the person he grew up with, slept in the same bed with, you can imagine how they will about losing their brother in this just unbelievable manner so yeah, the family wants the max. >> we have been listening to a press conference there for george floyd with our colleague but also the founder of the national action network. we're going to our reporter in minneapolis. how has the news of the new charges, the upgraded charge against officer shchauvin and t three charges against the other police officers, one already in

custody gone over there? >> very quickly. people learn quickly. somebody read it on a phone and you heard cheers and chants that came about. this is what people have been saying people have been coming here, throughout the twin city region have been calling for. yesterday, there was a protest of 2 to 3,000 people at the state capital. they were happy to see this, but had a warning. one of the chants was we want to conviction. they see this as a first step. a first step that's overdue in many of their mindings. they thought this should have come a week ago. a first step that's overdue, but they know it's going to be a long process. that's something keith ellison when he announced these charges, something he warned about. saying a trial isn't going to be easiment a process that goes on for a long time, but if you listen to people here, the family, this is a first step in the justice they have been seeking.

>> thank you so much, my friend. i want to come to you, neil, and as we have been listening to the news conferences, we've been broadcasting pictures of sochl the largest protests i've seen in a long time on the streets of philadelphia. atlanta. southern california. i think it's in west hollywood today. at least right now. the streets of new york city, boston b ben. largely peaceful protests. these are organic. these are from grief. from rage. from passion and undiminished. these pictures, these americans, now marching after being threatened by this president who has threatened to militarize the police at this r very hour in our country's history. what do you make of that just

dramatic difference in world views, neil? >> it's not just threatened by this president, but by this attorney general. as i was listening to maya, who's a national treasure, to listen to her, i always learn so much, but ifls thinking of the fact that both of us have worked for various attorneys general in our lifetimes. of the united states, who go and pros kus these cases, use the civil rights division and who protect try to protect the american public then you have this attorney general who has not done any of that. if anything, he's -- the reaction and has stood on the sidelines and you know attorney general ellison is the attorney general of a state, but he's acting like the attorney general of the united states right now. prosecutoring and elevating the charges against that officer and the other three who weren't just

bystanders, but people who actively aided and abetted this horrible murder that we saw on video. >> maya, i'll second your thoughts as these images fill the screen for a ninth day. americans, old, young, all races, all genders, taking to the trestreets. peaceful protests from coast to coast. >> i have nothing but love and respect for neal and you and brian. i will say that the national treasures in my view are all those people you see in those images who are using the constitution of the united states to defend the greatest aspirations of this country, which is for truth, for

fairness, for justice and what we have always known and learn over and over again in this country, is that those things must be protected. while they are our expectation of our country, they don't remain the reality of our country or don't calm u the reality of our country unless we fight for them. i don't think we've been in anymore important moment than now because of the very things you've pointed out about dlts because of what neal has said about the department of justice. this is the time where we have to ask our institutions of government to govern fairly and appropriately. >> mark, the last 12 hours, two presidents from opposite ends of the spectrum, former president bush and obama who's speaking in just a few minutes from now in the 5:00 p.m. hour, have both used their voices in a way they

don't often do to defend the rights of protests in america. what is the role and what are you seeing that gives you hope in these very human, up close interactions between police and protestors on the streets of so many american cities today? right now? so much over the course of the past several days that's really installed and that includes what we're seeing now on the screen and that is the peaceful demonstrations, the commitment of dedication and change. a better positioning, if you will. so i agree with what mr. johnson said. one thing to talk about it, quite another thing to actually be about it. i think many people who are involved in these protests, they're really about it and i'm grateful to be in a nation that supports that. >> i'm grateful to all of you

for letting me end this very emotional two hours on a positive note. you're all a gift to all of our viewers and to this host. thank you very much. that does it for our hour. thank you for letting us into your homes during these extraordinary times. our coverage continues with chuck todd after a quick break. if your gums bleed when you brush you may have gingivitis. and the clock could be ticking towards bad breath, receding gums and possibly tooth loss. help turn back the clock on gingivitis with parodontax. leave bleeding gums behind. parodontax. yes. neutrogena® ultra sheer. superior protection helps prevent early skin aging and skin cancer with a clean feel. it's the one. the best for your skin. ultra sheer. neutrogena®.

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welcome to wednesday. boy, we have an hour for you. i'm chuck todd continuing our b news coverage. former president obama will be speaking publicly for the first time since george floyd's death since the protests, the unrest, the ais arrest of the officer, derek chauvin, new