george floyd. this is north carolina. on the other side there are the protesters gathering in philadelphia at this hour. it is expected to be a dramatic move in the next couple of hours here in new york as well, in d.c. and across this country. good day, everyone, from msnbc world headquarters in new york it is high noon in the east. welcome to all of you to "weekend's with alex witt." that private memorial service for george floyd is taking place right now in raeford, north carolina, where floyd was born and where his sister stills live. an emotional crowd was outside when his casket arrived at the church. [ crowd chanting ] mourners broke into chants of "black power" and george floyd as they lined up to pay their respects. and some more voices of outrage

on the streets of englewood, new jersey. they demand an end to system ic racism and police brutality. >> his name is samuel. he was murdered here in englewood in 1998. police murdered him. my family stayed silent because my aunt was afraid of the brutality we would go through, us, the family. we stayed silent. no more silence. >> in buffalo, dozens of firefighters and law enforcement officers waited outside the county courthouse for the arraignment of two suspended officers as more jurisdictions move to hold police accountable. they're charged with second degree assault related to this disturbing moment there caught on cell phone video. look at that. a 75-year-old man shoved to the ground and no one came to his aid as he lay there bleeding.

this new body cam video was released by police in charlotte, north carolina, and it shows the moment police say someone tossed an explosive at officers last saturday night. they're hoping the video will lead them to a suspect. those are the headlines for you but now let's get to some of the reporters we'll go to for the latest from various locations. first we'll head to the nation's capital where thousands of people are expected to protest police brutality and racial inequality. officials believe this could be the largest protest in washington, d.c. yet and it comes after multiple days of peaceful demonstrations with no arrests. nbc's maura barrett is at the lincoln memorial for us. with a good day to you, talk about what you're seeing on the ground there. >> hey, alex, so, over the past half hour or so we really started to see crowds trickle

in. it's kind of unexpected how big exactly it's going to get but d.c. police and fire chief has estimated it could be in the tens of thousands if not more and so in anticipation of that, they've closed down all of the roads in the surrounding area. here at the lincoln memorial just down the mall from the white house and the washington monument, i'm going to step out of the shot so you can take a look at the crowd we're seeing so far. it's a large crowd of probably a couple hundred so far, pretty socially distant and diverse in race and age and people have signs that read black lives matter, no justice no peace, some read out the victims of police brutality. like you mentioned there haven't been arrested in the past couple of days so expecting this protest to be largely peaceful. but in recent days there has been a lot of drama back and forth between the d.c. mayor and the president about the presence of police here. there is a lot of private police, federal guards roaming the area here and the mayor just yesterday, of course, painted

that mural along the treat in front of the white house reading "black lives matter" so supporting the peaceful protests here in the nation's capital. this, of course, as george floyd's memorial going on and will be monitor the turnout throughout the day. >> i appreciate that. want to let our viewers know what they're seeing to the left of the screen is that previous video. those are the huge yellow letters, black lives matter. that is along 16th street as it rolls right into the front of the white house specifically lafayette square there. pretty extraordinary, that have been been completed in the last day or so. maura, thank you for keeping an eye on the memorial. we'll check in with you again. from there to new york city, officials are bracing for what is expected to be another large day of protests since george floyd's killing. nearly two weeks ago now. i'm joined by my colleague cori coffl cofflin. we know maybe de blasio has gotten a lot of blowback from

the acts of force. what about other public officials? what are you hearing from them? >> reporter: yeah, there's quite a bit of tension right now in new york city. not only for the mayor's action but he just had a press conference himself where he made some announcements regarding new york city and the state of new york and that talk about i'm joined by jermani williams. talk to us about what the governor told us which was specifically some changes for the agenda next week. he's talking about the say their name agenda talking about no false 911 call, no chokehold calls within the state of new york. better transparency for officers disciplined and more when it comes to investigating them and separate independent investigation through the attorney general's office. what did you make of his announcement today. >> i'm glad to hear the discussions going on. this should have been part of

the response for days now. instead of this curfew and additional police, people needed to hear what we're doing right now in this city and in this state to hold officers accountable and change the structure of bigotry, racism that are in all institutions this. is a good start. some of it is low hanging fruit. we have to go deeper so we want to see things like making sure the commissioner in the city is not just appointed by the mayor. we want to see an empowered ccib and want to make sure out of $5.6 billion in the nptd we can take out a billion instead of cutting all the youth services that we're cutting almost 40% every single youth job in the state while the governor is doing that he can say i'm not going to cut medicaid because medicaid is harming the same communities who are disproportionately affected by

covid. >> right. >> he refuses to acknowledge we have to raise revenue from the people who are wealthiest among us and presented a plan that's simply let's raise revenue on luxury yachts and luxury planes, he refused to do that so we have to go much deeper now. these are the things that are low hanging. if we have to do all of this just to get the low hanging, we have a problem. but i'm glad finally someone is presenting a plan and not just saying put in more police. >> reporter: these would be the first steps addressing the issues you mentioned needs to be the way forward every single day. >> absolutely. >> you talked about the budget. others have thrown out that the police department should possibly be defunded. what's your thought? >> we have a defunded police. that shouldn't be something that is something that's an amazing question. here in new york city, it's appoint $6 billion and what we've done is said that there's going to be fiscal pain and we all agree with that but we've

cut everything else except the police department. we've said we can't hire more counselors, we can't hire more firefighters. the only thing we can hire is more police. that's absurd. the division of community development is facing a 40% cut every single youth job, youth camp position instead of reimagining it has disappeared. you can't do that and keep a 5.6 -- the largest part of the budget after the doe intact. we have shown there's at least a billion dollars there that we can use and put on the things that redefine what public safety is. we have for too long subscribed to public safety as solely meaning and being created with policing in certain communities but what we know and what we've seen is that if we address so many of the other issues, the health disparity, the education disparities, the housing disparities, public safety looks a lot different. >> it goes hand in hand, right. it comes along with as you make those systematic changes.

>> absolutely and we've seen it happen. we have seen it happen in new york city which is why it hurts so much to have this mayor not even present a plan of what he's going to do address it. finally the governor is starting to do that. but it shouldn't take this long. as a matter of fact, none of these are new problems. >> right. >> so we should have a plan ready to go. here's what we're going to do. >> with our last few moments want to ask you speaking of the mayor, he said we need the curfew in place for public safety. what's your take on that and what do you want to tell the mayor. >> the governor and mayor have done this wrong from the beginning. approaches about police aggressiveness and laws that cause attention, they answered with more police aggressiveness and mores laws that cause attention. they should have responded to the protesters and allow people to express their anger and express their emotions. if you try to pen that in the way they did we'll see what will happen. >> we appreciate you being with us. that's all the time we have right now in this pressing issue. we'll send it back to you as we

get this protest under way at 1:00 in union square. >> thanks for keeping an eye and please thank mr. williams for that discussion. appreciate that. as the call for police reform intensifies across the country in minneapolis, the city council has voted unanimously to require officers to intervene rather any time they see unauthorized use of force by another cop and to ban police choke holes altogether. let's go to nbc's steve patterson on the ground for us from minneapolis. steve, this is a pretty significant step here. they're saying any time any cop sees another cop using too much force, you got to get involved. so how are protesters reacting? >> reporter: yeah, i mean no doubt about it, alex. you said it. this is a big deal. you know, nbc news specifically talking about choke holes. nbc news parsed the numbers not too long ago and found 44 instances of people being rendered unconscious in the minneapolis police department by

those choke holes since 2015. you know, speaking to protesters, i think you get a wide range. people we're speaking to, nobody is upset about it happening but i think the excitement level varies from people that see this as truly a step towards reform, something that is a sign of progress, the department can change to people that say, hold on, wait a minute. this wasn't a thing before it took this long? it took this much. it took a man dying on the street for reform on this level? so i think you get kind of a wide variance of ranks but i think the overall prevailing notion is that this is progress, that there are steps being taken towards ultimately what people hope is a much larger reformation of the department and its practices, my colleague, our colleague, shaq brewster spoke to protesters yesterday bit. i think you'll hear much of the same. here's what they said. >> i think they should be banned, you know, cause especially in this case it wasn't necessary. i mean, you know, maybe in some

extreme case, but chokeholds, no, no. >> i think it's one small step in the right direction. i think we need to do more and continue to move in a more positive direction. but banning chokeholds, excessive force, should have been done a long time ago. >> reporter: so you hear it there. a small step in the right direction. i think people are more excited about what this means for the floodgates being open to wider reform. the city council president has promised that, you know, she wants to dismantle the police department, take it apart. put it back together and have truly deeper form. the mayor has said they would like to join in on that. the state has said that. people will hold them to that. as well as convictions for these officer, not just charges but convictions. that is the path that protesters see to where we should be in all this. >> why shall see. okay, nbc's steve patterson, good to see you. right now mourners are lined number north carolina to pay their final respects to george floyd.

his body arrived there this morning for a public viewing before a second memorial service this afternoon. let's go to nbc's priscilla thompson live in raeford, north carolina. always good to see you. talk about what it is like there. what you are hearing from people, just sort of the tenor, the feeling of what's going on in ray ford. >> well, good to see you, as well. that viewing is actually under way here in this church behind me. and the casket is open so we've seen a lot of folks coming out, very emotional having to be physically consoled by the other folks that they're with and a very diverse crowd here in both race and age to visit the body and see it before the private memorial begins for the family but one thing that we've also noticed is as folks have left they have started to kind of gather out here by the street and we've seen groups come by on horseback and also on bikes to pay their respects to floyd with fists going up in the air and chants of no justice, no peace and things like that and we actually have one of those

bikers here, anthony here who is going to chat with us a little bit. so, anthony, you just came out of the view you but you came here with some of your friends on your bike. talk to me about why it was important to have that showing here. >> for me it was important because this is a national movement. so very few people can actually say i'm from north carolina and attend. so we decided to leave from charlotte this morning, come down and show our support in person. >> for those who don't know how far is charlotte from here. >> took us about two hours. two-hour ride. >> you know, i caught you as you were leaving the vigil here. talk to me a little bit about what it felt like to stand before the casket and see george floyd here today. >> it was moving. almost to the point of emotional. this tragedy has actually touched so many hearts and has made people have conversations that they've been avoiding for years. it's made people do some soul searching and see what side of justice am i really on so to

actually be able to be here, see the man that -- to a degree could say sacrificed his life for this, it's very moving. very moving. >> you know, what's the key message thaw want folks to take away from here today as they leave? >> my key message is today is good. showing support is good. march is good. all that is great but it takes action. the bible says faith without works is dead so you have to put in work after today. the work begins and that is when we'll see change. >> thank you, anthony. alex, we've heard that from a lost folks out here today encouraging folks to vote saying they want to see actual actionable change behind these services and what's happened here today, alex. >> you know what, it starts with exactly what anthony said to you, prix sill l.a. you have to ask yourself the question, what side of justice am i really on? that really spoke to me, very, very powerful. it should speak to everyone.

prix sill la, thank you. to the white house and nbc's monica alba. good morning to you. do we expect to hear from the president amid the protests there locally in d.c.? >> reporter: not at this time, alex. the white house has call what had is known as an early lid which means we don't anticipate any on camera movements or comments from the president. they did that about an hour ago so that shows you there are no plans for him to make remarks as we expect what could be the largest protest yet just beyond the white house grounds. you have seen that as the perimeter has expanded around the complex. you have this high fencing that now extends in every direction. we have more road closures than we ever have before and you have the national guard all around all the way down to the ellipse to the washington monument, lincoln memorial where maura was reporting in anticipation of the large crowds and haven't heard the president weigh in on that yet today though he has been very active on twitter. in the last 24 hours he has tweeted or retweeted more than

200 times, breaking any previous records on many issues but not this one yet and if you remember, of course, just one week ago, when you had these large gatherings outside the white house, that prompted secret service to move the president so -- ever so briefly to the bunker which he called was an inspection but out of safety. now that seems to not be an issue anymore given again such a large buffer we have around the president but can expect him maybe to comment on the crowds, that's something he usually will weigh in on. this is a president who has always discussed large crowds as something that maybe he will not necessarily want to acknowledge are coming out and protesting against him today and this is all after we heard him touting numbers on the economy yesterday in the rose garden but he hasn't taken questions specifically on systemic racism or police brutality or what the administration plans to do on that for the third time in three weeks, what was billed as a news conference, the president didn't take any questions from

reporters and he hasn't weighed in on some major stories of the day, the buffalo police department issue. we haven't heard reaction from the white house on that so all of those questions remain unanswered as, no, we don't expect to see the president in person today, alex, of course, he could continue to reach out on twitter as he so often does. >> okay, monica alba, thank you for monitoring all of it from the white house and twitter. the calls to action across this country, but what kind of action exactly? my conversation with the president of the naacp next.

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a large protest under way right now in london's parliament square. demonstrators knelt for a few minutes of silence before chanting black lives matter, similar protests are being held in four other uk cities. and the call for police reform is getting louder as the u.s. enters a second weekend of protests. [ crowd chanting "i can't breathe" ] [ crowd chanting "black lives

matter" ] [ crowd chanting "stop police brutality" ] >> getting a look at the scene in englewood, new jersey. it is just one of dozens of demonstrations being held nationwide this weekend and joining me is the president and ceo of the naacp, derrick johnson. derrick, big welcome to you. let's get into it. we have witnessed a number of protests against police brutality in the u.s. we had baltimore in 2015. we had ferguson in 2014. you know, i was living in l.a. all the way back in 1992. i remember well those riots around the rodney king beating and the abc luci solution of th officers getting off scot-free. what can be done to create lasting change so there will not be a need for more protest. >> if you look at the crowds this time compared to before, it is a much more diverse crowd, it's a much more engaged crowd and it's an opportunity to leverage the november election

to send a clear message that systemic problems of overpolicing in our african-american communities must be addressed with a federal policy approach. we need to remove qualified immunity. i'm looking at city by city, i'm getting reports and i'm recognizing that this is different. this is not what's been in the past. this is a part of the momentum to address the current political climate in this country, people are fed up with the message they're getting out of the white house, they're fed up with the inertia coming out of congress and now this is the moment, the momentum to move to november so we can get to a new congress to implement sweeping change to ensure that police in this country protect and serve as opposed to prey on too many black communities? so, derrick, police reform on a federal level, absolutely. but what about going down to the state and local level? what can be done there?

>> well, you know, we're seeing positive movement out of the state of new york. it is great that the governor has taken much of this on. he's agreeing with many of the points of the naacp. we have seen several local law enforcement agencies begin to assess their policies and, you know, basic steps like a person should not be put into a chokehold when they're not resisting. no one need ever be on a person's neck when they're not resisting. that will not fix the problem. we have too many agencies that feel as if that the police officers are under attack as opposed to understand that we are one community and police should be a part of the community and not create violence, particularly among black men. you know, this is a problem. i have to talk to my son to say, well in you're in certain area, be careful. not only your environment but law enforcement because at any given moment you could be a

victim of their aggression. >> which leads me to the conversations you've had stressing the importance of implementing citizen review boards, derrick. how would that help change the culture of police communities around this country and what kind of powers would citizen review boards be given to be effective? >> well, the significance of a citizen review board would be that you begin to separate out this concept that local district attorneys are part of the police force as opposed to the agency to hold police accountable. the citizen review board would only be effective if they're given investigative powers, subpoena power and the ability to bring an action forward through a legal system. but you have a citizen review board without any authority, any power is only window dressing so we've had that in several communities, you have to have a separation between law enforcement and those that hold

law enforcement accountable and right now our system is local d.a.s funded by police union funds who are in place and they never bring charges against police officers even in light of an abundance of evidence that we have a problem here. we have to separate this out so we can move forward. >> so a lot of these protests you will note certainly, derrick, that it's driven a lot by young people, but when we get into the politics of all this, the primaries, for example, we saw a pretty low turnout from voters under the age of 30, especially young voters of color. does the naacp have a plan on encouraging more people to get out and vote and vote as we get closer to the general election in november? >> that's completely our focus right now. it is about the november election. it is about engaging in voting. they may be registered to vote and could be young or middle age or old but have not voted in the last eight years or 12 years. it is about targeting areas

where we can make a change and our goal now is how do we funnel this energy towards november? i think the momentum there, i think the interest is there. it is incumbent upon the naacp but all of us to show if you want to fix this problem that we know has existed for years, it's about a policy change and policy change can only take place if you have policy makers in office, november is the start of that process. >> speaking of that, derrick, you said during a college roundtable on nbc's "meet the press" when asked about the naacp and how would you regroup were this president to be re-elected in november, you said, this nation not just the african-american community will not survive if there is a continuation of this administration. what did you mean by that? >> we are looking at the possibility that every institution in this country, our democracy, being completely

undermined. the rule of law. the norms that we have become accustomed to, the basic civility that should exist and how we progress as a nation. our economy has been bombed by this administration. the safety net of our health care security has been torpedoed by this administration. the level of whether it's incompetence or the lack of empathy and care for all of the citizens is simply not there. we cannot survive as a nation. we will not survive as a community if this administration remains in the white house. it is not partisan. it is reality. >> president and ceo of the naacp, derrick johnson, thank you very much. very sobering, those last words in particular. appreciate it. swift action to remove symbols of the confederacy, next.

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back now with some more breaking news, the protests are under way around this country as a look at 16th street in washington, d.c. the demonstrators are certainly gathering there. the mayor is ordering streets near the white house painted with that black lives matter mural. in philadelphia at this hour, large crowds already in place for today's planned demonstrations and then in buffalo, new york, some swift charges for two police officers involved in this disturbing viral video that shows an elderly man, 75 years ole, violently shoved to the ground and then left unattended. the erie county district attorney defended his decision to charge those officers. >> those who say and who are going to argue that i am grandstanding here by charging police officers, i've prosecuted six -- i said five last week, i forgot about one in hamburg. i've prosecuted six police officers in the past 3 1/2 years

for criminal violations. i'm not johnny-come-lately to the table here. i've been doing this since day one of my administration. >> and joining me now maya wiley, nbc legal analyst, professor at the new school. there's some disturbing aspects of it. first of all, the charges. what do you make of those? >> well, i honestly have not had time to review the charges themselves. i think there's no question that charges are appropriate based on what we saw in that video, that looked like an aggravated assault. it was uncalled for. it apparently this gentleman at least just by virtue of what you can see in the video was doing nothing to suggest that he was either a danger to public safety or the police officers themselves or that he had any intention of failing to or refusing to comply with directions. >> you know what, maya, as we've been speaking i've just gotten

an update. apparently these two officers were charged with second degree assault. it is a felony, both have pleaded not guilty. they are released without bail. they are scheduled to return to court on july 20 for a felony hearing. something else we're told for those, one of my writers watching the live event as those two police officers went into court for that hearing and then returned, there were a number of police officers and firefighters outside cheering them as they left the courthouse. now, i get the code of blue. i get supporting your brothers in arms with your firefighters and police officers. but the fact that this is all centered around a case of a 75-year-old man who gets knocked to the ground, subsequently bleeding from his ear with other police officers stepping past him as he is on the ground suffering. what does that say to you? >> this is a clarion call to all

americans to get in the streets and join protesters in my view because it absolutely reinforces the very reason we are seeing demonstrations day after day, night after night about the excessive force that police use and, frankly, frankly, the demonstration that police do not believe they should be held accountable for. that -- we heard from the police union yesterday that those police officers were taking direction from the supervisor. well, that's hard to believe. if it's true the problem is much deeper but even the perception that if a supervisors said keep people moving. you move forward and you see people moving that that is a green light for you to violently knock down a citizen who is just stopping to either ask you something or hand you something or even complain to you, but that lever of force is

absolutely unacceptable and let me just say the unspoken, this was a white elderly man. >> you read my mind. >> imagine what happens to people who are black and low income and in a high crime neighborhood. >> yes, absolutely. let's get to the other details that we're learning about those three officer, former officers, we should say at the scene of george floyd's death. one of those officers, that being j. alexander kueng had not yet completed his third full shift as a police officer when this happened, right? according to his attorney he told his fellow officers as they were detaining floyd, here's the quo, you shouldn't do that. there was another one of the officers, thomas lane who was working his fourth day as a full time officer when this incident happened. his attorney telling the court they're required to call chauvin, of course, derek chauvin, the officer charged with killing george floyd and had his knee on his neck, they're charged with calling him sir. he's got 20 years experience. what is my client supposed to do

but to follow what the training officer said is that aiding and abetting a crime. legal strategy here, the situation, the circumstances, what do you make of it all? >> i'm not surprised to see that legal strategy, frankly, alex. it is something a defense attorney will do in any case where they're trying to say my client did not support, aid or help this. my client was doing either what someone else told them was appropriate and they believed they had to listen to that person, not that they intentionally were supporting it or, you know, in this case that there's a suggestion in what we're hearing from the defense attorneys that my client was trying to interrupt it. my client was raising the questions. that was something mie client was trying to do. i think the way the prosecution is going to come out is say what that indicates he knew it was wrong and what he refused to do

is take action. and his training and he was fresh out of the academy, that means his training was up close and familiar and accessible to him. he can't say he forgot it is that that is not the way we were trained. if that's not the way we were taped that is not the thing i should stand and let happen. >> here's a little more of what the attorney for thomas lane had to say. let's take a listen together. >> no, i'm not claiming he was following orders. i'm claiming they thought what he was doing was right because he asked the training officer should we roll him over twice. you got to have criminal intent for second degree murder and, frankly, this is bull ble[ blee. >> the elevation of the murder charge, does that make the case more difficult to prosecute? >> no, actually there's very strong legal argument that i have heard both from professor

laurence tribe and from criminal lawyers who are familiar with minnesota law, remember, each state has its own laws on the books on crime that this actually makes it easier because essentially what you're say something it is unintentional murder. meaning there's an underlying felony to the murder. that underlying felony is aggravated assault. it's that we were violent. not that we intended to kill. that we were violent but that the natural outgrowth of our action that was completely foreseeable, particularly when you have a man on the ground telling you he can't breathe, begging for his life, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, that you knew that what you knew is that you were doing serious harm to him and it was not justified, so that means that the -- it becomes felony murder. basically you don't have to show intent. you just have to show they

showed the underlying crime which is assault. >> thank you, my friend. many symbols of the confederacy are coming down. this week the governor of virginia announced the controversial statue of robert e. lee will be removed from the state's capitol after weeks of protests. welcome. how are folks reacting to the removal? >> alex, it's been a busy week and, of course, all over the country as protests are ongoing. here in richmond, the former home of the confederacy, virginia holds a lot of history when we talk about oppression, they sigh into the conversations we're having today. the governor announced his department of general services to remove the statue behind me as soon as possible. it will then be moved into storage until the community can decide what they want to do with it. but i want to scale it back just a little bit because we've been having ongoing conversations for decades now but particularly in

the last three years, especially in virginia, you'll remember in 2017 the unite the right rally in charlottesville, virginia, was started over a debate whether or not to remove the statue of robert e. lee there as well. so in the past three years we've seen this conversation and this debate turning into if we should remove the statues when they should be removed and how they should come down and right now these protests against police brutality and violence against black people are ongoing and it's an important intersection of the two conversations, i actually spoke to the mayor heading the charge in removing the statue behind my. here's what he told me yesterday about why this is so important. >> i think this is the perfect time to look at our history and look at whether or not the symbols that represent the brutal and violent past of slavery and jim crow are also giving a proper look and right now in the city of richmond

we're doing that and it's long overdue. because, you know, we all know what this means this. is a watershed moment. >> reporter: and you heard lavar stoney say it is a watershed moment akin to the berlin wall coming down, it symbolizes so much of history to take these monuments down and richmond city council has decided unanimously just in the past couple hours, past couple of days to remove not only this but all monuments in the city. there are many of them, believe me. i was here for the past couple days and looking forward, the thing that we're keeping in mind is this july 1st deadline which is when the law changes in the state of virginia to allow different cities and localities to decide what they want to do with the confederate monuments and symbols in their state. we're keeping an eye on the deadline but mayor stoney told me he wouldn't be surprised if the statue was removed before that deadline so keeping an eye

on that in richmond. >> thank you. a look at the perspective there. might not see it for much longer. president obama calls it a sea change in the streets. what america thinks of the demonstrations. like way more vanities perfect for you. nice. way more unique fixtures and tiles. pairing. ♪ nice. way more top brands in sinks and faucets. way more ways to rule your renovation. nice! on any budget, with free shipping. wayfair. way more than furniture.

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like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. eliquis, the number one cardiologist-prescribed blood thinner. ask your doctor if eliquis is what's next for you. anguish in action. it's a politics nation special report with reverend al sharpton. watch for it at 6:00 eastern after a regular edition of "politics nation" here on msnbc. developing now a new poll giving a look at how the protests are reflecting on americans. the abc news/ipsos polls show nearly three-quarters of americans view the death of george floyd as the sign of an underlying racial injustice problem. more than 30 points higher than a similar question asked in an abc news/"washington post" poll shortly after the deaths of michael brown and eric garner in 2014. joining me now is msnbc political analyst sir lena

maxwell and kaneisha grant at howard university and author of "the great migration and the democratic party." ladies, good to see you. is this poll reflecting the impact of the nationwide protests or is there something about the systemic injustice about the attacks just like the one that killed george floyd not going to be tolerated ever again? is that the signal it's saying too? >> well, i've been thinking about why this moment feels so different than previous moments like in 2014 and ferguson and subsequent years where black lives matter would protest police brutality. it's happening under the umbrella of the global pandemic, alex, and i think a lot of americans, number one, you're quarantined with multiple generations from the same family, perhaps high school and

college students who are home and so you're actually having americans in a place where they're having real conversations about these systemic inequalities. i also would add that we have a pretend president and we do not have a leader in a moment when we are obviously dealing with a multitude of different crises that require somebody who is competent to lead us out of disaster. and i think that the combination of the pandemic happening, everybody being quarantined with a lot more time to think about where we have gone wrong, i think people are tired of it and, frankly, more people perhaps watch this terrible video because of those other circumstances. >> yeah, it spans generations and the racial divide. you see people of all ages and races out in these protests. kaneisha, to you, what do you think the future protests will look like? do you think the momentum and

energy will keep the pressure on until real reform happens? >> i certainly expect folk also continue to be out in the street to the point that zerlina made. we have these things on tape and have folks saying it's time to think about these issues anew. but then something else happens and we go back to work, our normal lives but covid has made it such we are at home for an extended period of time and have to think about these things so i expect folks will continue to be out in the streets until we get some real reform. until breonna taylor's murders are arrested at least. >> ahmaud arbery as well. there is an endless list of name, it seems, which is part of the tragedy. there is a "new york times" op-ed in which it is ask what had happens when it is the police who riot in the streets? he write, it is clear from news coverage as well as countless videos from protesters and bystanders, many police are using incriminate violence against anyone including the

peaceful majority of demonstrate whose happen to be in the streets. what does it say to americans that as mass protests are erupting over police brutality, this is how some, not all, officers have responded? >> i think it makes the point for the protesters pretty clear, alex. i think that we've always gone through this cycle and i think it's become so clear now that you cannot expect police to show up to a protest about the police being brutal towards citizens and people and human beings and expect them to neutralize that protest. the people are literally in the street saying, the police are being violent on television and we're all like, wow, the police are really violent. yes, that is why the people are in the street so it's important for us to look ahead beyond the fact that, you know, you need to remove the quote/unquote bad apples from police departments, i mean, that seems like an obvious first step, but beyond that looking forward, you need to make the systemic policy changes like the funding

structures for police departments and cities so more money is allocated towards education and resources in communities who need those resources as opposed to giving police g.i. joe equipment. >> kaneisha, i want to run by a couple more numbers from the poll. we have 66% of americans disapproving of the way this president is handling the response to the death of george floyd. ultimately is donald trump fueling the divide? >> absolutely he is fueling the divide. anybody who sits at their phone or at their desk and tweets about looting and shooting, who has been over the course of his entire presidency working to dismantle the credibility of news outlets so that when we see these things, we are -- people are questioning them and not taking them as true although they can see them with their own eye, it is seeking to expand the divide between people. he's not doing anything to bring us together or that signals he wants to hear from the american people about how to solve these

problems that are as old as the nation itself and point of fact as i mentioned a few moments ago, he is doing things that inflame tensions through his words, through his actions on black lives matter plaza the other day so, yes, absolutely, he is a problem in the situation. >> zerlina and kaneisha, thanks for weighing in. up next a common bond between protesters in the states and beyond our borders. liberty biberty- cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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a small ceremony held on omaha beach in normandy, france to honor those who died in the d-day landings. today is the 76th anniversary of the allied invasion that turned the tide of world war ii. it was a lonely remembrance with the covid pandemic keeping most veterans at home. thousands peacefully protesting in london. something we've seen around the globe. demonstrators across europe, asia and australia gathering in solidarity with protesters in the u.s. over the death of

george floyd. let's go to nbc's sara harmon joining us live from london. what is the protest like on that rainy day and what are you hearing from the people there? >> reporter: hi, alex. this started out as a peaceful protest, hows rallying in parliament square chanting black lives matter defying a government ban on large gatherings. as you can see just in the last 20 minutes here the sky has really opened up. it is now pouring rain, not as much to see behind me as there was 20 minutes ago. this has been an interesting day. we spoke with a young woman who told us about her own experience about racism. her name karina richards. here's what she told us. >> especially in terms of the u.k. we pretend the u.k. is innocent but the u.k. is definitely not innocent. i think it's high time that black people are able to live as

equally as anybody else. to be honest it really i think everyone is really engaged. i think it's heartening to see so many people of different races coming out to show solidarity. >> reporter: and, alex, that's the message we've heard from a lot of protesters. a mixture of anger at the racism they face and the police brutality they've seen in the united states, but also hope. i'm going to send it back to you in the studio. >> okay, sarah. got to tell you, impressive the numbers of people still out there despite the weather and provided us with impressive pictures of those really enormous crowds we've been watching as well during the report. thank you, sarah harman. massive demonstrations in this country and perhaps one in the nation's capital. wever, theg you can be certain of. the men and women of the united states postal service. we're here to deliver cards and packages from loved ones and also deliver the peace of mind of knowing that essentials like prescriptions

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tools to manage your business from any device, anywhere. and a team of experts - here for you 24/7. we've always believed in the power of working together. that's why, when every connection counts... you can count on us. good day from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome, everyone, to "weekends with alex witt." we have a lot of pictures to show you. let's get to it. [ applause ]

>> applause right there as two police officers in buffalo left a courthouse in this last hour. those officers were charged today with felony assault against an elderly man during the protest there. we've been showing think video of a very disturbing incident right there, 75-year-old man shoved to the ground and left n unattended. meanwhile, protests are heating up. large crowds already gathering in washington, d.c. at the newly renamed black lives matter plaza near the white house. and this is what the city of philadelphia looks like at this hour. thousands gathering there for what is shaping up to be quite a large demonstration. also a private memorial service for george floyd taking place right now in raeford, north carolina, where he was born and where his sister still resides. we have a lot to follow for you and have reporters fanned out across the country. let's go to lafayette park just outside of the white house. we see hundreds of people gathering along that same block

right there, the d.c. mayor muriel bowser had painted with big yellow letters spelling out black lives matter. my colleague, nbc's garrett haake is live there for us. it is an extraordinary sight along the street, 16th street. extraordinary sight behind you. what is going on? >> alex, an extraordinary crowd is already starting to grow here in d.c. for perspective we have half a dozen different organized marches around different parts of d.c. they're only supposed to be getting started in the next hour, all of this as you see around me here in lafayette square at black lives matter plaza has happened organically. another packed demonstration, another entirely peaceful demonstration and a lot of the folks i talk to so far today told me this is, in fact, their first day coming out. folks have continued to be inspired to come out and join this protest to add their voice to it. not just over the death of george floyd, breonna taylor and so many others, but also

particularly here in d.c., the way the federal government has handled these protests here in d.c. is also galvanizing the city to come out and protest the treatment of the other protesters here. so we have seen the attitude and the vibe here turn over the last couple of days to almost a block party, a celebratory feeling in washington, d.c. you mentioned the mayor's painting on the streets. activists say that's a good start. they'd like to see more substantive change. but it is an opportunity to reclaim its streets and to use it to peaceably assemble to protest again. the police killings of unarmed black people and the way this president has handled that, alex. >> okay. garrett haake, job well done covering all of this this week in particular, my friend. thank you so much for that. of course, right now in d.c., the protesters are gathering for the second straight weekend in that city of demonstrations, officials are believing this will be the largest police brutality protest yet for the city. let's go to maura barrett at the

lincoln memorial for us. once again to you the protest, it looks like the crowd is getting bigger behind you. what are folks telling you? >> reporter: hey, alex, yeah, the crowds gathered and a lot larger than an hour ago, listening to several speakers who brought a message of hope and a lot of positive energy. right now the crowd, it seems to be moving towards pennsylvania avenue. they're chanting hands up, don't shoot, no justice no, peace and black lives matter. i want to bring in jerome, one of the protesters who came out today. >> hello. >> tell me what this type of crowd means to you to see this support and why you came out today. >> to see the support means a whole lot to me. to see the diversity amongst everyone, to see everyone come together, it's really for a positive cause. i understand a lot of people say all lives matter but black lives matter at the time right now because we need to focus on this. we're not speaking to everybody saying black lives matter. it's mostly to the police so

fired of black lives being taken by the police. we know there's crime all the time but as of right now let's come together and try to get rid of this problem we have. >> do you feel like this might inspire change? >> i'm hoping so. we already saw there was change that already came about when they upped the charges they had so maybe something we're doing is going right but i feel like looting and all that is not right but if we have a peaceful protest maybe we can get our message across. that's what i'm out here for. >> thanks so much, jerome. stay hydrated. it is a very hot and muggy day out here right now. we're not exactly sure what the plan is for all these thousands of people to move but some organizers tell me that as they move when they interact with stop lights they'll be laying down on the ground for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in memorial of how george floyd died and will follow this as they move across the nation's capital. >> that was a long, long time. thank you so much, maura. about two hours from now we have a private memorial service that will get under way in a

north caroli north carolina church for the family of george floyd. mourners lining up all morning paying their respects during a public viewing period. nbc's priscilla thompson is joining us from raeford, north carolina. so i know you've had a lot of people be emotional. so many even overcome with their grief there, priscilla. what are you hearing from them in terms of folks being able to give a meaningful final good-bye? >> yeah, alex, that's definitely something that is important to folks and they actually have just announced that the public view something going to be wrapping up so they're trying to move folks away from the church out onto the street to make their exit. there are still folks out here sort of just kind of hanging out and you get the sense that while, yes, people are mourning, people are emotional. there's also a mood of empowerment. almost a celebration of his life and coming together of communities to demand justice. i will say one thing that is striking me and you can probably hear him asking them to clear the parking lot because the family is coming here in a

little bit for the private ceremony but one thing that struck me is the amount of parents that have come with their parents and one woman who is german brought her young boys and she told me i wanted them to see what racism looks like so that when they grow up they don't perpetuate this cycle and i thought that was really powerful but we're also seeing that there are some folks who actually didn't feel comfortable bringing their children here today and, andrea, you have a 15-year-old son, right. you decided thought to bring him today. why? >> i decided not to bring him today because he's a young black man in america and having him to come here and see mr. floyd, i didn't though how that would affect him psychologically because all the things that he has to deal with every day as being a black man in america is hard. i didn't want him to have to see this and not be able to deal with it. >> you decided to come out and i know you brought your daughter. talk to me a little about why it was important for you both to be

here. >> it was important for me to be here because i am a mother. i'm a mother of a son. i'm a mother of a daughter and i have nieces and nephews and that could have been any one of my children, right? there are countless others who couldn't come who have lost their sons to police brutality and i wanted to stand in that gap for them and say, hey, your child has not been forgotten. you know, we have, you know -- floyd was not the first one but he should be the last and all the ones that came before him like the frank clarks of the world and the kenneth baileys of the world and the matt mccains of the world, the floyds, there should be no more. we can't go back to the way we were living before this happened. so i want those mothers to know that i stand in the gap for them. >> my last question for you, you just came out of here from viewing the body. standing before that casket, what's on your mind as you prepare to go back out into the

world today and your daily life? >> that we can't forget, like we can't go back like normally when stuff like this happens for two weeks you have an uproar and then it dies back down and people go back to their everyday lives. now is the time for us to have our power back. you know, we can have black power. we can have the things that we need to make us whole again. we just can't forget and i don't want mr. floyd to be forgotten and that's what i was thinking in my mind, he can't be forgotten and this can't be repeated because we cannot forget. >> thank you so much. and, you know, alex, really echoing what i've heard about folks wanting to make sure his death is not in vain. >> absolutely. okay. pretty powerful words from that mother standing in for the other mother, appreciate that, priscilla thompson. let's head to minnesota where another day of protest is planned outside the governor's mansion. shaq brewster on the ground for us. good to see you.

what is the latest from there? >> reporter: well, protests continue to happen in this twin city region. we saw yesterday thousands gathering in downtown minneapolis walk over six miles to the site where george floyd was killed and this morning you'll see a couple of hundred protesters outside of the governor's mansion and what they're calling for today is they want the governor to go back and through the attorney general go back and re-open cases from the past involving alleged police misconduct. they have several stories, their signs, advocating each individual name. someone who died. people who were beaten by the police and want them to go back and look into that. the governor promised he will use every tool to address what he called systemic practices and systemic discrimination. they want him to do this and take this step. one of the steps he took last week was that civil charge against the minneapolis police department, going back ten years, looking at the patterns and practices of that department. they want him to continue to do things like that, continue those measures and keep that force up and that's why they're outside

in front of the governor's office and governor's mansion today. >> you know what was extraordinary yesterday in minneapolis, shaq, the city council voting unanimously to require officers now to intervene any time they see unauthorized use of force by another cop. and then you have to ban police chokeholds altogether now. very significant step. what about the protesters? what are they saying about it? >> that's right. that's what they're pointing to when they're continuing to push and feel like they have some momentum. seeing small incremental changes and want to continue and keep the pressure on their leaders to effect that change and you mentioned the two big measures that the minneapolis city council passed. that ban on chokeholds and strangleholds but also requiring officers to intervene and report any unauthorized force. you know, i was with that group yesterday when they heard the news, someone came up on the speaker, thousands of people, someone said there's now a ban on choke holes here and people cheered. that's the change we were fighting for. that's why we're here. let's keep it going. listen to what a couple of

protesters told me yesterday. >> i think they should be banned. you know, 'cause especially in this case it wasn't necessary. i mean, you know, maybe in some extreme case, but chokeholds, no, no. >> i think it's one small step in the right direction. i think we need to do more and continue to move in a more positive direction. but banning chokeholds, excessive force, should have been done a long time ago. >> reporter: you continue to hear people say this is one step. it's an incremental change. someone said it was a good gesture n my conversations it reminds me of something you heard from malcolm x in an interview where he said, you know, if you stick a enough in my back nine inches and pull it out six that's not progress. progress is healing that original wound. what protesters are saying, yes, the charges for the officer, that's sticking the knife out a little bit. the changes, the ban on chokehold, that's progress but what they want to see is systemic change and they plan on continuing the pressure against their city leaders, against the

state leaders until they get that systemic change, the big changes they've been calling for. >> shaq brewster, thanks so much from st. paul. breaking news from western new york where a buffalo police officers have been charged with assault of the alleged shoving of that 75-year-old. both have pleaded not guilty. but a huge number of first responders including other policemen and firefighters standing outside that courthouse during the virtual arraignment showing support for those two officers. here's the erie county district attorney. >> all i'm doing is my job. my job is to prosecute those who violated the law, plain and simple. and i believe and i'm alleging that these two officers violated the law. >> and from there south to the crowds which are starting to gather in new york city for yet

another day of protests, let's go live to cory coffin standing by in union square for us. more activity certainly than when we last spoke with you. a huge crowd behind you. what are they saying, cori? >> reporter: we're joined by protesters and let's listen in. >> black lives. all men were created equal. all women were created equal. everyone was created equal. everything in between was created by god. and we all have a right to live and pursue life, liberty and happiness. [ applause ] >> reporter: you guys are listening in on john leading this protest in union square park. we're going to try to move a

little bit further away to give you a look at the scene. he is part of "the late show with stephen colbert." there are hundreds who gathered. hopefully you can see these live pictures as we move through the crowd. signs around us, calling for de blasio's resignation and calling for systemic change and changes in new york so let's give you a further look. you can see we've moved beyond much of the crowd. you can still see hundreds of people out here participating today, of course, as we know, alex, union square park has been one of the sites of some of the violence in early protests last week. there is a heavy police presence out here, of course, as we understand it, but everyone out here, we'll stay out here and bring you the coverage live as it happens. >> lots going on there in the southern part of midtown

manhattan by union square. thank you so much, cori, for that update. how the nationwide protests are reigniting the fight to take down confederate statues and monuments coming up. to pay for bites of this... ...with this. when kids won't eat dinner, potato pay them to. ore-ida. win at mealtime. potato pay them to. when your v-neck looks more like a u-neck... that's when you know, it's half-washed. downy helps prevent stretching by conditioning fibers, so clothes look newer, longer. downy and it's done.

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approaching 19 past the hour. we took to you london just moments ago. we are back in london for this reason. clearly you are seeing police interacting with protesters there and it's getting pretty heated. we have seen as i was watching during the commercial break some approaching police officers with their hands up in the air. notably, though, there is no sense of violence going on right now. yes, there's a little bit of pushing, a little bit of shoving back and forth. whatever expressions are being held under way we're not able to hear. we don't have a microphone present. that said, as we look at this, you see the police are out in force. they are pushing back against the protesters. it was pouring rain just a little bit ago. looks like that has lifted. there clearly looks like one particular agitator right in the

center there who is protesting and being pushed back a bit from the cops. we are going to keep an eye on that and if sarah harman is able to get back to the scene we'll go to her live. meantime, a look at richmond, virginia, where the removal of confederate monuments is once again on the agenda. officials there say it could happen as early as july 4th. some speculating sooner than that. donald mckitchen joining me. welcome to you, sir. what can you tell us about this latest effort to remove the confederate statues? are you optimistic it will happen and should it. >> i am and it should happen. it should have happened a long time ago, quite frankly. this is a new richmond, a new virginia. we're not that southern state that wanted to secede from the union anymore. we have a statue of general lee in the capitol and when i say the capitol i'm talking about

washington and, you know, my colleague from virginia's 10th congressional district and i look to the governor asking him to embrace the notion of having that statue brought back to virginia because it has no place in the capital representing virginians in the 21st century. i don't know if your viewers know this or not, every state has two statues and can only be changed by the act of the legislature so the governor embraced that proposed legislation. it passed and we look forward to that statue of general lee returning to richmond or someplace else and leaving the capital. >> it reminds you of the actions taken by then governor nikki haley in south carolina in the wake of the ame episcopal church and shootings there and how they removed the confederate flag and put that elsewhere and at the museum so people could access it for the historical value of it but not have it up there flying

on the capitol steps or above them, rather. what can you tell us about people protesting in virginia? what do you think is the most pressing thing they're asking for? >> you know, i think that's one of the mistakes the media is making in thinking this is just about police brutality. this is about racism across the board. for 400 years african-americans and other people of color have had to deal with a racist society here in america. and to their credit of white brothers and sisters are coming to our sides and helping push back against that. it's about environmental injustice, police brutality but there are other forms of racism in this country and the young people that are protesting and old people that are protesting, all the protesters, white, black, indifferent are tired of this and want a better america if i can say a more perfect union. >> i know, sir, you are part of the congressional black caucus. you're mapping out a bill for

police reform. what do you hope to get into that bill? >> well, you know, i certainly hope we'll adopt a lot of the reforms that the president -- i said president, i'm being optimistic, but i think i'm also being prophetic that vice president biden has proposed of banning choke holes and having a national standard for police behavior so we don't have this patchwork quilt going from locality to locality with people having difficulty understanding. reforms like that that will get at the problem of police brutality are important. but, again, i continue to hope that we will go beyond just that and at least address issues like environmental injustice. we're look at a covid moment while dealing with this police brutality as my colleague barb la lee said from california it is a pandemic upon a pandemic. we know that covid affects african-americans and people of color to a greater degree than it does other folks and that's because they live in places that

aren't necessarily conducive for humans. you know, bad water, bad air, bad ventilation and so we need to address the issue of environmental injustice as well. >> congressman, when you heard the president in the rose garden making the comments he thought it was a great day for george fled as he was looking down on the actions, what was your reaction to that? >> my immediate reaction was it would be a great day for george floyd if he was still alive. i don't know why the president felt the need to go there. again, it demonstrates his insensitivity to the mood of the country. demonstrates that he's soulless in many respects and certainly tone deaf as to the direction this country needs to go in. >> congressman, i know you wrote an op-ed about ahmaud arbery and that killing. you wrote that a couple of weeks ago. did you think you were foreshadowing what we have seen erupt on the streets of america since? >> i had idea this would happen.

no, i did not necessarily think i was foreshadowing anything. i was obviously complaining about what i thought was a 21st century lynching. >> what about the -- those advocating, sir, for defunding police departments, what are your thoughts on that and is that a positive way forward? >> that's obviously a decision that has to be made by localities and don't have a lot to do with it at the congressional level. having said that, i think it's better to think in terms of reform. reimagining what the police department will look like. reimagining what it's like to protect and serve everyone and not just a segment of society. the notion of absolutely defunding police and not having police, i don't know is a practical one or one that can actually work. >> virginia democratic congressman donald mceachin. we move back to london. police are still facing down protesters.

sarah harman made it to a camera. sarah, what have you been seeing with the pushing back and forth with the protesters and police? >> hi, alex. well, this was overwhelmingly a peaceful protest here in parliament square for most of the day. in the last hour or so, the atmosphere started to shift. things got a bit more tense. we saw protesters throwing flares over the fence towards number 10 downing street and at that point the police who had really been observing up until then did start pushing people back up that road and forcing them back. at the same time the sky opened up and it just started pouring rain which also did a lot to disperse crowds. i'm going to try to show you the scene here behind me over my shoulder. that's westminster bridge. can you see the police have blocked off the bridge. there are still people gathered around those vehicles with the flashing lights, over here, over my shoulder, are the houses of

parliament and you'll see all those yellow vests, if you can make those out, those are police officers securing the perimeter as well as number 10 downing street so what was a peaceful protest with thousands of people defying a ban on mass gatherings due to coronavirus and gathering here in parliament square to chant and to take a knee, suddenly it became a whole lot more tense in the last hour after most of the protesters is my feeling had gone home. it was just a much smaller group down around downing street when the atmosphere really turned, alex. >> clearly the effects of concerns about racial injustice and inequality ricocheted around the globe. thank you for that. let's come back stateside to new jersey where hundreds of englewood residents marched by the local police station and city hall to honor george floyd and call for reforms in their own community. joining me again today nbc's gary gumback with the latest. it was a peaceful protest.

did it stay that way? it was certainly meant to be that way. >> reporter: hey there, alex. organizers wanted a peaceful protest. that's what they got. they got a thousand folks right in the square, just wrapped up and second group walking way up the street. they got a peaceful protest. i talked to a number of protesters. one woman told me frankly she's fed up with how things are going. >> i refuse to bleach my skin. there is nothing i can do about it. i pay taxes just like everybody else. all i want is a fair chance to be equal, treated equally. that's all i'm asking for. i'm not asking for anything more than what is deserved to be treated like a human being should be and it's time for change. enough is enough. >> reporter: those kind of conversations were had throughout the morning. i've talked to a number of protesters. i talked to a number of protesters who said they're having conversations about conversations with their kids that are 9 or 10 years old.

they didn't think they would have to have conversations about having to be safe, leaving the house when you're 9 or 10. usually that comes when you're older. i heard former president barack obama say change doesn't have to happen all over the country but little by little in communities. it's happening bit by bit, step by step. >> thank you very much. gary grumbach. coming up next the woman who wrote an oprah letter to her nonblack friends and why her life matters more than their comfort.

back now with more breaking news on the fallout from the george floyd killing. this happened in the last hour. two officers charged with a felony assault were applauded by their colleagues as they left the courthouse. aren't mccabe and aaron

torgalski were released without bail. this disturbing incident, the victim shoved to the ground left unattended. he is 75 years old. the erie county d.a. forced to defend his decision to file charges. >> those who say and who are going to argue that a many grandstanding here by charging police officers, i've prosecuted six -- i said five last week, i forgot about one in hamburg. i've prosecuted six police officers in the past 3 1/2 years for criminal violations. i'm not johnny-come-lately to the table here. i've been doing this since day one of my administration. >> from there now tolu whichville, kentucky, a vigil planned to honor breonna taylor's memory. hundreds of people gathering to celebrate what would have been taylor's 27th birthday on friday. she was killed by police in march when they entered her home using a no knock warrant. the fbi is now investigating

that incident. let's go tolu whichville where i'm joined by cal perry. cal, good to see you. talk to me about what's happening there today. >> reporter: you know, it's a remarkable difference in just a week. it's a jovial atmosphere almost like a fair or party and just an extension of what we saw last night. all these different tents set up. you can register to vote. you can get information from kentucky state university. can you listen to community leaders as they give speeches, as you said, all this spurred on by what would have been the 27th birthday for breonna taylor. she was killed in mid-march. we actually had a chance to speak to the artist who put her mural up last night in front of the thousands of people. we asked her what she means to the city of louisville. take a listen. >> breonna taylor has really changed the face of louisville. she's allowed us to become stronger and more vocal to fight for our rights and stand up for the things we deserve and she's helped me become a better artist and better woman just from this

experience and i'm just so grateful to be able to share my gift to help my community and help heal and fight for her justice. >> now, there will be a demonstration tonight. we expect that it will be peaceful based on the last few days where the national guard and the police here in louisville withdrew from their positions. they've withdrawn from their positions and out of sight which has kept things calm. people very obviously hoping that will continue. >> okay, cal perry, thanks so much for the latest from louisville. joining me right now jenny osterheld with "the boston globe." america is burning. also actress nicole ruth marie watkins. she wrote this piece in "the lily, an open letter to my nonblack friends. my life matters more than your comfort. pretty powerful statement. lady, welcome to you. nicole, i want to begin with

you. tell me what prompted you to have to explain this and how do you feel about even having to explain it in the first place. >> well, thank you first for having me on. the reason why i felt the need to say this, this has been years and years of pent-up feelings and wondering how often in rooms i'm not in have my friends held me up, my nonblack friends held me up as evidence to prove that they're not racist. how many times and i know that there are so many other people of color or not people of color, black people that have wondered in that have wondered this over and over again and i was frustrated and i was angry and i finally got tired of holding this in and it just came out in this open letter and i posted on social media and now here we

are. >> i want to read one paragraph from this open letter in which you wrote. pretty powerful. you have not once faced that your ancestors benefited from racism against black people. that you still benefit from it. not once have you acknowledged that white people were the looters first. that white people looted the whole world for spices, for black and brown bodies, for land. that white people are still the looters now. do you get the sense white americans are in any way receptive or willing to accept any of this? >> yes, i've had a few friends, had a few people in my circle and a little bit beyond, actually a lot beyond in the past couple of days saying that they are acknowledging that. that they have been the looters, that the looters today or earlier this week at the protest or still at the protest, they're

mostly white. they're mostly trying to discredit and everything, they are the ones and they're acknowledging that slowly. there is certainly a population that is not. but for the most part the people that i've seen, what you've seen people have been acknowledging it now. >> want to get to -- sorry to interrupt -- your powerful column in "the globe." it captures the hurt and anger felt by the african-american community. here's one of your paragraphs after a police station in minneapolis was burned. floyd was killed monday and no one was arrested and they want me to care about that burning building with not one officer in it. you can rebuild a station. there is no resurrection for the dead black bodies. the probable cause was there from the start and no one

arrested that man. not until after the fire burned that station down and the city blazed. so are you saying there, jenny, without the fires, there might have been no arrest, that all this might not have happened but for that sort of picture? >> my name is jenee. >> thank you for clarifying. >> i am saying that. i feel like we've seen this again and again and again. this is not a new phenomenon, we've seen our black people murdered on camera and police not arrested. police not convicted. police walking away back to their jobs over and over and over again. and the probable cause was there before the fire. the footage was there. even now what we just saw happen in buffalo, the immediacy, in atlanta, the immediacy, i

wholeheartedly believe that's because protesters are on the ground demanding justice and i'm not saying that means they're setting fires everywhere. but they are demanding justice. they are putting their bodies on the ground, they are having an uprising demanding policy, demanding protection, they're demanding a fundamental shift in the culture of america. >> and jenee, you wrote america doesn't listen. not when you have black skin but you hear the fire because the heat is loud and the sparks are catching. we're all aflame now like floyd said, everything hurts. you and me, we can burn together or we can extinguish the flames together. do you think this is a make or break moment for this country, jenee? >> i think that we have had many make or break moments, i think every civil rights movement we've had has been a make or break moment. i think this will represent

another moment, another breaking of the system, another restructuring of the system. do i think it's all going to happen at once, no. i think it will be like this is not the first time we've seen uprisings all across the country. i think that we will see some change and we will continue to fight for change but i do think the time of us looking away and allowing the power structure to look away is over. there's -- i do not feel like there's going to be a go back from this. there is going to have to be sweeping policy change, defunding, reform. this is not just about george floyd and police brutality. this is about the supremacy this country is built on and until we face that down and start fighting it in every facet of american life, we're going to keep uprising and we're going to keep having to demand justice because the time for ask something over. we've been asking for 400 years.

>> we'll leave it there. that is a powerful statement. jenee and nicole ruthmarie, thanks you. nfl commissioner roger goodell now vowing to make room for the black lives matter movement but is it enough for the players would asked him to speak up? i heard they added ulta oxi to the cleaning power of tide, it was just what we needed. dad? i didn't do it. #1 stain and odor fighter, #1 trusted. it's got to be tide. -excuse me. uh... do you mind...being a mo-tour? -what could be better than being a mo-tour? the real question is... do you mind not being a mo-tour? -i do. for those who were born to ride, there's progressive.

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nfl commissioner roger goodell breaking his silence on the black lives matter movement saying the league was wrong not

to listen to players who have taken a knee during the national anthem. >> we the national football league condemn racism and the systematic oppression of black people. we the national football league admit we were wrong for not listening to nfl players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. we the national football league believe black lives matter. i personally protest with you and want to be part of the much needed change in this country. >> joining me now nfl hall of famer and former running back for the denver broncos terrell davis. big welcome to you. first question, what's your reaction to that message from roger goodell? >> i think it's huge to have the commissioner of the national football league step up and make those comments because that's what the players were really asking the commissioner to do

and see back in 2016. i'm encouraged from what i'm seeing from the nfl, from people in the street, the protesters, people throughout this world to see everybody getting behind this cause because it really is something that's not a black or white thing, it is a humanity thing and the commissioner is listening to the players. he's now taking a stand that he will support players to peacefully protest and that's huge for the nfl to take that stance. >> you know what's interesting, that video from roger goodell, it seems to be in response to that plea from several nfl players for the league to speak up. for those who haven't seen it, here's part of that video. take a look, everyone. >> this is what we the players. >> would like to hear you state. >> all: we, the national football league -- >> condemn racism and the systemic oppression of black people. >> all: we, the national football league -- >> admit it's wrong to silence our players from peacefully protesting. >> believe black lives matter. >> black lives matter.

>> black lives matter. >> as i'm listening to that video, terrell, i'm listening, i'm looking at the words what roger goodell is saying. he took it from them. he said exactly what they wanted him to say. how are the players going to feel about this? >> listen, the nfl and the players power when they're united is unstoppable. and the players realize they have power. and it f they make that video which i love by the way and they're talking to the commissioner, they had to speak up for the national football league and for them to do that, it's -- i'm proud of those young men who are doing that. i'm proud that the commissioner listened to that and he followed in their steps and, again, it's about doing what's right and that's it. it's not asking to have more than anybody. it's only asking to be treated fairly and to be heard when there's issues in our community that has bothered us and has

really oppressed us for thousands of years, hundreds of years, whatever and in america so it's really good to see what's happening in this country and everybody speaking out against racial injustice and inequality. >> yeah, 100%. do you, terrell, think you'll see more nfl players taking a knee during the national anthem this season? >> i don't know if they'll use that method again because that method was -- you know when, kaepernick used it, the information and messaging was not what he had intended for it to be because kaepernick clearly said it was not about a military. it was not about not liking the military or hating america. it was strictly about what is happening now, what's happening now in our community and the way we've been treated for far too long but people take the messaging an only see you kneeling and say that's disrespectful and run with it and take that and hijack it then they start to use that against

you, so i don't know if they'll kneel. maybe now commissioner and the teams will come up with some alternative way to show support and protest but i don't know if kneeling would be one this season. >> you know, there are those who listen to roger goodell and listened to the commish but he did not directly address colin kaepernick by name. do you think he should have? >> yeah, i don't know. yeah, i think most people feel like start with that and apologize to kaepernick because this whole -- i mean kaepernick lost his career over kneeling in protesting so we talk about four years later, when everybody is supporting it, you have to mention that the person who was the creator of kneeling and actually did it because nate voyeur, an ex-green beret felt it was a sign of respect for the

military while protesting, so kat did that and, yeah, i think mentioning his name would be -- would go a long way if the commissioner can say we apologize to kaepernick for really blackballing him from the national football league. >> to kaepernick for blackballing him from the national football league. >> what about the back and forth with new orleans saint quarterback, drew brees. he's been under fire this week after saying that he would first never agree with kneeling during the national anthem and then walked back those statements and apologized. and then there were tweets from the president saying he should not have backed down from his original stance, brees firing back on instagram, he directly named the president in this saying this is not an issue about the american flag, it never has been. what do you make of all of that back and forth? >> yeah, you know, i think when i first heard brees say that, i think it kind of underscored what blacks have been saying for a long time, is that our voices are not being heard. and so you also think, wow, a

guy that's in the same locker room with all these guys who are protesting, you're not even listening. i think that's what caught people off guard. it's not about the military. it's not about kaepernick disrespecting the flag. it's about black men, your teammates, our families, our kids, our parents, fighting for equality. that's what it's about. and so when he made that statement about the flag, it just completely -- it was off messaging and it wasn't the time to say that. if drew had said, you know what, guys, i'm with you 100%, i'm with inequality, i'm with you guys and fighting for black lives that matter, and then we can find an alternative way to sort of show that support during the national anthem, then let's have a conversation, let's talk about it. but it seemed like it was so focused on the disrespecting of the flag that it just missed the entire messaging of why kaepernick knelt in the first

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al sharpton that you can watch at 6:00 eastern after a regular edition here on msnbc. today a protest over a controversial facebook post, one government official is seeming to mock protesters and now there are calls for that city council member to resign. joining me, nbc's jacob soberoff. what happened in this post. >> reporter: the mayor, where you will remember this is the venue, the city in which the

rodney king trial, police brutality trial took place in 1992. he's a 30-year veteran of the lapd reportedly put onto his facebook page a suggestion of using a hose to spray protesters, and this is not an exaggeration, with sewage, raw sewage. he has responded saying this is a joke but obviously there is an outraged crowd out here, and for good reason. there are hundreds, if not thousands of people that are out here today marching through simi valley and toward city hall. i want to see if i can stop for a minute and talk. i was just talking with this gentleman. do you mind if i grab you for a quick interview? >> sure. >> you said you live here in simi valley. we're live right now on msnbc. have you ever seen anything like this in simi valley before? >> we haven't. it's a good show of support, a good show of unity, a good show of people's awareness to what is going on right now and even more

so that they're not ignoring what's going on. >> reporter: i'm sure you heard what your mayor mike judge said about protesters. is that specifically what brought you out here? what about you make of those remarks? >> i've been marching since 1967, okay. i'm a former black panther member from oakland, california, so i've been in the fight a long time ago. and this is still about the dream. it's still about martin luther king's dream. and it is still a dream to us. it is not a reality. and it's great to see people out here showing that they want to make it a reality. so now after this, we have to make it a reality. or it's a waste of time. george floyd died in vain. >> what's your name, sir? >> don. >> say it again. >> don. >> it's very nice to meet you, sir. i appreciate you. thank you very much.

>> reporter: don, just one of hundreds of people that are out here right now, alex. he said former member of the black panther party from oakland, california, 1967 he was marching. he doesn't feel like has changed. there are a lot of people out here that want change and this march is going to simi valley city hall. >> let me tell you, the excuse of humor is not going to cover the disgust of that statement. thank you very much. i appreciate the conversation with you and with john. i'm alex witt. i'll see you tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern. alicia menendez picks up the coverage at the top of the hour. she's going to help you find a way to talk to your kids about these demonstrations and race in america. why that is an important conversation for all you parents to have in just a few minutes. give me your hand! i can save you... lots of money with liberty mutual!

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i'm a lealicia menendez. we are watching protests from coast to coast for a 12th straight day. this is a live picture from washington, d.c. 1 million people are expected to march today. troops with riot shields lined up this morning around the outside of the fenced-in white house in preparation. a live look at chicago where there is a massive crowd this saturday afternoon. large protests are expected in dozens of cities across the country. first, we want to take you to north