>> "axios a.m." in a bit. you can sign up for the newsletter. that's it for me this morning. i'm yasmin. "morning joe" starts now. for most people, the numbers you see now will slowly turn day after day, season after season, into purpose, through the memory of the one they lost. but for you, that day has come before you can fully grieve. and unlike most, you must grieve in public, and it's a burden, a burden that is now your purpose to change the world for the better in the name of george floyd. >> joe biden delivered remarks in a prerecorded video during george floyd's funeral yesterday. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is wednesday, june 10th. with us, we have the host of msnbc's "politics nation and president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton,

former chief public affairs officer for moveon, karine jean-pierre, now a senior adviser to the biden campaign. and historian and author of "the soul of america, jon meacham joins us. he's an nbc news and msnbc contributor. we will play for you more of joe biden's message that was played at george floyd's funeral, and the other moving speakers, including reverend al. we'll also get down to yesterday's breakdown in georgia's voting process. this is a big story. the secretary of state is opening an investigation after reports of long waits, voting machines not working and a lack of ballots in some areas. plus, stop us if you've heard this before, president trump's latest push of a conspiracy theory on twitter draws mostly silence from republicans on capitol hill. >> and his own aides horrified by the fact that he keeps digging himself in a deeper hole

in this crisis. and one other major headline this morning, several states are seeing a rise in hospitalization rates due to coronavirus. and dr. anthony fauci is issuing a new warning. we'll have that for you as well. reverend al, let's talk about the floyd funeral. but first, a couple of moments there where you really, i think, broke through all the noise we've been hearing. you said, this was not just a tragedy, it was a crime. and talk about what america needed to do to make sure that that crime was addressed. and then, one of the really moving parts. you said, you called for mama, we're going to lay your body next to hers. the range of emotions yesterday at your address was -- they were stunning --

>> powerful. >> powerful, extraordinary. tell us what it was like to be inside that room. >> it was very, very emotional, even for me, even though i've done these for many years. to be sitting there with the family that was not dealing with this as a public issue, not dealing with this as a deadline, but this was their father, their brother, their cousin. and here, what they would say to each other over the last few days and how they are struggling to deal with the public light and glad that they were put into without any request of their own, and balance that with a real, firm commitment that they wanted to see justice. all of that was very, very much present. so, when i spoke, i wanted people to, as we go through all of these announcements, this corporation giving millions of dollars, this person doing that,

which is all good and necessary, i wanted people to understand from the family point of view and my own. this was a crime. let's not get beyond the fact that someone decided to break the law by pressing their knee 8 minutes and 46 seconds on a human being's neck that caused his death that ought to be accountable. and we should do the studies. we ought to deal with racism, but let's also make sure that the make you make it plainly clear that black lives are just as respected by the law as anyone else, is you have to pay for the crime and you have to deal with it as a crime. and then we took him to the cemetery, where his mother's buried. and i did the final last words over him as we committed his body. he called for his mother in his last eight minutes of life, and we laid him to rest next to where his mother was buried. he will be buried.

>> there is another really moving moment where you connected george floyd's death to the death and the tragedy and the pain and the hardship that so many other families in the black community have endured through the years. and what a moving moment it was. alex, let's roll that tape. >> the mother of trayvon martin, will you stand? [ applause ] the mother of eric garner, will you stand? the sister of botham jean, will you stand? the family of pamela turner, right here in houston, will you stand? the father of michael brown from ferguson, missouri, will you stand? the father of ahmaud arbery, will you stand?

>> rev, that was an incredible, moving moment, and the entire church raised to its feet and applauded for those men and women and those families of the victims of police violence over the last several years. they have sort of this brotherhood and sisterhood among them, tragically, of people who understand what george floyd's family feels right now and what george floyd's family is going through right now, not, as you said, just the loss of a loved one, but having to grieve in public and to be thrust into the spotlight as almost activists in all of this. how do they operate together? are they as much of a community as it seems? >> yes, it really is. when i went down the first week, which is now almost three weeks ago, to deal with the family and go to the site of where george was killed, i brought the mother of eric garner with me. and because of the generosity of

tyler perry, he provided a private plane for her and for the family throughout this period so they wouldn't have to deal with traveling with the coronavirus still with us. and one of the reasons i wanted to do that is because they understand what i or you couldn't understand. they know the pain and the emptiness and the trying to rush into how do i handle public life and not make mistakes. and i watched her in a room with them. and then when trayvon's mother came in, when michael brown's mother came and others came, they almost have an unspoken language between each other, though they started as strangers, because there's a pain that they understand, that someone like me can be sensitive to and try to help and deal with whatever they need, but they know-know each other. and there's also a sense of comfort that the ones that were the object of the condolences and the comrade feeling

yesterday, in this case the george family, they feel they're not alone because they see others that this has happened to that took time to come. so, i think it was very comforting for them to share and be there and all of them together. the shame is, there's so many of them. and as i introduced them, in most of those cases i fought, led marches and rallies for. it's a shame that we have so many in this period in american history and we haven't solved the problem in the criminal justice system to bring a lot of those cases to justice. >> here is more now of joe biden's prerecorded remarks played at the funeral, calling for racial justice and offering words of comfort to floyd's 6-year-old daughter, gianna. >> little gianna, as i said to you when i saw you yesterday, you're so brave. daddy's looking down and he's so proud of you. i know you miss that bear hug

that only he can give, the pure joy riding on his shoulders so you can touch the sky and countless hours you spent playing any game you wanted because your smile, your laugh, your love is the only thing that mattered at the moment. i know you have a lot of questions, honey. no child should have to ask questions that too many black children have had to ask for generations. why? why is daddy gone? looking through your eyes, we should also be asking ourselves why the answer is so often too cruel and painful. now is the time for racial justice. that's the answer we must give to our children when they ask, "why?" because when there is justice for george floyd, we will truly be on our way to racial justice in america. and then, as you said, gianna, your daddy will have changed the world.

>> you know, jon meacham, that is what americans are used to in their presidents. from fdr's "fireside chats," where he talked a frightened america through the great depression, to ronald reagan's pitch-perfect response to "the challenger" disaster, to george w. bush standing on top of the pile of rubble after 9/11, saying "we hear you, and soon the world will hear you." joe biden's response is the response that we americans, republican and democrat and independent alike, are used to during these times. but it's contrasted in the white house, the same time joe biden's delivering those moving, eloquent remarks, by a president who is tweeting and attacking a 75-year-old man who was brutalized by police and is in

the hospital fighting for his health. the contrast is so great. but it seems so long, even though it's only been 3 1/2 years, since we've had a president who actually spoke like joe biden did there. >> yeah, the thing here has to be both restoration and reform. i think where vice president biden is. he's about restoring that vernacular of grace and dignity and the aim of equality that, you're right, we have been blessed with for a long time. but it also has to come with reform, which is what the vice president said as well. look, it was 8 minutes and 46 seconds. it's also been 400 years. and we can't lose sight of that in the midst of this. i thought reverend sharpton did a masterful job yesterday of

weaving the particular and the universal together, which is one of the great missions of a preacher and one of the great points of liturgy, right, is to remind ourselves that we're part of a vast drama, but we're also individual human souls. and so, what i think's really important here is we take, as the other thing i was thinking about yesterday watching the funeral was dr. king's eulogy at 16th street baptist church, where three of the four girls had been murdered in september of '63. and his refrain was, "god has a way of wringing good out of evil." god has a way of wringing good out of evil. that is an excellent and comforting point, but the comfort is pretty cold when you're in the midst of that evil. and that's what biden was pointing at.

>> karine jean-pierre, joe biden is obviously stepping into the void of empathy in the presidency and filling that, but let's put aside your position with the biden campaign for just a moment and talk about this moment. and how does it move beyond being just an incredibly powerful moment in our history? >> yeah, that's right. that's right, mika. look, yesterday's funeral, the home-going for george floyd, was powerful, it was beautiful, but it was also incredibly hurtful. it was also incredibly sad. you think about, george floyd should be here with us today, you know? meacham just mentioned that 8 minutes and 46 seconds. in 8 minutes and 46 seconds, we heard him plead for his life, we heard him say "i cannot breathe," and it was just no, no regard for this man's life because of the color of his skin.

and there's just too many of those stories. and the reason we know about george's story is because it was recorded. how about all of the others? >> right. >> that have not been recorded. >> right, right, right. >> so, one of the things i want to say is something that reverend al sharpton said yesterday, which i really appreciated. thank you, reverend al sharpton, for really putting it all together for us and really for speaking out for so many of us and lifting up our community like you do every day. but the thing that i really tuned into yesterday was how you said, "this is not over," how you said that you will continue this fight. when the cases, when the court -- when it goes to the courts and it moves forward for george floyd, that you're still going to be there. and that's the thing, because this is the time. we see an outpouring right now that we haven't seen, at least in my lifetime. and this is the moment. this is the moment that we have to ask for reform. this is the moment that we have to continue to stay together. and it's been multicultural,

it's been multiracial, it's been a moment that has uplifted me and it's an incredibly sad time. and so, we just have to continue that fight and we have to continue to speak up, because we cannot have -- we can't afford any more george floyds. >> and willie, the move has been so quick in public opinion toward the support for reforms, for looking at race relations as it pertains to policing especially. headline in "the new york times" this morning, that the gop was caught flat-footed on racial reforms, and they're struggling with public anger. they don't know what to do. they started out following the president on law and order. but if you look at the polls, the president's approach has been a disaster. 74% of americans support the protests following george

floyd's killing. only 25% oppose. and you can look at one poll after another. the peaceful protests, 84% say they're justified. only 12% say they're not justified. and we've really got to say, these polls have changed even more dramatically, not just as it pertains to civil rights, but also as it pertains to politics. since that june 1st day, which i think a lot of people are going to remember for years to come as perhaps the low point of this presidency, or certainly a turning point in the campaign. >> yeah, june 1st, the day that the plaza in lafayette park was cleared with smoke bombs and tear gas and pepper spray so that the president could walk across to st. john's episcopal church and hold the bible upside down for that photo op there.

but you're absolutely right about the public opinion. it has been stunning. we just showed that "washington post" poll. 75% of americans side with the protesters in the streets. 80-some percent believe that the protests are justified. and you have 70%, almost, of americans who say, yes, this is a systemic problem, yes, african-american people in this country have a different experience with police than white people do. that's a sea change even since the time of ferguson, which was only six years ago, when less than a majority of americans would say that they thought ferguson and the death of michael brown was an isolated incident. so, something big has happened in a very short period of time. and the question will be, how does the country take this moment, take this energy to have real reform? i mean, you've got republicans like karl rove making speeches about, to republicans, saying, yes, black people in this country have a different experience with cops. tom cotton to his senate

republican colleagues -- of course, he was maligned for the op ed he had in "the new york times" last week -- tom cotton saying to his republican colleagues, yes, it is a fact that african-americans, particularly young african-american men, have a different experience with police than we do, and we need to address that as a country. so, reverend sharpton touched on it in his speech yesterday, his beautiful eulogy for mr. floyd. what do you do with this moment? what is the real and practical change? how do you turn the energy into the streets into real change in the country? >> all right, the "washington post" is reporting that as the number of covid-19 cases continues to rise worldwide, at least nine states across the u.s. are also seeing a rise in hospitalizations since memorial day. according to "the post," texas, north and south carolina, california, oregon, arkansas, mississippi, utah, and arizona are expecting an increase in the

number of patients under supervised care since the holiday weekend because of coronavirus infections. the "post" reports that the spikes generally began in the past couple of weeks, but in most states are trending higher. according to the data tracked by the paper, states that are now reporting some of their highest seven-day averages of new cases are disproving the notion that the country is seeing such a spike in cases solely because of the continued increase in testing. many states with an increase in cases also had an increase in hospitalizations with a handful of states also nearing bed capacity. here is dr. anthony fauci's sobering warning yesterday. >> now we have something that, indeed, turned out to be my worst nightmare, something that's highly transmissible, in a period -- if you just think about it -- in a period of four months, it has devastated the

world. deaths and millions and millions of infections worldwide, and it isn't over yet. >> he says it isn't over yet. reverend al, he says we're still at the beginning. and i will say, i think like 85% of americans, 84%, 85% of americans, i'm inspired by the marches that i've seen. at the same time, as i said to donald trump at the beginning of this pandemic, this pandemic doesn't care about your politics, doesn't care whether you're a republican or a democrat, whether you're black or you're white, it will kill you if you're not careful. and of course, the only mistake i made was that, actually, this pandemic actually does seem to care whether you're black or white. it kills black people at a far higher rate, at a

disproportionate rate, as it does white people. it kills poor people at a far more disproportionate rate than it kills wealthy people or economically secure people. so, with all of that in mind, where do we go next with these marches? how do we make sure that as we move forward, as these numbers go up -- 114,000 people now dead in america from the coronavirus. how do we be more careful as we're moving forward to make sure that the black community is not ravaged again by another surge in this disease? >> we must be very, very careful in particular that at our gatherings we practice social distancing and emphasize it. and the organizers must do that. the ones that i have worked with during this period with national action network -- we did actions in staten island and

minneapolis. we insisted on social distancing. the family of george has said that it must be that, because you cannot solve one problem and raise one problem of racial disparity in criminal justice and ignore the racial disparity in this pandemic and cause people to risk life and risk health while you're fighting for the wrong death of george. so, i think that we have to enforce that. we called for a national march on the anniversary of "i have a dream," august 28th. but we are putting in place social distancing or telling people, don't come. i saw family members saying at the church yesterday, "where's your face mask? don't come in this church. you'll have to leave without a face mask." these are family members mourning. you cannot solve a problem by creating or enhancing another problem. two wrongs won't make one civil right. you're wrong if you don't

practice social distancing and safety, even while we continue these necessary protests. >> more wise words from reverend al. and jon meacham, just putting a historical context on where we are in a pandemic, where dr. fauci says we're nowhere near the end, we're still at the beginning. 114,000 americans dead. that's twice as many that died in combat deaths in world war i. of course, another 54,000, 55,000 died from the 1918 pandemic. so, we find ourselves in the middle of this battle against this deadly disease that's killed 114,000 americans. the rate of infections are going up across the country. and this is a country that seems to be battered, going from the worst pandemic in 100 years to

the worst economic conditions in 90 years to the worst health care crisis in over a century. >> yeah. it's a little bit reminiscent of 1964 or so, when you had the gulf of tonkin. you had the civil rights movement becoming increasingly difficult. you had the civil rights act, which was a great achievement in july, but then you had riots, and you had a white backlash that raised the inner language in a big way in that period. it's just, history happens with repitiy, and we're in that moment. and it requires the ability to both react in the moment, in terms of leadership, but also a sustained attention to something that requires sustained

attention. and the metaphor there, i think, the analogy there is the cold war, to some extent, where you have to focus at least part of the culture, part of the apparatus, has to focus on how do we solve this. reverend al's right about we're all combatants in the sense of our actions. but the vaccine, the contact tracing, all of that work that doesn't necessarily make for a glamorous and incendiary tweet is the duty of care of an american president. and the last point here is we need to be very careful, and we're not very good at this, in not proving dr. king right about something else he said. right after -- he was at the kennedy funeral in 1963. and walter falkroy said to him, well, we're certainly going to get the civil rights bill now.

and dr. king turned to him and said, "we're a ten-day nation, walter." we pay attention for about ten days. and reality doesn't track with our attention span. the test of a mature democracy, the test of citizenship is the capacity to pay sufficient and commensurate attention to the real problems, whether it's policing, whether it's economic, whether it's public health, that we have to confront. >> well, and willie, we may be a ten-day nation. maybe we're a ten-minute nation now, all these years, 56 years after that statement was made, 57 years after that statement was made. but i just -- i've got to say, in the great challenges of 2020 -- and there have been so many great challenges for americans to endure -- and the great challenge is the overwhelming majority of americans stood together, stood together on their approach to the pandemic.

they sheltered their families in place. they respected others. they were careful. they bent that curve. you can look also at the protests following the killing of george floyd. the same thing's happening. the overwhelming majority of americans are as one. you know, everybody used to say we're a 50/50 nation? more like a 75% nation this year through two or three of our toughest crises that we've had. it's actually -- if you can pull back from the cable news chatter, if you can pull back from the talk radio noise, if you can pull back from the online histrionics, you see america united on the big issues, finally. >> yeah, it's such an important point, and i think it's one of the themes of this era, which is that the loudest, most extreme voices -- you talked about online or on cable news, but you

also can say from the white house -- tend to dominate the day, when the truth is, the president, who sides with people who don't want to wear masks, who sides with the police when they push over a 75-year-old man in buffalo and suggest that that man is a member of antifa and that he flopped and fell down intentionally -- that's not the majority position in this country. we just showed the polls. people want change. people side with the peaceful protesters in the street. people are wearing masks. they do want to get this country better. and they watch that dichotomy we saw yesterday of joe biden making a speech like a president would make in this time, and the president of the united states spending his morning just a couple of hours before the funeral of george floyd, tweeting about this alleged antifa member, a 75-year-old man who is not a member of antifa, being pushed over in buffalo. and they see that contrast, and they will have the chance to decide. i think it's already reflected in the polls sometimes, but your point is a good one, which is that the loudest and most extreme voices are not actually

representative of where the country is. and one of the loudest and most extreme voices is from the president. >> absolutely. and yesterday, his chief of staff, joe, could be seen on video making fun of reporters for wearing masks, like chiding them and mocking them. it's incredible. >> they are, you know, they are so out of touch. and the fact that -- the fact that serving a president requires you to -- >> belittle people, laugh at them. >> -- live dangerously, to mock people, to turn, avert your gaze from the horrors that are going on all around you, from the cruelty that's going on all around you. it will all be recorded in the history books. >> jon meacham, thank you very much for coming on this morning. and still ahead on "morning joe," we're going to dig into yesterday's major voting issues in georgia and the fallout from president trump's tweet yesterday, where he said that a

75-year-old man who was pushed to the ground, shoved violently to the ground by police and who was bleeding from the ear, fell harder than he was pushed? you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. atching "mo" we'll be right back. copd makes it hard to breathe. so to breathe better, i started once-daily anoro. ♪ copd tries to say, "go this way." i say, "i'll go my own way, with anoro." ♪ once-daily anoro contains two medicines

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we've seen examples of that all around us in this pandemic. in the midst of this national trauma, so many of our fellow americans are rising to the occasion. their words and their deeds serving as a crucial reminder that in this time of stress and catastrophe, we really are all in this together. catastrophe, we really are all in this together senator, what's your response to the president's tweet, alleging that this protester was a person who worked with antifa? is that something that you support? do you think that that's an appropriate move of the president at this moment? >> i just saw the tweet and i know nothing of the episode, so i don't know. i'm not as fixated, i guess, as some people. >> senator shelby, what did you think of the president's tweet? senator cornyn, can you stop at the mics for a second? what do you make of the president's tweet this morning? does the president need to be more cautious about what he tweets? majority leader mcconnell, do you have any response to the president's tweet this morning? does the president need to be

more careful about what he tweets? >> i didn't see it, so i'd have to -- i mean, you know, i'm sure that my office will be able to get me a copy of it, but i didn't see it. >> senator burr, do you think the president needs to be more careful about his tweets, like the one this morning? >> so, no real response to it, but -- >> why not? >> i don't think it should be surprising in general because he tweets a lot. >> senator johnson, was it appropriate for the president today to suggest that this buffalo man had been pushed over, this was staged by this man? any response, sir? do you want to weigh in about the president's tweet this morning about the buffalo protester? >> no. [ inaudible ] >> i'll have to take a look at it. i don't have any time for it now. >> do you have any response to the president's tweets this morning about the buffalo protester?

you saw the president's tweet this morning where he talked about this buffalo protester. >> we have it for you here, if you -- >> it's become a familiar scene in washington, republican senators avoiding questions about a tweet or a comment from president trump. yesterday it was president trump's tweet about that 75-year-old protester in buffalo, new york. as we told you on the air yesterday morning near the end of our show, the president suggested that martin gugino, who was pushed by two police officers at a protest, may be an antifa provocateur, in the president's word, who was trying to scan police equipment. he was not. the president's claim appears to have been taken from a conspiracy theory that aired yesterday morning on one american news network, a far-right propaganda cable channel. oann reporter christian ruse claimed that video showed gugino using a phone tracker on its

phone, calling it an old trick used by antifa, without providing any evidence or other examples. the video was not newly released. it was just slowed down. and it does not show gugino using a police tracker. rouz, who we should point out, worked for sputnik, has a record of pushing baseless conspiracy theories at oann. last month he claimed that the coronavirus was a plot by george soros, bill gates, dr. anthony fauci, the clintons, and china for "population control." the video of gugino getting pushed has become one of the most-viewed examples of police violence in the recent protests. two officers have been suspended without pay and charged with second-degree assault, to which they've pled not guilty. the president's chief of staff, mark meadows, was asked to weigh in on president trump's tweet yesterday. >> did you have a reaction to the president's tweet earlier today. regarding the man in buffalo?

>> beg your pardon? >> did you have a reaction to the president's tweet? >> i learned a long time ago not to comment on tweets. >> a senior administration official tells nbc news aides initially tried to keep the president busy yesterday, the day, of course, of george floyd's funeral, and conveyed to him that the quieter he can be, the better, out of respect for the floyd family. joe, i don't say this lightly, but that's the way you talk about a young child. we need to keep this child busy and distracted so that the child does not act out in some way on the day of national mourning, around the funeral, in this case, of george floyd. and you have republican after republican, including the chief of staff, with a smile on his face, pretending they don't know what the press is talking about. >> what's interesting, willie, is a lot of people look at those republicans walking past not saying a word as somehow being helpful for the president. how dare they? and of course, they should all speak out.

lisa murkowski i think spoke out again. but it is so damning, that with every one of those members of the united states senate, every one of those republicans that pass by the microphones and will not stop to defend something that donald trump said is damning for the president. and this keeps happening over and over again. the president's rhetoric becoming even more inflammatory, the president's language becoming even more offensive. and for those republicans, most importantly, since they obviously aren't going to stand up for the rights of senior citizens who are getting brutalized by police officers and sent to the hospital in critical condition, since mr. mcconnell's not going to defend a senior citizen and since every one of those republicans aren't going to defend a senior citizen, and in fact, the president, who put that senior citizen's life at risk by saying that he's part of anti antifa, which he calls a terrorist operation, which other members of congress tweet out should be hunted down and

killed -- since they don't care about that, every picture of one of those republicans walking past the microphones not saying anything is damning to the republican party, makes matters even worse for the republican party, makes them look even more like politicians with something to hide. and you know, they -- i've said it a million times, i'm going to say it again. we can all look at those clips, willie, mika. we can all be offended by it. people can raise their arms high into the air and go, oh, how do they get away with such things? how were they getting away with this? >> right. they're not. 2017, democrats won sweeping

victories. women stood in the rain for hours in northern virginia just to send a message to donald trump and elect a democratic governor and to defeat one republican after another and save legislative races. 2018, remember, willie, when we were all shocked -- and we should have been shocked -- by donald trump sending troops to the american/mexican border during thanksgiving and christmas, over the holidays? you know, and actually before that, going into the election, to try to prove a point. remember all the garbage about people coming with polio and smallpox and scurvy? whatever. i mean, whatever they were calling, leprosy. leprosy! >> terrible! >> i think somebody on a news network said -- >> leprosy, yes. >> the caravan was bringing leprosy to the united states and -- >> the stupidity is just -- >> we were, how can we do this? this is so terrible. >> staggering. >> i heard a million times, he's going to get away with it, this

is so bad! he didn't get away with it. what he got was, he had his party defeated at the polls in a way that was historic. republicans lost the biggest landslide victory by vote that year that they've ever lost, 2019. democrats picking up states in the deep south in the governorships, in kentucky, in louisiana. willie, this doesn't work. not only does it not work, it is toxic for the republican party. there is no happy ending to a party that won't speak out against police officers pushing a 75-year-old man to the ground, having blood coming out of his ears, having him put in the critical, critical care -- >> sickening. >> -- inside of a hospital, and then having the president accuse him of being a terrorist, because that's what donald trump has been saying for weeks, that antifa is a terrorist organization. and members of congress have

been tweeting that they should be hunted down and shot. so, donald trump is putting this senior citizen's life in danger, even when he leaves the hospital. willie, if they don't have a comment for that, like they haven't had a comment for other tweets where donald trump tortures families of deceased people, where donald trump says the most just absolutely horrific things -- you know, if they don't have the comments for a 75-year-old man? >> i mean, this behavior is monstrous. >> sent to the hospital? well, they're going to pay for it. they're going to pay for it politically. and you look at these polls. they already are, aren't they, willie? >> yeah, they are. and i ask not rhetorically, but sincerely, again the question we've asked so many times over the last 3 1/2 years -- what are you afraid of? what is the risk of you stepping out on the edge and bravely condemning the beating up of a 75-year-old man? who is going to be offended by that, if you condemn the

president pushing that theory that he is a terrorist and that he sort of had it coming and that he flopped when he fell? if you are a republican senator or just a decent human being, what would be the risk to saying that? are there constituents who would not vote for you? would you get a mean tweet from the president trump? as an adult, what are you afraid of? and i still haven't heard a great answer. sometimes i understand there are politics involved and policy questions. i get that. but this is an easy one. i mean, you talk about a layup. do you agree with the president that this man was a member of antifa, who flopped when he was pushed by the police and was sent to the hospital? yes or no? and most republicans, not all of them, but most republicans yesterday chose no comment when asked that question. >> and mika, reports from axios that inside the white house, aides were once again deeply distressed by the president's tweets. again, he keeps digging himself in a deeper hole every day. he cannot stop himself.

he, somehow, refuses to do what not only would be best for america, but best for his own political standing, and that is work to bring america together. he could start today. it would make a big difference. >> joining us now, former chief of staff to the dccc and now director of surrogate strategy and operations for the biden campaign, adrienne elrod. congratulations! >> thank you. >> that's great news for you. and let's talk about joe biden in all of this, because the contrast gets bigger every day. >> yeah, mika, it certainly does, and this is one of the reasons why joe biden is leading so far in the polls right now, not just leading. he's substantially ahead of donald trump at this moment, because americans are sick and tired of seeing this type of behavior coming from the oval office. they are ready to see the leadership restored, integrity

restored. joe biden has a steady leadership to get us there, to bring back our government to a place where we want it to be. we've seen this time and time again in the polls. we hear it time and time again, everybody we talk to, conversations that we have. and that, again, mika, is one of the important parts of having a robust surrogate strategy on the campaign. the candidate can't be everywhere at once. you've got to have, you know, numbers of people who can go out there and talk about his experience, talk about his biography, really add credibility to his record. and i'm so excited to be part of this campaign, and of course to work with my friend, karine, because we've got five months left to bring this home. there's a lot at stake. and i couldn't be more honored to be a part of this operation. >> well, right here you see the team is in place with the installment of both of you and many others, and things are really ramping up. karine, we're going to have madeleine albright on the show, and i know her focus is election security.

she's very worried about shoring up the elections. is that the area where we need to worry a little bit in terms of the approach that this president takes, his desire, openness to working with other countries to undermine this country and his real attack on mail-in balloting? should we be worried about the sanctity of the elections? >> well, as we know, we have a president that abuses power. i mean, look at the reason why he was impeached by the house, which is because he was afraid of joe biden and asked for extra help, right, help from a foreign country, a foreign government. so, this is what we're dealing with, with this president, so we have to be really key and really clear about how we move forward as a campaign, making sure that our voters are educated, that they understand, like, what is going on. and we're trying to do this in the middle of a pandemic. and you have republicans you all were just talking about.

the republicans, they don't seem to care about our security as well, our election security, so that's really key. so, yes, we have to be very vigilant. we have to make sure we're on top of things. and when we're moving forward in the next five months. and a lot of that is just educating our voters, like i was saying, and making sure that the tools are in place to make this happen while we are going to be social distancing, dealing with a pandemic on our hands still. >> you bring up social distancing. adrienne, is joe biden going to get back out onto the campaign trail, as we look toward conventions? we know donald trump is looking to start having his rallies again. i'm not sure about the -- i'm not sure how smart that is, healthwise. what is the strategy, though, to get out the vote, to have joe biden interact with voters and do what many say is what he does best, which is connect with people?

>> well, mika, you raise a really good point. i mean, look, i think there's nobody who would like to be on the campaign trail more right now than joe biden, but it's got to be done safely and within the guidelines of the cdc. so, we'll see how that shakes out. but you know, there's a lot that we can do, not with the vice president's time at this point, but also with a lot of surrogates. we can deploy people across platforms. you know, we've been doing on the campaign a number of virtual events where you're, you know, surrogates are traveling to battleground states virtually. and with a robust team that we're building on the campaign, we can even amplify those events more. so you know, look, we'll see how things shake out this summer, but there's a lot of work we can do at the campaign without having to risk anybody's health to travel at this point. >> all right. adrienne, thank you very, very much for joining us this morning. congratulations on your new position with the biden campaign. both karine and adrienne will be back on the show now in these

new respective positions. so, congratulations to you both. >> thank you, mika. >> the strategy, joe, for joe biden, is at this point contrast, given what donald trump seems to sort of churn out by the day. democratic congressman jim clyburn of south carolina yesterday voiced his feelings on the cause -- another big story we're covering -- to defund the police. take a listen. >> reform policing in this country. we need to reform policing. the fact of the matter is, people keep talking about camden, new jersey. camden, new jersey, was about defunding a department of the police. they still funded policing. they brought them in to do the policing. they even contracted out with private people to police. no one defunded policing. they defunded a rotten department, and that's as it should be. >> and reverend al, isn't it

interesting that the trump campaign desperately have been trying to attach the defund the police label to democrats on capitol hill and to joe biden, and none of them are having anything to do with that, and it's just like what you say -- we're not defunding the police, we're reforming the police. big difference there, isn't it? >> it's a much bigger difference between defunding and reforming. they're talking about dealing with defunding of certain aspects of policing and shifting the concept of policing into things like mental health and into counseling and others, and that is something that we all are pushing. we're not talking about eradicating policing and having anarchy. we're talking about defanging bad cops more than we're talking about defunding policing. but the president, who himself threatened to hold back money from states if they didn't do what he wanted to do during the

pandemic, now all of a sudden, while he distorts with the whole call of defunding is, he is the one who uses defunding as a threat, not those that are trying to correct policing. >> let's continue this conversation with congressman antonio delgado of knock, one of the original co-sponsors of the justice in policing act of 2020. congressman, it's good to see you this morning. let's walk through a little bit this bill that you have co-sponsored, and specifically, what it calls for and what it does not call for. what are you looking at in terms of police transparency, first of all? >> well, first, let me start off by saying how important it is that congress was able to introduce this bill on the heels of a multicultural, multiracial, cross-generational movement, the likes of which we have not seen in quite some time. and we have to really accept the moment here for what it is.

the people are speaking out and they want change. so, for me, being able to tap into that, and as a member of congress serving at a time like this is incredibly moving on a personal level. the first african-american person of color to represent upstate new york. and if you walk through the bill, we are taking significant steps in the right direction to bring about transparency and accountability to law enforcement, whether it's things like racial bias training, whether it's banning choke holds, whether it's banning no-knock search warrants, whether it's making sure we have a registry when it comes to police misconduct. again, transparency and accountability, good policing, making sure that we are really amplifying the needs of the community, protecting, and serving it and doing it in an accountable fashion. >> so, congressman, on the extremes, this has been a conversation about defunding the police, as reverend sharpton just pointed out. does your bill at all seek to defund the police? that word has a very specific

meaning, which is to stop funding of police departments in this country. would you support that? >> there is nothing in the bill that zeros out police budgets. nothing. and so, when we're hearing folks talk about this piece of the conversation -- let's go over exactly what the bill does. let's focus on the power of this movement. you know, it's such a profound time that we're living in right now. with all of the divisiveness that we're experiencing, with all of the partisanship, we are seeing people all across this country come together in ways that we haven't in a long time, despite the hate, despite the ugliness, despite all the noise. i heard joe earlier talking about that fact. let's focus on the power of this moment, the love, the compassion, the empathy that people are expressing in their hearts in the face of great division. let's not focus on the noise. >> congressman delgado, reverend

sharpton. when you and others introduced this bill, you just talked about let's not focus on the noise and the great coming together the public has had on it, but will that be reflected in a vote in the senate and your colleagues in the house that are in the republican party? what is the likelihood and challenges of getting this bill passed, particularly in the u.s. senate? >> well, i will say, first and foremost, the bill was introduced a couple days ago. we are already at over 200, over 200 within a matter of a couple days here, of co-sponsors. so, there is a real effort to push this thing through. now, yes, making it bipartisan, unfortunately, is always going to be a challenge in this environment because of how much the noise dominates the conversation. nonetheless, we have got to continue to do the work. i made it a point to be somebody who seeks out common ground all the time, trying to figure out a way to bridge the gap.

my district, which is a rural o one, eighth most in the entire country and third of any democrat, by the way -- you know, we have to make sure that we're finding common ground. a third independent, a third democrat, a third republican. so, being able to bring to bear the urgency of this moment, doing so in a way that invites good dialogue without demagoguing is of criminal importance. we cannot assume people's perspective. i can hear out that perspective and give it a chance to breathe. and then from there, attempt to build consensus. so, i hope that in this moment, all of my colleagues all across the political spectrum can understand the import and how much the communities across this country are desperate to see us come together and reflect the will of the people. that is how you instill confidence in our system. >> congressman antonio delgado, thank you so much for being on the show this morning. he also has a new op ed in the "washington post," entitled "i know how painful racism is, but we can't give up on voting."

and speaking of voting, georgia's election is being called a catastrophe, particularly in largely minority areas. we're going to talk to candidate jon ossoff about the problems with voting machines and a lack of ballots that plagued yesterday's vote. plus, we'll talk about policing in america with the mayor of a city that has struggled with that issue, chicago's lori lightfoot joins our discussion straight ahead on "morning joe." joins our discussion straight ahead on "morning joe." a newlywed... a guy who just got into college... that's why behind these masks, johnson & johnson scientists are working to accelerate development of a covid-19 vaccine, drawing on decades of experience responding to public health emergencies like ebola and hiv. for the life behind every mask, the clock never stops and neither do we.

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i looked out. the field was -- it looked like a million, million and a half people. >> it took almost four years for trump to get tdiscord, america is coming together. this year, we have a choice to make. america or trump. imagine how big the crowds will be when he's gone. a new day begins on november 3rd. paid for by the lincoln project, which is responsible for the content of this advertising. >> the latest from the lincoln project, targeting one of the president's oldest obsessions, crowd size. welcome back to "morning joe." it is tuesday, june 10th.

reverend al sharpton is still with us. and joining the conversation, we have white house reporter for the "associated press," jonathan lamire, former u.s. senator, now an nbc news and msnbc political analyst, claire mccaskill, national security expert, columnist at "usa today" and author of the book "the death of expertise," tom nichols joins us, and white house correspondent for pbs newshour, yamiche alcindor joins us this morning. after his death sparked a worldwide movement for racial justice, 46-year-old george floyd was laid to rest yesterday. his memorial service culminated with a final good-bye in houston, where a horse-drawn carriage led floyd to his final resting place, buried next to his mother. floyd was eulogized by the reverend al shorpt arpton, who the family into the sanctuary, where hundreds paid their respects. the service was also attended by elected leaders, celebrities,

activiti activity activisted and parents who have lost children at the hands of police. they heard messages of justice, loss, and the place floyd now holds in history. >> hello. my name is brooke williams, george floyd's niece, and i can breathe. as long as i'm breathing, justice will be served! >> my little brother was a friend. he was a mentor. he was a father. he was a basketball player. he was a football player. when the family came to me and asked me, did you go speak? i will speak. i will keep on speaking. i will fight. i will fight. i will fight, because i've been fighting for him and i will keep on fighting for him. >> we know that centuries ago, they took a man, a wicked man,

put him on the cross, did not understand that though they were intending wickedness, that out of much intention of wickedness came goodness. when it was asked in isaiah, "lord, who should i send?" o god, have mercy on us. there was a tall man by the name of big floyd, who stood up and said, "lord, send me." >> we're going to make sure that those who have looked through time, that they will know that he made a difference within his time because he changed not only this country, not only the united states. he changed the world! >> we are not fighting some disconnected incidents. we are fighting an

institutional, systemic problem that has been allowed to permeate since we were brought to these shores. all over the world, george, they're marching with your name. you've touched every one of the 50 states, even in a pandemic. people are walking out in the streets. as we lay you to rest today, the movement won't rest until we get justice. >> until we get justice. the movement won't rest until we get justice. reverend al, you join a long line of civil rights leaders and champions that have been pushing for that justice. and you never know when the opening comes for justice to

actual actually, for history to bend and for justice to become the norm and not the exception, especially for black men, mainly black men in policing. but who would have ever imagined that this moment, this tragedy would have led us to where we are? i just, i think historically of 1865, and of course, the end of the civil war, the end of slavery. 1963, martin luther king's march on washington and the church bombing and so many other things that happened together that moved white america into the mainstream on civil rights thoughts and allowed the '64 and '65 civil rights acts, voting right acts to be passed. but now we find ourselves in 2020 at another break in time, another moment that's looking more and more likely that the world will look back upon as a

year, despite all of the other tragedies happening in this year, the year that civil rights was thrust forward yet again, like it was in 1963. >> as you line up the historical context of where we are, i think you hit it right on the head. with the confluence of the ahmaud arbery killing by three whites that now have been charged in brunswick, georgia, whose father was with us yesterday at the funeral, then followed almost ten days later by a young woman, breonna taylor, killed in her own house as a result of no-knock laws in kentucky. police breaking in her house looking for a man that, ironically, was already in custody and never had lived in that house. her boyfriend fired a legal weapon, thinking he was being the victim of a break-in, and they killed her in the process.

and then almost ten days later, george floyd happened. i think the confluence of that is what really, in the middle of a pandemic, where everyone is sheltered down, watching, boom, boom, boom, an explosion of concern happens, and it brings us to this moment. i don't know if any of those factors had not happened, whether there would have been a different reaction. i do not know. but it's certainly a seminole moment. the idea, though, is that we don't blow the moment with the noise, rather than strategically do what you outlined. '63 led to a '64 civil rights act and a '65 voting rights act. the end of the civil war led to emancipation proclamation and reconstruction. we must make this lead to police reform, not to just making noise. we need the noise, but the noise must be geared toward some results.

>> so, it's interesting, jonathan lamire. we had yesterday, of course, this going on, this remarkable remembrance of george floyd in this fraught time. you had people inside the white house trying to keep the president, according to reports, distracted so he wouldn't say anything or tweet anything that would be seen as inflammatory. he did. and they're despondent. we'll get your reaction about that. but while he was justifying police brutalizing a 75-year-old man, this is what joe biden was doing. >> little gianna, as i said to you when i saw you yesterday, you're so brave. daddy's looking down. he's so proud of you. i know you miss that bear hug that only he could give, the pure joy riding on his shoulders

so you could touch the sky, the countless hours he spent playing any game you wanted because your smile, your laugh, your love is the only thing that mattered at the moment. i know you have a lot of questions, honey. no child should have to ask questions that too many black children have had to ask for generations -- why? why is daddy gone? in looking through your eyes, we should also be asking ourselves, why the answer is so often too cruel and painful. >> that is, of course -- >> wow. >> >> a man whose own personal life has been touched by too much tragedy, whose own heart has been touched one time too many by the awful grace of god, speaking to the family who is having to beg for god's grace through such difficult times. while joe biden was doing that, while this service, while we

were moving toward this service, this is what donald trump tweeted yesterday about a 75-year-old man who was pushed to the ground. he suggests that it could be an antifa provocateur. >> good lord. >> and it was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. and he got that, of course, from a reporter who, if i'm not mistaken, wasn't that reporter actually employed by sputnik in the past and now pushing propaganda for russia, now pushing propaganda for the president's channel? >> so, joe, i've long said that joe biden speaks more ely about grief than any other public figure in america and he did so again yesterday, but those are similar words we'd hear from just about any president. americans are accustomed to hearing. and those are the words we certainly have not heard from president trump, not often, about this particular moment.

what happened yesterday was reminiscent of the first few months of the president's term. i've talked to a number of white house staffers and republican allies in the last day or so and they were blind sided of this tweet. it was reminiscent of mow the president would see something on fox news or an article on breitbart or whatever it might be, and tweet something into the ether, akin to how the origin of when he suggested that president obama had been wiretapping him. of course, an unproven conspiracy theory, completely not correct. and that's what we're seeing here again, that he was watching the one america news network, which is his go-to cable channel now, claiming fox news has not been friendly enough to him. so he saw that chyron with the word provocateur, and he sent that out, leaving white house aides blind sided and scrambling to sort of defend this, to make sense of it. but i will note, by day's end, talking points were being sent around to reporters, suggesting

that this man, this 75-year-old man, had a questionable social media history and therefore, that should be looked into. there's no evidence, joe, that this man was antifa. in fact, we've heard from a number of his relatives and friends, and those in his community, that he has done a lot of charity work for the catholic church, don't relief work. he was clearly not agitating in that video. he was simply going up to the police officer to talk, and that he was shoved to the ground and he was bleeding from the head, captured on video. the president decided to make this an issue yesterday. yes, he didn't tweet about george floyd yesterday during the service, and reverend sharpton, led me add to my voice to those who are saying wonderful job yesterday, but this is now yet another thing that the president has been fixated on. and we have yet to have any sort of meaningful dialogue from the white house about the issue of racism, about the concerns of communities of color. there is a movement. there's been a divide in the west wing about whether the president should make some sort of address. right now the answer is no.

they feel like, what good would it do, his advisers believe, to have the president speak on this subject? he is heading to dallas tomorrow, so he'll be in texas. there is a suggestion there he might make some remarks. maybe he'll endorse some modified notion of police reform, but it's unclear whether they will have any actual legislative teeth to it. >> you know, and willie, it bears underlining here that the 75-year-old man, the peaceful protester who was shoved to the ground by police, sent to the hospital in critical condition, this senior citizen, who the president is attacking, not only did he have to endure that, he had to endure the president's attacks yesterday and be called a terrorist, at least in the president's eyes, who said antifa's terrorists. and now, his safety is at risk when he gets out of the hospital, because you actually have members of congress who were asking in tweets not so long ago, since they're a

terrorist organization, whether americans could hunt them down and kill them. so, that's what the president did to that poor 75-year-old man who's already been through so much already. >> yeah. these are the kind of anonymous conspiracy theories that used to just stay put where they lived, in dark corners of the internet. now there's a propaganda outlet that is willing to turn them into tv stories. and now the difference is, there's a president of the united states who is willing to amplify them with the biggest megaphone, arguably, in the world, that of the president of the united states. and yamiche, as we look at the president's tweet yesterday, unclear what his objective was, who that appeals to exactly, how that helps him get re-elected. maybe there is nothing behind it. maybe he saw something on tv and tweeted it, not thinking about the consequences of that, or the fact that the president of the united states should not be

amplifying dark conspiracy theories from the internet. but to the question that jonathan raised about actually the white house pushing some kind of reform in police departments. he's wanted to be the law-and-order president. he's using the defund police movement, he thinks as a cudgel to use against democrats and joe biden, despite the fact that joe biden has said he does not support defunding police departments. where is the white house right now on actual police reform? do they have any interest in it? we know senate republicans have appointed tim scott, the lone black senator in their caucus, to look into this question. is the white house interested at all in reforming police departments in this moment? >> well, i think that question has two parts to it. i think people in the white house around the president understand that there is a moment happening here that the white house needs to weigh in on its plan. you see jared kushner. you see senator tim scott meeting yesterday.

i'm told by sources that they had a robust conversation about some of the things they can agree on, some of the things that can be bipartisan. so there is in some sense some sort of plan that's coming together. it's expected at some point to be announced in the next few days or next week. but then, of course, you have the president himself. while people around him understand that there needs to be some sort of change based on just all 50 states being filled with americans protesting, demanding change, the president has been someone who's been very clear that he wants to be a law-and-order president, he wants to be someone who's seen as on the side of police 99% of the time, who is very, very cautious in trying to criticize the police, even when they're wrong, when it comes to, of course, pushing that 75-year-old man. the officers are suspended. this is not really a hard thing for the president to then criticize those officers on, but even then you see him lashing out, instead, at this protester and this old -- this elderly man who remains in the hospital. so i think that's the layout of the land there. i should just add, though, that that 75-year-old that was pushed down, he is not -- not only is he just not someone who is a

domestic terrorist, but he's also someone who's a member of two non-profits, one focused on housing and the other focused on peace and general well-being of the country. and then he's also a member of the catholic worker movement. so, as the president is trying to appeal to white evangelicals, making this walk, as we all know, to st. john's church, holding up the bible, there's someone who actually is living his faith, exercising his faith as a catholic, this man who now lays in the hospital bed. and the president is attacking him. and i think it's really powerful, if you hear the words of the man who was laying in the bed, martin gugino, he said, i don't really have any comment other than black lives matter. that tells you where americans are right now and where the president is right now. >> yeah. and here it is. here are the questions about the president's cruel tweet being dodged by republicans and also the president's chief of staff. we'll start with him, mark meadows. this is him dodging those

questions when he wasn't in this same moment, actually mocking reporters for wearing masks, so that they won't spread the coronavirus. he was mocking them for wearing masks. >> by the way, by the way -- >> mark meadows. >> hey, mark, i know that -- i know you, mark. >> yeah, thought we did. >> and it's really confusing, because you know, lincoln said a house divided against itself cannot stand. but mark, mark, mark, my friend, mark. white house guidelines. trump guidelines. fauci guidelines. say you need to wear a mask in public. bad things happen when you don't wear a mask in public. and by the way, when i see people marching in the streets without wearing masks, i'm thinking, waz going through their head? what's wrong with them? everybody, like reverend al said, you're coming into the

church, we want you to worship, and remember george floyd's life, but wear a mask. >> right. >> so, mark, mark! you had the president of the united states going to maine, going to maine to go to a factory where they're making swabs -- >> and he, like, spews his -- >> that test people and save people, and because he didn't wear a mask, mark, they had to destroy all the work. those hard workers in maine -- >> he germed up the place. >> -- had to destroy all the work that they did while he was there because it was contaminated. so, don't play stupid, mark. don't mock people for following the president's guidelines. >> for keeping you safe. >> did he really make fun of reporters for wearing masks? >> yes. and he and jared were walking down the hall maskless so that their germs can spread to the reporters. >> but again -- >> but the reporters were wearing masks. >> but trump administration guidelines. >> that's correct. >> are the people should wear masks. fauci -- people should wear

masks. birx -- people should wear masks. >> right. >> i think trump himself even said at one point, people need to wear masks. >> well, so, here they are, without their masks, dodging questions about the president's flat-out cruelty. take a look. >> did you have a reaction to the president's tweet earlier today? regarding the man in buffalo? >> beg your pardon? >> did you have a reaction to the president's tweet -- >> i learned a long time ago not to comment on tweets. >> senator, what's your response to the president's tweet, alleging that this protester was a person who worked with antifa? is that something that you support? do you think that that's an appropriate move of the president at this moment? >> i just saw the tweet and i know nothing of the episode, so i don't know. i'm not as fixated, i guess, as some people. >> senator shelby, what do you think of the president's tweet? senator cornyn, can you stop at the mics for a second? what do you make of the

president's tweet this morning? does the president need to be more cautious about what he tweets? majority leader mcconnell, do you have any response to the president's tweet this morning? does the president need to be more careful about what he tweets? >> i didn't see it, so i'd have to -- i mean, you know, i'm sure that my office will be able to get me a copy of it, but i didn't see it. >> senator burr -- >> there's nothing going on today, is there? >> do you think the president needs to be more careful about his tweets, like the one this morning? >> so, no real response to it. but -- >> why not? >> i don't think it should be surprising in general because he tweets a lot. >> senator johnson, was it appropriate for the president today to suggest that this buffalo man had been pushed over, this was staged by this man? any response, sir? do you want to weigh in about the president's tweet this morning about the buffalo protester? >> no.

>> i'd have to take a look at it. i don't have anything for you now. >> do you have any response to the president's tweets this morning about the buffalo protester? you saw the president's tweet this morning where he talked about this buffalo protester? >> we have it for you here. >> claire mccaskill, take it away. >> well, you know, i think rick scott probably was the worst, because i guarantee you -- i know how the senate works, and the minute that tweet went out, every communication director on the hill got a hold of their boss and said, you need to know what the president just said, you need to be prepared. reporters are going fog come up to you. this is what he said. what are we going to do? and the vast majority of those senators, as you see, the strategy was simple -- you stiff-arm the press, say nothing. for rick scott to stand up there and say i haven't seen it, or for kevin cramer to say, i

didn't see the incident. of course he saw the incident. what is he, living in a bunker? maybe he's there with the president, who knows. but it is really now getting critical mass. and these polls are showing it. i mean, i saw yesterday -- i about fell out of my chair when i saw polls in kentucky and in, you know, iowa and in georgia and in texas, where the democrats are surging in these states that we never would have dreamt we had a chance in senate elections. so, now, i will tell you the question i would like to see the reporters all start asking right now. i would like us to shift from the president's tweets to, are you talking to mitch mcconnell about getting the voting rights act off his desk? the voting rights act, which has been sitting on mitch mcconnell's desk -- it passed the house, in the senate, ready for the senate floor, for over 180 days. what we saw yesterday, when i

think the eloquent words that laid george floyd to rest yesterday and how now this all depends on action within our democracy. at the same time, black voters in georgia were being asked to wait for five hours in hot weather, that people all over the country had polling places open until midnight because the voter suppression tactics were being used. the notion that mitch mcconnell is not getting a full court press right now from those senators that are running for the senate in georgia? if they don't start working for that voter rights -- the same voting rights act that reverend al referenced in his comments about the 1960s. that's when that law passed, to keep black voters from being disenfranchised. and we're seeing it all over again right now, and it's particularly painful bautz ecau was happening on the day that we were burying george floyd.

>> and tom nichols, going back to the republicans, one after another walking past, that's our former party. and our former party doesn't have a single person -- i think maybe lisa murkowski might have spoken out, but one senator after another, senator after another senator continues to walk past microphones, unable to say anything in defense of donald trump, can only put their head down and keep walking. and what an ugly scene that is. and in this case, they can't even come to the defense of a 75-year-old man who's been called a terrorist by the president of the united states because he was brutalized, pushed down by the police. it ends up, he's, you know, yes, he belongs to a, quote, terrorist organization, the catholic church. i mean, it's bizarre that they aren't defending this man, who actually could have very easily been killed by police brutality.

>> they don't need to defend the president. and this is a puzzling reaction on the part of republicans because they don't need to defend the president. all they have to do is mimic normal human behavior. all they have to do is step in front of a microphone and say, i don't know what the president's talking about. i saw that tape. i hope that gentleman is all right. we want every american to be safe. we'll look into it. you know, this isn't hard. this is like basic senatoring 101 that you can answer a question like this without having to jump into the pit with the president. and i think what you're seeing is two things. first of all, they are all terrified of the president sicking the base on them. and i think what we're really seeing here, and senator mccaskill's pointing it out, said trump doesn't care what happens to anything else in the country, the republican party's fortunes anywhere, as long as the base continues to love him and believe him. and the other is that the

president's inability to act like a normal human being is starting to trickle down through the rest of the republican party. it's literally starting to infect these senators who simply can't express empathy or emotion. you know, joe biden is a very empathetic politician. and when it comes to grief, he is very eloquent. but i think the other reason we're so relieved to hear from joe biden is we're just relieved to hear from someone who talks and speaks like a normal human being, who actually cares about other human beings. and i think we've just gotten calloused to the way trump reacts, and i think the senators that you just saw have kind of adopted that protective coloration, like cowardly chameleons. they've just decided to, you know, blend in with the wallpaper and show no empathy at all, and it's horrifying. >> but tom, what i don't understand is that you can look

back over the past three years and see what the cost is in general elections, for people blindly following donald trump. i knew a lot of republicans who were main street republicans, who ran as trumpists and got destroyed in general elections. so, if you're martha mcsally in arizona, if you're cory gardner in colorado, if you're susan collins in maine, if you're thom tillis in north carolina, you can see what's happened over the past three years. this is going to end badly for them. so, why -- >> you know -- >> like, they have seen the moths drawn to the flame. they have seen the moths go up in political flames. and their career ended, and by the way, their reputations destroyed. they will never work again in washington after donald trump

leaves town. so, the question is, why do they continue going toward that flame that they know is going to torch their political future? >> i think it's two things, joe. one is that what they're being told and what they're convincing themselves is that my biggest problem electorally is that i'm not close enough to the president yet, and i haven't basked in enough reflected glory, that i'm not somehow picking up enough of the halo effect. and i think the other problem is, this is what happens when people are cowards in packs. each one of those republican electeds is saying, you know, when you're all running away from the bear, they're saying i don't have to be faster than the bear. i just have to be faster than you. so they're looking around saying, who's going to be the first guy to get out there and take the shot and make that mistake? and it's not going to be me. i mean, this is everybody playing super defensive

positions. and you know, again, it's horrifying and, you're right, it's not going to save them. but i think that's the strategy and i think that's what they're telling each other inside the republican public. >> all right, well, tom, thank you for being with us. and i want you to know that we're all thinking about you saying good-bye to your brother. you've talked about it eloquently, how difficult that is under any circumstances, but especially during a pandemic. so, just want you to know we're thinking about you and praying about you and remembering your brother. >> thank you very much. >> and we'll talk more about what happened in georgia, the state seeing some major problems at the ballot box in yesterday's primary. a troubling sign for what could happen in november. plus, best-selling author ibram kendi joins us with a book that seems perfect at this moment, "how to be an

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we're still wrestling with america's original sin. we try to get better, but every now and then, it's perfectly clear we're a long way from the finish line. and i think the best way for senate republicans to go forward on this is to listen to one of our own, who's had these experiences. he's had them since he's been in the united states senate. and with his guidance and leadership, we're going to come together with a proposal that we think makes the most sense for the federal government in the wake of what we've seen and experienced over the last couple of weeks. >> majority leader mitch mcconnell has tapped tim scott of south carolina, the only republican african-american senator, to craft a gop police reform bill. joining us now, founding

director of the antiracist research and policy center at american university, ibram x. kendi. he will join the staff of boston university to launch the new center for antiracist research at that school. he is also the author of the best-selling book entitled "how to be an antiracist." and he is the youngest person ever to win the national book award for nonfiction for the book "stamped from the beginning." it is a pleasure and an honor to have you on the show this morning. let's start with the concept of your book and whether you are seeing any of that denial that you talk about in your book in washington today. >> oh, without question. i mean, i think if we remember correctly, over the weekend, members of the trump administration were asked, is there a police brutality problem?

is there systemic racism? and they said no. and to say that there's no racism in this country, to say that in minneapolis, where black people are about 20% of the population but 60% of the people subjected to police shootings, or that the white-black income gap is nearly $50,000, to say that it's not the result of racist policies is to say there's something wrong with black people, is to say racist ideas, and that is to deny that your ideas are racist. >> and you contend, you argue that that denial is actually the heartbeat of racism. >> it is. i mean, slave traders denied that their ideas and policies were racist. slaveholders denied that they were racist. they said they were following god's law, black people with a curse to sentence of ham, or nature's law, black people were

by nature fit for slavery. segregationists said everything was good in the south and outside agitators are coming down here to mess it up. and so, this is -- the history of racism is the history of denial. >> ibram, willie geist. great to have you back on the show this morning. we appreciate your time. we've heard the term systemic racism used so much in the last couple of weeks, and it's kind of become shorthand. and i haven't heard a lot of people give a good explanation for what it is exactly, and i think it's important that people understand that. it's not calling somebody a name or a racial epithet. it's everything that undergirds that. so, when you think about systemic racism, what do you think of and what needs to change? >> sure. so, let's think about it in this way. we can understand racism, systemic racism, as a collection of racist policies that are leading to racial inequities and are substantiated by racist

ideas. so, if we take voting, for instance, there's a series of voting policies that are racists, that are disenfranchising black and brown voters. and then the justification for those policies are voter fraud, which, of course, are degrading these voters. so, then people -- there is no problem with these policies. there's nothing wrong with these people being disenfranchised. and so, clearly, we need to institute antiracist policies. we need policies that expand the electorate, that protect black bodies against police violence, that ensure equity and justice for all. >> kendi, al sharpton. isn't that the rub, which you just discussed and which you said, i think very effectively in your book, and that is that people are not willing to say that this is baked into the cake, so to speak, in terms of

the system, and therefore, you need some antiracist -- antibiotics, if we were talking about an infirmity, in order to undo this, and whether or not we can get most americans to make that leap? because you're talking about some fundamental change based on direct moves is what you're out lining, that has to counter what we've allowed to be baked into the cake here. >> precisely. you know, i just want to echo as well, in terms of your powerful eulogy yesterday. but you're precisely right. i mean, when the norm in this country is racial inequality, the norm is racial injustice, the norm is racial inequity, we need affirmative policies. we need policies that seek to undermine that norm, that seek to reduce inequity and injustice. we can't do nothing and expect to eliminate racism. we have to be actively fighting racism by being antiracists.

>> yamiche el sinnalcindor has question. >> you're talking about policies and systemic change. some people think you can't change hearts and minds. what do you make of that sentiment? is it a cop-out to talk also about hearts and minds, or does it need to be both? >> i think it certainly can be both. but when we look at history, we find that, oftentimes, when we do the difficult and courageous work of changing policies, minds change when they realize those policies are actually helping them. to give an example, you know, it's not long ago that many americans were against the affordable care act. and then that policy was instituted. and then when republicans tried to undermine it, they were some of the first people saying, no, no, no, this helps me. just like there was a time which people were against interracial marriage.

but then people realized it wasn't the end of america. people were against schoolchildren, you know, learning together. and then people realized that, actually, it wasn't as bad as segregationists were making it out to be. and so, i think the real fight is the changing of policies, because i think that can be much more effective in changing minds. >> the book is "how to be an antiracist," ib ram x kendi. thank you so much for being on the show this morning. please come back. and coming up, a troubling sign for what could happen in november. georgia just saw some major problems at the ballot box in yesterday's primary. we'll talk to the democratic candidate for u.s. senate, jon ossoff, next on "morning joe." n ossoff, next on "morning joe."

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georgia's statewide primary elections yesterday turned into a chaotic, tumultuous day for voters who waited for hours in long lines due to new voting machines not properly working, prompting some voters to turn away and go home. "the new york times" reports that poll workers were unable to get voting machines to work. precincts were late to open and social distancing requirements created long lines, wrapping around parking lots. concern spread that problems would disenfranchise untold voters, particularly african-americans, predominantly

black communities experienced some of the worst problems. as georgia has emerged as a potential battleground state, democrats are pointing blame at republican governor brian kemp and his secretary of state for instituting a new voting system too quickly, without enough provisional ballots in case the new machines did not work properly. come on. secretary of state brad rafensberger released a statement saying what happened is unacceptable, and his office has opened an investigation to determine what counties need to do to resolve the issues before november's election. as for the contests, in georgia's democratic primary for the u.s. senate race, candidate jon ossoff has a wide lead over the field but has yet to reach the majority vote mark needed to avoid an august runoff. as of this morning, that race is still deemed too early to call with 65% of the vote in. and jon ossoff joins us right

now. so, boy, front page of the "atlanta journal-constitution" calls it a complete meltdown. what happened yesterday and what needs to happen before november to shore up the election? >> thank you for having me, mika. what happened yesterday in georgia was an embarrassment. it was a disgrace. it was an affront to the principles of our constitution. and what's happened in georgia over the last several months, between yesterday's debacle of an election and the killing of ahmaud arbery and the refusal of police and prosecutors here to pursue that case has demonstrated the need for a new civil rights act and a new voting rights act to secure the franchise for all georgians and all americans and to secure equal justice for every citizen. >> john, it's willie geist. let's talk about the results of last night's election. obviously, not all the votes are in because of all the complications and the problems at those polling places. do you expect when they're all counted you will have cleared a

majority and you will not have to go to a runoff? >> we'll see. i'm not making any predictions. there are still likely hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots that have not yet been counted and have not been counted and a lot of confusion to sort through after the events of yesterday. clearly, this was a major victory and a dominant performance. i secured more votes than the next five candidates combined. and we're ready to move on and proceed to challenge senator david perdue in the fall. just to make sure viewers are aware who i'm running against. senator david perdue has been caught in recent months selling meetings for corporate pac checks, trading on inside information to profit from the coronavirus pandemic and he's been cited for taking illegal corporate contributions as well. he seemingly lacking a mind of his own is one of president trump's most infamous enablers. never a word of criticism, even

for this president's most egregious conduct. all of this is apparent to georgia voters. that's why i'm leading hum by a 2% margin in the most recent polling. >> we'll extend senator perdue to come on the show to rebutt your argument against him. >> good. >> we know there was a $104 million voting system put in place recently that was supposed to make things easier and cleaner and more democratic, frankly, easier to get people to vote. we know some people stood in line so long yesterday and last night that they just went home. that is disenfranchisement defined. what exactly what happened? we know there were fewer poll workers, we know social distancing made the lines longer, we know coronavirus pushed back the primary, but what exactly was the problem yesterday. >> we have a system in georgia that seemingly by design fails in areas where there's high

density of high volume. and in counties that lack as much resource and as much equipment. these decisions are made by georgia secretary of state office in terms of training, in terms of the overall architecture of voting in georgia. this is what stacey abrams has been sounding the alarm on for years now and what her organization fair fight is fighting. we have a problem with mass disenfranchisement in georgia. a problem with major purges of the voter rolls. yesterday folks having to wait six hours to cast their ballot. to give you a sebs of how this reached out and touched everybody, my wife and i applied for our absentee ballots a month ago. we wrote the county, we sent letters to the county, we sounded the alarm publicly. we new england got their balance lo l -- got our ballot and i'm on the ballot. we are strong so we can do that. think of the seniors who can't go out and risk contracting disease, who expected to receive an absentee ballot and because

of the incompetence of authorities at every level, for which our state leadership still refuses to take responsibility, a lot of people were disenfranchised yesterday. it's a shame and why we need a new voting rights act in america. >> claire mccaskill has a question. claire? >> when i saw those lines, i always think of the single mom who has to leave because she has to get back to a job or many times has to leave because she has a child that she has to care for. the people are disenfranchised are exactly those who republicans want disenfranchised, those dealing with a tough economic climate. the voting rights act was blown out of the water by the roberts court. it was put in the dust bin of history by chief justice roberts and those supreme court justices who agreed with him. it is now on mitch mcconnell's

desk, as you are well aware, as stacey abrams is well aware. has david perdue said he backs the voting rights act that allows the republican leader to allow the senators to vote on it? >> i haven't heard a peep from senator perdue on this. you're exactly right, senator, it's folks who cannot afford to spend one hour let alone six hours waiting to vote between work and other obligations. and this is a system that fails by design in places where you have high concentrations of black voters and high concentrations of lower income voters. and senator perdue, as a senator for all georgians, should be out there leading the charge on this. he should be out there defending the voting rights of every single citizen. but instead he's slept. you won't hear him urging mitch mcconnell to pass legislation. as you pointed out, the shelby county decision, which eviscerated the voting rights act, means states like georgia

can change their voting procedure, can close precincts, can do all of this without scrutiny from the department of justice. so they can hold law enforcement, prosecutors and judges across this country to uniform standards of civil, constitutional and human rights. >> jonathan lemire, jump in. >> yesterday it was held in the shadow of coronavirus. georgia governor kemp received criticism from opening up the state early, perhaps earlier than some health experts believe should have happened. can you give us an update as to what you're seeing with the coronavirus pandemic in your home state and also what can be done to safeguard the vote in november so people can vote

safely, particularly if the coronavirus comes back, as anticipated, with a second wave this fall. >> yeah, all of us in georgia are watching the health data week by week. so far there's not a trend up our down. governor kemp was criticized because it wasn't just early opening but it was massage particulars, hair institutions where there's close contact between client, workers and vendors. i hope and all georgians hope that despite that, the numbers will continue to come down. but what i think we're not seeing at the national level is a real grappling with the fact that this virus is still among us. we continue to need significant investment in the public health response. we continue to desperately need policy that is guided by science and public health experts. we have here in georgia. centers for disease control and prevention, the cdc, which has been largely sidelined in the

administration because the virus response has been so politicized. and it should be abandonly clear to folks like senator perdue, who was too busy -- literally on the same day as a classified coronavirus he was buying stock in ppe. in february he was selling casino shares to buy stocks in a maker of vaccines. he was trading stocks 300% his normally tempo while write the largest economic bailout in history. we need public servants who put the public above themselves. this isn't about david perdue's party. it's the fact he sought to enrich himself, instead of warning people of georgia what was to come and warning the country and constituents of what was to come. as much as he is awol right now while georgia is crying out for defense of their voting rishgts he's done nothing but praising the administration response, taking no proactive response,

and folks in george goeshia see and demand better. >> thank you very much. again, we are extending an invite to senator perdue to respond to those claims. coming up, one of our next guests says that stress was already killing black americans and that covid-19 is making it worse. harvard professor dr. david williams joins us to talk about that. former secretary of state madeleine albright will be our guest. you're watching "morning joe." give me your hand! i can save you... lots of money with liberty mutual! we customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need! only pay for what you need.

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most people, the numbers you feel now will turn day after day, season after season into purpose to the memory of the one they lost. but for you, that day has come before you can fully grieve. and unlike most, you must grieve

in public. it's a burden. a burden that is now your purpose to change the world for the better in the name of george floyd. >> joe biden delivered remarks in a prerecorded video during george floyd's funeral yesterday. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is june 10th. we have the host of nbc's politics nation and president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton, karine jean-pierre, now adviser to bo biden campaign, and author jon meacham joins us, an nbc news and msnbc contributor. we will play for you more of joe biden's message that was played at george floyd's funeral and the other moving speakers, including reverend al. we'll get into yesterday's breakdown in georgia's voting

process. this is a big story. the secretary of state is opening an investigation after reports of long waits, voting machines not working and a lack of ballots in some areas. plus, stop us if you've heard this before, president trump's latest push of a conspiracy theory on twitter draws mostly silence from republicans on capitol hill. >> and his own aides horrified by the fact that he keeps deging himself in a deeper hole in this crisis. several states are seeing a rise in hospitalization rates due to coronavirus. and dr. anthony fauci is issuing a new warning. we'll have that for you as well. >> reverend al, let's talk about the freloyd funeral. first, a couple of moments where you really, i think, broke through all the noise we've been

hearing. you said this was not just a tragedy, it was a crime, and talked about what america needed to do to make sure that crime was addressed. and then one of the really moving parts, you said -- you called for momma. we're going to lay your body next to hers. the range of emotions yesterday at your address, they were -- they were stunning. >> powerful. >> powerful, extraordinary. tell us what it was like to be inside that room. >> it was very, very emotional, even for me, even though i've done these for so many years. to be sitting there with the family that was not dealing with this as a public issue, not dealing with this as a headline, but this was their father, their brother, their cousin, and to

hear what they would say to each other over the last few days and how they were struggling to deal with the public light and glad that they were put into without any request of their own, and balance that with a real firm commitment that they wanted to see justice, all of that was very much present. so, when i spoke, wanted people to, as we go through all of these announcements, this corporation, billions of dollars, this person doing that, which is all good and necessary, i wanted people to understand from the family point of view and my own, this was a crime. let's not get beyond the fact that someone decided to break the law by pressing their knee 8 minutes, 46 seconds on a human being's neck that caused his death that ought to be accountable. and we should do the studies. we ought to deal with racism,

but let's make sure the way you make it plainly clear that black lives are just as respected by the law as anyone else is you have to pay for the crime and you have to deal with it as a crime. and then we took him to the cemetery where his mother's buried. and i did the final last words over him as we committed his body. he called for his mother in his last eight minutes of life and we laid him to rest next to where his mother was buried, he will be buried. >> there was another moving moment where you connected george floyd's death to the death and the tragedy and the pain and the hardship that so many other families in the black community have endured through the years. what a moving moment it was. alex, let's roll that tape. >> the mother of trayvon martin, will you stand.

the mother of eric garner, will you stand. the sister family of pamela tur right here in houston, will you stand. the father of michael brown from ferguson, missouri, will you stand. the father of ahmaud arbery, will you stand. >> that was an incredible moving moment, the entire church raised to its feet and applauded for those families over police violence over the last years. they have this brotherhood and sisterhood among them, tragically, of people who understand what george floyd's family feels right now and what george floyd's family is going through right now.

not as you said, just the loss of a loved one, but having to grieve in public and to be thrust into the spotlight as almost activists in all of this. how do they operate together? are they as much a community as it seems? >> yes, it really is. when i went down the first week of -- which is almost three weeks ago, to deal with the family and go to the site of where george was killed, i brought the mother of eric garner with me. and because of the generosity of tyler perry, he provided a private plane for her and for the family throughout this period. so they wouldn't have to deal with traveling with the coronavirus still with us. one of the reasons i wanted to do that is because they understand what i or you couldn't understand. they know the pain and the emptiness and trying to rush into how do i handle public life and not make mistakes. i watched her in the room with them.

and then when trayvon's mother came in, when michael brown's mother came, when others came, they almost have an unspoken language between each other, though they started as strangers, because it's a pain that they understand, that someone like me can be sensitive to and try to help and deal with whatever they need, but they know know each other. there's also a sense of comfort that the ones that were the object of the -- of condolences and the comrade feeling yesterday, in this case the george family, they feel they're not alone because they see others that this has happened to that took time to come. so, i think it was very comforting for them to share and be there all together. the shame is there's so many of them. as i introduced them, and most of those cases i fought, led marches and rallies for, it's a shame we have so many in this period in american history. and we haven't solved the

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as i said to you when i saw you yesterday, you're so brave. daddy is looking down. he's so proud of you. know you miss that bear hug that only he could give. pure joy riding on his shoulders so you could touch the sky. the countless hours he spent playing any game you wanted because your smile, your laugh, your love is the only thing that mattered at the moment. i know you have a lot of questions, honey, no child should have to ask questions that too many black children have had to ask for generations, why? why is daddy gone? and looking through your eyes,

we should also be asking ourselves why the answer is too often too cruel and too painful. now is the time for racial justice. that's the answer we must give to our children when they ask why, because when there's justice for george floyd, we will truly be on our way to racial justice in america. and then as you said, gianna, your daddy will have changed the world. >> you know, jon meacham, that is what americans are used to in their presidents. from fdr's fireside chats where he talked a frightened america through the great depression to ronald reagan's pitch-perfect response to the "challenger" disaster to george w. bush standing on top of the pile of rubble after 9/11, saying we hear you and soon the world will hear you. joe biden's response is the response that we americans,

republican and democrat and independent alike, are used to during these times. but it's contrasted in the white house at the same time joe biden is delivering those moving, eloquent remarks by a president who was tweeting and attacking a 75-year-old man who was brutalized by police and is in the hospital fighting for his health. the contrast is so great. it seems so long even though it's only been 3 1/2 years since we've had a president who actually spoke like joe biden did there. >> yeah, the thing here has to tb both restoration and reform. i think that's where joe biden is. he's about restoring that vernacular of grace and dignity and the aim of equality that,

you're right, we have been blessed with for a long time. it also has to come with reform, which is what the vice president said as well. look, it was 8:46, it's also been 400 years. we can't lose sight of that in the midst of this. i thought reverend sharpton did a masterful job yesterday of weaving the particular and the universal together, which is one of the great part of a preacher and part of liturgy is to remind ourselves we're individual human souls. what i think is really important here is we take -- i was thinking about yesterday watching the funeral was dr. king's eulogy at 16th street baptist church for three of the four girls who were murdered in september of '63.

and his thematic, his refrain is god has a way of bringing good out of evil. that is excellent and comforting point, but the comfort is pretty cold when you're in the midst of that evil. >> karine jean-pierre, joe biden is stepping into the void of empathy in the presidency and filling that, but let's put aside your position with the biden campaign for a moment and talk about this moment and how does it move beyond being just an incredibly powerful moment in our history? >> yeah, yeah, that's right, mika. yesterday at the funeral, the home-going for george floyd, it was powerful, beautiful and

incredibly hurtful and incredibly sad. you think about george floyd should be here with us today. 8:46, in 8:46 we heard him plead for his life. we heard him say, i cannot breathe. and it was just no regard for this man's life because of the color of his skin. and there's just too many of those stories. the reason we know about george's story is because it was recorded. how about all the others that have not been recorded? and so one of the things i want to say is something that reverend al sharpton said yesterday, which i really appreciated. thank you, reverend al sharpton, for really putting it all together for us and really for speaking out for so many of us and lifting up our community like you do every day, but the thing that i really tuned into yesterday is how you said, this

is not over. how you said you will continue this fight. when the cases, when the court, when it goes to the court and moves forward for george floyd, that you're still going to be there. we saw an outpouring that we haven't seen, at least in my lifetime. this is the moment, this is the moment we have to ask for reform. this is the moment we have to continue to stay together. and it's been multicultural, multiracial, it's been a moment that has uplifted me in this incredibly sad time. so, we just have to continue that fight and continue to speak up because we cannot have -- we cannot afford any more george floyd. coming up, former secretary of state madeleine albright is standing by. she joins the conversation next on "morning joe." on "morning joe. are you a weirdo?

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ten national guardsmen who had been deployed in response to protests in the wake of george floyd's killing in police custody spoke to politico, and they described their struggles with their role in controlling demonstrations, including the use of force to clear protests near the white house last monday. one of the guardsmen who was there said, quote, the crowd was loud but peaceful and at no point did i feel in danger. i was standing right there in the front of the line. i believe i saw civil rights

being violated in order for a photo op. that photo op refers to president trump at st. john's episcopal church just after protesters were cleared to make his walk across the street. member of the d.c. national guard who was on duty that day said she supported the protests and among the protesters was her brother, who had, quote, coughed a lot due to the irritants fired into the crowd, tear gas. attorney general william barr confirmed that pepper balls were used, which are classified as chemical agents. joining us now, former secretary of state to president bill clinton, madeline all bright. her latest book is entitled "hell and other destinations: a 21st century memoir." we'll talk about that in a moment. it's wonderful to have you on the show. i really appreciate it. first, we'd like to ask, madame secretary, if you could give us

your reaction to what went down in lafayette square. >> well, i have to say, i was totally stunned. obviously, i am somebody that has been to lafayette square many times. and i really do think we are in a crucial moment in terms of seeing troops take out after people that were freely demonstrating and expressing what lafayette square is about. the opportunity to state views, to differ, to talk about democracy. and so i thought it was one of the most stunning and abhorrent things i have seen in a very long time. and leads to many, many questions about why it happened and what the effect of it will be. >> madame secretary, you wrote in your last book "fascism is warning," what you saw in lafayette square, does that make you fear that the president's

instincts may be edging closer towards fascism? >> well, i'm very worried about the use of violence and the things being said about those with whom you disagree, and a president that thinks he's above the law and maligns the press, i do tling that president trump is the most un-american, un-democratic president in american history. and i'm very troubled by his interpretation of everything as conspiracy theories and only about him with no sense of any empathy or any moral compass. but i think un-american and un-democratic is the way i would describe him. >> in your latest book you describe that space in front of the white house. let me read parts of that passage. quote, stroll through a random afternoon and you might encounter break dancing, bag

pipers in kilts, a black man soliciting funds to help the children of haiti, a white man proclaiming the clean. american school children on field trips and asian tourists, among the other visitors are teenage boys wearing maga hats, veterans and activists carrying signs reading qult black lives matter." the panorama is different every day but the same as well. it is exuberant, varied, inclusive, respectful, disrespectful, alive, and above all, free. the whole area could be shut down in ten minutes. and i guess the fear of that panorama, that freedom being taken away, is one of the worst offenses, perhaps, we have seen in this entire presidency?

>> i think so. and i wrote that in 2018. and i have always loved lafayette square because in so many ways it is the exemplify our freedom. there are military people who helped us to get a democracy and keep it and then all these variety of people. and so actually the fact there was a violent shutdown was something i was thinking about but really didn't think it was going to happen and i do think shutting down a place that is the kind of symbol and epitome of democracy. and i think using troops is the worst symbol. it's against democracy. and i do think we need to think about the things that happened. and i do think, mika, this is a crucial period because it can either allow us to be able to have racial justice and to

figure out how social media should behave and health policy, or it could lead to more violence and a constitutional crisis. and we are the ones that have the choice. i know you've been talking about the elections in georgia. democracy is not a spectator sport. the election and voting is an essential part of it. and the warnings that come out of what happened in georgia is something that we all have to take very, very much into mind because this is a crucial period where we can go either way. and i am an optimist, as you know, but i do worry a lot. and so i'm going to keep speaking out about the warnings that are out there when a place identified with democracy and free speech is shut down. that is a very strong warning. >> willie? >> secretary albright, it's willie geist. good to see you this morning. you've spent your life traveling the world and working with world

leaders. we've seen these protests for a man who died under the knee of a police officer in minneapolis, minnesota. filter out into the streets of cities around the world, from paris and amsterdam to nairobi and tokyo. it's been all over the world. so, what are you seeing around the world, not just in the united states, reflected? what are all those people out in the streets for for someone who died in this country? >> i think it is really very moving and remarkable the way that the whole message of george floyd has come through and various demonstrations that have happened in the united states as a result of it. i think you know, i'm a refugee. i came to this country when i was 11 years old and nothing made me prouder than to be able to sit behind a sign that said the united states. i don't want to be mortified or embarrassed by the behavior of the united states and trying to explain to people what happened here and that this is not the

direction we're going to go in and we have an opportunity to really restore our reputation in terms of being a country that believes in democracy, that believes in reform, that believes in free speech. and i am very glad that other countries are noticing it because it is more than an embarrassment to the united states. we have to change. we have to be true to what america is really about, diversity, freedom, freedom of speech. >> madame secretary, jonathan lemire with the associated press is with us. he has a question for you. jonathan? >> madame secretary, we of course know what happened in 2016 with russia's election interference. there is reporting now about russia and other countries trying to stir trouble online both in terms of america's response to the coronavirus pandemic, but also the unrest we've seen in the streets the last couple of weeks during these protests.

how concerned are you? we're now under five months into the election, that we will see a disinformation campaign, a meddling campaign from russia or another nation? do you have any confidence at all this administration will do anything to stop it? >> i am very concerned about it. because they really have the capabilities to do it. they have been doing all these things. and then i don't -- i'm assuming that the very crazy tweet that came yesterday about the fact that the man in buffalo was part of some conspiracy was something that i've heard comes from outside interference. it means that we have a president, at best gullible or complicit, in spreading some of the lies that are going on out there. and i do think we have to be very, very concerned. i think also we need to work more with the states in order to make sure that these kinds of things are not going to happen in the next election. i know we always say this is the most important election ever.

this one actually is because it could be a watershed time. and i think we have to make sure that it is not interfered from from outside. it is our responsibility to make sure it doesn't happen. but i am worried. >> madame secretary, speaking of germany -- or speaking of russia, you have the issue of germany where the president is now talking about defunding u.s. national security as far as it goes with one of our closest allies in germany. speaking of russia, how big of a win is that for vladimir putin? how much does that play into putin's hands? >> it plays totally into vladimir putin's hands. by the way, one of the expression in communist theology is how to use a useful idiot. i don't have to go further in explaining that. and i do think that the way this was done, first of all, it was

unilateral. there was apparently no consultation with any of our nato allies and also it was done because he was mad that angela merkel wasn't going to come to a g-7 meeting that was going to be a photo op. and especially given the virus and the threats from that. so, it was totally useless, childish, counterproductive. >> all right. former secretary of state, madeleine albright. my gosh, it's so good to see you. and i look forward to moderating a very special conversation with you and angelina jolie later this month for your organization, the national democratic institute, the ndi. the conversation will be about the work that you both have done internationally, focused on women's empowerment. we want to keep that conversation alive through all of this. so, thank you so much. i look forward to it. >> and thank you for saying yes quickly, which was fabulous,

mika. >> it was a no-brainer. >> great. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> thank you all for everything you're doing. thanks. >> thanks. up next, protests, a pandemic and a battered job market. it's been a tough few weeks for cities all over this country. we'll talk to chicago mayor lori lightfoot, who is dealing with all that and the scourge of gun violence in her city. "morning joe" is coming right back. how about no

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three mayors and three police chiefs have launched a police reform and racial justice working group to devise recommendations on policing and to help and injustices facing black americans. the mayors of chicago, tampa and cincinnati are part of a group, along with the police chiefs of baltimore, phoenix and columbia, south carolina. joining us now, the mayor of chicago, who is helping to lead this new initiative, lori lightfoot joins us. thank you for coming on this morning. >> mayor lightfoot, greatly appreciate you being with us. i want you to -- if you can

explain to our viewers how somebody like you, who has an extraordinarily difficult job in chicago, how do you balance reforming police methods and making sure that things that have happened in the past will never happen again, while also working to keep your cities safer. chicago has long had a problem with shootings and, over the last weekend in may, 84 people were shot, 24 killed, akor rding to the university of chicago crime lab, most of the victims were black, including students, parents, middle aged workers, according to the chicago "sun-times." so, i think for you, more than any mayor in america, because crime has been a problem in chicago for so long, you have to commit to this incredible balancing act. how do you do it and what can

you teach other mayors in that process? >> well, i think you hit the nail on the head. it is a balancing act. what we've done since i became mayor is that we're looking holistically at the causes of violence. you can't just lead with the police department. you've got to get people on the ground, in neighborhoods, engaged, involved and empowered and creating vibrant, healthy communities. so, we've done that for structure, investments in public housing, mental health and violence prevention. we are working on bridging the divide in health care disparities. a lot of what you're hearing manifest itself in the protests is the absence of, the absence of these kind of investments that really we know are the kind of things that can transform neighborhoods. at the same time, as you mentioned, violence, unfortunately -- fighting a

pandemic, fighting covid-19 as well as fighting the pandemic of gun violence, and also poverty and disinvestment. >> reverend al is with us and has a question for you. >> mayor lightfoot, first, condolences on death of dr. con regard. as you work with these other two mayors dealing with racial disparity as well as the reality of fighting crime, you bring a particular kind of experience because you worked before you were mayor dealing with policing community issues. out of those experiences and given this present climate as we're dealing with this national question around floyd, what can you tell us now that you're mayor that you can recommend to these that are working with you, the mayor of tampa and the mayor of cincinnati, that you learned by trying to deal with the community side of it before you

were mayor? >> first, you have to listen and make sure that the community believes they are heard because they actually are heard. you have to make sure the policies you create actually reflect the lived experiences of people in neighborhoods, people who feel like they've been mistreated by the police, that they haven't had a seat at the table. and i think the other thing you have to do is make sure that you are unbelievably transparent in everything that you're doing. i think one of the things we have to do a better job of, not just in chicago but across the country, is talking about the specific things we've done. the three mayors and i have all had a lot of experience in police reform and accountability, but i think particularly the younger people that have taken to the streets don't have any knowledge of that because we haven't been talking about it enough. we've been doing the work but we haven't been publicizing what we've done, what the milestones are, where we've succeeded and also where we failed. we have to pull back the curtain

on that and be a heck of a lot more transparent, and we're committed to doing that. >> willie geist, it's great to have you with us this morning. your video is frozen but we can still hear you. we just don't have the shot up right now. but we can still hear you. i just want to follow up on what joe mentioned, the gun violence statistics where 85 people were shot, 24 killed in one 24-hour period, 18 people were killed. that's the equivalent of a mass shooting in your city. obviously, the problem of gun violence, if you look at the statistics has gotten better over the last couple of years, but it had a long way to go, it was so bad. how do you explain to americans across the country who look at chicago and say, what is unique and different and so bad about the gun violence in chicago? why is it that way? >> well, part of it is we have way too many guns on our street.

we are surrounded by states that you can go over the border and buy military-grade weapons at any quantity, any price. that's a huge problem. the interstate trafficking of guns. we have also a significant gang problem in certain neighborhoods in our city on the south and west side. they're shooting, killing each other. there's no two ways about it. that's why we've got to displace the illegal gun economy with real jobs, with a legitimate pipeline to legitimate parts of our economy and we've got to keep focused and working on that. if we give people hope, give them jobs and make sure they have quality education, we'll see this transformance. we know that because it's happened in other neighborhoods, but unfortunately, there hasn't been enough historic investment in black and brown neighborhoods. but that's what we're trying to do now.

we're not going to erase decades of disinvestment in one year or two years, but we have to have commitment and focus and that's what we're doing. >> speaking of new investments, mayor lightfoot, do you believe it's the right idea, as we look at police reforms, to redirect some of the money in your city towards social services, towards investment in those communities and, perhaps, away from police departments, not to defund, which is to stop the funding of police departments, but to redirect some of those monies to other areas? >> what i believe is what we've done, which is make sure we make a priority of these social services investments. mental health, housing, health care, violence prevention, all these other things that we know are necessary to create healthy, vibrant communities. we've got to do that in chicago and that's precisely what we've done. we had $1 billion budget deficit that i walked into office

facing, but we didn't abandon our values. that's the critical thing. we have to make sure we stay focused on building healthy, secure and safe neighborhoods. it's not an either/or proposition. it's got to be both. >> add to the challenges that you're talking about, obviously, the virus, the coronavirus and what is your message to protesters who want to send a message to leadership about the policies that they feel need to be changed, but also when you have people bunched together like this, there is -- i mean, there's no denying there is a health threat here, is there not? >> there absolutely is. i think some people probably thought i was a little bit ironic when i said, look, if you're out there, please wear a mask. please try to social distance. what we advised the protesters is, you really need to self-quarantine for two weeks. now, i don't know that people are doing that, but we're going

to keep consistently driving home that message because the very thing that got us to the ability to cautiously reopen is being socially distant and isolating ourselves and being very, very careful about the time we're spending together. and yet we saw, of course, in protests, not just in chicago but all across the country, people not following that very real public health guidance. covid-19 is part of our present and it's going to be part of our future and we've got to do everything we can to really stop the spread of this virus. and i'm very concerned about a second surge based upon what we've seen, the number of people gathering all across the country, but particularly here in chicago. we were worried about a second surge in the fall, but i fear we're going to see a second surge by the end of june, beginning of july. we're prepared. >> i'm worried. >> it will be really unfortunate if that happens. >> chicago mayor lori lightfoot,

so glad we were able to hear you. the picture froze, but we certainly got the message. thank you so much for being on the show this morning. and up next, the impact of racism on the black community and how covid-19 is making things worse. harvard university professor david williams joins us next. keep it right here on "morning joe." this is an athlete, twenty reps deep, sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. she's confident, protected, her strength respected.

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you guys with all your mask s, you look very different than you used to. >> um, that was white house chief of staff mark meadows, making fun of reporters wearing masks. jonathan lemier, you guys and your masks, what's the white house policy again? >> let's remember the cdc in early april recommended that all americans wear masks if they can't maintain social distancing.

that's clearly not what was happening there and then a memo that all white house staff to wear masks. he has never worn one himself or in public. around the white house we've noticed staffers have stopped doing that. we don't believe that the memo has been rescinded but as they're trying to send a message that the country is reopening and the pandemic is behind us, they stopped wearing masks. 14 states just recorded their seven-day highest average of infections. this pandemic is not gone despite how much the white house is trying to wish it away. >> dr. fauci saying yesterday in a very clear warning we are still at the beginning of this pandemic. joining us now, professor of public health and african-american studies at harvard university, dr. david williams. and you are here to talk about the impact of racism on the health of black americans. add to that this pandemic.

>> that's correct. >> so, if you could explain to us, first, the impact of racism on the actual health and then we'll fold in the new challenges with covid-19. >> thank you so much. it's good to be with you. racism has negative effects in multiple ways on the health of the african-american population and other populations of color. it's also a global pattern we document. i'll talk about a mechanism most people can relate to, the stress of interpersonal relation. one of the most powerful ones is a simple scale called every day discrimination scale. it asks individuals who they're treated with less courtesy and respect than others, in restaurant people in stores, act as if they're afraid of them or think you are not smart.

and that simple measure, people who score high on higher levels of blood pressure, have higher levels of inflammation, have higher levels of clinical development of heart disease. pregnant women who report everyday discrimination give birth to lower weight infants, higher symptoms of anxiety and depression. so across a growing range of indicators of health, the interpersonal experience of discrimination adversely impacts health. in addition to that, some work i've done with other colleagues shows that every leads to worse mental health for the entire black population in the state which it occurs for the next three months. we are documenting community impact that lasts at least for three months of every police shooting. >> wow.

we have the reverend al sharpton with us. he has the next question. >> doctor, i'm very intrigued by your study. explain then what we can do as the next step. obviously, we would like to eradicate all of the racism and things that cause anxiety, blood pressure and all. but absent an immediate removal as we fight for that, what do we recommend african-americans do, recognize that these are -- these maladies come from these things and try to treat them? what's the recommendation we do in the interim to make a just society? >> i'll tell you what the evidence suggests. there's actually evidence that suggests that fighting racism, that engaging in protests, that taking actions to support the rights and well-being of your community actually leads to improved health. in addition to that, we have

research that shows for stress in general and stress of discrimination as well that higher levels of religious engagement is a powerful force that reduces the negative effects of the discrimination health. in addition to that, higher levels of social support from friends, from family, from other relatives also reduces the negative effect. but i think that -- i agree with you. the biggest thing to work on is to reduce the occurrence of these experiences in the first place, and that requires creating a whole new culture of dignity, of equality, of opportunity for all. >> dr. williams, it's willie geist. how do you quantify this specific type of anxiety and stress and medical condition effectively what you're describing, something that takes such a toll in racism that it has medical consequences? how do you measure that exactly?

>> sure. i think we measure that with standard measures. so some of the things i have described is based on drawing a blood sample and measuring the blood and looking at the amount of inflammation in the blood. we have measured mental health disorders. we have measured blood pressure. so these are based on not self reports of individuals. the mental health measures are. but the physical health measures are based on studies where we actually measured medical outcomes with the traditional measures that we use in epidemiologic studies. the important point to remember, though, is not just the stress of discrimination. it's the racism that's embedded in the policies and procedures, one that i have studied as residential segregation, which determines where you live, and that determines all the

opportunities to be healthy. one national study in the united states, i didn't do it. one of my colleagues at harvard did it, that you can statistically eliminate black, white differences in income, in education and in unemployment and reduce black/white differences and single motherhoods. all of those differences are linked to opportunity, linked to place. >> professor of public health and african-american studies at harvard university, dr. david williams, thank you very much. his recent piece for "the washington post" is entitled stress was already killing black americans. covid-19 is making it worse. and we end, reverend dell, on that note. i'll give you the final thoughts. in light of this historic funeral for george floyd in houston and the president's very cruel tweets, seemingly supporting police brutality. these challenges, all amidst the

probable resurgence of covid-19. >> yes. we must continue to resist but we need to do it where we respect and regard social distancing so we do not cause a problem while we solve another, and i've learned that it's healthy to protest as long as you do it right. >> that does it for thus morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. hi there, i'm stephanie ruhle. it is tuesday, june 10th. here is what's happening. this morning, george floyd has been laid to rest but the movement sparked by his death goes on. in houston, texas, floyd's family urged the country to stand united against racism and keep pushing for justice. new signs that change is coming to our country. in state after state, lawmakers