2020 -- paul has put forth the justice for breonna taylor act that would prohibit police officers from using no-knock warrants likeno the one that le to the fatal shooting of breonna taylor. today marks exactly three months seen breonna taylor was killed. the officers who executed the warrant at her home have been suspended without pay.

no arrests have been made. joining me now tracy kazee. her recent piece in the "washington post" states after this crisis policing should never be the same. also with me identity politics reporter for the "washington post," eugene scott. and nbc news correspondent jacob ward rounds out our panel. thanks to you for joining us. tracy, we've been talking about police reform. r talk to me about the things that can be done relatively quickly without ease that can make policing more fair for

african-americans and all of us. >> you just mentioned the package of bills that passed in new york aspa well as throughou the country. you have the eric garner bill, the breonna taylor bill. police chiefs are taking a look inside toki answer the question what can we do now that we can rethink, that we can talk about. should we really be in this space? the interesting t part of all ts is the passage of all the bills is equally important, but i remind folks at the center of this has a to be the community. the community is being clear about the fact that they're asking for systemic and procedural changes. these are things that could have been done years ago. in new york, 850, where you have the -- open up the records of police officers who have been

disciplined. that bill has been trying to get through that house for years. so it really comes down to what the community's asking their localy' agencies to do. without that trust as it was spoken, if you do things that are cosmetic, you're not listening. you're not listening at all. i think a lot of what we've been talking about over the week has to be community centered. so folks trying to figure out we'llig switch. the community has not voiced or been at the table on this and that's going to prove to be problematic. look at b training, how you hiring, what public safety pieces should we be taking care of and the ones that come up are whether or not we should be enforcing social distancing, whether or not we should be responding to those in mental health crises.s. there's all types of things that should be done, but you're dealing with the system.in

this is going to be a process. however communities decide, whether shuttering a police department or re-imagining a police department, it's going to be a process. >> jake ward, you've been studying this since ferguson. things like 8 can't wait, the 8 points that can change policing. some you can do within a few weeks. there are a few that include retraining, include options in terms of the use of force, include using shooting as a last resort that are more than instructions and t directive an policy. they actually require some in-depth training. that's absolutely right, ali. what we are all learning is there's this deep fundamental change that has taken place. ever since ferguson, it's been

interesting to see how fragmented the police departments across the country they are, how separate they are fromte one another. you can see whether it's food safety -- i was looking this week at the design of play grounds and the national guidelines we have for safe play grounds in this country. there's nothing at a federal level for safety when it comes to w police and the procedures that should be recommended to all police departments. as you say you can make some quick c changes. we saw san francisco make some announcements this week thatme they'res making quick and profound changes to how it runs. these r larger questions, thing like reporting data, which is something that academics wanted to pursue forever, being able to look across all the data we hava in this country and see what are the circumstances that lead to these bad outcomes. what are the racial disparities?

all that data is not being gathered except for organizations like the center for policing equity and a few other folks. there's some very quick changes that can be made.th in terms of a systemic improvement, the kind of thing all americans can rely on because the data has been analyzed, we're not there yet, ali. >> eugene, this has become an issue, almost a litmus test for democratic candidates. most are not interested in a conversation thates uses the wos defunding or abolish. i think many of them have come to understand that defunding means different things to different people. it is playing out. it's going to play out in the election. >> absolutely. we've heard democratic leaders like joe biden and jim claiborne become very vocal and communicating that they don't

want to abolish police departments. they want to put in place policies and procedures that make it less likely to see black lives lost at the hands of t police. they're aware their conservative counter parts will use this against them. they've already been doing that. we've seen people like donald trump and republican law makers at a hearing attack the left saying they want to create societies that have no structure and order. that's not the case at all for democrats or even for those on the left who actually do want to abolish police departments. what they want to do is figure out a way to ensure public safetyns that does not involve using individuals with guns who disproportionately kill black people. >> thanks to the three of you for joining us.

thanks. coming up america's much needed reckoning with its confederate history. and you can see your transactions and check your balance from here. you can save for an emergency from here. or pay bills from here. so when someone asks you, "where's your bank?" you can tell them: here's my bank. or here's my bank. or, here's my bank. because if you download and use the chase mobile app, your bank is virtually any place. visit chase.com/mobile. ♪ ♪ we've always put safety first. ♪ ♪ and we always will. ♪ ♪ for people. ♪ ♪ for the future. and there has never been a summer when it's mattered more.

wherever you go, summer safely. get zero percent apr financing for up to five years on select models and exclusive lease offers. proof i can fight moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. proof i can fight psoriatic arthritis... ...with humira. proof of less joint pain... ...and clearer skin in psa. humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. humira is proven to help stop further joint damage.

want more proof? ask your rheumatologist about humira citrate-free. if you can't afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. bbut what if you couldg do better than that? like adapt. discover. deliver, in new ways, to new customers. what if you could come back stronger? faster. better. at comcast business, we want to help you not just bounce back, but bounce forward. and now, with one of our best offers ever, we're committed to helping you do just that. get a powerful and reliable internet and voice solution for only $29.95 a month for three months. call or go online today.

song by song i try and make it easier foranxiety.to get help. depression. panic attacks. people don't want to talk about it. so i share it. the struggle and the joy with my mental health. i bare it on a stage, under a spotlight, and invite everyone to join me. what's your mission? use godaddy to help make it happen. make the world you want. [ crowd cheering ]

that was thursday in richmond, virginia as a statue of jefferson davis was pulled down. it's an ongoing reckoning with confederate similar billions around the country. this map shows where items are coming down now. the pentagon said it would be open to changing the names of ten military bases. president trump said he's not open to changing the names. joining me now morgan chesky. morgan, i think you're in dallas, is that right? >> reporter: that's right. this is becoming more polarizing. this confederate memorial is fenced off and covered up. a texas appeals court has given the green light to take it down. the city is concerned about

vandalism after seeing other examples of that take place across the country. from small time america to our nation's capitol our shared history is getting a new chapter. >> morgan, what's the response? are their counter protesters? are there people not in favor of this? >> reporter: ali, there are. in fact we've seen several protests here in dallas for a variety of reasons. obviously racial injustice and police brutality. they made their way by this area. we know there was an expected crowd that was anticipated here today. that's why you see these metal barriers being put up. that's a ten-foot fence around the memorial there. that's going to stay in place. the city has told us they've secured a contractor who can take it down.

part of the city's reasoning is the shear size of it, they were concerned if it was toppled down it could cause injury in the process. this memorial was built more than 100 years ago. it's been here for the past several decades. i did have a chance to speak to a son of -- the great grandson of someone who fought in the civil war. he said this wasn't meant to discriminate, but educate. he acknowledges that history is changing and perhaps things need to be given a closer look. obviously a lot of opinions on this, ali. as it stands right now, this memorial one of so many others that will be leaving this park and cemetery here to be placed in storage or sold to perhaps a private collector. ali? >> morgan, good to see you.

good to see you in safety. last time i was with you you were in minneapolis dodging projectiles. joining me now jon meacham. his lastest book is "songs of america." jon, i would love to have a long conversation with you about the history of protests and how it's made this country great. let's talk about these confederate monuments. there's a lot of confusion as to why in a country in which the confederacy was defeated these monuments are so prevalent in the south and eastern parts of the country. >> let me establish my context quickly. i was born in chattanooga, texas, a key battle in the civil war. i grew up about 600 yards from

braxton bragg headquarters. when i was a kid, you could find little civil war bullets in the ground. i'm a graduate of the university of the south, an institution in the middle of tennessee. i'm familiar with this vernacular. my test always for memorials, monuments, what i think of as the mechanics of memory, has been was the person or the institution being memorialized dedicated to the pursuit of a more perfect union. by that test, even the most flawed white americans, andrew jackson, james madison, thomas jefferson, george washington,

could be memorialized as imperfect people that ultimately gave us the civil rights act, the voting rights act. from seneca falls to selma, to stonewall the history of the country has been to -- we should focus our memory around those moments. perfection cannot be the goal. nothing on this side of paradise is perfect. it's a much overdue reckoning. this is like the fall of baghdad. it's like the fall of many of the former soviet republics. you see those statues coming down. what's really coming down in terms of the confederate ones is

the death of the neo confederacy, which was a racist reactionary movement to invest the cat clichl of the war as white supremacy was becoming more entrenched. that's not a partisan point. that is a clear historically based view of it. i don't think there's any getting around that frankly. >> i would like you to put your professor hat on and evaluate from a historical accuracy perspective what president trump has tweeted. he tweeted it's been suggested we should rename so much as ten of our military installations. these very powerful bases have become part of a great american

heritage and a history of winning, victory and freedom. my administration will not even consider the renaming of these magnificent and fabled military installations. our history as the greatest nation in the world will not be tampered with. respect our military. given what you just said, it seems like donald trump is talking about something else in his tweet. he's talking about the bases. he's talking about the ground on which soldiers were based, not the name. >> no, and i've almost never said this in the last three or four years. i'm sort of with him until the therefore. yes, this is hallowed ground. these are american soldiers who have traened ined to defend us, that has nothing to do with the

name on the gate, right? in a way that trivializes the sacrifice in a way that is very much worth avoiding. these confederate figures -- let's be very clear. these confederate figures -- if you want me to be prove sorl they were devoted to a cause from 1861 until palm sunday 1865, which is when lee surrendered to grant. they were devoted to ending the constitutional experiment and the idea of the jefferson january that idea of equality. if anyone doubts -- there may be a few and they're probably

seething right now. if you doubt what we're saying the confederacy was about, go to what george w. bush used to call the google machine. look up the corner stone speech by alexander h. stevens, the vmt of t vice president of the confederate states of america. it's a speech he gave that said the corner stone of the confederacy is the preservation of slavery. once the battle against slavery was lost, then the cause of white supremacy took over. so those figures are part of that. i'm very much -- i judge not lest i be judged. history is history. that is what they were about. why should we commemorate that? that has nothing to do with the sacrifices and the grace and grit of the men and women who

have trained at those facilities. nothing whatsoever. >> that speech was given -- it's an important for speech to look up. it was march 21, 1861. jon, thank you as always. jon meacham is an excellent author. right now there's two major public safety issues to manage. the coronavirus and police safety standards. i'll speak with the houston police chief right after this. u police chief right after this. did you know prilosec otc can stop frequent heartburn

before it begins? heartburn happens when stomach acid refluxes into the esophagus. prilosec otc uses a unique delayed-release formula that helps it pass through the tough stomach acid. it then works to turn down acid production, blocking heartburn at the source. with just one pill a day,

you get 24-hour heartburn protection. prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. if you have a garden you know, weeds are low down little scoundrels. draw the line with roundup. the sure shot wand extends with a protective shield to target weeds precisely and kill them right down to the root. roundup brand. trusted for over 40 years. introducing ore-ida potato pay. where ore-ida golden crinkles are your crispy currency to pay for bites of this... ...with this. when kids won't eat dinner, potato pay them to. ore-ida. win at mealtime. unlike ordinary wmemory supplementsr? neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance.

memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. try neuriva for 30 days and see the difference. i geh. common bird.e. ooh look! over here! something much better. there it is. peacock, included with xfinity x1. remarkable. fascinating. -very. it streams tons of your favorite shows and movies, plus the latest in sports news and... huh - run! the newest streaming app has landed on xfinity x1. now that's... simple. easy. awesome. xfinity x1 just got even better with peacock premium included at no additional cost. no strings attached. just say "peacock" into your voice remote to start watching today.

defunding the police department or cutting funding for police departments and using the money to invest in housing, youth programs, mental health

services has become a battle cry for activists to the blame lives matter movement. houston police chief art acevedo said defunding police departments is not the answer. joining me now is houston police chief art acevedo. chief, thank you for being with us. you don't disagree with many of the protesters about what the problem is about police violence, about the lack of national standards, about the use of force rules, about police training. but you don't think the answer is in defunding. now, i want to ask you this because defunding means a lot of things to a lot of people. do you agree with the removal of some resources to focus on things that police can't be specialists in including mental health services and homeless

services? >> well, i agree that we have to do better in all those areas as a society. what they're going to find out is at the houston police department we have a national model for dealing with homelessness, with our homeless out reach team and our mental health team. the challenge isn't that the police isn't doing it right. the challenge is we try not to take these folks to jail. there's no place to take them. we have to invest in beds for people who have addiction. we have to invest in beds for people who have psychological challenges and mental health issues. when you talk to our communities that's impacted most by violent crime, communities of color, they don't want less police. why should they give up public safety, security for this country and for our states and our cities to invest in the social economic programs that we

need to actually overcome a lot of these challenges? if we don't address both, the policing issue and the social economic issues, we'll be having these conversations for generations to come. >> so, let's assume people like you and police chiefs and police officers across the country are hearing the message loud and clear that people want the police to be more fair. when we talk to police, what they tell us is none of you live in our shoes and see the threats we face on a daily base. how do you bridge that gap? is that a training issue? is it a recruitment issue? what do you do to recognize the difficulty that exists in policing and the very real threat to police in some instances with the fact that people want to be treated with greater respect and be offered greater safety from the police? >> you know, i think we have to do a better job of holding bad

police officers accountable. we have to do a better job of lifting up god police officod p. the biggest complaint about the police officers is rudeness, not treating people with respect. we need communities to -- whether they think anything will happen or not, when they don't see and they're not treated properly, they need to let us know they're our eyes and ears. the police need to do a better job of showing the thousands of times where in dynamic situations they're handled properly. all we see is when we don't do the right thing. that's on us. police departments showing when we are doing things right. lastly, we need to offer like i've done in austin, our activists, our young people, bring them through our training

academy and put them through some scenarios so they can see real life -- they can see the split second decisions officers make. there's still too many instances where it's not about it being a dynamic situation. it's officers being abusive like in the george floyd death. we have to do everything we can to get those people out of our ranks. >> chief, you went to george floyd's funeral. you called it a water shed moment. we've seen a letter from minneapolis police about derek chauvin and what they thought about him. we find it difficult to talk to rank in file police officers because they're stop by their police departments. are you in a position to let your officers talk to the press? >> we do let them talk to the press when they ask.

some beautiful moments in houston, social media has captured some touching moments between officers and community members and, when those things come up, we absolutely let them come forward and tell their story and how it impacted them and how it will impact the rest of our community. we do try to do that as much as possible. >> thank you for that, sir. thank you for joining me on a regular basis for a very important conversation. art acevedo is the police chief of houston. within the next hour president trump is expected to deliver a come mensment address to west point. it's comi the chairman of joint chiefs mark milley apologized for his role in a photo op with the president saying the military should have no role in domestic

politics. nbc's pentagon correspondent courtney cuby joins me. there has been times in america's history where the military has played a role to uphold rights. tell me about where you are. >> reporter: we're at west point. we're getting ready for the president to begin the come mensment address. we expect the president to speak to the graduates. it's a different ceremony than in the past. we're on the plain as opposed to the stadium. it's much smaller this year. the chairs behind me are all socially distanced six feet apart. the graduates will be wearing masks when they march out and sit on the field. when their names are called, instead of going up on stage, shaking hands and receiving

their diploma, they walk to the front, salute and return to their seats. their family and friends aren't here. they're watching online. ali, at the end of the ceremony we still will see these brand new second lieutenants throw their hats in the air in celebration. >> that we will always celebrate. we'll always celebrate the graduates of our military institutions. courtney, thank you for being there. join us tomorrow for a special "american crisis, poverty and the pandemic." joy is going to speak to vulnerable workers about how they've been affected by covid-19. that's tomorrow night 10:00 eastern on msnbc. june is pride month. the month that recognizes the impact that lgbtq have had in the world. president trump marked it by

rolling back a policy that protected transgender people from discrimination. how this will affect an already vulnerable population when we come back. vulnerable population come back. unstopables in-wash scent booster ♪ downy unstopables

built just for customers 55 and up. get two unlimited lines for only $55. and save 50% vs. other carriers. visit a store or go to t-mobile.com/55. yoo-hoo, progressive shoppers.

we laughed with you. sprinkles are for winners. we surprised you. on occasion, we've probably even annoyed you. we've done this all with one thing in mind. to help protect the things you love. and if we can't offer you the best price we'll help you find a better one. it's not always the lowest! even if it's not with us. that's how we've done it for the past 80 years. not just today, or this month, but always. to give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you don't.

[grunting noise] i'll take that. woohoo! 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. ensure max protein. with nutrients to support immune health. late yesterday the trump administration completed a change to the affordable care act rolling back a policy that protected transgender patients. this new policy enacted during pride month was announced during one of the bloodiest days in the lgbtq, the pulse nightclub shooting. it was the deadliest the country ever saw. 49 innocent lives lost. we're learning about two transwomen killed this week. each homicides are open cases.

the human rights campaign said at least 14 transgender people have been killed so far this year. the majority are transwomen of color. glaad says the transwomen of color have a life expectancy of 35 years. thank you for being with us, both of you. amara, it's unbelievable. i read that statistic. i've seen it. 35 years, i think there's nothing more dangerous in america than being a transwoman of color. >> well, it's certainly one of the most dangerous things. i think that there's so many factors that contribute to this statistic that you gave. one of them being lack of access

to health care, of course lack of access to jobs. when you have a life expectancy of 35 or the fact that most transwomen who die before 35 are due to homicide or some other factor, it's because everything is failing. we need to look at the entire system of support and rights and equal access we have for transpeople and of course the new rule from the trump administration sets us back in that. >> this is interesting, kimberly, when amara says everything is failing them, that fits in with a philosophy that you have articulated, enter sectionalty. it's the complex cumulative way in the effect of multiple forms of discrimination combine, especially with marginalized individuals or group.

i got that from this mer yam webster dictionary. a transwoman of color faces multiple forms of discrimination and all sorts of systems fail them. >> yes, on the systemic direction of it, sometimes people misunderstand, they think it's just a demand for recognition, rather than it calls for a way that transphobia and racism all come together. it's the confluent of these dynamics that show the -- it's not just one thing. i think as amara said, it's the

failure of all these things that contribute to the vulnerability. >> to many people, amara, we've normalized that we live in a free open society and everybody faces the same experiences in life. in this moment we're just realizing that's not true. what is the thing about the experience of being a transwoman that you can tell our audience, the things that they may not think about on the daily basis, the fears that transwomen have? >> i want to be clear to speak to my experience. i can't speak for all transwomen. one of the things important to understand is that we face the backlash and the frontlash

caused by living napa tree arc al society. some transwomen are targeted because we're too much woman with respect to transwomen. on the other hand they're ridiculed and dehumanized for not being woman enough. that is unique. i think we have to not in our conversation about race understand the way in which race works together as dr. crenshaw has show incredibly shown us off. this works with race and our economic structures and our legal structures and rights. one of the most important things to understand, whether or not we

have basic rights in this country is a question. it's a question now before the supreme court. the trump administration through this rule has deemed our humanity is not equal so we don't deserve equal access to health care. that's a basic tenant of american life that is not faced by the overwhelming majority of americans. >> kimberly, three months ago today something happened that i think, if you asked ten americans about, not most of them would know the significance of today. >> yes. it was the moment when breonna taylor, who should have been a hero -- i mean, she risked her life trying to give service to her fellow americans, to fight the coronavirus. she was an emt. she lost her life when a raid of her apartment based on a

mistaken warrant, a no-knock warrant allowed police officers to come in and basically shoot her eight times and took her life. very few people knew about that at the time. basically three months passed before there was any attention to it. so breonna taylor is the latest black woman to lose her life to police, the latest one whose mother had to find out that the persons who were responsible for killing her were the police. there are many others. there's the family of kayla moore, a transgender woman killed in berkley. there was a woman who was having mental health crisis at the time and the police killed her. we don't know their stories and we don't have a full agenda of what anti-black police violence looks like. until we include their frames we

won't have a full template from which to build reforms off of. that's why say her name is so important. say their names to tell their stories. >> we're just getting to the point that most americans understand that black lives matter is a thing and a thing they can say proudly and can put in their tweets and wear on their shirts. while we're at it let's remember say her name and trans lives matter. we can open you are mind. kimberly crenshaw, thank you for that. >> thanks, ali. >> amara, thank you for sharing your stories and the things we need to understand about transpeople in america. coming up a group of protesters have cornered off several blocks of the city of seattle establishing a no cop co-op. is it muddling the message of protests across the country? you're watching velshi on msnbc.

so, when you get a check... you can deposit it from here. and you can see your transactions and check your balance from here. you can detect suspicious activity on your account from here. and you can pay your friends back from here. so when someone asks you, "where's your bank?" you can tell them: here's my bank. or here's my bank. or, here's my bank. because if you download and use the chase mobile app, your bank is virtually any place. so visit chase.com/mobile.

still fresh... ♪ unstopables in-wash scent booster ♪ downy unstopables (bbut it's even nicer knowing atthat if this happens...ice it is to save on your auto policy. ...or this.... ...or even this... ...we've seen and covered it. so, get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

i have moderate to severe pnow, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are getting clearer, yeah i feel free ♪ ♪ to bare my skin ♪ yeah that's all me. ♪ nothing and me go hand in hand ♪ ♪ nothing on my skin ♪ that's my new plan. ♪ nothing is everything. keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. and skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. ♪ i see nothing in a different way ♪ ♪ and it's my moment so i just gotta say ♪ ♪ nothing is everything skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs, or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. ♪ 1 in 3 deaths is caused by cardiovascular disease.

millions of patients are treated with statins-but up to 75% persistent cardiovascular risk still remains. many have turned to fish oil supplements. others, fenofibrates or niacin. but here's a number you should take to heart: zero-the number of fda approvals these products have, when added to statins, to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. ask your doctor about an advancement in prescription therapies with proven protection. visit truetoyourheart.com take a quick look at what's going on in london. molly hunter was there for us, in fact, she's there but we're just moving her around a little bit to get her into a safer area. there have been protests going on here. these are protesters, and you can see them throwing things at police now. these are not black lives matter protesters. these are people who are objecting to the idea of, in

this case, war memorials that some of the black lives matter people want coming down, so these are counterprotesters. we have reports that they're brandishing some weapons. you see a lot of police movement there. they're reestablishing a line of some sort as people are pushing and shoving and throwing things. as i said, we've moved molly out of way because this is becoming a little bit rough. as soon as we get more information from molly, we'll get back to you on it. protesters in seattle, on the other hand, have created something called an autonomous zone outside of an abandoned police precinct. residents call it a picture of what a new way of living could be. the "wall street journal" reporting that black lives matter protesters negotiated with local officials their terms for leaving a six-block area that they have controlled for most of the week without a police presence. president trump has warned that the washington governor and seattle mayor need to take action now or he'll take matters

into his own hands. mayor jenny durkan ordered police to leave the precinct after daily confrontations with protesters. here's what she had to say in response to trump. >> i also want to be clear. as i stated previously, it is unconstitutional and illegal to send military to seattle. if you don't believe me, tuyou n take the word of a line of highly decorated generals. i have spoken with governor inslee and together we will assure the people this will not be happening. >> joining us now from seattle, nbc's von hillyard. >> reporter: you heard from the mayor of seattle, jenny durkan, say u.s. military troops would be all but unwelcomed and that's a big part of the conversation when you're talking about the insurrection act which the president of the united states has threatened over the last 48

hours to use here. this is a six-block area of the capitol hill neighborhood in the heart of seattle and you can see there are barriers set up, in this case plants, here to block off one of the entrances here into the area. this first took place back on monday. that is when the police, led by the city, walked away from these six blocks. within the six blocks, you have the east precinct, a police station, ali, which for more than a week, there were violent clashes between demonstrators here and those police who were trying to hold the line and that's when the decision was made on monday to walk away from this site. what you have seen since are six days of what you could call more like a festival type of a feel. at the same time, folks here will remind you that there is a very important purpose to this. they have demands. we should note there are a lot of different folks involved in this and you have dozens of neighbors from the surrounding seattle area that have been going through. there's hot dog stands, gardening. it's very much a sort of a pedestrian kind of block party

to a certain extent. but again, there's a lot of certain demands, though, that are also at stake that folks here are trying to discuss with the city of seattle because the question is, where does this go from here? the police chief has suggested she wants to move her officers back into this precinct, citing that response times in this area have tripled. again, though, when you're talking about what these demonstrators here want, they want things from the abolition of the police department here and a refocusing on the role that civilians can take part in policing, but also with the dege degent degentrification of the city, they're asking for investment into black doctors and nurses and the surrounding healthcare facilities and all forms of life in this greater community here that this six blocks is more than just holding six blocks, but it's about what the future of seattle looks like. >> my good friend, it's good to see you again. thank you for your reporting

from seattle. and that does it for me. after the break, thank you for watching, by the way, i'm going to be back from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. eastern today and of course back tomorrow morning, 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. eastern but coming up next, "a.m. joy" is joined by military experts for an analysis of donald trump's commencement address at the united states military academy at west point. stick around. k around ♪ here's a razor that works differently. the gillette skinguard it has a guard between the blades that helps protect skin. the gillette skinguard. this virus is testing all of us.

and it's testing the people on the front lines of this fight most of all. so abbott is getting new tests into their hands, delivering the critical results they need. and until this fight is over, we...will...never...quit. because they never quit.

good saturday morning, everyone, and welcome to "a.m. joy." i'm in for joy reid. we are currently awaiting a commencement address from president donald trump to this year's graduating senior class at west point academy where graduates have gathered for an in-person ceremony, despite mounting concerns surrounding the potential spread of covid-19. more than 1,000 west point cadets previously dispersed across the country, they have now returned to campus for today's ceremony, though there will be social distancing measures in place. the decision to press forward with an in-person ceremony has been met with widespread criticism. it also comes the same week that the united states hit another grim milestone of more than 2 million confirmed cases of covid-19, more than 115,000 deaths. that is more than any other country in the world. at least 15 of those graduating west point seniors, they've