i'm joshua johnson, good to be with you today from msnbc news world headquarters in new york. president trump's re-election campaign is under way, and it will begin here in tulsa. thousands are gathered downtown at the bok center for a campaign rally. the president is set to leave the white house this hour and fire up the supporters. public health officials are tense over the risk of making it all too easy for covid-19 to spread even faster. some breaking news we're following illustrates they may have good reason to be worried. we found out six members of the trump advance team in tulsa have tested positive for covid-19. more on that ahead. some locals are tense over

possible conflicts with protesters one day after juneteenth. some of the protesters are demanding police reform after the killing of george floyd in minneapolis. this woman, in tulsa, was arrested despite saying that she has a ticket for the event. >> ma'am, if you can hear me, can you tell me what officers told you that you did wrong? >> i was trespassing and breaking the law. and they're arresting me. i've never been arrested before in my life. >> reporter: so they told you that you were trespassing and breaking the law? >> yes. >> reporter: the woman said they were saying she was trespassing because she had an i can't breathe shirt on. she said that was the main reason she came out here today. >> tulsa is one place demonstrations are under way. today is the 26th day in a row with demonstrations across america and across the world, too. people are in the streets in paris, in listen don, edinboro,

and elsewhere demanding better law enforcement. we are live in tulsa, washington, richmond and more. we'll get to those sites ahead. it's been a busy week with people who used to be in the trump administration or who are apparently being pushed out. the one being pushed out is the u.s. attorney in the south heer district of new york here in manhattan. attorney general william barr announced he was stepping down. that was news to the prosecutor. the judge ruled on john bolton's bombshell book about president trump. will it hit the shelves and download to apps this tuesday as planned? let's begin with the rally in tulsa. cal perry is outside the bok arena, where folks are waiting to get in. the venue is less than a mile away from greenwood, a district known for violence and hatred a

century ago. also near the arena is janel ross a reporter for nbc-blk. how concerned are rally goers about the covid-19 risks if at all? we mentioned a short time ago that six members of the president's team tested positive. >> reporter: you have folks who say they're not worried and then folks who are aware of the coronavirus but it's up to them to see the president. the security outside the bok center is impressive. there's five layers before you get to the arena. the outer layer is secret service guards, a second layer run by the trump campaign and behind me you can see where they're sort of starting to take temperature checks. there's a covid center. the folks in the purple suits are running temperature checks, that's the third point. there's a fourth one for security. that's all before you get to security run by the secret

service, it's an efficient and heavily secured area in downtown tulsa. in talking to people about the coronavirus -- this is a spot also they're handing out masks. you'll see masks handed out here. the majority of folks are arriving with masks. of course once you getted in, masks are not required. it'll be interesting to see how many folks are wearing them. priscilla, what about folks in the greenwood district, how are they reacting to this and what do they think of the rally? >> reporter: the scene in greenwood is different than what we're seeing up at the bok center. the venders here aren't selling trump paraphernalia and flags. instead they're selling i can't breathe shirts in honor of george floyd and even a few buttons that say not so nice things about president donald trump. and this comes after just yesterday where there was a huge event held here to honor juneteenth and the celebration of liberation and freedom. folks here tell me that they are

a little bit nervous about trump's visit. they feel like it's disrespectful and intensive to the juneteenth celebration that is taking place here. and as we know, the governor invited vice president pence and donald trump to tour this area but many business owners pushed back and said that would not be a great idea. i actually have one of those business owners here. talks to me a little bit about why did you think it was maybe not such a good idea for folks from the trump administration to come here and tour greenwood? >> i guess that, you know, this is happening on the backdrop of, you know, all this racial conflict across the country, and i think there's a lot of distrust between black communities and the current administration. and so, i think, you know, before they come through and i assume get their photographs, they need to sit down and speak with black community leaders and try to mend that bridge. >> reporter: you know, president

trump did decide to move the rally from friday to saturday because of the juneteenth celebrations. now that the day has come for the rally, i'm curious, how are you feeling about it? >> i feel nervous for sure. i was on the fence about opening for sure. i guess for me, though, you know, juneteenth marks the anniversary of the end of slavery, and i don't want to be shackled by white supremacy. you know, i don't want to have to make that decision on a weekend that should be celebrator for the black community and, you know, in a neighborhood, greenwood, that is so important to the legacy of black business success. i don't want to have to make the decision to close down. i feel nervous but i have a lot of faith in the tulsa community that we're going to be a model for how to handle these things. >> my last question for you, you are a voting. you'll be voting in november.

you're not going to be at that rally today, but if you had a message for president trump and his administration, what would that be? >> i guess, you know, my message would be the same that it would be for anyone, which is, you know, to focus on unity, unifying people, versus, you know, all of his divisive and inflammatory rhetoric. i think this is a time where a lot of people in the country feel wounded for a lot of different reasons. and we need leadership that's going to try to heal us. >> reporter: thank you. that is a common theme we've heard here today. folks saying they don't want the divisive rhetoric but really unity, especially a place like greenwood that has a complicated racial history. they're preparing to commemorate the centennial of the racial massacre that occurred here nearly 100 years ago. >> one of the wealthiest black

business districts in the country whose wealth was wiped out in a few days of violence. let me come to you for context of the rally, janel. you wrote about how the holiday is being reshaped as the country comes to terms with its past. president trump told "the washington journal" that he's responsible for making juneteenth famous. let's just call that claim questionable, at best. but why are we having this reckoning with the country's history now? draw me a through line from juneteenth to what we're seeing today. >> reporter: well, in fairness, of course, first i should say as everyone has probably heard many times in the last few days, juneteenth marked the official end of slavery in at least the american territories in north america and that was news that came almost two and a half years after the emancipation

proclamation and slaves had been technically freed in the rebelling states. that's a distinct because it speaks to the gap that has always existed in america, what is the law, what is the subscription that comes from the law and what is actually happening in people's lives. i think that might have quite a bit to do with why so many people seem interested in, drawn to, intrigued by the details of juneteenth. there may be other reasons as well. but i will say, in talking with people in the greenwood district yesterday who were at juneteenth celebrations, but also with people around the bok center, i think there are entirely different views of the meaning of juneteenth and, therefore, the meaning of the president at least initially planning to hold his rally on that day, and then holding a rally in tulsa altogether. there are just entirely different ways of seeing the world and as well, it just --

entirely separate ways of seeing american history. i heard people around the bok center, trump supporters prepared to sleep on the sidewalk today to see the president today, who seemed to share the view the president did juneteenth a favor and sort of elevated the history of the country and its sort of slow movement towards total equality. and then i heard from people in the greenwood district who seemed appalled. certainly i heard people use terms like doig whistle, disrespectful and so on and so forth. >> we can see people moving into the arena, we saw crowds outside. one of the titles taking place was entitled voices, black talk. cal we're not seeing a lot of social distancing and a lot of

masks, at least not right now. >> reporter: no. and a lot of heckling, which i guess is par for the course. the biggest difference this year from four years ago is not only the covid checks but this racial tension that exists around the country and here in tulsa you talk about the massacre 99 years ago, the people in that neighborhood, they didn't want to do a juneteenth celebration. oklahoma is at a seven-day high for covid cases. the hospitals here are starting to get overwhelmed. you have editorials from er doctors urging people to stay home. but because of the president and his programming and his choice to hold the rally here today, the tweets he sent out which basically remind people, threatened people calling them low lives if the they came out and protested. people feel like they need to come out and take control of the message and remind people what's happening in cities from

coast-to-coast. you have this split screen moment w within the city of tulsa itself. and people felt like they had to risk their lives coming out to reinforce the black lives matter message, the juneteenth, the race massacre that happened 99 years ago, and they're doing it in a pandemic, joshua. >> that's cal perry, priscilla thompson and janelle ross from nbc news blk. thank you all. tulsa not the only place we're seeing protests today. demonstrations are happening now in our nation's capitol and also richmond, virginia. that's where we find amanda golden on your left in washington, black lives matter plaza. amanda, the president has been pretty solid in his objections to the police reform

demonstrations in d.c. i'm guessing that has not shaken the protesters' faith or resolve? >> it has not. if anything, i think it's invigorated more folks to come out today, even in spite of bad weather we're seeing in d.c. but the peaceful protests started off in mount vernon square made it to black lives matter plaza and continuing on to freedom plaza now. this peaceful protest is organized by the black onyx movement, started by five young black women who are calling for systemic change not just activism and protests they see over the past few weeks. this is the fourth week we've seen demonstrators here in d.c. but this is the first main protest for the group and they're calling for a dismantling of systemic oppression for all black people and want to see the changes hit home in d.c. calling for further representation of black people making sure it's not whitewashed

over the years through gentrification and other issues have started to put black people in d.c. feeling like their culture is not represented. when i spoke to the organizers of this protest today they echoed what they're looking guard, not just activism but to go long term. listen to what they told me. >> our slogan means long live black. so we are, you know, just constantly building different steppingstones to help it move forward. >> we want to celebrate juneteenth but we want to make sure that our voices are heard and we are constantly continuing the conversation of injustice. >> we're going to win this war. we're going to win this war meaning that, you know, we're going to be intentional about everything we do and see the ron gefty through it all. >> to know that we continuously fight for our freedom and we fight for our rights, that is the message. >> reporter: so as they continue

on, they told me they want to see these continues movements, not just instances of activism and protest in the street but continued changes. demands in which their group is calling for involve defunding police departments, bringing about reparations, and even making juneteenth a national holiday. and we saw bipartisan legislation come forward that could do just that. as we follow the protests throughout the day, it'll be interesting to see how the various demonstrations begin just beyond a celebratory weekend. >> there are a lot of controversies in richmond in terms of the city's history in the statues and monuments there. you spoke with democratic senator tim kaine of virginia, what did he have to say? >> reporter: joshua, it's been a very busy couple weeks here in richmond.

like you said, the debate over the confederate monument was going on, earlier this week the richmond police chief resigned, there was a clash between protest ers and police officers, and the police officers used tear gas. behind me is the juneteenth protest. it's calling for a plan, how we're going to move forward. what are the things not only protesters want but folks working inside government. senator tim kaine was here. representative abigail span berger was here. these are folks working on the inside issue government systems as well as community activists and leaders, talking about ongoing protests and what they're asking for. tim kaine spoke with me and he talked about the time line on what these reforms look like, not only police reforms but also educational reforms, reforms in the medical system.

as these protests are going on, black people are losing their jobs at a higher rate, dying from covid at a higher rate. there are issues that go on with systemic change. so tim kaine spoke with me about that. listen to what he said. >> we have to show people we can make big steps forward. then you get to health disparities, unemployment disparities, voter disenfranchisement. there are so many things we can tackle but usually the second victory is easier after the first one. so let's tackle police reform first and if we can make progress there, hopefully that gives us momentum on the others. >> reporter: you heard him speaking about police reforms. he referred to the justice in policing act, brought forward by senators booker and harris. it matches with what a lot of folks here are asking for, banning chokeholds, making sure there's no racial profiling and ending qualified immunity.

the conversations are ongoing here behind me. really talking about how to extend the conversation. joshua. >> that's amanda golden and deepa shivron. we are keeping an eye inside the bok arena where the president will be speaking tonight. you can see them pressed against the stage. these kind of gatherings where people cannot stay 6 feet apart are considered the highest risk. the president and his supporters say it's worth taking. six people on the trump campaign, the advance staff in the city, tested positive for covid. a u.s. attorney appointed by president trump is firing back at t by the administration. he said he has no intention of stepping down despite a

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we've got some new information on the story we brought you at the top of the hour. six members of the trump campaign's advance team in tulsa have tested positive for covid-19. let's go to josh letterman who joins us at the white house. what are you learning? >> reporter: we have an update on this for you joshua. a source familiar with the matter tells my colleague, monica alba, that the trump campaign has now started contact tracing on those six members of the campaign advance staff who have tested positive for coronavirus. so they're going back now, trying to figure out who those six staffers had been in contact with so they can be tested as well. we're also finding out a little bit more about what the staffers were doing. the source telling us those staffers had been on the ground in oklahoma for about a week and had been basically engaging in normal everyday life, going out to restaurants and for the most part had not been wearing masks. and joshua, that matches what we're seeing from most of the

people in the crowd waiting to get into this rally tonight. the majority of them also not wearing masks. >> looking at that crowd right now, to be clear, though, josh, these were people who were, it sounds like, doing field work as opposed to being in direct contact with the president or the vice president, right? >> reporter: that's correct. these are people sent out in advance to get the logistics in organizing done ahead of an event. they would have been in contact with trump campaign and potentially white house secret service officials as they were planning that event and also potentially touching and handling the same kinds of equipment and stuff in the area of the rally that is going to be in the vicinity where the rally goers as well as the president and his staff are tonight in tulsa. >> let's talk about the ongoing drama between the u.s. attorney general and the u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york, who is apparently refusing to leave. tell us what we know about jeffrey berman and what's going

on there. >> reporter: jeffrey berman is someone who has been a republican donor, the president put in this role in a temporary capacity. he was then put into a permanent capacity by the judges on that court, and that's why it's creating even more complications for the president and for attorney general barr as they try to apparently get rid of him with legal questions surrounding whether they have the authority to do that now that jeffrey berman is saying he refuses to go. he's not stepping down. in fact, we know that he was spotted going into his office this morning telling reporters as he was arriving that he is there to do his job. >> now he, as we mentioned is the u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york, which includes manhattan, the bronx and counties nearby. his office prosecuted michael cohen, it's investigating rudy giuliani, it investigated lev parnas and igor furman.

do we know anything that would explain this late night announcement? >> reporter: yes. they had their prosecutorial tentacles all over the trump world. we know the office was looking into hulk bank, a turkish bank accused of violating u.s. iran sanctions that john bolton said president trump wanted to interfere in that case. they've looked into deutsch bank, a bank known for doing a lot of business with trump's personal company. and we know this office had subpoenaed the trump transition for documents related to accusations of potential criminal wrong doing related to the trump transition. so a lot of possibilities for what berman could have been looking into that might have bumped into the white house although we don't yet really know what exactly was behind

this attempted move to get rid of him late last night. >> i'm sorry to interpret yorup but pete williams just sent us a letter reading in part, quote, while we advised the public you would leave the u.s. attorney's office in two weeks i hope your departure could be amicable, unfortunately with your statement of last night, you have chosen public spectacle over service. because you have declared you have no intention of resigning, i have asked the president to remove you as of today and he has done so. by operation of law the deputy united states attorney audrey strauss will become the acting u.s. attorney and she'll be in that position until a permanent successor is in place. end quote. that we just received from correspondent pete williams from

william barr to john berman in new york. it looks like as we were talking about the story the story moved. >> reporter: it's important what we have in the note from pete williams. what i was saying, about the way that berman was put in his position, because he was put into that position by judges and not through a senate confirmation process, it was unclear whether barr by himself had the authority to get rid of him. what was clear was that if the president personally fired this u.s. attorney that the president would have the authority to do that. now, according to this new reporting that is what we're seeing. the president taking upon himself to remove the u.s. attorney from this position as he tries to move forward despite jeffrey berman's opposite to being removed from the role. >> i need a little more time to read over the letter and digest it. it notes the cases the office has been handling will be continued in due course and followed as they had been. according to this letter, the

matters jeffrey berman had been dealing with will continue to be dealt with at least in the short term. news briefing as we talk about it, thank you josh. we will keep reading through this letter and bring you more on this as we can. also still to come on msnbc, president trump is preparing to leave the white house for this rally in tulsa at the bok center. also following the breaking news that six members of his staff have tested positive for covid-19. these are people we're told working on the ground, not close to the president or vice president. concerns about the spread of covid-19 with rallies like this. dr. naheed badilia has been discussing this with us for a while and we'll continue that discussion in a bit. we'll conti discussion in a bit. east cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor

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just a short time ago that six members of his advanced staff on the ground in tulsa have tested positive for covid-19. now there's a lot of contact tracing that's going to have to be done because apparently they were not taking certain safety precautions, including wearing facial coverings. the crowds gathered before the news broke said they did not seem too worried about those concerns. >> i'm not wearing a mask. i haven't yet. i think a lot of the numbers and everything have been hyped up. >> we know it's real but then at the same time, you know, you don't know what's the facts. because you feel like one side plays it one way and the other side plays it another. >> if i get it, i get it. >> as long as people aren't sick and they're going to do temperature checks and all this, i think it's pretty safe. >> worth bearing in mind wearing a facial covering is not about you getting sick, it's about preventing other people from

getting sick if you have the virus and have no symptoms and cannot tell you're at risk to other people. that's one thing we're discuss about these concerns. right now let's get the latest on how local activists in tulsa are responding to the president's rally. joining us again is the organizer of today's rally against hate in tulsa. welcome back. >> hi. >> it's good to see you again. tell us about the rally you have been planning. what message do you want the rally to send and what will people be doing there? >> our rally is a rally against hate and oppression that we've felt in the country. so we want people to leave with the message they're equal in tulsa and we stand together stronger. >> yesterday morning the president sent a rather threatening tweet to protesters who he lumped in with looters and low lives and then later that day he praised tulsa's mayor for lifting its curfew so

the president's supporters could line line up overnight outside the bok arena. what do you make of that? >> we have to get them both out of office. we at first like it had mayor but since this has been going on, we feel he turned his back on tulsa. we have a safe place for us to go, but when he made that message, i took it personally. i want to make sure things are peaceful. >> we know you got a lot of work to do ahead of the rally. we appreciate you checking back in with us and hope we can talk again soon. thank you very much. >> thank you. attorney general bill barr has fired back at a u.s. attorney who had refused to leave. we just got the letter from the attorney general. we'll give you some more details on what we've learned within the last few minutes just ahead. stay close. d. stay close of its vehicles still on the road today? subaru. when it comes to best overall value,

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back to our breaking news now in the back and forth between attorney general bill barr and u.s. attorney jeffrey ber ma berman, who heads the southern district of new york's office here in manhattan. here to discuss it is congressman jason crow, one of the house impeachment managers. hello. >> good to see you again. >> let me begin with the letter we got from nbc's pete williams.

the attorney general said mr. berman will be removed. aparticipantparently he did not jump so bill barr said he is to be pushed as of today. what do you make of that? >> this is a pattern of practice that continues with the administration. bill barr has proven himself time and time again that he's more interested in many being a political loyalist for donald trump than he is to be independent attorney general with commitment to the rule of law. friday nights, they tend to do these on friday nights, in the middle of the night, trying to remove people doing their duty and replace them with loyalists. attorney general bar continues to be a dangerous person, as does the president. we have to make sure to bring light to this pattern. >> i wonder how you view it in light of the fact the president does have the power to choose u.s. attorneys. this is something that is typically, typically in the purview of the president. >> sure. past presidents, republicans and democrats, have used their power

responsibly, consistent with the rule of law. they put people in who have a commitment to the constitution and rule of law who will do their job well, people who are competent. instead this president and his enablers, including attorney general barr, decided that political loyalty is the number one factor and they have taken people out of positions who know how to do them, spent their career abiding by the constitution, and putting people in, in many cases, who aren't even qualified to serve in those roles, willing only to do the bidding of the president. >> we want to bring in justice correspondent pete williams in washington who's been helping us report the latest on this. let's set aside the politics for a second, pete. and just talk about what the law says. in his letter, attorney general barr referenced two u.s. federal court decisions that state that the president may at any time remove the judicially appointed united states attorney. we know that in george w. bush's second term he signed a reuping

of the usa patriot act that gives him the power to pick attorneys, if there was a breakdown in the judicial system, if there was an attack the system could still move forward. people have called this a legal crisis within the justice department, but is it? >> as you said, let's set the politics aside. you asked what the law is. and the law is very clear. the president has the power to fire a u.s. attorney, no matter how the u.s. attorney got the job. now what mr. berman said in his statement that he issued last night when he found out that he was supposed to be leaving in two weeks. he said, basically, i'm not going anywhere. i'm going to stay until my successor is confirmed by the senate. and he said he had the authority to stay because unlike most u.s. attorneys who are appointed by presidents or sometimes appointed temporarily by the attorney general, he was appointed by a court, because what happened was, there was

never any action on his nomination, and when there's a vacancy in any u.s. attorney's office in the country, after a certain amount of time, a court can appoint a u.s. attorney, that's how berman got the job. but there's a long-standing office of legal council opinion that predates the trump administration that says it doesn't matter how you got the job, no matter what you can be fired by the president. that's what barr's letter said today. whether this is smart or not, looks politically unsavory or not, there's very little doubt here that the president has the authority to fire u.s. attorneys no matter how they got the job. >> let me get to a little bit of a letter for those of you who missed what we read, it reads in part, quote, while we advised the public you would leave the u.s. attorney's office in two weeks, i hope your departure could be amicable, unfortunately be your statement last night you chose public spectacle over

public service. end quote. we get the southern district of new york is a vitally important part of the justice department. they deal with all kinds of cases ranging from wall street fraud, counterterrorism, sex trafficking. it's a hub where truly huge cases go through. but clearly the u.s. attorney knows he serves at the pleasure of the president. and clearly the president knows he can just kind of flick jeffrey berman aside without saying it to the world. so none of this makes sense to me. >> well, what we're told is that, basically, jay clayton, the chairman of the securities and exchange commission, made it known to the president that he wanted to return to new york, that he was stepping down from his position as running the s.e.c. and he was interested in the u.s. attorney's office job and that the president said, fine. and, you know, that's the way politics goes. jeffrey berman is -- then would be moved out and clayton would

be moved in and that would be that. that's apparently, as sophisticated as it gets. but, you know, as you've been talking to your guests about whether this looks good or bad, that apparently was not a factor. that the president decided this is what should be done and that's what's been done. there is one little change here in the letter. originally the announcement last night from the attorney general said that once jeffrey berman stepped down that the u.s. attorney who's now in new jersey would be running both offices. would run the new jersey and southern district office. his letter says, no, that's not the case now. the deputy u.s. attorney will become the acting u.s. attorney and will serve in that capacity until a permanent successor is in place, that's point one. point two, barr in his letter this afternoon to jeffrey berman says that berman's statement indicated he needed to stay to make sure everything was on the up and up.

what barr says here today is that is not true and i have told the inspector general of the justice department to monitor the situation. and if anybody up there in the u.s. attorney's office thinks there's something shady going on they should tell horowitz who has the authority to investigate. >> thank you, pete. that's justice correspondent pete williams joining us with the latest from washington. congressman crow is with us still. i want to get your thoughts briefly before i let you go, on john bolton's new book and the legal claims around the book. the judge has ruled that it can come out on tuesday on shelves and in apps as planned, despite the objection of the white house. the judge did say there's the potential for national security information to be leaked so he didn't approve of the book, he's allowing it to be published. this has to bug you as one of the house impeachment managers who wanted to hear from john bolton but on the other hand you must have known it was a long shot that the president would be

convicted anyway. so i wonder where this leaves you? >> well, we knew this was going to happen. this was not a surprise to me. in fact, we told the senate, i sat at the well of the senate january and said the truth is going to come out. we're going to hear this information. the question is, do you want a full and fair trial right now? do you want to abide by your constitutional duties and obligations when you took the oath to become a member of the u.s. senate and took the oath to be a juror in the trial? they decided they did not want a full and fair trial and instead wanted to engage in a cover up to help the trump administration. but the truth is going to come out. additionally i'm very disappointed in mr. bolton. he had the opportunity to step forward and tell his story. we asked him to testify, he declined. he said he would sue the house if we administered a subpoena. we asked during the trial if he'd be willing to submit a written statement, and he declined that too, instead to

put it in a book to make money out of it. e he's certainly not a hero. doesn't mean what he has to say isn't relevant to the president's continued misconduct. >> how do you reflect on your experience as a house impeachment manage now with what you mentioned in terms of the difficulty of getting certain witnesses, having a very unsympathetic audience in the senate. how do you reflect on all that today? >> i think history is going to treat those well who stood up for the constitution, who stood up for rule of law, who stood up for our country to do the right thing during this very difficult time. and it will and should treat those harshly who abdicated their duties and response nlts, those did not want to have a full and fair trial, hear the truth when they had the opportunity to do it. we will learn much more, no doubt in my mind there are more abuses, there's more conduct that's going to come out in years to come about what this administration did and didn't

do. i know that to be true. so the question is, do we want to hear it now and whether people are going to be silent or stand up and say, it's time we take our country back. we are better than this. >> we'll hear some of it, maybe learn some of it from the book. some of it from new parts of the mueller report that have been undedaktu unredacted, congressman jason crow, sir, thank you very much for making time for us. >> thanks, joshua. as we have been reporting the president plans to pack an eastern in tulsa this evening. six members of his advanced team have tested positive ahead of the rally. joining us with more is d dr. hadid bedelia. >> there are members of the team that tested positive for coronavirus. we learned about that today. a statement from the campaign said that quarantine procedures were immediately implemented and that none of the covid-19 positive staffers will be at the rally or near the attendees or

elected officials. i guess, doctor, the caveat has to be that none will be near attendees or elected officials that we know of. they may have already been hugging and handshaking these people for all we know. the damage may already be done. >> that's right, joshua. i think public health is not just here in the u.s. but globally are looking at this event. this is the largest indoor event of its type since the pandemic started six months ago. now that it's happening, all we can do is try to mitigate this. even this week, over the last week we know from a study from japan that people who haven't yet developed the symptoms can play a big role in transmitting this disease. let's talk about these staffers. they came into contact with other people, and may have transmitted this disease to other people who may be shedding this virus, and may not know they're doing that. and in fact, for the people attending this rally, there might be a portion of those folks, had they been tested

would probably test positive. how do we mitigation that situation. if they're not feeling well, stay home. if they're high risk, stay home. if you are going, use a mask. the mask protects those around you, not to protect you from others but protect those around you so you care about those you're sharing the space with, you want to put on the mask. when you're leveave, if you don feel well, get tested so we can know if there's spread of the disease during the rally. >> we take a look at the shot of folks filing in. seniors on either side of the stage in assistive walking devices, one in a wheelchair. we are told they had to sign waivers saying they will not sue if they contract covid-19. are we basically giving up on social distancing, we've had campaign rallies, racial justice protests 26 days. it's summer time, people are sick of being inside.

cases in brazil, chile, and elsewhere. is this kind of game over for social distancing. do we need to focus on other ways of stopping the spread of covid-19? >> joshua, i think some countries have taken the cognitive dissonance approach to this right, because us not wanting the virus to be there. us not wanting the virus to continue transmitting doesn't mean it will do that. you can see the countries that have choensen that path, the united states, brazil, are seeing those increases in numbers of cases. in the u.s., we were at this peak, and then we pla towteaued this high level, and the cases are going back up. i think that we don't have to lock down but at least we have to take this personal responsibility as we go out. you know, i'm concerned about the seniors that you mentioned right now that you're looking at because by holding the rally, we're basically telling them sign this waiver. we think this is okay because if the person actually meeting this country, gathering in the rally,

the risk can't be that high, and honestly we know that this can affect people who are in the high risk category in a pretty severe manner, and i think that's, you know, that's unfortunately the cognitive dissonance that is really concerning so many public health folks right now. >> oklahoma has seen new coronavirus cases double from the previous week. the rally runs counter to the cdc guidelines. it's drawing people from across the country. what would you say to the folks at the rally to support the president that they might do to mitigate the potential risk here or is it too late? >> well, i think if they're not feeling well, one of the best things they can do is to stay home. if they're high risk, consider staying home, you know, if you are going to this rally, try to keep as much physical distance as we can and to wear that mask to protect others who are attending. that's the best thing we can do. what i hope is that oklahoma public health department is actually getting the sense of who's attending this rally.

if we do start seeing potential reports of people coming back that are positive, they can at least let other people know they have been exposed so they can take the right steps to quarantine themselves so we can stop the transmission in other places. the indoor aspect of the rally is really what makes it more dangerous, right. i think any big gathering, protest, any big gathering is dangerous but the indoor aspect of people really close up together, the lack of the ability to ventilate the area is what's making it more high risk than anything else we have seen so far. >> very briefly, the contact tracing for the six campaign staffers, what might that look like? >> generally in contact tracing, what we do is we ask folks that are sick who they have been in contact with over the period of time that they might be infectious and with this disease, we know you can start shedding this virus 2 1/2 days before you got the symptoms, so once we get that list, we then ask everybody else if they have come into contact with to quarantine themselves, to stay at home and for them to get tested to make sure they aren't

already shedding that virus, and we have them stay home until they are out of the risk period of developing the disease itself. >> dr. bedelia, we appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> and thank you for making time for us on this busy hour. just ahead, the chair of the oklahoma legislative black caucus will share her objections to the president's rally tonight. it will be a long night. i will see you for two hours of coverage starting at 11 eastern, 8 pacific. we'll hang out until one in the morning eastern time. i'm joshua johnson. the news continues after the break with alicia menendez on msnbc. alicia menendez on msnbc.

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hello, everyone. i'm alicia menendez, we are following two major breaking news stories at this hour. first, the president has fired the u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. that's the top prosecutor responsible for several investigations tied to the president's inner circle. second, we learned today that six members of the president's team preparing for tonight's rally in tulsa, oklahoma, have tested positive for covid-19. that news comes just hours before 19,000 people will pack inside an arena in tulsa to attend the president's first campaign rally since the pandemic began. but we begin with the standoff at the justice department. pete william's is nbc's justice