good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington, with breaking news on concerns about the rising number of covid-19 cases. here are the facts at this hour. new york, new jersey, and connecticut's governors are banding together to institute a 14-day quarantine on anyone who enters their states from covid hotspots. nine states currently fall under their infection rate formula, including arizona, texas, and florida, which just announced a new daily record, 5,500 new cases. arizona could even face a worse problem in coming days after president trump addressed a packed crowd in phoenix tuesday night. thousands of young supporters

without masks in a mega church to cheer the president repeating his highly criticized racist term for the virus for the second taime in a week. and the european union may block americans from entering in a draft proposal. this comes after number one ranked tennis star novak djokovic announces he's covid-19 positive after he hosted a tournament in which he was seen out in clubs the days before. i'll speak with georgia's stacey abrams on tuesday night's exciting primary results and on her campaign against voter suppression. let's begin with nbc's joe fryer in scottsdale, arizona. dhae thanks for joining us. what's the governor's plan to

turn these numbers around? >> reporter: andrea, in the last hour we got the latest news. the good news is the number of new cases in arizona is 1,800, half the number we saw yesterday, yesterday a record-breaking day in arizona with nearly 3,600 new cases. the bad news today, arizona reporting 79 new deaths. that is a single day record here for the state of arizona which does have people concerned. in addition, hospital icu beds now 88% full in the state of arizona. just yesterday that number was 84% full. so that is a major concern for a lot of people. we just spoke with the man who used to run the department of health here in arizona. that is his biggest concern. he worries that as we get to the fourth of july, that arizona is going to run out of hospital beds here. that is going to have a major impact on health here. he says that really officials across the state here need to make sure that people do a better job of trying to comply with social distancing, wearing masks and things like that. one of the biggest issues we're seeing here in arizona and across the country is young

people are the ones who are at an increasingly higher rate testing positive for covid-19. that's because as restaurants and bars reopen, they're the ones who are going out. we were out in scottsdale here last night, even though it was tuesday night, 110 degrees, things weren't packed but we saw a lot of young people out and about. take a listen what they had to say about why they're venturing out right now even though arizona is a hotspot. >> young people, you know, they just like to go out and, you know, have as much fun as they can. they don't reca they don't really have mayor thie their mind on it. they're definitely scared but it's not as much a hazard to them. >> reporter: statewide in arizona, there is no mask mandate. but last week the governor finally gave city and county governments permission to put in their own mandates and a lot of governments did go through with that including here in maricopa county. one young man we spoke to said

he is wearing a mask now because of that mandate. andrea? >> thanks to much, joe fryer. another state with surging coronavirus cases that continue to be a problem, georgia, with more than 1,700 new covid-19-positive residents. local georgia governments are considering mandatory mask guidelines. mayor, tell me about your city-wide level and what you're doing to keep your residents face. >> thank you so much for the opportunity. we know, as we've opened as early as april 24th, just since the end of the beginning of june, we've had 500% increase in new cases, just since the beginning of this month. the weather here in savannah is beautiful. people are here, they're wearing and not wearing face coverings. we know the science is very clear that wearing face coverings helps decrease the spread of covid-19.

so i'm prepared to make that move, that we mandate here in savannah for the safety of our citizens and those that visit us here. >> mayor johnson, is that a threat, is that a warning, an advisory, or are you seriously about to do this, to require face coverings? >> oh, be clear, i'm very serious about doing this. i'm not trying to get into any fights with anyone. i just want to help our folks be safe. we just want to get past this section of time that we find ourselves in. and we're very clear that with bars opening and everything opening, we were not prepared, in my mind, to open up and to begin with. we're now in a situation now where this is really getting out of control. we actually have higher numbers of cases now than when we started, when we had the stay-at-home order months ago. so it's clear we have to do what we can locally to be able to help our citizens and visitors remain safe. >> how much is this visitors?

because your surrounding areas are areas that don't have any strict controls. >> well, we recognize that savannah being the leader in the coastal area of georgia, it's also the most densely populated. we are where people come and visit, where people come and stay. we're not telling people not to come. we're saying, if you're going to be here, we want you to take on safe practices, we want you to wear face coverings, we want you to social distance, we want you to wash and sanitize your hands. and i think these are just common sense things, and obviously places up north where they've done it well, you see a downturn in cases. we just want our people to be safe. that's all we want. >> what is your message to governor kemp? >> my message to governor kemp is we want to help. i don't think that this is conflicting with his order, i think it's complementary to his order. the governor himself encouraged the use of face coverings.

and we're saying here that here in savannah we just think it should be mandatory, until we're able to get this beast called covid-19 under control. >> mr. mayor, as always, thank you so much, thanks for taking time for us today. and dr. dara kass is an emergency medical physician at columbia university medical center in new york and a yahoo! news medical contributor. dr. kass, how worried are you about the lack of initiative from the president and governors in arizona, texas, houston is now approaching 100% icu bed capacity. >> i'm very worried. i think this is an example of governmental leadership at the federal, state, and local level, and we see the example set forth by governors from new york, connecticut, and new jersey. sometimes it's an emotional response, not wanting to do

things that are hard. in arizona, texas, my peers, e.r. doctors, are going through the worst of the surge when they had the warning from us in new york what they're going to see. we see their icus going up, ventilators running out, nurses traumatized from the deaths of patients they're taking care of. we hear their stories, they're so reminiscent of what we went through in new york city and it feels so unfortunate. and honestly, really very unnecessary. >> and what we understand also is that the federal government is not going to extend its money for testing to communities beyond june 30. there was a protest from senator cornyn and others in texas, so they did extend it to june 30, but now the pandemic is still here and this money is going to have to be raised locally, taking money away from ppe and other critical supply issues. >> right. i mean, this has always been an example led by federal leadership to say we're not going to help you, we're not

going to help you with testing sites, we're not going to help you procure ppe, you're going to leave you on your own to figure it out. not so long ago, in march and april, we had states competing for resources, right, trying to you' outbid each other like "the hunger game." we need the federal government to help us mandate mask wearing, to help us get ppe in the hotspots. if not, we'll see what happened in new york, a quarantine of interstate commerce and travel, which is very bad for the economy and the nation writ large. >> dr. kass, how did wearing a mask become a political issue? when you look at the event which they claim was nonpolitical but basically was a political rally paid for by the taxpayers last night in phoenix and what happened saturday night, thousands of people not wearing masks. it seems to be an act of faith,

of politics, not to wear a mask. >> this was made political for no reason, right? we wrote an article in "the new york times" in april about mandating mask-wearing as a national policy to help keep this virus at bay. and now we saw one side decide to make an issue about it, somehow to take a stand against something that is really simple, really low tech. we didn't really even ask people to buy a mask, we simply said, take a scarf, a t-shirt, take anything and make a face covering and protect yourselves and other citizens. it's now up to the people in arizonas, arizona, in texas, in florida, and in new york, to wear a mask. i wear a mask everywhere i go. my children wear a mask. my husband wears a mask. my parents wear a mask. this is the very least we can do to keep each other safe. >> dr. kass, thank you so much for your expertise. meanwhile, breaking news, the d.c. court of appeals has granted a motion for the lawyers of general michael flynn to order a federal judge to dismiss

the flynn case entirely, effectively clearing the slate for the former national security adviser despite his admission of guilt. n nbc's pete williams has more. >> what the court says is when the government moved to dismiss a case, a judge has to agree unless there's some indication that the government is trying to pull a fast one on the defendant by dismissing the charges and then re-filing them later. there is no indication of that, she says in this opinion. he wants the charges dropped, the government wants the charges dropped, so the appeals court today said emmett sullivan must dismiss the charges, and two, he was wrong to appoint a retired judge to act as a friend of court. so it's over unless either judge sullivan appeals this, which as

far as i can tell he has the authority to do, or any judge from the full court of appeals wants to hear this case again. this is something that happens every now and then when these appeals panels make decisions, the full appeals court can say, wait a minute, we all want to consider this. there was a dissenting judge today, he said, why don't we wait to see whether judge as a result of judge sullivan actually does grant the motion or not and then we can consider this on appeal, so we'll wait to see if judge sullivan goes ahead and decides to agree to dismiss the case. >> the continuing saga of michael flynn. pete williams, thank you so much. >> you bet. coming up, we're talking primary politics. protecting the vote. and vice presidential vetting, when stacey abrams joins us next.

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and now the latest from key races in last night's big primaries. kentucky is on pace for a record primary turnout at the polls and absentee vote to go decide who will run against senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. with only 10% reporting and key urban areas not counted, state

rep african-american charles booker is posing a significant challenge to the early establishment frontrunner, retired marine helicopter pilot amy mcgrath, for the democratic nod to go up against majority leader mitch mcconnell in the fall. malgraduati mcgrath stumbled when she said in a debate that she had not gone to any black lives matter protests because she was visiting family. meanwhile, eliot engel is getting trounced by former school principal jamaal bowman in new york, but that race is too early to call. also last night a win for two republican candidates opposed by president trump. in north carolina republicans choosing 24-year-old investor madison cawthorn in the runoff for the seat of mark meadows. thomas massie who often clashes

with the gop was renominated for a sixth term. in presidential politics, the first "new york times" national survey shows joe biden with a commanding 14-point lead over president trump among registered voters, this as former president obama yesterday joined former vice president joe biden for their first joint campaign event of 2020, fundraising event, that is, and slammed the trump administration. >> we have seen over the last couple of years a white house that suggests facts don't matter, that a deadly disease is fake news. there is a great awakening going on around the country. particularly among younger people. >> and joining me now is stacey abra abrams, former democratic candidate for governor of georgia who has since become the

founder and chair of fair fight, and the author of a new book, "our time is now: power, purpose, and the fight for a fair america." stacey abrams, great to see you, thank you so much for joining us today. >> thank you for having me. >> it's great to see you. we saw former president obama, these were his sharpest comments yet referring to president trump as shambolic. their joint fundraising event, how important is this, given the fact that joe biden is observing social distancing and being very careful, unlike the president, and so has not been out and about in campaigning and might need the obama push? >> i think that all democrats want joe biden to win, including president obama. but we also have to note, as you pointed out at the top of the story, that we have seen record turnout among democrats across the country. and that i think is a signal of the enthusiasm, not simply for change, but for change at the

top. and so while i think vice president biden is going to continue to meet the moment by having to run an unusual but something that's very necessary for this moment, a campaign that isn't going to be able to rely on field organizing in the traditional manner, i do think he's doing an extraordinary job of lifting up the conversation that democrats want to have. and we're seeing record response from people across the country. >> what we're actually seeing is a strong showing by progressive candidates, including some newcomers like the candidate against eliot engel, we're not calling that yet. but we're seeing a lot of action on the progressive, you know, younger and newer and diverse side, which is not what joe biden represents. >> i would push back against that. i would say what we're seeing across the country is that democrats are willing to put forward really strong ideas and we have no shortage of really

great candidates. and whether it's bowman or mcgrath in kentucky or jon ossoff who was able to win here in georgia, raphael warnock, we want to replace the republican infrastructure which is undermining science and health in our nation. >> you talk about the science and health of our nation in particular, from all of the testimony yesterday by our top public health officials, we're still going to be in the throes of the pandemic in november, in september, october, november, in the general election, and on election day. there won't be a vaccine by then. and the president again last night in phoenix is throwing shade, casting doubt on the veracity of online voting. let me play part of what he said. >> the democrats are also trying to rig the election by sending out tens of millions of mail-in

ballots. where are these ballots going? who's getting them? will they be taken from the mail men and the mail women? >> so he and his entire family are voting by mail, he doesn't mention that. the rnc is encouraging pennsylvanians to vote by mail as part of their get out the vote effort. but he is casting doubt, potentially, on the outcome of the november election. >> they're relying on lies, misinformation, and mendacity, to cover up for his inability to actually do his job. we know that vote by mail works. we know that every state in the nation has vote by mail. the issue is the scaling of that effort. and what we are seeing happen in a number of states and the stumbles we've seen in some elections has been that people are desperate to be able to vote by mail. in new york and kentucky, it was -- i think it went from 5% to 50% requests. we know that in georgia, we had an overwhelming number of people

who sought to use that option. and in wisconsin, they had to go to the supreme court to make certain that option was available. americans aren't listening to the false science coming from donald trump. they're listening to the evidence of their eyes and they know covid is dangerous. and they're trying to protect themselves and still participate in our democracy. but the senate has to step up and invest in the heroes act and make certain that every state in our nation that is going to called upon to use vote by mail, that they can actually meet the need and meet the demand. south korea was able to run a national election in the midst of covid-19. the united states should be able to do so too. but it's going to require federal investment. there is no discernible increase in voter fraud because of mail. voter fraud is a myth perpetuated by donald trump because he thinks if there is full participation, he will likely not win. >> the senate is refusing to go along with that, he's

threatening to veto it even if it were passed, and meanwhile they're trying to take apart the post office. are they trying to make it impossible to effectively vote by mail? and what are the chances, even if he were to lose, that he would refuse to leave office, something that joe biden alluded to in one of his interviews? >> one of the pieces i address in "our time is now" is the fact that the republican national committee for the first time in 40 years has the ability to mix hard and soft dollars and intimidate voters, to suppress the voter on a national scale that we haven't seen since 1981. and they have built an army, a patrol of poll watchers that they intend to use to suppress the vote. and to undermine the legitimacy of vote by mail is just one pillar of that attempt. we have seen republican secretaries of state as well as democratic secretaries of state

push vote by mail because they know it works, they know it's safe. but the republican attempt to dismantle the post office, they hope that will suppress the vote. that is a danger not only to our democracy but a danger to our people. if you've ever lived in a rural area, you know that the post office is a pharmacy, it's important to all aspects of life. it's an attempt to undermine our democracy in a moment of great awakening and change. i will say, in the event donald trump is not the person elected, and i will work hard to make sure that is so, we have a nation that will make sure that the rightful elected person takes office in january. >> i wanted to play something he said last night, the president, again using a racist term to refer to the covid-19. let's watch. >> i said the other night,

there's never been anything where they have so many names, i could give you 19 or 20 names for that, right? kung flu, yes. [ cheering ] >> what is your reaction to that? >> that once again he shows that racism is the core of his appeal. it is the trope that he relies on in order to gin up his supporters. and what is deeply disheartening and deeply disturbing is that as we have this moment of reckoning around the systemic racism that blacks have faced since 1619 in this country, we cannot ignore what has happened to latino communities under his leadership, the asian-american community who has to listen to his slurs against them because of a disease that is ravaging and killing our people. we have watched his disinterest in handling and addressing the needs of native americans. we know this is a man who does not care about america. and he certainly does not care about the people of color who

comprise almost 40% of this nation. and to the extent he intends to serve as president of any people, he has to be willing to serve as the president of all people. but he lacks the moral courage, he lacks the integrity, he lacks the capacity to lead. that is why it is so critical that we elect joe biden, that we take the senate, and that we remember we're not just having the 2016 redo of our election, we're also running the 2010 election where we have to go all the way down the ballot and make certain we will elect state legislators and governors who will ensure that the maps drawn in 2021 based on this census reflect the needs and values of the whole country. >> does the racial reckoning since george floyd's murder make it that much more important that there be a black woman on the ticket? and are you being vetted? >> i think that joe biden is going to make a decision about who his running mate is based on his -- what he knows he needs.

this is a man who has actually held the job so he knows what he's looking for. i've said time and again, i believe diversity is critical and it can't simply be a comment. it has to be done in action. and yes, there's a signal that can be sent by having a black woman on the ticket. there's a signal to be sent by having a woman of color on the ticket. most of all, we need to know joe biden takes absolutely no one for granted and that unlike the racist in chief that currently sits in the white house, joe biden reflects the values of america that we are all one nation with diversity being at our core and something we should celebrate and promote and protect. >> and have they reached out to you? >> i'm going to leave the conversation about vetting to the biden campaign. i will tell you we've been in conversations about the work that we are doing on fair fight, to expand elections, and on fair count, to make certain we have an accurate census. and i look forward to continuing to work with the biden campaign in every way possible to ensure his election in november.

>> deftly done, of course, as always. stacey abrams, thank you so much. >> andrea, thank you for having me. and coming up, not so warm welcome. the european union considering banning american travelers over covid concerns. why the bloc may tell americans to stay home, next. plus later, live on capitol hill, an update on the accusations a whistle-blower is making about how the justice department handled roger stone's case. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. a mitchell reports" on msnbc. the tempur-pedic breeze° makes sleep...feel...cool.

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second and third worst-hit countries after the u.s. not long ago we were banning europeans from entering the u.s. if this proposal passes, how would the eu enforce this? >> reporter: such a good point, andrea, because i remember just really a short time ago, talking to you about how europe was the epicenter of the coronavirus, and it says a lot, doesn't it, about how quickly this virus moves and how quickly the infections move. i mean, basically europe have rules that they've been clear about which says that european infections need to be around about the same as other countries that they're prepared to open up to. but the problem, the diplomatic problem, the political problem, as they discuss this right now, these european union countries, is that to turn around to america and say we are not going to accept nonessential travel from americans for business or vacations, the political impact

is very concerning, it's really concerning european politicians and bureaucrats, although two of told us that is really something they're thinking about. it's for the 1st of july, so the decision is coming up fast. china obviously has a lower infection rate even than europe. so what you could be looking at is a decision where europe is prepared to allow chinese citizens to come to europe for nonessential travel but not americans. and you can imagine how that potentially might go down in the white house. >> the president is going to be having a news conference later this afternoon with the visiting polish leader and there will be a chance to ask him that very question, you can just imagine the explosion. keir, thanks as always, thanks for being with us. >> reporter: you bet. coming up next, a police reform measure is being voted on right now in the senate. we're keeping track of the vote. we'll break down the politics of all of this, next. stay with us on msnbc.

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justice department whistle-blowers are about to testify before the house judiciary committee, claiming william barr and other political appointees violated department rules to favor roger stone and other issues, according to prepared testimony released last night. assistant u.s. attorney aaron

zelinsky of maryland will say that senior justice department officials pressured him to treat roger stone differently because of stone's close relationship with the president. that case now is up in the air after the appeals court decision dropped the prosecution altogether. that was actually on the flynn case, a little confusion there. joining me now, kasie hunt, host of "kasie d.c." here on msnbc. kasie, sort it out for us, a lot going on up there. >> reporter: indeed there is, andrea. this is a pretty remarkable moment, obviously the roger stone story, the investigations into what's been going on has tracked through almost the entire trump presidency. this has been going on for years. but in this case, the prepared testimony from mr. zelinsky was remarkably explosive, frankly, for prepared testimony ahead of one of these hearings. as you know well, oftentimes we get the more explosive moments in a q&a or something that comes

out unexpectedly. but here this prosecutor was extraordinarily state forwary i. the background being prosecutors wanted to give roger stone a much longer sentence than the doj ultimately recommended, and the prosecutor saying that happened specifically because stone has this relationship with the president and they came under pressure based on that relationship. so we're already hearing the politics of this come to the surface in this hearing. they're just introducing the witnesses now. but you heard the chairman, jerry nadler, talk about his reasons for bringing mr. zelinsky in and jim jordan, the ranking member, respond by talking about actions taken under the obama justice department. so i think that's how you can see this continue to play out today, andrea. >> and kasie, there's also another whistle-blower who is claiming that decisions were made by william barr regarding the marijuana that -- trying to

just twist department rules and have an antitrust case against marijuana producers, legal marijuana producers, because of the president's position against it. >> reporter: that's right, andrea. john elias is the second whistle-blower here. this focuses on antitrust cases, as you outline, and essentially saying that the department's considerable antitrust powers were used in ways that were not appropriate, that were used in ways to instead craft and push forward policy instead of simply focusing on the law and the rules that are required to be enforced as the department considers antitrust issues, and you're focused on marijuana, the marijuana industry is indeed where we're headed with this, andrea. >> kasie, you have a busy day, thanks for taking time. in the senate, a critical vote on the floor on police reform is under way. joining me is senator jon tester of montana. right now, we don't have a final

vote, they can change their votes before the final vote but it doesn't look like mitch mcconnell will get the 60 votes he needs to proceed. senator, is that your read? >> yeah, look, andrea, the reason is, is because the scott bill -- it says a lot of things but really doesn't do anything. what we've seen transpire over the last month, i think the country expects more from the united states senate than that. my suggestion would be do what the forefathers wanted us to do, go to the judiciary committee and take input from people around the country would are impacted, get their legal views, draft up a bill we can take to the floor and get bipartisan support for and get passed. i feel strongly we need to do something, we've had systemic racism for 400 years and it's come to a head. to do nothing would be political malpractice. >> i hear the arguments by many

democrats, the majority position among democrats, that the mcconnell bill doesn't go far enough, the tim scott bill, that the republican bill is to study again, not ban chokeholds, not limit the immunity that police now enjoy. that said, the republicans are going to say that you guys blocked it. why not let it pass, go to conference, do this through compromise down the road, because this could mark the end of police reform. >> andrea, you're talking common sense. we don't talk much common sense in the united states senate. when you talk about compromise and getting things done together in a bipartisan way, i have seen time after time after time where leader mcconnell either doesn't let a bill go to the floor or he does let it go to the floor, he fells a tree and that's the end of it and he moves on. this is a bigger issue than that. this is an issue we need to deal

with and why do we have a bill on the floor right now that basically doesn't do anything, and we're expected to vote on it with assurances that have been broken so many times in the past, oh, yeah, we're going to make it better. why don't we make it better through the committee process and do what's supposed to be done in the senate process, get a bill done and get it out and to the president's desk. there's a lack of trust in the united states senate that i haven't seen in my tenure here. you can't believe what people tell you. >> i get that democrats say they have no reason to trust mitch mcconnell, i understand that is the situation you're all caught up in. but what about tim scott? i'm told that he has really made a good fate effort to try to bridge the gaps and in fact he told his caucus that he's been the victim of hateful and racist

voicemails, threats, that he's really caught in the middle and caught in a terrible situation as the only black republican senator leading the charge on this, trying to come up with a compromise, and he's suffering with all these horrible threats. >> there's a lot of people suffering throughout this country because we don't have equal justice under the law. as i say, andrea, i appreciate what tim has done, i appreciate the fact that he's come up with a bill. what i don't appreciate is the fact that this bill could have been a bill that would really address the problems in this country and it doesn't. and you talked about it, chokeholds, militarization of police forces, the list goes on. the bottom line is, we do have an opportunity and we should do something about this. unfortunately i personally do not believe that leader mcconnell really wants to address this issue in a meaningful way and i think that's the worst thing we can do right now.

>> understood. thank you so much, we really appreciate your views and thanks for joining us today. senator jon tester from montana. coming up, monuments. why protesters want some of those statues down. more on that next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. a mitchel reports" only on msnbc gum issu. does it worry me? absolutely. new sensodyne sensitivity & gum gives us the dual action effect that really takes care of both our teeth sensitivity as well as our gum issues. there's no question it's something that i would recommend. i was drowning in credit card debt. sofi helped me pay off twenty-three thousand dollars of credit card debt. they helped me consolidate all of that into one low monthly payment. they make you feel like it's an honor for them to help you out. i went from sleepless nights to getting my money right. so thank you.

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protesters tried to topple the statue of andrew jackson in lafayette square just outside the white house monday night. the demonstrators scrawled "killer" across the pedestal of the statue of the seventh president of the united states. joining us is historian jon meacham, the author of "american lion: andrew jackson and the white house," and michael steele, former republican national committee chairman and former lieutenant governor of maryland, welcome both. jon meacham, talk to me about andrew jackson. let's talk about his legacy and

the legacy that has led to the protests and wanting to take down his statue. does jon meacham here me? does john meacham hear me? i think we have problem. we're going to fix that. so we're going to talk about that in a moment, but let's talk about the issue of the statues. you dealt with this issue in maryland as lieutenant guvmeove, and it's an issue that has been raised repeatedly and that is the maryland state anthem or song and lyrics that go back to 1861, which are very controversial. should the song oh, maryland, oh, maryland be changed? >> yeah, i like the tune but the lyrics leave a lot to be desired and a lot of people don't sing those lyrics.

they start with maryland my maryland and then it kind of trails off after that, which is an indication while we like the tune we need to update the lyrics. we need to recognize the vestiges of an era that stained this country. and unfortunately defined its early history. and we're doing everything we can now to not make up for it. i mean that's just i think a very juvenile way to look at it. but more importantly to speak to it, and john meacham writes about this and talks about this a lot as he looks at history. it talks about those better moments, those better angels when we recognize what the call really is and we try to hold accountable to that in some way. so i think it's time to take a look at the maryland, you know, song as we should look at these things all across the country and follow the better angels when it comes to how we want to

speak of ourselves going into the future. >> and maryland oh, maryland is set to the tune many of us know from oh, christmas tree, and some of the lyrics are is the despot's heel is on thigh shore, maryland. his torch is at thigh temple door, maryland. the poem's opening line about the despot is referring to abraham lincoln. >> yeah, it is. it's a direct shot at abraham lincoln, and this is a fight song if you will to keep maryland part of the south, which we are part of the south, and, you know, follow the confederacy. so there was this great deal of pressure politically that manifests itself in this song as maryland struggled like a lot of states did to deal with and

grapple with this reality of slavery, and there are those who thought very assuredly maryland should remain a strong part of the confederacy. so this song reflects that. it smacks at lincoln, talks about the battle of the war and what that means to marylanders, and i think anything that glorifies the vestiges of slavery, that glorifies the vestiges of what was such an ugly stain on this country we need to address it and just be honest about it and recognize it for what it is. there's no heritage in this flag, the confederate flag, for example. it's a sign of treason. and for those who, you know, think otherwise you're misrepresenting and misunderstanding history. >> and we just want to point out also that by 55-45 mitch mcconnell failed to get the 60 votes he needed to proceed to debate on tim scott's proposal,

the republican proposal on police reform which was to study and take up the issue of cho chokeholds and unlimited immunity and some other issues but not ban them entirely. tim scott, the lead sponsor of that also telling his colleagues in the republican caucus he's been the subject of horribly racist threats against his life and said to the floor just now that we are in dangerous times. does this end any chance of compromise on police reform given how little time is left before not only the july fourth recess but the little time in august right now they're supposedly coming back? >> well, there is a pressure of the clock for sure, there's no doubt about that. but this idea that the clock has run out on reforming the relationship between this country and policing as well as specifically policing in the black community is not true.

we do have time to do it. it can be done. find the moments to compromise. we don't need to study what we already know. we have studied this. we know by example, by evidence, by facts, by data where we are in this relationship between our police and how they police and the reforms that are going to be necessary, so let's just move into that. we've gone through the first pass in the senate. the house is going to have their pass. let's move past this part where they're standing on opposite sides and recognize where the american people right now want us to be, and that is a full appreciation that there is a bottom up reform that can be done. you're not going to shutdown and closeout police departments and get rid of the police. no one's saying that. that's just crazy. but the reality of it is reforms do need to take place and we need to get serious about that and stop just playing the game. >> and we should just apologize

to everyone and say that the gremlins of the internet have managed to do what no one has ever done or would want to do, prolific author, wonderful historian and great friend john meacham -- communications are just not working so we're going to have him back if he is willing and thanks so much to michael steele. and that does it for today's edition of andrea mitchell reports. remember, follow us online and facebook and twitter on mitchell reports. ndwi ttter on mitchell reports. you can't predict the future.

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good morning out west and a good afternoon here in the east. i'm chuck todd. there are more than 2.3 million confirmed cases of covid-19 in the united states since the start of this pandemic. more than 121,000 people have died. but our curve is moving up. the state of florida is seeing record high cases today. the dow plunged 800 points on the news of the renewed concern about the virus. it's now down around 600 points. governors cuomo, murphy and lamont of the tri-state area of the northeast announced a joint state travel advisory. then just moments ago the house judiciary committee began its hearing into the politicization of the justice department under attorney general barr as republican members of the committee attempted