first up on msnbc. breaking news. what did the president know? what the administration is saying about the alarming new report that russia targeted u.s. troops in afghanistan. a record rise in covid cases in several states. the one activity that has been called a super spreader of the virus. also, one state that is not reversing course even as hospitals fill up with infected people. plus, renewed outrage over

the death of a young black man stopped by police in colorado. we'll take a closer look at what happened to elijah mcclain. good morning to you. it's sunday, june 28th. i'm alex witt. the coronavirus pandemic. the number of confirmed cases across the globe surpassing 10 million, according to johns hopkins. the u.s. set a troubling record with the highest single-day increase in cases. nearly 46,000 new cases were reported. florida, south carolina, georgia, nevada all setting records for new infections. vice president mike pence cancelled campaign events in arizona and florida this week out of an abundance of caution. pence will still travel to those states to meet with governors and health officials. texas shutting down parts of its economy now for a second time as the number of daily cases hits a record high there. one texas congressman telling me yesterday governor greg abbott is to blame for the surge.

>> it didn't have to happen this way. the governor was warned months ago that we were facing a looming potential health crisis and he absolutely wanted to do nothing about it. >> and in michigan, health officials say 85 new cases are linked to a bar in east lansing. that number is expected to rise. michigan allowed bars to reopen earlier this month with new regulations. let's head to the white house now and get more on vice president mike pence's postponing his campaign appearances this week. msnbc's josh letterman is there. i think we've got you on the phone now. what is the trump campaign saying on this? >> caller: good morning. the trump campaign saying out of an abundance of caution that mike pence is postponing the campaign stops in florida and arizona. the vice president had been scheduled to go to both states this week to speak at campaign events focussed on evangelical voters as part of his states in

america tour. the white house saying pence will go to both arizona and florida but only in his official capacity. he'll meet with the governors to talk about coronavirus response. he'll no longer hold campaign events. this comes as campaign events -- they understand the optics are not right at the moment for the vice president to be going to some of the hardest hit states in the country to be bringing people together for a campaign event. they want to show the vice president is focussed on the coronavirus response. all this coming out as we continue to see this divide between pence, president trump, and the other officials on the coronavirus task force as far as the severity of the outbreaks we're seeing and other parts of the united states. mike pence continuing to decline during the most task force press briefing to call on americans to wear masks to try to limit the spread. even dr. fauci and other officials warn us there are serious problems and that more needs to be done to try to get

it under control. >> hey, josh. i want to confirm. the vice president is going to arizona and to florida to speak with government and health officials about evangelical issues or a broader concern? >> caller: basically the vice president had planned to kill two birds with one stone. going to both states to meet with officials about coronavirus and while he was there he was going to do some campaigning for the president's re-election. so they've decided to scrap, for now, the campaign part. only have him go to the official coronavirus-focussed meeting trialing to make sure that the vice president and the president don't look like they're campaigning in the hardest hit states and taking resources away from that coronavirus response. >> understood. thank you so much, josh. the european union is preparing to open its borders but not to travelers from the united states. the eu is creating a list of countries they believe have done a sufficient job of containing the coronavirus and the u.s. will most likely not make the

cut. tes is a a good morning to you. this is is a loss that will be felt on both sides of the atlantic. >> reporter: certainly, alex. the number of travelers between the two places is just -- the impact would be great. it's looking likely americans will be barred when the borders on the first of july. eu discussions told nbc news the u.s. did not make it to the finalist of countries whose citizens will be allowed in. that is because the daily number of cases is still high. we have been reporting about the record number of surges of cases in some states. so that is certainly weighing in on the eu's decision. they've come up with their own calculation here, alex. they say the average number of cases over a 14-day period per 100,000 here is 16. the e u.s.'s number is 107.

such a big difference. this is going to be hard to reverse the decision for now. when europe was the epicenter of the pandemic, president trump put in place strict restrictions on the citizens coming from the 26 eu countries. that's still in place. that caused a rift in relations back then. it's not great news for americans if it gets approved. it's also not great for countries here that rely on american tourists. we speak to the greek tourism minister and this is what he had to say. >> we enjoy very much hosting our friends from the u.s. because they come and stay longer and enjoy the culture and the way of life between greece and the u.s. and so it's very, very important for us to resume normal connectivity and normal air travel but, also, we don't

want to necessarily rush things. >> reporter: there is that desire to have americans to come back in already, it's understood that the numbers are just really difficult to ignore at this point. so until that changes, it looks like americans might not be able to come to europe for now. >> yeah. do you know how long the ban would be implemented and how often they would revisit it? as he was saying, tourism is huge. >> absolutely. >> reporter: and countries like greece express the need to boost their economy because they rely heavily on that sector. they revisit it often and officially about every two weeks but it's more. every week if not every day. they talk about it all the time. if the numbers don't change in the united states, this is really difficult to justify, alex. >> yeah. it sounds like it's on the united states to make the changes. thank you so much.

joining me now the senior scholar at johns hopkins health security. good to see you, doctor. what is your reaction to the surge in cases? what do you think is behind it? >> it's not unexpected we would see more cases but the states experiencing the surges are unable to control them. you would have thought during the time of economic shutdowns that contact tracing would have been something they would have implemented and resourced and prioritized but when you see the percent positive going up and people being hospitalized in places like texas and arizona and mississippi, there clearly has been some disconnect how we're going to move forward. i think it's a multifactorial. people interacting will cause the virus to spread. we're seeing more people think because the stay at home order is lifted the virus is gone. you cannot behave as if there's not a pandemic occurring. >> looking a the new york we saw in march similar to what we're seeing in florida, texas, ads and elsewhere. they essentially had a three

month head start to pay attention to what was happening here, take notes. is there something different about those three states? is there a health-based reason they could approach health safety differently? >> this virus doesn't care what state you live in. >> right. >> it only cares if you're interacting with each other. you should have taken the best practice lessons from new york and taiwan and south korea and some states have the chance to put in the great public health measures that taiwan used to control their outbreak. they didn't. they squandered on time. some of the states squandered march, april, and june. >> so new york, other states, as well, are looking at reopening. what do you think the risks are of another surge? >> i think many states put in place the measures that will keep these cases to a limit. meaning they'll have enough contact tracers to change the transmission so i think that

some states are going to approach this in a better way than what we've seen with texas and florida. and i think that texas, florida, arizona examples are in people's minds now. they're trying to avoid it. people will not engage in their economy if the pandemic is raging just outside their door. there's no until until we get the cases to a manageable level so our contact tracing teams can get every case and trace their contacts and allow people to freely move about. >> yeah. in terms of engaging and hindsight being 2020, you heard me 85 new cases in michigan are linked to one bar in east lansing. here is what governor greg abbott said. >> if i can redo anything, it would have been to slow down the opening of bars. now seeing in the aftermath of how quickly the coronavirus

spreads in the bar setting and, you know, how in bar setting, in reality, it doesn't work with a pandemic. >> and why is that? what do you make of this? are bars super spreaders? might it be because alcohol consumption allows people to relax and lose any edge they might have of concern. is that one of the ratheasons? >> people don't go to a bar to social distance. and they're drinking alcohol so they're going to necessarily not have the same inhibitions and talking loud and yelling and talking to their friends in a way that creates more drop lets. i think what you're seeing from the governor abbott are targeted approaches to bars. i think that's an important way to think about it going forward. we know not every activity is impact inform impactive on priding the virus.

in japan they use face shields and use straws and they don't seem to have outbreaks in japan with bars. there may be ways to modify it. i think it will be one of the super spreading events we see throughout the event is bars. >> all right. from johns hopkins, doctor, thank you so much. good to see you. russia bombshell how the relationship between the president and vladimir putin complicates the report about the kremlin, the taliban, and u.s. troops. he kremlin, the taliban, and u.s. troops wayfair has way more ways to renovate your home, from inspiration to installation. like way more vanities perfect for you. nice. way more unique fixtures and tiles. pairing. ♪ nice. way more top brands in sinks and faucets. way more ways to rule your renovation. nice! on any budget, with free shipping. wayfair. way more than furniture. you ever wish you weren't a motaur?

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breaking overnight the white house is responding to a "new york times" report from american intelligence officials saying russia secretly offered taliban-linked militants bounties to kill u.s. troops in afghanistan. the report also says the trump administration has been deliberating for months about what to do. the director of national intelligence releasing a statement saying in part, "i confirmed that neither the president nor the vice president

were briefed in any intelligence alleged by the "new york times" and the briefing." welcome and good morning, natasha. how remarkable are they that russia offered cash to taliban-linked militants to assassinate u.s. and coalition troops while peace negotiations were underway? >> yeah. it amounts to a dramatic expansion of russia's so-called hybrid war against the united states, of course, we saw the beginnings of in 2016 when they interfered in the election using hacking and dumping operation. it takes it to a new level. this amounts to essentially them trying to complicate the u.s. effort to exit afghanistan, destabilize the u.s.-negotiated peace deal, and potentially get revenge on the united states for a battle in syria in 2018 which many russian syrians were killed along with pro syrian forces by the united states.

this is really an escalation. the fact that the president has yet to respond to it and the white house has not come up with any meaningful public response to the alleged murder of u.s. troops by russia, by russia-backed taliban fighters is remarkable itself. >> okay. that response, let's get to that. the vice president and the vice president were never briefed on the intelligence report by the "new york times." is that possible? is something like this intentionally kept from a president and vice president or could this president claim ignorance on the matter because it may have been included in a written daily briefing which trump, admittedly, doesn't skri scrutinize. >> it seems difficult to believe his advisors and virtually every national security advisor would have been known about this and he wasn't told. paragrap perhaps he wasn't actually briefed in terms of a written

briefing in front of him he had to read. maybe he wasn't aware of it. but the interagency meetings held about this, the deliberations, the expanded briefings given in the last week makes it hard to believe that both the president and the vice president haven't been looped in, at least, at any particular moment. we have to remember this isn't just about the united states. the taliban is targeting coalition forces. so this also involves our allies the british. they're under pressure to respond and they are probably wondering why the united states appears to have done nothing, at least publicly. >> yeah. it's reportedly weighed option but hasn't taken, to your point, any action. why the hold up? would it because the president's admiration for putin? would it complicate any response? i mean, we know, for example, he wants to invite vladimir putin to an expanded g-7 meeting in september. could that be part of the issue? >> yeah, definitely. so a cup of things. the president has wanted to

maintain this good, friendly working relationship with vladimir putin. he has been closer to pulling out of nato than was ever previously known according to john bolton's book. that's another gift to vladimir putin. another things in his foreign policy and world view that would benefit the russians. on top of that, he wanted the negotiated peace deal with the taliban because it would be a success for him prior to the election. he wants to draw down the number of troops in afghanistan prior to the end of the year so he can say i was able to get us out of the war. the russian involvement here complicates that. if he's going to respond to the russians and hold the taliban accountable for taking the bounties and targeting american soldiers, allegedly, then that, obviously, is going to violate the conditions of the peace deal that was signed in february. and not allow, rans, the united states to do the full withdraw it was hoping for.

>> the president wanting to invade the afghan war and the u.s. involvement there makes sense for political reasons but those reasons you've given adds to the complications for doing that, what is the likelihood it will happen before election day? >> it is pretty unlikely. right now the administration is trying to draw down the number of troops in afghanistan from about 8500 to around 4500. the president has told his advisors he wants the troops out completely because he wants to be able to tell his base supporters he got us out of the war in afghanistan. that's probably not going to happen. i mean, again, the conditions here appear to have been violated by the taliban. so if the president is able to get the troop levels down to about 4500, that will still be less than the president -- president obama had in afghanistan during his tenure. it would be the lowest level of troops, really, since the very early days of the afghanistan war. so he could technically bill that as some kind of victory.

again, the russian involvement will be a big test for him. he's fighting essentially on two fronts with the russians who maintain a good relationship with and the taliban who he signed a peace deal with. >> politico's natasha bertrand thank you. a wave of coronavirus threatens to overwhelm hospitals in one state. will it halt the reopening plans? will it halt the reopening plans? into a smaller life?

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. back with a look at what the major newspapers are covering today. the flag change a step closer. lawmakers set stage for banner without confederate emblem and a beautiful photo of the bipartisan hugs in the state legislature yesterday. from alabama, "montgomery advertiser" sunday front page tells us of a rural south reckoning. the sunday "l.a. times" push

white americans to set aside politics and examine their privilege. here is a look at two front pages from colorado. "the sunday gazette" and "the weekend durango harrold" highlighting white activists behind police reform in those states. states in the south and west battling major surges in cases. florida, georgia, south carolina, and nevada hit records for new infections. on saturday the u.s. added nearly 4600 cases and setting a single-day record for the fifth day in a row. arizona setting a new state record for hospitalizations after thousands of people tested positive there but the state says it is sticking to the reopening plan. nbc's vonn hill is in phoenix with how people are reacting to the surge. >> reporter: arizona hitting a record number of new cases. the state is one of the worst coronavirus hot spots in the

country. >> reporter: jasmine's mother is one of over 20,000 new cases this week. despite the staggering numbers, the governor resisting adding new restrictions but urging people to stay home. >> when we talk about the idea that we want to save lives and save lively hoods. >> all this while demand for testing surges. long lines of cars as people wait for hours. >> kind of a treasure hunt right now so we'll see what happens. just got to keep looking. >> reporter: the governor acknowledging the shortcomings. >> we want to make it as easy and convenient as possible. it's not going to resolve itself overnight. >> reporter: daryl brandt unable to secure a time slot at any of his nearby testing locations. >> i have asthma and i have diabetes. i'm scared to death this could be the end of it. >> sometimes people have to wait

multiple days to find a testing slot. that, of course, is not ideal. we need to start contact tracing immediately. >> reporter: hospitals are on the brink. icu beds filled to 87% capacity. this doctor giving this dire warning. >> i'm worried about where this is going in arizona. i think people are starting to take it seriously but we are seeing this surge in cases. we're not seeing a slow down. >> let's go to the renewed outrage over the death of elijah mcclain. the colorado man who died in august of last year after being stopped by police and placed in a choke hold. thousands of protesters marched outside the police department in aurora, colorado demanding justice and action against systemic racism. david gur areerra is joining us. good morning to you. what have you learned about this tragedy? >> reporter: yeah, alex. as you said thousands of protesters showing up yesterday

demanding reforms here and the state of colorado but also very adamant the world know who elijah mcclain was. this is elijah mcclain. his name is known by hundreds of thousands on social media. his friends and family say he was full of wonder. a shining star. >> he was one of those people that actually would make the community better if there were more like him. >> surprise! >> reporter: he was a son and a brother. he was someone who liked to dance. he was slight. about 140 pounds. he was anemic. he was just 23 years old when he died. >> the first time i met him, he danced out of the back, through the doorway. >> reporter: he was a massage therapist and that's how he met arna arnett. >> he was loving and kindness

and just encapsulated. >> reporter: the night of august 24th, 2019 he went to a convenience store to pick up iced tea for his brother. he was wearing a ski mask. people who know him say he got cold easily because of anemia. someone called the police because of the mask. >> they put him in a choke hold, one that has since been made illegal in florida. he pleaded with them to stop. >> reporter: millions of people

know the words. in the last few weeks elijah's life and death attracted attention worldwide. >> it was a bittersweet moment because for the mcclain family, their son was killed almost a year ago. and this has been an entire year of mourning. >> this week three police officers have been reassigned. the governor promised an independent investigation but the mcclain's family lawyer said. >> the fact it takes millions of cig sures and international media pressure before there's an independent look when an innocent young man is killed by the police. and this should happen as matter of course. when law enforcement kills somebody, there should be an independent investigation. every single time. not just when the entire world demands it. >> reporter: the official autopsy was inconclusive. a local prosecutor decided not to press charges. >> it is certainly fractured the relationship between the law enforcement and the african-american community. >> reporter: the independence of aurora's independent

investigation was called into question so the city is starting over. >> we want to bring closure to where there are no credibility questions whatsoever. >> reporter: colorado implemented sweeping new police reforms, brought about by what happened to elijah mcclain. >> colorado's bill is sweeping reform but it wouldn't have happened without the protesters and the victims and the families of the victims coming forward and testifying. >> reporter: there's a desire here for change and for closure. >> outrage u be i'm just so grateful that somebody is finally listening. because he deserves a voice. he deserves justice. >> reporter: alex, in the last week, we learned the three officers involved in the confrontation with elijah have been reassigned. the police department said for their own safety. something we heard from a lot of protesters yesterday is that simply not enough. there was a universal cry for justice here and a lot of people

define that as those three officers being prosecuted for what happened on that night in august. folks here in aurora at the state level, as well, saying it may be an outcome of the independent investigation being conducted by the state's attorney general. we'll have to see how it plays out. >> i got to tell you, david, that video of elijah pleading for his life is one of the most reckoning things i've heard. that protest last night, did it stay calm? how big was it? >> reporter: about a thousand people here. as i said, there were different vigils and protests throughout the day starting around lunchtime. it ended rather dramatically. there was a violin vigil. he would go during his lunch break to play violin for animals in the pet shelter. the violins were playing as

another protest got fairly rowdy. the violins kept playing. it was moving. they were moved to the parking lot with the rest of the protesters and there was flanks of police officers around the park as music continued and as protesters were urged by the police department to leave under the threat of use of chemical agents. >> a great description but painful, though. thank you so much. we're talking politics next. this headline "for biden vp black democrats are torn between harris and warren." reaction next. ats are torn betwn harris and warren. reaction next. than rheumatoid arthritis. when considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz a pill for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis when methotrexate has not helped enough. xeljanz can reduce pain, swelling, and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections.

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the calls are growing for americans to take a closer look at monuments, statutes, and flags that memorialize the confederacy including public schools. we'll go to amanda golden joining us from springfield, virginia at a high school named after robert e. lee until this week. good morning to you, amanda. what is the story there? >> reporter: good morning, alex. we're here in what was formerly known as robert e. lee high school. that school board voted this week unanimously to change the name ahead of the 2020 to 2021 school year. they'll hold a vote later in the summer with the community to make a decision of what they should rename the school. it does come as there are growing calls not just here in virginia or throughout the south but throughout the country to reconcile and take action and

discuss various names, flags, emblems, symbols, and monuments throughout the country with connotations to the confederacy or slavery as a whole. i did speak with some experts virginia to have a fuller understanding of what the challenges are that exists to tackle these names and symbols and monuments but also how the social movements here are starting to push forward that call and have influence into the decisions that can be made about them. take a listen to what they told me. >> perhaps changing the entire name of the school and removing robert e. lee's name whenever it's not found. that was a known fact. it's not the law or it's not the governor or anyone else driving this movement. it's society and the times we live in and the unrest created by the recent racial incidents

that caused people to reconsider the names that they know are, indeed, offensive to a significant portion of the population. >> reporter: so, alex, as we look ahead to this week, on wednesday, july 1st. there's a new law going into effect delegating to localities to determine the fate of their monuments. we've seen the discussion play out in rich mond and throughout virginia for the monuments that exist on that federal land. but now it will be delegated to localities so they can make a decision and start the dialogue with the communities taking actions and community votes and town halls as to what they should do recontext yulize, remove, or put the monuments in storage. as we take a broader lens throughout the country, as you mentioned earlier, everyone from mississippi to rhode island. we're seeing states start to grapple with their histories and the connotations of both the confederacy and slavery that exists throughout the country in the renewed calls. as we look ahead you'll note that president trump issued an executive order that said that

any protesters or activists that take matters into their own hands or try to tamper with federal lands that these monuments are on can face up to 10 years in prison. he has said, however, there should be a legal process and peaceful advocates can that come forward to talk about the monuments. he wants to see it down without destruction. >> we'll see if that happens. amanda, thank you so much. we appreciate it. police in chicago are looking for a suspect who opened fire on a car killing a 1-year-old boy and wounding his mother yesterday afternoon. they were driving home from the lawn laundry mat. there's a mind set and culture that leads to the settling of con flin conflicts through violence. >> when is this going to stop? when are we going to say enough is enough? i don't -- i don't even have the words to see that family at st. bernard, the tremendous emotions and the tremendous strife they were going through.

joining me now is alana beverly. alana, a welcome to you. what the police chief said the culture that leads to the settling of conflicts through violence. look, you're there in chicago. you work at the university of chicago. you're an expert in understanding the nature of politics, policies, civil rights, community mobilization. what do you think about what he said? >> look, i think that it's time for the violence in the city of chicago to stop but there are also programs in place in the city of chicago, good work being done in the city of chicago, to interrupt violence, to invest in community, to change that culture and to actually to lift up those in the community who are doing good work. who are working very hard and to turn this ship around when it comes to violence in the city. also think about the fact that we need, also, reform of our

police system in the city of chicago and across the country. we need not just a policing system that comes in to settle conflict but a system -- of the community. i think that's what you're seeing play out with protesters across the country. the uprisings across the country. the demonstrations we're seeing. we're seeing a call for change and a shift for healing of our communities instead of turning to violence. >> so let's talk about the politics around issues like this and the president joe biden is under to choose an african-american running mate. nbc writes in spite of the pressure, polls suggest the most popular prospect among democrats is white. what would you suggest are the most important factors in making this decision? >> yes, i think you're seeing some of the polls that suggest elizabeth warren is leading among democratic voters, generally, and african-american

voters. but i think that is an example of the fact that african-american voters and all democratic voters want someone ready to lead on day one. that is able to address some of the chieconomic challenges we'r facing. someone able to speak to the crisis in which we find ourselves. but i think that african-american voters, and particularly african-american women want someone who appreciates their experience and can translate that to policy. so the recent civics poll found that stacy abrams, for example, is leading among african-american democratic voters and they would like to see joe biden pick for the vice presidential running mate. you'll know it's early. he's not going to make a decision until august 1, but i want to say this. african-american women are the backbone of this party.

we do want someone who represents us. we want someone who represents our experience and we want to win. so whoever the contender is, whoever the vice presidential pick is, it needs to get us to 270 electoral votes. will energize black voters to get out to vote. and someone like stacy abrams who came close in georgia despite the shenanigans of the gubernatorial race. she came close to winning. she brings georgia to the table so the point is to expand the map. to get those electoral votes and make sure we have someone who represents the interest of the backbone of the democratic party. >> here is an interesting

article i want you to comment on. it retelling politico they are frustrated about repeatedly being the seeders of the democratic party to be taken for granted after the election. they're also not sure that young black voters will turn out for biden. how do you think he can address that? >> you know, i think it's the same. it's making sure that he picks someone speaks to the values of the african-american community on issues related to full investments in our community. issues related to security and safety and addressing the police violence we're seeing over and over again in our community. it means investing in housing. it means investing in education. it means speaking outside of the box and not going to the same tired policies but thinking about how he's going to help us be relieved by the pain of the coronavirus and also recover health wise and economically.

it's going to require him having a vice presidential pick and him having a policy agenda that is aggressive, that is progressive, and speaks to the pains and the challenges that our community is facing. >> okay. alana beverly, thank you so much. and tonight here on msnbc "the road to reform" in a special report joy reid talks with members of the congressional black caucus. it's like an aoc all over again. up next how an upstart candidate ousted a long time fixture on capitol hill. candidate ousted a long time fixture on capitol hill when you shop with wayfair, you spend less and get way more. so you can bring your vision to life and save in more ways than one.

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mail in ballots are still being counted. here is what he told joy reid about what he wants to see in congress. >> we need more working class people in congress. 50% of congress are millionaires. big money in politics is a huge problem now. that's why congress has been comprised by the wealthy elite and large corporations. >> and with me now abigail tracy. good to see you, as always. so the topic of the votes of your piece this week headlined that is an aoc level upset. are we seeing a way? will we see more of this? more progressive -- how much influence do you think it could have? >> absolutely. when i speak with progressives, they see the moment as a sea

change for them. before a lot of people would write off the victories of an aoc against incumbent democrats but what we're seeing is more and more progressives winning the races and there's a number of factors when you speak with folks who are pointing with great messagers, a deeper bench, a stronger infrastructure but the underlying thing now is a sentiment not just about donald trump. it's about the status quo. people are sick of it. they want representatives who represent them. and you can see it in a jamaal bowman versus e engel and i think this is the beginning of a big change in terms behalf will happen in congress. absolutely. having more, you know, vocal individuals. having more individuals who vote along the lines of the so-called -- in congress it will make a difference. changing the make up of congress andous ousting a powerful chairman like engel will have an

immediate impact. >> yeah. you write about the split between democratic leaders in congress, democratic poll ties and the like and the democratic voting base right now. where does that go? >> yeah. well, what we saw in the races, i think, especially with engel race while it is very typical for democratic leadership to back the incumbents but for the standard you see, you know, it really is representing the divide. engel one of the longest running members of congress. he's been on the house foreign affairs committee for a long time. it's not as if, you know, bowman ran against him not on foreign policy. foreign policy was a huge part of the campaign and he lost. here is an individual who has been shaping u.s. foreign policy from his perch as chairman of the house foreign affairs committee for a long time. so that is really representing that divide because engel is, you know, part of the democratic establishment and he is, you know, a really powerful member of congress. >> he is, indeed. ab g abigail tracy, thank you. and thank you to watching. i'm alex witt.

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waiting to explode but i'm thinking that some of that has been lit. and that is concerning. two competing police reform bills one from the house and the other from the senate. battle lines are forming white critics say neither bill goes far enough. >> we're say nothing choke hold. the president is saying maybe sometimes. should we agree on the number of choke holds? would that be a good comprise? and 23% of all votes were cast by mail in 2018. how bill barr and trump are working to make sure that number doesn't rise. velshi starts now. ♪ good morning. it is sunday, june 28th. i'm ali velshi.