>> take it seriously. i mean you're take it back to your parents, grandparents that could potentially get it. >> the white house strategy for the virus that has some doctors flummoxed. plus, a tale of two candidates, new leadership messages on this fourth of july. >> angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our founders. >> we have a chance to live up to the words that have founded this nation. >> let's go to the breaking news out of florida. with startling new coronavirus numbers setting yet another record for a single day high as the state, residents are celebrating a different fourth of july. joining me from sanford, florida, chris pallone. good morning to you. now it's noon officially but talk about the new numbers. what are you seeing in sanford? >> yeah, hi there, alex. florida reported its new numbers just within the last hour and shattered the previous record for positive tests in a day.

let's take a look at the numbers. the new total of positive reported tests since yesterday, 11,458. the previous high was set earlier this week on thursday. that's about 1300 more cases than the previous high. testing was also up. about 65,000 tests yesterday. but researchers look at that positivity rate and, again, yesterday they saw about 14% of all tests coming back as positive. that's a number that troubles scientists when they want to see that number at 5% or lower generally. they reported 18 more deaths yesterday. far down from the day before so that's a good trend, day over day, however, over the past couple weeks deaths and hospitalizations have also been trending up. so some concerning news in the state of florida, florida now at 190,000 total cases or a little more than that making it the third highest state in the nation for number of positive tests behind california and new

york. there have been many democratic lawmakers here in florida calling for the government, governor to put in a mandatory mask order. so far florida doesn't have that and the governor says he's not going to do that but as you travel around central florida and the orlando area, many municipalities and counties have put in their own mask orders and so when you're out and about running errands you do see a lot of people now over the past week or so, a lot more wearing masks. south florida, they've closed many of the beaches to try to avoid large gatherings over the fourth of july weekend but just about 60 miles to the east of here, new smyrna, daytona beach, august of those beaches are open. a lot of public health officials here are not so much worried about people being outside on the beach. they can space themselves out. they're worried about people being indoors, shopping, going to gatherings, having parties, things of that nature. as for restaurants and bars, the governor did reclose bars in the

last week or so. they were open for about three weeks. restaurants still indoor dine something allowed at about 50% capacity, so as this holiday weekend goes along, scientists are going to be keeping an eye here as these cases keep going up. obviously they're worried about the numbers and the new number going up, the number of cases, but the governor would argue that it's mostly younger people who are testing positive. the problem is, if those younger people mingle with people who have underlying conditions, we could start to see deaths really take off in the next few weeks so that's certainly what they'll be watching for here in florida, alex. >> absolutely. this being a family holiday weekend for so many so it's like one step forward, one step back. there in florida, chris pallone, thank you so much. the pandemic, meanwhile, is showing zero signs of slowing down, the number of new cases topping 50,000. this for the third day in a row on friday and at least five states, alabama, alaska, kansas, north carolina and south carolina all reporting a record

number of infections in a single day. let's give you a live look at myrtle beach where the beaches are expected to be pretty packed today and those expectations holding true. the mayor of myrtle beach saying they expect over 100,000 tourists this holiday weekend. all this comes as cases are on the rise in south carolina, myrtle beach, by the way, has become a coronavirus hot spot. a new warning today about the spread of coronavirus from former cdc director tom frieden tweeting, bottom line, it's worse, will continue to get worse and will take months to improve substantially. we're going in the wrong direction fast. another member of team trump has coronavirus. kimberly guilfoyle tested positive while in south dakota yesterday. donald trump jr. who is dating guilfoyle tested negative. neither of the two traveled with the president on air force one to yesterday's fourth of july event at mt. rushmore. in north carolina thousands

are hitting the beaches and officials reported another daily record in coronavirus cases and "the halftime report" as of yesterday, let's go to nbc's amanda golden in corolla, north carolina. what are you seeing and hearing there, a lot of people on the beach. >> reporter: absolutely. as you can see the beaches here are packed in corolla. this is a community in the outer banks in north carolina, that does draw more family, tending to be a bit more about cottages and beach rentals but main attraction is the beach. it's just absolutely flooded here and the officials that i've spoken with in the outer banks are predicting this to be the best summer yet for them. they've been saying that they're expecting over 300,000 people both this week and next week on either side of the fourth of july holiday that falls on a saturday this year to come out and enjoy all that they have to offer here in corolla and k currituck county. they're excited about people coming out but there is shrink

of increased spikes. we've seen that with other communities especially beach communities throughout the country and while this area does typically draw families that group together, they still want to make sure it's safe and a very positive experience to move forward and not see these kind of spikes happening throughout the country so in speaking with some of the local business leaders here, they're thrilled about the turnout they're seeing that people can come on out but worried about what it could mean moving forward. take a listen. >> there's obviously a little worry, you know, and we're starting to see a spike in cases, we haven't necessarily seen it here which i think is a good sign but i mean there's people everywhere right now and, again, this is the busiest in all my years here, it was an internal struggle going how do we survive especially as a seasonal business, a seasonal community without a season? and i think that was a really scary, scary thing. it's good to see people back here. super exciting to have folks

back here. that's what we wanted all along. >> reporter: so, alex, as we've seen from the maced beaches, i've talked to people who came from new york, new jersey, pennsylvania, maryland, virginia, d.c., all coming out here and keep in mind, no international travel happening so for folks cooped up this seemed like the best option and we're seeing that influx around the fourth of july holiday. when officials tell me when i ask if we do start to see spikes what is the plan in place and they just told me they would re-evaluate and move one step at a time. >> how many are wearing masks you can see there on the beach like you are? >> reporter: alex, i haven't seen anyone wearing masks on the beach. keep in mind north carolina's governor does have a mask mandate for the state but it's for when you're in public spaces when you can't socially distance. folks are trying to socially distance and be in the sun but this is a crowded beam and i haven't seen any masks here. >> i was going to say at least we see the wind blowing as we check out the photos. maybe that helps.

meantime, the president is getting ready to host a fourth of july party both at the white house and on the national mall tonight. despite objections from the d.c. bhai and public health officials, nbc's monica alba at the white house for us. monica, with a good day to you and happy fourth. what are the plans for tonight? >> reporter: happy fourth, alex. a lot of fanfare and fireworks expected here in the district tonight. this is all a part of the "salute to america" program that the president and first lady will be hosting from the south lawn of the white house. but that also comes as on the national mall the department of interior is preparing for as many as 300,000 people to gather to watch both a flyover and those fireworks later in the evening. it will be similar to what we saw last year with the president there at the lincoln memorial but the major difference is that we're in the middle of that continued health crisis and pandemic so the d.c. mayor is offering face coverings to anybody who gathers while warning if you can stay at home

we would prefer that. now, here at the white house, thousands are also expected on the south lawn. they will attempt to be socially distanced. they will be providing sanitizer and face masks but, again, those are not necessarily required. it's up to each individual whether they wear them or not and it comes as just last night we saw all of those people at mt. rushmore who were not socially distanced. very few of whom were wearing masks. as we learned before the president took to the podium that another member of his inner circle tested positive for the virus. kimberly guilfoyle, who is dating donald trump jr. and is a senior trump campaign official tested positive in south dakota. she and trump jr. were both supposed to be at that vent, never went to the site because of the test results and now we're told they'll be driving back to the east coast so they don't have to interact with anybody, alex but it's the latest example this continues to plague not just thousands, millions of americans but even the president's own family here, alex. >> wow, that's going to be an interesting car trip back to

d.c. look, there's been several months of mixed messages on the coronavirus pandemic. the white house, though, as you know settled on a new one. here it is. learn to live with it. what's behind this? >> reporter: yeah, remember at the start of this, ail leshgs, you had the president saying we hope to be back open and church pews filled by easter then he said he hoped it would be largely behind us by memorial day. you had jared kushner predicting the country would be in his words rocking by july. look at where we are. none of those things apply here and so instead the white house is realizing they need a new message which is that the virus will continue to be with us much through november and the general election so the new guidance to americans is going to be here's how you can learn to live with it. they have said for months now they won't shut the country down again. they don't want to limit the economy again so they need to propose new things to give people hope that may come in the form of therapeutics or new studies that are encouraging but as this virus continues to rage on those numbers are astounding

out of florida. it's quite remarkable that the white house is going to be giving a message of, hey, you just have to learn to accept it. that's what we expect to see from them in the next week and the task force has started to do more briefings and meeting continually throughout but more behind closed doors. we can expect them to continue do that notably away from the hou white house in the last week. >> i'll ask a doctor about all you said. thanks so much. joining me is msnbc medical contributor dr. kavita patel. the message from the white house, we need to learn to live with it, right? a message that conflicts with the president's previous statements that said this virus would just go away. what's your reaction to all this? >> well, alex, happy fourth to you as well and honestly it's just sickening because this is not about living with it because

we couldn't do anything more. we've done everything possible to limit the spread of the virus. this is a message of blatant ignorance of the facts in front of them and i honestly feel for many of the americans who are either infected, do not realize they are contracting the coronavirus or have loved ones who have died and people in the hospital, so my message to anybody listening is that there's so much we can do before we have to accept what our country's leader has been telling us to do and we can prevent many of those cases and many of these deaths. >> look, i try to get inside the administration every once in a while and figure out what they're trying to do. i now that's a good luck with that, alex, but is learn to live with it a dangerous message or might it reflect the reality of covid-19 and now admitting, hey, this is a long-term threat? >> i think that it's -- from the white house it's been a dangerous message because it is

in the absence of all the things that we can do to prevent the virus to, your point, having masks, social distancing, physical spaces, offering businesses solutions to stay open but not have to lay off all their workers including realizing that economic security comes from people feeling like their health is actually secure. your insight is correct that there is an aspect of this virus that has been with us and we have had to struggle with what to do every day and in that respect, we are all living with it but i think the problem i have with the message from on high is that it's truly all by itself, it's just going to be here, period, when what the message is from all of us is really that the virus is here, but here are all the ways that you, your family and your loved ones can try to protect yourselves and, look, don't just do as we say, we will model this

behavior for you. that is really the full message the country needs to hear. >> that modeling not happening certainly from the top. we looked at "the new york times" report that said five states set single day case records yesterday. that being alabama, alaska, kansas, north carolina and south carolina. death rates, though, they are trending down. so, dr. patel, is this a bad news/good news assessment? does this downward trend mean that doctors, health care experts, they figured out how to better treat this virus? >> that's absolutely a part of it and also the fact is that a great proportion of these new cases are generally in younger people who don't necessarily result in a trip to the hospital or in deaths but you're right, i'll give you a contrast statistic, three months ago if you were admitted to the icu with covid you only had about a one in five chance of coming out

alive. we've almost completely reversed that and if you go into an icu, you have a very high chance of being discharged from the hospital. so medical professionals have made incredible progress, that is something for americans to realize, that if we can do our part now, we are helping to get more time where we can see that progress develop as quickly as possible. >> okay. dr. kavita patel, very sage words as always. meantime, in washington, d.c., several organized protests for racial justice are descending on the nation's capital. activists who staged an overnight sit-in also plan to stay there all day offering quite a split screen from president trump's planned july 4th celebration. nbc's julia gesture is at the black lives matter plaza where more protesters are expected to join so i see there's some action there. tell us what's happening. >> reporter: yeah, alex, so as

you mentioned, demonstrators sat in overnight protesting for black lives matter. this is the d.c. budget focus honing in on d.c. to defund the police. the police are here with a very strong presence and asked the demonstrators to clear away tents from overnight. they are still here and plan to stay here all day. meanwhile, there are several demonstrations going on throughout this city from a supreme court eight-hour sit-in representing the eight times that breonna taylor was shot by police to various marches that are coming through and congregating here at the plaza throughout the day. now, as far as security goes, as i mentioned, security will be here to monitor the situation and d.c. national guard confirmed to nbc news it is providing resources as it has in previous years on the fourth of july, however, this year they

did increase the force because they are expecting upwards of thousands of protesters to come through here for black lives matter protests. >> okay, julia, i'm going to admit to having a little built of trouble hearing you and that may have translated to our viewers as well. but that having been said i appreciate. we can see where you are and get the gist of it. hope to see you in the next hour maybe with the microphone closer or directionally placed better. you'll figure it out. thank you so much. it was supposed to be a holiday celebration but nuclear reactor new york stock exchange calls president trump's mt. rushmore speech divisive and ominous. the implications of his address next. businesses are starting to bounce back.

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president trump warning about coronavirus and wildfires and had a celebration last night at mt. rushmore speaking to a packed crowd at the national monument delivering a divisive stance in the ongoing culture wars. my colleague cal perry is joining us from keystone, south

dakota, on this holiday. you're close to mt. rushmore where the people were protesting the president's event. describe what happened around yesterday's event, cal. >> reporter: so this is one of the two roads that leads to where the president was speaking and we saw some of the native tribes specifically lakota nation protesting. it was fairly peaceful making the point this is their land, part of a treaty in 1868 that ceded the black hills to them totally violated by the u.s. government in ten years. they were going through the ceremonial process of getting arre arrested. the president not surprisingly i think just waded directly into the debate and mentioned president andrew jackson calling him a great man. president jackson was responsible for the ethnic cleansing of tens of thousands of native americans. the president also wading into the social movement, social

uprisings, this great moment of history we're witnessing. take a listen to what he said about the statues. >> our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children. angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our founders, deface our most sacred memorials and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities. >> reporter: now the speech is being described as dark and decisive by some. i think it was disconnected, alex. there was a whole section about how the trump administration would crack down on protesters, how many people had been arrested, how long their prison sentences would be and the announcement we could see a new outdoor park full of statues that the president would try to organize. >> cal, real quick as you were talking about the way the sheriff's police moved in on protesters it looked like they

were being forceful for sure but didn't seem to be any really disturbing elements, right? did it stay pretty peaceful as those things go when people are being arrested for merely protesting? >> i think unlike in the past few months where we saw protests against police brutality that ended often in police brutality the thing that made this different there was negotiations. so south dakota authorities were giving folks plenty of time to leave, gave them a 30-minute warning, 15-minute, 5 and then the protesters said we're going to sit here and be arrested. there was a communication between the authorities and protesters the entire time, alex. >> cal perry, thank you so much on this holiday. several developments maybe unfolding in the nfl on matters of racial equality and sensitivity. up next what the nfl needs to do to ensure a level playing field for african-americans. a newe

from former vice president joe biden offers a sharp contrast to president trump's speech last night at mt. rushmore. >> we have a chance now to give the marginalized, the demonized, isolated, oppressed a full share of the american dream. we have a chance to rip the roots of systemic racism out of this country. we have a chance to live up to the words that have founded this nation. this independence day let's not just celebrate the words, let's celebrate that promise, commit to work, the work we must do to fulfill that promise. >> and joining me now betsy woodruff-swan from politico. good to see you on a holiday. i'm curious what you make of this contrast between the message from joe biden compared to what we heard from the president last night? >> it really couldn't be bigger and i think one of the key takeaways from the president's speech, of course, there are many is that it was foreshadowing what the coming months of his campaign are going

to look like. president trump's re-election campaign is not going to focus on reaching across the aisle or trying to persuade people who may be on the fence or may be undecided to vote for him. rather, it's going to be focused on energizing and angering his base, making them feel that they have to choose between ee electing him and descending into a dystopia of fascism and galvanize people through a dark and fearful spectacle he will be creating. biden, meanwhile s. giving a very different vision of what his presidency might look like and why people should vote for him both acknowledging what the protesters are doing, acknowledging the underlying immense problems that these protests have addressed, while also trying to present an optimistic view about how things in this country can be better going forward. >> betsy, is anybody in the trump campaign looking at the polling numbers?

i mean, you're talking about this approach. it does not seem to be working with him and that would include in swing states. i mean, it doesn't seem to be working. >> they are looking at the poll numbers and this past week is when the mood on the campaign shifted from one of pessimism to essentially panic. their internal polling numbers showing how the president is doing in battleground states are pretty much in the same ballpark as the public polls you're seeing where they see his numbers sagging and see him losing but ultimately trump is the one himself who is in charge of this and he has decided he's going to follow his instincts. he's not going to do anything that could be seen as supportive or conciliatory or reaching out to these protesters, instead, he's going to do what he and his gut feels makes sense even though based on looking at the poll, based on looking at the evidence it's going very poorly for him at least up until this point in the campaign cycle.

>> former president barack obama who has responded to the video we saw of joe biden tweeting, let's all do whatever we can to help joe biden expand that promise to all americans. how much do you think the obama factor is helping biden in his campaign right now? >> look, it certainly has the potential to play a major role in biden being competitive and obviously a big part of the reason that he won the primary in the first place was because of the work he did supporting obama when he was president. part of the reason that he was able to emerge victorious through that very competitive and crowded primary field was that he won support from so many african-american vote in part because of the role he played supporting obama and building a historic legacy. it's something that has the potential, of course, to be an incredibly valuable asset, anything that the former president and former first lady do is going to be immensely valuable to the biden campaign and one of the key things to keep an eye on over the coming

months is just how active obama and the former president obama and his wife michelle obama are as we move forward in the campaign. >> keeping a close eye on that. joe biden penned an op-ed on nbcnews.com in which he writes, that pursuit of a more perfect union has been thrown off course in recent years and no one bears more responsibility than president donald trump. every day he finds new ways to tarnish and dismantle our democracy from baseless attacks on our voting rights to the use of military force against americans protesting peacefully for racial justice. he has systemically gone after the guardrails of our democracy, the free press and our fundamental belief that no one in america, not even the president, is above the law. pretty powerful words there. how much do you think that messaging will resonate with voters? >> it's going to be a key part of biden's campaign message. one thing that many democrats who support bide rnc concerned

about right now is that the level of enthusiasm among democratic voters to vote for biden could be higher. but what they do have and perhaps the biggest asset that many democrats feel currently exists for them is the fact that he's running against donald trump and while biden himself could have some challenges or at least has room to grow when it comes to energizing and exciting his voters, there's no question that for democratic voters, they can't wait to vote against donald trump and when biden makes the case against his presidency and sort of lays out the argument in the way that he did in this op-ed for nbc, that is sort of setting the stage for how he and his surrogates are going to try to focus this campaign on trump's time in office so far, on trump's legacy and on the case that they're going to be making that four more years of trump would put this nation in peril. >> let me pivot from politics for a sec and ask you about the reports that russia offered cash boungties to the taliban to kill u.s. troops in afghanistan.

the white house denies that the president was verbally briefed on this intelligence saying that he did have -- well, he's saying he hadn't been verified, that intelligence hadn't been verified. that's why they didn't brief him that way. let's listen to what the president said. >> this didn't rise to the occasion and from what i hear and i hear it pretty good the intelligence people didn't even -- many of them didn't believe it happened at all. i think it's a hoax. i think it's a hoax by the newspapers and the democrats. >> a hoax? what do you make of this response? >> reporter: well, there's absolutely no reason to believe that this is a hoax. you know, at politico we confirmed from a western defense official that the united states has intelligence showing the russian military intelligence agency offered to pay taliban fighters if they were able to kill members of the forces fighting in afghanistan against

the taliban coalition fighters. the idea that this is some sort of made up witch-hunt is without any evidence that's available to the public. when we talk about the president's verbal briefing, one thing that's important to nolte is that the actual intelligence briefers who go in and discuss intel with him every day, over the course of the first year or two of his presidency came to see any time they brought up issues related to russia according to a former white house official who described this die namm irk to me they could -- he would respond in such an incendiary way it would take the briefing off the railings so many of these briefers opted to just not talk about russia verbally if they didn't have to. >> wow. betsy woodruff swan, thank you so much. let's go to the nfl where washington's professional football team is considering changing its controversial name after renewed criticism and pressure from big companies like fedex and nike. joining me now is former running back for the atlanta falcons jamaal anderson. big welcome to you on this

holiday. thanks for spending part of your time with us. i want to get your reaction. are you surprised because i mean there has been a lot of opposition to this name for so long. >> yes. i haven't called that team from washington their name for some years. i think it's a pastime coming. it should have been done years ago. the fact there's a fight and resistance to change obviously racist name that disparages native americans, it should have happened years ago and i frankly stopped calling them by their team name some years ago and just referring to them as the team from washington. so the fact that this is happening now and obviously with the controversial history of said organization and their original owner and his insistence upon keeping african-american players out of the nfl, he was the last guy to sign then you have this name and the history that comes with him, this is something that should have been done years ago and

it's past time for this team in washington to change their name. >> are you hearing anything, checking in with former teammates, other players and getting a sense of how they feel? >> yeah, you know, there are fans who understand the fight and there are fans who love the team in washington. this is one of the storied franchises in the nfl despite its original history, origin history, i should say and won championships and have had outstanding players and doug williams, the first african-american quarterback to win a super bowl and be an mvp was on the team in washington. so they have people and doug williams is still a big part of the organization. i think there are people there who want to do the right thing and then, you know, you get to this subject of the tradition, well, it's just very difficult to look at the logo, to listen to the name that they're called and to believe that any other group in america would tolerate this as a nickname for their team so come on. let's be serious. it's time for a change. >> well, in fact, we have the

mlb in cleveland, that team is also considering a name change. i know you know that after previously moving away from their mascot, removing a controversial logo from their uniforms last season. so what's your overall reaction to this discussion in major league baseball and do you think the two teams are setting the tone for sports moving forward? >> they are. they really are, and, in fact, the team in atlanta, there was a controversy and i've done -- i've been guilty myself of doing the tomahawk chop and getting caught up in that. i think any representation that disparages especially the native people of this country needs to be changed and needs to be addressed immediately. it should have been done some years ago and that's something that we should get away from, period. >> so moving forward, let's go back to the nfl as you know. the league aannounced it will play what's known as the black national anthem, lift every voice and sing, it will happen

before every game during the first week of the season, jamal. what do you make of that? >> well, you know, it's a nice gesture, but, you know what would be an outstanding gesture, signing the man who started this entire movement. i mean, colin kaepernick literally was sacrificed, was attacked by 45 -- i hesitate to call him the office he holds because of how he acts, he was attacked by the highest office in this land, has literally sacrificed his career, this movement, this reckoning, this awakening, people taking knees all over the world, not america, all over the world started with colin kaepernick. so for me it's like, okay, that sounds great. fine. why isn't colin kaepernick signed? why isn't he sincerely getting an opportunity because this is a man who's continued to work out and showed up even in that workout that was thrown together for him at the last second, he showed up. he showed up to try to make the

best of it. this is a man who sincerely wants to get back in the league. for me, you know, i can't take this seriously. i think, okay, it's fine, but, man, if they don't get colin kaepernick an actual sincere opportunity to return to the field and return to playing, even doing all of this other stuff, he has never stopped saying he wants to play. okay, one other thing i would like to see is some sort of serious implementation that would -- you see this path of the leadership in the nfl. i mean, the -- based on the number of players and percentage of african-american players in the league there are certainly talented and qualified guys that could be head coach, coordinators. this channel and this pipeline is very, very slow. the secondary opportunities for african-american coaches who get fired, they don't get picked up and get another opportunity as fast as some of the other guys. they have to climb back up the ranks and look at upper management and leadership in the nfl. there certainly needs to be

something done to see to it that these talented successful worthy coaches have more opportunities to ascend to the ranks if they see their colleagues do each and every year. >> all right, jamaal anderson, thank you so much. enjoy your holiday. up next why the plea for americans to wear a mask will be put to the test tonight in washington but will people heed that call?

our nation's capital is gearing up for president trump's "salute to america" event. a massive fourth of july celebration featuring some fireworks and a flyover. as many as 300,000 face masks will be give an way to those who want them. however, there are health concerns from d.c.'s mayor about it. no one apparently will be required to wear them. joining me now is danielle moody and co-host of "democracy-ish" podcast and assistant to president obama and senior

fellow at miller center. welcome. danielle, you first here. two weeks ago as you know the president addressed people inside the tulsa arena. they did not have to wear masks. yesterday we saw most people packed together without any masks at mt. rushmore. tonight there's another opportunity for a lot of people to be in one place and not have to wear masks. what message is this sending during a public health global crisis? >> i think the message that it sends, alex s. that the press doesn't care about the public's health. he doesn't care about the cdc. he doesn't care about dr. fauci and the warnings from health care professionals from scientists from statisticians. i mean here's what we know. after his tulsa rally that he had, several people have already turned up positive with the coronavirus. namely herman cain, right, who is now in the hospital because he has tested positive for the coronavirus. this is not a joke or a hoax or whatever it is that the president has decided with

whatever whim that he has. he is putting people in danger every single day when he decides not to wear a mask, when he decides not to use social distancing and continues to hold the rallies nothing more than petri dishes. >> you mentioned herman cain. it's not as if a lot at the rally saying, guess what, i've gotten sick. we know a couple of secret service agents got sick after attending that rally. chris, the president hosts these large gatherings. he doesn't typically wear a mask but this week he spoke in favor of them. take a listen. >> i'm all for masks. i think masks are good. actually i had a mask on. i sort of liked the way i looked, okay. i thought it was okay. it was a dark black mask and i thought it looked okay. looked like the lone ranger but, no, i have no problem with it. i think and if people feel good about it, they should do it. >> do you think that he doesn't wear masks because he's so oreo

whiched about the way he looks. honestly, do you think it's too little too late coming from the president right now given the way he has demonstrated not wearing a mask repeatedly during the last four or five months? >> that's absolutely right, alex. let's remember, when the history of this pandemic is written, it's not just going to be president trump's early inaction that has accelerated the spread of the virus, it's every day he refuses to wear a mask, every day he holds these large rallies that he refuses to exercise any kind of social distancing that means that there are more infections and ultimately more deaths. in the cruel irony of all this he's doing it to his own hard-core supporters. i go back to the cdc which early on identified super spreader event, kind of large gatherings of people close together without any masks or social distancing and it could be a conference, it could be choir practice. and what the president has done over the last two weeks is not just do events with dozens of

people. these are with thousands of people and we've watched the video. we've seen the photo. no social distancing. no masks whatsoever and this is so grossly irresponsible that even one of his staunchest allies, governor abbott in texas has finally mandated masks. again, too little too late but still a positive step. but look what's happening in arizona and georgia and florida. where you're having increasing infections, increasing hospitalizations. those governors won't mandate masks and in part they're not mandating masks because you have a president who is not backing them up on this. every day that he delays on this and he could pay as much lip service to this but ultimately his actions are more important than his words. >> yeah, listen, i mean to your point, there seems to be almost a culture war erupted over wearing masks. you talk about florida. there is a county there in determining this week the masks that are now mandatory for employees inside certain businesses, the county commissioners were stopping short of mandating all of the public wear them but take a

listen to some of the initial outrage they heard from the public last week about even the prospect of it. >> i have the ability to do what i want when i want how i want. this is our country. not your country. >> we have been lied to. our freedoms are being taken and i will not be muzzled like a mad dog. >> those that are pushing other people to wear a mask i'll perceive you wearing a mask as a baby with a blanket or your pacifier or your teddy bear. if that's what makes you comfortable then by all means do it. don't push your ideology over to me as an employer or employees or onto the citizens, let the people use their own intelligence. >> what's your reaction to that, danielle? why do you think such a culture war has erupted over masks? why is it so partisan when this is a public health issue. it affects everybody, doesn't care if you're a democrat or republican. an independent, anybody can be affected. >> you know what is so funny

like the blatant hypocrisy as i listen. these are the same people that vote to take abortion rights away from women. these are the same people that vote against their own best interests all the time and so it's unbelievable to me. >> aren't they saying stuff like my body, my choice, where did they get that? >> i wonder where they got that from. it's incredible to me. you know, you had desantis just in the past couple of weeks again pass a law dictating what young women can do with their bodies because, you know, he says that he's the governor and he can do that but then when asked about masks and mandated in a state where 9,000 new cases are happening a day, he says that young people should be able to do what young people want to do. what? it's as if they just continue to speak out of both sides of their mouth and it's embarrassing. honestly they should be embarrassed. if it wasn't so dangerous to everyone around them it would be

funny. >> final word to you, chris. why is this a political issue, divisive issue when it's about public health? >> look, the consensus of public health officials say you should wear masks. every other country has been able to mandate this without issues. look, we in this country you're required to buy car insurance and required to wear a seat belt. you can't drink and drive. there are all kinds of ways that we infringe on your rights in order to protect other people. it's the exact same thing with masks and ultimately it comes down to the president's own divisive rhetoric. if he would get out there he'd wear a mask and if he would stop doing these large rallies his supporters would follow along in this controversy would disappear. >> remember the effects of secondhand smoke and tried to curb that and we've become accustomed to that. i don't want someone blowing smoke in my face but i do like having the two of you on. thanks. up next what action some states are taking to reform police. the latest breaks news from me and your favorite hosts by

listening to msnbc live on tune in. just go to tunein.com/msnbc2020 to listen commercial-free with tune in premium.

a stunning turn of events in the elijah mcclain investigation in colorado. three police officers were fired. one resigned over photographs mocking the chokehold that aurora police used on 23-year-old mcclain. they were released yesterday taken at the site where police stopped mcclain in august last year where they used the chokehold resulting in his death. here's the lawyer for the mcclain family. >> two of those officers stood idly by as their colleagues tackled elijah mcclain as they tortured him, inflicting multiple different kinds of force over the course of 15 minutes and i'm not just talking about the carotid chokeholds although there were two of those but multiple kinds of force that

killed a small young man who was entirely peaceful who had done nothing wrong. >> large crowds poured onto the streets of the denver suburb after the firings were made public. no officers charged in mcclain's death and the family plans to file a civil rights lawsuit. police reform on the agenda in new york as another black lives matter mural gets painted on city streets. gary, welcome. thanks for joining me on a happy fourth of july. the winds of change certainly blowing there. what's the latest in the efforts for police reform? >> reporter: hey there, yeah, so artist, community activists are spending their weekend painting this mural being organized by park to park. mayor bill de blasio has set up these paintings to happen across all five boroughs and going to be one outside trump tower on fifth avenue. when president trump heard of this he wasn't pleased.

he called black lives matter a, quote, symbol of hate in a tweet this week. i talked to a number of artists here, they simply disagreed with the president. >> no disrespect to the president because he is the president of the united states but right now i don't think -- he's not in touch with reality no more, you know. as american citizens i've never seen the world divided as much as it is right now and i've never experienced racism as much as it is right now. so the fact that, you know, he's using -- he's saying that black lives matter is a symbol of hate is just not in touch with reality. that's all. >> reporter: and so while paintings like this are great, there is not a whole lot of substantive change that is coming out of these specific murals but there's cross the country. we'll show you a graphic of what's happening across the country. here in new york, there have been three days where ten police reform bills were passed. one of them had to do with demographics of low-level

misdemeanor crimes being reported to the government so they can keep track of them. in new jersey what they're doing is they're promoting the use of force policies and updating what they're doing in the guidelines that hasn't been updated in more than 20 years and in pennsylvania they're tracking separation records of police officers, so that means when a police officer, if a so-called bad cop leaves one department they can't just go two counties over and get another job in that department so a lot of change happening but folks tell me a lot more to be done. >> winds of change and wonderful street messaging there. thank you so much from harlem, gary. if you're traveling on the roads this weekend you may be increasing your chance of getting coronavirus. we're going to fill you in on the new research. okay... okay! safe drivers save 40%!!! guys! guys! check it out. safe drivers save 40%!!! safe drivers save 40%! safe drivers save 40%!!! that's safe drivers save 40%. it is, that's safe drivers save 40%. - he's right there. - it's him! he's here.

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good day, everyone, from msnbc world headquarters in new york, happy fourth of july to all of you. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." there is a lot going on we'll get you up to date. breaking news, florida, shattering the dalery record for new coronavirus cases. joining me from sanford, florida, chris pallone. talk about the new numbers and what is behind them. >> reporter: hi there, alex. for the second time in the last three days the state of florida has added a record number of positive covid-19 tests. take a look at the numbers. the new number reported yesterday is now 11,458 positive tests bringing the total number of people who have contracted covid-19 in florida to just over

190,000. now, to put that in context, there were 65,000 tested conducted yesterday. that means that the positivity rate, the number of tests that came back positive is up around 14%. you might remember the cdc recommended that states try to maintain 5% or less positivity rate in order to start re-opening things. here in florida, however, just about everything is open right now, however, this week the governor, ron desantis had to roll back some of the restaurant provisions limiting restaurants to 50% capacity and closing bars once again and so, but he insists that no further business closings will take place. yesterday ten democratic lawmakers here in florida sent desantis a letter asking him to implement a mandatory mask requirement but desantis said he would not do that so what we're seeing as i adjust my mask here

is we're seeing individual cities, counties, even businesses are putting in their own mask mandate so as i was out and about in the sanford area taking a look at retail and restaurants, you do see a lot more people wearing masks than a week or two ago as the numbers continue to increase. the previous record for positives in a day was just two days ago, it was just over 10,000 so the state has added about 1500 more positive cases from that previous record high, alex. >> yeah, at least it sounds good that people are taking it upon themselves or seeing the news stories and realize the danger, they are at least so they are thereby wearing the masks. chris pallone, thank you so much for that. let's go to some other developments about the pandemic. the number of confirmed cases across the country now topping 2.8 million. at least five state, alabama, alaska, kansas, north and south

carolina all reporting a record number of new infections yesterday and this has top health experts sounding the alarm. former cdc director tom frieden tweeting, bottom line, it's worse, will continue to get worse and will take months to improve substantially, we're going in the wrong direction fast. local officials are scaling back fourth of july celebrations as cases surge across the south and the west. several beaches in california, southern florida, parts of texas all closed for the holiday weekend. "the new york times" reporting as many as 80% of the country's fireworks displays have been canceled due to concerns over crowds. and as training camp reviews for major league baseball 31 players and 7 staff members tested positive for coronavirus, this across 19 teams. mlb announcing these results after testing 3,000 players and staff as part of a mandatory screening. this comes as the league expects to start its shortened season at the end of the month. a number of reporters and

our medical contributor ready to put that perspective the updates. amanda golden is in corolla, north carolina, where people are packing the beach behind her. how about now? it looks like a few more people have positioned their umbrellas on the sand. what's it like. >> reporter: since the last hour when we spoke to you, it me it feels like the beach doubled in size. at least a second row of people putting out umbrellas and tents and chairs lining all the way down the coast and this comes as the figures here are expecting record turnout throughout the outer banks over the fourth of july holiday. both the week before and after expected to bring out 300,000 each week. here in corolla in currituck county, an area that has its appeal for beach rentals and houses and cottages largely for families to come out here but the beaches are the main

attraction and see people coming out sort of staying within themselves but as can you see it's quite crowded. not a whole lot of social distancing happening here. when i spoke to the county commissioners for this area they sort of govern the township that's here. we spoke a little about what they were planning for the fourth of july. how they're trying to keep it safe and what they're expecting for the holiday weekend and noted that they're at 98% to 100% capacity here in corolla. when i spoke to them about it, they want to have a safe and fun experience for families. take a listen. >> there's going to be probably one of the best years ever which, you know, is great for us, the businesses here obviously were suffering. they have a very short window to make money and lost a good portion that have this spring. >> we want to provide a safe place for people to come and vacation with the families. i know they want to get out. >> reporter: alex, so we're here on the beach and noted that families are coming out. they're trying to stay amongst themselves but have seen so many people turning out.

this comes as north carolina is experiencing its own single day high for covid cases, just yesterday over 2,000. while the outer banks has not had a huge spike concerns heading out of the holiday weekend we could see the same numbers as in other parts of the country. shelter in place is the alert for citizens in hidalgo county, texas, what they heard after an influx in coronavirus cases brought the local hospitals to maximum capacity. this comes as icus are filling up ahead of the holiday weekend. let's go to jay gray standing by in dallas on this holiday. how are things there? >> reporter: hey, alex, not good, in fact we're outside of parkland hospital, the primarily facility for the county of dallas and added this week a fourth coronavirus unit. they are seeing so many patients that they had to dedicate another part of this hospital to take care of those patients.

it's something that we're seeing statewide. houston has several hospitals that are at or near capacity and down in the rio grande valley where you were talking about, hidalgo and other areas with the gulf of mexico on one side, the country of mexico on the other they had said in the valley there is not a hospital room left. it is a dire situation. across the state we know that the state positivity rate right now is over obviously that's way above what the cdc would like to see here. more t 7300 corona patients were hospitalized across the state on friday. that's up from 6,900 on thursday. so you can see how fast this is materializing. in dallas they had more than a thousand new cases yesterday and that, remember, is on an average testing time of ten days so what we're seeing right now is really the results from two weeks ago. most officials here across the state, alex, really concerned

that this is just the beginning of what's going to be a horrible spike here. >> yeah, okay. i just want to say also on a personal note i have a sore oreo if i sister battling in an icu in ft. worth. i found out last weekend and my thoughts are prayers with her and all those beleaguered by all this. >> yes, absolutely. arizona is eyed as a new hot spot and added 4300 cases yesterday. 400 cases shy of wednesday's record high. but today the prescott frontier days festival is already drawing crowds and the world's oldest rodeo still set for this afternoon and that's where we find von hilliard. you always find yourself in fun spots. what's happening? i see you pointing trying to show us what's happening? >> what we're watching here, this is the caboose of the parade here, alex, here. this is frontier day, the oldest

rodeo in the country. it's right here in prescott, arizona, and quite frankly nothing, no pandemic is going to get in the way. clearly of these festivity, you know, there's folks that have been marching around with flags and trump flag, american flags, don't tread on me flags. we are he at the courthouse where the rodeo is down the way. mary here, you've been in prescott since 1962 telling me you were a goldwater girl. >> i was a goldwater girl in's 64, i think, at the parade they had here and he had his -- he started his campaign here because that green building right there was his great-grandfather's store. 1865. >> we bring up goldwater. there is a long spirit of independence and there's been more than 250 arizonans who have passed away. this is a tough time. how are you guys -- you decided to keep it going. you're here today. give owe a sense of what this

weekend feels like. >> well, i always helped volunteer at our fourth of july parade for 50 years about and i didn't want america's independence day to go uncelebrated. so on facebook i just put something down and said, me and my friends are going to go down to the courthouse square and we're going to pledge allegiance to the flag and sing the national anthem, "god bless america" and pray for our nation, government, military, law officers and for peace. and that's all i've wanted. i didn't know all of this was going to go on. we just had a small group of about 50, 60 people. >> reporter: but now this afternoon we're expecting a couple thousand folks down here. >> i don't know. >> could you give me a sense this. is a tough time in the state of arizona. we are watching this spike. you don't have a mask on. a great number of folks don't. how concerned are you about a spike coming from this event?

>> well, i hope nobody else gets sick and dies. i have a 102-year-old friend, woman, in the hospital right now as i speak here in prescott. she doesn't have covid but she's old and sick and i don't want anybody in there. i have many friends and relative who is are nurses and doctors who are helping those. i personally wear a mask whenever anybody wants me to. i have one -- i have it in my purse. i wear it in the doctor's offices, i wear it if i go to the grocery store and this is the open air. i don't feel danger here and i don't think i'm endangering anybody else out here that in the open air. but i'm sorry this is covid but we are independent like you said and america is about freedom. >> thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> reporter: america is about freedom and this event is going

on strong, alex. >> it's about a lot of loud blaring of horns as well behind you there but we thank you very much, vaughn hillyard from prescott. to the white house where president trump is pressing ahead with fourth of july celebrations despite pushback. monica alba has more on this. monica, another welcome to you. you have more than 300,000 people expected to attend this event on the national mall. the white house is hosting another party we understand. >> reporter: exactly, as many as 1,000 to 2,000 people will be on the south lawn for that and told they will attempt to socially distance those people. masks will be available but not required. you will have the largest event at the white house since the start of the pandemic and it's really an example of how the president and first lady want to convey to the country that certain things can go on as normal but it just doesn't square necessarily with the reality beyond washington, d.c.

where you see so many of these cases spiking and as you saw last night, at mt. rushmore the president there, over 7,000 people were gathered without social distancing or masks so unclear how that will look but the white house will make attempts to make sure people have what they need, hand sanitizer, notably they won't be screening anybody's temperatures. that's something that stopped a couple of weeks ago when they stopped screening both staff journal i haves and anybody who enters the white house complex from getting their health questionnaire or temperature taken and that's because the district has entered phase two of re-opening and feel they don't need to do that. but as you have these spikes and have a member of the president's own family now self-isolating, his eldest son donald trump jr. because his girlfriend kimberly guilfoyle tested positive for coronavirus yesterday in south dakota, a lot of questions about how safe the event will be here on the south lawn. the president and first lady will both be appearing. he will be giving some remarks. there will be a military flyover

and then you have the fireworks later tonight where those massive crowds are expected on the national mall even though d.c. mayor bowser has encouraged people if they can to please stay home and watch those from the safety of their own houses, alex. >> we see activity behind you, clearly some flag, might be a band, i'm not quite sure but let me ask about what the white house appears to settle on with the new covid message. what's this all about. >> reporter: you see it here tonight this. is going to be the new public face of the strategy at the white house which is this virus is here with us, we need to learn to live with it. that's according to several white house officials who told us about what they plan to roll out in the coming days and as you see a shift, you know the president has even in an interview said he hopes that the virus will disappear on its own. health experts absolutely say that won't happen and certainly not until we have a vaccine which could still be months if not a year away depending on those trials. but you have now the white house saying we need to acknowledge the reality of the virus and

tell people it's going to be with us through november, through the election and try to get people to sort of come to a middle ground of how is it safe to re-open and resume some of your activities while the virus continues to plague so many hundreds of thousands. but the other question here is what will happen necessarily as other members continue to test positive from the president's own tulsa rally which was only two weeks ago today, we saw all those campaign advance staffers that tested positive, secret service agents testing positive and now the president's own family affected by this, alex. we only expect those numbers to rise from these also large events when they should not be encouraged. >> monica, thank you so much from the white house. happy fourth. joining me now dr. vin gupta. welcome to you. with these infection rates which continue to spike around this country, you know that we've set another single day high of more than 57,000 new cases yesterday. you have several states setting

their own record highs. are you concerned that holiday gatherings among friends and family this weekend are going to make covid case numbers rise? >> good morning, alex. you bet. absolutely. so what we're seeing here is a replay of memorial day but even with worse messaging and having this unhealthy distorted almost deranged conception of freedom manifesting itself out as we're going to ignore what any public health official says when it comes to masking or social distancing and having the president convene this rally in south dakota that enables what you saw with vaughn and prescott. enables all these terrible scenes to play out and this reality that monica mentioned, we're going to live with it and we're going to acknowledge the kronwall reality that the white house is going to message on. i've soon the reality. my colleagues have seen it on the front lines and that reality is you don't come off a ventilator if you get on it. in nine out of ten people they don't come off it.

i know there are a lot of conspiracy theorists that want to attack what i say, wear a white coat on the front lines, if you're watching this to all your viewers the reality here is that is deadly. we have a president and vice president who are not messaging appropriately who do not care about you and your family. >> you know, i'm listening to you talk about the level of freedom that people want to express for themselves. i was listening to vaughn's guest hear there talk about her freedom. absolutely it's her freedom but she was invading vaughn's freedom to be healthy and stay healthy. i mean it's really such a conundrum for some to get through all this. let me ask you about the advice that you might have for anybody who is traveling this weekend. they want to stay safe as they're visiting friends and family, what do you tell them to do? >> i would -- first thing i would say is think about your freedom as the ability to live a healthy long life and the only way to do that is to mask up at all times, that's to avoid indoor dining at all costs, go to an outdoor -- you need to go

out to a restaurant, make sure that there's outdoor seating and there is social distancing when possible and then infection control at the top of mind, n nonessential travel, avoid it entirely. we know covid-19 is being transmit add cross interstate lines. great research there. listen to scientific experts and public health officials. don't listen to federal officials or governor desantis. they all have the wrong incentives. listen to people who want to keep you healthy. >> dr. vin gupta, that includes you. we enjoy listening to you. happy fourth. coming up next, how can president trump call that russian bounty intelligence a hoax when even his own national security adviser says it exists. coming up in a half hour i'll speak with "gray's anatomy star" jesse williams, a leading black lives matter movement voice.

protesters are expected to gather on the black lives matter plaza just a few blocks from the

white house marking the sixth weekend of demonstrations since the death of george floyd. nbc's julia jester, we find her there. julia with another welcome to you on this holiday. what's happening there right now? >> reporter: yeah, alex, so black lives matter is a familiar chant in these protests but a new one that arose overnight was occupy h street. a group of protesters started the fourth of july protest into the evening as they set up these tents right over here. it's really a stark contrast to what we are seeing from the "salute to america" event later as tourists are pouring into the city. these organizers plan to stay here all day and as they do that, protesters from different parts of the city are coming through the plaza. there was a protest that started at the national african museum of history, the supreme court, capitol hill, they're happening all over the city. when they come to black lives matter plaza they're greeted by the protesters here so there's

been some movement this afternoon. now, folks are protesting against police brutality for racial justice with one organizer telling me why he created a facebook event that led hundreds to the plaza today. take a listen to what he told me earlier. >> a lot of our brothers are being murdered in the streets just because of -- just because who they are and i feel like we as a community especially in our capital city of our country need to come together and protest these unjust killings and get these murders to justice. >> reporter: and so we expect to see continued movement here throughout the day. metro police is here. the d.c. national guard is on standby expecting groups of protesters to continue their demonstrations on the fourth of july this saturday. >> okay, julia jester, thank you so much for that. so we've been telling you

about the breaking news from florida. that state hitting another single day record number of confirmed coronavirus cases reporting just under 11,500 cases. joining me for a sobering discuss florida, a member of the judiciary committee and also the first south american immigrant member of congress. we welcome you on this holiday. thank you for joining me. these latest covid numbers mark a dubious milestone for your state. why are the numbers still rising? >> good afternoon, alex and happy fourth of july to you and thank you to all the troops and our frontline workers working to keep us safe. florida is breaking all the wrong records. the leadership from the governor and also here in miami date county, the mayor, is that they have actually failed to protect

the lives of floridians, they have failed in contact tracing and testing and failed to protect small businesses. we broke another record, more than 11,000 cases in miami-dade county. we have added another 2,000 positive cases and we have yet to hear from this governor to mandate a mask order for the entire state. we even saw the texas governor do that yesterday. i do not understand why governor desantis has failed to protect us. i have been calling since march to follow the guidelines. we have enough information about this virus and we know what we need to do which is wearing masks, social distancing, washing your hands, contact tracing. but yet there's no plan and this patchwork solution that we've been seeing from all the different city mayors and county mayors just does not work and here we have the results of failed leadership. >> yeah, listen, with all the numbers increasing you have to be concerned about the number of

hospitalizations, fast approaching, what, 16,000 across the state. i mean what if the state gets maxed out? how worried are you? >> i am extremely worried. i've had several calls with hospital administrators and my local elected officials because we need to take charge of this situation even if we have to do it alone without the help of the county mayor or the governor. one of the things that i have heard from our hospitals is that we could be at capacity within one or two weeks. so i'm working closely with one of our top public health experts dr. eileen marty to provide the testing and resources locally as much as we can and we -- since i oversee fema also on transportation and infrastructure i'm going to be having a call next week to see if we're ready to provide hospital beds and hospitals, resources as soon as possible in south florida. we have the epicenter and concerned for the keys. what happens in miami-dade directly affects my area also

and the florida keys. >> so what do you make of all this fierce opposition in florida to wearing masks? it's really like a culture war that's emerging around masks. i'm sure you saw the st. lucie county, the board there getting thoughts from the residents who didn't want to wear masks. it was just remarkable to listen to. >> look, alex, i mean, it is so important for leaders in positions of power to provide strong and clear messaging, especially during the worst public health crisis that we are facing in this nation. the president has said that he is not going to be wearing a mask. we have heard his press conferences where members of his administration are shown not wearing masks. the governor is not wearing a mask when he goes out with vice president mike pence to retail places here in central florida, so obviously you're going to see a lot of people that live in the state that don't believe that it is necessary to wear a mask.

and we know that the tools that we have, we don't have a vaccine. we don't have treatment but what we do know is that if you wear a marv, you reduce the level of infection by at least 70%. and so it is extremely important for us who are elected officials who are in positions in the government to protect our constituents and that's why we have been asking not just myself but other members of the florida delegation for the governor to institute a mask order for the state. the virus doesn't know any borders. the virus doesn't only exist past 10:00 p.m. in the curfew that we have seen implemented here in the county. we have to do everything we can to have a public health infrastructure to contain the virus, other countries have done it. my country of origin ecuador we had some of the worst spread of coronavirus in the area where i was born and, alex, now, they have -- they are now an example of how to contain it. they followed data and science and that's what we should be doing here in the state of

florida as well. >> congresswoman debbie powell, i know you keep speaking out and i'm sure your constituents, i for one as well, very proud of you. the unlikely new group crossing party lines to support joe biden and what they're doing to get republicans to back him. '! no! one more bite! ♪ kraft. for the win win.

new insight into washington's nfl team saying it might change its name. it comes after renewed criticism and pressure from big companies like fedex and nike. the cleveland indians also considering a name change as the team continues to move away from its mascot and joining me now is amanda blackhorse founder of arizona rally against native mascots. welcome. i know your organization has been fighting for these changes. what's your reaction to what we're hearing from washington and cleveland that they actually consider this name change, especially after washington's owner previously said he would never make that move? >> yes, this is definitely a

different time right now. the climate is a lot different than it was even two years ago in the way that people are talking about it. i'm cautiously optimistic about this because of our dealings with dan snyder throughout the year. i feel like he has shut us out. we've litigated against him and protested him and he has -- he's not listened to us as native people and so i am curious to see where this goes and how he will rebrand his team. we're asking for a 100 rebrand without any native mascots or imagery. >> do you think this is going to pave the way for other sports team, other groups in general moving forward? will they take their cue from these two cities if they do change these team names? >> yes, i hope so. i mean, cleveland seems to be following suit. i'm hoping kansas city does the same thing as well as the braves, the blackhawks and florida state seminoles.

>> what is the next step for your organization? i mean, how do you keep up the pressure, the fight and how much will you be invigorated if, again, these changes come to pass right now? >> i mean, the fight has always been there, native people have been fighting this fight for over -- probably 50 or 60 years even. so it's always going to be there. we have a lot more work to do and we need support. we need support from people. we need the general population, we need fan, we need players to all take part in this because it can't be on us all the time. >> absolutely, i'll repeat your name, amanda blackhorse founder of arizona rally against native mascots. i hope people heard you loud and clear. appreciate that. let's turn to joe biden who got a major endorsement from a surprising source, hundreds of former george w. bush administration including cabinet

members and campaign officials, they are launching the 43 alumni for biden super pac calling president trump a danger for our democracy. joining me now is christopher purcell. christopher worked in the white house communications office and in the state department during the bush administration. he's also a member of the organizing committee for 43 alumni for biden. christopher, big welcome to you. what brought you and your former republican white house colleagues together in such public display of support for democrat joe biden? >> thank you for having me, alex. you know, a number of us had been thinking about what we as individuals could do to help joe biden in this election but what galvanized us to come together as a larger organization and act more urgently was the attack on innocent american citizens exercising their constitutional right in lafayette park. a lot of us were upset by it so we decided we need to do something bigger and more

urgently. >> so give me the ultimate goal for this 43 alumni for biden pac. i know part is to try to turn out disaffected republican voters, right? get them to the polls and vote in support of joe biden. >> correct. yeah, and we are building this group from the grass roots up and so our goal is exactly what you said, to elect joe biden. we know how to talk to republicans. we're a group made up of republicans and independents and some democrats as well and we are asking all americans to come together and vote for joe biden because donald trump is a threat to our nation. he is a threat to our constitution and he is a danger to our national security and to our national health. >> okay, but, kristopher, i'm sure this will be asked of you. in coming out to support him do you and your gop colleagues support his platform and that of the democratic party or some kind of referendum against

donald trump? >> yes, alex, we are making -- we created this group not to support a platform for one specific issue or one specific party. we are supporting joe biden because as long as donald trump is in the white house, our nation is in danger, and so we are supporting joe biden because we believe that he will act in the best interests of all americans and not in his own personal self-interest. >> what kind of reaction are you getting from republicans in general to your super pac? >> we've received a really, really positive response. we have heard from many of our former colleagues who have said they're with us. they will help us. some will be public. some will work with us behind the scenes. but it's been very positive and we've also been humbled by the messages of support we've received from americans who have never been a part of the

political system. and we're very proud of that support and we will work with them, with our former colleagues to get out the vote for joe biden in november. >> yeah, and i just want to say officially we know your former boss bush 43 is knoll affiliated with the super pac. do you think he supports what you're doing? >> correct. we are not affiliated with president bush, but we have been called by the president to over these last several years to stay involved in the process and to not give up our values and to continue to work in the best interest of the american people whether we are in the political system or out of the political system. >> kristopher, i'm out of time but i understand you have a special birthday you want to do a wish for. who is that for? >> oh, i appreciate that. i want to say happy 89th birthday to my began in austin, texas. thank you, alex and thanks are are for having me. >> that's a good one.

kristopher, thank you so much, kristopher purcell, thank you for your time. coming up, jesse williams on what's next for the black lives matter movement's call for police reform. on this fourth of july we are honoring veterans and the great organizes who serve them. here's a look at one vietnam vet's journey from living on the streets to finding his way home. >> i was a combat medic in vietnam. i thought i was so together when i got out of the service but i had a death in the family and several years later and so i lost home perspective in terms of paying bills, being responsible, that kind of thing. maybe a year or so ago i realized that that was ptsd. i had just hit the street as a homeless person with one of my buddies i met on the street and he introduced me to miriam's

kitchen. it is a nonprofit organization that serves the homeless population here in d.c. i would say at least 15 years out of 17 years i was on the street, i was a regular here in miriam's kitchen. of the many services that they provide housing is one of them, as a matter of fact, i got my housing as a result of intervention from miriam's kitchen. can i go home now. i have achieved to let myself in and do whatever i want, relax, take a shower, all the things that you can't do when you're on the street. this is the way life is supposed to be and i'm loving it. usaa is made for what's next we're helping members catch up by spreading any missed usaa insurance payments over the next twelve months so they can keep more cash in your pockets for when it matters most

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black lives matter is being called the biggest civil rights movement in u.s. history. according to four recent polls, 15 to 26 million people have participated nearly 5,000 demonstrations following the death of george floyd back in may. joining me is actor jesse williams. welcome back to the broadcast and happy fourth of july. so glad you're here on this holiday. i want to ask you, what makes the black lives matter movement different than all of the movements that have come before it. what do you think is the future of this movement? >> well, i think it's a product of, you know, centuries of this

kind of work. it's not an overnight -- a lot of times people think things happen overnight but this is tireless exhaustive work and sacrifice by black folks in and around this country for centuries and especially in these last few decades we have looked back and seen what hasn't worked, given up on certain methodologies and focused on ones that are a little more revolutionary and come to accept that incremental change simply is not a reality, is not practical for us and need to aim higher and work harder and be more direct in our demands and throw out respectability politics as we know it. >> how pleased are you with what you are seeing because there does seem to be a groundswell in support of black lives matter? do you think things will change? >> oh, i know they're going to change. they're changing. they're absolutely changing. i'm excited. i view this as a real opportunity and not entirely, you know, not really a selfish

one. i think this is an opportunity for white america. i think this is an opportunity for america to really be the country it's always claimed it has been. i think that what we have now is this confluence of the work being relentless and educated and intelligent and creative but also alliship stepping up. we are slowing knocking down wall by wall of the lies and the upside down recanting of history for us to believe that black americans are not human beings, are not american. and the more and more we actually kind of unpack all of the lives thand lies that have been told us to that it is somehow okay. that racism is debatable. that violence against black women and black people is somehow -- has a caveat, has an asterisk, you're running out of excuses band by you i mean the

white power. we're fact-checking you and now with more access to information they're running out of maneuvers and contortions so we're left with ourselves as toni morrison said, our little selves and america has to look at it, what are you without racism? and do we all as americans believe we have a fundamental right to freedom and safety and if you do, then we really shouldn't have a problem unless, of course, we're not americans even though by and large we've been here for longer than many white americans. so it all -- all these issues, health care, housing, police in school, you know, all these armed goons in many cases that are trained to enforce the criminal code, beating on us, you're running out of ways to explain that and we have footage now of the believing whethers it happening. >> amen to all of that. let me ask you about aurora,

colorado, where three officers were recently fired. one also resigned after that photo surfaced of them mocking that tragic death of elijah mcclain. what do you think needs to happen on a national scale to mend the broken relationships specifically between police and the black community? >> well, frankly, i'm not really interested in mending the relationship with police. i'm interested in taking it down and rebuilding it and stop centering our efforts and our money on how we can coddle police. we have an insanely bloated budget. they are considered untouchable and we're starting with them instead of starting with what is good for safety and freedom for americans. what creates health, what maybe could honor that banner that says protect and serve, protect and serve whom? can we start there? what do communities need?

what makes our schools and our playgrounds and our housing safe? what makes our streets safe? start there instead of how can we keep hiding behind these like sloganeering of support our troops and militarization. from '98 to 2014 the police had -- when they budget went from their military weapons budget went from 9.4 million to $796 million. >> stunning. >> so that these -- so that these men by and large who have less training than beauticians to get licensed can play war games with our bodies. okay, you don't need tanks. you don't need all of this insane weaponry for the civilian population. you don't need -- you know, it's really not -- it's not really a matter of opinion anymore. my interest is not how to coddle any part of the white power stru. it's about how can we get safe

and free and if you're not helping that, if you're not serving that, if you're decent enough to learn freedom is not finite where if we gain a slice you lose a slice, if we get rid of that, if you're not supporting that you're in the way and history will be on our side. >> actor and activist jesse williams, great work on both fronts and to that i say keep on keeping on. good job. fewer official fireworks displays as many more are set off illegally in cities across the country and there's else to worry about. we're talking about it after the break.

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♪ ♪ now is the time to support the places you love. spend 10 dollars or more at a participating small business and get 5 dollars back, up to 10 times with american express. enroll now at shopsmall.com. well, the skies this fourth of july may look a little different with so many cities across the country cancelling fireworks displays to prevent large crowds from gathering in the midst of the pandemic. meanwhile, some areas are seeing a boom this the use of illegal fireworks n. los angeles, for example, complaints about illegal fireworks are up 170% this month as compared to this

time last year. the numbers from new york, even more staggering. joining me now, shane brown, public information officer at the fresno fire deputy. shane, big welcome to you. let's talk about what you are seeing there in the heartland of california, and the kind of dangers that these illegal fireworks are posing. >> yeah, hi, alex, good morning. what we have been seeing recently is a ton the aerial style fireworks being shot off nightly throughout our city. we have responded to dozens of fires caused specifically by fireworks. so you know we have been working in a join task force with the police department as well as our arson investigation division to try to get as many of those off the street as possible. this year has been a tremendous spike in how many are out there. so we had -- the video i see right here, this was from last night in station number 4 here. they responded last night to the

report of a fire. the homeowner said they heard fireworks, they went outside, their tree was on fire. and quickly that tree spread into the attic and ended up destroying their home. they were displaced. cause by fireworks. >> there was a story in the "new york times" about a man in brooklyn who was setting off fireworks. one of the fireworks ends up going into his house as well. did the same thing, burned the thing down. the numbers i was talking about -- i believe in 2019 -- i remember the numbers because they are staggering -- they had 21 reports in new york about firework. they have had so far -- are you sitting down for this? 1,700. i mean it is like every night we hear all of this. what do you want to tell people who are putting these things out on the streets. let alone their own safety safety. but the safetier their neighborhoods, their communities, wildfire. >> you know, that's what it comes down to. we are having the same problems here. our fire department this year,

to date, we are up 60% in our fire calls than the same time last year at this same time. a lot of it lately has been caused by the fireworks. the message i am trying to get out to everybody is, we understand -- we are human beings as well as firefighters. we understand the revixs covid has put on everybody. everyone is restless, seem people feel like their freedoms are impinged upon. the beautiful thing about this country is you are free to choose to make good decisions. right now with the amount of resources tied up, with the amount of emergency calls we don't have enough available to respond to every single call, every single fire, so we are encouraging people the find alternative ways to celebrate the fourth of july. hey, everybody loves the fireworks. it is great. unless you responsibly know how to put on a display using safe and sane fireworks you should stay clear. that's what we are trying to encourage people to do. >> can you the me about the environment there in central california and fresno.

how dry is it? how vulnerable is it to fire? >> absolutely, yeah we had a very dry year. we are seeing the same numbers -- we consider all fire calls, that encompasses fire and structure and vegetation fires. our vegetation calls are up 80% year to dead. it is because of that. dry cleefs and grass. it is not fire resistant. very easy something else. >> shane brown, public information officer at the fresno fire department. thank you for what you do and keeping us all safe. much appreciated. happy fourth. that does it for me this hour i am alex with it. enjoy your independence day. alicia menendez takes over at the top of the hour. she will explain why voter suppression, intentional and inintentional to be the story this election season.

it is our top story. n season it is our top story. the campsite. and anything else we set our sights on. miles that take us back to the places we want to go. and to the people who count on us. so, let's roll up our sleeves. because we've got miles to make up.

hello, everyone, i'm alicia menendez. on this july 4th, record breaking new coronavirus numbers from florida. nearly 11,500 new cases. all of this as americans across the country flock to beaches this holiday weekend. even in states seeing the largest increases. you are looking live at myrtle beach, north carolina, right now. meanwhile, the president is preparing to host a second fireworks display in as many

nights flouting advice from health officials. he delivered a divisive speech at mt. rushmore. former vice president joe biden offering a different message today laying out his vision to wreck tile america's racial died. another high-profile person in the president's orbit testing positive for coronavirus. we start in florida, which is seeing another record breaking day. more people diagnosed with covid-19 in the last 24 hours than at any point during this pandemic. more than 11,000 new cases reported today. let's bring in nbc's chris palone in florida. where does florida now rank nationally with these numbers? >> hi alicia. yeah, with these new numbers, the more than 11,000 -- approximately 11,500 that you mentioned, florida has now become third in the