expired. >> it went about like that. congresswoman jayapal, democrat of washington state, to take us off the air tonight. that is our broadcast for this tuesday evening. thank you so much for being here with us. on behalf of all my colleagues at the networks of nbc news, good night. rachel has the night off, but tonight the united states has passed a milestone. i didn't predict we would hit this soon. with the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus now more than 4.3 million, our nation has now lost more than 150,000 souls to covid-19. and "the new york times" reports today that the federal coronavirus task force has designated 21 out of our 50 states as so-called red-zone states, meaning they're adding cases at an alarming rate. what the federal government told officials in those states to do about it was undercut within 24 hours by the president himself.

we're going to have more details about that up ahead. also today, the first day of school is approaching like a freight train, and the federal government is leaving this huge piece of the pandemic response to state and local authorities. so now one of the largest teachers unions in the nation is taking action. the american federation of teachers has told its 1.7 million members that if they choose to strike rather than be forced back to the classroom, the union will have their back. meanwhile, republicans on capitol hill are distancing themselves from a provision the white house inserted into the coronavirus relief bill that would personally help the president financially. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell looked like a deer in the headlights when a reporter asked him about it. and one big waiting game is about to come to an end. vice president joe biden said today he will name his running mate next week. let's begin on capitol hill where after years of dodging house democrats, president

trump's attorney general, bill barr, finally agreed to appear to answer questions. it did take the threat of a subpoena from the judiciary committee chairman jerry nadler, but the attorney general finally came before the committee that oversees the justice department, and they had lots of questions for the man who is supposed to be the people's lawyer but acts more like the president's personal fixer. as a result, there was no shortage of ground to cover at what turned out to be an often combative five-hour grilling. unsurprisingly, barr was oftentimes evasive, at other times openly hostile to questioning from democratic lawmakers. barr chose not to read aloud some of the more incendiary lines from his opening statement last night in which he took aim at what he called the, quote, bogus russia-gate scandal. but the first line of questioning from committee chairman jerry nadler immediately went to democrats' core contention, that an attorney general whose job is to remain apolitical has instead

served as the president's consigliere at the department of justice, protecting the president and his allies while targeting his political enemies. it was a question about barr's relation to the president's re-election effort that sparked the first notable exchange of the day. >> have you -- now, yes or no? have you discussed the president's re-election campaign with the president or with any white house official or any surrogate of the president? >> well, i'm not going to get into my discussions with the president. >> well, have you discussed that topic with him, yes or no? >> not in relation to this program. >> i didn't ask that. i asked if you discussed that with -- >> i'm a member of the cabinet, and there's an election going on. obviously the topic comes up. >> yes. >> well, the topic comes up in cabinet meetings and other things. it shouldn't be a surprise that the topic of the election -- >> just to be clear now, attorney general barr refused to say whether he has discussed the topic of the president's re-election with trump and says that the topic comes up at

cabinet meetings all the time. oh, and that none of this should be a surprise. the attorney general was even less reassuring when it came to the issue of mail-in voting in november's election, a process that both he and the president have attacked as rife with fraud despite no evidence whatsoever to back up those claims. the attorney general was back at it again today. listen. >> do you believe as the attorney general of the united states that mail-in voting will lead to massive voter fraud? >> i think there's a high risk that it will. i'd just state i think what is a reality, which is that if you have wholesale mail-in voting, it substantially increases the risk of fraud. >> mr. barr, the president has suggested that only votes counted on election day should be what matters, meaning that if a voter casts a legal ballot on or before election day, but that ballot is not counted on election day, it shouldn't count at all. so i want to ask you again about your commitment to ensuring that every vote is counted.

if in this upcoming november election the president asks you to intervene and try to stop states from counting legal ballots after election day, will you do the right thing and refuse? yes or no? >> i will follow the law. >> you won't say no, sir? >> i'll follow the law. >> it's very disappointing -- >> if a state has a law that says it has to be cast on election day, that's the law. that will be enforced. >> will you commit to making sure the department of justice does not get involved in a contested election? yes or no? >> i will follow the law. >> not exactly reassuring. those were just two of the many head-turning moments today. another came when the attorney general was pitched what was supposed to be the mother of all softballs about foreign election interference, and it was anything but a home run. >> is it ever appropriate, sir, for the president to solicit or accept foreign assistance in an

election? >> it depends what kind of assistance. >> is it ever appropriate for the president or presidential candidate to accept or solicit foreign assistance of any kind in his or her election? >> no, it's not appropriate. >> okay. sorry you had to struggle with that one, mr. attorney general. >> barr's bizarre equivocating on that simple issue came just hours before the associated press was first to report today that russian intelligence officials are actively promoting a disinformation effort directed at american and western audiences related to the coronavirus pandemic. and while russian disinformation relating to the coronavirus is a concern, so too is the attorney general who today delivered false statements on that same topic. >> let's go to march. in that month, president trump said, i take no responsibility at all for the failure in testing. was that superb? yes or no? >> it was accurate.

the problem with the testing system was a function of president obama's mishandling of the cdc and his efforts to centralize everything in the cdc. >> thank you. thank you, mr. barr. that is inaccurate. that's a myth. >> it wasn't until this -- >> that's a lie. president trump falsely called ppe shortages fake news while nurses and other health care professionals resorted to wearing trash bags and ski goggles to protect themselves. fake news. was that superb, yes or no? >> i think the administration did a good job of mustering ppe and the national supply of ppe was run down during the obama administration and never replaced. >> now, if you're surprised that the attorney general would lay the blame for a virus that has now killed over 150,000 americans at the hands of an

administration that left office over three years ago, you really shouldn't be. the attorney general took the same tone while defending his intervention in the cases of trump allies roger stone and michael flynn, the latter of whom barr said was a victim of overzealous prosecutors under the previous administration. >> in fact there was no basis to investigate flynn. and furthermore, it was clearly established by the documents that the fbi agents who interviewed him did not believe that he thought he was lying. the only purpose of the interview, the only purpose was to try to catch him in saying something that they could then say was a lie. >> so it was an entrapment? >> and therefore there was not a legit -- the interview was untethered to any legitimate investigation. >> all right. no legitimate reason to investigate him even though fbi intercepts clearly showed that flynn lied to fbi agents when he said he did not discuss

sanctions with the russian ambassador after russia interfered in the election to help donald trump win the election. the attorney general has made no bones about the fact that he explicitly intervened in the case of flynn as well as that of trump's longtime friend and onetime campaign adviser roger stone. now, with respect to the stone case, the attorney general said he stepped in and recommended a more lenient sentence entirely of his own accord, denying that he had any knowledge of the president's thoughts about the matter even though the president made his feelings clear in a tweet hours earlier. everybody knew what president trump was thinking about roger stone's conviction. on the other issue of the president's longtime lawyer michael cohen being sent back to federal prison in what a federal judge later called an overt act of retaliation, mr. barr denied any knowledge. he told democrats on the committee, quote. >> i didn't even know of the decision to send him back. this guy needs to get some more feeds on his phone or something.

today's hearing also featured repeated angry exchanges between barr and democratic lawmakers on the issue of race and the protests that were set off across the nation in response to the killing of george floyd in minneapolis. at one point barr was asked point-black what he planned to do to countersystemic racism in law enforcement. >> does the trump justice department seek to end systemic racism in law enforcement? i just need a yes or no answer. >> to the extent there is racism in any of our institutions in this country and the police, then obviously this administration will fully enforce -- >> so you agree there may be systemic racism? >> to the extent -- where? >> let me continue my line of questioning. >> i don't agree there's systemic racism in the police department. >> specifically -- >> generally in this country. >> one way to skirt addressing systemic racism in federal law enforcement is apparently to simply deny this exists in police departments across the

country. the attorney general defended the use of federal agents to quell protests nationwide in places like portland, oregon, and else where saying, that, quote, violent rioters and an,ists have hijacked legitimate protests to wreak halvoc. he claimed that the protests outside the white house in lafayette square last month had turned violent before he gave the order to clear the park. he also claimed his order had absolutely nothing to do with the president's decision to hold a photo op holding a bible some time later. but it was barr's insistence that no tear gas was used in the square at the very same moment that the head of the u.s. park police was saying the opposite in a separate hearing that piqued the anger of washington congresswoman pramila jayapal. >> do you think the response at lafayette square to tear gas, pepper spray and beat protesters

and injure american citizens who were just simply exercising their first amendment rights was appropriate? >> well, first, it's my understanding that no tear gas was used on monday, june 1st. >> mr. barr, that is a semantic distinction that has been proven false by many fact checkers. >> how is it semantic? tear gas is a -- >> you talked about chemical irritants and it has been proven false by reports. so just answer the question. do you think -- >> i think pepper -- >> -- was appropriate at lafayette park to pepper spray, tear gas, and beat protesters and injure american citizens? >> well, i don't accept your characterization of what happened. but as i explained, the effort there was -- >> mr. barr, i just asked for a yes or no, so let me just tell you -- i'm starting to lose my temper. >> joining us now, congresswoman pramila jayapal, democrat from the state of washington. thank you for being here tonight. it's the second time we've had an opportunity to talk this

week. this evening after your exchanges with the attorney general, you tweeted, attorney general bill barr must resign. tell me why. >> well, this is -- everything we saw today, ali, is exactly what we have known for some time and watched, which is that bill barr is not acting as the attorney general for the people of the united states. bill barr is the personal h henchman for donald trump, and he has no interest whatsoever in ensuring safe elections. he has no interest in actually taking on police brutality and racism. he uses the department to essentially counter any protesters that are protesting donald trump, but he does not use the department to protect people when protesters are actually implementing trump's agenda. and i gave the very specific example of lafayette square and how he reacted there versus how he reacted in michigan when protesters with rifles, with

swastikas, confederate flags were calling -- were storming the capitol in michigan and calling for the governor to be beheaded, lynched, and shot. bill barr actually said -- it stunned me -- that he wasn't even aware of those incidents. so bill barr showed us today exactly what we've known, which is he has no interest in protecting the interests of the american people. he just wants to do whatever donald trump tells him to do, and i even gave a quote where donald trump says, i have bill barr here with me, and we will activate bill barr. we will activate him very strongly. so bill barr gets activated by donald trump. >> he used the "was not aware" thing several times. to you in this instance when talking about acting on roger stone's sentence without knowing what the president wanted even though the president tweeted it out, in talking about michael cohen being sent back to prison. the "i was not aware," and this is a lawyer. he knows how to thread the

needle, but he did that a lot. it's kind of surprising that the longtime attorney general and supporter of the president was not aware of so many things that so many americans are aware of. >> well, he's only not aware of the things that he doesn't want to be aware of. you know, when he used that on me, i said, well, that's interesting. he said, well, i don't know about all the protests that are happening everywhere in the country. there are alet of protests. i said, well, you certainly seem to know about the protests in seattle, in portland, in all of these places where it's in your interest to know about them. i think this is bill barr and his selective enforcement, and that was the point i was trying to get across, ali. i was frankly stunned by the constant attempts of the attorney general of the united states and my republican colleagues to mischaracterize and try to diversity attention from these massive, important protests that were an awakening of america's conscience to police brutality and white

supremacy. and instead they tried to turn it away to violent protesters in other places. they did not want to talk about lafayette square. that was very, very clear, lafayette park, and bill barr did everything he could to try to distract us. but we were not going to be distracted. >> i want to ask you about mail-in voting. you have unique familiarity with this given where you are from. bill barr was asked about this today and he continued to parrot the administration's view that mail-in voting is not secure. let's just listen. [ inaudible ] >> all right. you know what? i don't have the sound there. but the congressman, mr. richmond, was saying do you believe as the attorney general of the united states that mail-in voting will lead to massive voter fraud? the attorney general responds, i think there's a high risk that it will. he went on about that. tell me how you respond to this because you know mail-in voting better than many americans do. >> yes.

i come from the state of washingt washington. we're one of those states that has had mail-in voting for almost the longest in the history of, you know, other states. i think oregon may be a little bit longer than us. i have this written down to try to counter him if i had a chance, but i ran out of time. we have not had -- we have no problems with fraud. in fact, we have a republican secretary of state who has invited bill barr to come and visit the state so that she can talk him through how there really are no fraud problems. i did at the end of my testimony submit for unanimous consent request a report that had been done by mit that looked at 250 mail-in ballots that have been cast over the last 20 years -- 250 million that have been cast over the past 20 years, and out of that, the fraud rate was 0.0005%.

so four zeros and a five percent. so this was a ridiculous claim from the attorney general. >> congresswoman, thank you for being with us tonight. congresswoman pramila jayapal of washington. she's also a member of the house judiciary committee. much more ahead tonight including how the president appears to be trying to use the coronavirus pandemic to give one of his hotels a major boost, a boost that taxpayers would fund at the expense of an increase or at least keeping the federal unemployment boost the same. we've got a big show tonight. stay with us. stay with us what if i sleep hot? ... or cold? introducing the new sleep number 360 smart bed... now temperature balancing, so you can sleep better together. can it help keep me asleep? absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. can it help with snoring? i've never heard snoring. exactly. no problem. ...and done. will it help me keep up with mom? you've got this.

so you can really promise better sleep? not promise... prove. and now, no interest until january 2023 on all smart beds. only for a limited time. well, here's to first dates! you look amazing. and you look amazingly comfortable. when your v-neck looks more like a u-neck... that's when you know, it's half-washed. try downy fabric conditioner. unlike detergent alone, downy helps prevent stretching by conditioning and smoothing fibers, so clothes look newer, longer. downy and it's done. little things can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting.

otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. >> techand your car., we're committed to taking care of you >> tech: we'll fix it right with no-contact service you can trust. >> tech: so if you have auto glass damage, stay safe with safelite. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

sometimes the most important things that happen at a congressional hearing are not the ones you think they're going to be at the time. consider this exchange from attorney general -- actually this came from bill barr's confirmation hearing back in january of 2019. >> do you believe a president could lawfully issue a pardon in exchange for the recipient's promise to not incriminate him?

>> no. that would be a crime. >> no, that would be a crime. short, sweet, to the point. a president can't pardon someone in exchange for that person not incriminating the president. that was probably the least interesting answers bill barr gave at his confirmation. but the best congressional testimony ages like fine wine, and bill barr found that out today when he was asked about the president's decision to commute the sentence of his longtime friend roger stone. >> you were asked, could a president issue a pardon in exchange for the recipient's promise to not incriminate him. and you responded, no, that would be a crime, is that right? >> yes, i said that. >> mr. stone was convicted by a jury on seven counts of lying in the russia investigation. he bragged that he lied to save trump's butt, but why would he lie? your prosecutors, mr. barr, told a jury that stone lied because the truth looked bad for donald trump. and what truth is that? well, donald trump denied in

written answers to the russia investigators that he talked to roger stone during the time roger stone was in contact with agents of a russian influence operation. there's evidence that trump and stone indeed did talk during that time. you would agree that it's a federal crime to lie under oath, is that right? >> yes. >> so if donald trump lied to the mueller investigators, which you agree would be a crime, then roger stone was in a position to expose donald trump's lies. on july 10 of this year, roger stone declared to a reporter, i had 29 or 30 conversations with trump during the campaign period. trump knows i was under enormous pressure to turn on him. it would have eased my situation considerably, but i didn't. the prosecutors wanted me to play jude as. i refused. are you familiar with that stone statement? >> actually i'm not. >> so how can you sit here and tell us, why should i investigate the president of the united states if you're not even aware of the facts concerning the president using the pardon

or commutation power to swap the silence of a witness? >> because we require, you know, a reliable predicate before we open a criminal investigation. >> and i just gave to you, sir -- >> i don't consider it. i consider it a very rube goldberg theory that you have. >> a very rube goldberg theory that you have there. now, what the attorney general seems to have forgotten in that metaphor is that a rube goldberg machine may take a long time, but in the end, it works, and the payoff is pretty sweet. joining us now, barbara mcquade, former u.s. attorney for the eastern district of michigan. barbara, good to see you again. i feel like you and i have had this conversation before, but we're going to have it again. roger stone is a convicted felon. eric swalwell did a remarkable job of walking the attorney general through what he called a rube goldberg theory. but the fact is what eric

swalwell said was true. >> yeah, i thought eric swalwell was one of the better questioners today at the hearing. he did a very good job of methodically walking william barr through this, and he got him to agree to everything except the punch line. when he got him to the point of this is exactly the kind of conduct that you said would be a crime back when we were at your confirmation hearing, and he says, that's a rube goldberg machine. well, he has no problem connecting the dots when it comes to investigating the investigators and putting together -- flying all over the world to put these dots together. but when it's something that is contrary to the interests of president trump, that's a rube goldberg machine. that is far too complicated for my small brain. he's a smart guy. he can see the dots. what he used to his advantage today, i thought, was the five-minute time limit that all of these questioners have in this format. he knew that if he just denied and claimed he didn't know what he was talking about and he didn't remember the tweets or had never read the tweets, he could run out the clock and move on to a new topic.

>> and some people just hear that stuff without the critical side. i want to play something that barr said while talking about the charges against roger stone. let's listen. >> the department of justice issued a statement saying that mr. berman, a former u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york, had, quote, stepped down. you're aware of that statement being released by the department, correct? >> yes. >> and ydo you testify today tht that statement was true at the time the department issued it? >> he may not have known it, but he was stepping down. >> he may not have known that he was stepping down? that's your testify today? >> he was being removed. >> mr. attorney general, the statement did not say that he was being removed. it did not say he was being fired. it said that he was stepping down. >> barbara, i misled my control room there, and this was actually a different exchange but an equally good one with congressman neguse of colorado.

this had to do with the firing of the u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york, geoffrey berman, and the fact that you will recall that night, barbara -- i think you might have been on tv with us that night. it was very confusing. it was he stepped down. then he was fired. then he came back to say he's not stepping down, and finally there was some agreement made. even on that basic matter, a matter that there's no chance that attorney general bill barr was not in charge of and on top of, he couldn't give a consistent answer. >> yeah, and i'm really glad you chose to show that. kudos to the control room because i thought that was such a telling exchange. there's an old joke that says, how do you know when a lawyer is lying? because his mouth is moving. i think that is so appropriate to william barr. he engages in such double-speak, and that exchange really demonstrates how he does that. he issued a press release that said that geoffrey berman was stepping down. it turns out that, in fact, yeah, he didn't know it and there was no communication about that. and he still persists in that.

instead of admitting he was caught in a lie, he said, he was stepping down. he didn't know it yet. he didn't know that he had been pushed. same thing with regard to the use of tear gas in lafayette square. he said there was no tear gas used. he fails to mention there was pepper spray used, which is also a chemical irritant. he is very careful in the words he chooses to make them literally true but figuratively false. >> very careful. having been exposed to both tear gas and pepper spray a few times in the last couple months, they are both very difficult for someone to take. barbara, good to see you. thank you as always. barbara mcquade is the former united states attorney for the eastern district of michigan. when we come back, the trump administration sets a new standard for incoherent coronavirus messaging. but one piece of the white house's response is remarkably consistent with the president's long-standing priorities because it would make him money. we'll have more on that next. hae easier than ever.

(brad) apartments-dot-com. the most popular place to find a place. tonight, try pure zzzs all night. unlike other sleep aids, our extended release melatonin helps you sleep longer. and longer. zzzquil pure zzzs all night. fall asleep. stay asleep. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take h-i-v treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit h-i-v through sex. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems.

do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. if you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. if you're living with hiv, keep loving who you are. and ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. if you're livi[♪]with hiv, keep loving who you are. when you have diabetes, managing your blood sugar is crucial. try boost glucose control. the patented blend is clinically shown

to help manage blood sugar levels. it provides 60% more protein than the leading diabetes nutrition shake. try boost glucose control. >> techand your car., we're committed to taking care of you >> tech: we'll fix it right with no-contact service you can trust. >> tech: so if you have auto glass damage, stay safe with safelite. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

to help fulfill the command to love our neighbors as ourselves. this opportunity only comes once every 10 years. everybody who is in your house should be counted in the census. our parents, your in-laws, that cousin who's living with you. each of us is worthy and must be counted. it is more important than ever that every voice is heard. make sure you are counted. shape your future. start here. at 20202census.gov.

i really do believe a lot of the governors should be opening up states that they're not opening, and we'll see what happens with them. >> president trump in north carolina yesterday encouraging states to open up more, to open up faster. why are all these governors in trump's estimation not moving faster to get their economies rolling? it turns out even as he was making those comments yesterday, the president's very own coronavirus task force was telling the states the exact opposite. today "the new york times" got hold of a 400-page federal report dated sunday. the report finds that 21 states including north carolina, where the president was speaking, are considered in the red zone, meaning they've got more than 100 new cases per 100,000 people in the last week. the trend lines are not good. three states were added to the list of red-zone states over the last two weeks. only the state of vermont is currently considered in the green zone with fewer than ten

cases per 100,000 people. the remaining states in washington, d.c. are in the yellow zone. "the times" reports that the white house coronavirus task fort sent this report to state officials, and what does the report recommend for those red-zone states? well, for north carolina, where the president yesterday was making his call for more reopening, the white house report sent to state officials there recommends that bars remain closed, that restaurants stay under 25% capacity for indoor dining, and that north carolinians limit social gatherings to fewer than ten people. it must be confusing for north carolina to get a report like that and then have the president come in the next day and complain that things are not opening fast enough. let's take a look at tennessee, also in the red zone. the report sent over from the white house coronavirus task force says that closing bars and limiting indoor dining is, quote, critical to disrupt the transmission of the virus. also a statewide mask mandate is critical to stop the spread.

federal officials are apparently so worried about tennessee's trajectory right now that top white house coronavirus adviser dr. deborah birx went to tennessee yesterday in person to tell the state's governor directly about these critical recommendations. they had their meetings, and then dr. birx came out and told the press about the recommendations she had just urged on the republican governor, bill lee. and then the governor came to the podium, and the reporters asked him whether he would be enacting those recommendations. >> yeah, we don't have that plan right now beyond the regions that are currently have restrictions, that's not a plan for us now. we will -- i've said from the very beginning of this pandemic that there's nothing off the table. i've also said we're not going to close the economy back down, and we're not going to. but i appreciate their recommendations, and we -- we take them seriously.

>> we take them seriously. the governor also declined to issue a statewide mask mandate though he said the state's 95 county mayors are free to issue 95 separate individual mask mandates if they choose. the new sentinel in knoxville, tennessee, summed up the day with this headline. quote, governor bill lee rejects warning from white house adviser to act now to contain covid-19. because dr. birx might have flown to tennessee in person to urge the governor to close things down to stop the spread of the virus, but at the very same time, her boss, the president, was on television telling governors they aren't opening up fast enough. six months into this, this administration still cannot manage to be on the same page with itself on any given day. failure of this magnitude for this duration has consequences, and the consequences are death. the death of americans. by the nbc news count, as of

today, 150,000 people have been lost to the coronavirus in our country. 150,000. it is the kind of grim heart-rending milestone that you might think would occasion a moment of reflection or at least recognition from the nation's president. but president trump used a press conference this afternoon to claim that much of the country is, quote, corona-free. he spent a long time, once again, promoting his favorite drug, hydroxychloroquine, as a great totally safe coronavirus treatment. i'll give the president and his team this, they have been very focused, very energetically engaged with the latest covid economic relief bill that's being hashed out on capitol hill. they've been really focused on forcing a provision into the bill that appears designed to benefit the president personally. as money from the previous relief bill has run out for millions of americans, the house democrats have had a $3 trillion relief package ready to go. republicans in congress have delayed in unveiling their

counterproposal in part because the white house has been insisting that this new bill, which is meant to get badly needed economic relief to americans hurting during the pandemic, the white house has insisted that this bill include nearly $2 billion for a new fbi headquarters. now, this has been an obsession of the president's ever since he came into office. he skrabcrapped the fbi to have new headquarters in the d.c. suburbs and insisted it remodel its current headquarters even though the plan will cost -- and makes no logistical sense either. it does make sense in one very clear way. the president's hotel is located across the street from the fbi headquarters. and officials at his company have long worried that if the fbi left, a new hotel would take over its spot and compete with the trump hotel. as that controversy percolated, including an ongoing inspector

general investigation last year, the trump family, you might recall, decided to just sell the hotel for a whopping $500 million. but then coronavirus hit. the downtown d.c. market cratered. the trump organization put the sale on ice, which brings us to this covid economic relief bill and the white house playing hardball with congressional republicans to earmark nearly $2 billion explicitly for keeping the fbi headquarters exactly where it is, and that led to a remarkable moment when senate republicans unveiled their bill yesterday. >> why is funding for the fbi building in this bill? >> i'm not sure that it is. is it? >> i'm not sure that it is. why is the funding for the fbi building in the bill? a staffer had to tell the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, that, yes, it is in the bill. unemployment benefits slashed, no money for food assistance,

but nearly $2 billion to protect the president's hotel made it into the bill. there is no shame. millions of americans are staring down their first friday without the $600 in federal funds that they have been relying upon, but this president, well, he's got his own priorities. ioritiesing your. ♪ but bristol myers squibb is working to change things. by researching new kinds of medicines that could help you live longer. including options that are chemo-free. because we're committed to bringing new hope into lung cancer care. b>> techand your car., we're committed to taking care of you >> tech: we'll fix it right with no-contact service you can trust. >> tech: so if you have auto glass damage, stay safe with safelite. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

[♪] when you have diabetes, managing your blood sugar is crucial. try boost glucose control. the patented blend is clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels. it provides 60% more protein than the leading diabetes nutrition shake. try boost glucose control. in a highly capable lexus suv. at the golden opportunity sales event. get zero percent financing on all 2020 lexus models. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. thabsolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and can it help keep me asleep? on all 2020 lexus models. automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. and now, save up to $500 on select sleep number 360 smart beds. plus no interest until january 2023 on all smart beds. only for a limited time.

even if you're on a statin? are you still at risk for a heart attack or stroke? statins may lower some risks, but may not be enough. that's why science delivered vascepa. for people who have persistent cardiovascular risk factors and take a statin only vascepa is clinically proven to provide 25% lower risk from heart attack and stroke. don't take vascepa if you're allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. tell your doctor about any medicines you take, and if you are allergic to fish or shellfish. stop taking vascepa and seek medical help if you have symptoms of an allergic reaction. serious side effects may occur like heart rhythm problems and bleeding. heart rhythm problems may occur in more people with persistent cardiovascular risk or who have had heart rhythm problems. tell your doctor if you have symptoms such as irregular beat, lightheadedness, dizziness,

shortness of breath, chest discomfort or fainting. possible side effects include muscle and joint pain. proven by science, fda approved. vascepa can reduce your risk and add cardio protection. call your doctor about vascepa today. remember this. it was about two months ago when the president held a photo op outside st. john's church back in the beginning of june after federal law enforcement forcibly dispersed peaceful protesters. our reporters were there by the way. that's how we know they were peaceful protesters. we've got it on video, across from the white house to clear the way for the president's stroll to st. john's. today congress held a hearing to begin investigating that use of force against protesters in lafayette square. as part of the hearing, lawmakers heard testimony today from adam demarco, a major in the d.c. national guard who was there that day and witnessed firsthand the tactics used by law enforcement to break up those peaceful protests. major demarco testified today

that what he saw was deeply disturbing. he called those aggressive tactics unnecessary will you more importantly, he directly contradicted the white house's claim that those protests were unruly as well as their claim that no tear gas was used to clear the protesters. >> i could feel irritation in my eyes and those and based off my previous exposure to tear gas in training, i recognized that irritation as effects consistent with cs or tear gas. and later that evening i found spent tear gas canisters on the street nearby. based on my training and experience, at no time did i feel threatened by the protesters or assess them to be violent. it was my observation that the use of force against demonstrators in the clearing operation was an unnecessary escalation of the use of force. >> now, what major demarco was describing there, federal officers using force to bust up protests, this is of course not just a d.c. thing anymore. that was the beginning of june. now that the president has dispatched federal agents to a handful of american cities all

in the name of restoring law and order. in portland, that surge of federal agents has led to the teargassing of the mayor as well as of moms and dads and veterans who have all turned out in an effort to blunt the federal use of force. the trump administration says law enforcement has been sent into seattle with the mission of protecting federal property there. rather than calming the situation, the deployment of federal officers to seattle seems to have amplified the protests of unjust policing. protests that turned volatile over the weekend. the president also sent hundreds of federal agents to missouri specifically to kansas city, purportedly to help target violent criminals as the city wrestles with a rising crime rate. and right off the bat people in kansas city grew suspicious of the administration's motives in their city. when attorney general bill barr claimed that over 200 people had been arrested in kansas city as part of this new push by federal law enforcement, well, local reporters started digging into the claim. they found that the attorney general's estimate was off by

199 arrests. in fact, only one person had been arrested in kansas city since the trump administration deployed the federal officers there. oops. the mayors of several american cities where the president has dispatched federal law enforcement are trying to undo what they consider to be an unwelcome presence of federal agents in their city. the mayors of six american cities have just sent a letter to congress asking lawmakers to block the president from sending federal agents into their cities. they write, quote, this administration's egregious use of federal force on cities over the objections of local authorities should never happen. these actions further erode trust in government at all levels, are delegitimizing local law enforcement, and escalate rather than de-escalate tensions. we live in a democratic republic, not an authoritarian police state. we must block this type of dangerous and undemocratic exercise of power once and for all, end quote.

the letter is signed by six american mayors including the mayors of portland and seattle and the mayor of kansas city, missouri. joining us now, mayor quinton lucas, the mayor of kansas city and one of the signatories on that letter to congress. mayor, good to see you. thank you for being with us. let's talk about this. there is not -- it's not the same conversation in kansas city. the president's not saying that those forces are there to defend federal property. they seem to be implying those forces are there to just sort of do what law enforcement would otherwise do in your city. >> well, that's exactly what they're claiming right now, but we have concern, all of us who signed onto this letter, with the fact that there is this ever expanding and creeping mission. that admission by bill barr that they had had 200 arrests in two weeks, although not true, shows you what the focus really was and what our concern is, that this is to be a substitute policing operation that in many ways is more about politics than

it is solving very serious homicides in kansas city and solving violent crimes for which we often will work with the fbi, u.s. marshals, and atf. we all have grave concerns this is going to exceed what normal, i guess, cooperation is and instead lead us into a position that may be more like portland and seattle, and that's something that no mayor wants. >> how do you deal with that, mayor lucas? what do you do to make sure that doesn't continue to happen? >> well, we have continuous conversations with our local united states attorneys, and i will say that both myself and other mayors have stronger relationships with them than we do with the folks in washington. but i think another part is that we get attention to the issue. the federal government right now is trying to, i think, come in and make this whole discussion of what cities are today. president trump, when he announced the expansion of operation legend, which is happening in chicago, kansas ci city, and albuquerque, talked about how liberal policies are destroying cities, are killing

people, and so we're trying to in a way actually just get some sensibility to this, to say that, yes, if we have somebody, an fbi profiler who is helping us find a serial killer or murderer, absolutely, that's the sort of assistance we want. but what we don't want are 1,000 agents on the border of our cities that are basically there to substitute for a police department. what you're seeing in portland, the defense is it's just to protect federal property. but if you look at any videos, those agents are far from federal properties. they're actually conducting what is normal policing activity, and it's the sort of thing that is escalating all of those situations. >> other than the publicity of the videos -- we're showing them right now on the side of the screen -- do you have legal grounds to be able to fight this? >> so i know that in talking with other mayors, including the mayor of chicago, seattle, and portland yesterday, we do think there are legal grounds. i noted this the other day. i'm old enough to remember when a few years ago during the tea party movement, everybody was talking about the powers that were reserved to states and

localities, and bringing all types of challenges against the obama administration for bringing the fbi in and others in to these sorts of issues. we do think there's that same sort of thing. there are localized and state police powers where you can't just have somebody substitute come in and arrest people, pull them off the streets, and do citywide policing operations or citywide warrant checks, which is something i know we've been concerned of. >> what do you do to answer the president's other accusation, that he says, as you said, democratic-led or liberal -- he said democrat -- democrat-led or liberal cities are easy on crime and letting things get out of control. that's a bit of a dog whistle, but how do you respond to it. >> first of all, the president has gone beyond simple dog whistling to probably dog barking. he has made it a situation where every -- even if it makes sense, is something that is kind of loud about progressives, loud about i think black leadership

and his constant fight with a black woman in chicago, lori lightfoot, and it is the sort of thing that creates a number of challenges. what we say is this. every mayor of every city, we're largely not radicals. we're the sorts of people who often work with or lead police departments technically, want our cities to be safe, but also want that safety to be aligned with actually good, core, locally based solutions. for example, in kansas city, they sent 225 federal agents. we currently have about 61 unsolved homicides this year. if instead of having folks that are doing any number of operations, we paired up one fbi agent with every unsolved homicide, first of all, we'd still have a lot of people left. but second we'd have a chance of impacting and denting into our total number of unsolved crimes. i mean there are better ways to do it, or if we talked about guns and gun trafficking, the atf should be working on the dugs because there's not a single firearm that is produced in kansas city or chicago. those are the sorts of things that we're looking for from

federal cooperation. that's what we'll keep pushing for, i guess, for the duration of this administration and certainly throughout this operation. >> mayor, good to talk to you. thank you for taking some time to talk to us tonight. kansas city mayor quinton luke ago. still ahead, a potentially lightning application of the zoom feature when it comes to joe biden's pick for vice president. that's next. stay with us. >> tech: at safelite, we're committed to taking care of you

and your car. >> tech: we'll fix it right with no-contact service you can trust. >> tech: so if you have auto glass damage, stay safe with safelite. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ - sir. - you're talking about a first [runnigeneration americanren] from the streets of the imperial valley who rose to beat the odds. she worked nights and weekends till she earned herself a master's degree.

she was running in a marathon when a man behind her collapsed from cardiac arrest. and using her experience saved this man's life. so why do i think there should be more people like carmen bravo in this world? because that man... was me. introducing the new sleep number 360 smart bed... now temperature balancing, so you can sleep better together. can it help keep me asleep? absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. can it help with snoring? i've never heard snoring. exactly. no problem. ...and done. will it help me keep up with mom? you've got this. so you can really promise better sleep? not promise... prove. and now, no interest until january 2023 on all smart beds. only for a limited time.

welcome to camp tonsafun on xfinity! it's summer camp, but in your living room. learn how to draw with a minions expert... how to build an indoor obstacle course! plus... whatever she's doing. and me, jade catta-preta. the host of e's the soup! camp tonsafun. it's like summer camp, but minus the poison ivy. unless you own poison ivy. in which case, why? just say "summer camp" into your xfinity voice remote to join.

with the news that democratic presidential nominee joe biden will be announcing his pick for vp next week, the tea leaf reading has begun in earnest. exhibit a, an associated press photographer caught this picture of the notes joe biden had in hand during a campaign event in delaware. computer enhanced. check this out. in biden's tidy scrawl, there at the top under the header kamala harris, do not hold grudges. campaigned with me and jill. talented. great help to campaign. great respect for her.

if these are meant to be joe biden's thoughts on kamala harris' viability as a running mate, none are particularly hearth shattering. the part about grudges could stem from their tense exchange at the first primary debate when senator harris blasted biden for his record on desegregation and busing. but do not hold grudges makes sense in that context even without the benefit of the context. however, these notes could mean anything. they could be an argument for picking harris as his running mate or a defense for not picking her as his running mate. i guess for a definitive answer, we're all going to have to wait until next week's announcement. until then, computer, cease enhancement. and that does it for tonight. we will see you again tomorrow. it's time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. good evening, lawrence. i'm not sure if anything's getting any better since our conversation last night about our prospects of watching a few months of baseball. >> no, it doesn't look that way. but, ali, i have to say i'm going to have cory booker on later in this hour. i'll ask him what he makes of those biden notes about his

colleague, kamala harris. so the thing that strikes me about it, ali, is that there were no other vp names on that sheet. you know, there was no one else, no notes about how to discuss anyone else. >> right. >> and at this important bit of evidence that we have in those notes. >> that they were only about kamala harris. we shall hopefully know by maybe this time next week. >> ali, i have to say, this is one of the most humiliating periods in american political journalism, and it is that period that includes the guessing game of who's going to be selected for vice president. some of the dumbest things that we ever say are said during that period, and are proven so when the choice is made. so i'm going to just stay quiet. >> given the things that we've had to speculate about in the last 3 1/2 years, this one feels light and not too damaging.