tv Politics Nation MSNBC March 28, 2021 2:00pm-3:00pm PDT
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good evening, and welcome to "politics nation," coming to you tonight from minneapolis, minnesota. tonight's lead, his story in the making. starting tomorrow morning, all eyes will be on the hennepin county court, the courthouse right behind me as it will become the courthouse of global attention once judge peter cahill convenes the state of minnesota versus derek chauvin. the former minneapolis police officer charged with killing
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george floyd roughly ten months ago. it led to a worldwide black lives matter protest. movement upon movement of people of all races. and it went over the summer and initiated a generational conversation about race relations and the future of american policing. but at its core, it remains, like all police shooting deaths of an unarmed black people about a family that has lost a loved one. and almost, without fail, that family finds itself having to both grieve and fight. joining me now from a safe social distance is the brother of george floyd, philonise floyd, and the lawyer representing the family, i call him the attorney general of black america, attorney benjamin crump. let me start with you, philonise. we've talked over the months on
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a weekly basis. and share with our viewers anything you can say about your brother's face becoming the face of the past year's reform movement of policing. what does it mean to you? share what you and i talk about. what does this mean to you? >> you know, it means a lot to me. not only me, my family. we are like the -- we'd like to cement his legacy. he didn't deserve that. nobody in america deserve that. as we walk the streets 24/7, we see victims steadily passing away after my brother has passed. so unfortunately, i had to get out, and i had to get out and get out and i say get out. i had to get out and stop this violence. i just want to stop the killing. my family and i, we don't want this to happen to any other black person in america.
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not just black, people of color. it's a time for change, and that time is now. >> attorney crump, you're not prosecuting this criminal case but, obviously, for our audience's sake, give those nearly nine minutes of video that galvanized the world, how do you expect chauvin's defense will try to defend him and ultimately get him cleared of these counts? >> you know, reverend al, we have seen this before, and we know what the playbook is. they're going to assassinate the character of george floyd starting tomorrow morning. they're going to call him everything but a child of god. they're going to try to say because he had trace amounts of drugs in his system, that's what killed him, not what we saw on that video. and i want to be clear, what killed him, reverend al, was an overdose of excessive force.
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>> now when you have to sit there, one of the reasons that we're having the prayer rally tonight with the family, is you are going to have to relive this, philonise, what happened with your brother and hear over the next few weeks them try to smear your brother's name. what is going to give you and the family -- i've met all of the family members at the funerals and all. and this is going to take a lot of internal strength. what is preparing you all to go through this, to really gird up your loins and be able to be strong enough to take the death of your brother and then the smearing of your brother in the courthouse that's coming up in the weeks to come? >> yeah, you know, unfortunately, it's an emotional roller coaster, but one person i always told me and his name was al sharpton. he said, we've got to keep fighting. we're going to keep fighting for justice. my family and i, we sit back and
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we talk about different things because we got to relive this forever. nobody understands that. but we're going to do what we can because every time i think about my brother, i think about the time when we played with each other. we went fishing together. he showed me different things, like geometry and stuff like that. i needed help. he would help me with it. i'll never get that again in life. he'll never be able to call me on the phone and tell me, hey, you see this game? how did this person play? how did lebron play and stuff like that. we had a relationship that was one of a kind. it was like, he was an ace of spades when you look at him. he was a one of a kind person. i hate that my brother had to be taken. i love him so much, and my family and his kids -- his kids, they have to live without him forever, and that's a tragedy we shouldn't have had. that officer had his knee on my brother's neck for 8:46, as he
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took the soul away from him. my brother, he should still be here. we shouldn't even have to have this conversation. >> ben crump, as you look at the cases that you've fought down through the years and i've been in the trenches with you for decades now, and this one really got to you when you called me and we came into minneapolis and on and on. there must be a legislative answer. one of the things that we've been pushing is the george floyd justice in policing act. explain why we want to see some justice for the family in this courthouse, but we also want to see something in the u.s. senate. >> absolutely, reverend al. we have to remember that the historic civil settlement of $27 million based on the seventh amendment, to give the family civil justice, impacts the family mostly. even the criminal conviction
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that we anticipate occurring based on what we see on that video, that impacts the family directly as well. it's policy. as you and i have often discussed that affects all of us. and this george floyd justice and accountability policing act, once it passes and president biden signs it, will curtail all these hash tags where you and national action network have to go all around the country trying to give voice to those marginalized people of color who were killed by the police because when they saw their black skin, they shot first and asked questions later. or they executed excessive force. and i have to say this, reverend al, because keith ellison, who you and i both know, the first african-american attorney general in the state of minnesota, had a track record of being a champion for civil rights. i believe it's going to zealously prosecute this case with everything he's got, and
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elections matter. and breonna taylor, you had the first one in kentucky who didn't have that champion as civil rights. i honestly believe it comes back full circle to the democratic process. voting matters. black lives matter. the civil rights agenda matters for all of us, and you know that better than anyone, al sharpton. >> philonise, let me ask you this, and i'll let you to go. i appreciate you coming and doing this. we'll be at the church tonight having the prayer rally. but as you see legislation that may become law named after your brother, i remember you and your whole family and george's kids met with then-candidate joe biden. and he said that he was going to deal with police reform if he's elected. he is now president. if he's watching you tonight, what do you say to the president, who you had a very good conversation. i was part of the meeting.
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we were in the room. we helped to facilitate it. what do you hope the president understands on the eve of the trial of the man responsible for your brother's death, whatever way the jury decides, there's no question it happened at that scene. >> i want him to think about my brother. he died from affixiation. that's equivalent to being choked to death in the black community. i want him to think about eric garner when he didn't get the justice he needed. i want him to think about breonna taylor. she didn't get the justice she needed. and so many people around the world who didn't have footage who were killed. innocent people. and we need biden to look into that because the george floyd policing act, it's big. the no-knock warrants, breonna taylor, she was killed because of that. cops not wearing their body cams or having their dash cams on in the car. they are doing wrong because you need to have it on at all times. qualified immunity.
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we have to end that. that's one of the biggest reasons we have a lot of people dying, laying in the morgue, families crying. people not able to sit at tables with family members. so many different tactics. the no-choke hold law, george floyd, ahmaud arbery, there's plenty more. castile was killed in minneapolis. 7:04. george, 8:46. time. time. time is not meant for everybody right now. that's the way it's looking. people are getting killed every day. >> philonise floyd, attorney ben crump, see you in a little while at the church. we're with you. thanks for doing this tonight on the eve. i know this is a tough night. thank you for coming p. thank you so much. joining me is the former prosecutor david henderson, a civil rights attorney. mr. henderson, to refresh our
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audience, derek chauvin is facing three charges from the hennepin county. please take our audience through what each charge means. there are burdens of proof. their ramifications. >> i'll summarize it by saying this. you don't stick a knife nine inches in someone's back, pull it out six inches and say you've done them a favor. overall, that's the way the krminal justice system is handling this case. it's true derek chauvin is facing a second-degree murder charge. the problem is, he's charged with unintentional murder issue not intentional murder, though many legal experts would disagree with me. i think he should have been charged with intentional murder. i believe i can support that position. in terms of the way he is charged, he's also charged with third-degree murder, but what is not immediately clear is that the range of punishment for those two offenses, the way he is charged, is exactly the same. he's also been charged with
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manslaughter. the problem with the manslaughter charge is even though it does give the jury a third option to convict, if he's convicted on that basis, the punishment that he'll face simply does not fit the crime. so overall, that's the challenge i have with the way these charges are being brought against derek chauvin. >> as i said in the intro, this was the year that police reform was mainstreamed in a global way. however long that lasts, i will say. but several cities have implemented reductions in police budgets in line with the defund mentality. but there was also a steep rise in urban murder rates over the last year. your thoughts, counselor. >> i think the person who said this best is one of our former police chiefs. chief david brown gave a speech. at the beginning of the speech he said cops get asked to do too much. whether we're talking about a mental health crisis, failing public schools. here in dallas, texas, a loose dog problem. cops get asked to do it. he ended the speech by saying,
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quote, policing was never meant to address all of those problems. i agree with him. the problem with the discussions about changing policing right now is, we've let the terminology overtake the conversation. all americans want good policing. most reasonable americans want good policing. the question is, how do we get there, and more importantly, how do we prevent another george floyd? another breonna taylor? that's what we're all aiming for here. >> the trial begins tomorrow, but i wonder if you can tell us if george floyd's death has any impact on civil rights cases since last may. politically i'm talking about. we're fighting for floyd's act to pass the senate as i just discussed with his brother. but in your view, has the court changed at all in the past year? or is it too early without a conviction to be able to weigh that? >> i'm going to give you a personal answer to that question. two months before people took to the streets and protested on
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behalf of george floyd, i looked at my wife and said, maybe i was an idiot to think we could reform the police in this country. maybe it was dumb for me to ever believe that was possible. but i was shocked by how many people took to the streets to push for change, and we wouldn't even be talking about police reform right now if that hadn't happened. it pains me to think about what happened to george floyd. i am happy to know, though, his death will have meaning because no matter what happens with this trial, it will change policing in america for the better. the only question is how that change comes about. and we're all praying it comes about positively. >> before we run out of time, can you give us your predictions, as well as what this first week will look like in terms of the strategy for prosecutors and defense? >> i'm a bit lost on the challenge of trying to address the strategy of the prosecutors because i've been frustrated watching the way they've handled this case. the reason i've been frustrated is because i know how
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prosecutors are typically innovative and aggressive on behalf of victims of violent crimes. they need to be that for george floyd's family. and i don't quite see that right now. i think the defense intends to try to engage in character assassination, which they have done so far. out of all the legal rulings i can remember, i think the one i take most personally offensive that i can think of sitting here talking to you today is the admission of george floyd's 2019 arrest video. having prosecuted a number of sexual assault crimes, i know that the justice system realizes that a victim's history isn't relevant. we know that when someone is charged with a sexual assault. a victim's personal history is irrelevant. same should apply to george floyd with regard thos prior arrests. that video should not have been allowed in. it's character assassination and will impact the case. what i expect from the prosecution are shouts of indignation when that happens. and i expect for judge cahill to
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put a stop to it and make sure the people also get a fair trial over the next few weeks. >> the strategy of smearing the victim we've seen in many police cases, which is one of the reasons why there's the rally for the family tonight because it really impacts family members. they've already lost a loved one less than a year ago. and now they're going to see all of this attempt to smear him. that is why a lot of us are saying, wherever this goes, you don't want to add insult to injury. and that's part of what you are raising in terms of your seeing the decision to allow even any of that to be brought into this trial. >> absolutely. that is absolutely what i'm saying. i think that george floyd deserves better. and also, what you have to understand as you watch this trial, and i hope everyone will keep in mind that when you and i talk about issues like this, we're speaking at a very high level about the way the law works.
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that's not the way the law works in a courtroom, though. it's not as though people read the law, then decide what they're going to do. people figure out what they're going to do, then look to a way to justify it by using the law. and that's what you saw with that 2019 arrest video. supposedly it relates to the cause of death in this case and as ridiculous as that sounds, we're going to have an argument in this trial over what caused george floyd's death. underlying health issues or drug use or derek chauvin's knee on his neck for nine minutes. the answer is obvious but that's the justification that judge cahill gave for presenting a video where now the jury will hear that george floyd was arrested before. they're going to see a photograph of drugs in his vehicle when he was arrested and they'll hear evidence that he's ingested drugs to try to hide them from police during an arrest. that has nothing to do with this case. it's the same character assassination that you pointed out we see in every one of these cases. it should have been shut down, but what we have to do is be
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vigilant in paying attention to these details and making sure it does not happen in the future. >> david henderson, thank you for being here. coming up -- why we must rise up together in the fight for justice for george floyd, and how you can do your part. first, my colleague richard louie with today's other top news stories. >> good sunday to you. some of the stories we're watching for you this hour. covid cases now over 30.3 million as of today. souls lost now over 551,000 people. slowing the losses, over 91 million americans received at least one dose of a vaccine. president biden urging states to make all adults eligible for the vaccine by may 1st. and the giant container ship "ever given" for the sixth day is still stuck blocking the suez canal. some good news for you. tug boats successfully shifted the boat, oh, just a little bit. egyptian leaders say they're looking into plans to remove
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containers on board to try to lighten that boat. over 100 people in myanmar have been killed taking part in local protests this weekend. they're protest thefg country's military takeover of the country in february. moments ago, president biden said it's absolutely outrageous, and based on reporting, an awful lot of people have been killed unnecessarily. more "politics nation" with al sharpton right after the break. where ore-ida golden crinkles are your crispy currency to pay for bites of this... ...with this. when kids won't eat dinner, potato pay them to. ore-ida. win at mealtime. [typing sound] i had this hundred thousand dollar student debt. two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars in debt. ah, sofi literally changed my life. it was the easiest application process. sofi made it so there's no tradeoff between my dreams and paying student loans. student loans don't have to take over
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for this week's "rise up," i'm going to talk about how you can pursue justice for george floyd in your own communities across the country. as head of the national action network i've traveled here to minneapolis, minnesota, on the eve of the trial of george's alleged killer. but i know such travel isn't practical for the millions of people who want to show their support to george's family. many of you will participate in
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peaceful marches in the coming weeks against the police brutality that killed george and so many others that were unarmed black americans. but before you take to the streets, take a moment to research the situation in your own town or city. because george floyd's killing has become a symbol for the pervasive rot of racism and misconduct that has spread into police departments around the country. in addition to marching, if you are concerned with issues of police accountability, you can find out who your senators and congressional representatives are. and ask them how they will protect the promise of the constitution. equal justice under the law should not be a partisan issue. but policing issues can sometimes be more directly addressed on a local level. so while you're on the phone, you could also call your city council, your mayor's office,
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and your state government officials and ask them what they're doing to ensure police accountability and justice in your community. finally, let me be clear, i am not against all police. i am against corrupt officers, racist officers, murderous officers. and the systemic protection of the so-called bad apples at the expense of trust in law enforcement and public safety and those that do it right. and to the good police officers out there, the time for silence is long over. it is your duty to report and denounce any bad apples in your precinct. as thousands of people, you are meant to protect and serve march peacefully in the coming days and weeks. lay down your batons and pepper spray and listen to them. george floyd was taken from us before his time. but we will continue to rise up together in his name. me
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president biden has earned a high level of approval from the american people in his response to the covid-19 pandemic so far. a new poll has 72% of americans approving of his response to the coronavirus crisis with 60% approving of his approach to the economic recovery and 75% approve of his vaccine rollout. and this poll was partially conducted before biden's announcement that his administration would double its vaccination goal pledging to get 200 million shots in arms in his first 100 days. joining me now is my panel, juanita, democratic strategist and msnbc political analyst, and
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michael steel, republican strategist. let me ask you, michael, with one-third of the country at least partially vaccinated, how do you interpret those kinds of approval numbers? >> i think it's an extraordinary achievement. obviously, it builds on the work that president trump and his administration did. developed these vaccines. there's no question that president biden has done a terrific job setting goals and hitting them so people can understand and appreciate them. >> now turning now to georgia, the president didn't mince words about the new voting restrictions. listen to this. >> it's an atrocity. the idea -- if you want any indication that it has nothing to do with fairness, nothing to do with decency, they passed a law saying you can't provide
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water for people standing in line while they're waiting to vote? you don't need anything else to know that this is nothing but punitive, designed to keep people from voting. you can't provide water for people about to vote. give me a break. >> juanita, this might represent an escalation in tactics, and it certainly is an atrocity. as the president said. but this is -- isn't just a law. it's a continuation of the same electoral strategy from the last decade. it's not just this law. this is a pattern here. >> that's right, rev. i'll go back beyond a decade to the past 50, 60 years. this has been a general tactic of the gop in order to, as they like to say, have an advantage electorally. it's by preventing people from
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voting, explicitly black and brown people. and what we're seeing right now in those words of biden, which i appreciate. yes, the escalation is needed when we have 43 states considering 250 bills that are similar to the one that passed in georgia because what the white house decides to do right now is going to dictate the tone and response for all these other states that are considering similar bills. i believe in another statement to president biden also said he's having the doj look into this bill and this law and determine the legality as well. and i think that fully aligns with what we've seen from advocate who filed claims in local court systems in georgia and have been protesting across the state because voters and advocates are not going to back down from this. they'll not back down from it in georgia, texas, arizona or any other state that tries to pull this same stunt. because what we fully understand right now is that this is a full-on attack, not only on black and brown voters historically disenfranchised but on the integrity of our democracy, rev. and that's not something people
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are ever going to stop fighting. >> for all the republicans' hand wringing about changing the filibuster, it doesn't appear anywhere in the constitution. and it has been changed before, including by republicans. just four short years ago. michael, do senate republicans think americans won't care about their obstruction and hypocrisy on this issue? >> look, i think the filibuster is going to go in the senate. i think it's a matter of time. i think it was designed for an earlier era when it was easier to work across party lines because we weren't polarized ideologically and the two national political parties didn't represent distinct ideologies. the system simply doesn't exist anymore. by and large you have conservative people represented by conservative politicians and liberal people represented by liberal politicians. and as long as that is the case,
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as closely divided as the country is, a 60-vote threshold isn't realistic or necessary. >> now juanita, one of the most pernicious aspects of the new voter law gives the republican-controlled state elections boards the authority to supersede county results. if this law was in place in 2020, do you think the former president would have been successful in his attempt to steal the election? >> rev, without hesitation, i believe he would have been able to got those votes found and not just in georgia but other states. i feel those calls that he made to the secretary of state raffensberger would have been able to be fully executed on. and we saw how he was treating state and local officials from other states, inviting them to the white house, trying to coax them to do things for him. trying to undermine the election outcomes. this gives him full runway to
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find those votes and really undermine our democracy and undermine voters when we know the gop doesn't stand a chance. >> michael, when asked this week about the possibility of a change in the filibuster to pass hr-1 and protect voting rights, georgia senator raphael warnock posed his own question. why isn't there more pressure on senate republicans to defend their failure to protect every american's constitutional right to vote. it's a good question. >> it's an interesting question. i think that there are people who argue this is essentially a state issue and that the federal government should largely stay out of it. there are people who argue that our first amendment rights are threatined by this legislation and others say there are sensible restrictions you and i may disagree on. i believe if it's necessary to have a government issued i.d. to buy alcohol or fly on a plane it should be necessary to show a
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government-issued i.d. card to vote. there's been a long huge history of disagreement between republicans who prioritize security and democrats who prioritize access when it comes to voting rights access. at the same time, we need to make it clear that any attempt to infringe upon results based on the conspiracy theories that president trump actually won should be baseless and ruled out. >> juanita tolliver and michael steel, my thanks to both of you. coming up, bridging the digital divide for communities of color. that conversation is after the break. so you want to make the best burger ever? then make it! that means cooking day and night until you get... (ding)... you got paid! that means... best burger ever. intuit quickbooks helps small businesses be more successful with payments, payroll, banking and live bookkeeping. ♪ ♪i've got the brains you've got the looks♪
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in the past year, the covid-19 pandemic has exposed what a lot of us already knew. which is that communities of color struggle more than predominantly white neighborhoods when it comes to assessing food, education, medical assistance and more. now a new strategy has been announced by the national urban league to combat one of the most serious signs of racial inequity in america. lack of broadband internet access. joining me now is the president and ceo of the national urban league, mark morial and robert
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smith, the founder, chairman and ceo of vista equity partners. let me thank both of you for being with me. let me go to you first, mark. i want to start with asking you to tell me about this lewis lat more plan, and what does it provide? >> the lewis lattimer plan named after the famous black ininventor who worked with alexander bell and thomas edison is a plan for broadband digital inclusion and equity. it's a call to action. and what it suggests is that in america today, broadband access is a necessity, not a nicety. yet, only 60% of black homes, 64% of latinx homes, compared to 72% of white homes have, if you will, a broadband connection in their home. and those americans that make
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under $50,000 a year, the numbers are even worse. only 50% of them have broadband connection in their home. so the lewis lattimer plan is about availability of a broadband connection. adoption and affordability of a broadband connection, and as we build out broadband in america, which we must do, it's about the economic, if you will, participation through jobs and business opportunities that are so essential in this growing new industry. we're proud to work with the business community and robert who has taken a great leadership role to bring his expertise to how we think about these issues. >> i don't know anyone in more america with more expertise and more passion about this, robert, than you. the digital divide is huge. it impacts households of color more often than those that are white. what are the setbacks families
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of color face when they have little to no internet access at home? >> thanks, reverend. good to see you and marc. the pandemic has revealed an existing problem that frankly was growing at the speed of innovation. the rural and urban communities of america, frankly, require quality fast and reliable and secure internet on demand. right now as we sit here, 42 million americans don't have access to high-speed broadband internet and a disproportionate number of black and native american and latinx. it affects their ability to participate in the economy in so many ways. they can't take classes, can't schedule telemedicine business with their doctors, access health care portals, look up nutrigssal information. can't work online, bank online, reskill or start a company. not having access to the internet makes it harder to get
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educated, stay healthy and get wealth. this will continue to afflict our nation. al, where you are today in minneapolis, over 56,000 kids enrolled in a minneapolis public school district. 36% of them are african-american. about 20% of those kids don't have access to broadband. that's over 10,000 kids which means they aren't being prepared for the future. in the u.s. about 50 million kids had to turn to remote learning due to this pandemic and one-third of them didn't have internet or access to devices. health care. we've seen this expansion in telemedicine. health care providers reporting now that 50 to 175 times more patients are using telemedicine. and these small to medium businesses rely on it. i look at -- and you all know at cdfi, before he was able to modernize his banking infrastructure, he could only do 50 to 60 loans a year. now 7500 in six months.
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i look at mckeshon in india, they digitized -- >> let me ask you on that point, robert, how does your plan, because you're a result man. how does your plan help get more black americans online so they can be accessible to the digital world? >> it is critical in this lattimer plan we get public/private partnerships to provide affordable broadband internet to all citizens. and all our citizens in particular, we are disproportionately affected. you have 400 million indians up on 4g services and they're paying about $2 to $3 for a 4g plan. here the average is $40 to $50 and we have left out 40 million americans or so. it's important we have a public/private partnership with enabling our communities to have access and affordable access, and we need to figure out some subsidy program for communities that don't have the capacity to pay for it today.
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they shouldn't have to miss a meal to actually get broadband access. part of the brilliance of this lattimer plan that marc has put together with the urban league is to actually deliver that sort of partnership to give us the capacity to enter into this economy in the right way and actually lead our people into the future and real participants in this community. >> also, reverend -- >> before i let you go -- >> go ahead. >> go ahead. >> no, i was going to add, reverend two things here. okay. two things here that imminent and immediate. robert mentioned a sustainable effort to connect the 96 million people who do not have broadband. that can be done legislatively. we think it can be done through the upcoming infrastructure bill. secondly, there needs to be investments in the infrastructure bill. and the president has signaled
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support for this to expand the quality of the network to those areas that are not connected. this is not just a rural issue. this is an urban and suburban issue because many of the americans who are not connected live in urban communities. they are people of color. so this plan would be available for people to take a look at on our website on tuesday. we encourage them to take a look at it and to support this effort for broadband inclusion and broadband equity. >> and the reason why we're out of time, but the reason i wanted to bring this on is because as we now try to move toward a gradual ending of the pandemic, we're nowhere near there yet, but when we come out of it, as you mentioned, robert, the amount of students in minneapolis where i am, but around the country that did not have broadband access, they are going to even be further behind in their schooling. we need to deal with all of
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these issues now because post-pandemic, whether it's six months from now, three months from now, a year from now, we're going to talk about going back to normal, and it's going to be worse than when we went in. this is very important program. i thank you both for your leadership. marc morial and robert smith, thank you. up next, my final thoughts. stay with us. hey. i'm alicia menendez. the fight for the right to vote. jaime harrison will be here, plus shannon watts weighs in on the renewed fight for gun safety. and a comedian on the legacy of selena as we near what would have been her 50th birthday. that and more ahead on "american voices, 7:00 p.m. eastern only on msnbc. ne trees, but maybe not for people with certain inflammatory conditions. because there are options. like an “unjection™”. xeljanz. the first and only pill of its kind that treats moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis,
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as the trial for the alleged killer of george floyd, former officer derek chauvin, goes on trial in the morning. i'm here in my capacity as being the head of national action network, but also in my capacity as a minister who was the eulogist for george floyd's funeral here in minneapolis and in houston, texas. because this family is going to have to go through what too many families have had to go through. and that is how they have to explain to the children of a deceased man why those that are sworn to protect him took his life while he was unarmed, while he was begging for his life. we around the country have no idea what all of our outrage and what all of our passion, the pain that families feel, and
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they grieve in different ways. and that is why it is important that we stand by the families and behave in a way that we remember that we want to stop this from happening to families, because it could happen to any one of us. a danger of not holding law enforcement accountable is that we allow it to continue to happen. all police are not bad, but all citizens are not bad. bad citizens must be held accountable. and so must bad police. and we must correct the policing laws to make sure that is happening. yes, people don't live perfect lives. but they should not be sentenced to death. yes, people can sometimes make mistakes, but that means that everyone must be held to the same standard. equal protection under the law. let us remember george floyd in a way that will not only ease
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up more on the justice for george floyd. >> we have more on this actual story, rev, including some of your remarks. so thank you very much, sir. >> thank you. >> and thank you for joining us this sunday evening. we have msnbc special coverage right now of this murder trial for the police officer who killed george floyd. the trial gets under way tomorrow with opening statements. our special right now is the trial, the killing of george floyd. tonight, you'll see new reporting of what will happen in the trial, what we know legally. you'll also see the stakes. and what we have already learned about who is on the jury. as the nation reflects on many civil rights challenges right now, a new police response to a mass shooting and a possible hate crime. later tonight, a special report on the evidence of a racial double standard and how police make arrests and use force. now, tomorrow's trial provides a possible reckoning for one of last year's defining moments. before may 25th,
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