minneapolis. i want to bring into the conversation to help us evaluate what we are seeing so far, joyce vance, a nbc news news contributor, retired sergeant cheryl dorsey. joyce, i want to get your general takeaway of what we have seen particularly with the second witness. the first witness, a straightforward presentation of trying to establish a timeline. what do you make of this prosecution's witness, 23-year-old alicia oiler, i believe, who worked at the speedway away the way from cup foods? >> this might seem like a curious piece of testimony for folks who have been watching it but this is a building block. ms. oiler apparently took much of the bystander video we have seen. she had a perspective from across the street of the three officers as they begin to hold

mr. floyd prone. so what they're really doing is authenticating the video, clarifying her opportunity to observe and to make the video in realtime so that the prosecution will be able to offer those videotapes into evidence and have them admitted as items that the jury will be able to consider when they deliberate. >> joyce, the prosecutor here he is almost going down to a granular level, a minute by minute account of what she saw throughout the course of what we now know are 9:29. >> he is and it seems very detailed but she will have to say that it's a true an accurate depiction of the events observed before the videotape can come into evidence that this is the videotape she made so he's watching it with her so she can attest to that fact. >> sergeant dorsey, i'm curious

your thoughts here. if we go back earlier in the afternoon we saw the defense attorney question the 911 dispatcher about a phone call she made to the sergeant in which she expressed her concerns about what she was witnessing. can you talk to us from your experience about that? the role of the 911 dispatcher in the chain of events that ultimately led to what we are witnessing right now? >> she testified that she was able to from the position at work view video that was recording what was occurring on the street and based on the training and experience as an operator she knew it was problematic and the defense toirn attorney trying to deflect and get a juror is alm he needs to agree she wasn't clear on what she saw and doesn't understand use of force so therefore her representation is

not to be believed but when we look at the video now we see in addition to what that 911 dispatch operate or the saw chauvin and the partner putting on black gloves and when officers put on black gloves they about to put in work and drag him out of the car. why? all they had to do really is drive off and take him whenever they were going to go. they took him out to do what they did, punish him for reasons that we'll probably never understand. >> yeah. to our viewers tuning in, 3 minutes past 4. niccole wallace will pick up the coverage momentarily. i have a follow-up question for you and perhaps a glimpse into the defense strategy here and that was the argument and paraphrasing here, the argument earlier today essentially focused on the police not having enough capability to draw their attention away from the crowds that were gathering to tend to

the medical condition of george floyd. they -- it seemed at least from the line of questioning from the defense that they were preoccupied and concerned with the gathering crowds while at the same time dealing with their suspect there. are you convinced by that argument when you see the totality of what we know so far? >> that's the narrative that the defense wants to create but we can see that there was one officer who were paying attention particularly to the crowd and the other three chaufen in particular watching admiring his work sitting there for those minutes on the neck of george floyd and not concerned about the crowd lynching floyd or concerned of providing any care. derek chauvin was focused on punishing mr. floyd and daring anyone to stop him.

>> 27 times he said he could not breathe. joyce, cheryl, thank you both for your quick analysis on what we have seen of day one of the chauvin trial. "deadline white house" with niccole wallace starts right now. hi, everyone. a few minutes after 4:00 new york. we are monitoring day one of testimony in the murder trial of derek chauvin, the police officer caught on video killing by kneeling on the neck of george floyd for around 9 minutes last summer. george floyd. it is a case that's ignited a reckoning all over this country. all over the world. i was riveted by the testimony just as the hour was coming a close. we are going to dip back into that. i promise you we'll get to some friends and reporters and other stories in a little bit but let's watch.

>> what you saw after you left work that day. >> there was tape everybody where and made me like -- instead of going down chicago to go home they made me like go around and down the street like all the way down i think like 35th. >> was the scene crime scene around it? >> yep. >> did you make another recording of that crime scene tape? >> i think i did. >> at this time, i believe we have already received exhibit 7 and i would like to publish exhibit 7 please. >> no objection. [ inaudible ] >> that would be good. you know what? i'm almost finished here. >> go ahead. >> if we could just publish exhibit 7. oh no i'm sorry. that's exhibit 8. all right.

if you could pause please. and, ms. oiler, you described the scene being taped up with crime scene tape and you weren't able to access it? does this show the area? >> yes' if you could resume play please. and stop. all right. and you can take that down. what did you do then after you made that recording? >> i went home. okay. and at some point you were contacted by police officers. is that right? >> yep. >> they talked to you about what happened? took a statement from you? >> yep. >> you voluntarily provided the videos to them? is that right? >> yep. >> okay. well, thank you very much. counsel will have some questions for you but i think we are going

to take a break first. >> let's take our 20-minute break and reconvene at 3:25. >> okay. everybody, thank you for staying along with us for our continuing coverage of the trial. that was the end of this morning's testimony of alicia oiler under questioning from the prosecutors to understand the significance and where they are headed i'm joined by kim atkins, also joining us msnbc political andist clair mccaskill. and ali velshi is with us. ali, let me start with you. >> reporter: you saw a change in the cadence in the testimony late in the afternoon. you were heard from two people today. one was the 911 dispatcher who dispatched the officers and then looking on a camera sort of a

city camera about what was happening decided to alert a superior officer and now you heard the testimony of a person that worked at the gas station across from cup foods at the corner of 38th and chicago in minneapolis who started -- who videotaped a lot of that evidence that is now going to be considered by the jury so it was a sort of a more halting cadence this afternoon but this person verifying that she recorded this, this is what she saw happening. this is the end of a day that started with opening arguments which were very powerful, the fact to see video, hear from all those people that actually watched what happened and that is going to tell you what this case is all about. the prosecution saying in fact the video is a piece of this and what happened before the video started inside of cup foods and then what happened before police approached the car that george floyd was in and what happened subsequent to his death meaning the autopsy and the toxicology

results are going to give you a fuller picture of what's going on. the defense has no duty here except to sow doubt in the minds of at least one juror. >> can you take us inside what the -- not the mood because this is serious. people aren't probably naval gazing but what are the tensions like around the proceedings, around the jurors? one family member is allowed inside the courtroom and i know that there is a lot that's already been placed on this day. our friend and colleague the rev al sharpton said the result will test america. america is also on trial today. >> reporter: i think that's important to understand. this isn't just the trial of a -- it is from the legal perspective the trial of one police officer in the death of one man there's a sense and i got it when i was here and we spoke a lot of times when i was here right after the killing of

george floyd last year and a sense to say what more do you need? now you have the tape. so this morning across the road rev al, lawyers and other supporters held a press conference and knelt for 8:46. that's the time that has been associated with chauvin's neon george floyd's neck. the time as the prosecutor says is 9:29. and inside that court what the prosecution is trying to do is say this is the trial of derek chauvin and what he did to george floyd. what the defense is trying to do is say george floyd had other things going on that could have resulted in the death and fentanyl in the system and arrhythmia. the case doesn't have to prove the cause of death is the only cause of death.

but there's a lot of tension around here and out here. there have been protests yesterday and today and will continue to be from people who say if this isn't enough evidence with chauvin on floyd's neck, if that's not enough evidence what is? what does justice look like? that's forming the shroud around this case. >> i think, kim, what does justice look like is the question on the table. i think most people by now have been educated that it looks like something different if you're a black man in america and if the defense is really going to head down that road and argue that defense looks like kneeling the life out of a man we are in a whole lot of hurt. >> i think that's absolutely true. at the beginning of this trial i remember being very familiar feeling of knowing that justice is something that a lot of people are praying for but that's not something that they

may see out of this trial because there's a difference between legally what justice will be in terms of the prosecutor being able to -- every element of the crime -- to the american public. all of those -- against -- as i did -- sick to my stomach. the prosecutors must prove as you said what derek chauvin -- george floyd's death -- that defense -- that he committed an assault above and outside of this duties in terms of what is acceptable as a police officer in a hold. that assaulted and -- a felony -- charge here. and that very technical -- that's why you're seeing -- of each of the witnesses and all going to go to the jury to

decide what -- prosecutor made out -- it -- slam dunk. it is difficult to do. but there is a broader -- there's also a federal -- support -- there will be -- civil case -- so you have to -- because it's -- this trial -- and the result -- want. >> we'll perfect your audio in the next break but i wonder as a former prosecutor yourself to help us watching on television, understand what part of the story they're trying to make sure the jury understands clearly from the witnesses we have seen, especially this afternoon. >> the defense lawyers are trying to distract the jury away from the specific conduct of the

defendant. which is not uncommon. they want to distract the jury about the surrounding circumstances and why they were all there and the -- trying to make them believe there's a growing crowd and needed to monitor that. here's why the prosecutor has such powerful everyday in this case. a police officer cannot use deadly force unless he believes in danger or the people around them are in danger. this is a man is handcuffed behind his back. these are three officers, four if you count the one standing nearby. there is no reason for this officer to put his knee on the neck for this period of time and frankly one of the most powerful things a prosecutor can do in a closing argument is demonstrate it was how long by standing

silent for those minutes in closing arguments because during that time he knew this man was suffering. he knew this man was in distress. 'hen had no reason to keep his knee on his neck other than to punish that defendant outside of the law and hopefully the jury will figure that out. >> i am always reminded when the stakes are this high and emotions are this high and the jury was not given instructions to stay away from social media. not supposed to watch anything on consume any news about the trial but what is a viewer's guide to fairness watching the proceedings? >> the jurors will be told over and over again to limit your decision to the evidence that you hear in this courtroom and the law that the judge will instruct them on before they go to deliberate. and you hear that when you're going through the process of being selected for a jury, when

you're sworn in as a juror, every day when the evidence is over during the trial. so they will be reminded constantly to keep the blinders on and just listen to what happens from that witness stand. look at the exhibits. this is the evidence that they are entitled to consider. and then, of course, they'll get very important instructions from the judge that will explain to them how they can take that evidence and apply the law and come to a decision. this is a nerve-racking trial for america. i agree. because i'm not sure if all my years of experience and i tried many cases, criminal cases in the room. i don't think i've ever seen a case where the evidence is so clear that a police officer went further than he had any reason going in bringing about this man's death. >> right. truly, truly remarkable moment. as the rev said the whole country is on trial.

. claire and kim is sticking around. ali, we'll get you back into the program any point. thank you for starting us off this hour. when we come back, from a man who has quite literally seen it all in the years serving in the obama administration, president biden's yvette rans affairs secretary will join us on everything from president biden's bold agenda, his aggressive vaccine strategy and how he is dealing with vaccine hesitancy among americans. how the agency is managing the rise in far right extremism in some of its ranks. plus, that deadly lie on the coronavirus, trump's response team revealing for the first time that they just might be at least partly responsible to, wait for it, up to 400,000 american deaths. the manhunt for the insurrectionists that stormed the capitol continues. we'll explain all those stories and more when "deadline white

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the steps i'm announcing today with them i'm pleased to announce that at least 90% of all adults in this country will be eligible to be vaccinated by april 19th, just three weeks from now, as we have the vaccines in the vast, vastz majority of adults you won't have to wait until may 1. you will be eligible for you shot on april 19.

finally, 10% will be eligible no later than the final 10% will be eligible no later than may 1. you know, we'll administer more shots in march than any country on earth we we have to give more shots in april than march and a virus that's spreading quickly with cases rising again, new variants are spreading and sadly some of the reckless behavior we have seen means that more new cases are to come in the weeks ahead. with vaccines there's hope. which is very good thing to state the obvious. but people are letting up on precautions. which is a very bad thing. >> president biden there balancing hope on the vaccine front against a warning on the other side against complacency. leading with science, imagine that. the announce.

today comes against a bombshell admission about the deadly line. deborah birx throwing the fortunatelier vice president and everyone else responsible for the trump administration's catastrophic response to the pandemic under the bus revealing what we have known for a long time. that the president's incomp terntd, inskinlt and dishonest response likely cost thousands of lives. other members of the team also diming out the negligent effort alleging they lied about testing supplies and reports were altered. here's deborah birx admitting not before congress or a commission formed to investigate but to cnn that hundreds of thousands of lives may have been lost due at least in part to the trump team's dereliction of duty. >> if i look at it this way. the first time we have excuse

there were about 100,000 deaths that came from that original surge. all of the rest of them in my mind could have been mitigated or decreased substantially if we took the lessons we had learned from that moment. that's what bothers me every day. >> bothers her. let's stop right here. to appreciate her own role in enabling conduct that in her own words contributing to the death of up to 400,000 americans, here's birx defending trump's conduct about one year ago today adds the country's death toll was beginning to soar and after trump admitted that he was intentionally down playing the virus to the american people. >> he's been so attentive to the scientific literature and the details and the data and i think his ability to analyze, integrate data coming out of the long history in business is

really a real benefit during the discussions about medical issues. >> so by then she was bothered. here's trump suggesting injections and birx who we know believed at this point trump was literally killing people with the pandemic response. >> i see the disinfeck tantd and is there a way to do something like that? by injection, inside or -- or almost a cleaning. because you see it in the lungs and does a tremendous number so it would be interesting to check that so you will have to use medical doctors with but it sounds interesting to me. >> she's bothered. here are the trump tweets assailing the lockdown orders. here's birx very much on the job based don interview that cnn interview that trump's words she

now knows are partial responsible for every death except the first 100,000. here's trump indoor rally in tulsa. nearly 120,000 americans were dead by the day of that rally and then here's dr. birx still very much on the job, knowing she is part of a team hurting not helping and here we are today more than 550,000 americans are dead. hundreds of thousands of those deaths according to deborah birx preventable. for more on that stunning accusation from birx that up to 400,000 americans may have died unnecessarily, olivia troy is here. she's now the director of republican accountability project. also joining us is phil rucker, a senior washington correspondent for "the washington post" and claire is still here.

olivia, you were on the task force. it took my breath away to hear deborah birx say we have an excuse for the first 100,000 dead but the rest bother her. >> you know, i watched the special. obviously i knew it would be hard for me to watch, i knew it would be painful given everything we have lived in the past year and the number of deaths we have now seen and i know dr. birx faced very challenging circumstances. i did see her take a stand internally at times but it still haunts me every day. i think about this every single day and it's just a very hard thing to watch these doctors. i'm glad they're finally coming forward and i'm glad she is

telling people what this was really like firsthand. but i just wish that they would have come forward sooner i guess is really all i have to say about that. it's painful. it's hard to think back that it didn't have to be this way obviously and what happened at the behest of this man, trump. >> but you knew better. you left. she knew better and i want to show you something else. redfield and others knew better, too let's watch. >> i was on more than one occasion called by the secretary and his leadership directing me to change the -- he may deny that but it's true. the one time that was the most egregious was not only was i pressured by the secretary in his office and his lawyers as i

was driving home his lawyer and his chief of staff called and pressured me again for at least another hour. veto the point of like accusing me of failing to make this change that would cost thousands of lives. and i finally hit a moment in life i said enough is enough. >> when we said millions of tests available there with respect, right? components were available but not the full meal deal. >> olivia, i guess when's so staggering and seems to call out for an independent commission, birx knew they were responsible, you all responsible for partially for every death after the 100,000. for people that haven't worked in government that's the weekly report that tell us how many people are dying. he said there, redfield, he was asked to change them. and saying tests were available and i didn't bother racking the tape, the lies were

insufferable, there were never millions of tests available. is an investigation necessary? >> yes. there should be a full investigation because it was lie. s it was one lie after another. and dr. redfield was asked to change those reports. i was there for some of those conversations. i was on the phone, on the coordination calls. coming from offices that had no business pushing back like omb. i'm surprised to hear him say that it was solely secretary azar. that pressure was coming from somewhere and yes azar is complicit in it and fully responsible and entities inside the white house doing this. >>. i think there should be an investigation because people should not be able to get away with the number of deaths and suffering that happened in this

country under the previous administration, there are a lot of people who enabled this moment that are complicit. >> claire, i -- you know, i have fought so hard to never become numb to the death and the suffering. the truth is that a thousand people a day are still dying and i know we are a country bursting at the seams to get past this. but what can one party do? i think we are past the point of saying republicans participate in an investigation into how the government lied its way to killing 400,000 americans? that's deborah birx's number. first 100,000 were going to happen and attested to the next 400,000 being the fault of policy. what can one party do to investigate how the last administration contributed to the death of 400,000 humans? let me try to stay calm here because the most shocking part of that special was that we didn't hear an apology from

these leaders. that participated in the first big lie of the trump administration -- well, there were so many lies. but this is a big one because it impacted people's lives, killed people. they killed people. by their failure to stand up, to someone. let's be honest here. admiral girior was an admiral in our army and harming the credibility of the health professionals in this country by what he participated in but harming the credibility of the united states military. for him to now say, you know, we were lying, he was lying! admiral giroir was lying. donald trump didn't care? he only cared act making himself look better and the fewer tests out there the fewer positive tests and the more to telt people i wasn't a problem and

look how well we're doing. this is not only a lie but an evil lie all about promoting one individual at the expense of hundreds of thousands of american lives. this is like so other thing that's ever happened in our history before and these four people now saying, oops, we lied, oops, we were pressured, the notion they think now this is somehow going to rehabilitate the representations, i don't think so? >> the notion they knew at the time the trump lies contributing to people not doing -- two things to protect ourselves. three things. wear masks. we could social distance and stay home. here's trump advising against all the of the above. >> i wanted to always play it down. i still like playing it down. >> yes, sir. >> i don't want to create a panic. >> this is going to be gone. it will be gone. hopefully gone for a long time. >> i'd love to have it open by

easter. okay? >> oh wow. >> i will tell you that right now. love to have the country opened up and just raring to go. by easter. >> so with the masks it is going to be really a voluntary thing. i'm choosing not to do it. that's okay. we have to get the country open. >> did you say what metrics? >> right here. that's my met russell westbrooks. that's all i can do. >> we think some states can open up before the deadline of may 1st. and i think that that will be a very exciting time indeed. i couldn't hear you. can you take it off? >> i'll just speak louder. >> you want to be politically correct. >> go head. >> the announcement proves that the economy is roaring back, coming back extremely strong. we have some areas where we're putting out the flames or the

fires and that's working out. >> cases are up because the best testing in the world and the most testing. >> so phil, i didn't play that for trump. i played that for deborah birx because she knew. she told cnn last night she knew by march 19th when he attacked a reporter, one of your colleagues for wearing one, she knew what he was saying and doing leading to the deaths of eventually 400,000 people. is there a forum for accountability for these people? >> dr. birx and others on the task force had opportunities almost every single day last spring and summer to speak to the public directly the truth and to discredit or refute the lies that were coming from the president and they didn't do so. you showed that video clip when she was in the briefing room and

the president telling people to inject the disinfeck about the to now clean up the misstatements and seen a policy of four years of the trump presidency where people at the highest levels of power in the federal government were afraid to speak the truth about the president. and were afraid of what this president could do to them and felt it was more important to hold on to their jobs and protect their own personal security in terms of employment in the government than to tell the truth to the american people. >> phil, i remember a stunning piece of "the washington post" reporting that after this point i'm sure that olivia describes where she tried to tell the truth in the meetings on the outs and there's stunning reporting of the extent to keep

her job. "the washington post" has some incredible reporting that she poured the effort into saving her political position. >> that's exactly right. she did. others did, as well. there were times when dr. redfield the cdc director on the outs with the president over testimony he favor on congress and he would work to repair the relationship. the health secretary azar constantly working to repair the roirp with the president. these people wanted to hanging on to their power even if it meant that they were going to stay silent about the lies that were being fed to the public or repeat themselves and perpetuate that information about the pandemic. >> olivia troy, your candor take my breath away. phil, thank you for being here for this and reminding us of the great reporting. claire sticking around. president trump's former chief of staff said that the boss was lying about january 6

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new developments in the sprawling investigation into the insurrection at the capitol. the fbi arrested a texas man who allegedly helped the insurrectionists use riot shields from police to make a wall against officers and then

threw a lit fire kraser to police and also this from "washington post," quote, a proud boys member and a brother from oregon have been ordered jailed pending trial on federal charges of conspireing to breach the u.s. capitol on january 6 including by allegedly wrenching open a door. these details about the rioters and violence actions are in stark contrast to attempts by the former guy to whitewash everything that happened. trump's comments that attackers posed quote zero threat are pushback from the own former chief of staff. >> i was surprised to hear the president say that yesterday or earlier this week or something like that. clearly people were behaving themselves and then those absolutely not and to say there was no risk is false. people died. other people were severely injured and videos of folks

peacefully protesting but it is not right to say there was no risk. i don't know how you can say that when people were killed. >> joining our conversation two guests. tim, i don't know where to start here. the problem isn't that some people mured a police officer potentially but the problem is that they were all there to disrupt constitutional process. >> mick was surprised to hear that from donald trump? i'm not sure where he's been. the former boss to lie about this. as he for about everything since being in public life. here's the thing. before the trump party, for the trump experiment to continue on,

they need to memory hole and spin the particulars of why officer sicknick died that day, of why the capitol was stormed, of the fact that there was an insurrection at all. and so that is why you see donald trump taking kind of one strategy which is everybody there was nice. there's nothing to see here. the ron johnson approach and some people there for a good reason and then a few bad apples approach. both are completely false and they are telling that lie so that their political project can go on. because this is not a typical kind of political line. this is not telling a fib about how the cbo might score your tax cut one way or another. this is a lie about whether or not there was a deadly insurrection on our capitol that was aimed at interrupting the peaceful transis of power. that is unacceptable. you cannot continue in good

faith in the politics and the democratic process. so rather than take accountability for that and change these guys pretend as if it didn't happen. >> the piece i think i struggle with the most, kim, of the trump supporters with the trump flags and confederate flags rolling over, physically stampeding law enforcement and then reading the charging documents. now up to conspiracy. conspiracy to commit sedition. the republican project as tim just said is to perhaps one of the most sinister twists in the trump tale. >> but as you said it is not surprising. what's striking and in this case, yes, reaching conspiracy. we have talked before on the show about how the initial charge are meant as place savers

because prosecutors want to charge what they're able to prove. but now you're starting to see them. a picture very clearly is being painted by prosecutors in this case at just how vicious and deadly and undemocratic that day was. if you look at this also on a day like today talking about the derek chauvin we are seeing where black people are deemed to be dangerous. and that warrants in the eyes of defense in this case police officers to use deadly force. just because of the danger posed by black people. yet when you see these insurrectionists who literally stormed the capitol, who used force, who crushed -- tried to crush a police officer. used bear spray and left people dead in the wake of that, you are seeing whether it's donald trump or senator johnson or

others declare that they weren't afraid of those people. they're not dangerous to them. these are people who actually harmed police officers. george floyd did not. yet that potential threat by the way he looked is likely used as a defense in his own death. it is really disheartening and something that americans see very clearly. >> just really quickly. donald trump seems to not understand he den grades law enforcement saying my inrecollectionists were hugging them. >> yeah. the video is in everyone's hard drive. you can't forget the video of the police officer pulled down the stairs and people taking flag poles, and beating that police officer or trying to gauge their eyes out. this is not something that people are going to forget. so they can lie all they want to about how sweet all these people were. but the video is powerful and it

is not going anywhere. >> no one else is going anywhere. a republican turning away from a such debate into something about his own personal story. we'll show you. it's wild. d.

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said a deal could be reached on the issue of expanding background checks on gun sales. guns are a renewed focus in the wake of two mass shootings in atlanta and boulder earlier this month, underscoring the steep hill democrats would have to climb to pass any kind of legislation. here's lindsey graham turning a debate about assault weapons into some bizarre kind of culture war. >> i would challenge senator schumer to bring the assault weapons ban to the floor of the united states senate. it won't get 50 votes, much less 60. i own an ar-15. if there's a natural disaster in south carolina where the cops can't protect my neighborhood, my house will be the last one that the gang will come to because i can defend myself. >> what? tim, there's no way he owns that weapon, and there's no way his neighbors are going to him for protection. >> yeah, a man who is terrified a tweet is going to stand down roving gangs after society falls

apart with his lone ar-15. i don't think you're selling anyone on that, lindsey. here's the deal. and this is part of kind of the change of what has happened around the discourse, you know, over the last five years, the degradation of the discourse on the republican side. i mean, the fact that he feels like he can get away with this, this cosplay where he's going to be roaming the streets of south carolina with his semiautomatic is preposterous, but he knows that he can get away with it and so that doesn't require him to actually have to debate on the merits, right? i mean, lindsey graham used to be the type of person who might say, okay, i might disagree with you, senator mccaskill on whether or not ar-15s should be banned but maybe we can meet on a gun show loophole, limiting certain types of what kind of weapons are available, but he doesn't have to do that anymore, so he puts on the preposterous show and that's what you're left

with. >> claire, you've been invoked. >> yeah, vigilante lindsey, it is a whole new look for him. he has strayed far afield from how he served in the senate for most of his life. i mean, congress for most of his life. he is now, as tim said, trying to be that guy. he probably does own that weapon, nicole. i think you're required to buy one if you are part of the base of the republican party. i think it's a mandatory thing to go out and buy that. but there is a place here where we can get something done in congress, because you know what? the american people want it. so, let him isolate himself. let the republicans isolate themselves with the nra over in about a 20% corner of the country. and let the remaining 80% of the people in america decide that they've had enough and there is a way that we can do more with gun safety in this country. there's no excuse that we're the

only country in the world that has these kind of mass slaughters of innocent children and citizens. and i think people are ready to do something, and i think chuck schumer will bring it to the floor, and i think he's going to give the chance to the republicans to turn away from what america wants over and over and over again. >> it's like an 85% issue, kim atkins, and it includes a lot of lawful, law-abiding gun owners but a lot of people feel if we didn't do anything after the slaughter of babies at newtown, are we just that broken? >> i think that's exactly right and that's what conventional wisdom covering congress for a long time tells me. it felt like there was a different moment after newtown, and it wasn't. it felt like there was a different moment after las vegas, when bump stock, something that most of us had never heard of, were used and congress couldn't even ban that. that took executive action. so, it's hard to think that this is different, particularly when

guns are one of the issues that falls so in line with the cultural wars that we are talking about. we're not talking about guns logically. we're talking about the second amendment as if it is a biblical verse that is under attack any time someone talks about a background check. it is nonsensical. no one's trying to take anyone's guns away, but the republican party and the nra for a long time before it lost its power, but it's lingering, did a very good job of pushing forward that narrative so now whenever you see anything, even during the pandemic, gun sales jumped because people were afraid and they thought they needed a gun to protect themselves and it actually is what is making america more dangerous. it's tough. i can't see legislation passing right now. >> it's just remarkable, everything we've talked about for the last hour has as its i understand underpinning of something dangerous and dark, disinformation mainlined into the minds of a lot of the right. tim miller, kim atkins, claire mccaskill, thank you all.

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what they all had in common is they were going about their business, is that they saw something that was shocking to them, that was disturbing to them and it made them stop and take note. you can see any number of them pulled out their cameras to document what was happening. such that it would be memorialized, such that it would not be misrepresented, such that it could not be forgotten. all they knew was they came upon on individual that they saw was in some serious distress under the knees of mr. chauvin. >> hi again, everyone, it's 5:00 in the east. ten months after video of george floyd's killing sparked sweeping, nationwide protest, a long overdue racial reckoning, the trial of derek chauvin, the officer who put his knee on floyd's neck for nine minutes, killing him, is now under way. in opening statements, the

prosecution put the bystander video that showed floyd pleading, i can't breathe, front and center. playing it in its entirety for a jury of 14 people, 12 jurors and 2 alternates, prosecutors said that there was no cause for that use of force. >> you will learn that on may 25th of 2020, mr. derek chauvin betrayed this badge when he used excessive and unreasonable force upon the body of mr. george floyd. that he put his knees upon his neck and his back, grinding and crushing him until the very breath, no, ladies and gentlemen, until the very life was squeezed out of him. >> during their opening statements, the defense said that there's more to this story than meets the eye, noting that there were more than 50,000 pieces of evidence in their

case. >> common sense tells you that there are always two sides to a story. common sense tells us that we need to examine the totality of the circumstances to determine the meaning of evidence and how it can be applied to the questions of reasonableness of actions and reactions. >> the first witness called to the stand, a 911 dispatcher who witnessed police pin floyd to the ground on surveillance camera. she told the courtroom that floyd was restrained for so long she asked someone if her screens were frozen. she flagged the incident to her supervisor. two other witnesses took the stand, 23-year-old alicia oiler, who works at a gas station across the street from the site where floyd was pinned down and donna williams testifying just now he was a bystander who was heard on the video trying to intervene as officers pinned floyd down. all this as minneapolis and the country remain on edge with the trial becoming a sign, a question about whether things

have changed since racial justice protests swept the country and the world last summer. "washington post" puts it this way. a white former police officer will go on trial for the killing of a black man in a case many view as a barometer of racial change in the u.s. as much as about derek chauvin's guilt or innocence, many black americans will be watching to see what justice means. after seeing so many cases in which police officers have largely been acquitted or gone uncharged in the killing of black men and women. eric garner, breonna taylor, daniel prude. floyd's family took a knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, roughly the time they say chauvin kept his knee on floyd's neck and pleaded for justice. watch. >> we will get justice. we will not allow derek chauvin and his crew to be the judge, the prosecutor, and the executioner. we came here for one thing and

one thing only. we came to get justice. and nothing less. we came to get justice. >> they murdered him. but we still floyd strong. and we still here. so we're going to hold it down for him. >> okay. >> you know what i'm saying? and they say trust the system. they want us to trust the system? well, this is your chance to show us that we can trust you. >> day one of the trial for the officer charged in george floyd's death is where we begin this hour with some of our favorite reporters and friends. nbc news correspondent shaquille brewster is live in minneapolis. also in minneapolis, the reverend al sharpton, the president of the national action network. and david henderson is back, civil rights attorney and former prosecutor. i have to start with you, rev, because the same thing that you did at the memorial, this use of time, the time that his knee was

on george floyd's neck, was invoked again today. just talk about that. >> well, at the press conference with the family, before we went into the building for the proceedings, i called on everyone to take a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds, which was the original time we were told that the knee was on the neck of george floyd by former officer chauvin. and we wanted to make people stop and remember how long this time was, because no matter what one thinks, you'd have to consider, in that length of time, even if you had a reflex reaction in the beginning, even if it was anger, then at some point, it had to turn into intent, because a man is laying there begging for his life, pleading for his life, reaching out for his mother, who is dead. >> right.

>> at the time. she was dead. and saying, i love my children. i'm dying. and you never released your knee and the pressure off of his neck. and intent at any point, whether it's the third minute, fourth minute, fifth minute, intent is a criminal act, and i wanted to demonstrate that so people would get the understanding of how many of us, particularly black americans, but in this case, all americans have been marching and protesting what the outrage is about, how do you explain 9 minutes and 29 seconds. >> david, can you pick up on this? that's why i asked about the time because it seems like sometimes juries are -- i don't want to use the wrong language here -- but influenced by a defense that includes a split-second reaction when it comes to police. this was not a split-second. it was not a split minute. this was almost a quarter of an hour. how do you think the length of time of the police conduct might

impact the jury? >> i think it impacts them in a huge way. i think the prosecution did a really good job of laying that out in its opening statement, the opening statement did exactly what it's supposed to, gave a road map for what to expect in this trial, walked away with a very clear trial theme. i think everybody walks away remembering 9 minutes and 29 seconds. the only problem with the opening statement is, it is too good for this case, and the reason i say that is because it doesn't fully consider what the rev just told us. when you listen to the state articulate what it believes it can prove, it begs the question, why is derek chauvin only charged with unintentional murder? all these discussions we're having about intent factor directly into what you're saying, and that is, we've been discussing that the range of punishment is up to 40 years for second-degree murder but when you charge someone with unintentional murder, the sentencing guidelines recommend 12 and a half years for derek chauvin. had he been charged with intentional murder, that would have been doubled and so it begs

the question again, based on what the prosecution said it can prove, based on that 9 minute and 29 second delay that we heard about where derek chauvin has his knee on george floyd's neck, why wasn't this man charged with second-degree intentional murder. >> it sounds like you have a theory. why do you think they weren't? >> i don't know. i can tell you this. whenever you're working in a prosecutor's office, there's a difference between what you think the right charge is, the charge that you want to file, and the charge that you think a jury is most likely to convict on. that's what you see when you have a case like this where you've got three different charges that otherwise don't match up, and even though in theory it gives you three different options, it puts you in the position of having to argue to the jury and say, well, they're guilty of second-degree murder and if not second-degree murder, then third-degree murder, and if not that, then manslaughter and it starts to sound like a choose your own adventure novel. you might walk away something but that's not the question. the question is whether you will

walk away with justice. >> shaq, you've been there and done some of the most important storytelling and reporting on the ground. tell me about today. >> reporter: well, nicole, you know, i think what really stands out is the new information that we're get, and you know, a story like this where there's been that video that has gone out for so long, so many people have heard different things, so many different stories that have been told about the incident on may 25, 2020, to get new information, it can be somewhat surprising. number one, we talked about the timing, 9 minutes and 29 seconds that derek chauvin was pinning george floyd to the ground with his knee. that is new. most of the jurors, i'll tell you, said they never saw the entire video. they said they only saw clips on the news. one juror didn't see any video, only seen pictures. so those things will stand out, i believe, and then you have the witnesses that we've now moved into, the 911 dispatcher who said that she saw on the screen what was going on and decided to bring in a sergeant because she

was concerned with what she saw and you hear the call to the sergeant where she says, you may call me a snitch, but i have a problem with what i'm seeing now as she's conveying this. that level of emotion, that's definitely something that stands out as you're going through this. one other thing, nicole, and one thing in the courtroom, there are only two reporters out of all the national networks, all the national newspapers, there's only two reporters in the courtroom because of the social distancing guidelines that the court has in place so we don't see and we don't so many people to tell us what the jury is actually doing as these arguments are happening and as these witnesses are being questioned and what we have and what those reporters are reporting is, one, it's hard to tell their emotions because of the faces but they're all watching very attentively. they're taking notes. we know that derek chauvin is looking up at the video every so often whenever a video is being played. several jurors picked up pencils to write after the defense mentioned the hog tie, which is a procedure that they said they

will explain or a restraint mechanism that they'll explain later on. by the afternoon, we know jurors started bringing in coffee to kind of -- and had that on their desk as they were listening to some of the testimony so that's just some insight and what it looks like inside that room, which is very limited. you see the coronavirus restrictions there, the plexiglass, the headsets that the judge uses to have those side bars. it just reminds you of the unusual circumstances that we're under right now for so many different reasons, nicole. >> shaq, i want to follow up on two of the important pieces of the testimony you raised today. i mean, some of what that testimony did, again, i'm watching it on television so this was just my impression, was to show that everyone who saw what was happening thought something was very, very wrong, a 911 dispatcher thought her screen was frozen and you're talking about new information, i hadn't heard that before, and to hear the prosecutor take olivia

through -- alicia why she was filming and why she started filming and when she has some voice on the tape, what it is she's reacting to. they seem to be trying to create a record of just how aghast people who were there by chance -- these aren't people who were watchdogs of the cops. they just happened to be there and they were so horrified by what they saw. is it your sense that that was the strategy today and do you have any idea how much of that we're to expect? >> reporter: well, nicole, i'll tell you, there has been a lot of activity before we got to today, before we get to opening statements, not only jury selection but you had months and months of motions, motions to dismiss, motions to change venue. throughout all those motions, we've seen and we've gotten a preview of the different arguments we were expecting to hear and different points that the prosecution would be making. i'll tell you something that i have seen and that i -- back before the body camera video was made public, i went through into

the courtroom and went through four different body cameras or three different body camera videos that go about 20 minutes each, and i'll tell you, you know, you see the video that went viral, that facebook video, well, there's one of the officers who has his body camera facing those witnesses as they're watching and you see the agony in their faces, you see the stress and you see and feel the tension build as they're telling people and pleading with the officers to come out, help check his pulse, let him up, get off of him, he can't breathe. i think there are different angles to this that will continue to be developed and i think something you got a signal from the prosecution that was signalled by the prosecution today is that they are going to rely heavily on the video that is available to them, not only the witness video, not only the body camera video, not only the surveillance video, but all of the video out there that has been submitted in some form and that they have as ready to submit as evidence, nicole. >> rev, i want to read you something from today's "new york times." ten months after george floyd's

death, minneapolis residents are at war over policing. looming over everything is a palpable unease over what the 12 jurors will decide in the trial of derek chauvin who's facing second and third-degree murder charges as well as manslaughter after being captured on video kneeling on floyd's neck for more than nine minutes in may. many worry an acquittal could set back the work that has been done to reform public safety and put the city right back where it was last summer with buildings ablaze and streets roiling with anger. i've put you on the spot many times, but what is your message to the city today? >> my message is that we must hold people accountable, whether they're in blue jeans or blue uniforms, to the law. and the law is clear, even at this point, though we need, in my opinion, stronger laws, which is why i hope the united states senate passes as the house of representatives has the floyd -- the george floyd policing act,

because i think that the law, even where it is now, says that you can not intentionally harm or cause the death of a civilian if, in fact, you are not in a life extenuating circumstance. there was no threat to this officer. and the thing that was really -- came home to me today watching this, being here for the opening day with the family, is that the people around, the witnesses, the videos we saw were totally aghast, were totally horrified by what they saw. the only ones that didn't seem horrified were the policemen and that is why you see the people in minneapolis reacting the way they are. how could everyone have a totally different reaction than the people that are hired and paid to uphold the law and keep the order? you would think that one of those police would have at least had the same reaction that passer-bys had, and that is

frightening. >> david, can you weigh in on this? i mean, what is your -- and i don't like to project forward. there's so much happening, it's ongoing today, but what is your sense of where things stand after the first day and just based on the opening arguments where you see this playing out in the coming days? >> i think the prosecution's making some odd strategic choices. i've never seen, for example, a private attorney sub hit for a professional prosecutor but he did such a good job with the opening statement, i don't have a problem with it. the bigger issue, i think, that is going to be faced between the prosecution and the public is that i don't think the charges that derek chauvin is facing have been properly explained to the public. i think originally we saw the third-degree murder charge, the second-degree murder charge got added in. i don't think the public understands the way he is charged, the presumptive sentencing guideline is exactly the same for second-degree murder versus third-degree murder. they included the manslaughter charge. it's possible the jury compromises and convicts on

manslaughter, but a conviction on manslaughter alone will be a slap in the face. the punishment simply does not fit the crime. and if that happens, there's going to be a lot of explaining to do on the back end that you really owe to the public on the front end. i hate to point out problems in the way that a case is proceeding when it has the ability to give people hope, but part of providing people with that hope is being honest with them about what the expectation should be going into the courtroom, and i think that you owe that to victims of violent crimes and you owe that to the community in which those crimes occur. >> that's why you're here. thank you, david henderson and shaquille brewster for starting off our coverage this hour. we're grateful. when we return, the reckoning over the right to vote in georgia as the calls to boycott that state and the companies that call it home grow louder and louder. plus, the extraordinary power of professional sports to effect change in this country and how it could happen again in the fight against georgia's restrictive new voting law. and a fourth wave, the head

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the ceo and chairman of coca-cola made this statement. he said, os like ours will stand up and support black lives matter and social justice. our companies can do better. we took him at his word. now, when they try to pass this racist legislation, we can't get

him to say anything, and our position is, if you can't stand with us now, you don't need our money, you don't need our support. >> bishop reginald jackson of georgia's ame sixth episcopal district leading calls for a boycott at least until it condemns the state's new restrictive voting law, one the president has called jim crow in the 21st century. coca-cola put out a mild statement the day after the law was passed saying we believe voting is a foundational right in america and access should be broad based and inclusive. we along with our business coalition partners sought improvements that would enhance accessibility, maximize voter participation, maintain election integrity and serve our georgians. delta airlines is also facing boycott calls after it released a shocking statement actually praising the new law. natasha brown, cofounder of black voters matter, tweeted in response, quote, did kemp's

communication team or the grand wizard of the kkk write this statement, delta? every news outlet in the world is calling out the voter suppression bill. this is terrible, untrue, and disrespectful. let's bring into our conversation, errin haines. also joining us, david plouffe, former obama campaign manager, lucky for us now an msnbc political analyst. the rev is still here. all right. errin haines, i need to get a few things clear here in my head. i was off last week. this law makes it harder to vote. this law is in response to a lie told by donald trump that the three republicans in georgia said was a lie. they recounted the vote three times. there were three recounts in georgia, and kemp, raffensperger, and other republicans said, no, no malarkey here, folks. so, they have, at a political level, solved a problem that didn't exist. help me understand why companies like coca-cola and delta -- and

i think i can find my emails from both of them from last summer whenever -- you couldn't buy laundry detergent without being told how every single company in america stood by racial justice. how did these two georgia companies stand by a voter suppression law? >> well, nicole, welcome back, you were missed on your -- it's good to have you back in the chair. >> i didn't come back any less mad. >> i see. you're recharged and ready here. so, listen, companies like coca-cola and delta are choosing to reiterate that they tried to push back against this legislation and are refusing to focus more on what didn't make it through in the final passage of this bill than the things that did make it through, things like making it illegal to pass out food and water to voters waiting in hours-long lines in the hot georgia sun. you know, but saying, oh, well, you know, but there wasn't a ban on absentee balloting. listen, i mean, nicole, you know

i'm from atlanta and full disclosure, my mom was a flight attendant for dealt for more than three decades, like, delta, home depot, coca-cola, those kinds of companies inspire huge brand loyalty among people in atlanta and people in georgia so hear them talking about maybe drinking a pepsi or flying american is something that would normally strike fear in the hearts of these corporations because of how attached atlantans and georgians are. you will see them putting pressure to condemn the legislation, even as it moves through the courts facing legal action but also, you know, because these black voters, to your point, saw these same companies pushing back and saying that they were on the side of racial justice. if atlanta is truly the city that's too busy to hate, they're wanting these companies to live up to that nickname.

>> david plouffe, i spent, you know, a very, very, very teeny part of my career with a little bit of visibility into corp. com and i know there are a lot of people around the table when they make decisions so i'm not suggesting a communications person thought this was a good idea but how did a communications person not prevail in articulating what a bad it is to stand with a law that solves a problem that doesn't exist. >> it's super puzzling because this is not going to be a georgia issue. we're going to see laws already introduced all around the country but the bar going to be raised now for republican elected officials to meet the georgia standard so all these companies need to speak up and this isn't a partisan dispute where you say, ah shucks, we tried our best to improve a bill. this is literally whether our democracy survives so there's so many odious parts of the georgia bill and all the legislation around the country that's been introduced but let's zero in on this. the most problematic part of it,

and that's saying something, is that basically republican elected officials in georgia now, if they don't like the results of an election, can swoop in and overturn it. it's what they're trying to do in arizona. so everything is on the line here. and there's no gray area. you're either for democracy, against voter suppression, but also if we allow, in states like georgia, where elected officials who don't like the result or the outcome of an election to say, you know what? we found a reason for that election to be overturned, we should just turn out the lights, nicole. the country's over, our democracy is over. so these companies need to understand the threat here is incredibly pronounced and i don't think you're going to want to be operating in a country that no longer is a democracy. >> you need to hit pause and really explain to people what that means because this is, to me, what i find the most horrific, if you just replay it four months, imagine what would have happened four months ago if all the states where trump sought to meddle and overturn the results had the georgia law

in place, david plouffe. just play out what could have happened. >> so, what could have happened is you would have had republican legislators and they have huge majorities in both chambers there and a republican governor, say, we think there's enough reasons here, alleged fraud, ballot signature, changes that, you know, trump was belly aching about, to overturn the election, and now they would have the ability to do that. and so, elections officials, county elections officials, state elections officials in georgia, but again, we're going to see this now all over the country. they want that power now to go to the legislator. >> let me interrupt you. we've got a live picture of joe biden and first lady jill biden who are at the vietnam veterans memorial in washington. they're there to commemorate national vietnam war veterans day, a day honoring the veterans who served in that war. let's watch.

>> david plouffe, we don't expect any comments. i didn't mean to interrupt you but i didn't want to miss that. go ahead. >> so, that's why this is such an enormously important deal, nicole, is for the first time in american history, you're going to have states -- in georgia, they've already done this -- say that if elected officials, politicians don't like the result of an election, they can turn it over. so, let's get to what we need to do about this. if the united states senate doesn't pass the for the people act, if federal voting rights legislation is not passed in washington, our democracy literally is on life support.

yes, there will be lawsuits filed, some of them may be successful, some of them won't. we have to -- nothing -- this is even more important than the pandemic. it's more important than immigration. we need to do all those things, and joe biden's making great progress on them, but if we do not protect this democracy and safeguard it, you know, we know what's going to happen. the republican party right now is led by the autocratic wing, and so if these laws are successful all around the country, again, i think we're counting the length of this democracy in a matter of years, not centuries anymore. >> all right, and i think if you turn on fox news in the evenings, you hear them making the same prediction. i want to just tell everyone what we're looking at. president biden, first lady jill biden, are at the vietnam war memorial. looks like they've taken a piece of paper, which anyone who's visited the vietnam war memorial and knows anyone who lost their life there, goes and finds a name and often take a pencil and trace the name on a piece of paper. it looks like that's what the bidens are doing. let's watch.

>> rev, watching this president, it is not much of a stretch to say it's a very different way of marking a day.

there was the spectacularly horrifying reporting out of the "atlantic" late last year about donald trump's refusal to honor some veterans buried overseas after world war ii. this is a president for whom honoring the troops is part of his nature. >> absolutely. i think the contrast between biden and his predecessor couldn't be more stark. and as i watch him do what is -- should be expected of a president and do it well, with dignity, it also gives me a way to segue into what we were talking about. >> yeah. >> veterans gave their lives to protect the democracy, and to think that some of those veterans could be, from georgia, or from one of the 43 other states that are changing election laws is to really make

mockery of what veterans have given their lives for, and when we look at this, we're not only talking about the fact that they're reacting, the republicans are reacting to what happened last year in supporting trump. they're also looking for what may happen. let's not forget governor kemp is facing an election next year, re-election for governor. they are distorting and perverting the democratic process to protect themselves which is an autocratic process that they are leaning on as said the autocratic wing of the party, that they are part of. sanctions work. we've used it against countries that violate democratic principles and what civil rights groups are saying is that we need to sanction or boycott those companies that support undemocratic processes at home. we do it all over the world. >> no, it is a remarkable point, errin and the president called

it jim crow in the 21st century and to look at companies that went out of their way to get in front of all of their audiences and all their stakeholders last summer to say, we stand with the movement toward equality and i mean, you could not buy a single product in the grocery store, walmart, which was the only place i went during the pandemic, without hearing from a company that they wanted to be viewed as standing with all americans or standing for equality, to now see them sort of slip into this, in the words of the president, jim crow in the 21st century seems unsustainable for those companies. >> well, that is exactly what, you know, activists like reverend al and la to sha brown, stacey abrams, the new georgia project, they are showing what 21st century activism, you know, in the tradition, frankly, that you saw in response to jim crow generations ago looks like.

back then, certainly the roots of the montgomery bus boycott, the sit-ins at drugstores back then were to try to put economic pressure on people to not uphold these onerous and oppressive laws against black americans and that, i think, is what you are seeing to a large extent today. trying to show that if people will not -- if they don't see a moral imperative to doing the right thing that maybe they will see an economic imperative in letting people know that they can speak with their dollars to the values that they have and will attempt to hold these types of corporations accountable and questioning what their values are and what side of history they want to be on in this moment. >> i mean, just listening to you, i'm thinking of all the coca-cola ads running through my brain on a tape. they have to rethink everything. errin haines, david plouffe,

thank you for participating in this conversation and rolling with us for a little bit of live president and first lady news. when we return, our next guest says professional sports helped build atlanta into a major american city, and after georgia's new voting law, it's time for sports to fight back. that story is next. sports to f. that storys inext it's a thirteen-hour flight, that's not a weekend trip. fifteen minutes until we board. oh yeah, we gotta take off. you downloaded the td ameritrade mobile app so you can quickly check the markets? yeah, actually i'm taking one last look at my dashboard before we board. excellent. and you have thinkorswim mobile- -so i can finish analyzing the risk on this position. you two are all set. have a great flight. thanks. we'll see ya. ah, they're getting so smart. choose the app that fits your investing style. ♪♪

on important issues of racial and social justice, over time professional athletes in america have shown an extraordinary power to set the

agenda, to shape the agenda, sometimes to find true north and effect change in a very unique way. kevin writes all about it beautifully in the "washington post." he says this, quote, the nba moved its all-star game out of charlotte in protest of north carolina's so-called bathroom bill, which discriminated against trans gender americans. the nfl stripped the 1993 super bowl from phoenix after arizona voters rejected propositions that would have made martin luther king day an official state holiday. and in 1965, the american football league moved its all-star game out of new orleans after black stars refused to play upon being shunned at hotels and restaurants in the city. so, given the context of this moment, the next question is rather obvious. would georgia face similar consequences from sports teams for its new voter restrictions? the answer may come down to major league baseball's all-star game, which is scheduled to be played this july in atlanta. the executive director of the league's players union told the "boston globe" that players are,

quote, very much aware of the georgia voting bill and that the union would welcome a chance to talk to league executives about what to do with the all-star game. it's a consideration steeped in historical ironies, one of the reasons atlanta became a so-called sports mecca in the first place was because it was essentially rewarded for its mayor supporting the 1964 civil rights act so we'll go back to kevin and his conclusion is this. quote, until further notice, what sports brought to atlanta, it should take away. this could be yet another example of how sports can serve a greater good and live up to its vision of itself as an agent of social change. joining our conversation is the aforementioned author of the piece we keep reading from, kevin blackistone, visiting panelist on "around the horn," sports commentary columnist for the "washington post" and the rev is still here. so, kevin, i saw that interview with the players, now the head of the players union, and i was

waiting for someone to write what you wrote and to take me through all that history. tell me what you think. baseball does have a somewhat shorter history of activism than maybe the nba, especially recently, but what do you think is happening right now inside the league? >> well, you laid out what struck me in that there's a historical irony to all of this, right, that the fact that atlanta is this sports mecca that we've come to know it as for hosting final fours and hosting super bowls and national college football championships and having all the sports leagues represented there at one time or another. the reason is because this city stood up and stood out in the old south as the civil rights movement was rolling along to try and make change, to try and protect, for one thing, voting

rights, so the -- the mayor at the time, ivan allen, became the first southern mayor to testify in favor of the civil rights act of 1964, title i of which is voting rights. and shortly thereafter, it became a comforting -- a comfort spot for major league sports to find a new home in the south. and so now, we look at what has happened this month, what has happened just in the past week, and you see what the situation is. you know, here's a city that was rewarded with sports for what it did for civil rights. and now, it is turning its back on that history, and so i think that it is incumbent upon sports to remind atlanta of what it did to invite atlanta, to embrace atlanta in the 20th and now the 21st century and start to pull back on some of those rewards. >> kevin, there's always this

backlash. boycotts are this political tool of last resort but that's where we are. republicans are now pushing state by state by state, cures for a disease that doesn't exist. in the wake of the 2000 recount, voter fraud was investigated and you know, nada, there is not systematic voter fraud and anything that happens, donald trump's the only person under investigation for trying to impact or overturn an election. so, do you think that makes it a slightly easier fit, something that isn't really comfortable for sports to be this active in terms of a boycott of atlanta? >> you know, absolutely. if we hold up sports and sports like to hold -- likes to hold itself up right now in particular, as some sort of model for meritocracy and being in the vanguard of social change, then this is a time for sports to step up. you know, does this mean the atlanta falcons, the atlanta baseball team, the wnba, the dream are going to move out of

atlanta, move out of georgia? no. but it does mean that these opportunities to bring in larger events like major league baseball's all-star game, like the final four, which was going to be in atlanta last year, if not for the pandemic, you know, the world cup is looking at -- is looking at atlanta and one of the host cities in 2026 when it's in this country. these are times for sports to step up and say, no, this is -- this is antithetical to what we really stand for when it comes to humankind, and we can't be involved in this. we can't endorse it with our presence. and i think that's the message that sports needs to send. >> and sports had such an impact, rev, i'm thinking of dom smith's news conference and doc rivers' news conference after the -- you know, this summer, and we talked through so many of these moments together, rev, i

think we were on the air together when the playoffs basically shut down. i think it was one afternoon, they were still in the bubble and all those games stopped. talk about, though, the potential -- i mean, i think some georgia officials and georgia democrats are already wary about moving into this space of boycotts. can you just lay out sort of the pros and cons and the timing of a move like this from sports? >> well, the timing of it is strategically on the side of the groups that may call the boycott in this area or in the -- against delta and coke, and that is that we have, in the last year in a pandemic, learned to live without certain things, so if there was going to be a boycott, we already in the habit of not going to certain sporting events. there can only be doubled up. and if i was the head of a team or planning an event, i would be very cautious because people already are in the habit of doing something else and it won't take much to see them do

this. and let us remember now, we're not just talking about them redoing an election. they're doing it based on race. all of these election reforms they're claiming is against fraud are targeted toward black voters. they are strategically coming with laws that impact disproportionately the black areas that turn out in high turnout numbers in these elections, particularly in georgia. so, this is race tinged. many of the athletes are black, and if they could take a knee following colin kaepernick, some of them will take their sneakers and walk off the field or off the courts or off the diamonds or whatever it takes because people cannot, in this era of black lives matter movement, be identified that they are any way, shape or form investing in their own demise. you're asking us to pay and

consume and to be partners and sponsors of something that robs us of the right to vote. our dignity would demand that we not do that. >> well, and i would broaden it out to say that anyone who thinks they like living in a democracy should read the text of one of these bills, and i'm loath to make commitments on tv, last time i did was to never air sarah huckabee sanders and i kept my word but there were days when it was challenging. i will not stop with this story. i think the republicans have done a lot of sinister things but this is the most sinister based on the most sinister law about the election told by donald trump from november to january, and we will stay on it. i'm grateful to both of you for staying on it with us. thank you for being with us today. when we return, fears growing in this country about a potential fourth wave of coronavirus infections. there's new date out today that's giving health experts reasons to be optimistic as well. those conflicting headlines next. those conflicting headlines next

o. i'm going to lose the script and reflect on the recurring feeling i have of impending doom. we have so much to look forward to, so much prom and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope, but right now i'm scared. we know that travel is up. i just worry we'll see the surges that we saw over the summer and over the winter again. >> that was cdc director on the steady rise if covid related death, hospital saigtss and infections. cases now 60 to 70,000 new infections day. a 10% last week from last week and this kind of up tick tends to quote, surge and surge big. that news comes on the heel offense a promising cdc led study. it reveals that pfizer and moderna vaccines are highly effective in the real world showing 90% efficacy and 80%

ektive after one dose. joining our conversation, msnbc medical contributor. medical director of the special pathogens unit at boston medical center and associate professor at boston school of medicine. i take in the stories of plaster two masks to my face and hang on. is that it? >> it's just making me feel so frustrated because we are so close. this study that showing from cdc and real world effectiveness of 80% after first dose and 90% after second dose of reducing any kind of infection, incing asymptommatic. you are less likely to transmit the disease and get sick. close to the home stretch. now all we got to do is get efb vaccinated because we may have enough vaccines, from what we heard, from president biden. april 19, 90% of us may be

eligible to get it. states that are opening up the indoor capacity and letting the mask mandates are delaying all of our normalcy return to normalcy. they allowing the increase in transmission of cases and people currently who get sick, unfortunely, that are not vaccinated are much more likely to be hospitalized and pass away. so few of us have been completely vaccinated. >> we had so many conversations about public messaging. they are stopping asymptomicmatic spread as well. this is really how it will end. people are so impatient. how do you tilt that so people can see how good it will be and hang on a couple more months. >> one thing we could do a better job is to talk about the benefits of the vaccines.

we have been clear about the benefits of older people getting vaccinated. dpl are younger people who get sick as well. much likely to have infections. you won't be allowing the virus to continue to evolve. one thing i hope the cdc does is release new guidance including travel. that will give people more incentive to get vaccinated. >> i think young people could be the ones spreading it because they are last online to get the vaccine. it's a conversation we will continue day after day with you. thank you. when we return, we will

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some people just have it. intangible but real, the talent, the drive. will santiago had it. even early on his teachers recognized he was a gifted performer, singing, acting, playing instruments. will did it all. his connection to the arts evolved oaf the years. he laster mastered photography and kurn turned sbiet a career. he was a fierce advocate for social justice. his fights with covid happened early on in pandemic when new york city was over run with it. he never got to say good-bye to his family. we'll leave you with what his sister shared with us. quote, kind, funny and compassionate. he was a fighter. he loved his family. he loved his home island of

puerto rico. he loved the yankees as much as he loved to sing, play the piano, write songs and take photographs. my brother was not rich in material things but he was rich in love, compassion and friendship. he gave from his heart. he is loved and will be forever missed. thank you for letting me back into your homes after a week away. i missed you. the beat with ari melber starts right now. hi. >> hi. thank you for that. we missed you last week. you have any highlights? do you have insight? did you get anything out of your time away? >> i've been covering these reunions. i had a grandparent child reunion. my parents are twice vaccinated and they had their three weeks. it's everything that we have been covering. those tearful -- my god i missed you reunions.