so training is absolutely essential to us as a department. >> and officers are being trained as they're training, is that correct? >> yes, they are. >> and would it be fair to say that part of the objective is training to impart the minneapolis police departmental policies onto the officers that they know what those policies are and are able to apply them? >> yes, it's important through training we're re-emphasizing not only our policies but really our values as a police department and what our community expects of us. it's to help our officers and also to help our communities at the same time. >> as a former patrol officer who used force, put handcuffs on people, you understand the reality of what policing is like when you're actually done duty, is that right? >> that is correct.

>> you also testified you participate and continued to participate in the training provided by mpd and is continued to be provided? >> yes, that's correct. >> is this training practical and useful? >> yes, it is. >> why do you say that? >> our officers are being -- particularly patrol officers are being called to, again, respond in a way in our community's needs and it's hundreds of thousands of calls they respond to. and we are a very interesting profession that in some professions your body of work matters and to an extent to the minneapolis police department, our body of work matters, but it's more internally. but to our communities for the most part, your body of work doesn't hold as much value. we don't have the luxury of being able to go up to a community member for the first time and say, you know, those 99 calls i was on before went really well. trust me on this one.

we don't have the luxury of doing that. our communities are going, no, what have you done for me lately? this interaction, i'm going to grade you on how you treat me during this this call, during this interaction. so we have to make each engagement with our community count. so the training is very important because for many in our communities, the first time that they encounter a minneapolis police officer may be the only time in their life they do. that singular incident matters. >> aside from usefulness to the community, what about the usefulness of it from a practical standpoint to the patrol officer out on the street? is this training practical or is it more aspirational? >> no, it's very practical. as i had mentioned earlier, it's so important that we evolve as a police department and meet our

communities where they are. i will give a couple examples if you don't mind. we've talked a lot about within the department that we know our community has suffered at times and goes through trauma, so it's very important for our men and women to have training as it relates to how we respond in those moments, what resources can we provide for community, but one of the things we have not talked about in this profession, and sadly, is the impacts of trauma on our own officers, so wellness. we do a great deal of training in a word on officer wellness because we need to make sure our officers are well when they're interacting with our communities in that regard. i will also tell you, a few years ago, we were hearing from members of our transgender

community and how they had felt police had played a role in their lives, and not always good, quite frankly. and so we were able to through conversation, through discussion, through meetings, being very authentic, we were able to sit and craft a few policies based upon members of our transgender, nonconforming community, really guiding that and had the first gender enforcement policy. so it's so very important we continue to place value on all of our members. that's very important. >> now, speaking of the minneapolis police policies, you're aware the police department has a fairly extensive policy and procedure manual that's pretty thick, correct? >> yes. >> is it important then for policies and procedures to be in a written form so officers can understand what the expectations

are? >> yes, it is. >> and those are public documents so the public, they're also able to see what the expectations of the police officers are, correct? >> that is correct. >> as the chief of police and being employed by mpd as long as you have, i take it you're familiar with the minneapolis police department policy and procedure manuals and all of the content contained inside? >> yes. >> you, in fact, created some of these policies? >> that is correct. >> and are minneapolis police officers required to be familiar with the various written policies? >> yes, we are. >> and there's a policy requiring them to be familiar with the policies, correct? >> yes, that is correct. >> and so if you would please publish exhibit 207. if you highlight section 1-103.

this is a policy about the policy, and it requires the mpd employees shall be provided instructions on how to access the policy and procedure manual, is that right? >> that is correct. >> and they're accountable for knowing how to and where -- how and where to access and for knowing the contents of the manual, is that right? >> that is correct. >> and they're also required to sign a receipt for acknowledging the contents of the manual? >> correct. >> because the first policy manual you receive as a patrol officer might not be 30 years later what you're going to be looking at, correct? >> yes. >> the policies are changing but they're published, public and officers are required to know what they are and to sign something saying that they will continue to review them, is that right? >> objection. >> it's preliminary. overruled.

>> yes. >> all right. well, if you can print that one down, please. at this time, i ask just it displayed to the witness, exhibit 274 for identification. sir, do you recognize this is a general form here of being an electronic version of the mpd policy and procedure manual acknowledgment? >> yes, i do. >> p this is an example of an acknowledgment form that a minneapolis police department employee, patrol officer would sign upon being hired, is that right? >> yes. >> just indicating that they're aware that there are written policies and committing to reviewing them, accessing them, is that right? >> yes. at this time i will offer exhibit 274. t 274.

>> can i just have a moment? we are watching the trial of derek chauvin. this is a sidebar. it appears as though the prosecutors are coming back, or

maybe they're going to take -- >> you can proceed. >> they are in fact coming back so we will continue to listen in here and be ready to break it down with our all-star legal panel once they do take a break. >> we see this is again one of the forms that was signed by a particular officer upon hire, and if you can please highlight the name. that's signed by derek chauvin -- so sorry, derek chauvin, badge 1087, december 28th, 2001, is that correct? >> yes. >> if you can take that down, please. >> minneapolis police department has a code of ethics, is that

right? >> yes. >> and the code of ethics is obtained in the policy manual. forgive me, we're going to be talking about the policy manual, as i mark some of these. the code of ethics, if you can just explain exhibit 215. page two. and if you can highlight 5-10201. and as the code of ethics provides in the policy manual, law enforcement officers' fundamental duty to serve mankind and safeguard our lives and property and protect the innocent against deception and weak against oppression and intimidation, is that right? >> that is correct. >> and if you can take that

down, minneapolis police department also has a professional policing policy, is that right? >> yes. >> at a high level, can you describe what professional policing means in this context? >> yes. our minneapolis police department, professional policing, it's really about treating people with dig inty and respect, above all else at the highest level. if we see each other as necessary, we value one another and really treating people with the dignity and respect they deserve. >> if we can display then exhibit 215. drawing your attention to page 4, section 5-104.01. sir, is this the professional policing policy? >> yes, it is. >> can you read the first

bullet, please. >> the first bullet reads, be courteous, respectful, polite and professional. >> if you would then also read the third bullet. >> ensure that the length of any detention is no longer than necessary to take appropriate action for the known or suspected offense. >> and you can take that down, please. sir, fair to say law enforcement generally changed a lot since you started back in 1989, is that right? >> that is correct. >> in 1989 you didn't have body-worn cameras, right? >> that is correct. >> nor did you have sort of the ability for civilians, bystanders to video or record conduct of police officers, right? >> we did not. >> because we didn't have smartphones. >> that's true. >> and now we do. >> yes. >> as you indicated, the policies and culture of the police department has to change

with the times, is that right? >> yes. >> and so in terms of understanding that sometimes bystanders do use their smartphones to take video images of police officers, have you or the minneapolis police department imparted any training or constructed any policies to prepare officers for people recording them? >> yes, we have. we've imparted policy that really is informing officers that individuals under their first amendment rights, they have the absolute first amendment right to record through cell phone video or other types of video, officers interacting or engaging with a community member, with the exception it cannot obstruct the activity of the officers, but they absolutely have the right, barring that, to record us performing our duties.

>> and what does obstruct mean in this context? >> obstruct would mean interfering, doing something where you are physically placing yourself in a position where you can no longer -- you're no longer or you're prohibiting the officers from carrying out their lawful duties. but barring that, individuals have the right to record our engagement with our community. >> chief, you have to acknowledge that a patrol officer may find it irritating to have a civilian recording their activities. >> true. very true. >> is that obstruction? >> it is not. >> at this time i would like to display to the witness only exhibit 273, and if i may step away for a moment.

at this time i will offer exhibit 273. >> any objection? >> no objection. >> 273 is received. >> if you would publish 273, and i would like to draw your attention to section 9-202. again, this is the public recording of police act tischties providing employees guidance with dealing with members of the public recording them, is that right? >> yes, it is. >> generally, this informs officers that unless you're being obstructed, people get to record you? >> yes. >> even if you don't like it? >> that is correct. >> how long has this been policy of mpd? >> since may of 2016.

>> thank you. >> you may take that down. >> sir, are you familiar with the concept of de-escalation? >> yes. >> what is de-escalation? >> de-escalation is providing a knowledge base or skills, in this case for officers to really focus on time options and resources. it's real little primarily trying to provide an opportunity to stabilize a situation, to de-escalate it, and with the goal is having a safe and peaceful outcome. and so that's -- there's tools associated with that, but that's really the goal of de-escalation, time, options and resources so we can stabilize the situation safely and

successfully. >> when you think of de-escalation are you thinking of it as the opposite of using force or part of using force? >> we teach it as both. >> and when you started with the department back in 1989, was there an emphasis on de-escalation? >> it was not mentioned. >> when did de-escalation start becoming more of a topic of conversation in law enforcement communities? >> i think that right around late '90s, 2000, i think that when we were -- when there was attention not only in minneapolis but in departments across the country and incidents particularly voshing police encounters with those who were suffering from mental illness, we really started to see a lot of work on that. here locally the barber schneider foundation, there was a very tragic incident in minneapolis many years ago.

it involved the death of a community member. but when we started, that was really what sort of culminated for our department de-escalation. and even when you heard departments starting to talk about other tools like tasers, all of these types of things, it was around that time frame i think our department really started giving a lot more education awareness and training as relates to de-escalation. >> what about even if you weren't taught de-escalation formally when you started back in 1989, as a practical matter in practice, is that something that's been employed by experienced police officers for a long time now? >> yes, yes, it has. >> what about in your own experience, when you were on patrol, did you see de-escalation techniques? >> yes, quite a bit. >> did you find them to be an effective way to maybe talk somebody down from a situation rather than needing to use

force? >> yes. and with the primary goal, you want to keep yourself safe as an officer and you also want to keep your community safe. and so a lot of it hinged on communication and listening and verbal skills. so if you could talk your way out of a situation to de-escalate where it didn't have to result in physical force, those are things you certainly utilized and you're always in a better position to look upon someone that you worked with who had that skill set to do that. >> but if you can't talk somebody out of the situation, if you can't de-escalate, you can't, right? you have to then use a different method. >> that is true. >> so it really comes to what is reasonable at the time, is that right? >> yes. >> does minneapolis police department currently have a de-escalation policy? >> we do. >> and at this time if i can

display exhibit 219. i think we have this one. if we can publish exhibit 219. minneapolis police department policy 5-304 threatening of use of force and de-escalation. this is the policy and it's the policy as existed on may 25, 2020, is that right? >> that is correct. >> if we can highlight the first paragraph, paragraph a, threatening the use of force. and i would like you, sir, to please just read into the record the paragraph that you see here. >> all the way up until i guess the first sentence.

i won't make you read the whole thing. >> as an alternative, and/or the precursor to the actual use of force, mpd officers shall consider verbally announcing their intent to use force, including displaying an authorized weapon as a threat of force, when reasonable under the circumstances. >> and i guess is it an either/or alternative, you either de-escalate or use force? and once you start using force, you just give up on de-escalation? >> the goal is to resolve the situation as safely as possible. so you want to always have de-escalation layered into those actions of using force. >> if you could take that down and highlight paragraph b,

de-escalation. in accordance with the policies, the officers' language here whenever reasonable shall use de-escalation tactics to gain voluntary compliance, is that right? >> yes. >> and to seek to minimize physical force? >> yes. >> and speaking of physical force, that can be happening while physical force is deployed, can't it? >> an officer can be applying physical force and still during the course of that continue to de-escalate and defuse the situation? >> yes. >> if you can clear that, please. >> as part of a de-escalation,

the policy indicates the officers are supposed to do what? >> attempt to slow down or stabilize the situation so that more time, options and resources are available. >> when you talk about more time, options and resources, options and resources include, for example, using other officers who may be at the scene? >> yes. >> or calling for backup? >> yes. actually, it can also include seeking community's help in the situation as well. >> and in deploying de-escalation techniques in accordance with the policy, the officer is required to consider a number of factors regarding the subject, is that right? >> yes. >> and we're assuming here that the subject is not compliant. you've run into people who maybe don't want to comply with police officers, but you can also run

into people who just for some reason are unable to do so at that moment, is that right? >> yes. >> and officers are required to consider -- if you can highlight b and the bulletin that come underneath. officers under the minneapolis de-escalation policy are required to consider whether the subjects' lack of compliance is a deliberate attempt to resist or an inability, is that right? >> yes. >> and if you could read first -- the first bullet is medical -- or medical conditions, correct? >> yes. >> we have mental impairment, developmental disability, physical limitations. someone may just be physically unable to comply, correct? >> yes. >> language barrier. the city of minneapolis has a variety of people who speak a variety of different languages.

someone may just not understand you. >> that is correct. >> and if you're not considering that, perhaps the situation could escalate into something greater than it would need to be. >> yes. >> the last two bullets, can you read the second to the last bullet? >> yes. one of the other considerations officers should take into account is the influence of drug or alcohol use. >> how so? >> you know, the research says people can react differently when they're under the use of control or drugs. so you try to give verbal commands, if someone is under the use of alcohol or drugs, they may have a different reaction to themselves and that's something you should be considering. >> 1230. sir, drug or alcohol use, in

this context as being required that the officer consider to determine if de-escalation is appropriate, it can be true that some people who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol can become dangerous, correct? >> that is correct. >> isn't it also true some people react completely different and they are not necessarily dangerous if they're under the influence of alcohol or drugs? >> that is correct. >> in fact, they may not be more dangerous, they may actually be more vulnerable? >> true. >> be it's important that the officer considers that when determining whether to go the route of force or continued force or de-escalation, fair? >> yes. >> behavioral crisis is the last bullet i would like you to discuss. what do you mean by behavioral crisis? >> behavioral crisis, of all of

the bullets sometimes, that is probably one of the ones members of our community experience the most. someone loses a job, that could trigger a behavioral crisis. if someone loses a loved one, that could trigger a behavioral crisis. if someone has themselves got the worst diagnosis from their doctor that day, that can trigger behavioral crisis. so we want our folks to take all of those things into consideration. when i talk about meeting our community where they are, that's probably the one we need to really focus on, yes. >> as you testified earlier, the police just don't get to meet people on their very best day, do they? >> no, they don't. >> behavioral crisis as the kind you've described here can in fact be a barrier to compliance, that would cause an inability to

compline, even if not an intentional inability to comply. >> objection. leading. >> that's fair. >> let's go to lunch, please. >> and so the purpose of the -- i'm sorry, of the listing of behavioral crisis as a point of consideration for law enforcement officer is what? >> again, it's recognizing that when we get the call from our communities, it may not often be their best day and they may be experiencing something that is very traumatic. but we're going to respond. we have to take that into consideration because, as i mentioned again, we may be the first and last time they have an interaction with a minneapolis police officer so we have to make it count. it matters. >> would this be a good time to stop before i go into the next line? i'm sorry, i was trying to push

it to the time limit. >> yes. we will take our lunch break and come back at 1:30. you may step down. welcome to "meet the press daily." i'm kasie hunt in for chuck todd. you've been watching the sixth day of testimony in the trial of derek chauvin. we've been hearing testimony from the most high-profile witness yesterday, minneapolis police chief ma derio arradondo, testifying about police training and policies in the department. he's expected to testify chauvin's conduct was not consistent with the police department's training and policies. that would be similar from what we heard from two other high-ranking minneapolis police officers last week but this is the first we heard from the head of the department. we expect chief arradondo's testimony to continue this afternoon, and we also heard this morning from the doctor who treated george floyd when he arrived at the hospital and who pronounced him dead.

he told jurors what he believed cause floyd's death. >> was your leading theory then for the cause of mr. floyd's cardiac arrest oxygen deficiency? >> that was one of the more likely possibilities. i felt at the time based on the information i had, it was more likely than the other possibilities. >> and, doctor, is there another name for death by oxygen deficiency? >> asphyxia is a commonly understood term. >> nbc's meagan fitzgerald has been covering the trial for us from minneapolis. and i'm also joined by nbc legal analyst joyce vance, keith mayes and former seattle police chief carmen best. meghan, let me start with you, bring us up to speed on what we've seen over the course of the morning, the medical testimony and the beginning of the testimony from the police

chief. >> so, kasie, first i want to start with the police chief. obviously this was highly anticipated and very unusual that we see a police chief taking the stand for the prosecution or the defense. and so the chief, teak the stand today and, first, what the prosecution did is they tried to familiarize him, giving his background to the jury, talking about how he's been with the department since 1989. given a little bit about how he's risen through the ranks. talking a little bit about policy, establishing how there's a policy for the policy that officers need to understand what protocols are. he talked about how they spend millions of dollars on training, on use-of-force training. all of this is building up to this idea of were the actions by derek chauvin on may 25th a violation of those policies? so we know from earlier today from a motion that the judge will allow chief arradondo to

offer his opinion on this video, where we saw derek chauvin's neon plate board 9:29. that's certainly one we're watching. as you mentioned earlier today, the morning started with the er doctor that received george floyd from the paramedics on that evening. his name is dr. bradford find enfeld. basically he testified he worked on george floyd 30 minutes and he pronounced him dead. but he said, look, no one said anything to me about a drug overdose or heart attack. and that's important testimony here. he also talked a little bit about how believed the death was asphyxiation. another important point here. inside the courtroom we have pool reporters, two reporters allowed in because of social distancing, he told us at that moment when he said asphyxiation, that's when these jurors started taking copious notes. so obviously, we're talking

about damning testimony for the defense, kasie. >> meghan, and chief best, let me go to you on this because of what meghan said about the rarity of seeing a chief of police on the stand here in a trial like this. what were your takeaways from the beginning of the chief's testimony here? and can you take us through what may have been going through his mind as he made the decision to take the stand? >> yeah, well, i have known chief arradondo for several years. he's a top quality man of integrity. i'm certain that he was thinking that he just needs to do what anyone would do on the stand, which is tell the truth. obviously, with all of the trials minneapolis has gone through in recent times and policing in general, that has to be at the back of his mind, making sure that he's building the trust and integrity he needs to with the community.

in fact he mentioned community participation a few different times during his testimony. certainly, he's going to lay out there the fact that very clearly what the policy is, it's a part of the policy. it's consistent with most policy de-escalation and use of force, and it must be reasonable, necessary and proportionate. and then go on to talk about even his own participation in the training, which gives me the more credibility as an expert in this area and the fact that derek chauvin did not follow the policy. it's rare for a chief to come forward. this is not the first time chief arradondo has done this. again, a man of integrity is sometimes difficult, people talk about the thin blue line but in fact it's the chief's

responsibility to lead the agency with fairness, thoroughness, and accuracy and i believe that's what he's doing here. >> professor, you listened to the chief talk about different aspects of the community he serves. i found it interesting to listen to the way in which he talked about that. i was wondering what your takeaways were in terms of how the community in minneapolis would react to what they're hearing from the chief of police? >> kasie, i have to say that i was listening to his testimony and thinking that i thought the prosecution put on a great case the first week but this today takes the cake. i think what we heard from not only the chief but the doctor is truly damning stuff. but i think in terms of the community, it was really, really good to see the policy of it

written down. often the community doesn't get to see that. to see in words the manual talk about the code of conduct. i wrote this stuff down. how the training was supposed to be -- how the training is administered to officers, the whole use of force, the appropriate use of force. and then they got to the part in the manual that i think the community is going to love to see, deliberate attempts to resist or inability to comply. and any one of these could have been the situation with george floyd. he could have had a medical condition, right? he could have been mentally impaired. he could have had a developmental disability. certainly he was under the influence of alcohol and drugs. certainly he could have had a behavior crisis. so any one of those, kasie, should have stopped officer chauvin in his tracks and allow him to conduct that stop with the training and with the knowledge he already has and it's so great that the community

now is privy to what's on paper as it relates to policy and procedure and we can all see now that this policy and this procedure was not followed. >> that's a very interesting point. and let me take that point to you, joyce vance. do you agree with that assessment so far? what have you seen today that has stood out to you and how do you see this case moving forward here as the chief continues to testify? >> i agree. the chief's testimony is important and it's unusual. thinking back to excessive force cases i have been involved in, i can't remember ever having a chief testify as part of the prosecution's case in chief. he might be a witness or she might be a witness you prepared to use in rebuttal if you really needed them but not someone who would want to voluntarily testify and certainly not as

aggressively as chief arradondo has been willing to. the important thing here is how he comes across to the jury. although we can't see their reactions, i suspect they're paying very careful attention. he is what i would call a new-style chief, a chief who believes in using evidence-based best practices in policing. he talks about meeting the community where they live and acknowledging police officers often see people who live in the community on their worst day, not on their best day. you can picture the kind of chief, the kind of leader he is in this department. now the jury hears from him with a lot of credibility given his time in the ranks on the street of an officer before he rose to the position he's in today, going through the policies and showing the policies that derek chauvin signed on and was trained on and particularly his testimony about de-escalating in critical incidents and dangerous incidents like this to avoid

damage, to avoid harm to both the person but the police encounter and also to the police themselves. so he's crafting, i think, strong testimony about why officers are trained to de-escalate not to use excessive force for a lot of safety reasons, for themselves as well as for people in the community. i agree with professor mayes that this testimony is riveting and will have quite an impact on the jury. >> and, joyce, just to be clear too, so far it seems like a lot of this is sped up to what we may learn eventually from the chief. what do you expect -- do you expect this afternoon to be considerably more dramatic than what we've seen so far? >> it will be. the court ruled this morning, judge cahill said he would let the chief testify to his opinion about whether chauvin used excessive force. of course, we know his opinion

is that chauvin did use unnecessary and excessive force. so we will hear that -- we will hear him testify to that. and the lead-in to that, the buildup to that, will be very important for the jury to hear. it's so unusual for a chief to do this, i don't think that will be lost in any way on this jury. >> and chief best, can i get you to weigh in on that as well, the fact we're going to be allowed to hear the chief's opinion of what occurred in the video that we have now all seen many times? >> yes, i think it's incredibly important. chief arradondo established his credibility and in doing so his history and his knowledge, so in doing so the juror will definitely want to hear what he has to say and his thoughts are as a 30-year veteran police leader. and as we said, he made it very

clear what he thinks and excessive force was in fact moved and has made that clear from the beginning since he terminated the employment of all four of those officers. it will be interesting and quite riveting to hear him say that in the court of law but very, very, very important. and, again, unusual for a chief to do so but i commend him for his integrity and stepping forward honestly in this situation. >> professor mayes, let me just button up with you here. because when we take the day so far in total, we know that the defense is likely to focus on george floyd's drug use, to basically claim it was something else ultimately that killed him. there are, of course, a lot of layers to that when you're making that argument in front of the jury. what was your take on how the prosecution handled pushing back against that argument today? >> i think it's game, set match. i'm not trying to engage in

hyperbole here, but the emotion that we saw the first week from many of the witness testimonies, i think the resident doctor, the chief resident doctor for hcmc, hennepin county medical center, say pretty much he believes george floyd decide of asphyxiation, it's important likely than the fentanyl or methamphetamine, i just think that that is probably going to resonate and hit home more than even some of the emotional testimony last week, because, again, the defense's position is that officer chauvin did not use excessive force and george floyd, it's more than likely he died from the drugs in his testimony or from heart failure or some other kind of medical -- previous medical condition.

but the chief resident doctor is saying something entirely different. and if it's true that the jurors began to take notes, take copious notes and write down what the chief resident doctor was saying, i think this may be over for the defense in my opinion. >> we really were focused on the many, many feelings that this has brought up last week, and now we're treading in the territory of facts that are critical to this being decided. thank you all very much for starting us off here today. and msnbc will continue our coverage of the trial when it resumes after the ongoing lunch break. so coming up next here, while we were listening to the trial, president biden gave remarks at the white house. we will bring you what he said ahead. first, a quick look at life after lockdown.

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welcome back. you are looking at president biden, the first lady and masked-up easter bunny. moments ago at the white house, there was no easter egg roll for the second year running due to the pandemic. president biden marked the occasion with a look to the future. watch. >> as we celebrate the renewal of this season, we know that longed for dawn is almost here. we will rebuild our nation. we will re-gage and reimagine what we can be. we will remember that with faith, hope and love, anything is possible. >> solemn words from the president standing next to that easter bunny. let's turn now to a developing situation in florida. this is pretty scary. we just got an update from officials and there may be a

second leak at a large wastewater retention pond near tampa. crews have been working around the clock to stave off the collapse of the reservoir which holds 300 million gallons of water from a former phosphate mining site. this potentially catastrophic disaster forced more than 300 families to evacuate and has the potential to flood area homes with 15 to 20 feet of toxic wastewater. nbc correspondent ellison barber is in palmetto, florida, this afternoon with the latest. ellison, what have you learned here from florida officials within the last few hours? >> yes, kasie, the biggest development this afternoon is news there could potentially be a second leak in this reservoir, which is known as the south pond. the initial leak, obviously, that led to this chain of events happened in the south pond. that seems to be where they're thinking the second leak is as well. there are three ponds, three

reservoirs on the property. the one pond, south pond, started with 480 gallons of wastewater. as of last night, they dropped that down through controlled leaks to about 300 million gallons. this morning officials say that drones, inspector drones flying overhead, noticed signs of a possible second leak. their on the ground now trying to get a closer look to see if there's actually a second leak in this pond. the main priority has been just to get this water out. they're taking it and pumping it into the port of manatee and then into tampa bay, hopefully to prevent a collapse and greater damage, threat to public safety by nature of that big potential for flood zone areas that you talked about. congressman mackanin is on the ground now.

he said he asked for additional support for the area from the epa. listen to what he had to say. >> i know they are making some progress but the water is spooling out. it looked contaminated to me. we need to make sure this gets fixed so there's the potential for a public safety threat in terms of flooding. there are concerns about what this water will do to marine life in the area. it has -- the high nutrients that are in this wastewater has been tied to algae in the past which is devastating for economies in florida where they've seen what are known as red tides. there is also the issue that this is a problem that has been around for decades. if you look at local reporting in the area from the tampa bay times or the herald, you'll see that with the company that owns

this site, hrk holdings, their staff told them there were potential leaks in the liner in july, october, december. the question is how did it get to this point, but right now the immediate concern is flooding and what happens to marine life out in the bay. kasie? >> all very nerve-wracking. allison barber, thank you very much. stay safe out there. coming up next here, what health experts say about the potential fallout from a massive surge in travel combined with states rolling back restrictions. but first the latest vaccination efforts happening now across the country. g now across the country. my name is austin james. as a musician living with diabetes, fingersticks can be a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 14 day system. with a painless, onesecond scan

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it's okay that you don't want to be first: you aren't. second covid vaccine. it's okay to have questions: everyone deserves answers. i'm wary that there isn't enough information. it's okay to be excited, or worried, or both. it's alright for it to take whatever it takes for you to be ready. hi mom, ready for your shot? yes, i've been waiting for this day. we just got what? vaccinated. we just got vaccinated! let's get you there. let's get to immunity.

welcome back. as more states roll back restrictions and more travelers hit the roads and the skies, cases in this country are on the rise in more than 20 states. michigan is recording its highest case count since december, and the tsa says it has screened more than 6 million people, including more than 1.6 million on friday alone. that is a pandemic record. all health officials are warning americans to stay vigilant, but there is disagreement among some experts about how serious another surge could turn out to be. >> at this time we really are in a category 5 hurricane status with regard to the rest of the world. at this point, we will see in the next two weeks the highest number of cases reported globally since the beginning of the pandemic. in terms of the united states, we're just at the beginning of this surge. we haven't really even begun to see it yet. >> i don't think it will be the start of a true fourth wave. i think this will be regionalized outbreaks and hope

hopefully we get beyond it as revaccinate more. >> 4 million doses administered on saturday and the cdc says more are being administered every day. there are some major cultural clashes that are spreading way beyond the peach state. texas governor greg abbott says he is basically boycotting baseball after they decided to move it from atlanta. he said he will not throw out the first pitch at the mlb game in houston tonight. the crowd at tonight's texas rangers home opener is expected to be the largest for the u.s. sporting event amid the pandemic. the 40,000-seat stadium is reopening at full capacity. all right, that's going to do it for us this hour.

chuck is going to be back tomorrow with much more "meet the press daily." you can catch me weekdays on msnbc way too early. my coverage on msnbc continues with my friend katy tur after a quick break. my friend katy tur quick break. they're tv shows. you woke up early. no one cares. yes. so, i was using something called homequote explorer from progressive to easily compare home insurance rates. was i hashtagging? progressive can't help you from becoming your parents, but we can help you compare rates on home insurance with homequote explorer. guess what. the waiter doesn't need to know your name. age before beauty? why not both? visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond. i've been telling everyone, the secret to great teeth... is having healthy gums. new crest advanced gum restore...

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good afternoon, i'm katy tur. dramatic testimony in day 6 of the derek chauvin murder trial in minneapolis. first the defense came out swinging trying to get the judge to limit the testimony from police officers about their opinions on use of force. that spat this morning may have affected the testimony, at least so far, from one of the star witnesses who took the stand today. minneapolis police chief -- the