ellison barber in scottsdale, arizona, shaquille brewster in miami. rst we begin at the jersey show kathy park in as shaquille braus brewster in miami. >>> the iconic music venue is eager to welcome back guests this memorial day weekend after being closed for more than a year here in the state of new jersey they have now officially lifted the mask mandate you will notice here that the stage is set they've also put out all the tables for the newly installed beer garden and the general manager of the stone pony tells us they are looking forward to a very busy summer. >> a sign of normalcy that music's coming back, people are coming back. i think it's just a sign of a great summer to come >> reporter: governor phil murphy said it's up to businesses to continue masking policies for workers as well as customers, here at the stone pony they say it's really going to be an honor system that they go by, and they're also looking forward to june 4th when all the indoor capacity restrictions are lifted in the state of new jersey ali? >> in miami the airports expec

county, and the george washington bridge full team coverage now shaquille brewster is live at miami international airport where they're giving out free vaccines, but first -- first seema mody. at miami international airport where they're giving out free how cities and states are attracting tourists during the holiday weekend. >> reporter: scott, this is the moment the travel and hospitality industry has been waiting for. soon crowds of tourists are expected to line up behind me in sometimes square as new york and several states across the nation are in a race for your travel dollars. >> i have spent the last year-plus saying stay safe, stay home today i'm telling you, get out of the damn house, come enjoy hartford. >> reporter: states are pulling out all the stops. connecticut offering free drinks if you show your vaccination card in illinois a multimillion dollar tv ad ♪ time for me to drive ♪ >> reporter: and as restrictions ease and vaccinations rise, new york city is going $230 million, the most ambitious effort into revitalizing tourism the pressure is on city and state officials to boost tr

shaquille brewster has a look at reform efforts under way at police departments across the country. >ge floyd's murder sparked strong demands for change. one year later, experts say police reform is sweeping through the country at an impressive pace. >> to see things occurring on this level, on a national level, and also taking place not only at the local and state level is amazing and about time. >> they're weeks away from beginning what they call a revolutionary retraining. >> training will emphasize consumer service. >> doesn't necessarily have to be a bad experience with police officers. might be a bad situation they're in, but our encounter does not have to be a negative encounter. >> this emphasis on service shaped in months after floyd's death, as congress debates federal legislation, lawmakers in nearly every state introduced more than 3,000 policing related bills. more than 30 passed new police oversight and reform laws since may 2020. common reforms include bans on choke holds and restraints, and new expanded body camera policies. some jurisdictions have done more. illinois'

in miami international airport here is shaquille brewster. >> reporter: scott officials say we're in phase of the vac roll-out where the priority is getting the vaccines to people where they are on this busy holiday weekend, places like the one i'm standing in right now, miami international airport, providing that johnson & johnson one-shot vaccine to anyone who wants it they are expecting more who want they are expecting passengers since the start of the pandemic and they are hoping to vaccinate as many people as they can here. we saw these flyers being handed out at folks at this airport that is the priority, but i will also tell you many of the people coming in to get that vaccine are not just americans they're people coming from other places, where that vaccine isn't widely available listen to what one passenger told me. why did you decide to come up? >> for also to get the vaccine >> reporter: that was the part of the reason i came here? >> yes >> reporter: why is that >> because in my country, we are still not on the list for some months >> reporter: and you may hear the airpla

. >> shaquille brewster joins me from minneapolis, where celebrations of george floyd's life are takingce. monica alba joins me from the white house as president biden prepares to meet with the floyd family. shaq, describe the scene. this is meant to be in some ways a celebration of his life, but also it is a moment to mark for history and, frankly, another he moment to bring the focus to social justice. >> that's exactly right, chuck. you're going to witness a range of emotions here in minneapolis as the city and people here mark a year to the day since george floyd was murdered. this is a celebration of life that's being hosted by the george floyd foundation. you might hear some of the music in the background. that's the soujd stage where they're preparing at. there's a deejay up there. you mentioned the governor issued a proclamation of 9:29. and you see it's art, there's a festival, there's a mural being painted there and a mural being painted off to the right. we just saw the mother of eric garner here. it's very much trying to reflect on george floyd's memory but also the call to

more teens now areo roll up thet nbc's shaquille brewster joins us from chicago. >> reporter: hi, francessee anyone over 12 years old go into vaccination sites across the city and a krys the country to go ahead and get their vaccine. here in chicago where yesterday for many hospital centers, mass vaccination sites, even at some high schools you saw the opportunity for 12 to 15-year-olds get their vaccine for the very first time. there was a lot of excitement. i spoke to a parent bus driver here in chicago who brought her three kids who as soon as she heard the approval from the cdc, she called, made an appointment, and got her kids vaccinated first thing in the morning yesterday. her daughter didn't want to miss out on her eighth grade graduation another daughter said she was afraid of needles but she wanted that return to normalcy so she held her mother's hand more people are able to get the vaccine with that expanded eligibility. frances. >> shaq, thank you. >>> the new york yankees are facing atests this week between the team's players, coaches and staff and they're all break through c

and shaquille brewster spoke to retired minneapolis police officer and here's what he had to say aboutreform. >> broadly speak, someone calling for this before you retired, what do you think of the changes we've seen in the past year? >> i don't think they're, i don't think it's going to make the difference. policy changes are not going to make a difference. we changed policies for years. >> reporter: what makes the difference? >> getting to know your community. >> what about that, marq? different officers have different levels of willingness to know the people they police than others, particularly some officers who don't live in the communities they police, view the people around them as suspects rather than clients, that feels like a tougher nut to crack in terms of police reform. >> any reform or changes in policing is tough. that is because you run up against this toxic police culture which is mentality of us against them. they, everyone outside of policing is out to get us or means us no good, distrust, and also a certain air of arrogance. and understanding that regardless of some

shaquille brewster made his way to miami. he is at the airport talking to travellers.es for housing works in new york city. shaq, start with you. how do folks feel about the idea of getting this shot as they hop on a flight? >> reporter: craig, you hear relief, excitement, people happy about the convenience you have here. anyone who comes here, whether you are a passenger, someone who works here, driving by, dropping someone off and want to get that vaccine dose, anyone who comes here can go about two floors up and get that vaccine. it's the johnson & johnson shots they are offering. one shot and you are done. no questions asked. no charge there. i talked to an epidemiologist at the university of florida here. she says right now the position that they are in in terms of the vaccine rollout is that it's meeting people where they are. during this busy hole holiday weekend, it might not look like it, but when we saw this morning and through this weekend is a lot of passengers coming to airports like this. miami expecting the busiest days since the start of the pandemic. i

shaquille brewster spoke to a retired minneapolis police officer. police officer had to say about police reform. >> put broadly speaking, as someone who's been calling for this before you retired, what do you think of the changes you seen in the past year? >> i don't think that will make the difference. the policy changes won't make the difference. we've change policies for years, you know? >> what makes the difference. >> getting to know your community. >> mark, what about that? i think different officers, let's be real, have different levels of willingness to know that the people they police than others. particularly, some officers that don't live in the communities they police, who view the people around them as suspects rather than as clients, that feels like a tougher nut to crack in terms of police reform. >> yeah, any reform, any changes in policing, is tough. that is because you run up against this toxic police culture. which is a tallying about us against them. everyone outside policing is out to get us, or if it means we are no good, there

nbc news white house correspondent, monica alba, and from minneapolis, nbc news correspondent shaquille brewster. that moment of silence is under way. set the scene for us. . >> reporter: the moment of silence being led by the governor. i will let you take a look over here, and he's not here yet but the family -- you can still hear the music, i'm sure, and they are preparing to have the nine minute and 29 second moment of silence. this is being hosted by the george floyd memorial foundation. there are vendors, and walk-up covid vaccines taking place here. i spoke to bridget employed, the younger sister of george floyd about what the purpose is what the intention is for this event, and it's for people to come together and think about her brother, and it's also about where they take this and what they do with this moment. i want you to take a listen to the conversation i had with her in the past hour. >> i thought george's death was going to be the last death at the hands of policemen, but as we all have seen, the names has been added on and on and on. just a few hours after the verdict daunte wri

i'm joined by nbc's shaquille brewster who has been reporting on the push for reform and mark clackstonon the ground. what has or hasn't changed in the culture of police departments since you started covering this story? >> reporter: you know that that federal legislation is stalled. the house passed it. the senate is still stick in the bipartisan negotiations to pass that george floyd justice in policing act. what experts point to is what's happening at a local level with states and individual police departments. they credit the activism, the protests, the demonstrations, marches like the one we attended yesterday here in minneapolis, for keeping up the pressure on state legislatures to make those changes. across the country, you have seen about 3,000 policing related bills induced in the state legislatures. more than 30 states have passed some sort of policing reform, whether that's bans to chokeholds and neck restraints, whether that's limits to different policies or updating use of force or deescalation policies or adding body cameras. that change is happening at a state level. you

. >> nbc's shaquille brewster is in minneapolis where he spent much of the last year.there were rallies in minneapolis and new york city on sunday. what's the mood there like now? >> that's right, garrett. we are right in the middle what will be three days of commemoration since george floyd was killed in minneapolis. today the george floyd memorial foundation is having panel discussions, but they're calling for a virtual day of action, asking people to call their local politicians and call their member of congress and keep the pressure up for that police reform in the wake of george floyd's death. we know that yesterday there was the rally where we heard from the family attorney benjamin crump. we heard from our very own reverend al sharpton and we even heard from george floyd's little sister bridget floyd and not only the conversations with those speakers, but the people who were there at that rally turned march was where does the community go from here? yes, they see the change that has taken place, but they want to see more. i want you to listen to the conversation

nbc's shaquille brewster. shaq, take us through how the city is marking the day and how things have changed in minneapolis over the last year. >> reporter: well, craig, we're just hours away from the start of what's being called a celebration of life hosted by the george floyd memorial foundation. you see some of the setup happening behind me, but at 1:00 p.m., we know that the governor will lead a moment of silence, one that he's called for to take place throughout the state of minnesota and things will get more somber as we get into the evening hours at the exact intersection that's now called george floyd square where he was murdered a year ago today, a candlelight vigil will take place at 8:00 p.m. local time, the exact time he encountered that ex-officer derek chauvin, now convicted of murdering him. you asked about the changes that have taken place since george floyd's death, and that's something many people have been focused on as well. and while there's disagreement over the size of the change or the s

shaquille brewster is live in minneapolis, how are they feeling one year after george floyd's murder?e are gathered behind me. on stage this rally will turn into a march to go through downtown minneapolis area. heard from the family attorney, benjamin crump, and reverend al sharpton, keynote speaker, now the younger sister of george floyd, bridget floyd. gearing up to three days of commemorations, one year since george floyd was killed. start of emotional commemorations to mark a year since george floyd's death. >> changed people's mindsets, the world. >> reporter: americans gather nationwide for marches from new york. >> if we don't get no justice -- >> they don't get no peace. >> reporter: to a rally in minneapolis where he was murdered. >> as a people, we deserve to live. >> reporter: sustained calls for police reform, including president biden asking congress to pass the george floyd justice in policing act this week. stalled in bipartisan negotiations. >> it's absolutely necessary we do something. >> reporter: but experts say changes are sweeping across the country at impressive

shannon pettypiece, shaquille brewster, the short straw on the beach there in miami, allegedly workingd blayne alexander live at atlanta airport, the busiest. shannon, at the white house, president biden at last check is on his way to virginia. short trip there. first one is about how far we have come in the fight against covid. what's the president's message heading into this weekend? >> reporter: this visit coming hours after virginia lifted restrictions on social distancing and capacity limits. the white house says the president is going there to talk about the progress that state has made. they say that cases are down about 13% over the past week on average. this is all part of a bigger effort by the white house, by president biden, to emphasize the country's getting back to normal, to try and start moving people past this pandemic, talking about this reopening of the country and hopes it's going to stimulate more. the white house and administration officials say they are not necessarily concerned about a surge of cases after memorial day. you see those numbers and those ill an ima

another place to rent the car, florida, where we will find my colleague shaquille brewster. >> people are taking rental cars and planes to fill beaches like this. we're here on south beach in miami, florida, where you see it's fairly empty right now. last year it's because these beaches were closed because of the pandemic. this year it's because it's 9:00 a.m., so you can expect that to change. officials are preparing for pre-pandemic crowds to fill beaches like this. here in miami, they've got a hypothetical of that just a couple of months ago when there were clashes between law enforcement and vacationers trying to avoid that curfew. this time around, there's fewer restrictions in place and more people here. officials also emphasizing vaccinations. we can expect to see vaccination clinics at places like the airport, places like here on the beach and even some of the shows we expect to see later this weekend. for more on what you can expect up and down the east coast, let's go to kathy park on jersey shore. >> hey, shaq, thanks. new jersey was one of the last few holdouts in lifting

as we chronicle life after lockdown we have nbc's shaquille brewster joining me in miami beach, floridaiami to break pandemic records. miami international airport expecting more daily travelers this holiday weekend than it saw during the entire pandemic, say what, shaq? i mean, you've been talking with local authorities there. they've got to have some kind of a plan to keep people safe. that's a lot of people. >> reporter: it is, alex. we've been talking about that aaa number. 37 million people expected to travel this weekend and they'll be traveling to places like this on south beach. take a look at the beach. a full beach, not only do you have people coming out and vacationing and you might hear a plane or two fly above as i'm doing this report and you mentioned the people coming into town and miami officials are expecting it and they're inviting people here because memorial day weekend, this beach was completely closed and they're doing vaccinations all along the beach. i spoke to the commissioner here in miami beach. listen to what he told me about the vaccine pop-up right here at t

shaquille brewster is in minneapolis and garrett haake on capitol hill. peter, the floyd family would like to see a bill that helps save lives and curbs bad policing. they're not going to get that, at least not today. what will they get? >> they'll certainly have a meeting here with the president the first time they've been face to face with mr. biden since he was there for them during the funeral last year. earlier in the day, as you noted, they will visit with house speaker nancy pelosi later this afternoon with the u.s. senators. and the senators said president biden wants them to hear and listen to perspectives on this issue. and i spoke with ben crump, the family attorney. he will be here including his 7-year-old daughter gianna. she's notable, of course, you heard from the president saying her words really touched him saying at the time that daddy changed the world. he said, among other things, this was really an opportunity to pay proper respect to george floyd with a president who has had constant, continuous communication with the family. he said

. >> shaquille brewster, you are in chicago where they're vaccinaing children 12 to 15 starting today, as i understand it. give us a sense of what some of the parents and kids have been telling you. >> reporter: jeff, we're hearing a lot of excitement. go back to the headlines earlier this week, the fda, the cdc, opening up the vaccine to children 12 and up. one of the first families in line, the mom is a cps bus driver. the kids say they don't want to be robbed of their eighth grade graduation. one said she was robbed of an eighth grade education but she wanted to have a full high school experience. the possibility of them getting vaccinated being expanded. then you hear from the president of the american federation of teachers, one of the largest teachers unions in this country saying they are pushing and will be campaigning for schools to fully reopen five days a week. that's something you hear doctors also extremely happy about because of the impact the school closures have had. you're getting the sense talking to multiple people, multiple stakeholders that there is genuine excite

helping us track life after lockdown and the first summer holiday without masks since 2019, nbc's shaquille brewsterin miami beach. cal perry is at reagan national airport in arlington, virginia. so, let's get out there and enjoy. that means we got to start with shaq. i'm curious the mood out there where you are. i mean, look, we can almost hear the waves hitting the shore. we can see the pictures. does it feel like the pandemic has come to an end there? >> reporter: you know, that's what you're definitely hearing from a lot of people. for some people i talked to, it's actually their first time traveling to a beach, coming out of their home states since the start of this pandemic and that's exactly what officials here are hoping for and have been expecting. they knew this was coming, and what they have been cautioning against is what you saw a couple of months ago with that spring break crowd when you had those clashes between members of law enforcement and vacationers. well, this time, there's fewer of those restrictions around. you see everyone just trying to have a good time. our group from jerse

shaquille brewster is in minneapolis and garrett haake on capitol hill.ll certainly have a meeting here with the president the first time they've been face to face with mr. biden since he was there for them during the funeral last year. earlier in the day, as you noted, they will visit with house speaker nancy pelosi later this afternoon with the u.s. senators. and the senators said president biden wants them to hear and listen to perspectives on this issue. and i spoke with ben crump, the family attorney. he will be here