this guy barnhill, who wrote a letter recusing himself had the right move. he said there is video of arbery burglarizing a home immediately preceding the chase and confrontation, that's not true. there's video of him entering a construction site. not taking anything. and walking out. almost like an attractive nuisance situation where you go in there and look and there is a dock and you walk down to the dock, and i know you're not supposed to be there, i know it's trespassing but if that's best thing they have, why did barnhill characterize it that way when any cursory investigation would show that's bs reckoning, and what does it tell you about the disposition of how the police and authorities apparently took this situation from jump? >> no. really the first issue here, why is a prosecutor who has recused himself offering any statement whatsoever about a case? if you've recused yourself on conflict of interest perceived or relayed to you, you should not be commenting on the case. >> fair point. >> the very notion or reason we have recusals is you are perceiv

. >> dana: and so, adding to that, phil, you have taken a look at the district attorney barnhill andtions. what do you make of what he did there? i know that you have written an op-ed for foxnews.com. >> yeah, dana, i am afraid that i think dear barnhill himself needs a lawyer because the fbi is going to come knocking on his door. they are going to look at all the circumstances surrounding his environment, and they are going to start over there in glynn county before he was invited by the attorney general to do so. he is there in the immediate aftermath, giving his verbal legal opinion as to why no charges should be filed. but then if that's not enough, a few weeks later on his way out of the case before it goes to another d.a., he drops this letter into the file, and i'm calling it a poison pill. it sabotages the next he is efforts to prosecute this case. he says things in that case that i don't think match the effects of the case. for example, he says that there was clear evidence of hot pursuit of a burglary. that's not the case. what we saw in the video was maybe a trespass, misd

law enforcement and it's the actions of these two district attorneys, jackie johnson and george barnhill that are now under the federal microscope. neither filed charges in the case. both removed themselves because of their apparent connections to the gunmen. and barnhill argued in a letter that there was a "fight over the shotgun," and that the victim "initiated the fight." georgia authorities have replaced the white prosecutors with this woman, district attorney joyette holmes, from the other side of state. >> now i have a sense of hope. at one point in the beginning, i didn't have any hope that anything would ever be done about it. >> reporter: new video from the moments before arbery was killed does show him stopping through a home construction site, where he leaves empty-handed. the mcmichaels told police they chased the young man down because they thought he was responsible for break-ins in the mostly white neighborhood. tonight, the owners of that property underline that they have no connection to the gunmen, and no matter what, they say they "would never have sought a vigilante r

the case was then handed over to barnhill. the bureau says barnhill held onto the case for about a month before stepping aside. neither da filed charges against mcmichael or his son, travis. >> georgians will not feel safe anymore protected under the law of these individuals. we cannot allow him to remain in office. >> the mcmichael's were arrested more than two months after the incident. this, after the gb guy step in following the release of cell phone video showing the alleged shooting. on monday, carr appointed a district attorney to the case. an attorney for the family said it was imperative for someone outside southeast georgia to be brought in. state officials say they hope the tragic shooting will lead to a change in how these cases are handled. >> perhaps an infamous day in the course of human history, let us be clear, enough is enough as we begin. >> due to coronavirus restrictions, a grand jury may not be called to hear the mcmichael's case until mid june at the earliest in atlanta, jonathan seri, fox news. >> the u

guy barnhill says in the statement of recusal there's video of him going into construction site.ot taking anything. like it's trespassing but if that's best thing they have, why did barnhill characterize it that way when any cursory investigation would show that's bs reckoning, and what does it tell you about the disposition of how the police and authorities apparently took this situation from jump? >> no. really the first issue here, why is a prosecutor who has recused himself offering any statement whatsoever about a case? if you've recused yourself on conflict of interest perceived or relaid to you, you shouldn't be commenting on the case. reason we have recusals, you are perceived as inherently biased and can't be objective messenger of the facts or relayer of information. for him to lay out what he believes to be facts of the case having recused himself is poisoning the well and potential jury pool and handling himself in way that casts doubt on the credibility of the office which was already in question. not just the delay, people thinking we can't hold a grand jury, laura,

the case was then handled over to barnhill, the bureau says barnhill held onto the case for about a monthefore stepping aside. neither da filed charges against mcmichael or his son, travis. >> georgians do not feel safe anymore, protected under the law of these individuals. we cannot allow them to remain in office. >> them of michael's were arrested more than two months after the incident. this, after the gb i stepped following the release of cell phone video showing the alleged shooting. on monday, carr appointed a suburban atlanta district attorney, juliet homes to the case. an attorney for the family said, it was called imperative for someone else from southeast georgia to be brought in. state officials say they hope the tragic shooting will lead to a change in how these cases are handled. >> perhaps infamous in the course of human history. >> due to coronavirus restrictions, the grand jury may not be called to hear the mcmichael's case until mid june at the earliest. in atlanta, jonathan serrie, fox news. >> ktvu, fox news at 5:00 starts now. my governor ducey reveals more details in

george barnhill has obviously had some conflicts in this case that went unchecked.nd so there does need to be something, an entity, outside of the state that goes in and thoroughly investigates this. >> you are also calling for the removal of two former district attorneys who, at one point in time, had the lead investigation. but did not charge the mcmichaels. interesting. why do you believe that they aren't fit to stay in their positions? >> right. so you have gregory mcmichael, who was a former employee of jackie johnson, the one district attorney. she didn't make any arrests. the local -- at least one local commissioner for glen county said that she instructed law enforcement not to make any arrests in this case. and so that, obviously, needs to be looking into. and then george barnhill's letter, as my co-counsel chris stuart said, was just dripping with racism. it was dripping with conflicts of interest that he failed to disclose. and he has to answer for that now that there's public scrutiny into his actions. >> recently, we -- we have seen other media outlets

barnhill's biggest mistake i think was getting involved in this case before the attorney general inviteddo so, and then to make matters worse, of course, he dropped this letter, that i call a clearance letter into the file during a time when he had an arguable conflict of interest. those things the ag says may not have been disclosed in the office and it's a crime for public officials to engage in unprofessional conduct if it rises to this level. it could either be a misdemeanor or felony violation of oath of office. >> dana: what might the defense's argument be when they are able to make your case? >> if they will file right out of the gate a motion to mike for immunity. that will be based on georgia law which says if you are engaged it will trigger a court hearing and a judge will have to decide whether or not to confirm immunity for these individuals. if so, the cases over and if not the defense gets another crack at that apple and they can present it to a trial jury and ask a trial jury to equate on the basis of lawful citizen's arrest and lawful self-defense, if they can make up tha

george barnhill of the waycross judicial circuit.e obtained the email barnhill sent to the georgia attorney general along with his recusal letter. in it, barnhill explains his son, who is also an attorney, had previously investigated arbery. he also included what he claimed was the criminal history of arbery's relatives. >> that letter does not line up with the law in the least bit. >> reporter: we reached out to the mcmichaels but did not hear back. the georgia bureau of investigation says there could still be more arrests but this is an ongoing investigation. there are rallies for arbery today. they'll go on as planned to celebrate his life. gayle? >> thank you, omar. it's a very upsetting case. he would have turned 26 actually today. >>> anthony, i spoke to omar's -- not to omar's mother. to ahmaud arbery's mother yesterday who told me that she has not looked at the video. family members have told her what's on it and she says she doesn't think she will ever take a look at it. but the thing that haunts her more than anything she's

barnhill at the time who said a day after the shooting he must have had the 911 call information, hehave the video, and said, he didn't see probable cause for an arrest. that is astounding, but also something that we haven't talked enough about in society, which is that we see bias in prosecutorial decisions. not just bias in policing but racial bias in prosecutorial decisions. this is one that looks like either racial bias and/or that there was some kind of bias because of other relationship that the district attorney office may have had with mr. mcmichael, their former investigator. >> right. this is important, mark. that i want to show you a headline from the nancy pelo "w post," the d.a. making the arrest in the shooting cops at the scene of the georgia shooting believed they had probable cause to make arrests. police thought they could make an arrest. told not to make the arrest. d.a. shut them down to protect her friend mcmichael. on top of all the things that appear to be wrong with the shooting, there appears to be something of a cover-up. interesting thing, when the georgia

barnhill, these guys were riding down the rode in the pickup truck, yelling at mr. arbery. got their guns. one is in the back of the truck. they actually get out of the vehicle with a loaded shotgun. he tries to go around the truck. and then he tries to take the gun away. and that's how the gun -- how he touches the weapon. and who wouldn't, if you had a nut with a loaded shotgun pointed at you, who wouldn't try to disarm them or try to get it away frommer you or push the barrel away from you? that seems obviously when the gun went off, and it went off in the hands of you can -- >> before i lose you, the final thing is oui heard this argument before, and sometimes it sounds, frankly, like an excuse where d.a.'s to bring charges all the time say they have to wait on the grand jury. your response to that claim in this case. >> yeah, that's a problem. and the reason is also you've got to realize in georgia we don't have investigative grand juries. the grand jury is going to be limited by what evidence the d.a. puts in front of them or what witness he chooses to bring in there.

and that and that excuse was apparently all georgia prosecutor georgie barnhill needed when he argued that the father and son's actions were legal under state statutes on citizen's arrest and self-defense and that the under mr r. bery had initiated the fight with travis mcmichael and was thus allowed to use deadly force to protect himself boom case closed except. except for that darn video of the shooting that found its way out of the darkness of law enforcement coverup and in the light of public scrutiny and it's in that light that we begin our show today let's start watching the homes. what's going on in a city street you want to. see the rises you always stay i'll see you. great city displays systemic deceptions show which. so brings up the film as. well who have been watching the fire over there and i'm in the chicago and joining us today to discuss the murder of mr r. berea more of the civil rights turning out of minneapolis minnesota mickey armstrong and author and salon dot com editor at large d. walk and thank you both for joining us today. the i want to start with the release

barnhill saw the video, decided nothing should be done. there are 2,400 district attorneys around the country, most powerful actors in system. we've been engaging district attorneys and working to push out of office district attorneys who don't value our lives. end of the day, they had opportunity to do something here. and georgia bar needs to investigate and hold them accountable. over and over again, we recognize that unless these folks are held accountable, they won't be nervous about disappointing our community. they'll continue to ensure we have two sets of justice in this country. all around the country right now people are outraged and want to take action. we recognize that arrests are only the first step. not only need to get a conviction but send a powerful message to those who did nothing when they should have. starts with district attorney and will end with full set of other folks that need to be held accountable. that's why we need to translate this awareness to action and we hope people will visit us at color of change, join t

jackie johnson recused herself from the case, and the case was reassigned to george barnhill, the d.ain nearby waycross georgia. neither revealed that the waycross district attorney had already taken a role in the case and reviewing evidence, advising the glenn county police department regarding whether to make arrests in the case. mcmichael and his 34-year-old son, travis, were not arrested until the georgia bureau of investigation got involved after cell phone video apparently capturing arbery's death went viral on the internet last week. the video has prompted protests, calling for swift prosecution of arbery's killers and any local authorities who may have tried to protect them. the gbi has arrested a man for making terroristic threats against future protests. the agency says 20-year-old rochon smith created a facebook user i.d. of an unwitting individual to post a hoax threat. meanwhile, lawyers for arbery's family are praising georgia's attorney general for calling for this doj investigation. harris? >> harris: jonathan, thank you very much. emily, i'm in a come to you right awa

jack johnson recused herself in the case was reassigned to george barnhill, the d.a. in nearby waycross. neither filed charges against mcmichael or his 34-year-old son, travis. 74 days after the shooting, both were arrested following the release of a cell phone video apparently showing 25-year-old ahmaud arbery's death, prompting the georgia bureau of investigation to get involved. >> it's 2020. this was a lynching of an african-american man. >> security camera video has service which apparently show arbery minutes before his death briefly enter a construction site near travis mcmichael's home. lawyers for arbery's family say what followed was the unjustifiable execution of an unarmed young black man in broad daylight. they are urging the special prosecutor to be zealous in her search for justice. protesters are calling for the swift prosecution of arbery's killers, a social media threat against future protests led to the arrest of a 20-year-old. saying that sean smith created a facebook user i.d. of an unwitting individual to post a hoax threat. bret. >> bret: allega

what's troubling here is that, in spite of the fact that the initial district attorney barnhill, hadbtained this information, i'm sure the call, obviously the videotape, had conducted interviews, ultimately decided that he would recuse himself. he still felt compelled before recusing himself to offer a legal opinion on the case itself, and the letter speaks in terms of twins tiffs. it's concrete in his mind about the innocence of those individuals in this particular case. those are the types of things that have people very troubled, very concerned and smelling something that doesn't smell right here. >> finally, mr. merritt, obviously race hangs over all of this, stacy abrams and joe biden weighing in, biden of course the presumption ink nominee in ways in on what is a local case with national implications, saying, quite crisply, that arbery was killed in cold blood. your response? >> well, i appreciate mr. biden weighing in on this. we're way past swift in this case. i have to strongly agree with him. we are way past swift, because this happened 23rd of 2020. the georgia bureau of i

but before he relinquished the case, barnhill wrote a case to the police department which was arguing by "the times," there was not sufficient probable cause to arrest arbery 's pursuers. this is an astounding story. explain ththe conflict here. again, mcmcmichael, retired pole ficer. and investigatator >> he wawas a police officer and invesestigatr for the district attorney'y's office and worked fofor them for over 30 years. so we are very distrustful of any legal or law enforcement agencies in n the sououtheastern part of georgiaa because we feel they all know the mcmcmichaels d they're going to be biased in favor of the mcmichaels b becaue of those relelationships. eveven the current prosecucutore don't have trust for him because he has revealed his perspective. he had that vivideo. he could have issssued an arrest warrant based on just the video like that georgia bureau of investigations finally did when they took over the investigation because it was probable cause in the video. you did -- i mean, it is probable cause.. like people are arrested on far less in america e every day,

we believe she doesn't that have bias that george barnhill or jackie johnson the previous district attorneyg at this case with fresh eyes. if everybody who was involved are equal citizens what happened. instead of the law enforcement officials creating the defense for the accused, they look at them for what they are which are men outside of the law. >> that is as you say regardless of whatever their history may have been because there were so many allegations of conflict of interest regarding their links to the law. we've been staying on the case. we'll expect we'll call on you again. i appreciate you making time for "the beat" on this night, sir. thank you. let me tell you at home why we're doing something special right now because i'm not usually in this hour, right at 7:00 p.m. eastern but we're here until chris hayes picks up at the half. next we're doing something very special we've never done on msnbc. we'll get deep into michael jordan's leadership the links with obama invoked him. we'll show you and the lessons we learned from this record breaking documentary in a special report nex

the governor's office was well aware of this video two months ago, the attorney general met with barnhillreceived several correspondsens, and he doesn't call in the gbi. my client forced his hand, and he assigned it to frankly one of the worst prosecutors in the region. so no. >>> please keep us posted. woe hope to have you back on. please give our condolences from the show to mr. arbury's mom and dad. thank you for your time. more after the break. thank you . more after the break neutralize harmful plaque bacteria and help reverse early gum damage. gum detoxify, from crest. there are times when our need to connect really matters. to keep customers and employees in the know. to keep business moving. comcast business is prepared for times like these. powered by the nation's largest gig-speed network. to help give you the speed, reliability, and security you need. tools to manage your business from any device, anywhere. and a team of experts - here for you 24/7. we've always believed in the power of working together. that's why, when every connection counts... you can count on us. [ chantin

barnhill, which is the district attorney who penned that letter, ought to be brought up before ethics i say that because he failed to disclose the fact that his family had close ties to the suspects in this case. he put together an opinion about whether or not this was legal knowing that he was biased by that opinion. knowing that by putting that opinion out there he would taint the prosecutorial pool, that he would taint any potential jury pools, and that his words would matter. it matters that his words don't, in fact, line up with the law in any important respect. >> wanda, why do you think -- what's your theory why no arrests have been made so far given that this video has been out there, and people have seen what actually happened on that georgia street? >> i think that no arrests have been made because basically they -- because of the title that he carried of the retired police officer. i think that they don't feel like he was wrong because he was one of them. >> and, wanda, i know that it's important to you and it's important to know more about the story, to know about your son

. >> i think it was absurd that he george barnhill made the statement that ahmaud was the aggressor.e was clearly defending himself and fighting for his life. >> reporter: arbery's friends and family are still grieving. >> ahmaud most of all was loved by his family and peers. i mean, ahmaud didn't deserve to go the way that he went. >> reporter: this state's top law enforcement agency was able to do in two days what three local prosecutors couldn't. today this family would have been celebrating their son's birthday. there are tributes around the world. michael. >> also with mother's day coming around the corner, thank you so much, steve, for that. >>> we turn to more than 75 million people in the path of freezing cold and snow for mother's day. ginger is tracking the latest from home. ginger, how can this happen? >> you know, michael, i just checked. it is may 8th. i don't have a watch on but either way it's may 8th and yes, we're talking about record cold and also snow. this video from montana, that was the nose of the serious cold air coming in. we'll get a kinky jet stream. what t

recused herself from the case and the case was reassigned to george barnhill, the waycross.ng, neither revealed to the office of the attorney general that the way across circuit district attorney had already taken a role in the case in reviewing evidence and advising the police department regarding whether to make arrests in the case. mcmichael and his 34-year-old son travis were not arrested until the georgia bureau of investigation got involved after cell phone video apparently capturing arbery's death went viral on the internet last week. the video has prompted protests calling for swift prosecution of arbery's killers. a hook he was the man of making terroristic threats against future protests. were sean smith created a facebook user i.d. of an unwitting individual to pose a hoax threat. security camera video has surfaced showing a man believed to be arbery briefly enter a construction site near travis mcmichael's home. the property owners say they were unaware of the video until after the shooting. they say his actions at the empty home under construction were in no way

acrossing to a letter sent out by george barnhill the d.a. in one of the counties there in georgia.lliam bryant was alleged to have done in vaping. this and i woul vaping videotaping this. who goes around videotape ago potential murder? >> ted, thank you for that perspective. i think it's worth noting the father and son have been charged with murder upon wide releasing of that video. the letter you just referenced that d.a. was in the process of recusing himself and based on that video drew conclusions including application of the georgia self-defense and citizens arrest statute which many have sort of refuted given that neither of those gentlemen saw the direct commission of a felony or were in immediate knowledge of it. it was sort of based on them saying that he looked like the mugshot of someone who was alleged to have participated in a series of recent burglaries in the area. i want to draw your attention to the tmz 911 call reportedly of the incident take a listen. >> a black male, running down the street. >> where at emily: ted, what are your thoughts on that 911 call tape an