eugene robinson, professor jelani cobb, thank you both very much for joining us on this important nightk you. >> thank you. coming up, the minneapolis police department lied to you in their first public report of what happened to george floyd. it's the kind of lie that american police departments have gotten away with not dozens of times, not hundreds of times but thousands and thousands of times in the history of policing in america. but they didn't get away with it this time thanks to a brave 17-year-old girl. that's next. ♪ the calming scent of lavender by downy infusions calm. laundry isn't done until it's done with downy. tonight, i'll be eating a veggie cheeseburger on ciabatta, no tomatoes.. [hard a] tonight... i'll be eating four cheese tortellini with extra tomatoes. [full emphasis on the soft a] so its come to this? [doorbell chimes] thank you. [doorbell chimes] bravo. careful, hamill. daddy's not here to save you. oh i am my daddy. wait, what? what are you talking about? managing type 2 diabetes? you're on it. staying fit and snacking light? yup, on it there too. you may thin

still with us are eugene robinson and matt lewis.do we see about what the republican party has become? i'm going to remind you of a quote of your own writing. gaetz found trump's depraved anything goes style to be liberating, and some republicans apparently find their honesty refreshing, but don't be surprised if the end result is a gaggle of egomaniacal republicans on the house floor. if gaetz survivors, the lesson will be that it will be sort of your get out of jail free card. did trump personally per se make this worse, make it the point of realm in the gop? >> you're right, there's always been scandals and bad behavior. i think the difference is politicians used to feel compelled to pretend to be decent or ethical. and i think donald trump got rid of that. and if you look, there was a "vanity fair" article that matt gaetz did or interview he gave to "vanity fair" in december where standard bearers were a stick in the mud but he has, quote, an active social life, and trump being president as well as a congressman with an active so

trymaine, thank you joining me now is "washington post" columnist and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson eugene, talk about this moment and what it means not just for the floyd's family but for the nation >> lester, i think this is an inflection point this does not mean that we have completed some sort of reckoning with racial justice, we have solved all the problems of policing in this country prob in this country. we've got a lot of work to do. but this feels we've got a lot of work to do. but this feels like a beginning rather than an ending to me. it feels like a very important day, an important result from the moment we learned we would have a verdict to the minute that verdict was announced, i think i held my breath, because we've been -- we've been disappointed and devastated so many times before when it seemed that juries simply did not value black life, did not value the lives of african-americans or their rights, or their right just to walk down the street it seemed that we were not seen as fully american. this jury did see george floyd as a man in full, as a citizen of minneap

eugene robinson and mike murphy are with us. strength of donald trump's endorsement of mo brooks. >> brooks is an embarrassment to the republican party and the great state of alabama. you know, his thuggish demeanor and involvement in january is evident as the clip showed. no surprise trump loves him. alabama is a republican state and if he can win the republican primary to the shame of alabama, he has a good chance to be the next senator from there and his clown show will be elevated, unfortunately. >> eugene, we were just putting up this thing on the screen. i want to show my viewers on the screen again. he said that biden is governing from the new center while republicans are catering to the far side with rhetoric and anti-democratic action such as bills to restrict voting. those of us on the center-right can't afford a third party flirtation. we need to become biden republicans. evaluate max's take on that please. >> well, he became a biden republican in the general election in 2020. i think that it makes sense. i think that

still with us, eugene robinson and rick murphy. maybe i should try print.ey mike, along those same lines, you would think republicans across the country would be exhausted after their voter suppression efforts. but no, that other newspaper the new york times reports this. republican legislatures in oklahoma and iowa have passed bills granting immunity to drivers whose vehicles straight can injure protesters, in public streets. mike that's a good look, imagine the branding opportunities there. >> well look, political stupidity tends to have unlimited energy. there are two things going on here, i'm with senator mcconnell, i think a lot of the two trillion dollar infrastructure, bill by the way that's half the cost of world war ii to the u.s. government in adjusted real dollars, a lot of it is very broadly defined infrastructure. there's only about a nickel on the dollar that the roads highways and bridges, and i'm for a trillion dollar infrastructure spending, there's good stuff in the bill, but what you saw from leader mcconnell was the attempt to start deba

i am joined by shaq brewster, david henderson and eugene robinson. welcome. we have been covering the police testimony. it has been critical. the sergeant and lieutenant, most senior officer of the department have taken us through george floyd's death. tell us how this day played out. >> reporter: the testimony started to pick up before the recess. as they got into the talk of force and training. we just got notes from reporters inside the room. remember, two reporters allowed in the courtroom. the reporter notes that the line of questioning with lieutenant zimmerman about handcuffs, use of force got jurors to pay more attention with notes. we know jurors have become fidgety, but when they got on the detail of use of force. the sound you just heard, it seems that many of them started picking up their pens and papers and taking notes. that's a pattern throughout the trial. these jurors have been taking notes, sometimes flipping back to previous pages and adding to their previous notes. andrea, you are seeing the development of the prosecution and laying out th

joining me are "washington post" eugene robinson. joining me are "wall street journal" columnist peggy noonan. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> announcer: from nbc news in washington. the longest running show in television history. this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >>> and a good sunday morning. millions of americans felt a combination of grief and relief, experiencing both the trial and the verdict of derek chauvin last week. but even as much of america exhales, it does help to remember the initial statement from the minneapolis police department. here is how it read. officers were able to get the suspect, george floyd, into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. officers called for an ambulance. he was transported to hennepin county medical center by ambulance where he died a short time later. he appeared to be suffering medical distress. that's all it said. did derek chauvin's trial and conviction change anything? it's hard to know. right now there are calls for video to be released i

eugene robinson, pulitzer prize-winning columnist. also with the washington post. and a b stoddard, veteran washington journalists. eugene, i'd like to begin with you. the president tonight spoke in the way presidents have spoken to the american people. traditionally over the years, over the generations -- stylistically one difference. an extraordinary amount of the use of tone. at times speaking to a whisper. that may have owed to the sparse population of that cavernous chamber. and it may have translated very intimately to television viewers. on the content in your view, did he hit the mark? >> on the content, i really think it was a pretty extraordinary speech. certainly extraordinary in the sense that it was a speech that we have not heard from a president in the last 40 years. and could not have heard from a president in the last 40 years, since the reagan era. and i was struck by something -- actually the tim scott said in response. he said, there was a feeling that this nation is sliding off its chair and foundations. there was that same feeling in the countr

"washington post" columnist eugene robinson. nbc correspondent morgan radford.wall street journal" columnist peggy noonan. and malcolm gladwell, the author of "the bomber wall." eugene robinson, you heard keith mayes say he doesn't see this as a selma moment. what say you? >> it's too soon to tell. too soon to tell. and frankly, if this isn't a selma moment, what's going to be one? this is a murder that was videotaped for 9 1/2 not only from experts but from the police, from the chief of the department involved, the minneapolis police chief, saying that what derek chauvin did was completely beyond the pale. you had everything. yet, you know, there was this enormous feeling, at least on my part, of relief. i could breathe, when we finally got the verdict, because so many of these verdicts have gone the other way. and so we'll see if we can actually get some systemic change this time. i think we've got a better shot than we've had in the past. but we'll see. >> you know, morgan, on one hand you look at it and it seems obvious that change is going to happen. too mu

. >> eugene robinson, you wrote your latem column, you talk about watching the prosecution lay out the case, but you're holding back the expectation that chauvin is going to get convicted. is this one of those, you have just been, you know, until you see an outcome that's different, you're always going to assume what you have seen before is going to happen? >> right. i mean, i'm not assuming one way or the other, but i thought the prosecution put on what i thought was a compelling, if not definitive, case. i'm trying to guard, number one, against my own confirmation bias, because that's the way i see what happened to george floyd. and therefore, am i giving too much credit to what the jury might be seeing? and second, yeah. we have been here before. we have seen this movie before. we had film of the officers, you know, beating rodney king to a pulp. we had video of philando castile being shot. we had -- you know, we have been here before. and we have seen police officers acquitted. so a bit of self-protection, it's risky to put too much hope into this process. that said, i, too, do loo

still with us are eugene robinson and matt lewis.ut matt, who do we see about what the republican party has become? i'm going to remind you of a quote of your own writing. gaetz found trump's depraved anything goes style to be elaborating and some republicans apparently find their honesty refreshing. but don't be surprised if the end result is a gaggle of eagle maniacal politicians flaunting their conquests on the house floor. if gaetz survives, the lesson will be that preemptively telegraphing your vice is a sort of get out of jail free card. who matt, i guess my point is politics and moral behavior have all this had a curious relationship. did trump personally, per se, make this worse? make it the status quo in the gop? >> while you're right, there's always been scandals and bad behavior. i think the difference is, politicians used to feel compelled to pretend to be decent or ethical. and i think donald trump got rid of that. and if you look, there was a vanity fair article that matt gaetz did, or an interview he gave to vanity fai

. >> leading off our discussion tonight, eugene robinson, associate editor and pulitzer prize winner. for the washington post and a msnbc analyst. also, joining us tonight, former assistant u.s. attorney in washington, d.c. and, eugene, let me begin with you, and what you saw in this testimony today. >> well, what i saw the -- the sort of blockbuster moment was when the police supervisor, the former supervisor, said what seems obvious, from the -- from all the videotaped evidence. that, there was a point, at which george floyd was clearly subdued, was giving no resistance, was handcuffed. had been on the ground. and was only complaining that he couldn't breathe. and -- and that, that was a point where -- when derek chauvin should have released the pressure. he should have stopped kneeling on george floyd's neck, in such a way that ultimately killed him. and i think, that was the worst moment for the defense today. and the story that courteney ross told of their relationship and their struggle against addiction, and their love for each other was at times touching. at times, very sad an

you just saw people releasing a motion, that has been pent-up since may 25th of last year. >> eugene robinsonto give you an open mic opportunity to respond and react to this day. and from george floyd to the verdicts to what we just heard the vice president say in the president of the united states. >> lawrence, if you think about it, this crime, this murder, was amply documented on videotape. all nine minutes and 29 seconds of it. from various angles. it was there, we could see it. and so we shouldn't have to feel this enormous relief, and surprised that justice infect was done in this case. and this is so much about the history of these incidents, the histories of these killings, the history of these denials of justice, in the case of by police officers who killed black man in question. and so, one has to hope that this is the beginning. one has to hope that this is certainly not the end. one hopes it's the beginning, and an illustration, that a police chief, can testify against one of his officers and say, he went too far. if this is a weakening, i won't say an end but a thin blue line of

still with us eugene robinson and mike murphy. maybe i should try print.ng those same lines you would think republicans across the country would be exhausted after the voter suppression efforts but now. that other newspaper "the new york times" reports republican legislators in oklahoma and iowa have passed bills granting immunity to drivers whose vehicles strike and injure protesters in public streets. mike, that's a good look. imagine the branding opportunities there. >> well, look. political stupidity tends to have unlimited energy. you know, two things gone on here. i'm with senator mcconnell. i think a lot of the $2 trillion trial court bill, half the cost of world war ii, a lot of it is very broadly defined infrastructure. only about a nickel on the dollar at roads, highways and bridges and i'm for about a trillion dollars but what you saw from leader mcconnell is to start to debate the details rather than the headline of infrastructure good and look at program this spending. there's i believe about $20 billion in it for airports. if you have been th

and "the washington post's" eugene robinson is still with us. for joining us this hour. >> kasie hunt, 1966. >> i've got to be honest with you, joe. 1966. the only one that's stuck in my head is 1983, which is the last time my orioles won a world series. >> 1966. 1970, they won. >> that's fair. >> i think that's why my dad is such a big fan, right? that's the key spot for him, and then we had some hope from cal ripken in the '90s, but otherwise, it's been rough. >> mike barnicle, one of the great stories, and i heard lupica talking about this the other day. one of the great stories is earl weaver going out in the playoffs and he was miked, he didn't realize he was miked and walks out to the pound. the pitcher is getting absolutely hammered and earl weaver goes out there and he goes, son, if you know how to cheat, now's the time to do it. turned around, walked off the mound, went back into the dugout, didn't know he was on mic. >> right, that's the famous don stenhouse incident. he was the pitcher on the mound, and he contributed to earl's nickna

. >> joining me now is david henderson, eugene robinson, joyce vance and ben gupta. first, let's talk about the testimony today. was she successful in rebutting -- we don't know what he will testify, but from the autopsy himself. >> he is determined to be gold. but it's meaningful to hear witnesses like dr. thomas donate their time for free for this case. i think she has done a remarkable job of clarifying what did not cause george floyd's death. the only complication is she is a sophisticated person and she expresses her opinion in sophisticated words. like when she uses words like officers and not officer, singular. overall, i think she did fantastic. >> medical technical witnesses, yesterday's witness was extraordinary. martin tobin. let's talk about the jury's reaction. and, shaq, how are they reacting to today's witness dr. thomas? >> yesterday the jurors were following along as dr. tobin was referencing the neck, they were following along with the instructions. they said they were thoroughly engaged. we also know how tough it was for the floyd family who was in

eugene robinson, columnist at the "washington post" and mike murphy, veteran strategist and co-directorthe center for the political future at the university of southern california and co-host of the hacks on tap podcast. good evening to both of you. mike, mitch mcconnell said something interesting every day this week. he seems to be realizing that he might have overstepped in what he said that he thinks ceos should or should not do. let's listen from the latest that he commented on. >> i did not say that artfully yesterday. they are certainly entitled to be involved in politics. they are. my principle complaint is they didn't read the darn bill. yesterday he said boycotts were stupid. ceos should mind their own business. what do you make of where mitch mcconnell is and how he is managing the situation? >> i think he was trying to clean up a clumsy remark. i will take him at his word that he does believe companies ought to have opinions or are allowed to, as do i. it is a free country. people get to protest and react to legislation they don't like, whether it be outside the masters or th

joining me now is the head of the civil rights division years ago under president clinton and eugene robinsonick, first to you. you said the chauvin verdict showed the life of a black man in america does matter. but senate talks are still stalled. the sticking point seems to be whether to keep qualified immunity protecting officers and communities from civil cases. >> the fact is, as you said, this bill has been pending for a year. it was passed overwhelmingly in the house. it has been stuck in the senate for the same reason that reforms locally and in state houses across the country have been stuck. the police interest is very powerful. the unions are powerful. and there is a narrative we have been stuck on for a long time, that being tough on time is somehow smart on crime. but when the toughness falls disproportionately on black citizens, that has to be addressed. we have seen more evidence of this as videotapes are released. >> there is a new poll that people think should be more done to hold police accountable. but we are told on the hill that the qualified officer i am i am kmunt /* /*

. >> i want to bring in eugene robinson in a moment. we're waiting for this courtroom in minneapolis to begin closing arguments today in the trial of derek chauvin. as we wait, let's bring in nbc news political analyst eugene robinson. i look at an op-ed that you wrote recently. you titled it chauvin's despicable defense. you clearly -- you have a stance here and i wonder what your take is on what today could mean for the larger community. >> well, the whole world is watching this trial. the whole world is waiting for the outcome and, you know, to say something is potentially explosive, watershed moment, those types of phrases are overused. i don't think they would be going too far in this case. the george floyd killing resounded across the country and throughout the world and was one of the -- >> i'm going to interrupt. we'relistening to the judge. >> it is your duty to decide the questions of fact in this case. it is my duty to give you the rules of law that you must apply in arriving at your verdict. you have now heard the evidence a

so eugene robinson, jeffrey goldberg has a question for you. jeffrey?curious, based on something that reverend sharpton said, and the combination of watching the video and seeing -- yesterday seemed like a pivotal day in the sense that you have a series of experts basically saying, look, this is the reason he died. it wasn't drugs in the system, it wasn't this, it wasn't that, he was choked to death. his air was cut off. so my question is, i'm trying to imagine a defense scenario that's plausible, but i'm curious to hear your opinion as to whether you think this trial is essentially over or if there are if the defense has anything plausible to offer at this point. >> it's never over until it's over, jonathan. and it's over when the jury comes back with a verdict or without a verdict. and so i'm like the rev, i've been disappointed and surprised so many times that i think it's unwise to take anything for granted. that said, this is an overwhelming case. and i thought the testimony yesterday by dr. tobin, he was -- he was like the -- you know, the witness

i was talking to eugene robinson of the criticism of joe biden and others have saying these voter suppression laws are like jim crow. eugene said sure rhymes with jim crow, because jim crow in the day was not explicitly about stopping black people from voting, but that's what it was about and that's what it achieved. what's your take on what's happening across the south right now? >> i think it's the most massive suppression activity to take place since the jim crow laws. i happen, as you know, to study history pretty much daily. and i can tell you that just because you say it is something, we have to look at the effect of it. and that's what happened in 1965 voting rights act. when you have to prove someone's intentions requires that you gets inside their heads, which we cannot do. you look at the effects of the legislation. what effect will this legislative action have on people trying to vote? so when you are extending periods, when you are changing methods and when you are criminalizing giving refreshments as people stand in line, if you don't think of anything else, what was the intentio

. >> jason, our friend eugene robinson wrote this in the washington post under the headline derek chauvin's couldn't fiction shouldn't feel like a victory but it does quote, almost as important as the guilty verdicts is the fact that so many minneapolis police officers, including police chief arradondo testified for the prosecution against chauvin. thin blue line solidarity probably isn't gone forever. but at least we know it has its limits. that's a start, and hopefully, a precedent. do you join the hopefulness in eugene's column, jason? >> not at all. because literally bryant, when we talked earlier today, and i said this does not make me happy, it is not satisfactory, it is not justice, this doesn't necessarily change unless there is some radical form of policing, what happened later, a 16-year-old girl in columbus called the police for help, and an officer was on the scene and in 22 seconds he shot her dead. an honorable student who was making tiktok videos on makeup and hair. this hasn't stopped. and i want to be very clear on how critical this is, not just from an emotional standpoint

mayor, this is eugene robinson. on july 1, are broadway going to be ready to go?o go? have you talked to those sectors and is that the date that works for them? >> in terms of restaurants, in terms of retail, there's no question in my mind, july 1st will work for so many of them. broadway takes time, because they have to mount a whole production. they have been aiming for september, most of the shows. some of the smaller shows might be able come in earlier. but one thing for sure, we've been vaccinating the broadway community. literally, we have a vaccination center right in the middle of times square. it's been a huge hit, pardon the pun. and people have been flocking to it. the whole broadway community, whether you're on stage or behind stage, everyone's been coming there, getting vaccinated. it's actually been run by folks who work in broadway and are doing this for their fellow cultural, you know, workers to help them come back. so i would say you should expect broadway full strength in september, but i would love to see some of the smaller shows up in july an

and yet to sort of echo what my colleague eugene robinson is saying in his column today in "the washington post" despite that case the prosecution made and presented and now the defense is giving its side, there is a part of me that is afraid that common sense will not be a visitor in the jury box. and that even though what the defense is presenting and, you know, even though it might be knocked back by the prosecution on cross-examination, that, you know, eric nelson doesn't have to convince 12 people. he has to convince one, and he has to convince only one person to say that derek chauvin is not guilty or not go along with the other 11 who want to convict him. so that is my worry, that there could be one person in that jury pool who will not use common sense and for those racist tropes we've been listening to since this trial kicked off and now super charged on high octane now the defense is presenting its case will side with chauvin. >> jonathan capehart, kimberley atkins, brian dunn, mush appreciated. i want to go now to my colleague eamon mohideen. he's been following the migrant cris

. >> kamal, columnist eugene robinson titled his opinion piece cut "derek chauvin's conviction shouldn't victory but it does." do you agree? >> yes, we can't help but think of it as a victory, but to sort of extend that analogy, we're on quite a lose streak, so, yes, it is a victory, and we should take a sigh of relief, but i think as we're all aware here, you can't get caught up in this one victory because as alfie just said we can't expect every community around america to be on the scene filming when a cop kills a black person and have all that evidence. we can't express -- every dead black person won't rerupt into a moment that changes the world. >> when she was 17 she filmed it. she posted on facebook, van, justice has been served. i -- i constantly quote this, and i apologize for doing this. i use a fellow philadelphian, but will smith said in 2016 racism is not getting worse in america, it's getting filmed. is this now just the new normal? is this the way to fight in? remember, a much different incident but the central park murder and his filming of that incident. >> i just think

. >> joining us knew, eugene robinson. and carmen best, former seattle police chief. me begin with you tonight. and your reaction to what you're seeing in brooklyn center, minnesota, tonight. >> lawrence, not surprisingly, another night of civic unrest. with people protesting and demonstrating, their first amendment rights. in regards to what can only be called a horrible and tragic day today, and actually the day before as well. so right now, a lot of folks, it sounds like, are still out. officers are out. the national guard is there. i've lived through these moments myself in seattle last year, right after the murder of george floyd. and certainly, i understand the anger and angst of crowds as they come out to protest. there will be those who will stick it out and will not want to go in, and will want to continue to demonstrate their anxiety, angst, and anger over what has occurred. hopefully they can do it peacefully. it tends to settle some people down, who want to follow the rules, so they'll leave at curfew. we'll see what happens, but sounds like it's calming d

prize-winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst, eugene robinsonhooting. police in brooklyn center used tear gas on unruly protesters after they set off fireworks and hurled objects at officers on the scene.

associate editor of "washington post" and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson. nbc news and msnbc be national affairs analyst, host and executive producer of showtimes "the circus" and host of "the hell and high water podcast" from the recount. jon hileman is with us, and alina plott. joe will be back on monday. we're following a number of stories this morning. another day of dramatic testimony in the trial of derek chauvin, the former police officer charged with the murder of george floyd. >> -- floyd had this great, deep, southern voice. raspy. he was like, sis. you okay, sis? and i wasn't okay. i said, no, i'm -- i'm just waiting for my son's father. he -- sorry. he said -- um -- well, can i pray with you? >> chauvin defense team argued that floyd's underlying health conditions and drug use killed him. what do jurors think? we'll talk about that coming up. >>> plus, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell says president biden's infrastructure package won't get any support from republicans. interesting. >>> and texas lawmakers advance a sweeping elections bill

because i've had a growing sense of anxiety and we ought to read from eugene robinson's op-ed in a minute, but i've had a growing sense of anxiety over the past several weeks, watching coverage of this trial, reading opinion pieces about it, listening to legal experts on news shows talking about it. and everybody is saying everything but, this is a slam dunk. he's going to be convicted. the defense doesn't have the case. and it's -- it's caused a concern, because i don't think many people have the understanding that aren't attorneys of what you just said. that regardless of the evidence, a prosecution's case is precarious because it's beyond a reasonable doubt and they can just find one juror and get a hung jury. and we think back, whether -- you know, whatever the cases are that have shocked us in the past, i think americans need to hear exactly what you're saying right now, is the burden is extraordinarily high. and while i saw the video and millions of americans saw the video and i think it's murder and millions of americans think it's -- i'm not one of 12 in the jury and i'm just -- a

executive officer of the classic learning test, professor eddie glaude and mike barnicle and eugene robinsonoming out and we're going to have here on juneteenth so we'll have her on in may. >> still ahead, did congresswoman maxine waters hurt her own cause by speaking out about the derek chauvin trial. plus remembering walter mondale, the statesman who forever changed the office of the u.s. vice presidency. and check out all of the great content we have going at know your value.com. are you so tired of hours and hours on zoom, we have seven ways to cope with zoom fatigue and in our special series leveling up, keisha boyd gives us great tips on how to read a rook. we're back in just two minutes with a packed 8:00 a.m. hour. ar finding new routes to reach your customers and new ways for them to reach you is what business is all about it's what the united states postal service has always been about so as your business changes, we're changing with it with e-commerce that runs at the speed of now next day and two-day shipping nationwide same day shipping across town returns right from the doorste

joining our conversation, columnist for "the washington post," eugene robinson, and olivia, lucky forory and the news is bleak. this feels like -- i won't use the tired dam breaking, but it does seem like brakes are being pumped on this movement. >> it is encouraging. it is -- it was encouraging to see that huge double truck ad in my newspaper this morning, signed by all those corporations and all those prominent executives calling for voting rights. that was encouraging. it makes a difference to have the business community so committed, luminaries in the business community, some of the biggest companies in the world. now we'll see if they also throw their real weight behind this campaign. the other thing, you know, kristin clarke, it is so vital to have a dedicated, real activist -- it will be a real change to have an active civil rights division of the justice department that seeks to protect voting rights in this country. so even though, you know, a lot of the voting rights has been gutted by the supreme court, there's a lot of it left. a lot of it that can be enforced by an active

eugene robinson joins us, the author of that piece. you might have had some partnerships, it seems next to impossible now. >> says, basically. matthew is absolutely right. joe biden, short of being some sort of literal magician, cannot wave a magic wand and make the right not crazy anymore. those clips from lindsey graham, it took him three nanoseconds to go crawling back to donald trump, and trump and graham and the rest of the sycophants are playing to a crowd that believes in an alternate vision of reality. as matthew said, it's going to peak repeated, overwhelming repeat of the republican before the party reforms, changes itself and morphing into something once again reasonable. that's a long-term project. in the short term, it is an absolute good thing that the white house is no longer insane, that we have, you know, daily briefings that are fact based rather than fix fiction based. we don't have crazy tweets. this president doesn't do that. this president governs and speaks like a normal president. he's restored the dignity and s

in fact, my colleague at "the washington post," eugene robinson, wrote a whole column about the fact that he and probably every african-american in this country just has that little bit of doubt there. what do you say or what would you say to the american people? let's forecast out here. let's say the verdict does come back not guilty. how do you -- what would you say to the american people, but black americans in particular, about what that means. >> to america, i would say, we have to live up to our promise of liberty and justice for all. that means all of us, america. that means black people. that means hispanic people. that means native people. it means all of us. and we have to live up to this high idea that we have called equal justice under the law because this isn't a hard case. it's only hard because george floyd was an unarmed black man face down. if he was an unarmed white man face down, everybody would say bloody murder and they would expect justice to be swift. but we have two justice systems in america. and what i will say to black people is, we're making progress. we h

also joining us, pulitzer prize winning columnist for the "washington post," eugene robinson is hereof justice is here. all three are msnbc contributors. donna, i start with you. this idea of preemptively threatening to punish companies that don't like voter restriction laws, is that -- is that even legal? >> well, i mean, you know, republicans are so confused, nicole. on the one hand, they want to raise money from corporations, and they want their support for various business or other proposals and on the other hand, they want to punish them, penalize them, fine them, maybe next they'll be putting them in jail for supporting the idea that americans want to vote, they should be able to vote, and that corporations are filled with employees who want to be able to participate in the democratic process. and so, it doesn't even actually make sense from a democratic standpoint, little "d" democracy, but it sure doesn't make sense from a business standpoint. so, i'm not really sure where republicans are going on this, but i think briscoe cain got his nomenclature kind of mixed up. voter fra

prize-winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst, eugene robinsonr isaacson is with us as we hit just about right now, the top of the hour. >> so gene robinson, it's interesting, we have a popular president who appears to be personally liked, who is presenting popular policy proposals. some extremely popular policy proposals. and you have, i think for the first time, around half of americans, first time in a long time, half of americans believing this country is headed in the right direction. i wouldn't say we've reentered an era of good feelings, but this is something that we as a country have not seen in a very long time. >> no, we haven't and really for good reason. for a long time, we were not headed in the right direction. but most americans increasingly think we are. what fascinates me is how popular his specific policies are in that polling, especially the infrastructure bill and his tax proposals and the fact that the republican party, which still has a lot of power, certainly the power to say "no," just refuses to even acknowledge those num

on the issue of whether this verdict was a surprise this is eugene robinson on the opinion pages of today'swashington post." this is what he writes in the first paragraphs. "it shouldn't have been an open question if a police officer could kneel on a man's neck for more than nine minutes, snuffing out his life with partial or complete impunity. we shouldn't have had to hold our collective breath from the moment it was announced there was a verdict in the derek chauvin trial to the moment the verdict was read. this shouldn't feel so much like a victory, but it does. the jurors saw floyd tend to the hard pavement and say again and again that he couldn't breathe and held chauvin accountable. they saw george floyd fully as a human being. sometimes that simple acknowledgment of humanity has apparently been too much to ask. the police officers who killed philando castile, derek gardner, and so many other black men were not charged. this is he hopes a beginning." so many papers on this. we are mostly focused on your calls. setting aside all three hours to hear your reaction. this is anne in washin

prize-winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst, eugene robinson. for the second night in a row, violent protests gripped a minneapolis suburbs in the wake of sunday night's deadly shooting. police in brooklyn center used tear gas on unruly protesters after they set off fireworks and hurled objects at officers on the scene. according to the minnesota state patrol, some officers suffered minor injuries. at least 40 arrests were made overnight, as reports of looting in the area remained limited. two armored law enforcement vehicles were rolled out to subdue the crowds that were out past the 7:00 p.m. curfew. they tried to put a curfew, people stayed out. more than 1,000 minnesota national guard troops were also deployed to the area. willie? >> let's go right to minneapolis, bring in morgan chefski. morgan, good morning. what are you seeing out there? >> reporter: good morning. we are here in brooklyn, about 200 yards from that police station where hundreds of people gathered last night. and we witnessed ourselves as police and national guard moved po

prize-winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst, eugene robinsonnt, and msnbc contributor, victoria defrancisco soto is still with us as well. president biden delivers his first address to a joint session of congress tomorrow. and the white house tells nbc news he is, quote, deeply involved in its development. press secretary jen psaki says the president will lay out specific details of his american families plan that will expand health care, child care, college tuition assistance and other domestic agenda items. the white house says police reform is also a top priority on the list, willie. >> and here's how the country is feeling about that agenda. the latest monmouth university poll finds widespread support for president biden's big domestic policy items. 68% in this poll support his infrastructure and jobs plan. 29% oppose it. as for the president's spending plan, 64% support the proposal to expand health care, child care, and college tuition assistance. 34% are opposed. when asked which plan is more important, the majority of those polled, 54%