today, i am announcing that the justice department has opened a civil investigation to determine whether the minneapolis police department engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing. this effort will be staffed by experienced attorneys and other personnel from the justice department's civil rights division and the u.s. attorney's office for the district of minnesota. the new civil investigation is separate from and independent of the federal criminal investigation into the death of george floyd that the justice department has previously announced. congress gave the department the authority to conduct civil practice pattern or practice investigations which look beyond , individual incidents to assess systemic failures. those investigations allow the department to determine whether a police department has a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing. the investigation i am announcing today will assess whether the minneapolis police department engages in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, including during protests. the investigat

the united states department of justice is a federal law enforcement agency our nation's police departments. we are uniquely aware of the challenges faced by those who serve as police officers. we see their commitment firsthand every day and we recognize the complex issues that make their already difficult jobs even harder. the justice department is also charged with ensuring that the constitutional and federal statutory rights of all people are protected. as i explained last week, congress has authorized the department to conduct pattern or practice investigations to help it fulfill that responsibility. those investigations and the recommendations and actions that ensue do not only protect individual civil rights, they also assist police departments in developing measures to increase transparency and accountability. those qualities are necessary to building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve, and community trust is essential to making policing more effective and less dangerous for officers on the street. today, the justice department is opening a civil investigati

today, the justice department is opening a civil investigation into the louisville, jefferson county metro government and the louisville metro police department to determine whether lmpd engages in a pattern or practice of violations of the constitution or federal law. today's announcement is based on an extensive review of publicly available information about lmpd, conducted by the justice department's civil rights division. the investigation will assess whether lmpd engages in a pattern or practice of using unreasonable force, including with respect to people involved in peaceful expressive activities. it will determine whether lmpd engages in unconstitutional stops, searches and seizures, as well as whether the department unlawfully executes search warrants on private homes. it will also assess whether lmpd engages in discriminatory conduct on the basis of race or fails to provide public services that comply with the americans with disability act. the investigation will include a comprehensive review of the louisville police department's policies and training. it will alsos the eff

to change its policies and practices to avoid further violations usually when the justice department finds unlawful practices or patterns of practices the local police department enters into a settlement agreement or a consent decree to ensure that prompt and effective action is taken to align policing practices with the law most of our nation's law enforcement officers do their difficult jobs honorably and lawfully i strongly believe that good officers do not want to work in systems that allow bad practices good officers welcome accountability because accountability is an essential part of building trust with the community and public safety requires public trust i have been involved in the legal system in one way or another for most of my adult life i know that justice is sometimes slow sometimes elusive and sometimes never comes the department of justice will be unwavering in its pursuit of equal justice under law the challenges we face are deeply woven into our history they did not arise today or last year building trust between community and law enforcement will take time and effo

, and according to the times the current justice department was okay with serving this warrant. like you said, though, it's extraordinary because he's not only the former mayor of new york, but he's also the former attorney of the former president. this is a major development in this investigation. >> worth noting, let's try and walk through some of the history in the sense that two guiliani associates were already under indictment, and they are trying to retrace steps, and rudy guiliani, he had pro russia ties that makes the web even deeper? >> yeah, it does, and it's a case a lot of people have not thought about over the past six months, and it has gone dark since his two associates were charged. it's significant to serve the search warrant and seize the electronic devices, and what are they looking for? what kind of information do they think would still be on those electronic devices that they could potentially gather in the residents in new york to help with the ongoing investigation, but not good news for the former mayor. >> not good news at all. let's bring in jonathan fo

do you disagree with the department of justice's decision to prosecute him for voter suppression? ms. clarke: at 2006 i was still at the criminal section serving as a federal prosecutor at that department. senator lee: an official testified under oath that you spent a considerable amount of time attacking the civil right division to prosecute. did you discuss the isaac brown case with officials in the division? ms. clarke: no. to be clear, when that case was filed, i was at the justice department serving as a dedicated federal prosecutor in the criminal section. after he left the justice department, i espoused the view that the voter intimidation claim in that case was weak and the court agreed that claim was ultimately dismissed by the federal judge who handled the case. senator lee: i am going to read a nonexhaustive list of elements of american society that you have described in the past as racist. police departments, federal agencies, airbnb, election laws to combat fraud, the workplace, america's dna, the virginia military institute, the health care industry, federal courts, a

this is a different justice department.ow is donald trump reacting, i am sure he's in a rage about this because giuliani remains one of his last defenders, not only personally but also politically in terms of the rigged election and et cetera, et cetera. giuliani was out there on january 6th on that podium promoting the big lie. >> yeah, so john, given that giuliani played a key role in trump's big lie about the 2020 election, and do you see the same thing happening here, will this be painted as a deep state hit job? >> yes, but i think the force of that argument grows weaker over time. i want to step back for just a second and remind everybody the context here. remember, donald trump's 2016 campaign manager, paul manafort, had been a political consultant to a putin-aligned leader of ukraine, who was then ousted. the issue with ukraine, donald trump pressing ukraine for dirt on joe biden and all of the issues that related to that, that rudy giuliani was in the middle of, that was part of an effort to absolve russia of havin

today i'm announcing that the justice department has opened a civil investigation to determine if the police department engaging in a patter or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful places. this effort will be staffed by experienced attorneys and other personnels. and the u.s. attorney's office for the district of minnesota. the new civil investigation is separate from and independent of the federal criminal investigation into the death of george floyd that the justice department has previously announced. congress gave the department the authority to conduct civil bat earn or practice investigations. that look beyond individual incidents to assess those systemic failures. the investigation i am announcing today is assessing whether or not the minneapolis police department engages in a pattern or practice of excessive force including during protests. the investigation will also assess whether or not the npd engaging in discriminatory conduct and whether or not it's treatment of those with behavioral health disabilities is unlawful. it will include a review of policies, training, sup

i should say the corruption of the justice department. fact that there's privileged material of a former president of the united states and his lawyer there, and they now have access on it is very scary. i think any mesh, american, whe you're red or blue, if you believe in the red, white, and blue, you should be scared of what's going on here. >> the thing is, to get the warrant that they got, as you know, andrew, takes a lot, right? you have to have -- >> who signed the warrant, erin? >> the justice department, and a federal judge. >> the judge, who appointed the judge? >> so you -- >> president barack obama. >> you think a judge is corrupt because of who appointed them? >> there has been a tradition, since eric holder became the attorney general, we have seen the justice department continually get politicized. what i have seen now is an obama appointed judge signed this warrant where no other judge would sign it. you're going to see tonight how absurd this is. >> you have proof that no other judge would sign the warrant? >> i don't have

trump senior political appointees in the justice department repeatedly sought to block such a warrant, "the new york times" reportsed, slowing the investigation as it was gaining momentum last year. after merrick garland was confirmed as attorney general the department lifted the objection to the search. donald trump was impeached for actions for essentially extorting an american ally at risk of russian military aggression. trump's impeachment linked to earths of course to dirty up joe biden and his son and just in the last hour "the new york times" has broken an additional detail. rudy giuliani was not the only trump associate whose home was raided today. they write this. quote fbi agents on wednesday mourning also executed a search warrant at the washington-area home of victoria toensing a lawyer close to mr. giuliani who had dealings with several you krahnians to find damaging information about the bidens and she represented firtash a ukrainian oligarch under indictment in the u.s. it is important to remember she was once in contention to join donald trump's legal team in the muell

in may of 2000, the justice department announced, it was filing a lawsuit against the los angeles to police department under that law. alleging the lapd is engaged in a pattern or practice of constitutional violations, through excessive force, false arrests, unreasonable searches and seizures, in that management deficiencies of allowed this misconduct to occur. this fell years of misconduct, at the lapd. beatings and shootings. rampant corruption, including a group of officers originally tasked with combatting gangs, who essentially just became an armed gang themselves. later that, year the city of los angeles agreed to enter into a federal consent decree. that's a mutually agreed upon set of reforms. to the police department, and then a federal oversight process to make sure those in reforms are being implemented. under the obama administration, the department of justice open 25 of these pattern practice investigations into police departments. i've read a bunch of the reports issued from them. from ferguson to cleveland. one of the most prominent being the probe into the ferguson pol

i know that justice is sometimes slow, sometimes illusive and sometimes never comes. the department of justice will be unwavering in its pursuit of equal justice under law. the challenges we face are deeply woven into our history. they did not arise today or last year. building trust between community and law enforcement will take time and effort by all of us, but we undertake this task with determination and urgency knowing that change cannot wait. thank you. >> the u.s. attorney general merrick garland there announcing what's known as a pattern or practice investigation into the minneapolis police department, quite a broad one notably, because he mentions not only excessive use of police force in arrest, but also in response to protests. let's discuss now, cnn senior justice correspondent evan perez. evan, you cover the justice department. can you explain to folks how pattern or practice investigations work and crucially, as well, how long do they typically stretch out? >> reporter: jim, they take months. at least there's an initial investigation which looks at everything from the

at the same time, the justice department as important role. i think attorney general garland is making a correct decision in reinstituting the pattern or practice lawsuits or investigations, i should say, in this case, that he has done in the minneapolis case, and hearing the announcement this week in louisville, kentucky. these investigations and lawsuits were authorized by the 1994 violent crime control act, the so-called crime bill. and i think they represent a measured response by the federal government to as your, as -- to ensure, as he announced yesterday, that constitutional rights are protected and that police departments are not interfering in inappropriate ways with those rights of individuals. pedro: when those investigations are completed, what happens then? our corrective measures needed that are -- our corrective measures needed? laurie: yes, in some cases, federal judges oversee a monitoring agreement in which a police department agrees to a set of measures that are changes in how it operates. and under those agreements, there i

that wasn't trump's justice department, that was the u.s. justice department. >> at some point does william barr pay some price for obstruction? his name keeps coming up. >> if he created a special channel to funnel information that is from an indicted ukrainian oligarch and two people who have been sanctioned as russian agents and created a channel for that, not to isolate it and prevent it from infecting the real justice department process but instead to stovepipe it into prosecutions, that's going to be a problem for him. but we won't know about that until we get further into this case. brian, back over to you. >> we're inside 45 minutes. the vice president has arrived at the u.s. capitol we are told. the president will be arriving next. we mentioned most of the cabinet sitting this one out, staying home. usually it's just one member. luckily for us the man who went from being mayor pete to secretary pete, the secretary of transportation, pete buttigieg, will join us right after this. our live coverage continues after this break. ♪ and i

but i think the sense that you get cutting out of the justice department is that they need to have thisort of get the legs of the department underneath it and give it a chance to not be in the news every day, as an obsession of the president. the president drove enormous -- you know, president trump drove an enormous amount of this by simply talking about the justice department as much as he did. and the perception of politics in the law is as bad as politics in the law, because it leaves you with the question, what is really going on here. so when you had someone in trump who talked and talked and talked about the justice department and talked about his attorney and took such public moves, like removing his fbi director, the public said, anytime the justice department did something that looked favorable to trump, they said, well, why are they doing that? what's really going on here. so it's as much as as it is working internally to make sure the justice department is driven by the law and facts, it's making sure that the public posture of law enforcement is one that is just not being t

we've seen the justice department want to be part of the national conversation. the tricky thing will be whether the department through its grant-making project and whether the administration in total can talk about a piece of police reform that's become trickier, to acknowledge the fact that police officers are given too much to do. we rely on the police now for drug rehabilitation efforts, for mental health efforts, just to name a few. can we continue to put those pressures on police and burden them with those things and still expect them to reform? >> great point on rethinking versus defunding and still having someone to respond when folks dial 911. jonathan lemire, you get the last word. jen psaki and others go out of their way to remind reporters that police reform, especially based on race in this country, was always part of joe biden's agenda. but at the top of the list we all know was an uncontrolled pandemic and a cratered u.s. economy. where does it rank these days? >> brian, it's a priority. this is a president more than most of his predecessors is awar

talk about the impact or the import of a justice department blocking those search warrants. and this was under then president trump's justice department under bill barr. >> that's right. the most important fact about it is it belies any claim as you're hearing tonight from giuliani, from andrew giuliani, that this is all politicized because the very same department under trump wanted to do it. there's an argument for why they did it. they said maybe it would interfere with an election. that strikes me as specious, but you understand the point they were trying to apply. the bigger thing is you know they had the goods on him, at least the same goods they have now for many months and wanted to move forward, and it wasn't they who were stopped by the high officials in doj who stopped them. that means this is not some new kind of political reprisal. >> and one more question, harry. so now that the search warrants have been executed, what are the next steps? what should we expect? >> all right. it depends how much and how quickly it's going to expand. i think we can take from the

the justice department will issue a report if it finds that the police department violated the law. >> building trust between the police department and community will take time and effort by all of us. >> reporter: but federal investigations can take months and even years and the white house wants congress to step in now. >> the president and i will continue to urge the senate to pass this legislation. >> it shouldn't take a whole year to get this done. >> the police reform bill named after george floyd passed the house in march but faces an uphill battle in the senate. >> we will not rest until the senate passes strong legislation to end the systemic bias in law enforcement. >> the floyd bill would ban chokeholds, create at national police misconduct registry, mandate the use of deadly force as a last resort and end qualified immunity. it's that last part that has divided law professors. republicans are organizing that police officers shouldn't be stripped of the shield that can protect them from lawsuits. >> i don't think though that the answer is to get rid of, a categorical way to

we have to ask the justice department to release a new annual report.his will help policymakers address firearms tracking as it is today, not as it was yesterday. we want to treat pistols, modified with stabilizing braces, with the seriousness they deserve. it makes the pistol a lot more accurate, as a mini rifle. it is more lethal, turning into a short barreled rifle. that is what the alleged shooter in boulder appeared to have done. the national firearms act requires a potential owner pay fees, submit their name and other identifying information to the justice department, just as if they were to purchase a silencer for a gun. during my campaign for president, i wanted to make it easier for states to adopt protection order laws. they are also called red flag laws. these laws allow police or family members to petition a court in their jurisdiction and say i want you to remove from the following people any firearm they may possess because they are a danger. they present a danger to themselves and others. the court makes a ruling. to put this in perspecti

the justice department has been now since merrick garland took office has decided they're going to donvestigations of police departments, and now we have this announcement from the attorney general that the louisville police department where breonna taylor was killed last year is now going to be the subject of one of these pattern and practice investigations. and what they're doing, what they're going to do is they're going to go into that community, they're going to try to figure out what is wrong in the practices of that police department. one of the things that emerged from the killing of breonna taylor was that the police there executed this warrant, it appears that there was very little done to make sure that she was there, i'm sorry, who they were going after. and she was killed in the process. if you remember there were charges that were brought against one of the police officers who was involved in the planning the raid in which breonna taylor was killed but none of the officers who were involved actually was charged with her death. there was simply because of endangerment of

i was thinking corruption of the justice department. the idea that prosecutors, career folks, and doj, in sdny, who are pushing to get these warrants when it was bill barr's justice department being blocked. talk more about why the american people should be concerned about that aspect of this story? >> jonathan, we had this criminal enterprise at the top of our government under president trump. it is now being exposed, or at the beginning of that process. the ultimate question, whether this leads to trump himself. you can see a situation where giuliani, the trial, which will be fascinating to watch, and takes place, the likely heard of that is increasing dramatically tonight. that is a prelude to a trial of donald trump. the irony here, in the same way that trump has so often been guilty of projection, you know, accusing others of what he himself and his circle are doing, remember, trump talked and thusly about the democrats, and trying to rig the election. steal the election. if you actually look at what happened in this ukrainian situ

shot the video, and what this shows is really a reinvig raflgts civil rights division at the justice department things that we've seen just in the last few days a number of investigations of police departments for their use of force involving black people and so what we've seen is pattern an practice investigations announced by the -- by the merrick garland, the new attorney general and one of the things you're seeing in this is part of what you're now going to be seeing a lot more from the civil rights division and in this case these men are charged with hate crimes and kidnapping and it has to do with this incident in february of 2020. the men are already facing state charges so one of the criticisms is why do you have to add federal charges but one of the things you hear from justice officials is this is one of the cases that was so egleamingous it demands a federal response. >> and evan we have even more huge news on the department of justice front because rudy giuliani's attorney confirmed that federal agents executed a search warrant today at giuliani's new york city apartment and office

she is going to be the person who oversees the day-to-day operations of the justice department. she's going to be the person who all these investigations run through and if you were merrick garland and trying to get your feet under you and the department under you, you would make sense that you would hold off on making some of these important controversial moves until you had a full deck and a fully stocked team. so i think that, you know, we've seen a lot of news out of the justice department in the past few days not just about rudy giuliani but about other matters. look, in the justice department you're not supposed to take actions around an election. in the aftermath of the election the election dragged on. not for legitimate reasons but it did drag on and rudy giuliani was at the center of it so there was a political mess there and i'm sure people would like for things -- for this country to move a lot faster. seeing it here in april of 2021 i guess that's where they are. >> you know, seeing it in april, not just any old day in april, joyce, on the very day that president bid

i was with the justice department for 10 years as an assistant attorney general.orked with state and local law enforcement across the country and with the international association of chief of police. i was one of their committee chairs and i agree and -- i agree with the attorney general that law enforcement have extraordinarily challenging jobs that call for very difficult incisions frequently made in difficult terrain and kind of split second required decision-making. at the same time, the justice department an important role in that think attorney general garland is making a correct decision and reinstituting the pattern of practice of lawsuits for investigations -- short investigations i should say in this case that he has done in the minneapolis case and here in -- and the announcemen >> we are back. we will be joined shortly by senator graham and senator cruz, and perhaps others. i will yield to senator graham when he arrives, but i have a few questions in the meantime. first, let me ask the

remember, the justice department's new york office but she used to run bullies. he also said he wouldn't be convicted of a felony crime. earlier tonight, giuliani appeared on fox news and spoke about the raid at his apartment. >> i never ever represented a foreign national. in fact, in my contracts, a refusal to do it. when i got out of being mayor, i didn't want to lobby. never did it with obama, bush, trump. i can prove it, give me an opportunity. instead he had to break down -- i won't say breakdown, but smash on my doors in a frightening way, lucky i don't get frightened very easily. i handled them very professionally, and they handled me professionally. >> new york times reporting tonight that the firing of a woman you may remember from the impeachment hearings, former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, marie yovanovitch is at the center of this giuliani investigation. times reports that people familiar with the matter, giuliani is facing a criminal investigation into whether he broke lobbying laws, quote, at least one of the warrants was seeking evidence related t

that was the charter of the justice department. >> what does today say about the justice department? politically given the reporting we have that folks at the fbi and at the ground level of prosecutors in u.s. attorney's office were, trying to pursue this and getting blocked by senior officials, presumably political appointees of the president. >> i think what it says is that we have come a long way, thankfully, from bill barr's justice department. where they made decisions about who should be investigated based on the presidents political desires. who should have their cases dismissed, like mike flynn, based on what the president wanted. who should get a lesser sentence, like roger stone, based on what the proud incident wanted. to merrick garland's justice department, where the law will be treating everyone equally. were there will be a rule of law again. with a political process that is kept out of the decision-making. i think that's what this represents. and it couldn't be a better change for the department. >> if there's a real direct connection between that first impeachment tr

but it is quite interesting that the investigation was begun by the trump justice department when trump attorney general bill barr was in george, when bill barr has instituted or told guidances to the justice department to be very careful when it comes to looking at elected officials. so that, you know, again you want to be careful and we should

. >> reporter: and part of that, residents and local leaders hope, can come from the department of justice, now launching a probe into practices at the minneapolis police department. minneapolis mayor jacob frey welcomed the investigation as an opportunity to keep working toward deep change and accountability in the minneapolis police department. while the head of the city council, which has tried multiple times to dismantle the police department, hopes the doj uses the full weight of its authority to hold the minneapolis police department accountable for any and all abuses of power. meanwhile chauvin, with his bail revoked, awaits sentencing, expected in early june as the judge weighs a number of factors, including aggravating factors, like george floyd being treated with particularly cruelty, the presence of children when the crimes were committed and separately state sentencing dpied lines. the guidelines for someone with no criminal history like chauvin are up to 13 years for second-degree marurder and four years for second-degree manslaughter. but they are asking for more which could

the justice department did that to two lawyers related to trump today. they did exactly that with michael cohen. he eventually pleaded guilty to a number of crimes including of bank fraud and lying to congress and he's now cooperating investigations into the former president. evan perez is "outfront." we say this is so highly unusual. you got this search warrant and they go into his apartment and take histrionic devices, all of this goes down, tell me what they try to do and why they did it this way? >> they said what they were after were communications with a number of people and on that list, some of the people you already know. people like fruman and parnas. a lot of it had to do with efforts by rudy giuliani and notable among the names in the search warrant according to his lawyer is john solomon who's a right wing columnist, opinion writer who was at the center of all this, helping to ferment some of those stories and getting these stories out there including ones that were used to help get rid of maria yanovitch. >> we had learned that some time ag

this gives you a sense of where the justice department is willing to go. it would have to be a very high threshold for them to do something like this. i have to say also, though, that it's been a while since we've heard statements like that. we had four or five years of that, and i think we're going to hear a lot more. the question is, i think, where does this go from here? we just have a small piece of the puz >> what do you think of the explanation coming from giuliani's legal team? >> so the statement is really worth reading. it's actually not from his lawyer. it was the wording is quite odd. this is not a normal statement. it's that he was given permission. and i would say we're back to four seasons landscaping days, guys. there are lines in it like that the justice department, parentheses, came in at dawn. it's very melodramatic, but there's something also that i think we're going to see a lot more of. he's attacking the bidens. he's attacking the clintons. this is less about defending himself and more about where he's willing to go. there's one refer

trump, senior senior political political appointees in the appointees in the justice department justice department repeatedly sought to repeatedly sought to block the warrants. block for warrants, slowing the slowing the investigation investigation as it was gaining momentum last year. after merrick garland was appointed as -- the justice department leafed it had objections. to several worn on the law is no small thing, to do it on mayor giuliani who used to be the mayor of new york city and personal lawyer to the press in the united states, that is something else entirely. there's still a lot we don't know about what happened today. here to make sense of all of, it people who have respectively -- washington for new york magazine, reported on how few things really is not entirely -- illegal affairs reporter and political. josh, let me start with you just on what we know about the status of the investigation and white today represents for the investigation. >> when we know is the investigation does seem to be zeroing in on giuliani. as you mentioned, it's pretty serious that the prosecut

what this bill does is require the department of justice to designate a person who will do a review ofhese kinds of hate crimes. it asks the department of justice to work in conjunction with the state and local law enforcement to ensure that the word gets out inappropriate language, culturally appropriate , that these crimes should be prevented and reported. it sets up a way where we can report these crimes, in as easy of a way as possible. online reporting. these crimes are underreported, as we'll know. my hope is we will have republicans who will support this bill, and members of the house and senate speaking out, condemning these targeted crimes. we will go forward in the hopes that an attack on one group in our country is truly an attack on all of us, and there is no place in a democracy for these kinds of unprovoked attacks on a group of people who are only being targeted because they are aapis. words matter. when you have a president who deems the virus to be the china virus, or have members of his administration refer to it as kung-flu created an environment where people will be

guest: the most serious investigation is being done by the justice department. federal prosecutors based in washington, d.c. his case grew out of a different federal investigation run by federal prosecutors in the middle district of florida. they were investigating this local republican by the name of joel greenberg. the house ethics committee investigation is a separate matter. that was announced yesterday and more of an internal personnel thing. that is congress investigating one of its own. the more serious investigation, because he could face legal consequences, is by the justice department's public integrity section. host: you mentioned his name but tell us who joel greenberg is and what he has to do with his entire allegation investigation. guest: joel greenberg is the former tax collector, elected tax collector, of seminole county and he was a friend of gaetz. you can see pictures of them together on twitter. he is a colorful character. he got in a lot of trouble when he was the tax collector, generating a lot of controversy over allegations of misspendin

as always, thank you. >>> coming up, as the justice department launches an investigation into policing practices in the city of minneapolis, i'll speak to miami police chief about the future of policing in this country and what all police departments should be doing to affect change. we're expecting president biden to speak at the white house on the virus and the vaccination progress. we'll bring you that live when it happens. that live when it happens darrell's family uses gain flings now so their laundry smells more amazing than ever. isn't that the dog's towel? hey, me towel su towel. more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze in every gain fling. ♪ you get a call from a friend ♪ ♪ to remind you ♪ ♪ that you're not alone ♪ ♪ and you know deep down inside ♪ ♪ it's gonna be all right ♪ ♪ all right ♪ new dove men deodorant is different. it has 48 hour protection. and a plant-based moisturizer... that cares for your skin. odor protection that works new dove men plant-based care. in the year since george floyd's death, we've heard call for police reform from nearly every corner of americ

but if community stakeholders and the justice department and the state department can come together tothe community, this never has to happen and come together in a lawsuit and hear investigation and think the feds are wagging their fingers here -- no, this is an opportunity for everybody to come together. and look at training manuals, use of force guidelines, statements, like you ted at the beginning, adrienne said this do the statements with the police create a systemic pattern of misinformation. all of the above, and put out a report at the end laying out ways in which the community can make policing better. so it's just not -- people should be really cautious about thinking about this as a way of justice department playing gotcha and more of just trying to work with the community. >> good point. dmitri, i want to ask you about something that eliot mentioned about the position of attorney general jeff sessions. to affecting morale from rank and file and union leaders that this might hurt their ability to create new officers and could lead to a reluctance among some for police collec

that's at the very top of the justice department. and the assumption is that that might bring them to donald trump and i think that's why it's obviously big news. and if they find what they find, justice would be served. but i think it shows that merrick garland is doing a lot, sort of quietly, to undo a lot of things that happened under donald trump. and he probably is going to be a little bit more activist than people thought, even though when he was going through the process, he was saying he was going to try to depoliticize and calm things down at the justice department. >> and of course, we should underscore, president biden told our craig melvin that he had no knowledge of this before it happened. jim vandehei, thanks very much. please do stand by for "morning joe." we will see you there, too. and on this friday, i'll just say, i hope you all enjoy your weekend. i'll be having a mint julep and be watching the kentucky derby, the run for the roses. hope you can get out and enjoy some time with your families as well. thank you so

the department of justice alone cannot solve the problem. it is a problem we must all work on together in a collective effort to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and save lives. there is work for the department to do and we intend to do it. today, the department of justice is announcing several steps we will take to keep guns out of the hands of noumenal and reduce the risk of gun violence. we will make sure we understand and measure the problem of criminal gun trafficking in a data-driven way. atf undertook a gun trafficking study. it issued a report that provided information to understand and combat criminal trafficking networks. no such study has been conducted since that time. i have directed atf to begin work on an updated study of criminal gun trafficking, that will take into account that modern guns are not simply cast or forged, but can be made of plastic, printed on a 3d printer, or sold in self-assembly kits. we will evaluate how our tools are keeping up with the ties and we will analyze our criminal cases and investigations

justice department has announced an investigation into the minneapolis police department and its use of force comes the day after former officer derek 7 was found guilty of murdering george floyd's. his radio.

or is the biden justice department more favorable to this? it all has to do with the investigation that began with lev parnoff. now, this is one of the these investigations where people have different views of the strength of the evidence and the strength of bringing a case under the statute. that's one of the reasons there was a lot of discussion in the last administration, so the question is, did they obtain new evidence that makes it stronger? or is this finally them being able to execute and see if they can get additional evidence to support the charges that they're exploring here. we have not yesterday heard from giuliani's attorney. we understand that fox news that says that giuliani will speak on a radio show in just about an hour, so we'll hear more from giuliani and his reaction to the search warrant executed early this morning. >> victor, you talked about how this couldn't happen under the trump doj. whether it was a lack of i have had oar something political, we don't know. now merrick garland is in charge. could it be that simple?

justice department is launching an investigation into the minneapolis police department to the talent. illegal and unconstitutional practices it comes a day off to.

the justice department now weighing whether to bring federal civil rights charges against him. and today, attorney general merrick garland putting the entire minneapolis police department under the microscope. >> the justice department has opened a civil investigation to determine whether the minneapolis police department engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing. >> reporter: the probe will assess whether the department engages in discriminatory conduct. >> it will include a comprehensive review of the minneapolis police department's policies, training, supervision and use of force investigations. >> reporter: minneapolis police chief medaria arradondo testified chauvin's actions in no way, shape or form reflect departmental policy. >> it is not part of our training and it is certainly not part of our ethics or our values. >> reporter: the chief now welcoming the federal investigation. and tonight, for so many, the verdict is cause for hope. among them, 9-year-old judeah reynolds, who witnessed floyd's murder and testified she told chauvin to get

what an unused power. >> this justice department is not interested in remedying major systemic problems in police departments. >> the president, jeff sessions, bill barr have been uniformly focused on dismantling the police reform effort that's the justice department had been engaged in. this justice department has really walked away from the role that it needs to play. >> the donald trump lost and joe biden won and to date federal government is getting back in the game. joe biden's attorney general announcing an investigation into derek chauvin's police department. >> yesterday's verdict in the state criminal trial does not address potentially systemic policing issues in minneapolis. today i am announcing that the justice department has opened a civil investigation to determine whether the minneapolis police department engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing. the department of justice will be unwaivering in its pursuit of equal justice. under law. >> attorney general marek garland is heading that new probe along with his newly confirmed number three at

so what this bill does is it just requires the department of justice to designate a person who will do an expedited review of these kinds of hate crimes. it asks the department of justice to work in conjunction with the state and local law enforcement to ensure that the word gets out inappropriate language, , culturally appropriate, to add -- the these kinds of crimes should be reported and it sets up a way where we can report these crimes and has easy way as possible. so online reporting. these kinds of very much underreported, as we all know. and so my hope is that we will have republicans who will support this bill. my hope is that we will have republican members of the house in the senate speaking out condemning these kinds of targeted crimes. and so we will go forward in the hopes that, you know what, an attack on one group in our country is truly an attack on all of us. and there's no place in a democracy for these kinds of unprovoked attacks on a o groupf people who are only being targeted because they are aapi' aapi's. and words matter. so we had a president who deems the virus

we also have to ask the justice department to release a new annual report. this report will better help policymakers address fire arms trafficking as it is today, not what it was yesterday. the third change, we want to treat pistols, modified with stabilizing braces, with the seriousness they deserve. a stabilizing brace, essentially makes that pistol a hell of a lot more accurate than a mini rifle. it turns it into a short bellied rifle. i want to be clear that these modifications to firearms that make them more lethal should be subject to the national fire arms act. the national firearms act requires that a potential owner pay $200 fee and submit their name and other identifying information to the justice department. just as they would if they went out and purchased a silencer for a gun. fourthly. during my campaign for president, i wanted to make it easier for states to adopt extreme risk protection order laws. they're also called red flag laws, which everybody in this law knows, but many people listening do not know, these laws allow police or family mem