that's where we find msnbc's vaughn hillyard to kick things off for us, at a drive through testing site in phoenix, arizona, one of the many areas where the demand for tests is currently outpacing availability. vaughn, what is the situation right there? >> reporter: in order to get a test at this location where folks are just now beginning to pull up, you have to have an appointment. there is frankly not enough capacity for tests to meet deet mand in this state. why you saw the long lines over the weekend. the state said they tried to expand their number of testing locations, but unless you're lucky enough to get one of those appointments, you're out of luck. in the turn around time to get test results here is still most often more than a week, just take into account, ayman, what we've seen in the last two weeks, in just the last two weeks the number of hospitalizations in the state of arizona have increased by 84%. and the number of new cases just yesterday in the state, more than 3800. the state this weekend also broke records for the number of hospitalizations, the number of ventilat

msnbc political reporter vaughn hillyard is in phoenix at the state fairgrounds for us, tonight. how are arizonans, vaughn, reacting to these numbers that are setting new records? is it same, old thing? or are they reacting in a different way? >> i mean, these numbers are increasingly disarming, richard. and when you go around, there is a complete acknowledgment, for the most part, of these numbers rising. at the same time, as that turned into concrete action taken by most folks in whether it be my life or neighbor's lives, or the folks out in tempe. i don't think we have seen enough change, frankly. the governor, on thursday, here, made it very clear. urging folks to stay at home. but what you are seeing on these roadways on this saturday is the traffic like it was june of 2019. or hopefully, like it will be in june 2021. but, on this saturday, here, in june of 2020, you saw a record number of cases. single-day cases. more than 3,500. you also saw the news that there were 44 more arizonans who passed away. a record number of hospitalizations. a record number of icu beds in use. a

my colleague vaughn hillyard standing by in phoenix. a city that's now mandating face masks in public. vaughn, we mentioned that covid cases have been going up there. when covid cases were going up in new york, you knew it. you felt it. it was clear when you walked down the street. is that the case in phoenix? >> look down this way, stephanie. you have thousands of folks here expected over the course of today to see the president here at dream city church in the heart of phoenix here. and you said it. there is a masking policy now here in the city of phoenix. the mayor's office released a statement saying they intend to enforce that ordinance. they do not want to issue tickets but they intend to issue that ordinance. the cases in arizona have exploded, and there is that masking ordinance, but you continue to see around this area folks not adhering to it. can i just ask why not wear masks to you guys? >> holding the breath. >> it's part of that, the minister, the pastor of this church released yesterday quite a striking video suggesting w

nbc news reporter vaughn hillyard joins us from phoenix, arizona. vaughn, how is arizona coping with what is now a 40% spike in cases there? >> reporter: andrea, just this hour, the state released new numbers that more than 1,500 arizonans have reportedly tested positive for covid in just the last 24 hours. 25 more new deaths recorded today as well. over just the last six days, andrea, 7,000, more than 7,000 new cases. banner health, which is the major health system here, says they have quadrupled the number of ventilators in use over the last three weeks. i was talking with the chief medical officer of this valley wise health facility here. he says that's alleviated some of the pressure from the icu occupancy rates at other hospitals around the valley. he was telling me his concern is that the hospital network here across the state could reach capacity within weeks and be overwhelmed. and why is that? look back to three weeks ago. it was may 15, i was talking with the head of the hospital and health association here. she was saying it was at that ti

i'll say we're getting quite close. >> vaughn hillyard in phoenix. i remember that day very well. vaughn, thank you very much. let's bring in dr. ben gupta, pulmonologist, pandemic consultant, and nbc news medical contributor. thank you very much for joining us. as vaughn was saying, people in these areas are not wearing masks. what would be the message that needs to be sent in order to make it so hospitals are not overwhelmed, if states are going to continue to reopen, and people are going to leave their house, despite the recommendations of health officials. >> you know, katie, i feel like we spent so much time talking about encouraging or recommending masks and social distancing. vaughn said none of that is happening. so what point do we say it is mandatory, and if you don't do it, we have enforcement mechanism, like you can stop people smoking in a bar or restaurant. you're going to get kicked out if you don't wear a mask. we're at that point. we're left with no other options here because obviously people are protesting. we know from data from germany that carnival goers recent

. >> joining me, vaughn hillyard, ashley parker and kristen welker. kristen, let's talk about the president lashing out about the protest and his campaign, including the pandemic. >> reporter: that's right. the president is digging in, andrea, not on on his law and order messaging, but essentially the desire to turn the page, to restart campaigning. he is going to be in tulsa next friday. he was pressed there by fox news about the decision to hold it on juneteenth, this day that means so much not only the african-american community but within the united states history. you heard the president there say think of it as a celebration. now, it's our understanding he is going to address the significance of juneteenth, of course marking the day that slaves were freed in this country. it will be interesting to see what specifically he has to say. typically trump rallies are predominantly not minority communities and so what will his message there be? we'll have to see. but this is a president who is not afraid to engage in the culture wars, andrea, and he's

. >> nbc's vaughn hillyard is in seattle. i lived in that city for a long time, spent a lot of time on capitol hill where this is taking place. the president says he's not going to allow seattle to be occupied by anarchists. is it anarchists who are now running the show? >> reporter: peter, as you just said, you've been through that neighborhood before on capitol hill. this particular neighborhood where this six-block radius has become this so-called autonomous zone, it's very much of a -- has its own life within itself. over the last nights you've had thousands of folks walk through. it's more like a pedestrian street festival. restaurants are open, couches in the middle of the road, gardening taking place. we should note the context to this. the president says that it may come down to him to step in and bring in troops to take back over this zone. we should note it was the mayor and the police chief who pulled back police. there had been more than a week of protests that had escalated in violence with flash bang grenades an

let's bring in nbc's vaughn hillyard. you're standing by with a daca recipient. what are you learning? >> reporter: exactly, craig. i want to introduce you to reese delgado. you came as a 3-year-old, now 23 yourself. give me a sense of where you were this morning? 7:00 a.m. the decision came down. where were you and how did you find out? >> for the past couple weeks i have been going on morning walks to clear my head because this decision has been pending for many months. today at 7:00 a.m., i was on my way home, finishing up my walk when i received the text message that daca stays. deferred action for childhood arrivals stays. that's one of the best texts that i've seen. >> give me a sense. it's more than legal status for your family. give me a sense of why this is important. >> daca for me personally means being able to have a job, being able to financially provide for my family as a household provider. this is one of the things that has been on my mind since september 2017 when trump decided to rescind dak that. >> where does it go from here? for almost 20 yea

s vaughn hillyard. thank you. >>> doctors kprooz the country are raising alarm about a spike coronavirus cases this week. it raises new concerns over large gatherings. as republicans and democrats try to plan their conventions. according to the covid tracking project, 23,000 new cases were reported on friday. but what does this spike tell us? joining me now, the cofounder of the covid tracking project and a staff writer at "the atlantic". you have seen these numbers. i fell like a you confuse weeks ago you and i were talking about the fact that as states reopened we were going to see some spikes this numbers. do you have a sense of where these numbers are coming from? >> we do. it is exactly kind of what people expected that states that reopened earlier and more comprehensively -- [ indiscernible ] georgia is actually a an exception. sa arizona, north carolina, south carolina, arkansas, alabama, you see cases going up. i think a lot of people want to point to the protests as the reason for that. so far,

that's nbc's vaughn hillyard in seattle.hat conversation will continue there and we'll talk more about the future of what these zones are going to look like as our hour goes on. >>> the boarded up store fronts in some places like the autonomous zone and in some cities are not only places where important discussions are happening, like what we just saw in seattle, some of them are also becoming canvass for public art. some artists in san francisco have made murals of a few boards in the castro district. in new york, micro soft plan do the same thing outside its store on fifth avenue. the tech giant and ad agency are taking heat over how they went about proposing that mural. an email from the ad agency to artist shantell martin. they wanted the mural completed while the protests are still relevant. unquote. martin posted that letter on instagram, calling it, quote, an example of what it's like to be, a, reminded of my blackness and b, how black pain and oppression is kmodfied with performtive alliship. unquote. shantell martin

i want to take you to phoenix, arizona, and check in with vaughn hillyard. i know you've been there for quite awhile. the government's decision to shut down bars and gyms once again. he called the number of cases right now brutal. is there any talk of shutting that entire state down again given the figures there? >> i think what you'd call an overwhelming surge over the course of the weekend which left a lot of pressure here at the executive tower for the governor. yesterday morning, i actually want to play for you part of an interview with family physician we talked to. he matched the sentiment of what he heard from a lot of health care professionals in the state. take a listen. >> the governor really needs to clamp down. in the beginning, the governor shut everything down and it flattened the curve. now we've got this spike. we've got to get it flat again. the only thing we can do is shut the state down. >> as of yesterday afternoon, peter, the governor here had placed no new restrictions on business or operations. and you saw much of the state essentially

sticking to its reopening plan, and doctors there are increasingly anxious about what happens next vaughn hillyard is in phoenix. >> it's going to be a bit of a wait. we're currently on hold we want to make sure we have enough tests for everyone. >> that's fine. >> reporter: arizona hitting a record number of new cases the state is one of the worst coronavirus hot spots in the country. >> last night we lost gsh my mom g sent to the hospital in an ambulance with positive covid. >> reporter: jasmine's mother is one of over 20,000 new cases this week, despite the staggering numbers the governor resisting adding new restrictions but urging people to stay home. >> when we talk about the idea that we want to save lives, and save livelihoods -- >> reporter: all this while demand for testing surges long lines of cars as people wait for hours. >> kind of a treasure hunt right now so we'll see what happens. just got to keep looking. >> reporter: the governor acknowledging the shortcomings. >> we want to make it as easy and convenient as possible. it's not going to resolve itself overnight. >> reporter: and

: seattle protesters occupy the capitol hill autonomous zone after police left their presings vaughn hillyard is there. >> reporter: with thousands converging on these seattle streets, criminal justice system changes, the police station is overlooking it all as organizers say those very negotiations for that change is now under way. >> reporter: as a 5,000 man march in richmond george floyd's cousin reminding everyone why they march. >> you carry the weight of a nation that refuses to lift its knees from the neck of my people. >> reporter: the movement is also shining a spotlight on the past controversial monuments pulled down or covered with graffiti as critics argue they represent hate and oppression. >> my son is the reason i do everything now. and, you know, i just hope one day that he'll be able to grow up in a world where he doesn't have to deal with the racism and the discrimination that we deal with today. >> reporter: kentucky removed its 12 foot statue of confederate leader jefferson davis from the state capital while a park in south carolina took down a statue of christopher columb

a colleague, vaughn hillyard is there for us. mood is a rather i think cheery one but also forceful this. is a group of folks that say they have a message but you have the reality that over the course of the last several days you've had thousands of folks from across seattle from this capitol hill neighborhood. this is one of those entrance points into the six-block area. it was on monday that the city pulled back its police officers from the six-block area after more than a week of protests between and clashes between those demonstrators and the police. i want to introduce to you some of the folks because i think it's important we show you what we're looking at. i want to intro duce you to mat. why bring your kids. >> to acknowledge the fact that the system is broken and expose the kids to some of the things that we're doing and actions matter. >> i should say matt made a quick save of his son there as you were introducing. i want to introduce -- matt, thanks. introduce you to an artist. you are awe responsible for some of this a

nbc's vaughn hillyard is in seattle with the latest this morning. vaughn, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, peter. after days of clashes between demonstrators and the police here, both sides backed off. so far this situation remains peaceful and here the questions are about what lies ahead. this morning, protesters in seattle are holding several city blocks after the seattle police vacated the area earlier in the week calls chaz, the capitol hill ataun us in zone. they turned it into a community space, a block party type atmosphere, music, a hot dog stand, gardening, rather than a corridor for violence and mayhem. >> we'll build from there. we're not going to take it, draw graffiti and have fun. we're going to turn into that a community center, get a black bank here, a grocery store. it can be a cool zone, a safe zone. >> reporter: police abandoning one of its stations in an effort to de-escalate tensions after a week of violent clashes. but now president trump inserting himself tweeting terrorists that burn and pillage our cities. must end th

vaughn hillyard joins me from phoenix, arizona. what's going on there?ospitals ready to cope with this? >> chris, you have seen over just the last six days more than 7,000 new covid cases. 25 new deaths reported in just the last 24 hours. across the state, 11 different hospitals have already reached icu bed capacity. more than 500 individuals have had to be transferred to other hospitals as the state's largest hospital systems warn they are at near capacity. i want to let you hear directly from the president of the hospital and health care association here, ann marie. take a listen. >> the urgency can't be overstated. we have seen an increasing trend in june in the wrong direction. and we have a bit of delay, incubation is about ten days. people need to act today. they need to act swiftly. they need to act decisively to really protect their own health. and it means wearing these masks, and it means socially distancing and staying home. all of those really hard things that we did back in march, april, and may, we need to continue. and we need to be vigila

>> vaughn hillyard, thank you very much. chuck, the president and the mixed messaging, him not wearing a mask, him not questioning masks, talking about how wearing a mask is a political statement against him. what you're seeing the effects of, is that line. that vaughn was standing in front of. nobody, very few people, almost no one, wearing a mask and very close together in a state where cases are dramatically on the rise. it's incredible. >> i had the acting dhs secretary on the show sunday and he kept talking about how much they continue to push social distancing and mask wearing. except the president of the united states. he is setting an example. there's one person that's created the illusion that there's a -- that the illusion that wearing a mask is somehow a political symbol. and it's the president. no one else has done this. he has sort of willed this into a political divide that i don't think was there at the beginning. speaking of virus, we'll stay out west. california is also seeing a steady rise. governor newsom

so joining me now from there is reporter vaughn hillyard. nbc news reporter. hn, we have been talking about what's happening in arizona. and we have been talking about how this spike is something that health officials saw coming. and that officials, government officials there were slow to react to. what is the feeling now? >> well, this is what the president is entering into. he's technically going to be touring border wall construction tomorrow, but at the same time, he's coming into a place that is a covid hot spot. we were here just three weeks ago in the cases have quadruples since then. to give you an idea of what yuma looks like. if you look beyond me, this is an yare where you not only have mexico border a couple miles away, but to the west, you have the california border. when we talk about yuma, we're talking about the greater yuma area here. there's also several thousand farm workers that go back and forth each day here. and as the testing increases, so do those number of cases. i want to bring in the ceo of yuma regional medical center, because right

>> vaughn hillyard, thank you. we appreciate that update. >>> joining the conversation now is former u.s. attorney paul butler, now a for fes so at the georgetown school of law. talk about the legal parts of this in a little bit, but there's horrifying. there's your book, a horrifying sameness to this, you know, whether it's george floyd with knee on his neck, 8:46 with pressure on his back and the words i can't breathe, i can't breathe. this is for i think a lot of people we're seeing the way these patterns develop even though, paul, they're in different parts of the country. there's a sameness to what we're seeing in a lot of these deaths. >> down to the words "i can't breathe." that's what mr. lopez said as the officers squeezed the life out of him. they're trained if they put something on phone, faced down on the ground, arms handcuffed behind the back, leaving that person in that position for a period of time creates a risk of death. that's exactly what happened to mr. lopez. now, if these folks weren't cops a

msnbc correspondent vaughn hillyard joins us.rd from one sort of source inside the governor's office that he claims every day he's getting angry phone calls, some from too strict and some from shut the place down. so there's still a divide. at least that's what they're claiming as far as how to do this. >> i don't know where that divide is at frankly, chuck. this was a conversation that's been going on for more than a month now. let's take this back, okay? arizona is in its first wave. there's no talk of a second wave, chuck. look at those numbers. there's been more than 11,000 cases here in the state of arizona in just this last week, another 1,800 cases just this morning. the governor's office has suggested there's been an increase in these positive cases because there's an increase in testing, but wait a second. look at the number of percent positive. that number continues to rise. that was the number that the governor himself, a month ago, used to justify the reopening of this state, saying that was going down. but what we ar

joining us now from phoenix is nbc news reporter vaughn hillya hillyard.ases keep rising, the hospital bed capacity keeps lowering. what are you hearing out there today? >> katy, there's frankly nothing that gives me hope here that the trajectory is going to change in the state, not next week, not the week after that, or the week after that. there are also a record number of hospitalizations in the state. a record number of ventilators in use, a record number of icu beds in use. the governor here, doug ducey, haze not implemented any new restrictions in the state. this weekend looked like any normal weekend, whether it be june 2019 or june 2018. he's urging folks to stay home. at the same time, there is no stay-at-home order implements. the bars are still open, the restaurants are still open. the water parks are still open, casinos are still open. this is a state that is in a state of, i would say, frankly, denial. part of what gives me such little hope as to the tide turning is the way the state is operating its testing. right now, katy, the demand for te

vaughn hillyard in seattle. thank you for that. >>> the president is set for the commencement address with the west point graduates. courtney kube, this is not going to look like past graduations? >> reporter: you got that right, alex. we are a couple of hours from president trump delivering the commencement address at west point. this is the first time delivering the address at the ceremony as president. this year's ceremony will look a lot different from previous years. the president being here is not the only thing unlike year in the past. this was last year's graduation. graduation this year admist a pandemic. >> social distancing with masks on. >> reporter: the ceremony usually held at the stadium. today, on a field called the plane. family and friends not allowed to attend. instead, they watch the event online. despite the precautions, the graduation still defies new york governor andrew cuomo's coronavirus guidelines which prohib prohibit ceremonies until late june and no more than 150 socially distanced

nbc's vaughn hillyard is live in scottsdale. vaughn, tell me about the current state of the coronavirus in arizona. >> reporter: here in arizona, it's really hard to tell you what the current state is quite frankly, alicia, because of the lack of access to appropriate testing here in the state and contact tracing. you just said there are more than 3,500 new cases reported today alone. when you look at hospitalizations, today also marks the most hospitalizations in the state to date, the most ventilators in use, the most icu beds in use. but, again, we have been around from the west valley to the heart of phoenix. we're now here over in the scottsdale area tracking testing. in each of these testing locations around the state, they're at capacity. folks are trying to get an understanding of the extent to which this spread has hit their own community, their own families, their own workplaces. i want to introduce to you dr. natasha buyon. you yourself are testing folks here today. you're also assistant professor of the university of

vaughn hillyard is at the state capitol in phoenix, arizona.the governor in florida claims increased testing explains the spike in cases. why do experts say that's not accurate? >> reporter: here's the reason it's not accurate. according to the statistics we just saw, andrea, there has been more testing, that's true. but we just received the percent positives that were released today. 12.5% in florida, on top of 10% yesterday. that's a far cry from the 4, 5, and 6% figures we saw over the last couple of weeks. not only are we seeing more testing but the rates people are testing more positive is also spiking. andrea, this comes on the heels of anecdotes that would be eyebrow-raising and concerning around florida including what just happened in jacksonville where 15 friends went out for a night on the town. 12 of them contracted covid-19. here is one of those women who tested positive. >> i kind of noticed, this is a lot of people, you know, a lot of people in close proximity, a dance floor kind of thing, which i was excited for, i can't lie, i'm

i want to go live to phoenix where vaughn hillyard is standing by outside the state's largest testinge is facing a testing backlog. how big are these backlogs and how long does it take for people to get their results? >> exactly. the demand is outweighing the capacity at this point for testing. that's why you saw over the course of this weekend thousands of folks trying to get a test. enough are getting tests to break the daily record of cases. more than 3,800 new cases were reported just yesterday. there are still thousands of folks that are trying to get tested. it's also a backlog which is now creating a delay in results returning. most folks are not getting results for oftentimes more than a week. and that is why you see the control or spread out of control here. you have a situation now where there's a record number of hospitalizations this weekend. a record number of ventilators in use and beds in use. the governor doug ducey has refused calls to reimplement things here. >> vaughn, thank you. >>> joining us now, dr. jean who works with several hospitals in the phoenix area. how

i want to go first to vaughn hillyard in arizona. governor there just pulled a complete 180 on his coronavirus policy. walk us through it. >> exactly. last night, the governor, after more than a month of defiance in changing course, yesterday allowed localities, counties and cities to require face masks in their communities. the cities of tucson, flagstaff, scottsdale have already said that's the course they'll take. the phoenix city council, the country's fifth largest city, is going to vote later today in taking that very step. this is significant because the governor, for the last month, ever since he allowed the stay-at-home order to expire, has seen the cases rise. in the last week alone, more than 11,000 cases. the percent positive number continued to increase. hospitalizations continuing to increase. and that's why theducey's announcement last night was striking. he himself saying, quote, the trend is headed in the wrong direction. and the actions we're going to take are going to change that direction. he's allowing local gove

nbc's vaughn hillyard is in phoenix. he's outside the church where the president is going to be speaking later today. again, vaughn, i apologize in advance if i have to cut you off. when dr. fauci starts, we're going to make sure we're listening. walk us through the president's agenda. for the love of god, man, how hottest here? >> reporter: high will be 109 degrees today, craig. on a very serious note, what dr. fauci is confronting here is a president of the united states who is flying into arizona, into the heart of phoenix after two weeks in which the cases here in the state of arizona have doubled. if the president was looking for a covid hot spot to come to, he picked it. it's phoenix, arizona. right now we're still seven hours away from the president addressing a crowd of what is expected to be several thousand clustered inside a church. i'm just going to let our photographer show you what the scene is here. the reality is this is the moment that the president of the united states is coming in, welcoming his support

nbc's vaughn hillyard has been there all weekend and joins me now.re to ask anyone within these six blocks over this weekend, i think their interpretation of events and the scene here would be, what's different than the one coming from the white house? you had very peaceful week here on these streets. to give you an idea, this was a week ago today when the police, when the city chose to vacate this six-block area, including the east precinct. their police station. it was then you saw thousands and thousands of seattle resdinre residents of all stripes converge, descend on to this area. this is the gathering place for people to exert their energy, their anger, their frustrations to come together. you saw black, brown, white folks here. young, old, on these streets engaging in conversations. this also became much more organized over the weekend. it's important to note this is not some hostile takeover. this was not a planned venture among one organization. it's a lot of folks doing their part to put out a set of demands they want to see. the police for

live to phoenix, where my colleague, vaughn hillyard is standing by. what's it like out there?> reporter: more than a dozen states are seeing an increase in cases over the last week. we watch the likes of new york and washington, d.c., begin their opening efforts, that's taken a place one month ago here in arizona. when restaurants and retail began opening here. it was may 15th when the state's stay-at-home policy order ended. since then, just three weeks ago, more than half of the state's cases have been in the last three weeks. in the last five days, stephanie, there's been more than 5600 covid cases over the weekend the state hit its 1,000 death mark. as you've seen over the course of these last three weeks, you've seen a rise in hospitalizations. banner health is the major health system here in the state. and already at several of their facilities, banner officials tell me they've already reached icu bed capacity. just yesterday, the state experienced its highest number of icu beds in use for covid patients. and, you know, i should note, it's been over 100 degrees here in t

i want to go first to vaughn hillyard in arizona. the president of the united states heading to arizona tomorrow. but cases there are soaring. help us understand what's going on. >> exactly. we're here at the yuma regional medical center. to give you an idea, yuma is about 100,000 strong. but just over my shoulder, just a few miles down the road is mexico. and just a few miles over this way is the border with california. this entire region, stephny, has been hit severely hard by covid spread, especially over the course of just these last four weeks. you said it. president trump is coming here tomorrow. not to talk about covid, though. he's going to be talking about border wall construction. celebrating the 200th new mile of border wall construction. but when you are looking here, just here, at yuma regional medical center, there's 120 covid patients inside. i do want to introduce you to one woman. amanda aguirre runs five clinics. and the big reason you're seeing high numbers out of here is because of the high number of testing. here

. >> vaughn hillyard, thank you. as he mentioned there, i'm joined now by the mayor of tucson, rehena romero. thank you for joining us. let me begin by getting your reaction, if i can, to that reporting from vaughn that arizona now has its worst day yet in the number of new coronavirus cases. hospitalizations, icu bed uses at the highest they have been during the crisis. that has to be alarming. >> very, very concerning. and unfortunately these numbers started rising as soon as governor ducey reopened our state. and we are hearing from healthcare professionals that we can pinpoint to that particular action by the governor regarding our -- this laalarming rate of covid-19 increases in our state. here in pima county where tucson is located, we saw a growth in one day of 350 cases. in early may we were at -- in the teens in terms of new cases. we had come to a plateau because of the stay-at-home orders and my emergency proclamation in the city of tucson. but now we see just yesterday, 350 new cases in tucson and almost

von hi vaughn hillyard is in seattle with more. the president is calling these people, these activists anarchists. what's it like? >> exactly. we're here right now. it's in the 6:00 a.m. hour so most folks are still asleep but if you've been here over the last three days, you see thousands of folks. the president call some an arkists and somebody can call it anarchy but it's more so to the extent you can call it a community takeover. what you saw over the course of one week, more than one week was this was the line where protesters were met by the police force. they were trying to secure the east precinct here in seattle. and what you saw was an increase in violence and a back and forth. each of those nights, flashbang grenades, pepper spray. you saw tear gas used here in the streets. and on monday the mayor and the police chief, the city made the decision to pull back the police forces from here. this is the east precinct behind us here. as you can see, a form of anarchy on rollerblades going by us now. as you saw over the course

. >> vaughn hillyard in seattle, always where all the action is, thank you for that great reporting. brian, i think you're right, these stories raise more questions than answers and we'll see how this turns out and republicans used to like to say, they were more local control, whatever you think of this decisionmaking, this is part of what local control looks like. so. >> yep, we're going to get the definition of law and order before too long here. have great weekend. thank you for having me. i'll watch your next segment. >> brian williams, thank you so much. >>> when we return -- our interview with new york governor andrew cuomo who today signed a package of police reforms into law that he calls the most aggressive in the country. we're back right after this with governor cuomo live. re my skin ♪ ♪ yeah that's all me. ♪ nothing and me go hand in hand ♪ ♪ nothing on my skin ♪ that's my new plan. ♪ nothing is everything. keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. and skyrizi is

joining us now is nbc news political reporter vaughn hillyard in phoenix and nbc news correspondent erin mclaughlin in manhattan beach, california. vaughn, let me begin with you. walk us through what's closing arizona, and do we know why the governor stopped short of mandating a full stay-at-home policy? >> ayman, there frankly had to be a reckoning at some point here in this state from the executive tower of the governor here. behind us. and that happened yesterday. it was may 15th when the state let its stay-at-home order expire and restaurants and retail, those waterparks opened. it was even planned that schools would begin opening just two weeks from now in july but finally, after record hospitalizations, record icu beds in use, finally it got to the point where the state was so close to being overwhelmed that the governor had to take action. and that's what he did yesterday afternoon. by signing those executive orders of pushing the school year back into august, closing down these various establishments. but i had the chance to ask the governor the question, you know, why not go for

let's bring in vaughn hillyard from the arizona state fairgrounds, where people are getting tested. they're not exactly on the rides and buying all those special treats like fried oreos, right? what's the situation like where you are? >> reporter: actually, alex, the disappointing part today is that we showed up at the arizona state fairgrounds, thinking that was going to be a testing location, but like a lot of other folks, there was no testing taking place at the state fairgrounds. that's kind of been a story trying to get a test in the state of where do you go? you have long lines, hour-long waits, delayed turnaround times. we're here now in the west valley of arizona, in maryvale, arizona, and julio, we just met, why are you coming to get a test today, julio? >> because i want to make sure i don't have any symptoms of the virus. >> reporter: you're telling me you're a cook? >> yes. >> reporter: you have family members. this is the issue, actually. one of the major hospital system here in the state, alex, is actually turning away asymptomatic individuals because right now the dem

. >> nbc's vaughn hillyard is in seattle at the autonomous zone. how are things looking today?an ever developing scene out here. we're talking about a six-block area in the heart of seattle. i want to actually bring in off the bat here javy cordero. we met yesterday, and you're part of the organizing effort. >> one of many people. >> many people. >> i think it's important to note when we're talking about this, it was the police in the city that chose to essentially abandon this area back on monday. and ever since, you have been part of the effort to build what all of this has become and move it forward. and there's a little bit of pushback. there's a little bit of pushback yesterday. a little bit of pushback. a lot of voices. there's been a lot of pushback here over -- sorry, alex, give us one second here. alex, we're going to catch you next hour, if that's all right? there's a lot of voices here at the scene. i think it's important. actually, we have javy here. >> vaughn, you guys take care of what you need to take care of. we get it. we know it's a pretty tense time there. we

. >> joining us from phoenix, arizona, is nbc news reporter vaughn hillyard. know local officials had wanted this and i know you've also not seen many people out there wearing masks. although the two people behind you right now are wearing masks. how is this playing out? >> how is this playing out is localities are now taking action. they'd been calling on the governor to give them the authority to require mask wearing in their communities. up until yesterday for a month, the governor was defiant. until yesterday afternoon, there was a completely different tenor out of the governor's office as it became clear the reality of covid spread through the greater arizona area. yesterday he allowed the likes of tucson and flagstaff to put those mask requirements in. the city council here in phoenix, the country's fifth largest city is voting on their own measure here this afternoon. just today, more than 2,500 new cases, another record for the state of arizona. today also marks the most hospitalizations for arizona. it also marks the most number of icu beds in use. 32