Unemployment numbers. 1. 48 million more americans filed new jobless claims last week. That brings the total to some 47 million over 14 weeks. For some context, thats about the combined populations of florida, pennsylvania and illinois. And for americans looking for help from government, this news, painful to report. A Government Watch dog now telling corning that more than 1 million americans that are no longer living received covid19 stimulus payments. Those payments totaled about 1. 4 billion, billion with a b. Well have more in a moment on how precisely Something Like that can happen. We start with the ongoing cases and admissions in texas and arizona. In texas more than 11,000 new cases in the last two days. Houstons mayor says 97 of icu beds there are in use. Meanwhile, in arizona with cases and deaths rising, around 88 of that states icu beds are now full. We have nbcs sam brock in houston. Houston has become the epicenter of this pandemic in texas. Nbcs joe fryer is in scottsdale, arizona. Sam, ill start with you. Weve just learned over the last hour or two that texas governor, republican Governor Greg Abbott suspending elective surgeries in the states four largest counties including Harris County where you are there in houston. It would seem to be, sam, thats the latest indication of how dire the situation has gotten there in texas. Reporter thats exactly right, craig. He has foreshadowed, governor abbott, that he was going to do Something Like this. Within the last hour, the announcement of suspension of elective surgeries. What youre seeing in houston, craig, is essentially a stress test. Hospitals are being pushed to the brink. You mentioned the figure, 97 icu bed hospitalizations. I was talking to someone who says the reality, they can add more beds, add more capacity, but whatever it is, its a really acute problem right now. This is a recent development. For months, hospitals in the area have had enough resources to deal with the surge in covid19 patients. Now in recent history, this worst of patients and maybe the most concerning thing right now, craig, is the positivity rates. For the community yesterday it was 10 . But for the Emergency Departments at houston methodist, 30 positivity rate. Here is dr. Neil gandhi talking about what he is seeing on the ground level here every day in the hospitals. I think over the past seven days, things have significantly crescendoed and theres been a massive uptick in cases. With the hospitalizations, were seeing a slight predominance towards younger patients. We suspect the covid virus will be with us for a very long time. We need to find ways to treat both the covid virus and patients who come in with regular medical issues as well. Reporter interesting that one of the messages that dr. Gandhi wanted to get out, if youre having an emergency issue, whether its a broken bone or chest pain, go to the hospital. Theyre not shutting down their Services Just because of whats going on with covid19. As we mentioned, craig, there is a suspension of elective surgeries with the Health Crisis in this city crescendoing. Back to you, craig. All right. Sam brock in houston. Let us go now to arizona. Joe fryer, how are businesses, how are hospitals handling the surge there . Reporter we know several hospitals are certainly having a tough time right now. As you mentioned, 88 of icu beds across the state are full right now. Thats up from just 84 earlier this week. Of course, some hospitals have been hit harder than others. But we can tell you where we are here in maricopa county. They have seen over a third of their total cases for this entire pandemic in just the last week. About half of those cases are people who are under the age of 45. So theyre less likely to be hospitalized. Still we spoke with a 30yearold who says he went out to a bar earlier this month. A few days later he ended up with covid19 and had to go in the hospital. He said at the time he wasnt wearing a mask, wasnt social distancing. Hes learned that lesson now. We know that businesses here in arizona have not had quite the same restrictions in reopening as some of the other states throughout the country. Some of those Business Owners are starting to grow concerned as we see these cases surge. I spoke with Rashida White who owns a restaurant called brunch and sip in the phoenix area. They were supposed to open in march. It was delayed because of the pandemic. They ended up opening, not reopening, opening in may facing a lot of challenges, masks and gloves, constant cleaning, disposable menus. Because of social distancing guidelines, capacity limited to about 40 . I spoke to her about some of the challenges theyre facing. Take a look. I worry about if i bring something home to my husband and we go down, were the owner of these businesses. We are the front line. I cant stay at home and expect my employees to be here on the front line without supporting them. We dont know what tomorrow holds. If people decide, they get so afraid of covid and decide not to eat with us, yeah, it will be really sad. So well see. I dont want to risk anyones life either. Thats why we try to do what we can to keep everybody safe. Rasheedah and her husband own other restaurants that have been able to do takeout so theyre fairing better. She says she deals with the occasional customer who doesnt want to wear a mask inside her restaurant. Craig. Joe fryer in scottsdale, thank you. Across the country were hearing just how bad things have gotten from the nurses, from the doctors, from the medical staff who are dealing with this virus every day. Its just been awful to watch these patients in such severe distress and see how bad they get, and just seeing how alone they are and how scared they are and how much they miss their family. Its awful. Im used to encountering in my professional and even my personal life, but this is not the same. In some ways its almost Like Fighting a ghost because we just dont know what youre up against. I want to bring in our doctor on duty for the hour, dr. Steve corwin, president and ceo of new york presbyterian hospitals. Steve, the exhaustion from the medical professionals that we just heard, i know that sounds familiar to you as someone who ran a hospital in new york during the height of the pandemic there. What advice do you have for your counterparts across this country who are seeing their spikes in cases now . This is just so disheartening. I empathize tremendously with all the frontline workers. As they these cases start to increase, it becomes almost overwhelming. Youre talking about 95 of icu capacity, 90 of icu capacity. Youre not talking about regular patients in those beds. Youre talking about the covid patients. Once you get to the point in the communities where you have Widespread Community spread, its impossible to contact trace, and then you are left to reap the whirlwind. I hope that whats happening in houston now does not reach the proportions that happened in new york city. Its devastating. To your earlier point with your er doctors, patients were afraid in new york to seek er care because the ers with overwhelmed with covid. So patients who need care defer care. The covid care is time intensive. Its very, very disconcerting. No matter what we want to convince ourselves about in terms of 20, 30 and 40yearolds, there are 30 and 40yearolds that die from this. There are 30 and 40yearolds that infect their immunecompromised sister of their mother or father. The curve you just showed in texas starts to mimic the curve we had in new york and its extremely disheartening. The administration the Trump Administration planning to end federal support, steve, for covid19 testing sites. Seven of the 13 federally supported sites are in texas which, of course, seeing a Record Number of cases. How does that move impact the ability for states to fight, to try and contain this virus . Lets just deal with the science. The virus doesnt know zip codes. It doesnt know red states or blue states. Masks are masks work, point number one. Point number two, you have to do a lot of testing. When the viral load in the Community Starts to go down, your positive testing starts to dip. You want to see it below 10 . Ideally you want to see it below 2 or 3 . In new york its clearly gone way down. In california its at about 4. 8 now. In texas, i dont know what that number currently is. But anything above 10 positivity when youre testing, youve got a problem. Testing less doesnt mitigate the problem. You need to test more. You need to wear masks. You need to socially distance. Otherwise you get an epidemic that becomes out of control. When its out of control you overwhelm hospitals and their icus. Dr. Corwin, stand by for me if you can. We continue to follow breaking news also related to unemployment in this country. Weve learned almost 1. 5 million americans filed for unemployment last week. Thats more than the entire population of the state of maine in just one week. And its worse, slightly worse than what economists initially were predicting. That now brings the total to some 47 million unemployment claims filed in just the last 14 weeks since all this started. Nbc news Senior Business correspondent Stephanie Ruhle is covering this part of the story for us. Steph, what do these numbers say about the strength of our economy right now and where we are on this long road to recovery . All right, craig. Over the last 14 weeks, youve got almost 50 million americans on unemployment. So the idea that were going to reopen and snap right back, were not. We are seeing hiring at some of the big box stores, but across the board you know this reopening is complicated and its slow. We still dont have federal guidelines for reopening for most businesses out there. Every day another Small Business closes. So this idea that were bounding right back, were not. You can say to me, well, stephanie, why does the stock market do as well as it does. Here is the perverse game. The worse things go for an unemployment perspective, it gives investors confidence that the federal government will step in with more stimulus. Thats obviously a positive for them. Thats kind of how twisted this thing is. These 50 Million People on expanded unemployment, that thing is running out next month. When youve got 50 Million People not receiving those expanded benefits, things are going to get a lot more bleak. While i have you, let me ask you about Something Else with regards to the stimulus that you just mentioned. Frankly, its pretty unbelievable. Government accountability report, gao report says the Treasury Department spent about 1. 4 billion sending checks to dead people, more than a million checks went out to people who cant cash them. Theyre not alive. Its a hard pill to swallow for the millions of americans looking for help right now. How does Something Like that happen . Its a hard pill to swallow. Im not going to make you feel better. But in the categories of this stinks, this is corrupt, somebody is getting paid that shouldnt, this is more about gross incompetence. The plan was, how do we get this money out as quickly as we can. The first three batches of stimulus payments were done in a way that they were told not to crossreference with death certificates which should be available through Social Security numbers. Thats number one. On number two, the irs did post if you received a check and shouldnt have, ie, for a dead person, send it back. The gao is putting forth no plans to recoup any of that money. This is just absolute incompetence. I know its very, very hard to get this much money out to this many people. But to your point, think about the millions of people struggling in this country. It certainly doesnt make sense to them. No. Stephanie ruhle, thank you. Thank you for trying to help us make some sense of it. Let me bring back the docktobe tore on duty, steve corwin, president and ceo of new york presbyterian hospitals. Dr. Corwin, to stephs first point there, as states and businesses reopen, safety measures, really just one piece of the puzzle. Virginia is poised to create the first Pandemic Workplace safety mandates in this country, a potential model for other states. The governor there says that the rules are necessary because of a lack of enforcement by the federal agency thats supposed to be upholding workplace safety. How concerned are you about a lack of a nationwide plan . What kind of rules should be in place for companies to keep their employees as safe as possible . Very concerned. The reality is we built into our psyche theres a false equivalency. You either have the opening of the economy or you have the suppression of the virus and the tween cant meet. You have to do both. You have to suppressi the virus. Otherwise the economy will never get restarted and rebooted. So you have to have testing. 50 of our employees will be working from home. We have testing procedures, cleaning procedures, sanitizing procedures. Temperature checks, et cetera, all of which should be federal mandates. I applaud governor northah in virginia for what hes doing. You have to protect workers. Otherwise people will not have the confidence to return to work. You will have many issues with th that. Theres another issue we have to deal with as a country which is, if you dont have paid sick leave, you are encouraging people who are sick to come to work and not report their symptoms. That is a prescription for disaster, craig. We have to deal with that aspect of this as well. Weve got to eliminate some of the blue red, democratic republican rhetoric and realize, if were going to lose 180,000 lives in this country from this pandemic, weve got to do bipartisan support for Public Health measures that make sense. You make good points, dr. Corwin. Thank you so much. Dr. Steve corwin, thank you. This afternoon the house set to start voting on their Police Reform bill. Even if that bill passes, even if it passes the house, how likely is it to become law . Were going to talk about that with Democratic House member Eleanor Holmes norton. Since shes the only elected official representing washington, d. C. In congress, were also going to talk about that historic vote set for tomorrow on d. C. s statehood. She calls it deeply personal. Plus major warning signs for the trump campaign. New polls show joe biden leading the president by a wide margin in several battleground states. Helps you redefine whats possible. Now. From the hospital shifting to remote patient care in just 48 hours. To the university moving hundreds of apps quickly to the cloud. Or the City GovernmentGoing Digital to keep Critical Services running. You are creating the future on the fly. And we are helping you do it. Vmware. Realize whats possible. Right now protesters in frankfurt, kentucky are rallying for justice in the death of b e breonna taylor. Three months ago she was shot and killed by Police Serving a noknock warrant. These protesters are pushing for criminal charges to be brought against the three officers involved in her death. So far just one of the three officers has been fired. A live look in frankfurt. Also in a few hours, the house set to vote on the policing reform bill produ, called the George Floyd Justice in policing act. It would ban no knocks warrants and chokeholds as well. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talked about the bill last hour. Today we have the opportunity and the obligation to ensure that his death and the deaths of so many others are not in vain. When we pass this bill, the senate will have a choice to honor George Floyds life or to do nothing. Nbcs casey hunlt is covering this story from the hill for us on this thursday. Kasie, what should we expect to see in this house vote today especially since the republicanintroduced bill in the senate failed yesterday . Reporter we do expect this bill to pass in the house because, of course, nancy pelosi and her Democratic Party are solidly behind it and they control the chamber. So the question, of course, remains, is there going to be major legislative action on Police Reform. We know americans are demanding it. We see it in all of the polling. We see it in the people who are out on the streets. We see it, frankly, even by the fact of republicans in the Senate Feeling as though they need to be at least seen doing something, which is part of why you saw them push forward with their version of this legislation, the justice act. Senator tim scott who i know youve spoken to at some length worked very hard on this legislation. But over here in the senate, frankly, the level of trust between Chuck Schumer and Mitch Mcconnell is at possibly an alltime low. Democrats simply werent willing to take a chance on a process that they thought was set up to work against them from the very beginning. So pelosi, as you heard there, is going to send her bill over here to the senate and essentially say to them, okay, either you take this up or look as though youre being the ones who are obstructionists. This has turned into a bit of a political backandforth with each side saying that the other is acting in bad faith. The reality is there are significant differences between the house and the senate bill. The house bill goes much farther in terms of all these policy issues that you laid out. Republicans in many cases want a study and to report on some of these issues. Thats why democrats dont want to move forward, craig. All right. Kasie hunt there bringing us up to speed on the legislative part of it. Kasie, thank you. I want to turn to representative Eleanor Holmes norton. A democratic who represents washington, d. C. Congresswoman, lets start on todays vote, on the George Floyd Justice in policing act. Where does it stand and how confident are you that youll get a number of republican votes . Im certainly not confident that there will be republican votes because theres spoken opposition of the bill. But im not as depressed by the fact that theres a senate bill that is not like our bill. I think what we have to understand that that is often the case, that the house passes a bill and the Senate Passes a bill. Thats why you have two houses. Then they have to get together and achieve some compromise. The democrats, in the face of demands from the public here in the house of representatives certainly could not have afforded to pass the weak bill that the senate has passed. I think we will have the upper hand, but as is usually the case when the house and the senate disagree, we will sit down and we will come to some kind of a compromise. Most often is the case where theres no republican bill. Im cheered by the fact that at least we have something to negotiate, particularly when we consider how few bills have been coming forward this session because of the coronavirus. Congresswoman, stand by for me just a moment. We want to show this image of President Trump and first lady melania trump. They are at the Korean War Memorial there in washington, d. C. Today marks the 70th anniversary of the start of the korean war. It started on june 25th, 1950. The president and first lady there laying a wreath at that memorial. From june 25th, 1950, until the war ended roughly three years later on july 27th, some 54,246 americans died during the korean war. There you see President Trump along with the first lady. They just laid the wreath. Theyre speaking with some korean war veterans as well. Shortly thereafter the president is going to hop a flight, taking a plane for a Campaign Event later today. Again, a live look at the president of the United States laying a wreath at the Korean War Memorial. Lets turn back to Eleanor Holmes norton, represents washington, d. C. If we can, lets pick up where we left off, talking about the justice in policing act. Senator tim scott introduced a republican Police Reform bill that failed in the senate on wednesday, as you know. He was on fox news a short time ago. This is what he said about the Police Reform negotiations, specifically about democrats. What actually happened was that the democrats did not believe that we would produce a quality product. Once we produced it and the president , to put the icing on the cake, came up with an executive order that even the liberal commentators said this was a real, meaningful executive order, i think they took a leap back because they dont want this president to have a victory on another serious issue confronting the minority communities. This is pure, pure race politics at its worst. Whats your reaction to that, delegate . Nonsense. The notion that we dont want a bill misstates what we want. We want a bill Strong Enough so people think we will have done something. In fact, this bill is so weak that we get no credit for it. I think instead of him throwing darts at the democrats, what he should have been doing was praising the fact that they got a bill done at all and saying that hed look forward to sitting down with the democrats in the house who are about to pass a bill themselves. Thats the way the house and the senate have to work to get anything done. Frankly, its always the way its happened. One house has never prevailed over the house. Theres always been compromise. There can be compromise here now. We do not have to show off for our base. This is a serious bill. In fact, it is the bill that the base and the American People are demanding. Tomorrow the house set to vote on a statehood bill that you introduced. This will be the first house floor vote on making washington, d. C. A state since 1993. Youve been pushing for this for years. Youve been talking about it for years. When i lived in washington about a decade ago, this was your cause. But the reality is it will likely pass the house. It will likely die in the senate. The president already said he wouldnt sign it. How much of this vote is symbolic . This bill is real. By the way, the first bill i, in fact, introduced and got the house to pass the first bill. We couldnt pass that one. This time we have more than enough cosponsors to pass the bill so we know its going to pass. We also know particularly in this polarized climate that the republicans are not going to vote for this bill and dont want this bill. Heres the good news. The senate is likely to change parties in 2020 when the elections are over. I am now quoting the polls as they stand. They could change. But it will be a very hard it will be very hard for the republicans to keep the senate, and who is in even worse trouble than Senate Republicans is the president of the United States whose favorables are so low that he is now having to go and risk coronavirus in rallies throughout the United States. So we have were very encouraged to get this bill through the house for the first time in 219 years since the Nations Capital was created. Were very encouraged by what the polls tell us will happen when 2021 rounds the corner. All right. Washington, d. C. s delegate, congresswoman Eleanor Holmes norton. Always good to see you. Thank you. In the next hour be sure to watch my colleague Andrea Mitchells special report on tomorrows big vote on the plan to make washington, d. C. A state. Thats at noon eastern on msnbc. Just 30 minutes from now. Less than an hour from now President Trump, who we just saw at the Korean War Memorial, he is going to be leaving for wisconsin and a new batch of polls is sounding the alarm for the trump reelection campaign. Youre going to want to see these really eye popping numbers from six count them six key swing states. Can my side be firm . And my side super soft . Yes, with the sleep number 360 smart bed, on sale now, you can both adjust your comfort with your sleep number setting. Come on pup, time to go. Can it help me fall asleep faster . Yes, by gently warming your feet but can it help keep me asleep . Absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. So you can really promise better sleep . Not promise. Prove. And now, during the lowest prices of the season, the queen sleep number 360 c4 smart bed is only 1,299, save 400. Only for a limited time. To learn more, go to sleepnumber. Com. A new poll offers a flashing red warning sign for President Trumps campaign, or to be precise, six flashing red warning signs. In less than an hour President Trump will leave washington for wisconsin, a state he won in 2016 by fewer than 23,000 votes. Where do things stand now in wisconsin . Well, a new poll from the New York Times and Siena College gives us a glimpse at six key states. In wisconsin, biden is up 11 points, 49 to trumps 38 . In pennsylvania biden up ten points. In michigan, biden up 11 points. In florida, biden up six points. In arizona biden up seven points. In North Carolina the former Vice President is up nine points. Nbcs monica alba is at the white house. Monica, again, President Trump carries wisconsin. He carries michigan, carried pennsylvania, but he did it by less than a point, all of those states by less than a point in 2016. How concerned is his campaign about these numbers. Reporter privately, craig, Campaign Officials say theyre worried about the latest round of polling. Publicly theyre trying to project optimism, releasing a new statement just exactly about those battleground polls saying they are terribly flawed in the words of the communications director, tim myrrhing the who also is saying like in 2016 they believe polling is not necessarily predictive of the outcome. You have here a campaign that really was hamstrung by the coronavirus pandemic with the president not able to travel and do those rallies for all those months. Then when he did get back on the trail, even by their own admission, they had an incredibly disappointing event in tulsa, not just with the lowerthanexpected turnout, but also with staffers and secret Service Personnel who ended up testing positive for the virus. We dont even know when the president will hold his next campaign rally. He has been traveling to these battleground states, but those are technically white house visits. In the past when the president has had internal polling they considered concerning, he lambasted his own campaign manager. When hes seen numbers he doesnt like, hes asked pollsters to go back and do them again, craig. Repoll. Monica alba from the white house. Monica, thank you. Lets bring in eddie glaude, chair of the center for africanamerican studies at princeton university, also an msnbc contributor and the author of the new book called begin again james baldwins america and its urgent lessons for our own. Mr. Glaude, joe biden is campaigning mainly in towns and cities close to where he lives in delaware. These polls would suggest, eddie glaude, would suggest its a strategy thats working for him. Can joe biden become president of the United States without campaigning actively . Well, i think he can just allow donald trump to swing wildly. Every time donald trump swings, it seems to throw himself off balance. What those polls suggest to me, craig, is something very clear, that donald trump is taking a hit with regards to how hes handled the coronavirus crisis. Hes taken a hit in how hes handled the economy. We havent seen this kind of devastation since the great depression. Hes taken a hit, i think, with regards to the racial discord in the country. The way in which hes responded to covid19, its kung flu. The way hes talked about the economic crisis, hes only talking about what it was like before the chinese virus, and the way in which hes responded to racial discord is by doubling down on ugliness. I think the inside strength he drew in 2016, kralg, right now hes holding two of a kind. He needs to understand he needs to throw some cards in and retool his campaign if hes going to try to at least be competitive come november. Theres another idea about what may be hurting the president right now. Theres a new article in the atlantic and it argues in election cycle the president cant quite figure out how to attack biden. The writer here saying, quote, through 12 years of feastings on white identity politics with a black man and the woman as its preeminent villains, the Republican Party is struggling to run its obamaera culturewar playbook against an old, moderate white guy. How much does having a moderate white guy as opposed to a woman or a black man, how much does that affect the president s reelection strategy . Im not sure if im convinced by that yet. What i do know is the country is still deeply divided when it comes to racial issues. We know that the kind of argument hes been making, at least we saw versions of it in tulsa and we saw it more explicitly in arizona, is that joe biden, according to the trump campaign, will be beholding to the radical left. He wont be able to hold them off. If joe biden is elected according to the trump folk, we might as well say goodbye to all your liberties, freedoms and economic gains. Say goodbye to your 401 k , the stock market. Thats the kind of argument i think hes suggesting. What we heard in arizona is really important. I dont think hes going to shift or pivot from this, even though biden is the opponent. He said, and i quote, our country didnt grow great with them. I grew great with you and your thought process and your ideology. So this them and us will continue to be the center of gravity, the axis around which that campaign runs. And hell say, i think this is the argument, that joe biden is too weakkneed to respond to those forces that threaten to snatch america from the Great America that he thinks only matters. If that makes sense. It does indeed. Eddie glaude. Professor, thanks as always. Eddie has a new piece in the new issue of Time Magazine on how america has refused to change. Its out now. Its worth the read. Eddie glaude, thanks as always. The eiffel tower, ladies and gentlemen, is back up today. How things are returning slowly to a new kind of normal overseas while cases continue to climb here in the United States. Stock slices. For as little as 5, now anyone can own companies in the s p 500, even if their shares cost more. At 5 a slice, you could own Ten Companies for 50 instead of paying thousands. All Commission Free online. Schwab stock slices an easy way to start investing or to give the gift of stock ownership. Schwab. Own your tomorrow. Throughout our history any time something bad has happened to us. Weve recovered. Every time. We fall, we rise. We break, we rebuild. We stumble, we learn. We come together. We work together. We innovate and create. We meet up and get to work. We find our way forward. Every time. This has been the key to our survival, the key to our growth that whenever we thought we were at our weakest, this is when we became the strongest, became the best version of ourselves, and found our way home. Together. Masimo. Together in hospital. Together at home. We know youre always at univethere for them. X,l. Thats why our advisors are always here for you. Learn more at phoenix. Edu. Take a look at this chart and ill do my best to describe it for the listeners on sirius satellite radio. You see that red line there, it shows the trend in the number of cases in the United States compared to that of other countries that had big peaks in cases. Theirs are dropping. Ours not so much. Nbcs molly hunter is live in paris where the eiffel tower has reopened. Molly, walk us through this reopening. What sort of new rules are in place there . Reporter craig, thats right. Were midway up the eiffel tower, as far as you can go right now. Its a little different than before. The first thing i noticed besides the mask wearing, no elevators. If youre not in shape from all that lockdown cheese and baguette, you have to walk up 75 steps to get here. Theres also significant social distancing in place. Even if that wasnt in place, the numbers are so low compared to what they normally are. Authorities are telling us about 1300 people have visited. Theyre even for another couple of hours. Normally on a daylight this, late june, height of summer tourist season, 23,000 people. Now, the eiffel tower has been closed for 103 days, the longest closure since world war ii. A lot of people including parisians, american residents of paris are dying to get up here when its not mobbed with tourists. I want to play you a quick clip from cory, an american who lives here. Take a listen. Well, i mean, since weve been living here, my mom has not been able yet to get to the top of the eiffel tower, so that is goal number one. That has been a plan. Now corey said all they want to do is get their mom up here. I asked them what they thought watching the u. S. From there and about possible eu ban on american travelers. They say they feel safer here than they would in america. They feel pretty lucky to be on this side of the atlantic. They also said if the ban went in based on the science, based on how america was doing to other countries, they think as long as its based on science it feels pretty reasonable and certainly not an overreaction. Craig. Molly hunter there in paris, thank you. Black america speaks. America should listen. Thats businessman byron allens warning for the country. Byron is going to joint me next. Well talk about the action that the country needs to take in the wake of the George Floyd Protests and more. D . I should get a quote. Do it. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. With spray mopping to lock away debris and absorb wet messes, all in one disposable pad. Just vacuum, spray mop, and toss. The shark vacmop, a complete clean all in one pad. That go out today get delivered. There are people who can only get food from amazon. When you come into work, thats what drives you. My little one, i would say hes definitely proud of me. Every time he sees the blue prime trucks, he says, daddy, theres your people i know every single one of us is here busting as hard as we can go every day to make sure these packages get delivered. Because the tempurbreeze transfers heat away from your body. So you feel cool. Night after night. During the tempurpedic summer of sleep, save 500 on all tempurbreeze mattresses. Today marks one month since George Floyds death at the hands of the police in minneapolis. Were watching the George Floyd Justice and policing act in the house. With a groundswell of support for Police Reform across the country, will anything actually get done . A business mogul, byron allen, has a piece called black america speaks america should listen. Im joined now by the author of that oped, ceo of allen media group. Agen its a pleasure to have you, sir, thank you for joining us. Walk us through the steps you outline in the article, what should we be doing . Dr. King taught us there are two americas. One america has opportunity to education, jobs, mentorship. The other america doesnt. The two americas will not survive, we must have one america. And that point has come. And what we have to now do is take this opportunity and understand that black america isnt a charity. A lot of folks in White America are saying, what do i need to do, who do i donate to . We cant donate our way out of this. Its almost an insult, youre seeing, im superior, youre inferior, and if i dont save you, you cant be saved. We shouldnt look at it that way. Its an investment, were investing in america. We have to invest in education. We have to make sure folks have a proper education. We have to invest in health care. We to put pressure on the banks to make sure theyre doing loans, that theyre providing home loans and Business Loans because thats the largest employer of people in america. We need to make sure we have fair access to capital thats not predatory. The United States government manages a 1 trillion government Worker Pension Fund thats not managed by africanamericans and not invested in africanamericans. Theres so much that has to be done. Obviously we have to do something with policing reform. And ive always said, look, you kill us in the schoolroom by making sure we dont get a proper education, you kill us in the boardroom by making sure we dont have proper economic inclusion, and you kill us in the courtroom by giving us longer sentences and mass incarceration, long before you kill us in the streets. And you have to deal with this systemic racism thats been put in place. Whats unique about us as africanamericans is we did not come here by our free will. We were brought here to be slaves, to make this country very wealthy. And when we came here, when we were brought here, we were an asset. And it was considered you were measured by your wealth by how many slaves you had. So we were on the side of the ledger that was an asset. The moment we became free, we became a liability in the minds of america. Thats when america started its genocide against black america. Started lynching us and killing us and burning down our towns and making sure that we did not have access to a really good education and capital and jobs, because at the end of the day, america said, i dont want to share the Great American economic pie with you, so now im going to destroy you. And basically put those four ds on us, which is, im going to dismiss you and your feelings, when you speak up im going to discredit you, and when you get louder im going to demonize you. And that fourth d, im going to destroy you. Now youre seeing all of that come full circle. America cant survive by conducting itself the way it has in the last 400 years. Byron allen. The article, the oped, is worth a read, i would encourage everyone to read it. Next time you come on, were going to make sure that you have a little bit more time, byron, thanks for your time, sir. We are right now following breaking news in texas. The governor there, the republican Governor Greg Abbott just announcing a temporary pause of any further phases to reopen texas because of that increase in coronavirus cases. The state will not shut down any businesses that are already open, but pausing the next phase of reopening in texas, that coming down just moments ago. Thats going to do it for me this hour. In the next hour, the mayor of austin, texas, will join my colleague Andrea Mitchell as those cases continue to climb in his state. Andrea mitchell reports starts after a short break. Andrea mits after a short break. Did you know prilosec otc can stop frequent heartburn before it begins . Heartburn happens when stomach acid refluxes into the esophagus. Prilosec otc uses a unique delayedrelease formula that helps it pass through the tough stomach acid. It then works to turn down acid production, blocking heartburn at the source. With just one pill a day, you get 24hour heartburn protection. Prilosec otc. 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