Transcripts For MSNBCW The Last Word With Lawrence ODonnell 20200530

And through this evening. Stay with us. My colleague Lawrence Odonnell is taking over now. Good evening, lawrence. Good evening, rachel. Well get straight to the live coverage. Thank you. In minneapolis the curfew will last until 6 00 a. M. And go into Effect Tomorrow night at 8 00 3p. M. Minneapolis time. The resolution i imposing the curfew says all persons must not travel on any public street or in any public place. Well go to ali on the streets of minneapolis in a moment to get the latest on the situation there. We have seen protests of the Minnesota Police killing of george floyd in several cities around the country today including new york city, washington d. C. , atlanta, houston, denver, los angeles and san jose. Today fired Police Officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on George Floyds neck is now defendant Derek Michael chauvin and this is his mug shot after he was arrested today. Mike freeman announced the charge today at 1 07 p. M. Minneapolis time. Good afternoon. Im Hennepin County attorney mike freeman. Im here to announce that former minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin is in custody. Former Minnesota Police officer has been charged by the Hennepin County Sheriffs Office with murder and manslaughter. Questions . Yes, what charge of murder . He has been charged with third degree murder. We are in the process of continuing to review the evidence there may be subsequent charges later. I failed to share with you detailed complaint will be made available to you this afternoon. I didnt want to wait any longer to share the news that hes in custody. What about the other three officers involved . The investigation is on going. We felt it appropriate to focus on the most dangerous perpetrator. I must say that this case has moved with extraordinary speed. But it was not fast enough to stop protesters from burning down the Police Station last night. We turn to ali who once again tonight is reporting from the streets of minneapolis. Ali, whats the situation there right now . Reporter the curfew has not worked, lawrence. Were probably quarter mile from the Police Station. The police line was another half a mile beyond that, about three blocks. At 15 minutes to Curfew Police made announcements youre in violation of the curfew if you dont assemble and the police and National Guard started moving backward in this direction and firing tear gas. That lasted 30 or 40 minutes to this point and suddenly, the police were gone. The National Guard was gone. The tear gas is cleared. And the crowd has walked that way. Apparently downtown. Now it became more of a march than protest at that point because they werent pushing the police back. It seems apparent the protesters pushed the police and National Guard out of the way. Youre seeing relatively empty streets. There are more firing burns and heavy smoke back toward where we started. Im on my way there to figure out what is going on there. The march, the protest has overcome the police. We dont know whether thats strategic in that the police moved backwards to sort of dissipate the crowd, which may have been the case because it ended up being a slow walk. We got some attention right now, lawrence. Ill come back to you in a couple minutes. Well go back to ali in a few minutes. Msnbc ali has been on the streets of minneapolis for the last couple days doing extraordinary work for us. Joining our discussion paul butler at georgetown university, the former federal prosecutor and msnbc contributor and retired new York City Police detective and director of the black Law Enforcement alliance. Paul butler, let me start with you and your reaction to the murder charge lodged today. So after four days several videotapes, eyewitness identifications we finally have an arrest in this case. I think this has been a teachable moment for many African American men. We didnt know it was this difficult to get arrested. As a former prosecutor we know how difficult it is to convict to cop, especially of murder. Thats why murder three charges in here are appropriate. If the prosecutor had charged murder one or two, he would have had to prove intent. Thats very difficult in the defendants mind especially when the defendant is a Police Officer. Now, what they have to prove is reckless indifference to human life and the evidence of that is the videotapes. Its mr. Floyds own words as he narrates his demise saying i cant breathe. We want the prosecutor to win this case and statistically, even with these charges, the odds are against them. 150 officers have been charged with murder and manslaughter in the last several years. The vast majority of them have walked. If justice means a criminal conviction, then murder three i think is the best way of getting that and when this former Police Officer goes to the big house, if hes convicted, and hes asked what are you locked up for, they will say murder, not murder one, murder two, murder three. They will say murder. If hes duly convicted, he deserves that shame, that stigma of being labeled under the law a murderer. And the murder charge he faces carries a maximum sentence of 25 years. We want to go back to ali at his Camera Position on the streets of minneapolis, if he is there and available. Ali, can you hear us . Reporter yeah, were here, lawrence. So what we got is traffic started on here. Weve heard that the protest moved its way into downtown. Were following up with that in a minute. The protests, this is all the distance that it has come. I would estimate that it was a distance of about two miles before we broke off from it to get back here and get in front of it. This protest has gone all the way down there. Somebody just came by and told me there is another Police Precinct that may be on fire. We dont have that information confirmed and well check it out. The curfew, the idea nobody is supposed to be on the street right now is not in effect. If you can look around me, there is people everywhere. There is one big fire burning in the distance. There is black smoke from over there. This is the target you probably have seen for the last couple days across the road from the Police Station. This is where fire was set and there was a lot of looting. This parking lot in fact next to the target was the center piece for all of the assemblies and protests around the third precinct for the last several days. So people are out and about here. Theres traffic moving. Theres curfew has not worked. As i was saying to you, we were interrupted in a few minutes ago, it may have been a strategic effort to back off and literally cause everybody to walk down this road because eventually, once the faceoff stopped and the faceoff was here. This is the point where the police drew the line. This is an overpass you probably saw on rachels show. This is where the tear gas was. The police and National Guard were on this side. Protesters were hereme. We were stopped here for half an hour. For whatever reason, they didnt back off. We had masks and they didnt. They stood there. They were pouring milk over their faces trying to cleanse themselves of the stinging effect in your throat and eyes of the gas and then they just started walking through this way and the police and the National Guard left. We havent seen tear gas in probably 45 minutes. We havent seen police and National Guard in as long. So whatever the strategy is of the police, the curfew that is supposed to be e in effect heres not in effect and what were hearing here is that the protest has moved into downtown. As of last night, had shut down windows and downtown the most vibrant scene in the area and exactly what the protesters would be doing that way but that is the situation as it stands. There is no National Guard and no place, lawrence. Ali, thank you very much. Well come back to you throughout this hour. I want to go to mark on the difficulty of enforcing curfew. There are huge tactical challenges, especially when you have a combination of your local Law Enforcement, state Law Enforcement, perhaps the logistics of it makes it very challenging because you have to have a centralized command and theoretically, you have to act as one as a unit and thats extremely difficult when youre not accustomed to working hand and hand with one another. You have to be clear about the lines of supervision. Is the vsupervisor the Police Department going to be supervising the National Guard . Absolutely not. Who takes command . Its logistic l iissues that ar challenge for Law Enforcement. Make no mistake about it. Its important people understand that this is the job of, part of the job of Law Enforcement. That is often times individuals place themselves in harms way in difficult situations even when they have their owner emotional feelings or visceral feelings of what occurred. They have an obligation and responsibility to protect and preserve the human life is very important. Well go to louisville, kentucky now to cal perry who is covering the protests in louisvil louisville. Cal perry, whats the situation there . Reporter hey, lawrence. Look at the live shot here. There are protesters and as it escalates, police have been using tear gas and firing some kind of defensive round. We think its rubber bullets. You can almost hear them bouncing off the pavement. This city last night saw these protests and saw a mass shooting on top of it. Seven people were shot just about a block from here which is why police have come out in force so early in the evening. They want to try to avoid what they saw last night. Keep in mind, this city is also dealing with its own trama when it comes to Law Enforcement. In mid march, breanna taylor, young woman 26 years old is a vital worker, an essential worker, a nurse was shot in her home by police who came in the door without new yorking. Called a no knock warrant. She was shot dead eight times. That is one of the reasons that this city is boiling over. Its not just what happened in minneapolis. Its whats happened here. Those are flash bang grenades going off. Here comes another one, lawrence. This city has a very tense relationship with its police force, as well. There have been number of recent incidents in the last few months which has led to this point. Its come nated with seven people shot. Police seemingly want to shut this down early but lawrence, these folks here in the downtown area are not going anywhere, at least not yet. Cal, how long have they been protesting today . When did it become this active . Reporter it became this active about an hour ago. The protesters came out around 6 00 p. M. And walked this downtown area about a block to our left from your camera left is a number of administrative buildings. There is the local city jail. There is the county courthouse. There is the Sheriffs Office. What is happening is police are blocking folks in and now they got us pin into this intersection. What youre looking at now, you can see the protester behind the white board. Police are firing rubber bullets that seem to have some tear gas on it and its about to make its way down here. You can see that one protester is not moving. Weve seen this game of chicken go on all night in downtown louisville. Want to go back to mark with the question of Police Tactics and the choices that they have in these different protests around the country, and they are they will come up against that question of the preservation of human life versus the preservation of property. Reporter . Yeah, and part of the responsibility that Law Enforcement had and policing is preserving human life and thats what makes, you know, what occurred with mr. Floyd and so many other cases horrific and tragic is that those individuals who are charged and have this responsibility too often are not adhering to their own philosophy and principles about protecting and preserving human life and the sanctionty of human life and to always operate with empathy and humanity. Thats part of the problem in the demonstrations are looking to address those issues, as well. And let me go to paul butler again on the criminal charge in minneapolis. You see the third degree murder charge as the reasonable legal charge given the state of the evidence right now. I do. So when you have to persuade a jury beyond a reasonable doubt what someone was thinking, thats a daunting task for a lit g litigation. The question for murder one or two would be did these officers intend to kill mr. Floyd . They were unspeakably cruel. One held mr. Floyd by the neck. Another grabbed his leg. A third cop pushed his back down. So maybe they intended to kill him, but it looks like torture to me and, again, under the law, that makes a difference. So again, what we want is the easiest case for prosecutors to present to the jury. You do want that murder stigma and again, that comes with murder three. So in terms of the keeping the eye on the goal, getting this man locked up for a long time, i think that third degree murder is the best way of trying to achieve that and as i suggested, looking at statistically what happens when cops are charged with homicide, its not a slam dunk even with this extraordinary quality of evidence. We will be continuing to cover the yes, go ahead. Quickly. I was going to say just quickly, i think the key point, excellent points, people are really looking for a statement on whether or not judicial executions under the coal already of law can be fully punishable under the current system. That is the question of Community Colors are looking at and not necessarily the hyper technical things that paul explained so well. Thats former nypd detective joining in our discussion. When the jury is considering that case and by the way, we will be covering protests as we can develop coverage of them around the country. Well be going back there. As the jury is considering the murder charge against chauvin, what was he feeling or thinking if anything. Was he thinking he was killing a man. What was he experiencing . The chilling imagery is the silent confidence you see there that makes it look like just another day at work for a White American Police Officer with his knee on the neck of an unarmed and handcuffed black man. We turn tonight at this hour for more guidance on this subject and what were seeing in this image and what were seeing in these protesters from a world renowned scholar whose work i admired since i discovered it in college. Joining us is harvard sociology professor orlando patterson. Professor patterson, first of all, what is it you think youre seeing when you look at that video that has changed americas focus today this week from 100,000 dead from coronavirus to this one man dead under the knee of that Police Officer . Yeah, thanks for having me on your show lawrence. What i saw was very chilling. It was not a hate crime. It was worse than that. With a hate crime, you have a lot of emotions. People are disgusted by others. People dont like the ideas, the believes. But at least there are emotions. At least there is a recognition of the other person as a human being even if you hate him so much you want to kill him. What i saw here was a lack of emotion. What i saw was a sort of inhu n inhumani inhumanity. This is a crime of inhumanity. The expression on his face, as you mentioned, the fact he had his hand in his pocket, the ultimate expression of no nonchalant indicates to me someone who did not recognize he had a human being under his knee. That is as if youre euthanizing an animal and that is what is so very chilling about this. That the lack of recognition of the humanity of the victim and it reminds me of what is evil. When in fact chilling becomes routine, when it is not exceptional. And for that, i blame not just this inhuman person but the organization to which he we l g belongs. There is Something Fund mentally wrong with the american Police Department the way they recruit, the kind of people they recruit, the way they train their officers, the Organizational Culture that sees the community not as something you belong to and which you protect but as the enemy. The warrior mentality and that culture in fact, persists not only in minneapolis but many other departments and thats why by the way it really makes little difference whether the chief is a black person or not. The chief in minneapolis is a black man but its not surprising that it made little difference because the culture, the set of assumptions is one that makes violence and the use of violence a first result rather than another result that sees killing as routine. Its chilling and as i said, its worse than a hate crime. It sort of the normalcy of killing. Professor patterson, you have been studying and writing about racial issues in america since the 1960s and watched the tear gas canisters fly in situations like this since the 1960s. What are your feelings tonight as you watch these very familiar scenes that have been now familiar to you for decades that were seeing in these American Cities tonight . Well, it takes one back to the 60s. Its the final expression of outrage. The fact that once humanity is not being recognized, you know, this is not an accident. This occurs over and over. And i think, you know, were taking a ride back to the 60s and to that collective expression of outrage that enough is enough. We need to be recognized as human beings who belong to this community and if our basic human rights are not recognized, well have to resort to violence. I got to i mean, let me emphasize that america has changed for the better to a degree. What is not really changed very much is the policing in america. You know, i lived in britain during the 60s and for many years the police there were just as racist in many respects as americans so racism is there but its secondary because the British Police are racist and they harass west indian, especially jamaica youth. As far as i can recall, there is not a single killing and the reason for that, of course, one, they didnt have guns and secondly, there is a culture, there is an organizational frame work that prevented the most base ray cyst from killing. You get this in other european countries. Something fund mend meaan fund with police training, police culture, Police Organization that has to change and until it does, black lives will not matter. Professor orlando patterson, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Your perspective is invaluable. Im so glad youre able to join us and share your views tonight. Thank you, professor. Great being with you, lawrence. The murder charge against the fired Police Officer who killed george floyd says quote, Derek Michael chauvin caused the death of george floyd by perpetrating an act of imminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind without regard for human life. Another white man evincing a depraved mind without regard for human life tweeted today when the looting starts, the shooting starts. That incitement of mass murder forced twitter to cover Donald Trumps tweets saying it is glorifying violence. Today former Vice President joe biden discussed the situation in minneapolis with craig melvin. Cities are now being torn apart, not just in minneapolis but protests in louisville and new york and l. A. If you are elected in november, where do you start . I start by talking about what we must be making no excuses. Talking about our obligation to be descent. Our obligation to take responsibility. Our obligation to stand up when we see injustice. I talk about that. Look, the words of a president matter no matter how good or bad that president is. A president can by their words alone no matter who they are make markets rise or fall, take us to war, bring us to peace. The words of a president matter and think about this. You know, youve heard me say before because weve talked about this in a different context that our children are listening. Think of the millions and millions and millions of American Children who saw what happened on the television. How can we not show the outrage and the commitment to see that it doesnt we cant guarantee it wont happen again but to change the culture, a culture, the vast majority of police arent cruel but my lord when they see a bad cop, they should be prosecuted and taken out in terms of off the force. They should be punished for what they do. People have to be held accountable for what they do and you do that, you also give some life. Imagine anyway. I just think we have to speak to it. Not hide it. Speak to it. Joining our discussion the White House Correspondent for pbs news hour and joy reed is with us, an msnbc National Correspondent and the host of a. M. Joy. Let me begin with you on the stark contrast once again on this time, the issue of the day, the issue of the week in minneapolis, the stark contrast between the two president ial candidates donald trump and joe biden. Yeah, you know, what was interesting about watching joe biden who, by the way, is at his best when he is talking about lose. Its something that he has felt and youve interviewed him on this. He feels loss so personally and so deeply because he lost so much at such a young age. Losing his wife and his daughter and then raising his two boys and he gets married again and the older son grows up and pasts away of cancer. He has felt loss. The best joe biden is the joe biden who is grooefriieving witr people. To watch him perform the ceremonial job of the president. The president has certain powers but the real power that he has is to speak to us in times of pain. Bill clinton did it. Ronald reagan did it. Im quite zurich chard knicsure could accomplish it. Donald trump cant access that thing, that empathy. The thing that you need to have in you in order to grieve with us or in order to feel our pain. What donald trump did instead is he essentially challenged a george wallace. He theres a guide in walter who was the police chief in miami for 20 years. In 1967 he said when the looting starts, the shooting starts. He was one of the most Violent Police chiefs in america. He was a bull conner. Thats who donald trump relates to. Thats who he speaks like. He speaks like george wallace. So you could not have a starker done frost between joe biden who say whatever you want about his political skills perfect, no. Hes an empathetic man and hes a descent man and hes a good man and for all of whatever little gaffes he makes around his campaign, hes a good guy and donald trump is not a good guy. Hes not an empathetic man so he cant evince what he doesnt have. Do we have any reporting from white house sources today indicating who wrote that line for donald trump because its impossible that he would actually know word for word segregationist language used in 1967 and 1968. It sounds like a Steven Miller research progreject possibly buo we know where the phrase came from . Lets remember donald trump sent that tweet in the middle of when the nation was reeling from protests, in the middle of the night almost where he was leaning in on his political instincts and thinking about the idea that he uses bombastic language and someone who wants to be seen as macho and in charge. What joy said, what the chief critics of President Trump say hes not someone that can be a calmer in chief and be an epithet tie empathetic person and say after condition americans are fed up with the way they are being treated by police but well get through this and figure this out. The president didnt do that. Instead, he leaned in on the idea he himself has taken the side of the police when they are unjustified thinking about this idea he is joked about people not protecting the heads of people when they were being taken into police custody. Hes criticized black lives matter and joe biden says look, i can be the president maybe ill misspeak and say things to make people cringe but at the end of the day, who i will be is will be somebody who can lead this country and be empathetic. Thats what people of vice presidency in him. What i will say, as we think about where we go, we have to think for eight minutes and 46 seconds, a white officer kneeled on the neck of george floyd and for two minutes and 53 seconds of that, george floyd was unconscious. Thats why people are still in the streets. Thats why americans cant sleep tonight. That the why people are needing a voice thats going to be empathetic and have credibility and thats i think why President Trump is having a real hard time doing that because his own issues and background as a birther is complicating his ability to have credibility on this issue. When the trump team watches joe biden in that interview on msnbc today with craig melvin and other statements hes made on this situation like this, do they understand that what theyre watching there is president ial and that that is not what theyre getting out of donald trump . I mean, i think the Trump Campaign and supporters of the president would say the president has his own style and there are people that like his style and people that like him being aggressive and think hes not politically correct when the looting starts, the shooting starts but i think the Trump Campaign realizes in joe biden they have affordable opponent and have someone that will give them a run for their money in pennsylvania, ohio, arizona, georgia. Thats why you see the president and his allies doing polling, trying to figure outweighs to talk about the fact they think mail in voting is a fraud and thats a baseless game. They are getting ready for november because they know this willing a dog fight and joe biden has not left his home that often in the last few months, they understand in their campaign, they are feeling confident in the idea they cannot only win back states but red states. Thats what people on joe bidens campaign are saying. They look what hes doing. They say if the boss gets something wrong, he still is doing what he needs to be doing to win this election. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. Joy reed is going to stay with us and join us later in the show. We have a quick programming announcement for next week, for this week, actually, this thursday night 10 00 p. M. Special guest for the hour will be former Vice President joe biden. You can send in your questions for this town hall that joe biden will have here. We want your participation in the questioning and we will have information for you about how to participate in the questions. You can see it there on the screen. Submit your questions to ms nbc. Com town hall. Well be right back after a quick break. Thats thursday night 10 00 p. M. Thats thursday night 10 00 p. M. Quick break. Thats thursday night 10 00 p. M. Quick break. Thats thursday night 10 00 p. M. Were also offering flexible Payment Options for those whove been financially affected by the crisis. 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So ridiculous. With paycom, employees enter and manage their own data in a single, easy to use software. Visit paycom. Com, and schedule your demo today. Joining us with the latest from the streets of minneapolis is morgan chesky. Morgan, whats the situation there now . Reporter lawrence, were going into a friday night unlike any weve seen before. We hope it not a carbon copy of the past two nights with so much destruction in the tenblock square area but yet to be seen. Were just around the corner from the third precinct Police Station that was taken over last night by protesters and we would have been right in front of it however five minute ace ccs ago a bufferer between us and the building because people were running out saying they lit a fire in the interior. Others walking out with anything from lysol wipes to legar books taking sae ing souvenirs. The group has yet to return to the area. They marched athlete a mile from where im standing towards another part of the city after tear gas was deployed on them. In the meantime here were sure rounded by burned buildings. It has become a free for all, lawrence. We have been waiting to see for any sign of Minneapolis Police or the National Guard or those state Police Officers who created such a firm perimeter earlier today by wearing the riot gear and staying put for hours on end. They are nowhere to be found at this point in time and so while were waiting to see what response will come from this continued looting in this area, we are wondering and just what will happen on this fourth night since the death of george floyd. We do know that the arrest of that Police Officer was a bit of a relief for the crowds that we spoke to today but they say thats basically a first step and they say there is still much more to come. Some saying that that third degree murder charge that was levelled against him is nothing but a slap on the rest. So tensions are still very high here, lawrence and as we look around, were not seeing the crowds weve seen in nights past but that could certainly be changing. One, with the return of the mass of people that left this area and two, with no sign of Law Enforcement now basically repeating what we saw last night. Lawrence . Morgan chesky, thank you for that report. Appreciate it. After the destruction in minneapolis last night, the governor of minnesota today said this. We cannot have the looting and the recklessness that went on. We cannot have it because we cant function as a society and i refuse to have it take away the attention of the stain that we need to be working on is what happened with those fundamental institutional racism that allows a man to be held down in broad daylight and thank god a young person had a camera to video it because theres not a person here or listening today that wonders how many times that camera is not there. Derek chauvin was arrested today because a 17yearold girl in minneapolis did the right thing. And only because she did the right thing four minneapolis Police Officers have now been fired and one has been charged with murder. The other three Police Officers are awaiting the decision of state and federal prosecutors about what happens next to them as minneapolis sees its fourth day and night of protests. Tonight, those four Police Officers were not fired because of what they did on the street. They were fired because of what 17yearold Darnella Frazier did. She pressed record on her phone and stood there and held her ground for ten minutes videoing the police knee on George Floyds neck that appears to kill him right there on the video that she recorded. Without that video recording, that Darnella Frazier made, nothing would be happening to those Police Officers. Nothing. No one would be charged with a crime. No one would be fired because no one in Law Enforcement would have believed the hand full of witnesses on the scene without nonstop video recording of those ten minutes to prove what happened. Minneapolis Police Department actually took the Police Officers word for what happened at first and the Minneapolis Police department put out a first statement declaring as a fact, not as a claim made by the arresting officers, but as a proven fact that george floyd quote physically resisted officers. The resisting arrest story always works inside every Police Department in america, always. Unless there is video. Ive been reporting on and writing about police use of d d deadly force since the 1980s and the resisting arrest story has always worked until video came along to tell a different story. Here is officer Derek Chauvin with his deadly knee on George Floyds neck. This comes from darnell Darnella Fraziers video. Hes looking directly at her and seconds after that he threatened her and witnesses with mace but Darnella Frazier held her ground and focus. Shes been on this earth for only 17 years but that was enough time for her to learn how to do the right thing under pressure, under police pressure. Every minute that this brave 17yearold girl was doing the right thing, every Police Officer on the scene was doing the wrong thing. Every one of them. Each Police Officer there was in a position to save George Floyds life to get derek Derek Chauvins knee off his neck and not one of the Police Officers found what it takes to do what a 17yearold darnel Darnell Frazier did, the right thing. We have the ten minutes of video that is clearly the decisive evidence in the prosecutors murder case. It is from that video and that video alone that the prosecutions first filing in the case is able to say quote the defendant had his knee on mr. Floyds neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds in total, two minutes and 53 seconds of this was after mr. Floyd was nonresponsive. The only way the prosecutors know that is from darnell Darnella Fraziers recording. We have repeatedly shown you ten seconds of the video where george floyd says i cant breathe, please. The knee in my neck, i cant breathe. We have shown you seconds of the video in which george floyd calls out to his mother who died 18 months ago as his life slips away. Hes calling out to his mother on that video. There is much more disturbing evidence on the video that the murder jury will consider. George floyd repeatedly says i cant breathe. I cannot breathe. He says it until he can no longer speak. And about six minutes of that video shows george floyd lying absolutely motionless, speechless and for some of that time perhaps dead. The medical examiner will try to determine exact time of death but we already know that george floyd did not have a pulse when a medical technician first arrived on the scene and when that knee first came off his neck. During the excruciating six minutes where george floyd is lifeless the witnesses at the scene increasingly protest directly to the Police Officers. We hear people saying hes not even resisting arrest. How long are you going to hold him down . And then we hear the authoritative voice of one very persistent witness, Donald Williams who while trying to stay calm and get through to the Police Officers repeatedly says i trained at the academy. He says i trained at the academy, youre stopping his breathing. Hes not responsive. Check his pulse. In increasing frustration at what hes seeing, we hear one witness say directly to dere Derek Chauvin, youre enjoying it. Every thing that the witnesses said to the police was correct. Every thing they said was more reasonable than what the police were doing. The witnesses, the protesters of that Police Conduct as it was happening were the responsible citizens in that scene and the police were the exakpakexact op. Towards end of the video, we hear one of the Police Protesters saying he has not moved not one time and then we hear another say did they kill him . And then we hear another say. They just killed that man. Those witnesses on the scene of what the county prosecutor now calls a murder were the very first protesters of the Police Conduct in this case as it was happening. Every bit of their protest was true and honest and just and now that protest has grown in the aftermath to include many more people in minneapolis and other cities and all of those protesters all across the country are all protesting the murder that they were able to see only because a 17yearold girl did the right thing. This story is horrific. This story is a tragedy. Sometimes tragedies have heroes. And the full truth of this story did only be told thanks to the heroism of a 17yearold girl, Darnella Frazier. That is heroism. Joy reed and the reverend William Barber will join us next. End William Barber will join us next vo we could never do what they do. But what we can do, is be a partner that never quits. Verizon is the most Reliable Network in america and puts First Responders first. Giving their calls priority 24 7. We built it for interoperability. Because during an emergency, sharing critical information should never be limited by your choice of network. And were the numberone network for public safety. Which is much more than a statistic when youre talking about people who dedicate their lives to saving lives. For us, were in the reliability business. Like we always have been. 365 days a year. We do what we do best, so they can too. The calming scent of lavender by downy infusions calm. Laundry isnt done until its done with downy. Yoohoo, progressive shoppers. We laughed with you. Sprinkles are for winners. We surprised you. On occasion, weve probably even annoyed you. Weve done this all with one thing in mind. To help protect the things you love. And if we cant offer you the best price well help you find a better one. Its not always the lowest even if its not with us. Thats how weve done it for the past 80 years. Not just today, or this month, but always. The distinguished princeton professor eddie glaude reflected on the anger and frustration we have seen in minneapolis this week. I wonder what happens on the inside, in your bones when you have to deal with the ravages of a virus and hatred at the same time, when you have to deal with the trauma of loss, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, having to stand in line, long lines for food banks, trying to figure out how youre going to pay the rent, and then see images, to see images of a man dying right in front of you at the hands of the police or at the hands of white people who think they want to police us. The stress, the trauma, the terror of having to navigate this in a time of a pandemic, its unimaginable. Joining our discussion now is the reverend William Barber. Hes the president of the repairs of the breach and cochair of the poor peoples campaign. Joy reid is back with us. They are both hosting a special this sunday on msnbc american crisis poverty and the pandemic. And, reverend barber, i want to ask you about the point that professor glaude, and he begins with that question of how does it feel inside your bones when you have to deal with the ravages of a virus and hatred at the same time. Whats your reaction to that that that feeling that professor glaude has just raised . Well, thank you so much, lawrence. Thats one of the reasons joy and i are having this special because even before this pandemic and before this moment, people were hurting. 700 people were dying a day, a quarter Million People a year from poverty and low income. Were going to deal with the pain of systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy. Youre going to hear testimony from a lady named polly who even before this was talking about being forced to go to work without ppes in a nursing home made her feel like it was policybased murder. What we are seeing is what i call a code 666 dbr, death by racism. This racism is not just a spectacle that happens every now and again. Its systemic, whether its the knee of a policeman on the neck of a person that kills him in front of others or whether its the weight of the deadly policies that kill black people and brown people and people of color day in and day out. Thats what these screams are. Theyre gutteral. Even people who are saying were committed to nonviolence, but were no longer committed to nonaction. It would do america well to hear these screams and notice that the screams are so bad, its not just black folks screaming. Its white people in the street marching. Its brown people. Its gay people, its straight people. Its transgender because the pain of racism is so bad, its hurting everybody at a gut level. But those who it is inflicted upon the worse, black people, theyre saying we just cannot stand this anymore. And in fact, were screaming because we tried everything else, and we need to continue to scream because it is killing us. Its killing us. Its killing us. And its killing the soul of this country. Joy reid, on monday many of us were experiencing for the first time in our lives that a deadly killer could get us at any time, without any hint, sneak up on us and get us, this coronavirus. And it turns out that it didnt matter. It didnt matter at all what george floyd was doing to save himself from the coronavirus because on monday, a knee was going to get him. And thats the way it was going to end for him. Yeah, and it didnt matter that Breonna Taylor was trying to save other people from covid as an emt. You know, the challenge, and i think bishop barber has explained it well, is black people were already dying disproportionately from poverty, from want, from violence by police. This was already happening. And by the way, white people were already dying in huge numbers that are not usually acknowledged from poverty, from want, rural poverty in White America is as vehement as in black america. But you think about the fact that, you know, we talked to theres a package we have in this special where members of the united food workers cant get enough protection to make sure that they dont get sick and die serving up the things that Donald Trumps favorite protesters are screaming for. Go in there, get in that factory and get me my steaks. Well, okay, they have to risk their lives for that. And the union that is there to protect them cant protect them and keep them alive and make sure that they have enough ppe. But the police union in this country is the only union left with significant power, with almost impenetrable power, so that four Police Officers can participate in the killing of a human being and only one of them ends up being charged for quite a long time. Neither of them even get arrested. They can go out and stare those officers stared right into the eyes of a 17yearold child and had no fear. Thats the difference between the kinds of unions that represent poor folks and the kind of unions that represent police. Joy reid, thank you for that. The special this sunday is american crisis poverty and the pandemic with joy reid and the reverend barber. Thank you both very much for joining our discussion tonight. We really appreciate it. Well be watching it. Were going to cal perry in louisville with the latest from louisville. Cal . Reporter hey, lawrence, theres just been a break out here. Police have lost this ground, and i can show you. This is downtown louisville in the middle of the street. People have taken out trash cans, other debris, and have lit it on fire. As i said, police are trying to circle the area. Lawrence, im going to toss it back to you. All right. Cal perry is going to have to get into another position. As we close our coverage tonight, we have been covering as much as we can of the protests around the country. Most of the protesting by most of the protesters has not been violent in any way, has not involved lighting fires of any kind in trash cans or buildings. There have been thousands upon thousands, tens of thousands of protesters on the streets around this country protesting peacefully, protesting what they saw on that ten minutes of video recorded by Darnella Frazier when she held her ground in the face of the misconduct and the crime that she knew she was witnessing that the Minneapolis Police were committing when they took the action that has now, today, officially been called murder by the county prosecutor in minneapolis. These protests will continue. Our coverage of these protests, our coverage of this story as it continues to develop, our coverage of the prosecution of this case as it continues to develop will continue. That is tonights last word. The 11th hour with Brian Williams is next. And good evening once again. Day 1,226 of the trump administration. 158 days now until the president ial election. Tonight minneapolis is under curfew until 6 00 a. M. Central time on saturday, but the protesters who have been on the streets for the past several hours, for that matter the past several nights, remain there. All of it stemming from the death of george floyd. Today the now former Police Officer who kneeled on mr. Floyds neck has been charged in mr. Floyds death, but the anger, the outrage have not gone away. We want to start things off by going to ali velshi, who is still with us from the streets of minneapolis. Ali, a couple of things. I know you have changed positions. Tell us the reason for that and confirm for us these reports weve been hearing that