Years. The city of minneapolis and the entire country is on edge, depending on the result. President biden finally weighing in earlier today, calling the evidence in the case overwhelming, strongly suggesting that hes hoping for a guilty verdict, but calling for calm, no matter the outcome. Here were his remarks on the case and on the grief that the floyd family is still enduring. Ive come to know George Floyds family, and so i can only imagine the pressure and anxiety theyre feeling. Theyre a good family. Theyre calling for peace and tranquility, no matter what that verdict is. Im praying the verdict is the right verdict, which i think is overwhelming in my view. I wouldnt say that unless the jury was sequestered now, not hearing me say that. The Biden Administration already has been gearing up for any response when the verdict comes down. That preparation includes reaching out to National Guards, minneapolis officials and civil Rights Groups on the ground and all across the country. The white house has also made a plan for the president to address the nation as soon as the verdict is known. That is where we start today. We have with us for our rolling coverage, Shaquille Brewster in minneapolis, as usual. Also with us former prosecutor and former senator Claire Mccaskill. Claire let me start with you. Ive been glad to your twitter feed. As a former prosecutor, is there anything reliability to be read into the timing of these jury deliberations . Well, i think the one thing we can state with some certainty is they were unanimous fairly quickly. Typically what takes a long time in jury deliberations is when you are some contrarians against what the majority of the jury thinking is the right thing to do. So much, nicolle, having tried many murder cases myself and having been on a jury myself, so much revolves around the foreman or forewoman and how strong their leadership is to organize the jury and to go through the three counts they had to decide on. Murder 2, which is felony murder, that Derek Chauvin caused the death of george floyd by committing assault, the felony crime of assault, our murder 3, which is basically recklessness, a deparagraphity of mind, he didnt care whether his actions would kill them, and finally manslaughter, which is negligence gens causing the death. Thats where i think the jury had to spend their time, whether the facts supported either murder 2, murder 3, or manslaughter. If you had a wellorganized foreperson you could move through those fairly quickly, especially if theres a great deal of agreement, whether it was guilty or not guilty. I do think i would be much more nervous right now if i were the defense than i would be if i were the prosecution. Claires theory, shaq, feeds into the fireworks we witnessed yesterday, but i wonder if we could take us into your shoes and tell us what it was like when this word came down when a verdict had been reached and with what your understanding is about how they got to that judgment so quickly. Reporter well, nicolle, we really just dont know. We dont have many details on how the jury came to this decision. All we were told by the court is when jury deliberations were set to begin, and we knew when a verdict was going to be announced. Those are the notifications we received. Of course, we were in a state of standby throughout the day. I believe the total was about 11 hours of total deliberations. But i will tell you, all throughout the day, something you noticed different compared to what we saw during the testimony, even during the jury selection period, you saw a presence downtown. Its something that grew throughout the day, even before we got word of a verdict being announced. I dont know if you saw an interview i did with a young woman named ashley, who said he was coming down to show support for george floyd, to get a sense of what was going on. Thats how she found out that a verdict had been reached and a vertebra will be announced later today. Its a sense that everybody has been waiting and watching for this. Through the entire area, of the 3,000 National Guard troops that have will be been stationed for much of the week across the city. You have a situation where many private businesses are boarded up all through the downtown area. Its not like that everywhere you go, but definitely in the downtown around around the courthouse, you have an intense feeling, with the physical barriers as well as the emotional barriers. The Minnesota Public School system is going to be virtual for the rest of the week. That was announced earlier today. I believe though came in last night when they learned that students would be learning virtually. So people have been on edge, not only here in minneapolis, but obviously across the country. We were obviously waiting for that notification. Once we got it, it was posted to the courts website, we were getting ready. Were just waiting and getting ready to see what happens once that court comes back into session in about 20 minutes or so, nicolle. Claire, it is imminent, we have learned and report that Derek Chauvin and his attorney, mr. Eric nelson have returned to the courthouse to hear the verdict. The white house made clear today that all of that sort of National Guard presence that shaq is describing was something they put in place to protect everybody to deal with any outcome, but also they plan for the president to address the nation as soon as a verdict is known. Its such a different, i guess, tone is the most gentle way to put it from the white house at this point, isnt it . Yeah. Of course, once again, joe biden shows his empathy when he had a moment to speak about the case, he talked about George Floyds family, about his daughter and how beautiful she is, his brothers, and, you know, in way that everybody in america can relate to. Thats what joe biden is very good at, making sure that he expresses to america what all of us feel about our families, and that this is for that family a particularly stressful time, but also stressing that that family wants peace, doesnt want violence. The only thing that is a little unusual here, between this and other trials, and this speaks to the preparation, is how long theyre taking between the time the jury was reached and when the verdict when the verdict was reached and when the vertebra is going to be published. Typically everyone is very close to the courthouse, and you are, if you are a prosecutor, youre a couple floors away. If youre a defense lawyer, youre nearby in a room waiting with your client, and you go immediately into the room and its published fairly quickly. I am surmising that theyre taking the time to prepare so they can get the jury out of the courthouse quickly and cleanly and with some anonymity. I know the judge will feel very protective of these jurors, that they not be bothered by the media or by anyone who has passion about this case. Hes really going to want to wrap them in a cloak of anonymity and get them out of there, so they have the right to remain anonymous and not be chased to their homes or chased with a microphone. Shaq, do you want to weigh in on that . Do you have any reporting on what claire describes as an extraordinary amount of time between all of es you learning that a reporter it was certainly signaled. We did not know it for sure. There wasnt a timeline, but it was certainly signaled we would get a headsup, there is an hour or so headsup. Many of those reasons are logistical. This is a trial for the first time in States History you can watch. Its livestreamed, but broadcast, so there had to be maneuvering. We knew the pool reporters would get a headsup if the jury came back with a question, for example. We knew if they even came back for a question, the jury would not appear in the actual courtroom. They were going to appear via zoom while the attorneys and judge would appear in the courtroom. Can you blame coronavirus, the highprofile nature of the case, but for many reasons we did have an idea we would get a bit of a headsup. You can see it a bit of some of the buildings in the downtown area getting notification, along with the court, that if they were planning to shut down, this is the time for them to shut down. I mentioned the boardedup buildings in the downtown area, many of them have wood planks that are separated from the actual Glass Structures that they can close in like a barn door fashion. Youve gotten the idea the city was calling operation safety net, a coordinate between local and state Law Enforcement, even between private industries, that level of communication. I think is it makes sense theres some gap in between when there was a notification of a verdict and when that verdict is being announced, because it gives a lot of people time to essentially prepare for whatever the reaction to that verdict will be. It is 4 11 3 11 in minneapolis. We expect a verdict 3 30 in the time zone where its happening. No one is going anywhere. Were all going to be here together through all of this, but i want to add former u. S. Attorney joyce vance. We were close enough here im not going to ask you to speculate about the speed with which the jury reached a conclusion, but i do want to come back to the Closing Arguments. The state set to ask they essentially pleaded with the jurors to believe their eyes, believe what they saw take place for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, to believe all of the testimony over three weeks of all the things that george floyd may have done or not done, but the single variable being Derek Chauvins knee on his neck. Just looking at the way they closed, what is your sense of the Lasting Impressions that the jurors may have gone into deliberation with. It was important about the argument trust your eyes, trust what you saw was made in the context of what caused george floyd ace death. The prosecution said you dont have to listen to the defense. For one thing they got the law wrong. For another thing theyre try to go give you a bench of other crazy causes. They put up that wonderful graphic that show the how many days george floyd had been alive for, and said the defense is asking to to speculation on this one one tiny dot, suddenly the underlying conditions happened to kill him at the same time that it was under Derek Chauvins knee. The prosecution did a one of i dont feel of talking about the evidence and helping the jury view the evidence in a way this jury could have found, repositive any reasonable doubt in their minds about the cause of George Floyds death. Crystal balls a jury verdict is a dangerous business, but this was a quick vertebra, and it indicates that this jury found it easy to come together on the charges against Derek Chauvin. Do juries look at the three charges and ever have a tendency to maybe settle on the middle ground . Or do you think the evidence is determinative of what conclusion they reached . Judge construct juries to but juniors are human beings so what youll sometime here is a jury thats deadlocked will end up compromising in order to reach a verdict, but for many juries, i would say mo foust of the juries ive been able to talk with after a trial is over, they look at the evidence, and they reached a verdict on each of the charges based solely on that evidence and the law. Snow one is going anywhere, but i want to add to our conversation nbc correspondent megan fitzgerald. Shes in minneapolis for us. She spoke with the floyd family last night. Megan, what is the latest from your perch . Reporter in speaking with the family, you know, theres a real sense of anxiety with the family and wanting the process to be over. Theyve been in the courtroom watching every single moment, so i asked what do you think this is going to be . They said theyre very hopeful hell be found guilty on all three charges, and also encouraged by the protests they saw last night, excited to see it was peaceful, hoping it will continue to be peaceful, but this is a deeply personal trial for the entire country. We see that playing out, speaking to many protesters who have cup here from all across country says it was important to go here, and of course they took to the streets shortly after the jury started deliberation, nicolle. Meagan, i remember so Crystal Clear in the early days after george floyd was killed, the family being on the street calling for people to be involved in the political process. The family has been consistent in calling for peaceful protest. I wonder if you can speak a bit to, are they aware of how they spoke with President Biden today, but is it something theyre eager to talk about or just aware of this tinker box the country is in. Reporter i think its both. They understand what is on the line here. I had this conversation yesterday with philonise, he said this is about the country. If theres not a guilty verdict here, that sends a message that black lives dont seem to matter, because he said his brother was executed on the street for all to see so they are praying, they said, leaning on prayer but understanding the pain and anger thats out there, but calling on everything to be peaceful. He doesnt want his brothers name to be tarnished by violence. So again on pins and needles for sure, as we await that vertebra. Verdict. I want to add to our conversation chief Legal Correspondent and host of the beat my friend and colleague ari melber. What would we be feeling moments away . What does it say to you that they came to this after 11 hours of deliberation . A great question. A similar to some degree case a officer mohammed nour, they went 11 hours and reached a conviction. When you look at other cases in other states, Jason Van Dyke was convicted in illinois, the deliberation ran about 7 1 2 hours. When you think of other examples where the jury cannot come to a resolution that usually does take longer. The only a recent mistrial michael slager, it took 22 hours. So we know when a jury meets for this long, over the course of a couple days here that they have apparently resolved to the best of their ability what they think happened. My observation to that would be fairly straight forward they would have had appeared to have gone through the three charges and reached a verdict. Ari, i think the Closing Arguments went on longer than expected, the prosecution really coming back to almost a human appeal to believe what you see and heard from the bystanders, closing on that line that derek championships or that george floyd didnt die because his hard was too big, but Derek Chauvins heart was too small. I guess the result will bear out whether that was effective, but what did you make of the Closing Argument . I thought it was incredibly powerful. Whether its policing or a doctor, or someone in the mull tear, is that we have seen juries feel some deference, even some intimidation by the idea, well, they know better or they do something technical. I thought the prosecution was able to make it human today, and you can trust yourself, trust your eyes, trust your mind, what did you see happen . Did it look like reasonable force or Excessive Force . Did it look like something that kept people safe . Or something that itself caused danger . So i thought that was very strong in the closing. What we heard from the defense was again trying to poke out and make it sound more like a complex inquiry than the prosecution. Stack all these Different Things to get them to think, gosh, how were all awaiting this verdict and will do it responsibly and follow the law, follow the evidence, hear what the court through this jury decided, is we are a long ways from that initial incident when mr. Floyd was killed on camera, when the world, america and the world react to it we are a long ways from last summer. I now you are responsible for anchoring hours after this, but i hope you can stay and be a part of this coverage for us, if that works for you, my friend. Of course. Of course. I want to add to our conversation rnc chairman and msnbc political analyst michael steele. Ari, of course, is correct, about where we are, a Police Officers on trial, with the blue wall crumbling, officials testifying forcefully against him. And but, how far are we, if while Derek Chauvin was on trial more black men were killed at the hands of police . It tells you that while we have the opportunity to witness what we did on video, that even in that circumstance, it may not net be enough because in the past justice has taken a peek and seen a man or woman in a blue uniform and the skate suddenly has a different weight to it so this is a crucible moment i think in many respects, nicolle, for not just george floyd in the adjudication of his case, but what it says about cases Going Forward. The fact that you did have Police Officers confirming that the process, the policy and the accesses of officers chauvin were not a lie, that he was not going to be afforded the protection that that blue wall, that blue shield has provided in the past was a significant breaking point, i think. Well see how the jury weighs that breaking point. The next test is how do we weigh it as we go forward to try to piece together policies that accurately and i think respectfully reflects the desire of africanamericans in this country to be able to have the Police Protect and serve and not have to look over their shoulders that this may wind up in a very, you know, bad situation. Theres a lot riding here. You cant lose sight of the fact what this decision may mean Going Forward. I need you to say more, michael steele, i will threw more of todays news in it. Very different president than we had when george floyd was killed the president today, President Biden describing the evidence as overwhelming. He plans to address the nation as soon as a vertebra is known. We will take that live, of course. What is th