Transcripts For MSNBCW MTP Daily 20200529 : vimarsana.com

Right now you are looking at live pictures of the current scene in minneapolis, minnesota as a city, a state, and a nation brace for potentially another night of potential unrest following last nights awful, destructive events. Weve just learned that the city has imposed a curfew slated to begin in a few hours. Of course, this is all unfolding in response to the death of george floyd by a Police Officer who this afternoon was charged with murder and manslaughter. Welcome to friday. It is meet the press daily i am chuck todd continuing msnbcs breaking news coverage. In just a moment well be speaking with the former Vice President and apparent democratic nominee joe biden who faces an ugly and Bitter Campaign as a divided country is consumed by a once in a lifetime collision of social, political, economic and Public Health crises at once. State and local officials in minnesota are pleading with demonstrators for a safe and peaceful scene tonight after the devastation and destruction of last night. When a Minneapolis Police precinct was evacuated and then set ablaze, alongside other stores and facilities in the twin cities. But this is not just a minnesota story of unrest and unease. In louisville, kentucky seven people were shot during protests over a separate incident involving a Deadly Police shooting of a person of color. And all across the country right now tensions are running high. These are a few of the images from other demonstrations last night. Already weve seen a number of people start to gather for protests today and tonight. Perhaps the most pressing question right now is this. Will the events of today calm the tensions if only temporarily . This afternoon county prosecutors announced Derek Chauvin the officer whose actions were captured in this extremely hard to watch video was charged with thirddegree murder and manslaughter. The local county prosecutor told reporters today the other officers involved in the incident would likely face charges as well. Moments before that, the governor of minnesota had this urgent plea amid all the turmoil. Im asking you to help us use humane ways to get the streets to a place where we can restore the justice so those that are expressing rage and anger and demanding justice are heard not those who throw fire bombs into businesses. We cannot have the looting and 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. None of us can tackle these problems if anarchy reigns on the street. I want to be clear. There is philosophically an argument to be made an armed presence on the ground in the midst of where we just had a Police Killing is seen as a catalyst. My point to that is we dont need a catalyst. It is already burning. There will be no lack of leadership and there will be no lack of response on the table. A racial wound has been ripped open in this country or frankly some people would say the wound is always there. We just got the camera on it again. All of this is amid the already consuming chaos of the pandemic. The elephant in the room, i havent mentioned yet, is of course a president whose impulses at times is to not find glue to bring the country together but to fan some of these flames. Our msnbc news team is spread out all over the country with the latest. Joining me now ali velshi on the ground in minneapolis. We have more on the charges against the next officer with pete williams. Hans nichols is at the white house where the president just addressed George Floyds death. We have reporters in houston and manhattan where protests are getting ready. Ali velshi, let me start in minneapolis. Its been a couple hours since Derek Chauvin was charged with murder. What do you see . We are getting closer as the afternoon bleeds into evening there. Are you starting to see protesters gear up . Reporter yeah. Youre starting to see behind us a gathering here. Were three blocks from the Third Precinct Police station which is over that way and there is still a fire burning between us and them but as you can see it is a very Strong Police presence here and National Guard. State police and National Guard. Weve also got the jersey barriers that have been put in. Theyve pushed the perimeter back by several blocks from the center of gravity over the last couple of nights. Most importantly is what you mentioned and that is that the mayor has announced a curfew going into place from 8 00 p. M. Local times, 9 00 p. M. Eastern until 6 00 a. M. Local time, tonight, tomorrow night, and on monday morning. Now, that is important because these protests have developed as the sun has gone down as it has become light. Through the course of the day weve seen more and more people showing up here so now what happens . There is some speculation. Will people go to st. Paul . A lot of people are talking about going to the capitol and insisting the other officers get charged. St. Paul has not imposed a curfew as of now. Are people going to challenge this curfew . Are police going to remove people . I saw on social media we havent been able to confirm the curfew does not exclude journalists either so anybody is recording interactions between the police and the military or the National Guard and protesters might be liable to be arrested. Were trying to figure out all of that. But the bottom line is last night in this particular area there was no police control. There was no firefighters. There was nothing. There were no National Guard. Now we the police have taken back the Third Precinct Police station over there. They have created this perimeter. We are waiting to see over the course of the next three or four hours what happens. This is the situation as we have it in south minneapolis. Ali velshi on the ground for us there. Thanks very much. Pete williams, youve now read the criminal complaint. The county attorney there mike freeman announcing the charges admittedly doing it before they had actually released the complaint and he indicated they were still actually drawing it up. They went for thirddegree murder and manslaughter. It was kind of abrupt 24 hours considering the same county attorney yesterday indicated that this was that there was some excull pa tri evidence or at least contradictory evidence and now here they are. Youve read this complaint. Is it air tight . It is very short of course and only a starting point. There can be follow on charges. This is the one that got him into custody and they were eager to file. Youre right. Two counts. The more serious one with a 25year maximum is the one that you see under count one, thirddegree murder, somewhat unusual statute. Many states dont have thirddegree murder. This is an unintentional killing with a depraved state of mind and lack of concern for a persons safety. The second charge is manslaughter. Many states have that. That is an unintentional killing either by carelessness or negligence. It has a tenyear maximum. In essence, you could think of the thirddegree murder charge as manslaughter plus the depraved state of mind count. Or element. So by bringing both these charges, the prosecutors have given themselves a fallback. If they cant prove the thirddegree murder charge, then they can go for the manslaughter charge so theyve given themselves a little insurance. But what it basically says here is that the officer had his knee on George Floyds neck for almost nine minutes, for 8 46 total and almost three minutes of that, 2 53, floyd was unresponsive. According to one of the officers, the criminal complaint says one of the officers said to chauvin, you want to roll him on his side and, obviously, that is not something they did at the time. When the medical authorities arrived, the emts arrived that is when the officer removed his knee from the neck. So the interesting one of the interesting lines in this charge, though, is this. It says, police are trained that this type of restraint with the subject in a prone position, meaning lying on their stomach with their hands behind their back, is inherently dangerous. And this has been the cause of a number of prosecutions and lawsuits around the country over the past several years. Its very often the case that when someone is arrested they are put face down and handcuffed but the training is as soon as that happens roll them on their side. Get them to sit up or stand up because of the problem with breathing and obviously that is not what was done here. And the state put that in the criminal charge. Pete, two quick things. One, what charges would the other officers be facing . Do you have a sense of what that is in state law there . And, two, the federal government i saw that bill barr put out a statement they are looking into seeing if mr. Floyds civil rights were violated to the point where the federal government can bring charges there. Do we know anything more beyond mr. Barrs statement . Sure. Briefly im not quite sure what the statutes are in minnesota that the officers would be charged with failing to step forward and stop what was obviously a bad situation. That would be the key to it. In terms of the federal thing, there are two ways to think about the federal presence and involvement here. One is the fbi is also investigating its other eyes and ears, a force mullet plier for the investigation that could add to these charges against this officer or against the others but secondly the federal government will look at bringing federal civil rights charges. Chuck, think back. Think to michael brown. Think to trayvon martin. Think to michael garner, amadou diallo, shawn bell. Many times when the federal government has looked at these cases and brought charges and cannot get a conviction because it is so hard to win a conviction on these very limited federal statutes that say you have to prove that the officer did something, used excessive force, and knew it was wrong and kept doing it anyway. It is that state of mind element that is so hard to prove. So the government may ultimately bring charges here, but the plan was always for the state to go first because they have so many more criminal statutes at their disposal. Pete williams. Thank you, sir. Much appreciated. Let me go over to the white house. Hans nichols is on the beat there for us. And hans, the president after deciding when tv cameras were rolling not to take any questions likely would have been about minneapolis a couple of hours ago has since addressed the issue in minnesota and what can you tell us about it . What did he say . Well, the president topped off his remarks in the east room with the situationn< he said that he has spoken with the family of george floyd. He called them terrific people and he said that they are entitled to justice. He also said that the people of minnesota, the people of minneapolis are entitled to their safety. He suggested there would be some sort of federal role in this at the same time also hinting that this really should be a local control issue. Part of his overall federalism approach. He mentioned the top. There may be an opportunity for the press to ask some questions, why he did it now not earlier. The earlier event the president went out and announced new actions on china for their role with hong kong and also announced that funding to the w. H. O. Would be cut off but if the president i see him there and i dont know if he is continuing to read his prepared remarks or if he is taking questions from the press. But many questions still need to be asked. Chuck . Hans, very quickly on the w. H. O. Decision, a lot of the money that the United States sends to the w. H. O. Is passed through to help, for instance, i believe the program in africa is funded, some of it is funded this way. What, you know, where is this money going if not the w. H. O. . Reporter when the whole process started the first thing officials looked at is if you could do an end run around the w. H. O. And give it directly to some of these organizations. That is what the president says he is going to do but, chuck, there is a reason why you have global clearinghouses like the w. H. O. Because they know where the need is. They know how to distribute it. They have relationships. Theyre trying to do an end round around them. They are claiming the dollar amount is going to stay the same but it is awfully difficult to go entirely around the w. H. O. And try o build this from scratch especially in the middle of a global pandemic. Chuck . Thats the head scratcher there. Why do this in the middle of a global pandemic. Save the fight for when things are done. Anyway, hans nichols, thank you, sir. Let me move down to houston. Priscilla thompson is in houston. Ron allen is in new york. I want to get to both of you. Priscilla, it looks like there have been some protests there. What are you seeing . Is it so far peaceful . Chuck, so far peaceful. This rally began a few hours ago. Started off at a park and then folks moved to city hall. Then people began to peel off. They said they wanted to come up to this i45 and actually stop traffic here and so police had to come up with their horses and also on foot to sort of prevent people from getting on to the highway and blocking that. So weve seen a lot of folks yelling at the police, particularly the officers of color here sort of asking them why theyre here, why theyre doing this. I also want to point out that folks have also now moved to cut off traffic down below the interstate, below the bridge, and so there is a line of police down there also trying to prevent, trying to contain folks from moving too far. But i will say that i spoke to the organizers here. And a lot of them said that, you know, george floyd was from houston. He grew up here. Only moved to minnesota a few years ago. And so he is in the fabric of this community and people do feel very strongly and very passionately about this. And, also, that this incident goes beyond just him but also all of the, you know, the issues in terms of Police Violence that weve seen over the years. Folks here have really emphasized they just want to hold Law Enforcement and elected officials accountable for ensuring there is justice in this case. I did speak to folks about the fact that the officer has been arrested and charged and many of the folks i spoke to here told me that charges are not enough. They were actually chanting that. Charges arent enough. They want to see a conviction and they want to see some real justice in this case is what folks are telling me, chuck. Right. Priscilla thompson in houston, thank you. Ron allen, what are we seeing in new york . I know right now at foley square, how big is it getting . Reporter this is the second big day of protests, chuck. This is bigger than yesterday, and it is growing. We think about the peak of it and it is years of grievance. It is obviously in support of george floyd, the demand for justice in minneapolis but i cant breathe of course is here, new york city, eric garner. Next month will mark six years since 2014 when that incident happened. He died on the streets of Staten Island being arrested for selling loose cigarettes. To this day there has not been a criminal charge filed in that case. His mother was here today speaking to the crowd. She has been in touch with the family out in minneapolis urging them and supporting them because obviously that is the way that case seemed to be developing when there were no charges filed. Here the officer was fired recently from his job but it took five years for that to happen. There is still a lot of anger and frustration about how that has all happened. So here the crowd is moving back and forth between the federal courthouse to the state courthouse. The District Attorneys office. They have been chanting black lives matter. We cant breathe. I cant breathe. Hands up. Dont shoot. It has been every rallying cry thats been heard across the country for the past five, ten years or so in support of black lives. So, again, a huge nypd presence out here. They knew this rally was happening. It had been planned for sometime. They are out here in force trying to herd the crowd, trying to keep the crowd contained. Right. Weve seen a number of people arrested at least though seven or eight that weve seen so far. There were 72 people arrested last night in the protests that went into the night. So here we are day two. And as you know, these things tend to get momentum of their own, they tend to get growing. Even though this is not minneapolis, we are far from there. It is the same story here as there as seemingly everywhere sometimes. Anyway, ron allen, priscilla thompson, ali velshi and pete williams. And hans nichols. Good luck, sir. Youve been a great colleague. Thank you. All right. By the way, you got to keep reporting. Youre not done yet. Youre not off duty yet. Thank you, brother. Coming up a live interview with former Vice President joe biden. His reaction to the latest developments in minnesota and how President Trump is responding. But first a little more from minnesota governor tim walsh on the challenges as we think about moving forward. The problem is for so many of us thinking that normal is where we want to go. Normal was not working for many communities. Normal was not working for george floyd precovid19. It certainly is not working now. Puberty means personal space. So sports clothes sit around growing odors. Thats why we graduated to tide pods sport. Finally something more powerful than the funk. Tide sport removes even weekold sweat odor. Its got to be tide. If you have a garden you know, weeds are low down little scoundrels. With roundup sure shot wand you dont need to stoop to their level. 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To keep customers and employees in the know. To keep business moving. Comcast business is prepared for times like these. Powered by the nations largest gigspeed network. To help give you the speed, reliability, and security you need. Tools to manage your business from any device, anywhere. And a team of experts here for you 24 7. Weve always believed in the power of working together. Thats why, when every connection counts. You can count on us. 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 there is not a person here or listening today that wonders how many times that camera is not there. These are tough questions. These are things that have been brewing in this country for 400 years. Welcome back. Joining me now msnbcs Joshua Johnson and keith maize a professor of africanamerican studies at the university of minnesota in the twin cities. Joshua and i talk a lot so, professor, ill start with you on this. Because tell me. I think big picture here, minneapolis is considered a very segregated city. At the same time there is a reputation of minnesota nice. This is a state that you normally associate with racial tension or at least that would have been the perception perhaps before the last few years with, now, between what weve seen here, and tell us what we should know about Race Relations in the state of minnesota over the last decades. Chuck, i think you captured it nicely. This part of the country has always been known as a progressive, liberal bastion of Democratic Politics the land of the Democrat Farm labor. It does have a reputation of being highly progressive but that was early to mid 20th century and still trying to live off a reputation it doesnt deserve anymore, chuck. This place has some of the worst disparities for black americans in this country and we are at the top of the list when it comes to educational disparities, health, income levels, home ownership, incarceration rates. You name it. It bliez everything that people say about this state. They always say this is one of the best places for people to come and live but they never add the caveat this is one of the best places for white people to come and live not black people. Joshua johnson, it was interesting listening to the governor there. The other thing i think you and i were talking about earlier, its been remarkable this time that a number of Police Chiefs have been so blunt in saying why hasnt that officer been arrested already . The rhetoric is changing. Even as policies arent. Should we view this as green shoots . I dont know. I mean the rhetoric has changed in terms of being more mindful of White Privilege for example of continuing to be, to be thoughtful about the way that certain people are able to kind of walk through Society Without some of the issues that people who look like me have to deal with. Part of it has to do with the way that the law works in terms of prosecuting Police Officers, which is not entirely a matter of law on paper but also in terms of case law. Part of it has to do with the way that situations like this are dealt with on the ground. Part of what we heard from the News Conference from the governor was from the National Guard. There was a big question about why wasnt the National Guard there . Why wasnt the state patrol there earlier when all of this started to pop off . The reason is that the National Guard was deployed to protect the State Capitol, the bureau of criminal apprehension which is a state agency, the Ramsey County Public Safety building. They werent tasked to do law and order work until after midnight. With all of these moving parts between what the law says and case law and prosecuting Law Enforcement officers and who was deployed where to do what at what time, there are all these moving parts none of which matter to the people on the ground who just want to see justice done. I think we are moving forward broadly speaking in terms of the awareness that we have of these kinds of matters, in terms of the urgency that prosecutors feel to push for charges more shrewedly. We heard from hen pin countys District Attorney this is the fastest he has ever seen a Police Officer charged. Some things are changing. Some things arent changing very fast and, clearly, some things havent changed at all. Professor mayes, im curious because it is interesting. A lot of folks have noted that on tuesday night there was a decision to sort of meet this with some violence, rubber bullets and things like that. There are some folks that have made the comparison to what Police Officers did not do with protesters in the Michigan State capital who happened to be white versus how protesters were treated here. You know, explain to those folks not of color why that disparity is something that i think some people dont quite understand. White protesters are always given the benefit of the doubt. You can show up at the State Capitol with ak47s and rifles and long guns and be respected as a white citizen of your state but if you are black and brown and show up in force, it is not tolerated. It is an affront to people. People are scared of black bodies in general without guns, without actually carrying firearms that they are licensed to carry. I think the protesters themselves because they are en masse, because they are part of a larger collective, and they are raising their voices and trying to speak a certain kind of truth to power, it scares white people. It really does. I think we have to get back to the days of understanding that the best of the black protest struggle, the black freedom struggle involved nonviolent direct action tactics. Even those tactics, chuck, scared people. It doesnt black people dont have to be throwing rocks and be looting and burning. Just the mere presence of their bodies as a show of force in the streets scares people. And there is a double standard. Joshua johnson, our reporter on the ground in houston. Priscilla thompson was reported that officers of color who were there to try to do some protection were being shouted at by the protesters. That is an extra level of conundrum of Police Officers of color this morning and on the beat all across the country today. Joshua . Did i lose you there . Professor mayes, let me direct the question to you. I think we lost the audio there with Joshua Johnson. Our reporter was noting how officers of color were getting shouted at by demonstrators down in houston. That is another level of discomfort for Police Officers of color who i think take pride in their work and believe they are there to do it right. At the same time ive talked with plenty of Police Officers of color who hurt over this, too. Yeah. I mean, officers of color represent state power in many ways. It doesnt matter that they are professionals of color. They represent a form of i will say many officers of color understand how to police black neighborhoods but many of them are operating within a political culture within a Police Culture that is tolerant of behavior that is about mistreating black and brown people in their communities. And so often they are either complicit in police, white Police Culture, or they could be in many ways professionals who are known to do it right. But i think that, unfortunately, it seems like few and far between and they may not just have the power and the voice to make change inside Police Departments across the country. Professor mayes, in your studies of this, and ive asked Police Chiefs and not gotten a direct answer and i think it may be that one isnt easy here. This issue in Law Enforcement, you think it is a vetting issue, a recruiting issue, a training issue . What do you think it is . I think its all three. I think that in many ways there are people who are actively looking to join Law Enforcement at Police Departments across the country because they are drunk and high on the power that they have. Especially when they Police Communities of color. I think it is a training issue. Were still waiting for all of this new training that was supposed to come about after the Philando Castillo murder. They kept saying the Police Departments here were going to be transformed. Were still waiting for the new training. I think a lot of times they Pay Lip Service to change and i think that it is all three, chuck. I think they need to vett who gets hired for these jobs, maybe a higher credential standard. I dont know. They seem like some of these people are the dregs of American Society who actually end up joining the police forces. I hate to say it. All right. Professor mayes, ill pause the conversation there. Joshua johnson, i want to pause it there. We have former Vice President joe biden standing by live from wilmington. I want to bring in my nbc news colleague craig melvin who has got this interview with the former Vice President. Craig, i hand the baton to you. Hey, chuck. Thank you so much. Chuck, stand by if you can. I think weve got the Vice President ready for us in wilmington. You do. I can hear you, craig. Thank you. Good evening to you. Thank you so much for your time, sir. Lets just start with the news of the day. Of course as you know, the officer who had his knee on George Floyds neck for almost nine minutes charged with thirddegree murder, charged with manslaughter, of floyds family, indicating that they would have preferred a firstdegree murder charge. Do you think that justice has been served . Well, it is not finished yet. Well see what happens. Look, im not going to make the fact that he was charged with murder and was charged with manslaughter as well as a minimum of what should have been done. Nine minutes on that mans neck when his face was up against the curb and being crushed is totally, totally inappropriate under any circumstances. And it is brutality. President trump indicated a short time ago that the administration at least had spoken with George Floyds family. I know that you have talked to the family as well. It was a private conversation. I dont want to put you in a tough spot to divulge the contents of the conversation. But can you characterize at least what you said to them, what they said to you . What i said to them was that i had just a little bit of sense of different losses, what a black hole they feel like theyre in. Like theyre being sucked within this great void within their chest, that they just felt lost, and i indicated to them that when they talked to me about george he seemed to be everybodys mentor in the family. His brothers, his cousins who were his peers, thought of him as a brother. The way everybody looked to him for leadership. Kind of decent man he was. That it has a profound impact on a whole family. But i was incredibly impressed with how how significantly they had focused on what was at stake. I was incredibly impressed at their depth of their sense of the impact on not just their family but the entire community. And they had they were worried about the violence in the streets as well. They were just a truly impressive family and we talked about loss and i urged them to do, at least help my family, not the same thing. My son was not murdered and my daughter and my wife were not murdered. They were killed in an accident by a tractortrailer. I am not suggesting that. But i am saying that i said the only thing that i know is that george will be part of their heart and their consciousness the rest of their lives. And the day will come when they think of george instead of crying theyll have a smile first. That is when they know theyll make it but stick with one another. Theyll get one another through. And they were very they were more grateful than they should have been. I was grateful they took the call from me. Because i wanted to let them know how much courage and grace and how unimaginably painful it is. I promised id do anything in my power to see justice was served for george. You know, we must. We have to do this. It is who we are as a country. We have to step up. We have to step up at this moment. I think the public is ready to. Mr. Vice president , over the past two months since this pandemic started we have more than 40 million americans unemployed, millions of americans furloughed, under employed, more than 102,000 americans have died. Cities are now torn apart not just in minneapolis but protests in louisville, 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 decent. 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 it rise or fall, take us to war, bring us to peace. The words of a president matter. Think about this. You know youve heard me say it before because weve talked about this in a different context, that our children are listening. Think of the 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, the culture. The vast majority of police arent cruel but my lord, when you see a bad cop, they should be prosecuted. They should be 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 i just think we have to speak to it. Not hide it. Speak to it. We heard from your former boss a few hours ago, president barack obama put out a statement on the killing and this is just part of what he said, mr. Vice president. Ill read it and well talk about it. President obama saying, we have to remember that for millions of americans, being treated differently on account of race is tragically, painfully, maddeningly normal. How do you heal how do you heal the racial divide, mr. Vice president , that has existed and persisted arguably since the founding of our republic . How do you do that . You constantly, constantly work at it. Look, heres the deal. You know, the idea that we remain silent when we see these things happen the idea that we dont understand and we should talk about it not just africanamericans but folks like me should talk about it, i talked today about a friend of mine who an africanamerican friend who has a son and she is begging him not to wear a hoodie because she is worried hell be characterized as being bad. I mean, there are so many things that are the burdens that exist for people who are minorities, particularly africanamericans. And its real. Its real. And we have to speak to it. And the president has to speak to it. We all have to speak to it. And not kid about it. Not make up excuses. Its wrong. Its wrong. Its wrong. Look, this generation coming along, this whole new generation, the least prejudiced, the least judgmental, the most open generation in american history. Theyre sick of it. Theyre sick of it. And we just have to keep supporting that notion all the time. When we see it, speak to it. Speak to it. I think the country is ready to move. I really do. Senator klobuchar of course the senator there in minnesota reportedly on your short list for Vice President. Shes reportedly in the early stages of vetting. Her record as a prosecutor in that state and in the wake of all of this has come under scrutiny. Has that scrutiny, mr. Vice president , disqualified her from being Vice President . Look, were talking about today has nothing to do with my running for president or who id pick as a Vice President. It has to do with an injustice we all say take place. And the requirement of an absolute commitment that we spoke to it, that justice be served, and we continue to be vigilant to make sure it doesnt happen again. Bad things happen a lot but it cannot, cannot even remotely be viewed as acceptable or as just what happens. Its got to stop. We got to speak to it. Mr. Vice president , with all due respect, i think there are probably a number of people who are watching and listening to whats happening in minneapolis and who would say, this should have some sort of bearing on who you pick as a number two. In fact, just a few hours ago, jim clyburn your friend arguably the man who breathed new life into your campaign. He said, quote, he was among those who felt it would be great if you chose a woman of color as your Vice President. In light of what is happening in minneapolis, in light of what is happening all over this country right now, if you dont choose a woman of color as your number two, what message would that send to the Africanamerican Community . Ive already said im going to pick a Supreme Court justice who is a woman of color. Ive already said my cabinet will be full of people of women of color. Men and women of color. I also already said there are women of color under consideration. That is not the only criteria to determine who will be the Vice President of the United States of america that ill choose as a running mate. It is just beginning the process. I guarantee you, there are more theres more than one africanamerican woman being considered for Vice President. I promise you that. How many . Im not going to tell you. I guarantee you its more than one. Senator harris . Dont do this. Im not getting into this. None of these okay. Women want to be put in the position where i acknowledge that they are under consideration and then if they are the ones that dont get picked they wonder how that will impact them. Ive been on the other end of this as someone being considered. Its not all positive in terms of being considered because youre qualified and you dont get picked, why . Im not going to get into that. Before i let you go, mr. Vice president , i know that tomorrow is a somber anniversary for you and your family, five years since your son bo biden, iraq war vet and former attorney general of the state of delaware, five years since he died of brain cancer. How do you plan to remember him this weekend, sir . Well, we always have a memorial mass, but the churches are closed and were going to have a private mass. A good friend of ours, army chaplain, catholic priest, are going to say mass for the very near family here at our home. I thought about it and i know what bo would do as attorney general. He would make sure justice was done and would not care about what ever political implications of whether it would make somebody angry or not. He would do the right thing just as he did when he was here, and so i i thought of him today. I thought of him today. Hes up in heaven looking down thinking, my god. When is it going to end . We got to end it. Got to end it. Got to make it better. Vice president joe biden. Mr. Vice president , thank you for your time today, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Please pass along my regards to dr. Biden as well. Thank you. Craig, its a delight actually to sit here and watch and listen to the conversation. I found it interesting how it does seem as if the Vice President leaned more in on sort of a more empathetic response to what were seeing in this country. He didnt want to get into details of what are we going to do . When are we going to make some progress on this inequality issue that weve been talking about for a very long time on that front, craig . What did you take away from it . You know, chuck, i think you hit the nail on the head there. You and i have had these conversations before on the air. This is what we are witnessing now in minneapolis. We have seen happen in baltimore. Weve seen happen in missouri. Weve seen happen in new york city. Weve seen happen all over this country and there is this vitriolic anger and sadness and rage that consumes us for a number of days and we pledged to do something and then nothing happens. And then some weeks pass or some months pass and then it happens again. And i think, you know, the Vice President there, who knew knew loss more than just about anybody else i know, and to hear him sort of draw on that, its fascinating. I would say this, chuck, about what we are seeing happen. In minneapolis and louisville and some other states around this country and, you know, protesting, rioting. Weve seen both of those things. It was dr. King who said that riots are the language of the unheard. And this idea that people would take to the streets and demonstrate in the way that weve seen, i dont think that we should be as dismissive of some of these people as some have been but i also think, chuck, when youve got 40 Million People unemployed, when you have people who are anxious about their health and their Parents Health and their grandParents Health, this isnt just about another black man being killed by police in the United States of america. What were seeing is a bubbling up of all kinds of angst and rage and sadness, chuck todd. Absolutely. There is a lot of kindle out there. A lot of kindle out there. That is why i think things are very precarious right now. Craig melvin, like i said, this was a treat. Thanks for doing this. Well done. Ill see you soon. See you soon, my friend. Good to see you. With me now is Minnesota Attorney general keith ellison. Mr. Attorney general, welcome back to the show. Thank you. I want to start sort of big picture here. Your comments a couple days ago really struck a nerve i think because you provided some historical context, you were talking about some people saying, boy. This is like 1968 and then you were telling a story you grew up in detroit i believe and you said you were telling a story about your father telling you a story. Yes. Oh, yeah . Let me tell you about what happened in i think it was 1943. But instead of me reiterating it thats right. You tell us. Explain this to us. Well, you know, i come from a family of five boys. When i was a little kid, you know, maybe three, four years old, detroit had its own riots which were sparked by an incident of police brutality. I remember looking on my tipping toes looking out of tippytoe, looking out of the window, seeing personnel carriers bringing troops into the west side of detroit. We didnt live next to the riot, but we saw those troops being transported down our drive in detroit. And i remember my father being dead tired. I remember my mother being scared. And i remember then as a teenager saying to my father, who is 91 years old now, hey, dad, you remember those riots . He said man, do i remember the riots, i lived through the riots, but do you remember the 43 riots . I remember the 43 riots. We got to get to the bottom of it and we got to solve it because its just been going on for so long. Its generations. Yes, generations. Absolutely. You got that experience. Youve got this history in life experience, and youre the attorney general, and youre working with the governor. Youve got to keep this state safe tonight. Youve got to keep people safe. Right. How do you apply your experience with also trying to keep the piece tonight as the chief Law Enforcement officer of the state of minnesota . Well, the main thing we have to tell people is that militant, peaceful protests is part of the american tradition. And it is your prerogative to get out there, to have your sign, to make your chance, to pass your leaflets out that is what we do to make change in america. But arson is not. And breaking peoples windows, thats not. Thats not a part of it. And i can tell you, chuck, that the overwhelming number of people protested in an effective way, a way that, you know, even mlk would be proud of. And i do suspect that we might even have had some people that really werent part of the protests who came and made some of the mischief. There was some suspicious looking characters in all black, and they looked ready to make mischief. There is videotape of them out there, who were seen breaking windows and tossing incendiary devices. So im not sure that all the violence was because of legitimate protesters either. But we need our protesters who are demonstrating to take pictures of these kind of people, to report them, and to not allow the arsonist and the property damagers to besmirch their righteous cause that those people are in the street for. Weve got to keep the focus on mr. Floyd. George floyd deserves this moment and the social change we may be able to bring about will be undermined if this thing gets diverted again. So i do believe i want people to know i dont believe the National Guard is there to hurt anyone. A week ago they were out there doing covid shots. They were taking covid tests. They were helping. They help when there are floods. They help when there are all kinds of problems, and theyre trying to just keep the peace tonight. So work with them. Cooperate with them. And understand that theyre to let you peaceful protest. What you like to see happen at the Minneapolis Police department . I think that its time to really talk about a pattern and practice, top to bottom review. I will tell you that my concern, and im being very candid here is that the leadership, chief arredondo i believe is excellent, but i believe there are folks, particularly the president of the federation who are just hostile to change at all and undermine the legitimate progress that department is trying to make. I know chief arredondo is trying to shift the culture there. Its not easy. When he let go of four of them at once because they violated the duty to intervene when they saw wrong happening, that was a demonstration of commitment. But what do we see later on . We see the federation sort of undermining that. I think we need a pattern and practice investigation that will really help us turn the corner in terms of reform. Attorney general keith ellison, democrat from minnesota, i have to leave it there. I know we were a little squeezed from time with the former Vice President s interview. Thanks for coming on and sharing your perspective with us. I appreciate it, sir. Thank you very much, sir. Have good day. You got it. And joining me now is the mayor of chicago, lori lightfoot. Madam mayor, its good to have you on again. Let me ask you just simply about are you concerned about protests in chicago . Are you seeing them . Were seeing them in a lot of cities. So i dont want to make an assumption, and how do you how do you in the Police Department plan to handle it . Look, we are expecting people are going to peacefully protest and express their First Amendment rights. Whats happened in minnesota really has touched a deep long generation, decades long nerve in the fraught relationships between the police and the communities that they serve. But my expectation, because of our long history of having bold, peaceful protests in chicago is that people will express themselves, but theyll do it in a way that is in fact peaceful. And look, the challenge for us every single day, whether there is a crisis or not, is to build authentic relationships between the police and the communities that they serve. People in our city deserve Public Safety, no matter where they are, no matter who they are, no matter where they live. But we know that thats got to be done in a way that is consistent with the respect for their lives. And i say this all the time. And i believe it to be true. Our goal with the Police Department is to make sure that our officers understand that respectful constitutional engagement with the communities that they serve is their most important tool, far greater and more powerful than a gun and a badge. And were not there yet, but we work hard at that every single day. You took over a city at a time there where there was some heightened racial tensions, particularly having to do with the Police Department. I know you a new chief who has been lauded for some of the work he has done in dallas. Uhhuh. How long do you think it takes to change a culture . And how long do you think its going to change the chicago Police Culture . Well, look, he has been 30 days on the job and has had to deal with a range of different things, not the least of which is trying to figure out how to police in a time of a pandemic when everyone is afraid, including officers and rightfully and understandably so. And youre not going to ever change culture overnight. But the thing that i admire a lot about david brown, in addition to his incredible life story, the challenges that he has met and faced over the arc of his life and his career is that he is a man that speaks the truth and he leads truly by example. I thought he put out a very bold and powerful statement yesterday, and speaking very clearly that the tactic that was used by the officer who has now been charged is not something that has any place in policing. It was illegitimate from the moment he put his knee on the neck of george floyd. And thats the kind of bold leadership that we need in this time, and i think that our officers understand that theyre being judged every single day, every moment, every interaction, particularly in the time of cameras and social media. But what you to lean into is their training, and that training should become muscle memory about how to respectfully engage with members of the public, even in a time of protest. Very quickly, you are hoping to move to phase 3 of reopening next wednesday. Yes. How likely is that . We just saw what happened in missouri where they had to postpone it. They had some bad tests it turns out, and their situation is not quite ready. Are you prepared to pull back if necessary . We are prepared to pull back if necessary, and weve been saying that all along. But my expectation is that we will be there by next wednesday. We follow metrics like how many icu beds occupied by covid patients, our ventilator, our hospitalizations overall, the percentage of positivity, people testing positive for covid. A number of different metrics, and in following them, not just on a daily basis, but looking at the overall trend over a six or sevenday time period, we are moving in the right direction. Now look, we still have challenges in our latin community. We still have channels in our black community. But overall we feel very comfortable that were moving in the right direction. But how we are able to open up and how long were able to sustain it really depends upon individual residents taking seriously the guidance that weve been given all along. Covid doesnt magically disappear on june 3rd. Its going to be our present for the foreseeable future. Weve still got to social distance, engage in hand sanitizing, making sure if we are sick, we dont come out. Our vulnerable residents still cant come out. All of that guidance is still going to be important. Chicago mayor lori lightfoot, i got to rush off here. Ive got the top of the hour hitting me here. Thank you for being patient with us with our interview with the former Vice President and thanks for sharing your perspective. That is all we have tonight, folks. More meet the press sunday. The beat starts right now. Ayman mohyeldin is in for ari. Good evening, ayman. Good evening. What an incredible hour. Lots of news there. A lot developing. Thanks very much. Well watch you on sunday morning for sure. Welcome to the beat, everyone. Im Ayman Mohyeldin in for ari melber this evening. And at this hour, we are watching live pictures in