Week, in the depths of the Great Recession and frankly a number like 600,000something would be spectacular news for us at this point. For us now, week after week, i said ten weeks, actually for eight straight weeks as of today, we are over two million americans filing for unemployment. Simultaneously, and perhaps in a related development, the white house announced today that theyre just not going to give their annual National Forecast for the economy this summer. The white house does that every year. They do a budget in february and then they do an Economic Forecast in the summer. For how things are going to go for the rest of the year. Except this year, for the first time in decades, theyve just said theyre not going to do that. Better not to say, right . Imagine what that report would say about the forecast for the economy, if they did have to put it out. Better just to keep mum maybe. We are learning from this federal government with each passing day of the epidemic that not talking about something terrible is at least to their mind the easiest way to pretend that that terrible thing just isnt happening. Smiles, everyone. Smile, everyone. Fantasy island. In terms of the epidemic, and its progress, this week has seen a whole bunch of states start to hit record numbers in terms of the number of hospital beds that are being occupied by covid19 patients. Weve got record hospitalization numbers right now, in kentucky, and in arizona, and in alabama, and in north carolina, in the state of arkansas, the state Health Director warned today that theyre heading toward a new record peak in hospitalizations in arkansas, as well. In the great state of minnesota, they not only are at their highest rate of hospitalizations yet, the twin cities area, minneapolis st. Paul is up near 90 full in terms of its icu beds already, and the state today Just Announced that they have hit their highest oneday death toll. For coronavirus as well. Minnesota is just dealing with a bare of an epidemic with the numbers going the wrong way, with hospitalization and icu numbers getting troubling, particularly in the twin cities. And now, of course, minneapolis, particularly the twin cities area, is dealing with a whole other layer of crisis on top of that. Tonight, as weve been covering here intensively on msnbc, the eyes of the nation are on minnesota, and minneapolis is still reeling tonight, following the death on monday night of an unarmed 46yearold africanamerican man named george floyd who died in Police Custody. Mr. Floyd was seen on tape repeatedly pleading that he couldnt breathe, as an officer pinned him to the ground with his knee, jammed into mr. Floyds neck for minute after minute after minute after minute. Since the day after george floyd died, protests have been taking place throughout minneapolis and in other cities across the country, too. These are live images that youre looking at right now in terms of what is going on in minneapolis tonight as we head toward nightfall. The neighboring city of saint paul, the capital city of minnesota, they ordered the state capital evacuated today. They ordered everybody out of the state capital, to get out, there were violent protests today in saint paul. This video was shot by an nbc news cruit outside a target store where hundreds of protesters were gathered and police were called after reports of looters at the shop having it and after police arrived, demonstrators were seen pelting a squad car with rocks and later took a bat to that squad car. No officer in the squad car. Just the car itself is being barbed up and smashed there. Shopping carts were later thrown at Police Vehicles on that same scene. As officers tried to form a wall in front of that store front. A reporter for our local affiliate that officers did eventually use tear gas against that crowd. The looting that has been seen so far has led some minneapolis businesses to put up signs in their windows that say minorityowned. In the hopes that they will be spared from looting. This all comes after a particularly confrontational chaotic and at times violent night last night. I mean yesterdays protests in minneapolis did begin peacefully but things escalated over the course of the night and in the early monk, a standoff outside the citys third Police Precinct, eventually within hours spilled over into chaos and some nearby businesses being looted and other nearby businesses being burnt to the ground. At this particular intersection, we can show you an Apartment Development ha was under construction was completely destroyed. After it was set on fire. Some firefighters were attacked as they arrived to put out various fires in the city. Authorities made the decision to just let some buildings burn rather than risk firefighters being injured or worse. Police officers fired tear gas at protesters and also rubber bullets. Tonight, minnesotas governor, tim walls, has activated the natural guard in minnesota to come in and help state police and local police with the situation on the ground. He has declared a state of emergency in the twin cities. So tonight, there is a lot of worry, there is a lot of consternation about what may happen next. Violence is obviously not the whole story here, throughout this whole or deal, weve also seen so many images of just plain grief, and anger and upset thats not expressed violently. Grief in a city trying to come together, and trying to figure out how to move past yet another incident like this, weve seen that in makeshift memorials throughout the city. We saw it today, at a vigil held by our own colleague, reverend al sharpton, you know the site where george floyd was arrested, on monday night. We also saw it at a massive peaceful protest this evening outside of minneapolis city hall. Ar people chanted say his name, george floyd. Say his name, george floyd. The overarching sentiment from those crowds today is they want to know if justice will be served. So far again, this killing, in Police Custody, happened on monday night. It is now thursday. The officers in this case, four officers, who were on the scene of the arrest have all been fired. Its been reported tonight that they have all invoked their fifth amend rights against self incrimination. It remains to be seen what charges if any will be filed against those officers. Earlier in the day today the federal Justice Department says they have made an investigation into floyds death a top priority and with the Justice Department nobody quite knows what that means. The Hennepin County district county today, asked for patience as his office examines the case and considers whether or not the charges will be brought. The mayor of minneapolis is trying to hold his city together as the whole country looks at minneapolis tonight, basically just holding our breath. If youre feeling that sadness, that anger, its not only understandable, its right. Its a reflection of the truth that our black community has lived. While not from lived experience, that sadness must also be understood by our nonblack communities. I believe that in minneapolis. I love minneapolis. And in believing in our city, we must believe that we can be better than we have been. Joining us now, exclusively for the interview tonight, is jacob frey, the mayor of minneapolis. Mr. Mayor, thanks for taking the time to be with us here tonight. Thank you so much for having me, rachel. Obviously. Please go ahead. Before we get going, i did want to address things after what transpired last night, and i have a very simple message for residents and Community Members within our city. We need peace. If you are feeling anger, or sadness, i get it, it is not only understandable, it is righteous. But we cannot allow that anger and sadness to so negatively impact our communities. We cant be looting some of the Community Institutions that we need the most right now. Especially during a pandemic. We need grocery stores. For food. We need pharmacies for medicine. We need banks for cash. And these institutions are the more important, especially in our low income communities. So by all mean, protest, express your First Amendment rights, we will stand up for them. But we do need peace as well in our city. Mr. Mayor, today, when you said i believe in minneapolis but also that the city must be better than we have been, i wanted to give you a chance to address that, too, and what do you think that means in concrete terms for your city, in terms of what needs to be better, what needs to be fixed, and what would count as justice in this case. Well, rachel, were not just talking about five horrid minutes of mistreatment of our black community, and specifically of george floyd, were talking about 400 years worth of institutionalized racism. Were talking about intentional segregation and restrictive covenants that run with the land and disparities in health and income and water and treatment, and pretty much every single facet of life, so this particular five minutes stands on a very long history of wrongful conduct, and we do need to be better. We need to acknowledge it. We need to embrace that reality. And then we need action. You know, and the first action that i believe needs to come is the charge. We need a charge of the arresting officer in this case. There was every incentive for me not to speak out about this issue, you know, there are all sorts of precautions and protocols that are baked into the walls of city hall that will tell you not to say something, not to act too soon, follow the process, but like this was an instance when, you know, honesty is so important, because its the only way that were really going to move forward. You just made an impassioned call for peace in the streets of minneapolis tonight, as people are gathering once again to protest. Can you give us an update on the situation on the ground, and the plans tonight in terms of how to try to protect life and property as we head into the overnight hours . Ive been in Constant Contact with our police chief, as well as our governor and im very appreciative of the resources they have been able to provide. And i also want to note that we have a whole lot of people, as a matter of fact, weve got a thousand people who are downtown right now that are protesting so peacefully. And we want to protect them. They need to be speaking out right now. Because ultimately, that voice will improve our community for the long haul. But in an era of sound bites, so often, those that are protesting peacefully get lumped in with those that are not. Officers that are operating compassionately get lumped in with those that are not. And we need to be clear about what we are saying right now, which is by all means, like anger makes sense, sadness makes sense, but i think right now, like i said, what we need is some action right now, and that starts with of course terminations which weve already done as all four officers have been term terminated and ive also called on the county attorney to move forward with the charge. I spent the better part of 36 hours asking myself a very simple question, which is why is the officer that pressed his knee into the neck of a helpless black man that was unarmed and handcuffed, why is that officer not in jail . Why has he not been charged . And you know, i couldnt answer that question, rachel, because if you had done that, or if i had done that, we would be in jail. And so of course, i understand the need for investigation. But i do also believe fully that we need to charge. Do you have any indication of when that charging decision might be made . We heard the Hennepin County today ask for patience, basically saying that this needs to be, this is a decision that cant be rushed, we also saw the federal Justice Department come in and say this will be a top priority for the department, we also saw the mechlgz sdical exa say theyre waiting for the results of the laboratory testing, relating to the autopsy before theyre saying anything about the cause of death. What is your sense about the pace which these developments are likely to roll out. Im thinking about that not just in terms of interest of the process and i think it will be a big impact in whether people continually feel like they have to night after night get back out into the streets. Youre absolutely right. And thats precise lit conflict that were dealing with right now. And i understand the necessity of having a thorough investigation. And i understand the need to make sure that all evidence is reviewed. I also understand what i saw. And i saw the video that everyone else did. And what i saw was again five minutes worth of horrid conduct that is just wrong at the most human level. When someone is calling out for help, its our obligation to help them, especially if youre an officer that is charged with protecting and serving the public. That didnt happen. And thats a failure. One of the things that will be different tonight and heading into, i guess heading into the next few days, is that the National Guard has been called up in the state. The governor has declared a state of emergency. I understand that you may have had a role in advising the governor that it would be worth it to call up the National Guard. Can you give us any insight into that decision process, and whether youre at all concerned that haves that different kind of authority presence, having the guard working alongside state troopers and police, could be something that could be seen as further escalating tensions or further hardening the line between the community and the authorities that theyre so mad at right now. We did think long and hard about this as well. We had many conversations with the governor to ensure that the presence is one of peace. The presence is one to protect these necessary Community Members, and Community Assets that have become all the more vital, because were operating two different crises right now, i mean were sandwiched between covid19 in which we of course declared a state of emergency, and this horrible killing. And that combination, yes, you know, we do need first responders, we do need to make sure that our city is protected, and we can make sure that those National Guard members that are in our city are positioned, not as an occupying force, but one to protect these necessary assets for, of our community. Are you at all worried that the crowds in the streets, we are looking at live images right now, lots of people, if not the vast majority of the people were looking at are Wearing Masks but not everybody, and of course people are not six feet apart from one another for the most part and these are chaotic, if outdoor gatherings, that are happening, are you worried that these two crises may dovetail, in terms of the risk of transmission, at these ongoing protests . If youre not worried about that right now, then youre not human. Of course, yes, im very concerned. We have seen the number of cases going up. We did a whole lot of work in minneapolis, in minnesota, to elongate that curve so that we didnt hit the peak early on, when we didnt have the necessary icu capacity, and ventilators necessary to accommodate what would inevitably come in terms of transmission. But yes, there is definitely a concern about hitting that peak in the nearer future, as we know that there are a lot of people that are gathering, and so by all means, again, express your First Amendment rights, please, though, you know, wear a mask, stay at least six feet apart, and its about who we are in this city, you know, a lot of the people who are protesting right now may not be that high risk, but its about looking at the rest of our community that may be high risk. And thats why were Wearing Masks and were taking these necessary precautions now. Mayor jacob frey of minneapolis, sir, i know you have a heck of a knnight ahead you. Come back as this story unfolds. The whole country is pulling for you. Thank you so much, rachel. All right. The protests that we have seen in minneapolis tuesday night, wednesday night, tonight, calling for justice for george floyd, have been spread out now beyond minnesota and across the country. Last night while protesters in minneapolis and saint paul are demonstrating through the night, sometimes fighting tear gas and rubber bullets in clashes with the police, protesters in california also marched in downtown los angeles. They blocked the 101 freeway, completely shutting down traffic at one point by forming a human chain. Protesters eventually clashed with police there, too. Some of the protesters shattered the windows of a california Highway Patrol vehicle. One protester sitting on top of a california Highway Patrol vehicle, was injured, getting knocked off that car, as it sped away. In memphis, tennessee, a group of more than 70 people marched down Union Everybody in midtown mem sis last night, eventually linking arms and blocking that avenue as well, they were out there for four hours, Memphis Police made five arrests last night. Am michigan, people gathered at the Capitol Building in lansing to listen to speech, to offer prayers for the family of george floyd and today there has been more. Today, in new york city, protesters in union square, in manhattan, chanted i cant breathe and we need justice, as they stood face to face with nypd officers. So far, more than two dozen people have been arrested in new york. There are also huge demonstrations in chicago today. Dozens of people marching down halsted street in the south side of chicago, carrying signs saying no lives matter until black lives matter and we demand police accountability. And in alabama, a group gathered today at a park in downtown birmingham to sing and mourn and protest together. Protesters in denver, colorado, gathered at the state capitol, and marched downtown, demanding justice for george floyd. Brionna taylor, shot to death by police on march 13 in kentucky. Sean reed, shot and killed by an officer in minneapolis on may 7th. These protests are spreading to every corner of the country but they are in minneapolis to