Its timermer officer charged. We are working together on this case with only one goal, justice for george floyd. I still think its not enough, and im so happy were moving towards change. Our guests this morning, d. C. Mayor muriel bowser, representative val demings, chad wolf with the white house response and former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general Martin Dempsey. Plus, our powerhouse round table. Good morning, and welcome to this week. It has been nearly two weeks of demonstrations and mourning in america. George floyds death in Police Custody sparking the broadest protests in u. S. History according to an analysis from the washington post. Their map showing the scope of the demonstrations. Overnight, cities remained largely calm across the country. In washington, the white hou the peoples house, even more fortified with new fences. On friday, President Trump talked briefly about equal justice under the law for every american, but his law and order response to the demonstrators has drawn fierce criticism and condemnation from all four living former president s, the Presumptive Democratic nominee and one prominent gop senator openly questioning whether she can support trump in november, but perhaps the most notable responses from those who seldom enter the political arena now breaking their silence as protesters show no sign of quieting down. Reporter a sea of protesters in the Nations Capital saturday. Why was it important for you to come today . I want to make my ancestors proud. Reporter among the crowd, we met anika rump, a nurse and andrew peplar, an army vet. Everybody is standing in solidarity for black lives. Reporter many congregating at what is now a visual symbol of rising tensions here in washington. Many of the protesters were concentrated around the white house down 16th street where that black lives matter was written on the road. This protest, one of many across the nation. Part of what is now a tapestry of stunning scenes this week in d. C. [ chanting ] a military helicopter overhead, humvees typically seen in combat zones as you get closer and closer to the white house, far more military vehicles and National Guard. Removal of Peaceful Protesters exercising their First Amendment right outside the white house, clearing the way for a president ial photoop. Is that your bible . Its a bible. Reporter the president with this threat if a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then i will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them. Reporter you heard the president probably today talk about sending in active duty military. Yeah. I served in the military. I actually just got out last year, and i think most of my brothers and sisters in the military would struggle with that order. Reporter there are more than 43,000 National Guard members in 34 states this week, activated to respond to civil unrest. More than 5,000 of them in d. C. Many spread over the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. There is a big demonstration here tonight, a peaceful demonstration, and dozens and dozens of guardsmen behind me protecting the Lincoln Memorial. From the National Guard out in force at the monuments, to the streets where protesters face off with these citizen soldiers, neighbor on neighbor. What i see is Banana Republic tactics. The military in the United States does not enforce local population. Thats just not how we do it here. Reporter after calling for states to dominate the battle space in retrospect, i would use different wording. Reporter the defense secretary is backtracking and breaking with the president. I do not support invoking the insurrection act. Reporter troops are now heading home, but trumps threat has already contributed to a deepening divide between him and top military leaders. 89 former defense officials writing, our military must never be used to violate the rights of those they are sworn to protect. Former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, mike mullen, saying, we are at an inflection point. And former defense secretary jim mattis with a blistering rebuke telling me, enough is enough. Also writing, we must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our constitution. So lets get the latest on the protests yesterday in the Nations Capital with the d. C. Mayor, muriel bowser. Good morning, mayor. The protests were some of the largest in d. C. Yesterday since the death of george floyd. Do you expect these protests to continue . Well, it was the largest, martha, and we have had about a week of demonstrations in washington, d. C. People gathered at various locations and walked down to black lives matter plaza where you saw a lot of people coming together, healing, organizing, strategizing and thinking about how to make real the frustrations that they brought with them to these demonstrations. The president has been highly critical of you, calling you grossly incompetent and credits his response to a reduction in violence citing his decision to ramp up federal Police Presence and calling out the National Guard. Looting was reduced dramatically. Your reaction . Well, what i say is this, martha. What americans saw was federal Police Forces tear gassing peaceful americans, and how they responded made clear to the president that americans would exercise their First Amendment rights and they would do it peacefully, and what he actually did as you saw for the remaining days was turn out more people, and more people were there for peaceful protest. Youve also responded to President Trump. In part, you mentioned this by honoring the black lives Matter Movement with this pavement mural and a street sign along the blocks leading up to the white house. The black lives matter d. C. Tio performative gesture, and now theyve added the words, defund the police which they say they fear you will now remove. Is that right . We certainly are very proud of the d. C. Mural that we commissioned in our department of public works and local artists installed. It is an affirmative piece of art, a centering piece of art where people from around the globe have called us and thanked us for acknowledging black humanity and black lives in the most important city in the world, and we are very proud of that art. But will you take out the part that says Defund Police . Well, its not a part of the mural, and we certainly encourage expression, but we are using the city streets for city art. In other words, that will go away. You will paint over that . I actually havent even had an opportunity to review it, martha, but we the response that weve gotten from people about the black lives matter black lives matter mural has just been incredible. Okay. Thanks very much for joining us this morning, mayor. Thank you. And joining me now is acting Homeland Security secretary, chad wolf. Good morning, mr. Secretary. You have authority over about 600 Law Enforcement personnel from i. C. E. , secret service, Border Patrol assisting with Law Enforcement here in d. C. Do you believe a heavy security presence is Still Necessary . Well, thank you for having me this morning, martha. What i can tell you is that the department of Homeland Security and our Law Enforcement officers are in support with the department of justice of making sure that we address the violence that has occurred there in d. C. Over the past week or so. So well continue to do that. As you indicated, we have had up to 300, 400, 500, 600, folks there in d. C. What weve seen is a city out of control, and im happy to say over the last several days weve seen that violence decrease, but thats been as a result of what the administration has done in d. C. , working throughout the federal government not only with dhs assets, park police and the metropolitan police as well. That violence has decreased and were happy about that. So well continue to monitor that, and, you know, well pull back the number of assets that we have in d. C. As that violence decreases so that, again, lawful protesters, protesters exercising their First Amendment can continue to have their voices heard. You say a city out of control. Certainly yesterday was very peaceful and many days before that, but i want to turn to earlier this week. The president talked repeatedly about dominating the streets, bringing in heavily armed military, vicious dogs if the police cant get the job done. Secretary of defense called the streets a battle space, and walked that back later. While there was inexcusable criminal looting, the vast majority of protests have been peaceful, including yesterday. So what kind of message do those words send to your officers when they come facetoface with their fellow americans demonstrating on the streets . Well, i think what we have to do, and you mentioned it, martha, theres two different populations here. Theres two different sets of protesters and rioters for that matter. I think we have to separate that. Obviously we have peaceful protest, again, individuals exercising their First Amendment. Individuals will protect their right to do that. What you have seen is violent protesters infiltrating and hijacking those protests and becoming very violent that we saw earlier this week. So what weve done, and what the president has been very clear on is were not going to let that stand. Were going to bring law and order back to the streets of d. C. And any other metropolitan area, and we saw that. We saw churches on fire, monuments being defaced and the president is not going to stand for that. So well continue to push forward, but again. As you indicated over the last several days, weve seen that violence decrease, and thats where we want it to be. We want to let Peaceful Protesters provide that environment for them to exercise their First Amendment. At the end of the day, this is about law and order. This is about a country built on law and order, and were going to address those protesters that are destroying businesses, that are targeting Law Enforcement officers. We cant have that go on day after day. There have not been too many examples in the last few days. Law enforcement is a difficult job, and there were senseless acts of violence against some officers. Certainly establishments as well, but these protests were prompted because of the violent death of george floyd, by Police Officers, and theres now fresh outrage because of the way some of those protesters have been treated by Law Enforcement. I want to show you just a few examples. You see whats going on now. Now theres just a lot of violence. What is your reaction to that, mr. Secretary . Let me first say that the outrage that americans are feeling today about the death of george floyd is very real. Its very legitimate, and we need to address that. I think the president has been very clear about that. We need to make sure that those that are responsible are held accountable, brought to justice and we are doing just that, and i think you have seen the Justice System move very quickly on that front. All those Police Officers have been arrested and charges have been filed. So i think we need to state that first and foremost, but again, what we see across the board by and large is Law Enforcement doing their job. Yes, there are individuals in every profession that are perhaps criminals, that are perhaps abusing their authority, and we need to address that, and again. But how do you address that when you look at those images . Let me just say yeah. Let me just say that for dhs this hits home. We had a fellow protective officer last friday over a week ago targeted and assassinated, shot in the head as he was responding to a protest. So this hits very close to home for the department of Homeland Security. So when we talk about attacks on Law Enforcement, its not an abstract idea. We are seeing them being targeted, and we need to make sure that the violence thats going on in cities across america, and again, its diminished. I acknowledge that. It does not continue, and so thats a real concern that Law Enforcement who are sent out there and do their job every day, protecting the American People every day, they have a right to do their job and to go home back to their families safe. Mr. Secretary, those are indeed terrible examples, but i want to go back to the examples i showed you. Do those disturb you . These are Public Servants who are trained to supposedly meet protesters, not beat them up. Absolutely. So again, as i indicated. I think you have you need to make sure that all Law Enforcement is acting correctly and doing their jobs correctly, and when they are not, they need to be held accountable. Some of the images as well as others, we need to investigate. If the evidence shows they did not do their job correctly, they did not do it the way they were trained to do, we need to hold them accountable. Thats what were doing in the george floyd case. The president has launched the civil rights investigation there. Theres a number of steps were doing. Well continue to do that. I think we can always do better. We can do more, but again, we need to also focus. While were focusing on some of the police, we also need to focus on what has occurred over the last week in cities across america. Burning churches, defacing monuments. We cannot let that go on, and i think as we talk about what the to what theyre up against every day as well. Mr. Secretary, george floyd isnt the only black american who was killed by police. In fact, black americans are killed by police at more than twice the rate of white americans. A poll found 70 of whites trust local police compared with 36 of africanamericans. Do you think there is a problem with systemic racism in policing the United States . I do not think that we have a systemic racism problem with Law Enforcement officers across this country. Do i acknowledge that there are some Law Enforcement officers that abuse their job . Yes, and again, we need to hold those accountable, and i would say that there are individuals in every profession across this country that probably abuse their authority and their power, and we need to hold them accountable. Can we do better . Can we do more . Can we continue to do more in the Law Enforcement arena, outreach to our communities to those who feel slighted . Absolutely. I think theres always things we can do more, but again, painting Law Enforcement with a broad brush of systemic racism is really a disservice to the men and women who put on the badge, the uniform every day, risk their lives every day to protect the American People that protect them so that they can go to school. They can have a business and come home safe to their families. So i think we need to keep that in mind as well. Thank you very much for joining us, mr. Secretary. Appreciate it. As pressure mounts on Law Enforcement across the country, what might Police Reform look like . Well ask congresswoman val demin demings, the former Orlando Police chief and a contender to being joe bidens running mate, next. Ntender to being joe bidens running mate, next. Deliver packages for amazon. I drive my van five days a week. Im the only one touching the van, but im still gonna take the time to wipe everything down. I recently took a break cause my girlfriend and i just had a baby. In the middle of this pandemic, you know, having a kid, theres something different. When i came back, amazon completely changed. There you go, sir. Thank you. Recovering the van was different, coming into the station and loading was different. If anything, they took it overboard on the safety, and thats what i love. Its funny to say im essential. Were all working towards a common goal. Just like amazon says, deliver smiles, and honestly, i believe i do. Just like amazon says, mucinex cold flu allinone. Fights. Oh no. Nonono. Did you really need the caps lock . Mucinex cold and flu allinone. 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Without this place. This is for you. Michael, you didnt have to. And, were going to need some help with the rest. Youve worked so hard to achieve so much. Perhaps its time to partner with someone who knows you and your business well enough to understand what your wealth is really for. This is bigger than just a budget, but i want you to know we will not be increasing our police budget. Our city through our city Administrative Officer identified 250 million in cuts so we could invest in jobs, in health, in education and healing, and that those dollars need to be focused on our black community. L. A. Mayor Eric Garcetti discussing his plans to redirect up to 150 million from the Police Department using that money instead to Fund Programs to help underserved communities. Its one of many Police Reform efforts under way in the wake of George Floyds killing. For more, lets bring in florida congresswoman and florida Orlando Police chief val demings. Good morning, congresswoman. I want to first get your reaction to what acting secretary wolf said about saying theres no systemic racism in Police Departments. Well, good morning, martha. Its great to be with you, and i did hear the secretarys statement. Look. If were going to solve some of americas toughest problems, weve got to be painfully honest about what those problems are, and we know that we have been fighting systemic racism in this country for 400 years. We know that it has found reared its ugly heads in Law Enforcement agencies and housing, and education, and too many other places. So while i heard what the secretary said, we have a lot of work to do, and systemic racism is always the ghost in the room. As a former Law Enforcement officer and police chief, whats gone through your mind seeing these Peaceful Protesters hurt by police . Martha, as you well know, i spent 27 years at the Orlando Police department. I worked beside some of the bravest men and women with hearts big as gold that america has to offer. Was everybody perfect . Were we completely perfect . Of course, not, but what i have seen across the nation involving Law Enforcement officers and their reaction in many instances unprovoked has been extremely troubling, and what we have to do as a nation is hold police accountable, provide the necessary oversight to do that, look at training standards, look at use of force policies, look at who we are hiring, look at diversity within those agencies and come together and create legislation that will support initiatives like that, but ive also called on each Law Enforcement agency. I know we have 18,000 around the country, but ive also called on each of those agencies to not wait for the federal to have to tell you what to do. You see whats going on. You know w wrg. Take a critical look a do a deep dive, and begin to change policies on your own because there are some things that we need to happen right now like banning neck restraints for example. And thats one of many things that the Democratic House leaders will unveil, this policing legislation this week including create a National Police misconduct registry, ban the choke holds, require racial bias training and make lynching a federal crime. Are these the kinds of reforms you meant when you were leading orlandos Police Department . You know, as police chiefs, you always come in and look at department policies. There were some that i changed. You look at department training. You certainly look at how it stands because the best way to prevent misconduct is to hire the brightest and the best people to do the job. I said when bad things happen in Police Departments, its for one of three reasons. Either bad mind, you have a person who should not be a Law Enforcement officer in the first place. You have a bad heart. Maybe you have a problem with racism, or bad policy, and so that means we do have to look at who were hiring, and then make sure that the officers have the necessary training that they need to be successful in doing their job which a major part of that is treating people who they come in contact with. Whether victims, witnesses or suspects, with dignity and respect. And congresswoman, you are on the short list for former Vice President joe bidens potential running mate. This week a cofounder in the black lives Matter Movement on whether the vp should choose someone with a Law Enforcement background that black voters would not like that and not trust someone like that. What would you say to them . Well, what i would say is, you know, the best indicator of future performance is to look at past performance, and i stand on my record of service which began in jacksonville, florida as a social worker. I worked with broken families and broken children, and then when i joined the Orlando Police department, i took my social workers heart to that job. I quickly realized that we could not arrest our way out of some of the challenges in our communities, that we had a direct obligation as Law Enforcement to address some of the social ills that cause decay in communities in the first place like lack of economic, jobs, wages, education of children if theyre going to have any chance of making it. They have got to have a good, quality education regardless of the color of their skin or where they live. We found ourselves involved in things that many said were not police work, but they certainly made a difference in our community. Thanks for joining us this morning. Thank you so much. Take care. Thanks. Up next, the stunning and rare rebuke of the commander in chief from some of the countrys highest ranking military leaders. Ill talk exclusively with former joint chiefs chairman Martin Dempsey about the president s relationship with the military next. The military next. We do things differentlystm, and other Money Managers dont understand why. Because our way works great for us but not for your clients. Thats why were a fiduciary, obligated to put clients first. So, what do you provide . Cookie cutter portfolios . Nope. We tailor portfolios to our clients needs. But you do sell investments that earn you high commissions, right . We dont have those. So, whats in it for you . Our fees are structured so we do better when you do better. At Fisher Investments were clearly different. Our fees are structured so we do better when you do better. Unlike ordinary wmemory supplementsr . Neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. Memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. Try neuriva for 30 days and see the difference. I dont have to worry about that, do i . 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Memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. Try neuriva for 30 days and see the difference. General Martin Dempsey standing by for more on the unprecedented outcry from former military leaders. Well be right back. Unprecedented outcry from former military leaders. Well be right back. Unlike ordinary wmemory supplementsr . Neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. Memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. Try neuriva for 30 days and see the difference. You try to stay ahead of the mess. But scrubbing still takes time. Now theres new powerwash dish spray. Its the faster way to clean as you go. Just spray, wipe and rinse. It cleans grease five times faster. New dawn powerwash. Spray, wipe, rinse. This is your generationses thworld to shake. S, class of 2020. Congratulations. You did it. You will prevail. We are incredibly proud of you for everything that you have endured. I think we need to look harder at who we elect. I think we should look at people that are running for office, and think about what is their character like. What are their ethics. Are they willing if theyre elected to represent, all of their constituents, not just the base . That was retired marine corps general and President Trumps former chief of staff, john kelly, just one of several former military leaders who forcefully condemned President Trump this week, including my next guest, retired army general and former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Martin Dempsey. Hes also the author of the new book, no time for spectators the lessons that mattered most from west point to the west wing. General dempsey, good morning. You have seen the strong statements from secretary mattis and mike mullen and others aimed at the president. You have also avoided anything political or directly naming the president , but you did say this week that the president s threat to use active duty military units to suppress the protesters was dangerous and very troubling. Tell us what you were talking about. Well, as you know, i do always try to be thoughtful about the way these things evolve, and in the moment, and before the decision was made, i thought it was appropriate for me to point out the risk of doing it, and obviously, martha, the president has the authority to do a lot of things. Hes given a lot of authority by our constitution, and the laws that interpret it, and for me it was a can and should dichotomy, and i thought that given the state of the of the unrest and the risk that he would put the active duty military in a position where its relationship with the American People would be adversely affected. That i should say something. The language used during this week, dominate the battle space, those threats of sending in not only active duty troops, but heavily armed, you tweeted, america is not a battleground. Our fellow citizens are not the enemy. So what effect does that have on our military, and National Guard when they hear that and they face fellow citizens . You know, my generation of military leaders entered right after the vietnam war, spent the majority of our careers whether it was 20 years, 30 years or 40 years in my case, trying to rebuild our relationship with the American People which had been adversely affected by the protracted conflict, the unpopular war of vietnam, and indeed in those days, racism and drug use, and it took us awhile to actually regain the trust of the American People. We took the military to an allvolunteer force, and we have a wonderful relationship with people in this country, and i thought it important to continue to work to try to keep that relationship sound and solid. And, you know, inflammatory language can be an impediment to that. You heard him publicly say he doesnt think, the secretary of defense, that the insurrection act should be invoked and that secretary millie said the same thing. Many have tried to talk the president out of it, and the general in his battle dress uniform. The president was in a photoop, and general millie realized what was going on, and backed off. What did you think when you saw that scene . You know, if you were to ask me or any of my predecessors or successors, some of the most awkward moments we have in that Civil Military relationship are photoops, and, you know, its just something you have to be very careful about, and i, you know, ive heard statements from both secretary esper and from general milley that they didnt know they were going across the street to st. Johns church. I take them at their word. Its just one of those things where the relationship between the president s principle military adviser and the president himself has to be one of trust and confidence, and its work. I would think that probably this moment will make it a little bit harder actually, but not impossible, and, you know, oftentimes the best things come out of whats called creative friction, and this week has certainly been that, but, you know, im actually in the camp that says, okay. Look. This last week was one of our most challenging in my memory. Whats next, you know . Lets get beyond that and figure out whats next. And i want to go back to the National Guard. The images from this week really were stunning. There were special forces from the National Guard on the street wearing sunglasses, looking extremely tough. I saw guard en masse at the Lincoln Memorial with protesters gathered below them, and this is about a block from where i sit right now. The National Guard was not armed, but you had a black clad pistolpacking dea agent right next to them. Seems the distinction lost on most of the public that the guard was not armed. I also want to mention that we have our own colleague, Stephanie Ramos who was out covering the protests in new york city this week, and in her other life when stephanie is not a correspondent, she is a major in the army reserve. She sent me a picture this week. It was during her virtual training. She told me shes already seen a difference of how people are treating the guard and the reserve, and shes very nervous about that. Well, she should be, and by the way, tell her thanks for her service, or if shes watching, ill tell her myself, but look. The military is given enormous power by the people of the United States, and theyre given that power because the people of the United States trust them that theyll be both a force for order and stability overseas if necessary in extremes at home, but also that the military will be a positive influence in letting people achieve their potential. You know, i talk often about one of the things that motivates me is this is this box that i keep on my desk. I have it right here. Youve seen it i think, martha, but its engraved with the words, make it matter. In there, are 132 cards that i keep from the soldiers that i have lost under my command back in baghdad back when i met you for the first time in 2003, and i never let myself forget that in the remainder of my career and to this day, i because they couldnt fulfill their potential, i had to make sure that i did the best that i could to fulfill mine, and whatever that meant, and to make a difference in peoples lives. Not just in my own. Thats what those protests by the way, it seems to me are all about. Its trying to allow people to actually fulfill their potential. One of the great promises of living in this country. So we absolutely have to be very careful about how the military is used in that circumstance. Okay. I thank you so much for joining us this morning, general dempsey, and i of course, know that box well. The round table is up next. Well be right back. Now that box well. The round table is up next. Well be right back. This virus is testing all of us. And its testing the people on the front lines of this fight most of all. So abbott is getting new tests into their hands, delivering the critical results they need. And until this fight is over, we. Will. Never. Quit. Because they never quit. I would love to have the rnc. Heck, im a republican. It would be good for us to have the dnc in terms of the in terms of the economic impact. We would love to have the rnc here. I feel like we could do that in a safe way. Nashville is the best place in america to have a convention. Arizona is great in hosting large events. I dont know if there is a place thats better in the country. Texas is as open as any state in america, and texas obviously provides a great opportunity for a Convention Like that. While the countrys attention has been rightfully focused on the fallout from George Floyds death, a major decision in the world of politics. The site of the Republican Convention is up in the air after a standoff provoked by President Trumps desire to fill an arena in North Carolina in the age of social distancing. The gop is now looking for a new convention site, and conventional wisdom holds that the gatherings provide a polling boost come november. We asked nate silver, do you buy that . So to answer this question, i looked back at every Convention Since 1964 about how every party did in that state compared to others, and earlier. It turns out theres basically no effect. On average, candidates saw only 0. 7 Percentage Points in their states that held the convention. At the time, sometimes the party actually did worse in that state. Take for example 2016, it was in cleveland, ohio, and republicans did flip that state from obama to trump. Democrats held their convention in philly, but then lost pennsylvania for the First Time Since 1988. So no. I dont buy that locations matter, but thats not to say conventions overall dont matter. They cant produce a they can produce a bump in the polls. John mccain pulled ahead of barack obama following their convention in 2008, but both of those bounces occurred nationwide, and not just in the convention state. Thats because conventions are made for tv spectacles. Contnvne year, eosle wtual get a its what ibeid we e a Virtual Convention or scaled down event with fewer people . Its pretty hard to give a they may have to pump in crowd noise like theyre doing on some german soccer broadcasts. That will be something to see. Thanks to nate. Lets bring in the round table now. Our chief White House Correspondent jon karl, author of the best seller front row at the trump show, chief justice correspondent pierre thomas, senior Congressional Correspondent mary bruce, and making her this week round table debut, our abc news multiplatform reporter rachel scott. Good morning to you all, and rachel, because its your first time, i want to start with you. You have been out there covering the protests in washington all week. Give us the 50,000foot view of what you have seen and heard while out in the field. I know you probably heard secretary wolfs description. Martha, thank you so much for having me. Well, the killing of george floyd was really just the boiling point. This is about centuries of systemic racism and racial inequality that has existed in this country, and i think what we are seeing right now is generational exhaustion, and generational uprising. These are young voices that are out there from all different backgrounds demanding for change, and as we see thousands of protesters out there, its important to note that every single one of them has a story. Either they have experienced racism themselves. Some black americans asking themselves, am i next . They are demanding for change, and it just doesnt stop with the president. They are going forward, asking other lawmakers to make changes as well, and they want to know what they have done while in office. Its not just about sending words of support. Its about holding these lawmakers accountable, martha. And jon, so far it doesnt seem the president is hear these protesters demands, refusing on friday whether to even answer whether he has a plan to address systemic racism beyond a strong economy. The president has refused to answer questions from reporters almost since the beginning of these protests. Just not answering those basic questions. Hes been all over the map on this. I think that where theyre zooming in now is a constant repetition of that law and order message. You see it on his twitter feed constantly. You saw it again this morning. Law and order, not in any way addressing the concerns that have led to these protests. And pierre, former president barack obama said this time feels different, that there is a change in mindset that is taking place among a Broad Coalition of americans, but as i watch Jesse Jackson who is 78 years old at the Memorial Service for george floyd, i had to wonder how Many Services he has been to in his lifetime hoping for real change. Do you feel a difference . Martha, i think there has been a change in that i looked at how broad and diverse that group was here in washington, d. C. , and so many people are now having an honest dialogue about race and racism. So i do think youre seeing change, but one of the things we do know is that change is hard. Its difficult, and i have been struck this week thinking about two images. One image is from the 60s and 50s of black men saying, i am a man, and we have the new images and signs saying, black lives matter. Martha, theyre not all that different. Theyre about black people saying, i want to be treated with equal justice. I want to be treated with dignity, and that shows we have a lot of work to do, martha. And do you think these protests last . Do they go into next week and the week after and the week after . Its hard to say, but what i do feel is that people know that what happened to mr. Floyd is wrong, and it was so searing and it was so stark it suggested there must still be racism out there, and i think there were a lot of people particularly from the Majority Community who sometimes hear about the different allegations of racism and think to themselves, well, there they go again. That image of how mr. Floyd died i think is causing a lot of americans to really reassess where we are in terms of race relations. And mary, joe biden accused the president of fanning the the flames of hate, harkening back to his Campaign Launch where he rebuked trump over his comments about charlottesville. It was his first major speech in public since midmarch. How does this moment change bidens Campaign Strategy . Well, joe biden is certainly seizing this moment to draw very sharp contrast with the president. His Campaign Sees a real void of leadership in the way that the president is handling this, and joe biden is eager to show americans that he can fill that void. Now as you mentioned, accusing the president of fanning the flames of hate is certainly not a new strategy for joe biden. He literally launched his campaign with those two words, charlottesville, virginia. We will see him crank up these contrasts and its leading to this rather remarkable split screen campaign. While you have the president out there encouraging crackdowns, you have joe biden meeting with protesters. President trump doing that photoop, and then on the other hand you have joe biden inside a church with community leaders. President trump not offering a single proposal at all to address the concerns of these protesters while joe biden is out there calling for new policies and increased accountability and transparency. I think youll continue to see these sharp contrasts, these really divergent campaigns on the campaign trail. Mary of course, mentioned that photoop. We saw those unprecedented rebukes from military leaders, the secretary of defense this week. We saw secretary esper at that photoop. I dont think thats someplace he wanted to end up. Is his job safe right now . I think esper is very worried about his job. The president was furious by what he said, and as far as these rebukes from mattis and kelly, as extraordinary as they are, they didnt take anybody by surprise in the west wing, and that really tells you something, but if you look at the president s former attorney general, secretary of state, National Security adviser, secretary of defense, top economic adviser, are all people that have come out in some way and criticized the president and have been attacked by the president in the most extraordinarily personal terms, but, martha, one interesting thing here is that kelly and mattis were both there as part of that administration in charlottesville when the president called people marching next to white supremacists, very fine people, and what i report in the book is he said those exact words the day before he said them in public. Kelly was there. So were others and nobody stepped forward to tell the president that was an inappropriate thing to say. I think theyve gotten a lot of criticism for that. Mary, it hasnt just been the military thats reacted to this. Theres been unusually Harsh Criticism from republicans, and we have stories that george bush and mitt romney may not be supporting the president , and colin powell on cnn said hes going to vote for joe biden. Yes. We are seeing this really remarkable and rare break here from some republicans. Of course, it was the photoop. This was this sharp rebuke from many military leaders that have now led some republicans to now speak out, including not just that you mentioned, but ben sasse, susan collins, and Lisa Murkowski who was really going so far to suggest she may not be able to support the president come november, and what was surprising about her statement was this acknowledgment was that many within the Republican Party may have doubts about the president , but so far have lacked the courage to come forward and speak up. It seems that may be changing, but of course, there is a very real Political Risk that comes with going against this president. Republicans are well aware of that. So while we do see some coming out and speaking up, we also see many, especially Republican Leaders who are standing by the president or simply just declining to comment in detail at all. And rachel, we have a tweet from the president just a few minutes ago that the National Guard will be leaving d. C. Whats your reaction to that . Well, its been tense out there, martha. I was there as the president made that trip to st. Johns church, and it was interesting being a reporter on the ground. We were about to go live. In my ear, im hearing the president gave remarks in the rose garden and he was talking about Peaceful Protesters, and what i was saying unfolding in front of me were those Peaceful Protesters being forcibly pushed back, and every day we were seeing the white house perimeter expand. Were seeing the peoples house every day get further away from the people. Those people are trying to get their message to the president. And pierre, theres a lot of talk about defunding Police Departments. What exactly does that mean . Well, what theyre talking about is moving some of the resources given to police and providing them to the communities that they serve. Now i can tell you Law Enforcement is going to be very much concerned about that because they believe the amount of police you have on the streets has a direct impact on crime, but you see in many of these communities, we saw in los angeles this notion that perhaps we should refigure how we allot resources to the community. And mary, congress has also been active in posing reforms across the country. Is there any hope for bipartisan support, and what do you think that would look like . There is an appetite here. The question is how big are they willing to go . We know the House Democrats will be putting out this sweeping reform legislation that would include a ban on choke holds. It would create a National Registry for police misconduct, and we have seen from republicans from the House Republican leader kevin mccarthy, a sign they are willing to work with democrats on this, but of course, the president the fact he has drawn such a hard line on many of these issues could make it very difficult for a lot of republicans to get on board here. I think anything that gets passed in the house is likely to face an uphill battle in the senate, and then its the question of what is the president willing to sign, and the bigger issue of anything the congress does whether it will be able to satisfy or begin to satisfy the demands of what is being called for by these protesters across the country. And jon karl, one of the things the president wants to do is change the subject. The president was talking about law and order, and also economic numbers this week. Im looking at an nbc wall street journal poll. It says among voters living in the top 2020 battleground states, arizona, michigan, nevada, minnesota, new hampshire, et cetera, bidens combined lead over trump is eight points, 50 to 42 . Im sure he really wants to talk about the economy now. Well, it looked grim four years ago as well in the 2016 campaign for donald trump, and he ended up winning, but he will focus on the economy because those polls also show that more People Trust Trump with the economy than trust biden. Thats his issue, and thats where he will focus. Okay. Thanks to all of you, and its great to see you all on a sunday morning. Thanks so much. Thats all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your sunday with us. Check out world news tonight and have a great day. Up next, the details on the suspect accused of ambushing and killing a Santa Cruz County deputy. Investigators think he had a sinister plan. A teenager turns an idea for change into a martch that stops traffic on the golden gate bridge. Temperatures are in the 60s at this hour, a breezy and cool day again today. Well manage about 70 there. Ill have your full forecast and a look at the